Xu Ling'er left Hideyoshi's team overnight and went to Sakai Town to defect to Chen Shen.

At the silk shop, Chen Shen asked with concern: "Miss Ling'er, I heard that Xiaogu City has been captured, and I am almost scared to death, how did you escape?" What about your father? ”

"Shopkeeper Chen......" Xu Ling'er's nose was sour, and she couldn't help but burst into tears, crying: "Ling'er is incompetent, for so many years, nothing has been done, not only has he failed to let Lord Lu's soul return to his hometown, but even his father has not been able to save him......"

"Where is your father now?"

"He was with Mrs. Aichi and was sent to Gifu Castle by a monkey."

Chen Shen sighed and said, "Ling'er, since your father is with Mrs. Ashi, you don't have to worry, and Nada Nobunaga won't easily kill his own sister. ”

Xu Ling'er knew that Ishikawa Goemon and others were planning to assassinate Oda Nobunaga, so she was still a little worried, pondered for a moment, and said, "Pray for the Bodhisattva's blessing." ”

"Ling'er, since you returned to Japan alone to save your father, eight years have passed unconsciously, do you know what era name it is now?" Chen Shen asked.

"Seven years of Longqing." Xu Ling'er said, bowing her head in shame, thinking that she is twenty-three years old this year, and her sister's sons have begun to study, and they are in the countryside, and they may have become mothers.

Chen Shen shook his head and said: "As early as last year, Long Qingye had been mourned, and the ten-year-old prince ascended the throne, and this year it will be changed to the first year of Wanli. ”

Hearing that Emperor Longqing, who was in the prime of life, died suddenly, Xu Ling'er was very shocked, and couldn't help but think of the old prince of Chengguo who had gone through three dynasties, as well as the situation of Wang Chong and Guo Yi in the capital, so he asked: "As the saying goes, once a son of heaven and a courtier, I don't know how Brother Chong is doing now?" ”

Taking out the Dharma Buddha shrine that had just been sent back, Chen Shen then persuaded: "Ling'er, there are your Uncle Guo and Wen Tao here for this matter, you should go back quickly with this national treasure." ”

As soon as she mentioned returning to China, Xu Ling'er was in a state of confusion, and couldn't help but think of Li Rusong again, her face was flushed with shame, and she hurriedly lowered her head again.

"As an elder, I advise you to go back to Liaodong first. Do you remember? Ah Ping risked his life to send you a letter, recently I also received a secret letter from Lord Li Chengliang, Lord Li's family is very concerned about you, no matter what, you have to go back and see, don't let down Lord Li's hard work. ”

Xu Ling'er replied without hesitation: "No! ”

"There are a lot of things you still don't understand, think that the Li family's father and son fight in front of the enemy every day, swords and guns have no eyes, who dares to guarantee that there is no mistake, Lord Cheng Liang let the eldest son marry first, it is really a helpless move, you have to understand their hardships, whether it is Ah Ping's words, or what Lord Li said in the letter, it is proving that Rusong has always been waiting for you, and you are still the main house of the Li family."

After hearing Chen Shen's words, Xu Linger was speechless, and tears flowed down......

After a moment of silence, Chen Shen continued: "In September last year, I received a letter from the old prince of Chengguo, and I was still asking about the whereabouts of this Buddhist shrine. ”

At this moment, Xu Ling'er was extremely sad in her heart, she was very aware of the contradiction between Wang Chong and Liu Shouyou, and looked at this Buddha shrine with great hesitation.

"Since Lin Feng was imprisoned by Wen Tao again, Ma Wu took over his stronghold on the coast of the mainland, and it is said that those shopkeepers have been transformed into businessmen, therefore, Wang Chong did not attack them easily, but now, under the coercion of Liu Shouyou, Wang Chong and his wife are very embarrassed, they can't do without a helper, Ling'er, don't continue to stay here and take risks, please believe that Guo Guoqiang and I will definitely be able to send your father back to the capital safely."

Under Chen Shen's bitter persuasion, Xu Ling'er finally agreed, because Elder Yuekong's merchant ship had just left, she had to take a merchant ship to North Korea, first go to Liaoyang, by the way to visit Rong'er and Su'er, meet her father-in-law Li Chengliang, and then go to the capital to mourn the old prince of Chengguo, if Wang Chong and Guo Yi need it, they will stay and help, anyway, they can follow Elder Yuekong's merchant ship back at any time.

After more than ten days of travel, Xu Ling'er came to Kuandian, found that there was a war here, after some inquiry, learned that the Jianzhou Jurchen leader Wang Gao raised troops to rebel, Li Chengliang expanded the fortifications of the six forts of Kuandian, and now the army has entered Gule Village, and is making every effort to encircle and suppress the rebels.

