Chapter 10 chapter Ten

He didn't know how long he slept, but Wang Jianhua woke up vaguely from his dream and found himself sitting against a wall.The eyelids were so tired that they couldn't stand up, and the head seemed to be heavy with lead, drooping on his shoulders.Gradually, his sense of smell began to recover, only to feel a damp and rancid smell rushing into his nostrils, making people sick and uncomfortable.After a while, Wang Jian slightly opened his eyes, and there was darkness in front of his eyes.After slowly adapting to the dark environment, I realized that I was in a prison cell.With a faint light from the far end of the cell, Wang Jian found that Jin Hui was also locked up with him, curled up in a corner and fell asleep.

"Guangyuan, wake up!" Wang Jian dragged his tired body, crawled up to Jin Hui and shook his arm.After a while, Jin Hui murmured like a nightmare, "Mynah, where are we?" "Wake up quickly, we are thrown into a big prison!" These words were like pouring cold water on Jin Hui's head, he shook his head desperately, trying to wake himself up.Wang Jian helped him sit up, and Jin Hui asked, "I can't even remember what happened, how did I get here?" "I just remember that we were drinking in the hotel, we seemed to be drunk..." Wang Jian's words suddenly reminded Jin Hui of something, and he exclaimed, "I remember! That shopkeeper—"

"You said you looked familiar." "We fought against him! Outside Wuyang City, that man was escorting the prison cart with Chen Deguang!" "How...how is this possible, how can it be such a coincidence?" "That's right!" Jin Hui said with certainty, "That's him. He was guarding the side of the prison car at the time, and I fought him for several rounds!" "Hi!" Wang Jian said with a wry smile, "It's really a narrow road to Yuanjia. We never dreamed that we would run into someone else's hands." "Brother, you killed Chen Deguang. I guess that man wanted to avenge his master and sent us to the government."

"Well...so, we are now thrown into a big prison." Wang Jian also came back to his senses at this moment, "But this person is quite righteous, if he wipes us out with a knife, we still don't know how to get there when we get to the underworld. !" "Hey! It's all because of me. If you didn't follow me, you wouldn't be like this now. This time it's in someone else's hands. I'm afraid it's a near death or a lifetime." "What are you talking about? If you didn't insist on robbing the prison car with us at that time, you wouldn't..."

"Don't talk about it, starling!" Jin Hui interrupted Wang Jian, "This encounter between you and my brother is fate. This is our catastrophe. If we can get out alive, we will be inseparable in this life; Here, it can be regarded as the brotherhood..." "Well said!" Wang Jian was a little moved, "I, Wang Jian, have you as a life-and-death friend in this life, and I will die without regret!" After several days in a row, Wang Jian and Wang Jian were kept in prison. The two meals a day were not rich, but they were also a combination of meat and vegetables, which did not look like prisoners' meals at all.From the mouth of the jailer who delivered the meal, I found out that this is the Xuzhou Prison, and it turned out that they were escorted here by the shopkeeper of the wine shop.

Two days later, after eating, the two guards opened the cell and shouted, "Wang Jian, Jin Hui! The lord will be interrogated!" Wearing heavy shackles, Wang Jian walked up to the court step by step under the leadership of the jailer. "Those who kneel, give their names and surnames!" "Wang Jian." "Jin Hui." "After investigation by the government, the two of you hijacked important criminals from the imperial court outside Wuyang City last year, and killed eight officials from the imperial court. Do you two plead guilty?" Wang Jian laughed, and said calmly, "My lord, I robbed the prison van and killed the man. How to deal with it is up to you."

"It's a man. Come here! Give me a hard 20 board first!" Jin Hui was startled, and cursed: "Dog officer! If you kill him, you can kill him, don't torture us!" Fu Yin was about to get angry, when suddenly, a man dressed as a prison officer walked around behind the table and said in a low voice, "My lord, is it inappropriate to use torture like this?" "Oh? What's wrong?" "My lord, forgive me for speaking bluntly. Although these two prisoners committed capital crimes with their lives on their backs, they are members of the loyal military army. On one side is Eunuch Tian in the palace, and on the other is Eunuch Yang, the loyal military supervisor. My lord, the two sides It’s not a big deal to offend!”

"This..." Fu Yin frowned tightly.The prison officer's words reminded him suddenly that it was the time of war, and the Zhongwu Army had repeatedly made meritorious deeds. If these two people were killed rashly, it would be easy for the palace to explain, but it would be difficult for Yang Fuguang to explain. "In your opinion, what should it be?" "In my humble opinion, these two people can be temporarily imprisoned, and my lord will send someone to report to the palace. If the palace asks them to be escorted to the capital, everything will be fine; if they are ordered to be executed on the spot, it will not be too late. But before , if they are punished, I am afraid that adults will be deeply passive."

