Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 11 Mutation
After Shen Liu'er left, Li Jing turned his head to look at Da Zhuang and the others and said, "I'm afraid you guys won't be able to go back. You have only two ways now, one is to seek relatives and friends, and the other is to follow me. Think about it."

"I'll follow you." Da Zhuang said in unison.

Li Jingjing nodded and said, "Follow me and take those guards."

Without hesitation, Da Zhuang and the others picked up the weapons dropped by the guards.

"Brother, you don't mean to rebel, do you?" Duhu asked while fastening his waist knife.

Li Jing shook his head, and said slowly: "I haven't reached this stage yet, I am protecting myself. You have also seen the strength of the Xu family. If we are caught in the Yamen, we will die at that time. At the same time, we will also send the Shen family away." Get involved."

"Brother said yes, so what should we do now?" Duhu continued.

"We went around from outside the city to meet the uncle of the Shen family. Now our two families are tied together. If one family has an accident, the other family can't escape. Only by being together can we get out of trouble." Li Jing said.

Chen Dahu nodded: "Brother, we will do whatever you say."

"When the Shen family leaves the city, they must go in the direction of Kaifeng. Does anyone of you know the shortcut?" Li Jing asked.

When Zhuzi heard this, he hurriedly said: "Brother, I know. If we are going in the direction of Kaifeng from our place, then we don't need to go to Hejian Town, go straight to Yuankang from the small road, and then pass Linqi and Jishui Town to Weihui Mansion , and then all the way south to Zhengzhou, and from Zhengzhou to the east is Kaifeng.”

After Zhuzi said this, Li Jing was taken aback. You must know that the traffic is extremely underdeveloped at this time, and some people have never been out of the county in their entire lives. How did Zhuzi know these places?
Before Li Jing could speak, Du Hu widened his eyes and asked, "Zhuzi, why are you so familiar with these places?"

Zhu Zi smiled: "My family has a relative in Kaifeng Mansion. I have been there with my father a few times in the past few years, so I remember the way."

Li Jingjing nodded, although Zhuzi was young, he was smart, and it was a talent to cultivate well.

"If we don't enter Lin County, which way can we take the fastest way to pick up the people from the Shen residence?" Li Jing asked.

"Then go to Hejian Town and go east to Dongyao. From Lin County to Kaifeng, you must pass through Dongyao." Zhuzi said.

"Okay! Lead the way!" Li Jing waved and said.

Li Jing and his party took a shortcut all the way east, and they arrived outside Dongyao Town in only half an hour.

Li Jing and Zhuzi estimated the distance to Lin County, knowing that the Shen family didn't arrive here so soon, they had to sit by the roadside and wait.

After more than half an hour, several carriages drove up.Li Jing took a closer look and found that it was Shen Liuer who was driving.

Li Jing got up hurriedly: "Which one is Master Shen?"

I saw Shen Liu'er approaching a carriage and whispered a few words, then got out of the carriage, cupped his hands and said: "But Li Shixiong? I am Shen Zheng, and the family of Shen's family would like to thank Shixiong for saving me."

"Master Shen is being polite. It's the boy's recklessness that has brought the Shen family into trouble." Li Jing said.

Shen Zheng hurriedly waved his hand: "Brother, there is no need to be too modest! Even if there is no such thing, the Xu family will attack my Shen family, but it is only a matter of time!"

Li Jing thought that Shen Zheng had ordered his two younger brothers to leave early with their families, and knew that Shen Zheng was not being polite.

"Did Mr. Shen make you chase after the second and third masters?" Li Jing asked.

Shen Zheng nodded and said: "Brother Lao Shi, don't worry, I have already been chased by horses, and I guess I can catch up in less than an hour. I will let them wait for me at Weihui Mansion."

Li Jing pondered for a while and said: "Weihui seems to be the only way from Lin County to Kaifeng. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to meet there. The Xu family will know our whereabouts as long as they inquire about it. And I heard that the Xu family has My brother is the magistrate in Weihui, we are afraid that we will fall into a trap when we go to Weihui."

Shen Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Then according to elder brother, where should we meet together?"

Li Jing pondered for a while and said: "We will not go to Kaifeng for the time being, but go in the opposite direction. The Xu family must not be able to guess where we will go."

Li Jing didn't know the place name here, so he could only tell the direction.

But he didn't want to, if he didn't mention the place name, Shen Zheng believed him even more.

"It's reasonable. The Xu family thought we would go to Kaifeng, and they must follow the roads leading to Kaifeng. We turned around and turned back. They definitely couldn't imagine that we will first go to Qi County to live for a while."

After finishing speaking, Shen Zheng asked Shen Liu'er to arrange for someone to deliver the letter immediately.

After everything was agreed, Li Jing and his party got into the carriage and started on their way.

It is about eighty miles from Dongyao to Qi County, and the road condition at this time is far worse than that of later generations. The people walked for about two or three hours before reaching the outside of Qi County.

When Li Jing and his party arrived in Qi County, it was getting late and the city gate was closed.

However, the people sent by the Shen family had already waited outside the city. When they saw Shen Zheng and others arriving, they rushed forward to report that Old Man Chen, Shen Yi and others had arrived in Qi County and settled down in a small village in the south of Qi County.

Shen Zhengwen didn't care about Mrs. Shen's serious illness, so he led everyone around the city to the south of the city.

The place where Shen Yi and the others settled down was called Xiaomazhuang, about three miles away from the county seat of Qi County.

Xiaomazhuang has a small population, only about [-] households, less than Chenzhuang.

How can anyone in such a place accommodate the Shen family?

Fortunately, there is an abandoned temple to the west of Pony Village, and Shen Yi and the others are temporarily staying in this temple.

