The spring rain for several days has made the water level of the Jialing River rise a lot, and it has also become much more turbid. The pontoon bridge erected between Nanjin Pass on the right bank and Jinping Gate on the left bank will soon be dismantled. The specific demolition time depends on the speed of the water level. If the water level continues to rise, the demolition of the pontoon bridge may be near.

On the dockside not far from both sides of Jinping Gate, there are already many large and small ships waiting densely. They either waited for the pontoon bridge to be dismantled and then drove straight upstream; Or they were in a hurry to hire coolies to transfer heavy loads to ships on the other side of the pontoon in the primitive way of carrying them on their backs.

Under the impact of the rapids, the pontoon bridge has been drawn into a pronounced bow. Even if the person who came was Miss Luo and the high-ranking officials in the province, Hejia Zhuangding, who guarded the bridge, did not allow the brigade to pass through the pontoon bridge at the same time according to local rules, saying that it would increase the depth of the bridge too much, so that the bridge would be very dangerous.

So, the carriage carrying Luo Yuhong and the three girls drove on the pontoon bridge alone.

The bridge rises and falls, and the wooden wheels crush against the gaps in the bridge, making a tinkling sound and splashing droplets. The impact comes rhythmically from the wheels, cushioned by the bow suspension, and transmitted into the car.

The curious instinct of women drove Luo Yuhong to lean out of the window. Several coachmen in front were carefully leading the two leading horses, lest the horses be frightened, and pulled the carriage into the river.

"Zone! Aren't horses afraid of water? Luo Yuhong shouted ahead.

"Miss Yuluo," replied the tall, long-legged, handsome-looking eunuch in front of him, turning respectfully, "the coachmen have blindfolded the horses, and they are not afraid!" ”

The truth is so simple!

Luo Yuhong retracted into the carriage with interest, and saw that her office director, Liu Hongting, still looked like a dazed Sichun, and couldn't help but reach out and hit her, waking her up from her dream.

"Still thinking about him? What's there to think about? Won't you be able to see it after crossing the river? ”

"What's the use of seeing it?" Liu Hongting rolled her eyes at Luo Yuhong and tilted her head to the side, "Still not allowed to get married!" ”

Because she can't get married, she doesn't allow others to get married, Luo Yuhong has always felt that this is the most excessive thing Zhu Pingjin has done, and it is also the thing she feels most sorry for Liu Hongting. Liu Hongting asked her to tell Zhu Pingjin many times, but she never understood Zhu Pingjin's thoughts, so she was a little hesitant. After thinking about it, she put on a smiling face and comforted Liu Hongting, saying that it was fresh for the first month of marriage, but it was boring after a long time. So it's better to keep the thoughts, so that you can enjoy it sweetly all the time.

"How does Nong know?" Luo Yuhong gave Liu Hongting another roll of the eyes, "Nong has never been married!" Besides, the ancients said: Sijun is like a night candle, frying thousands of lines of tears (Note 1)! Acacia has the pain of a thousand turns, how can there be happiness at all! ”

Liu Hongting was still not happy after venting, and found Xiaohong again: "Does it feel like being in love when you miss him?" Why do I think that Miss Luo and Shizi are not in love, but like an old couple living for many years? ”

Xiaohong stuck out her tongue at the embarrassed Luo Yuhong, indicating that she was completely innocent. Liu Hongting had already let go of Xiaohong at this time and found Tan Fang beside Luo Yuhong. Tan Fang's head was wrapped in a bandage, which was the remnant of Mars hitting the Earth.

"Tan Fang, has Nong ever loved a man? Did you skip in your heart? ”

Tan Fang was flustered by Liu Hongting's direct eyes, and she became stupid and stupid when she was usually articulate.

"I didn't ...... No, I'm still young...... The slave wanted to stay with Miss Luo for a few more years. ”

Hum! Luo Yuhong snorted coldly and interjected, indicating that she didn't believe Tan Fang's words at all.

"You're not too small. Men should get married, and women should get married. A girl's family, marry someone when it's time to get married, what's so good-hearted! Hide what! ”

Xiaohong not only added fuel to the fire, but also followed Luo Yuhong's ideas to exert her imagination.

"It must be that Anwensi! Looking at the way he looked at Tan Fang, I knew that he was interested in Tan Fang - lo and behold, he also offered a big bouquet of roses! Hum! Maybe...... Maybe this carriage was specially built for Tan Fang by An Wensi, but she couldn't find a reason to send her, so she pretended to pull Miss Luo! ”

Tan Fang shook his head in shock and waved his hand: "He's a monk!" How can a monk get married in the world? ”

"They believe in foreign religions, which is different from Chinese monks!" Luo Yuhong explained seriously, "It seems that there is a faction in the foreign religion that is not allowed to get married, and there is a faction that can get married and have dolls." It's just that what kind of faction Anwensi is, I forgot to ask. Another day, we must carefully interrogate it, it's not okay to delay our Tan Fang! ”

"Miss Luo!" Tan Fang was already so anxious that she was about to cry, "How can a slave marry a Yiren!" ”

"What's wrong with Yiren! Zhu Pingjin and I were ...... at that time" Luo Yuhong braked in time and swallowed the rest of the words into his stomach.

