A few miles away, the two horses were still nearly parallel, the heads of the horses one in front of the other, and the distance between them was no more than a meter.

Long Shaoyang followed closely behind, only to feel that the mount under his crotch let go of his four hooves, galloping like flying, but the horse's back was very stable, and he said in his heart: "This 'jade lion' has extraordinary foot strength, and it seems to be better than 'Yue Ying' if it is not under 'Yue Ying'." I wonder what she's up to?"

Just thinking about it, I saw Zhu Xibing turn around, smiled, and said: "Young Master Long, you have to take a closer look, today I will let you know the origin of the word 'Yue Ying'!" After speaking, he turned around, clamped his legs, and the black horse hissed and disappeared.

Long Shaoyang snorted lightly, tightened the reins, and the sound of the white horse's hooves was like rain, running faster and chasing after him.

It was past midnight, the sun was warm, the yellow grass spread along the winding river, as if a carpet had been laid, and the two horses were flying like flying, just like galloping in a beautiful picture. Long Shaoyang couldn't help but say: "This beautiful scenery, if you ride a horse and gallop, until you are old, it is enough in this life." ”

Running more than ten miles away, the two horses are still one in front of the other, not far apart. Long Shaoyang only felt that his body was gradually bumping, and there were more and more hills. After passing a mountain pass, I saw a pavilion on the hillside in the distance, faintly visible, in the distance. He thought to himself: "I think that the hillside in front of me is thirty miles of slope." With a joy in his heart, he clamped his legs hard, and with a snort in his mouth, the horse flew over on all fours and rushed away.

Zhu Xibing heard his shouting, turned his head and smiled, flicked the horsewhip, and urged the horse forward.

After running for a while, the mountain pavilion became clearer and clearer, and the stone tables and stone benches in the pavilion had come into view. Long Shaoyang urged the horses to gallop, and the two horses gradually became side by side. Seeing that there was still a distance of three or four zhang from the mountain pavilion, he suddenly heard a "sigh", a crisp and sharp whistle came, and the running "jade lion" heard the whistle, and was about to stop when he landed, but the castration was very violent, how could he stop for a while? I saw that its hind legs grabbed the ground violently, rolled up a burst of dust, rushed forward a few steps, and could stop, and with a long whistle, its front legs were in the air, and it raised its hooves endlessly.

This time it became hasty, Long Shaoyang only felt that a huge momentum came from his back, and rushed forward, but he didn't have time to think about it, and when he took advantage of the situation, he turned over and jumped in the air, a few ups and downs, and his body had landed steadily in front of the pavilion.

At this moment, Long Shaoyang only felt a black shadow flash in front of him, and a mount rushed to the front of the pavilion at the same time. Immediately, the man was looking at him with a smile, it was Zhu Xibing.

Long Shaoyang steadied his mind and said sarcastically: "I wish the girl a good way!"

Zhu Xibing's face was slightly red, and he immediately grinned, and arched his hand: "Thanks to the praise of Master Long, the little woman is ashamed!" At that moment, he turned over and dismounted, pinched his thumb and index finger together and put them into his mouth, and with a "whoosh", the "jade lion" who was still in place raised his hooves from time to time and snorted, heard the whistle, and immediately ran over. Running closer, Wuzi rubbed back and forth on her arm.

Zhu Xibing gently stroked the mane on the horse's neck, turned his head, and said, "Young Master Long, you're not injured." Just now, I blamed my negligence for a while, and I forgot to remind you that this 'jade lion' is like snow all over, and it seems to be gentle and well-behaved, but in fact it has a violent temperament. If it doesn't go your way, it will start a temper, and there is really nothing you can do about it. Young Master Long, didn't you offend it somewhere?"

