Chapter 43 Chapter Three

The weather was fine, the sky was blue, the clouds were white, the flowers and plants were very fragrant, and even the oriole on the branch was chirping very nicely. However, Chang Yixiong, the master of Heishuizhai, is in a very, very bad mood. "Everyone, raise your head up for me! What do you look like with your head down?" In the lobby of Heishuizhai, a heroic roar sounded, and the oriole that was screaming happily on the osmanthus tree outside the window was shocked and flew away with a "beep". Sighing helplessly, Chang Yixiong's head seemed to be pulled even lower.

"Da Chang! What about you! Lift your head up!" Almost immediately, the voice sounded again. Quickly straightening his head, and trying to widen his eyes, which were originally quite like copper bells, Chang Yide finally seemed to be a little bit more energetic—as energetic as the statue of Zhong Kui in the Town God's Temple. Seeing him like this, the person sitting on the big tiger-skin chair in the cottage finally nodded in satisfaction, and glanced at the heads of the cottage standing in the lobby one by one—everyone had their chests as high as Zhong Kui. "It's like the subordinates I lead!" The man's tone suddenly became excited: "Okay! Just follow this momentum and go to rob that batch of official money tonight!"

Official silver!Hearing this word again, Chang Yixiong took a deep breath and almost fainted... The man on the big tiger-skin chair was still in high spirits, stood up and stepped on the chair: "Brothers, let's do it if we don't do it, we will do it big! Take Hanqing!" The whole room was dead silent, and the person who had been standing beside the big tiger leather chair with his hands behind his back lowered his head and coughed lightly. Chang Yixiong could only smile wryly, and he could only smile wryly - because now the one who stepped on the village owner's chair and was aggressively going to rob the official bank was a little girl.

Yes, no matter how you look at it, she seems to be a young lady who doesn't want to stay at home peacefully, sneaks out to travel around, and is very ignorant of the heights of the sky and the earth. But it happened that this young lady who looked very harmless, usually even bandits were too embarrassed to attack, took a person with her, and it took less than half an hour to fight from the gate of the cottage to the lobby, and settled all the villages in the Black Water Village Lord, by the way, more than half of the minions were brought down... Chang Yixiong finally understood what a catastrophe is...

"Cang Cang, you can tell the village masters to go down and prepare for the attack at night." The man finally spoke, and as soon as he spoke, half of the people in the hall breathed a sigh of relief. Zheng Zhuang was eagerly looking forward to the first time he led a large group of soldiers and horses, no... Cang Cang, who was going to rob with a large group of bandits, also came back to his senses, turned to look at the speaker, and promised: "Okay, by the way, Am I going to assign tasks to them?" Before Chang Yixiong's face collapsed, he heard that person say: "We are not familiar with the situation in the village, so let Chang Zhaizhu assign it." He said, turning his head and smiling at Chang Yixiong, " Chang Zhaizhu, how about assigning tasks to the brothers in the village as usual?" The tone was gentle and the smile was sincere, which turned out to be a very polite request.

"Okay!" Chang Yixiong was taken aback for a moment, unconsciously became respectful and polite, and agreed with clasped fists, "But according to your master's orders." He was also really afraid that the eldest lady would command. Although the Blackwater Village is not a powerful family, only he, the village master, knows the character and ability of everyone in the village. Tonight's actions are inherently ominous. At least, if another person who doesn't understand the situation makes random arrangements, it will be even worse. However, is there really a chance of winning tonight?

This morning, these two people suddenly appeared in front of the mountain gate of Heishui Village, and then easily subdued everyone in the village. When Chang Yixiong desperately thought that they must be the masters of the Gongmen who came to suppress the bandits, However, they put forward a condition for a truce, that is, Heishuizhai should help them win an official bank. Chang Yixiong, who made his fortune from being a bandit until he became the head of the great village, never thought of taking money from officials.Now is the time of peace and prosperity, when the bandits rob the merchants of the past, the parents and officials may turn a blind eye, but if they are so rampant that they dare to rob the official bank escorted by the officers and soldiers... then there is really only a dead end.

But the knife here is on the neck, does Chang Yixiong dare to say no? Up to now, there is only one step to go.After clasping fists, Chang Yixiong smiled wryly and was about to turn around and leave, but suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder, and the gentle scholar-like young man patted him on the shoulder and smiled: "Master Chang, don't worry. , this incident, I guarantee that no disaster will be left for Heishui Village." He smiled again, "I will not let Heishui Village lose a brother." This young man seems to have a strange power. When he smiles, people can't help but want to believe him. Chang Yixiong nodded: "Thank you, son."

