phoenix knot

Liang Xuanchen and Su Mingyue were escorted by the Mongols, and they went north from Daizhou and passed through Songcheng. The carriage bumped and passed through the dilapidated streets. Su Mingyue looked around, but saw wild dogs coming in and out on the ruins, vultures circling, and many People exposed corpses in the wilderness and no one came to bury them, and Songcheng had already become a dead city.

She tried her best not to think about the faces of the neighbors in the neighborhood, and she only thought about Liang Guanjing who didn't know where she was.Mother Cui and Lady Zhibu couldn't help crying when they saw the scene before them, calling their relatives' names one by one.

Liang Xuanchen and Shui Kong couldn't say anything to comfort them, they just remained silent.

At night, the Mongolian soldiers took out the jerky and ate it with cold water. Liang Xuanchen and Shuikong ate it, but Su Mingyue couldn't help retching when he smelled the smell.

Cui's mother was crying a lot just now, but at this time she was also chewing jerky to persuade Su Mingyue, "Ma'am, the milk of Shao's daughter-in-law is no longer useful. She has been ill and has no milk. I Originally, it was okay to breastfeed three children, but these days, I am afraid that the children will not have enough to eat, but these days, I am afraid that the children will not be enough to eat. You see... If you can’t eat any more, the three dolls will starve. I can’t just ignore her children , let the doll starve to death. If other people’s dolls can’t eat milk on weekdays, it doesn’t matter to me, but in Songcheng, we are the only ones who survived...” At this point, he began to wipe his tears again.

Su Mingyue had no choice but to sit upright, and then resisted the sour taste rising up in her chest, and followed the example of those Mongolians, chewing jerky with cold water.The meat is probably mutton, sometimes beef, and it doesn't look like it's roasted, it just looks like it's been sprinkled with salt and dried, and it smells like a strong fishy smell.

"Drink slowly, the water is cold, you are still in the confinement period, don't fall into any disease." Liang Xuanchen reminded, then he turned his head and called Shuikong, "Go and ask the Mongols if they have flint and steel, bury it in a pot and boil it Water, give Miss Su some hot water."

After a while, Shuikong came back, and spread his hands dejectedly, saying yes.

Liang Xuanchen had no choice but to get out of the carriage, lighted his white jade and purple bamboo stick, and went to the front of the team. He said to Ulihan, the leader of the small team: "Ulihan Anda, my wife is weak and is going to get sick from drinking unboiled water. Boil some hot water. Have you any flint and steel?"

Ulihan really didn't have it, but his vice-captain did, and took it out from his pocket, "But you don't have any firewood."

Liang Xuanchen said: "Can the team wait for a while, I will let the boy go find firewood."

Liang Xuanchen's attitude was gentle, neither humble nor overbearing, and his airy demeanor had a natural charm that made people approachable. Ulihan actually agreed to the team's suspension of rest, and did not embarrass Liang Xuanchen.

After Liang Xuanchen asked Shuikong to find some firewood and charcoal from the ruins of Songcheng, he directed a few Mongolian soldiers to light firewood and set the fire on a pot he had picked up, which was filled with water from the well.

The raw beef jerky was also put in and cooked together, and a pot of fragrant beef soup was cooked in a short while.

Su Mingyue didn't feel sick anymore after drinking this soup, and Cui's mother drank this soup, and her milk flowed even more.Smelling the scent, even a few Mongolian soldiers drooled and surrounded them. Everyone took out the jerky they had on their bodies and cooked soup together.

A Mongolian soldier said that he hadn’t had such a fragrant broth for a long time. He had been running around fighting wars all these years, and the Great Khan was either doing this or that. Not to mention drinking the broth, even the pot for cooking the soup was not left behind. a mouthful.

Another Mongolian soldier said that the barbecue is still delicious, it is so delicious, but last year, the cattle and sheep froze to death, so they can't eat all at once, they should be made into jerky and eaten slowly.All the beef and mutton in Alatan Ula's house were roasted on the fire. In the beginning of spring, there was no meat in his house. Several children starved to death, and his wife also starved to death.

Then the Mongolian soldiers counted how the people they knew died in the white disaster. Looking up at the day, they felt that the world was inhumane, and they regarded everything as a straw dog.

Leaning on the carriage, Liang Xuanchen chatted with the Mongolian soldiers. He was well-informed and had even been to the west of Wala. When he talked about the old affairs of the previous dynasty and anecdotes about the Western Regions, the Mongolian soldiers were taken aback for a while.Obviously one party can't speak Chinese very much, and the other party can't speak Mongolian language very much, but there is no barrier between them when they talk to each other.After getting along for a few days, Ulihan treated him with great courtesy, and with that Risong's confession, the Han people did not suffer at all.

After drinking the broth, he put the pot on the beam at the back of the carriage, everyone returned to the carriage and continued on their way, Su Mingyue said: "Third brother is really a wonderful person, being a captive and making you like this is also a strange story from ancient to modern times .”

Liang Xuanchen said with a smile: "I'm a businessman, how can I do it if I don't know how to get close?"

