Brocade tears

"I said you two are going to die now, isn't it too early to say?"

Meng Kuang and Sui Er, who were already determined to die, had already picked up their knives and were ready to fight.But unexpectedly, a white person came from the snow not far away, and opened his mouth with a joke, which shocked the two of them.This person was covered with snow-white cloth, hidden among the dead branches and bushes on the snowy ground, his disguise was very good, and he couldn't be found if he didn't look carefully.

The two of them took a closer look, and found that this was their old acquaintance——Li Xuming, the third son of Li Xuming?

So far, Meng Kuang and Sui Er have encountered Li Laosan three times.The first time was in the scuffle to snatch Sui'er in Beijing, the second time when he was escaping from Nanjing City, and the third time in Sui'er's old residence in Jiashan.Meng Kuang was rescued by him once in Kowloon Bay alone.Every time I saw him, my feelings were different. When I saw him this time, I had to admit that there was a feeling so kind that I wanted to cry.

And right behind him, another disguised figure appeared in Bai Xuezhong, it was Zhu Yan.

"Come with me, I'll take you to hide. You are still too young in this Liaodong territory. I have been here for several years, and I am more familiar with this place than you." Li Laosan said, and then pointed to Zhuyan and said, "This is the place where Zhuyan grew up. She is more familiar with it than I am. There is a tree hole not far away, which is the hole of a blind bear. It is very hidden. The bear was hunted and killed by a nearby hunter some time ago. It is just right for us to hide. The blind bear's smell is very strong, and it can just cover our smell, including the smell of blood. Even if there are hounds searching, it will be difficult to find us."

Meng Kuang and Sui'er hurriedly pulled up their horses and followed Li Chengliang, while Zhu Yan took off the large white cloth and coir raincoat cloak that she wore on her body, and swept Meng Kuang and Sui'er in the snow just now. All traces left on the ground were erased.While erasing, she walked backwards, following Li Laosan, Meng Kuang and others to cover up the traces.A few people walked towards the northwest of the dense forest, and came to a stone hill with less snow, and then found a bear cave at the mouth of a very hidden mountain, with a large rock for camouflage at the entrance.

Meng Kuang and Li Laosan worked together to push away the boulder, and they led the horse into the cave. After Zhu Yan broke the outside, she made sure that there were no traces left outside, and finally got in.Meng Kuang and Li Laosan worked together to push the boulder back to block the entrance of the cave.

The four of them were immediately swallowed by the darkness, Li Laosan blew on the torch, lit the charcoal basin covered with fur that had been prepared in the cave, and made sure that the smoke would not rise up.This is not really lighting, but barely warm.

Meng Kuang, Sui Er, and Li Laosan sat on the thick animal skins and surrounded the charcoal basin to keep warm.At this time, Meng Kuang and Sui'er realized it later, they were frozen stiff, sore and tired, and they were already overtired.

Zhu Yan didn't rest, she looked energetic.First, he unloaded Jiang Yunping's body from the horse, dragged it to the corner of the cave, and inspected it carefully.Then he comforted the horse and knelt down to help the horse deal with the wound.The horse is very well-behaved, it doesn't move, it just snorts slightly.

"This girl knows veterinary medicine, and she also knows poison." Li Laosan explained.

There was a momentary silence in the cave, but it was Sui'er who finally broke the embarrassment and said:

"When did you come to Liaodong?"

"Two months earlier than you, we followed Shuerhaqi to the north." Li Laosan said.

"Didn't Shuer Haqi run away? How did you find him?" Meng Kuang felt very strange.

"He did run away, and it was a coincidence among coincidences that we found him. After the Kowloon Bay incident, you escorted Shimazu Suihisa, Shen Zhe and other Japanese pirates to join the government. I couldn't show up, but let Zhuyan and Ah Duqin stayed in Jiashan County to pay attention to your movements, and I temporarily stayed in a small fishing village by the Kowloon Bay. I stayed at my old brother’s house that day and chatted with my old brother. He heard what happened in Kowloon Bay from me, so he Tell me, there used to be a famous Shen family in Pinghu County, whose grandparents were grain chiefs and had a high reputation in ten miles and eight villages. This generation of the family got a young man named Shen Weijing. After studying for a few years, he loved to comment on state affairs. .

