The sun has reached the roof, and the sky is starting to get warm.
The swarthy boy and his young master walked together with heavy steps as assigned by the middle-aged officer, and the two of them walked slowly towards Nancheng.
All living beings in the world, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, have believed in a saying since ancient times: "If you are rich or not, Zhuangzi faces south." Therefore, whether it is as big as a city or as small as a village, the south of the city is generally a good place with power and power. Naturally, you have to live in the direction of due south, and the doors and windows must be opened to the maximum. The fortune of Nanming Lihuo is the money that is in vain. You must keep it in your own arms as much as possible, otherwise you will be embarrassed to tell others that your family is rich. Even if you don't have enough money in your pocket, you have to tighten your rations and spend a lot of money, so you have to go south. Regardless of whether they are students or officials, even poor people who have received a few cents have sharpened their heads and gone to the south of the city. If they join this circle early, they will get rid of the muddy background of their fathers. As for the old families who live in the south of the city from aristocratic families, their backs are as stiff as cypresses. When they talk to others, they either turn their nostrils upward or shake their heads in disdain. Therefore, people living in the south of the city have always been rich but unruly and extremely difficult to get along with.
The young master has a dark face, with the word "unhappy" written all over his face, but this is a job assigned by his superiors, and he is also unlucky, so he is a mess at guessing, so he has no choice but to endure it. He lowered his head in frustration and continued to execute.
"Second child, why do you think we two are so unlucky that we got the lottery and were sent to that Nancheng that is hated by gods and ghosts? Ah? Tell me, why do you think this is..."
Looking at the angry young master, the dark-skinned boy who was called the second youngest was very obedient. He knew that shutting up at this moment was the best choice. He looked at his nose and his heart, pretending to be deaf and mute and trying not to touch the other person. of mold.
"It must be because God is unhappy with me and wants to punish me..."
The dark-skinned young man who was about to cry without tears now didn't know how to talk anymore. He continued to watch his nose and heart, and was mentally prepared to hear complaints all the way.
Suddenly, the young master paused and froze on the road. He turned around and glanced at the brand-new "Weizi Temple" behind him, then turned his head and looked around with a sly look.
The sound of his companions walking suddenly disappeared from his ears, and the dark boy's footsteps stopped. His body was slightly arched, and his hand was quietly pressing on the handle of the knife at his waist. He slowly turned back to look at the man a few steps behind him. Shaodong's family. When he saw the young master's house looking around, it didn't look like there was any sign of an enemy attack, then he breathed a sigh of relief, walked quickly to the young master's house, and asked with confusion on his face:
"What's wrong?"
The young master didn't reply immediately, but just took a few quick steps back and forth. The dark-skinned boy also looked around and asked repeatedly what was going on.
The young master paused for a while and then said quietly:
"Er Xiao, do you think there is anyone on the street who can see us?"
"Probably not. Master Zhongcheng issued a notice asking the people not to go out and run around, but to stay at home quietly to prevent thieves from entering the city and to save energy. We walked all the way from the barracks, but we didn't see a single person."
"I think so. Then let me ask you again, do you want to go to Nancheng to seek disgust?" The young master raised his eyebrows and continued.
"I definitely don't want to go. The last time Mr. Mi and the others were recruiting people in Nancheng, they almost had sex with those big dogs. As a result, not only were they punished by military law, but what was even more despicable was that they made those dogs disgusting and angry. Until today, Mi The boys still get itchy when they mention these big dogs in Nancheng."
Thinking of the cowardice that Mi Xiaozi and others suffered, the dark-skinned young man who usually looked simple and honest now turned red with angry eyes, filled with righteous indignation, gnashing his teeth, and looked like a horse gate god in the City God's Temple.
"Then do you want to eat this shit?"
The young master's family used the stick to kill snakes, so he came up with this sentence.
The excited dark-skinned boy was full of ill intentions after hearing the young host's psychedelic and seductive question, and most of his anger retreated in an instant. Although he usually behaves honestly, his mind is not stupid at all. After calming down, he recalled all the weird behaviors of the young master's family just now, and combined with the other party's character, he knew that this guy was definitely not holding back anything good.
"What do you want to do?"
"Tsk, tsk, don't be anxious, just listen to me and analyze it for you." The young master's eyebrows were full of excitement, and he continued to seduce his companion, thinking of ways to lure him into the trap.
"What are you analyzing? We are performing military duties, so don't mess around." The dark-skinned Wang Erxiao was as alert as a fox and refused to take advantage of him easily.
