Mengjin Ferry is the largest dock on the Jin River closest to Luoyi. Business travelers from all over the country gather here, either crossing the river to go south or north; or taking boats to go in two different directions along the Jin River: east and west.
Although there are currently clouds of war in the Central Plains of the Holy Tang Dynasty, and a series of wars are about to break out between various forces, Mengjindu is still a bustling and noisy scene. No matter in prosperous times or troubled times, life will always go on, especially a rare transportation thoroughfare like Mengjin Ferry, which has the advantage of extending in all directions, will inevitably attract more people and wealth. However, in Mengjindu right now, in addition to businessmen who are buying and selling for a living, there are more refugees who are preparing to flee to Hebei to avoid the scourge of war.
Everyone knows that after the fall of the Imperial Capital, the Eastern Capital will be next.
Regardless of whether it is the Turkic ghost who kills without blinking an eye, or the Taifu Xie who is occupying Luoyi City, or the prince who is marching to Hebei and preparing for a counterattack, they will definitely have a fierce fight in Luoyi in the end. Leave early to avoid becoming a Unlucky pond fish.
Not far from Mengjindu Pier, there is a small town, which has always been the first choice for business travelers to rest. While waiting for the boat, people crowded in the town, eating, resting, and asking for news.
At dusk that day, on the main street of the ferry town, a beautiful woman wearing green clothes and a sword on her back suddenly appeared. Just by looking at the hurried look on her face, one could tell that she must be someone who was in a hurry to catch a boat. But unfortunately, the world is not peaceful at the moment, so Mengjindu Pier has changed the rules. The ferry can only be used during the day. As soon as it gets dark, the boat bosses all call it a day and go home.
Sure enough, the woman ran across the long street as fast as she could, heading straight to the ferry. After a while, she turned back angrily, obviously being rejected. When the beggars and beggars on the roadside saw this, they secretly laughed and surrounded her. They called her to be a good aunt and begged the woman to reward her with a few copper coins to buy steamed buns to eat.
The woman in green clothes was quite happy. She took out a few big coins from her waist bag and asked with a smile if there were any clean inns in this town and how to get there. The oldest old beggar took the money, thanked her a few times, and then recommended Yunlai Restaurant to the woman, saying that all high-end businessmen would usually stay there. It was a bit more expensive, but the conditions were the best. good.
The woman nodded with satisfaction and was about to leave, but inadvertently, she caught a glimpse of a beggar lying under the wall not far away from the corner of her eye. The woman was slightly stunned. It was obvious that she knew that person, but she also wondered if she had been dazzled by the wrong person, so she couldn't help but stare at it for a moment.
The old beggar standing next to him was mature. When he saw the woman paying attention to his companions, he smiled and said: "Auntie, that guy is very pitiful. I don't know what kind of trouble he has suffered. He is so stupid that he can't even beg for food." It’s difficult. On weekdays, it’s all thanks to the help of a few of us that we can survive. Otherwise, would you also pity him?”
The woman in Tsing Yi ignored him and looked carefully for a while. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she rushed to the side of the crazy beggar and tentatively called out in a soft voice: "Murong Xue?"
The beggar was not asleep at this time, but when he heard the woman's voice, he did not react. He turned over and continued to lie facing the wall.
At this time, the woman could definitely conclude that the filthy, smelly and dirty beggar in front of her was indeed the dignified Dong Gong Zhan Shi Murong Xue.
She showed a look of surprise and shouted softly: "Hey, Murong Xue, look who I am, don't you recognize me? Brother-in-law, look at me! Remember? I am Lian Ji."
After saying "brother-in-law", the beggar's body couldn't help but tremble slightly. He paused for a few moments, then slowly turned his head, narrowed his eyes and looked at the woman, and then hesitantly asked: "Xiao Lian?"
"Yes, it's me." Lian Ji seemed very happy: "I thought you really didn't remember me."
The miserable "crazy beggar" in front of him was indeed Murong Xue. However, at this time, he did not have the coolness of the young general and the leader of the East Palace. Instead, he was unkempt, ragged, and indescribably lonely and slovenly.
Lian Ji waved her hand to signal the beggars not to crowd around and watch the fun, then turned around and asked, "Brother-in-law, why have you become like this? What happened?"
At this question, Murong Xue couldn't help but trembled all over again, and then his eyes became empty and lifeless, as if he remembered something terrible. After a while, Murong Xue suddenly beat his chest and feet and cried loudly: "I... …My dear baby…”
The shrill cries caused the beggars who had already walked away to stop and look back, wondering what happened.
Lian Ji was also startled by his appearance and said quickly: "Hey, what are you doing? Why are you crying in mourning?"
"Yes! It's mourning!" Murong Xue shouted in pain with snot in her nose and tears in her eyes: "In order to save this damn life, I was greedy for life and afraid of death. I killed your sister and our children. I am worse than a beast. !”
Lian Ji was stunned for a moment, and then she seemed to understand something. She leaned over and whispered in Murong Xue's ear: "Don't cry, my sister is not dead!"
These words were like a bolt from the blue, shocking Murong Xue. She looked at Lian Ji in disbelief: "What did you say? What nonsense did you just say?"
"I'm not talking nonsense. My sister is still alive." Lian Ji looked around at the dimly lit street and her voice was still very low: "This is not the place to talk. Get up and follow me. Let's find a quiet place to talk slowly. .”