After Chang Yixiong left, Cang Cang quietly came up and lowered his voice: "Brother Xiao, are we really going to rob that batch of official money?" Just now when everyone was there, she was the one who yelled the loudest, but now that the crowd dispersed, she became suspicious. It was Xiao Huan who had been standing beside her just now, and he smiled: "Time is urgent, and the disaster victims can't wait that long, so they have no choice but to do so." Cang Cang let out an "oh", tilted his head and thought for a while and said, "Which emperor would rob his own government's money?"

Xiao Huan didn't expect that she would suddenly reveal her identity at this time, and she was a bit ridiculous: "It has nothing to do with whether the robbery is my own government or not." "I know, you robbed those corrupt officials' money..." Hehe laughed, and hugged his chest, "But these corrupt officials are also raised by you." Slightly had a headache, and for the first time Xiao Huan felt that it would be troublesome to explain certain things clearly, so he just smiled: "So I had to come here by myself, and then robbed the money back from those corrupt officials..."

Cang Cang suddenly burst out laughing, and suddenly stood on tiptoe and kissed Xiao Huan loudly on the cheek: "Brother Xiao, I like you." After speaking, he turned and ran away with a smile. Dazed for a moment, Xiao Huan raised his hand to caress the cheek that she had kissed just now, he lowered his head slightly, sighed lightly, and at the same time, smiled lightly. The reason why they want to rob the official bank is actually very simple.This summer Luzhou was plagued by locusts.The victims of the disaster had a hard time living, but the official bank allocated by the imperial court to buy surplus food from rich families in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces was swallowed up by the officials of Luzhou government.These disaster relief funds are also quietly being transported to other places. Xiao Huan and Cang Cang were wandering around Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and accidentally bumped into the soldiers escorting the stolen money on the road.Xiao Huan immediately thought that this was not the route for delivering disaster relief funds, and felt wrong.After they secretly investigated again, they knew the whole story. Xiao Huan called the staff of the Gu camp and asked them to report the matter to Dali Temple.However, it took a long time to investigate and deal with the Dali Temple, but the tens of thousands of victims in Luzhou could not wait so long.So Xiao Huan simply decided to rob the disaster relief funds and transport them to buy rice, and then slowly investigate the corrupt officials. In this way, there is this trip to Heishuizhai. The orange-red sunset was finally buried under the horizon of the sky, and almost instantly, the light suddenly dimmed. Chang Yixiong leaned over and hid behind a bush next to the official road, staring at the curve not far ahead, his heart beating faster. Are you about to start?The bandit leader who had been licking blood on the knife edge couldn't help swallowing. As far as he could see, he saw his second village master leading people to ambush on the soil slope on one side of the curve, and on both sides of the curve, very close to the road, there were four figures crawling. Those are the four brothers with the best eyesight and the most agile in Dazhai. Earlier today, according to the usual practice, he arranged for the four brothers to be responsible for looking out and sending letters. The brave second village leader led the brothers to charge, and the steady third village leader responded from the rear. After arranging everything, he went to report to the young son, who changed slightly according to his arrangement, which is the current deployment. Only then did he understand that the person who left him the deployment of the troops did not really want him to take full responsibility, but to grasp the situation of the entire village in the shortest possible time according to his arrangement. Thinking of the exaggerated young lady, and the elegant young man who always smiled silently, Chang Yixiong still shuddered in his heart. Can he really retreat tonight without losing a single soldier as the man said? There was no time left for him to hesitate, and a gentle voice suddenly came from behind: "Master Changzhai, the money deposit cart is approaching." Yes, the convoy escorted by three hundred soldiers was approaching.The smacking of ruts, the neighing of horses, the light of torches, and faint shouts. The body tensed up instinctively, and the moment the enemy faced the enemy, the fear and doubt in Chang Yixiong's heart suddenly disappeared, and the clamoring blood rushed to his body, and he slammed the big knife in his hand. From the corner of his eye, Chang Yixiong saw the slender hand on his side, slowly waving it down. The commander in charge of escorting the official bank, Qipin Zuoqi Lieutenant Shang Yousheng thought that these days were quite unlucky, not to mention losing money in gambling every time, and also shared the drudgery of depositing silver, eating and sleeping in the open every day, and worrying about it. Just like today, when the sun sets, I haven't arrived at the post where I can rest. Thinking of this, Shang Yousheng became