Chapter 12 Chapter 4 The Spring Breeze Doesn't Pass the Yumen Pass (2)

Where does my star reside, Milky Way? ... The grief-stricken Fangzi couldn't think of it, and couldn't figure it out. Her confession of love faced deaf ears and a severed head.Why is my fate so miserable and hopeless?The grief-stricken Xiushan Fangzi couldn't accept it. The filthy and terrifying wooden cage on the city wall contained Ouyang Langyun's head.What kind of ripples did the breath blowing from that face once stir up in my heart!The eyes from that face have left such a soft and beautiful spring in my heart!But now everything that is beautiful and gentle has been cut off, put in that dirty and horrible wooden cage, and hung on the city wall in a dirty and horrible way.Why is he so eager to die, longing to be beheaded by others?Now that he knew this ending, why did Dad train batch after batch of young people to die like this.Yoshiko Xiushan did not expect that China in reality would be so cruel and terrifying, and it would be so indistinguishable from the China in books.It destroys a young life, it is so indifferent, and it uses such dirty and terrifying methods!Are all the people who come and go in a hurry at the gate of this city Chinese?Why didn't any of them raise their eyes to look at the wooden cage on the city wall, and at the man who was beheaded for them on the city wall.He could have gotten away without any danger.He may not even return to this place called China at all.He can spend his wealthy and comfortable life in Hanoi or Japan.He could have never seen this horrible and dirty thing in his eyes.But he still came to China like a moth to a flame.Does China exist just to kill these young and beautiful moths?You Chinese who come and go numb and indifferent, look up and look at this wooden cage!Look at this human head in the wooden cage!Take a look at this young man. He was originally a young man living in Hanoi. He is only 25 years old this year. He was beheaded for you and China!His name is like a poem, his name is Ouyang Langyun... China, China, why did you kill my lover?Why did you put his head in such a filthy and horrible cage?China, China, I hate you... China... the tomb shakes, and my cry is like the autumn wind... Where does my star reside, the Milky Way... Although he is very unwilling in his heart, Hideyama Jiro still follows According to Yoshiko Hideyama's instructions, I photographed this farewell scene for my sister.Hideyama Jiro knew that he couldn't stop his sister now, so he simply didn't try to persuade her, and let her cry and do it.When starting from school, when the pale-faced Hideyama Yoshiko appeared in front of her eyes, with her hair pulled up in a high bun and dressed in a kimono, even Hideyama Jiro was stunned by her younger sister's beauty.But he was also caught in an ominous premonition.This beautiful and astonishing younger sister exuded a sense of despair all over her body.His sister's cold and determined face made Hideyama Jiro feel a terrible strangeness.The younger sister's unfathomable gaze penetrated her body erratically, looking at a mysterious and ethereal place.It seemed like a ghost floating out from another world, wandering around me heartbrokenly.After knowing the news of Ouyang Langyun's death, Hideyama Jiro secretly breathed a sigh of relief, now it is finally impossible for his sister to be entangled with a Chinese man.But ever since she learned of Ouyang Langyun's death, her sister has become like this.For the first time in his life, Hideyama Jiro had doubts about his abilities. In his panic, he didn't know what to do, and he didn't know what to do to protect his sister from being overly hurt by the blow of death.When Yoshiko proposed to go to the north gate with him to take pictures, Hideyama Jiro didn't dare to stop him at all, and agreed almost immediately.The only thing he can do now is to personally accompany his sister through every minute of the cruel blow in front of him.And all the horrible and cruel things that happened in Yincheng were something that the brothers and sisters could never have dreamed of when they came to China.

With tears streaming down her face, Yoshiko Hideyama turned around and smiled at Jiro, "Brother, are you ready?" Hideyama Jiro nodded hurriedly, "Yoshiko, it's all right, all right." Fangzi smiled again, "Brother, these photos are not for me, but for you. Don't you always say that you want to take a look at Zhiso with your own eyes? Are these now what you see with your eyes? Brother, tell me, don’t you?” Hideyama Jiro nodded quickly again, "Yes, yes, I saw it. My eyes saw it." "Brother, your eyes saw a Japanese girl kneeling in front of a Chinese head. Is that right?..."

"Fangzi!..." "Brother, your eyes can't tell a Japanese from a Chinese, can you?" "Fangzi!..." "Brother, you and Dad don't want to see me with a Chinese. What exactly do your eyes want to see to satisfy you? Why do you see a difference from what I see? Brother, you can see my eyes Can you?...Brother, what I see now, can you see it? Can you?" "Fangzi, what do you see now, Fangzi?" "Brother, you can't see what I see...your eyes are not mine...you can't see anything, you can't see anything..." "Yoshiko, what are you talking about? What do you see, Yoshiko?"

