In the winter of the twenty-seventh year of Jiaqing, Guo Qianhe, who was the prefect of Datong at the time, suddenly came to his home, and a man with a disheveled hair and wounds all over his body seemed to be chased and killed. This man claimed to know the secret of the day and wanted to report it to the court. Guo Qianhe treated his injuries first, and then took him to a side hall for questioning by himself.

The person who came claimed to have participated in the murder and robbery case of Huailaibao, was a hundred general manager named Chen Zhi at that time. In the autumn of the twenty-second year of Jiaqing, the Khan of the north died of illness, because of the civil strife caused by the robbery of the Khan, the son of the old Khan, the Tuji Khan and his uncle Kuolie Khan, the two sides were inseparable for a while, so the Tuji Khan to the Central Plains called vassals, hoping to get the assistance of the Jiaqing Emperor. After some discussion, the cabinet decided not to send troops, but only to provide gold and silver material aid. I never thought that 200,000 gold had an accident in Huailaibao, and it was rumored that Bai Ding, who was escorted, was greedy when he heard about wealth, and fled to the Western Regions with his son and cronies, and didn't want to hide anything else.

It was Sun Quanzuo, who was the lieutenant at the time, who led Chen Zhi's team of 100 people, who took advantage of the darkness to kill all the 52 people escorted and robbed 200,000 gold. Guo Qianhe broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this. It is self-evident who Sun Quanzuo is and who is the mastermind behind the scenes.

Chen Zhi got some gold that year, and there was not much left of eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling in the past five years, and the house leak was rained overnight, and he was already a thousand chief officials, because he resisted the invasion of Rouran, and was dismissed for his ineffective operation, although it took some silver to settle the matter, but he used up all his savings and became a civilian. Now there is no source of livelihood, and there are wives and children to raise, and I found it in the case of poor fundraising, and I have been appointed to command Tongzhi to borrow money from Sun Quanzuo of Erpin, Sun Quanzuo only sent twenty taels of silver, and did not lend him money. How long can twenty silver last, Chen Zhi came to borrow money again, and now Sun Quanzuo knew that Chen Zhi could not stay any longer, so he first stabilized him and said that he would give five hundred taels of silver tomorrow and send it to his home.

Chen Zhi happily went back and waited, but waited for six killers, fortunately Chen Zhi had martial arts, and he was clever enough to escape from the backyard over the wall, and the whole family was killed and the house was burned. Chen Zhi tried his best to escape from Sun Quanzuo's sphere of influence, but he was still robbed and killed, but fortunately there were only two killers, and he was injured in the downtown area and fled in the chaos. Looking around the entire Xuanfu, only Guo Qianhe, the prefect of Datong, was not controlled by Sun Quanzuo, so he broke into his home directly, hoping to save his life.

Guo Qianhe was the protégé and son-in-law of Qin Yunhou, the secretary of the Ministry at the time, and married Qin Yunhou's eldest daughter Qin Zhixiang, and had a daughter and a son, the daughter Guo Shuzhen is ten years old this year, and the son is only five years old. Chen Zhi trayed out the real facts of the Huailaibao gold robbery case. Such a bombardment case shocked Guo Qianhe, and he didn't know what to do for a while. Send people to protect it in the prefect's yamen. The next day, Sun Quanzuo got the news, but the military attache could not intervene in local affairs, so he could only stare at it and not use his strength, so he could only send a secret post to monitor outside the Datong Mansion on the one hand, and report to the capital on the other.

