The setting sun stretches the shadow of the Baozhou Tower to the east.
Zhang Hongqing stood on the tower, his eyes always staying at the intersection between heaven and earth.
Until nightfall, he did not see any soldiers returning.
He couldn't tell how he felt in his heart, whether he was disappointed or unexpected.
He actually felt that he should be looking forward to the return of Zhang Rou and his family, but it was really difficult to do so.
He was not familiar with Zhang Rou. When he was born, Zhang Rou was already over fifty and had ten sons. Moreover, he was a concubine. Because the Khan's court needed a hostage, Zhang Rou called his mother Lin's wife.
.
To be honest, the only memories I have of the Zhang family are the heart-wrenching cry of my biological mother before leaving when I was a child, and Zhang Rou’s scolding with a straight face, and then the extremely long journey to Harala and Lin.
When I came back this time, except for Zhang Jiulang, who was warm to others and chatted and laughed, the rest of the people gave Zhang Hongying only two words: unfamiliarity.
However, Zhang Jiulang used to smile and greet people, and at critical moments he could ruthlessly kill one of his hands.
The future is uncertain and makes people feel confused.
When night fell, Zhang Wenjing and Zhang Wenwan came down from the attic.
Zhang Wenjing's face was calm, and she maintained a dignified posture. She had the aura of a royal concubine. She said to the few guests of the Zhang family who were still in the tower: "It's getting late and the fifth brother hasn't come back yet. It shows that Yuan Ting is not willing to let people go easily."
, then let’s make arrangements according to the backup plan.”
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I'll arrange the arrangements soon."
Zhang Wenjing looked at Jingjie again and asked, "Have the water bandits in Baiyangdian responded?"
"It seems that you can't shed tears until you see the coffin." Jingjie said: "If you don't eat the toast, just give them a cup of fine wine."
""
Zhang Hongqing had not participated in these matters before, and he had difficulty listening to Chinese. After listening to a few sentences, he turned his head and saw Zhang Wenwan walking to the side of the table and leaning over to eat the cakes on the table.
He thought for a moment, then went over and whispered to Zhang Wenwan: "Am I right?"
Zhang Wenwan was stuffing a piece of red date cake into her mouth, with her cheeks bulging out. She glanced sideways at Zhang Hongqing, let out a "woo", and splashed out a few pieces of cake.
Zhang Hongqing saw that this little sister looked pampered and carefree, and he felt more and more sorry for himself.
He turned sideways, lowered his voice and continued speaking.
"I don't speak Chinese well and I spoke in a hurry this afternoon. What I want to say is that the only people here who really want to save our family are the three of us. Your Majesty did not come today and left the matter to the fifth brother, but the fifth brother's wife and children have already left
After leaving Sichuan and Shu, will he be afraid that Sixth Brother will seize his power when he comes back? If the eldest sister wants the Zhang family to be well, she has to trust me. Please help me.
Zhang Wenwan, however, had already opened her eyes and looked toward the stairs.
Zhang Hongqing turned around and saw Li Xia walking up to the tower calmly.
"His Majesty."
Everyone saluted.
Zhang Wenjing had already walked to Li Xia and naturally held his hand.
"You must be all worried." Li Xia said, "But in my opinion, if you haven't come back at this time, you probably won't come back tonight. Why don't you rest early, and on the fourth watch, I will take you to Laohetou to meet you.
welcome"
Zhang Hongqing stood behind the crowd with his head bowed, not daring to say a word.
He wanted to be reused by Li Xia, but he was also afraid that Li Xia would notice him, a proton who grew up in Mongolia, and become suspicious of him.
Seeing Li Xiaping's calm tone at this time, he couldn't help but think that Li Xia really didn't pay attention to the Zhang family. What if Zhang Wenjing didn't support her mother's family?
~~
That night, everyone who was waiting to welcome Zhang Rou dispersed in disappointment.
Li Xia and Zhang Wenjing held hands as they walked to the station and asked, "Are you disappointed?"
"No, that's what I expected. Only if Yuan Ting doesn't trip up, dad and the others will be able to come back today, but Yuan Ting will definitely do it. Just in time to cut off the water bandits in Baiyangdian."
"You said your family still has some friendship with those water bandits?"
"The water bandit leader has known my father for a long time, and he even saved my father's life once. Because of this friendship, my father never cared about them.
Just rob."
"The chaos in Heshuo, after all, has not been properly controlled for a hundred years. It cannot be like this under my rule in the future."
Li Xia was talking when his head poked out from Zhang Wenjing's other side and called out.
"Brother-in-law."
Zhang Wenwan has only met Li Xia three or four times in the past few days, but she is very kind to him. This is not only because of her good relationship with Zhang Wenjing, but also because of her straightforward personality.
Maybe it has something to do with Li Xia's appearance that attracts girls.
"Swallow it before you speak."
"Okay." Zhang Wenwan swallowed the food in her mouth and said, "Eleventh brother said that brother-in-law, you don't value the Zhang family, and said that fifth brother doesn't want to save father and sixth brother."
Li Xia stopped and glanced at Zhang Wenwan.
"You just said it so bluntly?"
"Yes, you are my brother-in-law."
"Then your Eleventh brother didn't tell you not to say it?"
"No, Brother Eleven didn't ask me to keep it a secret." Zhang Wenwan shook her head, and then analyzed: "In my opinion, he wants his sister to worry about falling out of favor, and then trust him and support him, right?"
Li Xia smiled and said to Zhang Wenjing, "I don't know if your sister is smart or stupid."
"Of course I am smart, I am not smart according to your rules."
~~
In the same night, deep in Baiyangdian Lake.