inexplicably irritable, and shouted loudly at the soldiers around him: "Hurry up! The front team speeds up, and the rear team follows!" The soldiers betting on the silver were already exhausted, and when they heard the commander lose their temper, they only quickened their pace a little, and replied weakly: "Yes..." Shang Yousheng was full of anger. He had been riding in front of and behind the team, and now he was walking in the middle of the team. Seeing that half of the soldiers in the front team had turned a sharp bend not far away, and their figures could no longer be seen, he endured it. After holding back, he finally couldn't hold back, and waved the spear made of fine iron in his hand: "Speak up..." The sky-shattering explosion covered his voice, and it seemed that even the ground trembled for a moment. Then, the collapsed stones and soil rolled down from the hillside. Almost at the same moment, countless smoky fireballs were thrown from the surrounding dense forest. The sound of explosions followed one after another, thick yellow smoke filled the sky, and the strong smell caused screams and severe coughing. Someone robbed silver!Shang Yousheng was furious, and shouted: "Stay where you are!" A soldier in the chaos heard his voice, and the noise dropped for a moment, and then, several wailings suddenly came from the mist. The enemy has begun to attack! Gritting his teeth and clamping the horse's leg, Shang Yousheng drove his horse upwind regardless of the screams of his subordinates. As soon as the horse moved, a cold light flashed behind the thick smoke, and it struck straight at the horse with lightning speed. The fine steel spear barely supported the big knife, the blades criss-crossed suddenly, and a hearty laugh came from the smoke. With a sore arm, Shang Yousheng gripped the spear tightly, and stabbed out without hesitation. The sword and spear met again, and it turned out to be a draw. Shang Yousheng boasted that his arms were unparalleled, and there were very few people in the camp who could take his spear head-on. He didn't expect that after the two moves today, his mouth would go numb from the opponent's strength.His blood surged up, he let out a loud roar, and he handed over the spear again. The man on the other side didn't dodge either, and rode his horse to fight. The strength of the two sides was unmatched. In a blink of an eye, the gold and the spear collided several times, and even the thick smoke around him was dispersed by the strong wind. "Good sword skills." A faint comment sounded, and on the mound beside the official road, there were two figures standing side by side, looking down at the bandits and officers and soldiers fighting in the melee. "Yeah, I didn't expect Xiaochang to have two shots. I'm sure I won't be able to take this shot," the little girl said with a hint of excitement in her voice, "Brother Xiao, can you take it?" "I can't take it." The answer came very simply. The little girl was disappointed: "I thought you were so powerful that you could even snatch the sword that is the best sword in the world. I didn't expect that you could not defeat that officer!" The people beside her smiled and glanced at her: "Don't underestimate the kung fu of fighting on horseback. No matter how ingenious martial arts are in the arena, when it comes to the battlefield, you may not be able to get much advantage from these generals." The little girl didn't listen to what he was saying, she still muttered: "I can't even beat a reckless man. Sure enough, you can't rely on your pretty face, so I have to cover you!" While talking, he grabbed the hand of the person beside him and shrank into his arms.It was night now, she was wearing too thin and felt a little cold.Strange to say, although that person's hands are always slightly cold, it seems that his body temperature is naturally lower than others, but if the weather turns cold, his hands will not become colder, so holding , On the contrary, there is some slight warmth.And the embrace behind her also warmly surrounded her body. When it got warmer, Cang Cang became even more excited: "Brother Xiao... those officers and soldiers are all messed up, we are going to win!" Responding with a smile, Xiao Huan paused slightly: "Cang Cang, when did you change your mind?" As if unknowingly, Cangcang's address to Xiao Huan has changed from "Hey" and "That who" to "Brother Xiao". Cang Cang felt embarrassed once in a while: "What's the matter? You didn't ask me to call you 'Brother Xiao'!" She turned her head slightly embarrassed, but happened to bump into a pair of smiling black pupils. Got teased!Cang Cang immediately understood, and stepped on his toes skillfully: "I'll start calling you rotten egg from tomorrow!" The smile in those bright eyes deepened, Cang Cang was afraid that he would say something next, but a hand was gently wrapped around his waist, Xiao Huan smiled: "It's time to retreat." The pale green figure skimmed down from the hillside, like a lone bird spreading its wings, passed through the thick smoke, and landed on a frightened galloping horse. "Shang Qiwei, go back and tell Zheng Keqin of Shizhouwei to go to the capital to confess the crime!" A calm but clear voice came from behind the smoke, and the sound of horseshoes gradually faded away. Shang Yousheng froze on the spot holding the spear in his hand.When