It didn't take long for the governor of Shanxi Yamen to ask Guo Qianhe to report on his work, and the envoy sent a letter to escort Chen Zhi to the provincial capital Taiyuan, where Chen Zhi was killed and the escorted officials were all injured. According to the investigation of the process of the prosecutor's department, the case was concluded hastily as a vendetta. Now Guo Qianhe, who is Qin Yunhou's son-in-law, has become the only witness in the leaked case, Sun Quanzuo interceded through other officials, hoping that the matter would stop, that knew that Guo Qianhe was strong and had physical evidence in hand, and he was bound to open the case, and he was bound to offend Sun Quanzuo and other cadres. Let Sun Quanzuo take a risk, take advantage of Guo Qian and his wife and daughter to Datong City, less than ten miles away from Fayin Temple to incense, when returning to the city, encountered more than a dozen assassins pretending to be bandits, killed Guo Qian, his wife and son, as well as the accompanying two domestic servants and maids, and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter Guo Shuzhen.

The leader saw that the little girl looked like a beautiful embryo and wanted to take it to a distant place and sell it for a good price, so he didn't kill her. When I came to a small tea shed outside Lingqiu County to drink tea, I was greeted by more than 50 soldiers. Taking advantage of the gap, Guo Ruzhen shouted: "Help! My parents have been killed by these bandits, and they want to buy me again!".

Guo Shuzhen shouted, the leader immediately picked up Guo Nuzhen and was about to run, so many bystanders saw that more than 50 soldiers were so embarrassed to let the bandits take people away, and the chief flag commander of the leader immediately shouted: "If you want to go, put people down, otherwise you will be unkind to you!".

The leader still knew that this group of soldiers was not easy to mess with, so he put down Guo Shuzhen and left generously, and these soldiers did not chase after them.

The chief flag chief shouted, "Little scholar, go and bring someone over!", at this time, a weak man in his twenties ran over and carried Guo Shuzhen over.

Guo Shuzhen was overly frightened, and her face was ugly, as if she had a serious illness. The flag commander was very concerned, "Do you still have relatives?".

Guo Shuzhen replied weakly, "I have an uncle in Xi'an, if you send me there, he will give you money!".

Guo Shuzhen concealed his identity, and did not say that his uncle was the son of Qin Yunhou, the current secretary of the Ministry of Industry. The general flag commander was not interested in this, mainly because he still had military affairs in his body, so he had to refuse, "We still have to march in a hurry, and we don't have time to send you, I'll see if there are any good Samaritans to send you there.".

Stood up and shouted to the passers-by, "Is there anyone willing to send this girl home?".

The passers-by drinking tea next to them pretended not to hear, they were all passers-by who had their own business, and besides, after this group of soldiers left, would the bandits follow, and there was no need to joke with their lives. So no one responded for half a day. The chief flag commander had no choice but to wave his hand helplessly, "We still have a task, and we really can't help you. You wait and see if there are any good Samaritans to send you.".

Guo Shuzhen burst into tears when she heard this, "Then I'll go with you!", and said that he relied on the side of the chief flag commander, first, to have a support, and second, to be afraid that the bandits would really return.

This kind-hearted flag chief got into a commotion, and he couldn't bring it, and he couldn't shake it off, so he didn't know what to do. At this time, the little scholar stood up, "Chief Flag Chief!" Let me send him back.",

This little scholar is Tang Tong, these people call him a little scholar, but many people don't know his real name. The Flag Commander must go back with the team without delay. I had to do this, and said to Guo Shuzhen: "How about letting this brother take you back?".

Guo Shuzhen seemed reluctant, "Can you send a few more people to send me back.",

After all, the chief flag commander is a killer, and what he wants is a decisive decision, and he roared sharply: "He is the only one, otherwise he will leave you alone!", the attitude of speaking is very arrogant, which makes people embarrassed.

After all, Guo Shuzhen was young and still a little timid, so she had to stop talking by default. The chief flag commander instructed the little scholar, "You will return when you send her home, otherwise you will be punished according to military law!"

The little scholar nodded hurriedly, "Guaranteed to do it!".

The chief flag chief asked the little scholar to sit on the same horse with Guo Shuzhen, and watching them go away, the chief flag chief seemed to think about whether a weak scholar and a girl could reach Xi'an. But it was late, and I calmly set off with the team.

