It is the spring season, the willow branches on the roadside spit out new green, and the small emerald green shoots are like babies, soft and vigorous. The tenacious grass overturned the small stone that pressed on the top of his head, stretched his waist, and gradually stretched his body. The morning dew is crystal clear, just like a pearl necklace hanging from the neck, which is illuminated by the sun, revealing a different kind of youth and enchantment in the colorful colors.

On the wide and flat official road from Bazhou to Youzhou, there are not many pedestrians. In the sixth year of the great cause, many men in many villages on the land of Hebei were recruited to Bianzhou, and the canal was dug in the area of Songzhou, and now the project has reached the final stage, and there is a group of middle-aged men on the official road, which is the laborer who returned home from Songzhou.

Although there is not much money left in the hands of these hard-working laborers after layers of exploitation, they have been away from home for more than a year, and the packages behind everyone are also full of thousands of yellow meat. At that time, although the wind of [***] in the officialdom had spread, it was only at the beginning of Emperor Yang of Sui's succession that the officials were still affected by the Kaihuang period, and the officials did not dare to loot the people too much. (Note 1)

These seven or eight men were all peasant households from a small village called Fangcheng, one hundred and thirty miles north of Bazhou. After returning from Songzhou, although the world is quite peaceful, no one dares to say whether they will be unlucky and encounter a few robbers who want money and don't want their lives. Everyone walks together and has a care, and they are all fellow villagers, and they can trust each other.

They all carried a five- or six-foot-long whistle stick in their hands, laughing with each other and hurried forward. The so-called whistle stick is just a nice name, but in fact it is just a wooden stick more than a meter long. During the reign of Emperor Kaihuang of the Great Sui Dynasty, Emperor Gaozuwen ordered the confiscation of the world's weapons. Ordinary people were not allowed to carry sharp blades, but wooden sticks were not included in the category of weapons. (Note 2)

"Third Brother Wu, let's walk a few more steps today, and wait until we get to Niutou Village before staying overnight?"

A young man who looked to be ten years old wiped his snot with his cuff and asked the stout man who was walking in front. His name is Li Sanfu, his name is cheesy, and he has no words, and he is a farmer, and he is not so particular. The kid from the Xu family next door always laughs at his indecent name, but in fact, is that guy's name elegant? His name is Li Sanfu, and the guy who can only bury people is called Xu Sanduo, and the word is prosperous.

After asking, he subconsciously lifted the heavy package on his back, feeling that the money was still there, and his heart was steady. They have been away from home for so long and tired working in the river, in order to earn some money to make their lives better.

The sturdy man's name was Wu Lailu, and he was the leader of this group of coolies who went out to sell coolies in Fangcheng. He also has two short-lived brothers, neither of whom lived for three months, but in fact, he is the eldest in the family.

I don't know if his two elder brothers have accumulated the blessings of life and given them to this third child, Wu Lailu is not only grown up to be honest and benevolent, but also as strong as a yak. He is also mentally strong, Chinese New Year's Eve this year, and already has a son and a daughter at home. When his daughter was not full moon, he left the village and went to Songzhou, and now that he thinks about it, his daughter has also passed the age of one. Thinking that his wife had to take care of the elderly and children alone and had worked hard for more than a year, he inevitably felt a little guilty.

"Sanfu, it will take at least six or seven hours to reach Niutou Village, and it will be dark by then. Although the official road is peaceful, it is not practical to rush in the dark. The third brother knows that you are homesick, aren't everyone the same? Let's go faster now, try to rush to the northeast bank village before noon, eat something in the northeast bank village and go on the road, we can rush to Lin Chengpu before dark, just spend the night there, get up early tomorrow, and get home before noon. ”

Liu Lezi is the oldest person in this small team, when others ask him how old he is, he always lies about how old he is, and the village posted a notice to recruit people to go to Songzhou to open a canal, asking for a strong man under the age of forty, he is actually fifty-one, and he bluntly said that he is thirty-nine. He has no others at home, he feeds his own family and the whole family is not hungry, although he is tired of opening the canal, he can still give more than 1,000 pieces of meat to eat and live, why not do it?

Looking at Li Sanfu's anxious look, Liu Lezi smiled and said, "Sanfu, are you little rabbit cub in a hurry to go home and marry your mother-in-law?" Don't worry, go back late, that little girl in Pengjiazhuang can't run! When you left, that girl only grew a small grass at most, and now when you come back, it is just in time to bloom a flower! ”

Li Sanfu's face turned red when he said it, and he defended: "I'...... I don't want to marry my mother-in-law, I just want to be a mother-in-law. ”

Third Brother Wu said with a smile: "Uncle Leper, don't laugh at Sanfu, it's you, the meat you have earned through hard work is good, but don't stuff all your brains into the belly pockets of those foxes in Baoyuelou." ”

Liu Lezi smiled wryly: "Where can it!" I'll keep this money and use it! ”

Li Sanfu asked curiously: "Uncle Leper, what's the use of keeping your money?" ”

Liu Lezi gritted his teeth: "I want to hold a child to raise, the incense of the old Liu family can't be broken in my hands!" ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then changed their impression of Liu Lezi, an old scoundrel who was proficient in eating, drinking, and gambling.

