Fu Xiao Inn.
Gu Zhengchen opened the door and walked into the room.
Xiao Cheng followed in. After checking the doors, windows and bed, he said to Gu Zhengchen: "The doors and windows haven't been taken care of for a long time and have accumulated dust. The bedding is a little damp. I guess it's because this place is close to the sea."
Gu Zhengchen sat down, picked up the teapot, opened the lid, looked at the tea stains inside, and shook his head: "It seems that the innkeeper is not careful."
Xiao Cheng put the package he was carrying on the table and said, "The shopkeeper is a little lame when walking and has bruises on his face. He must have been injured not long ago. This inn has a big sign and many rooms, but there is only one waiter. , it’s really weird.”
Gu Zhengchen walked to the window, opened it and looked at the street. There were many shops on the east-west long street, but they were all closed. The Fu Inn was still open.
Something is very wrong.
For any city, even on the front lines, as long as the city gates are closed, how lively the city will be. As long as there is no curfew and the streets are not cleaned, how will the shops operate and how the people will go shopping? Tube. For example, in Jinling City, every night, both sides of the Qinhuai River are bustling with activity, shops are busy, and boats are coming and going, swaying.
Lao Zhu built restaurants and red buildings not only to develop the "night economy", but Hui'an County is strangely deserted. Although there is no curfew, the result is almost the same as the curfew.
"It's supposed to be the time when the lanterns come on and the place is lively and lively, but here it is actually lonely and lifeless. Both the people and the merchants seem to be afraid of something."
Gu Zhengchen held on to the window and leaned half of his body out to watch.
Xiao Cheng turned around, stared at the door, and whispered: "Someone is coming."
Gu Zhengchen turned around and said, "It should be the waiter who delivers the food, so don't be nervous."
really.
After getting permission, the waiter pushed the door open and came in. On the tray were four small dishes and a small bottle of wine.
"Man, why do the shops here close so early?"
Gu Zhengchen walked to the table and asked the waiter serving dishes.
The waiter shook his head and said quickly: "There is no one here. I locked you up early. Please use it slowly, sir."
Gu Zhengchen frowned: "Is this really true?"
The waiter looked up at Gu Zhengchen, saw the open window out of the corner of his eye, and panicked. He dropped the tray in his hand and ran over. He closed the window, listened to the noise outside, breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Gu Zhengchen , Xiao Cheng said: "The windows are not allowed to be opened at night here. Didn't the shopkeeper remind you?"
"Why can't you open the window?"
Xiao Cheng took a step forward.
The waiter's face was a little pale, and he hurriedly came over and picked up the tray: "Don't open the window. No matter what noise you hear, don't open the window. No one is allowed to peek during the night roar on the street, otherwise they will be arrested."
Gu Zhengchen frowned: "What is Ye Xiao Treading on the Street?"
The guy didn't say anything and left, some of them running away in despair.
Gu Zhengchen sat down, looked at the simple meal, asked Xiao Cheng to sit down, and asked: "You are Longxiang Guard Qianhu Xiao Cheng, do you still have your waist badge?"
Xiao Cheng had a bad premonition: "I'm taking it with me, what do you want to do?"
Gu Zhengchen shook his head and picked up the chopsticks: "Nothing, let's eat."
Xiao Cheng always felt that Gu Zhengchen was looking at him with some conspiracy, and the meal was not going smoothly.
Boom!
A dull drumbeat came from a distance, followed immediately by dense drumbeats, like thunder that continued to sound.
Gu Zhengchen stood up and walked to the window, raised his hand and pushed the window open.
Everywhere he looked, whether it was shops or houses, the lights were turned off.
Half of the gibbous moon hung in the sky, and the bright moonlight fell with the breeze.
"There's someone there."
Xiao Cheng pointed to the east street entrance.
Gu Zhengchen looked around and saw a group of people appearing at the street entrance in the distance. They all looked fierce, holding long knives in their hands, and their clothes were in tatters.
There were roughly thirty people.
The sound of this group of people walking seemed to be the sound of wood hitting the bluestone road. The footsteps were very neat and loud, and they were the sound of deliberately stepping on them.
As the crowd got closer, Gu Zhengchen saw that these people were wearing wooden clogs.
Clogs are not a symbol of the Japanese. They are a Chinese invention. They are a kind of Hanfu footwear and the oldest footwear.
According to historical records, after Yao, Shun and Yu, people began to wear wooden clogs.
In the Han Dynasty, when a woman got married, she had to wear wooden clogs with colorful laces wrapped around them.
Du Mu's poem says: "The teeth of a servant and a foot are the same but the way is different." The teeth here are not teeth, but clogs.
Common people and soldiers sometimes wear clogs to prevent their feet from being scratched by thorny plants.
The sound of clogs hitting the bluestone is very clear, especially in this silent city and silent night.
"We are black-faced pirates. Have you prepared your belongings?"
The leading man tore open his clothes, revealing his hairy chest, raised his long knife high, and shouted sternly.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Xiao Cheng: "The black-faced pirate, do you know who he is?"
