The dust settles

Chapter 47

Dolma laughed through his tears and said, "You idiot, the master hasn't asked you to be a chieftain yet!"

Dolma's tears just wiped away and flowed down again, "Master, the silversmith has gone to the red Han people."

I called Eryi and told him to take a few people back to Maiqi Guanzhai to see how the chieftain was doing.

For the first time, Eryi did not show a shy look, he said: "What's the use of going, the People's Liberation Army will arrive soon. It's no use giving up your seat."

I said, "It's useful, I'm going to give all the servants the status of freedmen."

As soon as these words were uttered, the servants who were slaves immediately came upstairs. Some prepared dry food for Eryi, some packed weapons for Eryi, and Qu led a horse for Eryi. up.The People's Liberation Army, which specializes in fighting for the poor, has not yet come, and they seem to have been liberated.

After sending Eryi on the road, the housekeeper said to me: "In this way, when the Communist Party comes, there will be nothing to do."

I said, "After they hear about it, they won't turn around and go back."

The butler said, "Stop saying such silly things."

The Communist Party has not yet come, and no one has a clear idea of ​​what the Communist Party looks like, but they all think they are invincible.Those chieftains who were preparing to fight were just fighting to the death before they perish.And I haven't made up my mind yet.The housekeeper was a little anxious.I said, don't worry, the decision to be made is always to be made.The butler smiled and said, "That's right, every time I get angry, you're right in the end."

I want to wait for the two boys to come back first, and then make a comment.So, I had to drink and sleep.

One night I woke up suddenly and felt something under my feet.When I heard it, it was Tana, a maid with small hands and feet, crying under her feet.I have long lost interest in her.I told her to just sleep over there and talk to me.I said, "Eryi is back, you are a free citizen."

She didn't speak, but stopped sobbing.

"At that time, I will give you a generous dowry."

The groom's daughter cried a few more times.

"Don't cry anymore."

"The madam did not take her casket."

I said the box was hers, because she also had that damn name.She stopped crying, the bitch was kissing me more, she kissed me more, making me bark like an animal with comfort.For a long time, she followed behind her eponymous master, and I thought it was a bad idea to follow that woman.As the saying goes, some women are a poison, so this groom's daughter is also stained with this poison.I was still thinking about it, but she was already snoring at my feet.

In the morning, she's out of the way, and the man doesn't make a lot of noise when he's doing anything, never.That is, from this day on, I never saw the groom's daughter named Tana again.The chieftain's daughter ran away, and the groom's daughter had nowhere to go, so she locked herself in the upstairs room, tightly holding the gold-painted jewelry box in her arms.Compared with her, Tana, who fled with the white Han, was a noble woman.It must be admitted that the chieftain's daughter and the groom's daughter are always different, even though they have the same name, even though they have the same man; His daughter held the box and refused to let go.For this, the groom's daughter had stored for herself a considerable amount of food and water in that room.It's not a day or two since she had the idea of ​​making jewelry.

Well, stop talking and let this person disappear from sight.

We heard the rumble of cannon.

The sound of spring thunder first came from the border of Ronggong chieftain in the north, it was the sound of the artillery of the People's Liberation Army opening mountains and building roads.It is also said that the coalition forces of the white Han people and the Ronggong chieftains have joined forces with the red Han people.

Solang Zelang is back again, and the faithful man has failed again.This time, what he lost was not a hand, but his life.His chest was smashed into a sieve by the portable mechanism.They killed my boy, and the tax collector in the town, and tied his face to the sky to the back of the horse, and let the horse that knew the way bring him back.On the road, the carnivorous birds of prey had smeared his face badly.

Many people cried.

I thought, well, if the white Han people are doing this with Ronggong Chieftain, I will just wait for the Communist Party to come and surrender.

Not long after Suolang Zelang's burial, from the east, that is, from the direction of chieftain Maiqi, there was another sound of cannons, whether it was to open a road or to fight.The guns fired in the east and north, rumbling like spring thunder.It was a perfect day, and the sky was full of stars, shining like velvet studded with jewels.The enemy of the Maiqi family, my shopkeeper friend saw me coming.He was holding a large altar, and walked into my room without any word from the servants.I asked someone to close the window and stop looking at the stars in the sky.The servants turned on the lamp, and I saw that his nose was red and dripping some muddled things.I said, "You've got syphilis, too."

He smiled and said, "Don't worry, young master, my brother said he can cure it."

"Your brother? That timid killer? Didn't he run away?"

"He's back." The owner told me calmly.

I said, "Has he already killed Toast Maiqi? If he does, the matter between our two families will be over."

At this time, his younger brother laughed like a ghost who suddenly walked in from the door, which really shocked me. He said: "It's already this time, what's the point of the matter between our two families?"

I don't know when this time is, and I don't know why the interesting things between the two families are suddenly not interesting.

The former killer laughed: "I didn't kill your father, and I don't want to kill you."

His elder brother didn't like to show off, so he asked, "Then what are you doing back here?"

