Sui and Tang Dynasty Generals

Chapter 58: Seeing Old Friends Again and Reminiscing

If you go southwest along the Yongji Canal from Qinghe County, you will reach Linqing. Past Linqing is Wuyang County.

The Yongji Canal runs across the northern territory of Wuyang County. Like Qinghe County, the county seat of Wuyang County, Wuyang City, is also located beside the Yongji Canal north of Wuyang County.

When Fu Zihou, Cao Yong, Xiong Ruixiang and others passed through Wuyang County, they did not choose to enter the city.

Li Anjing and Li Anren's father, Li Shaozhi, the fourth son of the Li family, and Li Liyan, the father of Li Cha, were both in Wuyang City. Fu Zihou tied Zhang Jin up in a wooden trailer and thought it was too inconvenient to enter the city.

And if they knew that Fu Zihou was going to see Xie, they would definitely stop him.

Li Shaozhi was the Gongcao of Wuyang County, also known as Sigong Shuzuo now. However, compared to the title changed by Yang Guang, the people are still accustomed to the title that has been used for hundreds of years, Gongcao, in private.

Gongcao is a rank seventh, and although his power is not as great as that of the Han Dynasty, and he is similar to being in charge of inspecting and recording performance, he still has a lot of power in Wuyang County. Therefore, apart from anything else, Li Shaozhi still has many connections in Wuyang County.

It is impossible that Xie was unaware of this, so this is why Fu Zihou chose Liyang as the meeting place.

Leave Wuyang City.

As we travel day after day.

Finally, on the third day, Fu Zihou, Cao Yong and others arrived at the agreed location, Liyang City.

When he and his family were traveling to Xin County, since the ships along the river only traveled between one city and another, if he wanted to continue his journey by boat, he had to change boats and wait for another one. Therefore, Fu Zihou and his family stayed in Liyang City for one night.

However, when he came to Liyang City again, what Fu Zihou did not expect was that he could see corpses of civilians on the river from time to time. Some were lying on the ice, some had only one hand exposed, and some were curled up under the ice.

Most of them fainted from hunger and then froze to death on the river.

It is obvious that not far from Liyang City there is one of the largest granaries in the world, but as we walked along the river, we found that more people starved to death outside Liyang City than anywhere else.

This is really ironic.

Under the city of Liyang.

Fu Zihou, along with Cao Yong, Xiong Xiangrui and others, had just come to the foot of the city with a horse-drawn cart when they saw a familiar figure chatting with several soldiers guarding the city inside the gate, seemingly avoiding the cold wind.

"Zi Hou!!!"

Zhao Han was chatting with the soldiers defending the city. When he saw Fu Zihou, he immediately smiled and hurried forward.

"Brother Han, why are you here?"

Fu Zihou didn't expect to meet Zhao Han here, so he bowed and saluted.

Zhao Han raised his hand to return the greeting to Fu Zihou, looked at the puzzled Fu Zihou, and told him the reason.

"The Xie family already knows that the Fu family and the Li family have an engagement. In the past, the Fu family also went to Qian County to seek refuge with the Li family! So before, when Zihou asked Shudu to come to Liyang, Shudu also asked me to come!"

Zhao Han looked at Fu Zihou and explained with a smile on his face.

If it weren't for Fu Zihou, Zhao Han wouldn't have learned a few days ago that the Xie family and the Li family actually had some grudges.

Looking at Fu Zihou now, Zhao Han vaguely guessed that Fu Zihou might have come because of this matter.

However, Zhao Han was also a little puzzled. How did Zihou get involved with the Cui family of Qinghe when he went to Qian County? He once heard from Xie Shudu that it was someone from the Cui family who helped Zihou deliver the message. Zhao Han was really shocked.

Looking at Fu Zihou, Zhao Han couldn't help but sigh.

I remember that when Fu Zihou was laughed at by everyone in the village, only his father noticed that Fu Zihou was different.

"Where are they?"

When Fu Zihou heard what Zhao Han said, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. At least he could see that behind Xie's actions, she also wanted to ease the relationship. No matter what the matter was, there was always a middleman.

