Li Yunniang was hit by an arrow in the shoulder, and Wu Ciyou, who was tied like rice dumplings, escaped from the government from the broken wall, not distinguishing between east and west, north and south, regardless of potholes, just see the road, go when encountering the river, anxious like a fish that has slipped through the net, panic like a lost dog, ran out of Yanzhou City, until he could not hear the sound of the chasing, he put down Wu Ciyou, untied the rope, and the two sat side by side on a canal covered by bushes of grass to rest.

"It's out!" Blown by the bone-chilling wind of the wilderness, Wu Ciyou realized that he had been rescued. He looked at Xingdou, it was nearly four watches, he breathed a deep sigh of relief, stroked his numb shoulder, and thought to himself with a wry smile: "This Yun Niang...... What a troublesome leader, a troublesome leader! ”

Yun Niang snorted lightly, Wu Ciyou was suddenly startled, and hurriedly bent down to check, but was speechless.

"Nothing." Yun Niang said, "I don't know which thief shot me with an arrow." ”

When Wu Ciyou took a closer look, he saw Yun Niang's face pale under the starlight, half-lying motionless on the dirt slope, and he hurriedly took one of her hands and wrote in the palm of his hand: "Where is the injury?" Does it matter? ”

Yun Niang's injury was not serious, but because she didn't have time to bandage, she lost too much blood all the way, and she felt dizzy at this time, the heavens and the earth, the stars, and the grass bushes were all spinning, and she smiled reluctantly: "On the shoulder blade, no...... It doesn't matter......" Wu Ciyou listened, he didn't care about the sleepiness on his body, and he came over to unbutton Yun Niang's clothes, but Yun Niang shouted loudly:

"Don't!"

Wu Ciyou's hands shrank like an electric shock, and he suddenly realized that the person lying next to him was no longer "Mr. Yuliang" or "Brother Yuliang", but ...... After pondering for a long time, Wu Ciyou smiled miserably, and wrote in the palm of Yun Niang's hand: "I am not a Taoist Confucian, I am not a Lu beetle woman, Mencius said that my sister-in-law is drowning in her hands, and the right is also!" Yun Niang was silent, as if she had fallen asleep. Wu Ciyou carefully untied the bloodstained placket, tore off the placket of his robe, and tied it firmly for her. Suddenly, his fingers touched a hard object, thinking about the piece of chicken blood green jade inkstone he gave her when he was seriously ill, he couldn't help but tremble, remorse, pity, dazed, melancholy, and he had all the tastes in his heart. I suddenly remembered that Yun Niang left blood stains all the way, and no matter how tired she was, she couldn't rest here!

This scholar of Luotuo picked up the half-awake Yun Niang on his back, braved the cold wind and frost of the fourth watch, and walked in the wilderness for half an hour. Hearing the sound of chickens crowing in the distance, Wu Ciyou panicked in his heart: "The two of them are covered in blood, they can't wander around like this." ”

Seeing that there was a big dark village in front of him, Wu Ciyou staggered step by step, but saw that there was a small temple-like thing standing next to the village, and when he got closer, it was a stele pavilion. He put down Yun Niang, stepped forward and touched it, and couldn't help but be stunned: How did you get to Qufu Confucius Temple? I thought that the former residence of the saint would have many good people, and I felt a little relieved; Thinking of Kong Lingpei, his heart sank again: "How is this good?" "If you go elsewhere, it's too late, and it's really dangerous, so I leaned over and picked up Yun Niang, looking for someone to settle down and talk. He remembered that "the rich must be an official", so he specifically looked for poor families. Some of the houses are too simple for fear of hiding, while others have too many neighbors for fear of alarming many people. It wasn't until the dawn came out in the east and the rising star that Wu Ciyou found a medium-sized family in the northeast corner of the Confucian Temple.

This courtyard is very large, divided into two entrances, but all of them are thatched houses, and there is an empty field in front of the courtyard, which is swept clean, and the firewood and grass are stacked to the height of the roof. At this time, the rooster and dog barked one after another, and there was no choice, so he had to step forward and knock lightly.

