On the streets of Yunzhou in the middle of the night, from time to time, there are Ziqing soldiers patrolling with guns in a team of ten people, and the cry of "dry weather, be careful of fire candles" rings with Bangzi from time to time. Except for the faint light of the lanterns in the hands of the patrolling soldiers and the gentry, there was hardly any light on the whole street, and the sides of the street were also pitch black, so the crooked moon was especially bright.

On the dark street, a few dark shadows quietly avoided the patrolling soldiers and the guards who checked the night along the street, sometimes hiding in the dark shadows of the corners, and sometimes rushing quickly through the uninhabited streets, leaving a few uneven, fluttering shadows, hollow and eager subtle footsteps. And these subtle audios and sounds, like ripples brought by the breeze blowing across the water, suddenly dissipate in the hazy moonlight.

There are four figures, one is agile, two are vigorous, and one is inadequate; One short, one tall, and two burly. One tall and powerless was Duan Wenchang, the two burly and vigorous were Wu Ciyou and Wang Wu, and the other was short and agile, a little beggar, whom Li Yu found in Gao Mu's residence.

Ziqing's tight population control reached its extreme in a state of war. As a historical term, beggar has lasted for thousands of years, but in places like Ziqing, the legitimacy of the existence of this term and its content is denied. In places like Ziqing, everyone is a resource and has to be used, how can someone be allowed not to be a soldier or to produce, and to consume food with nothing? If you want to consume it, you have to go to the imperial court or other places controlled by the town. Therefore, if there is a beggar, he will probably be punished and then sent back to his hometown.

It's just that Li Shidao can manage people but can't control the sky, and every year there are always civilians who flee under natural disasters, becoming homeless people and even beggars. After the outbreak of the war, Li Shidao was ruthless, and all the beggars were arrested. Relatively speaking, the strong and young are incorporated into the army - generally speaking, they are incorporated into the death camp, taking the lead with simple weapons, acting as the role of frustrating the sharp energy of the officers and soldiers and consuming the arrows of the officers and soldiers, and the old, weak, sick and disabled are incorporated into the baggage battalion, the craftsman battalion, or distributed to various places to produce, as for the second point, Li Shidao was very merciful not to eliminate them, but sent them to Zhenghua, Biansong, Xuzhou and other imperial court-controlled areas. The little beggar is one of the beggars who survived the Yunzhou raid. The reason why he was spared was because the little beggar saw that the situation was not good, and he escaped into Gao Mu's abandoned house through the dog hole, and escaped, otherwise he would not have escaped the fate of being compiled as a miscellaneous soldier, this child, although he looked thin and short, said that he was not small, and he was thirteen and a half years old.

By the time Wu Ciyou found the little beggar in the kitchen of Gao Mu's house, the little beggar was already dying of hunger. Their arrival saved the little beggar's life. Li Yu found that he was really related to beggars along the way, so he took one in Tongguan and saved another one here. After saving him, he found that this little beggar was really a villain, much cuter than many self-righteous post-90s, and there was nothing he didn't know about the streets and alleys of Ziqing.

The little beggar's surname is Luo, a native of Qingzhou, there is no name, and people usually call him a "hey" word, Li Yu gave him a name called Luo Qing, and asked him to worship Wu Ciyou as a master. Originally, I took in the child just to pity him, but I didn't expect this child to be really useful, when Li Yu proposed to go to someone's house, Wu Ciyou said:

"Master, you have to cross two streets from here to there, and it's too dangerous to meet four patrols."

Luo Qing on the side listened to a plausible question, and only after a while did he ask tentatively:

"Master Huang, do you old people dare to go to Judge Guo's house? I know the way, and I promise to avoid patrolling the streets. I've been in Yunzhou for a year or two, and there's no road I don't know and can't go. This Judge Guo's wife has a birthday, and I even sneaked in to steal food. ”

Li Yu was naturally overjoyed when he heard this. Wu Ciyou didn't believe it, so he asked many questions, and Luo Qing answered them fluently. So after Li Yu arranged, as soon as the time passed, he ordered Duan Wenchang to take Wu Ciyou and Wang Wu as escorts, and walked through the streets and alleys under the leadership of Luo Qing, and approached Guo Rihu's house. Hiding in a small alley, Wu Ciyou saw a big tree by the wall of Guo's house, and was about to run out, but was pulled by Luo Qing and whispered:

"Master, don't move, there's someone up there!"

