Tang Dizhihua

In the autumn of the first year of Shengong, because the Khitan tribe had been invading the territory of the Great Zhou all the year round, Wu Zhao ordered Wang Xiaojie, the general of Youweiwei, to lead his guards to the north, and mobilized tens of thousands of troops at the border to fight back against Khitan.

No one thought the battle would be lost.The important ministers in the court were elated because of the small victory reported back, and the whole country was also in harmony, which was no different from usual.

The courtyard at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain is still the same as it was a year ago. In the past, Li Yi always disliked the unchanging mountain scenery here, but only when he went out did he realize that in his heart, this is the place he misses the most.

But the small courtyard doesn't look like there are people.No wonder, after he went down the mountain, the uncle still had to continue to travel around. The uncle would have places he wanted to go without himself, and the master probably wouldn't stay in the mountains after he recovered from his injury.

But when he approached gradually, he found that there were people in the courtyard.It's just not so lively, it's so quiet that it almost blends into the entire silent mountain forest in winter.

"came back?"

The hand that pushed the fence paused, and Li Yi felt a little embarrassed, pursed his lips, and hummed for a long time.

Seeing this, Shangguan Yan smiled, "calculating the time, it's time to come back. But I don't know whether it's luck or misfortune. Your master left a season ago and said he wanted to find you. I couldn't stop him, so I wrote a letter to Yizhi." Feng, now that I think about it, he should already be on his way back."

Li Yi's ups and downs fell to the ground, and he felt relaxed all over.Shangguan Yan Mingming didn't follow him on this trip, but he just smiled at him as if he had read through his experience in this year clearly.

Shangguan Yan was sitting under the eaves, quietly crushing tea bricks with tea, and lighting a delicate small stove.At this moment, the water in the stove was not boiling, so he motioned Li Yi to sit opposite, without saying much, and meticulously doing the matter at hand.

Sitting opposite him, Li Yi looked back at the quiet yard, only his footprints were left on the snow.Remembering that Master had already left, Li Yi suddenly became curious and asked, "Master, you want me to go out and make a living, but why don't you go outside and have a look?"

Shangguan Yan kept his subordinates, lowered his eyes, and smiled softly: "Little boy, you should take a look around more."

Li Yi blinked: "Master, you haven't answered Ah Yi's question yet."

Shangguan Yan said: "Is it fun outside?"

Li Yi said: "The outside is different from what I thought."

"How is it different?"

Li Yi thought for a while, and said: "In the past, I always felt that fighting swords in the rivers and lakes is a matter of pleasure. When traveling, I saw famous mountains and rivers, ate local delicacies, made a few friends, and competed with others. This is a knight. life. But..."

"People outside are very complicated. When I was short of money, I hunted to survive, but the profiteers who collected furs deceived me when I was young, and the price was almost nothing."

"Also, I just admired the achievements of Mr. Di Ge and wanted to hear the story, but in the end I got involved in an incident, which seemed to be related to some treasure, and several people chased me. I didn't want to kill them, but they stopped Pressing harder...I had no choice but to kill someone."

Li Yi was very wronged when he said this, Shangguan Yan just listened quietly.After a while, the tea soup was boiled, poured into the cup, and then knocked on the table with knuckles.

"Thank you, uncle."

"Ah."

Li Yi took a sip of tea.The conditions in the mountains are simple, and the tea soup only adds some salt and ginger slices, and the taste is bland.

"You kill to protect yourself, that's fine."

"But innocent people were implicated..."

Shangguan Yan sighed.

"Then do you still want to go out?"

Li Yi thought for a moment, and said: "Yes. I met a lot of people on the way. Among them was an officer whose martial arts were used to defeat the enemy in the army. Although I stabbed him in countless ways, he still He beat me. I think the world is not only about selfish desires and vendettas, but also good people who are dedicated to serving the country."

"I want to see good people live a happy life, and evil people get their rewards. I want to protect those ordinary people who don't know martial arts so that they don't lose their lives because of the selfish desires of a few people."

"It's too difficult." Shangguan Yan said in a deep voice.

Li Yi was silent for a long while, then let out a muffled hum.

The two sat opposite each other quietly for a while, Li Yi suddenly reacted, and immediately forcibly changed the subject: "Master, you haven't told me why you don't like to go out."

Shangguan Yan did not answer.

Li Yi instinctively felt that the uncle was unwilling to answer this question, and suddenly felt embarrassed, shrank his neck and did not dare to ask further.

After a long time, Shangguan Yan said in a low voice: "...there is nothing good outside." The voice was so low that Li Yi didn't hear it, and subconsciously asked questions.

Shangguan Yan: "...It's nothing. My uncle has a friend who is coming, and the journey is just a few days away. You watch for me, I will go up the mountain tomorrow." Then he got up.

