Brocade tears

On the second day of March, when Meng Kuang, Guo Dayou, and Zhou Jintong were checking accounts at the household department, the Meng family at the entrance of the school yard ushered in a new round of refugees begging for medicine.

Because Lingji Church doesn't plan to open for business today, the door is closed, and Qingxu didn't come.Except for two frail women, Meng An and Sui Er, there is no one in the family who can help resist the expelling refugees.These refugees have been knocking on the door for a long time, but they have never knocked on the door of Lingji Hall. Some people may feel that there is no hope of receiving medicine, so they left soon.Some people are entangled here, and they don't step forward, just wait and see, there is still a glimmer of hope.And a few hooligans have already shouted loudly, constantly beating on the door of Lingji hall, and encouraging the surrounding refugees to rush in through the door.

Both the front door and the back door were blocked, and Meng Yan, who was at home, fell into anxiety.If this continues, she can't do anything, she wants to go out and contact people outside to help, but she can't do it, and she doesn't know how long the door can withstand.It would be really bad if these people really started rushing the door.

She moved a wooden ladder, set it up against the courtyard wall, and climbed up to the top of the wall to look out quietly.The courtyard on the east side, across an alley from Lingji Hall, is the mansion of an official in the court, which is a circle larger than Lingji Hall.Before Meng Kuang moved here, he investigated the surrounding neighborhood thoroughly.The male owner of this family is surnamed Gao, and his name is Gao Jianyun. He works in the Ministry of Rites and is a doctor of the Department of Rites and is a fifth grade.His family has been a high-ranking official for generations, and his family is well-off. This house can only be regarded as the Gao family's shabby small house in Beijing. In his hometown, there are even more luxurious mansions, ancestral halls, and private schools.Although Meng Ai knew the identity of this family, he had almost no contact with them.The male owner of this family has a lot of airs, has many rules, and is the most troublesome Neo Confucianist. He hides all the female family members in the deep house compound and cannot come out and walk around. At most, Meng Yan has a few face-to-face with the servants of this family. , It is also rare to be able to say a word.

The family in the west is a merchant, and they went out to do business with their family, and the house is temporarily empty and unoccupied.Every few days, an old man in his sixties would open the door and come in to clean the place, but he was not there at the moment.The only person she can ask for help is the Gao family in the east.It's just that she stood on the wall and watched for a long time, but she never saw anyone from Gao's house.

"Xiao Ai, come down now, it's too dangerous." Sui'er below had been with her all the time, seeing her precariously standing on the ladder, she was really worried.

"Let me look again, maybe the Gao family will come out in a while."

"You come down first, I have an idea, it will be more effective than asking Gao's family for help. Stand on top of this wall, let those troubled refugees see, throw stones at you, what if it breaks?" Sui'er persuaded road.

This statement made sense, and Meng Yan obediently came down.Sui'er hurriedly stepped forward to hold her back and said:

"I don't dare to act bravely and take risks like this again. If something happens to you, your sister will not let me go."

"She doesn't dare, or she doesn't want to part with it at all." Meng Yan said with a smile, and then hurriedly asked, "My dear sister, tell me what is your idea?"

Sui'er said: "Our area is at the entrance of the schoolyard. Go out the back door, across a north-south housing street, is the horse race track. The cavalry of the officers and soldiers come and go there. Today is the second day of junior high school. If I remember correctly , There should be martial arts training in the school grounds this morning. People from Wucheng Bingmasi will also appear at the entrance of the school grounds to isolate pedestrians and maintain the smoothness of the horse path. After a while, you go to the front door and shout to the refugees through the door to attract them all. Go to the front door, I will sneak out from the back door, and go to the horse racing track to invite the soldiers and horses of the five cities to come."

Meng Yan immediately hesitated, this is a very good idea, but... my sister told me not to let Sui'er out of her yard, and when she came out, someone must be by her side to watch her, and she must be on guard against her escape up.Now let her go out alone to ask for help, it's really... It's hard to feel at ease.

"Let's... let's wait at home for my sister to come back..." Meng Yan said with his head bowed in embarrassment, not daring to look at Sui'er's expression.

Sui'er held her hand tightly and said:

"Xiao Ai, can you trust me?"

"I..." Meng Yan didn't know how to answer.Do you believe it?But what she did fully demonstrated my disbelief in her.What else can she say?

