On their way north, the three old people with ghost faces happened to catch up with a group of people pulling boats. He Siniang had been wandering in the rivers and lakes for a short time, and she didn't have much experience. When she saw the blood marks on the backs of these people with thick cables, she couldn't help feeling pity and mouthed He expressed sympathy: "The currents in the river are extremely turbulent, but these men have to drag the boats forward. It is true that all the suffering in the world is in the rivers and lakes. If we don't go out to see more, we really think that the country is peaceful and the people are safe."
Luo Laoqi was eating a piece of sesame seed cake at the moment. Hearing this, he couldn't help but ask: "Why did Si Niang sigh like this? Didn't you also spend some time in Jinyuefu? Traveling in the world is not counted. short."
"Today Yuefu has been searching for medicine all day long, and there are always supervisors following me. There is no chance to stop and look at the many scenery. I haven't had a breath in half a year. If it weren't for the two of you, Qi Mansion came to the rescue, but I don’t know how long it will take to find him.”
The Taoist Priest with a grimace also asked at this time: "How does Si Niang's life in Baiximen compare with today's Yuefu? Isn't it much more comfortable?"
"I can't say that I'm comfortable, but I still have enough food and clothing. It's just that I'm inevitably teased by those dignitaries on weekdays." He Siniang thought for a while and then smiled: "But I can't tell who is teasing who."
The Taoist priest with a grimace and Luo Laoqi also laughed. The Taoist priest with a grimace said: "Based on Siniang's beauty, the poor Taoist must believe this, but Siniang must not have the heart of a Bodhisattva. The wealth in the world belongs to those who are on high seats in the clouds. Those of us who are struggling in the rivers and lakes can just pity ourselves, and..." The grim-faced Taoist priest said and looked at the long line of fiber farmers on the roadside behind him: "And it's not our turn to pity these fiber households. They earn much more than us. They will get involved in any water-related business in the three villages nearby. Even if someone digs a well, they can't escape their hands. Yes, that’s much more comfortable.”
He Siniang sighed helplessly after hearing this and said: "Either you always say that a woman has a good heart and understands the truth, but it makes her uncomfortable to see her."
"No matter how uncomfortable it is, it won't be uncomfortable if you touch your trouser pockets." Luo Laoqi interjected irritably. He Siniang turned her head and glared at him. She suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "These slim households are called Qing Longmen, I remember that there is a sect called the 'Qinglong Bazi' in the Yanling genealogy, is there any connection between the two?"
"That's them." The grim-faced Taoist priest replied: "The Qinglong Bazi are a sect derived from the Qinglongmen. The eight brothers of the Feng family who first started in the late Jin Dynasty specialize in pouring water. This is a unique skill. Other sects can't steal the business even if they want to. , some of the work in the water has to be done with a good face and ask for help, so it ranks eighth on the scale of the mausoleum."
"That's it. No wonder the names are so similar. It seems that if you want to enter the Shaling Tomb Book, you have to have some extraordinary means."
"That is to say, only the top ones in the Mushroom Gate will be written into the Tomb of the Tomb. After all, you can't survive in the Mushroom Gate without any means. Now I am really curious about what Heavenly Official Faqiu has, and he can actually do it." He has always been at the top of the Mushroom Gate in all dynasties.”
He Siniang heard this and said doubtfully: "Didn't the Taoist Master say that he was Faqiu Tianguan that day in Qi Mansion?"
"That's a lie to the old witch. The old witch didn't believe it, but you believe it." The grim-faced Taoist priest felt something was wrong after he said it, and continued: "But you can rest assured of the skills of this poor Taoist. Do you think wearing this Taoist robe is enough?" Are you refining elixirs in the mountains? And did you see Lao Qi behind him? He was the famous leader of Xieling back then. Where can you find such a configuration? "
"Lao Qi is actually the leader of Xiling?!" He Siniang said in surprise: "No wonder the martial arts skills are so high, and the whole body still smells like a bandit..."
