"Two foreigners, the place you said has arrived." The driver of the car stopped the carriage with a shout.

"Arrived? Is this it? "I lifted the curtain and jumped off, and I saw a narrow alleyway.

"This is it. I'll get something, you go call the door! Wuxian nodded, and pointed to a high-walled compound on my left.

Ah, it's finally here! I thought that I was about to see Si'er, and my whole person suddenly became energetic.

I picked up my skirt and rushed to the door, knocking vigorously on the door with my hand, and shouting: "Si'er, I'm back, Si'er, open the door"

"Here comes the girl, you tap!" The door slammed open.

"Ah Yu!" I looked at Ah Yu, who had not seen me for half a moon behind the door, and couldn't help but be overjoyed. Great, everyone is safe.

"When did you arrive? How long have you been waiting? I smiled and walked through the door.

"It's been here for a long time, and something is about to happen in Qufu, which is suffocating to death." Ah Yu smiled and opened the two black lacquer doors to the maximum, "What about the master?" Didn't you come with the girl? Ah Yu looked behind me and asked.

"Ah Yu, move things" came from the alley without a shirt.

"Here we are, master!" Ah Yu grinned, and rushed out with a swish.

At this moment, a girl wearing a blue short cloth skirt and a brown headscarf suddenly came out of the wing room on the right side of the courtyard. When she saw me looking at her, she hurriedly put down the bamboo basket in her hand1, and bowed to me tremblingly from afar: "The fish woman has seen a noble girl. ”

"Fishwoman?" I looked at the woman's face, and I only felt that the two curved thin eyebrows were very familiar, but I didn't have any impression of her person, "Fish woman, have I seen you anywhere?" I asked.

"In the ground." The fish woman walked up to me with her head down, her voice as low as a mosquito on a summer day.

I didn't hear her clearly, I wanted to ask again but I was afraid of scaring her, and I was wondering in my heart, when I saw Ah Yu carrying three big burdens and stepping in from outside the door.

"Girl, this is my new wife. Fish woman, have you given a gift to the girl? Ah Yu yelled at the woman.

"I've seen the ceremony." The woman hurriedly took the two burdens from Ah Yu's hands, "Master, I'll take it!" ”

Ah Yu actually got married? How long has it been, where did he find such a clever girl?

I was surprised and delighted, and I couldn't help but take a closer look at this girl who called herself a fish woman. "Oh I remember, you're the woman we snatched from the field!" When I saw a new pink scar on the woman's chin, I immediately remembered her.

On that day, in order to confuse Chen's pursuers, Wuxian specially asked Ah Yu and the swordsman to arrest a common woman in the field. The wound on her chin was cut by Ah Yu when she was struggling. Unexpectedly, after half a month, this girl actually married Ah Yu? I don't know what happened to them all the way from Qi to Lu, there are obviously swordsmen in the same company, although people look a little stunned, but their appearance is much better than Ah Yu!

When the fish woman entered the house with her baggage, I hurriedly leaned over to Ah Yu and whispered, "Hey, how did you get her to marry you?" You shouldn't be persecuting people with a knife, right? ”

"Who forced her with a knife! Girl, don't talk nonsense. Ah Yu's face turned slightly red, "Girl, I'm thirty and six this year, and everyone else has become grandpa at this age, and the girl still doesn't allow me to find a woman to have a baby!" ”

"Who is grandpa?" Wuxian stepped into the courtyard gate with the seventy-seven-eighty-eight things he bought in Feiyi.

"No one is grandpa." Ah Yu hurriedly waved his hand.

"It's Ah Yu, Ah Yu has married a bride. It's the little girl we caught in the wilderness. I smiled at the Innocent.

"Oh." Wuxian threw the things in his hand into Ah Yu's arms, looked up and asked, "Is the road going well?" ”

"It went well, and I didn't meet Chen's pursuers. Outside Sicheng, I met a few poor and crazy bandits, and told me to run away with Ah Shou. ”

"Has anyone come here to look for me in the past half month?"

"Yes, Dr. Lu Guozhong sent someone to ......"

I saw that Wuxian and Ah Yu had something to say, so I took care of myself and walked around the yard back and forth. Yu An and Zhang Mengtan should not have arrived yet, and Wuxian did not come, there were Si'er's things in the east wing, but there was no trace of her inside and out.

"Ah Yu, isn't Si'er here? Didn't Innocence come either? "I left the kitchen in the backyard and went back to the front yard, where Wuxian and Ah Yu were still standing and talking.

"Didn't the innocent brother go with the girl? Are you scattered on the road? When Ah Yu saw me calling him, he turned around and answered.

"We ......" I didn't know how to explain the innocent thing, so I had no choice but to respond indiscriminately, "Well, we got separated in Ganyuan. What about Si'er? Where did she go? ”

"The fourth girl heard that there were melons for sale in the market today, and thought that the girl might arrive in the next few days, so she went to buy melons with Ah Shou."