Immediately there was a barking of dogs in the courtyard, and the dogs of the nearby people immediately responded and barked. After a while, Fang heard an old voice ask in it:

"Who?"

Silent.

"Who?" The voice became stern.

At this time, Yun Niang's mind was slightly sober, and she suddenly remembered that Wu Ciyou was already hoarse, so she replied with a strong spirit: "I...... We are people who went to Beijing to take the exam, and we stayed in a black shop at night, and escaped, please travel conveniently and save us......"

There was silence again, and suddenly a woman commanded: "Open it for him, open it for him, the sky is almost dawn, what can happen?" ”

The door "squeaked" open, and a white-bearded old man with a long appearance stood tremblingly in the doorway, looking at Wu Ciyou, seeing that his face was full of dirt, blood stains on his placket, and a scholar in his arms, he hurriedly came over and took Yun Niang over. Wu Ciyou was tired and frightened, hungry and thirsty, and he was relieved in one breath, only to feel that his eyes were black, and the golden flowers were rising, and the sky was spinning for a while, and he fell into the door with a bang......

When I woke up again, it was already three poles of the sun. Wu Ciyou looked around, he and Yun Niang were in two beds, and they were both lying in the west wing of the backyard. He was very surprised, this hut suite, from the outside, completely like a villager's house, but the furnishings inside are very different, the red couch lacquer table, the bookshelf coffee table, although there is no luxurious style, but it is like a scholarly family; What's even more strange is that the housewife who sat next to Yun Niang and looked kind, with a cloth skirt and a hairpin, was dressed as a peasant woman up and down, and the old servant who was standing beside her respectfully was wearing a green felt hat, a lake silk cotton robe, and a lambskin with a blue satin hanging face! With such an upside-down costume, Rao is Wu Ciyou is well-informed, and he can no longer figure out the reason.

"This scholar, have you woken up? Very good, please use tea! Wu Ciyou was wondering to herself, and the woman said, "Zhang Da, go make tea and bring some snacks!" ”

Wu Ciyou sat up and took the tea, and drank it all like nectar, he was really thirsty, but he was too embarrassed to eat snacks.

"Sir, I won't ask you how you got into trouble." The woman smiled and said, "This woman disguised as a man, I don't know if it is the sister or wife of the honorable driver?" ”

Wu Ciyou couldn't speak, and he gestured with his hands, and he felt that it was unsightly, so he stretched out his finger and pointed at his throat, and gestured to write. The woman nodded and said, "Got it, the pen inkstone is waiting!" ”

At this time, Yun Niang** also woke up, and saw that the woman was interrogating Wu Ciyou, so she struggled to sit up and said: "He has a throat disease and can't speak, if the master lady has anything to say, just ask me." ”

"Hmm." The woman, who was already sitting beside her, turned around when she heard this, and smiled, and said, "Sister, I don't want to examine you. But since you live with me, I should always know who you are and why you are here. You just have to say it boldly, it's not my Grandma Zhang's wild words, as long as you agree with me, no one in Shandong will dare to disturb you! ”

"This man is so angry!" Wu Ciyou thought to himself, "Could it be that she is someone from the Holy Duke of Confucius Fuyan?" But she said that her surname was Zhang! ”

Yun Niang glanced at Wu Ciyou, and muttered for a long time before saying, "He is my brother, and we ...... We ......" She was thinking about whether to tell the truth or make up a story, when she heard a gorgeously dressed young man come in and say, "Grandma, Kong Lingpei of the Confucian Mansion, come to worship with a post." Wu Ciyou and Yun Niang glanced at each other, and their faces immediately turned pale.

"Well, just him?" Grandma Zhang asked.

"There is also Kong Zhenqi's fourth nephew, Liang'er, and more than a dozen servants behind him."