"That's too much, Si Niang." Luo Laoqi said from behind: "It's okay to forget that after a few days of getting along with the Sa family, we don't know each other. Why do you open your mouth and call the Sa family bandits? Do you know that we are called Green Forest Heroes?"
"Okay, okay, you are a hero." He Siniang shook her head helplessly, and the three of them walked and chatted like this. Unknowingly, they had reached the Dangxiang boundary at sunset.
After entering Dangxiang, the three of them didn't stay too long and headed north to Qinzhou of Wei State. This time the three of them bought three fast horses on the road and arrived at Tianshui City in less than three days.
Qinzhou was called "Shanggui" in ancient times. It was the fiefdom of the Qin ancestors in the late Shang Dynasty. Because it was adjacent to Xirong, wars continued on this land. "Be in Xirong, protect the western border." The Qin people were fighting against the Rong people. It gradually grew stronger, and later entered the Pass and destroyed the princes, and then the first unified dynasty in China was established. Later, during the period of Emperor Wei Wen of the Three Kingdoms, due to the implementation of the three-level system of "state, county, and county", it was renamed "Qinzhou", which governed three counties and twelve counties. Because it was located in Guanwanhui, between Yongliang and Liangzhou, It is an important gateway to Sichuan and Shu, so it has suffered repeated wars since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. By the time the Shu Han Dynasty fell, half of Qinzhou's population had gone out of ten households. Later, under the unification of the Jin Dynasty, Qinzhou regained its vitality for a few decades, and then encountered the chaotic era of Wuhu chaos in China. Now that the Tuoba family is in power, Qinzhou has long lost the atmosphere of the Qin Dynasty. Like the Central Plains, the Han people have They were slaughtered under Huma's iron hoof.
The old acquaintance He Siniang is looking for, Meng Qingyao, lives in Tianshui County. The people here are strong and advocating force, so they are good at famous generals and talents, such as the flying general Li Guang, the strong prince Zhao Chongguo, and the Western Region Protector Duan Huizong. There is also the great general Jiang Wei, who was the backbone of the great country at that time. Although this man from the Mohist Guild was not as famous as the previous ones, his stubbornness was not bad at all. He was bullied by barbarians in every possible way, but Even though he was determined not to go south, he didn't know whether it was because he had a deep love for his hometown or simply couldn't let go of the gold pawn business.
The three of them changed their attire before entering the city. The Northern Dynasties advocated Buddhism, and it was definitely inappropriate for a Taoist priest with a grimace to wander around in a Taoist robe. He Siniang's face also needed to be covered, otherwise it would be easy for the barbarians to see her and become animalistic. We will wait and see. The three of them disguised themselves as fortune tellers from Jindianmen and entered Tianshui City. Then He Siniang led the way to Meng Qingyao's carpenter's shop.
There was something different in Tianshui City than what the Taoist Ghost Face thought. There were quite a few people wearing Han attire on the streets. It was not the panic scene as imagined. The Taoist Ghost Face guessed that it might be because this place is located on the border and not far from the border of the Three Kingdoms. The trend of respecting Hu and denouncing China brought by the powerful is not strong, and once there is a war, both the Hu and the Han have to go into battle. Now that they have been killed, what if there is a war?
Taoist Ghostface had heard some rumors before, saying that only a million Han people were killed in the Central Plains region. What he saw when he arrived in Tianshui today was unexpected. In fact, Taoist Ghostface also understood that the closer to the center of power, some The trend will become more serious, because no matter which ethnic group, it is difficult for the powerful class to see the suffering of the people, or even if they see it, they will turn a blind eye. On the contrary, like in some remote areas, any class will have some personal suffering, so it is easier to understand others.
Thinking of the grim-faced Taoist priest, He Siniang felt a little at ease. At this time, He Siniang had taken the two of them to a remote alley. She pointed to a shop on the street and said, "This is it." After saying that, he took the lead and entered the shop. There was no one there, so he called softly: "Qingyao, are you there?"