As he was talking, suddenly there was a crisp sound of a bell from behind, and a rough shout: "The people in front hurry up and let go, startled my big green mule, be careful to kick your ass!" ”

When they looked back, they saw several carriages coming from behind, and the one in front was pulling a cyan mule that looked quite athletic. The person driving the car was wearing a straw hat on his head, and the clothes on his body were soapy clothes and black boots, and he looked like he was from a large family. Everyone was from a small villager's family, and although they hated the arrogance of the driver of the car, they did not dare to provoke it, and obediently got out of the way.

When the driver saw that everyone gave way, he snorted in his mouth: "Count you as acquaintances, otherwise the whip will go down and tear your skin." ”

The man spoke rudely and with an awkward accent.

He was showing off, but he saw a gap in the curtain of the carriage, and a delicate little girl poked her head out of the gap and said: "Ge Taihu, the young lady is still in the car, and the mouth is full of foul language, take care of your skin first!" ”

This little girl is not yet in time, and she looks like she is twelve or thirteen years old. Bai Tender looks very delicate, but between his eyebrows is disgusted with the car driver. The driver seemed to be very afraid of this little girl, and quickly apologized, and no longer dared to speak publicly. (Note 3)

Wu Lailu stood on the side of the road, waiting for the carriage to pass before continuing to hurry. There are a total of three carriages, the carriage looks quite luxurious, it should be from the official eunuch's family, this time it was only a short time out of Bazhou, maybe it was the family of the official who was going to go to the spring. These high-ranking people, Wu Lailu has always been able to hide. First, he couldn't afford to provoke, and second, he looked disgusted.

Everyone looked at the shadow of the carriage in the distance and guessed whose carriage belonged to, when suddenly there was a sound of horses' hooves stomping on the ground behind them. The people had learned the lesson of what had happened before, and they gave way without waiting for the people behind to speak. Before he could turn back, the horse had already galloped past the crowd. Liu Lezi hid slowly and was almost knocked down by a horse. He was a scoundrel, and he scolded twice when he opened his mouth in anger. The knight on horseback looked back at him coldly, and ignored it. It's just that this glance is like a knife, as if it has directly entered Liu Lezi's heart.

"Botawu?!"

Wu Lailu looked at the horse that ran over and whispered three words in disbelief.

"Third brother, what did you say about stepping on Wu?"

Li Sanfu leaned over and asked.

"No, nothing."

Wu Lailu's face changed, and he didn't explain anything to Li Sanfu. He was afraid that if he explained it, he would frighten these timid companions. Bo Ta Wu is a famous BMW of the Khitan people outside the Saiwai, it is difficult to buy, and even the royal family of the Khitan is proud to have a pure Bo Ta Wu. Wu Lailu once went to the territory of the Khitans in Northern Cyprus and was very impressed by this kind of horse-worn-horse horse. A BMW is not how to scare people, and the knight on horseback does not seem to be a Khitan on the grassland of Saibei. The reason why Wu Lailu's face changed was because he happened to know that there were only two places within a radius of a few hundred miles near Youzhou.

The first place is in the army of Luo Yi, the general of Youzhou Huben.

The second place is the largest and most ferocious horse thief Tiefutu on the border of Hebei.

Liu Lezi approached Wu Lailu's side and whispered with a cold face: "Third child, it seems that we can't rush to the road today." ”

Wu Lailu nodded, and the man riding the horse behind him was obviously stepping on the plate.

It can't be the Youzhou Tiger Ben Jingjia, then it can only be the gang of horse thieves who eat people and don't spit out bones.

Liu Lezi sighed and said, "There should be a delicate lady in the car, it seems that it won't end well." I don't know which guy was targeted, it's really unlucky! ”

Wu Lailu said in a low voice: "Tiefutu"

Three words, frightened Liu Lezi's face suddenly changed, and he couldn't even move his steps. His body trembled involuntarily, and a layer of cold sweat immediately broke out on his back.

"I will stay in the Northeast Shore Village today, and I will leave early tomorrow morning!"

Wu Lailu said a word without question, and he didn't explain, but he was worried about the people in the car.

He was walking with his head shut, when suddenly a teenage boy flashed out from behind the rocks on the side of the road. The young man was wearing a short robe, and his workmanship and appearance were considered to be first-class, but there were a few black greasy lumps on his chest, and there was a lot of dust. The young man's straight black hair was still stained with a few tender green blades of grass, and he was just looking at his clothes and taking off a flower child who asked for food. It's just that this young man has a handsome and delicate face, which makes people feel very comfortable to watch. With red lips and white teeth, if you are a few years older and change into a brocade dress, you will definitely be a beautiful son.

He carried a stiff bow about the height of his body, and a quiver strapped to his back. The quiver was full of dozens of feathered arrows, and on one side of the quiver was a strangely shaped snow knife without a sheath.

"I planted this tree, I opened this road, and I want to cross it from now on...... Get out of here, don't go the road ahead. ”

The handsome young man, holding a hard bow that was the same height as him, and holding a feather arrow in his right hand, looked at the seven or eight strong men without any fear, but with a little evil intent that seemed to be smiling but not smiling.

Note 1: The meat is good, Emperor Wen of Sui reminted five coins and banned the bad coins issued during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This money, "the back meat is good, there are Zhou Guo, each money weighs four catties and two taels per thousand", so the folk call it good meat. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was used as currency throughout the country at the same time as silk cloth.

Note 2: This ruler is a Han ruler, and each ruler is about 23.1 cm

Note 3: In ancient times, the fifteen-year-old woman was called the year of the and the flute.

(ps: The new book is open, tentatively scheduled to be updated and updated after the end of the emperor.) Ask for collection, red ticket)