Two blessing transfer lamps rested at both ends of the incense case, Zeng Yu stood on the side of the incense case, behind him, and Peng Laoqiu held a lantern with the word "Fu" shining high, under the light and shadow of the lamp, more than ten faces with different expressions appeared around the young Xiucai in the square scarf and mattress, that was Wu Ping's thieves, or wearing hats or department heads, all with hideous faces and fierce eyes, which made the hostages in the palace feel frightened, and the young Xiucai with a clear face in the center looked out of place with the people around him, and this Xiucai appeared here It is really mysterious and weird-

Xiucai in the square scarf and mattress spoke: "Don't panic, as long as you pay the ransom before dark tomorrow, you will be let go back, now please come up one by one to register your name, so that you can collect the ransom and release people as soon as possible." ”

He said this three times in a row, but no one dared to step forward, huddled in the crowd for safety, and was afraid that he would be dragged out of the body and cut off his head as soon as he came up.

Zeng Yu had no choice but to point to a middle-aged man in front of him and said, "This old man stepped forward to register, don't be afraid." ”

Peng Laoqiu, who was behind him, shouted: "Come here, do you want to be knifed?" ”

The middle-aged man leaned forward and said, "The grass people meet King Zeng—"

Zeng Yu rolled his eyes and looked at the dim dome of the main hall, and thought: "I have become the king of Zeng, and my reputation is outside, this is to force Liangshan." He bowed his head and said: "Don't call me King Zeng, I'm a temporary worker, well, it's a short-term worker - where is your family, who is your surname, and can your family pay two hundred and fifty taels of ransom for you, and report it quickly." ”

The middle-aged man even claimed that it was, and then Ai Ai said: "Caomin, yes, it's the name of the lead mountain, the surname, the surname is Hu-"

Zeng Yu reminded: "Don't lie about your fake name, otherwise tomorrow your family will come to redeem you, you won't be able to go back, why don't you report your name, you are all here, is the name more important than the living person?" ”

Peng Laoqiu was about to scold again, but was stopped by Zeng Yu, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, and said: "The grass people's surname is Hu Mingwang, and the family can barely scrape together enough money to redeem the silver." ”

At this time, Zheng Shi had already polished the ink, took a piece of lead mountain bamboo paper, and wrote down the words "Lead Mountain Hu Xingwang, male, can redeem silver".

Hu Xingwang stepped back, Zeng Yu beckoned another hostage to come forward, inquire, register-

Wu Ping, the leader of the bandits, watched silently for a long time next to him, more than two hundred hostages were going to be registered in the middle of the night, he was impatient, and said: "There is Lao Zeng Xiucai here, Wu will go back to the Yude Hall first, and then discuss it tomorrow."

Wu Ping whispered a few words to the little leader who was guarding the hostages, and then led a few people back to the Yude Hall of the main courtyard, here Zeng Yu registered and made a register for the hostages one by one, and most of the hostages captured were well-off, and it should not be difficult to pay the ransom silver, but there was a porter who stepped forward to register and said that he could pay the ransom silver, Zeng Yu looked at him and smiled: "You can hear clearly, it is two hundred and fifty taels of silver, not two hundred and fifty copper coins." ”

The porter-like hostage hesitated for a moment, or said that he could afford to pay the ransom, Zeng Yu didn't believe it, two hundred and fifty taels of silver was not a small amount, and the civilian family of five spent only a dozen taels of silver a year.

Zeng Yu didn't ask again, and let the porter go down.

At this time, the old man with a rich face limped up, Zeng Yu recognized the old man, and hurriedly said: "It doesn't matter if the old man's leg hurts." ”

The old man stood on the other side of the incense case and said, "It's okay, it's okay, thank you for saving you." As he spoke, he looked at Zeng Yu carefully.

Surrounded by bandits, Zeng Yu was inconvenient to talk to the old man, so he asked the old man Xianxiang and your surname?

