After a few days of silence, he entered the territory of Liao in a blink of an eye. Song and Liao are bounded by Yanmen Mountain, Damao Mountain, and Baigou, and the Khitan in the north and the Guo Dynasty in the south. Because the dart car had to go to Nanjing (now Beijing) in Liaoguo, it took the Baigou line.

Although it is a ditch, it is actually still the Yanshan Mountain Range, with high mountains and dense forests. It was the height of summer when they set out, and they walked all the way north for more than 20 days, and when they arrived at Baigou, there were already signs of early autumn, and they were vast.

Lu Chang instructed everyone that this is the border between the two countries, and it is also a place where the two countries' military forces are weak, everyone must be careful when driving in a big car, only live in familiar stores, only take familiar roads, and everyone takes turns to keep vigil at night, and must not be taken lightly.

Lu Chang didn't let Ye Pei participate in the vigil, but Ye Pei volunteered, saying that he couldn't eat white rice, and resolutely took shifts with everyone, so it was Ye Pei's turn to keep vigil on this day.

Ye Pei already has a penchant for watching the stars at night, she lit a bonfire in the courtyard to resist the cold and hard north wind outside the fortress in early autumn, heated a little rice wine herself, and enjoyed the clear moonlit night of Liao while drinking. Ye Pei sighed: The starry night of Liao is indeed different from Qifeng Mountain, no matter how you look at it, there is a kind of tough and desolate beauty.

The moonlit night was bright, and although it was the middle of the night, it was not dark all around. Everyone fell asleep, very quiet, and Ye Pei's wine glass was very comfortable in his hand.

At this time, Zhou Xun came from behind Ye Pei and sat next to her.

Ye Pei said: "The wind in Liao is hard and cold, your body is weak, it is better not to blow the wind." ”

Zhou Xun said indifferently: "After taking the medicine you prescribed, I am really much better." And I also added a jacket, which is not afraid of the cold. ”

Ye Pei smiled, "Just get better." Freezing three feet is not a day's cold, your body has to be slowly recuperated, and it is not possible to get better overnight. As he spoke, he handed Zhou Xun a glass of hot rice wine, "No, drink some hot to warm your stomach." ”

Zhou Xun took it and drank it all, poured himself a cup, and drank it again, like five or six glasses in a row.

Ye Pei didn't stop him, and drank it slowly.

After watching the moonlit night for a while, Ye Pei sighed: "The moonlight in Liao is very bright, but it still gives people a feeling of vastness. ”

"This vast moonlit night is a bit similar to my hometown of Enzhou!"

"I'm curious, why did you go to Peach Blossom Village?" Ye Pei didn't ask deeply before, because he was afraid of arousing Zhou Xun's sadness, but today he saw Zhou Xun wanting to confide in his heart, so he asked.

"Engong asked, I shouldn't have failed to answer, but how can I talk about this matter, alas!" Zhou Xun said with a sad expression.

Ye Pei said: "If you don't want to say it, don't say it." Life is often unsatisfactory, and who hasn't been sad yet. ”

Zhou Xun said with a smile: "Seeing that Ye Gongzi is young, he still knows a lot of life principles." ”

"You don't look down on people, if you talk about the misery of the world, I don't count my fate, but I'm not like you, crying and chirping looking for death and life."

"What Ye Gongzi said is that the eldest husband was born in heaven and earth, he should be arrogant, and he should not be like me, only promised, and live a suffocating life." It seemed that Ye Pei evoked Zhou Xun's infinite sorrow, and he turned his head and secretly touched the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Ye Pei poured him another glass of wine, Zhou Xun drank it, pretended to choke on wine, and covered up his tears with a cough.

"Actually, Ye Gongzi, there's nothing I can't say to you, it's just that I'm afraid that you will feel depressed when you hear what happened to me." Zhou Xun said after a while.

Ye Pei didn't interrupt him, and Zhou Xun slowly told his story.

It turned out that this Zhou Xunzhen was a secretary of the Yamen of Qinghe County, Enzhou, and his mother died in childbirth when he was born, and he only depended on his father for his life. In his twenties, he married a family, and the husband and wife were also in love, but Zhou Xun was not in good health and had not had children for many years.

It happened at the beginning of last year, at the lantern festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Zhou Xun's wife, Chen, met Zhang Chuanheng, a famous playboy in the county, and immediately hooked up.

Zhou Xun is usually busy with official business, and occasionally sleeps in the county office when he is busy. At this time, Zhang Chuanheng would sneak into Zhou's house late at night and have a private meeting with Chen.

When this matter reached Zhou Xun's ears, he was shocked, sad, and sighed. Zhou Xun has been in poor health since he was a child, his personality is weak and timid, but he is the best and strongest, and he attaches great importance to self-esteem, he feels that he is very considerate to his wife and obeys his words, why does she still want to find someone else?

What did he do wrong? Is it your own life? He drank all night and cried for half the night, in pain and confusion, he didn't know who he could say to or how he was good. After thinking about it for a night, the kind-hearted Zhou Xun still didn't fully believe that his wife was unfaithful to him at this time, and he wanted to know the truth.