Those who arrested Guo Shuzhen did not follow all the way, and the little scholar exhaled a long breath, thinking that Xi'an was not far away, and he would arrive in a few days on horseback, but he didn't expect that the later events would make this little scholar who was not deeply involved in the world go through hardships. Due to the cold weather and the bumps along the road held hostage by bandits, the official lady, who was originally weak, could not withstand this long period of torture. On the third day, Guo Shuzhen fell ill, with a fever and said mushy words, and it was a small village shop, there was no good doctor, so he could only let the country Langzhong catch some medicine, the little scholar took care of it seriously, and fed the medicine with water and never gave up, maybe the medicine was wrong, or maybe Guo Shuzhen was weak, and he stayed in this small shop for five or six days before he got better.

Although he can get out of bed and walk, he is still weak to speak, Guo Shuzhen looked at the little scholar who was busy, "Let's go on the road!".

Seeing that she was not well yet, the little scholar didn't want to leave the root of the disease, "Wait another day or two and it will be fine, don't rush this one.".

It seems that Guo Shuzhen has made up her mind, and her attitude is very resolute, "You hold me and ride a horse without walking, it will be fine!"

The little scholar still wanted to persuade her a few words, but Guo Shuzhen had stumbled forward. The little scholar had to pack up his luggage and settle the bill, help her get on the horse, in order not to bump on the road, the little scholar let the horse go slowly. On the first day of staying in the hotel, Guo Shuzhen's face was already ugly, but she still insisted on greeting the little scholar with a smile and not letting him worry.

The next day, Guo Shuzhen couldn't hold on, lying on the bed and couldn't get up, the little scholar had to stay, at this time he had arrived in a county town, and found a good doctor to see the disease, and the doctor pulled the little scholar aside after diagnosis and said: "This little girl was originally weak, and she was in a hurry, and her condition worsened, have you seen a doctor before?".

"I've seen it! It's just a herbalist in the countryside, and after a few days of medicine, it doesn't get very good.", the little scholar replied worriedly.

After all, it is a doctor in a big place, who knows what is wrong, "Can you show me the prescription?".

The little scholar waved his hand, "The medicine is prepared, there is no prescription!".

The doctor sighed, "It seems that I met a quack doctor, I will prescribe a prescription to eat for three days and try it!", after speaking, he prescribed the medicine, and the little scholar paid the consultation fee.

When I went to grab the medicine, the money was not enough, so I had to grab the medicine for the second payment, return to the inn to decoct the medicine and feed the medicine, and wait on the side. The little scholar is in trouble now, no matter how difficult it is to be alone, he can survive it, drink some cold water from a large cake, and lie in the field for a day. But now there is a sick little girl next to her, who has to live in a hotel and take medicine, which is a lot of expenses, and there is no money in her body. This made the little scholar not know what to do, so he had to use one of his jade pendants as an emergency.

Three days later, Guo Shuzhen still did not get better, so he came to the previous doctor to see him, checked it and said: "My medical skills are limited, you go to Doctor Yang of Jishitang, maybe there is a way!".

Tang Tong had no choice but to carry Guo Shuzhen to Jishitang, let Doctor Yang take a look, and shook his head again and again, "If I came five or six days earlier, I could still be saved, but now even I am not sure, I can only do my best, everything depends on whether she can survive herself, but this medicine needs to be increased and supplemented, and the cost is quite expensive!", said and prescribed a prescription.

After paying the consultation fee, I went to the counter and asked for ten taels of silver for a pair of medicines, and the little scholar now had four dollars of silver left on his body, and he couldn't afford it at all, so he could only carry the unconscious Guo Shuzhen back to the inn. After thinking about it, he could only sell his horse, and he could only carry Guo Shuzhen to Xi'an on his back in the future. He did it until the horse market only sold it for forty taels of silver, checked four pairs of medicines, and first fried one pair and fed it to Guo Shuzhen.