The old man who looked like a rich man said: "The old man is from Jiaxing Mansion, Zhejiang, surnamed Yuan Mingzhong, who came here to do business, but was taken captive here. ”

Zeng Yu said: "The rivers and lakes are in turmoil, and Uncle Yuan can be regarded as ruining his wealth and eliminating disasters." ”

The old man Yuan Zhong said: "Don't hide it from the former minister, the old man can get two hundred and fifty taels of ransom silver, but my merchant ship is afraid that it has gone to Shangrao, so I dare not stay here." ”

A thief behind Zeng Yu sneered: "That one who complains about your life is not good, and if you can't hand over the ransom before dark tomorrow, then you will be cut in two." ”

The old man Yuan Zhong didn't dare to speak, and looked at Zeng Yu with a pleading face, hoping that Zeng Yu could rescue him.

Zeng Yu said: "Let's talk about it tomorrow, there is no endless road, my husband will go down and rest." "Let the old man Yuan Zhong go down.

After the registration of more than 200 hostages one by one, it was already the second half of the night, the team of bandits in charge of guarding yawned, the night was cold, the thieves lit a bonfire in front of the temple gate to sit around to keep warm, and the hostages in the cold hall only crowded each other to resist the cold and hunger.

Zeng Yu did not return to the Daizong Hall of the main courtyard, he wanted to stay with these hostages, and he wanted to save the lives of these hostages as much as possible.

A total of sixteen thieves are responsible for guarding these hostages, divided into two shifts, the eight thieves on duty sat around the fire and drank, the little leader saw that Wu Ping valued this Zeng Xiucai, and did not dare to be contemptuous, seeing that the hostages were registered, he invited Zeng Yu and Zheng Shi to sit and drink together, Zeng Yu resigned that he couldn't drink, and called Laifu to find two futons, he and Zheng Shi sat cross-legged one by one, and practiced the Baduan Jin Guidance Method, Zheng Shi had asked Zeng Yu for advice before, and then asked Zeng Yu some questions encountered in the cultivation process-

Those thieves all looked curiously at these two Xiucai knocking their teeth and rubbing their kidneys, while talking about Zeng Yu in a low voice, Peng Laoqiu regarded himself as Zeng Yu's confidant and cronies, and his mouth foamed and blew open, saying that Zeng Yu knew astronomy and geography as the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, and it was clear what was going on, and King Wu had reused him as a military advisor-

The rest of the thieves believed it, because they saw with their own eyes that Hua Wuhan offended Zeng Yu and was executed by Wu Ping, so they were in awe of Zeng Yu, and they didn't dare to make a noise when they drank and talked, and no one harassed the hostages in the palace.

The night passed peacefully.

At dawn on the thirteenth day of the lunar month, the dawn dispelled the darkness, Zeng Yu opened his eyes, although he sat on the futon for half the night, because of the practice of the old Taoist "Serving the Inner Yuan Qi Method", his spirit was vigorous, and he did not show any fatigue, and he saw Zheng Shi lying on the ground lying on the ground and falling asleep at all, but fortunately, the fire was on the side, and he would not freeze and get sick if he did not untie his clothes, and then he saw that those bandits were sleeping on their knees, and the knives and guns were on the side, if they picked up a knife, one by one, it should not be difficult to stab these sixteen bandits, It's just that there are hundreds of elite bandits in this western courtyard, and the Seven Stars Temple is located halfway up the mountain, so it is difficult to get out, and he doesn't just want to get out by himself, he wants to save people

Zeng Yu got up and moved his hands and feet, and heard the sound of footsteps in the hall, and when he stared at it, it was the aunt and sister-in-law of the Ji family who walked out with each other, Li's bun was a little messy, Miss Ji was dressed as a girl, and the three buns combed on her head were scattered, and the black hair covered half of her face, and it could still be seen that her face was white and greasy, and her eyes were black and shiny hidden between the hair.

