Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

Looking along the sound, the crackling torch reflected the familiar face of Zhou Dequan.At that moment, it was no less exciting than seeing a loved one.Seeing that Wang Jian and Wang Jian had escaped, Zhou Dequan threw the torch in his hand viciously into the courtyard of the prison. In no time, the weeds in the courtyard were ignited and a raging flame burst into flames.The city of Xuzhou was already silent, only the moonlight in the sky softly illuminated the earth.Zhou Dequan led Wang Jian and Jin Hui straight to Beicheng. "Someone escaped from prison!" "Catch them!"...

Behind them, more and more prison guards gathered, but just now, the dozen or so big men with steel knives were one against ten, firmly blocking their way of chasing Wang Jian and others.Not long after, the three of them ran to Beicheng.The city gates were half-closed, and two masked men were waiting beside the two city gates, one on the left and one on the right.Among them, the tall, thin, masked man on the left asked, "Which one is Wang Guangtu?" Wang Jian hurriedly clasped his fists in salute: "It's next." Under the bright moon in deep winter, the tall and thin man looked Wang Jian up and down, and said with emotion: "Sure enough, he is heroic!" Pushing half of the door open a crack: "Hero, you take a step first, and we will meet again in the future."

The three of them didn't recognize the tall and thin man in front of him, Wang Jian thought that this should be one of Li Jian's subordinates, so he cupped his fists and returned the salute: "Thank you righteous man!" After finishing speaking, he stepped out of the city gate.The three of them were speechless all the way, and under the leadership of Zhou Dequan, they ran for a distance of twenty miles, and a village appeared in front of them.Zhou Dequan stopped at the entrance of the village, breathed heavily and said to Wang Jian, "Brother, we're home." It was the fifth watch at this time, and a thin ray of light appeared on the eastern horizon.Wang Jian looked around and found that he had never been to this place.

"Dequan, when did you move here?" "I live in Nancheng. After I returned to Xuzhou last year, I found an apartment for my sister here. There are few people living in this village, and the location is relatively remote. I brought you here. The prefect of Xuzhou is looking for , It’s also hard to think of this place. Starlings, Brother Jin, you will be wronged here for a while in the past two days to avoid the limelight. After I find out where the Zhongwu Army is, I will arrange for you to leave here. Can you take a look? " "It's good...it's just that it's not convenient for your sister to live here..."

"Brother, you and Brother Jin are not outsiders, let's avoid it for now, don't worry too much!" "Okay." Wang Jian and Jin Hui nodded in agreement. Bypassing the thatched huts at the east end of the village, Zhou Dequan stepped forward and knocked on the door: "Sister, Dequan is back!" After a while, the door opened, and a half-sized child came out. Said: "Uncle, you haven't seen me for a long time!" Zhou Dequan happily scratched his little nephew's nose and said, "Why do you get up so early, where's your mother?" "It's in the back room."

As he spoke, Zhou Dequan picked up the child and called Wang Jian and Jin Hui to enter. The inside of the house was a little dark, and a tung oil lamp was lit in one corner, and the dilapidated thatched cottage could be seen clearly by the light.The house is not very big, and there are two huts lined up in the north-south direction. The outside one looks empty except for the stove for lighting the fire. The dilapidated table with the oil lamp in the corner seems to be the only furnishing in the house. While talking, the curtain of the back room was opened, and a woman came out.Dequan rushed forward happily: "Sister, look who is here!" He said, and led Wang Jian into the room sideways, "This is the myna Wang Guangtu I often mentioned to you. This is myna's good friend , Brother Jin Guangyuan Jin."

The woman smiled generously at Wang Jian: "I often hear Dequan mentioning you... Oh, my house is so dilapidated, don't dislike it, just stay here for a while." The peaceful and friendly tone seemed like the warm wind in winter, and Wang Jian couldn't help but feel warm in his heart: "Thank you, big sister!" "Brother," said De Quan, seeing that Wang Jian had calmed down, "you stay here for two days, and I have to go to Nancheng to meet Li Dalang." "Now? No! It's too dangerous now!" When he heard that De Quan was going to find Li Jian, Wang Jian pulled him back and said worriedly.

"Brother don't worry, they should be counting the big prison now, no one will notice me. Besides, Li Dalang and the others have killed all night, and they don't know what's going on. You can't go out right now, but I don't know what to do. Go ask." The woman also said: "Let De Quan go, he is an adult now, I don't worry." Seeing what the woman said, Wang Jian had no choice but to tell Dequan to be careful, and sent him out of the cottage again. Dequan left, and it was already daylight.After tossing and tossing for a whole night, Jin Hui curled up tiredly in a corner of the room, and Wang Jian squatted aside, feeling his eyelids twitching.The woman hurriedly said: "If you are sleepy, go to the back room and sleep for a while."

