the enlightener says

Chapter 142 Koi Flower and Dove Glass

Of course, it is impossible to boil the medicine in a tent, otherwise the smoke will be lingering, and the person who boils the medicine will be choked to death before one of them is saved, so the temporary hut has become the best place to boil the medicine. Place.

Zhou Gongjin led the way, while Qin Ke and Abu followed behind Gao Changgong. Qiao Feifan deliberately slowed down and landed at the back, but Zhang Fu followed her at some point. Whispering.

Qin Ke has just used the large-scale wind-seeing technique, and now he is tired, so he doesn't bother to listen to the whispers of these daughters.

"My lord, great general!" The commander was leaning on the pole of the thatched shed, when he saw a group of people approaching, he quickly stood up straight and saluted.

Zhou Gongjin nodded and asked, "How is the medicine?"

"It's almost ready." The commander looked at the pottery bowls that had been placed on the table one by one, and the soup inside was still steaming. "In a while, it's time to feed the patient."

"Don't be busy yet." Zhou Gongjin turned her head, and Qiao Feifan came over, "Let Miss Qiao see if the prescription needs to be changed."

Qiao Feifan went straight in, her nose twitching, and the hut was surrounded by an unpleasant smell of medicine, but she didn't mind it at all, and even reached out to pick up a bowl of soup medicine, and the commander at the side rushed to stop it, but She had already taken a sip on her own.

"Ouch! Ms. Qiao, that's the medicine for the plague. You're so good. It's bad luck to drink this medicine..." The commander wanted to snatch the medicine bowl from Qiao Feifan's hand, but who knew that a girl like her would act better than he imagined. It was much faster, just a slight step to the side, and the commander's hand fell into the air, and then he remembered, this girl is practicing medicine alone, how could she not have any kung fu?

Just when he was in a daze, Zhou Gongjin also stretched out his hand and pressed his shoulder, signaling him to be calm and calm. While looking at Qiao Feifan's face, she saw that she was taking a mouthful of soup and medicine in her mouth, tasting it carefully, as if she was chewing honey. It usually took a long time to swallow the sugar cake, but his eyes suddenly became serious: "Is there any problem with the medicine?"

"It doesn't taste right." Qiao Feifan handed him the medicine bowl.

"It doesn't taste right?" Zhou Gongjin frowned, took the medicine bowl and took a sip, but in his opinion, the soup was just bitter and astringent, but after holding it in his mouth for a while, he felt that it was almost whole. His tongue was going numb, he said, "I don't feel it, it seems... more bitter?"

Qiao Feifan looked at the medicine bowl in his hand, just took a sip by himself, and now Zhou Gongjin is drinking again, what is this?

She rolled her eyes instead, and muttered, "Of course you can't taste it, and you're not good at medicine."

Zhou Gongjin smiled awkwardly, but immediately turned her head, and asked the sergeant who made the medicine with a serious face, "Are you negligent in the process of making medicine that Miss Qiao said?"

In fact, the work of boiling medicine should have been done by the doctors accompanying the army. Unfortunately, because the doctors accompanying the army had the most frequent contact with the sick, they naturally contracted the plague very quickly, and several of them lost their lives one after another. It will be reduced to letting these sergeants who know nothing about medical skills be in charge of decocting medicine.

Could it be that something went wrong in the process of boiling the medicine?

The sergeant said with an innocent face: "My lord, I boiled the medicine according to the method Miss Qiao said, and I didn't dare to make any mistakes."

"It's not about boiling the medicine." Qiao Feifan picked up another bowl, took a sip, and his eyes became more and more determined, "One medicine is missing, koi flower."

"Is there a medicine missing?" Zhou Gongjin looked at the sergeant, her eyes sharpened: "Why is there a medicine missing? Tell me!"

The sergeant finally understood, and immediately knelt down with a plop, almost howling: "My lord, it's not that we don't want to let go of the small ones, but that the koi flowers have been used up a few days ago, my subordinate, my subordinate is afraid of delaying those things." Patients... also, there is nothing they can do."

"The medicinal materials are running low, so you should report it in time. If you don't report it when you know it, who gave you the courage?" Zhou Gongjin scolded sharply.

