Not far from the north of Shangzhou City is an apricot blossom forest.

A green flag hangs high on the branch of the apricot blossom, which looks a little old, and when the wind blows, it will sway around, as if waving to passers-by along the way.

Where there is a green flag, there is a restaurant, and three thatched huts are hidden in the depths of the apricot blossom forest, and it is from there that the rich aroma of wine comes from.

The old man who sells wine is surnamed Sun, and he is called Daddy Sun. Father Sun is nearly sixty years old, not only has gray hair, but even his eyes are getting worse and worse. He's been selling wine here for nearly thirty years, and if nothing else, he'll keep doing it until the day he dies.

It was past noon, but the air was still sweltering.

There weren't many pedestrians along the way, and even fewer people came in to drink. It's no wonder that most people don't want to go out when it's hot. Although the business was bleak, the old man's face was still calm, and at his age, some things had already been seen.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and, as usual, picked up a rag and wiped the table over and over again. When he reached the third time, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves outside the house, and a young man slowly walked in.

The boy wore a bamboo hat and a placket in a placket that was covered with dust and hay, and it was impossible to see what color it was, as if he had crawled out of the loess.

Father Sun had never seen such a dirty person, but he still greeted him and said, "Guest officer, sit inside." "Everyone who comes is a guest, and he has always been very warm to guests.

Entering the door, the young man took off his hat, revealing a thin and handsome face, only to see that the bridge of his nose was firm, his eyebrows were slender, and his eyes were clear and far-reaching, which looked like a lake on a distant glacier, and like a pure starry sky in the cold winter. What's even more impossible not to notice is that there is always a shallow smile on the corner of his mouth, he smiles mysteriously, and he doesn't know what he is laughing at.

This young man is Jiang Shenzhou, a mysterious boy who appeared in Mobei.

Master ordered him to rush to Chang'an, so it took him seven days to travel thousands of miles from the distant Mobei to the Central Plains. In these seven days, in order to speed up his pace, Jiang Shenzhou not only did not eat or drink much, but also barely rested. Several times he fell asleep on horseback, but fortunately his horse was quite spiritual, but he did not let him fall.

No wonder he's so dusty.

"Does the guest officer drink or eat?" Father Sun asked earnestly.

Jiang Shenzhou didn't speak, found a place to sit down in the corner, and then asked with a smile: "What kind of wine are there?" ”

Daddy Sun introduced with a smile: "Then it depends on what kind of wine the guest officer wants to drink, don't look at our store is not big, but there are also a lot of fine wines, in addition to the turbid two wines brewed by themselves, there are also millet wine made from sorghum, of course, if the guest officer likes it, the store also has the Xishi dialect and Xinfeng wine produced in Chang'an......"

"A pot of sake is enough, and a few dishes to accompany the sake." Jiang Shenzhou said, he didn't have much interest in wine, he just wanted to rest here so that he could continue his journey.

Father Sun nodded and agreed: "Please sit down for a while, guest officer, and come right away." With that, he turned and walked back to the back kitchen.

"One more thing." Jiang Shenzhou stopped Father Sun and suddenly said, "How many days does it take to get from here to Chang'an?" ”

"It turns out that the guest officer is going to Chang'an." Father Sun stopped and replied: "To go to Chang'an, you must first go out of Shangzhou, and then go over the Qinling Mountains, the mountain roads in the Qinling Mountains are not easy to walk, at least ten days on foot, three days on horseback, and three days if you ride a horse, and if you are slow...... Five days is also enough. He replied in great detail, for he was a zealous man.

"Hmm." Jiang Shenzhou nodded.

The wine was served quickly, chilled in advance, not only fragrant, but also crisp and sweet, and what is even more rare is that the side dishes are also very delicious.

Jiang Shenzhou was very satisfied, and couldn't help but ask for another pot.

"Old man Sun! Serve me wine! ”

Suddenly, there was a gong-like shout outside the door. The shouts were loud, as if to deliberately show their majesty.

