Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The skylight shines into the floating clouds, and the silvery air mass forms a dark shadow cast on the ground.

In the courtyard, figures in light-colored costumes danced with square-shaped painted halberds. With the opening and closing movements, the long blade stirred the wind. From time to time, the sand in the courtyard flew up into the air when the painted halberd hit the ground. Beads of sweat flowed down his temples and dripped to the ground, and his breathing could be heard clearly.

Within ten days, Zhu Yongqing, who was waiting for the letter, turned from calm and composed to restless. His usual smile was gone, and all he could think about was when he would wait for a reply from his master.

boom--

"Huhu..." Fang Tian's painted halberd hit the ground heavily, and the panting young man raised his sleeves to wipe away the sweat.

Although Liu Huiniang's attitude towards him in the past two days was still gentle, it gave people a slight sense of alienation. But when he felt timid and wanted to retreat and leave the girl, the girl took the initiative to approach him and invite him to drink tea and chat. However, the next moment Just when he thought the two of them were making progress, the feeling of alienation filled the two of them again, and it happened again and again.The young man who had experienced this for the first time had no experience in dealing with it, so he could only rely on martial arts practice to relieve his depression.

It should be because things are not progressing and Huiniang is also worried.

The sweat-soaked young man raised his face and looked at the floating clouds on the horizon. Sometimes he saw the girl's figure in his mind, sometimes he saw the image of others looking at him with reverence behind the official, and sometimes he saw the scene of the wedding night with flowers and candles.

Am I crazy?

The boy who turned around gave himself a moment, then turned around and started to go back to wash up. He was covered in sweat, sticky and uncomfortable.

"Lang Jun, Lang Jun."

The sound of shouting came, and Zhu Yongqing turned around to look, but it was the boy beside him who ran all the way over: "The six sons who went out are back."

Zhu Yongqing was overjoyed when he heard this. He was one of the servants sent to find his master's friend. He immediately asked: "Did he come back with his guests?"

The boy shook his head: "No, Liuzi came back alone."

Lifting Fang Tian's painted halberd and hitting the ground with a loud bang, Zhu Yongqing's face immediately dropped: "Where is the man? Bring him to see me."

"The Sixth Son has gone to find Master Luan."

Zhu Yongqing was stunned by the boy's answer, and looked down in surprise: "Where is he going and what is he doing?"

"Liuzi didn't say anything."

"Take it, I'm going to find the master."

As he spoke, Zhu Yongqing pushed Fang Tian's painted halberd towards the servant, and ran towards Luan Tingfang's yard without bothering to wash up.

The boy watched in horror as Fang Tian's painted halberd fell down. He quickly dodged to the side and the heavy blade hit the ground with a clang. He patted his chest and took a breath. The young boy squatted down and grabbed Fang Tianhua. As soon as the halberd was pressed hard, Fang Tian's painted halberd was lifted up, but fell back to the ground with a bang: "Lang Jun, it's too heavy, the little one can't lift it..."

However, wherever there was Zhu Yongqing in front of him, he had already disappeared.

Luan Tingfang's courtyard is near Zhu Yongqing. It was divided from Zhujiazhuang after the two brothers of the Zhu family became apprentices. Zhu Wanmao even quarreled with the two of them once, but the two brothers used the rhetoric of respecting teachers and respecting morality, which made Zhu Chaofeng had nothing to say, so he had to hold his nose and admit it.

Zhu Yongqing ran all the way into the courtyard and came to the door. Just as he was about to push it open and go in, he couldn't help but paused and bent his fingers to gently press on the door.

"Enter--"

Familiar words rang out, and Zhu Yongqing opened the door and walked into the house. In the hall, a middle-aged man sitting was reading a letter, and a slave named Liuzi was standing aside with his hands down.

"Master." The young man who came in waved his hand at his servant. The man didn't say much. He just bowed to his husband and then walked out with his head lowered.

"It's Yongqing. I knew you were coming." Luan Tingfang dropped the letter in her hand and pointed to the chair: "Sit down."

Zhu Yongqing closed the door and hurried in. As he sat down, he asked quickly: "But is there any letter?"

Smiling, Luan Tingfang handed over the letter in his hand, watching the young man almost snatching it away, and said calmly: "I am afraid that you will not think carefully and take the person directly to your home, so I specifically wrote in the letter to ask someone to wait for you. In a nearby county.”

"Master..." Zhu Yongqing grabbed the letter and said movedly: "Thank you very much."

"That's all, I really owe you two brothers as my teacher." Crossing Erlang's legs, Luan Tingfang leaned back on the chair: "Is Erlang back?"

"I have already sent a letter to brother Yongnian. Zhemo will arrive in the next two days."

