After walking another section of water, Cao Cao and the three of them almost eased up, and finally had the strength to speak.

"Fourth brother, what happened that day? Didn't you already escape?"

Relying on Cao Cao's input of internal force, Cao Hong's injuries were much better, and his spirit improved greatly.

"Yes, I originally escaped from Julu City, but later..."

"What happened? Didn't I ask you to rush back to Qinghe to report to Mo Daxia?"

"Alas, after leaving the city, I was going to listen to my eldest brother's words and return to Qinghe, but I was worried about my eldest brother's safety, so I went to the mass grave first. “

"What are you going to do there?"

"I remember that the eldest brother and the old man Feng agreed that they would meet at the mass grave as planned after the matter was completed. Unexpectedly, the eldest brother was captured, and I was flustered, so I thought about going to the mass grave first, to see if I could wait until the old man Feng, so that I could go back to save the eldest brother. ”

"Have you ever been to a mass grave?" interjected the rowing wind senior.

"yes. ”

"After the old man left the city, he also went to the mass grave to wait as agreed, but the old man didn't wait for any of you, and thought that you would return to Qinghe directly after finishing the matter. ”

Cao Cao was in the city at that time, so naturally he couldn't show up, and it stands to reason that Cao Hong...

"I waited on the post for two hours, my spirit was a little slack, suddenly a black shadow flashed, followed by I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I found that I had been captured by Guo Dabao. ”

"So, did you fall for Guo Dabao's sneak attack?"

"The juniors didn't see it clearly, I guess so. ”

Cao Cao felt distressed and complained about his brother in his heart, looking at the river in the night, a little dazed.

The carefree princess on the side fell into Cao Cao's arms and was already asleep.

After all these twists and turns, she must have been tired in her heart, and it was difficult for her to be such a pampered princess.

Afraid that she would catch a cold, Cao Cao tightened his grip on her body.

I don't know how long I walked, but there was a faint light in front of me.

Walking here, everyone's hearts relaxed a little, although they don't know where they are at this time, but at least they are safe.

After another walk, there was another fork in the road.

And the light came from the riverbank, and the outline was a straw hut.

If there is a light, there are people, so it is better to go up and take a break, or ask for directions by the way.

Approaching the shore, Cao Cao saw what appeared to be a rudimentary dock, with a wooden platform and a few small boats bolted to wooden stakes standing in the water.

The old man sailed the boat to the platform, jumped on the wooden platform, found a stake to bolt the boat, and led everyone ashore.

As soon as Cao Cao entered the grass shed with Princess Sanssouci in his arms, he suddenly felt a lot warmer.

The shed was small, very simple, except for a wooden table and a few wooden stools, on which an oil lamp was placed, and a dim light danced in the long night.

The entire ground was covered with thick hay, which rustled when stepped on. It's convenient, at least you can rest on it.

I saw a young man in the corner, curled up in the grass and sleeping soundly, when so many people came in, and although the footsteps were very soft, he still woke him up.

As if he had seen it no longer strange, he grunted that there was a pepper over there, and was about to fall asleep again.

Cao Cao gently placed Princess Sanssouci on the soft hay and tried to make her sleep as comfortable as possible.

Then he approached the young man and asked softly, "This little brother, how do you go to Qinghe here?"

The young man was sleepy-eyed, yawned, and repeated the phrase that there was a pepper over there.

Everyone was a little puzzled, Cao Hong saw a bamboo basket hanging on the wall, stepped forward to pick it up, and sure enough, he found a basket of thick and long peppers, some green and red, and some half green and half red.

Cao Cao is clearly asking for directions, why do young people repeatedly mention chili peppers?

Cao Cao asked again, and the young man stopped sleeping, sat up and said, "This is Chili Crossing, this grass hut is for the convenience of passers-by to rest, and you can roast chili peppers to eat when you are hungry." ”

Oh, so that's the case, no wonder so much hay was laid, it turned out to be a temporary resting place for passers-by, Cao Cao couldn't help but be secretly grateful in his heart.

Moreover, chili peppers are also prepared to facilitate passers-by to satisfy their hunger, but only chili peppers have no dry food, so they are not afraid of spicy?

"Rest for you, and I'll roast you." "The young people were very welcoming.

Cao Cao didn't want to say more, and went to the back of the straw shed with the basket.

It seems that the people here are simple and kind, not only providing accommodation for passers-by, but even this stranger who has never known each other is so enthusiastic.

It's not an inn, and the young man's hospitality makes Cao Cao and the others embarrassed.

After all, after floating on the water for most of the night, everyone was cold and tired, and hurriedly released their exhaustion on the spot.

After a while, the young man came in with a few roasted chili peppers, and a strange fragrance wafted into his nose, making people appetize.

"You're welcome, everyone, eat some quickly, and I'll bake it again." ”

Cao Cao looked at the roasted black pepper and couldn't help but hesitate.

The same is true for the Feng seniors and Cao Hong, their stomachs are indeed gurgling, but they have never heard of roasted chili peppers.

Looking at the young man's hospitable gaze, Cao Cao picked one up and brought it to his mouth, it was hot and fragrant, and Cao Cao couldn't help but take a bite.

It's not spicy at all, and it's delicious.

Nodding his head while eating, a chili pepper quickly went down his stomach.

The other two were no longer polite and chewed on the same.

The three of them were very happy to eat, and soon the roasted peppers were swept away, and the young man roasted them twice, and the three of them still ate with relish, and they were still unsatisfied.