"Your eyes can't see anything..." Xiushan Fangzi ignored her brother, turned around alone, knelt down to the head on the city wall, and asked in tears: "Ouyang Jun... have you seen it?... can you still see me now?" Ouyang Jun... why don't you speak, why don't you answer... Ouyang Jun, have you seen it? Can you still see me..." Hideyama Jiro stood beside the camera in a daze, and suddenly thought in horror, Yoshiko is crazy!At this moment, a group of beggars came out from the city gate.When the beggars saw the familiar camera machine, they immediately became excited and showed sly smiles.They gathered around without hesitation, shouting incessantly: "Mr. Yang, are you here to take pictures again? Do you want some help? Stand up, lie down, sit up, take your pick! We are not like those A fool needs a lot of copper coins to help. We are very comfortable with one copper coin each! Mr. Yang, do you need it or not? Just a word! One copper coin per person, do you want it or not? Come on, Mr. Yang! "

The janitor Zhang Sansheng rushed up to chase him away, "You sons of bitches! What are you doing? Be honest, we don't need anyone today! Don't come to pester you! Get away from me!" Hearing the scolding, the beggars surrounded Zhang Sansheng like hunting dogs, "Zhang Sansheng! What do you want? We are the son of a turtle, and the son of a turtle is how to get rid of him? You Sansheng won't let us go today Let’s take a look, you won’t be able to get away today! A beggar is not everyone’s son of a bitch, and his son of a bitch was not created for nothing!” Seeing that Zhang Sansheng was torn into a ball surrounded by beggars, Hideyama Jiro hurried up to rescue him: "Don't do anything, you guys! Zhang Sansheng, give each of them a penny!"

The beggars understood Mr. Yang's words, and immediately let go of their tearing hands and cheered: "Thanks to Mr. Yang! We are not ignorant animals!" An angry Zhang Sansheng took out copper coins from the bag and handed one to each of the beggars.After taking the copper coins, the beggars laughed happily.Then, of course, it was their daily homework, clasped their hands together and sang in unison: "People who do good deeds will gain blessings and longevity—! You are always good people doing good deeds, and our second generation will turn into cows and horses to repay you—" !"

In the chaos, no one noticed that a group of happy flies buzzed around the wooden cage on the city wall. Wangcai inserted two ignited dried Artemisia stalks into the rice bowl, blew lightly, and poof, it went out.The two flames that were still bright just now closed their eyes at once, and two puffs of mysterious green smoke seemed to rise from the scorched eye sockets.The rice bowl was placed on the big rock at the entrance of the cave, and Wangcai held the three pieces of bamboo with writing in both hands, knelt down devoutly in front of Qingyan, and solemnly kowtowed three times.Then, he closed his eyes tightly and said, "God bless!" He threw the bamboo piece into the sky, and heard the bamboo piece falling down, Wangcai still didn't dare to open his eyes, and swore to the wormwood stalk: "Only this time! Anyway, I cast a lottery, and I will go if I write on three sides. If I write on two sides, I will go too. If I write on one side... let's go. If you don't have any writing on three sides, you will not go. If you go again, you will be a tortoise. Eggs! How much cow dung is sent for nothing, and it’s not for the sake of watching a show. There must be a result for how much cow dung you send. If you don’t get the result, can you afford it? Anyway, it’s a lottery, and it’s the lottery given by the Dragon King After all, it must be efficacious! There used to be Taoist priests in the fairy cave hundreds of years ago! I, Chen Wangcai, eat with conscience, and my cow dung is never adulterated... Zheng Xiaozai of the soup pot shop has his hoofs and legs Shoulders, heart, liver, stomach and lungs, but without my cow dung, his hooves, arms, heart, liver, stomach and lungs are not cooked well... A cow dung man is not worthy of marrying a third sister, Zheng Dwarf from the soup pot shop is stacked on top of winter melons , he is even more unworthy of wearing black..."

