Hanhou

The clan elder was awakened by the screams, and hurriedly put on his clothes and got up, only to see a group of fast horses passing through the village, and the knights on the horses shot arrows with bows, and shot to death one by one the young and strong men who rushed out of the house with knives.

Behind the horse team, Wei Ji, who looked like evil spirits, brandished their sharp knives and slashed and killed the clansmen who were still alive.

A young man stretched his bow in the courtyard, and a sharp arrow pierced Wei Chuan's arm.The latter didn't care at all, broke off the arrow tail, let the arrow stick into the flesh, rushed over with red eyes, and kicked open the courtyard door.

The members of the Wei clan were woken up one after another. They had no time to get on their horses, so they grabbed all available weapons and fought back.A healthy servant was dragged off his horse, and was immediately hit by a stone hammer on his right shoulder. He rolled on the ground in a hurry to avoid the heavy blow that fell on his head.

The short knife, bow and arrow were all taken away by his son. In a hurry, the clan elder had no choice but to lift the bed, take out a sharp bronze sword, let the woman close the courtyard door, and rush towards Wei Ji and the others.

"Evil! Bring outsiders into the village, you deserve to die!"

The clan elder's voice was extremely loud, and when the nearby clan heard it, they all had grim faces and angrily scolded Wei Ji and the others.

Wei Chuan walked out of the courtyard with a human head in his hand, and when he heard the scolding from his clansmen, he laughed instead of anger. The laughter was crazy, like a night owl.

"Are we villains? You killed my son, and you want to kill my three families and accuse us of being villains! If so, I will do evil for you to see!"

Throwing the head at the feet of the clan elder, Wei Chuan said with a smirk: "None of you can escape tonight!"

The clan elder wanted to shout, but an arrow suddenly hit him, piercing his neck.

Wei Xia rode his horse past, under the light of the fire, his pretty face was indifferent.

clan?

Back then, it was her uncle who sold her to the wicked!

The clan elder covered the wound, blood foamed from his mouth, and there was a gurgling sound in his throat.

Wei Chuan strode forward and chopped off the clan elder's head.Wei Ji picked up the bronze sword on the ground, suddenly remembered something, sneered, swung the knife to kill the surrounding clansmen, ran to Zhao Jia quickly, and offered the bronze sword.

"This is?" Seeing the shape of the hilt, Zhao Jia's pupils shrank slightly.

"This is a thing from the previous dynasty." Wei Qing'er put down his bow and arrow, and rode his horse to Zhao Jia's side.

The Zhao people were the first to build a city in the cloud, and it was later acquired by the Qin people.Until Han Gaozu established the country, Yunzhong County was still a strategic place to resist and attack the Huns.In this frontier fortress, countless generals and soldiers died in battle, and it is not surprising that there are ancient relics from the Warring States period.However, according to the inscription on the sword, this object should be a funerary object, and it should not be used by non-nobles, and it will never easily flow into the people.

"Thirty years ago, there was a major case of exhumation and robbery in Bian County, but it has not been found out yet." Wei Ji said.

He was still young at the time, and only heard a few words from his mother, and then he was severely reprimanded by A Weng, and he didn't ask many questions.

When the late emperor was in power, a large number of people migrated to the border counties. There were many villains and bandits who mixed in, murdered people, robbed wealth, robbed graves, and did all sorts of evil things.

The case of excavation and robbery had just happened, and the Xiongnu invaded suddenly. The newly built wooden houses were all burned down, and most of the county guards and below died in battle.When the Xiongnu retreated, the county was in chaos, and the excavated tombs were also destroyed. In addition, they were all unnamed tombs, and there was no way to investigate them.

Zhao Jia raised the bronze sword, looking at the sharp blade with a slightly trembling expression.

How many secrets does this Yangshouwei clan hide?

Wei Qing'er's father moved from Yangshou to Shaling, and the relationship with his clan was alienated, did he also notice something?

Regardless of Qin and Han Dynasties, robbery is a serious crime.During the Wen and Jing dynasties, the punishment was reduced for a time, and most corporal punishment was even abolished.However, as long as anyone who robs and digs a grave is caught, he will be punished severely, and it is not uncommon for the whole family to even sit down.

"Lang Jun, I'll search his house, there should be more!" Seeing that Zhao Jia was silent, Wei Ji licked the blood on his mouth and said hoarsely.

