Qingzhou trip

Xie Penglai waited for A Lu and the others for more than half a month, and it was half a day before the end of the year, and they hadn't returned to the city yet.Before the arrival of New Year's Eve, the sea of ​​sand washes away the bad luck of this year's war, and prepares for the New Year cleanly, joyfully and peacefully, if you don't care about the soaring salt price.

Peach talismans were pasted in front of every house, but Xie Penglai's was late in posting in front of the courtyard.After posting it, I went to the academy to look for a spare time, but she knocked on the door for a long time and no one answered.Pushing open the door is just a disguise.Walking to the middle, King Jin specially vacated a room for writing women's history. There were only two empty desks in the middle, which was the place where Kongxian slept.A piece of paper was left on it, and there was a witty handwriting on it, "You have too little wine and meat, so let the family go to the south of the Yangtze River."

Toutuo can find a comfortable life, but Xie Penglai in Shahai and Zhao Yifang who is currently detained in Xijing cannot.Alu and Yueniang who went north to find salt must not feel comfortable either.

Xie Penglai put away the letter, and walked around the Shahai Academy for a while. Half an hour later, the sky was completely dark, and some people who couldn't hold back had already started setting off fireworks—before the First World War in Shahai, most of the city The fireworks were all sent to the sky by Xie Penglai, and that battle was much more magnificent than this sporadic one.Before a military disaster in the world, there is still such a beautiful scenery as a guide, but Xie Penglai would rather look at the sporadic things in front of him.

She took out the peach talisman in her bosom and pasted it in front of the academy door, patted it with her hands to make sure it would not fall off, and then rubbed her cold palm with her fingertips.A few days ago, Shan Cui invited her to her home to celebrate New Year's Eve, Xie Penglai thought it would be better for her and Yan Yunhan to be a couple, so she refused to go to the city gate to watch the night on New Year's Eve.She is used to being alone.

The defenders of the city should not take it lightly, Xie Penglai wanted to write to King Jin to ask for more money, but King Jin had already sent someone to inform him that the money had been prepared, "Just say it's Sha Hai's wish, don't mention His Highness. "

The Baosheng army left in Shahai bravely reappeared after the First World War, and was rewarded again, and they would not be absent-minded in defending the city on New Year's Eve.They saw Xie Penglai go up to the tower, and brought the "Nanrenhe" wine given to her by several Tanzhen Rongjun and He Sansheng. "The night shift should be arranged more closely, so that all the soldiers can have some New Year celebrations." Xie Penglai instructed, He himself was sitting in the archery tower on the north city gate and reading a book—maybe he can wait until Ah Lu returns to the city tonight, Xie Penglai thought.

"Magistrate Xie, do you think the Beixia people will choose this day to sneak attack in the middle of the night?" Li Shun, a veteran of the last battle, has been promoted to the head of a small capital in charge of a hundred people, and he has a hundred lives on his shoulders. He is also stronger than before. For alertness.

"Maybe." Xie Penglai said that even the Southern Xuanhui envoys from Northern Xia would pretend to be fakes. When Xia Jun was ill, he hadn't even fully grasped the situation in Xiajing. Hit the autumn wind."

Li Shun handed Xie Penglai a piece of hot cake baked on a charcoal basin, "I don't understand why, when the old emperor gets sick, things start to go wrong. It's like this in Northern Xia, it's like that in Xiliao, even us..." Rumors of the battle for succession in the capital have already spread to the sea of ​​sand, "Hey, I really want to eat roasted meat." Li Shun stuffed a mouthful of pancakes into his mouth and ate it with a "click" sound. He did not forget to continue to ask for thanks. Penglai, "Magistrate Xie, you are a scholar. You must have read all the books in Shahai Academy. Is there any way to make the world completely peaceful? Even if the emperors are sick and dead, will the peace continue?"

Xie Penglai tore off a small piece of cake and smiled silently. After eating it, he pointed to the sky and then back to the earth, "The sky is peaceful, and the underworld is also peaceful." The pursuit of eternal peace in the world is only the pursuit.

