The winter in the south of the Yangtze River is not as cold and windy as in the north.

But this kind of clammy and cold, which belongs to the south of the Yangtze River, has made all the people who live here taste the hardships, especially those ordinary people whose families are poor and need to live by selling their strength.

Li Erdao is a blacksmith.

When I was young, I also had my own shop, and although my life was not rich, it was not difficult to maintain.

However, 20 years ago, the Jingjiang River burst its dam, and more than a dozen villages, including the village where he lived, became a vast ocean, and his wife and children were also lost at that time.

In search of his wife and children, he embarked on a long trek.

When you go to a place and run out of money, you stop, find a blacksmith shop to do your job, and when you have enough money, you can continue on your way.

Many people persuaded him, don't look for it, after so many years, even if the two of them are still alive, I'm afraid that it will be a long time ago, so it's better to find a blacksmith shop to do things safely while he is young, and when he has saved enough money, he will marry a successor.

He just laughed, and didn't say good, or bad.

When you have enough entangled stock, you will resign from the shopkeeper.

Today is the day when Li Erdao is ready to go.

Although, during the Year of Integrity, few people are willing to run around, but in his words, his wife and children are not around, where is he drifting, not a drift?

Before leaving, Li Erdao went to the Liangyi Workshop to say goodbye, and brought the last batch of orders he received from the Liangyi Workshop, fifty pairs of threaded shoes.

"Sister-in-law Sun, is Madame there?"

As he spoke, Li Erdao put down the farrier on his shoulder, and said hello to the mother-in-law surnamed Sun who was busy working in the porridge shed at the door.

"Alas, Master Li?"

"This Chinese New Year, where are you going to dress up like this?"

There are many horses in the good doctor's workshop, and the consumption of the farrier is naturally not a small number.

This mother-in-law surnamed Sun is often sent to the blacksmith shop to order hooves, and after coming and going, he is familiar with this Li Erdao.

"I've had enough, I'm ready to leave today."

Regarding his past, Li Erdao has never shied away from it.

Hearing the mother-in-law surnamed Jiang ask him where to go, he only smiled honestly and said it unabashedly.

"Madame Meng's skill, the old wound on my leg has occurred once this winter."

"When I saw it, I was ready to leave, and I don't know when I would come back next time."

"No, it's just in time for the New Year's Festival, and there is no business in the shop, so I secretly picked up some scraps and made a few playthings for the little master."

Li Erdao is an honest man.

First, he will not ignore the materials of the shopkeeper for his own use, and second, he will not lie and exaggerate, and talk about worthless things to please others to gratitude, but his craftsmanship is not bad, and even Yanjing has few people who can build threaded shoes, and they can only rely on a waste shoes to make a look, and the imitation is exactly the same.

After that, Li Erdao put his hand into the hitch hanging on his shoulder, took out a few carefully polished iron birds from it, and handed them to the mother-in-law surnamed Jiang.

"This thing is so ingenious!"

"Master Li, wait a minute, I'll go and tell Madame!"

The town is small.

If it weren't for the fact that in recent years, horse dealers have often come to buy foals, and many people who live here may not have been able to deal with outsiders for the rest of their lives, let alone see such delicate and impractical things that can only be used to coax children.

The mother-in-law surnamed Sun took the iron bird handed by Li Erdao, and ran into the yard with a smile.

In recent days, the little master of her family always likes to grab things, but he is young and does not have much strength in his hands, so he often slips off and falls to the ground as soon as he grabs things.

For this reason, the cups, plates and dishes at home have been replenished batch after batch.

Her wife is generous, and she never blames the little master for this, and she feels distressed when she looks at her.

If there were already a few gadgets that weren't afraid of falling......

Seeing that the mother-in-law surnamed Sun went in to report, Li Erdao simply sat down in the porridge shed and asked the cook in charge of the stove for a bowl of dumplings.

He needed to get to the next town before it got dark.

This should be the last dumpling he eats in this town.

The taste of this dumpling was very good, and he always reminded him of many years ago, when his wife and children were still around, the family sat around the table, eating dinner, and gossiping about the warmth of home.

Thinking of this, Li Erdao's eyes turned red.

He has been forty for three or twenty years this year, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he has lived half a lifetime.

He didn't know how much longer he could be looking.

Perhaps, one day, when he will no longer be able to hold the hammer and no one will hire him, he will have to stop.

