The dust settles

Chapter 26

My heart, now, I feel you.Inside, half is pain, half is longing.

28. Engagement
Toast Maggie patrolled the border.

He has been to the southern border.

In the south, my brother met our old rival, chieftain Wang Bo.Chieftain Wang Bo repeated his old trick, trying to obtain wheat and corn by sneak attack, but fell into the ambush circle set up by his brother.As long as there is a war, my brother can always succeed.One of chieftain Wangbo's sons died, and the chieftain himself tripped over a horse rope and broke an arm.Father said: "Your brother is fine, how is yours here?"

As soon as the chieftain said these words, the housekeeper immediately knelt down.

Chieftain Maggie said, "It seems that I can't hear good news."

The steward then told us how we sent Lashepa toast away, but in the end we let the female toast get food easily.Dark clouds gathered on my father's face, he gave me a sharp look, and said to the housekeeper, "You are right, get up."

The butler got up.

Father looked at me again.Since my family has a clerk who lost his tongue, everyone has learned to speak with their eyes.Toast Maggie sighed, vomiting out something that was weighing on his heart.Well, the behavior of the second young master proved that his brain is really wrong. As a chieftain, he no longer has to worry about which of his two sons to be the heir.

The housekeeper resigned, and I said to my father, "Now, mother can't say anything more."

My father was taken aback by my words, and he was silent for a while before he said, "I don't know what's going on with you."

"I know I can't be a toast."

My father didn't intend to blame me for giving away other people's wheat for nothing. He asked, "How is the daughter of the Rong Gong family?"

"I love her, please hurry up and get engaged to me."

"Son, you are so lucky. If you can't be Maiqi chieftain, you have to become Ronggong chieftain. Their family has no sons, and you can become chieftain if you become a son-in-law." He smiled and said, "Of course, you have to be smarter. .”

I don't know if I'm smart enough to spend, but I know I'm loving enough that I can never forget Tana again.

Dear father asked me, "Tell me what love is?"

"It's just that the bones are full of bubbles."

It was a silly sentence, but the wise father understood it, he smiled and said, "You fool, even the bubbles will dissipate."

"They just keep popping up."

"Okay, son, as long as Chieftain Ronggong really gives her daughter to you, I will give her more wheat. I will send someone to deliver a letter to her right away."

The messenger was about to be sent, and my father asked me again: "Are the maids in Ronggong's family prettier than ours?"

My answer is very positive.

The father said, "Did the chieftain use a maid to pretend to be her daughter?"

I said, whether she is Ronggong's daughter or not, she is Tana, and I love her.

The father immediately changed the messenger's mission and told him not to deliver the letter, but to find out if Tana was the daughter of chieftain Ronggong.As a result, everyone said that I had been tricked by a beauty, and that I was bewitched by a lowly maid from Rong Gong's family.But I don't care about that, I love Tana even if she's a handmaiden.Her beauty is not fake, I don't care if she is the chieftain's daughter or a maid.Every day, I go up to the watchtower and wait for the spies to come back.Standing alone against the wind, I know that I have lost my faint hope of becoming the chieftain of Maiqi.The blue sky above was high and hollow, and there was nothing in it.The ground is also an endless expanse of green.In the south are deep mountains, and in the north are grasslands with empty mines.There were people everywhere, the starving people under Chieftain Lashepa and Chieftain Ronggong wandering in the field, and no one gave them any food when his father came.But they still wandered around this fortress-like granary. They couldn't bear it any longer, so they walked to the river, drank a bellyful of water, and then returned to continue wandering like ghosts.

One day, there was lightning and thunder in the sky, and I was on the watchtower, swayed by the wind.

At this time, a flash of lightning flashed by, and I suddenly saw something, and suddenly saw something that I couldn't say.He yelled at his father.Tell him something big is about to happen.I want to watch something big like this happen.The father went up to the watchtower supported by two servants, and shouted into the foolish son's ear: "What a big deal! It's a big deal if you are killed by thunder!"