"My daughter-in-law said that in this world, there are only a few men who know how to play sticks, and they can live in peace." Li Shun remembered that his own mother who had a child who grew up in the Baosheng barracks grinned, "I think it makes sense , not all the men fight first, and everyone else suffers."

"You are all sensible people." Xie Penglai left this sentence and continued reading near the oil lamp.In the middle of the night, the sound of firecrackers in Shahai City gradually faded away, and the prison boss of the county government went to the tower, "That Liu Qinsang was determined to die, and he didn't even take a bite of the New Year's Eve meal he brought, so he just wanted to tear up the strip of cloth and think about it." He hanged himself and was stopped by me. At this moment, he was hitting the wall and biting his tongue, and he couldn’t do without people watching for a moment.”

Xie Penglai put away his book and got up, "Didn't you be fine a few days ago? Why are you looking for death now?"

He wanted to find a reason to let Liu Qinsang go, no matter how serious her crime was, she was nothing more than hiding a bandit without knowing it.But as soon as she was released from prison, she went to call for injustice, which had already caused trouble for Xie Penglai, and Zhao Yifang once said, "If you let her go back to Huaxiang, she doesn't have the energy to perform. Sending her out of the sea of ​​sand is to let her fill the sky." Call for injustice to Master Xie, right? I’ll just lock her in prison for a few months to sharpen her temper, and when I figure it out, I will send someone to escort her back to her hometown in Qinzhou to settle down.” People dare to touch Liu Qinsang.

"Magistrate Xie will know it at a glance." The cell leader showed embarrassment, "Looking at her stomach... I'm afraid she has it."

Xie Penglai was startled, and then sharply glanced at the prison head's face, so frightened that he quickly waved, "Shahai Prison is so strictly controlled, thank you county magistrate for knowing, and I dare not do anything to her if I have ten courages. Xie county magistrate , she is probably of the Uighur species."

It was probably because of hearing the firecrackers outside, which aroused homesickness and remembrance of relatives, and the stomach movement became louder, and he would risk his life to make a noise in a hurry, so as to attract the attention of King Jin or others.

If Liu Qinsang didn't make such a fuss, Xie Penglai really wasn't in the mood to look at her. "I'll go and have a look." As soon as he walked down the tower, he saw General Sha Hai rushing off, "The scouts sent today just arrived at the city, and they said they encountered a group of horse thieves on the way."

Xie Penglai's footsteps were stumbled again, she asked someone to open the door, and a group of scout horses returned to the city one after another, and behind the last scout horse was a woman tied to a saddle.

The city gate was closed again, and the scouts came down one after another, reporting the movement on several roads, pointing to the woman shivering with cold, and said, "The Northern Xia horse bandits with hundreds of people fifteen miles away from the Yeqiang River, it seems that the target is not the sand sea, like It's a lost bandit. When I came back, I found her walking alone, and Ma was frightened and ran south. We were afraid that she would be unsafe as a woman, so we saved her life."

Xie Penglai saw that the woman's clothes were simple, but her complexion was clear and full of extraordinary things, after ordering her to be let off the horse, she wanted to go forward and question her carefully.Unexpectedly, with an angry look on her face, the woman pointed to the horse-riding road that saved her, "Who wants you to save me? My medicine, my book, and my five bottles of Anemarrhena prairie are all on the horse's back. They are all good." It's easy to beg from others..."

She turned to look at the beautiful Xie Penglai, seeing her gentle but elusive eyes, everyone around her was explaining to her, "I was really worried that I would miss the time to enter the city, and we were in a hurry so we didn't help her find the horse."

Xie Penglai heard that the woman's voice came from the capital, and she was talking about medicine and books, so he guessed that it was a female doctor.She smiled and said, "doctor, don't worry, there is no shortage of medical books in Shahai City, and medicines can also be remade. Today's New Year's Eve, since you are destined to enter the sand sea, why don't you condescend to rest in the city's inn for a few days before going on the road."

"Let me go out of the city, and I will go find it myself." The woman said stubbornly, "The horse thieves who are more than ten miles away from the sand sea will scare you, I am not afraid."

