Nightmare.
Du Qiaoer felt like he was having a nightmare.
She was just sixteen years old and was born in Fanjiayu, Yonghe County.
The family does not engage in farming and is a famous Lehu family in Xi County. It can be traced back to the time when King Xichuan had not yet transferred his title to Zezhou.
Although Fanjiayu’s surname is Fan, the area has experienced several droughts and has become a village with many surnames mixed together.
She has three brothers and two sisters. Among them, the eldest brother, the second brother and the eldest sister are all married. The second sister made a baby three days ago by her sister-in-law for the scholar in the neighboring village.
Although she is a concubine, the whole family is very happy. The old man opened the Mongolia Mongolia for the big merchants in Xizhou City and is a very resourceful person. The family can get through the difficulties this spring, and even Du Qiaoer can be sent to the hospital. Xizhou plays the pipa.
Although the scholar was old, he was not a bad person. He told his eldest and second brothers that Du Qiaoer was born handsome, so don't be in a hurry to get married. In this world, you can't live with an ordinary person.
Wait and see, wait until one of the gentry in Xizhou dies, and try to find a matchmaker to see if they can arrange a continuation of the relationship.
Suddenly, Du Qiaoer became the hope of his family because of this illusory sequel.
Seeing that the family was getting better, even though they were poor, they still took out some food, bought some wine and food, summoned more than ten relatives and friends, and set up two tables to celebrate the happy event. Even the second sister came back wearing a robe with colorful sleeves.
The poorer people are, the more they need such celebrations, otherwise how can they struggle in a miserable life.
The book said that day was an auspicious day and a good day to do things.
Although the world is difficult, as a happy family in the village, the invited relatives and friends all have smiles on their faces.
The eldest brother said that because they are Lehu, others will be happy to be invited.
Du Qiaoer knew that it was not because they were Lehu, but because people in any family would die, and the eldest brother was a suona player.
People were laughing and making noises. The old ones pointed at Sister Du who was serving water and tea and said they were pregnant again. Some people went crazy without drinking much wine.
They are Lehu. They are used to ridicule and ridicule. No one will care and no one will be angry.
As long as everyone is happy, it is truly an auspicious day.
Halfway through the banquet, a loud shout came from the north of the village. The guests rushed out and saw a man with disheveled hair and one shoe missing. He rushed into the village like a whirlwind, shouting that troops from Zaowang Mountain in the north were invading and killing people.
There was a chaos in the village. People hurriedly ran home, closed their doors and extinguished the lights. Only the two dogs of the grain chief's family were still barking fiercely.
The eldest sister-in-law was married from Zaowang Mountain, and she was even more anxious and scared after hearing this. The eldest brother took a stick and went out to the village to have a look. The second brother and the younger brother originally wanted to follow, but the eldest brother said that there were many women in the house and someone had to watch over them. .
It lasted two hours.
At midnight, the eldest brother came back.
The horseshoes were heavily buckled on the dirt road between the villages. Through the crack in the door, Du Qiaoer saw his eldest brother on the cavalry belt holding the torch high.
One eye was missing and half her face was covered in blood, but she could still identify which of the three heads was the eldest brother.
She didn't scream, but she felt like the blood all over her body was frozen.
The butcher, who had been drinking at home that night, had just walked out when he was shot through the neck with an arrow and nailed to the door.
There was a knock on the door, and the second brother asked the woman in the family to run down the hill from the backyard, and he jumped off the wall, screaming as he ran. After running out for four or five breaths, a familiar scream came from the south.
As soon as they ran out, the eldest brother-in-law who was running in front said that there were soldiers at the foot of the mountain, so they had to retreat to the village. They were going to the grain chief's house.
Before he could reach the grain chief's house, a veteran wearing an iron helmet appeared from the shadow of the courtyard wall, holding a knife in front of his eldest brother-in-law.
As if he knew someone was going to run here, he raised the knife either early or late, and the eldest brother-in-law seemed to stretch his neck and hit him.
The second brother-in-law continued to rush forward and struggled with the old banner army. His head was pressed into the soil, but he still shouted at them to run away.
The second brother-in-law was also killed soon. The eldest sister was so pregnant that she couldn't run and fell to the ground. She knelt down and begged for mercy. The old flag soldier didn't pay attention at all and grabbed her arm to pull her up. The younger brother rushed forward and was stabbed and killed.
The eldest sister couldn't struggle, so she was kicked by the old flag army and dragged back by her hair.
Du Qiaoer's second sister was so frightened that she ran down the mountain screaming, unable to stop her.
The robe with colorful sleeves was particularly eye-catching. Du Qiaoer ran after him for a few steps. Finally, he was scared and could only watch the red ray of light rolling down the hillside under the moonlight and falling into the firelight set by the soldiers at the foot of the mountain.
Du Qiao'er didn't know where to run, so she got into the ditch next to the village and rolled around. She was covered in dirt. She didn't dare to cry or scream. When she heard the footsteps approaching, she tightened her body and her heart beat loudly in her chest.
There were chaotic sounds on Zhuangzi Street. Some people stepped on broken tiles on the roof, some fell from the roof, and some shouted to arrest people. There were shouts, cries, laughter, and shouts.