He thought about it, and the next day, Zhou Xun lied that the county asked him to do something, and he didn't return that night. His wife happily sent Zhou Xun away, pretended to go to the street to buy vegetables, and notified Zhang Chuanheng. That night, Zhang Chuanheng came to Zhou Xun's house as promised, and the two of them were like glue and paint, like fish in water.

All this was clearly seen by Zhou Xun, who was secretly spying, and his last illusions were shattered, and he was almost crazy. He drank two catties of liquor and carried a simple knife home to catch the traitor.

At this time, although Zhou Xun was crazy, he was still fantasizing, if his wife knelt on the ground and begged him for forgiveness, would he forgive her? He gritted his teeth and said to himself, "She must not be forgiven!" But when he said this, tears flowed down his face.

Who knew that there was such a coincidental thing in the world, it was night, a thief came to Zhou's house to steal, and was discovered by Zhang Chuanheng and Chen. The thief was so cruel that he slashed the naked two men to death on the bed, and ran away with the gold and silver valuables.

When Zhou Xun came to the dormitory, he was stunned when he saw the two corpses in different places. He sat in the room and didn't know what to do, shocked, afraid, aggrieved, sad, self-pity and sighing, plus drunkenness, which made him speechless in a daze.

It wasn't until the next morning that Mrs. Zhou came to her son's house and woke up the wood-like Zhou Xun that he regained consciousness. Zhou Taigong saw Zhou Xun with red and swollen eyes, and his daughter-in-law and Zhang Chuanheng with different heads, and seemed to understand. But Zhou Xun denied killing Zhang Chuanheng and Chen, even Zhou Taigong didn't believe it, Zhou Xun didn't know how to explain, and the wine was sober at this time.

Zhou Taigong said: "Son, I will have only one of your children in my life, whether these two people were killed by you or not, I can't tell now, you quickly pack your luggage and go to the field to hide." ”

Zhou Xun knelt on the ground and cried: "Daddy, if I run away like this, then I will really sink into the sea." Besides, if I run away, my father will be punished, the child is not filial, how can I frame my father like this! ”

Zhou Taigong shed tears, but said resolutely: "Don't say such things, you can't say it as clearly as you stay now, you were arrested and executed by the government, how can you let the old man and me live alone?" But if I die now, lest I be a burden to you. ”

Saying that, Mrs. Zhou picked up the Pu knife that Zhou Xun took on the table, wiped it on his neck, and committed suicide.

Zhou Xun exclaimed in surprise when he saw this, a mouthful of blood spurted out, and he fell to the ground. He didn't care about wiping the blood from his mouth, and crawled on his knees and pounced on Taigong Zhou, shouting: "Daddy, daddy, why are you!" You're trapping me in unkindness! He burst into tears.

The neighbors heard about the Zhou family's movements and came to watch, but they saw three corpses lying in the house, and they were all frightened. The legs quickly ran to the yamen of the county government to report to the official. The county didn't believe that Zhou Xun, who was usually honest and dutiful, would kill three people in one night, and sent two arrest team leaders to arrest Zhou Xun.

Zhou Xun was kind to the arrest team leader Liu De and Wu Chang on weekdays, and when they came to Zhou's house, they couldn't bear to see it. Liu De said to Zhou Xun: "Zhou Xianggong, we all know that you are wronged, but we are soft-spoken, and we can't exonerate you if we can't catch the real culprit." Pack up your softness now and get away! ”

Zhou Xun cried and said: "Then how to make it, if I run away, you won't be able to get rid of it when you go back." ”

Wu Chang said: "I have a plan, when you leave, we will do some fake injuries, at most it is not good to arrest and dereliction of duty." The county lord also knows who you are, and he will not punish us severely, at most two or three months' salary. ”

Zhou Xun knelt down and kowtowed and said, "Then I thank the two great kindnesses for saving lives!" Then, Zhou Xun packed up some gold and silver, sent a part of the two squad leaders, and carried the rest in his arms and ran away from the back door.

The two team leaders also had a way, slashed each other, one was injured in the arm, the other was injured in the thigh, and it was delayed for more than an hour. said that Zhou Xun saw his wife committing adultery with someone and went crazy, not only killed the adulterer, adulterer, and his father, but also cut the head of the arrest team, and escaped by himself.

The county Cheng has a very good relationship with Zhou Xun on weekdays, and after listening to it, he also knew Zhou Xun's hardship, and thought he was pitiful, knowing that the two team leaders deliberately let Zhou Xun go, and he did not investigate deeply, and was punished for three months. Then Qinghe County submitted a public case for arrest, posted it in 16 counties in the surrounding four prefectures, and arrested the murderer Zhou Xun.

Zhou Xun didn't know where to go, so he thought about it when he left the county, so he had to go to his uncle's house in Dingzhou. He didn't dare to walk during the day, didn't dare to live in a big storefront, and took a remote road, so it took more than 20 days to reach Peach Blossom Village.