Zeng Yu nodded in greeting: "Two mornings." ”

Li Shi saw that the thieves by the fire were still sleeping, a little relieved, and his expression was a little timid, and he wanted to say more

Zeng Yu was empathetic and asked in a low voice, "Do you two want to get rid of your hands?" "People have three urgencies.

Li nodded hurriedly, and clinged to his sister-in-law, so ashamed that he didn't dare to raise his head, those men in the hall were in a hurry to solve it at the corner of the hall, they women can't do that.

Zeng Yu said: "You go to the side hall to see if there is a clean bucket?" ”

The two aunts and sisters-in-law walked to the side hall with broken steps, Li pushed the door and looked inside, quickly retracted his head, and the two walked back, Li said in a low voice: "Zeng Xianggong, there are thieves sleeping all over there."

Zeng Yu saw that the Ji girl's legs were clamped tightly and her body trembled slightly, and the expression on her face was about to cry, so he said, "You can just find a corner where no one is around, and you can do it behind the holly tree." ”

There were two holly trees several feet high in the upper left corner of the front yard of the Guangji Palace, and the two sisters-in-law couldn't take care of it, so they hurried forward, and the footsteps woke up a bandit, and the thief jumped up and shouted: "Where to run" scared the girl of the Ji family into a fall.

Zeng Yu hurriedly stopped the thief and said, "Where can I run, it's just a hurry." ”

The thief said "oh", and watched the Ji family's sister-in-law turn to the back of the holly tree and didn't come out for a long time, so he said again: "Wait for me to take a look, don't run away with five hundred taels of silver." ”

Lee's voice came from the holly tree: "No running, no running." ”

The thief smiled: "Why has it been so long, the children have been born." ”

There was a low cry from the holly tree, and Zeng Yu approached and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Li Shi pondered for a moment and said softly: "Xiao Zhi, she can't solve it." ”

Zeng Yu shook his head and said: "My brother is a doctor, and I also know some medical theory, sometimes the internal urgency will not be solved, relax, don't be in a hurry, rub your lower abdomen lightly, and take your time." ”

After a long while, I saw the Li and Ji girls turn out from behind the holly tree, and they didn't dare to raise their heads, and hurried back to the palace.

Zheng Shi also woke up at this time, and washed his face casually with Zeng Yu in the well of the west courtyard, and seeing that there was no one left and right, Zheng Shi said: "I don't know where Master Tongchen is, but don't make a mistake." ”

Zeng Yu couldn't think about it, and said: "It's up to people to make things happen, and it's up to heaven to make things happen, ask the gods to bless you." ”

Zheng Shi said: "My mother still doesn't know that I fell into the hands of thieves, thinking that I am about to be spared, alas, the scientific examination must not be able to catch up." ”

Zeng Yu said with a smile: "What kind of scientific research do you care, saving your life is the accumulation of virtue by your ancestors, I will wait and beg that King Wu to see if I can release you first." ”

Zheng Shi was a little roundabout and said: "What Jiu Li said, naturally there are difficulties. ”

Zeng Yu said: "I can't get out of my body for a while, if you can get out, I can rest assured, you and my brother, you understand what I mean." ”

Zheng Shi held Zeng Yu's hand and sighed.

At three o'clock in the morning, Wu Ping sent someone to invite Zeng Yu to go to the Yude Hall to discuss matters, Zeng Yu asked Zheng Shi to stay in the West Courtyard, and he went to see Wu Ping with the hostage roster registered last night.

Wu Ping flipped through the roster a few times, and smiled on his face: "Zeng Xiucai has worked hard, come, have dinner with me, and wait with me to go to the riverside to see if the officers and soldiers of the Lead Mountain Guard Station have the courage to cross the river." ”

Zeng Yu asked Wu Ping to release his cousin Zheng Shi, and Wu Ping said: "It's easy to say, wait for those hostages to pay the ransom and release them together." ”