"Yes..." The sergeant raised his eyes and looked aside hesitantly.

"My lord, it's my fault." The commander walked up to Zhou Gongjin and knelt down, "It was my subordinate who asked him to do this."

Zhou Gongjin looked at the commander and smiled inexplicably, but his smile was full of anger: "Okay, that's great! Lynch, it's not the first year you've been with me, and now you've learned how to deal with this kind of life-threatening situation." Did you make a small calculation about this matter?"

Immediately he ordered heavily: "Come on!"

The two sergeants standing guard outside the shed held their long halberds, lowered their heads and replied, "Yes."

"Remove the weapons and armor, lock them up, and wait to be punished!"

Commander Lynch is also a strong man. At the moment, he didn't resist at all. He just raised his hand to stop the two sergeants, then solemnly kowtowed, and said in a low voice: "My lord! You let me take full responsibility for collecting The medicinal material is missing now. I have nothing to say if I want to punish or kill me. You blame my subordinates for being incompetent. The subordinates of koi flowers really can’t ask for it... But, the disaster is urgent, even if this flavor is missing, the medicine will still be needed Bite your head and endure it!"

Zhou Gongjin said angrily: "There are no medicinal materials in Wu County, you can go to other counties to purchase them. There are twenty counties in Dahe County. Is it possible that you can't even find a single medicinal material? Even if Dahe County doesn't have any, you can report to me. , I can also send a message to other counties..."

"My lord!" Lin Qi's voice overwhelmed Zhou Gongjin's angry scolding. He may have never been so rude in front of this lord Zhou, but this time he still had to argue a few words.

"Of course, my subordinates have collected medicinal materials from nearby counties and counties, but this koi flower is not an ordinary medicinal material at all. Many drug farmers have never even heard of it. Once the news of the plague spreads here, everyone in the nearby counties and counties is in danger. , I don’t know how this prescription spread, people in other counties heard that koi flowers can prevent the plague, and the koi flowers in all local pharmacies were looted by the people almost overnight..."

In fact, Zhou Gongjin is not an arrogant person who does not listen to arguments. Being able to scold Lin Qi here proves that he still has affection for this subordinate. Otherwise, at this critical moment, he should have sent someone to cut off his head.

And when he hissed out the reason, Zhou Gongjin also fell silent, his eyes dimmed, and then, Lin Qi stopped talking, lowered his eyes and let the two sergeants take off the armor regardless. Looking at his honest appearance in linen clothes, Zhou Gongjin waved his hands and asked the two sergeants to stop temporarily.

"In this case, you should have told me earlier." Zhou Gongjin said softly, "Even if I report to the imperial court, I won't be blinded by koi flowers. If this little brother didn't mention this matter today We were even kept in the dark about the matter, and we never thought that the problem would come from the medicinal materials. How many people would die if it dragged on for a day? Have you seen the mass graves over there? Have you seen it!"

Lynch remained silent and did not answer.

"Don't report what you know, make decisions without authorization, and make the epidemic worse...Your life can't be afforded at all... But, I still want to uphold the laws of Jing and Wu, so, do you obey?" Zhou Gongjin said solemnly, raising her head Looking down at him, his face was as cold as a lonely moon in the sky of a cold night.

Lynch knelt down, as if he had a heavy burden on his back.

"Subordinates, but..."

"I know, I will personally send someone to take care of your mother." Zhou Gongjin turned around and said.

Lynch bit his lip, feeling a sense of relief, and knocked his head hard three more times, until his forehead was dripping with blood before he stood up and left with the two sergeants.

Qin Ke looked at his back and bowed his head in silence.In fact, he probably already guessed the general appearance of this matter, and even vaguely predicted Lynch's ending.Perhaps this is the choice?As long as he chooses one of the two roads, he will inevitably meet the answer that he must bear on that road. He has been standing at the intersection before hesitating, and he is also afraid of many things that are waiting for him ahead.

But...he has already decided to go on.

Lynch was dragged away, but the dire situation remained unrelieved.

Lynch was right, koi flowers were not used much in normal times, even Qiao Feifan's use of koi flowers in this plague was dangerous.

Koi flower has strong medicinal properties and can even kill people. Physicians call it "general medicine", so it is not surprising that it has not been planted in large quantities by drug farmers.

