Three days later, Zhang Xuan and Chai Shao followed the caravan led by Zhao Dan and headed eastward, and two days later, they gradually arrived in Xingyang.

There are more than 50 people in the imperial caravan, in addition to the chief steward Zhao Dan, there is also a deputy steward surnamed Sun, and the rest of the more than 50 people are men and guards.

They had more than 300 healthy mules and more than 50 camels, loaded with all kinds of expensive goods, worth thousands of gold, and in Zhao Dan's words, they would earn at least 5,000 taels of gold on this trip to the north.

"Uncle Zhao, which way do we go to the grassland?" Zhang Xuan rode a horse and followed Zhao Single, looking full of interest.

"Of course, we will cross the Yellow River from Guan, enter Shangdang County from Taihang, then Taiyuan Mansion, and finally enter the grassland from Mayi County, Zhang Gongzi is the first time to go north!"

Zhang Xuan nodded, "It's indeed the first time I've gone north." ”

Zhao Shan glanced at him and said with a smile: "It's rare to go to the grassland, doesn't Zhang Gongzi want to bring some goods and make a little money by the way?" ”

Zhang Xuan was also a little tempted, he himself was not averse to doing business, but he had another purpose in going to Saibei this time, and he didn't consider trafficking goods to the north at all, Zhao Shan reminded him that maybe he could ask the Turks about the situation of the purple insect jade chrysalis through the opportunity to buy and sell goods.

Thinking of this, he asked with a smile: "It's just that now that I have left Luoyang, is it too late to buy goods?" ”

"It's okay, we have to pass through Taiyuan Mansion, I have to make up a batch of goods in Taiyuan, and then I can help you buy some good bargains by the way, I have a way."

"Then thank you Uncle Zhao!"

"Huh! You're welcome, in fact, Chai Gongzi has more access in Taiyuan, and I still want to ask him to help! ”

Zhang Xuan suddenly remembered, didn't Li Yuan stay in Taiyuan at this time?

He turned back to Chai Shao and looked over, and saw that Chai Shao seemed to be a little preoccupied, so Zhang Xuan slowed down his horse, and when Chai Shao stepped forward, he asked with a smile: "Sichang, we are going through Taiyuan, do you want to go home?" ”

"Home? Oh! Of course I'm going to go back and see. ”

"Si Chang seems to have something on his mind?" Jang Hyun asked, staring at him.

"It's not, it's just a little ..... Don't talk about it, hey! It's a joke. ”

Chai Shao didn't think about it anymore, he pointed to the city wall in the distance with a horsewhip and said with a smile: "Brother Zhang, that's the Tiger Prison, haven't you always wanted to go and see it?" There it is! ”

．．．．．．

After crossing the Yellow River from Guan, and passing through the Taihang Mountains to the north, it entered the territory of Changping County, which is today's Shanxi, and the majestic and tall Luliang Mountain divided the state into two.

From Changping County to the north, there are towering mountains in the west, stretching for thousands of miles, and gradually slowing down to the east, with hills and plains, interspersed with valleys and plains, and villages are located in the hills and plains.

The team went north along the official road, although the Central Plains bandits were rampant, and there were many bandits and thieves, but the area around Bingzhou was relatively safe, and it can be seen from the busy farmers in the fields and the shepherd boys who were leisurely herding cattle that this area was safe and orderly, and there was no worry about banditry.

The team traveled north along the Danshui River, and that evening, they came to a thirty-mile south of Gaoping County, where Zhao Dan, who had no plans to spare, suffered a minor setback.

The inn where he was going to stay had been destroyed by a fire two days earlier, and they missed the stay.

"Everyone, I'm sorry, we can only go to Gaoping County to stay, there are still thirty miles, everyone work hard, and strive to arrive in the county seat before dark."

Zhang Xuan leaned over and looked to the west, only to see that the sunset still showed a red forehead on the top of the mountain, struggling to let it fall, the sky was covered with purple sunset, and a cloud of light blue smoke began to spread in the woods on both sides of the official road, making the cold official road in front of him even narrower.

He shook his head, there are still thirty miles, how can he rush to the county seat before dark, he looked back again, only to see that the official road behind him was also deserted, there was no pedestrian, it is estimated that only they missed the accommodation.

Helplessly, everyone had to speed up and go north.

Perhaps because of his own misjudgment, Zhao Dan felt sorry and walked at the front of the team to open the way, while Zhang Xuan and Chai Shao stayed at the back of the team.