Zhao Jia nodded and put the bronze sword back into the scabbard.Although it is not very suitable, it is better than being unobstructed.

"Brother, here you are." Seeing this, Wei Qing'e took out a cloth towel and handed it to Zhao Jia, motioning him to wrap the sword.

The fighting continued until midnight, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

As Wei Ji said, the surrounding area of ​​the village is deserted, but there are many wild animals.The beasts were attracted by the smell of blood, but they were afraid of the fire in the village, so they didn't dare to approach easily, and could only wander around, howling horribly.

There are healthy servants guarding the earthen walls and gates, and anyone who dares to show their heads will encounter arrows.

The black woman knew that she could not escape by crossing the wall, so when Wei Ji and the others were searching, she personally killed a woman of her stature, put her own clothes on the woman, slashed and scratched the woman's face with a short knife, and even The woman's child was killed together, and then hid in the cellar with her daughter.

"Don't make a sound, there is a road leading to the outside of the village, and you are not afraid of setting fire." Grasping her daughter's arm, the black woman whispered, "Keep in mind that when you escape, you must let the son of the Zhao family and the bitch People are good-looking!"

The girl was only ten years old, and when she watched the black woman kill someone, she was neither loud nor loud, and her expression was indifferent.

Feeling the vibration above her head, realizing that someone had broken into the house, the black woman turned around and was about to climb into the tunnel.Unexpectedly, there was a sharp pain in the back of the waist, so she turned her head and saw that the girl was holding a sharp wooden hairpin, and it was stabbing hard into her waist.

"you……"

"Come here! In the cellar!" The girl pulled out the wooden hairpin, gave it another slap, and began to yell loudly.

"Are you crazy?!" The black woman was terrified, and rushed forward to cover the girl's mouth.

The girl retreated to the wall at once, and waved the wooden hairpin to force the black woman back.

"Mom, I learned this from you."

"You too will die!"

"You will always die before me!" The girl yelled angrily, her facial features were a little distorted, "If you want revenge, let my sister die, and then I will be the next one? Instead of this, it is better to let you die first!"

The black woman wanted to rush forward, but the wooden board above her head was lifted suddenly. Wei Chuan poked his head out and found the woman hiding in the cellar. She smiled ferociously, and her teeth were stained red with blood.

"Heifu, I found you."

Seeing Wei Chuan with a crazy expression, the black woman finally lost her feet and collapsed to the ground.

The girl leaned against the wall, watching the black woman struggle coldly, even though the blood on Wei Chuan's knife was dripping from the top of her head, her eyes did not dodge in the slightest.

Ah Weng never liked her and his elder sister, he only wanted a son, and he would beat and scold him if something went wrong.Her life with her elder sister may not be better than that of child slaves.Upon learning of Ah Weng's death, they were not sad, but relieved.

Although grandma didn't scold her together, she never protected her and elder sister.In order to avenge Ah Weng, he did not hesitate to send Sister to a dead end.She didn't want to die, so she pretended to be obedient, pretending to believe everything Amu said, and even broke Auntie's heart.

Nothing matters now.

If she had to die, she would let the woman in front of her die first!

Wei Chuan brought the black woman up, turned his gaze to the girl, hesitated for a moment, took the wooden hairpin from the girl's hand, and let her walk in front of him.

"Come with me."

The two walked out of the cellar, and soon saw the erected torches, and the black woman who was pressed to the ground and bitten by three women.The black woman screamed loudly, yelling that it was not she who killed Wei Chuan's young son, but someone else.

Wei Chuan's woman straightened up, spat out blood from her mouth, and said in a hateful voice; "I know who it is, and none of you can escape!"

They don't use swords or arrows, they just want to make this poisonous woman suffer the consequences!

The girl looked at all this indifferently, but she didn't feel sad at all.

Wei Chuan brought her to Wei Ji and explained what happened.The latter's hand was on the handle of the knife, his eyes were fixed on the girl, his fingers were tightened and loosened, and then he was loosened and tightened. After all, his humanity was not completely wiped out, and Wei Chuan asked Wei Chuan to take the girl to guard with the child.

"Female! My daughter!" the black woman suddenly yelled loudly, "Avenge me! Avenge me alive!"

