(10)
After half a month's separation from Mrs. Li, the noble lady of Huaishuo Town, Bai Feng and his party finally found a good opportunity to negotiate with Tong's family face to face. At the same time, they did not forget to calculate with their fingers. As of today, there is only one month left before the marriage of Zhao Tong's family.
In other words, excluding the time spent on the way back to Yuyi Town, the four "envoys" of the Zhao family only had a dozen days left to solve the problem. Every time they mentioned this, they were anxious, but they couldn't rush in without permission.
Bai Feng thought about it all, and could only wait for the appointed time to come and rush to the flower field to accept the appointment.
The next day, it was still the moment when he met Tong Yao yesterday. Bai Feng led everyone to the "Colorful Flower Field" outside Woye Town upon invitation.
Even though the north wind is blowing and the chill is strong, the scene in the flower field still feels a bit unexpected. At that time, everyone wore long robes and thick clothes, but hundreds of acres of blooming tea tree flowers in the fields remained as before, growing quietly.
These flowers are as pure and flawless as if they have just grown. They are small, like balls, with different colors, short petals, and large cores. They bloom densely next to the leaves of the tea tree. This piece is white, that piece is pink, the other piece is bright yellow, and the next piece is slightly gloomy brown...
Although its name is "Colorful Flower Field", it actually has far more than seven colors of flowers.
The La Traviata are pruning the flowers and tree trunks before the cold winter comes. Everyone is working hard, and some people even have to bring their whole family with them to complete the work of cultivating their own land.
Woye Town was originally located in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. The city was built adjacent to the Yellow River. It had no shortage of water and was in a remote location. It was not a place of the Fourth World War, so it had many opportunities to live quietly.
The beautiful tea tree flower field in front of you is the best evidence.
As Bai Feng and others walked along, they saw not only tea farmers, but also many officers and soldiers responsible for protecting the tea fields patrolling everywhere.
A large-scale war was avoided, but it did not mean that there was no bandit Green Forest coveting this place. Incidents of stealing tea trees and tea leaves are common, which makes the people of Woye Town under the governance of the Tong family have to take it seriously. For this reason, at certain times, you will always see a large group of people stationed here to protect the tea farmers.
Suddenly, a soldier jogged over, blocked their way, and asked, "Excuse me, are you Bai Feng, Mr. Bai?"
The visitors were just immersed in the fragrance of tea and flowers, and did not pay much attention to the strange phenomena around them. Finally, only Bai Feng, whose name was called, stood up. He bowed to the soldier and said, "Brother, you What do you want from me?"
"General Tong has been waiting for a long time. All heroes, please follow me."
Bai Feng nodded in agreement, then turned around and scolded the three friends behind him who were still picking flowers and leaves to enjoy, asking them to follow quickly.
The young swordsman was distracted for a moment, but Murong Yan wove the flowers and leaves she picked into a wreath and put it on her head. She playfully showed off to others, "Look, how much can I sell for my craft?"
"Sister Murong, make one for me too, it's so pretty!" Zi Chai didn't answer the question, but her reaction was the most enthusiastic.
Su Qing, on the other hand, sneered and said, "Look how much money I just gave those tea girls, your craftsmanship is worth." The implication was that Murong Yan's craftsmanship was worthless. However, the Xianbei witch didn't take it seriously and continued to make a garland for Zichai and put it on herself.
Unexpectedly, Bai Feng later interrupted such a warm and relaxing moment with a slightly complaining voice: "Yan'er, hurry up and catch up!"
Murong Yan immediately changed her expression rudely, frowned, and replied: "You and Mr. Su can just go to this kind of thing. Our girl's family won't understand it anyway. I have been sitting in front of that Apollo for so many days. I can't move, I can't stay any longer..."
Bai Feng felt guilty towards Murong Yan at this moment, so she chose to accommodate and compromise, and greeted Su Qing: "Brother Su, can we let the two girls relax freely in this flower field for a while?"
"Of course I listen to the Saint!" Su Qing habitually twirled his beard with his index finger and smiled evilly. Passing by Bai Feng, seeing the young swordsman stopped, he asked again: "Let's go, stand where you are. What to do? We don’t have much time left.”
"Haha, I just didn't expect that Su Qing, who was desperately trying to capture Murong Yan, would now become so 'well-behaved' in front of her?" After Bai Feng ridiculed, he followed the soldier and met with Su Qing. Tong Yao.
Tong Yao was currently sitting in the pavilion making tea and passing the time. The delicate manner in which he played with the tea sets was completely different from his usual fierce and irritable appearance.
People can tell from his bloated face and vain eyes that he is extremely alcoholic, but they often cannot know the other side of his life.
When he saw Bai Feng arriving, he just thought it was an ordinary spy. After casually looking at the young swordsman, he turned back to focus on playing with the tea set.
"Mr. Bai, are you here? I didn't expect that you really have the courage to come!" Tong Yao has a body like a tiger and a wolf, but he said these words calmly and with dignity.
"I wonder why General Tong said this?"
"Not long ago, I received a wanted order for you. You are a strange person that our great national advisor Sima Tu has ordered to hunt down!"
After saying that, Bai Feng suddenly became energetic, holding the scabbard tightly in his left hand, and said with a slight timidity in his words: "It seems that General Tong is going to arrest me?"