In a rather large water village, torches and bonfires lit up like daylight.
A small boat sailed from the water to the shore.
Zhang Honglue helped Zhang Rou off the boat.
In the water village, a sturdy old man in his sixties saw Zhang Rou. He immediately rushed forward and called out: "The old marshal is here? It scared me. I thought the old marshal was here to suppress me."
Zhang Rou's old eyes couldn't see clearly at night. She squinted for a while while walking, then stepped forward and patted the other party on the shoulder, laughing and saying, "Brother Meng, we haven't seen you for many years, right?"
"Look at what the old marshal said. It's been many years. I haven't seen him for twenty years."
This sixty-year-old man is the leader of this water village. His name is Meng Tong. He is a water bandit who has been in Baiyangdian for decades.
Meng Tong was considered a ruthless character in Xiajiuli, but in the past, he could only be respectful in front of local princes like Zhang Rou.
"Yeah, I haven't seen you in twenty years." Zhang Rou turned her eyes and glanced at the people around Meng Tong, "I don't even know the bosses around you anymore."
As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man in his forties with a long beard dressed as a scholar came forward and said, "I am Shi Hui, nicknamed Iron Abacus."
"You are not worthy of being recognized by my father." Zhang Honglue immediately interrupted the young water bandit leader.
Meng Tong was slightly startled, then he quickly smiled and led Zhang Rou to sit inside, and said to his subordinates: "Everyone, go aside! Don't stop me from talking to the old marshal."
When they arrived at the lobby of the water village, the situation where the water bandits surrounded the Zhang family and his son turned into three people sitting and talking.
On the surface, Zhang Honglue still displayed the arrogant posture of a prince, but in his heart he knew very well that in the waters of Aiyangdian, without Meng Tong's help, they would still have difficulty evading the Yuan army's encirclement and suppression.
As Zhang Rou, she was no longer too lazy to go around the bush with Meng Tong. After sitting down, she patted her knees and said, "I won't hide it from you. Now I have led the Zhang family to surrender to the Tang Dynasty."
"The Tang Dynasty?" Meng Tong asked in surprise: "Could it be that the old marshal is bluffing me? The Tang Dynasty has been dead for hundreds of years."
"Don't play dumb with me."
"It's not like I'm pretending to be stupid. We water bandits are hiding here, so we don't know what's going on outside. Why don't you, old marshal, just tell me what you want me to do? You can use the road, but it's hard to bring your two thousand people to me.
Come to this small temple."
"If it's just an excuse, just ask my son to come over and tell you." Zhang Rou leaned back on the chair, looking a little tired, and said, "If you want to speak directly, okay, my fifth son said that he surrendered before
If you don't agree, he plans to kill you."
Meng Tong smiled and said: "Old Marshal, our friendship has been almost fifty years, right?"
"Almost." Zhang Rou
He murmured: "I am almost eighty years old."
"I remember that I was still young when you surrendered to Mongolia, and my father was in charge of the village. You didn't force us to surrender to Mongolia at that time."
"You were just a bunch of thieves back then. Who could care about you? The world will be different in the future."
Meng Tongtong: "That's not nice to say, but old marshal, I saved your life."
"Did I forget?" Zhang Rou glared at Meng Tong and said, "It's because of this that I stopped Lao Wu from killing you. I'm here to tell you personally, from now on the world will be dominated by Han people.
It’s time for peace and prosperity, and the time for recruitment has come.”
"Invite me to peace? You have lived in troubled times all your life, and you want me to be in peace?"
"So, you are unwilling?"
"Brothers are used to living a happy life, how can they stand being controlled by others? Whoever kills someone or impure a woman from a certain family will be beheaded and don't scold me. I'm about to be buried too, so why bother?
You caused this trouble before leaving, and besides, the brothers won’t listen.”
"Then what does your son think?"
"Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, and they will have their own ideas.
Meng Tong was still very polite, but his eyes were different from before.
Zhang Rou shook her head and sighed: "I thought I could convince you by coming here in person. I haven't seen you in twenty years. People will change, and so will our ideas."
After that, he stood up on his knees and planned to leave.
Meng Tong thought for a while and said: "To be honest with the old marshal, I am old and it is not easy to control these brothers. Not only your people have been here tonight, but don't scare me, old marshal. Since I am being chased
If you come here to fight, just leave quickly. I can only help you up to this point."
After hearing this, Zhang Rou sat down again.
"Since you told the truth, I won't hide it from you. My fifth child really plans to kill you."
Meng Tong said helplessly: "Are you still trying to scare me?"
Zhang Rou waved her hand and said: "Young people today are not as polite as us. My fifth son chose Baiyangdian as a prisoner exchange because he took a fancy to your water village."
Meng Tong shook his head, not believing it.
"I'm ashamed to say it." Zhang Rou added: "The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty who is fighting for the world today is my son-in-law. This time he came over, and I, the father-in-law, wanted to give him a big gift, just like marrying my daughter.
It's a pity that my sons failed to live up to their expectations and caused trouble. Fortunately, I still have some thin noodles in Hebei, whether it's Baiyangdian or Taihang Mountain, I should gather some rebel troops for him to go back, dozens or hundreds.
Never too few, never too many thousands, never too many. What we are fighting for is face. Alas, we can only fight a little bit."
"That's what the old marshal said."
"So." Zhang Rou slowly finished her last words and said, "If those people don't give me this face, then it is natural for my son to kill them all."
Zhang Honglue, who was sitting aside, realized that today everyone else was thinking about saving the Zhang family, but Zhang Rou was thinking about the bride price.
Otherwise, it would be really shameful for one of the princes to flee back to Baozhou in such despair.