Three thousand miles in exile

It was evening when Liu Xueyuan, Liu Zhan and his son returned to Tiancang Village, and every household in the village was smoking.

Men in twos and threes in the fields carried farm tools home, and greeted Liu Xueyuan politely when they saw him.

Yunzhong Academy never drives away the children who come to listen, and whenever they come, they let them go to the back to listen to the class, so the villagers are very grateful to Liu Xueyuan, and they respectfully call Dean Liu when they meet.

When the father and son arrived home, Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Li were busy making dinner. They had already digested the bowl of noodles on the way home from the county seat, and Liu Zhan was hungry and waiting for dinner.

It's just that Liu Xueyuan was not seen when the meal was set. It was dark at this time, and after waiting for a while, there was no one, so the old lady decided to serve the meal first, and asked Mrs. Zhao to leave the food for Liu Xueyuan to heat in the pot.

After the meal, Liu Zhan collected the leftovers and went to the backyard to feed Wangcai. The little wolf cub had already grown fat and strong, so he couldn't grow so well just eating leftovers. Liu Zhan had to take it up the mountain every day and let it go. Hunt for game by yourself.

After Liu Zhan fed Wangcai and returned to his room, he was startled when he opened the door.

Liu Xueyuan took a step ahead of him and said: "Zhan'er, you came at a good time. Go and invite Dr. Zhang in the village. Just say that your younger brother is sick and don't make any noise."

Liu Zhan went out without saying much.

Good guy!His father actually took the man back home without making a sound, and he said that he must have read it correctly, the father and son were indeed relatives of the emperor who were allotted!

"Madam, please go and boil some hot water." As soon as Liu Zhan went out, Liu Xueyuan asked his wife again.

"Hey, okay, I'll go get a set of clothes for you and Zhan'er to change into for them." Mrs. Zhao quickly agreed.

"That's just right, thank you madam."

The man on the bed struggled to get up to thank him, but Liu Xueyuan mixed him back again. "Brother Song, lie down quickly, your injury is serious."

After a while Liu Zhan came back.

As a village doctor, Dr. Zhang saw a lot of new prisoners. He knew at a glance that he had been tortured.

"Fever is easy to deal with. It will go away after two doses of medicine, but this leg injury..." Dr. Zhang shook his head. "With all due respect, is this a punishment?"

Song Yijun nodded miserably. "I know this leg is not cured."

On the side, Song Fenglin stubbornly gritted his teeth to hold back the tears but still couldn't help choking.

More than half of his clan members were tortured to death in prison, and those who survived by chance were also sentenced to death. If the aunt who was Empress Rendi hadn't threatened Emperor Xuan with death, their father and son would not have survived.

There are some things that cannot be said in front of outsiders, Liu Xueyuan sighed and said to Dr. Zhang: "Please trouble Dr. Zhang to treat Brother Song's injuries and relieve pain first."

Although Dr. Zhang is called a doctor, he is actually just a barefoot village doctor, and he uses earthen prescriptions handed down from his ancestors to treat patients. Liu Zhan has just carefully looked at Song Yijun's legs, and he can tell that they are shattered without touching the bones. For a fracture, Doctor Zhang at most used earthen prescriptions to relieve Song Yijun's pain. It is impossible to set the bone, and this leg will undoubtedly be scrapped.

Liu Xueyuan paid Doctor Zhang dozens of copper coins for medicine. Doctor Zhang was a smart man and didn't stay much, and left after telling some things to pay attention to.

At this time, Mrs. Zhao asked Liu Zhan to bring two buckets of hot water from the kitchen, and she went back to her room to fetch two sets of clothes.

"I'm sorry to say that, because I didn't know that there was a visitor coming, I didn't prepare for dinner. I fried some bacon and vegetables and cooked a pot of porridge. The two guests will just eat side dishes and make up for it."

"Sister-in-law is very polite, Song is very grateful." After Song Yijun finished speaking, he was about to make a salute.

Liu Xueyuan hurriedly said: "Brother Song, you don't need to be too polite. The so-called people who have fallen in the end of the world, why should we know each other when we meet again? We will discuss everything in another day. Brother Song, let's take a rest. It is important to take care of your health."

Liu Xueyuan didn't say anything more to greet his wife and children back to the room, and Liu Zhan went to the warehouse to deal with it all night, but he didn't rush to sleep and followed Liu Xueyuan into the house.

Mrs. Zhao went to the kitchen to get the food left for Liu Xueyuan. Liu Xueyuan sat on the kang to eat, while Liu Zhan played with his son in his arms. Mrs. Zhao took needles and threads and continued to make clothes for her youngest son.

