The vague memory reappeared in Huigu's mind again.
She vaguely remembered that a calm, gentle yet resolute voice told herself that it was the 16th year of Jian'an in the previous dynasty, and it was a winter.
[The past is vague]:
Decades ago, within the boundaries of the Qingzhou state of the Han Dynasty, in the county seat of Ju County, the daughter of the county prime minister's family was born amid a heavy snowfall. The county prime minister's wife held the newborn baby in her arms with joy, and the whole family
Naturally, everyone is filled with endless joy.
"Master, what would you like to name our daughter?"
The county magistrate stroked his long beard, looked at his daughter happily, and said with a smile on his face:
"Hahaha, if a woman is a virtuous woman, she should name her daughter Huigu."
The county magistrate's wife smiled and stroked the child's little head while saying:
"Okay, then I'll call you Huigu. Little Huigu, be good and don't cry..."
At this time, the family inside the house was laughing and celebrating the birth of a new life. Outside, the wind was biting and the sharp north wind was whistling like this. The roar of the strong wind seemed to cover up the world.
In the meantime, all the sounds.
At this moment, a ferocious cavalry with hundreds of people was marching forward in the wind and snow.
I don’t know if they were short of food or were born with a murderous streak. As soon as they entered the county, this group was so powerful that they started massacring innocent residents!
After the Han Dynasty was broken, the military strength of local counties and counties was extremely weak. Ju County had just become attached to the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Cao Cao. The Cao family forces who had just defeated Yuan Shao of Hebei had not yet had time to make new deployments to these counties. These hundreds of cavalrymen
When we arrived at this dilapidated small county town, we were naturally as invincible as a wolf among sheep.
"We are the old members of the Yuan family in Hebei. We came here today just to collect debts from you traitors who have betrayed my Yuan family. Come out and die quickly!"
I heard the leader of the cavalry laughing ferociously while waving the sharp and blood-stained horse spear in his hand, assassinating many innocent civilians in Juxian County.
At this moment, Li County Cheng, who was informed by his subordinates, the father of the newly born little Huigu, led dozens of remnant soldiers from the county government office, walked proudly through the snow, and shouted to the leader
:
"Hero, please stop!"
At this moment, he seemed to be no longer a weak little county official, but a brave and fearless general. He shouted in the wind and snow:
"I was the one who opened the county and took refuge with Prime Minister Cao. It had nothing to do with the common people in Juxian County. Heroes of the Yuan family, if you want to collect debts, just come to me alone. Don't hurt innocent people anymore!
"
"You old man, you are really not afraid of death!" The leader shouted and jumped on his horse!
Seeing that the thieves were unreasonable, the county magistrate had no choice but to raise his troops to defend against the enemy:
"Soldiers, protect the people!"
However, although the dozens of county remnant soldiers were loyal and brave, how could they be the opponents of these more than a hundred fierce cavalry? In an instant, blood dyed the white snow red, and dozens of remnant soldiers, along with many common people, fell to the thieves.
Under the iron hooves, Li Xiancheng did not scream or groan. He just fell silently into the red snow.
"The baby's father!" At this moment, the county magistrate's wife, who was worried about her husband, threw her newborn baby in her arms in the ice and snow. At this moment, she was helpless in the face of the tragedy and could only cry sadly.
.
"Kill them all, leaving no one behind!" The leader laughed ferociously, and immediately he rode his horse with a spear, approaching the county magistrate's wife and her daughter. The county magistrate's wife saw that she could not dodge, so she could only use her own body to protect her children and resist the thieves.
lance!
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, dyeing the snowy ground red.
"Wow..." The baby girl smelled the terrible smell of blood, and was frightened in her heart. She just kept crying in the wind and snow. However, Huigu's cry did not make the bandits with wolfish hearts soften.
The baby girl's life was about to be in danger. At this moment, there was a sound of iron hoofbeats in the distance, and a cry came from the wind and snow:
"Prime Minister Tiger and Leopard are riding here, the thieves should not be rampant!"