Then a person swaggered in, this life has a fat head and big ears, and there is armor on his body, and every step will rattle, as if he is a military attaché. The military attache was followed by two men, who were submissive and seemed to be his subordinates.

Father Sun was coming out of the back kitchen with wine and food, and when he saw this person, he couldn't help frowning, as if he had seen a plague god.

The military attache didn't pay attention to his expression, and his eyes stared straight at the wine that Father Sun was holding. Before Father Sun could react, he snatched it and drank it with his head up.

Father Sun lost his voice and said, "Don't ...... This wine is the ...... of the son."

"What a rambling thing! It would be nice if you could send him another pot. The military attache glanced at Jiang Shenzhou and found that he was just a dirty teenager, so he walked over to him, stepped on the table, looked at him arrogantly and asked, "Do you dare to say no?" ”

"Don't dare." Jiang Shenzhou said with a smile, although the officer in front of him was arrogant, he didn't want to worry about him at all, not so much because he didn't want to care, but more because he didn't care.

The military attache was obviously satisfied with his answer, and he laughed and sat down opposite Jiang Shenzhou. While drinking, he wiped the sweat on his head and complained: "This ghost weather, people are about to die in the sun, and what kind of hell errand do you have to perform!" ”

The subordinate sitting next to him hurriedly flattered: "It's not because our boss is deeply valued by Lord Assassin, otherwise ......"

Another subordinate also hurriedly chimed in: "Yes, yes, otherwise, how could such an important errand fall on the boss." ”

People like him are always surrounded by flatterers and flatterers, and these two people don't pat him on weekdays, but they miscalculated today. Flattery can sometimes sound like sarcasm, especially when someone else is in a bad mood.

"I'll you!" The military attaché's face changed, and he slapped him.

"Isn't it just to catch a few bastards, and you still need Lao Tzu to make a move."

"Lao Tzu was going to Xiangyue Building today to have a good time! Now it's running around like a dog! ”

"It's heavy!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became, and the table slammed into the loud noise. The two subordinates drooped their heads, not daring to say a word more.

At that moment, a faint moan rang out.

The sound came from outside the house, where there were several men tied to the stables, all of them grizzled and ragged, no better than beggars. Presumably it was the military attache who captured him.

The sun was fierce outside, and their lips were already chapped and their faces were tanned to the color of pig liver.

As soon as he heard the sound, the military attache was furious, slammed the table, picked up the horsewhip next to him, and rushed out. The military attachés all rushed out, and their subordinates dared not to follow. Heart-rending cries soon rang out outside the house.

Now, only Jiang Shenzhou and Daddy Sun are left in the room.

"His name is Wang Kun, and he is a judicial member of the Assassin's Mansion, and he is used to being overbearing." Father Sun said suddenly.

"Those guys were deserters. In fact, they can't be blamed, if they all go to the army, what will the old parents at home do. ”

"I want to be back then...... My son Sun Peng was taken away by Wang Kun...... It's been six years, but I haven't come back, and I don't know if it's dead or alive......"

Father Sun touched the scene and said a lot. It seems that this is for Jiang Shenzhou, or maybe for himself. After so many years, he almost forgot that he still had a son.

He wanted to continue, but Wang Kun came back scolding. As soon as he entered the room, he grabbed the helmet that was on the table, and it looked

Preparing to leave, he seems to have forgotten to check out.

Father Sun hurriedly stepped forward and said, "The wine and food are a total of ninety yuan, my lord...... You see, it'......"

Wang Kun looked impatient, shook his hand and said, "What are you talking about!" It's not enough to keep the book. With that, he strode towards the door.

"But ......," Father Sun said with a cautious smile: "It's been almost a year's worth of accounts, and it's not easy to run a small shop...... Please raise your noble hand......"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Kun stopped, and his face darkened suddenly. As soon as he turned around, he grabbed Father Sun's neck with a pair of big hands and lifted him up.

"I know that Lao Tzu is in a bad mood today, and he is still so verbose! Isn't it boring! Wang Kun roared and scolded.

