Patches of moonlight shine on the rugged paths, and the moonlit ancient paths flickered brightly and darkly. The shadows of the trees are intertwined, the weeds are rampant, and the sound of frogs on the river bank is one after another.

This barren ancient path was almost swallowed up by the weeds. Suddenly, a shadow of a tree suddenly appeared. The shadow of the tree, though without branches, waited for it to move closer.

Only then did he see a black phantom coming out of the barren ancient path. In the moonlight, there was a pretty woman wrapped in a black cloak, who seemed to be running from afar. Panting and tired, his tired face could see that he was exhausted, but he still walked slowly and steadfastly.

The moonlight sprinkled on her face, and Fang saw her fair and flawless face, with a pair of starry eyes on her face. The woman seemed to be carrying a heavy load in her arms that made her so tired.

There are occasional fires in the distance along the river, but this ancient path comes out to the riverside wharf.

The river water under the moonlight is sparkling, and it is the cold wind blowing on the river, and the river water flows slowly and never stops.

The slight beads of sweat on the woman's face were blown by the river wind, but it made her lift her spirits a little.

In the middle of the night, a place on the shore of the north of the river. A small wooden house, the body of the house has been eroded by wind and rain, and the house is old.

In the house, a thin old man is lying on the bed, exhausted from a day of ferrying, and now he sleeps naked, so unhappy, this old man and the old house of Chen Mu complement each other.

The breeze on the river is light, and the sound of the river flow is intertwined with the snoring of Lao Suo, and I don't know if I want to compete for a high or low.

Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on the door.

The old man woke up and scolded angrily: "What thing that doesn't know whether it is alive or dead, it disturbs my dreams so late." ”

But I heard a delicate female voice outside the door: "Father-in-law, my child is sick and wants to go to Jiangnan...... Look for the old master to take a look. Illness...... Urgently, I hope you will make it convenient for you to cross the river. ”

The voice is soft and delicate, but it is mixed with panting, not like the appearance of a strange person.

The old man sat up and put on his short coat, and said as he walked: "Lao Suo can cross, at this time to cross the river, the weather is cold and the water is cold, and the cold is very heavy......"

The woman said softly: "Don't worry, the old master and my father are old acquaintances, and the cost of this ship is ten times that of you, if you can save my son, he will be grateful one day." ”

When the old man heard this, he was overjoyed and opened the deadbolt.

But I saw a pretty woman coming in a black cloak, with a white face under the moonlight and a pair of red phoenix eyes. The eyes are eager, but the body is calm. The demeanor is very different from that of a normal woman.

The old man thought about the fare, and he didn't care about it. With a slight wave of her hand, she jumped out when the woman gave up a little position.

Heading to the riverside dock, there was a small boat tied to the bollard by the river, and the old man jumped on the boat.

The bamboo roof of the canopy boat is tattered, and it looks particularly suitable with this old man. Seeing that the woman was still standing in place, she said in a loud voice, "Madam, get on the boat quickly, and the old man will start the boat." ”

When the woman heard this, she walked slowly to the side of the boat, unfastened her cloak, and handed over the three-year-old child she was holding in her arms.

When the old man saw this, he stretched out his hand to catch it, and the woman walked up to the boat carefully, for it was the first time that she had taken such a boat, and she had not walked very steadily.

The woman sat down and took the child, held it in her arms, and looked at it carefully.

The child was touched by the old man's calloused palm, and the woman was comforted before she slept smoothly.

The old man untied the rope of the boat, held the oars, and slowly flicked it, and the canopy boat went off the shore, and a flat boat sailed along the river and moonlight.

The old man looked at the two of them while rowing a boat, not only was the woman unusual, but the child was also not extraordinary.

The child's outer clothes are made of silk, and it is red in the moonlight, and the gold threads on the clothes are woven with auspicious cloud patterns, and there are fine lines in the middle, but unfortunately the old man does not know.

