Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty-nine

It has been a year since Beijing fell. The nine palaces in the Forbidden City have lost their luster.The national flags of Britain, the United States, Japan, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, and Austria are still hung in front of Tiananmen Square, complementing the white flags all over the city. The entire capital seems to be a body that has lost its soul, empty, empty, and lifeless. Outside the Zhengyang Gate, the area around Dashilan is still a piece of rubble, and the whole city is full of embers from the catastrophe, broken tiles and ruins, and devastated. The 200,000 Boxers scattered like birds and beasts in front of the foreign guns and cannons of the foreign soldiers and under the bullying of Cixi; the Wuwei King Army led by Rong Lu, except for Yuan Shikai's Wuwei Youjun far away in Shandong, had all collapsed. defeated.However, there are still gunshots and flames in the city of Beijing, and the unyielding Beijingers are still using various forms to deal with the Eight-Power Allied Forces, causing the enemy to leave corpses one after another.

The most ridiculous thing is those princes and ministers who used to show off their power. They lived a life of Hubainuo, bullied their own people with tricks and tricks, and were cruel, but they were silent and helpless in front of foreigners.After Hubu Shangshu Qixiu was captured by the Japanese army, he picked dung to feed the horses every day, and finally died by hanging.Chongqi, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, was led by the braids by the German soldiers, and paraded through the streets of the imperial city like a horse.After Prince Yi was captured, he first carried the dead body, and later he washed clothes for the officers and soldiers of the coalition forces.Xu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was tortured naked by the French soldiers, and countless other princes and ministers were humiliated.The saddest thing is that those royal concubines, ministers' wives and daughters are usually beautiful in golden houses, but at this time they are allowed to be raped by the officers and soldiers of the coalition army.

Even in the scorching summer, the sun shines all over the place, but Beijingers feel that the sun is so glaring, and the hot wind makes people breathless. At this moment, Majiabao in the southern suburbs is like a "Xanadu", without the interference of the coalition forces, immersed in the rural customs.For the past few days, Zhang San has been idle at home, using wine to pass the boring days.When the moonlight is still good and the cool breeze is blowing, the melon shed and bean stand is a good place to go.Under the shelf, the bluestone slabs and cobbled ground have unique lines, like a stroke of ink, which is long and obliterated.Folks in Majiabao sit on stools, cross-legged on mats, meditate on the ground, or lean on pillars.Zhang San took a big cattail fan and came under the shelf to enjoy the coolness. With his back bare, he leaned back on the bamboo chair, squinted his eyes, and swat the mosquitoes.Across from her, Mrs. Zhang was sitting on a small wooden bench, holding the soles of her shoes stitch by stitch by the sunlight. Her upper body was bare, and her two bag-like breasts were trembling...

Summer night, here is full of charm.The shady melon shed has become a place where anecdotes are released; the flying insects beating against the cattail fans, "crackling" and bumping into the body, as long as one person speaks, the daily jokes will come to the audience one by one. Performed in a calm and calm manner, with illness and slowness, step by step.Ladies are curious by nature. If you let them hold something as big as a sesame seed, it is like holding a watermelon. The ditches and ridges in the village, the branches and powers, will not make the villagers excited again. The crimes committed by the Eight-Power Allied Forces in Beijing It became the topic of this year, and people all fixed their shining eyes on Zhang San.

At this moment, Zhang San was talking unhurriedly, rubbing the mud between his ribs with his hands.He seems to be the "emperor" under the scaffolding at night, enjoying himself to get some water, speaking in all kinds of ways. Ladies are prone to gossip, one woman asked: "Do those foreign devils even want to torment the prince's wife?" Another woman asked: "I heard that they don't even let the 80-year-old old woman go, is this true?" Another woman said quietly: "I heard that the Boxers were sent by the Jade Emperor. I have never seen such a thing as foreign guns and cannons. When the guns fired, they all tumbling and flew into the sky..."