After cursing and praying, Wangcai made up his mind and finally opened his eyes: three pieces of light yellow bamboo were lying on the ground, clean, and he couldn't see a word.The discouraged Wangcai took advantage of the situation and sat on the ground: After all, cow dung customers can't compete with soup pot shops.After all, cow dung is nothing compared to hooves and shoulders.It's a pity that Sanmei is such a good young girl, she wants to marry that dwarf with pumpkins on top of winter melons, and a thing in black leather... Ah, life is life.Life cannot be contested. For the past two years, Wangcai has been having a dream in his heart, dreaming that one day he can marry a younger sister like the third sister as his daughter-in-law.Wangcai is neither stupid nor naive, of course he knows that being the most lowly bullshit customer in Yincheng should not have any sweet dreams.Among other things, which Yaomei would marry into this dark cave to be a monster?Besides, a matchmaker is required to propose marriage, and which matchmaker is willing to propose marriage for a bullshit?That Zheng Xiaozai in the soup pot shop is just a little shorter.In fact, he is an honest man.He not only has hoofs, arms, heart, stomach and lungs, he also has half of the shares of the soup pot shop.The third sister married him rightly, she would not have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of her life, and she would not have to live in a cave as a monster.Cai Liuniang, an orphan and widow, has worked hard to raise three daughters, and she will have someone to rely on in the future.The soup pot shop can be Liu Niang's support.My fairy cave can only give the beggar something to rely on.In the past two years, in order to be able to enter Liuniang's door, and to see more of the third sister, Wangcai refused to accept the money for the cow dung cake several times, saying that he was not busy or not busy until Liuniang was relieved.One afternoon, Liu Niang really left Wang Cai to eat Xunzi noodles.Wangcai washed his hands and sat on the threshold of the kitchen, holding a big blue flower bowl in his hand.There are fragrant diced meat in the simmered noodles, which is the pork head sent by Zheng Aizai.The third sister sat by the bellows to help, the bellows whistling, and the stove was burning cow dung cakes from Wangcai.The light from the fire made Third Sister's face red, as if she had put a nice layer of rouge on it.Third sister kept her head down, and one of her eyes was a little crooked.It's not because of this crooked eye, and it's not the turn of Mr. Zheng to propose marriage.Liu Niang kept praising Wangcai's cow dung cakes for their usefulness, and the noodle bowl was also full of saozi.Liu Niang wanted Wangcai to eat at the table, Wangcai reasoned that he was not clean, so he sat on the threshold of the kitchen with a bowl, his head lowered on the side of the bowl, and while wiping sweat, his eyes fluttered on Sanmei's body. Swipe in a panic.Third Sister was sitting on a bamboo stool, wearing a light-white foreign cloth shirt with lotus-colored wide borders on the cuffs and front.A butterfly silver clip is tied on the head, and a pair of silver earrings dangle below the ears.Eyebrow-level bangs, a strand of long hair on the sideburns fell all the way to the cheeks, and black and shiny braids hung down on the protruding chest.Two pointed zong feet are carefully tucked under the wide trousers with lace.Red begonia flowers are embroidered on the toe of the shoe.The third sister sat on a bamboo stool, broke the cow dung cake made by Wangcai into pieces, and put them into the stove one by one with torches. Black braids swing people's souls back and forth.Smoke from the cow dung fire floated out of the stove mouth, exuding a nice smell of smoke from burnt broad beans.Wangcai kept putting noodles into his mouth.Wangcai has never tasted such delicious glutinous rice noodles in his life.

Everything was still the same, the morning sun had already illuminated the top of the mountain goldenly, and Xieyufeng, like himself, had just woken up.The grass leaves and treetops are covered with dew, and the sound of birds is heard from far and near in the valley.It's time for a day to start doing life.Either go to Niu Shi Street to sell cow dung cakes, or go to Niu Shi Po to make cow dung cakes.Food depends on cow dung, and clothing depends on cow dung. In short, a cow dung eater has nothing to say without cow dung.Wangcai woke up from his dream, smiled bitterly, and clearly smelled the smell of cow dung on his body.No matter how good the sand in the Silver Stream is, no matter how carefully you wash it every day, it still can't wash away the long-lasting smell of cow dung on your hands and feet.Wangcai picked up the three pieces of bamboo picked up from Yinxi River. Although Wangcai was illiterate, after careful comparison, he found that the characters on the three pieces of bamboo were all the same.It was a bit of a disappointment for him.Always the same thing ends up with less flavor.Just like myself, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, I am a bullshit every day.Sometimes I feel that lack of salt and oil is very boring.But today, the interesting things have been done, and the dreams I want to have are all over. Three pieces of bamboo, each piece is turned upside down, and none of them has words.Anyway, the lottery was cast, and the lottery of Lord Dragon and Lord Niu is as effective. From then on, there is nothing to talk about, and Liu Niang's family doesn't have to run away anymore.Congratulations to Zheng Xiaozai for marrying a good wife!Wangcai pulled the wormwood stalks from the rice bowl, blew away the grass ash that fell on the rice, and blew away his own dreams.Wangcai calmed down and took the rice and bamboo pieces back into the cave.A life without dreams makes Wangcai feel more at ease.In this kind of down-to-earth life, Wangcai clearly knows what he can do and what he should do.Wangcai thought: If I promised Liu Niang yesterday, I still have to give her cow dung once.But today I have to charge money to send cow dung to Liu Niang.There is a steelyard in Liuniang's kitchen.Weigh the cow dung with that steelyard today.One catty is one copper coin, and one hundred catties is one hundred copper coins.

