Chapter 1 There is rain in Weicheng, and the young man has a waiter ()
In the spring of the 13th year of the apocalypse of the Tang Empire, it rained in Weicheng.
This military border city is located at the northwest end of the vast territory of the empire. In order to prevent the barbarians from invading the grassland, the four-way earthen city wall is very thick, which looks like a solid earthen fence.
In the dry season, the floating soil on the dirt wall will be scraped by the wind knife from the northwest, and it will float around, and then fall on the simple barracks, on the soldiers, the whole world will become a yellowish color, people at night When you fall asleep and shake the bedding, there will be a sandstorm.
In the spring drought, the rain came at exactly the hour, and was warmly welcomed by the soldiers. From last night to this moment, the raindrops washed away the dust on the roof, as if it also brightened people’s eyes. a lot of.
At least Ma Shixiang’s eyes are very bright at this time.
As the highest military officer in Weicheng, his attitude at this time was very humble. Although he was a little dissatisfied with the yellow mud footprints on the precious blankets, he succeeded in disguising that dissatisfaction into a just right consternation.
A respectful salute to the old man in the dirty gown next to Xiaoji, he whispered: “Respected old man, I don’t know if the noble person in the tent has any other needs. If the noble person insists I’ll leave tomorrow, so I can assign a hundred-man **** to accompany me at any time, and I’ll make a record and pass it over at the military headquarters.”
The old man smiled gently, pointed to the figures in the tent, and shook his head to indicate that he had no opinion. At this moment, an indifferent and proud woman’s voice came from the tent: “No, do your own errands.”
This morning, after the opponent’s team rushed into Weicheng in the rain, it didn’t take long for Ma Shixiang to guess the identity of the nobleman in the team, so he didn’t have any opinion on the opponent’s pride and indifference.
The people in the tent were silent for a moment, and suddenly said, “From Weicheng to the capital, the roads in Minshan are difficult to navigate. It seems that this rain will take some time, maybe some mountain roads will be washed away… You assign me a guide from the army.”
Ma Shixiang was startled, thinking of a nasty guy, and after a moment of silence, he bowed his head and responded: “There is a ready-made candidate.”
The several lieutenants outside the barracks looked at each other with different expressions. They were regretful, reluctant, fortunate and shocked, but it was obvious that they did not expect that Ma Shixiang would choose that person to be the guide of the nobleman.
“General, are you really going to let him go like this?” a captain said in surprise.
Weicheng is not big, and the total number of officers and soldiers does not exceed 300 people. The military camp far away from the prosperous area is sometimes more like a bandit den. The so-called generals are just the lowest rank generals. However, Ma Shixiang ruled the army extremely strictly, or that the Weicheng bandit leader liked to be called a general, so even in daily conversations, his subordinates did not dare to forget to add the word general when they looked up.
Ma Shixiang wiped the rain off his face, looked at the yellowish-brown water around the barracks, and sighed with emotion: “You can’t always leave him in this place where birds do not shit. The recommendation letter has come down soon. It’s been half a year, and a bright future is waiting for that kid. Anyway, he is going to the capital for a preliminary test in the academy, and he happens to be on the way with the nobleman’s team, even if he gives that nobleman a favor.”
“I don’t think that noble person appreciates…” the captain replied angrily.
The barracks door behind everyone was pushed open, and a handsome maid came out, looking at Ma Shixiang and the school lieutenants coldly and said: “Take me to see the guide.”
In the end, she is the maidservant of the noble, and she does not hide her arrogance when facing the court.
The concierge of the prime minister, the maidservant of the nobleman, and the servant of the prince are the most troublesome roles in the officialdom. They are very troublesome when they are close, and troublesome when they are far away. Ma Shixiang was really unwilling to deal with this kind of people, and after a few gossips, he waved and summoned a school lieutenant and ordered him to take this noble maidservant to find someone.
The rain stopped temporarily. After the light rain, the city of Wei was very fresh. Three or two willows on the side of the road were blooming with spring green, but although the scenery was good, the city was too small. After a few steps, the school lieutenant led him The handmaid reached the destination, which was a simple and lively barracks.
Listening to the noise and scolding from the door, the maid frowned slightly, wondering if in broad daylight, anyone would dare to drink in the barracks? The door curtain was blown by the wind, and the sound inside was suddenly clear. It was indeed punching, but it was not a serious wine punch. Listening to the content of the order, a trace of shame and anger flashed on the maid’s delicate face, and she secretly clenched her sleeves. In the fist.
“Let’s draw a lewd punch! Who is lewd, you lewd! Who is lewd, I am lewd! Who is lewd, he is lewd!…”
The nasty voice of the order made a noisy reply back and forth, and it took a long time to tell the winner. The handmaid whose expression became more and more irritated and ugly raised a corner of the door curtain, her eyes were extremely unkind and looked inward. At first glance, he saw a teenager across the square table.
The boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was wearing a standard cotton jersey commonly seen in the military. The front of the cotton jersey was covered with oil stains. He had black hair that was naturally occurring or because it had not been washed for several years. The hair is curly and a bit greasy, but the face that I was born with was washed extremely clean, so that the eyebrows and eyes are particularly clear, and the freckles on the cheeks are also particularly clear.
“Who is lascivious, you lascivious!”
In contrast to the nasty punching content, the young man’s expression at this time was extremely focused and serious, not only did not have the slightest obscene taste, but even a bit of holy and noble meaning was revealed between his eyebrows, and his right hand kept gesticulating in front of him With rock-paper-scissors, punches like wind, and swords with killing intent, as if winning or losing this punch is more important than his own life.