The old man thought in his heart that he crossed the river once on weekdays, and this time he earned dozens of yuan, which was enough to live happily for a few days.

Half an hour after the boat sailed, a group of people and horses appeared in the wooden houses by the river, holding torches. It's like looking for a detective.

The leader was dressed in gold armor, and the rest were black masked. But there was no one to go to the boat, and there was no one else in the house. It is expected that he has already departed by boat.

ordered the two to be left here to investigate the whereabouts of the captain, and the rest of them disappeared into the vast night with them.

In less than a moment, Xu Shijiang was calm and the wind was smooth. The canopy boat quietly slid to the opposite shore.

The old man jumped off the shallows, tugged at the rope and pulled it hard, before he put the rope on the bollard on the shore and pushed the boat against the dock.

The woman stood up and walked slowly to the dock, where she lay down with the child in her arms.

The gait was light like a wandering fairy, and his demeanor was elegant and moving, and it was expected that he would take a nap and recover a little. It's such a beautiful thing right now, I don't know how bright and moving it is on weekdays.

The old man looked at it blankly, and he was already delusional.

The woman's delicate voice woke up: "The benefactor's life-saving grace, the concubine is grateful, the matter is urgent, and there is nothing else around." ”

Saying that, the jade hand was put behind his ear, and he took out a golden hairpin, "This thing has no other use for me, the benefactor will use it to buy some houses and fields, and I don't have to suffer from the cold water of the river, and I should repay it." ”

When the old man saw the hairpin, he jumped onto the pier with a flutter.

I took it with both hands, looked at it carefully, and saw that the hairpin was golden all over, very heavy, and unusual. The tail end is a phoenix bird pattern, holding a thin chain, the thin chain is divided into three, divided into red, white and green pearls.

The old man was overjoyed in his heart, but in an instant, he was even more frightened: "This thing is too valuable, and the old man must not accept it." ”

The woman groaned, "Today's events are not enough for outsiders, do you know?"

Only then did the old man put the phoenix hairpin in his bag, turned around and said: "There are still two miles of land on the village of the old master Lian, the lady does not know the way, if Mrs. Meng does not give up, the old man will lead the way, and the wife and son will be well-protected." ”

Immediately, the two figures disappeared into the night with the moonlight.

The moonlight is dappled and sprinkled, the bamboo shadows in the courtyard are intertwined, and there may be frogs chirping in the forest.

The two gray-haired old men in the court sat speechlessly at the stone table. There was a letter on the table, and although the two were speechless, they could see a different color on their faces that had been through vicissitudes.

The lips of a kind eyebrow moved slightly, "Half a month ago, the wind changed, but I didn't expect it to be so fast, what can I do." Old decay is incompetent, incompetent!" seemed to sparkle in the old man's eyes.

A fierce god and evil man's face twitched, as if he had hatred, and said evilly: "Incompetence, not only incompetence, why didn't you tell me earlier, I think you are half of your body and bones buried in the ground, and you lack ambition and fighting spirit." If I am here, why is it here!" He shook his head sideways and said nothing.

A figure came in a hurry, and said: "Master, there is a woman and Lao Su outside the house who came to seek medical treatment, I saw that the woman was not like an ordinary person, so I came to ask the master to show me." The kind-eyed man closed his eyes and said, "Then go and invite her to the antechamber, and I will see her later." ”

When the janitor left, he muttered, "I have something to do, I will not send it far away", picked up the letter and went straight away.

The fierce god and evil man shouted angrily, and with a wave of his big hand, he directly broke the corner of the stone table.

With his feet dark, he went up and down a few times on the roof, and he couldn't see the figure, just like a flying eagle in the sky, and he couldn't see where to go.

The janitor invited the two of them into the front hall, prepared tea, and waited by the main seat

The first time the old man came to this elegant hall, he sat very uncomfortably, and he was so sleepy and tired that he almost fell asleep.