When Zhang San mentioned the tragedy of the Eight-Power Allied Forces killing the Chinese people, those women let out hissing cries, and suddenly the melon shed became a miserable world again.But when Zhang San narrated the plot of fighting against the foreign devils, the weeping women burst into smiles on their tearful brows, comforting and pressing. These days, Zhang San has become the focus of the comments of the villagers, and each of them is like a piece of cloud, which is a piece of warmth.Under the melon shed and bean shelf, it has become a harbor for rest. You warm me, and I warm you. They are one and the same, day and night, always relying on each other, sweeter than that wine, more mellow than wine!

That night, the "emperor" of Guapeng Dougjia was usurped, and the private school teacher at the east end of the village became the center of news dissemination. "Hey, our Chaoyan signed a treaty with the little ghosts of the Eight Kingdoms, paying 100 million taels of silver in compensation, and emptied our Chinese treasury. It's so shameful!" With heavy sighs, everyone's interest plummeted, and they jumped up and down. My heart beat even faster. With a sound of "Ba Da", the long cigarette pouch in Zhang San's hand was smashed into two pieces. The news that Mr. Private School narrated was not inaccurate. After a few days, the Eight-Power Allied Forces disappeared in Beijing, and the Empress Dowager Cixi began to listen to the government behind the curtain in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Living in Erdi, the increasingly emaciated Emperor Guangxu still wandered in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, but the treasury was much empty.

In early autumn in Beijing, the red leaves of Xiangshan are like a piece of blood, blurred... A few days later, after Zhang San heard the news that the Eight-Power Allied Forces had indeed withdrawn, he took his family back to live in Yangyi Hutong, Dongdan.Faced with the failure of the Boxer Movement, Wang Wu and Cheng Yanhua waited for their friends to sacrifice, Chuck, Li Cunyi and others did not know their whereabouts, Zhang San felt even more depressed, and he lived in seclusion at home every day, drinking to soothe his worries.This morning, Zhang San was wearing a white double-breasted jacket, holding the bamboo birdcage in his left hand, and a long cigarette pouch with a copper pot and white jade mouth newly bought in his right hand. past.

Several old people under the shade of the road bend saw him coming, and they all nodded in greeting: "Third Master, I'm free, sit here for a while." Zhang San smiled: "No problem! I'll go have a drink." At this time, a group of children playing on the side of the road yelled "San Ye" and crowded around Zhang San, pulling his arms and clothes, just like a group of little monkey cubs playing mischievously.A naughty little boy poked at Zhang San's ass.Zhang Sanqing exercised his supernatural power, his buttocks tightened inward, the little boy's hand seemed to be bitten by a tiger, and he broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, and hurriedly shouted: "Third Master, I don't dare, please forgive me! Zhang Sanyi relaxed, and the little boy's fingers pulled out, shaking and blowing the wind.Zhang San said to the little boy: "Your naughty boy is out of the loop. The third master is here to teach you to remember. If the third master tries hard, you will lose your little finger." After speaking, he walked forward again go.At this time, a person hurriedly came up to meet Zhang San, almost collided with Zhang San, Zhang San stepped away, and the person shouted in surprise: "Mr. Zhang, I'm looking for you." Zhang San looked up and saw that it was Mr. Luo Ying .Duke Luo Ying was wearing a brand-new smoke-colored satin robe with a white edge embroidered with broken jade, and a green woolen cap.

"Where did you hide in those days?" Zhang San put the birdcage on the ground, Luo Ying laughed and said, "I saw that you didn't come back all the time, and felt deserted, so I hid at a friend's house!" Zhang San held Luo Yinggong back: "Come on, let's go to the tavern for a drink." Luo Ying said: "I have something to ask you. My friend is the son of Wang Wenshao, a scholar of the Wenhua Palace, known as Young Master Shou. Before the Eight-Power Allied Forces came to Beijing, Wang Wenshao fled the city of Beijing and left him to guard at home. Recently, Young Master Shou's house Butler Bai was murdered, and Young Master Shou cried and cried all day long because of this. As a friend, I can't stand by and watch, and I want you to go to the nursing home and try to find the murderer."

