When Zheng Anping woke up, he felt exhausted all over his body. The straw under me is very thick, soft, and slightly prickly. The room is very dark, but here by the window, a patch of sunlight has already shone on my face. Zheng Anping had never woken up so late before. It was his normal routine to go out in the morning light or even starlight every day.
"Too tired." He excused himself, stretched his legs, and felt soreness from his legs to his waist. He turned his body slightly, and the joints all over his body made a series of popping sounds.
Stimulated by pain, Zheng Anping's experience yesterday flashed before his eyes: He set out against the moon, stopped outside an abandoned city, and hid; then he discovered a group of Qin Army warriors...
Zheng Anping sat up suddenly, and then he remembered that his crossbow, arrows and halberd were still in Lord Xinling's car, and he was completely bare-handed. He looked up and saw that the leather armor and two grain bags were still huddled on the wall next to the straw.
A woman's figure flashed outside the door. She was obviously busy with something.
Zheng Anping stood up from the straw mat, patted the straw on his clothes, and prepared to leave. The woman seemed to hear the movement in the house, walked in, and knelt down by the door: "I slept so sweetly at night! I often come here to my slave in my spare time, and I can sleep soundly every night." She said and pushed. Here comes a clay pot.
For the first time, Zheng Anping took a closer look at the woman who slept with him at night. She was thin and frail, wearing three layers of underwear, which were all torn, with flesh exposed here and there, and a smile on her face.
"How old are you this year?" Zheng Anping asked casually as he turned back to get the grain bag.
"The little slave is lonely. I don't know how old he is. He has been raised by the village."
Zheng Anping filled the small can, put on his leather armor, put the grain bag on his back, and walked out.
The view in front of the door is wide, and you can clearly see the square in front, the haystacks on the square, and the big trees beside the square. Zheng Anping felt something in his heart and thought that he should go to Guancheng now. He didn't know who to look for. He couldn't directly ask to see Lord Xinling. It would be more appropriate to wait for Ma San and others to come and enter Guancheng together. So he said to the woman: "Please borrow me for one more night and leave tomorrow!"
There was a trace of panic in the woman's eyes: "There is no food in the little slave's house, I'm afraid..."
Zheng Anping replied: "I only eat the grains I brought with me. Can I give you another can of corn?"
The woman looked at Zheng Anping hesitantly and nodded slowly.
Zheng Anping added: "I can help with carrying water and collecting firewood."
A trace of redness flashed across the woman's face, she lowered her head and said, "I don't dare to work..."
At this time, a little boy ran over, holding a small jar in his hand, which contained freshly made water: "Mom, another jar of water." Suddenly he saw Zheng Anping beside the door. The smile on his face turned into fear.
Zheng Anping glanced at the frightened child, took the earthen pot that was about to fall from his hand, and poured the water into a large pot.
The woman came to her senses first and slapped the child on the head: "Silly boy! This is big!"
Zheng Anping said: "Go and get a big jar for you, and we will go draw water together."
The child glanced at Zheng Anping doubtfully, then looked at the woman, walked to the eaves, and picked up a big, dirty earthenware jar with a big round belly and a small mouth, making it look like it was used to hold wine. Zheng Anping took the can and weighed it with his hands. It felt heavy. He took off his leather armor and grain bag, put his hand into the mouth of the jar, and said to the child: "Take the elder to draw water."
The child looked at Zheng Anping, then at the woman, then picked up the water jug and walked towards the river, followed by Zheng Anping.
The river is a long way from the hut. The child was holding the water jug and did not dare to walk any faster; Zheng Anping followed him patiently and walked slowly. He asked casually: "What is your name?" The child did not answer. "How old are you?" The child didn't answer. Zheng Anping asked again: "Do you often have adults coming to your house?" The child seemed very angry and stamped his feet. "Are they all treating you badly?" The child finally squeezed out two words: "Not good!"
Zheng Anping said: "Don't worry, the conference will treat you well!"
The child said aggrievedly: "You bullied my mother!"
Zheng Anping replied: "No, I gave him a can of millet, ah no, two cans!"
The child glared at Zheng Anping fiercely and said, "That's bullying!" He quickened his pace.
Zheng Anping felt helpless and had no choice but to follow him and said: "I never bully others...I will never lie to you...I am not a human being if I lie to you..."
While talking, the two came to the nearest river. It was almost early winter, the water was already very shallow, and the banks were covered with dry reeds. The child went down to the river. Because people often draw water here, the reeds have been pulled out or stepped on. Zheng Anping followed him down to the river. He felt that the water jug in his hand was really dirty, so he pulled out a few reeds, tied them into a bunch, put them in the ditch, and brushed them vigorously. The child drew water and squatted aside to wait quietly.
Zheng Anping cleaned the inside and outside of the jug, drew water, and lifted it up. It felt a little heavy and could not be carried for long with one hand, so he decided to do like a child and carry it home.
