The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 359 Your relatives from the Zhu family are here
As soon as Zhu Wu and the others were taken out of the government prison, their hands and feet were tied tightly, put on black cloth hoods, and stuffed into a carriage. Qi Si led people to escort the carriage and drove to Ganquanfang in the west of the city.

After walking for a long time, the carriage drove into the back door of a house.

This house is where Zhou Ling raised his wife. Not long ago, the woman who was a geisha singer died in childbirth. Zhou Ling ordered people to dig a big hole in the garden and bury it hastily. Therefore, the house is still vacant.

Zhou Ling's first wife was the clan sister of Prime Minister Song Qiqiu, so she was not considered the direct daughter of the Song family. However, with this relationship, he and Song Qiqiu could also be considered uncle-in-law.

That girl from the Song family had an average appearance, a dull personality, and didn't know how to please people. According to Zhou Ling's numerous tastes, I didn't look down on such a woman, but for the sake of being related to the Song family by marriage, I still gave it a try. He married her home with great fanfare.

After marrying his wife, Zhou Ling continued to hang out in romantic places. This exquisite courtyard in Ganquanfang in the bustling city became a place for him to meet countless new loves.

The weather was hot, so Zhou Ling only wore a thin silk undershirt and sat in the backyard pavilion eating cold melon.

Cold melon has thick light green skin and bright red flesh with black seeds. It is sweet and juicy. Because it originated from the Western Regions, it is also known as watermelon among the people.

In the land of Jianghuai, only wealthy people can have a bite of iced cold melon in the scorching summer.

The three Zhu and Wu were escorted to the backyard and took off their hoods. The dazzling sunlight made it difficult to open their eyes. It took a while to gradually get used to it.

Zhu Wu turned his head and looked around in panic, and found that they were in a strange house with pavilions, pavilions, flowers, ponds and waterside pavilions. They had never seen such a beautiful house.

Yang Qiaolian supported Wu Youdi, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law leaned on each other, trembling like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, this is the Zhu Wu family who fled." Qi Si stepped forward and clasped his fists.

Zhou Ling held a piece of cold melon and took a big bite. The red juice flowed all over her mouth. She stared at Zhu Wu and the others with eyes as sinister as a wolf.

After wiping his mouth and standing up, Zhou Ling pointed to the remaining segment of the cold melon and said to Qi Si: "The tribute sent by Qianzhou tastes good, you can try it."

"Hehe~ Thank you for the reward, Tongjun!" Qi Si picked up the cold melon and took a big bite. It was indeed sweet and juicy.

Zhou Ling wiped the melon-cutting dagger on his clothes, walked out of the pavilion and walked towards Zhu Wu and the others.

Yang Qiaolian and Wu Youdi turned pale with fright and shrank back.

Zhu Wu yelled and wanted to rush forward to stop his mother and daughter-in-law, but was held down by two fierce soldiers.

Zhou Ling glanced at him contemptuously and spat on the ground: "The loaches in the mud nest have a few stinging water snakes as relatives! No wonder they are fleeing north, it turns out they have a backer!"

Zhu Wu and the others couldn't understand what he was saying, and looked at the dagger shining in his hand in fear.

"Speak! Your Zhu family is in the north, but someone is an official?" Zhou Ling shouted sharply.

Wu Youdi said tremblingly: "Reporting to the officials, my wife's husband's family has been farming for generations, and there has never been anyone who eats imperial food."

"Either he is an official, or he is a bandit! Where did that group of northerners come from? Tell me quickly!" Zhou Ling was filled with murderous intent.

Wu Youdi said in panic: "I can't understand what the officials said, and my family doesn't know any northerners."

Zhou Ling stared at him and was about to get angry. Qi Si hurriedly stepped forward and whispered: "Commander, please calm down. When these three unruly people were arrested, the group of northerners hadn't arrived yet. Maybe they didn't know that anyone would come." them."

Zhou Ling frowned and thought for a while, then said impatiently: "You come to interrogate me."

Qi Si clasped his fists and accepted the order, glanced at Zhu Wu and the others, and sneered: "This is General Zhou of Zhou Tongjun. The land that your family rents in Banqiaodian is General Zhou's private property!"

Zhu Wu and the others were shocked. They didn't expect that the fierce man with blue bags under his eyes was their master.

Qi Si said coldly: "After you left the Banqiao store, a group of bandits from the north, claiming to be your relatives, robbed the Zhou family's cruise ship in the Banqiao store, injured more than ten Zhou family guards and servants, and kidnapped The head of the Zhou family, the daughter of the current imperial concubine, committed a capital crime!

Do you know this group of people? "

Zhu Wu and the other three looked at each other in confusion. Their family made a living by farming in Banqiao store, and during their spare time they went to various shipyards and cargo shops to earn money. How could they have relatives who were gangsters?

Wu Youdi hurriedly said: "The old woman and her family are all tenant farmers who are responsible for their duties, and they will never dare to have anything to do with bandits!"

Qi Si cursed: "Then why did your family flee?"