As soon as the words came out, they were blown away by the wind, and I changed direction to hear his shouts clearly.

But something is going to happen.My heart was going to jump out of my body.I shouted to my father, "You should have brought the clerk here! He should be here at this time!"

A thunderbolt landed on another watchtower, a ball of fire flashed by, and the tall tower collapsed, turning into a large pile of loess wetted by rain, above which were several pieces of charred wood and a sentinel.

No matter how the foolish son struggled, Chief Mai Qi was pulled down.This time, he was really angry: "Look, this is the big thing you said, do you want me to die with you?"

He gave me a slap in the face.He hurt me, so I know he loves me.People who hate me can't hurt me.I fell to the ground in pain.The butler stopped the furious chieftain.The rain poured down.The thunder gradually died down.No, it's not that it's smaller, but it's rolling into the distance like a huge wheel.I want to just lie here and drown myself in tears.But that's when I saw everyone prick up their ears.Yes, I heard it too, the sound of horseshoes hitting the ground.Not one, not a hundred, but twenty or thirty, I think.Dad took one look at me and knew I was right.He ordered the people to take up arms.I jumped up from the ground and shouted happily: "Tana is back."

There was a hasty knock on the door.

As soon as the door opened, the female chieftain led a group of people and swarmed in from the door.I rushed downstairs.Everyone dismounted, but Tana remained on the horse.Each of them was drenched as if they had just been pulled out of the water.I can't see anyone else, I only see her.

All I saw was Tana sitting on the horse, dripping wet.It's like she brought all the rain in the world.Just like she was originally the rain god.

I was the one who lifted her off the horse.

Tana hung her hands around my neck and pulled them deep into my arms.She is so cold, body temperature alone is not enough, there is also fire and wine to warm her up slowly.

We don't have enough women's clothes for them to replace.With a pale face, the female chieftain made a joke to chieftain Maiqi: "Why, isn't Maiqi's family a very rich chieftain?"

Father looked at the female chieftain, smiled, and led a large group of us men out.He closed the door with his own hands, and said loudly, "Dry your clothes, let's talk again."

Originally, when two chieftains met, the etiquette was very complicated.So much etiquette makes people feel the distance from each other.It's raining really well.The rain brought the drenched toast girl to us, and it made things a lot easier.As soon as the two chieftains met, there was an easy-going atmosphere between them.The female toast was inside, and the male toast was outside, joking through the window.I didn't speak, but amidst the sound of the rain, I could hear the sound of women taking off their wet clothes, and I could hear them screaming low-pitched voices.I knew that Tana was completely naked, sitting on the bearskin mattress, the firelight caressing her.The thing is, my mind is so full of smoke again that I can't imagine what a pretty girl would look like naked.My father patted me on the head and we walked away into another warm room.

The chieftain looked at the gradually darkening sky and said, "That was done beautifully."

The butler looked at me, and I looked at the butler, not knowing what he was referring to.

The chieftain withdrew his eyes from the rain and the twilight, looked at me and said, "This is a beautiful job. I think you will get the beautiful woman you want."

The housekeeper said: "I'm afraid that what the master wants to say is more than that?"

The chieftain said: "Yes, it means more than that. What happened to them on the road, no matter what happened, the female chieftain's family will rely on our help. But what happened to them?"

The butler opened his mouth, and when the chieftain raised his finger, the butler understood, and changed his words: "The young master knows, maybe it's a trap set by him."

At this point, my mind was still trying to picture Tana naked.My father turned his questioning gaze to me, and I knew he wanted me to talk, so I blurted out what I was thinking: "The female chieftain changed her clothes three times that day, but today she didn't have any. She wants to warm herself naked by the fire." I asked asked, "Who took their clothes?"

This question has been running around in my head, but I can't come up with a result.Such a question was regarded by the chieftain and the housekeeper as my inspiration to them.

The father said, "Yes, by being robbed you mean they were robbed!"

The housekeeper went on to say: "Some of them have guns, ordinary bandits can't do it, yes! Yes! It's Lashepa!"

