A hundred years of chaotic war in the Central Plains, in the name of Spring and Autumn Period.

Under the hard work of the previous monarchs for 30 years, Xixia, as the country of ten thousand times ruled by the Central Plains and the Northern Qi Dynasty, at the most prosperous time, there were also some wine and tea companions whispering in private talking about when the monarch could raise the whip and immediately wave the army eastward and sing a drama to the people of the world to win the big repertoire of the Central Plains.

There is a state in the north of Western Xia, which is Liangzhou, and Liangzhou is connected to Liaojin in the north and Northern Qi in the east. Since a hundred years ago, since the chaos of the princes of the Spring and Autumn Seven Kingdoms, there has been a constant war, so that the first wind of the spring solstice has a faint smell of blood left over from the war.

In the north of Liangzhou in Western Xia, there is a city, the name of the city is Yanbei, as the blood-stained gateway that bears the brunt of the war with Liaojin, it is naturally a little unusual. Yanbei City is backed by Liangshan, Liangshan is backed by Liangshui, after passing Liangshan, after crossing Liangshui, it is the Liangzhou border of Xixia Pingchuan.

The strategic importance of Yanbei to Western Xia is clear at a glance.

Nowadays, the cool water in March and April is as peaceful and quiet as a cool mountain. It is said that the cold water is 100 feet high in spring, but it is really only the bones that have witnessed the death of a hundred battles to know that it is not an exaggeration to say that this 100 feet is piled up by people.

It's just that in the past few years, it may be the tacit understanding of the Western Xia Lord and the King of Liaojin, or the huge chaotic war more than ten years ago, both sides were defeated, and the two countries have had a lot less "courtesy exchanges" between you and me over the years. They all choose to recuperate and recuperate to manage the national fortune.

During this period, the large-scale armistice gave Yanbei City a lot of room for development, not to mention the profit-seeking of businessmen, there are also wealthy and risky businessmen in war-prone areas. Not to mention the time of stability, it is like a spring breeze after the dragon raises its head, and the repair work after the battle of the Yanbei City Wall requires a large number of poor people. These are often hungry and bitter, in the era of war, the grain planted can be saved for ten years, and the ancestors have smoked from the green smoke, and the repair of the city wall not only provides three meals a day on time, but also can get a few cents of money every three or five times.

Although there is only a few coins of silver in hand, but no matter how small the mosquito is, it is also meat after all, save a half and a half, you can also buy a small half bowl of Qingyunlou's sake lees to save the taste, and there is a lot of game on the Liangshan Mountain, and the Western Xia advocates the martial style of the Zhou Dynasty, and it is not uncommon for the border people to ride and shoot. The small towns around Yanbei saw that the first batch of people who were conscripted in the past were also having a good time, and their hearts were itching, and they also wanted to save a few years of wages, and then go back to their hometowns to open a piece of land to marry a girl who could warm the quilt and give birth to a baby.

There are so many people in Yanbei City.

On the edge of the cool water at dusk, on the official road to Yanbei, the large and small figures on the tattered carriage were gradually stretched out in the afterglow of the sunset.

The young man looked a little thin, skillfully driving the carriage with a whip, dressed in a blue and white scholar's suit, starry eyes like ink, with a distant mountain eyebrows that envied many women, and a grass stalk picked by the cold water at the corner of his mouth evilly, and the combination of scholarly anger and ruffian spirit was natural.

His name is Xu Jiangnan, why he is called this name, he doesn't know, for more than ten years, Xu Jiangnan has not asked Mr. Li, who brought him up since childhood. Roughly speaking, I think that I was either born in the south of the river, or it is Jiangnan Province, where scholars gather. This way of choosing a name was common at the time, and he was glad that no wild dogs passed by when he was born.

At this time, Xu Jiangnan was driving the car with a familiar car, and turned his head sideways and asked softly: "Sir, there is still half a day away from Yanbei, are we going to enter the city at night or not?"