He took off his shirt, tied it around his waist, and was about to pick up the water bottle. Suddenly he felt a sense of fear, as if a threat was coming. Zheng Anping was startled. He looked around and listened, but he couldn't see or hear anything.
He walked up to the child and said, "It's a steep slope here. Go up there empty-handed first, and I'll hand you a lot of water jugs!"
The child climbed up the bank as instructed. Zheng Anping handed over the small jug, and the child bent down to hold it. Zheng Anping asked casually: "Are there any strangers around?"
While holding the water jug, the child looked around and said, "A few people are coming on the avenue."
Zheng Anping said: "Wait a moment and help pick them up."
The child agreed, still looking around.
Zheng Anping went to pick up the water jug and lifted it to the shore, and asked, "How many people are there?"
"Five."
"Can you see what's hanging on your waist?"
"It seems like a sword is hanging."
"You still know the sword!"
"certainly."
Zheng Anping seemed unable to hold up the heavy water jug. As soon as he let go of his hand, the jug suddenly fell sideways. Zheng Anping quickly grabbed a handful. Fortunately, the jug was not broken, but all the water was spilled.
Zheng Anping had no choice but to say to the child: "You go back with the small jar first, and then go up after you have finished drawing the water."
The child agreed, picked up the jug and left first.
When Zheng Anping saw the child leaving, he immediately ducked deep into the reeds nearby and stuck his head out from the river bank to watch. Sure enough, I saw five people coming on the avenue, with swords hanging from their waists. One of them was still a little lame. It seemed that he was the five people he had dealt with last night.
"Why didn't they leave when they were injured, but continued deeper? Could it be that they are not ordinary spies, but assassins?" This flash of thought made Zheng Anping shiver all over and sweat dripped down his body. They brought swords, certainly not to pry for information, but to kill.
The first thought in Zheng Anping's mind was "escape". No matter what these people do, as long as they don't interfere, they will never make it difficult for them.
But...if they won't have trouble with themselves, then why should they run away? Isn't this setting yourself on fire? Zheng Anping naturally had another thought in his mind.
Just hide here and wait until they pass. They are definitely not here for me. My life is not worth five warriors. Mr. Xinling is pretty much the same.
Lord Xinling! This idea shocked Zheng Anping again. If they were coming for Lord Xinling, hiding under the bridge last night would have been the best place to take action.
Their assassination failed and they should go back, so why should they continue to go deeper? Lord Xinling has already entered the camp, could it be...
Zheng Anping's mind flashed back to the determined expressions of Lord Xinling and Jin Bi last night. According to the plan, Lord Xinling should have just left the Great Wall now, and these five warriors should be heading to another ambush site to deal with Lord Xinling. Lord Xinling had obviously received the news in advance, so he took the risk of riding a bicycle to the military camp under the starry night to avoid the ambush of the sharp soldiers.
Zheng Anping didn't know whether he was right or not, but just this thought made him tremble: This meant that someone had spread the news about Lord Xinling's mission to the envoy camp, and it was spread so timely that the Qin army had time to spread the news. Appoint a killer.
But the current situation is that Lord Xinling has entered the military camp. It seems that Qin Ruishi's assassination mission has completely failed. But they behaved as if they were worse, and continued to rush to the next ambush point, waiting for Lord Xinling to deliver a thunderous strike when he passed by.
"You have no chance!" Zheng Anping thought gloatingly, but immediately started laughing at himself, "What does the life and death of Lord Xinling have to do with you!" He is the prince and the king's younger brother, Lord Xinling, who is under one person in Daliang and above ten thousand people, and has thousands of followers. He is just a soldier. Although he is better than the others, he is no more than mediocre. The Wei army had 50,000 soldiers. Every time they went into battle, they would suffer tens of thousands of casualties, and then the same number would be replenished. Basically life is worthless.
"Why are you here? Don't you just want to escape the war!" Zheng Anping said to himself in his heart, "You still care about the life and death of Lord Xinling." However, there was always a feeling rising in him, that is, last night, He, Zheng Anping, became Lord Xinling's charioteer.
"Hmph, Lord Xinling's car will naturally care about his safety!" He seemed to be explaining to himself. It's really funny that being a driver for a night can arouse such a strong sense of responsibility.
Zheng Anping was thinking wildly while staring at the movements of the five people on the road.
The five people walking along the road actually sat down under the tree at the entrance of the city, seeming to be discussing something. Suddenly one of them seemed to see the child and pointed to the hut hanging outside the city. Soon, the five people stood up and walked towards the hut.
Blood rushed to his head, and Zheng Anping realized that the situation was not good: they were not passing by, but were going to act here! The base of the operation was the hut where the woman lived; and her leather armor was still there, and she could recognize it at a glance. These things were definitely not what a woman should have, and its owner must be a woman. A soldier of Wei State.