Li Yi nodded.

The next day, the weather was sunny and cold.Shangguan Yan disappeared early in the morning.Li Yi practiced sword all morning, thinking that he hadn't eaten Chaoshi yet, so he checked to see if there was any food that could be cooked.

Most of the winter food comes from the preservation of the autumn harvest.In addition to leaving seeds for the coming year, farmers also have to prepare rations for the winter.Xu had already purchased before the winter, and there was enough food in the warehouse for the four masters and apprentices of Li Yi to last the whole winter.

The staple food here is generally millet and wheat.Residents in Chang'an and the Sanqin area all love to eat wheat, whether it is soup cakes, hu cakes, or Yanyue wontons, they are all favorites.However, it is difficult to take care of wheat and is relatively expensive.In contrast, millet is cheap and easy to grow, and farmers prefer to grow millet, so there are more stocks of millet.

However, the vegetables are scarce, and under normal circumstances, the vegetables are dried and preserved, and the winter stew is put into the broth, with some radishes that are easy to store, as well as green onions, ginger, salt, and dogwood. The taste can make the children next door cry.

But there is no neighbor in this yard, and naturally there is no child next door.Li Yi ordered a pot of millet rice, thinking that his uncle could still eat it hot when he came back in the evening, he was very happy, and also cooked a pot of soup with these barren vegetable leaves.

Suddenly there was the sound of heavy footsteps in the distance.Sometimes there would be hunters passing by from afar here, and Li Yi was not surprised, but the footsteps got closer and closer, and it seemed that they deliberately turned into the direction of their yard.

The man walked to the gate of the fence and knocked on the fence with his dagger: "Is this the residence of Brother Shangguan?"

Li Yi raised his head, and the white mist in front of him blocked his sight.But it can be seen that it is a gentleman in a fur coat.Then he asked: "Is the guest looking for my uncle? He went hunting in the mountains this morning. You can wait in the courtyard."

The man laughed, pushed aside the fence, and looked at the busy Li Yi with interest: "Nine years ago, I received a letter from Brother Shangguan, saying that his junior brother had taken in an apprentice. The three of them have been bachelors for many years. I didn't expect that guy Yun Qi to accept a child first, I didn't expect it hahahaha."

"It's already noon, can you have some food?" Li Yi was quite speechless to this person.Thinking that this person should be the uncle's friend, he hastily invited him.

"That's a good thing, I haven't eaten the rice yet. Xiao Lang, your handicraft smells good, but I don't know how it tastes." Li Yi filled a large bowl of millet rice for him, and filled a bowl himself, and lifted the cauldron with one hand, Pour the soup into two sea bowls and push one to the other.

The guest couldn't help applauding his neat work.It must be known that the net weight of this big iron pot is more than ten catties, plus a big pot full of soup, only a strong man can lift it.This Xiao Lang raised one hand without any reluctance, which shows that he has a lot of strength.

Before Li Yi put down the pot, this person was already eating without looking up.Li Yi observed the other party silently, and found that the other party's appetite was comparable to that of a martial arts practitioner. The two fist-sized bowls filled three times of rice and five times of soup.

Putting down the bowl contentedly, this person did not forget to praise his cooking skills: "Xiao Lang's cooking smells good and tastes even better!"

Li Yi acquiesced to the other party's statement, and asked: "Dare to ask the guest's name?"

The man was stunned: "Brother Shangguan didn't tell you?"

Li Yi said: "Never."

The man smiled and said: "A certain surname is Zhou, Zhou Shao, and Xiao Shao is [-]% Shao."

Li Yi silently added another bowl of rice and poured the soup on the millet rice.Hearing his name made him hungry again.

This Zhou Shao was also an acquaintance, and asked him enthusiastically: "Young Lord, Zhou has already introduced himself, so you should also talk about it."

"Li Yi, Li Tang's Li, is very happy."

"Li Tang's Li...Xiao Lang, be careful with your words. This is the world of Wu Zhou. If you are listened to like this, you will have to suffer some flesh and blood."

Hearing what he said, Li Yi naturally felt a little unhappy in his heart, but he also knew that what he said was right, so he said in a bad tone: "After hearing this, senior, are you going to report me?"

"Hahahahaha... You narrow-minded young man," Zhou Shao said with a smile, "That's all, what's the point of talking. In a few years, I don't know who will rule the world."

Li Yi concentrated on grilling the rice, and didn't listen carefully to what the man said, only heard him mutter something about "the world".

The soup was full, and Li Yi pleaded guilty to the guests, reading a book while digesting food.Zhou Shao also disappeared, entered the master's room, opened the wooden box he had carried all the way, Li Yi immediately smelled a very faint fragrance.