The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 41 Passing through Mingzhou
Ten days later, the Zhangyi Army went to Mingzhou (Yongnian, Handan).

Mingzhou was under the rule of the Anguo Army. Shi Kuangwei took the Privy Council Order and found Jiedu Mansion, and the Anguo Army provided food and military supplies for this section of the journey.

Less than a hundred miles southeast of Mingzhou is Yedu. Thanks to the large number of soldiers and horses gathered in Yedu, Mingzhou has not suffered too much war and chaos, and there are still some fireworks in the city.

The team camped outside the city and rested for a day. Shi Kuangwei took Zhu Xiu into the city, saying that he wanted to find a place to have a tooth ceremony.

After getting the accurate answer that Lao Shi was treating him, Zhu Xiu went happily.

"You brat is really stingy, you know how to exploit me! When you left, didn't Chai Rong and Mrs. Fu give you money?"

With a displeased face on his face, Skuangwei took out ten copper coins from his wallet, counted them, and handed them to the caramel seller on the street.

The hawker smiled happily, spread the copper plate in his palm, tapped it, stuffed it into his pocket, took two long washed bamboo slices, wrapped a fist-sized lump of sticky golden wheat candy from the jar and handed it to Zhu Xiu: "One piece of malt candy Zhu, this young man has taken it!"

"Thank you!~"

Zhu Xiu took it, sniffed the aroma of wheat from the thick syrup, stretched out his tongue and took a big lick.

Shi Kuangwei looked at the side with wide eyes, swallowing his saliva: "Is it sweet?"

Zhu Xiu licked, the syrup stuck in her mouth, and said vaguely: "Sweet~"

Zhu Xiu walked forward without any intention of giving Lao Shi a taste.

Old Shi glanced at the clay vat covered with white gauze, and the peddler said with a smile, "Another pillar from the officials?"

Shi Kuangwei had a dark face, clutched his money bag, and said angrily: "What the hell! I can buy a bushel of japonica rice for ten cents! You black-hearted profiteer~~~"

The hawker said aggrievedly: "If you don't want to buy it, you won't buy it. Why are the officials scolding me? This candy is made entirely of fine wheat and glutinous rice fermentation. One stigma weighs half a catty. It's really not expensive to sell it for ten cents."

"Really? I don't believe it, you can give me some more to try!" Shi Converse's eyes were wandering.

The hawker was about to take off the white gauze out of anger and pick some bamboo slices from the jar for him. Then he thought something was wrong and stretched out his hand to Shi Kuangwei: "Three copper plates, I'll give you a try at a cheaper price."

Lao Shi was not embarrassed when his evil intentions were revealed. He cursed a few times with a dark face, wiped his fingers on the edge of the earthen jar, put it in his mouth and swaggered away with his eyes wide open.

"Bah!~ Why do you pretend to be an uncle if you don't have money!~"

The vendor cursed under his breath and wiped the edge of the vat with a handkerchief in disgust.

The streets were paved with loess, and the cars, horses and pedestrians walked in a hurry, kicking up waves of sand and dust.

Most of the streets are filled with vendors, and there are very few decent shops. Low and dilapidated houses are lined up in rows. If you look around, there are almost no buildings with more than two floors.

After licking a lump of wheat candy, Zhu Xiu felt very happy and walked slowly with her hands behind her back.

We came to a wine shop. There were three square tables in the shed, which were fairly clean.

There were guests at both tables, and a man in gray robe sat at the remaining table, drinking alone.

The shop owners are a couple. The man washes and skins a freshly slaughtered sheep, while the woman mixes noodles, steams cakes and cooks vegetable soup.

Lamb soup was boiling in a large pot, and the strong aroma overflowed.

Zhu Xiu smelled it greedily and drooled: "Shall we have some?"

Before Shi Kuangwei agreed, Zhu Xiu walked towards the man sitting at the table alone.

Lao Shi's dark face darkened by three points.

Originally, the tooth-beating festival he was talking about was going to the city to buy some meat buns.Who would have thought that Zhu Xiu, a prodigal, would eat both sweets and meat.

Lao Shi touched the shriveled money bag and felt so heartbroken that he couldn't breathe.

"Brother, can we share a table?" Zhu Xiu bowed politely and said with a smile.