Mr. Li in Xu Jiangnan's mouth is sitting in the carriage at the moment, with the appearance of a scholar in his thirties, the same scholarly face, but with a sickly white, like a long-term sick patient, holding an old book in his hand, Xu Jiangnan can smell a thick "Hou Zhou Mountains and Rivers Chronicles", only his eyes are blazing, and he is a little out of place with the posture of this weak scholar on his body, revealing a kind of blandness that penetrates the world.

Hearing this, Mr. Li gently closed the book, ignoring Xu Jiangnan's little tricks, and said with a smile: "Is there a second choice? Go to the city, do you want to smoke and rain Nizi?

Xu Jiangnan nodded unabashedly, and said with the youth and shyness that should be at this age: "Sir, after the spring equinox, it will be four years." ”

Mr. Li paused when he heard this, and muttered, "It's been four years in the blink of an eye." ”

Xu Jiangnan was stunned, thinking about it, in a blink of an eye. More than ten years ago, he followed his husband for the first time, and his favorite thing to do was to lie on the table in the teahouse tavern and listen to the gentleman tell the terrifying story of the old gods of the elders covering their hands for rain, or cutting the river with a sword.

At that time, the gentleman would not be dressed as a scholar, in the teahouse, he was an old scholar in black clothes and white fans, and he spoke slowly and slowly, and the carefully crafted words made those foreign masters in the private room very happy, and from time to time there were housekeepers to reward some broken silver. The wine shop is a pair of ragter-clad and old-fashioned sword boxes on the back of the rivers and lakes, full of the end of the world like a fallen person, mentioning the old-timers in the rivers and lakes to hug their fists and regret, longing to be born one hundred and eighty years early, so as to look up to the old predecessors' former demeanor.

Every time the bowl is overflowing, Mr. will take Xiao Jiangnan to chase the moon back to Yanbei. Xiao Jiangnan always thought that Mr. was Mr. before he was six years old, the kind that was powerless, until he saved Xiao Yanyu that time.

Mr. likes to drink, especially the apricot blossoms of Qingyun Tower in Yanbei. That day, I was obviously in high spirits, drunk dizzy, and said a lot of things that Xiao Jiangnan didn't understand at that time, such as talking about storytellers, you have to talk about people pretending to be people, saying ghosts and pretending to be ghosts, and saying that the old gods can't be delicate and delicate to be the pretty lady with orchid fingers.

Xiao Jiangnan listened to the clouds in the fog, and saw that Mr. said that he fell asleep later. It's just that Mr.'s sleeping posture really doesn't deserve the word 'sir', holding a weapon like a military man, turning around, but Mr. is holding a dilapidated sword box that Xiao Jiangnan has always thought was just a swordsman who is down-and-out.

And this official road to Yanbei is not a path that extends in all directions, walking along the cool water is the so-called official road, the more you go, the more dangerous it is, one side is the mountain, and the other side is near the water. But this is the only way to enter Yanbei City, of course, there is another way, that is, like the old fairy in the story, the sword flies over to see this Liangshan where the momentum does not break through the sky.

The five- or six-year-old Xiao Jiangnana will not so much be driving a horse, but a half of the young man who believes in the reins of the horse, and the old horse knows the way.

Sir, this red horse can't be old anymore, and it can't be wheezing after half an hour. No matter how loud the whip flowers Xiao Jiangnan threw out with the whip, it didn't help, and Xiao Jiangnan finally had no choice, so he had to learn from Mr. to cross-legged his left leg to look at the "Mountains and Seas" that had been stored for a long time before he got it back, and to see those demons and monsters with horned wings.

After only a few pages, the sunset gradually fell, and the red horse suddenly became restless, and ran forward slowly. Xiao Jiangnan raised his head suspiciously, and found that there were twenty or thirty black-clothed iron-clad cavalry behind him, the horse's hooves were in a hurry, like stepping on thunder, and the dust raised was covered by layer by layer, and the halo of the setting sun was sprinkled on that layer of iron armor, like a soul envoy sent by Lord Yama.

Xiao Jiangnanhe had seen such a ferocious battle, shook off the book, shook Mr. Li vigorously, and tried his best to slap him in the face.