Have a good night's rest, prepare to leave for Xi'an tomorrow morning, fortunately, it is only one hundred and fifty miles away from Xi'an, decoction and medicine on the way, and strive to find her uncle in Xi'an on the fourth day.

The next morning with Guo Shuzhen on his back, the first day walked sixty miles, the little scholar only ate baked cakes and drank cold water, fed Guo Shuzhen porridge, and found a horse shop to live in the decoction and feed the medicine at night, Guo Shuzhen was sometimes unconscious and sometimes awake, but the time to be awake became less and less, and the memory of the little scholar became more and more blurred, and sometimes he could say a few words. By the time he stayed at the hotel on the third night, Guo Shuzhen's speech and thinking had gradually become confused, and after the little scholar finished feeding the medicine, Guo Shuzhen asked the little scholar: "Am I going to die?".

The little scholar didn't want her to be sad, and encouraged her with a smile, "Say stupid things, aren't you getting better and better?".

Guo Shuzhen didn't believe the little scholar's words, and asked rhetorically: "Why am I always confused, without a little strength, my disease can't be cured?".

The little scholar hurriedly replied: "It can be cured!" Didn't you lose your energy and couldn't speak the other day? Isn't it possible to speak now?", Guo Shuzhen listened to the warmth in her heart, she didn't expect this little scholar to never abandon herself, and then she thought that the little scholar was carrying her all the way, and asked suspiciously: "Where is your horse?".

The little scholar had no choice but to answer truthfully, "I sold it to buy you medicine!".

Guo Shuzhen was very moved and helpless, and said gratefully: "My uncle will compensate the horse, is there any medicine?"

The little scholar shook his head, lowered his head and wiped away his tears, not letting her see that he was sad, "It's gone!" But tomorrow we can go to Xi'an, as long as we find your uncle, we will buy medicine!", said and cried, the little scholar was sad from the bottom of his heart, for fear that Guo Shuzhen would not live to that time, a ten-year-old girl died like this, it was really not worth it.

But Guo Shuzhen didn't think so, thinking that he wouldn't live to that time, and asked, "Little scholar! Have you married a wife?".

The little scholar shook his head, "I don't know if it's gone!" Who will marry me?".

Perhaps because she didn't want to leave regrets, Guo Shuzhen also took care of it so much, and pleaded: "Then I'll marry you!" In case I die, bury me and write that I am your wife!".

The little scholar also knew that this was the last luxury in Guo Shuzhen's heart, and he didn't want to ruin her fun, and besides, he didn't know when there would be no one left, it was better than a yin marriage, and asked with a smile: "I don't know your name yet?"

Afraid that he would not be able to live, let alone become an anonymous person in his grave, Guo Shuzhen said with a smile: "My name is Guo Shuzhen, everyone calls me Shu'er, my father is Guo Qianhe, the prefect of Datong, and my uncle is Qin Zhixuan, the prefect of Xi'an,".

The little scholar felt that he wanted to give her confidence, and showed a smile on his face, "You won't die, I will be able to see your uncle who is the prefect tomorrow.".

Guo Shuzhen was relieved to hear this, and when she saw that the little scholar did not answer herself, she asked suspiciously: "You dislike me?".

The little scholar immediately shook his head, "You are only ten years old, you can't talk about marrying or not!".

Guo Shuzhen said a little angrily: "I'm going to die, you can't leave a comfort in my heart!".

Seeing Guo Shuzhen's eager eyes, the little scholar had no choice but to compromise, "I'll marry you!" I'm afraid you'll forget about me when you're sick."..

Guo Shuzhen shook his head and said very seriously: "No! I'll marry you when I grow up!".

The little scholar smiled, this little girl is still very sincere, it can be regarded as a comfort to her. The little scholar looked at this small room, there was always a little festive atmosphere, so he said: "I'll go get some festive things, you wait for me!", after saying that, the little scholar ran out, Guo Shuzhen closed his eyes and rested.