"Bring me the servants!" Grandma Zhang's face was a little ugly, "Didn't you say anything?" ”

"Say...... I didn't say anything, just asked my grandmother to talk outside. ”

"Kong Lingpei is not a thing, he follows the stabbed Zheng Chunyou all day long." Grandma Zhang said, "Liang'er, I think he's fine, why can't he be so unproductive?" - You must have something to hide from them, and your mouth is like a date! ”

"Back to Grandma's words, we really didn't say anything." The young man saw that Grandma Zhang was annoyed, and hurriedly stepped forward to whisper a few words.

"Okay," Grandma Zhang stood up, "I'll see you in the next room—don't think nonsense about you two, I'll come back later." ”

When this sentence came out, Yun Niang didn't think it was like lightning and thunder! The Confucian Mansion is powerful, and the hereditary replacement of the Yansheng Gong for 2,000 years is like a day, known as "the first in the world". The magistrates went up to the governors and down to the prefectures and counties, and there was no one who dared to provoke, and this woman casually said that she "appreciated" the people of the Confucian Mansion! It's incredible.

Kong Lingpei stepped into the door with a smile, and saw Grandma Zhang sitting upright eating tea, and stepped forward to ask Qian'er to say goodbye: "I haven't seen Grandma for more than half a year, my spirit is getting stronger and stronger, my nephew is here!" ”

"Get up, didn't you go to Yanzhou Mansion Zheng Chunyou to be a master? What is the wind that blows you back? - Liang'er, the eldest brother you hired is studying in Shimen, I see that it is about to become a material, why don't you come out of the brothers in the four suits, you will look like this - don't do serious things, focus on drilling the outside world! ”

"Back to grandma," Kong Lingpei sat down with his robe and said with a smile, "This is not the business of the fourth master-he came back from Shimen to get a book for Hirozhi, by the way, come to see grandma, I am-" He suddenly lowered his voice. Wu Ciyou and Li Yunniang next door couldn't hear a word.

"You inverted nose spirit!" After a while, he heard Grandma Zhang laugh and said, "How did you know that they fled to us?" ”

"One was wounded, and the blood dripped all the way to the edge of the canal in the southwest corner of Konglin." Kong Lingpei said, "I think there is nowhere else to go, it's always in our area!" When Wu Ciyou and Yun Niang next door heard this, they didn't feel a tight heart, and they really came to hunt down themselves!

"Oh!" Grandma Zhang agreed absentmindedly, and said, "If you come, maybe someone is hiding, why don't you find it and send it back?" ”

"My nephew has visited every house, but no."

"You have so many tenants in the Kong family," Grandma Zhang said with a smile, "I don't know which village or household it will fall to, don't worry, look for it slowly, he is injured and can fly to the sky?" ”

Kong Lingpei couldn't help but be a little anxious when he saw Grandma Zhang blindly going around in circles, and said with a dry smile: "Don't hide it from Grandma, the tenants have already turned to the bottom - some people say that when the sky is about to dawn, Grandma's dog barked for a while. The nephew thought, "Grandma is a person who knows the law, how can she harbor a prisoner?" I have the courage to ask if I would allow my nephew to come to your servant's room...... Check it out, it's just to go to the doubts......"

"I said, why did you suddenly remember to come to see me, and it was to say hello, and to say hello, such a big filial piety - it turns out that you actually came to my Zhang's house to search for thieves!" She sneered, "Don't say it's you!" Your father is the governor in the world, Kong Youde is the prince, and you have to behave in my three-zhang courtyard - look at me as good as my mother-in-law! She blushed and said categorically, Kong Lingpei was so frightened that he didn't say anything for a while. Kong Shangliang saw that he was embarrassed, and hurriedly persuaded him: "Pei'er told me on the road, I didn't want to search my grandmother's house, I'm afraid that you will always misunderstand, let me help explain the explanation, just look at people's houses, he can also make a difference......"

"It's none of your business, it's serious to go back and get the book for your hired brother!" Grandma Zhang said, "There is no one in the Zhang family to nest thieves!" The few people left behind after my man died were all errands with the Zhang family for several lifetimes, and I haven't heard of anyone who has been a thief or a stolen person! If there is a thief, I am the first one, you Kong Lingpei said a charter, what should I do! After speaking, Wu Ciyou and Yun Niang listened to Kong Shangliang and resigned.

