On this moonlit night by the seaside, when a dozen skinny but nimble young women were walking quickly on the official road outside the city gate, there was a woman running in the opposite direction to them.
The woman's name was Liu'er, and she originally made a living as a private concubine in this generation. Because of her beauty, the officials in charge of money, grain, taxes and money in the area took a liking to her, so they built a small yard near the customs and raised her in it.
Liu'er knew how to coax men, and the official was not stingy. He was happy to be served, and threw the beautiful little ingot on the pillow mat.
Liu'er went to the cheapest shop in the city, bought a bunch of rouge, returned to the slum area at the port, and gave it to her sisters who were familiar with her in the past.
If those sallow faces are painted with a layer of red rouge, they will not look so unlucky. They can often make the owner of the face stand out when visiting customers, and they will have enough food for three days.
Therefore, every time Liu'er came to donate Rouge, she would be admired by the women in the shack like stars in the sky.
Liu'er enjoyed this feeling.
This made her seem to have jumped out of the quagmire of her humble past and become on an equal footing with the young ladies from wealthy families in the city who were serving porridge during the twelfth lunar month.
However, yesterday, Liu'er was deflated.
As soon as she took out the rouge from the armhole made of mouse fur, her former friend pushed the gift back to her.
"Liu'er, I'm going to the west to join the army. Give such a good Rouge to other sisters."
The partner spoke frankly and sincerely, but after Liu Er learned more about the whole story, she suddenly felt that the excitement and anticipation on the other person's face was clearly more like a proud show off.
"You guys, don't be deceived by others." Liu'er felt very unhappy, but her words were full of concern.
"Sister Liu'er, what you said is right. Look at my old sister, how can I recruit someone at this age? I heard from Li Huaihua that we are here to tinker with firearms. If we are accurate, we will be rewarded with silver. Sister, firearms , guns, cannons, have you heard of them? There seems to be one on the side wall of Laolongtou in Shanhai Town..."
The more Liu Er listened, the more her chest felt congested.
She couldn't explain what was going on. She had obviously become a canary with no worries about food and drink. Could it be that she was jealous of a few sparrows who went to the battlefield to die?
Liu'er said goodbye from this shack and wandered around the port with a sullen face for a while. Most of the rouge she brought was given away, in exchange for flattering gratitude, but she also saw Li Huaihua and Liu Ping'er. In fact, she had no friendship with the sisters-in-law. She only remembered that when she visited the poor in a shack near them, Li Huaihua watched from a distance and did not come to ask for rouge and gouache.
Liu'er no longer hesitated. After she left the port, she went directly to the official who supported her.
…
Cheng Xin, carrying his sleeves on his back, hurriedly walked in the moonlight.
Liu Er pushed him up and asked in a surprised tone: "Officer, why, why don't you ask the superior officers to take the person together?"
Cheng Xin stopped suddenly and said coldly: "Are you the one who gets the salary from the imperial court and receives the imperial errands, or me? You are a bitch, but you still boss me around?"
Liu'er kept silent.
I felt aggrieved and confused.
What happened to this benefactor?
Since I started following him, I have heard a lot about "beauties" and "sweethearts", and this is the first time that I have been called a "bitch" by him.
Reporting the news to him by himself was obviously a meritorious move that would help him ask for his future from the superior officers in the army. The benefactor said that he was a general manager in Dengzhou a few years ago. In Dengliao, he was in charge of the taxes and money of ships. He wore a military attaché robe and had a tiger or a tiger embroidered on the chest patch. Anyway, it was similar to the emperor's dragon robe. , there is a majestic beast on top.
It turns out that he escaped during a firefight with a smuggling ship from the south, and the court almost tried to convict him. Fortunately, his father-in-law was the richest man in Dengzhou, so he paid a large price to keep him safe. He was sent to the Shanhaiguan Bingbei Road and given to another place. The court and officials collected money from buyers and sellers.