"Father, are those two really relatives of the emperor?" Liu Zhan asked curiously.

Liu Xueyuan nodded and said with emotion: "It is Song Yijun, the second son of Song Fangcheng, Song Fangcheng, the patriarch of Emperor Ren, and Song Fenglin, the eldest son of Song Yijun."

"Father, did An Guogong offend the current emperor?" Liu Zhan played with Cong'er in his arms, squeezing his little fat hand.

Liu Xueyuan said: "I didn't ask for the specific reason. It's probably because of the Holy Majesty's anger. Back then, your grandfather bluntly said to the first emperor that it was not appropriate to establish the emperor's younger brother early, so he was liquidated by the Holy Majesty. In fact, there was another person who also obstructed this matter. Then It is the head of the country, An Guogong, just because An Guogong is not good enough to attack him immediately."

If Emperor Xuan hated who he hated the most, the Anguogong Song, Emperor Ren's empress was the daughter of the Song family, and the Song family had a lot of power in Emperor Ren's reign. At that time, Xuandi, who was only a prince, had been suppressed by the Song family.

Both the Liu family and the Song family were favorites of the late emperor's old ministers, how could the Liu family be spared when the Song family was liquidated by Emperor Xuan.

Changing the position of Cong'er in his arms, Liu Zhan sneered. "The emperor really holds grudges. After he ascended the throne, he successively liquidated the ministers who had faults, and even the head of the country ruined his family."

Liu Xueyuan said while eating: "Back then when he was selecting the crown prince among the princes, he said that Emperor Xuan's character was strong and decisive, and he was very similar to him in both appearance and temperament."

As for why Emperor Xuan was not made the crown prince in the end, there is a saying in private among the aristocratic family that it is the national teacher of Dayun Temple who gave orders to the princes, and Emperor Xuan is the fate of King Zhou of Shang, so the eldest son was changed .

Unexpectedly, Emperor Ren died violently in his prime without leaving a trace of blood, and in the end the throne was still inherited by Emperor Xuan.

Liu Xueyuan said again: "I heard from Brother Song that after Emperor Xuan came to the throne, he favored the Zhou family, and the Song family was destroyed because the Zhou family used Emperor Xuan's hand to eradicate the Song family in order to replace it."

After finishing speaking, Liu Xueyuan shook his head and didn't want to say more, the emperor and the courtiers were talking about the Song family and the Liu family.

"Mom! Cong'er pissed on me!" At this moment Liu Zhan jumped up suddenly and yelled, and the little chubby pier who was being held high was still laughing happily.

Mrs. Zhao hurriedly took over her youngest son. "Suddenly a guest came and I forgot about it. I have to urinate for Cong'er at this time in the past. Go and change your clothes."

Liu Zhan said helplessly, "Okay, I'll go back to sleep."

Liu Zhan slept without a dream all night, and there was movement in the yard when the sky was bright. Zhao Shi and Li Shi who got up early were cooking breakfast for the whole family, and Aunt Zhang, a cook hired by the Yunzhong Academy next door, was also there. Busy making breakfast for the students.

Liu Zhan also woke up. After the Liu family settled down in Tiancang Village, he resumed his military routine. At dawn, he got up and ran around the village before coming back for breakfast.

After running in the morning and entering the door, Liu Zhan went to the creek behind Liu's house to wash his face and wipe his body as usual. Last year, the three brothers of the Liu family built a water well for the creek with stones, and Liu Zhan took off his shirt to get water from the stream. It's really a pleasure to pour the coldness on my body.

Suddenly there was some movement behind him, Liu Zhan touched his face and looked up.

I saw a young man of similar stature standing there awkwardly holding a bucket, and then Liu Zhan raised it in his throat.

The young man in front of him had bright eyes and a handsome appearance, even though he was wearing coarse clothes, he did not conceal his bookish air.

Looks good and smells good!

Liu Zhan was stunned, and it took him a long time to react. "You fetch water? Give me the bucket, and I'll fetch it for you."

Song Fenglin avoided Liu Zhan's hand and said. "Don't bother me, I can..."

Liu Zhan snatched it away. "It's okay, I'll do it." He asked again after fetching a bucket of water. "Is your father better?"

"I took the medicine last night and the high fever subsided a bit..."

Song Fenglin wanted to take the bucket, but Liu Zhan put his clothes on and walked back with the bucket.

"It doesn't matter if the high fever can go down. My mother is making breakfast. I'll bring you some later." Liu Zhan lifted the bucket to the door of the room, thinking that it might be rude to go in casually.