Seeing that Meng Ai didn't answer, Sui'er slowly let go of her hand, and sighed with a lonely expression.Meng Yan felt extremely uncomfortable, how she wished she could say "I believe in you" firmly, but her sister's exhortation was still in her ears, and she didn't dare to ignore it.

"Bang bang bang", the knock on the door sounded again, this time it was more fierce and urgent than before.

"Open the door! Emergency! Open the door! Save people!" This was a man's roar that almost broke his voice.

"Doctor Meng! Please open the door. We are not here to ask for medicine. The child is dying. Please open the door and save us! I will kneel and kowtow to you!" It was the voice of a woman crying.

Meng Yan gritted her teeth, forced by the situation in front of her, she could no longer look forward and backward.So he hurriedly grabbed Sui'er's hand and said:

"Good sister, then please go and invite the soldiers and horses of Wucheng, and I will go to answer the front door."

Sui'er's eyes lit up, and she immediately responded, "Okay, leave it on me. You should pay attention to safety, first shout out to confirm the authenticity, and then let people in. I will bring them there soon."

The two immediately split up, and Meng Yan went to the front door.Sui'er went back to the house first, took out her long scarf and wrapped it around her neck, moved the ladder to the courtyard wall at the back door, climbed up to check the situation outside the back door, wondered if it was because of someone screaming and crying at the front door , People from the back door were really attracted to the front door.Sui'er made a decisive decision, took the padlock hanging on the wall of the back door, pulled the latch, quickly stepped out, turned back and locked the back door from the outside.With the key in his pocket, he immediately walked quickly across the streets and alleys to the race track.

……

Meng Yan came to the front door, leaned against the closed door, and shouted loudly:

"What happened?"

Seeing that Meng Yan answered the door, the woman outside the door responded in surprise:

"Doctor Meng, we are the family of Sun Lao San who sells tofu at the west end of Cross Street. The monkey in the house has been caught by something evil today and ran to the racetrack. It was hit by a military horse. His head was broken and bleeding, but he was out of breath. Breathing in, Doctor Meng, please open the door and save your life!"

"Doctor Meng... You are the closest doctor to us, please! I will be your gatekeeper, and I will never let these beggars in. I just ask you to save the child!" Sun Lao San said tremblingly. begged.Meng Ai is a frequent visitor to Sun Lao San's house, and would often go to his house to buy tofu. Meng Ai listened carefully and recognized the voices of him and his wife.

"Oh, you..."

"Say a few words less, human life is at stake."

Some refugees who asked for medicine expressed their dissatisfaction, but they were stopped by people around them.Not long after, a vagrant said:

"Give way, everyone. There's no rush to get the medicine. I'm waiting to get a big deal. It depends on the doctor's opinion whether to take it or not. Now the doctor wants to save someone, so let's give way! Although we are from other provinces, There are no tiles to cover the roof, and no food or medicine to feed the hunger and cure the sick, but no matter how hard it is, the spine must be straight, and the people in the capital can't be flattened!" This refugee seems to have read the book, and he speaks with reason , is very touching.

"That's right!" Immediately, an old and powerful male voice echoed.

Meng Yan thought that this matter could not be delayed any longer, so he immediately said, "I'll open the door right away!"

"Well, thank you doctor, thank you doctor!"

"A doctor lives a Bodhisattva!"

The couple thanked each other again and again.Meng Ai unlatched the door, carefully opened the door a crack, looked outside, and saw a woman kneeling at the door, holding a bloody male doll in her arms who passed out, it belonged to Sun Laosan's family.Pull it out a little further, and you can see a circle of refugees in rags, the leader of which is a young man.Although he looked very embarrassed, his clothes were all patched, but his eyes were bright, as if he had read a book.There was a tall, elderly man standing beside him, watching over the refugees behind him, preventing them from rushing in.

Sun Laosan held the crack of the door and said to his wife:

"Hurry up and take the baby in!"

After Meng Yan let the mother and son in, he immediately closed the door again.Sun Laosan immediately guarded the door like a door god, staring at the refugees with a desperate posture, and would definitely do his best to anyone who dared to step forward.

