Kaifeng Bistro

Just at this time Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked into the courtyard and told Tan Zhifeng that they had gone around the abandoned village and found a well, and they could still get water from the well.Seeing Tan Zhifeng holding a handful of locust tree leaves, Bai Yutang asked him, "Zhifeng, what do you want these leaves for?"

"In the past few days," Tan Zhifeng said, "in order to hurry up, we haven't had a good meal. Tomorrow we will enter Huaiyuan City. Since we have nothing to do tonight, how about I cook something for everyone?"

"Okay, do you need our help?" Zhan Zhao asked him.

"Help me get some well water." Tan Zhifeng said.Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang heard the words, found a wooden barrel that seemed to be working from the house, and went to the other side of the village.

"Zhifeng, this village saw that crops were planted in the fields a while ago, and the well was not abandoned. Where did the people in the village go?" Zhuo Zhuo asked curiously.

"This is near Huaiyuan, and the Xixia army often comes to harass them. Either these people are afraid of them, or the general guard of Huaiyuan City ordered them to be sent to the city." Tan Zhifeng concentrated on picking up the leaves of the locust tree, Yi Yi replied for him: "Look at this family, almost all of them can be taken away, and it must be because they are afraid that Li Yuanhao will come and rob them."

Zhuo Zhuo looked at this narrow and even slightly sloping house, sighed and said: "It's better to open Feng, food, wine... have everything... Look at the towns, villages, deserted and abandoned that we saw along the way. , Those ordinary people who worked hard in the fields were dressed in rags, alas, this is still a time of peace and prosperity in history, if it catches up with the time of war and chaos, how difficult life will be for ordinary people!"

"That's true." Zhan Zhao came back with well water: "Especially in the northwest, the land is not as rich as the south of the Yangtze River, but it has to endure the invasion of Xixia again and again, and many people have to leave their homes and live elsewhere. But if there is Who wants to abandon the land that has been passed down from generation to generation with a little hope left?"

Bai Yutang also said: "That's right, and I've heard that people nowadays not only have to pay taxes according to a fixed amount, but also have to pay tax, corvees, miscellaneous servants, and errands... They are busy all year round, and they don't have to pay taxes at all. Without a moment of peace, if Xixia iron cavalry really step into the Central Plains, I am afraid that more people will lose their families, land, and even their lives..."

Tan Zhifeng and the others unanimously remembered those poor people who were waiting on the road to stop Han Qi and summon the souls of their relatives. If more than ten thousand soldiers died in that battle, then their families would not be limited to the thousands of people who stopped by the roadside Woolen cloth? !

"Okay, let's save these things in Huaiyuan!" Bai Yutang clapped his hands, "Zhifeng, do you want to start?"

"I..." Tan Zhifeng looked at the dilapidated small stove, and said to them, "I need to light a fire now..."

"Hey, I'm here." Wen Hui stretched out her white and slender fingers and pointed towards the stove. With a bang, flames burst out of the stove. "The fire is too big, too big!" Everyone ran out covering their mouths and noses. As soon as they arrived in the courtyard, they saw a blue light flashing in the room for a while, and finally calmed down again.

"Okay." Wen Hui walked out listlessly, with a face full of ashes: "I've never lit a stove before, and I'm a little... out of control."

This time when everyone entered the house, there was a warm flame dancing in the stove, and the firewood left in it crackled, adding a bit of vitality to this abandoned hut.

Tan Zhifeng boiled the water, scalded the locust leaves, crushed them and filtered out the blue juice, kneaded them with the noodles, and made bowls of thin, emerald green and lovely noodles. "Wow, is it ready to eat?" Zhuo Zhuo leaned over and asked.But Tan Zhifeng said: "Lengtao leaves are a delicacy that can only be eaten in early summer. They must be washed in cold water to taste cool and delicious."

"We've searched everywhere, and there are only a few of them, but they seem to be enough." Bai Yutang took a few tattered plates that were either chipped or missing sides and put them on the stove. : "It is estimated that when everyone fled, they took what they could use with them."

"It's okay." Tan Zhifeng scalded everything with boiling water, then went back to the car to take out the leftover pickles, dipped the green noodles in cold water, carefully put them on a plate, served with pickles Seasoned and brought out in a plate.

Everyone sat around in the courtyard, and Bai Yutang said again: "All poets once said: 'Green and tall locust leaves, picked and paid to the Chinese kitchen. New noodles come to the market...there is no need for extra meals.' Even if you are the son of heaven , it’s rare to eat such a bowl of pagoda leaves when enjoying the cool air in summer, right?”

"Yes." Zhan Zhao also sighed: "Perhaps, when I think about it in the future, the smell of the mountains and forests will be more memorable."

"Eat it quickly!" Tan Zhifeng said: "Although it was made in a hurry, but because the locust leaves are fresh, it is still considered a success. As Brother Zhan said, the ingredients in the mountains sometimes taste more delicious... "

"Then I'll eat it..." Zhuo Zhuo smiled and picked up a strand of noodles as thin as hair and tasted it: "Zhifeng, it tastes good!"

As the evening wind blew, the locust leaves on their heads rustled, the wind and sand of the day receded, and the stars appeared brighter and approaching in the vast night sky in the northwest.After eating, they sat in the courtyard and chatted for a while, Yi Yi yawned and disappeared beside the flower pot, Wen Hui went to meditate by himself, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao taught Tan Zhifeng to practice sword for a while Room.Only Tan Zhifeng was still sitting under the eaves, looking at the night sky and said softly: "Yinglong, we are going to Huaiyuan tomorrow, how about you?"