Zhou Xun was born prematurely, he was weak since he was a child, coupled with grief and hatred, he was angry, and he hurried for days, and fell ill when he arrived in Peach Blossom Village. After living for more than a month in a blink of an eye, the coils on his body were gone, and he was driven away by the shopkeeper, and then he met Ye Pei, Lu Chang and others.

Zhou Xun said the sad things in the past, but he resolved some of the depression in his heart.

Ye Pei sighed: "It's really a sad person who is sad!" ”

Zhou Xun said: "Ye Gongzi is young, and he must carefully understand his character when he marries in the future, and don't be confused by his appearance." Women are all water-based poplars, and they can't be trusted, so they can't entrust their wealth and life to them. ”

Ye Pei originally pitied Zhou Xun's experience, but when he heard Zhou Xun say such a thing, he angrily snatched the wine glass in his hand and smashed it on the ground, and said with a cold face: "Since you said that all women in the world are water-based poplars, then don't drink my rice wine here!" ”

Zhou Xun was startled by Ye Pei snatching the wine glass, stood up and said puzzledly: "Why is Ye Gongzi suddenly angry?" Do you already have a sweetheart? ”

"Didn't you say that women are all water-based poplars, and you can't be trusted! You're chatting and drinking with someone who can't be trusted. ”

Zhou Xun choked, almost turned his back on his breath, clutched his chest and coughed, "What did you say?!" Ahem, you're a woman? Ahem......"

"It's a woman!" Ye Pei stood up straight arrogantly and said.

After Zhou Xun was frightened, he suddenly fell to his knees and cried.

Ye Pei was so frightened that he took a step back and said, "You don't want to do this, okay?" ”

After crying for a long time, Zhou Xun lay on the ground and kowtowed to Ye Pei and said: "Engong, I shouldn't have said what I just said, I have eyes and don't know Mount Tai, please forgive me!" There are only women in the world whose wife is a water-based poplar who cannot be trusted, and there are also chivalrous and kind-hearted heroines like you among women! ”

"Hmph, that's pretty much what you say!" Ye Pei pouted and held his head high.

After Zhou Xun finished speaking, he sat on the ground again and laughed. Ye Pei looked frustrated, "Zhou Xun, I don't blame you too much, aren't you going crazy?" ”

Zhou Xun laughed for a while before stopping and saying, "Engong, I'm laughing because I suddenly figured it out and figured it out." Many of the things that have happened to me are not about men, women, or bad luck, and I really shouldn't feel sorry for myself. I was hateful and self-conscious of my heart before, but now I was scolded by Engong and suddenly understood, thank you Engong for your guidance! You must be the incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the heavens, let me understand the bitterness and happiness of the world! ”

At this time, Zhou Xun suddenly brightened, like the sky after the rain, although it was still gloomy, there was already a faint sunlight shining through.

Although Zhou Xun lost his mother when he was a child, Mrs. Zhou was afraid that his son would suffer and did not dare to marry again, so he seriously supported Zhou Xun alone, for fear that he would suffer a little bit and suffer a little loss. Zhou Xun is also very competitive, he has worked hard since he was a child, he is sensible and studious, and he is also a famous scribe in ten miles and eight towns. Later, he did copywriting work in the county, he was humble and sincere to people, serious and responsible, from the county to the friends around him, they treated him well and respected him, and his life was more than enough, and his life was comfortable. Therefore, before this incident, Zhou Xun was actually a person who had not suffered a major stumble.

But as soon as such a great event happened, he was immediately depressed, hatred and self-pity filled the whole person, and his body was weak, and he fell ill in a foreign land at once, and all he saw was the sorrow of the world. He was lying on the sickbed, and he couldn't get over the hurdles in his heart, and he couldn't see the hope of life, so he had to seek death for relief. But when he really stood in front of the belt tied to the beam, he was actually very conflicted. His father did not hesitate to kill himself in order to let him escape, if he died, wouldn't he be sorry for his father, and even in the ground, he would have no shame to face his father.

When he hesitated, he was saved by Ye Pei again, he felt that this was God's mercy on him and let him die. Later, Ye Pei helped him arrange his future life, so that he could see the hope of living. Looking at a young boy like Ye Pei, he felt that life was still beautiful, and when he said the bitterness in his heart for many days, his whole person was much more relaxed.

People say that forty is not confused, but Zhou Xun, who was in his thirties, felt self-pity before, and only felt that life was confused and hopeless, and only hatred had nowhere to put it. At this time, after experiencing the resurrection from the dead, I was scolded by Ye Pei, I felt that I was ridiculous and hateful, and my heart was suddenly clear, understood, and confused.

The pain of life is more than million, but whoever falls on it will feel insurmountable, but it is really so big that after climbing over a seemingly unclimbable mountain and seeing another scenery, the openness of the past swelled up in his heart, making him feel clear and calm.

The young Ye Pei naturally didn't understand the deep meaning, and asked suspiciously, "What did I just say?" ”

Zhou Xun stood up and took a deep look and smiled calmly.