Kong Lingpei rushed back with people following the bloodstains that night, and he didn't even have an official card in hand, and even if he did, he didn't dare to use it in this three-foot forbidden place. Facing this resolute grandmother, Kong Lingpei pondered for a while and said: "Grandma, it's not that the little nephew dares to offend your old man, this matter has a lot to do with it, the government is all on the little nephew, and Yan Shenggong went on a pilgrimage to Beijing and was not at home......"

"How's he at home?" Grandma Zhang said, "For more than 700 years, I have been neighbors and relatives of the Confucian Mansion, and I have never heard of anyone daring to touch a single grass of my Zhang family!" What kind of thing are you! ”

"Then the little nephew is rude!" Kong Lingpei was worried because he escaped from Wu Ciyou, he and Zheng Chunyou were in danger of being wiped out, and he couldn't care about grinding his teeth with Grandma Zhang, so he stood up and said, "After the incident, the little nephew led the whole family to bear the guilt!" As he spoke, he strode to the front yard and shouted to the officials guarding the door: "Come, search!" ”

"Someone!" Grandma Zhang also followed, stood on the steps and commanded loudly, "Call the guys in the back to come!" ”

In fact, there is no need to shout, the servants of the Zhang family have already hugged out, knowing that there is something here, they all carry a new water and fire stick with the sign of the Confucian Mansion, lined up in two rows, which is not worse than the majesty of the Yamen of the Law Department of the Taipei! Grandma Zhang snorted and said to Kong Lingpei:

"See? This stick was sent by the Holy Father, and it hasn't been used yet, you kid want to try it? ”

"Up!" Kong Lingpei gritted his teeth. Seeing that Grandma Zhang was so stubborn, he was even more sure that Wu Ciyou was undoubtedly here.

"Zhang Da, please take out Grandma's dragon head staff and knock the cloud board up!" Grandma Zhang sneered, "The Zhang family has a robber, so call the people of the Confucian Mansion to save it!" ”

"Wow!" The old man who opened the door for Wu Ciyou said yes, pulled his feet and walked back.

"Hey...... Hey, hey! Kong Lingpei suddenly panicked. The Confucian family law is extremely powerful, he has a very low rank in the Kong family, and he misbehaves due to factors, and there are a few people in the clan who hate it. As soon as the cloud board sounded, the Confucian Mansion came to the rescue, and when they saw that it was the family of Grandma Zhang, who could not be provoked, it was possible to kill him on the spot, or bury him alive. Kong Lingpei saw this step at this time, and hurriedly shook his hand and smiled: "Whew! The little nephew also fainted from eating. You don't have to be as knowledgeable as your little nephew, just get out of here! After speaking, he turned his face and reprimanded a few officials who had brought: "Dead corpses! Don't go away yet—it's in this circle, I don't believe they'll fly out! ”

Wu Ciyou and Yun Niang were relieved when they heard that the front yard was gradually silent. But Grandma Zhang didn't come over again this whole day, the tea and dinner were all cooked by Zhang Da, and occasionally I heard her supervising her family in the courtyard and outside the courtyard, settling the work in the field, and bringing people to the workshop to weave cloth by herself. It wasn't until the time of the lantern that the mysterious Grandma Zhang brought a Lang Zhong to treat the two of them, and ordered someone to grab medicine and arrange housing for Yun Niang. After the soup and rice were used, everything was in order, and then he went to the West Wing and sat down and said with a smile: "I said that I would come when I went, who wanted to make such a fuss." I was busy during the day, so I had to come at night - I am a farmer, and I don't have the courtesy of those guests, so don't blame me. ”

Yun Niang and Wu Ciyou rested for a day, and the old chicken boiled soup and was much better. Wu Ciyou walked over and gave Grandma Zhang a deep bow and sat on the chair next to him. Yun Niang said: "The eldest lady treats us so kindly, and one day in the future she will repay your old man." ”

