The southwest is mountainous, watery, and hilly.

The carriages and horses were leisurely, walking on the official road from Dongmu Mansion to Shannan Mansion. Eighteen carriages formed a luxurious convoy, and more than 20 knights carried swords and swords, and whipped back and forth.

The convoy looked luxurious and extravagant, and it seemed like a comfortable autumn getaway. However, since the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao fought for many years, the result of the Tang Dynasty's successive defeats has led to the disrepair of the official road in the southwest, the roads are potholes, and the wooden wheels are walking on it, and the bumps are abnormal, which is by no means a wonderful experience.

The old lady was almost eighty years old, she was dressed in a pale yellow silk dress inlaid with purple lace, and she kept turning Buddha beads in her hands, and she was chanting the blessings of the Bodhisattva.

Xu was tired of reading, and the old lady opened her tired eyes and asked, "Hongliu, what time is it?"

Hongliu is the old lady's personal maid, not very beautiful, but knows the most about hot and cold, can take care of people, and is very trusted by the old lady. She also knows how to advance and retreat, except for taking care of the old lady, she has never asked about everything.

Hongliu lifted the small curtain of the carriage, and the soft light of the setting sun shone on her face, which suddenly added three colors, "I didn't go out with an hourglass, but looking at the sky, it was already dusk." ”

The old lady nodded, "Let's be careful when we go out." It's better for us to stay early. ”

"That's what the old grandmother said. As the saying goes, don't stay early until dark, and don't go out until sunrise. These are all good words, and I will inform them to prepare. ”

"Good!"

Seeing that the old lady nodded in agreement, Hongliu hurriedly said to the coachman, "Please stop and wait." When the driver stopped, Hongliu helped the old lady hold up the crooked cushion and straighten her clothes before getting out of the car calmly.

Seeing Hongliu get out of the car, the vehicle behind the convoy immediately stopped. The leader of the guards on horseback galloped forward, and when he came closer, he jumped off his horse, took the reins, and asked with a smile on his face, "Miss Red Willow, but what does Madame Tai command?"

Hongliu bowed down first before replying, "Escort Liu, Mrs. Tai ordered you to stay overnight as soon as possible, and you can't wait until it gets dark." ”

These guards are all good hands drawn from the grain delivery team. For them, the waterway of hundreds of miles of Qinshui, where to park boats, where to stay, is naturally very clear. But they didn't take much of the land route to Shannan Mansion. Fortunately, there must be a post station on this official road, so there is no need to worry too much.

"Please rest assured, Mrs. Tai, we have walked twenty miles. This Taizong has an order, the official road is thirty miles and a post, and before dark, you must be able to rush to a post station to rest. ”

"It's old!"

The convoy continued to move forward, and when it was dark, they finally saw a post station on the right side of the road called Liuguang Station. It is no different from other official road post stations in the Tang Dynasty, all of which are ordinary three-entry adobe courtyards, with rooms for entertaining officials in the front, kitchens and stables in the back, and wings on both sides for the postmaster and postman to live in.

According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, this post station is exclusively for the use of the government, even retired officials are not allowed to use it, let alone ordinary people. At the beginning, this law was still very resolutely enforced, but more than 100 years later, this Datang law is no longer a waste of paper. As long as you give out some silver taels, this post station can be used casually.

Similarly, this post station should have been served as a post by the county magistrate of each county, but the county magistrate is a hundred miles of marquis, so naturally he will not be concerned about this small post station. The actual administrator of the post station became the post chief, and the various idlers served as post guards, and these people did not have the money of the imperial court, so they could only earn some money to support their families when the merchants stayed in the past. Therefore, when the Zheng family arrived, the post station showed great enthusiasm.

"Everyone, please come in!"

"We have a good guest room here, which is where the officials and masters have lived, and it can still be tainted with some official spirit. ”

"All kinds of seasonal fruits and vegetables, chickens, ducks, fish and sheep are all available, all of them are very fresh, you and young people have any needs, just ask. ”

"Wow, this old woman is really extravagant, and at first glance she is a blessed person. Hurry up, please, hurry up!"

Although the post chief was enthusiastic, the helpless place was too small, and more than 50 people in the Zheng family's convoy couldn't live at all, and in the end, most of them could only set up tents to live outside.

People are outside, eat and live carefully. Fortunately, this post station is government-run, so you can rest assured in terms of safety. Still, the twenty or so guards were divided into two groups, one for vigil and one for rest.

The old lady was old, and she only used a little rice porridge after running around for a long time, and said to Hongliu while eating: "Hongliu, can you go and see how my son is now?"

"Grandmother, I've already been there. Aunt Seven and Aunt Thirteen were waiting, the ointment applied externally had been replaced with a new one, and the medicine taken internally was also boiling. ”

"It's good to be at home for a thousand days, but it's hard to go out everywhere. Now this outside is not as good as at home, the seventh aunt is also older, and her energy can't keep up, so you have to work harder in Hongliu. ”

"Rest assured, the old grandmother, the red willow knows what to do. ”

The old lady nodded with satisfaction, "Hongliu, you have been in the house for five years, and you should find a mother-in-law." When I come back from Shannan Mansion this time, I will set out to find you a wishful husband. ”

When the girl talks about finding her in-laws, she is probably a little shy, and Hongliu is naturally not exempt from vulgarity, she hangs her head, her face is crimson, and she says in a mosquito-like voice: "It's all up to the old grandmother!"

"Hehe, men should get married, women should get married, what's there to be shy about? Speaking of which, do you have a sweetheart now?"