The two chatted for a while, the wilderness under the night was pitch black, only the stars in the sky cast down, so that the team could barely see the road ahead.When the autumn wind blew up, the Northland was already terribly cold. The baby in swaddle was whimpering, and the diapers were hanging on the crossbar hook in front of the car. I don't know when I will be able to wash in the river. There is no water, and the children don't even have diapers to change.

When approaching Yanmen Pass, Liang Xuanchen suddenly sat up in shock, and he pricked up his ears to listen carefully.

"Someone is following up." He whispered, "Qinggong is very good, you can hardly hear the footsteps, but there is a sound when the wind blows his robe."

Su Mingyue was also shocked. She listened carefully, but she couldn't distinguish the sound from the sound of the wheels of the cart and the hooves of the Mongolian soldiers.Almost immediately, she thought of Liang Guanjing. She looked out, but couldn't see anything. The car passed by the empty city gate, completely covered by darkness, and she couldn't see her fingers. .

Su Mingyue felt a chill passing over her face, so she stretched out a hand to cover her mouth and nose to prevent her from screaming.

"Hush—it's me..." the visitor whispered.

"Lianxiang?" Su Mingyue lowered her voice, she was pleasantly surprised to meet Lianxiang in such a ghostly place.

Lianxiang hugged Su Mingyue together with the child, almost crying, "Great, it's great to see that you're fine, I followed all the way, and after several days of observation, I'm sure you're in this carriage."

Liang Xuanchen said: "Miss Lianxiang, are you here to rescue Miss Su?"

Lianxiang said: "The car has already arrived at Yanmen Pass, if you don't leave, there will be endless wilderness in front of you, and you will have no way to escape."

Liang Xuanchen said: "But I don't plan to go back to the customs with you for the time being, I want to go to the back of the grassland to have a look."

"Ah?" Several people were surprised, "Why?"

Liang Xuanchen said: "I guess the imperial court's reinforcements have arrived in Taiyuan Mansion. Maybe the battle is over. Suhebalu will take his remnant troops back outside the Yanmen Pass in a few days. We must flee now, unless we walk, or sit in the pass. The carriage might run into him on the avenue. There are so many of them. How are you going to explain our escape? The only way is to go back to Yanmen Pass and wait there, where you can know the exact time when the troops passed by. So what are you going to do? Time to get off the carriage, now? Are you going to kill this centurion? If you can succeed, you can't leave a single person alive. If a person escapes, that person will go back and tell Sukhbaru that they will appear before us again. It’s not necessarily so polite.”

Lianxiang said: "I've made up my mind, don't make any big moves. Let's sneak out of the carriage and escape, and go to a place far away from Yanmen Pass in the pass. Maybe we can find the empress in the east."

"You abandoned your car and fled now, where can you go? Without a carriage, you ask Miss Su if she can walk or ride a horse? Hundreds of miles around the pass are scorched and deserted. She is a confinement woman with a baby. , no water, no food, how long will it take to find Ah Yuan?"

Lianxiang stopped talking, Su Mingyue didn't even know which direction was east, and where her Ah Yuan was.

"If we wait at the same place, I can go without food or drink for three days. I don't know how many female relatives with babies are there. Can you guarantee that you will find us with Ah Yuan in three days? Of course, we can't find Ah. Yuan, it is also good to find something to eat and drink. I can last until you come back. During this time, I will help you take care of Miss Su. You can’t let me go out to find food and water like a blind person, but I can’t guarantee how long she can last. sky."

Lianxiang looked back at the south hidden behind the Great Wall, the Mongolian soldiers also rushed into Songcheng with hunger and cold, not to mention gold and silver treasures, even rice grains were not left, where did she go to find food?These days, she also digs wild vegetables in the ground and eats the only dry food left on her body to survive. Can she find anything to eat after searching for hundreds of miles?The answer is no.

Liang Xuanchen said: "You are the only one who can leave here, and we can't leave. Or you go back and report a letter to Ah Yuan? Just say that we have a safe journey, don't read."

Lianxiang stomped her feet and sat down, "I'm not going either, I can't go, I promised to protect Mingyue, I have no face to see her."

Liang Xuanchen sat down beside her, and said with a smile: "Then you help me think about it, there is an extra living person in our carriage out of thin air, how can I explain it to others?"

Lianxiang said: "Don't explain, I escape every day."

Liang Xuanchen said: "You don't want to eat or drink? The rations are given to us by the Mongols, not much at all. They are almost starving to death. Do you want to deduct the rations of the mothers to fill their stomachs? I Seeing that you have to show up in front of them tomorrow, why don't you honestly say that you got into the carriage on the tower of Yanmen Pass."

Lianxiang looked aggrieved, "What can I do when I go to the toilet?"

Liang Xuanchen nodded, "Good question, Miss Su is going to go to the toilet in a while, you help her get off the carriage, remember to go a little farther, and then block her, she is a bit shy. There are also a few Mongolian soldiers here. She is salivating, if you don't protect her, she will be bullied before she is confinement."

Su Mingyue blushed, "It's okay, it's okay, Mother Cui has a wide body, she can cover her tightly, and my third brother Shuikong can protect me."

Lianxiang said: "Mingyue, I can't go anymore, I want to stay and take good care of you."

The car has already left Yanmen Pass, and looking north to the vast wilderness, the grass and trees are withered and yellow, and it is completely desolate.