If that day really comes, he will go back to his hometown, build two grass houses on the site of the old mansion, and wait for her for the rest of his life.

If she doesn't come, he waits until he dies.

"Wait for me, Yan Niang."

Li Erdao muttered, raised his hand, and rubbed his cheeks vigorously to cheer himself up.

Over the years, he has traveled all the way, and has heard a lot of news about Yan Niang, he knows that she is not dead, and their son is still alive, and he firmly believes that as long as he does not give up, he will definitely move God and return his wife and children to him.

A bowl of dumplings was served, and before Li Erdao could finish eating, the mother-in-law surnamed Jiang trotted all the way out of the yard.

"Master Li, your daughter-in-law, is her name Yan Niang?"

The sprint made the mother-in-law surnamed Sun a little out of breath.

She stood in front of Li Erdao and said as she pressed the table with both hands.

She has heard the story of Li Erdao, and she has a lot of respect for him, a man who values affection and righteousness.

If she can, she doesn't mind and helps him.

"You, have you heard of Yan Niang's whereabouts?!"

Li Erdao rarely tells others the names of his wife and children when he is looking for someone, firstly, to avoid causing trouble to the person with the same name, and secondly, to better protect the reputation of his wife and children.

The road is that there is no chastity in the year of disaster.

There are some things that he has already figured out.

If one day, he finds Yan Niang, and Yan Niang is forced by life to remarry someone else, and he will never be embarrassed by her.

If she wants to go with him, he will take her away, at all costs.

If she doesn't want to, he will go by himself, and he will never disturb her to live a peaceful life.

"Just now, I sent those few things you made to show my wife."

"Young Master Xue said that he had seen similar gadgets at his cook's house."

"That cook, named Yan Niang, with her son, has worked in the Shen family for many years, and she makes good noodles."

The mother-in-law surnamed Sun said as she asked for a bowl of dumpling soup to quench her thirst with the cook who was busy next to her.

"She, she, she is now, is she still working, is she still working in the Shen family?"

Because of his excitement, Li Erdao stammered a little even when he spoke.

He had made a few of these gadgets for his son when he was bored.

Moreover, and that woman, also called Yan Niang, is also alone with her son, and she also makes good pasta!

He was almost certain that the woman who worked in the Shen family and was named Yan Niang was undoubtedly his wife.

It's just that "the hometown is more timid", he is not sure, he has been working in a big family for many years, his wife, at this time, he still needs him......

"I heard that Young Master Xue said that she has been doing day labor, just asking for food, drink and housing for the two of them."

"But every time the Shen family's caravan is about to leave, she will go to ask someone to ask someone to help inquire, a blacksmith nicknamed 'Broken Nine Knives'."

"Later, when her son grew up, he followed the caravan to trade, and now, he is also a little steward."

The words of the mother-in-law surnamed Sun made Li Erdao freeze in place.

More than 20 years ago, when he first opened a blacksmith shop, he did his best to create a long knife for an official family, the long knife was sharp and tough, and when the official family tried the knife, he cut nine ordinary long knives with one knife, and he also got the nickname of "Broken Nine Knives".

This nickname has never been used since he failed to cut the tethered horse post in that flood and failed to save Yan Niang and his son.

He didn't expect that she would look for him like this.

Precognition......

Twenty years.

It's been twenty years!

God, you old man, you have finally opened your eyes!

……

Wiping away his tears and tidying up his clothes, Li Erdao followed his mother-in-law surnamed Sun into the backyard of the Good Medical Workshop.

This lady is a well-known female doctor, with excellent medical skills, and never dislikes the poor and loves the rich.

She diagnoses the pulse of a man, and will make people use a few silk threads to wrap around the person's wrist, and I heard a businessman who has been to Yanjing say that it is called hanging silk pulse diagnosis, which is a stunt that the imperial doctor may not know.

He never dared to look at this lady, first, for fear of abrupt people and give some troubled people a handle, and second, this lady is really good-looking, he is afraid that he will have a love for others, sorry for his Yanniang.

"Li Erdao has seen Mrs. and all of you."

Li Erdao bent down and saluted, and his eyes never left his feet since he entered the backyard.

He only knew that one of these people present was the male owner of the house, but he didn't know who it was.

In order not to be embarrassed, he simply used a general name.

"Are you 'Broken Nine Knives'?"