Wangcai tidied up the bamboo poles placed under the stone eaves, took the dried cow dung cakes off the drying rack one by one, and stacked them one by one on the bamboo rack specially used for cow dung cakes.Soon, cow dung cakes were piled up to shoulder height.Wangcai carried the burden, and the thin man was sandwiched between the cow dung cakes. The bamboo burden bent down after being exhausted, heaving and falling on his shoulders with his steps.Seen from a distance, the two frames of cow dung cakes are like two thick stumps, rammed down on both ends of the bamboo pole.Wangcai has already made up his mind that instead of taking Uncle Feng Yao's ferry today, he will take a detour to the new city and cross the Shangguan Bridge to the old city. Someone will definitely stop the load along the way to ask for goods.Maybe before reaching Shangguan Bridge, the cow dung will be sold out.People in Xincheng are more generous. When paying for the goods, they often wrap a ball of rice in lotus leaves and hand them over.After making up his mind, Wangcai's pace became faster and faster.The dew on the grass blades by the side of the mountain road was kicked by Wangcai and sparkled in all directions.

Sure enough, before reaching Shangguan Bridge, more than half of the cow dung cakes have been sold, and the remaining Wangcai decided to send Cai Liuniang.Going down the mountain, crossing the Xincheng, crossing the Shangguan Bridge, and then entering the city from the north gate, Wangcai has walked five or six miles all the way down, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.When Wangcai entered the city gate, he saw a wooden cage on the city wall, and Wangcai thought, this is another ghost whose head had been chopped off.But Wangcai's stomach was already growling, and he already felt a little hungry.Wangcai didn't care to take a closer look, and hurried straight to Cai Liuniang's house.After setting up the cow dung cakes for Cai Liuniang in the kitchen, Wangcai lifted up his skirt and wiped the sweat off his face, and smiled apologetically: "Liu Niang, there are not many left, I will use your scale I’ve weighed it, this time it’s twenty-three catties.” Cai Liuniang understood what Wangcai meant, and Cai Liuniang also smiled, "Wangcai, do the math, including the previous ones, how much should I give you in total?" Wangcai blushed suddenly, "Liu Niang, you have been taking care of me, eating your food, drinking your water, and counting the old debts from the past, you will have no conscience. What? The previous few times, I didn't weigh it, I gave it to Liu Niang sincerely... Liu Niang, I only accept twenty-three copper coins this time." Cai Liuniang smiled again: "Wangcai, don't be too polite. The cow dung dealers make a living by selling cow dung. No one will give you money. How are you living? You haven't weighed it, so I will weigh it for you. However, I have to return you one hundred and sixty-three copper coins." Cai Liuniang turned around and took out a bunch of copper coins strung on a hemp rope, and stuffed them into Wangcai's arms, "Here, I've counted them, and you can count them clearly .” Wangcai couldn't evade it, and took Cai Liuniang's copper coins with a blushing face, "Liu Niang... I don't have room to put my face when you are so polite... Liu Niang has already counted, so what else do I have to count... ..." Wangcai packed up his bamboo poles and racks, and thanked Liu Niang non-stop.When Wangcai stumbled and opened the courtyard door, Cai Liuniang asked behind her: "Wangcai, on the day my third sister gets married, you have to bring some people from your fairy gang to drink and applaud. You should manage them well and don't mess around." Come on. I only have the youngest one left, I want the third sister's affairs to be more lively." Wangcai blushed again.But this time it wasn't because of apology.But Wangcai immediately readily agreed: "Liu Niang, don't worry, if you don't talk about the third sister, I will definitely help!" After withdrawing from Cai Liuniang's house with many thanks, Wangcai suddenly felt empty in his heart, as if he had lost something.It seems that something lost can never be found again.But I can't figure out what was missing.Wangcai didn't expect Cai Liuniang to be so straightforward. Wangcai didn't want to settle old scores.Wangcai originally wanted to keep those cow dung cakes in Sanmei's house forever.The cow dung cakes that Sanmei sat in front of the stove and burned were made by herself one by one, and the cow dung cakes made by herself made Sanmei's face red.Maybe if it's not an old account, my heart won't be so empty.It was Liu Niang who got herself an