His father had gone to sea to do business with Japanese people, and he had gone north to the capital with his father many times. Later, his family fell into poverty, and he had to live in Beijing, doing some trivial business to make ends meet, but he still did not give up his childhood dream of making contributions.He can speak the Japanese dialect and has a bright mind, but he just doesn't appreciate his talent.Later, when his father was old, the family returned from central Beijing to live in their hometown in Pinghu, that is, in the last one or two years.Not long ago, he was drunk in a restaurant in the county seat, claiming that he had met and negotiated with the Japanese pirates in Kowloon Bay, and he was the one who contributed to the government's arrest of the Japanese pirates. .But no one listened to him and took him for boasting.Shen Weijing also looked down on these short-sighted people in the county, and decided to go to Beijing soon. He said that he has a relationship with a certain nobleman in Beijing, and he will definitely make a lifetime of merit when he goes out this time.

Others said that Shen Weijing seems to have received a group of strangers at home in the past few days, one of them has a strange appearance, not like a Ming person, and has a strange money rat tail braid, he looks like someone from a foreign race Jurchens.I was startled at the time, guessing that Shen Weijing had contact with Shu Erhaqi?

Recently there were rumors that Shen Weijing had asked a tailor in the county to make several thick clothes, which he said he would wear when he went north to Liaodong.It seemed that he was not lying when he said he was going to Beijing.

I thought to myself, after all, you are going to escort Shimadzu Suijiu to wait for the Japanese pirates to go north, after all, you want to meet in Beijing, if I don’t, I will go north with this Shen Weijing, and see what he has, maybe I can get a glimpse of Shuerhaqi The intention of waiting for others to go south.So I followed Shen Weijing all the way to the north, and I would leave marks at certain old addresses or characteristic buildings that had long been tacitly agreed upon. If Zhu Yan and A Duqin followed me, they could pass through the marks. find me.

When I reached the capital, I did find the marks left by Zhu Yan and A Duqin, and found them, and joined them.Earlier, they followed you all the way to Beijing, arrived in the capital first, and tried their best to find out the news that Zhang Yunxiu was under house arrest by Jin Yiwei. Only then did we know that Zhang Yunxiu was in Jiashan at that time. I guess there must be some kind of connection between him and Shuerhaqi .

After that, Meng Shisan and Guo Dayou were imprisoned, while Shen Weijing really got the chance and was sent by the imperial court to be an envoy to Liaodong. Zhu Yan, A Duqin, I, and I took the lead to go north to Liaodong with Shen Weijing.On the way, he was accompanied by an official sent by Liaodong, and accompanied by an eunuch sent by the imperial court, who presumably was sent by the imperial court to monitor him.On the way, he found an opportunity to deliberately avoid these two people and meet with a person in secret.This person is Shuerhaqi, and he took the initiative to find Shen Weijing, so we discovered Shuerhaqi's whereabouts.

Since Shuerhaqi also followed Shen Weijing to the north, we followed them all the way to Kuandian Fort, which is the place where the Joseon King Li Yan was temporarily sheltered.Shen Weijing met with the King of Joseon, and then crossed the Yalu River to the territory of Joseon to meet with Chief Xiaoxi.Of course we didn't follow, but instead started following Shuerhazi.Shuerhaqi went back to Jianzhou Jurchen to meet his elder brother Nurhachi during the period, and then came out again. When he arrived in Guangning City, he probably met Li Chengliang secretly.Since then, he has been guarding near Guangning City, and we have been observing him in the dark.He seemed to be secretly planning a military operation. When he came to Guangning, he brought out an elite team of 50 people from Jianzhou Jurchen.

We followed the Jurchen elite team of 50 people all the way. They stayed near Guangning City for a long time, running from east to west, and seemed to touch the nearby terrain.In the end they settled down in the black hills and woods where we are now.We have been hiding in the dark, listening to their truth.But I didn't expect that today, I bumped into Zhang Yunxiu and joined them, and then the two of you chased them in again. "

After a long narrative, Li Laosan finally explained the situation clearly.And Meng Kuang continued:

"I don't think Aduqin is with you. Did you send him to follow Shuerhaqi and Zhang Yunxiu who were retreating and fleeing?"

"Yes." Li Laosan nodded.