"You really can't get on the stage. I didn't say you were cheating. What I meant was that you don't want to go to Nancheng, and I don't want to go either. Plus, nine out of ten times you go there, you won't gain anything. It's a waste of time. Not to mention the pain, there is a 100% chance of not running away when someone looks down on you. Those dog-like things, their expressions are really annoying. I want to go up to them, throw off my arms and slap them seventy or eighty times. I can't recruit them. It doesn’t matter what the person is, the key is to be angry, which is really not worth it.” Speaking of the excitement, Shaodongjia has already moved his hands and feet with his teeth and claws, evolving into a man-eating little tiger. He continued to act while gnashing his teeth.
"I think we might as well not go, just hide in the Hall of the Sages behind the Weizi Temple, take a nap, survive the noon, then sneak out for a formality, and when we get back it will be the same as usual, just talking about those rich people. Without food and salt, we return empty-handed. We may receive a few words of reprimand from Captain Zheng, but it’s better than being criticized by those mindless cowards, don’t you think?”
After hearing what the young master said, the swarthy young man did not immediately agree or object. He unconsciously looked around, then at the Weizi Temple not far away. He weighed the pros and cons after thinking about it for a long time before replying softly and slowly for a long time:
"No, I'm afraid..."
"What are you afraid of? What about me? There is no one around here. God knows and the earth knows that you know and I know. There are no other eyes or ears. If you don't tell me and I don't tell, how can God tell me? Right?"
Seeing that the black boy was a little shaken, the young master's family struck while the iron was hot and tried to win over the other side. The two of them worked together to save some energy, rather than seeking bad luck.
"I think it's still not good. There are military orders from above. We are just doing foreign work like this. If there is someone on the street who is found out, he will be subject to military law. In addition, we go to sleep in the Weizi Temple. In the Sage Hall They are all immortals, and they all have their eyes open!"
The swarthy boy was obviously very honest in this regard, but after thinking about it carefully, he still felt that it was not appropriate.
"Hey, you..." The young master was a little annoyed with this stubborn companion.
"Actually, I'm not afraid of being punished by military law. I'm just afraid of being overheard by Nanshi..."
At first, the young master still looked down upon this coward companion beside him, with an attitude of being angry with him and ashamed of being associated with him. However, after hearing the word "Nanshi", he immediately narrowed his eyebrows and looked up at this man with a serious face. The dark-skinned boy, who was slightly taller than himself, raised his hand and patted the other person's shoulder for a long time, took a step back, bowed his head and bowed his hands, and said:
"I'm not as good as you."
The swarthy boy was stunned for a moment, his face flushed, and he quickly returned the gesture, but he was mumbling nonsense and didn't know how to respond.
The two teenagers looked at each other and smiled, looking somewhat embarrassed. The swarthy boy lowered his head unconsciously. The young master pretended to be calm and coughed twice, waved his hand and said:
"Listen to my orders and let's go!"
The dark-skinned young man quickly followed after receiving the order, and the two of them walked together again.
The early autumn sunshine shone on the two teenagers, making the dark and old armor they wore shine golden and majestic. Although the shadows behind them were very long, they were still far away from the tall and distant figures of the two teenagers. Not as good as.
The two of them walked like this, and the originally short road was completed in a short time.
When the two of them reached the first alley in Nancheng District, most of their generous momentum just now was gone. The alley is very wide, the road is very flat, the courtyard wall is very high, the door leaves are red, and at each gate there is a pair of stone lions, ferocious and terrifying, choosing people to eat.
There is an old saying: "A poor man looks at the hall, a rich man looks at the door, a rich family has nine cents of wealth, and even if you are not rich, you can control the house. A rich family has a big family, and a rich family has nine clans!" The households in this street are just proof that each family has its own unique style. Most of the gates are in the form of bird-head doors of different specifications. The gatehouse alone is as big as a country house. Most of the houses are Siheyuan, which basically adopts a central axis and a symmetrical layout. Some are long and narrow Siheyuan, some have two front and back courtyards, and some have multiple courtyards. The size of residential courtyards is completely in accordance with the regulations for officials and civilians at all levels in the "Tang Hui Yao - Miscellaneous Records" promulgated in the sixth year of Taihe. You can live in the courtyard as big as you want, whatever color you wear. If you only wear a green official robe, but live in a hall with five rooms and seven bays, and the gatehouses at the two ends of the hall have three rooms and two bays, then I'm sorry, but your family's butts will have to compete with the water and fire sticks on the yamen. Harder. So generally you can tell what grade the house is by looking at the foyer. The door should look at the cultural relics, and the door should look at the level. As for those ordinary people who have no rank but are extremely wealthy, although the hall cannot exceed three rooms and four bays, and the gatehouse cannot exceed one room and two bays, and they are not allowed to decorate at will, they cannot afford to have money in their arms, so They worked hard where the law fell short, trying to figure out how to appear rich. Some even wanted to replace all the brass nails on the door with pure gold.