The girl froze in place, looking at the black woman who was in a state of embarrassment and whose right ear was missing, knowing that she was going to pull herself together even if she died, hatred rose in her heart, and before everyone could react, she rushed forward and bit her hard throat.

The three women stopped their movements at the same time, watching the young girl pressing on the black woman, letting the other's fingers scratch her face and body, not letting go.

Finally, the black woman dropped her arms, and there was no more breath in her mouth and nose.

The girl didn't move, until Wei Chuan's woman grabbed her by the back of the neck, tore her apart and held her in her arms, then the girl let out a roar, and then burst into tears.

As dawn approached, apart from Wei Ji's family and the children, there was no one alive in the Yangshou Wei family.

"Lang Jun, set fire to burn this place down, and let people ride horses in different directions to leave traces. I'll go to the official temple to report that bandits and savages raided here, murdered and set fire."

As Wei Ji spoke, he took out several bronze weapons found in the clan's hometown.

"These were all found from the clan's home, so they should be stolen goods!"

The elders of the clan obviously have some knowledge, know the inscriptions on the bronze wares, know that these wares cannot be easily shown to others, and perhaps the price cannot be negotiated.

Zhao Jia ordered the healthy servants to put away the bronze vessels, and Wei Ji and the others held torches and threw them into the house where they used to live.

The children were taken out of the village and looked at the blazing fire with a dazed look on their faces.

The black woman's daughter wiped the blood off her face, hugged a boy, and said gently: "The ones who killed the villagers were bandits and savages. The elders have done evil things to this day. We hid in the cellar and escaped for a while." Jie. Now that there is no home, there may not be a way to visit relatives. If you are lucky enough to be sent to the racecourse, remember to live well and forget everything about today."

At dawn, Zhao Jia asked two face-to-face health servants to send Wei Ji and the three to the official temple. His family stayed behind to take care of the children, and then left with Wei Qing'e.

Seeing the stone tools presented by the three of Wei Ji, the magistrate of Yangshou County sent people to Wei's to investigate, and at the same time ordered people to find a doctor to treat the wounds of the three.

The young official who went to Liju didn't return until sunset. He said that all the houses and earthen walls were burned, and there were messy traces outside the earthen walls. There were people, horses, and a large number of wild animals. The clues were all destroyed, and it was impossible to investigate.However, utensils from the previous dynasty were found in several collapsed earthen houses, which seemed to be funerary objects.In addition, there are some copper deeds related to the caravan that was intercepted 30 years ago.

Things began to surface. The elders killed by Wei Ji were not the only ones involved in the robbery, and the case involving Wei was not the same.There is also a reasonable explanation for why the Yangshou Wei family stayed away from his surname Jian Jianli.

The magistrate of Yangshou County ordered people to investigate, and at the same time reported the matter to Wei Taishou.

A few days later, Wei Taishou sent people to Yangshou County, after repeated investigations, the Yangshou Wei family case was concluded, and the perpetrators were bandits and savages wandering in the border county, so they should send people to pay them up.As for Wei's suspicion of robbing graves and intercepting caravans, the circumstances of the case have been difficult to determine for many years. Since he is dead, the surviving clansmen and children will not be held accountable.

The three members of Wei Ji's family did not leave Yunzhong County, but went to Zhao Jia together after the case was settled, willing to be servants.

The news of Wei's robbing the grave came out, and the in-laws divided up the land left by the clan as quickly as possible and re-established the land deeds, but they ignored these children at all.Wei Juan was adopted by Wei Chuan and his wife, and the other children were homeless and had to be sent to the racecourse.

Every few days, Wei Juan would go to the racecourse to meet the children and send them some food and clothes.

As the days passed, the memory of the children became blurred. Just like Wei Juan’s exhortation at the beginning, learn the skills of earning a living seriously. Some continued to raise horses, and some joined the army on the battlefield. Take a completely different path from your parents.

cloud city

Zhao Jia was called into the inner room by Wei Taishou, and sat in front of the short table, his eyes slightly lowered.

Wei Shang closed the bamboo slips and said in a deep voice, "Is there something to say about Yangshou?"

Zhao Jia leaned over, clasped his hands in front of his forehead, and touched his forehead to the ground.

"My lord, Jia doesn't want to offend others, but they want to kill me. To make a living, I have to do it."

Wei Shang's gaze fell on Zhao Jia like a sword.

"Are you afraid that I will convict you?"