Several blow flies with strong vitality that survived the harsh environment of the northwest are trying to land on the front of the boy’s oil-stained cotton jersey, but they are always driven away by his fist and knife. .
“I won!”
The long fist that seemed to be squeezing all the air in the lungs of the two at the table was finally over. The black-haired boy waved his right arm vigorously, declared his victory, smiled extremely happily, and showed a cuteness on his left cheek Dimples.
The boy’s opponent refused to admit defeat, insisting that he changed his fist when he finally shouted who was lewd, so the room suddenly fell into a fierce quarrel. The soldiers watching the battle had their own stances, and no one could convince anyone. , At this moment, I didn’t know it was a roar: “According to the old rules, listen to Sangsang!”
Everyone turned their eyes to the corner of the room. There was an eleven or twelve-year-old girl who was carrying a bucket. She was short and thin, with a dark complexion, ordinary eyebrows, and the maid’s clothes she didn’t know where her master had stolen. Obviously a little too loose, the hem kept dragging on the ground, and it was obviously very difficult to carry a bucket that might be heavier than himself.
The little maid named Sangsang put down the bucket and turned around. The soldiers looked at her nervously, like the high rollers in the casino waiting for the dealer to draw the final size, and it was obvious that this This is not the first time the scene has appeared.
The little maid frowned and glanced at the young man, then looked at the indignant soldier across the table, and said seriously: “The twenty-third round, you cut and he punched, but you said He was lustful, so you already lost then.”
There was a roar of laughter in the room, and everyone dispersed. The soldier gave the money cursedly. The boy took the money with a happily smile, wiped the grease on his chest with his hand, and then patted it. The other’s shoulders expressed sincere comfort.
“I want to open some, the whole Weicheng…No, in this whole world, who can beat me Ning Que?”
The maid’s face was ugly, so the captain, who had been standing by and secretly watching her face, also had a hard time. He grabbed the door curtain with his hand, took a deep breath, was about to cough twice, but was stopped by two stern eyes from the maidservant.
Preventing the captain from alarming each other, the maid left the barracks with the boy and the maid far away, watching silently all the way. The captain didn’t know what she wanted to do, so she attributed it to the cautious and strange habits of the nobles and close characters.
The young man named Ning Que didn’t show any special place along the way. He bought some food and greeted the fat lady in the street tavern. He looked very leisurely. The only thing that made the servant girl feel weird, made her His expression became more and more ugly: the thin maid dragged the bucket hard behind him, but the boy didn’t mean the slightest help.
The empire is a country with rigorous strata, but its people are simple and simple. Even in the flashy and gloomy place of the capital city of Chang’an, even the most indifferent nobleman, it is impossible to look at an eleven or twelve-year-old thin girl so hard and effortless. Moving content.
“Soldiers are allowed to raise maids in the army?” The delicate maid suppressed her anger forcibly and asked the captain beside her.
The school lieutenant scratched his head and replied: “A few years ago, there was a severe drought in Hebei Province. Countless refugees flocked to the south and border counties. There were dead people everywhere on the roadside. I heard that Sangsang was from the pile of dead bodies at Ning Que. Ning Que was also an orphan who took it out, and the two have been dependent on each other ever since.”
“Later, when he signed up for the army, the only condition was to bring this little girl into Weicheng.” He glanced at the maidservant and carefully explained: “Everyone knows that this kind of thing is not allowed in the army, but their situation is somewhat different. It’s special, there is no way to push a little girl into a dead end, so everyone treats it as…not seen.”
Hearing this explanation, the maid’s complexion looked a little better, but when she saw Ning Que carrying half of a roast chicken, she saw the little maid dragging the bucket a few meters behind him. With red and black skinny cheeks, his mood became worse again, and he said coldly: “Where is the life of each other? He clearly wants that girl’s life.”
Weicheng is indeed very small. When it was not too much, the four people from the front and back went to a certain place in the south facing the house. There was a small stone ping outside the house. There was a simple fence outside the ping. The maid and the captain stood outside the fence and looked inward.
The little maid hardly moved the bucket half her height to the side of the water tank, then stood on the bench next to the tank, exhausted all her strength and poured water into the tank with great difficulty, and then she began to wash rice Washing vegetables, taking advantage of the time for steaming rice, he took a rag and started wiping the doors and windows of the tables and chairs. After a while, water mist rose up, enveloping her thin body.
Although it rained last night, the rain was not big enough. The loess accumulated on the doors and windows was not washed away, but turned into ugly muddy marks. These muddy marks were quickly washed away under the little maid’s rag. Cleared, the small courtyard of the house suddenly became clean and bright.
Obviously, she is doing all these housework every day, and she seems very skilled and fast. The little black maid, who is still a child, is as diligent and busy as an ant, running around like a maid, her face flushed with sweat and sweat. It’s a bit funny, and a bit sympathetic…
The guy named Ning Que obviously lacks these two emotions. He lies quietly or comfortably on a bamboo deck chair, holding a scroll in his left hand and reading some old books, and holding a root in his right hand. The hard twigs were constantly moving on the wet mud ground. Occasionally, when he was deep in thought, he would throw the branches in his hands at will, and his palms stretched up into the air. After a while, there was a pot of temperature to put good hot tea on his palms.
The soldiers in Weicheng have long been used to the daily life scenes in this small courtyard, so it is not surprising that the noble maidservant standing outside the fence gradually became cold, especially when she saw the little maid busy cooking. During the cleaning process, I didn’t dare to forget to observe the requirements of the young soldiers, and when she was ready to pour tea and squeeze her legs, the frost on her face became heavier, as if it was about to condense.