The old craftsman who told the story was an old man who was resident in the tea shop. He was close to sixty years old. He had a square face and a slender nose, and wore a feather fan and a turban.
He is an old man from the south of the city. Because he is old and has nothing to do, he spends his days in the teahouse telling stories.
Because of the chaos in the world, there were cholera in the north such as the barbarian Xiongnu and the Dayan in Xianbei, and in the south there were rebellions between the Qiang and Funan. Among them, the Xiongnu rebellion was particularly prevalent, and the people hated the tyranny of the Huns the most.
Storytellers often tell many stories using heroic figures such as those who fought against the Huns as an introduction.
Today we are talking about the story of Huo Qubing defeating the Xiongnu during the Han Dynasty. When Xiaoyu arrived, he had already been talking about it for a long time.
"In the sixth year of Yuanshuo, the young general became more and more proficient in martial arts, brave and decisive.
He was capable of riding horses, archery, stabbing, etc., and he was very powerful. He followed the general Wei Qing and made many military exploits. Emperor Wu saw his bravery and made him the captain of Piao Yao.
At that time, this person was only seventeen years old. Are you very strict? "
The people below applauded and said, "Awesome, awesome!!"
When the old gentleman said this, he picked up the tea bowl at hand, took a big sip, and continued:
"Huo Piaoyao studied military tactics carefully, used troops flexibly, paid attention to strategies, and was not limited to the forms in the book. In the subsequent battles, he skillfully used running attacks, surprise attacks, large detours, and large-scale interleaved operations. Within half a year, he followed the general Wei Qing , led eight hundred valiant cavalry deep into the desert, defeated the Huns cavalry, and worshiped the hussar general
In the army, he was awarded the title of Champion Hou.
That year, it was the Huns’ chief lord, Ji Ruohou, who was called a prodigal, and was wreaking havoc in the north..."
The old gentleman's story was very exciting, and the tea drinkers and wine drinkers below were cheering a lot. At the end of the meal, a waiter carrying a pinewood disc was walking around among these guests, asking for money and rewards. .
Generally speaking, the first few seats were occupied by rich and powerful people. Xiaoyu looked around and saw a little Taoist priest sitting at the end.
The robes with crowns and buns, and the green and purple shirts are much better than those worn by ordinary Taoist priests.
People say that monks are practicing Qingxiu. This man is dressed in rich robes and has no idea of Qingxiu at all. He also spent money to sit in the front seats while listening to the book.
The Taoist was twenty-seven or eighty years old, with a square face, thick eyebrows and broad nose. He was fair-skinned. Xiao Yu took a closer look and remembered who this person was.
This person was Zhang Ding, the leader of An Ning Guan who worked with Luo Congsheng at Liushu Tavern that day.
That day, Xiaoyu had some conflicts with Xu Jing. When he went to deliver tea, this person deliberately made things difficult for him. He asked for tea several times, and even winked at Xu Jing several times. He probably wanted to please Xu Jing, Xu Dingshan's daughter. .
Therefore, when Xiaoyu saw him today, he thought of this person and even had an impression in his mind.
Xiaoyu didn't know the name of this stinky Taoist priest, but he only saw that this man was generous in giving rewards, unlike ordinary poor Taoist priests.
What is he doing here? Xiao Yu secretly thought, what are these Taoist priests doing here if they are not staying at Huatan Temple? Could it be that Na Luo Congsheng was also nearby? Xiaoyu's mind was not on the storyteller at this time, but he looked around for a long time, looking for traces of Luo Congsheng, the master of An Ning Temple.
After watching for a while to no avail, I saw two young Taoist priests in Taoist robes rushing into the tea shop.
Two Taoist priests in their twenties whispered something into Zhang Ding's ears, and Zhang Ding hurriedly got up and followed the two Taoist priests out.
Xiao Yu leaned against the outer railing and watched with her own eyes the three Taoist priests hurriedly headed towards the northeast path.
Xiaoyu wants to find out the whereabouts of Luo Congchong, so he might as well follow these Taoist priests. Judging from their appearance, it seems that something has happened, and maybe he can find out something.
Scattered people were coming and going on the street, and there were many vendors shouting. Xiaoyu followed them quietly. They were in a hurry, but they didn't notice a commoner boy following them.
Let's say that they passed Yanwei Alley in the east of the city and arrived at the Yangzhou Gate Tower in the east of the city.
The gate tower here is the turret from the east city. Because Yangzhou is vast and it is a water town, with streams and rivers interspersed in the neighborhood, there are mostly civilian homes in the east of the city, so there are no fortifications and no city walls.
There is only one corner tower, which serves as a garrison. On the flank of the garrison is a huge gate tower. This gate serves as the dividing mark between the east city and the outside of the city.
The three smelly Taoist priests hurriedly left the gatehouse, took a small boat on a small river, and headed south quickly.
This place is already outside the city. Only occasionally can we see smoke rising from houses in the distant fields and countryside. It is noon and there are few people farming outside.
Xiaoyu put the three Taoist priests into the boat canopy and asked the boatman to hold the pole and go south along the river.
Xiaoyu used Qinggong and followed the path along the river.
Less than three miles away, I saw the three of them sneaking out of the boat.
Xiaoyu hurriedly hid behind an old tree in the forest by the roadside.
The three Taoist priests carried swords on their backs and walked on the forest path for several miles. Xiaoyu followed carefully.
After passing through a ridge, we arrived at a hill. There was a thatched house on the side of the hill. Next to the house was a small square dry field. There were many vegetables growing in the field. It looked like a farmer's house.
What are these smelly Taoist priests doing here? Judging from their serious faces, they had bad intentions, and they definitely weren't here to recruit new disciples.
Xiao Yu and others quickly walked from the small woods on one side, followed the path to the edge of the small thatched house where the smoke was curling up. Using Qinggong, they went to the back of the thatched house and hid under the eaves of the rear window on the side of the house. Listen to what they're here for.
But listen inside the house.
Among the noisy sounds of stir-fried rice, there was a faint sound of a young woman sobbing and crying, and two old people were sighing and mourning.
Suddenly, there was an urgent shouting and knocking on the door, which instantly interrupted all the sounds inside.
"Open the door, open the door, open the door quickly!!"
The voices of the three Taoist priests were urgent and impatient, and they shouted urgently, just like officers and soldiers arresting people.
inside the house.
“Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot...” After a short pause in crying, the young woman began to cry even harder.
"Hey. Old lady, please open the door. We can't afford to offend them." The old man in the room sighed and said.
Xiao Yu heard a "squeak" sound, the door opened, and three Taoist priests rushed in.
Xiao Yu quietly stood up and looked through the earthen window blocked by a lot of firewood.
The three Taoist priests rushed to an old square table in the room. The leading Taoist priest took out a kit from his arms and threw it on the table.
There was a slight tinkling sound, and it should be filled with silver. Judging from the size of the kit, there should be more than twenty taels in it.
"Old man, this is the deposit. In three days, my master will come to consecrate your daughter and pray for you, a poor family." Zhang Ding stared at the old man in the room and said arrogantly.
The old woman on one side filled the pot with the food and put it on the old wooden table. The old man bowed and looked down at the silver on the table. He frowned deeply and said with a bitter look on his face. He gritted his teeth and said: "We don't want your silver, nor your master's." Bliss!!”