The grimace Taoist priest and Luo Laoqi followed into the shop and immediately saw the exquisite wooden pagoda on the counter. This was exactly the sales certificate they had seen at the carpenter shop in Wangjing Town. It seemed that there was quite a lot of business here. , the shop owner opened a carpentry shop on the surface, but in fact he sold items from Guermen, and he also ran a gold pawn business behind the scenes, and the true identity of the shopkeeper turned out to be a descendant of the Mushroom Sect Mohists Guild... Grimace Taoist Priest Shaking his head, he secretly thought that Meng Qingyao was quite capable of tossing. When he took a closer look at the exquisite wooden tower, he suddenly realized that it seemed different from the one in Dong'an Town. Although the workmanship was very fine, the one in Dong'an Town was five-storied. The Wild Goose Pagoda, and this one, roughly counted, has thirteen layers. The Taoist priest with a grimace said in surprise: "Is this thing also divided into levels?"
He Siniang looked back when she heard the sound and saw the grim-faced Taoist priest looking at the exquisite wooden pagoda. She said, "There is no hierarchy at all. It's just that the owner of this shop is a descendant of the Moh family. He is very competitive in his actions. Others To build five floors, he insists on having a few more floors than others, and I don’t know what he is fighting for.”
"Who is speaking ill of me outside?" At this time, the curtain of the back room was opened, and a man who was nearly thirty years old came out from behind. Taoist priest Luo Laoqi looked over and saw that the man was more than seven feet tall. He has a handsome and handsome face. He wears a coarse blue and gray robe, but he has a faint sense of chicness. There is no image of a rough carpenter in his body. Although Taoist Priest Luo and Luo Laoqi are both men, they can't bear to see this man. I exclaimed softly in my heart, "What a talented man!"
The man also saw everyone, but because He Siniang in the front put some black ash on her face to avoid people's attention, he didn't recognize it for a while. When he saw it clearly, his eyes lit up and he smiled: " Who I thought was speaking ill of me in broad daylight turned out to be He Siniang, who is not afraid of anything." After saying that, he glanced at the grim-faced Taoist priest and Luo Laoqi behind him. Seeing that the two of them looked unkind, the smile on his face instantly changed. Shen accidentally touched his lower back with his left hand and asked, "Are these two..."
He Siniang saw Meng Qingyao reaching for his weapon and said hurriedly: "These two are not the governors of Yuefu, but my companions this time. Qingyao should not be nervous."
"So that's it." Meng Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief. How could he not be nervous about his three-legged cat skill? The two inspectors who came last time had scared him so much. The two in front of him didn't look like good friends, so he got excited just now. I almost took out the work hammer attached to my waist.
The Taoist priest with a grimace laughed dryly when he saw this, stepped forward and bowed: "I am a poor Taoist, Chen Wuchang. This is Luo Laoqi. I have heard of Mr. Meng's name for a long time. Today's room is really heroic and extraordinary. What is said in the poem" Standing as tall as a mountain in the distance, and as majestic as a celestial lion descending to earth, this is simply how to describe Mr. Meng, and it really makes us feel ashamed."
Meng Qingyao was a little confused by the series of farts thrown at him by the grim-faced Taoist priest. After regaining his senses, he hurriedly bowed in return and said humbly: "I am just a rough worker. The Taoist priest has said it before. I think the two Taoist priests are talented. It's..." He looked at the faces of the grim-faced Taoist priest and Luo Laoqi, and couldn't think of any words of praise for a moment, so he could only say: "That's what the Taoist priest said..."
He Siniang couldn't stand it anymore and interjected: "Okay, we are all our own people. Don't talk too much. Qingyao, you know the purpose of my visit this time. Taoist Priest and Lao Qi are not outsiders either. Come on." Find a place to talk so we can discuss it in detail."
Meng Qingyao nodded, came to the door and closed the shop first, then pointed to the inner room and said: "This way, you three."