Wu Ciyou looked over, the branches and leaves on the tree had fallen away, and it was bare, and he couldn't see where the people were. Luo Qingdao:

"There's a hole in this big tree, and people and cats are in the hole."

Wu Ciyou looked at it again, and sure enough, there really seemed to be a black shadow moving between the branches. secretly screamed "ashamed" and asked his little apprentice:

"How's that to be?"

Luo Qing's little nose was red from the cold, his eyes were slippery, and he said:

"Follow me!"

took the three of them around in a big circle, and came to a frozen water's edge, standing by the ditch, Luo Qing said to the three people:

"In addition to going through the gate and climbing over the wall, there are two ways to enter Guo's house, one is to drill a dog hole, and the other is to enter through the waterway. Duan Ye and Master Wang Ye are both people with status, and the little ones naturally can't go in from the dog hole, but fortunately the water is frozen now, let's go in from the waterway! Walking along this ditch for dozens of steps, it is Guo Zhai. I think that since there is a secret post at the front door of Guo's mansion, there must also be a back door, so I will take the master and gentlemen down from here."

This is really comforting to say, although there is not much difference between drilling a dog hole and drilling a waterway, but the difference is much greater. Duan Wenchang and Wu Ciyou were both glad that they didn't let the hot-headed Li Yu come, otherwise, whether they let the king of a country drill a dog hole or a waterway, it would be something that must not be passed on, and the possibility of losing his head was extremely great. After the three of them discussed, they decided to leave Wang Wu to take Luo Qing to look at the post, and Duan Wenchang and Wu Ciyou to go in. This is because Luo Qing, the kid, knows how to use the terrain better than the three of them, and he is clever enough, Wang Wu can protect him. After asking about the topography of Luo Qing's Guo Mansion, Duan Wenchang tied up his clothes according to Wu Ciyou's instructions, instructed Wang Wu and Luo Qing to remember the code, and the two of them lay on the cold ice in turn and crawled towards Guo's house. Luo Qing and Wang Wu walked forward quietly to observe if there were any spies around.

By the way, Duan Wenchang and Wu Ciyou did not wear gloves, but only wrapped cloth around their hands.

Seeing the two of them slowly crawling over, after confirming their safety, Luo Qing made a gesture to continue moving forward. Wu Ciyou was in front and Duan Wenchang was behind, and the two entered Guo's house safe and sound. Luo Qing took Wang Wu to choose a place with his back to the moonlight and squatted down, waiting for them to come out.

As soon as the two of them were squatting, one of them turned around from the other side. Wang Wu and Luo Qing both secretly screamed, "It's dangerous."

Wu Ciyou and Duan Wenchang crawled on the crystal clear ice under the hazy and pure moonlight, listening to romance, but doing it was very uncomfortable, not to mention the cold air was pervasive, just passing through the narrow waterway door was very awkward. Fortunately, the water dried up in winter, otherwise it would have been really difficult to pass.

After passing over, after making sure that there was no one on the side, Wu Ciyou helped Duan Wenchang up and hid behind a small rockery. Guo's house is actually not big, but it is very well conceived in terms of layout. A stream of living water was brought from the courtyard, rockeries, stone tables and benches were arranged along the waterfront, and some trees were cultivated, which looked small but charming. In this era, the arrangement of the garden is far less elaborate than that of later generations, but in the eyes of people, it is already very tasteful. At least Duan Wenchang praised one.

After praising it, the two of them made a difficulty, the yard was dark, where could they find Guo Rihu? The two stood up and looked at it for a while, and Duan Wenchang pulled his shirt and said:

"Follow me!"

took Wu Ciyou and walked forward quietly. Wu Ciyou immediately understood. Although the house is dark, the division of the house is certain. As long as you see the general layout of the house, or the partial layout, of course, you can find the location of the main house.