Luan Tingfang closed her eyes, as if thinking about something. Zhu Yongqing didn't say anything. The next moment, the middle-aged man opened his eyes and looked over: "I sent three letters in total. Now one of them has arrived, and the other two live far away. I don't know. When can you come?"

"Master means..."

"The nights are long and the dreams are many." Luan Tingfang stood up, walked over and patted her apprentice's shoulder, grabbed it hard, turned and walked out the door: "Next month is the day to pay taxes, think about it carefully."

Zhu Yongqing lowered his head and nodded. He watched Luan Tingfang open the door and wondered, "Master, where are you going?"

Luan Tingfang stopped opening the door, turned around and said, "Of course I have to take a look when my friend is here."

"I'll go with Xie." Putting his hand on the table, the young apprentice stood up.

"You..." The master who stepped out looked around, then turned to look at his apprentice and said, "It's better to stay at home. You are a human being. If we go together, wouldn't it be possible for us to reveal our hidden secrets?"

The people in the room paused, and as Luan Tingfang took a step forward, a voice came: "You might as well try to tease Zhu Biao and the others, and see if you can instigate them to hate Liangshan first."

"Why?" The young man in the room was a little confused.

"Think about it for yourself."

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, and the frowning Zhu Yongqing walked to the door, scratched his head, his eyes were a little confused, and after thinking for a long time, he murmured: "If you don't understand, just ask Huiniang, yes, Huiniang must know what the master means. "

Zhu Yongqing raised his head and had a vague feeling that he had found the answer. He quickly walked towards Liu Huiniang's residence, stopped before taking two steps, raised his sleeves and smelled it, frowned and walked towards his room.

The smell of sweat is so strong, how can you go directly? Wouldn't it be rude to the beauty?
..."It turns out that it's so bad." Liu Huiniang, who was still dressed in plain clothes, was sitting on the table with a glass of honey water in her hands. She listened to the young man on the side describing the conversation she had just had with her master. She took a sip and said, "Master Luan is right. , I have to let Zhu Chaofeng, the third son, have a grudge against Liangshan first, this is a neglect."

"Why?" Zhu Yongqing, who still didn't understand, asked the same question for the second time.

The handsome face on the other side smiled, and looked at the other side with a strange look: "If you have a hostile person nearby, and if something happens immediately, who will you think of first?"

"...I understand." After opening his mouth, the young man plucked up the courage and said, "Hui Niang, master has gone to find his friend. I have nothing to do today. Why don't you and I go out for an outing?"

The girl shook her head gently and smiled apologetically: "I have been feeling a little tired these days, and I hope you can forgive me." Looking at the disappointed look in the other person's eyes, the girl's eyes twitched: "But I would like to see a young official dancing his halberd. , I have been unavailable for the past few times, and I feel very sorry."

Zhu Yongqing was overjoyed and stood up quickly: "Very good, Huiniang, please come with me..." He looked down at the long sleeves of his long robe and shook his head quickly: "Ah, no, I'll go back and change my clothes first. Huiniang will come over slowly." .”

"it is good."

Zhu Yongqing's bones felt a lot lighter during the chuckle, and he walked back quickly. The girl behind him saw the figure disappear from sight, lost his smile, lowered his head and thought expressionlessly for a while, and then walked out of the door gently.

A lonely cup was placed on the table, and the still-warm drink was exuding a trace of heat.

At the end of mid-summer, the atmosphere in Zhujiazhuang began to make people confused. Erlang Zhu Wannian talked with Sanlang Yongqing all night after returning home. From the next day, the two of them greeted Zhu Chaofeng as their elder brother in the morning and evening. , but the latter still doesn't have a good face towards the first two. The relationship between the three men seems to have eased, but it seems not.

At the beginning of the summer season, the third son of Zhu Chaofeng heard some remarks. He often told people that one day he would catch the rebels in Liangshanbo, clear out the cottage, and return a peaceful world to Yunzhou. Zhu Chaofeng couldn't help but let him go. .

And this day, as time goes by, it is time to pay taxes.

……

"Hurry up and tie the grain bags. Over there, hurry up and bring the mules and horses. Do you want to pull the cart to the county by yourself?"

Noisy sounds rang out in front of Zhuangzi. Under the early morning light, a group of tenants were busy carrying bags of grain onto the peace cart. Then they tied up the bulging bags of grain with two finger-thick hemp ropes. Someone quickly led the mules and horses. Come here and put the car on.

"Dad, just pay the taxes and let the kids go. Why don't Mr. Xie rest at home? It's so hot."

The tall Zhu Long helped Zhu Chaofeng, who was a little fat, out. The head of the Zhu family, who was wearing sky blue brocade clothes and had a rosy complexion, shook his head: "No, paying taxes is such a big deal, but you can't do it for you."