Fu Zihou was aware of his own weight and knew that it was not because of him, but because the person who delivered the letter was a servant of Qinghe Cui.

But at the moment, Fu Zihou was wondering why no one from the Xie family was there.

"It is the thief Zhang Jincheng who is leading the rebels and is attacking Qinghe County! Zihou, you came from Xin County, so you should have heard about this! Right now, all the members of the Xie family are in the city, discussing with the governor of Ji County and the commander of Liyangcang whether they can send troops to help Qinghe County..."

Zhao Han explained to Fu Zihou.

Zhao Han told Fu Zihou that Yang Shanhui, who was now in Qinghe County, had a high seniority in the Hongnong Yang family. Moreover, he was the county magistrate of a county. If he went up one step, he would become a high-ranking official of a region. It was impossible for the Yang family to sit idly by.

The Xie family of Chenjun and the Yang family of Hongnong had just married, so when it came to rescuing Qinghe County, they naturally tried their best to help.

Now in Liyang City.

Not only did Xie Zhangyuan and his son Xie Shudu arrive, but also Xie Shuyuan, who married Yang, and his father Xie Zhangyu were in the city.

They all accompanied the Yang family members and tried to find a way to get Liyang to send reinforcements to Qinghe County.

"…But even if the Xie and Yang families come forward, the effect will be minimal! Liyang Warehouse is an important place. The Liyang Warehouse commander dare not leave his post without permission, fearing that refugees will take the opportunity to steal food. The governor of Ji County also dare not mobilize troops without permission, so he can only write to Luoyang!"

When Zhao Han said this, he couldn't help but look at Fu Zihou curiously.

"Come to think of it, Zihou, when you came from Xin County, which detour did you take?"

Zhao Han asked.

"Detour?"

Fu Zihou smiled when he heard what Zhao Han said: "I came from Qinghe!"

"Qinghe! Aren't there rebels in Qinghe?"

When Zhao Han heard what Fu Zihou said, he frowned in confusion. There was clearly a powerful rebel group led by Zhang Jincheng in Qinghe County, so how did Zihou come from Qinghe County?

"The rebels have fled in all directions! I guess Liyang will get the news soon!"

Fu Zihou explained, looked at the soldiers guarding the city gate, and asked Zhao Han whether he could enter the city as there was a person hiding in the pile of firewood on the wooden trailer.

"Escaped? Really?"

Zhao Han was surprised when he heard Fu Zihou's words.

If the rebels in Qinghe County had already fled, then the Xie and Yang families would not have to be so anxious and keep asking the officials and generals in Liyang to send troops to rescue Qinghe County.

Thinking of this and hearing Fu Zihou's question, Zhao Han looked at the soldiers guarding the city.

"Don't worry, Zihou! The Xie family has already said hello, and I have also established good relations with them in the past two days!"

Zhao Han signaled to Fu Zihou not to worry. Not to mention hiding someone, it would be fine even if he brought someone in openly.

"That's good!"

Fu Zihou nodded, and then asked Cao Yong, Xiong Ruixiang and others to pull the carriage into the city.

Although he didn't know why Fu Zihou hid people in the wooden trailer, Zhao Han vaguely smelled a faint smell of blood when Cao Yong and others pulled the carriage closer.

But looking at Fu Zihou, Zhao Han didn't ask any more questions.

Under the city gate.

Zhao Han took out some money from his pocket and put it in the hands of the soldiers guarding the city when Fu Zihou and others passed by.

The soldiers who were originally guarding the city gate had all been greeted by the generals above. Now that they saw that Zhao Han was willing to pay, they were naturally overjoyed and let Fu Zihou and his party pass without hesitation.

In Liyang city.

Fu Zihou followed Zhao Han all the way to the gate of Zhang's mansion.

After listening to Zhao Han's words, Fu Zihou realized that the Zhang family in this mansion were not ordinary Zhang family. It was said that they were all descendants of Zhang Liang, a founding hero of the Han Dynasty.

Although the history is very long, the records have long been lost, and there are few high-ranking officials among the tribe.

