Wen Jin thought about it and thought it was right, Fan Liyang and Fan Chongyang were both less than thirteen years old, and I heard that reading is also good, especially Fan Liyang, although he failed to pass the government exam this year, but Wencai is very green-eyed, without complicated housework distractions, they should be able to learn something.

"But there are two brothers here, you can't send them away."

"Sister, I want to send Liyang and Chongyang out first, Liyang is kind, smart and studious, go to Jiangnan, Chongyang's heart is already mixed, so I will send it to the capital. The students in the north are still relatively upright, and I hope Chongyang can correct them. ”

"What if they don't go?"

"Not going? Then don't divide the property. ”

Wen Jin made a gesture of being ruthless, Xiao Yuchen smiled, and in a few days, a big boy was in the housework, and suddenly matured, and he had the strength to be decisive and ruthless.

"But Fan Yuanwai is old, you send the two of you out, can the old man stand it?"

"Daddy said that if Liyang and Chongyang can reconcile, even if they are a little cold and don't interact much, after a decade or two, they are sensible, and they don't have a good relationship with their brothers, right now, as long as they go to a good place, it doesn't matter if he can't see them."

"Then you have to think about things repeatedly, don't regret it when the time comes, and the two younger brothers don't appreciate it, you are not a person inside and out."

"Sister, so what? I don't want to be grateful to them, with me serving my father wholeheartedly, he will definitely not regret it, with me with a fair heart, even if my two younger brothers don't understand now, they will understand in the future, even if they don't understand, I won't regret it. ”

"Good! Good brother, you are not a good son of your father, you have no chance to command a thousand armies, it does not necessarily mean that you are not capable of commanding a thousand armies. Good brother, sister is proud of you! ”

Xiao Yuchen's face was a little flushed, probably because of excitement, pride and shame.

Wen Jin and Mrs. Xiao set off in this way, they first took a land, then a boat, all the way down the river, and a month later, they arrived at the small town where Mrs. Xiao's mother's house was located.

Probably everyone knows about Wen Jin's affairs here, no one beats her idea, and there are two more women who propose to Xiao Yuchen, one is the maiden niece of Mrs. Xiao's younger siblings, and the other is her cousin's daughter, the two girls are not very beautiful, but their skin is very good, white and tender like shallots, and there is a sweet and graceful southern woman's atmosphere, and these two women are also said to be gentle, elegant and decent.

Mrs. Xiao still did not dare to make a promise, saying that she would not be able to make a decision until she saw her husband. Because of this, Wen Jin accompanied Mrs. Xiao to the banquet, this season was a good day for chrysanthemum yellow crab fat, and her appetite was satisfactorily satisfied.

Afraid that Wen Jin would be greedy and hurt her body, Mrs. Xiao simply gave her a jar of sweet wine and let her drink it to warm her stomach, the rice wine was very small, very sweet, and thick, Wen Jin once ate porridge like a small spoonful, a small spoonful of the ground, and unconsciously ate a bowl, her head was dizzy, which frightened Chunming and Xia Yang, and quickly let Wen Jin sleep at that time, and in the future, she only gave her half a bowl every time.

Mrs. Xiao's mother who is most concerned has passed away, his brother and sister-in-law have a sweet relationship, and they live very harmoniously, Mrs. Xiao only stayed for five days, and when she heard that there was a boat on the way, she and Wen Jin went on the road.

Xiao Yi's station is called ***, it is really remote, sit until there is no boat to sit, there is a month of land, one station after another, at the beginning of the house is still spacious and bright, the food is good, the post guard also has cultivation, half a month later, not only the post man does not know how to speak official language, Wen Jin and Mrs. Xiao do not understand very well, and the food is getting worse and worse, the house has become a stilted building made of bamboo, squeaking when you walk up, and the soles of your feet are soft, so that people always have a worry that it will collapse at any time.

Where did Mrs. Xiao go through such a day, and sighed distressed in front of Wen Jin: "It's really not easy for your father, you didn't even mention a word in the letter." ”

"Madam, the barracks are definitely not like this, my father can endure hardships, Liu Guangzhong may not be able to, you see that Liu Yongqi, there is a lot of concubines in the room, and they are wearing them, where is the style of living in a stilted building? You haven't heard Xiao Qiyun say, Liu Yongqi returned to Beijing, and he still brought a tent, with a thick fur carpet on the ground, and a mat on it, I don't know how luxurious, my father replaced Liu Guangzhong, I won't live in a good house, I want to live in a stilted building. ”

Mrs. Xiao is getting better.