But the woman sat in peace, as if she were commonplace. The benevolent man stepped out from behind the screen, and it was the old master Lian.

On closer inspection, there seems to be a fine light in the eyes. The woman's figure moved slightly, but she did not speak.

The master stroked his beard and said, "Lian Wan, then send the old man down to rest." When Lao Suo heard this, he immediately jumped up: "Very good, very good." Then the little man retreated.

Wait for the screen to fade left and right. The Master set out, and walked forward in three steps and two steps, and knelt down at a distance of five feet from the woman.

knocked on the ground with his forehead, choked with a slight cry: "The old minister saw Niangniang, I didn't know that Niangniang Feng drove here, and I missed the welcome." ”

The woman looked upright: "The master is fine, my father once said, I don't want to live in the fog pavilion." Since then, the rivers and lakes have a long way to go, and there is no time to see you again. Today, I can meet my master and son, and I have fulfilled my father's wish. ”

The master cried, "Where is Shang and Jin, and where is my brother and now?"

The woman stopped talking, and then lifted her cloak: "General, look." The Master knelt up straight, and when he saw a child sleeping soundly in the woman's arms, he was so excited that he almost wanted to weep.

The woman closed her eyes and said, "The heavens have collapsed, and my father has died." Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes, down his fair and flawless face, and drooped down his child's face.

The old man with the gray hair almost fainted, and tried his best to support his body several times, but he had already burst into tears: "Pain and hatred! Where would the mother want to go from now on? The old man saddled the horse and did not give up." ”

The woman moved slightly, but still closed her eyes and said, "Master, please get up, the concubine does not think about anything else in this life, but only hopes to raise my son in this life to grow up." If you don't want to talk about the past, what does the Master think?"

"It is very good that the old minister has a hut two miles away to the south, which is not spacious, but it is sufficient. How about two or three more maids to help you?" said the master as he got up and said slowly.

"The master is too worried, and the concubine does not want to be like this, but there is a room for my mother and son to live in, and there is no need for slaves, just me. ”

"Obey the will of the mother," said the master.

"From now on, I will be a village woman, and the master does not have to be like this. ”

In the early morning of the next day, the old man in the west wing slept peacefully.

Wait until the sun shines on your face before you are unwilling to climb up. "The bed of this big family is soft. ”

Feeling like last night's events were in a dream, I got dressed and went out of the guest room, and I was bumping into Lian Wan passing by. "Where's the little brother, how is the madame and the child's illness?"

Lian Wan covered his mouth and scolded angrily: "Madame's child has been sick for many days, and you are still talking wildly here. Be careful that the old man blames it, you and I can't eat and walk around. ”

When Lao Suo heard this, he didn't dare to be arrogant anymore, and ran away with his pockets.

Lian Wan smiled slightly and watched him leave the house.

By the Lingchuan River, an inconspicuous small courtyard.

A woman in a plain dress and a white dress sat at the table, her eyes were slightly confused, her sideburns were combed to the ordinary woman's house, but she couldn't match her natural beauty, and her gestures were so moving.

Next to him is a two-year-old child.

The warm morning sun seemed to endow the boy with infinite vitality, and he was both excited and nervous about this unfamiliar environment.

Coupled with the fact that I changed into black clothes, I felt that everything was different. "Auntie, where did my red clothes go?"

"I'll put it away for you, that dress doesn't look good in black. The woman's lips smiled slightly, her eyes full of hope.

Xiao'er seemed to have realized that he was no longer speechless, and saw A-Niang in a daze. Sneakily ran out of the door. Every time I wanted to play on the ground these days, I was stopped by my mother.

Although this place is very different from the past, it is extraordinarily fresh, in the past, everywhere was a bunch of people in front of the group, now no one hinders, running around in the field barefoot, extraordinarily happy, occasionally small flowers and butterflies, is a burst of exclamation.

Looking back at A-Niang, she leaned against the door, smiling at herself. He didn't know why A-Niang was laughing, and he responded with a smile.