Liu'er roughly knew that there were not only camp and garrison soldiers in Shanhaiguan, but also sailors. The money made from flowers, silk, and silver had become a considerable amount of income in recent years. No matter what kind of robe they wore, the gentlemen would definitely keep a close eye on them.
If you go back and intercept those kiln sisters who are about to run away, your benefactor will definitely be rewarded by the army.
However, the current situation was somewhat beyond Liu'er's expectations.
What's wrong with my benefactor, he seems to be going to the meeting alone. I had clearly reported to him that although the person who came to deceive Li Huaihua and the others was a woman, it was said that she was also leading troops for the imperial court and had servants to protect her.
Liu'er was fuming as she followed Cheng Xin to the city gate where the torch was lit.
There are several city defenses in Shanhaiguan. The one facing Ningjin in western Liaoning is strictly guarded. However, this place faces Beijing, Tianjin and Jizhou, and is connected to the official road for merchants. Unlike the capital, the curfew is very early. At the turn of Xuhai Then the city gate will be closed.
"Look, officer, they have gathered together." Liu'er pointed to the figure under the big elm tree in front and said to Cheng Xin.
Suddenly he became excited: "That slender one is called Li Huaihua. Hey, the team of people she met should be the female Qiu Ba who came out of the city to take them away."
Cheng Xin narrowed his eyes and told Liu'er with a bit of sternness: "You stay here and are not allowed to come over."
"Oh, yes." Liu'er responded obediently.
Cheng Xin put up his sleeves and walked towards the city gate, his steps somewhat leisurely.
He lost his military position and now wore the robe of a tax collector. In places like Chaoguan of the Ming Dynasty, it was more majestic than the military flag of the camp general.
When he appeared in the dazzling place of the torch, people recognized him immediately, and the voices of "Give me a gift for Mr. Cheng" kept coming and going.
Cheng Xin waved his hand, walked up to the guard who was inspecting the marriage, stared at the young master with a humble expression, then looked at the strong men behind him, and asked with an air of air: "A escort?"
Chang Zhongxin leaned over and saluted: "Yes, sir."
"Where did it come from?"
"Xuan Da."
"There are a lot of carriages and horses, but the people being held captive are still the goods?"
"Sir, it's goods, ginseng, seafood and leather. The owner paid all the taxes."
Cheng Xin said "Huh" and stopped paying attention to him. Instead, he walked straight to the largest carriage.
Sure enough, the strong man who looked like the leader stopped in front of Cheng Xin.
Cheng Xin lowered his gaze and saw clearly the weapon held by the opponent. He smiled, stepped forward and whispered: "Brother, I was also a military officer in the past, and I still know how to use the Xiuchundao."
Huang Zude looked at Cheng Xin with a sharp look in his eyes.
Cheng Xin raised his hands and said, "Is that your Shangguan in the car? Is your surname Zheng?"
Before Huang Zude could respond, Zheng Haizhu had already lifted the curtain and said harmoniously: "Mr. Cheng, are you okay?"
Huang Zude didn't expect that his wife actually knew the tax collector and called him "Master". He couldn't help being surprised and took a few steps away.
Zheng Haizhu got off the carriage and greeted Cheng Xin with a smile.
Even if Cheng Xin is a bastard like Cheng Xin, who is neither a man nor a warrior, living on soft food and wearing patchwork official robes, now he sees that the woman in front of him is more powerful than when he was dealing with Dengzhou a few years ago, and then he thinks about it. It is inevitable for me to sigh and sigh as I become more and more useless as I get more and more messed up.
"Hi, Mr. Zheng, oh no, now I should respectfully address you as Mrs. Zheng. Mrs. Zheng should have noticed when she saw the smile. Is there anyone else who has the post of general manager?"
Of course Zheng Haizhu was a little surprised when he recognized Cheng Xin a moment ago.
She remembered that this son-in-law was quite good-looking and had a good job thanks to his wealthy father-in-law, so she had a good impression of him.