"Miss, you said, if the Han people marry the Yi people, will the doll born yellow hair, hooked nose, and blue eyes?" Xiaohong pretended to do a good job, but the smile on the corner of her mouth betrayed her.

"Then naturally it has to be mixed-blood!" Luo Yuhong said, "White white, black black!" Mixed with blood, black is not black, white is not white, in short, gray is not slippery! ”

Tan Fang couldn't bear the bullying of the three of them, and the big tears finally rolled down.

Luo Yuhong held Tan Fang in her arms like a big sister. But the woman's consciousness told him that Tan Fang must have lied on the question of whether she was in love.

The next question is: ho is he?

……

Between the pontoon wharf and the south gate Jinping Gate of Langzhong City, there are high embankment stone steps. Planks have been erected on the stone steps to facilitate vehicle traffic. But because it was too steep, the eunuch who was driving the car had to ask Miss Luo to get out of the car, wait for the car to be pulled into the city, and then get in the car, or directly change to a sedan chair.

"Don't look for the sedan chair, let's go inside! There are four streets in the southeast and northwest of Langzhong City, a building in the middle, and a big city! ”

Luo Yuhong jumped to the ground first, and the other three hurriedly got out of the car. Luo Yuhong waved her hand and led the women's gang towards the city. The eunuchs and palace maids were busy clearing the way for Luo Yuhong, and the personal guards Xu brothers and other soldiers of the guard platoon separated a corridor for her, while Xiaohong held the cone hat with a mask in the trunk of the car and chased after the young lady.

From the floating dock to Jinping Gate, the distance is only thirty or forty zhang. On both sides of the stone steps avenue are mostly inns and restaurants that are convenient for merchants to come and go, and there is also a boulevard running along the river bank in the middle. On both sides of the avenue, crowds of people watched, and judging by their appearance and clothing, most of them were small merchants, shopkeepers, coolies, homeless people, and people from the middle and lower classes of society, such as Hanako.

"Money!" Luo Yuhong ordered concisely.

Xiaohong listened to her master's instructions, and hurriedly untied the blanket around her waist and grabbed a handful of copper coins from it.

These coins were intended for future coins and have not yet been officially issued. The new money is pressed by the Huitong Qianzhuang Chengdu dumping office using a manual stamping machine, and it is ready to switch to a hydraulic stamping machine in the future. Each piece weighs two coins, slightly heavier than the Chongzhen Tongbao of the five. The front is printed with a circle of "Protecting the Country, Protecting the People, and the Peace of the World", and the back is printed with a circle of "Daming Shu Wangfu Huitong Money Village"; The motif in the center of the front is a dragon; In the center of the back is a flying phoenix.

Compared with the various Chongzhen Tongbao popular on the market, the appearance characteristics and feel characteristics of these new coins are very obvious: first, copper and golden; second, there is no central square hole for threading; The third is that the edges are like silver money, with neat embossing. A glance at the eye and a touch in the sleeve will tell that it is not the same as making money.

These young ladies swaggered in front of the adults of the government, and there were eunuchs who were neither male nor female in front of them. Thinking of the prince living in Boryeong Mansion, the common people quickly thought of the palace dependents of the palace. The palace dependents want to do good, and the people naturally squeeze forward desperately. If it weren't for the guard platoon showing knives and guns and bullets, I am afraid that people would have to be squeezed out again.

"One for each person, no scattering!" Luo Yuhong ordered again.

"Okay!" Giving out money is one of Xiaohong's favorite things to do. She loves the feeling of being thanked for her kindness.

Xiaohong is one on the left and one on the right, there is less money and more people, and a small bag of copper coins will be distributed quickly. Xiaohong shook her blanket to the crowd, indicating that she was gone. Many stretched out their arms, but found nothing, and had to sigh and retreat in disappointment.

"Let's go!" Luo Yuhong lifted the hem of her skirt and walked away.

"Wait, Miss!" Little Red shouted in the noise. She was attracted by a small dirty hand sticking out of the leg of the crowd. The little hand swayed, spread flat. But because of its short and low stature, it was easily ignored by Xiaohong.

"It's pathetic!" The crowd dispersed, allowing Xiaohong to see the owner of the little hand clearly.

It was a little girl's hand.

The little girl may have seen the empty blanket, but she still opened her eyes wide, and stretched out her arms firmly to Xiaohong, hoping that a miracle would happen.

"There are too many poor people in the world." Liu Hongting reminded behind Xiaohong, "No matter how much money Nong has, he can't finish it." ”

"Do you still have any money? Give her one! Tan Fang pleaded on behalf of the little girl.

"No, it's all gone!"

