General's Gown

This small village is located at the foot of Qixia Mountain.Qixia Mountain is not tall, but it is slightly higher than ordinary hills. When it clears up after the rain, the verdant mountain top is faintly shrouded in clouds and mist.However, such an unremarkable mountain range has become the border between Yan Kingdom and Dongyun.To the south of the mountains is Yan, and to the north of the mountains is Dongyun.The two countries have always lived in peace and seldom have wars, so the jurisdiction of the border is also loose.The two walked along the mountain path. On the way, they met many village women with bamboo baskets on their backs and shabby clothes, and many babies still hung on their chests.Yan Changqing accidentally flipped the bamboo basket of the peasant woman, and couldn't help being stunned.

Although the small back basket was covered by a floral cloth, the shiny black stone protruding from the untucked corner was clearly a snow quenching stone!

Helian Rongchuan turned his head and saw Yan Changqing staring thoughtfully at the back baskets of the passing village women, smiled lightly, and said, "They are all pickers."

Yan Changqing frowned: "Catch leaks?"

"My God, sometimes it's so unfair. The south of Qixia Mountain belongs to your country of Yan, and there are overgrown weeds. There is nothing to recommend. But the Qixia Mountain to the north belongs to our Dongyun, but there are countless people in the belly of the mountain. The hardened snow stone. We Dongyun sent people to mine and transport, and it was inevitable that a lot of broken stones would fall, and the villagers at the foot of the mountain secretly crossed the border, picked up these broken stones and sold them for money to supplement their families. "

Helian Rongchuan swaggered forward as he spoke: "These fragments of snow quenching stones can't be bought for a lot of money, but it is enough to buy a few feet of cloth for children to cover their bodies and a few buckets of coarse rice to feed their hungers. .”

Yan Changqing looked at Helian Rongchuan's idyllic back as he walked away, and fell silent.

As the sun faded to the west, the two of them had nothing to say all the way, and unknowingly came to the bottom of a cliff, and the village women and children who were missing were no longer seen around.Yan Changqing couldn't help clenching his scabbard tightly, and followed Helian Rongchuan not too far or too close.The place is quite remote, and the surroundings are silent, only the faint sound of splashing water from a distant waterfall can be heard.Walking along the cliff for a while, I saw that the path in front of me became steeper and steeper, but suddenly turned around. Behind the steep cliff, there was a huge cave.

Helian Rongchuan raised his eyebrows: "The things are inside, but the general dares to enter?"

Yan Changqing asked back: "Why don't you dare?"

As he spoke, he took a step forward.

There is a strange hole in the cave, and the stone wall above the head is flat. If you look closely, you can see that it is full of marks carved by knives and axes.Occasionally kicked one or two hard objects by his feet, and they were all fist-sized black and shiny snow tempering stones.

It turns out that this is actually a mine where Dongyun people mined snow quenching stone.

As he walked further in, the light gradually dimmed, Helian Rongchuan stopped in his tracks, and lit a torch.Yan Changqing finally saw what was behind him clearly, and his heart beat faster.

Snow quenching stone.

A total of twenty boats of quenching snow stones are being stacked neatly on top of the stone steps.There are more than 20 stone steps, and at the top stands a woman in white clothes.At first glance, Yan Changqing thought that there were village women picking up leaks here.However, when the woman saw someone coming, she stood motionless for a long time.

It turned out to be a white jade statue.

He Lian Rongchuan climbed up to the top of the stone steps step by step, and his two long legs stretched out on the stone steps, making him look even more straight and slender.He leaned against the white jade statue, smiled and waved to Yan Changqing:

"Come, come, come up and meet your mother-in-law."

Yan Changqing raised his eyes and gave Helian Rongchuan a cold look, without moving.

Helian Rongchuan had no choice but to say: "Alright, alright, sir, please move your steps slightly and come up to speak?"

Yan Changqing nodded slightly, and then walked up the steps unhurriedly.

Now that he was getting closer, he realized that the carving of this jade statue was a little rough. Whether it was the hem pattern of the jade statue or the outline of the face, the carving technique was a little immature. And do.However, although the carving technique is unfamiliar, the expression of this jade statue is very vivid, especially the face of the jade statue, although it is not stunning at first glance, but the expression is very gentle and amiable, as if it can open its mouth to speak at any time.

The more Yan Changqing looked at it, the more he felt that this jade statue seemed familiar.Between eyebrows, he was somewhat similar to Helian Rongchuan.

Could it be that this jade statue is really Helian Rongchuan's biological mother?

Then why are these twenty boats of quenching snow stones here?

Helian Rongchuan patted the vacant seat on the stone steps beside him: "Master Yan, are you curious? Then sit here. The prince will tell you when you sit here."