that figure descended from the sky just now, he keenly sensed that this person must be the leader. Leaving aside his opponent who was in full swing, he swept his spear across, intending to sweep that person off his horse. His gun was not empty, he clearly felt that his blade had touched something, but in the next moment, the power poured into the spear suddenly disappeared.Yes, it was gone, his power seemed to hit a mass of void, and then disappeared without a trace. "Go back and tell you Zheng Keqin of Shizhouwei, tell him to go to the capital to confess the crime!" The deep and indifferent voice seemed to be still echoing in his ears, and Shang Yousheng shuddered suddenly: he belongs to Shizhouwei...and Zheng Zheng Keqin, the third-rank Wuyi captain, is the commander of Dawu Shizhouwei... When Shang Yousheng recovered from the shock, most of the thick smoke around him had dissipated. With the light of the torch on the ground, he saw a black iron plate falling in front of his horse. The inconspicuous appearance is engraved with the flame Suzaku pattern that symbolizes the emperor. The Xuantie secret order of the two battalions of imperial guards is as it should be. Looking across the scattered chariots and horses and the disheartened soldiers, Shang Yousheng raised his hand and wiped his face: Maybe this time...you don't have to lose your head. Riding through the dense forest, Cang Cang was still in high spirits, grabbing Xiao Huan's lapel with both hands: "You lied to me that you couldn't catch it, so what's the point of flicking that big spear away with your finger? Also, since you With tokens, why don’t you just tell those soldiers to turn around and go to the disaster relief, and lead a group of people to grab the money so troublesome?” Being asked again gave me some headaches, Xiao Huan tried his best to explain briefly: "Whether you can play it well or not is not the same as whether you can catch it... It's a token to transfer people, not a tiger talisman to transfer troops..." If he could save so much effort as Cang Cang said, why would he spend so much effort to recover these bandits? In Dawu's army dispatching, unless he holds a troop dispatching tiger talisman, he must issue orders one by one. If it is not an order from the superior, no matter what official, he will never be able to mobilize a single soldier.Even if it is a secret order of the imperial guards like an imperial decree, a general can be transferred to Beijing, but a group of soldiers cannot be transferred to divert. Cang Cang didn't know if he understood it, he giggled and refused to let go: "Lie! Lie! Pretend to be sophisticated!" The headache got worse, Xiao Huan laughed angrily, and simply ignored her, and drove forward. This gang of bandits were all used to robbing things. Those who rode on horses carried them on horseback, and those on their shoulders even carried them with their belts. More than one hundred people forced to move more than 50,000 taels of official silver from the carriage to their own hands. They scattered and went into the dense forest, and it was really hard to find any traces. It didn't take long for everyone to run to a pre-appointed open space, put down the stolen money and pant. They used explosives and smoke, and then took advantage of the officers and soldiers being caught off guard and ran away quickly. Except for a few brothers who suffered minor injuries, they really did not lose a single soldier. After a rough count of the number of people, Chang Yixiong, the owner of the village, suddenly lifted his clothes and knelt down on one knee to the young man in Tsing Yi beside him: "I, Chang Yixiong, and the hundred and eight brothers of Heishui Village, would like to serve you as the master. Going up the mountain of knives, down into the sea of ​​fire, into the deep pool to smash the yellow dragon, there is absolutely no two minds!" Seeing this young man's light and easy layout, he made a big event that they didn't even dare to think about, as easy as picking something out of a bag.As if something in his instinct was shaken, Chang Yixiong felt so clearly for the first time: outside his vision, there is another world that he has never seen. He didn't know the origin of this young man's identity, but this hearty talk and laughter made him heartbroken. I was a bit surprised for a moment, but before Xiao Huan could speak, Cang Cang laughed loudly: "Xiao Chang, what are you doing with him? You want to support him as King of the Mountain?" Huan's shoulder: "Alright, I don't think you need to go back to the capital, just stay here as a big village master or something, recruit soldiers and buy horses, stand on the top of the mountain by yourself, very prestigious..." Chang Yixiong felt that something was wrong, he had a bold personality, and immediately stood up after being stunned: "Chang is a rough person, impulsive at the moment, and never thought about whether the young master would like it or not, and made things difficult for the young master!" Xiao Huan smiled: "Master Changzhai is very polite." He paused and said, "I will not hide the matter from Mr. Changzhai until now, the two of us serve the imperial court. The brothers who robbed the village tonight are all It should be the money allocated by the imperial court to the Luzhou government for disaster relief, but it was taken away