unexpected sum of money.Touching those jingling copper coins, Wangcai still felt the joy of being compensated.Wangcai decided to have another tooth sacrifice, so he came to Sanhexing Hotel again, and chose a seat in the open hall again.When the waiter ran over waving a rag, Wangcai took out a lotus leaf bag from his pocket, opened it and said to the waiter, "I want offal soup, heat my cold rice together." When the waiter yelled and turned to leave, Wangcai smelled a strong aroma of cooking on the waiter, and his stomach groaned again.But Wangcai is not flustered at all, because today he has the capital to let himself enjoy himself.Wangcai was ruthless, and chased after the waiter's back: "Add another bowl of Laojiao!" Cai Liuniang closed the courtyard door and turned around, sighing sincerely: Now I am at ease, and I don't owe anyone a penny.Wangcai is kind, and it is even more difficult to live with the favor of kind people.Orphans and widows live their lives, how dare they owe others favors?One hundred and sixty-three copper coins will buy two liters of white rice, which is the ration of our mother and mother for three to four days.In the blue sky, which one is born to eat rice?Parents and Lao Tzu's food can't be eaten in vain, and even after eating the food of parents and Lao Tzu, people will die in the old age. Thinking of retirement, Cai Liuniang felt a little sadness in her heart.As soon as the third sister got married, she was really the only one in the family, and the yard where she had lived all her life was about to come to an end.After living there for a lifetime, in the end, he did not give birth to a son, nor did he give birth to a person who could support him until his death.The three daughters grew up one by one, got married one by one, and took other people's surnames one by one.The third sister married into the Zheng family and became a member of the Zheng family.The married woman is the water poured out.Once the third sister gets married, not only will she not be able to see anyone, but even the hooves and arms of Zhengji soup pot shop will be hard to see.People in this world are all the same, they only plan for themselves, and they don't give things to others in vain.In order to please me, Mr. Zheng sent the dwarf a lot of hoofs, hooves, arms, hearts, stomachs and lungs at a time.He also promised me that if I die in the next day, I will ask the dwarf to be a filial son for me to die.In order to make me feel at ease, the pine boards used for making birthday materials were also sent to my home.The boards are placed under the bed, and you can smell the scent of pine boards when you lie on the top of the bed.Put the wooden boards in place, and straighten the bed, Mr. Zheng said, I will cushion you under the boards, and spread wormwood for you, so that there will be no mold or insects.Next spring, I'll call the dwarf over to dry the boards for you.Don't worry, there are dwarfs, how can the Pi Bureau come to take care of your funeral?If there is no birthday material for me, there must be your birthday material first, so you can put your heart at ease.Father Zheng's throat was so loud and he shouted loudly.How did he know that a widow worked so hard to raise her daughter, not just to change hooves and arms to eat, not just to change a coffin to lie in... Marry the third sister back to the Zheng family, and the dwarf will not Besides, the third sister couldn't see each other every day.One family becomes two families, and a river separates our mother and mother on both sides... Life is a good life without taste... Cai Liuniang understands the truth of being sad and not eating. She wiped her temples and quickly recovered from her own sadness Woke up and walked towards the window sill.On the window sill were three short black-glazed jars, the mouths of which were tied with cloth, and large porcelain bowls were placed on top of them.These three jars contain her carefully brewed bean paste.Every family in Yincheng makes their own sauce, but Cai Liuniang's bean paste is well-known around the neighborhood.It takes time to make bean paste and wait for the season.Every spring, you have to wait until the vernal equinox has passed before you can start making sauce.Take dried broad beans, soak them in water for two or three days, peel them, split them into pieces, and steam them until cooked.Spread the steamed broad bean petals on the washed and dried bamboo fence, put them in a cool place to mold, cover with a coarse cloth that can breathe and keep flies out, and wait until the color of the mold turns from green to black and then from black to yellow. Can use.At this time, the moldy watercress is taken to