The young general of the Ning Kou army stood majestically on his horse with a silver spear on his back, and more than a hundred horsemen behind him surrounded the two of them, guiding them out of the valley.

Xiao Hua crossed his hands on the horse and said: "This general, we were originally accompanied by two Zhonghou of the Right Xiaowei, who were killed by mountain bandits, please ask the general to search for their bodies on our behalf." ”

The young general nodded after hearing this, and immediately instructed an officer behind him: "You immediately lead people to search for the corpses of the two lieutenants in the mountains, even if it is three feet into the ground, you must find them for me." ”

"Whoa!" Immediately after receiving the order, the officer distributed more than 50 men and scattered into the pine forests on both sides of the valley.

The young general led them to continue to advance, and said to Xiao Hua Yuanzai beside him: "The two Shangguan, please follow me to the post station in front to rest first, and then follow them when they find the body." ”

"Thank you so much, General."

Yuan Zai was uneasy on the side, and secretly looked back at these horsemen with evil faces, and the fear in his heart was never eliminated.

Xiao Hua was very peaceful, and he didn't know if it was because of his coarse nerves, or because he was born with a fearless temperament, and said with emotion: "I can't imagine that the security in your Hexi is so poor, and the mountain bandits dare to attack the court officials in broad daylight, is it because of the lack of education?" It's hard to imagine that this is the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty that never closes the door at night and never leaves the road behind. You local officials in Hexi have an unshirkable responsibility. ”

As soon as Xiao Hua's words fell, the horsemen behind them either quietly bowed their heads or showed disdain. The young general was humble and sincere: "The lesson of Shangguan is that after we arrived at the post station, we immediately reported the case to the military envoy of Ningkou and the Liangzhou Mansion, and it is unlikely that in a few days, the Liangzhou Mansion will issue a reward for arresting the mountain bandits who are active in the area from Qilian Mountain to Horseshoe Mountain, and these bandits will be completely eliminated." ”

"How to remedy it afterwards is useless, and it is a pity for the lives of the two lieutenants in vain."

At the end of the Linsong Shallot Valley at the foot of the Horseshoe Mountain, there is an official pavilion. It is not the main road of the trade road, so the scale of the post station is relatively small, with only a grass hall, an earthen wall and stables.

The soldiers led the horses into the post station, making this remote post noisy and crowded. The post chief was also so surprised that he had not seen so many people since he took over the post house, and hurriedly arranged for the post man to fetch water from the well to quench everyone's thirst.

The junior general ordered his corporal to bring water to Xiao Hua and Yuan Zai with a sea bowl: "The two officials, please drink first, let's rest here for a while, presumably the body will be found soon." ”

A short moment later, the sound of horses' hooves striking appeared outside the post station, and Xiao Hua stood up on the steps to look out, only to see several soldiers leading their horses into the arch of the post station, carrying two corpses on their backs.

The soldiers put down the corpse, and put the two bloody gourd-like heads above their necks, and the young general said to Xiao Huayuan: "Please also ask the two officials to identify the corpses and see if they are the two lieutenants who were killed." ”

The bloody aura of the corpse had already diffused from afar, and the two of them frowned and pinched their noses. Xiao Hua turned his head to Yuan Zai and said, "Otherwise, you go and identify it." ”

Yuan Zai waved his hand again and again: "No, no, I won't go, you go." ”

Xiao Hua crossed his waist and asked, "Which of us is the main and who is secondary?" How can you disobey the orders of your superiors? ”

Yuan Zai raised his hand and pointed at him helplessly: "You, okay, I'll go." ”

He raised his sleeves to cover his mouth and nose, and slowly approached the two corpses, the soldiers standing with their hands on their chests watching the play.

Yuan Zai closed his eyes and approached the corpse two feet away, and when he opened his eyes, he clearly saw the severed head of the corpse and the flesh turned up, and the two heads opened their eyes wide and their faces were bloody. His stomach suddenly turned upside down, and he quickly ran to the root of the wall, bent down and vomited out the half bowl of water he had just drunk.

"Poof-hee-hee." The Ning Kou soldiers let out a mocking laugh, and the junior general reprimanded with a straight face: "What are you laughing at, don't hurry up and put the corpse in a sack, don't frighten the two officials!" ”

He walked over to Won Jae with a bowl of hot water, patted him lightly on the back, and handed the bowl over.