Xie Penglai took a deep breath, and suddenly bowed to the woman, "Xie Penglai, junior, I have met Dr. Li."

Need medicine to kill, practice medicine all the year round and move around everywhere, not afraid to go in and out of the wild, who is it if it is not Li Xiulan?

"Xie Penglai?" The guess in Li Xiulan's heart was verified, she recalled the two letters in her bosom, "You know who I am, why don't you help me find the horse?" Then she sternly said, "Otherwise, don't blame me for joining you! "Although she is no longer an imperial physician, she can still write a letter and entrust someone to send it to the palace.

Xie Penglai's head was aching a bit: How could there be another childish Li Xiulan besides Liu Qinsang?This New Year's Eve is destined not to be peaceful.

"Li Shun," Xie Penglai shouted, "bring a team to retrieve Dr. Li's box and come back, and everyone who finds them will be rewarded with three taels of silver!" This is Shahai's distinguished guest, and Xie Penglai made up his mind to keep Li Xiulan.

She wanted to invite Li Xiulan back to the guest house again, but she pulled her to lead the way, "I'll stay at your house." She wanted to weigh in on someone who could make Zhao Yifang's favorite, and it would be worthwhile to have a friendship with the King of Shang.

How can you live in the county magistrate's house when you come to Shahai?Xie Penglai agreed with a smile, turned his head and said to the guard and the others, "This is our great blessing, this is Li Xiulan, a world-renowned genius doctor."

Everyone was shocked or whispered, Li Shun had already gone to lead the horse, "I'll find it later."

Li Xiulan gave Xie Penglai a blank look, "What kind of genius doctor? Vulgar."

After being taken home by the vulgar Shahai county magistrate, Li Xiulan was surprised by her poverty.There are only two rooms and one utility room. The place to sleep is only the kang in the house, and there is a civet cat lying in one corner.Xie Penglai introduced to her on the road, "Just now we passed the Shahai Academy, which contains hundreds of volumes of medical books. The owner of the pharmacy at the front alley often walks in the grasslands, and the store has a lot of good products from the north."

After entering the door, I asked Li Xiulan to sit down and rest, while I was busy lighting the fire.

"Today's New Year's Eve, Dr. Li still focuses on medical skills, and he doesn't care if he is in a dangerous situation." After the meeting, Xie Penglai brought hot tea and fruits for the vigil.

After Li Xiulan was warmed up, she moved a clean quilt and laid it on the other side of the kang, "Doctor Li will rest in peace tonight, and I will not accompany you for the time being because I have business affairs. Don't worry about finding a horse. Li Shun has raised horses before and knows How to track a horse."

Li Xiulan pursed her lips and remained silent, watching Xie Penglai busy and well-versed in everything, even guarding the tower on New Year's Eve.I remembered what King Jin said before seeing her off in Luoyang, "Personally, diligently, and bookish."

Sure enough, in just a short while, Li Xiulan's food and drink expenses, books and medicine storage were all arranged by her.She also calmed down completely, looking at Xie Penglai's eyes slowly and kindly, "How old are you? How long can you work in the sand sea?"

Xie Penglai was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "The junior has already entered and stands, and I am willing to pay Shahai for the rest of my life."

Li Xiulan picked up the water bowl and took a sip to moisten her throat, "You are not happy to be raised in the palace to enjoy life in the palace?" She looked at Xie Penglai with some persuasion in her smile, "In her genealogy, there was an engagement Yes, it is true that you can only be a side concubine, but it is also a monstrous wealth that no one can dream of."

A trace of panic flashed in Xie Penglai's eyes, "How do you explain Dr. Li's words?"

"She is trapped in Luoyang now, and she is very suspicious. The girl's family, stay in Beijing to be a peace and leisure king, why bother to follow you to the sand sea and the wind and sand in the northwest? This road merchant king has not succeeded, you guys Not to mention that." Li Xiulan put down the bowl, her eyes burned Xie Penglai, "No money, no soldiers, no roots, no roots, she is just young and vigorous, you are so old, how can you still let her go around?

"King Shang was right to look at you back then. Fortunately, the Qingyun road of you, an ambitious wolf, was cut off."