I don’t know how long it took, but I gradually listened to these voices, and suddenly someone not far away whispered: "Qiao Niang?"
For a moment, the hair on her body stood on her head, and not long after, the voice whispered again: "Qiao Niang?"
Du Qiaoer looked up timidly and then breathed a sigh of relief.
That was the brother next door in the village, a few years older than her.
When they were young, they often played together, always riding a wooden horse and people called him General. But when he grew up, he learned carpentry from his father.
There was a drought the year before last, so he went to Ningwuguan to eat food.
Du Qiaoer's impression of him faded, and she only remembered that he loved to laugh.
Good things will smile, bad things will laugh, and when you smile, your eyes will look like crescent moons.
I heard from neighbors that before he left home to join the army, he waited for her outside the house for a day. Unfortunately, that day was the winter solstice. She and her parents went to Xizhou City to play drums and instruments at the Shensai Shrine. When they came back, her brother had already joined the army.
Du Qiaoer was very familiar with his mother. She was a kind old lady. Although she was poor, she was willing to help others. She had no other problem except that she liked to brag.
The old lady was always very proud when she distributed food to the widows and orphans on the farm.
She always said that her family's Saburo killed the Northern Tatars without permission, and the court wanted a reward, so she wanted to accumulate virtue so that her son could become a general.
Are the Northern Tatars so easy to kill? She always brags.
When the old lady passed away, Du Qiaoer cried and thought to herself that she always bragged.
If it wasn't bragging, how could the old man, the doctor on the village, say that she had starved to death?
The imperial court would not deny a silver reward to the hero who killed the Northern Tatars.
Before the Chinese New Year this year, her son came back, but the master of the village didn't want to see him, and he didn't want to see anyone else. He guarded the empty house, always had a straight face when he went out, and either went to sell wine or got drunk.
Du Qiaoer was afraid of drunk people from the bottom of her heart.
In particular, this man's left hand holding the wine flask only has two fingers.
Someone in the village said that he was trampled by the hoof of a horse. He followed the general soldiers into Juyong and King Guan Qin fought against the Eastern captives. They were all the best heroes in Shanxi.
But some people said that he was a deserter, saying that this matter had spread in Xizhou, and all the Shanxi soldiers who went to the capital to serve the king mutinied and were all deserters.
Said he must have lost his mind, otherwise where would the money come from to buy drinks all day long.
After all, the old people in the village watched him grow up, and even if they thought he was neglected, no one would complain.
Anyway... Anyway, even if you sue the government, the government will not reward you with any money.
Du Qiaoer stood up from the ditch and looked at her familiar yet unfamiliar childhood playmate. Under the moonlight, her playmate was covered in blood and holding a knife in her hand, so she did not dare to answer.
"Who is speaking!"
Someone came running after hearing the inquiry, and she heard the sound of a bowstring snapping. The eldest brother next door raised his knife to chop the arrow away, and then rushed into the alley with his knife.
After a few screams, he turned back and took out the knife. There was more blood on his body. He looked around and whispered: "Qiao Niang?"
Du Qiaoer was stunned. The old lady didn't brag.
Her son can really kill the Northern Tatars.
Du Qiaoer climbed up from the ditch and timidly called out: "Brother."
Sanlang was surprised at first that she was in the ditch next to him, then he was relieved and raised a smile, then looked around cautiously, and then said: "Follow me!"
They climbed over the wall and entered the old lady's house. The yard was full of dilapidation and empty wine jars were piled on the floor.
Sanlang put her into the well and said don't be afraid: "I know there will be thieves sooner or later. They dug a hole in the well. There is water and food. Don't make a sound. If I don't call you, don't come out."
Du Qiaoer held on to the well rope tightly for fear of falling: "What about you?"
"I'm fine, get down quickly."
The shaft of the well was spinning, the well rope was falling down one foot at a time, the moonlight above his head was getting farther and farther, and Du Qiaoer entered the bottomless well.
Not far down, the well rope stopped falling, and above the head came Saburo's hollow and echoing instructions: "Feel along the wall, be careful when climbing in."
Du Qiaoer groped on the wall of the well, and soon felt that some bricks had been torn off in the well, and there was a small hole that could hide people. In the hole were several leather water bladders from the frontier army and a few tightly wrapped bricks. .
Thinking of her elder brothers, sisters and little brother, she couldn't help but feel sad, which made her slowly move to the entrance of the cave, look up and look at the sky at the mouth of the well with her big eyes.
It was okay not to look at it, but it was even sadder to hear the intermittent screams and cries coming from outside the well.
I miss the things that I don’t have, I miss the old lady next door, I miss the relatives and friends attending the simple banquet, and I still miss the pipa left at home.
I wonder why the eldest brother next door wants to go out of the house.
Thinking about what he wanted to say to himself but didn't say it when he joined the army.
She opened a bag of bricks and tasted them. Well, they were not bricks, but fried noodle bricks, mixed with tears and just right salty.
She was frightened, scared, tired and sleepy that night, so Qiao Niang fell asleep holding a few bricks.