the sun to dry.Then scald the porcelain altar with boiling water and put in dried mold beans.Boil the hydration salt, let it cool, pour it into the altar, it is advisable to submerge a finger of moldy beans.Seal it, cover it, and put it in a sunny place for a whole summer.The moldy beans gradually soften and change color, gradually brewing a sauce aroma.It has to wait until the end of summer and early autumn, when the peppers are red, and then start the second processing.Take the red Chaotian pepper, wash it, drain the water, dry it, chop or grind it, and add salt.Then seal it in another jar, depending on the weather, let it dry and ferment for one to two months, and the chili will have a sauce flavor.Then there is the third processing, blending the sauced watercress and pepper together, the ratio of watercress and pepper depends on your own taste.In order to make the taste better, it can also be served with pepper noodles, chili oil, and tender ginger strips.To be more particular, you can add a small amount of sesame paste.Stir the prepared sauce evenly, then put it into the altar to seal it, and then dry it.Wait until the twelfth lunar month in winter, open the mouth of the altar, and the brown red bean paste is delicious and tangy.Yincheng is full of the aroma of bean paste.The most taboo thing about making sauce is raw water and uncleanness. During the whole brewing process, a little bit of raw water cannot be brought in. All tools for filling sauce, stirring, and scooping must be scalded and dried. If unclean things are brought in, they will grow moldy and deteriorate, and all previous efforts will be wasted.The difficulty in making bean paste is adding salt. If there is too much salt, it will not be brewed thoroughly, and the salty taste will become dead.Too little salt, and the sauce is prone to mold and deterioration.The finishing touch of making bean paste is the final ingredients. Different ingredients can make bean paste with hundreds of flavors.The sunlight in the yard still had some strength, and the black glaze on the porcelain altar was shining brightly.Cai Liuniang opened an altar, picked up the stirring stick inside and stirred it a few times, pulled out the stirring stick to check the color, smell the smell, fortunately, the color was right, and the taste was also right.Cai Liuniang was a little worried. In order to make the sauce when her daughter got married, she rushed the time to make the sauce this year.Having already agreed to the third sister's marriage, Father Zheng was in a hurry, and agreed to go through the door on the twenty-ninth day of Dongyue.Cai Liuniang wanted to make bean paste ahead of time, and take a jar as a dowry, and let her daughter take it to her husband's house.If a daughter-in-law who has just entered the house wants to please her mother-in-law, the first thing is to cook the food well.The third sister's crooked eye was Cai Liuniang's heart disease.Cai Liuniang was always worried that Sanmei would be ridiculed because of that eye.She always protects the third sister, and now, she wants to use her bean paste to win face for her daughter in her husband's house.Three jars of bean paste.One jar is for my daughter, one jar is for myself, and the other jar is for Mrs. Chen of Huixian Tea House.Mrs. Chen often sends some embroidery work to Cai Liuniang.With Mrs. Chen's help, Cai Liuniang would send a jar of bean paste every year to thank Mrs. Chen for her kindness.In addition, as long as the neighbors in the neighborhood come to ask for it, Cai Liuniang has never been stingy with the bean paste in her altar.Cai Liuniang's making bean paste is not just to prepare the seasoning for cooking every day, it is also a little capital for Cai Liuniang to win favors and rely on for a living.Life without bean paste not only lacks taste, but also lacks some trivial sustenance. Cai Liuniang covered the opened altar.The quiet courtyard was as peaceful and serene as ever.The warm sun peacefully shines on the generations of life in the yard.There are buffaloes mooing, and the sound of reeling and reeling can be heard faintly from a distance.Few people in the calm sunshine knew that a girl was about to get married.Cai Liuniang sighed softly, walked into the main room, raised the curtain of the bedroom, and saw the third sister sitting under the window sill embroidering.In order to get light, Sanmei took off the window sash made of hemp paper, wrapped her frail body in a bamboo chair, and leaned intently on the embroidery frame made of bamboo, embroidering a few bright red peonies onto a quilt. On the face, the bright red peonies are magnificent and eye-catching, and several