Father Sun could only struggle desperately, and the more he struggled, the tighter Wang Kun pinched.

At the critical moment, a person suddenly rushed in and knocked Wang Kun to the ground. The man was ugly, and most of his face seemed to have been burned by fire, as dry and rough as the bark of a tree.

Jiang Shenzhou had seen this person before he entered the store, when he was chopping wood at the door, he could only babble when he saw Jiang Shenzhou, as if he was mute.

The mute man just helped Father Sun to sit down, because he had his back to Wang Kun, he didn't know the danger behind him.

Wang Kun quietly grasped the hilt of the knife, intending to send him back to the West while the dumb man was not paying attention. Sneak attacks, meanwhile, are often effective, and that's how some people survive.

The knife flashed, and Wang Kun had already slashed down.

It's just that the knife didn't fall, but stopped abruptly. A person grabbed his wrist, and this person was Jiang Shenzhou.

Jiang Shenzhou was originally sitting in the corner, how did he come over? Wang Kun didn't know. How did he make a move? Wang Kun didn't know either. He didn't expect him to make a move.

"You're drunk." Jiang Shenzhou said with a smile. His voice was calm, as if he were advising a friend who had drunk too much.

"What are you? Dare to meddle here......" Wang Kun scolded and waved his left fist. In an instant, a piercing pain came from his right wrist, and the pain was so painful that even the strength to swing his fist disappeared.

"A drunk person should not do anything, otherwise it is easy to hurt himself." Jiang Shenzhou said again.

As soon as the words fell, Wang Kun suddenly felt a huge force twisting his wrist, and under the control of this force, his hand involuntarily turned the blade and slowly approached his neck.

He wanted to resist, but he didn't have any strength at all, so he could only watch the blade get closer and closer, and now he was like a fish on a chopping board, which could only be slaughtered.

But at this moment, Jiang Shenzhou suddenly let go of his hand and returned to his seat. Calm returned to the room, as if nothing had happened at all.

Wang Kun stood in place in a daze for a long time, and his clothes were already soaked in a cold sweat.

"Boss! Top dog! A shout broke the peace, and Wang Kun's subordinates hurriedly ran in, panting and saying, "Thorn history...... Lord Assassin has an order......"

Wang Kun woke up like a dream, glared at him, and scolded: "Bastard, come and say." ”

His subordinates hurriedly leaned into his ear and said a few words. Wang Kun's face changed dramatically after hearing this, and he couldn't care about any face anymore, so he pulled his legs and left. He walked in a hurry, as if something big had happened.

Father Sun hurriedly pulled the dumb man to kneel down and thanked Jiang Shenzhou for his kindness.

But he didn't seem to hear the old man's words at all, and sighed and said, "Alas, I shouldn't have made a move......

Jiang Shenzhou looked distressed, and said to himself: "If this matter is known by the master, it will be troublesome...... But I can't be blamed for this, after all, he did it first...... Anyway, it's already here, and that's all it can be. ”

Daddy Sun didn't understand what he was talking about.

Jiang Shenzhou muttered to himself for a while before stopping, and it seemed that he had finally figured it out.

Father Sun said gratefully: "Childe saved us, the old man can't repay him......" He respectfully held a few taels of silver and some copper coins, and said: "This is a little bit of old man's heart, I hope Childe can accept it." ”

Jiang Shenzhou shook his head, it seemed that he was not interested in silver.

Daddy Sun was speechless for a while, not knowing what to say.

"If you have to repay it...... Jiang Shenzhou stood up and said slowly: "Your wine is good, why don't you give me a pot, you can drink it on the way to Chang'an." ”

Father Sun said excitedly: "Of course you can!" Don't say a pot of wine, even a hundred pots is not a problem. ”

Jiang Shenzhou smiled: "I only need a pot." ”

When the sound of horses' hooves sounded again, Jiang Shenzhou had already left the restaurant, taking a pot of wine given to him by Father Sun.

He still has a long way to go today, but the first thing he needs to do right now is to enter Shangzhou City.

The city gate, not far ahead.