"'Xianbei Witch', 'Longming Sword'? Huh, they are all legendary things with strange power and chaos." Tong Yao sipped the tea gently and said seriously: "I don't believe the nonsense of that old man. After all, In his eyes, all of us in Beizhen are rebels. In other words, Mr. Bai, you and I are the same kind of people."
Hearing this, Su Qinggang on the side took a long breath and said with emotion: "I thought there was going to be another fight later, but I haven't recovered from yesterday's anger!"
"Hahaha, I must be the one who snatched my jade pendant yesterday. I recognize your figure." Only then did Tong Yao wave to the guests to take their seats, and then asked: "Where did the girl go yesterday?"
Bai Feng said: "She is in the flower field, maybe she is having fun now?"
"Oh, really?" Tong Yao stood up immediately, leaned on the railing to watch, and replied: "Mr. Bai, can you ask her to come over? I want to hear more people's thoughts on what I want to talk about next. Especially that girl, she got Xia Mei’s silver hairpin! There must be something special about her.”
"As ordered." Bai Feng said and immediately left the table to bring Murong Yan and Zichai back. Although both girls looked unhappy, they still saluted Tong Yao one by one.
Seeing that everything was ready, Tong Yao immediately called for the servants and dispersed the guards around the pavilion, leaving only two close followers. I saw him taking a big sip of tea, then stood up, and began to talk: "You must know something about my private military pay, right?"
"I just heard a little bit about it." Bai Feng said, "I wonder what the inside story is?"
"As the son of Tong's eldest son, I, Tong Yao, took over the military power early. I have been fighting all day long. I have only known how to charge into battle and kill enemies for the country, my family, and the people. However, I never expected that I would be defeated in the end. In the hands of my own family!”
"At that time, I naively thought that these years of war were really for the country and the people. In fact, these were all the tricks between the generals of Beizhen. They kept throwing away their bets like gamblers. Soldiers sent to the front line are not only poorly paid, but also involved in meaningless disputes."
"They win over the four fields, they fight for all directions, and they get a lot, but they never think of giving it to the soldiers and the common people! My father and my second mother, they all know it, but they would rather see me He spends a lot of time and money, squandering thousands of taels of gold, and he doesn’t want to see me help the poor even a penny!"
After hearing this, Bai Feng immediately realized three points and responded to Tong Yao: "In other words, the reason why General Tong privately distributed food and pensions was because he couldn't understand what your father was doing? And he usually pretended to be crazy and stupid just to deceive. Living with your own family?"
"No, it's not just that!" Tong Yao angrily hammered the pillars supporting the pavilion and continued: "Day and night, I have been thinking about it - why do I, Tong Yao, fight? Countless times I have killed other people's husbands with my own hands. , father, and son were sent to the battlefield, but all they brought back were bones... I dare not tell the brave and loyal soldiers under me, and even I don't know what these hundreds of battles, large and small, are for! "
"I want to do my best to help the families of those dead soldiers. I saw that they had no money to repair their damaged houses. Their wives and daughters were forced to sell themselves to survive. Their sons were just taller than sacks. To be a strong man. So, I started giving them money like crazy, going to Jilelou to buy their wives and daughters, and carrying the lightest load for their sons..."
Tong Yao finally burst into tears when he said this. His compassion for heaven and earth infected everyone present, and the two soldiers who had been with him in many adversities also had tears in their eyes.
Tea was still being brewed in the pavilion, and the steam was rising. The business of boiling tea once drowned out the voices of people, and they were silent for a long time.
Seeing that Tong Yao was crying so much, Zi Chai suddenly asked with concern: "General Tong, you don't have to blame yourself like this. Look at those tea farmers, how happy they are with their smiles! They must be very grateful to you for protecting them."
Tong Yao wiped his eyes and saw the tea farmers who were still working. They felt sincerely relieved that they could still live peacefully, with bright smiles on their faces.
At the same time, he also saw the silver hairpin on Murong Yan's head, and couldn't help but sigh: "Originally, I wanted to tell sister Xia these words, but she was afraid that I would be criticized by my father and second mother, so she kept avoiding me. Miss Murong, you Think, what else can I do?”
"General Tong, Sister Zichai is right. Can you see their smiles?" Murong Yan replied: "Anyway, I am very willing to see them."
"Yan'er?" Bai Feng replied to Tong Yao: "General Tong, please forgive me for being stupid. There really is no good way to deal with such important matters of family and country."
"Yes, we are just a bunch of rough guys. How can we do something like this that determines the life and death of all people..." Su Qing then sneered: "General Tong, I'm afraid you have found the wrong person to ask for help."
"No, we do!" Murong Yan scolded Su Qing: "As far as I know, General Tong's father and second brother are still in Yuyi Town, right? In other words, you are the only one with the longest seniority in the family? "
"Yes, on weekdays it is Er Niang who takes care of the abbot's family affairs and assists in government affairs. I have to listen to her words."
"Then things will be easier to handle. Now, we only need to gain your second mother's trust so that you can regain control of military and political affairs during this period."
Tong Yao's eyes were dazzled after hearing this, and he felt that this matter was almost unbelievable, because his second mother had always hoped that his biological son Tong Yi would take Tong Yao's place, but this matter was a family matter and it was not convenient to make it public, so he just ignored it. He replied: "This matter is simply fantastic!"
After finishing speaking, Tong Yao hesitated for a moment and left the flower field. Everyone present felt that he was desperate for his future and fled helplessly. Only Murong Yan said with a smile: "He must have gone home to greet his second mother now!"