Zhao Jia didn't raise his head, and his voice didn't waver: "Even if I'm a prisoner, Jia won't regret it."

After two breaths, Wei Shang suddenly laughed, got up and went around the short ones, patted Zhao Jia's shoulder with his big hand, then helped him up from the ground, and said with a smile: "Husband is born in the world, when it is broken, it will be broken, remember you today Words! Human nature has good and evil, and you must never be merciful when you encounter evil people. You can't exchange gratitude, but you can only leave troubles. I don't like Confucian scholars, but I really appreciate the Confucian saying, repay virtue with virtue, and repay grievance with straightness!"

"Zhi Du was killed in Jinan until blood flowed like a river, but under the rule, he never picks up things on the road, and never closes his house at night. Now that he is an official to the lieutenant, the nobles in Chang'an are also paying attention."

"The wicked should be killed. Killing these villains will make them fearful, and they will not dare to continue to do evil. Just like the barbarians in the grassland, slaughter their tribes and let them eradicate their species. Only then can the border counties be saved from military disasters and the people can be peaceful!"

Zhao Jiajing listened to Wei Taishou's words and solemnly responded.

"Can you get artifacts from the previous dynasty?" Wei Shang changed the topic.

"Indeed."

"Don't stay here, let someone send it into the city to melt and cast money."

Things that will be put into museums in future generations can only be used to cast copper coins. Zhao Jia had to remind himself again that this is the Western Han Dynasty, and it has been less than 60 years since the Qin Dynasty was destroyed.

Wei Shang changed the subject and talked about going out of the fortress.

"Everything is settled, and we can leave next month. If it is any later, the weather will turn cold, and the grassland road will be even more difficult after the snow falls." Wei Shang took out a bamboo slip and handed it to Zhao Jia, "This is a must. , you take it back for a closer look, and fill in any gaps as soon as possible.”

"promise!"

"Master Wang and I each have a cart of silk, and we will take them with us when we go back."

"My lord, Jia..."

"Don't talk too much, just bring it with you."

"promise."

"Next month, my son will return from Yuanyang. The harness you presented is very good, and it will be of great benefit in horse battles."

"Third Young Master is coming back?" Zhao Jia said.

"If you are an official to Sima, you will return to the city to receive the seal." Wei Shang said with a smile, stroking his beard.

Due to the appearance of new harnesses, Wei Yue will lead a cavalry force of 3000 men after his return.

There are frequent battles in Border County. According to the usual practice, Wei Yue's official position will change in a short time.It's just that Chang'an and the Huns are discussing resuming their marriage. Before the court is ready, this group of cavalry will not easily enter the battlefield.

After leaving the prefect's mansion, Zhao Jia returned to the village with two carts of silk.With these silks, there is no need to use grain and Qin money left by Wei Qing's father.

When walking out of the city gate, there was a sudden gust of cold wind on the ground.

After the wind died down, Zhao Jia jumped on his horse and looked to the north without moving for a long time.Only when Ji Bao reminded him did he pull the rein abruptly: "Go home!"

Changan

The selected team returned from Bianjun, with dozens of carts, all of which were the girls selected this time.Yang Shouwei's girl is not among them.As Zhang Cigong said to Zhao Jia, since the eunuch nodded, he would not leave any hidden dangers.

When the cart passed by, pedestrians on the side of the road stopped one after another, wanting to see the girls selected this time.

A few Huns walked out of a food shop, looked at the queue stretching across the street, laughed wantonly on the spot, and pointed at the car, even if they couldn't understand what they were talking about, they could guess from their expressions .

All the people present glared at him, and a few dandies even drew their swords on the spot, and led the cavalry boy forward to open the film.

"Hu Kou dares to do this, thinking that there is no one in my Han family?!"

The girls sat in the car, more anxious than curious about Chang'an.

Yunmei leaned against the railing of the carriage, her body swayed slightly with the carriage, her eyes swept across the majestic city walls and the buildings on the street, and she bit her lower lip lightly.

After worrying all the way, when she actually arrived in Chang'an, she unexpectedly calmed down strangely.

From the day she was selected, she could no longer control her own life, and whether she lived or died was entirely at the discretion of the nobleman.That being the case, it is useless to be afraid, calm down, maybe you can find a way out.

Thinking of this, the girl clenched the silver hairpin that was close to her body, her expression became more and more determined.