There is a jar of wine at the feet of the big man in gray robe. He seems to have drank a lot. His square white face is slightly red from drunkenness, but his eyes are bright and lively, and he does not show his drunkenness.

The big man in gray robe glanced at Zhu Xiu, nodded slightly, picked up the simple knife placed on the table, put it at his feet and leaned against it.

"Thank you bro."

Zhu Xiu waved to Shi Kuangwei and shouted to the store owner: "Excuse me, two steamed cakes, three kilograms of mutton, two bowls of mutton soup, and more chopped green onions."

The busy shopkeeper smiled and said, "Young man, please wait a moment. It will be delivered right away."

Zhu Xiu sat down and rubbed her hands with anticipation.

Shi Kuangwei was anxious, and said in a low voice with a dark face: "You brat wants so much, can you finish it?"

Zhu Xiu said disdainfully: "I've never heard of a young man living in poverty! Let's eat slowly later, and when the fresh mutton is cooked, we'll buy five kilograms and pack it up to eat on the road!"

"Five kilograms!?" Shi Kuangwei's face trembled violently, and he clenched his shriveled money bag.

"You were the one who said you wanted to take me to a dental ceremony!"

Zhu Xiu frowned, pursed his lips with a bit of grievance and bitterness, and said quietly: "After all, we share the hardships in Cangzhou City, which can be regarded as a life-long friendship. From now on, I will go to Haozhou, and you will go back to Jingzhou. We will be on opposite sides of the world. I don’t know when we met, why are you so reluctant to treat me to a nice meal?”

Shi Kuangwei resisted the urge to knock him on the head, his eyes flickered, and he gritted his teeth and said, "You are so cruel!"

Zhu Xiu chuckled. The shopkeeper quickly put the food on the table. Zhu Xiu wiped her hands, grabbed steamed cakes with one hand and mutton with the other, and ate happily.

Lao Shi was not polite and stuffed it into his mouth with a ferocious look on his face.

The man in gray robe drank wine and ate meat in silence. When he heard the two talking, his heart moved. He put down his wine cup and clasped his fists and said, "Is this dear brother, this little brother, from Cangzhou?"

Shi Kuangwei glanced at his clothes and the simple knife leaning against the corner of the table, snorted and ignored it, and sipped the mutton soup.

Zhu Xiu quickly wiped his mouth and said, "Exactly."

The man in gray robe said with concern: "I heard that north of Cangzhou, there is a Khitan army with Chen Bing on the river bank, watching with eager eyes. I wonder what the situation is now?"

Zhu Xiu said with a smile: "The Khitan troops withdrew to Zhuoxian half a month ago and did not cross the river to attack the city. Now, today's Xiong army has stationed on the north bank and pushed the defense line to the Ziya River area."

The man in gray robe said: "That's good. With Tianxiong's army stationed in Cangzhou, I think we'll be safe. Cangzhou is the gateway to the northeast of Hebei and must not fall into the hands of the Khitans."

Shi Kuangwei said in a weird voice: "How can you, a member of the Imperial Guard, not know the recent situation in the north?"

The gray-robed man frowned and said, "A certain person has no official position, and he is not a soldier of the Forbidden Army."

Shi Kuangwei snorted coldly: "Even if you are not a member of the Imperial Guard, you must be a member of the Imperial Army at home. You wear a leopard-headed copper belt around your waist, and the simple sword in your hand is forged from Baidu Steel, but the handle has changed its style. The one at the door has The yellow gelding was brought from the north, right? The horse’s hooves still have the mark of the bodyguard’s horse army!”

The man in gray robe had bright eyes, looked directly at Shi Kuangwei, and said with a faint smile: "My dear friend, isn't he also from the army of Hexi Fanzhen?"

Shi Kuangwei snorted and said nothing, staring at him warily.

Lao Shi had a thick accent, so it was not surprising to hear that he was from Hexi, but the man in gray robe concluded that he was a soldier from the feudal town, which surprised Zhu Xiu.

　There are so many things to do during the holidays, ugh~~~
　　Updates are a bit less these days and may not be on time. We will resume normal updates after the holidays. Sorry, everyone!
　　Try to have a wave at the end of the month~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)