Seeing that he was about to arrive at the barracks, Wen Jin wondered why his father didn't send someone to pick him up, he couldn't come out of the camp guarding, his subordinates should be fine, this doubt just came out, there was news from the front, it turned out that a bridge was struck by lightning and caught fire, and now the people over there can't get over, and the people here can't get over, it's really urgent, only more than ten days away.

Hearing the news from the post guard, Wen Jin asked strangely: "Why don't you build a pontoon bridge for people to pass?" ”

"Oh, Miss don't know, the black river is turbulent, the mountains on both sides are steep, if you want to find a shoal to build a bridge, you have to walk along the river for half a month."

"How long will it take to repair the bridge?"

"In two months, the government had to receive so much iron, and then the blacksmith forged the rings, reconnected the burned spots, and erected the planks."

"I guess I can't do it in two months, right? Are there so many blacksmiths? Wen Jin saw the sparsely populated appearance here, and was very skeptical of the post guard's estimate.

Sure enough, the post guard stopped talking, and after a while, the post guard confided his true feelings: "You guys should wait here, there are bandits over there." ”

"If there is not a large army stationed, how can there be bandits?"

"Alas, the army can't help it, the bandits are a group of mountain people, they grow crops on weekdays, and occasionally rob once, they are ruthless, never leave a mouth, and hide in the mountains, what can the army do? You can't kill all the mountain people, even if you want to kill them, you have to find them. ”

Wen Jin thought of the famous TV series "The Story of the Suppression of Bandits in Oolong Mountain", there was no team as capable as the bandit suppression squad, and there was a land reform team to cooperate with the mass work, so it was indeed impossible to eliminate the bandits.

Not daring to risk leaving, Wen Jin had to wait with Mrs. Xiao at the post station, and she was used to living there, and she didn't feel so bitter.

The town where the post station is located is called Sanming Town, and the post man explained that it is said that it is named because a rooster crows and can wake up the people of the three provinces. Sure enough, the road was impassable, and soon there were four or five groups of merchants stranded here, three tea merchants, there were more of them, one group was one or twenty, pulling horses, with bodyguards, and one selling silk and daily necessities, with more than a dozen carts of goods, and a few were not so large.

Trade with Miaojiang, the first batch of merchants have made a lot of money, these people are repeat customers, some are heard by the wind, only to explore the way, there is only one inn in the town, can live twenty or thirty people, it is full at once, even the nearby houses have been rented, and live in outsiders.

The town suddenly became lively, with all kinds of accents and dresses, anxiously asking for news every day, and then returning to their lodgings disappointed. There will be a demand for local people to sell what they have stored at home, or just harvested from the mountain water, fresh bamboo shoots, mushrooms, fish, pheasants, and hares.

Wen Jin patiently accompanies Mrs. Xiao every day, and does not hesitate to cook and cook for her, how can Mrs. Xiao not know her mind? Naturally, he reciprocated the favor, tried his best to suppress his worries and irritability, and often took his powerful family with Wen Jin to visit outside the town.

Although it is remote and sparsely populated, it does not hinder the charm of the natural scenery at all - the mountain is not precipitous, but there are strange peaks and strange rocks everywhere, the stones on the mountain are cyan, blue to blue, some leaves are red and yellow, most of them are still green and pleasant, looking from afar, orange and yellow and red are dotted in the thick green, like a colorful landscape painting.

Wen Jin and Mrs. Xiao did not dare to leave the town too far, most of the time, they were standing by the car, staring into the distance, feeling the rich color in this tranquility, occasionally, they would walk to the nearby stream, the water here is extremely clear, the stones and grass at the bottom of the water can be seen clearly, occasionally there is a water vortex, there is a group of finger-length small fish swimming back and forth, the scales on the body are shining in the sun, I have seen too much, suddenly a small fish jumped out of the water, splashed a splash, Mrs. Xiao and Wen Jin subconsciously hurriedly retreated, Both of them noticed their panic, and then they just looked at each other and smiled.