When the leader of the cavalry and many thieves heard the name "Tiger and Leopard Cavalry", their hearts trembled. Before they could even curse and resist, the leader was pierced through the throat with a pitch-black spear!
"You..." The leader looked with extremely frightened eyes as he looked at the black armored black horse in front of him, wearing a black panther mask, like a sinister knight, suddenly falling to the ground.
"The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry is Thief Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry!" When the thieves saw that their leader had been stabbed to death, they panicked and immediately dispersed. In an instant, only corpses and bright red snowflakes were left here.
"Wow..." The baby girl was still crying. The county magistrate's wife could not stop breathing. She tried her best and said to a young general among the tiger and leopard cavalry soldiers:
"The general's kindness will never be repaid in this life... I just... suffered a lot for this child who was just born... not long ago... Qingzhou... Langya, there is a miracle doctor named Wu Pu, and... my master... have always been on good terms with each other. I have trouble with the general."
Take the child and go to Mr. Wu Pu...teach him to help our couple and raise her...General...remember, the child...is named Li Huigu..."
The wind became louder and louder, and the knight in black armor disappeared into the heavy snow with the crying baby in his arms.
————
"In this way, I was sent to the master by that person. The master not only raised me, but also taught me medical skills. Every time when I personally healed those dying patients, I saw the happy smiles of their relatives.
, I really feel so happy, so happy..." Li Huigu and Xia Houxuan were leaning together like this. Because she was in a panic and in a hurry, she forgot to bring dry food and water, so she jumped in and arrived here.
After a while, both of them were naturally hungry, and gradually they became even more unconscious.
"Brother Xiahou... It seems that we are going to die here..." Li Huigu couldn't help but feel desolate and shed tears as she thought about this.
"Don't... cry..." At this moment, Xia Houxuan opened his eyes. He raised his arm with difficulty, wiped the tears on Li Huigu's face with his sleeve, and forced a smile: "I cried...
…It doesn’t look good…”
Gradually, it was dusk. The two people who were deeply in crisis seemed to hear intermittent singing in the distance. After a while, they heard it more clearly, a faint sound.
Yoyo’s voice sang:
“The swan flies high and flies thousands of miles.
The feather feathers are already there, spanning the whole world.
Across the world, what can be done?
Even though you have paid a lot of money, how can you still do it safely?"
Yes, they heard it right, the song seemed to be getting closer and closer to them.
Xia Houxuan vaguely felt that the world was vast and white, as if he was dreaming. In a daze, he even remembered what the man sang, which seemed to be a ballad passed down by the ancient sages of the Han Dynasty. After a while, Xia Houxuan
Finally, his energy was exhausted and he fell asleep.
————
Xia Houxuan seemed to have had a long dream.
In his dream, he dreamed of old general Yu Jin, his master Yu Gui, General Lu Yi of Soochow, Lu Ming who died in Jingzhou, and his Amo. He also dreamed of his father, Emperor Wen Cao Pi, and his old friend.
The eldest Sima Cao Xiu, his younger sisters Hui'er and Yu'er, his cousin Cao Xi, his friends Xun Can, Fu Gu, Zhuge Dan, Sima Shi, Sima Zhao and others.
Finally, he also dreamed of Aunt Han, his mother Cao Jue, and Aunt Hui.
It was originally a beautiful dream, but in the end Xia Houxuan seemed to feel endless fear, and the people around him turned into clouds and smoke one by one.
"This...where is this..."
After an unknown amount of time, Xia Houxuan finally opened his eyes and realized that he was in an unfamiliar environment. This was a simple thatched hut, and he was lying on a rattan couch.
And I had actually forgotten the chaotic dream just now.
"Brother Xiahou, you finally woke up." At this moment, a familiar voice came to my ears.
"Hui Gu..." Xia Houxuan was excited when he heard Hui Gu calling him. He tried to stand up, but suddenly felt a sharp pain all over his body.