More than 20 years ago, the nickname "Broken Nine Blades" was a legend in the sword world, which is not an exaggeration.

Even now, weapons with "broken nine knives" on the hilt of the sword are regarded as treasures by many eunuchs.

Ling Jun didn't have the opportunity to meet the "Broken Nine Knives" himself, but his most advantageous weapon was a thin sword that fell into the "Broken Nine Knives" section.

"It's the villain."

Li Erdao didn't know if the person who was asking him was the one surnamed Sun's mother-in-law said, who was called "Young Master Xue".

But in his mind, even if this person was not the "Young Master Xue", among these people present, there was always one who could always hear his answer.

"Did you make this sword?"

handed an imitation long sword engraved with "Broken Nine Knives" on the hilt to Li Erdao, Ling Jun planned to test this person who called himself "Broken Nine Knives".

In his mind, a well-known master crafter, even if he is not a "human spirit", can never be such a person, a person with three points of stupidity in his restraint, although the farrier he makes is indeed durable, but ...... The difficulty of the hoof and the crafting tool is still like cloud mud after all......

Li Erdao didn't say a word, took the imitation long sword from Ling Jun's hand, closed his eyes, touched the hilt three times unhurriedly.

"It's not."

"It's a replica."

"Up to three years for the machine."

"It's been twenty years since I made a weapon."

Li Erdao's answer was categorical.

In his tone, there was depression and anger.

At this time, he seemed to be like the restrained little person who didn't dare to raise his head when he spoke.

"Where's this one?"

For this imitation sword, Ling Jun is very clear about the origin.

Seeing that Li Erdao was actually the year of the sword, he said that there was no mistake, and he suddenly became interested in him.

Untied the sword from his waist and handed it to him.

Catch the sword.

Li Erdao was suddenly stunned.

Then, he raised his head and looked at Ling Jun standing in front of him.

Shaoqing knelt on his knees and bowed to him.

"The grass people are abrupt, Your Highness forgives your sins."

"How do you know who I am?"

Li Erdao's reaction made Ling Jun stunned for a moment.

took half a step forward, frowned, and helped Li Erdao up from the ground.

Since he was a child, this sword has been his sabre, and he has always thought that this sword was given to him by General Jiang, but now it seems that it may be ......

"More than 20 years ago, Your Majesty went to Jiangnan in person to supervise the salt business."

"At that time, the villain had just won the nickname of 'Broken Nine Knives', and he was quite unbelievable."

Speaking of Emperor Longqing, the muscles on Li Erdao's face twitched slightly, as if he was a little reluctant to mention that past.

"Your Majesty instructed the villain to forge a sword for him."

"The villain felt that he was slender and must be a gentleman who would make good weapons dusty, so he offered a sky-high price of three thousand taels of silver, wanting to make him retreat with shame."

"But unexpectedly, the next day, he really brought a full amount of silver tickets, and explained to the villain in detail that he was going to cast this sword, and he planned to leave this sword as an heirloom."

"Afterwards, the villain heard that His Majesty sold the good horse given to him by the emperor at a low price in order to raise enough money, and because of this, he was whipped and punished."

Speaking of this, Li Erdao paused slightly and pursed his lower lip.

"Your Highness, please take a step to speak."

After being silent for a long time, seeing that Ling Jun had no intention of moving, Li Erdao hesitated for a moment, and finally slowly exhaled, took a half step forward, bowed his head, and pinched a piece of jade embedded in the hilt of the sword with his thumb and index finger.

Buzz –

The sword was not unsheathed, but it suddenly rang.

Immediately afterwards, the end of the hilt of the sword bounced open, revealing a hidden compartment that Fang Lingjun had never discovered, and in the dark compartment, there was a carefully folded yellowed note.

"This secret grid is the best proof that this sword is not fake."

"The name of 'Broken Nine Knives' really lives up to its name."

Ling Jun smiled and praised, pretending not to see the note in the dark grid, and smiled and pressed back the bouncing end of the hilt.

Although he wanted to know immediately what was written on the yellowed note, he had been walking in the thorns for many years, and he knew better, curious, and killed the nine-life cat.

There are some things that the less people know, the better.

When these "outsiders" are gone, he and his wife and cat are in the room, just slowly disassemble and check, anyway, between the two of them, there is no need to have any reservations, and there is no need to have secrets!