Tang riddles

"What's going on, please tell me in detail." Cui Qian asked.

"That man, who claimed to be Li Linfu's servant, said that he had an urgent letter of great importance in his hand, and it was going to be delivered overnight. But the soldiers guarding the city said that the curfew order in his hand was fake, and he was not allowed to leave the city gate. Afterwards, a group of Wuhoupu patrolling soldiers happened to come here, and they also dealt with the matter together with the gate guards. They are now entangled." Che Fuhui reported.

"This is troublesome..." Cui Qian frowned, "They have been blocking the door and won't let us go. There is no way for us to get out."

"Just wait and see what happens." Senior Brother Chen said in a low voice calmly.

Cui Qian sighed, got into two carriages respectively, and reported the situation to Shen Jin, Zhang Ruohan and others in the carriage.Shen Jin and Zhang Ruohan had the same opinion, and they both waited and watched for the time being before making a judgment.

Everyone waited in the carriage, leaving two coachmen on guard outside, while Senior Brother Chen personally went forward to check the situation.Qin Zhen rides with Zhang Ruohan, Shen Jin, Qianhe and Huang'er.On the last carriage, Hutuo, Wuya, Yanniang, Cui Qian and others rode together.Huang'er was very tired, and now she was sleeping in her mother's arms.The four adults were silent, and the atmosphere was very condensed for a while.

"Mr. Qin, do you know about the bluebird?" Shen Jin suddenly asked softly, and Qianhe and Zhang Ruohan's hearts immediately rose.The death of the blue robin has always kept Shen Jin in his heart. Although this matter was not caused by Qin Zhen, nor was it conspired by Qin Zhen, it was always caused by the guidance of Qin Zhen and others.

"I only found out after the fact. I didn't expect that Grandma Zu would do such a cruel thing." Qin Zhen sighed.

"There are too many things you didn't expect..." Shen Jin was obviously resentful, and what he said was not pleasant.

"I understand, you all hate me in your heart. I am old and have long been useless. I thought I could help a bunch of Chishi in the end, but I didn't expect to cause her such a big trouble. The last time in my life My wish is to see my daughter. I haven't seen her for nearly 30 years. Seeing her for the last time will kill me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have walked out of that cell." Qin Zhen said softly.

"Mr. Qin, the purpose of Chishi's saving you is not to make you feel guilty and commit suicide. Her greatest wish is that the family can live a good life together, that's all. Don't you understand?" Zhang Ruohan sighed, "You Did a lot of wrong things, some of them were even big mistakes that can't be undone. But it's all in the past, if you see it all and accept yourself, we will not hold on to the past. You are Akashi's after all Grandpa..."

Qin Zhen choked up sobbing, sobbing silently, his ravine face was already covered with tears, wet his long unkempt beard, his scrawny body was hunched, and he had long since lost the energy he once had.He was really old, dying, and his days were numbered.He raised his hand, wanting to touch Huang'er lying in Zhang Ruohan's arms.But he was afraid that his hands would be too dirty and pollute the child's innocence, so he stopped his hands.

Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Zhang Ruohan took his hand, then gently picked up the child's hand and placed it in his palm.The child babbled a vague sentence in his sleep.Qin Zhen's cloudy eyes gradually cleared up, and his face showed the kindness and love unique to the old man, and after all, he laughed through his tears.He couldn't put it down and gently squeezed the child's little hand, as if he was holding his daughter's hand for the first time that year, and it seemed that he was holding his granddaughter's hand for the first time.

In his whole life, whether he is right or wrong, he has truly lived for his family.In the last 30 years of ups and downs, right and wrong, success or failure is nothing but a big dream, in vain.

"It's not like selling fish for a man..."

He muttered to himself, lowered his old head, and could no longer hold his great-granddaughter's little hand, his thin body tilted over, slumped sideways on the seat of the carriage, and remained motionless.

There was a dead silence in the car, tears were already covering Shen Jin's face, Qianhe held her hand tightly, giving her strength.

"Qin Gong..." Zhang Ruohan wept softly, as if a ghostly voice echoed in the carriage.

Brother Chen's voice suddenly sounded outside, he came back at some point, and said eagerly:

"Follow me immediately!" After saying that, he drove the carriage to lead the way, and rushed straight to the gate of the city.

"What's going on!" Cui Qian panicked at the rear, got out of the carriage, and shouted standing on the shaft.

"The best chance is to leave the city gate empty and no one will block it!" Senior Brother Chen replied.

Really, the gate of Tonghuamen was opened for some reason, and the corpses of Wuhoupu soldiers and city guards who fell to the ground with arrows were everywhere. The carriage passed through the opening of Tonghuamen, and there was no one to stop it, even the guards on the Minglou at the top of the city. Nowhere to be seen.

Before everyone had time to ask more, the carriage drove out of Tonghua Gate and galloped along the official road to the dark field outside the city. Everyone's hearts were hanging in their throats. They didn't see the pursuers until they passed Shiliting. Only then did I settle down.

The carriage turned into the sheep intestines path and drove towards the Shen family's farm near the Baqiao.Only then did Cui Qian have time to ask Brother Chen what happened:

"I was hiding in the dark to observe the conversation between Li Linfu's slave and the soldiers, but I didn't expect someone to shoot cold arrows in the dark, and the arrow technique was extremely terrifying, with a hundred hits and a very fast speed. All the soldiers under the city wall were killed. Only the house slave was left alive. The house slave greeted, and saw five men in black with quiver on their backs and bows and arrows leading their horses out of the darkness, and the house slave got on the horse. , take them and rush out the door."