So, Xu Ling'er decided to go to Gule Village, left Kuandian and continued to the north.

When I arrived at Gule Village, I saw that this village was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and there were burned houses everywhere, and there was no human figure in sight, and in the ruins and broken walls, there were some pigs, dogs, sheep, and cats running around.

Xu Ling'er led the horse around for a long time, and met an old man, so he stepped forward and asked, "Old man, is there an inn here?" ”

The old man was hunched over, with a braid dragging behind his head, if it weren't for the full beard, Xu Ling'er felt like an old grandmother.

The old man looked at the stranger and asked suspiciously, "Girl, where are you from?" Why are you here? ”

"I'm a merchant selling medicinal herbs, I just came back from North Korea, and I want to find an inn to stay in." Xu Ling'er replied.

"This place is called Gule Village, don't you know it, girl? The army of Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, is chasing and killing Wang Gao, the leader of our Jianzhou Jurchens, has just been evacuated from here, most of the people in our village have died in battle, and those who can escape have fled into the mountains, you go quickly, don't let people arrest you as a spy. With that, the old man continued on his way.

The sun was about to set, and the gusts of mountain wind blew, making people feel a coolness, and the haze was heavy, and it seemed that it was going to rain after a while.

When the old man turned the corner, he suddenly found that she was still standing alone, and suddenly felt compassion, turned back again, and said, "Girl, it is getting dark, and it is very dangerous here. ”

"Old man, I'm lost and don't know where to go." Ling'er replied.

The old man sighed and said, "You are a female doll's family, it is too unsafe, if you don't dislike it, come to my house and rest for one night." ”

"Thank you, old man! Who else is in your family? ”

"My son and daughter-in-law have all been killed in battle, my little grandson has run away, and now only my wife and granddaughter are at home."

So, Xu Ling'er followed the old man to a courtyard with the gate facing east, the old man went to knock on the door, and an old woman and a little girl came out from inside.

When the old woman saw a stranger coming, she began to complain about the old man......

Entering the door, Xu Linger gave her some broken silver as a thank you, the old woman held the heavy silver in her hand, and was suddenly very excited, knelt on the ground and bowed to the sky, and then cooked for Xu Linger, at this time, the old man and the little girl went to feed the horses together.

After eating, the old man arranged Xu Ling'er to live in a wing room, and told her to be vigilant when she slept at night, and gave her a kitchen knife, saying: "Sleep to prevent thieves, kitchen knives are better than swords." ”

Xu Ling'er took the kitchen knife with a smile and asked, "May I ask the old man's surname?" ”

"Feyangu."

"How far is it from here to the city of Hetuala?"

The old man of Feiyang suddenly became very alert, and asked cautiously, "Why are you asking this?" ”

Xu Ling'er smiled slightly and replied: "I'm afraid that tomorrow I will go the wrong way and enter the battlefield by mistake, so I will ask casually." ”

The ancient man of Fei Yang nodded: "As long as you don't go north again, I heard that Wang Gao and his son Ataizhang fled to Hetuala, I estimate that Li Chengliang's army has already chased there." ”

Xu Ling'er is no stranger to the name Hetuara City, she has long heard Tang Jing and Zhu Hui mention it, thanked the ancient people of Feiyang, plugged in the door, and fell asleep on the kang with her clothes.

In the second half of the night, in the sound of roosters, a group of black shadows quietly slipped into Gule Village.

Xu Ling'er, who was asleep, suddenly felt a chill in her neck, and hurriedly opened her eyes, only to see a masked child holding a steel knife in his hand, staring at him viciously.

At this time, there was the cry of a little girl and the screams of two old men, Xu Ling'er asked calmly, "Who are you?" Want money? What you have in your bag is, please don't hurt the old man's family. ”

Three and a half children rushed in outside the door, and without saying a word, they tied up Xu Ling'er.

Torches lit up in the courtyard, and a young man confronted the old man, "Father Feiyang, why are you so confused?" You actually brought the spy home, how much benefit did you take from her? ”

"Nurhachi, this girl is a merchant who has just returned from North Korea, and she has lost her way and has come to stay in our village."

Nurhachi shouted: "How can there be a merchant who does not have long eyes, who has nothing to come to the battlefield to stay?" She must have come to visit Atai Zhangjing, and now my hometown of Hetuara has been surrounded by the bastard Li Chengliang, maybe as soon as it dawns today, they will kill people and set fires. ”

Hearing that this young man was Nurhachi from Hetuara City, Xu Ling'er knew that he had saved Zhu Hui, no matter whether Nurhachi still remembered this incident or not, she was determined to help this kind-hearted young man.