butterflies dance around the peony flowers.The third sister was embroidering a dowry for herself. For a moment, Cai Liuniang couldn't help but shed tears. The third sister turned her head and was surprised to see her mother's tears.The third sister stared wide-eyed in horror: "Mom, why are you crying?" Cai Liuniang wiped away her tears and smiled, "Third sister, don't be afraid, why don't you cry... Third sister, mother is glad that you finally have someone to rely on. Third sister, are you happy?" The autumn sun slanted in through the window, reflecting indescribably bright and gentle on Sanmei and her flowers.The third sister didn't answer, she blushed and buried her head, and went back among her magnificent peonies and butterflies. After Liu Zhenwu set up camp at the Yuren School, he immediately led two sheds of cavalry guards back to Guixin Garden on Wenmiao Street.The mighty and fierce cavalry wore brand-new knives and guns to cross the streets and alleys, and their horseshoes with iron palms were nailed, making a crisp sound of kicking and tapping on the ancient bluestone slabs.The sonorous and powerful sound was like a gust of rain, beating on the continuous tile roofs of the old city, washing the gray days of hundreds of years into crystal clear.After watching the military parade on the school grounds, the entire Yincheng was already shaken up.Everyone is talking about how bright the bayonets they saw on the school field just now, how neat the team is, and how imposing the foreign guns and cannons are.Everyone is arguing that Liu Sangong spent a tael of silver on the street to buy a bitter baby seventeen years ago, and now he is a high-ranking official and a fourth-rank manager, with soldiers and horses, and foreign guns Yangpao came to save Yincheng.What happened in front of me was so miraculous that it was like a story sung on the stage, and it was impossible to make up such a good one. Liu Zhenwu got off his horse outside the gate of Osmanthus Garden, and he could smell the intoxicating fragrance of osmanthus before entering the gate.After a long period of time and a high courtyard wall, the dense crowns of the two hundred-year-old Osmanthus osmanthus dyed half the sky green, exuding a strong fragrance of flowers.Every year around the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fragrance of the two old osmanthus plants in Guixin Garden will waft across half of the old city.Dunmutang named its mansion Guixin Garden to take the metaphorical meaning of "the noble son flows the fragrance".Now, these two old osmanthus trees are bathing the returning wanderers in the intoxicating fragrance. Liu Zhenwu showed a rare smile on his face, and asked the soldiers loudly: "Do you know what kind of fragrance this is?" Then he pointed to the dense tree crown and replied, "Osmanthus fragrans!" The cavalry who smelled like horses raised their heads in the sweet fragrance of flowers. They didn't know that the two osmanthus trees were the same as today seventeen years ago. In the whole street, in the honey-like fragrance of flowers, there was once a child who was dizzy from hunger kneeling on his knees. His deep hunger made him see delicious cookies spread all over the street. Before Liu Zhenwu entered the main living room, he heard the old lady's voice coming out to greet him: "Bao'er! Bao'er! God sent you home! Our Dunmutang is saved now! Think quickly! There is a way to save your seventh brother!" Liu Zhenwu walked up quickly, and saw the old lady surrounded by maids stepping over the threshold.Liu Zhenwu immediately knelt down on the stone steps in front of the door, and his knees hit the stone slab heavily. When he knelt down and knelt down, he saw many excitedly moving feet and legs again in his eyes.The old lady laughed with tears all over her face, and hurriedly urged him to get up to meet Liu Sangong who was waiting in the living room. Liu Sangong, who was overjoyed in his heart, sat quietly on the grand teacher's chair. After receiving Bao'er's birthday ceremony, he smiled and told the housekeeper to arrange the food and wine for the guards first, and to distribute red and silver coins to each soldier. Two, the official is twelve.Liu Zhenwu objected, saying that it should not be too expensive, and asked about Brother Qi in a hurry.Liu Sangong urged the housekeeper to do as soon as possible, and waved his hands to block Liu Zhenwu's questioning: "Bao'er, how do you know how much money I gave away for safety? Don't stand in the way, this is the golden sand that I want to give up to increase my life. Today, I have a precious son." Returning home in a beautiful clothes, and celebrating her 60th