The ex-killer told us all.He joined the team of white Han people when he fled, and was captured by the red Han people later, and joined the team of red Han people again.He calls himself a red Tibetan, and he proudly says that red is the least color among Tibetans, but it will soon burn the entire chieftain's territory to this color like wildfire.He was inquiring about the news for the red team. He walked up to me and said, "What is the account of our two families? Once our team arrives, it's time to settle the account of you chieftains." He repeated, "That's the time to settle the ledger!"

The butler came in and said in a low voice, "But our young master is not a chieftain."

"Isn't he the chieftain? He is the chieftain of the chieftains."

Since this red Tibetan came here, no one wants to go to the red Han again.Although everyone knows that resisting the red Han people has no good results, all the chieftain teams that resisted the red Han people were defeated at the first touch, and the defeated chieftains led the team to move westward.To the west is the territory of the so-called purest sect to which Wengboyixi belongs.The chieftains have always tended to the dynasty of the Eastern laity rather than the territory of the Western gods.Now, the chieftains who were determined to resist had to go west.The chieftains didn't believe that the temple in the west could help them from any force, but they fought for a while and then retreated west.

I said to the clerk, "We are going to flee to where you came from too."

His eyes said: "That's where it should have been long ago, but you keep going to the East."

"Will your god forgive us people?"

"You have been punished."

The steward said, "My God, after all these years, you still haven't become a clerk, you are still a stubborn lama after all."

"No, I am a good clerk, I wrote everything down, and later people will know what happened in the chieftain's territory, from the time I came here." He wrote, he wrote There are two copies of everything, one is hidden in a cave, and someone will find it later.A copy was on his body, and he wrote: "I hope the person who finds my dead body is a literate person."

I am not a chieftain, but I am still ready to flee to the West.

In the north, the sound of cannons in the territory of Chieftain Ronggong became less and less.To the southeast, the sound of cannons in Maiqi chieftain's territory became more and more intense.It is said that chieftain Maiqi's Han wife told him to resist, and another source said that chieftain Maiqi was kidnapped by white Han people and forced him to resist together.All in all, it was the Han who told him to resist the Han.We left town on a misty morning.When leaving, the butler wanted to set a fire, but I stopped him.I looked at everyone, and they all wanted to set fire to the market, the bank, the warehouse, the almshouse for the passing poor, and the brothel with colorful walls.All of this was built up by me, a fool, and of course I have the right to burn it.but I do not have.I closed my eyes and told my men to throw away the torch.The smoke from the torches thrown on the ground smoked out my tears.

The housekeeper proposed to kill the red Tibetan.I agreed, and it was this man who deliberately forced me into a situation where I was an enemy of the red Han people.

A few people rode into the town on horseback, and the crisp sound of gunfire echoed in the fog.I reined in my horse and stood on a high hill, trying to take another look at the town I had built, but the fog covered everything up.I haven't seen the town as it is now.The gun fired again, and several horses rushed out of the fog, but they did not find the red Tibetan.As soon as I urged the horse, I opened the way. Behind me, there were the cries of women.These weeping maids followed behind Sangji Drolma. These women didn't seem to know that we were fleeing, and they all put on bright red and green festive clothes.Only my maid of honor, Tana, is not in the line.Sangji Drolma said that she was holding the jewelry box worth tens of thousands and refused to go downstairs.

On the road to the west, you have to go south for a while, go into the mountains, and then go west along the winding mountain valleys.The valley will lead us to the foot of the snow-capped mountains, where there is a road to the west.That was the path of the pilgrims, but now, the chaotic footsteps of the refugees sounded.

We are walking on the border of two chieftains, Maiqi and Lasheba, and we are getting closer and closer to the fierce gunfire in the southeast.It seems that my old father really had sex with the red Han people.

Listening to the fierce gunfire, my heart was suddenly seized by long-lost, warm family affection. I thought I didn't love my father or my mother very much.At this time, he suddenly found that he still loves them very much.I couldn't leave them under fire and go west by myself. I left the clerk, the steward and the women here to wait, and took the soldiers to Maiqiguanzhai.Walking up the mountain pass and looking back at the people and white tents left in the dark green valley, the woman is waving frequently.I was suddenly terrified that this was the last time I would see them.

On the way to the east, we walked for two days.

The ranks of the red Han people had already pressed to the chieftain of Maiqi.In the middle of a forest at the foot of the mountain, there is a red flag flying.Their machine guns blocked the main road, and I led people to rush into the palace in the dark.In the official village, there are people with guns and live ammunition everywhere, some Tibetans, and more white Han Chinese.Those walking upstairs are living people, and those lying in the yard downstairs are dead people.They have been fighting hard for ten days.I rushed into the chieftain's room, and now my father, chieftain Maiqi, was right in front of him.Chief Maiqi didn't look any older. Although his beard and hair were all white, his eyes radiated crazy light.He grabbed me, and there was still a lot of force in his hands.I am a fool with a slow mind, but the three days on the road are enough for me to imagine the situation where father and son meet more than once.I thought that when we met, tears would wet our faces and hearts, but I was wrong.The father said loudly, "Look, who's here! It's my silly son!"

I also tried my best to raise my voice and said loudly: "I picked up my father and mother."