On both sides of the woods, it was cold and dark, and as the night gradually fell, some unknown creatures began to move in the woods, and from time to time you could hear the creepy sound of branches being trampled and broken in the woods.

"Everyone pay attention to the goods, don't be stolen by thieves!"

As soon as Zhao Dan's voice fell, something happened suddenly, "Ah-" Zhao Dan let out a long scream, and a black shadow soared into the air.

The team was in chaos, the men and guards drew their knives one after another, and the deputy steward Sun An shouted in shock: "Lao Zhao! Lao Zhao! ”

Zhang Xuan and Chai Shao rushed up from behind, only to see that Zhao Dan's horse was still in place, but the people were gone, and everyone looked at the woods in horror, but there was nothing in the woods.

"Steward Sun, what happened to Uncle Zhao?" Zhang Xuan asked anxiously.

"There are ghosts!"

Sun An trembled and pointed to the cold and terrifying woods and said, "A ghost shadow fell from the sky and captured Lao Zhao. ”

Zhang Xuan looked up and saw a huge tree trunk lying above their heads, this is a slightly crooked tree, with vigorous branches and ancient vines, standing on the official road like a gate.

"Sichang, look here!"

Zhang Xuan pointed to the two rattans that were still shaking and hanging from the big tree: "Apparently, someone hid on the trunk of the tree, grabbed this rattan and threw it down, and took Steward Zhao away." ”

Chai Shao nodded, he obviously agreed with Zhang Xuan's judgment that someone should have ambushed them, not some ghost.

"It's very likely that they set fire to the inn and forced us to walk at night."

"Check it out!"

As soon as Zhang Xuan urged the war horse to run into the woods, Chai Shao was shocked and shouted that Zhang Xuan was too late, so he had to follow hard.

Perhaps because of the continuous rain a few days ago, the woods looked cold and damp, Zhang Xuan pulled the war horse and walked around a few times, observing the chaotic footprints on the ground, at this time, Chai Shao chased after him and asked, "Did you find anything?" ”

Zhang Xuan turned over and dismounted, picked up a muddy tattered straw sandal, the lace had just been broken, Zhang Xuan smiled: "It seems that this is a group of poor thieves." ”

He threw the reins of the war horse to Chai Shao, "You don't have to come with you, take the horses out, I'll go and investigate, and I'll be back soon." ”

"Brother Xian, beware!"

Before Chai Shao's words fell, Zhang Xuan had already jumped over a dead tree trunk lying on the ground and ran to the depths of the woods, Chai Shao saw that he was extremely agile, and it was estimated that it would be a burden to follow him, he shook his head and led the horse out of the woods.

"How's it going inside? See the Steward? As soon as he came out of the woods, everyone surrounded Chai Shao and asked.

"Don't worry, everyone, Zhang Gongzi went in to investigate, it's just a bunch of little thieves, not a night ghost, everyone is optimistic about the goods first."

Having said that, everyone was still very worried, but they did not dare to rush into the woods, so they had to return to the cargo, swords in hand, and watch the situation around vigilantly.

Zhang Xuan ran through the woods with his knife, only ran less than two hundred steps, he faintly heard the sound of people, it seemed that there was still firelight, he saw that there was a stone forest covering an area of several acres in front of him, so he put the knife back into the scabbard, grabbed a sharp stone, and struggled to climb to the highest place.

Before he reached the highest place, Zhang Xuan knew that this was a group of rabble, and he didn't arrange a sentry post, so he easily occupied the highest point.

Zhang Xuan hid behind a big rock, leaned over and looked down, only to see a clearing in the middle of a circle of big stones, a fire was lit in the middle, and there were more than a dozen thieves sitting around, all of them in rags and with dirty faces, like a group of people called Hanako party.

At the very edge sat a burly man, no more than twenty years old, with dark skin, a wide face, a full beard, a mouth as wide as a basin, and a big red nose with sake lees, but with a pair of cunning little eyes that were out of place, making the originally mighty appearance a little funny.

There was a Xuanhua big axe at his feet, which was fifty or sixty pounds, and I saw him roll up his sleeves, revealing his thick arms, grabbing Zhao Dan's collar and shouting: "Lao Tzu has done his best to be benevolent and righteous, and the ransom of three thousand guan is reduced to three hundred, if you dare to bargain, Lao Tzu will roast you and eat it." ”

Zhao Dan was not afraid, and said slowly: "I didn't have to bargain with you, it was you who took the initiative to reduce the ransom, I said this master, you don't look like a thief, why don't I hire you to go north and earn some money to go home." ”

"Lao Tzu won't go north with you, Lao Tzu is going to Wagang to find Brother Shan, say quickly, do you want to give it or not? If you let you go fifty more times, you won't be able to do anything. ”

"Big brother, didn't you say that you would go back to Turtledove Town? How do you want to go to Wagang? Several of his men were shocked.