birthday, where in the world can I find such a blessing? No matter how much money you spend, you can’t buy too much! No amount of money can buy you such a good fortune! Bao’er, don’t stand in the way of your father’s good deeds! Come, father and son, we will drink three cups of meeting wine first, first come to celebrate my birthday, second come to cleanse you! third come I will talk about your marriage." Liu Zhenwu asked anxiously: "Dad, the school has been disbanded, what happened to my seventh brother?" Liu Sangong shook his head, "Don't listen to your mother's nonsense. Ever since the assassin came out of school, your seventh brother hasn't come home. He has long legs. I don't know where he went? Today we The Liu family is overjoyed, don't talk about these unlucky things." While talking, he waved to everyone, "What are you waiting for, you guys, hurry up and have a drink in the West Flower Hall!" A group of people walked through the yard in twos and threes along the stone path. Under the afterglow of the evening, the two century-old trees in front of the living room seemed to never grow old.The dense canopy shrouds the quiet courtyard unfathomably, and the intoxicating scent of osmanthus permeates from the long years, floating around in the shadows. After eating and drinking in the West Flower Hall, it's time to light the lanterns.Liu Sangong said that he wanted to make a good arrangement with Bao'er and talk about his farewell, so he and his wife led Bao'er back to the bedroom alone.After taking his seat, Liu Sangong calmly brought up the topic: "Bao'er, have you seen the head on the north gate?" "I've seen it." "Do you know who that is? Why is that head hanging there?" "Commander Nie said that it was the assassin who killed the magistrate. He was the leader of the Yincheng League. He was a teacher in Brother Qi's school. He was Ouyang Langyun, an Annan expatriate who pretended to be an Oriental. He surrendered himself." "Bao'er, it wasn't that father's favor of selling Commander Nie seven years ago has come in handy now, and it wasn't that I turned Nie Qinxuan into a shareholder of Dunmutang. Do you know whose head should be hung on the city wall?" "dad?……" "It wasn't that I bought his life with 30,000 taels of silver and Tonghaijing's shares. Now your seventh brother's head should have been hung on the top of the city wall to feed the flies! I'll still have the time to spend my birthday and drink wine ?” "Dad, what did my seventh brother do?" "Bao'er, the farther away you are from the matter of your seventh brother, the better. I have already settled this matter with Commander Nie. We both return our favors. In our Yincheng, we partnered with others to do the salt business. It happened that the imperial envoy came to inspect the military pay. If he was asked to find out, he would be beheaded. Commander Nie was caught off guard and came to me personally to find a solution. He has 5,000 taels of silver in cash to help. God knows that such a disaster has happened to our family. If we don’t have enough friendship, who is willing to take the risk of being an accomplice? I gave him 30,000 taels of silver and all the shares in Tonghaijing. Transfer to his name. At this price, Commander Nie agreed to push everything to that assassin, and push everything to the school. Fortunately, your seventh brother said that he had already issued an order not to fight, and also put学校里的革命党都送起走了。只要这一次银城的革命党再不闹事情，这件事就算是敷衍过去了。现在你又领了援兵回来，我就更放心了。我们银城都是些投了大本钱做盐巴生意的买卖人，凿开的井口都是银子堆出来的，一时一刻都不敢停的。三万两银子、一口通海井我还赔得起。若是一打起仗来城毁人亡，把买卖都打光，我们敦睦堂也就毁完了。现在只等找个机会让你七哥暗地离开银城。让他走得远些，还回他的日本去。到了日本，随便他革命不革命！船我已经派好，码头上的洪老大也答应帮忙，啷个走法我也安排好了，你一概都不要问。宝儿，如今你不只是我们刘家的儿子，还是朝廷命官。我当爸爸的不能赔了一个儿子，再赔进一个儿子。” 刘振武当下跪在地上，“爸，你若当我是你的儿子，就把七哥的事情，讲给我听。爸，我有军务在身不能久留，今晚只是抽空当回家看看你们二老，马上就还要返回新城军营。七哥的事情你一定要和我当面讲清楚。我在日本和七哥朝夕相处，亲如骨肉。爸，我能有今天都是你老人家和七哥给我的恩情。你若是只把我当做朝廷命官，岂不是把我看作无情无义的禽兽？爸，家里出了这样大的事情我都尽不得一点孝心么？你老人家要是执意不肯讲，我现在只有点起人马回军营，从此哪还有脸再登敦睦堂的大门？” 夫人早在一旁落下泪来，“老爷，你还和宝儿讲这些给外人听的道理有啥子用场？快些叫宝儿看看七郎吧，快些叫宝儿想办法救救七郎吧！” 刘三公长叹一声，拉起跪在地上的刘振武，“宝儿，你哪里晓得，那个自首的教员欧阳朗云受刑不过，已经供出你七哥就是银城革命党的头领！也供出同盟会八月二十四要暴动的日子！说他们在等一个啥子总指挥到银城来。你七哥他把满门抄斩的罪过引到我们家的大门里来了！你们都不懂得我的苦心，这样的事情是沾惹不起的。天晓得七郎留洋几年都学了些什么！回到家乡不好好办他的学校，非要拼起脑壳造反，搞啥子暴动。现在脑壳要丢了，学校也遭解散了，害得一家人都跟他受连累。要得，要得！要死就死在一处。那我们就去见见你七哥，见见银城革命党的头领！” 说着刘三公拉起刘振武的手，叫夫人在前边领路。老夫人领路出了卧房后门，穿过一座套院，又进了一间小卧房，在床帐背后打开一个壁柜的门，取了里面的衣物，再打开一扇暗门，门后露出一条幽深的暗道来。老夫人举了手灯在前面领路，拐过地道，一转眼，他们看见地窖里那些装银子的瓷坛，看见躺在地铺上的刘兰亭。铺边木几上的油灯幽幽地亮着，刘兰亭的右手举在枕边，手中紧握了一支左轮手枪，苍白的脸侧向里面的石墙，太阳穴上一个恐怖的血洞正对着大家的眼睛，血洞的四周满是焦黑的火药烧痕。一只装银子的瓷坛被打开了，地铺旁有四个用银圆摆出来的大字，在灰暗的石板地上银光闪闪： 无颜以对 仿佛遭了雷劈，三个人顿时惊呆了。 刘三公指着那支从没见过的乌亮的手枪，颤声问道：“宝儿，你七哥手里拿的啥子东西？”“爸，七哥拿的是手枪……” “他哪里来的手枪？……他的手枪啷个会打在自己头上……是哪个来把我七郎打死了的？……是哪一个？……除了我和你妈，再没得第二个人晓得他藏在这里……” “爸，七哥是自己开的枪……”