"There are swordsmen who are ashamed of their kindness, and young men who report to scholars." [Farewell]
With the stability of Guanzhong, the east and west markets of Chang'an have become increasingly prosperous. Yizhou, Hedong, Bingzhou, Liangzhou and other places have a dazzling array of goods, and there is an endless stream of business travelers. The accents of the north and south can be heard on both sides of the road while shouting. Even Xianbei, who has a high nose and deep eyes
Even barbarians can be seen occasionally.
Chang'an is becoming more and more like a metropolis in the past. Under the unified management of the imperial court, this towering tree that had withered long ago began to sprout again four hundred years ahead of schedule.
The Han Dynasty did not prohibit swordsmen and knights. Even if there were occasional armed fights on the streets of Chang'an, Chang'an's order Wang Ling did not issue any prohibitions. On a rare warm day in spring and April, a young man in shabby and gray clothes was holding a long sword at his waist. Although he looked tired
, but with piercing eyes, he was dressed like a dusty swordsman.
This swordsman, who was more fierce than a common kid, made passers-by look at him with suspicion. Of course, more attention was focused on the two seven or eight-year-old children held by this young swordsman.
Compared with the sloppy young people, the two children had clean faces and simple clothes. They looked left and right on the streets of Dongshi, looking at the surrounding shops with curiosity.
When passing by a store, one of the children suddenly stopped, pointed to the bamboo windmill stuck in the door of the store and said, "I want that."
"We need to save money for food." The young man said without looking at it.
"I'm lying, you just sold your melon field last month, you must have money in your hands." Another child said directly.
"You two should know something better!" This young man was Yan Gan who had separated from Li Yi, gave up the imperial reward, and rushed to Shangdang alone to search for Guo Yu's family peacefully. At this time, he had already disappeared from the beginning.
Even the most honest and loyal person was annoyed by the two Guo Yu brothers who had finally found him: "Those two acres of melon land are not good farmland. Thanks to Sanfu's increase in land prices in recent years, I sold it."
I paid three to four thousand yuan. Since this money needs to feed and clothe you two, and it also needs to be used to find your sister, how can it be enough?"
"You are bullying me!" Nine-year-old Guo Du said with great aggrievement: "If my eldest sister were here, she would definitely buy it for me."
The younger Guo Cheng also followed and shouted: "That's right! How much is a small gadget made of bamboo pieces worth? You just can't bear to part with it, and you keep saying that you have treated your elder sister badly and you want to make it up to us!"
After saying that, the two little guys began to cry and mourn their deceased eldest sister Guo Yu. Yan Qian's heart softened when he heard the crying.
"Eh!" Yan Qian sighed heavily, wanting to question Guo Yu in his heart, how much doting he had to do to have these two troublesome younger brothers? After several years of hard life among the people, he is still like this
My younger brother has a bad temper, so what will happen to the remaining sister who has not yet been found?
He resolutely embarked on the path of finding a bride for Guo Yu out of repayment for Guo Yu's life-saving kindness, out of his sincerity for her, and out of the idea of giving up fame and fortune and studying alone, and now he is on the road to find a bride for Guo Yu.
After two years of hard work, he finally found Guo Yu's younger brother, but his heart was extremely exhausted. I really don't know if he was asking for trouble or if God was deliberately trying to temper him.
Yan Qian finally accepted his fate and spent money to buy two fashionable toy windmills from Chang'an, and gave one to each of them, so that they could continue to move forward happily.
"Excuse me, where should I go from the market pavilion?" The speaker seemed to be a foreigner from Liangzhou.
Yan Qian was stunned when he heard this, looked at the other person without any trace, and replied calmly: "Just walk along this road and see the three-story flag pavilion in the middle of the crossroad."
The group thanked them and left. Yan Qian thought for a while, lowered his head and patted Guo Du and Guo Cheng on the back, urging: "Let's go, stop playing."
When Yan Gan came to the market pavilion with his two Guo brothers who were puffing their mouths and blowing air into the windmill, Yan Gan glanced around a few times and did not see the man walking in front of them who should have come long ago.
A group of people asked passers-by.
Yan Qian casually pulled over a city official and said, "Where is your city official? I am his old friend."
After making great achievements in Hedong, Li Yi was ostensibly named the Chang'an City Magistrate by the imperial court, but in fact he was responsible for the task of spying on information from the capital.
Old friends reunited, and the two inevitably talked about old times. Yan Qian also introduced his experience of searching for Guo Du and Guo Cheng in the past two years. This time when he came to Chang'an, Yan Qian came specifically to inquire about the whereabouts of Guo Yu's sister.
: "When I found the two boys Guo Du, I heard from the locals that their sister Guo Zhao had lived in the house of Tongdan Hou in Shangdang. I set out to go there at that time, and found out that the Hou family had been married a few years ago.
When Taiwei Dong Cheng led troops into the Shangdang, in order to invite Dong Cheng to be a good friend, he specially presented him and several beautiful maids and young girls... So I came to Chang'an this time mainly to ask you to inquire on my behalf. If there is any inconvenience
, just pretend I didn’t say it.”
"What are you talking about!" Li Yi complained, then sighed, looked at the two Guo brothers who were having a great time blowing the windmill, and said: "I didn't
I think of your deep affection and going through such troubles for her bereaved family."
Li Yi had heard about the fact that Dong Cheng once led troops to join the Shangdang. It happened in the third year of Chuping. Not long after the emperor took office, he sent Zhao Qi, Pei Mao and other ministers as envoys to express condolences to Guandong. Among them, Pei Mao entered Youzhou after
After announcing the imperial edict, he led Liu Yu southward, but was detained by Yuan Shao and put under house arrest on the way. In order to show his toughness, the emperor sent Dong Cheng to lead the troops, took advantage of the situation to regain Shangdang, directly put pressure on Wei County, and finally allowed Pei Mao and others to return to the court safely.
At that time, Dong Cheng was a relative of the imperial family and was a new noble in the imperial court. Many powerful people in the Shangdang rarely encountered such an opportunity, so they rushed to flatter him, and the Tongtanhou family was no exception.
The Dong family was so powerful that they were a giant in the eyes of Li Yi and others. Even if Li Yi had the status of a quasi-prisoner, even if he could inquire about it, he could not secretly reveal it to inquire about the family affairs of important ministers.
Li Yi also told the truth about the difficulty and replied sincerely: "I will pay attention to this matter for you. I can't say more details. But what I can tell you is that the Taiwei has taken in countless concubines in order to have children over the years.
These people all have surnames and family backgrounds here, but they don’t have the name Guo Zhao.”
"That's good." Yan Gan breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, Guo Zhao was only about ten years old at this time. There were many beautiful maids in Dong Cheng's house, so he would never fall in love with a child. It's just that Yan Gan couldn't let go of this matter these days.
, now that I have received the exact information, I am really relieved: "I will inquire about the rest. As long as he is still there and has not reached any stage, I will try to rescue him."
Li Yi shook his head slightly and made no comment.