He climbed into the car with great effort, looked back at his son and said: "Go back and look at Sanlang. I don't know who I listened to. He really wanted to compete with Liangshan and didn't come to borrow food. What are you yelling about here? Isn't this just looking for trouble?" ?”

"Third brother, you are young and energetic. Just wait and see and you will be fine." Zhu Long smiled at his father and didn't take his father's words to heart.

"Nonsense!" Zhu Chaofeng slapped his palm on the shaft of the car, and there was a crisp sound. His old face was suddenly twisted and ugly, and he waved his red palm and said: "Is this kind of thing easy to play? With Saburo's temperament, you can't tell it. If Tian rode his horse to Liangshan to cause trouble, wouldn’t it bring trouble to the family?”

"I got it, dad, don't be angry, I'm optimistic about third brother." Zhu Long didn't contradict him and followed his father's words, but the look on his face was still disapproval.

He stretched out his finger and pointed at his son: "As brothers, you two should spoil him."

Zhu Long just smiled when he heard this and did not answer. Instead, he said: "But dad, if you really want to find someone to watch over your third brother, is there anyone ready from time to time?"

"Huh?" Zhu Chaofeng looked at his son in confusion: "Who? Teacher Luan? He only teaches martial arts, doesn't he?" Then his expression changed and he said: "Don't say that he was raised by the two little maids Wan Nian and Yong Qing."

"Dad, what are you talking about?" Zhu Long didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He looked around and saw that no one was eavesdropping, so he calmed down and said, "Lao Xie can just say this to us in private. We should not do this in public."

Zhu Chaofeng snorted, and the son smiled helplessly and said: "Dad, Sanlang seems to have been very close to the girls of the Hu family recently. Look..." He winked and said, "Propose Sanlang to marry me?"

"Oh?" Zhu Chaofeng opened his eyes wide, as if there was a flash of light: "Is there such a good thing?" He lowered his head and pondered for a while and said, "Well, when I come back, I can talk to the old guy from Tonghu's family about this. It’s great to get married!”

Zhu Long scratched his face and frowned. He always felt that what he said was different from what his father said, but it didn't seem to be any different.

The head of the Zhu family, who was sitting in the car, looked around and saw that the vehicles were all loaded, and then shouted: "Everyone, get in the car and let's go!"

"Dad, be careful on the road!" Zhu Long shouted, and saw Zhu Chaofeng waved his hand behind his back, then turned around and walked back home.

The convoy set off on the road, with mules and horses pulling the cart, and the crisp sound of hoofbeats was mixed with the turning of the wheels. No one in the group of escorting villagers dared to disturb Zhu Chaofeng, who was sitting in the cart with his eyes closed and swaying. They just waved their whips to drive the cart, Chat with each other occasionally.

The sky gradually became brighter, and the light shed brought heat to the busy crowd. Fortunately, in the forest in front of the village, the breeze blowing was cool, but no one complained about the heat or tiredness.

The road from Zhujiazhuang to the county seat is not rugged. However, after exiting Pantuo Road, you have to pass through another forest before reaching the official road. Under the bright sunshine, magpie birds stand on the tall treetops, tilting their heads to look. Watching the motorcade below, they chirped a few times from time to time.

Plop--

As if feeling something, the surrounding birds flapped their wings and flew from the trees, and there were rustling sounds in the grass and bushes covered by the woods on both sides.

Several figures slowly came out from their hiding places and looked at the convoy on the road from a distance behind the bushes. The leader was tall and majestic. He pulled the black scarf covering his face, and his exposed eyes had a fierce light. He passed by and looked sideways at the people next to him: "Here we come."

The masked companion said in a low voice: "Don't forget to stay alive. The only target is the man in the blue brocade suit in the car."

The hands of several people holding the handle of the knife twitched slightly. The cold light shone in the forest for a moment, and they all rushed out. The hooded man at the head shouted: "The heroes of Liangshan are here, and they want to survive." , leave the food and get out!"

"From Liangshan?!"

"There are thieves!"

The man driving the car in the convoy saw the thieves rushing out and screamed. Zhu Chaofeng, who had his eyes closed, opened his eyes and looked around, and suddenly shivered: "Quick, stop them!"

In the sight, several pairs of eyes were staring at him. The convoy bravely picked up the sword and whistle stick, but was chopped into two pieces by the tall and majestic figure with his stick. A pair of eyes were still staring at the shaft of the car. figure on.

"Help... help!"

When Zhu Chaofeng saw this, he still didn't know who was here to kill him. When he staggered out of the carriage, the bloody knife edge scratched his neck, and the red thread he pulled out spurted out blood. His fallen body looked at the person next to him helplessly. The sight, the waving blades continued to kill, and the forest was filled with people's wails. (End of chapter)