Carefully touched the front of the main house, and heard a long and a short, one big and one small snoring from the house, the two looked at each other and smiled bitterly, it seems that Guo Rihu and his wife live together. Wu Ciyou quietly opened the door, let Duan Wenchang in, and closed the door. The doors and windows were tightly covered, and there was no light outside, so Wu Ciyou got used to it for a while, felt out the flint, and lit the paper media. By the faint light of the fire, Wu Ciyou lifted the curtain and touched Guo Rihu's bed, only to see a charcoal fire in front of the bed, Guo Rihu and his wife were lying side by side, Wu Ciyou sighed softly, silently said "offended", turned his fingers into a knife, and pointed at Mrs. Guo who was sleeping inside. Duan Wenchang followed, Wu Ciyou aimed the fire at Guo Rihu, Duan Wenchang nodded, Wu Ciyou handed the paper media to Duan Wenchang, held Guo Rihu's shoulder, and called softly:

"Wake up, wake up!"

Guo Rihu slept soundly, and suddenly felt a burst of cool air on his face, and then his eyes seemed to feel a faint light, and he vaguely heard someone calling in his ears, and opened his eyes dimly to see that a man's face was in front of him, Guo Rihu twisted his head to the side, suddenly found that something was wrong, sat up suddenly, and said loudly:

"You~~Hmm~~~"

The whole body was restrained by Wu Ciyou. Wu Ciyou said softly:

"We didn't come here in bad faith, we just had something to ask. If you promise me not to shout, I'll let you go, or ······"

Guo Rihu didn't react, Wu Ciyou repeated it again, only to wake up that this person was restrained by himself, and he couldn't agree, so he had to say:

"If you agree, close your eyes."

Guo Rihu closed his eyes as he said. Wu Ciyou let go of him slightly and said:

"You open your eyes - don't move - I ask you, who are you?"

Guo Rihu replied:

"A certain is Guo Rihu, the judge of the Ziqing Festival, you are the rangers of the rivers and lakes under the handsome, right? Did the commander order you to kill me? ”

Wu Ciyou said:

"Hugh has to say so much, let me ask you, have you been to Chang'an not long ago?"

Guo Rihu replied:

"I've been, but I'm on the orders of the marshal—"

Wu Ciyou stopped Guo Rihu and said:

"I don't care whose order it is. I ask you, do you know him? ”

Guo Rihu found that there was still a person standing next to Wu Ciyou, who seemed to be a little familiar, squinted and looked at it for a while, and then exclaimed:

"You're not~~Hmm~~"

The mouth was covered by Wu Ciyou again:

"Be quiet."

Guo Rihu nodded, Wu Ciyou let go of him, and Guo Rihu whispered:

"Aren't you Duan Wenchang Duan? How do I get here and how do I get to my bedroom? Who is this? ”

Duan Wenchang Road:

"Master Guo has a really good memory, and he only remembered it after only seeing one side of the paragraph. Why is Duan here forgive Duan for not being able to say clearly, who this is, Master Guo doesn't have to know, otherwise he will cause trouble. Master Guo just needs to know that he is reliable. Master Guo, can I trust you? ”

Guo Rihu suddenly turned over and got up, ran to the window and opened the curtain to look, and immediately came back, glanced at his sleeping wife, put on his clothes and said:

"We're talking here."

After that, he put down the curtain, walked to the table and sat down, and after a few charcoal fires, Duan Wenchang followed and sat down:

"Lord Guo, I'm really sorry, but the matter is really urgent, so I took the liberty of it. Duan came here for a purpose, that is, to know if Master Guo was credible. ”

Guo Rihu Road:

"Lord Duan Guo should have believed it. But please forgive Guo for talking too much, who is Lord Duan here on? ”

Duan Wenchang arched his hand to the sky and said:

"Duan is here to represent the imperial court and Zhao Guogong. As Lord Guo, wouldn't he not know that Zhao Guogong had been appointed to preside over military affairs as the deputy marshal of the camp, right? ”

Guo Rihu nodded and said:

"This Guo has heard a little, but does Master Duan have any evidence?"

Duan Wenchang took out a document from his arms and said:

"Lord Guo, please take a look."