Long Shaoyang saw that she justified herself, and brushed aside what had just happened without a trace, and thought secretly: "This girl is so scheming and quick to see the opportunity, compared to ordinary men, she is still above her." Fortunately, I have always been vigilant, otherwise I would have lost face if I fell from the horse in front of the pavilion today. Let's see what she will do later. At that moment, he smiled faintly and said, "I wish the girl a serious word." As the saying goes, it is common for people to stumble and horses to stumble. ”

Zhu Xibing didn't answer immediately, glanced at Long Shaoyang, and asked with a smile: "Young Master Long, I rode the horse just now, I don't know who is the winner?"

"When the girl and I came to this pavilion at the same time, we naturally shook hands and made peace. ”

"Yes, I arrived with the horse, but you have not yet arrived, who do you say is the winner?"

"Why do you have to count horses?"

"Childe, you are really a noble person who forgets things. Today's appointment, the west of the city horse race, according to the agreement, we race horses, not people. ”

Long Shaoyang was speechless for a while.

"This girl said that there are three sets of high and low, and I naturally won this game. Zhu Xibing said and looked over with a smile.

Long Shaoyang paused for a moment and said with a smile: "What I wish the girl said is very true, and the winner this time is naturally you, the girl." Long's defeat today is not only inferior to others, but also inferior to others in 'strategy', and he is willing to bow to the upper hand. ”

Zhu Xibing listened to his pun, hiding a needle in the cotton, but he was not annoyed, he waved his hand, and grinned: "Thanks to the Dragon Prince." With that, a pair of beautiful eyes looked straight over.

Long Shaoyang saw her eyes flowing, staring at herself, a few strands of hair on her forehead brushing her jade face in the breeze, adding three points of charm to her beauty, and hurriedly turned her head away and stared into the distance. After being stunned for a moment, he said, "Miss Zhu, this day is about to change, and the hour is not early, let's go back to the city." ”

Zhu Xibing looked in the direction he was looking, and saw that the intersection of the mountain and the sky in the distance was already gray, slowly spreading upward, and the sun in the sky had been hiding in the clouds for some time, revealing a soft light from time to time. The north wind blew, and the dead leaves and weeds on the ground whirled around on their own. At that moment, she nodded, took the 'jade lion', and handed the other reins in her hand to Long Shaoyang.

The two turned over their horses, turned their horses' heads, got on the official road, rode one by one, walked side by side, and galloped towards the capital.

Along the way, the two talked and laughed, talked happily, and let the horses walk leisurely on the official road. As soon as they had reached the top of the hill, they heard a wail in front of them, followed by a few screams, and the two of them instantly suppressed their smiles, looked at each other, and instigated their mounts to run forward.

Climbing up the hill, the two followed the prestige, only to see a fork in the road not far away, where several roads led to Los Angeles. A large crowd of people crowded at the intersection, some running towards them, some fleeing to other forks in the road, like a swarm of confused ants, bustling and chaotic.

Long Shaoyang pulled the reins, clamped his legs hard, and drove the mount to Zhu Xibing, who saw this and followed.

While the two were wondering, a group of people had approached. Long Shaoyang looked intently, and saw that this was a group of homeless people fleeing the famine, from the white-haired old man to the yellow-haired children, in groups of three or five, gathered together. All of them are yellow and thin, unkempt, and most of them are unclothed, and they can't stop shivering. Some carry a porcelain bowl, some carry a wooden stick, and some carry a burden...... When they saw the man and woman in front of them riding horses, well-dressed, they glanced timidly, and hurried to the side of the official road.

Zhu Xibing was puzzled: "Young Master Long, what's wrong? They seem to have encountered something terrible. ”

Long Shaoyang shook his head and said, "They don't look like they're begging for food, but like they're running for their lives." ”

Twenty or thirty more followed, and the sound of wailing and groaning rang out. This group of people are of different ages, all in a hurry, looking back from time to time while running, and they are all quails and ragged clothes. Long Shaoyang suddenly understood, knowing that the wailing he had heard just now was coming from these people. Looking at it intently, I couldn't help but be taken aback, only to see that some of the faces of this group of people, some on their arms, some on their legs, and some on their backs, there were blood marks, which were very eye-catching, and some were oozing blood, and the blood flowed endlessly, which was obviously caused by whips and other utensils.