Even if he sends a letter to the imperial court now, asking the imperial court to allocate medicinal materials, collect and transport from there, how many days will it take to get here?

"Is there any medicinal material that can replace this medicine?" Gao Changgong asked softly, "In a bowl of medicine, it's not possible that if one medicine is missing, the disease can't be cured, right?"

Seeing the leader being dragged to be beheaded, Qiao Feifan felt quite uneasy, and when she heard Gao Changgong's question, she replied softly: "There are few medicinal herbs that are as powerful as koi flowers. achieve this effect.”

"How about another prescription?" Zhou Gongjin asked.

Qiao Feifan nodded: "That's the only way to go, but it's not a matter of a day or two to make a prescription that can cure the plague. I also gave this prescription to me a few years ago, and he tried countless times. The prescription, I just got such a post, my level is not as good as his, I'm afraid it will be more difficult to change the prescription in a short time."

Qin Ke thought for a long time, then suddenly interjected: "I remember when I was fleeing famine when I was a child, some people who had survived the plague said that they ate Jiuli's snake gall and saved their lives?"

Qiao Feifan's eyes lit up. She pondered for a moment, stretched out her hands to fiddle with various medicinal materials on the stove for a while, and muttered for a long time, finally raised her head to look at Qin Ke, and said with some surprise: "That's right. Jiuli's snake gallbladder is indeed effective, even better than koi flowers. In this way, the dosage can be reduced a lot. One adult Jiuli is enough to save hundreds of people. The point is... as long as it can survive these days, I believe that with Uncle Zhou's ability, he will be able to mobilize a batch of koi flowers."

But soon she frowned again, and said with embarrassment: "But that Jiuli is extremely fierce, and it is hidden in the deep mountains. Time is running out, where can we find it?"

Chapter 143 Sisters

"I know how to find it." Hearing Qiao Feifan's affirmation, Qin Ke felt as if a big stone had landed in his heart, and said happily, "I read some classics on the way here, and it was mentioned that Jiuli usually lives in deep mountains and old forests, Wu There are also a lot of mountains and forests around the county, I can take people to look for them, I also helped find this kind of snake when I was in the village before, so I have some experience."

Zhou Gongjin pondered for a moment, then looked at him seriously and said, "There may be..."

When Qin Ke heard this, he immediately became more excited.

"But...it's too dangerous." Zhou Gongjin shook his head twice, and said in a deep voice, "Is there any mention in the classics that you read that there are usually monsters haunting the place where Jiuli lives? I have read the local chronicles, There is indeed Jiuli in Zhongyu Mountain, but the monsters in the mountain should not be underestimated. It's just that this time the flood spread to the foot of Zhongyu Mountain, and many unknown monsters came out, and the victims of the nearby mountains were therefore shocked. There were heavy casualties, I dispatched a total of [-] soldiers, of which [-] were sent out to build a line of defense against monsters, are you... still willing to go into the mountains to find Jiuli?"

Qin Ke smiled and said: "Of course there are things about monsters in the classics, I will be more careful."

"It's not as simple as being careful." Zhou Gongjin looked up at him, a little puzzled as to where this boy who doesn't look strong got the confidence, "If you really go into the mountains, you may encounter any troubles and accidents... ...If you are only looking for things at the bottom of the outer mountain, I can send soldiers to advance layer by layer. Once the search net is deployed, you will not find nothing, but if you want to find Jiuli, you must go deeper..."

Qin Ke also showed a little hesitation when he heard this, but soon he said confidently: "I have lived in the mountains of the Mo family since I was a child, and going up and down the mountain is as common as walking and eating, and I..." He didn't know Knowing whether he should mention his wind vision technique, he hummed a few times after thinking about it, but nodded firmly, "It can definitely be avoided."

"I can help prepare some detoxifying herbs. Jiuli's toxin is strong. It's best to prepare some, and... add some herbs to cover up the smell of people. It will always be useful." Qiao Feifan only thought that Qin Ke had something What is outstanding, she travels alone in the rivers and lakes, and naturally sees a lot of people who hide their secrets.