After all, when Zheng Haizhu took Xu San and Wu Bangdang to Liaodong on the Liaohai Road, after revealing his identity as a guest of Prince Lu's palace, Mr. Cheng, who was extorting money from maritime merchants on behalf of the patrol, immediately reduced the protection fee to One percent.
Zheng Haizhu quickly judged that Cheng Xin probably committed the crime in Dengzhou, but the friendship between his father-in-law and the official men was still there, so he was brought to Shanhaiguan to avoid the wind and the errands he handled were still good.
Immediately, Zheng Haizhu felt something was wrong. How did Cheng Xin know that he was leaving the city at this moment?
"Mrs. Zheng," Cheng Xin looked around and said proactively, "to make a long story short, if madam still has to take dozens of pieces of goods, she should leave as soon as possible. It was just a coincidence that Cheng heard that madam was passing through Shanhai Town. , I came to say hello to my old friend. Madam, have a good journey, Cheng also went back to rest, and tomorrow he has to count money for the court. "
Zheng Haizhu was silent, staring at Cheng Xin with a vague hint of research.
Why does this guy who eats soft food look a little different from the lazy and greasy guy who issued flags to the maritime merchants in Dengzhou?
Cheng Xin touched his nose, suddenly took on a joking tone, and said with a smile: "Madam, now that you are traveling in all directions, you no longer need to let Prince Lu's horse butt show up like you did back then."
Zheng Haizhu was convinced that there was no malice on the beautiful face opposite him.
She also pursed her lips and said modestly: "Master Cheng is overly praised, that is, it depends on 30% courage and 70% luck."
Cheng Xin sighed: "Actually, the seven points of luck are not difficult, but the three points of courage are difficult. When my wife came to buy the flag, I thought she was just a business owner. I never thought that in the spring and summer of the next year, The merchants from Liaodong who came to Dengzhou talked about the great victory of Fushun, and the wife must have done extraordinary things to be rewarded by the court. Cheng Mou admired it. Cheng Mou would not embarrass his wife's ship in the first place, and he will not embarrass his wife's carriage and horse now. Madam, please leave the city on your way, don’t lose the goods under the elm tree over there.”
As Zheng Haizhu listened, his mind kept spinning.
A moment ago, Li Huaihua had found her. After getting on the carriage, she tremblingly reported that there were a total of twenty-three women at the port, all of whom were going to join the army.
Before Zheng Haizhu could express his position, Cheng Xin showed up.
If Cheng Xin wants to take someone, Li Huaihua is in the car a few steps away, and he doesn't have to pretend to be greeting him for so long.
Therefore, Zheng Haizhu estimated that someone should have reported it to Cheng Xin, but Cheng Xin decided to turn a blind eye, whether out of genuine admiration or because he knew about Zheng Haizhu's relationship with various forces.
Zheng Haizhu then stopped delaying and said in a deep voice: "Thank you, Master Cheng. See you later."
Cheng Xingong handed over his hands, turned around and left, still strolling leisurely with his sleeves on his back.
The noise of the people and horses, and the shouts of the guards gradually became quieter. Cheng Xin walked to the wild fields outside the city gate, illuminated only by the moonlight, and said to Liu'er, who was eagerly waiting for the show, "We can't afford to offend you." The Bodhisattva.”
Liu'er was shocked and didn't dare to ask anymore, but she was unwilling to give in.
Cheng Xin took her back to the city gate.
Don't stay in a corner of the city. It's time for this meddling canary to return to its nest.
No, it's not just a "good thing". Cheng Xin secretly thought in his heart that Liu'er, a woman, turned out to be a bit vicious and not a fuel-efficient lamp. He had to find a way to get rid of her so that nothing would happen to her in the future. Give him Cheng Xin some points too.
Liu Er walked quietly beside Cheng Xin. As far as he could see, he could see clearly that a large group of men and horses surrounded the women under the elm tree in the distance.
Suddenly, in the city ahead, the official's shout came from the cross street: "Daotai patrolling the city, disperse, disperse."
Liu'er's heart moved.
Han Daotai? The civil servant who had touched him at Cheng Xin's private banquet!
