It is rumored that Mangshan is a blessed place for feng shui and descendants. As the saying goes, "Born in Chang'an and buried in Beim". Since the Zhou and Qin dynasties, there are countless famous officials and scholars buried in Mangshan. When Qiuniang followed the man to the foot of the mountain, it was already dusk. Looking at the mountain, she saw elm and willows, pine and cypresses, and graves of various sizes were scattered among them, with a solemn atmosphere.

Lu Qiuniang was a little worried: "Does my benefactor live in this mountain? Why doesn't he look like a place with people?"

The man smiled and turned around and pointed: "I was originally a farmer in Yangliu Village. Because I couldn't pay the rent for farming, I left the fields and came up to the mountain. I specially cut some firewood, flee some rabbits, and I picked them up to the city to sell them, and exchanged them for some money to live." The man gasped, "I and a few brothers built a few thatched huts on the mountain. When I was too lazy to go down the mountain, I had enough food to save for a while. The girl hid from me first and then made a fool of herself."

Lu Qiuniang thought about it all over the place, but now she had to do so, so she saluted respectfully again: "So much thanks to you."

The man became a little restrained: "Miss, don't call me a benefactor at all. I'm really not used to it. My surname is Yang, and I'm the third one at home. If the girl calls me Yang Sanlang."

Lu Qiuniang also smiled, and the sorrow between her eyebrows diluted a lot: "It's good. Brother Sanlang, my surname is Lu, because I was born after the autumn, I called Qiuniang since I was young. Later, when I entered the palace, the queen kept calling it that way." When talking about Concubine Mei, Qiuniang's eyes turned red again.

The man hurriedly beat him up: "It's getting late, sister Qiu Niang. We must quickly enter the mountain. The mountain road is difficult to walk, so we can't take the horses up. It's better to kill them on the spot and take out some chewy tender meat to satisfy our hunger."

Lu Qiuniang felt a little reluctant: "The horse is not a bandit, and it has carried us this time. How can Brother Sanlang take action? It's better to let it go."

The man thought for a moment, if he really killed the horse, he would leave traces. If the bandits were willing to come, they would be troublesome. So he replied, "I'll follow you, Sister Qiu Niang!"

After the two discussed, Yang Sanlang immediately took off the bag and put it on his shoulder. Then he hit the horse's buttocks with a stick, frightened the horse away, and ran towards Luoyang City.

So Yang Sanlang took Lu Qiuniang and walked along the gentler hillside to the depths of the Mang Mountain. The setting sun shone through the sparse forests, dyeing the remaining snow that had not disappeared golden. The two of them helped each other and walked for more than an hour, the fog in their mouths became thicker and thicker, and then they saw a small valley. There were not many trees in the valley, and the stream meandered down the valley, and it had frozen into a white silk. At this time, the sky was dark, and the crescent moon hung on the top of the East Mountain, and the starlight flashed and darkened in the sky. With the moonlight, the outlines of several thatched cottages fell by the stream, which was vaguely visible.

There were no lights in the huts. I thought that the brothers had not returned from hunting and camped in a cave. Yang Sanlang led Lu Qiuniang to a hut in the dark and pushed the door open and entered.

The house was dark and neither of them could see each other clearly. Yang Sanlang touched an oil lamp from the right side of the door, took out the flint from his arms, and then hit it. A little spark grew rapidly from the oil lamp, growing into a flashing flame. The orange light instantly filled the cottage, gradually showing the furnishings in the house: a wooden table and four benches were made of the shallowest woodwork, and there was untreated bark on the edge of the table. One corner of the house was a stove and a water jar, with a pot on the stove, and a few thick bowls and chopsticks stacked together, as if there was a scent of fireworks. On the other wall were hung with hatchets, animal traps, etc., and some tools that could not be named. Looking further, there was a room, and it was thought that it was a bedroom.

Lu Qiuniang looked for a while before asking, "Brother Sanlang, don't you, brothers, live here?"