Seeing that Mr. had no tendency to wake up, Xiao Jiangnan wanted to drive the carriage to pull over and give way.

Who knew that the soldiers and horses arrived suddenly, and the leader was five big and three thick, a terrifying scar extended from the left eye to the corner of the mouth, and a mace of about seven feet was pinned to the back of the horse with hot air.

Seeing the little bad horse still panting in the middle of the official road, the drunkard who was still sleeping soundly wearing tattered clothes and Xiao Jiangnan, who was pinching the corners of his clothes and tilting his head silently, suddenly frowned, picked up the mace and smashed it down. Xiao Jiangnan was so frightened that he held his head in his hands for a while, closed his eyes, and looked a miserable face of resignation.

After waiting for a while, he didn't wait for the black-and-white impermanence of Xiao Jiangnan, but heard Mr. Li's drunken and lazy voice, "The five big and three rough ones are born, but they can only bully one child." ”

Xiao Jiangnan, who heard the voice, opened his eyes happily and worriedly. I saw that Mr. Li had somehow pressed the mace with his sword box with one hand.

After saying that, Mr. Li took the sword box with his left hand and rotated, and then pulled hard, the five big and three on the horse snorted roughly, and one stumbled and almost fell off the horse, but the mace came out of his hand.

Then, Mr. Li staggered out of the carriage with the tattered sword box that Xiao Jiangnan had always mistaken for just a prop in his left hand, and the wine jar that he hadn't finished drinking in his right hand.

Twenty or thirty horsemen saw that the general's weapons were unloaded, the horses' hooves neighed, and there was a neat sound of drawing knives, all of which were common ring-handled knives of Liaojin cavalry. Different from the Liang knife of Western Xia, the handle of the ring handle is short and long, and the blade is curved, while the cold knife has a straight back and a straight edge, and the back of the knife is thicker.

Seeing this, Mr. Li put the sword box on his shoulder, lifted the wine jar and poured a sip of spirits with his body, and said with a smile: "What's the matter, do you want to come together?"

"Yo, I can't see it, this Liangshan and Liangshui nest can still produce a tough person, not bad. The five big and three rough deliberately bent down and leaned over and said. As he spoke, he rubbed his wrist and suppressed the unbridled movement of his soldiers and horses, and he also knew that he didn't want to delay too much when he had military affairs in his body, and another gesture seemed to let Xiao Jiangnan and them go first. He also knew that there were many people in Liangzhou, who were like dragons and snakes, and compared with other states and counties in Jingzhou and Lingzhou, Liangzhou had a hundred battlefields and not many good stubbles. Although I have traveled all the way before, I have been chopping melons and vegetables like a person who stands in my way, even if the most vicious horse thief sees twenty or thirty wolf riders drinking blood, he has to weigh it. Especially if you talk like this, either you think it's too long, or you really rely on it. After being in the dust for so long, approaching the task handover point, he also thought about missing a stubble, and put on a rare posture of retreat.

It's just a pity that he miscalculated the people, there are tens of millions of people in the world, and there are more people who don't toast and eat, and obviously this person in front of him is also one of them. Mr. Li, who was carrying the sword box, changed his face slightly when his words did not fall, and he did not pay attention to the idea of forgiveness, did not retreat but advanced, poured another sip of spirits, and said with a frank smile, "The general is so bullying, but he is given a way to live, the contemptible people are very puzzled, and the sword in his hand is also puzzled, I hope the general will be relieved." ”

When did General Scar, who had been trapped in the battle for many years, ever been treated like this, and laughed angrily when he heard this. The gloomy smile and the originally fierce scar face were even more weird, and he scolded angrily: "You only draw a nose on a piece of paper, what a big face, give a shameless thing, dismount!" As soon as the words fell, twenty or thirty saber cavalry behind him dismounted their horses, and all raised their ring-handled knives, with a cold light, with a kind of solemn atmosphere.

The official road in Yanbei is narrow, all the way to the mountain, all the way to the water, a dilapidated carriage is not allowed to pass here, and General Scar also obviously knows that the horses in this place cannot give full play to the advantage of charging and may become a burden.