Long Shaoyang saw that there were children mixed with the injured people, and he couldn't stop the blood from surging, so he pressed himself, jumped off the horse, rushed over with an arrow, supported one of the white-haired old men, and asked, "Uncle, what's wrong with you?"

The old man's eyes were full of horror, he looked at Long Shaoyang, and after a long time, he trembled his lips and said, "This son, don't ...... Don't go into the city, there are officers and soldiers there, and when they see people, they will fight ......," he said and looked back in a panic.

Zhu Xibing untied a leather bag from the horse, pulled out the cork, handed it over, and said, "Uncle, drink saliva first, don't be afraid, if you have something to say, speak slowly." ”

The old man glanced at Zhu Xibing, hesitated and took the leather bag, took a few sips, and said, "Thank you, girl." The old slave was originally from Qinzhou, and last autumn there was drought and little rain, and the harvest was not good, and those Hu people often rode horses to loot, so they finally survived until winter, and there was no surplus grain in ten miles and eight villages...... When everyone heard that the capital was rich, they thought about coming over to beg for food. Who knew that there was an official defense set up outside the city, and a group of officers and soldiers stopped and did not let them go, and they also beat ...... with whips" Speaking of this section, I couldn't help but cry.

The two asked about the situation of the family, and the old man couldn't cry, and talked intermittently for a long time, it turned out that the family had starved to death or died of illness on the way to the capital.

The two sighed at the moment and comforted them with kind words.

Zhu Xibing touched his waist and found that there was no silver tael with him. She was born with the body of a daughter, brocade clothes and jade food, and when she became an adult, when she came out and went in, she had an entourage waiting for her, how could she have the habit of carrying silver taels with her? Turning her head to look at Long Shaoyang, she saw that he also touched his waist and shook his head.

Zhu Xibing had an idea, plucked a hosta from his head and handed it to the old man. Where was the old man willing to accept it, the two persuaded him, and the old man burst into tears, reluctantly accepted it, and went with a thousand thanks.

Long Shaoyang hesitated and said, "How can these officers and soldiers be so ridiculous? Let's go to the front and have a look." He wanted to say a few more words, but after thinking about it, the father of the girl opposite is now in charge of the world's soldiers and horses, and when the words came to his mouth, he left seven points.

Zhu Xibing said: "I also think it's strange. At the foot of the Son of Heaven, in the first good place, these officers and soldiers are so blatant, there must be something strange in them. ”

The two of them got on the horse again, and the happy mood of galloping on the horse was suddenly washed away by the tragic scene in front of them. Riding forward, the two intermittently encountered many homeless people, who were in groups of three or five, helping each other, and there were not a few injured on their bodies.

Long Shaoyang turned over and dismounted several times, and found a few injured people to ask, all of them said that there was drought and little rain last year, the harvest was very small, and gradually famine became a disaster, coupled with the looting of the Hu people, he left his hometown in desperation, fled the famine and asked for food, and went to Los Angeles City to be intercepted and beaten by a group of officers and soldiers, so he had to turn back and find another place. When asked about their origins, most of them are farmers in Qinzhou and Daizhou who have been working for generations to make a living.

Long Shaoyang thought to himself that Qin and Dai Erzhou were located in the northwest of Daqi, and since ancient times, there was mostly drought and little rain, and they bordered each other with the nomadic areas of Xiliang and Northern Wei, so they have always been a place of frequent wars. Although the three countries have been on good terms and at peace with each other for more than a decade, and in recent years, there have been incidents of border friction, intrusion, and even cross-border looting, but this is the first time that such a large number of people have fled their homes and begged everywhere.

Just thinking about it, the towering and tall city wall of Los Angeles was already in sight, and I saw a row of officers and soldiers standing in the middle of the road not far in front of the city gate.

At this moment, the flow of people on the official road has gradually increased. The two dismounted, held the reins, merged into the flow of people, and came straight to the west gate of Los Angeles - Pingding Gate.