"Where are there so many sharp archers? Could it be Li Linfu's people?" Cui Qian asked strangely, "I never heard that he raised such powerful sharp archers."

"I don't know. This matter is too strange. I have to discuss it with Master and Bo Zhao before we can get a clue." Senior Brother Chen shook his head.

"Is Master Sima alright?" Cui Qian was worried.

Senior Brother Chen sighed: "My body is getting worse and worse, especially after offering sacrifices to the heavens a few days ago, I was exhausted and my condition worsened. I can only lie down on the couch in the farm for a few days to recuperate."

It turned out that Sima Chengzhen and Senior Brother Chen did not follow the emperor to Lishan Huaqing Palace after offering sacrifices to heaven, but left alone under the pretext of traveling abroad, and then came to the farm base near Baqiao that Shen Sui had told them before.When offering sacrifices to heaven, Sima Chengzhen once met the emperor alone in the big tent.The emperor praised his elixir to his face for its miraculous effect, and asked him for a new elixir to take.He was very puzzled by this matter, because he had never refined elixir for the emperor to take.Shang Qingdao is best at talismans, not alchemy.Immediately, he suddenly realized that it should be that Gao Lishi next to the emperor had been giving the emperor some unknown elixir under his name.Sima Chengzhen reacted very quickly, and immediately admitted that it was his own elixir, and promised that there would be a newly released elixir for the emperor, which made the emperor Long Yan very happy.At that time, Sima Chengzhen and Senior Brother Chen were very close to Gao Lishi, and the two were in danger.Sima Chengzhen made a decisive decision to leave the emperor's camp immediately.

The two intentionally circled around a lot, and stayed in a Taoist temple on the way for half a day to confirm that there was no one following them, and then arrived at the Baqiao farmhouse that Shen Sui had told them about.Gao Lishi was Yin Yuyue's pretended identity, and they also saw through it.Yin Yuyue didn't seem to be worried about her identity being seen through, nor was she nervous about Sima Chengzhen and others fleeing.He has kept Sima Chengzhen's life, and it seems that he has other purposes, but this is unknown.

It was already around noon on the eighth day of June when the group arrived at the farmhouse in Baqiao.The field house is located in the valley, the location is hidden, and it is inaccessible all the year round.At the end of the gravel road, there is a familiar figure standing there looking forward to it.The carriage slowly stopped in front of the man, and Shen Sui's voice sounded from outside the carriage.

"I'm looking forward to your coming, is everything going well?"

Xiao Huang'er rushed out of the car first, threw herself into Shen Sui's arms, sobbing and crying.

"Huang'er?" Shen Sui was taken aback, stroked the child's back, thinking that the child might have been wronged these days.

Zhang Ruohan then got out of the car and came to Shen Sui's side, and even leaned into Shen Sui's arms, half hugging her and weeping silently.

"Lotus maid, what's the matter..." Shen Suixin was startled.

"Akashi, grandpa... is gone..."

Shen Sui's mind buzzed, and he couldn't understand the meaning of this sentence for a moment.Shen Jin and Qianhe got out of the car one after another, and the two stood in the distance. Shen Jin looked at Shen Sui sadly, his feet were a little unsteady, and he kept leaning on Qianhe.Shen Sui let go of his arms, rushed to the car, opened the curtain, and saw Qin Zhen lying flat on the long seat in the car.The gray beard and hair are disheveled, and on the old face, there is joy of relief, but also sorrow of regret.At the end of his life, he failed to achieve his last wish, and he never saw the daughter he had been dreaming of since the beginning. This may be God's punishment for his crimes.But God was gracious to him, and he left holding the hand of the young new life. That may be a kind of inheritance, a kind of continuation, and it is also a great comfort.

Shen Sui slammed his knees on the floor of the carriage, bowed and bowed in front of Qin Zhen, and didn't get up for a while...

***

In the evening of that day, in front of the unnamed new tomb on the west side of the farm house, a group of people in mourning stood quietly, looking at the tomb that had not yet erected a monument, without saying a word.Shen Sui knelt in front of the tomb in hemp and filial piety, silently grasping the millet stalks and throwing them into the brazier.Beside her was Qin Lian who was sitting in a wheelchair and weeping silently.

Perhaps it was because Qin Lian cried too much, Shen Suihong held her hand tightly with eyes circled, and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.

Qin Lian said softly: "He is the worst father in the world...he is also the greatest father in the world...Chishi, don't blame him no matter how many wrong things he has done, he is too miserable..."

"Woo..." Shen Sui replied with a sob.

"That's it. I know he doesn't like heavy burials. Thin burials are most in line with his personality. Don't be too particular about it, just leave as soon as you leave. People who should have been liberated a long time ago don't talk about death as life." She babbled repeatedly. Then, I didn't say any more.After a pause, she seemed to have thought of something, suppressed her tears and said, "On the inscription, just engrave the four words 'Help each other'."

Wet each other with wetness, and wet each other with foam, it's better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes...

"Hmm..." Shen Sui burst into tears.

Qin Lian suddenly recalled a self-made ballad that her father taught her to sing when she was a child, and couldn't help humming softly in the long-lost Huzhou dialect:

"Sell the fish, sell the fish, how much does the fish cost? The pole is hooked with a long line, the net is wrapped around the waist, the fish basket is hung on the back of the clothes, and the bamboo hat covers the forehead. How much does the fish cost? ? Work hard to make sweet springs, and work hard to exchange tiles. With me selling the fish, the family has enough food and clothing. With me... selling the fish, the family... has all the food and clothing..."

In the end, she was sobbing.

The author has something to say: What kind of person can be worthy of the word "father". This chapter is written with tears, and Duke Qin has gone well all the way.