Hongliu shook her head invisibly, she stayed in the inner courtyard of the Zheng Mansion all the year round, and there was not much contact with men, so what kind of sweetheart would there be? The old lady looked at this scene with a smile, and her mood improved a lot.

In the courtyard of the post station, the waning moon and the stars shine together in the starry sky, sprinkling a faint light on the earth. Standing in the middle of the courtyard, Hongliu was a little happy and a little dazed.

It has been nine years since Hongliu was sold into the Zheng Mansion at the age of seven, and her impression of her biological parents is very vague, and she does not even know where her home is.

For her, the Zheng Mansion is her home.

And now, she is getting married.

Over the years, she has also saved some private money, and perhaps the old grandmother will give her a dowry for her hard service, but it cannot be rich. As a woman, if the dowry is not rich, her status in her in-law's family is very worrying.

Hongliu feels that her female red skills are acceptable, and she can subsidize the family in the future, and she only hopes that her future mother-in-law will not be too fierce. In the story she had heard, her mother-in-law was ten times more terrifying than a tiger and a housekeeper, which made her involuntarily afraid.

Standing in the cold moonlight for a long time, Hongliu Fang sighed blankly, and left quickly with a blank view of the future.

The stars and the moon soon came to the second half of the night, and the people who had been running around all day were sleeping soundly, and the snoring sound came and went, which made the guards of the night watch very envious. Especially when they had just been woken up from their sleep, they were on the night shift, and they were so sleepy. If it weren't for Guard Liu's patrolling back and forth, kicking twice and scolding from time to time, I was afraid that they would all sleep like pigs.

Liu Huwei's name is Liu Bao, and he is thirty-eight years old, which is the youngest age. He is one of the leaders of the grain protection team, and Liu Bao attaches great importance to protecting the Zheng family's family to Shannan Mansion this time.

Zhengfu's grain protection team travels by water every year to transport grain, which is very hard. To change this living situation, this is the best opportunity, as long as he behaves well, he will fall into the eyes of the head of the family, and it will be much easier to come to the store in Fucheng County.

Therefore, on this trip, he saddled up and did his best, trying to leave a good impression on everyone. For example, this night patrol, Liu Bao was conscientious and did not dare to slack off.

Suddenly, a slight ringing came from a distance, and the sound was very strange.

Liu Bao suddenly shook his head, although this is a post station, but it is a wilderness. He hurriedly called out to his three companions, carrying long knives, and boldly looked at the source of the voice.

In the dim starlight, a black chariot pulled by a white horse came along the official road, tinkling, and the bell seemed to be the camel bell of a horse.

"Liu Tou'er, it turned out to be a passing carriage, which is really disturbing dreams. Someone breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Liu Bao, but saw that his eyes were round, trembling slightly, and the green tendons on his hand holding the handle of the knife were exposed, but he did not draw the knife.

"Liu Tou'er, Liu Tou'er?"

"You, look, look at the horse. Liu Bao trembled with fright, and he couldn't even speak.

The three guards hurriedly stared at what kind of white horse it was, and it was clearly all white bones.

"Bones, all bones. ”

"It seems that I am not mistaken, go and wake everyone up, we will hurry overnight, hurry, hurry!"

The four of them fled back to the post station in embarrassment, but they saw the chief of the post who had been dedicated during the day hanging in the air like a ghost, giggling and laughing, and there was a blue ghost fire floating on his body. This scene frightened them, and they didn't care about the others, they just turned around and fled, eager to have two more legs to come out.

However, although the gate was not far away, no matter how much they ran, they just couldn't get close. Before they could figure it out, the bell was already ringing outside the door.

In the blink of an eye, the post station of Nuoda, including all the people, horses, and cars of the Zheng family, disappeared. On the ground, wild grass grows wildly, and the post station, including the official road, seems to have never appeared. Only the bone carriage remained in the wilderness, and in the place of the carriage driver sat a black-robed man with a jet-black hat.

It should have been the position of the head, but it was a cloud of billowing smoke, no hair, no facial features. He was holding a gray cloth bag in his hand, which was very small.

With one hand and a finger, the postmaster came out of the bag like smoke, still floating in the air. He shook his head and said, "The Suzuyama Demon is really extraordinary. ”

The rider smiled, and the laughter was as dull as thunder, I don't know whether it was relief or sarcasm. He casually threw the bag to the post chief, who hurriedly caught it, and held it very carefully in his hand.

"Night Wandering God, tell Qi Gong that the favor I owe him has been repaid, and the two will not owe each other from now on. ”

The post chief exclaimed, "No, Duke Qi said that you need to make a move soon." ”

The Suzuyama demon turned a deaf ear, drove away leisurely in the white bone carriage, the bell sounded melodiously, and disappeared into the wilderness. The post chief seemed to be very distressed, and he spun around like a headless fly for a long time before flying in the direction of Fucheng.

Suzuyama is named because it resembles a bell. The mountains are rugged and the vegetation is lush. At the top of the mountain, a cliff goes straight down 300 meters, and there is a flat cliff hidden in the white mist.

The bone carriage appeared on the cliff and continued to drive forward, sinking directly into the rocks. The black-robed man, that is, the Suzuyama Demon, stood beside the cliff, standing with his hands in his hands and looking out at the water, and a low laugh came from the black smoke.

"Hey, hey, hey, Shui Bo is missing, and the god position is hanging. Humans, fairies, demons, and gods, who can have the last laugh when they throw themselves into it? This wonderful drama is about to begin. ”