Zhu Wu couldn't help but said angrily: "The rent of the Zhou family's fields has increased every year. After a year of hard work, it is not enough to fill the stomachs of the whole family. If we don't escape, are we waiting to die? If the Zhou family allows us to renounce our citizenship, let us go to farm." Guantian, we will not escape either."

Zhou Ling shot a sharp look in his eyes, and walked up to Zhu Wu with a dagger in his hand.

Zhu Wu gritted his teeth and glared, puffing out his chest without any fear.

Zhou Ling sneered and said: "The land belongs to me, the general. I can charge as much rent as I want."

Zhu Wu shouted: "You can raise the rent, and we can stop farming your fields!"

Zhou Ling's eyes turned cold, and he said with a ferocious smile: "Hold him down!"

The soldier held on to Zhu Wu's arm tightly, and Zhou Ling slowly drew the dagger across his chest. The sharp edge cut open the skin, and the hot red blood flowed down.

Zhu Wu gritted his teeth, the veins on his neck and forehead bulged, but he didn't say a word.

"He is a tough guy, what a pity."

Zhou Ling sneered, patted Zhu Wu on the face with the blood-stained dagger, and waved to signal him to be taken away.

Qi Si stepped forward and said, "How do the commander-in-chief plan to deal with them?"

Zhou Ling said coldly: "Temporarily lock them up and use them to lure the gang of robbers to show up. Send someone to tell Zhou Tong that my side is ready and he can contact the gang of robbers at any time. When the gangsters show up, they will be wiped out, leaving no one behind!"

Zhou Ling's eyes flashed with fierceness.

Qi Si chuckled and said, "Once we enter Jiangning City, those northerners will have no chance of escaping. If they want to be killed or beheaded, it's not up to the commander-in-chief to make the decision."

Zhou Ling snorted coldly: "The old man lost his precious daughter and was so frightened that he actually wanted to obey the robbers and exchange hostages. It's really ridiculous!" Qi Si said disdainfully: "The old man is almost 70 years old, and he is too old to be brave. If the Zhou family negotiates terms with the robbers, it will make people laugh. Sooner or later, the Zhou family will be handed over to the hands of the unified army. Only the unified army can make the Zhou family flourish. "

Zhou Ling's gloomy eyes flashed with satisfaction, and he sneered: "So this time is a good opportunity for me and the old man to repair the relationship. If I save Zhou Xian, the old man will definitely be grateful to me, and then I will ask him to help me smooth things over." Because of the relationship, I was transferred to serve in the Sixth Army.

The Guards Department is just an empty yamen. If you want to take control of the military, you still have to go to the Sixth Army yamen. "

Qi Si touched the black mole on her forehead and suddenly said with a strange smile: "It's a pity that the beautiful lady Zhou fell into the hands of the gangsters. I'm afraid her health will be ruined."

Zhou Ling also shook his head with regret. Even though he had loved countless women, his cousin Ehuang was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

"That's all, it's good to be able to save your life, why should you care about other things." Zhou Ling said indifferently.

Just as he was talking, a guard hurried over and presented a gilded name card: "General, Mr. Song has sent someone to send an invitation. Please invite the general to go to Ziyun Tower for a banquet tonight."

Zhou Ling hurriedly took it, unfolded it, and was overjoyed: "That's great! Tonight, Song Xianggong held a banquet at Ziyun Tower to celebrate the promotion of Chen Jue, the Jiangbei defense envoy, to the navy general! The prince will also leave the palace incognito and come to Banquet! Mr. Song specially invited me to accompany you!"

Qi Si was surprised and said: "Song Xianggong intends to introduce the commanding army to the crown prince!"

Zhou Ling was so excited that he laughed and said: "Xiangong Song is really interesting! The people attending the banquet tonight are all a group of important officials in the court. If I can get acquainted with them, why can't I be successful in the future?"

Qi Si first flattered him fiercely, and then said sarcastically: "Xiangong Song is just the uncle of the commander of the army, and he still cares about the commander of the army. The old master is the uncle of the commander of the army, but he ignores the commander of the army. They talk about fraternity, it’s really chilling!”

Zhou Ling was also secretly angry after hearing this, and said coldly: "That's all, the old man claims to be noble, and he is on good terms with the King of Jin. He belongs to different factions from the Crown Prince, Xianggong Song and others. Before I married the Song daughter, he threatened to You need to draw a clear line with me.”

Qi Si said disdainfully: "Since the old master despises the commander-in-chief so much, why should the commander-in-chief help him rescue his daughter? Wouldn't it be better to ask the King of Jin for help?"

Zhou Ling looked at the bronzing name card in his hand, and said coldly: "The old man still has some contacts that can be used, so if you can't offend him for the time being, just help him this time."