They are making fun of suffering, forcing their faces to laugh, and they don't want to bring the negative emotions in their hearts to each other.

About twenty days later, there was definite news that the bridge was repaired, and it would take half a year for the merchants in the town to blow up the pot at once, and they did not want to wait.

At this moment, a group of tea merchants came, there were as many as fifty people, more than ten strong men with big shoulders and round waists as bodyguards, and their leader was a man named Liu Han, standing there like the Black Iron Tower, more than a head taller than ordinary men, his temperament was the most impatient, patting his chest with pride, asking everyone to go with him and go to Miaojiang on a detour.

"Mountain bandits? There is nothing that I Liu Han can't deal with, besides, let's go in a group, there are nearly 200 people, and there are thirty or forty Lian family, how many mountain bandits can there be? One of us spat on them and drowned them. ”

Those who arrived early couldn't help it, and after listening to Liu Han's bewitchment, coupled with his superhuman figure, people's hearts were eager to try.

Besides, it's just such an opportunity, if everyone is gone, and their strength is weak, I don't know how long I have to wait.

Two days later, except for a few individual visitors who came to explore the way, the family members were small and the cost was small, and they planned to continue to wait, and the rest of the people planned to take a detour.

Mrs. Xiao and Wen Jin also wanted to follow, so waiting, both of them were a little impatient, Liu Han's people came to ask, Mrs. Xiao agreed to follow, she gave some money to Liu Han, which was regarded as the hard work of people's organization and protection.

The people are the most elated, there is a shortage of food here, eat mushrooms, wild vegetables and meat every day, it is okay for a day or two, and no one can stand it for a long time.

In the first half month, the journey was very smooth, and on this day, when they came to the mouth of a valley, people stopped with some fear when they saw that the black hole inside was gloomy.

If there really are mountain bandits, they must be ambushed here. The narrowest part of the valley is only a zhang wide, the mountains on both sides are like cutting with knives and axes, steep and steep, the gaps in the mountains and rocks, and the trees and wild artemisia and kudzu vines are overgrown, covering the sky and the sun, and some faint sunlight penetrates in at noon, as if it is dusk, and other time periods are even darker.

Many people were a little scared and stopped. Liu Han left people outside, he took seven or eight big men, went in to explore the way, about half a day, they came back, and told everyone that the road inside was quite flat, only the two exits were slightly narrower, and the rest of the places could be better, they went in to see, nothing abnormal.

At this time, it was getting late, and everyone set up camp outside the mountain, buried pots and cooked food, and prepared to go on the road the next day.

Only Wen Jin and Mrs. Xiao are female dependents, Liu Han is really a man, he arranges them in the middle every time, and at night, he also sends a few more honest and calm bodyguards to stand guard.

Wen Jin and the servants they brought with them were all skilled men, and they were also arranged by the steward to be on duty at night, three people per shift, Wen Jin and Mrs. Xiao's maid and mother-in-law were the most intimate line of defense, not only Chunming and Xia Yang had the means, but the two old mothers that Xiao Yi left for Mrs. were also Ah Lai's subordinates, although they were not as high as Ah Lai's level, but they were also one person who could resist three or four ordinary men.

Wen Jin and Mrs. Xiao were in a tent, both of them were a little uneasy that night, but no one wanted to retreat, waiting here for half a year, who knew what accidents would be encountered.

There was nothing to say all night, and the next day was a busy day, after breakfast, put away the tent, Liu Han led the people to the head, and after a strong man broke off, the caravan embarked on the journey again, the night of dawn in the mountains, they only started in the middle of the hour, about noon, Wen Jin walked to the middle of the valley, although it is much wider than the mountain pass, the peaks on both sides are still high and steep, and some will collapse at any time, which still makes people feel very depressed. The sun pours down like a waterfall, and the autumn leaves in the valley become more and more dazzling.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound, everyone stopped in fright, and Mrs. Xiao's mother, Ni Lan's family, quickly found out the news, her face was pale, and she ran back in sweat to report: "The mountain pass behind has been blocked." ”

"Don't panic, what's wrong?"