"I already know a rough idea of what you're doing." Grandma Zhang said with a smile, "Saving people's lives is better than building a seventh-level floating slaughter!" The Kong family's Ling Pei is not bad when he is a child, but he didn't expect that the longer he grows, the more it is not a thing! Half a year ago, I saw Zheng Chunyou again, and when I came back, it was Zhong Sanlang again, Wu Sangui again, and I wanted to be the son of heaven, as if I had fallen into evil! Didn't you look at the enclosure that has been stopped since the year before last, and the people have only had a few days of peace? For no reason, I just hope that the world will be in chaos! I don't understand what the people are not the people, who cares about the yellow son in the common people's family, Kangxi respects Kong and Meng, respects the heavens and respects the ancestors, and acts so reasonably, I look at it is also Chinese! He laughed. Wu Ciyou listened, his eyes were scorching, and his words were very good at mentioning his conversation, but he couldn't say a word. He looked up at the peasant woman-like Grandma Zhang, lowered his head and sighed with emotion.

"What did he say about us?" Yun Niang asked with a smile.

"Said - you are a big loud horse, his name is Yu Liu- he is Yu Qi's brother, and he also said that this is Zheng Futai's truth."

"Grandma, what do you think?"

"He's all, who doesn't know that Zheng Chunyou wants to hurt people again? In the first year, he killed Yu Wu, and another Yu Ba, and they all became thieves! Whoever you want to kill, you are a thief! Grandma Zhang sighed and said, "During the Seven Rebellions, I was only a teenager, how could there be a person of Yu Liu's age?" - Speaking of you, that's even less like, how can such a delicate yellow flower girl's house be a ringing horse? Amitabha, sin! ”

"Grandma, you know the righteousness," Yun Niang smiled, "I won't tell you, I'm really a 'ringing horse'!" She was grateful to Grandma Zhang in her heart, and she didn't have the slightest vigilance, so she told her what happened to her since she was a child, how she got to Wang's house, how she was almost killed, how she went up to Zhongnan Mountain, and why she went down the mountain, saved Wu Ciyou, and what kind of person Wu Ciyou was...... 1510 slowly said to Grandma Zhang. When Grandma Zhang heard this, tears glistened for a while, hairy hair for a while, closed her eyes and smiled for a while, and filled her chest with anger for a while.

"You are really reincarnated as a human being if you don't die." After listening to Yun Niang's words, after a long time, Grandma Zhang sighed, "This is several times more lively than what is said in the big book and drum lyrics." If I hadn't seen you, I wouldn't have believed anything—even so, that Miss Su has taken refuge in my Buddha, and I look at you two, a pair made in heaven, why can't you-"

The air suddenly condensed. Yun Niangfei blushed, sighed and lowered her head, Wu Ciyou looked at the dark night outside the window stupidly, the cold wind outside with a slight whistling sound, was ringing endlessly.

"Don't talk about that." Seeing the embarrassed expressions of the two, Grandma Zhang said with a smile, "You live here first, even if you are brothers and sisters." I still have something on my mind, Mr. Wu is so good at writing, it's a pity not to make it. There is a nunnery in Shimen Mountain here, and the Confucian family has a talent named Shang Ren, called Hiro, who studies there. When Mr. Wu's illness is cured, you might as well go over for a while. When it is calm, you can accompany him to Beijing to see the emperor, wouldn't this be the best of both worlds? After saying that, he wanted to get up and take his leave.

When Yun Niang saw that she was leaving, she was a little reluctant, and hurriedly said: "Grandma, don't be busy, it's early!" I am a little puzzled about this matter today: I heard that the Kong family has a lot of influence in Shandong, and the government depends on it, why is this Kong Lingpei like he is afraid of his grandmother, how can you suppress him? ”

Wu Ciyou stared at Grandma Zhang with wide eyes, which was also a huge question that had haunted him for a day.