At that time, Sui'er had just run to the race track when he saw a patrol team of Wucheng soldiers and horses walking along the race track from west to east.She turned right immediately, and walked parallel and in the same direction as the patrol team sandwiched a block of houses along the street.As she walked, she covered her head and face with the scarf she had just brought out, revealing only a pair of eyes.At the same time, he took out a small string of copper coins from his sleeve, only five in total.As she walked forward, she paid attention to the people on the street.Not long after, I saw a boy with a penis kicking a shuttlecock on the side of the street. His legs and feet were agile, and he was still counting "one, two, three, four" in his mouth, and his articulation was very clear.So he immediately stepped forward, lowered his body, with curved eyebrows and eyes, smiled and said to the little boy:

"Baby, can my sister ask you to pass me a message?"

"Sister, what do you want to say?" The little boy was not timid at all, and immediately put away the shuttlecock and asked with a smile.It seems that he has also helped people pass errands on more than one occasion.

"You pass a message to the shopkeeper of Huji Cosmetics Shop at the north end of Bingmasi Hutong, and say: the auspicious bird is currently in a cage and cannot fly out for a while. If he asks where you live, you can say that you live at the entrance of the school. That's it. Remember?"

"remember."

"Okay, repeat it."

The boy then repeated it, and Sui'er handed him the string of five Wen coins in his hand, and the boy ran away in a hurry.Then Sui'er stepped up and went to chase the patrol team of Wucheng Bingmasi.

……

Cao Guang, the deputy commander of Zhongcheng Bingma Division, spat out a mouthful of sandy saliva, and stood on the race track covered in dust and embarrassed, ready to lead the patrol team of three behind him back to Bingma Division to report.Each of them looked dingy, downcast as if they had lost a battle.Every time the big colonel asks soldiers and horses to do the hardest work, guarding the racetrack, watching the soldiers from the Beijing barracks riding past in front of them on horseback, these coolies guarding the city can only It's fucking unfair to follow behind and eat dirt.

Behind him, a senior surnamed Liu has a very good relationship with him. In the past, the two of them ate, drank, prostituted and gambled together, like brothers and sisters.At this time, he leaned over, pointed to a small team of Zhongcheng soldiers and Masi patrols who were leading the team back not far away, and whispered:

"Boss, Deputy Commander Zhan is going to be in trouble. Somehow he let a boy into the racetrack, which just happened to startle the horse of Admiral Song of Shenji Camp. What happened..." He said in his tone There is no shortage of schadenfreude and flattery.

"Hmph, Zhan Yu is a badass, it's good that he's in trouble. I've been displeased with him for a long time." Cao Guang sneered, glaring viciously at the military commander leading the team at the front, and then waved his hand to the back The soldiers gave the order:

"Go back to camp!"

Cao Guang's team began to trot and march along the other side of the racetrack. Cao Guang planned to rush back before Zhan Yu, and sue him in front of the commander.But he never thought that just as he led the team to level with Zhan Yu's team, suddenly a woman rushed out from a diagonal stab and stopped Zhan Yu's team.The woman ran in a hurry, and just as a gust of wind passed by, most of the turban wrapped around her head was lifted off in an instant, revealing the face hidden underneath.She hurriedly pulled the scarf to wrap her face again, then knelt down in front of Zhan Yu and shouted loudly:

"Master, help me, my house is surrounded by bandits!"

After a glimpse, Cao Guang saw the woman's peerless face, and his soul flew away for nine days, and he froze on the spot, unable to move, so that the soldiers behind him almost missed him.He is naturally lustful, he is a bachelor and has never been married, he often hangs around Goulan Wasi, but because of his low status, he can only hang out in low-end restaurants, when has he ever seen such a beautiful woman.And as soon as the woman's voice came over, it immediately took away his soul like fairy music.

Not only him, but even Zhan Yu, who was leading the team with a dull head, was taken aback. Seeing her face for a moment, Zhan Yu couldn't help being stunned.He is a young general with a white face, no beard, and green stubble on his lips.Sword eyebrows and star eyes, heroic and handsome, and the elegance that ordinary generals don't have.He also spoke very elegantly, and quickly bent down to help the kneeling woman, saying:

"Girl, please get up, and tell me slowly what happened."

Seeing the woman explain the situation in a few words, Zhan Yu waved and led the team to follow her to the place where the accident happened.Cao Guang quickly ordered to the team behind:

"Everyone follow me!"

Then the leader went to chase Zhan Yu's team.