Lashepa's disaster was imminent. "Father patted me on the head, "Your wheat has not only been paid ten times. "

To be honest, I don't quite understand what the two of them mean.Father clapped his hands and called for wine.The three of us made a big bowl each.My father laughed and threw the wine bowl out of the window and broke it. This bowl of wine made my whole body almost burn.

The rain stopped at some point.The sunset is brilliant.I want to remember this day.In the sky after the rainstorm, the light of the sunset is so touching and bright.

My father and I returned to the women who had just dressed, smelling of alcohol.Wine, fire, warm and dry clothes and delicious food calmed the panicked female chieftain.She wanted to re-draw a distance between us that made her feel safe.This attempt was unsuccessful.

The female chieftain wanted to make up for the first meeting ceremony, and her father said: "No need, we have met before, take a look, your hair is not dry yet, just sit by the fire and don't move." Putting on the air of toast, she sat helplessly by the fire, showing a flattering smile.Chief Maiqi was very satisfied with his move, but he didn't want to stop there, even if the opponent was a woman.He said: "La Shepa is going to get a bad reputation, why doesn't he even leave you a change of clothes."

A surprised expression appeared on the female chieftain's face.Maggie Toast was right!They were shot by chieftain Lashepa on the road.The wheat I gave them fell into other hands.

Chieftain Ronggong wanted to pretend he didn't care, but she was a woman after all, and tears began to roll in her eyes.

My father said, "It doesn't matter, the Maiqi family will uphold justice."

The female chieftain turned her face and wiped away her tears.

In doing so, she puts herself in an unequal position.I haven't said anything about her hijacking me yet.In that case, her situation would be even more disadvantaged.Tana looked at me, got up and walked out.

I followed and walked out.A low-pitched laugh sounded behind him.

How fresh the night air is after the rain.The moon rises and shines on the sparkling river.The rotten silver light on the river reflects on my heart and illuminates my love.Tana kissed me.

I made her even more foolish with that kiss, so I said, "What a moon!"

Tana smiled, a smile as cold as moonlight, she said: "I can't finish talking about important things, but you talk about the moon!"

"What a bright river!" I said again.

Only then did she soften her voice: "Are you trying to anger me?"

"My father is going to formally propose to the female chieftain." After finishing speaking, I was going to kiss her.She put my legs and my chest on the same part of hers, but covered my mouth with her hand, and asked me: "You won't tell your father about that?"

Of course I knew what she was referring to, so I said, "I got you in the pasture, I only told my father that."

She fell into my arms.I wanted to take her to my room, but she said she was going back to her mother.I bathed in the moonlight and held her in my arms for a long time.

Speaking of being robbed on the road, Tana's eyes welled up with tears.

Her look filled me with anger and pain.I asked, "What did they do to you women?"

Tana understood that I was asking if she had been raped.She covered her face, kicked her feet, and said in a low voice that she and the chieftain were protected by guards and rushed out.I didn't think that I must marry a virgin as my wife. No one here educates me like this.But I asked her the question anyway.After Tana answered, she felt that I was absurd, and asked, "Why are you asking this?"

I said I don't know.

The female chieftain was robbed halfway, which has nothing to do with me.But both my father and the housekeeper regarded my giving food to the chieftain as a deliberate trap.The chieftain asked the housekeeper several times, whose idea it was to give the food, but the housekeeper always said it was the young master.So, my father came to ask me what I planned to do next.I replied, do whatever you want.I speak confidently, because my heart is simmering, the chieftain's etiquette allows me to be with the beautiful Tana, but I can't go to bed casually like with an unidentified maid.According to etiquette, we can only sleep together after we are married.That's why I replied impatiently: "Do whatever you want."

Father clapped his hands and laughed.

Two chieftains engaged us on the border.Originally, the engagement of the sons and daughters of the chieftain should have a very pompous ceremony.But we are in an extraordinary period, and even more so in a special place, so everything is kept simple.For my engagement ceremony, everyone eats a lot.Everyone kept eating and eating and eating a lot of delicious things.Sangji Dolma was in charge of everything in the kitchen. Finally she came up and put a large plate of homemade things in front of Tana and me. She also whispered to me: "Master, congratulations."