Yan Changqing glanced at him, found a place about ten feet away from Helian Rongchuan, sat down upright, with his waist straight: "I would like to hear more about it."

Seeing him being so indifferent, Helian Rongchuan was not annoyed at all, and said:

"Where did the previous story go? Oh yes, is it how the poor woman made a living? There is no end to the sky. The woman gritted her teeth and cried all the way over Qixia Mountain. On the way back to the village, she happened to see People from Dongyun mine the caves where the snow-quenching stones are mined. The horse-drawn carts that transport this precious stone come and go, and a few pieces will fall if they are not in order. So in order to survive, the woman turned over Qixia Mountain every day shortly after giving birth to the little boy, secretly Follow the carriage, pick up the lost tempered snow stones and sell them for money."

"Tell ten, ten to a hundred. There are many poor women like her in the village where the woman lives. So the woman kindly took these poor women and her own toddler to pick up the leak. However, There are so many people following the carriage, how can there be no reason not to be discovered? The official who mined the ore in Dongyun found them soon. It should be their luck. The official said that they will not be held accountable for stealing and selling the tempered snow stone Instead, they are willing to promise them an errand and let them rely on their own labor to earn money for their lives."

Yan Changqing frowned slightly, and had a vague premonition about the direction of this story.

"The woman was very happy when she heard this, and she even brought her son along with her. The job the official arranged for them was to take the kindling and go to the cave to fetch stones with fire. What is fire? It's fire Heating the stone wall in the cave, and pouring cold water on it. Although the rock is hard, it will burst when it is suddenly cooled and heated. Then you can tap it with an ax and pickaxe, and you can get snow quenching stone. Sounds simple, right? ? That woman thought so too, so she and other poor women happily agreed to this errand."

Helian Rongchuan spoke unhurriedly, but the smile on the corner of his mouth gradually disappeared:

"It's just that the kind official didn't tell the poor people that although the explosive method is extremely efficient, it is also extremely dangerous. A little carelessness may cause landslides. Therefore, every cave that excavated the quenching snow stone Well, the hot workers are the ones who get the most money. The official, in order to monopolize the money allocated from above, tricked these poor women into replacing those hot workers with extremely low salaries."

Helian Rongchuan turned around and looked up at the jade statue.From this angle, the slightly long hair on his forehead just blocked his eyebrows and eyes, making it difficult to see his expression clearly.Following his gaze, Yan Changqing noticed that less than a step behind the jade statue, there was a huge pit several feet deep, and the pit was full of black boulders accumulated layer by layer. Like a silent tomb.A black tomb built with rough snowstone.

Yan Changqing only felt his heart sink.I understood something instantly.

The heavy bamboo baskets bent their thin shoulders, but they still tightly held the little hands of their children, and with hope for life, they walked step by step into the cave of Heixosuo.

A thin little boy with bare feet and big tea-brown eyes stared at the low and oppressive stone wall in fear as he walked.

"Aniang, I'm afraid." The little boy tightly held the hand of the woman beside him.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. When we finish today's work, we will have money to buy food. Auntie will make you elm purses to eat, okay?"

The temptation of the elm purse was too great for the little boy, he swallowed, gritted his teeth and continued walking.

The further you go, the darker the cave becomes. Only the torches are left flickering on and off to reflect the yellow and thin faces of the poor women who are walking forward, like female ghosts going to hell.The little boy's legs and feet were weak, and the words he said were crying:

"Aniang, I... I'm still so scared."

The woman hesitated for a moment, sighed, squatted down to take the small pannier behind the little boy, gently rubbed the little boy's hair with calloused hands, and said:

"Then you go back and wait for Auntie at the entrance of the cave, don't run around, okay?"

The little boy's eyes lit up: "Okay! I will be good and good, and wait for Aniang to come out and make buns for me!"

The little boy was relieved, and ran out towards the white light at the entrance of the cave.The faint fire light behind him, and the slightly haggard smiling face of the woman, were gradually swallowed up by the darkness.

The little boy was so afraid of the darkness in the cave that he didn't even look back.

Even a glance.

"Master Yan, do you know what the sound of a mountain collapse is? The sound is so loud that it seems to split the whole mountain alive. For a moment, you can't hear anything, you can't see anything, you just feel like all the blood in your body is going to explode." Blood was sprayed out from the eyes, nose and mouth. But you couldn’t move, and you seemed to be buried by the huge boulder. You could only watch helplessly.”

The corner of Helian Rongchuan's mouth held a faint, sad smile.His tone was still calm, but his fists were clenched so tightly, his nails were embedded in his palm, revealing his pale bones:

"Just watching. Can't do anything."

Yan Changqing turned his head and quietly looked at Helian Rongchuan's face.There seemed to be a dark light floating in the black mercury eyes.