by officials who were corrupt and perverted the law. Let all brothers enlist in the army, and enjoy military status for generations to come." Speaking of this, he swept his eyes across the crowd, "Of course, if you don't have such ambitions, I will say no first, please be patient, brothers." There was a moment of silence in the woods, and Chang Yixiong laughed: "Don't the brothers in our village want to find a way to earn a living, and they are born to like to do this cheap business?" He clasped his hands towards Xiao Huan, "Say no It sounds good. Ever since Chang Yixiong was forced to fall here by the famine in his hometown when he was thirteen years old, he no longer expects the government to cover his head with a tile and have enough food and clothing. I saw that there are still people like the son in the court today. , I believe that Dawu's sky is not completely dark." He turned around and yelled: "Brothers, we are the ones who wiped their butts for the dirty things done by those dog officials! The big guy said, is this matter happy or not!" All the brothers in Yizhai shouted, "Happy!" and laughed and cursed a few times. Chang Yixiong then raised his arms and shouted: "Let's send the money to Luzhou now, so that those dog officials can see the majesty of our brothers in Heishuizhai." "Oh!" This time the crowd shouted excitedly, and even Cang Cang waved his arms and shouted. One day in August of the seventh year of Deyou, the leader who escorted the official bank for disaster relief reported to his superiors that the official bank had disappeared. Just over ten days later, more than a hundred people claiming to be militiamen suddenly appeared in the city of Luzhou, which was full of starvation and death, and escorted one hundred thousand taels of silver. These people assisted the governor of Luzhou to use the disaster relief money to purchase food from local wealthy households who hoarded surplus food, and the disaster situation was quickly alleviated. Although there are many disaster victims in Luzhou City, the teahouses and restaurants are still operating as usual. A strong, sweaty man hurried over from the street. Seeing the pale face behind the window, he raised his hand to greet her. Cang Cang recognized that this person was a brother of Heishuizhai. After they and the people from Heishuizhai sent official money here, because Luzhou Prefecture was short of manpower, they all stayed to help with disaster relief.The brothers in Heishuizhai are very strong, and they have done a lot of work to carry food and maintain law and order.Xiao Huan and she helped the state medical officer diagnose and treat the victims of the disaster. There were quite a few patients. She did trivial chores and could sneak a little sleep. However, Xiao Huan was so busy that he couldn't close his eyes for several days. Cang Cang also waved to the man in Heishuizhai, who grinned and ran away. These men with a strong habit of banditry have unknowingly become capable hands in disaster relief. Cang Cang often sees them beating each other's shoulders cursingly and laughing after finishing their work, with tired faces that cannot be concealed. Live contentment and joy. Who entrusted them with the task of escorting the official silver without hesitation?Who never counted the amount of silver along the way, and did not suspect that these money-grubbing bandits would secretly steal the silver?Who, after arriving in Luzhou, assigned the task of buying and selling rice to these people, regardless of the governor's doubts, and even entrusted them to handle the reimbursement and verification?Who has understated and changed something before everyone even had time to notice? People on the long street are still coming and going, and there are still a few disaster victims curled up on the corner of the street, but compared to the heavy gloom that enveloped the entire city when they first entered the city, the current Luzhou City is slowly recovering its vitality . Rarely pulling Xiao Huan out to take a rest, Cang Cang turned her eyes back from the scenery outside the window, and bared her teeth as bright as pearls: "Let's keep going like this!" Looking at her with some surprise, Xiao Huan still had a gentle smile on his face: "Cang Cang, what did you say?" "I said, let's keep going like this." Cang Cang, regardless of the eyes of the guests in the teahouse who heard the noise, jumped up and hugged Xiao Huan, and smiled: "Brother Xiao, I will always be with you!" The face that always had a faint smile suddenly turned reddish, he patted Cang Cang's shoulder lightly, and he smiled: "Cang Cang, there are a lot of people here." Without any intention of letting go, Cang Cang raised his head and smiled triumphantly. To be together all the time. Just like that, holding hands and joking, crossing the sinister and rugged mountains and rivers is like crossing the fairyland of Langyuan, which is always spring in all seasons. Holding a pair of hands with a touch of warmth is like holding a pair of hands that can absorb endless warmth. The sunshine, keep going, go on. The golden sunlight shone in from the window, shining on the pale smiling face. The bright autumn wind gently blows over the city, and also blows through the lush weeds outside the city and the trees that are smudged in the forest. This season is called golden autumn.