The vast southern frontier is surrounded by mountains.

On a trade road in the mountains, two officials were on their way with a young man in shackles.

said that he was a teenager, but just by looking at his figure, his face was not clear at all.

The man's hair was disheveled, foul-smelling, and he looked skinny, and none of his clothes were of intact fabric, but he could cover up his shame a little, and the whole person looked like a beggar by three points.

Xu was tired of walking, and the young prisoner stumbled under his feet and almost fell, but fortunately, he reacted quickly and sat on an old tree on the side of the road, so that he could stabilize his body.

However, his footsteps attracted a hot leather whip behind him.

"Go faster, what do you want! What kind of handsome man is the Hou Mansion, the genius of the capital, he can't walk steadily!" was accompanied by a low scolding.

The young man gritted his teeth, resisted the urge to punch the official behind him, and continued without saying a word.

His name is Chen Mingye, the son of Chen Bai, the former Duke of Qi Guogong and Beizhou Mu, but now he is guilty of a crime, and he was exiled from Haoming Beizhou for thousands of miles to Jiaozhou in southern Xinjiang to serve a prison sentence for ten years before he can return.

Ten years of exile, suffering day by day, is only the third year now.

Born in Beizhou, the place of exile is in the 100,000 mountains of southern Xinjiang, the two places are separated across the entire territory of Haoming, he has walked to this day, but he has just walked most of the way to the land of southern Xinjiang, to reach the destination Anshun City, I am afraid that there is still half a year.

"I heard that in two days it will be the torch festival here in southern Xinjiang, so we can watch the excitement along the way. A servant said.

The other immediately responded with a smile: "I also heard that the little girl here in southern Xinjiang will choose a husband at this torch festival." ”

The official who spoke up in front immediately replied: "You are an old and immodest person, just what do you want to take advantage of?"

"That maybe, my old Feng can get a little wife back if he's lucky!" said the one in the back with a grin.

"That tigress in your house won't strangle you!"

"Don't mention it, it's so easy to grab this beauty difference, but this kid is a bad guy without any oil and water!"

"Speaking of which, I'm also angry, telling him to suffer a little more, or the concubine of the Hou Mansion, he doesn't have any silver on his body!"

Saying this, the incomprehensible official raised his hand and whipped Chen Mingye's body again.

Chen Mingye was silent, as if the whip was not on his body, but on a stone.

Surrounded by mountains in southern Xinjiang, they often see a village far away, and the three of them controlled their footsteps all the way to arrive at a village before nightfall.

The patriarch of this village, a thin old man, came out of the house on crutches after hearing the message, and received the two officials, and said, "The two adults have come from afar, so let's settle down and rest in the village for the time being." ”

As he spoke, he glanced at Chen Mingye, who was wearing shackles, and couldn't help but be a little curious: "This young man didn't know what a big crime he committed at a young age, and he was exiled to our remote place. ”

The thin and tall official glanced at him when he heard this, and said, "Old man, don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"

The other short and fat one was a little patient: "We are also for your good, this young man's background is not ordinary, he has to be strictly guarded, if he is allowed to escape, it will be a felony of killing his head!"

The thin old man was bluffed by the two, and hurriedly nodded in response: "Don't worry, two adults, our Aoki clan has always been honest and responsible, and we must pay attention to this young man, and there will be nothing missing." ”

"Well, you can prepare a room for us to rest, get some wine and food, and the money will not be less for you. Humpty Dumpty said.

The old man replied: "I have already asked people to prepare when I heard the news of the arrival of the two adults, please wait for a while." ”

After that, he hesitated a little and said: "Rong Xiao Lao'er Qiqi two adults, today is the annual torch festival in our village, and people from another village will also come over to celebrate the festival together, I am afraid that the flow of people will be a little noisy at that time." ”

"Oh, it's the Torch Festival today?" the tall and thin official immediately became interested when he heard this, and immediately said, "Is it inconvenient for us to go and see it?"

The short and fat servant pulled him and said, "Old Meng, don't mess around!"

"It's okay," said the old man, "if the two adults can trust the little second child, they will hand this young man into my hands, and I will definitely let people take strict care of it, and if there is any mistake, the little second child will voluntarily take responsibility." ”

The tall thin man who was called Lao Meng immediately rejoiced: "Then please leave it to the village chief!"

The short and fat official wanted to say more, but was interrupted by Lao Meng: "Lao Kong, I didn't say you, you were afraid of the east and the west from beginning to end along the way, you think about it, this is a criminal of the imperial court, who else dares to save him! Besides, even if there are any remnants of the chaotic party who want to do it, they will do it a long time ago, how can there be a reason to do it again when they go to southern Xinjiang now." ”

"But ......" Lao Kong opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Lao Meng again.

"I see that the patriarch of the Aoki clan was shocked when he heard that this kid was a major criminal, obviously very timid, for fear that something happened to us in his village and implicated them, at this time, I am afraid that they will be more careful than ourselves, we are rare to be comfortable, so let's relax." ”

Lao Kong hesitated, and finally wanted to relax for a while, so he agreed with the tall old Meng's statement.

The old man nodded when he saw the two officials, and immediately asked people to arrange wine and food, intending to wash the dust for the two officials.

That night, a huge bonfire was lit in the central clearing of the village, around which people in the village sang and danced with torches in hand to celebrate the annual festival.

Chen Mingye was locked in a firewood room, and in order to ensure that something happened, the patriarch also specially sent two sturdy men to take care of him outside the door.

After driving for so long, he has been closely watched by the two officials, and it is rare to have a clean and lonely time, but he is also happy.

Adjusting his sitting position, he magically took his cuffed hand out of the shackles, flicked his numb wrist, and grinned and muttered, "It's eight hundred and fifty-three days." ”

Eight hundred and fifty-three days are all the days and months he has experienced since the day he was exiled.

What the two officials were worried about was not at all necessary.

No one will come to save him, and he will not run away. Chen Mingye grinned silently.

The Hao Ming Law stipulates that if a prisoner escapes on the way, he will be wanted by the whole country, and he will also be guilty of the same crime as his family, and once he is caught, the crime will be increased by one degree. And above the exile, it is also assassination, confiscation and even death.

He had no mother since he was a child, and his father was no longer there, and now he was alone, so he didn't have to worry about being implicated. Escaping was a desperate choice, and I would not be afraid of any crime.

The reason why he did not flee was only because the man who was tall and tall and like a towering mountain in his heart had handed him a letter long before the catastrophe.

The book is a simple little poem.

100,000 mountains in southern Xinjiang, a lake Xuanqing Pond, 100,000 miles of wild geese, close at hand.

Chen Mingye didn't understand the meaning of the letter at that time, and asked his father about the content of the letter out of curiosity.

Dad just smiled: "The content of the letter doesn't matter, you can see that person, just explain your intentions." ”

"The man?" he still didn't understand.

"When you go to southern Xinjiang, you understand. ”

"I'm staying well in Kyoto, what are you going to do in southern Xinjiang?"

Daddy didn't speak, just sighed softly.

But he didn't take it to heart.

It wasn't until everything came like a nightmare and he was exiled thousands of miles in shackles that he somewhat understood what his father had arranged for him.

This is now the journey of 853 days.