After eating, they separated us, and we couldn't see each other until we got married.

We exchanged things: rings on our hands, necklaces around our necks, and jade stones on our belts.At night, I couldn't fall asleep thinking of Tana, and heard soft footsteps coming upstairs from the guest room below.After a while, the panting sounded like an animal in the father's room next door.Finally, I heard Chieftain Mai Qi say: "In the world, it is rare for two chieftains to do this together."

The female chieftain smiled and said, "You are not old yet."

"I'm alright."

"But not young anymore."

The chieftain and Tana have been sleeping in the same room, although the housekeeper gave the mother and daughter a guest room each.I thought, the two toasts are busy, and I can't let go of the opportunity in front of me.I groped downstairs and found the bed, not to mention people, not even a trace of Tana's smell.I just found out that she was sent away the night after the engagement banquet and went back to their official village.Accompanying them were the Maiqi's men and horses, carrying machine guns, holding a large amount of food for Ronggong's family. Whenever Lashepa's men showed up, they would attack them head-on.

I asked my father what was going on.

"Didn't you just do what you said?" When he asked me back, there was a look of grievance on his face.It was so much fun, so much fun.It's as if I was Toast Maggie and he turned into a foolish young master.

I said, "Okay then."

Chieftain Maiqi also told his son that he left the female chieftain in order to confuse the people of Lashepa, but they only lived in this fortress and they could not see her.My father likes the wild, I know that.I said to him, "If you ride out on horseback, the people from Lashepa will see it?"

The two chieftains went out with some guards.I don't know whether my father is playing tricks or going to have a wild affair with the female chieftain.I am standing on the watchtower again.It rained at night, and the weather was fine during the day, and I could see far away when I raised my eyes.The hungry people know that they should not come to us, but should get relief from their chieftains, but people continue to come to this place where a lot of food is stored.Desperate people staggered by the time they left, but no one died beneath our fortress.If something like that happened, I wouldn't be able to bear it.But these people just took a look at what the legendary place with a lot of grain looked like, then turned around and went back the same way.They came here, like a pilgrimage, they have worked so hard to arrive, but with the same feelings for the holy land, they took a look at this place closest to the kingdom of heaven, and then returned to the place where they came, in the dust A place where there is no disaster and there is starvation.Compared with these people, the people of Maiqi's family are the chosen people of the kingdom of heaven, and they are a group that the Buddha especially favors.

In the blue valley in the distance, there are more and more meat-eating birds hovering in the sky. Many people must have died there.

I know those valleys well, the season when the brooks are more plentiful and the wild cherries are in bloom.They starved to death under those trees on the way home.I don't know if the fragrance of flowers will help them enter the kingdom of heaven.Since their master can't make them enter the kingdom of heaven, they certainly have reason to ask Huaxiang for help.The father led the female chieftain on horseback through the dazed crowd.They stopped at the edge of a small river, their reflections reflected in the calm water.But they just looked into the distance, not their own shadow in the water.

Every day, they take the same route.

Every day, I climbed up the watchtower and watched them, wishing more and more that they would not stop, but keep going, into those blue valleys in the land of chieftain Lashepa.There they will be killed.I always feel that as soon as the two chieftains walk into the blue valley, they will be killed by chieftain Lashepa.At first this thought was amusing, but later on I found it overwhelming, and I felt guilty.In addition, Xiao Eryi always followed me silently like a dog, and this sense of guilt was even stronger.

So, I said to my father, "You guys don't go out anymore."

My father didn't answer me, but took a smug look at the woman who slept with him every day during this period, meaning: "I'm not wrong, my son!"

It turned out that they had decided not to go out anymore.

Over the years, good luck has always followed the Maiqi family, and it has also followed me.My words hit the right point again, and for some reason it hit my father's mind again.So, he smiled.When a foolish person laughs, there is always something unpredictable and profound.

29. Started
(End of this chapter)