After getting off work for the little crab, I sat alone by the bluestone well and pondered.

The 3,000 battalion is the cavalry battalion guarding the Beijing Division, which is stationed in the northwest suburbs of Jinling City, less than ten miles away from Hui'an Fang. With such a short distance, Niu Er hasn't been home for two years.

There are two possibilities: first, Niu Er is an ungrateful unfilial son who is unwilling to support his old mother and raise his younger brother; Second, Niu Er is no longer alive.

If it is the second possibility, Niu Er died or died of illness during the service of the 3,000 battalions, according to the Ming military system, the 3,000 battalions should send people to report the funeral and return the bones. If they die in battle, they should also have a pension for their families and enjoy the treatment of military martyrs.

But Niu Er's mother obviously did not receive a funeral report from the army.

Niu Er's life and death are strange, but what is even more strange is the reaction of the 3,000 battalions.

If the guards beat the old lady as a personal act, then why did they take her into the camp afterwards?

I got up and grabbed a cloak, intending to walk to Hui'an Fang.

My family lives in Anping Fang, which is quite a long way from Hui'an Fang, and I kept asking people about it until it was dark at night, and I finally found the old woman's home.

"Anyone?" I pushed open the dilapidated wooden door and walked in, but as far as the eye could see, the thatched hut and the low earthen wall were very dilapidated.

The low thatched hut was dim, and there was no light, so I called out at the door, "Niu San?" For a long time no one agreed, so I had to go into the house alone.

By a little hazy moonlight, I saw that there was no more than a straw mat, an earthen kang, a low wooden table, and a few worn-out dishes, but the room was obviously searched, the wooden table had broken its legs, and the dishes were scattered and broken on the ground.

Such a poor and dilapidated family, it is estimated that thieves disdain to patronize it, then there is only one possibility: three thousand battalions of people have come.

My heart sank: Niu San is in danger.

Looking around the house, there was no blood, no obvious signs of a fight, I went out of the house and searched around the yard, but there was no one.

Did Niu San run away, or was he captured by the 3,000 battalions? Seeing a stone well in the backyard, I habitually sat down by the well to think, but suddenly I heard a faint moan coming from the well.

I immediately jumped up and asked in the well, "Niu San?" ”

There was a low sobbing sound from the well.

"Don't worry, I'm not from the barracks." I said reassuring words as I looked around for the rope, "I'll pull you up." ”

With a lot of effort, I finally pulled Niu San up from the well.

The boy was no more than twelve or thirteen years old, so weak that he had only a handful of bones left, and he was cowering by the wall in a wet state, looking very pitiful.

I took off my cloak and draped it over him, and whispered comfortingly, "Don't be afraid, tell my sister what happened?" ”

Niu San's lips trembled for a long time, Fang calmed down a little, and said in an almost inaudible voice: "My mother went to the barracks to find the second brother in the morning, and she never came back. In the evening some men on horseback came in with a fierce look, and I was frightened, so I hid myself in the well. They smashed the house for a while, and then they cursed and left. I can't come up from the well alone, and I'm ......cold and scared," he said, and began to cry again.

I was afraid for a while, if I hadn't found it, this child would have soaked in the well all night, and I was afraid that he would have died.

"Who else is in your house?"