"Hmm...that makes sense. Someone come—put Wang Jian and Jin Hui in prison. Retire!" Wang Jian and Jin Hui only saw the prison officer go up and mutter a few words to Fu Yin, but they couldn't make out what he said.But then Fu Yin changed his mind about execution, which somewhat surprised them. The two were sent back to the prison again, and the iron door of the cell was closed coldly with a bang, and the characteristic damp and rancid smell permeated the air again. "Guangyuan, do you know that person?" "You mean the prison officer?...I don't know..."

"Strange, I always feel that he said something nice for us in front of Fu Yin, so we escaped this catastrophe." "Ah... just temporarily escaped the pain of flesh and blood... I don't know if we can get out from here..." At this moment, the big iron door of the cell in the distance was heard creaking and being opened again, and then, footsteps The sound came from far and near. "Open the door, I want to interrogate these two people." A voice came from outside the single cell.Immediately, the jailer took the key from his waist and unscrewed the rusty iron lock of the cell door.The figure of the person who spoke just now flashed in.

"Give me the key, you go down first, and watch outside the gate. I will call you if something happens." The same person was still talking.With the weak light in the cell, Wang Jian quickly recognized that the speaker was the prison officer who had just persuaded the governor in the courtroom. The cell door was locked again.The two guards left at the behest of the prison officer.When the sound of the two people's footsteps faded away, the prison officer suddenly turned around and knelt down in front of Wang Jian and Jin Hui: "You two benefactors have suffered!" This sudden action confused the two of them, Jin Hui quickly helped the prison officer up, and asked, "We are both guilty of crimes, why is the officer so generous?" The prison officer got up, looked at Jin Hui gratefully, and replied: "The two benefactors may not know me, but they have saved my brother, that is, my benefactor!" "Oh?" Wang Jian asked strangely, "What is your elder brother's name?" "My surname is Meng, and my elder brother's name is Yanfan." Jin Hui suddenly realized that the prison officer standing in front of him was the brother of the wealthy businessman he met on the way to Wuyang.When rescuing Zhang Jie outside Wuyang City, he accidentally discovered that Meng Yanfan was also in the prison car, so he rescued Yanfan.After that, he escaped with Wang Jian, and Meng Yanfan and Li Shitai escaped together.After that, they never asked Shi Tai and others about Yan Fan's whereabouts.Back then, saving people was a matter of little effort, but they never imagined that the world would be so small. "I don't know how to address the official?" Wang Jian asked. "You don't need to be so polite, just call me by my first name. My name is Meng Yanhui, and I'm the third son in my family. Others call me Sanlang." Jin Hui asked again: "I don't know how Brother Ling is doing. How did he end up in Chen Deguang's prison car?" "Oh, I have to start from the beginning..." Meng Yanhui sighed, and then explained the whole story, "The two benefactors don't know something. I am originally from Jiangnan, and there are three brothers in my family. The second brother died early. After my parents passed away, only my elder brother and I were left to depend on each other. My family background was a merchant, and my father left a legacy for me and my elder brother to make a living. My elder brother’s family has become richer. Who would have thought that I was not born to be a businessman? Unexpectedly, after two years, I lost everything. I happened to come to Xuzhou at that time, and I couldn’t pay the money for the hotel, and I couldn’t even afford the food. The shopkeeper of the inn lamented my bad luck and recommended me to work in the Xuzhou prison. As a prison guard, not only can he earn a living, but he is often run by relatives and friends of the prisoner. Apart from his monthly salary, he can also have some pocket money. "Later, my elder brother knew about my situation and wanted to help me, so he asked me to help him in his shop. It's a pity, firstly, I knew that I was not the material, secondly, come on, even though we are brothers, I feel like I am relying on others. It’s not very glorious. I still feel at ease in Xuzhou Prison. A few years have passed, and now I am the warden of this prison. Don’t be afraid of the jokes of the two benefactors. Although the official rank is not high, the power in my hands is Not too small!" Speaking of this, Wang Jian suddenly understood: "Brother Meng must have taken extra care of our daily good meals after the two of us went to prison!" "You two are the benefactors of my Meng family. How can you neglect me when you come to me?" Meng Yanhui continued, "Last year, my brother went to Wuyang to do a big business. On the way back to Luoyang, I was lucky enough to meet General Jin. But after you broke up That night, he lodged