"Hongyun'er, I want to go to the alley and wait for Si'er." I saw a set of short clothes and skirts that Si'er liked to wear on weekdays hanging in the corner of the yard, and I missed her more and more.

Wuxian understood my mood and said softly: "Go ahead, but just wait at the entrance of the alley, don't run around." ”

"yes, got it." At this time, the fish woman had just come out of the back room after transporting her luggage, and I grabbed her arm, "It's too boring to wait alone, let the fish woman accompany me!" ”

"Okay." Wuxian nodded and said, "I saw someone selling old books at the entrance of the alley just now, if you feel bored, you can go and take a look." I still have some things to explain to Ah Yu, and I'll come back to you later. ”

"You talk slowly, don't worry about me. Fish Woman, let's go! I took the fish woman's hand and walked out of the gate quickly, and before I had gone a few steps, I heard Wuxian shout from inside the wall: "The sun is poisonous, little woman wait in a shady place." ”

What a worrisome person......

"Got it, husband," I replied with a smile over the wall.

"Master, you're laughing so silly." There was a strange cry from Ah Yu in the courtyard, followed by a cry of pain.

I lowered my head and laughed, and walked towards the entrance of the alley: "Fish woman, do you know which way the four girls usually go home?" ”

"Yes." The fishwoman trotted after her.

"Then take me there!"

"Noble girl, but the master just said ......"

"Don't be afraid, he won't blame you. The front is facing the back market, and you should go to the left, right? ”

"Hmm." The fish woman nodded slightly.

"How old are you? Didn't the fish scare you that day in the wilderness? "We went out of the alley, turned to the left, and came to an avenue more than two feet wide. In the country of Qi, there are many vendors carrying burdens and pushing carts on the streets, but on the streets of Qufu, there are several young people carrying bookshelves and wearing Confucian costumes.

"The slave is fifteen years old." The fishwoman walked beside me and whispered.

"Fifteen years old, you're as old as me! Ah Yu forced you to marry him, right? Don't be afraid, if you want to go home, I can ask him to send you back. I smiled as I looked at the workshops lining the streets.

"No, no, no, the master treats the slave very well." The fishwoman walked a few steps and stopped in front of me, her little face full of timidity and fear.

"Don't be afraid of him, we were forced to rob you that day, and now that the matter has passed, it is right to send you home."

"Noble girl, please, don't send the slave back!" The fishwoman suddenly fell to her knees with her legs bent.

I was taken aback by her reaction and hurriedly bent down to help her: "What's going on?" ”

"There were five sisters in the slave family, and Daddy sold the slave to a 60-year-old widower in the village. Noble girl, I beg you, don't send the slave back. The fishwoman said as tears began to fall.

I only said that Ah Yu forced her, but I didn't expect that there was such a secret behind it: "Okay, okay, it's best if you don't go back." Although Ah Yu looks a little ugly, he is loyal and righteous, and it is also a good destination. I helped the fish woman up, smiled and wiped the tears from her face, "It's not that he forced you, what kind of bride price did he give when he asked to marry you?" ”

The fish woman wiped her tears and shook her head.

"Let's go, let's go to the market, I'll buy a hairpin for Ah Yu to make up for you." I took the fish woman's hand and strode towards the west city of Qufu.

The big city of Linzi and the palace city of Qidu are adjacent, while the big city of Ludu Qufu is the big city with the palace city. Duke Lu and his wife and maids lived in the palace in the center of the city.

The military and political power of the Lu State has always been in the hands of the "Three Huan" headed by the Ji Sun clan, so although the Duke of Lu who lives in the majestic palace wall has a noble status, he is only a puppet in the hands of the three major families.

When I was in the Huangchi Alliance, I saw Lu Gong, and I had the impression that he was a short man with a sleek, yellow complexion, and he was always soft-spoken when he spoke, and he had no confidence.

Compared with him, his uncle Lu Zhaogong has a bit of backbone, but it is a pity that he was defeated when he personally led the army to defeat the Jisun clan thirty-six years ago, and finally went to the country and left home to die in the Jin Kingdom. After that, two generations of Lu Jun were established by the Jisun clan.

In the struggle between the Gong clan and the Qing clan, the two countries of Qi and Lu have striking similarities. But other than that, these two neighboring eastern powers give me two completely different feelings.

The country of Qi is heavy on business, the people are open, and merchants from all over the world gather in the market. Walking on the streets of Linzi City, five or six different languages often echo in your ears. However, the country of Lu is heavy on agriculture, the people are more conservative, and the fertile land makes the country of Lu still self-sufficient even if the country is closed and does not trade with other countries. At the same time, the close relationship between the Lu State and the Zhou royal family made the Lu people living under the light of Zhou Gongdan more reserved and proud.

After walking for two quarters of an hour, the fish woman and I finally arrived at the market in Qufu. After seeing the two major markets of Qi Guokang Zhuang and Tang Garden, the markets here did not give me too many surprises.

After walking around the market for half a circle, the fish woman suddenly pointed to a stall in the distance and exclaimed happily: "Look, noble girl, isn't the fourth girl there!" ”