On the fifteenth day of the first month, Xiangyang City

The moat is noisy with gongs and drums, four huge dragon boats up to 20 zhang long are connected end to end in the river, these boats are of the same system, all are dragon heads and dragon tails, there are three layers on the boat, there are 30 red lanterns on each layer, it seems that the boats are standing quietly on the river, but look at the lanterns all fluttering to the side, proving that the boats are rowing on the water.

There is a team of gongs and drums on the bow of each boat, although they are not visible to each other, but the sound of the gongs and drums on the four is uniform, it should have been practiced many times early in the morning to achieve such a shocking effect, and at the stern, every time the gongs and drums are close, there will be brilliant fireworks rising into the sky at the same time, which is particularly beautiful.

And with the end of the fireworks, from the third layer of the ship, suddenly a huge red cloth fell, covering most of the entire ship, and each cloth was written with thick ink A vigorous big character, together is the four characters of 'Xiangcheng Ninghe'.

This kind of formation basically attracted most of the Xiangyang people to the river to watch, it was a big year, and such a prosperous activity had a good meaning, so the people watched the excitement, and naturally got together to judge the new Zhizhou master who loved to toss in Xiangyang.

For example, the 'Jishitang' opened on the side of the city wall, the shopkeeper scoffed at this act, and watched the moat from afar to see the bustle on the moat, and the shopkeeper leaned on a rattan chair, shook slightly, and laughed inexplicably from time to time, and then closed his eyes and did not look at the river.

At the beginning of the new year, even if there is a small illness on the body, patience will pass, if the ointment is continuous at the beginning of the year, and it will touch the mold.

Therefore, the shopkeeper didn't expect anyone to come to the shop to see a doctor, compared to a busy year, these days are really rare and leisurely. He glanced at the guy who was also doing nothing on the side, and wanted to go to the river to see the lively guys, and said with a smile: "Little Ya'er, do you want to go to see the dragon boat and watch the fireworks?"

The guy who is called Xiao Ya'er is not very old, and he looks very smart, and when he heard the shopkeeper say this, he immediately came to his senses, and his head was the same as a chicken.

"Eun, shopkeeper, you see everyone has gone to see it. ”

"Everyone went to see it, you better not go to join in the fun, there is no place to go. Xiao Ya'er was a little disappointed, pursed her lips, squatted on the ground silently, and muttered: "There are no guests, and they don't let me go out, it's very rigid." ”

Don't look at the shopkeeper's age, but after all, he is proficient in the art of Qihuang, and he is more deaf and clear-sighted than many young people, Xiao Ya'er's complaint clearly reached the ears of the shopkeeper, but he didn't get angry, but said with a smile: "You little baby, I don't let you go, it makes sense." ”

"What's the truth?"

"The truth is a bit big, and you don't necessarily understand it. ”

Xiao Ya'er said unabashedly disdainfully: "Cut, it will coax me." ”

According to the usual habit of the shopkeeper, he will definitely sit up from the rattan chair, scold a few words angrily, and then preach to the little worm, but I didn't expect that today is very strange, the shopkeeper is lying on the chair unmoved, and said a little abruptly: "Little bud, you just listen to a lively and lively scene, but the shopkeeper I, listen to the noise in my ears is very ah, you look at the words on those big boats, how much labor and money are wasted, so a few pieces of cloth, how many new clothes are enough to sew up? ”

"Today's auspicious and grand occasion, the new Zhizhou lord gave a letter to the Son of Heaven who was far away in the capital to report the good news, maybe he could be promoted to the next level, but we little people should be lively, pitiful and sad. ”

Xiao Ya'er was ignorant, since the shopkeeper had spoken, he naturally couldn't see the dragon boat if he wanted to see it, so he simply settled down, pulled a small bench from the shop, came to the shopkeeper, and said with a flattering face: "Shopkeeper, you tell me about the legend of the green fox, I talked about half of it last time, and I haven't listened to it yet!"

The shopkeeper glared at him, and waved his hand impatiently: "Go, go, work, make up for those medicines, angelica, notoginseng, gastrodia, and... Dendrobium..."

Xiao Ya'er had to work reluctantly, after all, the family was poor, only the shopkeeper was willing to ask him, and gave him a good salary, at least he could live in Xiangyang City, so no matter how Xiao Ya'er complained, the work was not ambiguous at all, and soon found out the more than a dozen medicinal materials that the shopkeeper said.

Xiao Ya'er wanted to stand up and rest for a while, but at this moment, the half-hidden store door was suddenly knocked open with a 'bang', and then a figure stumbled into the store, and then under the stunned eyes of the two people in the store, the person fell to the ground with a bang, and there was no movement.

"Shopkeeper, this... What's going on?"

Xiao Ya'er is not afraid, after all, in the medical hall, you can see many patients every day, even dying people, and if you see too much, you are not so afraid, so after a short period of surprise, Xiao Ya'er hurriedly put down the medicinal materials in her hand and hurriedly went to the door to investigate the situation.

The shopkeeper also frowned, sat up from the rattan chair, stared at the person who was crawling on the ground, and looked at the person who was crawling on the ground, there was blood slowly overflowing from under this person, obviously the abdomen was seriously injured, the shopkeeper did not dare to delay, and called to Xiao Ya'er: "Quick, go and help up, we have to open." ”

About five miles outside the city, in an open place, there is a military camp of considerable scale, the flag planted on the camp tent is more peculiar, on it is a fierce tiger, in the fur can faintly see the word 'Zhaolin', this is where the Zhaolin military camp is located.

The fireworks in Xiangyang City are clearly visible here, and among the countless camp tents, outside the largest camp tent that surrounds it, Chen Zijing is looking up at the fireworks blooming in the sky, and there is no expression on his face.

After a while, a guard came over and saluted: "General, the pioneer battalion has come to report that a horse from the Zhizhou Mansion has just left the city and headed northeast." ”

Chen Zijing let out a 'hmm' and sneered: "The old man from the Zhizhou Mansion went to the capital to invite merit again. ”

"General, Xiangyang Ninghe should be your credit, what does it have to do with Lord Zhizhou?"

Chen Zijing glanced at the guard with a cold look in his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "What do you do to earn so much credit." ”

The guards bowed respectfully and did not dare to get up.

"What else is there to hear?"

The pioneer battalion also reported that many so-called heroes of the rivers and lakes have entered Xiangyang recently, and the pioneer battalion is closely monitoring, and once they find that these people have any bad intentions, they will be immediately killed. ”

"Well, the peace of Xiangyang is guarded by us, don't be sloppy, tell the brothers to continue to monitor, don't be negligent. ”

"Yes, humble!"

Chen Zijing let out a slow breath, followed by a whisper: "Jianghu people, but what happened?"