The two teenagers looked at each other with troubled expressions on their faces. They looked at the rows of tall houses and felt in their hearts that the current situation was really not as good as letting them face the severed limbs of barbarian thieves. But the military orders are like mountains, and they follow the instructions. They are assigned to go through this sea of fire, and they have to grit their teeth and do it shamelessly.
Leaving aside the official residences, the two of them came to the first household. They were very standard wealthy people. They sat facing south. The eaves of the main door were about to fly, and the red lacquer door leaves were shining brightly. The yard looked quite big, with six roof tiles and glazed agarwood. There are several buildings before and after. It is true that the government does not allow the building of pavilions to prevent people from looking at other houses. Otherwise, they might really be able to build the house to the sky.
The young master nuzzled his lips at the dark-skinned boy, gesturing for him to knock on the door. The dark-skinned boy hesitated for a moment, stamped his feet cruelly, stepped forward, held the animal-faced ring on the door, and slapped the copper nail under the conch lion hard. The copper ring hit the rivet, making a harsh sound in this quiet alley. , suddenly became agitated, and the warriors went to the enemy's field.
After a while, a questioning voice came from the door, with a sharp voice and a mean tone.
"Who dares to knock on anyone's door like this?"
When the swarthy boy heard the question, he took two steps back, held the handle of the knife in his hand, and responded loudly:
"The Suiyang Garrison, following the military order from the superior department, conveys the recruitment military affairs. Please excuse me."
The person at the door heard that it was someone from the garrison headquarters, and there was no movement for a while. After a while, he answered:
"Wait..."
The swarthy boy looked back at the young master who was standing under the eaves of the door. The young master paused and then walked up to the swarthy young man. The two stood in a row, waiting for the answer from the person at the door. After a long time, footsteps were heard from the door. The two teenagers heard the movement, straightened their clothes, and held the handle of the knife in their left hand, with serious faces.
The door opened. The person who opened the door was a porter servant in his forties, wearing gray clothes and gray trousers, with narrow eyebrows. He looked at the two young sergeants with disdain on his face.
"Two military masters, my master invites you."
Although the words were polite, the tone was extremely arrogant.
The two young men endured their anger and ignored this powerful dog slave. They crossed the high threshold and walked straight into the inner courtyard.
The courtyard is indeed very good, with a main hall, wing rooms, a corridor in front of the house, a kitchen and stove room in the east, and a utility room in the west. The passage leading directly to the main hall is paved with green and black stone slabs. There are also rare flowers and trees planted on both sides. There is also a large rockery pool. There are brilliant lotus flowers in the pool. Under the emerald green lotus leaves, there are more than ten of them one foot long. The fat koi carps on the left and right are swimming freely. The courtyard is clean and tidy, and it looks like a place where you have been reading for a few days. With this formation alone, there is a main hall, a study, as well as grain, medicine, and wine. It can be imagined that the owner lives a very beautiful and comfortable life, and arranges the one-third-acre of land limited by the official family in a down-to-earth manner.
The two teenagers came to the doorstep of the main hall and stopped. The door was closed behind them and the concierge's servants who came in a hurry quickly caught up with them, got into the door, and went to reply to the master's house in the main hall.
When they were young, a short, fat man in his 40s or 50s dressed simply walked down the steps and came to the two teenagers. He bowed his hands and said in a respectful tone:
"You two officers have worked hard. I am the master of this family. I heard that you have received military orders to recruit troops?"
"Nao Nuo, under the military order from above, due to the tense war and rampant thieves, we are here to recruit capable people with lofty ideals to serve the country to fight against the barbarian thieves and serve the imperial court."
The young master returned a half salute and continued to ask:
"Is your family a strong man who can defend the country? Are you willing to raise your fist to protect our homeland together?"
After hearing the question, the short and fat head of the family sighed indignantly without hesitation:
"Thieves are abominable. As hot-blooded men, we can't wait to eat their flesh and drink their blood to repay the emperor's favor. Fortunately, God has eyes and bestowed two immortal officials, Xu Prefect and Zhang Zhongcheng, to defeat the enemy and kill the rebels until they are frightened and lost. We are grateful. Here, I wish I could come here personally every time I fight, hold my bow and shoot arrows, be with the general, and be burned with the thieves."