"Whatever it is, we can just take a nap here, it's fine." "That's right." Jin Hui also felt that it was inconvenient to rest in the woman's back room, so he took the initiative to gather some hay in the room and pile it together in a corner.Then, he curled up on the haystack and beckoned Wang Jian to come over.Seeing this, the woman couldn't persuade her anymore, she got up and went into the back room, and after a while, she took out a somewhat worn-out jacket and covered the two of them.Jin Hui was so sleepy that he fell asleep as soon as he touched the ground.Wang Jian also fell asleep. Although the room was still a bit chilly, he hadn't been lying down so comfortably for half a month. There was no disgusting smell in the cell. For the first time, he felt like sleeping at home.Not long after, the snores of the two big men lingered in the thatched cottage one after another.

He didn't know how long he had slept for, but Wang Jian suddenly felt a rush of hot air, like a charcoal fire, and the stiff sweat pores all over his body opened slightly and comfortably.He thought it was a dream, but there was indeed a pungent smell of charcoal in his nostrils.He opened his eyes slightly, and sure enough, the woman was squatting by the brazier and lighting a fire. "Did it wake you up?" "Oh...no...we both came here and caused you trouble..." Wang Jian spoke from his heart.After wandering for so many years, no one has ever taken care of himself like this.

"Look where you said... Speaking of which, you are the savior of my family!" The woman said while flicking the charcoal with tongs, "After the death of my head of the family, the debt owed to my wife I can’t afford to pay it back in this life. I brought up Dequan, a child who wanted to help me wholeheartedly, but where can I get so much money? Bodhisattva bless him, he can get to know a hero like you, although he is doing business with the court It’s against the law, but my family’s hurdles are over. I’m not afraid of your jokes, although the family is so poor that they have nothing, but they feel that they are living a solid life, at least they can fill their stomachs.” Wang Jian nodded, thinking that if Zhou Dequan hadn't managed this time, he and Jin Hui would have died in prison.Although Meng Yanhui was also benevolent and righteous, but after all, he was a lowly official, and it would be as difficult as climbing the sky to get the two of them out of the prison.The woman continued to fiddle with the charcoal fire with pliers, and there were crackling sounds from the brazier from time to time.Suddenly a piece of charcoal burst from the fire, bounced out, and fell on the cold floor, the burning charcoal instantly turned red.Wang Jian stretched out his hand, twisted it up with two fingers, and quickly threw it into the brazier. "Is it burning?" the woman asked with concern. "It's okay." Wang Jian smiled, patted his fingers, raised his head and met the woman's eyes.This was the first time he looked at this woman, and he couldn't help but thump in his heart: he probably didn't expect such a delicate and dignified woman to exist in such a poor family.This woman looks about thirty years old. Although she has experienced too many hardships, her hands have already worn out the old skin, but the skin on her face is well maintained. Under the firelight, it is glowing red, which is very touching. . The woman showed a bit of reserve at this moment, got up and said: "You have slept all day, you must be hungry, I will cook some food..." Then she got busy on her own.Not long after, the smell of vegetable soup came from the room.Jin Hui also woke up at this time, and the two helped the woman steam a few more blackened sorghum noodle buns. Spend the next two days in peace.Although he ate the simplest farm meals and fell asleep on a haystack, Wang Jian felt more secure than ever.Here, he can vaguely recall the warmth of home when his mother was alive when he was a child-years of wandering, he seems to have forgotten it long ago. It's another day. "Guangyuan, how many days have we lived here?" "Five days." "Zhou Dequan should be back!" Wang Jian was faintly worried. "Myna, don't worry, just wait a little longer. This kid Dequan is very shrewd, he can deal with ordinary big and small things, and nothing will happen." Wang Jian nodded, stroking the disheveled beard on his chin with his hand, as if he said to himself: "It's not a problem for us to stay here. I want to wait for De Quan to come back and ask about the situation outside. leave here." "Where are you going? Back to the Zhongwu Army?" Wang Jian was silent for a long time, then shook his head: "I'm afraid the Zhongwu Army won't be able to go back... When we left, we kept it from the supervising army. At that time, we wanted to come and go quickly, so we couldn't miss anything. Stay in the big prison. This way, the supervising army will not be able to deal with the magistrate; on the other hand, if we go back like this, the brothers below will not be convinced..." Just as he was talking, someone knocked on the door.Zhou carefully opened half of the door, saw the people outside the door clearly, and then let go of a dangling heart.As soon as the door opened, it was indeed Zhou Dequan who came in, and behind him were two strangers.Seeing that several men might discuss important matters, Mrs. Zhou led the child into the inner room.Wang Jian carefully