Xiao Hua stood up from the steps with a serious expression and instructed the young general: "Please send the bodies of the two Zhonghou to the Liangzhou Mansion for examination first, and then transport them back to Chang'an to be buried by Youxiao Wei Haosheng." ”

"Oh," the young general replied, and then stepped forward to ask Xiao Hua: "Why don't the two Shangguan go to Liangzhou Mansion with us, and after meeting the Governor of Liangzhou, we can arrange a team of people to escort you to your destination." ”

Xiao Hua hesitated to answer, but Won Jae hinted with his eyes next to him, and shook his head silently.

After exchanging glances back and forth between the two more than a dozen times, Xiao Hua finally decided to respect Yuan Zai's opinion, and said humbly: "No need, we have come down to investigate the case this time, and we don't want to disturb the place, you just need to follow my instructions to settle the body of the deceased." ”

"It's okay," the young general bowed to the two of them and said, "I'm tired of the two officials walking on the main road next, there are patrol barracks and patrol envoys along the way, and there will definitely be no mountain bandits." ”

"Let's go!" At the command of the young general, the horsemen turned over their horses and fished out of the arches of the inn, leaving only a cloud of dust and scattered horse manure.

Yuan Zai breathed a long sigh of relief, sat down on the earthen platform of the grass hall, Xiao Hua squinted at him and sneered: "It's just that I saw a dead person, how can I scare you to this point." ”

Yuan Zai frowned and replied: "You are really ignorant and fearless. ”

"Dare to ask what kind of articles Yuan Sizhi has learned, what kind of classics have he treated, and what rank is Jinshike? Dare to laugh at the ignorance of others? ”

"I am a scholar and a first, but it is a solid knowledge, it is better than you to enter the career with the shadow of the door."

"What do you say! Forget it, we can be counted as working together anyway, and the case has not yet been resolved, so wouldn't it be a big deal to quarrel with each other. Let's both take a step back and don't bring it up again. ”

Yuan Jae snorted, agreeing to his request.

The contradiction between the two is purely the discord between the concubine of the poor family and the famous family, and the origin and treatment are the starting point of this contradiction. And much older than Xiao Hua Yuan Zai Tianbao junior high school jinshi, awarded Xinping County Lieutenant, and later entered Chang'an to do Dali Temple commentators, but it is just a small official of the eight grades, if he did not marry the queen of Wang Zhonghei's queen Yunxiu, this life can only stop at the position of the eight petty officials, and what ability can get today's Dali Temple direct official.

Completely different backgrounds have caused a big gap between the personalities of the two, Won Jae is cautious and inferior, acts cautiously, has been trapped in money for a long time, and has to climb up desperately after recognizing the reality. Xiao Hua is self-confident and high-spirited, has naïve idealism, and regards being a ruler as his goal in this life, not afraid of the powerful, agreeing with dead reason, and not understanding the world, so he is naturally fearless.

Yuan Zai naturally couldn't fight Xiao Hua to the end, so he had to borrow the slope to get off the donkey, as if he was admitting his mistake to himself.

"There are some things that we can't say here, you and I should get up early and go to Shangguandao, and I'll explain it to you in detail later."

The two used some dry food indiscriminately, then took out the horses and left the post station and set foot on the official road to Ganzhou.

The water and grass along the official road are abundant, the river flows along the edge of the road, the herdsmen sing in the distance, and a caravan of goods rings the bell and is left behind by them. Xiao Hua was in a good mood and wanted to recite poems again, but Yuan Zai took the opportunity to say next to him: "Aren't you suspicious about today's events?" As soon as the mountain bandits of Horseshoe Mountain robbed and killed the two of them, the soldiers and horses of the Ning Kou army had already arrived? ”

Xiao Hua nodded thoughtfully: "You mean ......"

Yuan Zai sped up his voice and said hurriedly: "There are only two villages near the Horseshoe Mountain Linsong Valley, there are few people in the valley, Ning Koujun has never been to the valley before, otherwise it would not be possible to explain that the post yard outside the valley mouth is narrow, and even the grass hall cannot accommodate more than 100 people to hide, and it can be seen from the expression and attitude of the post chief, he has never seen so many soldiers, and the desolation of this place can be seen." It can be seen that those Ning Kou soldiers did not appear by chance, but intentionally. ”

Xiao Hua turned his head to look at Yuan Zai in horror: "How is it possible?" How dare they kill the court officials? What is the law of the king of Hexi? ”

Yuan Zaigao raised his nostrils, and he had no intention of explaining a lot to him, it was clear that he was an innocent noble son who had not been beaten by society, and it was tantamount to a fantasy to tell him about the difficult world and the sinister hearts of people.