"You go back to Turtledove Town, I will go to Wagang alone, you tell my mother, and when I am developed, I will pick her up and enjoy the blessings."

Zhang Xuan couldn't help but laugh dumbly, other robbers took hostages to threaten the caravan to ask for money, he was good, he actually bargained with the hostages, and also leaked the bottom line of the negotiation, which was obviously very unprofessional.

Zhang Xuan stood up and smiled: "How about I come to negotiate with you?" ”

In a moment of confusion, more than a dozen people below picked up their wooden sticks and spears, stepped back, and looked at Zhang Xuan above their heads in surprise.

The black-faced man picked up the big axe, put it on Zhao Dan's neck, raised his head and shouted: "If you dare to mess around, Lao Tzu will chop him with an axe!" ”

Zhang Xuan ignored his threat, jumped down step by step from the boulder, walked to them and said with a smile: "I won't mess around, he is just the steward of the caravan, he can't be the master, I am the master of the caravan, you let him go, let's talk." ”

The black-faced man was suspicious in his eyes, he looked at Zhang Xuan, and saw that he was tall and straight, showing talent, and this old man was obscene and thin, he believed it a little in his heart, so he said: "You put down the knife first!" ”

Zhang Xuan took off his sword, put it on the boulder next to him, and patted his clothes, "There are no other weapons." ”

The black-faced man gave his subordinates a look, and his subordinates cautiously stepped forward, grabbed the knife, and quickly retreated.

The black-faced man pushed Zhao Dan away, "Get out!" ”

Zhao Shan hurriedly ran behind Zhang Xuan, and Zhang Xuan smiled at him: "Uncle Zhao, this strong man is a trustworthy person, so that everyone doesn't have to attack, we can negotiate a solution." ”

Zhang Xuan has already seen that the reason why this group of people did not dare to forcibly grab the goods was because they were few and weak, and they were panicked, so they were not thieves at all.

"Zhang Gongzi be careful!"

Zhao Dan ran away, and more than a dozen thieves didn't catch him, and surrounded Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan was not in a hurry, walked to the black-faced man and sat down, and said with a smile: "Let's make a bet, if I win, you go to the Turks with me, and I will pay you two hundred yuan." ”

The black-faced man narrowed his small eyes, his eyes flashed brightly, and he asked quietly, "What if you lose?" ”

Zhang Xuan took out a gold ingot from his arms, "This is fifty taels of gold, if you win, it will be yours!" ”

The black-faced man laughed, "Why did I bet with you, Lao Tzu killed you with a knife and walked away with fifty taels of gold, isn't it better?" ”

"The problem is that you can't go, there are only fourteen of you, half of your weapons are still wooden sticks, most of you don't even have shoes, but we have fifty people, all wearing leather armor, war horses under their hips, bows and arrows, spears, and war knives, kill me, and you won't survive!"

Zhang Xuan's words hit the key point of the black-faced man, he was because of the small number of people and the weakness, so he didn't dare to rob Zhang Xuan and their caravan, if they really fought, they would have to suffer a big loss.

He had no choice but to say, "Say it! What to bet on? ”

"I know what your name is, where you're from, and why you're here? Just bet on this. ”

The black-faced man obviously didn't believe that he had gone incognito, how could he be a passer-by who knew his name?

What's more, you don't suffer if you win or lose, at most you go to the Turks, it's a big deal that you run halfway, why don't you bet with him?

The black-faced man gambled very much, he suddenly felt itchy, and smiled, "I bet with you!" ”

"Good! All of you testify. ”

Zhang Xuan glanced at Xuanhua Daaxe and said with a smile: "Your surname is Cheng, your name is Zhijie, the word bites gold, you are from Turtledove Town, Dong'e County, you came to Lucheng Erxian Village to find Shan Xiongxin, but he has already gone to Wagang, but you have nowhere to go, and there is no place to eat, so you temporarily changed your career to become a robber, maybe we are still the first vote." ”

The black-faced man blinked his small eyes, and suddenly turned around and yelled: "You dogs, which one betrayed Lao Tzu?" ”