Ni Lan's family has also practiced, and quickly calmed down: "Sure enough, there are thieves, someone on the mountain pushed down the stones and blocked the entrance." ”

Wen Jin and Mrs. Xiao's hands subconsciously pulled together, and comforted each other: "It's okay, there are many of us, and we will definitely be able to defeat the thief." ”

Liu Han's people ran back and forth, concentrating everyone in the spacious place in the middle, there was news coming, the narrow place in front, there were also people who pushed down the rocks, this time it was not to block the road, but to kill, a few merchants could not dodge, they were already buried inside, Liu Han's people risked death to rescue, but they were also smashed into serious injuries, and soon died.

Liu Han scolded the thief while trying to find a way with a few bodyguards, they wanted to find a way up the mountain, leaving some people below to protect everyone, and some people going up to drive away the thieves.

Because of the news I heard, the road cut thieves are a group of mountain people, and everyone thinks that their martial arts may not be high, but they just occupy a geographical advantage.

But as soon as everyone gathered, there was a rain of arrows, fortunately Liu Han and they waved their long sticks to block most of the arrows, but there were also two people who were unlucky and slightly injured.

When people's strength is always insufficient, Wen Jin looked at it and asked people to soak a quilt and cover it on the roof of the carriage.

Someone asked the servant of the Xiao family what this meant: "The master said that the wet quilt can not only block bows and arrows, but also prevent fire, which is also prepared." ”

So everyone did the same, and put wet quilts on the carriage, and the people on the mountain saw that the archery could not be done, so they switched to torches, and quickly extinguished them, and stopped again, I don't know what tricks they were thinking, and the people under the mountain were even more panicked, but fortunately, Liu Han kept puffing loudly, patting his chest and guaranteeing that he would be able to take everyone out.

I don't know who shouted: "We have a mountain stream here, and they still use fire to burn it, so we won't burn it back." ”

"Yes, yes, the fire is going up, and besides, most of the leaves are dry in this autumn, so it's better." As soon as there was a noise, someone put on a wet quilt and set the grass under his feet on fire.

"Who the hell are you going to burn, what do you mean by setting us on fire?"

"You know what? If we don't burn clean under our feet, and a fire will start in a while, where will we hide? Hurry up, get moving, and clean up your feet. ”

This is the road, there is not much grass in nature, and a large area will be cleared out soon, Liu Han is a knowledgeable person, shouting and waiting for a while to get on fire, so that everyone can sit lower.

Wen Jin looked at a group of reckless men, who wanted to burn the mountain peaks to the ground, and couldn't think of a better way, and was in a hurry, when the mountain suddenly remembered the rumbling sound, it turned out to be a rolling stone!

Everyone hurried back, but unfortunately the carriage loaded with goods was inconvenient, and when they heard the wailing of the cattle, everyone's hearts were heavy. Fortunately, it is a little spacious here, and the effect of the rolling stones is not great, two horses are dead, a few are injured, and the personnel are fine. The people above seemed to be out of line, and fell silent again.

Time slipped away little by little, seeing that the sky was dark, the carriage of the people also moved over, many people were afraid of the cold, and got into it again, Mrs. Xiao also sat in it with Wen Jin, at this moment, the sound of bows and arrows sounded on the mountain again, this time it was much denser than the last time, even Liu Han and them, there were also injuries, and the horses were killed and injured more, but fortunately, the quilts on the carriage worked, and many quilts were half-dry, and the effect was not as good as when it was wet, but it also played a great role in hindering, and the people in the carriage were fine.

The people ran out of patience and finally lit a fire, and the people on the hill did not seem to expect that the people below would dare to make a desperate gamble, and even more crazy, and get bigger stones to roll down, some of them the size of a cow. This time the danger is greater, people have to abandon the car to retreat to the back of the cliff, it is too steep, probably each person can climb so two or three feet, the posture is also extremely uncomfortable, all the people hold on to less than a quarter of an hour, and then return to the ground, Liu Han hurriedly let people evacuate, but it is too late, the rumbling stone falling line no one can control, and only the place where people gather, the farthest away from the opposite cliff, at this moment, some horses and mules are still on the cart, unfortunately hit, only heard the screams for a long time, blood flowed all over the ground, The stone was black, but it could still be seen wet with blood, and the air was filled with a disgusting smell.

...