People poured into the small restaurant on the roadside. The business in the shop was very light, with more than a dozen empty tables. The weather was hot and tired in the afternoon. The shopkeeper and several waiters were dozing on the counter. Suddenly, more than a dozen customers rushed in.
Come and frighten them.
The shopkeeper understood and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello: "Guests, please come in. May I ask if you want tea or dinner?"
Su Jin cupped his hands and said: "Just get some food, we will go to the city after eating."
The shopkeeper promised repeatedly and loudly ordered the waiter to go to the kitchen to prepare the meal. At the same time, he led Su Jin and others to a large table on the right, wiped the table and chairs with a dry cloth, and invited Su Jin and others to sit down.
Everyone sat down, took off their bamboo hats, and took out sweat towels to wipe the dust and sweat off their faces. The shopkeeper, with his big belly, personally brought a pot of tea and a dozen small ceramic teacups and poured tea for everyone.
Su Jin asked, "The shopkeeper's little restaurant is quite elegant, and the market entrance is not bad, so the business must be very good."
The shopkeeper laughed and said, "It's neither good nor bad. It's just a living. Nowadays, it's not easy to feed and clothe a family. The business used to be good. But recently, due to the war, the business has been slow."
Su Jin smiled and said: "Business should be better during the war. A large number of soldiers gather in Huizhou, and this is the only way to the battlefield. Why not?"
The shopkeeper said with a smile: "There are more people eating, but less paying people."
Su Jin was stunned for a moment and understood what the shopkeeper meant. He must have eaten too much of the Overlord's meal for free. Soldiers would naturally have to go to the battlefield to fight for their lives. They didn't care about life and death. How could they pay for their meals in a proper manner?
Su Jin consoled him: "There is nothing we can do about it. The war is in chaos, and we can only survive because of the blessing of Bodhisattva."
The shopkeeper said: "What this official said is very true. I have nothing to complain about. The clothes on these people don't look like local Han people. Could it be that they are from the south?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "Do the local Han people and the Han people from the south still look different?"
The shopkeeper said with a smile: "No, the local Han people don't dress and walk in the same way. Look, you walk with your head held high, which is completely different from the local Han people who walk with their backs hunched over. And the local Han people have the same posture.
The people in my party wear round-necked and wide-sleeved clothes, so how can anyone wear a brocade robe or long gown?"
Su Jin was shocked. This was the second time today that he was identified as coming from the Song Dynasty in the south. It seemed that the preparations in advance were not sufficient. He asked people in Weizhou who had been to the Xia Kingdom beforehand, saying that the Han people were in the Xia Kingdom.
Many of them, the speaking customs of Xixia are almost the same as those of the Song Dynasty, so they decided to pretend to be merchants. They thought they would be inconspicuous among the crowd, but they were first spotted by the Xia Army officers who were guarding the food supply, and now even an ordinary tavern owner is hiding it.
No.
As for the clothes and walking posture, it is not difficult to understand why this is the case. The clothes are naturally required by the Xixia Kingdom to assimilate the Han people, so it is reasonable to wear party clothes. However, walking with a hunched back and not daring to raise your chest and raise your head is probably because the Han people
That's why he is a second-class citizen in Xixia.
Now that he had been seen through, concealment would only make others suspicious. Su Jin simply continued the lie he just told and said with a smile: "Thank you for your good eyesight, shopkeeper. We are indeed from the Song Dynasty. We are merchants. Although wars have broken out, our business methods are still intact."
I can't stop it, so I came to your country to purchase some things from your country and go back."
The shopkeeper lowered his voice and laughed: "This official is so courageous. He is also a businessman who crosses the border privately. He is not afraid of the government taking you."
Su Jin smiled and said: "We are neither officials nor soldiers, what can we do with you?"
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "That's right. Recently, more and more merchants have crossed the border privately, and I haven't seen any large-scale arrests by the government. Do you want to enter Huizhou City or go north around the city?"
Su Jin said: "Let's go to the city. The agreed seller will be in the city. How can we do business if we don't go to the city?"
The shopkeeper wrinkled his fat face and said, "Then you guys came at the wrong time."
Su Jin hurriedly asked: "How do you say this?"
The shopkeeper looked at Su Jin in surprise and said, "Don't you know about that?"
Su Jin said: "When? We traveled all night and didn't meet anyone to talk to. I really don't know what the shopkeeper said."
The shopkeeper looked around, lowered his voice and asked, "Are you coming from the original road of Songjing?"
Su Jin shook his head and said, "No, we came over the mountains from Lanzhou."