On the way to the kitchen, Liu Zhan only felt that his feet were floating.

Mrs. Li was baking multi-grain cakes, and Mrs. Zhao was cooking porridge. As soon as Liu Zhan entered the door, he picked up a piece of hot multi-grain cakes and ate them, feeling very happy.

Mrs. Li joked: "What good thing happened to our young master? Look at you."

Liu Zhan laughed but didn't explain.

"This silly boy." Zhao said amusedly. "Go, make some porridge and take a few pancakes for the guests."

Liu Zhan accepted the task with pleasure.

At this time, the Liu family also got up early one after another. Liu Xueyi and Liu Xueli heard that the eldest brother had brought back guests last night, so they came to Liu Xueyuan's room to inquire about what was going on. Everyone who knew that it was An Guogong's family was surprised.

Liu Xueli said right away: "Brother, let's take them home. Will the higher-ups find out and blame us? After all, this is a key criminal who was sentenced to murder..."

Liu Xueyi crossed his legs and said with nothing to do: "I'm not afraid of being blamed by the superiors. I was sent to this ghostly place where birds don't lay eggs. In the eyes of the superiors, we are all dead. The emperor still has that careless person who cares about the dead." thing?"

"Aren't I afraid that someone has ulterior motives!" Liu Xueli was annoyed.

Liu Xueyi was even more angry. "Third brother, do we still have value worthy of being framed by others? Are you stupid in reading?"

"Hey, what are you talking about..."

"Okay, stop arguing, it's not good to let the children hear it." Liu Xueyuan came out to smooth things over.

Liu Xueyi asked Liu Xueyuan even more foolishly. "Brother, I'm not afraid of things, but is there enough food for two more people in the family? For the health of our mother and children, our family has always eaten better than ordinary farmers' families, and the monthly expenses are also tight."

The amount of repair books given by the students is not much. After deducting the cost of buying new textbooks for the college, the remaining money has to be saved to buy private land. Every account of the Liu family is just right. At this time, there are two more People have to spend money for food and clothing.

Since it's not good to treat others badly if you invite them home, then the money that was just enough to buy paddy fields at the end of the year must not be enough. Liu Xueyi's words really asked Liu Xueyuan's difficulties.

Liu Xueli stopped doing it as soon as he heard it. "Brother, we finally managed to save some money, and we are waiting for the next year to collect a bunch of money to repair and buy an extra acre of paddy fields!"

Liu Xueyi said: "If you want to buy a field, you can only let your mother and children eat poorly."

"You want mother and children to eat those pig food again? It's definitely not possible!" Liu Xueli almost didn't jump up.

Liu Xueyuan was given a headache by the two of them, but he was still unmoved. "The Song family's father and son don't even have a place to live in Tianmang Village, and Brother Song's legs are already disabled. How can he survive there with only the youngest son? If I ignore it, I will die."

Liu Xueli said anxiously: "That's the reason, but we still can't take care of ourselves..."

Liu Xueyi also said: "Brother, let's not talk about the food issue for now, but what about the wasteland to be developed under the name of the Song family?"

Every military household has clearly stipulated the minimum number of acres of land to be cultivated, and the annual tax payment is also a fixed amount. For example, the Liu family has [-] acres of land. After the autumn harvest, [-]% of the ten acres of land must be paid to the county government. , If you don’t pay enough, you will be punished or sent to corvee. As long as you pay corvee, you will never return.

How can the Song family open up wasteland in this situation?

Liu Xueyuan's head was as big as a bucket at the time. Although there were many Liu family members, most of them were women, children and children. Only the three brothers and Liu Zhan could be regarded as labor force. It would be very difficult to take care of twelve acres of land on weekdays. I don't know how difficult it is to come to help often.

At this time, Liu Zhan delivered breakfast to the father and son of the Song family, and then ran errands for the Zhao family to deliver breakfast to Liu Xueyuan. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Liu Xueyuan sighing. At this time, Liu Xueyi and Liu Xueli had already left.

"Father, what's the matter? Did the second uncle hook up with another sister-in-law?"

"You child, as a junior, how can you slander your elders' private affairs!" Liu Xueyuan said with a straight face.

Liu Zhan was making fun of himself and was thinking of leaving when Liu Xueyuan suddenly stopped him. "Sit down and eat with dad."

"Oh."