in an inn. He never thought that this inn was a black shop. The owner of the shop was a big local family named Niu. The shopkeeper of this shop might have seen that he was carrying a lot of gold and silver, so he had a bad idea , put Mongolian sweat medicine in the meal, knocked down my brother, and robbed all the money. Originally they planned to do nothing but harm my brother, but it happened that one of Chen Deguang's subordinates passed by, saying that the magistrate of Wuyang County was worried that he could not make enough money The prisoners demanded by the imperial court happened to be filled with him. In this way, my brother was taken to Wuyang and locked up with the martyr Zhang Jie. Later, thanks to En Gong hijacking the prison car halfway, my brother was able to survive. The elder brother fled to Xuzhou Finally, they found me and told me about the past. Later, I heard that the two benefactors had killed Chen Deguang. It was really heart-warming! This really saved the local people from harm! My brother wanted to find benefactors several times, but there was no way. Later, I heard that Engong wiped out the grass army in Yizhou and became famous all over the world. My brother was relieved and went back to Xuzhou soon. I never dreamed that the two benefactors would meet It’s hard to get here. Even if I risk my life, I will save you!” When Jin Hui heard it, he was overjoyed: "If you are saved, you will never forget your great kindness in this life. But, how can Brother Meng save you?" "Oh, I'm also worried about this matter. Xuzhou prison is heavily guarded. Although I can let benefactors out of this prison door, there are still heavy guards outside. Since the two benefactors came, I have tried my best. The brain is helpless. Therefore, I can only try to make you suffer less. Today I came here to discuss this matter with you. I have made up my mind that I will risk my life and protect you from the death row. .” Wang Jian asked worriedly: "But once we leave, you won't be able to stay here any longer." "Hey, as long as I can save you guys, what do I care about? I've already thought about it. If you can escape, I'll flee to Luoyang to join my brother. But, the three of us, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to escape from here!" Speaking of this, a spark of hope flashed in Meng Yanhui's eyes, "Grandfather, you are all locals, if you can find more than a dozen brothers with good skills as outsiders, you won't have to worry about getting out!" "That's right, starling..." Jin Hui said, "When we led the Zhongwu Army to Yizhou, Zhou Dequan didn't go with us because of family matters. If he can find help, we can go out!" "Let me think about it..." The words of Meng Yanhui and Jin Hui gave Wang Jian a glimmer of hope, "I think of someone!" "Brother, who is it?" "Do you still remember, I mentioned to you before that the source of our private salt sales is obtained from a man named Li Jian. Although I have never met him, I heard from Shi Tai that this man is very skilled. He is also very prestigious in the Xuzhou area, he has dozens of brothers under him, if he is willing to take action, let alone the Xuzhou Prison, he would dare to rob even the Heavenly Prison in the Eastern Capital!" "Great! Did Zhou Dequan know him?" "Zhou Dequan's family is in Xuzhou, and I met him once when I was picking up goods with Shitai." When Meng Yanhui heard that he had hope, he became more energetic: "So, as long as I go and find this Zhou Dequan, he will be able to invite Li Jian?" Wang Jian shook his head: "Difficult! I heard from Shi Tai that although Li Jian is a man of the green forest, he is greedy for money. Zhou Dequan has suffered a lot with me these years, but he has not gained much benefit. Presumably his family also I can't come up with the money to invite Li Jian out of the mountain." Meng Yanhui asked anxiously: "How much money do I need? I'll borrow it and make it up. In the future, my brother will be able to pay off the debt for me!" Jin Hui suddenly asked: "Brother Meng, when the two of us were tied up in the prison, did you know where the sword I was carrying was?" "Yes! At that time, Fu Yin looked at the sword and said that it was just an ordinary sharp sword, and he left it in Xuzhou's warehouse. I happen to have the key to the warehouse!" "Okay! Brother Meng, please bring this sword to Zhou Dequan and ask him to give it to Li Jian. Li Jian has been around for many years, and he should know that this sword is extraordinary. With this sword, he should be able to make a match." save." "This..." Meng Yanhui had a troubled face. He heard from his elder brother Meng Yanfan that at that time, all the money on his elder brother's body was not exchanged for this treasure. Now it is so easy to give it away, and he feels really sorry. Jin Hui saw Meng Yanhui's concerns, and persuaded him: "Brother Meng, I also don't want to part with this sword. But money is something outside of me, as long as he can rescue me, what is more valuable than a life?" "Yes, yes, yes..." Meng Yanhui