Zhou Ling told Qi Si to take good care of Zhu Wu's family here, and he took his personal guards back to the house. He wanted to prepare well for tonight's banquet.

~~~
Qi Si ordered people to lock Zhu Wu's family in a woodshed, deliver clean water every two hours, and give them two meals a day.

In the eyes of Zhou Ling and Qi Si, this family of three will die sooner or later, but they can't die now. They have to save their lives in exchange for Zhou Xian.

Qi Si left five soldiers to take care of them, while she secretly went to Wasi in Ganquanfang to listen to music and make music.

In the woodshed, Zhu Wu was lying on the ground. Yang Qiaolian and Wu Youdi tore off his sleeves and wiped his wounds with water.

"Dalang has suffered." Looking at the long incision on Zhu Wu's chest, Wu Youdi felt sorry for him.

Yang Qiaolian shed tears and complained: "You stupid cow, why are you so stubborn? Can't you just kowtow and beg for mercy and say a few nice words? Why do you have to show off? If you really want to be killed with a knife, how can you ask your mother to live with me? ?”

Zhu Wu said angrily: "People surnamed Zhou don't treat us as human beings, I'm really angry!"

Yang Qiaolian patted him lightly: "He is an official, a general, and has soldiers under his command. We are civilians, ordinary people, what do we use to fight against him?"

Zhu Wu cursed: "Bullshit general! With how cowardly he is, I can kill his head with one knife! If I had known that my family would be in trouble, at the beginning of the year, the 'Tianbao General' uprising in Chixian Lake, Jurong County, I would have You should join Liu Shuanzi and his cousin to join him, kill officials and rebel, and save the world and the people!"

Yang Qiaolian turned pale with fright and hit her husband: "Stop talking nonsense! Shut up! I heard that General Baoda's rebellion lasted only a month and was wiped out by the imperial navy. The graves of three generations of the family were dug up~"

Zhu Wu said angrily: "My family's ancestral grave is in Dingyuan County, Haozhou. They can't find it even if they try to dig it up! I'm so scared! At worst, my head will fall off and leave a scar as big as a bowl. It's better than being slaughtered like a pig or a dog by them!" "

Wu Youdi waved her hand to signal the couple not to quarrel, and said in a low voice: "The man named Zhou suddenly took us out of the prison, most likely because something happened to the Zhou family! Do you remember what the soldier with the black mole on his forehead said? , a group of people from the north came to the Banqiao store to look for us, and then they met the Zhou family, beat them up, and even arrested the young lady of the Zhou family!"

Yang Qiaolian cheered up and said hurriedly: "That's what he said! He also said that those people are relatives of our family!"

Yang Qiaolian looked at Wu Youdi excitedly: "Mother, do we have relatives in the north?"

Wu Youdi hesitated and said: "The Zhu family does have some distant relatives in Haozhou, but they have not been in contact with each other for a long time. Since his father's death, contact has been even more severed. My two brothers from my mother's family died early, and my sister-in-law and nephew fled here long ago. Gone to a foreign country.

There are a few cousins ​​staying in Haozhou, but we haven’t contacted each other since we fled to Jiangning. How could they suddenly come to our door for no reason?
Even if they were found, how could our poor relatives have the guts to rob the Zhou family's ship? "

Zhu Wu smiled bitterly and said, "It's probably the wrong person."

Yang Qiaolian said: "It doesn't matter if he picked the wrong person or not, just listen to the meaning of the words of the man surnamed Zhou and the black mole soldier, this group of strong men are not easy to mess with, even the Zhou family suffered a lot, and even lost a daughter Lady!
If the person named Zhou doesn't kill us, he probably wants to exchange us for the wife of the Zhou family! "

"If this is really the case, then our three lives have been temporarily saved," Wu Youdi murmured.

Zhu Wu said worriedly: "If we find the wrong person, if they start a fight with the Zhou family and someone is killed or injured, wouldn't our family be implicated? The Zhou family is a local snake after all. No matter how powerful that group is, they have entered Jiangning City." There’s no way to get better.”

Yang Qiaolian was furious: "We don't know whether our lives can be saved, but you still have the heart to care about others?"

Zhu Wu muttered: "My family is already unlucky enough, but we can't implicate others, let alone someone who has nothing to do with it."

Wu Youdi held her son's hand with joy and affection: "Dalang is a kind man! Your father used to say that if a kind man does not suffer, the Bodhisattva will bless him~"

Yang Qiaolian said with red eyes: "Our family has been ruined, why don't we suffer? I don't know who the damn informer was. I curse his family to die miserably!"

Wu Youdi glared at her: "Our three mothers are here, Liangwazi and Daya have also escaped. We are all alive and well, how can our family be ruined? Stop talking nonsense!"

Yang Qiaolian wiped her tears and sobbed: "The two babies are so small, how can they live without us?"

Zhu Wu held back his pain and comforted him: "My son is smart, and Nanwazi is where he grew up barefoot. He will be fine!"

Wu Youdi said firmly: "We originally thought that we would die after entering the prison, so how can we survive until now? There must be a reason why God told us to survive. I always feel that this matter of the Zhou family is not simple, maybe it is us The chance of my family’s survival may not even be there!”

Zhu Wu nodded vigorously: "Mom is right, we have to cheer up. We must not fall down before the Zhou family attacks us!"

Yang Qiaolian looked at her husband, then at her mother-in-law, took a deep breath to suppress the sadness in her heart, and nodded vigorously.

The three hands held each other firmly, giving each other a little support and warmth in this desperate situation where life and death were uncertain.
(End of this chapter)