However, many prominent families and the people of Liyang knew about this.

He told the servant his origins and watched the servant go into the mansion to report.

Fu Zihou then started chatting with Zhao Han.

When he learned what happened at the banquet at Xie's house that year ago, Fu Zihou looked at Zhao Han with a somewhat amusing look.

"In other words, Brother Han told Zihou's name to others in the past? Then Brother Han and Miss Wei..." As Fu Zihou spoke, he looked at Zhao Han with some disappointment. He had clearly been kind enough to give him a chance to perform and let him show his face in front of his sweetheart, but Zhao Han didn't know how to seize the opportunity.

But if one is honest, Zhao Han's choice made Fu Zihou look up to him.

People like this are really easy to get along with.

"It was obviously Zihou who discovered it, how could Zhao Han cheat? Zhao Han doesn't want to live with this in his heart for the rest of his life!"

Zhao Han shook his head and said.

Zhao Han never had any regrets about telling Fu Zihou's story in front of everyone that day.

As for Miss Wei...

The woman's image appeared in Zhao Han's mind, and he looked a little lost.

"Is Teacher Zihou okay?"

Fu Zihou looked at Zhao Han's appearance and did not mention the woman from the Wei family again, but instead asked about his teacher.

Thinking back to the way his teacher treated him when they parted, Fu Zihou still feels a little lost.

I don’t know right now. The teacher is in the village, but it’s okay.

"Everything is fine! With the Zhao family here, Zihou doesn't have to worry. If there is anything you need to take, just tell me!"

Zhao Han cheered up, smiled at Fu Zihou and told him not to worry. Then he thought of something and frowned.

"By the way, Zihou, what's the matter with those three bodies buried in your house?"

Zhao Han thought about it and asked in a low voice.

Before leaving, my father specifically told me that if I saw other people from the Fu family, I should not ask them, but if I saw Zihou, I should ask him privately.

"Corpse?"

When Fu Zihou heard Zhao Han's words, he was suddenly stunned and looked at Zhao Han in confusion.

The buried body was discovered?
That's not right! It's only been a short time, how could the body be discovered?

According to previous expectations, as long as the Fu family leaves, over time, the traces of new soil in the room will gradually disappear, and no one will find the three bodies.

But now, Zhao Han told him about the three corpses in person.

"That day when you left, someone happened to hear your aunt Zhang..."

Zhao Han looked at Fu Zihou and told him what happened in the village two months ago. He also told Fu Zihou not to worry because the Zhao family had already established good relationships and no one would pursue the matter.

"Did the villagers hear what Auntie said?"

After Fu Zihou learned the whole story, he was really angry and amused. He wanted to go back to Xin County immediately and tell his aunt Zhang about it.

Looking at Zhao Han, Fu Zihou also knew that if Zhao Han had malicious intentions, this incident alone would have allowed the soldiers to arrest him at the city gate just now.

Since Zhao Han did not take action and also said that the Zhao family had already handled the matter, it was obvious that the Zhao family was expressing goodwill.

Fu Zihou did not hide it any longer and told Zhao Han what had happened and the identities of those people.

"Zihou, in fact, after my father learned about the deaths of those people, he guessed that the person who did it was most likely you, Zihou!"

When Zhao Han heard Fu Zihou's story, he was not surprised at all. Instead, he felt relieved for some reason when he saw that Fu Zihou was willing to tell him the truth.

"Zihou! I am older than you, and you have killed the thief with your own hands. I wonder if I can do the same as you if I encounter a thief in the future!"

Zhao Han said to Fu Zihou with some envy in his eyes. After all, Fu Zihou had killed thieves and seen blood. In contrast, he would feel nervous even when he thought of the word "killing".

Sometimes Zhao Han also wondered if he was a little cowardly.

"Zihou was also forced to do so. It took him a long time to recover afterwards! If Brother Han is worried, then Zihou will give Brother Han a suggestion. If possible, when you kill a thief in the future, let the other party draw his sword first!"

Fu Zihou smiled bitterly and said something teasingly, there was a joking but also some seriousness in his words.