Guo Rihu opened the paperwork and looked at it twice, and suddenly stood up respectfully. After reading it, he said:

"The seal on this is the emperor's private treasure-Lord Duan, Guo has been ostracized since he came back from Chang'an, and he has no access to secrets. Even the front door and the back door are watched every day, if the court and Zhao Guogong have important things to do, Guo is afraid that he can't do anything. ”

Duan Wenchang took the paperwork, threw the paperwork into the charcoal brazier, and waited for the paperwork to slowly turn into ashes before he said:

"This document was personally given by His Majesty when Duan Mou left Chang'an, and the Tao can only be shown to Lord Guo, and it will be destroyed after reading. Duan's request for help from Mr. Guo this time is actually not difficult, but it is slightly risky. Duan heard that Master Guo was about to leave Yunzhou in a few days? ”

Guo Rihu Road:

"Exactly. Li Shidao was slandered by Li Wenhui and Lin Ying, and encountered a popular uprising, so he wanted to drive Guo out of Yunzhou and let Guo go to Yanzhou to make a history of assassination, so that I would go out of Yunzhou to take up my post in the next two days. ”

Duan Wenchang Road:

"That's it. Duan's matter is related to the appointment of Master Guo. Although this matter is small, but the stakes are significant, please forgive Duan for being rude, Lord Guo, can you make a poisonous oath with the clan gods? ”

Guo Rihu glanced at Duan Wenchang dissatisfied, but he still got up and swore a poisonous oath. Duan Wenchang Road:

"It's embarrassing for Lord Guo - Duan is here to ask Lord Guo to help Duan take someone out of the city, and the farther away the better. Of course, this person is not me Duan Wenchang. ”

Guo Rihu Qi said:

"What kind of person is it, it is difficult for you Lord Duan to take such a big risk to come to Yunzhou, which is full of tigers and wolves?"

Duan Wenchang Road:

"If it weren't for the last resort, Duan would not have come to embarrass Lord Guo. Don't ask who it is, in any case, you must take him out. ”

Guo Rihu stopped asking. The two of them summed up in detail for a while, clarified the general method, and Duan Wenchang said:

"It's dark at night, Duan will go back first today. Tomorrow night, Duan will bring someone, if Duan doesn't come, Lord Guo, you just need to recognize this person, he will come and I will come. When Lord Guo leaves Yunzhou, someone will naturally contact you on the way. ”

With that, get up and take your leave. Just about to leave, Wu Ciyou, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly bowed his hand to Guo Rihu and said:

"Master Guo, offended!"

Then as soon as he suddenly made a move, Guo Rihu felt that somewhere was numb, and the person fell over. Duan Wenchang was taken aback, but Wu Ciyou lifted the curtain, hugged the fainting Guo Rihu to the bed, and covered the quilt. Then he stretched out his hand and tapped somewhere on Mrs. Guo's body, and after clicking on one place, he clicked on another place, and then came out and put down the curtain, and said:

"You can't relieve your wife in front of your husband, can you? Let's go, they'll wake up tomorrow morning. ”

After lifting the curtain and looking at it for a while, the two quietly opened the door and crept away. Lying on the ice again, they gently learned to bark twice at the waterway gate, but there was no response outside, and the two of them were nervous. Just as he was about to signal again, two soft dog barks came from outside. The two of them slowly climbed out.

Just as he was about to continue crawling on the ice, he heard Wang Wu's voice say:

"Get up, it's all right. Grandma's, this ghost weather, frozen to death. ”

The two got up and looked at it, and they were happy. I saw a guy covered in black slumped on the riverbank. Wang Wudao:

"This guy is here, I'll just knock him out, otherwise you really won't be able to get out."

Duan Wenchang and Wu Ciyou hurriedly climbed to the riverbank, and Duan Wenchang's teeth were so cold that they touched up and down. Several people left in a hurry, but they didn't notice that Luo Qing secretly took something out of the man's arms.

In the morning, the officers and soldiers were hunting in the large camp with flags, and teams of officers and soldiers came out one after another. Last night, Li Yu's words echoed in the ears of every general:

"Tomorrow to attack Jinxiang, there will be no main attack, the four armies will each attack a city, and those who enter Jinxiang first will be credited!"

(Full Text)