At this time, Zhu Yan had finished treating the horse's injury, sat down beside the crowd, and said:

"I have some wound medicine on my body, which I gave to the horse. This horse is very strong. As long as the wound scabs, it can basically recover its strength. I guess it will take tomorrow to stop the bleeding. You can't stay in this hole for a long time, or the air will soon be cloudy. , out of breath, I think we'd better get out of here in the early hours of tomorrow, and we can only make do here tonight."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Li Laosan said, then remembered Meng Kuang and Sui Er, and asked:

"Are you going to continue to track Zhang Yunxiu? Or are you going back? I don't think you are with Guo Dayou and his group. Did you split up?"

"Old Guo is still outside now. He is probably trying to find a way to deal with Li Chengliang's people. He may not be able to come to us for the time being..." Meng Kuang said, saying this, she related all the encounters on the way north to Liaodong with Li. The third child said it, including their current judgment on Zhang Yunxiu.

Li Laosan realized that he was being used when he learned that Zhang Yunxiu was accomplices with Nurhachi and Shuerhaqi brothers.So when Meng Kuang mentioned this matter during the narration, he didn't have much emotional fluctuation.After Meng Kuang finished speaking, he said:

"The height of the devil is one foot, and the height of the road is one foot. I, Li Laosan, have been shrewd all my life, but I didn't expect to fall into the hands of a junior. This delay will be nearly ten years. Fortunately, fortunately, I can meet you, and finally It's impossible for that guy to hide the truth."

"If he really wants to hide it, we probably won't know it. It's just that the situation has changed and the Japanese pirates are calling. Zhang Yunxiu thinks it's time to realize his subversive plan, so he will take the initiative to appear. The reason why we can understand these things is because he took the initiative Let us know." Zhu Yan sighed, "From the beginning to the end, we were still played in the palm of our hands."

Meng Kuang said, "Don't talk about these discouraging words. Just a quarter of an hour ago, Sui'er and I were determined to die, but we never thought that with your help, we would have the hope of surviving. In this case, we must seize this opportunity." Opportunity. Guo Dayou will follow us. In the early morning of tomorrow, Sui Er and I will go on the road with you and continue to track down the escaped Zhang Yunxiu. No matter what, we will catch him back." She glanced at it when she said this. Sui'er, in the darkness, Sui'er's eyes are shining brightly, Meng Kuang knows that she and his thoughts are the same.

"Okay, you have backbone. I have always admired you as a young man, and today I am even more impressed. I really have the feeling of your father back then. He is a person who struggles and resists even at the last moment of his life. He will never admit defeat and never let go of anything. The hope of going down, and do your best to protect everyone. The feeling of incomparable perseverance is really admirable. Your father may have passed away suddenly, which made you unacceptable for a long time. But he died like a soldier, he The last moment of life is a battle." Li Laosan seemed to be touched by Meng Kuang's words, and said with emotion.

Meng Kuang was silent, and when Li Laosan suddenly mentioned her father, the blurred image of her father suddenly gradually emerged in his mind, and gradually became clearer.She thought of her father's earnest teachings to her in the early years. Her father once said that this world is the world of all people, and it is the tens of millions of people struggling to survive that supported the Ming Dynasty.He eats the imperial salary, which is the food and taxes paid by the common people, not just blown by the wind out of thin air.The people of the world are his parents, the objects of his allegiance.When you are an official, you must not forget that you come from the common people, and you are also the common people.No matter who sits in this world, he will always be loyal to the people.

It seems natural for Jin Yiwei to be loyal to the royal family, but where does the royal family come from?If there are no people, how can there be an emperor?Zhu Chongba in the past was also a poor cowherd boy, where did he come from?

People must not forget their roots.

Perhaps this is the original reason why his father would take risks and choose to help Li Laosan rob Sui'er from prison.It was because Sui'er said to him in the prison car, "This is the splendid country of Ming Dynasty".As for those words her father taught her in the early years, Meng Kuang once heard her ears callused, but she never listened to her heart.Only today can she experience the true and full emotion in the words.

She had a lump in her throat and couldn't speak.

Sui'er seemed to have sensed Meng Kuang's psychological fluctuations. She held Meng Kuang's hand, and then asked Li Laosan:

"Old Li... Senior, why did you plan to rescue me from prison? You even sacrificed your position in Jinyiwei. I always thought that you rescued me because of Zhang Taiyue, because you are a member of the New Party. But now, I want to hear something from my heart.”

After a long silence, Li Laosan in the dark did not give an answer, and finally he just said: "Take a break, we have to hurry tomorrow morning."