"Brothers, I haven't been chic for a few months, and after this stubble, the master will take you to the Spring Tobacco Workshop in the evening, call dozens of girls, eat a big piece of meat, drink a big bowl of wine, and kill!" For a while, twenty or thirty men who licked blood from the edge of their knives rushed up, and the momentum was so great that they were not weak ordinary cavalry.

Xiao Jiangnan was already frightened and stunned, hiding at the wheels, exposing half of his body to watch, this scene has always only appeared when Mr. was commenting on the story. And in Xiao Jiangnan's impression, Mr. is a gentleman, a little weaker than a scholar. I remember that I was rushing with my husband outside Jinling City half a year ago, and at dusk I glanced at the breasts of the woman who returned from laundry, and was "chased" by the woman with a laundry stick for several miles. A few women can't help it, this is now a big man in the twenties and thirties?

I saw that Mr. Li was really not in a hurry, poured another mouthful of apricot blossoms, and pressed the left hand of the broken sword box hard. The sword box knocked the wine jar out with a stunning arc, and the figure flashed between the crowd like a butterfly, and the dazzled swept behind everyone, just catching the apricot blossom that had just been thrown, raising his head and drinking it all in one gulp, squinting, and then muttering in a voice that only Mr. himself could hear: "It's still not as good as the apricot blossom of the year."

After speaking, he threw the wine jar casually, and the twenty or thirty burly men collapsed one by one with the sound of the wine jar bursting, with a trace of blood in their throats. Xiao Jiangnan really didn't see how Mr. took out the sword, and how he collected the sword, it was completely like a dream, this is still the gentleman who was chased and beaten by seven or eight women, with a blue nose and swollen face, hiding in the City God Temple, and didn't even dare to fart?

"Come out, I don't kill women. Mr. Li's voice was flat, as if someone else had just gone on a killing spree here.

When Xiao Jiangnan heard this, he saw that the original twenty or thirty people were escorting this carriage behind, and the carriage in the real sense was not a cold combination of a broken wooden board and two broken wheels on Mr.'s side, and a skinny old horse in front. The body of the carriage in front of it is all black wood, carved with many dragons and phoenixes and other auspicious rui, and the windows are all special silk from Jinling, obviously the people in the car are either rich or expensive.

The people in the car probably also saw the strange method of killing people without seeing blood. Hearing this, he hurriedly jumped out of the car, knelt down, and hurriedly kowtowed and sobbed, "The slave family, the slave family has thanked the knights for not killing, and the slave family is really not ...... with them."

Before he finished speaking, Mr. Li waved his hand to interrupt the woman's noise, and the smell of wine rose, and he said, "Okay, okay, let's go." When the woman heard this, how dare she say another thing or two, she had seen Mr. Li's unchanging face twenty or thirty people before, and she had long thought about slipping away, but her legs were weak. Where to move his legs and feet, I thought that I would also follow this cool river, but who knew that Liu Dian Hua Ming picked up a small life in front of Lord Yama, and immediately kowtowed three times, holding his knees and limping away.

Later, Mr. Yi seemed to have expected that there was another person in the car and called Xiao Jiangnan to help. This is the first time Xiao Jiangnan has seen Xiao Yanyu, curled up in the corner of the carriage, his hands are tied behind him by ropes, a ball of silk is stuffed in his mouth, and his eyes are ethereal and poignant.

After Mr. Li arranged Xiao Jiangnan, he didn't care about this side, stood alone on the edge of the cool water and looked at the south, the direction of Jinling City in the Kyoto of Western Xia, and said to himself: "Chen Zheng, Chen Zheng, I really didn't expect that for the sake of this Xixia country, I would not only lose my own queen, but also take my daughter." It's just that this knot now, how are you going to escape when the time comes?"

After that, Xiao Jiangnan took off the silk in Xiao Yanyu's mouth, untied the rope on Xiao Yanyu's body, and just wanted to open his mouth to ask for his name, he heard the voice of Mr. Outside: "She will be called Chen Yanyu in the future." ”