Murong Xue was greatly confused and got up from the ground unsteadily. Seeing this, Lian Ji turned around and walked in front. The two left the main road and turned into a remote alley not far away. They happened to see a tavern with a slightly deserted business. Lian Ji looked around cautiously again, then without saying a word, she pulled Murong Xue in and walked in.
As soon as she entered the store, Lian Ji took a table at the end and sat down. She ordered the store owner to prepare a fat chicken, several hot meat and vegetable dishes, and a jar of warm wine.
When the shopkeeper saw that the business was finally open, he didn't care about Murong Xue's smelly and dirty status as a beggar. He hurriedly ran into the kitchen to arrange the preparations. After a while, a table of wine and food was placed in front of the two of them.
Murong Xue had no intention of eating at this time, and asked irritably: "Xiao Lian, what on earth did you want to say just now? Can you tell me quickly, why do you say that your sister is still alive?"
Lian Ji tore off a chicken leg, put it on the plate in front of Murong Xue, and then said leisurely: "Look how thin you are. Eat it first, otherwise I won't say a word."
Murong Xue was stunned when she heard this. After confirming that she was not joking, she immediately grabbed the chicken leg without hesitation, tore it apart and bit it, and swallowed it completely in a few mouthfuls. While struggling to swallow the food in his mouth, he asked with difficulty: "Okay... you, please speak quickly!"
Lian Ji couldn't help but smile bitterly, and asked instead of answering: "Let me tell you first, why do you think my sister is dead?"
Murong Xue glared at her with dissatisfaction and said angrily: "The people from Nilinsi came to rescue me, but left your sister alone in the Taifu Mansion. After I escaped from death, I felt that I was unworthy of my wife and children, and that I was not worthy of myself as a human being, so I didn't I didn't rush to leave Luoyi, but hid in the dark to find out about your sister, hoping to rescue her. But not long after, I heard that Rui Gua'er died tragically in the melee that night... I Unable to accept the news, let alone believe it to be true, I took the risk to find the veteran soldier who was carrying the corpse, and then confirmed the truth about Rui Guaier's death. Did you know? I later went to the mass graves in Beishan, Luoyi, Her body was found..."
Lian Ji frowned: "Are you sure that corpse is my sister?"
"The body was so damaged that it is unrecognizable." Murong Xue was slightly hesitant: "However, I recognize all the clothes on her body."
Lian Ji showed a dumbfounded expression and sighed: "Oh, you are a real person, and you are worthy of the word infatuation. To tell you the truth, my sister is indeed not dead. We were still together a few days ago..."
Murong Xue jumped up from her seat: "Is what you said true? Didn't you make it up to comfort me?"
Lian Ji rolled her eyes at him angrily: "I have no contact or friendship with you, so why should I make up lies to comfort you? My sister is living well now, but she is still in Lao Jianhua's hands. You Can’t see her.”
"No, no, no!" Murong Xue was so excited that her whole body trembled. First she showed a nervous joy, and then said anxiously: "I'm going to rescue your sister!"
Lian Ji pulled him to sit down, first looked at the shopkeeper who was dozing not far away, and then said: "Why are you so confused? You can save a ghost alone! Let me ask you, Why did you end up in this situation and become a beggar? Didn't you successfully escape long ago? "
Murong Xue pretended to be Rui Ji now, and replied distractedly: "Oh, I thought that corpse was your sister, so I took it away from the mass grave and buried it somewhere else. Later, I remembered that I was in the grave. I stayed in front of me for a long time. I can’t figure out exactly how long it was. In short, I was in a daze. I don’t know when I left or where else I went. To be honest, I lost my core. My dear, I feel like there is no point in living anymore. I just wander around and die wherever I want. Anyway, the troubles in this world have nothing to do with me."
As he said that, he turned around and asked, "Did your sister suffer anything? Didn't you meet her a few days ago? Why didn't you save her?"
Lian Ji drank the wine in her glass: "It doesn't matter if I tell you. I made an agreement with Lao Jianhua. As long as I help him do a few things, it will be considered as repaying the kindness of the past. After that, everyone will go their separate ways. We don't owe each other. So from this point of view, my sister and I are not enemies in front of them, and there is no question of whether to save them or not. Besides... because we have different views on some things, our sisters just had a quarrel, so I just left Luoyi alone."
Murong Xue was confused when he heard this, but he also knew before that Rui Ji Lian Ji and Lao Jian Hua had indeed known each other for a long time, and the relationship between the three of them could not be explained clearly in one or two sentences. However, since Lian Ji said that his sister was fine for the time being, he felt a lot more at ease.
"Where are you going? Are you still doing something for Lao Jianhua?" Murong Xue couldn't help but ask.
Lian Ji smiled and shook her head: "The debt has been paid off, and I am free now. Next, I am going to Western Xinjiang."
"Xijiang?!" Murong Xue was a little surprised
"Yes, Ghost Desert in Western Xinjiang." Lian Ji smiled cheerfully: "The Turks captured Tongguan and completely cut off the road from east to west. So I can only cross the Jinhe River from here, transfer to Hejin, Jinzhou, and then from there The place crossed the Jin River again, entered Guanzhong, and headed west."
Murong Xue waved her hand: "I'm not asking you how to go to Western Xinjiang, but I'm curious about why you want to go. Isn't that the territory of the Turks?"
Lian Ji rolled her eyes at him with an angry look: "Brother-in-law is asking questions knowingly! I ran all the way to Western Xinjiang, of course, to find your good brother Li Jiangyao. You forgot, I said before that I would stay with him forever. "