Yang Sanlang was stunned for a moment and placed the oil lamp on the wooden table: "My father has died long ago. Brother, the second brother brought me up. Later, the eldest brother, the second brother went to Anxi to become a military member and followed the attacker of General Feng to fight the Turks. It took five or six years to calculate that they were not able to read, and they did not have any letters from home. They were completely speechless. They were completely speechless. They didn't have any news." Yang Sanlang seemed to open up the conversation and continued to talk to himself, "This time I heard that General Feng came back from Anxi and was sent to Luoyang to fight the bandits. I originally wanted to go into the city and ask someone to ask the whereabouts of my brothers. Then I sold the firewood and mountain goods I had been harvested during this period and exchanged for some corn and salt. After I went there, I realized that the city was sealed, and even a mouse could not get in..."

"Puchi--" Looking at Yang Sanlang's frustrated look, Lu Qiuniang couldn't help laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Yang Sanlang didn't mind, paused for a moment, and continued, "I unloaded the wood-burning bun under a tree not far from the West City Gate. I waited for a day and a night. Before I could open the city gate, I saw that the people in the city ran out for no reason. Some of them were the palace ladies and officials, dressed like you. When I grabbed someone and asked, I realized that the bandits had entered, and I didn't care about the wood-burning buns and mountain goods, so I ran with them."

Yang Sanlang stopped when he said this, took out a gourd ladle from an inconspicuous vine box next to the stove, scooped water from the jar into the pot, lit the stove, and started boiling water: "I've just said it's important to boil water and cook first." Qiu Niang waved her hand aside, indicating that it was okay.

Yang Sanlang continued: "I ran a few steps and felt something was wrong, so I turned back, pulled out the wooden stick carrying firewood, and then ran with them again. Most of the people who escaped were heading towards the west official road. I ran a while and turned north. Think about it, the safest in the mountains. Don't you know that there is a peak in this mountain called Cuiyun Peak, and there is a Shangqing Temple on Cuiyun Peak. The old Taoists in the temple always say, "There are many ancestors who have been sleeping here in Mangshan, and they will definitely be able to do it."

Protect the health of the people. If an ignorant man bumps into his ancestors, he will probably end up with lightning and axe-chief. I thought the bandits were determined not to come here, so I relaxed and walked back. Who knew that he encountered the bandits again, so I hid, and later I saw you hiding in another place to rest. At that time, the bandits shouted, "I knew you were discovered by them, so I had to rush forward and knock one first. When the other came back, I walked around behind him and knocked it out."

Lu Qiuniang's lips curled slightly: "No wonder you always held that wooden stick along the way. It turned out to be 'prepared for any trouble'!"

Yang Sanlang yelled twice: "There is nothing to change. This firewood stick was cut by a cliff cypress when my elder brother was still there. If it was lost, my elder brother should beat me up again when he came back."

As he spoke, the water was boiling. Yang Sanlang grabbed a handful of corn and beans from the vineyard and threw them into the pot to cook. Soon after, the aroma overflowed from the lid of the pot. Yang Sanlang grabbed two thick bowls and used a gourd ladle to put the cooked porridge into the bowl. Each person and a bowl was eaten with an oil lamp.

After the meal, Yang Sanlang packed up the dishes and tied the door to death from the inside: "There are tigers and wolves in the mountains, so I'll be careful at night. Sister Qiu Niang, please rest in the inner room." After that, he put four benches into a simple bed, took a robe tanned with animal skin from the wall, spread it on it, and lie down with clothes.

Lu Qiuniang also entered the inner room, and a mud kang occupied most of the space. A layer of fine and soft hay was matted on the kang, and a large piece of linen was covered with pieces of piece of patchwork. One corner of the bed was a pillow made of bamboo strips and a stack of animal skins. When it spread out, it seemed to be bigger than the one just now. It was bitter and cold on the winter night, especially in the mountains, so Qiuniang pulled the animal skins and wrapped them tightly.

There was a lamp outside like a bean, and the night was surrounded. When Yang Sanlang heard that Lu Qiuniang had fallen asleep, he sat up again, pressed the oil-destructing lamp, turned over and continued to lie down, and soon snored loudly.

This day was thrilling and after many changes, Lu Qiuniang was already exhausted and felt like a dream. At this time, she felt sleepy as if she had found a vent, and soon she fell asleep. In her sleep, she was Empress Mei, and her parents far away in Hengzhou. She could vaguely hear the snoring outside and the sound of wild beasts roaring in the mountains.

No words all night.
Chapter completed!