Thinking back on the experience that night, Fu Zihou felt that it was even more uncomfortable than going to the battlefield.

Perhaps, it was because those three men did not draw their swords, which gave people a different feeling.

On the battlefield, there are enemies everywhere holding weapons. Faced with the imminent crisis, the body will not become nervous or stiff under the threat of death. Instead, it will stimulate the potential of the whole person, allowing one to survive the battlefield, and the side effects of killing will not be too uncomfortable.

Just like any man, if you give him a sword, he can go to the battlefield and kill the enemy! But not everyone, if you give him a knife, he can become an executioner.

Two forms, two feelings, completely different.

Fu Zihou believed that if Zhao Han were on the battlefield, he would draw his sword without hesitation, but if his situation was similar to his own, he would probably have some trauma after killing someone for the first time.

Outside the gate of Zhang Mansion.

As Fu Zihou and Zhao Han were chatting, they soon saw a man walking out. It was Xie Shudu, whom they had met once.

"Zihou! Long time no see!"

Xie Shudu walked out of the mansion and quickly bowed to Fu Zihou with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Brother Du!"

Fu Zihou raised his hand in return.

"Zihou, please! Go in and sit down first!"

Xie Shudu looked at Fu Zihou, who had obviously come from a long journey, so he raised his hand to signal him to go inside to talk first.

"Thank you!"

Fu Zihou nodded, then signaled Cao Yong and Xiong Ruixiang, who were not far away, to bring the people into the mansion. He also came to Xia Jia's side and took the gourd and bamboo tube from the horse that Xia Jia was leading.

Zhao Han looked at Cao Yong and Xiong Ruixiang, and threw the firewood on the wooden trailer aside. At this time, he realized that the person hiding inside was actually a middle-aged man with a cloth wrapped on his face, and seemed to be seriously injured.

Who is he?
Not only Zhao Han was confused, Xie Shudu was not much better, looking at the injured middle-aged man.

Why did Fu Zihou bring such a man here to see his injuries? Did something happen to Fu Zihou on the way? Did Fu Zihou know this man? Did Fu Zihou bring him here to treat him?

Although very confused.

But at this moment, neither Zhao Han nor Xie Shudu asked any questions. Instead, they welcomed Fu Zihou into the mansion first. His father was already waiting inside.

However, before Fu Zihou came over, Zhao Han suddenly remembered that Fu Zihou came from Qinghe County, so he hurriedly told Xie Shudu about it.

"Shudu, Zihou just said that he came from Qinghe County. The thieves in Qinghe County have already fled in all directions!"

Zhao Han said to Xie Shudu.

"What? The thieves from Qinghe County have already fled in all directions?"

When Xie Shudu heard what Zhao Han said, he was shocked and looked at Zhao Han in disbelief. Then he quickly looked at Fu Zihou who was standing beside the horse, holding a gourd and a bamboo tube.

"Is this absolutely true?"

Xie Shudu was a little worried and looked at Zhao Han uneasily and asked.

In the past few days, they tried every possible means to prevent Qinghe County from falling. They knew the thief Zhang Jin very well. He was extremely brutal and had massacred civilians. He also had a deep hatred for Yang Shanhui.

Now the troops of all the counties in Hebei are in the north, and the troops of Wuyang County are fighting against the bandit Zhen Baoche in Qibei County. Only Ji County has a heavy troop stationed there.

The troops of Ji County were all guarding Liyang Warehouse and did not go to rescue Qinghe County. Where were the troops available to make Zhang Jincheng flee?
"Since Zihou said he came from Qinghe County, Zhao Han felt that it must be true!"

Zhao Han said that just like what happened in Wanqiu, he didn't understand why the thief Zhang Jincheng fled in all directions, but he believed in Fu Zihou.

"When we enter the mansion later, please help Shudu entertain Zihou. Shudu will first inform father about this matter! Father, uncle, and the people of Yang's family are all worried about Qinghe County. If this is true, it can't be better!"

Xie Shudu said to Zhao Han, and seeing Zhao Han nod, no matter what, he should tell his father and them about this matter first.

(End of this chapter)