"I don't agree with this matter. Even if I want to go, it shouldn't be a young man like you..." Zhou Gongjin frowned and looked at Gao Changgong, as if asking for something, "Otherwise, let us go?"

"Let him go." Gao Changgong smiled calmly.

Zhou Gongjin opened his mouth in disbelief. He stared at Gao Changgong's eyes, thinking that you should keep the same attitude as me at this time, right?This is Zhuge Wanling's student...Even if he knew Gao Changgong's intention to bring these two people with him, but he didn't understand why he asked Qin Ke to go to Zhongyu Mountain alone to find Jiuli. ?

And Gao Changgong reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "It's always a good thing for young people to experience and practice, not to mention Qin Ke's ability to hide, I can trust it."

When he said this, he naturally thought that he had hidden in the dark cave in the tomb of King Naye, and could even avoid his eyes and ears. Although he had never seriously asked Qin Ke if he still had some special skills, but this time He's really not that worried.

Before Zhou Gongjin could object again, he had already said to Qiao Feifan: "Then trouble Miss Qiao to make the herbal medicine."

"You are welcome, General." Qiao Feifan looked at Gao Changgong's delicate yet heroic eyebrows under the mask, and was a little curious about what kind of breathtaking face this "beautiful god of war" rumored in Jingwu had.

"Then... then Brother Chang Gong, let me go with A Ke?" A Bu has been stunned, and now it seems that Qin Ke is really going to take an adventure into the mountains alone, and he finally becomes anxious.

"No, no, you stay," Gao Changgong said with a smile and waved his hands, "It's too late today, and it's not easy to ride a horse at night. Miss Qiao also needs time to prepare the potion. Let's go tomorrow morning."

A Bu and Qin Ke looked at each other. A Bu was actually a little surprised when he heard Qin Ke's swearing just now, but after thinking about it, it seemed that it was A Ke who played a greater role in the tomb of King Ye, not himself. After thinking about it carefully, his hanging heart slowly let go.

After discussing the details, several people dispersed separately. Qin Kehe and Abu were taken to their own tents by the sergeants, while Gao Changgong and Zhou Gongjin patrolled the barracks side by side.

Zhou Gongjin frowned and said: "Are you so relieved? I wanted to let you go, so that even if you encounter troubles, you can always solve them. Even if you just said that Qin Ke seems to have thaumaturgy, he is just a child after all. , if something really happened, how would you explain it to Mr.

"My child... what's wrong with the child? It should grow up." Gao Changgong said with a smile: "You, you just worry too much. Even if we can protect them for a while, can we protect them forever? After all, they I don't have such a pampered life, I am destined to be alone on the battlefield in the world in the future, I have experienced it early, it is better than being at a loss on the battlefield in the future..."

"Of course I understand the truth. But after all, Zhongyu Mountain is not a place of trial, it is too dangerous. I said, are you trying to backfire?"

Gao Changgong shook his head, and said with a light smile: "That's because you don't know what this kid is capable of. When it comes to fighting, this kid is really not outstanding, but when it comes to hiding traces and running for his life, among the young men from Jingwu, no one can stand out." It's around, life is still there, what else do you have to worry about?"

"I hope it's as you said." Seeing Gao Changgong's confident look, Zhou Gongjin said with a wry smile, "If something really happened, I won't worry about it, sir."

"Don't worry." Gao Changgong comforted.

As the only "female family member" in the army, Zhou Gongjin will of course arrange an independent tent for Qiao Feifan. Although the laying inside is also simple and simple, compared with those tents of ordinary soldiers, this place is quite luxurious. First of all, the bed It is not made of straw, but a quilt, a small piece of crumpled animal skin cushion, a screen made of linen and wooden frames, and behind it is a beautifully carved wooden bathtub-this is Zhou Gong. When Jin searched an official involved in the case before, he carried him out of the room of Mrs. Ninth.

Zhou Gongjin's personal guards stood at the door in three shifts, guarding the security of the tent day and night, mainly to prevent random people from entering at will. After all, it is impossible for him to guard the surroundings all the time. This is a military camp full of men. Among them, if there are one or two people who plan to do something wrong, I'm afraid the consequences will be disastrous.

Zhang Fu didn't follow Qin Ke and the others to set up a tent, but voluntarily shared a tent with Qiao Feifan.