Since two years ago, Liu's family had breakfast in separate rooms for their own use in the house, only eating and still setting rules with the old lady.In the past, Liu Zhan couldn't wait to eat in the kitchen, but Liu Xueyuan didn't refuse when he asked him to eat again. As the saying goes, a half-sized man eats a poor man, if it wasn't for the limited rations, he would definitely be able to eat ten cakes.

That night Song Fenglin was awakened by Song Yijun's slapping sound, he quickly got up and touched Song Yijun's forehead, his hands were sweating. "Father, what's the matter with you?"

Song Yijun was already delirious, Song Fenglin hurriedly got out of bed and rushed out of the room to call for someone, the Song family has been destroyed, now only their father and son are left to depend on each other, if Song Yijun goes... Song Fenglin dare not think about it.

The warehouse where Liu Zhan slept was next door, and he came out when he heard the movement. "What's wrong?"

Under the moonlight, Song Fenglin's thin figure was at a loss, his voice trembling. "I, my father..."

Liu Zhan immediately went into the room to check on Song Yijun. Xu was tortured in prison. The man was skinny and skinny, but the broken leg was abnormally red, swollen and fat. Liu Zhan knew it was inflammation when he touched it. With treatment, Song Yijun probably won't survive these few days.

"Doctor Zhang's homemade prescriptions can't heal such a serious injury, so I'll call my father to get up and take Uncle Song down the mountain." Liu Zhan didn't say much and immediately went to pat on Liu Xueyuan's door.

It was already the fourth watch at this time, Liu Xueyuan also looked solemn after knowing the situation, he immediately agreed with Liu Zhan's suggestion to go down the mountain to see a doctor in the medical center without hesitation.

"Father, I'll go to Da Zhuang's house to borrow an ox cart." Liu Zhan quickly pulled the ox cart back without touching his feet, and the father and son worked together to move Song Yijun onto the ox cart.

Liu Xueyuan held the torch, Liu Zhan drove the cart, Song Fenglin embraced the delirious Song Yijun, and the bullock cart drove down the mountain at the fastest speed.

In the early morning, the stone-slab long street in Wuyuan County gradually became popular, and early pedestrians came and went.

In the medical hall, Dr. Li wiped the blood from his hands. "The carrion has been scraped off, so it will be easy to reproduce in the future. Don't let the wound rot any longer. The medicine for external use is changed every two days, and the medicine for internal use is twice a day. The medicine residue can be returned to the pot and then fried. I see that your conditions are not good. Save if you can."

Liu Xueyuan thanked him again and again, and paid two taels of silver for the medicine. Doctor Li recognized Liu Xueyuan as the dean of Yunzhong Academy on the mountain, and gave him another bottle of external wound medicine.

"Thank you, Doctor Li." Liu Xueyuan cupped his hands.

The father and son left the hospital, and the apprentices in the hospital had already carried Song Yijun into the car. Song Fenglin looked exhausted after the ups and downs, but the beautiful phoenix eyes that Liu Zhan had never forgotten were full of pain and sorrow, and maybe there was hatred.

Liu Zhan hurried to the opposite side to buy three big steamed buns, he gave one to Liu Xueyuan, and Liu Xueyuan drove up the mountain leisurely while eating.

"Give."

Song Fenglin stared blankly at the white-faced steamed buns handed to him for a long time before raising his head.

Liu Zhan said softly, "How can you take care of your father if you don't eat?"

Song Fenglin slowly raised his hand to take it.

"Eat, your father will get better." Liu Zhan persuaded again, but saw that Song Fenglin's eyes were lifeless, without any will to survive.

Liu Zhan didn't know how to comfort him. A family of hundreds of people was killed by Emperor Xuan, leaving them father and son. How could they let go of such deep hatred.

The bullock cart stepped into Tiancang Village at noon, and Song Yijun woke up, knowing that he had troubled Liu Xueyuan again, and Liu Xueyuan was very guilty, and tears wet the corners of his eyes on the spot.

Liu Xueyuan let out a long sigh. "As long as people are alive, it's fine for us to meet. I think you always cared for me when I was studying in Jixian Academy. Alas... let's not talk about the past. You two, father and son, have a good rest. Don't worry about the past, after all To live."

Song Yijun choked with sobs and said, "I wanted to go like this, but I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Lin'er alone in this barren place..."

Liu Xueyuan patted his hand. "You're right to think so, you have to live for your son."

Song Fenglin's eyes were red, and he bit his lower lip to prevent himself from crying.

Liu Zhan looked forward in silence.

At the bottom of the hillside, the smoke from the Liu family’s cooking is curling up. There are four straw and mud houses and a lush persimmon tree in front of the courtyard.