I don’t know how long I slept. In my dream, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people were wearing red and colorful clothes and carrying statues of gods through the streets. The elder brother played the suona and the elder sister beat the gongs and drums. Someone called her to play the pipa for the official.
Suddenly the voice changed, causing her to wake up suddenly. The neighbor Sanlang called from the well: "Qiao Niang, Qiao Niang, please climb up."
Looking up again, it was already bright outside the well.
The well rope turned much harder than at night. Qiao Niang tried to climb up, but she couldn't. In the end, she was dragged by the well rope to see the light of day again.
The village has become quiet, black ashes from the burning are drifting in the wind, and the air is filled with the lingering smell of burning.
There was another corpse in the yard. He was killed with a knife on his back. The neighbor Saburo was sitting by the well with his head bowed. The blood on his body was flowing to the ground. The blood stains had dried up and left several long marks in the yard, all the way to the house. .
"Brother, where are you injured?"
He raised his head, there was a broken arrow stuck in his collarbone, and his clothes were cut open on the chest. He pursed his pale lips and shook his head, stood up again with the knife on his waist, and shook his head before standing still.
He walked toward the house, and Du Qiaoer followed suit.
There was another corpse in the middle hall where the wine jars were piled. Saburo asked her to go into the house to change clothes. There were clothes he wore when he was a child. The old lady kept them well and washed them very clean.
When she walked out of the house again, Saburo, who was sitting on the wine jar, smiled, his crooked eyes seemed to be shining, and said, "It looks good."
There was a neat blue cloth package on the table, and Sanlang asked her to carry it on her back. Qiao Niang didn't know what was inside, but she only felt it was very heavy.
It was so heavy that she didn't want to carry it, but Sanlang didn't care and just walked out slowly.
The thieves in the village have left, and there are corpses all over the street. Some houses have been burned to ruins, and the fires in some houses have not been extinguished.
Passing by an open door, she saw the eldest sister lying naked on the table in the middle hall, her intestines and stomach ruptured.
Sanlang didn't let her look and forced her to go outside the village.
They walked toward the cemetery. Saburo walked slower and slower, and his clothes dripped blood on the ground again.
When we walked to the place where the villagers helped bury the old lady after her death, the burning smell in her nose disappeared, and the black ash in the air disappeared.
The wooden tombstone has long since disappeared, but there are several wine jars placed next to it, so it can still be recognized.
Sanlang knelt on the ground, holding the knife and did not stand up again. He had to sit down and wipe the knife with his clothes. He looked carefully at the waist knife with the words "Made by Ningwu Pass Official in the Sixth Year of the Apocalypse" written on the blade, and put it into the scabbard.
Then the waist knife and the unstringed bow were pushed over together. While he was digging with his hands on the grave, he said: "You put on the leather belt and put on the knife. This is a good bow, but you can't draw it or string it. You will see in the future, you will see that you can If you use it, sell it.”
Du Qiaoer's lips were murmuring, she had no strength all over her body, and her brain was eaten by monsters, so she couldn't say anything.
Saburo was still digging, and his hands were full of dirt. He dug out a gold bracelet and a silver ingot from the grave.
He turned his head and handed over the gold bracelet and silver ingot. Du Qiaoer instinctively stepped back, but she saw great sadness on his face: "Qiao Niang, I didn't become a deserter. I killed the Northern Tatars for the imperial court, and I also gave The imperial court killed the Donglu Tatars, and they robbed this. I, I will not lie to you."
Du Qiaoer's eyes were blurred and she couldn't see anything. She had tears in her eyes and nodded vigorously, each time: "Qiao Niang knows, Qiao Niang knows that I am not a deserter."
Gold bracelets and silver ingots were stuffed into her hands, and Saburo's hands moved away as soon as they were touched, as if they were burned by her, but she clearly felt that there was no warmth in the hands, so she should have been iced.
He ordered: "There is a change of clothes in the bag, some shoes are to be replaced if they are worn out, and there is also a reward card issued by King Qin. It is useless but... take it."
Sanlang's speech became slower and slower, but became more and more detailed: "Cut your hair short and tie it in a scarf. Don't say you are a woman when you go out. If someone robs you of money, just give him the bracelet. If you can't, you can also give silver ingots."
"There is also a tael of silver hidden in my change of clothes. It is the military pay for the first month of last year issued by the Ministry of War in the twelfth lunar month. I want to take it back to my mother, but I am late."
He couldn't sit still anymore, and slowly leaned against the grave. His face showed unprecedented weakness, and transparent tears slowly flowed from the corners of his eyes. He said, "Qiao Niang, I'm going to die."
Before Du Qiaoer could come forward to say anything, Sanlang covered his left hand with the broken finger with his right hand and begged quickly and urgently: "Go away quickly, I don't want you to see me die. Please go away quickly, I have to go to accompany my mother. "
Du Qiaoer didn't want to leave, so she stepped forward step by step, but at this moment, Sanlang suddenly got the strength from nowhere and quickly sat up, sitting very upright, which shocked her.
"Qiao Niang, I, you..." Sanlang laughed again, but in the end he still hesitated: "Live well."