This abandoned temple is not big, with only six temple houses in total.

With so many people living in Shen's residence, the temple was packed to the brim at once.

When Li Jing and the others arrived, Shen Yi had already arranged for people to clean up the temple, and the maids and women had already started cooking.

Shen Zheng ordered someone to help the old man into the house, Du Hu and others went to find old man Chen, and Li Jing wandered around for a while.

"Brother, what are you looking at?" Da Hu ran to Li Jing and asked.

"Nothing? How about the two tigers?" Li Jing shook his head and said.

Erhu was injured and lived with old Mrs. Shen. The Shen residence arranged for a few maids to take care of them, because the female family members of the Shen residence lived in the back, so Li Jing didn't go to visit.

"Very good, nothing wrong." Dahu said.

Li Jing looked at Dazhuang Zhuzi and the others behind Duhu, smiled and said, "What's the matter? Tell me!"

"Brother, you have time now, teach me how to do it." Zhuzi said.

Along the way, Zhuzi kept asking Li Jing what method he used to bring down more than a dozen officials in a blink of an eye, and kept begging Li Jing to teach him. Li Jing smiled and said that he would teach him when he was free. Here comes the kid.

Hearing Zhuzi talk about it again, Li Jing smiled and said, "It won't work here, and it's already night now! How can I teach you?"

Seeing that Zhuzi looked a little disappointed, Li Jing continued, "I'll teach you when we find a safe place, but I'll tell you in advance that it will take a lot of hardship." Li Jing said with a smile.

Zhu Zi immediately became happy when he heard this, nodded repeatedly and said, "I'm not afraid of suffering!"

"Can I follow suit?" Dahu scratched his head and said suddenly.

"Learn if you want, but you are too old, and it will be more tiring and difficult to learn!" Li Jing said with a smile.

"It's okay, it's nothing to suffer a little bit." Duhu shouted with his eyes wide open, and Da Zhuang and others behind him also nodded repeatedly.

Li Jing finally understood the purpose of Dahu's visit, nodded immediately and said, "That's fine! Then you can learn together."

At this moment, the members of Shen's family came over and said that the dinner was ready, Master Shen invited some of them to have dinner in the back.

After dinner, Li Jing, Dahu and others rested in the main hall. They didn't sleep well last night, and after walking for another day today, they were all a little tired, and they started snoring soon.

But Li Jing couldn't sleep, this time the plan went a little wrong, luckily, the Xu family brought only a dozen people from the yamen, and it happened that the Shen family had made preparations in advance, so they all escaped.

If Xu Er had brought more people, Li Jing could say that it would be impossible for Dahu and the others to follow him!
But he is not familiar with this place, so he will have to think about how to go next.

Just as he was thinking about where to go next, Li Jing's ears twitched suddenly. This was his professional instinct. When he was in an unsafe situation, Li Jing was completely alert and nervous.

Listening attentively, there was a sound of rustling in the distance.

Li Jing is very familiar with this kind of sound. In modern times, people cautiously walk slowly and stealthily, making this kind of sound. Moreover, in ancient times, there were no soft rubber soles like modern ones, so this rustling sound seems to be More people wake up!
Li Jing grabbed the waist knife beside him, got up and went to the window, gently pushed the window open and looked out.By the moonlight, I could see the figures in the distance, scattered and approaching, as if they were going to surround the abandoned temple.One of them was riding on a horse and waving, presumably he was the leader of these people.

When those people gradually approached, Li Jing saw what they were wearing and concluded that they were not being rounded up by the officers and soldiers. Some of these people wore civilian clothes, some wore silk robes, and they held various weapons in their hands, including bows and arrows, long guns, and There is a short knife, a wooden stick, and one with a fork.

Seeing that it wasn't the officers and soldiers, Li Jing felt certain in his heart, and then remembered something, and couldn't help but smile.

Li Jing pushed Du Hu and the others to wake up, and then said softly: "Don't make a sound, listen to me, a group of robbers came outside..."

"What? There are thieves robbing?" Dui exclaimed.

Li Jing slapped Duhu on the head: "Keep your voice down!"

Duhu stared wide-eyed and nodded repeatedly.

Li Jing continued: "Dahu, Da Zhuang, you two guard the window of the side hall. If anyone comes in, chop it down. You're welcome, Da Zhuang, give me your bow and arrow."

Da Zhuang nodded, untied his bow and arrow and placed it beside Li Jing, then drew his waist knife and Duo entered the side hall.

Li Jing glanced out, and continued: "Er Zhuang, Shuanzi and Shanzi, you three take a knife, go to the back and inform the uncle and the people of the Shen family, give them the knife, tell them to guard the back, keep quiet, come in Cut one at a time."

Er Zhuang and the others nodded and ran back quickly.

"Zhuzi, follow me, don't move around." After Li Jing finished speaking, he grabbed the bow and arrow on the ground, feeling that it was very light.

Li Jing shook his head, this kind of bow and arrow is only good for shooting rabbits and pheasants, and it is almost like sending death to the enemy.But the robbers who came this time were not very strong, everyone was in the same boat, and no one was much better than the other.

I tiptoed to the window and looked out through the gap. At this time, the people outside had already approached, less than ten steps away from the abandoned temple.Li Jing looked around and found that the leader on horseback was about 50 steps away from the window. He weighed his bow and arrow and shook his head. No matter how skilled the archer is, it is impossible for such a bow and arrow to overwhelm the enemy fifty steps away.

Of course, Li Jing didn't think about killing people, just based on the clumsy look of the gangster not far away holding a dung fork, Li Jing dared to conclude that this is a young child, he should have just become a robber not long ago.

(End of this chapter)