In the tent, Qiao Fei fan lit the candlestick, and the light illuminated the small space. Her eyes were full of joy, and she couldn't wait to pull Zhang Fu and said, "Sister Zhen, sit here."

Zhen Fu looked around and smiled wryly. Of course she could see that Qiao Feifan had received the highest level of treatment in this barracks. It's not as good as the dog's kennel. I really don't know how she got here in the past few years.

Thinking of this, Zhen Fu's eyes couldn't help turning red, and she murmured, "How many years have you been away from home, do you live in this kind of place?"

Qiao Feifan saw that Zhen Fu's mood was a little depressed, and she panicked immediately, and hurried up to put her arms around her, and comforted her: "No, it's rare for me to sleep in the open air, so I won't stay in those deserted places all day long, right?" I have lived in a big inn in Jianye City. The layout and grandeur are by no means inferior to any of our official residences in Qunfang. Really. Oh, don’t cry, am I doing well? There is no shortage of meat. "

Zhen Fu caressed Qiao Feishan's slightly rough palm, then stroked her cheek pitifully, and said slightly reproachfully: "It's not missing a piece of meat, it's already so thin. And your hand, How can you still look like a lady? Those who don’t know think you are a country girl who is used to doing farm work. If Sister Qiao finds out, how sad and sad will you be?”

Qiao Feifan grinned nonchalantly, picked up the teapot on the table and poured a bowl of water, crossed his legs while drinking, and said, "Where is it? I don't know my sister's personality yet, how strong is she... No matter who bullied me when I was young, she would be the first to stand up, hehe."

Speaking of this, Qiao Feifan's mind is full of his sister's fierce appearance with her hands on her hips, pointing at the sky and scolding the world, which is a bit funny.

Now, the hands that have been protecting him have taken over the government of Qunfang, and his mind has become more and more deep, making Qiao Feifan feel more and more strange and boring.

Zhen Fu gave her a white look, and said: "Back then when you left without saying goodbye, Sister Qiao usually didn't look worried, but in private, we didn't know how many times we saw her secretly crying in your room...she still I regret that I shouldn't be in charge of you. When you leave, you don't know if you have enough money, whether you have encountered bad people along the way, whether you will be afraid of the night and thunder when you are alone..."

Listening to Zhen Fu's gentle narration, Qiao Feifan felt as if she was pulled back into her elegant and fragrant boudoir, while her sister, Qiao Liyue, the lord of Qunfang, was standing silently by the window, looking up. Hands to catch the raindrops from the eaves, her back looks so lonely, so lonely, so thin...

Chapter 144

After thinking about it, she slowly drank the hot tea in her hand, and her eyes were a little red. After a long time, she lowered her voice: "Actually... I also want to write a few more letters to go home, but the journey is far away. It can't be sent to my sister, and I don't know... I still have several family letters in my package, but I haven't sent them... Well, sister, is she okay now?"

"It's okay." Zhen Fu looked at Qiao Feifan gently, "It's just that she is getting more and more busy with state affairs. Although Qunfang is small, she has the final say on everything, and she is a stubborn person. You two are really similar in this regard. I never complained about suffering and tiredness, but actually we sisters feel distressed when watching from the sidelines.”

Qiao Feifan nodded, suddenly thought of something, reached out to look for it, found a silk book from his bosom, and quickly stuffed it into Zhen Fu's hand, saying: "I have nothing else to do these years, but I have spared a lot of time to sort it out. The medical experience left by the master, this prescription was drawn up by me, it may be able to cure her headache, sister Zhen, if you have a chance, help me bring it to her."

"Are you still unwilling to go back?" Zhen Fu asked.

"I...I still want to take a walk outside, not to mention that it will not take a day or two for this plague to end. Sister Zhen, you don't know, before I came out, I really thought that the world was only as big as us Qunfang , but when I came out, I opened my eyes all of a sudden, hey... Qunfang is really a small place, Tang Guo, Canghai, Mojia, Jingwu, no matter which one, even if they gallop for a few days and nights, they are just leaving A small space on the map. I don't want to go back, maybe my sister will have to lock my room when I go back..." Qiao Feifan smiled mischievously.