However, chieftain Maiqi said that he was not going anywhere, that he was old and was going to die.He said that he thought he was going to die in a bland manner, but he never expected to catch up with such a good time.He said that a chieftain, a noble person, is only interesting if he dies in a lively manner.He patted me on the shoulder and said, "It's just that my idiot son can't be a chieftain anymore."

"I'm the last Maiqi toast!" he shouted at me.

The father's voice attracted the mother.She came in with a smile on her face.She rushed forward, held my head in her arms and shook it, and said in my ear: "I never expected to see my own son."

Her tears still flowed out, fell on my ears, fell on my forehead.She firmly stated that she would die with the chieftain.

That night, the People's Liberation Army did not launch an offensive.My father said that the People's Liberation Army fought regardless of day and night, and they never rested.The father said: "These red Han people are not bad, they must know that our father and son have met."

So, two white Han officers were also invited to drink.

The chieftain praised them as brave men.Two Braves is pretty good too.It is advocated to take advantage of the truce of the communist army to send out women and those who do not want to fight anymore.My father said that as soon as the people went out, their machine guns swept over.We continued to eat and drink.It is a moonless night.In the distance, the red Han people lit a large fire, and the flames fluttered in the night like their flags.Eryi appeared in front of me when I went out to look at the reeds.From the expression on his face, he knew that the old executioner was dead.But he didn't mention the old executioner, but asked me if Suolang Zelang had returned.I told him that the one who came back was dead Solange with a big hole in his chest.

He whispered timidly, "I guessed it." He added, "The executioner is useless, and I'm going to die too."

Then, like a ghost, suddenly disappeared from me.

In the middle of the night, the moon rises.An officer carried a white flag with a bayonet and walked towards the red Han camp under the moonlight.As soon as he went out, the machine gun on the opposite side rang out, and he fell headfirst to the ground.As soon as the machine gun stopped, he stood up again and walked forward holding the white flag. The machine gun clicked again and again, causing dust to fly around him. The opponent saw the white flag in his hand and stopped firing.In the middle of the night, he came back.The People's Liberation Army agreed that anyone in the official village who did not want to resist could go out without being blocked by machine guns.

The brave man said with emotion that the other party is a teacher of benevolence and righteousness. At the same time, he lamented that it is a pity that they have different doctrines from these people.

The first ones to go out were some white Han soldiers. They raised their hands high and went to the opposing position.The people under the chieftain who were afraid of death went westward, toward places where no Han Chinese had yet arrived.Toast Maiqi asked me to leave, I looked at my mother, but she still didn't intend to leave.Since she doesn't want to leave, I can't leave either.Everyone knows that for those who stay in the official village, this is the last night in the world.Everyone started drinking again.This is the night when spring is coming.The wet wind blows away the smell of gunpowder smoke in the air.From the underground warehouse in Guanzhai, a slightly rotten sweetness slowly rises, lingering around people who are half asleep.The Han officer didn't know what it was like, so he breathed greedily through his nose.Everyone in Maggie's family knew that it was a mixture of wheat, silver and opium in the warehouse.In this dreamy and dreamy smell that is very comfortable, I fell asleep.

For the rest of the night I dreamed, bits and pieces, but everything I had experienced in my life.When the sun dazzled my eyes, I woke up and found myself sleeping in the same room I used to live in when I was a child, on the same bed I slept in when I was a child.It was here, on that snowy morning, that I first put my hand into the arms of a maid named Sangji Drolma.It was here, on that snowy morning, that the thrushes were calling outside the temple, and the body of a maid awakened the little bit of wisdom sleeping in the head of a fool.My memory starts from that morning, from this room, from this bed.I was 13 years old that year, and my life started when I was 13 years old. Now, I don't know how old I am.I was alone in the room, and I looked at myself in the mirror, and my god, I had so many wrinkles on my forehead too.If my mother was sitting in this room as she was that morning all those years ago, I'd ask her how old her foolish son is.Thirty, forty?Still a 50-year-old worker?Many years passed in a flash.I walked to the window, outside, the fog was gradually dissipating, and the birdsong was crisp and sweet, as if time had never flowed, and life was still stuck many, many years ago.

I heard the call of the thrush, and the call of the lark and the green-billed tit.

Suddenly, flocks of birds flew up from the bushes and the grass.They hovered in the sky for a while, screaming not to fall to the ground.Finally, with a flick of its wings, it flew far away.There was silence in the four fields, but everyone felt that danger was approaching.In the tall official village, people ran with their guns in hand.Occupying every window available to shoot.

Only Mrs. Toast did not run around nervously. She ordered the servants to boil tea in the small clay stove and make smoke bubbles one after another.She washed her face with milk, sprayed on perfume, put on a water-red satin gown, and lay down on the cigarette couch.She said, "Son, sit down for a while, don't stand like an idiot."

I sat down, my gun wet with sweat.

She said, "Let me have a good look at you. I have said goodbye to your father."

I just sat there stupidly and asked her to watch.Tea was gurgling on the tandoor.Mrs. Tusi said, "Son, you know my background, right?"

I said I know.

(End of this chapter)