"Don't move." At this time, Hui Gu limped over, holding a bowl of medicine and walking over with a smile: "Here, drink the medicine while it's hot..."
Xia Houxuan took the medicine bowl handed over by Huigu and drank it all in one gulp. He suddenly noticed that Huigu's face was much redder than usual. He couldn't help but ask:
"Huigu, your face is so red."
When Li Huigu heard this, her face turned even redder. When she was about to ask Xia Houxuan why he called her name in his dream, a voice interrupted their conversation.
"Haha..." At this time, there was a burst of hearty laughter from outside the door, and a person pushed the door in. I saw that the person had long hair disheveled, a slight mustache on his face, and was wearing a crane cloak. He had a detached expression, as if
The atmosphere of a hermit outside the world.
"This is the man who rescued us, and this is his residence." Li Huigu explained.
"Thank you...brother..." Xia Houxuan tried his best to sit up and saluted the man in thanks.
"Thank you, it's just a small effort. Besides..." The man suddenly looked a little shy and smiled sheepishly: "Besides, I set up the hunting pit. At best, we can be even.
Hahaha……"
"My younger brother's surname is Xiahou, his single name is Xuan, and his given name is Taichu. I wonder how I call my eldest brother?"
"My surname is Shan, my given name is Tao, my courtesy name is Juyuan." The man returned the greeting with a smile and bowed his head.
After recuperating here for a few days, Xia Houxuan's body has basically recovered.
In the forest, the two laughed heartily and sat across from each other.
"It's a pity that I'm injured and can't drink. Otherwise, I'll have to get drunk with Brother Juyuan." Xia Houxuan said, holding up the tea cup.
"Haha..." Shantao laughed and said: "Brother Taichu, you and I have the same interests. We have met a close friend. It's tea or wine. What's the difference?"
"Brother Juyuan, you are truly worthy of being a man of Fengyin Mountain and Forest. He is so free and easy and aloof, I really admire him."
"By the way, Brother Taichu, since you think the affairs of this temple are cumbersome, why don't you stay out of it and instead get involved in it, looking for trouble?"
"Brother Juyuan." Xia Houxuan said thoughtfully: "Some things are beyond your control. Once you get involved in them, you can't get rid of them. If you give up halfway, it will only increase the burden on your heart and be counterproductive."
"It's a good saying, 'You can't help yourself, you have to do it.' A man born in this world is certainly cool, but Shan thinks that having the world in mind is what a man should do. Come on, let me give you a drink!"
Xia Houxuan shook his head and smiled bitterly, raised his tea cup and drank it all in one gulp.
"However, although the world today is called a tripod, this so-called tripod has actually been out of balance for a long time. Liu Bei is dead, and Bashu has a small territory, so it can only defend itself. Although Zhuge has invaded the north for many years, how can one person restore it?
The power of the country? Soochow has been defeated repeatedly and has endless internal strife. It is difficult for it to compete with the Wei Dynasty for supremacy. Apart from this, is there anything else that Taichu should worry about? "
"Foreign aggression is nothing to worry about, but there has been an undercurrent in the temples of the Wei Dynasty for a long time. If one day, foreign aggression and internal troubles come together, wouldn't our Wei Dynasty be in danger?" Xiahou Xuan held a cup of tea and said: "I just heard what Brother Shan said.
, it’s very clear, does Brother Juyuan actually have the ambition to show off his talents?”
"It's true." Shan Tao said with a hearty smile: "Although Shan is hiding in the mountains and forests, he really has no intention of hiding. If given the opportunity, Shan Tao will definitely display his ambition!"
Gradually, the sun has turned westward.
"Brother Juyuan." Xia Houxuan stood up and said goodbye: "You and I hit it off like old friends. I wanted to drink and chat for a few more days, but unfortunately I still have something to do, so we can only meet again if we are destined."
"In this case, we will see you later." Shantao did not do much to persuade him to stay, stood up and bowed: "Taichu, take care."