Zhang San asked, "Where does Young Master Shou live?" "East Fourth". Zhang San and Luo Yinggong came to the scholar's mansion of Dongsi University, and Young Master Shou came out to welcome him after hearing about it.He was wearing a blue robe and a yellow waistcoat, with a pale face and dull eyes.After exchanging greetings, the three of them passed through the screen of mountains and rivers and entered the living room; Master Shou ordered the servants to serve fragrant tea, and then said with tears in his eyes, "My father has not been heard from since he fled. I don't know whether he is dead or alive. Butler Bai, who had been with our royal family for decades, was kidnapped and killed a few days ago." Luo Ying said, "Butler Bai's body was found in Huozikou in the eastern suburbs, and he was stabbed thirteen times in the chest, which is very tragic. " Zhang San asked: "Did Steward Bai offend anyone during his lifetime?" Luo Ying said fairly: "This man is quite decent, he never used his master's power to bully his subordinates, and Steward Bai didn't bring any treasure when he went out that day." Zhang San asked again: "Does Butler Bai have any contacts with outsiders?" Young Master Shou said: "He usually doesn't go out, and he has followed his father since he was twenty years old. He has never married a wife in his life..." From this day on, Zhang San stayed at the palace; Master Shou saw him drinking and playing cards in the mansion every day, yelling three times and four times, without any appearance of solving the case, gradually became suspicious.Thinking in my heart: It is said that the "drunk man" Zhang San's martial arts character is first-class in Kyoto, and he is also called a thaumaturgy in the Jianghu.But because Zhang San was recommended by Mr. Luo Ying, a good friend of Young Master Shou, he was not prone to seizures, so he had to swallow his anger and observe. That night, Young Master Shou suffered from diarrhea. The latrine was in the backyard. When he came to the backyard, he saw that the room where Zhang San lived was lit with candles. He thought, "It's so late, what the hell is Zhang San doing?"He came to the window of Zhang San's house with curiosity, and looked with his head. Zhang San was not in the house, and the bedding on the kang was messy.Young Master Shou came to the house and reached out to touch Zhang San's quilt, only to feel warm.He felt very strange, walked out, walked into the Sanjin courtyard, and saw Zhang San looking in from a beam. There were no candles in that room, and the room was pitch black.Young Master Shou is a little strange, everyone in the room is asleep, what is Zhang San looking at?That was the house of servants Cao Wu and Ma Liu. Young Master Shou suddenly heard some movement in the house, so he also moved over. At this moment, he heard Peng's sound, and there was the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.Zhang San escorted down and shouted to Young Master Shou, "Cao Wu is dead."After speaking, he ran in, and Young Master Shou followed in, stumbling over a limp corpse. Zhang San lit the candle, and saw Cao Wu smashed to death under the pillar in the house. Master Shou asked in panic, "What's going on?" Zhang Sandao said, "Cao Wu and Ma Liu are the murderers who killed Steward Bai. Six ran away, and I went after him." Ma Liu is a native of Hunan, short in stature, and the conversation with Cao Wu just now revealed that he ran to the southwest and wanted to escape back to his hometown in Hunan.Zhang San chased him out of the Zhangyi Gate, took advantage of the night and the sky, and used his "Shen Xing" Kungfu to walk quickly to the southwest.The trees on both sides flashed backwards, only the sound of "huhu" was heard in both ears, and the braid behind the head was inserted straight into the back of the head like a steel whip.Without much effort, Zhang San chased him to Changxindian. Changxindian is an important town in the southwest of Beijing and a transportation hub between the north and the south.Although the few hotels in the town were in the turbulent years, they did not appear to be depressed.Zhang San came to the town and inquired about the hotels at Zhenbeikou one by one. Later, he heard from a hotel clerk that a person with a Hunan accent had just stayed.Zhang San came to the guest room where this person lived, and looked in through the window. Under the candlelight, a small man was sitting restlessly on the edge of the Kang. Wearing a black cloth shirt, he was in a daze.