nodded.Later, Wang Jian told Yan Hui about Zhou Dequan's residence in Xuzhou.Meng Yanhui took out the key in his pocket, unscrewed the iron door of the prison cell, and locked the door behind him. He clasped his fists at Wang Jian and Jin Hui: "You two benefactors will suffer here for a few more days!" After speaking, he turned around and left quickly. ... After Meng Yanhui left, the small cell returned to the cold and damp feeling.The two of them sat again among the scattered firewood. From time to time, one or two mice came out to look for food. "Guangyuan, I didn't expect that your sword can go through so many stories..." "Brother, do you think Zhou Dequan can really call Li Jian?" "Should be able to!" Wang Jian's voice was not loud, but he was very firm, "He has been with me for many years, brother, if he knows that I am suffering here, he will try his best to come here, this kid is the most loyal!" "Oh, yes, he didn't go to Yizhou with us last year, I heard it was to take care of his sister." "He is also a poor child. He lost his parents since he was a child, and his sister brought him up. Later, when his sister got married, he was alone, so he sold salt with us. It is said that the year before last he His brother-in-law passed away, and before he left, he still owed a huge debt. He paid off the debts of his dead brother-in-law with all the money he had accumulated over the years, but he still couldn’t worry about his sister. A widow with a child, life is hard Baba. Alas! When I went to Yizhou, I wanted to call him, but he said: "If there is a war, people will die. I am not afraid of death. I am afraid that my sister will not be taken care of when I die. Starling, Dequan this I won’t be able to go with you this time. If my sister finds a good family and remarries, I will definitely come to you!'” "It's rare to have such a loving person!" Wang Jian and Wang Jian leaned on each other like this, chatting all the time and waiting at the same time.Days and nights passed, and days were never as long as they are now.Sometimes, the strong wind outside blows the big iron gate in the distance and makes a sound, and both of them will lean their heads to look around.They really hoped that Meng Yanhui would show up again soon. At night again, it seemed that there was a strong wind outside, and a trace of cold squeezed through the skylight made them shiver uncontrollably.The two of them curled up in a corner of the cell, gathered all the firewood together, and spread it on their bodies to barely resist the cold.It was late at night, and just as Wang Jian felt sleepy, he heard the sound of the cell door being unlocked.He jumped up suddenly, and sure enough, he saw Meng Yanhui's familiar figure. Meng Yanhui raised a finger to signal him to be quiet, then made another gesture of beckoning, and then disappeared from Wang Jian's sight.Wang Jian hurriedly shook Jin Hui awake, and the two brothers tiptoed out of the small cell one after the other.Outside the cell was a long corridor leading to the iron gate of the big prison. At the end of the corridor, Meng Yanhui was waving to them. As soon as he stepped out of the iron gate of Xuzhou Prison, Wang Jian had never felt that the air was so pure.In the second half of the night, the wind eased, and the icy moonlight covered the ground, making people feel colder and colder.Not far away is the gate to enter the prison courtyard, as long as you go out of that gate, you can completely regain your freedom. Meng Yanhui lowered his voice and said: "Grandfather, Zhou Dequan has already made arrangements. When there is a fight outside the prison later, you all rush out while there is chaos!" Wang Jian asked: "What about you, you go out with us too!" "You go first, in case something goes wrong, I can still mediate here for a while." "No, it's too dangerous to stay here, let's go together!" "Don't worry, benefactor. You run away, they are all focused on you, and they won't be able to find me for a while. At this time, it is safest for me to stay here. When you are all right, I will find a way to get out !" At this moment, torches were lit outside the gate of the prison courtyard, and several guards just shouted: "Someone is robbing the prison!" The wooden door was split open, and a dozen big men came in with steel knives. "Engong, go!" Meng Yanhui said while pushing Wang Jian and Jinhui away. At this moment, Wang Jian couldn't help feeling overwhelmed, wondering how to thank Meng Yanhui.Suddenly, he remembered something, tore off a corner of the prison uniform, and handed it to Yan Hui, with gratitude in his eyes: "This time in prison, the two of us have never been tortured. If we can survive today, it is all thanks to your help." Already! If I, Wang Jian, can become the county magistrate in the future or don’t drive, I will never forget the great kindness of the Lord. This skirt should be a token!” After finishing speaking, Wang Jian clasped his hands and led Jinhui to the prison gate rushed outside... As soon as the two ran out, they heard a call: "Mynah!"