He waited for a while, but he still didn't feel Xu Gan's movement, so he stood up and walked back to the room. At this moment, he suddenly felt his pulse beat a little faster.He leaned against the door, closed his eyes, and experienced the changes in the dragon scale in his soul... His pulse was beating faster and faster, but this time, for some reason, Tan Zhifeng felt that Ying Long's breath was still mixed with A strange and dangerous force...

……

"Why do I feel that it's getting colder and colder?" A soldier in Xixia's barracks whispered to his companion.

"Yeah," another person raised his hand and tugged at his robe: "It's clearly summer... It's cold, it's gloomy, and I always feel that the surroundings are gloomy. Could it be that there were too many dead in the last war?" It's..."

"But where did the people who died last time go?" At the beginning, the man asked suspiciously, "Every time...don't you have to send people to clean up the battlefield? What happened last time..."

"I heard that the monster was fed..." Before the man finished speaking, a gloomy voice came from behind him: "What? The divine beast that can be sacrificed to Daxia is their supreme Honor, it sounds like...you seem to envy them?"

The two of them broke out in a cold sweat. When they turned their heads, Li Yuanhao was standing behind them.They quickly knelt down, kowtowed desperately and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, no, don't let us sacrifice, we still have parents, wives and children at home..."

"Take them outside the camp." Li Yuanhao said to a guard beside him expressionlessly, "You know where to take him."

The guard walked over slowly, his legs and feet were a little stiff, but his strength was astonishing, two equally tall soldiers were picked up by him one by one.Just as he was about to take the two of them away, Bo who had been following behind Li Yuanhao suddenly said, "Wait..."

"What? What do you have to say?" Li Yuanhao's eyes flashed with murderous intent. He turned around and took two steps towards Bo in the dark: "Are you feeling sorry for your 'clan' again? I told you Thank you, this is the kindness of a woman, Ying Long... is coming, my strength is already very strong, but this is not enough."

"So, are you going to kill more people, feed Taotie with more innocent souls, and increase his strength?" Bo sounded like he was trying to suppress his angry voice: "I know what you mean, the grievances of tens of thousands of people The souls of death and death have been filled in, how many more deaths do you need to be satisfied?"

"I can't be satisfied." Li Yuanhao said lightly: "Strength has no end. The stronger the better. You have to understand that the stronger I am, the sooner this war will end. So, if you still want to sacrifice two lives Stop me, then I don't have any need to keep you here."

Bo took a step back in fear, but he was still defending: "However, Han Qi was defeated. He has led his army back to the pass, and the two roads left behind have not been able to hold on. No matter how provocative your troops are, recently It is impossible to have another big battle on the scale of Sanchuankou. Do you want to kill Xixia people one by one to strengthen your strength? I heard that you have executed many soldiers because of various things in the past few days. Go on, I am afraid that they will lose their morale and will no longer be willing to serve you..."

"You mean, are they going to rebel?" Li Yuanhao still looked nonchalant: "That's the best, I can kill them all, if you didn't stop me every day, I would have done it a long time ago!"

Bo was stunned by these words, his expression changed from fear to anger, and he even seemed a little determined: "Si, since you said so." He straightened his body and looked at the other party: "I also want to warn you, after all , as you said, your strength is not that strong now, as you said, Yinglong is coming. Chi You, don’t forget how you failed last time. Even if you have the ability to open up the sky and open up the earth , you can’t subvert this whole world. Don’t forget how you lost to the Yellow Emperor, not because you were not brave enough, but because you kept provoking wars, you...you lost the hearts of the people!”

"Shut up!" A ball of black air rose again in Li Yuanhao's hands. He raised his hand and grabbed Bo's armor tightly, and the ball of black air began to spread towards Bo's chest.Beau snorted in pain.With a cold smile on his lips, Li Yuanhao said to him: "Yes, but your people are still willing to follow me, before and now. You... didn't you choose me again? Let me tell you the last Once again, in this world, there is no justice, no evil, only victory and defeat, only winning and losing. Winners and losers, this will never change! If the Yellow Emperor did not have the support of Yinglong and Nuba at that time, he would dominate the land of the Central Plains today How could they be the descendants of Yan and Huang? And why did the corpses of me and my people lie in the ground, with no chance of revival? They left you to guard the tomb, so you learn to sing praises for their 'justice'? Fool Open your eyes and see clearly! What is the most important thing!"

He took his hand away, and Bo staggered and fell towards the open space between the tents.Li Yuanhao took a few steps forward and looked at him condescendingly: "However, there is some truth to what you said. Even if I kill all these idiots, my strength is still not enough. I will find a way to attract Song Jun... ...If you can handle this matter well, then I will not care about your rude words just now. Otherwise, I will feed you and all your clansmen to Taotie!"

He pulled Bo up from the ground and asked, "Where is the scribe you captured a few days ago?"

Bo thought for a while and asked, "What are you looking for with him?"

Li Yuanhao said: "Last time, he didn't send the letter to Huaiyuan. This time, I will let him go to Huaiyuan City again."

Bo was still thinking with his head down, Li Yuanhao said again: "You go to him and ask him to tell the guards of Huaiyuan City that I will lead an army to attack the city in three days, so they will definitely ask for help from Huanqing and Qinfeng Road. When the Taotie has enough food, it won't make plans for poor people like you!"