"No wonder you don't know." The fat shopkeeper suddenly realized: "Let me tell you, Queen Yeli of Daxia came to Huizhou City, because Queen Yeli's two brothers and the two kings of the Left and Right Military Division were in Weizhou The front line was killed by the Song army in a sneak attack. Queen Yeli was heartbroken, so Yujia came to Weizhou in person and said that she wanted to see the Weizhou city broken and the Weizhou guard named Su Jin die in front of her. "Because of the Queen's arrival in the city, there are now very strict interrogations, and all private traders coming from the south are also interrogated. Isn't it a coincidence that these few people are here?"
Su Jin asked in surprise: "The two great kings of the Yeli tribe? Are they the famous Yeli Yuqi and Yeli Wangrong?"
The fat shopkeeper smiled and said: "The junior officials know a lot. It is those two kings. Hey, they are the mainstay of my Daxia. It is really a pity that we did not want to die in Weizhou, but we were attacked on the way back. "
Su Jin asked: "When did this happen?"
The fat shopkeeper said: "You can be forgiven for not knowing. That happened four days ago. After getting the news, the queen came quickly. It is said that after walking for two days and two nights on the road, she fainted when she saw the corpses of the two kings. We've passed; it's best for you guys not to enter Huizhou City, so as not to get into trouble."
Su Jin secretly thought to himself, four days ago when he was in Weizhou City, he didn't hear that someone sent troops to sneak attack Yeli Yuqi and Yeli Wangrong. Besides, the north side was tightly blocked by the Xia army, so he knew that Yeli Yuqi and Yeli Wangrong were attacked. Li Yuqi and Ye Li Wangrong were not aware of the whereabouts of Li Yuqi and Ye Li Wangrong, and they were unable to send troops to make a sneak attack. This matter was indeed a bit strange. Seeing the solemn look on the shopkeeper's face, it didn't seem like he was telling lies. If what he said was true, this would The city of Zhou was probably a dangerous place, so Queen Yeli was angry with the Han people, so she would definitely check the Han people very strictly. People like her could easily be recognized as coming from the south by their dress, so they would receive extra care.
Su Jin suddenly felt a headache, and his mood became depressed and irritable.
Everyone heard this and felt equally depressed. After the food was served, although everyone was hungry, they had no appetite. After taking a few random bites, they stopped eating with their chopsticks.
After the meal, everyone left the restaurant, not daring to rush into the city, so they found a secluded place in the forest to discuss countermeasures. Everyone couldn't get the point, so Su Jin stood up and walked slowly around a few trees, thinking. Get up; everyone knew Su Jin's habits and kept silent. They only stared at Su Jin's body eagerly and turned their necks around.
Finally, Su Jin stopped and said, "Let's get ready to enter the city."
Everyone was astonished, and Wang Chao said: "Master, if you go, won't you fall into a trap?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "It's not like that. What the shopkeeper said may be true. Queen Yeli of Xixia may have really come to Huizhou, but do you remember the grain transport team we met on the official road just now? That officer
He also saw that we were coming from the south, but he was not particularly surprised, nor did he mention that we could not enter the city. On the contrary, he asked us to mention his name after entering the city; so I
I conclude that the situation in the city will not be very bad, the worst thing is that the inspections will be stricter."
Chao Chao said: "How can you take what that bitch said seriously?"
Su Jin said: "Of course we can't take it seriously, but if you think about it, since he didn't arrest us, it means that the city did not issue a comprehensive arrest order for the merchants coming from the south; and although the officer had no good intentions, it didn't seem like he was trying to trick us.
We were arrested when we entered the city. We have no grudges against him. On the contrary, he benefited from us. If the city was very dangerous, he would have mentioned it in return. How could any one of us take money from others and let it go?
If the other party steps into danger without giving any hint, would you do this if you compare your feelings with others?"
After everyone thought about it, it made sense. Unless the official knew that his group was going to the city to cause trouble, how could he know the details of everyone? If he knew, he wouldn't have taken it on the spot.
"I originally wanted to find a village to buy some party clothes and put them on, pretending to be a local Han and entering the city, but I thought, habits can't be changed for a while, and doing so will easily reveal my flaws and arouse suspicion; we have to enter Huizhou no matter what.
City, unless we kill the Han people when we see them in the city, then we can only go back home, but the current situation is not yet time to give up, so we have to break into the dragon's den and the tiger's den; don't worry too much, we will carry all the
Bring some money with you, money can help the gods. At critical moments, we still use the old method of buying money to buy a way; but don’t expose large amounts of money and things, lest Xia Bing take advantage of the strict investigation of the Han people and take advantage of the money, then
It’s an unthinkable disaster.”
After listening to Su Jin's analysis, everyone felt a little more at ease. Su Jin also asked everyone to pay attention to how they addressed each other and what they said during the interrogation, so as not to reveal any flaws. Feeling that there were no flaws, he left the woods and walked onto the road.