Xiao Cheng's eyes were cold: "I have an impression. I heard that there are black-faced pirates off the coast of Guangdong, and their leader is named Zhong Kouqin. However, this is Quanzhou, or in the city. How did this group of pirates enter the city? The county government Where are the yamen servants?"
Gu Zhengchen took out a copper coin, flipped it in his fingers, looked at a group of pirates on the street, and said slowly: "Pirates?"
"Boys, let's start the robbery!"
The leader screamed, then looked like he was crazy, and rushed into the nearby shop.
The thin wooden board could not stop this group of violent people, and screams and pleas came out. Not long after, a young woman was dragged out. No matter how much the woman begged, it was to no avail. A man ran out of the shop. He knelt down to beg, but was kicked back.
This group of people seemed to have a very purposeful purpose. After passing through several shops, they found one and ordered people to rush in.
The shop seemed to have blocked the door with something, but it still had no effect. The door and the table behind the door were knocked open when three big men hit them at the same time.
This time, the pirates brought out two women, a woman and a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old.
Gu Zhengchen looked at this scene and stared slightly.
Xiao Cheng grabbed the edge of the window, his hand unconsciously exerting force. The wooden window seemed unable to withstand the force and made a slight clicking sound.
"Don't you care?"
Xiao Cheng stared at the pirates and the desperate woman, and asked in a deep voice.
Gu Zhengchen held a copper coin in his hand and said solemnly, "Don't you think something is fishy?"
"What?"
Xiao Cheng withdrew his gaze and looked at Gu Zhengchen.
Gu Zhengchen pointed to other closed shops and houses on the street, and said in a deep voice: "When we came here, although the people in Hui'an City were walking in a hurry, no one shouted that the pirates were coming, and no one panicked enough to run for their lives. . After we entered the city, the city gate was closed. However, the people here seemed to know what was about to happen. They closed their shops one by one. When they heard the drums, they knew to put out the lights instead of opening the windows to see what was going on. Just hide."
"Obviously, this is not the first time that the people here have encountered this kind of thing. You should still remember the Yexiao Street. If my guess is correct, this is the Yexiao Street in Hui'an County. You heard it, people here They were howling in the night, and their clogs broke the tranquility of the street. It’s just..."
Xiao Cheng said with a cold face: "Just what?"
Gu Zhengchen knocked on the window with copper coins, squinted his eyes and said, "It's just that these people are lawless. Why are they doing this? How can such a shocking thing be covered up and the court still knows nothing about it? At this moment , what are the magistrates, county magistrates, chief registrars, historians, and government servants of the county government doing?"
Xiao Cheng heard the woman's screams and couldn't hold back the strength in his hands. He broke the wood on the window with a click: "You are the prefect of Quanzhou Prefecture, you can't just sit back and do nothing, right?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Xiao Cheng and said softly: "Unexpectedly, you still have some true temperament. This is not like the style of guarding Qianhu."
Xiao Cheng sneered, grabbed Gu Zhengchen's lapel, and stared with red eyes: "Do you know why I follow King Kaiping wholeheartedly? Because he dared to kill all the enemies who killed his brothers, and he dared to kill all the enemies who had harmed the local people. All the enemies of the people were buried alive, and he dared to send all the enemies who killed children and raped women to hell!"
"The world only knows that King Kaiping likes to massacre and surrender, but who has thought about the reason behind King Kaiping's massacre? I am a rough man. I don't have as many twists and turns as civil servants, and I don't care about the overall situation. I only know that I should kill people. When the time comes, kill them all, and kill them all! Now, give me the order to take action, and let me kill them all!"
Gu Zhengchen looked at the angry Xiao Cheng, raised his hand and grabbed Xiao Cheng's hand, and said seriously: "Now is not the time. Besides, you are very disrespectful to me like this."
Xiao Cheng looked at Gu Zhengchen's cold gaze and trembled all over. He let go of his hand and took two steps back. He took a deep breath and bowed his head in salute: "Sorry, I'm rude."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Xiao Cheng expressionlessly and raised his hand to straighten his clothes: "I won't do this next time. Otherwise, you will leave Quanzhou and return to Jinling."
Although he admired Xiao Cheng as a bloody man, Gu Zhengchen still did not allow Xiao Cheng to lose control or even threaten himself. No matter who he was in the past or who he followed, his identity now is that of his own bodyguard, and he must obey his orders completely. This is what he must do.
Gu Zhengchen leaned out of the window and looked at the street, and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
On the street, a group of pirates were looking up at me with astonished expressions. They seemed to be thinking: Where did these two hundred and fifty come from? With the windows open and the lights on, wasn't this looking for death?
Seeing that he was discovered, Gu Zhengchen simply shouted: "I'm curious, how will you clean up the mess if you do this?"
The leader of the pirates grinned: "Good boy, there is someone who is not afraid of death. Come here, catch him..."
Boom!
Boom!
The sound of drums came from the west.
The horse's hooves were clattering, trampling on the bluestone road. On top of the horse was a handsome young man wearing a brocade robe and a red cloak. He held a long gun in his hand, reined in the horse, and shouted quite passionately. He shouted: "The pirates dare to attack our country, Hui'an. How can we tolerate you? Let these women go, throw down their money and surrender, and spare your life. If you dare to resist, I will let you go to hell!"