Having said this, the head of the family sighed again and shook his head:
"Hey, God always doesn't work out what I want. The children at home are still young, the old mother has been sick for a long time, the humble wife needs to be served every day, and the servants at home are stupid. I have long wanted to go into battle, but unfortunately I have been troubled recently. I'm so sick that I can't stop coughing blood..." After saying this, I couldn't help but bend down and cough twice. I happened to hold a silk handkerchief in my left hand, covered my mouth, and coughed violently several times. The concierge behind me hurried forward. After patting the master of the house on the back and coughing for a while, the master of the house stopped, waved his hand for the concierge to step back, slowly stood up, and in front of the two teenagers, opened the silk handkerchief, a snow-white handkerchief made of fine Shu brocade. On top of it, there were just two lumps of light red blood from coughing up.
The young master curled his lips and snorted, then quickly recovered, bowed his hands, and apologized. He didn't want to say another word, turned around and was about to walk out.
"Master Jun, stay..."
The two young men could only stop when they heard this. The young master turned around and asked reluctantly:
"Master, do you have any other advice?"
The short and fat head of the family took a step forward and apologized with regret:
"Master, don't be surprised. When the medicine is gone, I will come and surrender. If you dare to die in front of the army, I will be the first."
"The master's family rests in peace. We will protect the safety of the city. Don't worry about the rest of us. Say goodbye!"
The pudgy head of the family seemed unable to hear the sarcasm in the young master's words, and continued to say sincerely:
"Master, wait a moment. Although the Yu family wishes they could go to the front of the battle, they have a deep desire to kill the enemy and serve the country. They are also suffering from the lack of food at home, so they have to prepare some money to express their desire to serve the country and kill the enemy to comfort those in front of the battle. I am a brave and loyal man. I hope that the two military masters can do it for me. I must inform the two adults Zhang and Xu. I am very grateful for this."
After speaking, he waved his hand to the concierge, bent down and gave a big salute, and said thank you profusely. Before the concierge could bring the letter worth a thousand dollars to the two young men, the young host took a step back. He recalled the plump and colorful koi carps in the pool in the courtyard and replied coldly:
"Master, you are polite, but we still have military affairs, so I can't accept it for you. If you really want to sacrifice your life to serve the country, go to the city wall and fight. Even if you die, it is better than carrying the reputation of a cowardless person. Say goodbye!"
At that moment, the two people no longer cared about each other's face and quickly left the courtyard. When they walked down the steps, the young host turned back and looked at the gorgeous foyer and spat fiercely.
"Pooh......"
After walking a few steps, there was a sound of bolting on the door behind me. The door bolt was unfastened, and I heard the same spitting from behind the door, but it was louder than theirs.
"Pooh......"
There were dozens of households in the next few alleys, and as expected, they were all the same. The owners were either coughing and wheezing, or had incurable internal illnesses, or simply closed the door and refused to answer, as if they were dead. There was one who was quite innovative. He had a plaster on his leg, wrapped in a thick white cloth, and was leaning on crutches. The excuse was that he was preparing to go into battle in response to the imperial edict. When he was practicing chopping skills at home, he had a bad start. Before he could go into battle to kill the enemy, he fell down. First, he cut off a large piece of flesh from his calf, and the performance was filled with lamentation and unbearable indignation.
The two teenagers walked for more than an hour, knocked on more than a dozen doors, entered more than a dozen courtyards, and met more than a dozen looky-looking owners. They didn't even drink a sip of water, let alone recruit half a hair. People with high aspirations. Qiu Huhu also started to show off his power at this moment. They were wearing thick armor and it was very uncomfortable to cover up. The two of them found a shade under the tree, took off their swords, bows and helmets, sat on the ground and took a rest.
"These people are still so shameless. Oh my, I'm really convinced."
"We are pretty good this time. These people are more or less pretending to be shameless. They haven't reached the alleys where Mi Xiaozi and the others went last time. The people in those alleys are so shameless that there is no limit."
The swarthy boy looked at the somewhat decadent young master, spreading his legs to fan himself while comforting himself. The two of them just kept complaining. The autumn sun was equally fierce. The two teenagers had a slight sweat on their temples and their lips were dry. They took off the water bags from their waists and drank while looking at another row in the distance. The alleyway, that quiet alleyway is spacious and bright, the trees on both sides are tall and majestic, unmoved by the wind and rain, the gray courtyard walls are stable, and the deeper and deeper alleyway is like an evil beast with a huge mouth, waiting for them with scarlet eyes. The two fell into a trap.