looked at the two people behind Zhou Dequan. To his surprise, they were all young people who seemed to be about the same age as Zhou Dequan.One of them was tall and thin, about twenty-four or five years old, with a light beard on his lips, and his face was bookish, but there was a sense of arrogance of a martial artist between his brows.The other one seemed to be younger, in his early twenties, with a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, a high nose bridge, sharp facial features and a bit handsome. Zhou Dequan pointed to the young strong man and said, "Myna, this is Changge's famous Iron Fist Li Dalang." Wang Jian was taken aback.It turned out that Li Dalang, the Iron Fist of Changge County that Zhou Dequan mentioned was Li Jian.Ever since Wang Jian started his private salt business, Li Jian has always been his top source of supply.Although he had also heard from Shi Tai and De Quan that this Li Dalang was young and promising and well-known in the Changge area, but he guessed that Li Jian was also his age.It was the first time we met today, and he never expected that this legendary character, who was so popular in the legend, was actually a half-grown doll in his eyes. Li Jian, on the other hand, seemed to be very well behaved, and saluted Wang Jian: "I have heard of the reputation of starlings for a long time, but I have never met each other. I never thought that you and I would be here today." Then he said to Jin Hui: "This It should be Jin Guangyuan?" Then, he took off the sword from his waist, handed it back to Jin Hui with both hands, and said, "Brother Guangyuan, this is your sword. At that time Dequan came to me and said that you two People are in trouble, and I need my help, Li Jian. Dequan sent the sword and said it was a reward. Although I, Li Jian, love money, this is your weapon, and I dare not take it no matter what!" Jin Hui didn't take the sword, and smiled knowingly: "There is no repayment for the grace of life and death. Jin Hui has no gold and silver, only this sword with him. Da Lang desperately rescued him, I should show it." Li Jian stopped smiling, and said seriously: "Brother Guangyuan said that, you are looking down on me!" "Otherwise," Jin Hui waved his hand, still determined not to take back the sword, "you and I are destined to meet today, this sword is not a rare item, it is my gift to you. If Dalang is willing to make friends with Jin Hui This friend, accept this sword." Li Jian laughed loudly: "Cheer up! Since brother Guangyuan said so, then I accept this sword! You friend, I also hand it over!" Then, he said to Wang Jian: "Myna, that day Dequan came! He came to me and said that the matter was very urgent. It happened that there were only nine brothers around me, and the number seemed a little small. It happened that Brother Zuo Shi was there that day, so I asked him for help. Without him, it would have been difficult to do that night!" , pointed at the tall and thin man behind him, and introduced, "This is Xuzhou Han Zuoshi. It is said that Xuzhou's 'Second Construction' is a dragon and tiger hero. It is a god-sent opportunity for myna and Zuoshi to meet today!" Wang Jian had also heard that there was a Han Jian in Xuzhou who was good at wielding a silver flower gun and was quite skilled in martial arts, so he did not expect to meet him today.Han Jian clenched his fists at Wang Jian and chuckled, "I heard that Brother Guangtu and Brother Guangyuan are powerful in Yizhou, and they are honored to visit you today. It is really a blessing for three lives!" Wang Jian soon recognized the man's voice, It was the masked martyr who opened the city gate to him that night.Immediately, the five people were drawn closer.Zhou Dequan lit a brazier, sat on the ground with the other four, and chatted with each other like old friends. "How is the front line?" Wang Jian was very concerned about the movement of the rebel army, because it was closely related to the fate of the loyal army. "During the time you have been trapped, the world has changed a lot." Sure enough, Han Jian's words surprised Wang Jian and Jin Hui.Han Jian continued: "Wang Xianzhi, the leader of the No. 1 grass bandit, was killed. Now Huang Chao has merged the grass army into one, and continues to fight north and south, invading prefectures and counties." "Wang Xianzhi is dead?" Jin Hui asked in surprise. "The imperial court asked Yang Fuguang, the supervisor of the Zhongwu Army, to lobby Wang Xianzhi. Wang Xianzhi already had the intention of recruiting peace, and he submitted seven petitions to Song Wei to surrender, but the imperial court did not receive any of them." Han Jian used his calm strategy Said in a hoarse voice. "Could it be that Song Wei dared to lower the pressure and not send it?" "Exactly! I guess, Song Wei was afraid that after Wang Xianzhi surrendered, he would shake off those shady things that he had encircled and did not suppress before. Not long after, Wang Xianzhi was once again seduced by the high-ranking official Houlu, and sent Shang Junchang Waiting for someone to go to Chang'an to ask for surrender. After Song Wei knew the news, he even sent troops to capture Shang Junchang and his party in Yingzhou, sent them to Chang'an, and lied that he had fought with Shang Junchang and others and captured them alive." Wang Jian said angrily: "Song Wei deceives the emperor, how can he be worthy of commanding