Zhen Fu shook her head, returned the prescription to Qiao Feishan and said, "I may not be able to go back..."

"What's wrong?" Qiao Feifan asked suspiciously, "Could it be that you... didn't come to look for me?"

Zhen Fu sighed, and quietly said: "I would like to, but I don't have your skills."

So, she told about the fact that she followed the caravan all the way to Jingwu, but was hijacked by bandits. In fact, she was still afraid for a while when she recalled this incident. If Qin Ke didn't find herself that day, Gao Changgong wasn't there What kind of fate will be waiting for her to wipe out the bandits?

Being the plaything of those bandits, I'm afraid it would be better to die.

After hearing this, Qiao Feifan turned pale with shock. Hearing the tension, she firmly held Zhen Fu's soft palm, and said in surprise, "How could this be? Sister Zhen, why didn't you bring some with you when you came out all the way to Jingwu?" Guards by your side?"

Zhen Fu lowered her head and smiled, "Didn't I escape all the way like you?"

Thinking of what she said to Gao Changgong on the boat, she felt helpless. She didn't expect that she would repeat her experience to the two people along the way, but this kind of review could only make her feel heavier and sadder. Feeling guilty, she said softly: "Yang Taizhen forced Sister Qiao to want me to marry Cao Meng of Canghai. She intends to use marriage to strengthen the alliance between Canghai and Tang..."

"Yang Taizhen!" Qiao Feifan hadn't finished listening, but was already furious, slapped the table and stood up, "It's Yang Taizhen again! Yes, she married Li Qiuhuang and became the most favored woman around Tang Wang , but she should not forget, she was born as Qunfang and died as Qunfang's ghost, and now she helps outsiders trouble her own family, what is this?"

"Don't say that. After all, we Qunfang are weak. Without Yang Taizhen's protection, we might have died under the iron heel of the Tang State." Zhen Fu shook her head.

"Actually... I shouldn't have left. Sister Qiao told me the news quietly. Maybe she just wanted me to stay away from Qunfang to avoid the limelight. But now that I think about it, I'm really stupid. If I leave like this, what will Sister Qiao do? Land? I really don’t know how she should face Mrs. Yang’s questioning... Although Cao Meng is a bit older, he is still a hero in the world after all. Marrying him may not be a bad thing. At least, I can also be considered as sister Qiao and share the worries of the group. gone."

"Don't say that." Qiao Feifan held Zhen Fu's hands. Of course, she knew the pain in Zhen Fu's heart, "Whether Cao Meng is a hero or a hero in this world, he is not a good match for you? I heard Said, Cao Meng has several concubines, we Qunfang sisters are harmonious, we are used to taking care of each other, our thoughts are far inferior to those women who live in the deep palace, you are not good at strategy, if you make a mistake, you will be lost forever. My sister must agree As soon as you leave, otherwise how can I give you news in private? It just so happens that I am alone in Jingwu, and with you, I can have more people to talk to me at night."

"I'm afraid it won't take a few days before you will dislike me as a burden." Zhen Fu felt the heat from Qiao Fei's palm, her heart warmed up, and she pursed her lips and said with a smile: "I don't know anything, at most I can boil medicine for you .”

"No need, no need..." Qiao Feifan showed a smile, "Preparing medicine is a hard job, and it is smoky. Sister Zhen, you have always liked to be clean. I don't want you to look like a village girl like me. When the time comes... the one named I'm afraid Qin Ke's young master doesn't even like you."

At the beginning, Zhen Fu felt sweet in her heart, but when she heard the last sentence, large swaths of red rose up on her face, her eyes widened, and she stammered, "What...what do you like...what are you talking about? .”

"Isn't it?" Qiao Feifan teased, "I saw you leaning against him, looking like a little bird clinging to you. Just now you said that he saved you from the bandits. That's not enough. A hero saves the beauty? After finally getting out of danger, I just met someone I like, so if you think about it this way, if you survive a catastrophe, you will be blessed, right?"

Zhen Fu didn't even dare to look at Qiao Feifan with her eyes, she lowered her head and reproached, "Don't talk nonsense. I and him... have nothing. At that time, I was just a little scared. There are rows of dead people, it's too intrusive. .”