Seeing that half a basket of chili peppers was exhausted, the three of them were reluctant not to trouble others anymore, and gratefully invited the young man to sit down and talk.

"May I ask my brother, what kind of chili pepper are you, why is it not spicy at all?"

"This is our local planting, called Emperor Pepper, which is very common, almost everyone grows it. ”

"Emperor Pepper?"

It's a strange name.

"Yes, listen to the old man, it seems that an emperor came to us and ate our chili pepper, and then slowly called this name. ”

Emperor pepper, it turned out that the emperor had eaten it.

As for which emperor it was, the young man didn't remember for a while.

"I ate so many chili peppers from you, and you take this bit of silver. "The old man took out some broken silver.

"No, no, no" The young man's face turned crimson, and he pushed it back again and again, scratching his head with his hand and said: "These peppers are not mine, I, I am also from a nearby village, passing by here to rest." ”

"But I often walk up and down the river, and I'm very familiar with it. He added.

"So, does the little brother know how to go to Qinghe?"

"Of course I know, that's where I go to sell sheep. ”

"Sheep trafficking?"

"Yes, we have barren land here and a lot of barren hills, so every family raises a few goats to supplement the family, and there is the largest sheep farm in our neighborhood in Qinghe City, and if you send it there, you can sell it for more money." ”

Then everyone remembered that when they came ashore, they saw a small boat with some lambs tied up.

Cao Cao and Cao Hong, although they were in the countryside when they were children, moved to the capital very early, and slowly only had some memories left for the life in the countryside.

Planting peppers and raising goats, these ordinary fellows of the countrymen sound very fresh in the eyes of Cao Cao and the others.

As for the wind old-timers, he since

He lived by the sea and walked the rivers and lakes for several years, but it was the first time he ate chili peppers.

It's not easy to think about the countrymen, they work hard to farm some land, raise a few sheep, and have to go all the way to Qinghe to sell, just to sell a little more money.

The common people have their own lives, as long as they can meet the most basic needs, who is willing to take risks, it is because of Dong Zhuo and Zhang Jiao in this world that the world is in chaos, and the people are not happy.

But how can we change all this? Cao Cao has been thinking about this question for a long time.

Will the answer be the Sword of the Son of Heaven?

Is the problem really all the trouble of Dong Zhuo and Zhang Jiao?

It seems that there is some answer, but it doesn't seem right, and when I think about it, I fall asleep.

After so many days of running, he was too tired.

It was a great sleep, a very comfortable sleep, and though it was in a grass hut in the wilderness by the river, and though it was sleeping on dry grass, it was the deepest and deepest sleep I had in these days.

I didn't even dream.

Coincidentally, the same is true of Princess Sanssouci, the nightmare that has accompanied her for more than ten years has not appeared for the first time!

The sky was slightly bright, and the people were about to leave for Qinghe to sell sheep, and everyone woke up.

According to him, it will take only two hours to reach the Qing River.

According to this, this place is almost out of the Julu County boundary, and it has basically gotten rid of the haze of the Yellow Turban Army.

However, it also shows that everyone went so far in a small boat last night!

The old man was ready to leave the broken silver, but the young man refused again, this grass shed was originally prepared for passers-by, the peppers in the basket were gone, and naturally there were nearby villagers to continue, and he was originally going to Qinghe, just leading the way by the way, how could he ask for money!

The two Cao Cao brothers sorted out the hay on the ground, and everyone came out of the grass shed.

When they got to the boat, the young man scooped some water from the river in an iron basin for the lambs to drink, and then led the way away from the river.

With the guide, Cao Cao and the others had a lot of peace of mind.

In front is the three forks, according to the young people, here is called Chili Ferry, has reached the end of the Liusha River, the northeast direction is called the Zhushui River, the southeast direction is called the Qingliang River. And follow the Qingliang River all the way to Ganling Mountain, and then turn into the Xiaoqing River, you can reach Qinghe City.

Qingliang River, said to be with a river word, in fact, the river is not as wide as the river river, but the river water here is extremely clear, the water quality is very good, and the water flow is stable, and the boat is not bumpy at all.

Everyone has rested, they are in good spirits, Princess Sanssouci has never walked such a long waterway, at this moment she is sitting next to Cao Cao, looking at the surrounding scenery, breathing in the fresh morning air, and she is in a very good mood.

When she heard the name Chili Du, she couldn't help but be curious, and when she heard Cao Cao talk about eating chili peppers last night, her eyes widened and her mouth widened.

"Ah, I remember. The young man suddenly said, "I remember, the emperor was the Guangwu Emperor of our Han Dynasty, listening to the old man, he lost the army, was chased by Wang Lang's army, fled all the way from Handan to here, tired and hungry, ran to a pepper field, stole a lot of peppers to eat, and then crossed the river to Hebei, so later we called this pepper the imperial pepper, and these three forks are called the pepper crossing." “

Emperor Guangwu, who is Liu Xiu, the emperor of Zhongxing of the Han Dynasty, really didn't expect that when he was at the end of his life, he relied on chili peppers to save his life, so he had the opportunity to make a comeback.

In the dark, he even repeated the path of Emperor Guangwu and his old man, what is the temporary hardship and hardship, as long as he grits his teeth and survives, he will naturally come to Jitai.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao couldn't help but strengthen his inner ambition again!

End of chapter

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