the world's soldiers and horses!" "So, after the Zhongwu Supervisor Yang learned about it, he played continuously to show that Shang Junchang and others were indeed ordered by Wang Xianzhi to ask for surrender. It's a pity that although the little emperor sent investigations several times, finally under Song Wei's strict arrangements There is nothing left to do. Shang Jun and others are also being executed in Chang'an." "Then what happened next?" "Shang Jun died, and Wang Xianzhi fought back in a rage. Not long ago, Song Wei sent people to fight Wang Xianzhi in Huangmei County, Qizhou. Who would have thought that the 50,000-strong army of the war grass was wiped out. Wang Xianzhi went into battle with a sword in hand, and died in the chaos because of being outnumbered." Listening to Han Jian's narration, Wang Jian felt an ominous premonition: the deaths of Wang Xianzhi and Shang Junchang undoubtedly conveyed a clear message to the rebel army. Signal - There is no way out but a bloody battle.Now that Huang Chao is in power, the Tang Dynasty is about to face a more arduous war. "Thank you, Satoshi, for bringing us this news." "Thank you in advance, I have another news to tell you." "Oh? Tell me!" "To tell you the truth, I'm taking my father's job now. I'm listening to Duke Qin, the governor of Caizhou, and guarding the Marquis of the Huaixi Army." When Wang Jian was in the Zhongwu Army, he heard the governor Yang Fuguang mention Qin Zongquan, the governor of Caizhou. Know that this is a cunning, cunning and cruel person.It turned out that Han Jian was Qin Zongquan's subordinate!Han Jian continued: "Duke Qin admired the two names a long time ago. After knowing that the two were in trouble in Xuzhou, he specially told me that when the court employs people, how can a hero regret being imprisoned. If the two are willing, Follow me to Caizhou, the two officials will not be inferior to me. As for Xuzhou, you don't have to worry, Qin Gong will tell his superiors and give you two a chance to redeem your mistakes. I don't know, starling How do you agree with Brother Jin?" Wang Jian secretly rejoiced: It would be a good plan if he could temporarily live under Qin Zongquan's family, and then join Yang Fuguang when he had the opportunity.So, Wang Jian pretended to be surprised, stood up and said to Han Jian, "Oh, Wang Jian has nothing to repay such a great kindness!" Seeing that Wang Jian agreed to defect to Caizhou, Han Jian also said happily: "It's so good. Starling, Brother Jin, you can clean up tonight. I will send someone to pick you up early tomorrow morning. If there are other heroes who are willing to join us You go together, Qin Gonggong is recruiting talented people, and all comers will not be rejected!" Hearing this, Li Jian also got up and clasped his fists at Wang Jianyi: "Brother, Li Jian is willing to go to Caizhou with you, and I will spare no expense!" In this way, several people agreed to meet at the east end of the village early the next morning.Wang Jian, Jin Hui and Zhou Dequan sent Han Jian and Li Jian to the entrance of the village all the way, and then reluctantly waved goodbye.After the two left, Wang Jian stood motionless at the entrance of the village, watching their backs go away, and once again fell into deep thoughts. "Brother, what are you thinking?" Zhou Dequan asked. "Dequan, why don't you come with us. I'm always worried that you are alone in Xuzhou." "Brother, this matter..." Zhou Dequan hesitated to speak, "You also know that I have no father or mother since I was a child, and my sister has worked hard to bring me up like a mother. This is the only sister! If I leave , she has a child, how can she survive these days? Mynah, don't blame me for not following you, I was thinking, when I find a good family for my sister to marry, her mother and son will have enough food and clothing, I will Looking for you! From all over the world, no matter where you and brother Jin are, I will find you!" Wang Jian pursed his lips and nodded.He thought to himself, in this troubled world, there are too few people like Zhou Dequan who know how to repay kindness and value love and righteousness!He thought of Zhou Dequan's sister, and the warm feeling of home in the past few days. Suddenly, an impulse came to him, and he couldn't help saying to Zhou Dequan: "Dequan, go back and tell Sister Zhou, just say Wang Jian Gao Pan, willing to marry her." Zhou Dequan shook his head again and again, thinking that he had heard it wrong: "Brother, how did this happen? You are an indomitable hero, and my elder sister is a widow with a child. How can she be worthy of you?" After hearing this, Wang Jian's face There was a happy smile on his face: "Dequan, I speak from the heart. I am not afraid of your jokes. I have traveled all over the years and met many women, but there are very few women like your sister who can manage the house and understand the principles. How can I, Wang Jian, be worthy of virtue? If you say I am not worthy, I am not worthy!" As he said, he put his hand on Dequan's shoulder and said with emotion: "Besides, I don't want to leave you alone in Xuzhou. Go to Caizhou with me! Don’t worry, with a bowl of rice from me, Wang Jian, your sister and mother will not go hungry. I will raise your little nephew like my own son.” "Brother, I'll go back and tell my sister! As soon as my sister agrees, I will follow you life and death!"