"Ask her, what did you do with the money!" Luo Yuhong ordered, "If she's hungry, we have snacks in the car, and sugar cubes!" ”

Before Xiaohong could open her mouth, the little girl had already heard it. She replied timidly in a voice so light that she could barely hear it: "The little girl buys medicine for her father to see a doctor." ”

Luo Yuhong heard it. She threw away the hem of her skirt and walked over, crouched down, and led the little girl over.

The girl was only four or five years old at most, and she was quite childish. In the tattered clothes, the shoulders and arms of the black are exposed. The red bare feet were wrapped in mud and stepped on the cold bluestone slabs.

"What's wrong with your daddy?" Luo Yuhong asked.

"Daddy's wound is bleeding."

"How did you get hurt?"

"The rope that pulled the boat broke, and Daddy fell on the rock."

"Are you cold?" Luo Yuhong asked.

"Little girl is not cold, daddy is cold."

Looking at the child's clear and translucent eyes, Luo Yuhong couldn't help it anymore, and a soak of warm water filled her eyes. She is a woman who is strong everywhere on the outside, but she is still a weak woman on the inside. Maternal instinct makes it impossible for her to avoid the hopeful gaze of a little girl. That gaze was like an invisible chain, locking and dragging her heart tightly, as if it was about to strangle blood.

"Xu Zhiyuan, you take the child to see her father! If they are sick, find them a man! ”

"Okay!" The tall Xu Zhiyuan walked over with a smile. With his right hand, he put the long knife back into the scabbard, and with his left hand, he hugged the fluttering girl.

"Show this uncle the way, let them find Langzhong for Daddy!" Luo Yuhong said.

The little girl lay on Xu Zhiyuan's shoulder and nodded sensibly to her. Her mouth squirmed, licking the sweet taste of the candy cubes.

Another stream of tears welled up silently. Luo Yuhong pretended that Jiang Feng was blind, and gently wiped it with her gorgeous sleeve robe.

"Bodhisattva! Sure enough, it was the Bodhisattva who appeared! ”

An old hoarse male voice suddenly rang out in the crowd. Luo Yuhong removed her sleeves and saw an old man kneeling on the ground. His upper body was naked, and his shoulders, which had been under pressure all year round, were worn out by heavy objects into thick calluses; He folded his hands above the top and muttered to himself, his fingers tucking the shiny copper coin between his fingers.

"This is the princess of Shudi! Not a bodhisattva! Tan Fang hurriedly went up to correct the old man. She followed Luo Yuhong to Daci Temple, knowing that although Luo Yuhong believed in Buddhism, she generally stayed away from these things that pretended to be gods and ghosts.

But Tan Fang's words didn't have any effect, and more people had already knelt down with the old man.

"Great compassion is Avalokiteshvara! Saving suffering and saving people is Guanyin Bodhisattva! The old man raised his head without fear, and roared hoarsely, his eyes bursting with a hot and bright gaze.

"Bodhisattva! Guanyin Bodhisattva! A middle-aged woman suddenly shouted, frantically broke through the cordon, and rushed towards Luo Yuhong. Xu Zhiyuan's younger brother Xu Zhicong quickly flashed in front of Luo Yuhong and grabbed the woman firmly.

The woman broke free from Xu Zhicong's iron arm and stretched out desperately in the direction of Luo Yuhong. Five fingers stretched out, as if trying to grasp a life-saving straw:

"Bodhisattva, save us! My house was burned down by the rebels! Nothing was snatched out! No food or clothing......"

The woman struggled, cried, yelled, cursed, and was dragged away by the guards. Luo Yuhong froze in place, speechless for a long time.

"Miss Luo, let's go!" Liu Hongting walked over and reminded. The crazy actions of the people, she didn't know how much she had seen in Renshou County, and she didn't feel much at this time.

Luo Yuhong suddenly turned to Liu Hongting and said, "I think it's right for Zhu Pingjin to control the marriage of the cadres of the National Protector Army!" A soldier can get married, and that is the reward for the soldier's hard work. When they have a home, they will fight to the death for their family and their children! But the cadres can't do it, what else can I achieve if I fall into Qingqing? So there are some things that must not only be forbade verbally, but also explicitly forbidden!

I didn't understand Zhu Pingjin either, and I always wondered if he was using an excuse to evade his responsibility to me. Now I understand:

The hope of the people is on his shoulders! The fate of the country is also on his shoulders! If he was thinking about his own, what did the ministers think of him? And what did the people think of him! Is it possible for him to have a big future? ”

Liu Hongting was stunned for a moment, and Luo Yuhong's words hit her face like a big-eared scraper.

Luo Yuhong ignored Liu Hongting, turned around and left, walked to the old man who couldn't kneel, and asked:

"Do you believe this girl?"

"Believe! Believe! You are a bodhisattva! You are Guanyin Bodhisattva! ”

"I'm not Guanyin Bodhisattva, the princess is!" Luo Yuhong didn't have a trace of expression, "But as long as you believe in Shizi and this girl, and believe unwaveringly and unwaveringly, you can be saved!" There is hope for your future! ”

Note 1: Excerpt from the poem "Sauvignon Blanc" by the Sui Dynasty poet Chen Shuda