Looking at these two trembling old men kneeling on the ground, listening to the cry of the little granddaughter of the ancient Feiyang, Xu Ling'er's heart was desolate, and she said loudly: "Nurhachi, I have already heard of your name and know that you are a kind person, but I won't say this now. Please let them go, I can get Master Li Chengliang to withdraw from the army! ”

Hearing this, the two old men were very shocked, and thought that she was Li Chengliang's spy, and closed their eyes in pain and waited for death.

Nurhachi was also stunned, and asked in disbelief, "What did you say?" Why can you let Li Chengliang retire? ”

"Master Li Chengliang is my stepfather."

Nurhachi laughed out loud and continued to ask, "What is the proof?" ”

"My brocade clothes guard waist card is in the bag, if you don't believe it, you can find it and see for yourself."

A few children ran into the wing room again, took out her bag, and found a brocade guard waist card, with three big characters written horizontally: Jinyi Wei, vertically: Xu Ling'er, the commander of the left thousand households of the Fusi of Beizhen.

At this time, Nurhachi looked carefully at Xu Ling'er, and couldn't believe that this girl, who was not a few years older than herself, was actually the commander of the Fusi Zuo Qianhu in Jinyi Weibei Town, and she could be sure that her origin was unusual, but she was still a little suspicious, and couldn't help asking: "This, can this be true?" ”

"If you don't believe me, kill me, and please be kind to this well-wisher, and the Bodhisattva will bless you." Xu Ling'er said, closed her eyes and waited for death.

Nurhachi hesitated for a moment, then asked, "We didn't want to be an enemy of the imperial court, we just wanted to protect our homeland, but now we want to know, can you let Li Chengliang withdraw from Hetuala?" ”

"When a man is about to die, why lie?" Xu Ling'er replied without hesitation.

"That's good! We will take you to Hetuara now, if Li Chengliang can really listen to you and retire from Hetuala, I Nurhachi will be willing to be a cow and a horse for you in this life. ”

Xu Ling'er knew that Li Chengliang was chasing and killing Wang Gao, if Wang Gao was really in Hetuala, it would be difficult for his father-in-law to withdraw from the army, and asked: "Nurhachi, let me ask you, where did Wang Gao flee to?" ”

"Where did he flee, how would I know? Not in Hetuara anyway! ”

"You're not lying?"

"If you lie, why do you want to take me to Li Chengliang?"

"Why don't you untie me soon? I'll take you to Hetuara now. ”

So, Nurhachi no longer hesitated, immediately untied Xu Ling'er, bid farewell to the ancient family of Feiyang, and hurried to Hetuala.

At this time, Li Chengliang's army had surrounded Hetuala, and the sky was just hazy and he was about to attack, when Nurhachi and others arrived with Xu Ling'er.

Urging the horse to the front of the formation, Xu Linger threw the stirrup off the saddle and got off the horse, hurriedly knelt on the ground, and was immediately surrounded by Li Chengliang's guards.

Li Chengliang was wearing armor and a battle robe, sitting majestically on a tall horse, seeing this situation, he couldn't help but rub his eyes, as if in a dream.

Xu Ling'er raised her head slightly, tears flowed down, and shouted, "Father-in-law......"

Li Chengliang turned over and dismounted, ran a few steps, separated the guards, helped her up, and whimpered: "Son! You're finally back, and my father and son Rusong can't stand you......"

"Father-in-law, it's not good to be a daughter......"

"It's all the Father's fault, it's the Father's fault ......"

While the father and daughter were blaming themselves, a group of soldiers escorted Nurhachi and the others over.

"Lord Li, you have been wronged! Wronged! The children shouted in unison.

Seeing them lying on the ground one by one and kowtowing like pounding garlic, and some of them had blood on their foreheads, Li Chengliang asked, "Who are you?" What the hell is going on? ”

"I beg Lord Li to be merciful and spare Hetuala! We really don't harbor Wang Gao and Atai here, if you don't believe it, you can send someone into the city to search, but don't kill people and set fires again, Sister Ling'er, you can quickly intercede for us! Nurhachi said loudly.

"Son, do you know them?" Li Chengliang asked in surprise.

Xu Ling'er nodded and replied: "I was anxious to see my father-in-law, I strayed into Gule Village yesterday, and this morning, they brought me here." ”

Li Chengliang understood, came to the approach of Nurhachi and the others, and said loudly: "For my daughter's sake, spare you for the time being, get up and stay in the barracks as hostages." ”

After the soldiers took Nurhachi and the others away, Li Chengliang issued an order to enter the city to search for Wang Gao and Atai Zhangjing, but no murder and arson!