Chapter 222: Staying at the foot of the capital, the general knocks on the door at night
"Waiter, serve tea!"
Among the crowd, this voice seemed so small that no one paid any attention to it.
The man in black's hand hung awkwardly in the air. The old man on the side looked at him coldly and said, "This is a restaurant, not a teahouse."
"Ahem, okay...little second brother, little second brother!"
After shouting many times, I called the waiter, who had just cleared away the dishes on the previous table, to the table.
"You two, what do you want to eat? Let's agree first. We pay first and then serve the food."
The man raised his eyebrows, but without saying much, he took out a handful of copper coins from his arms and lined them up one by one.
"There should be meat, vegetables and wine, as well as a bowl of rice and a pot of good tea."
"I don't have any rice, do you want steamed buns?"
"...Okay, the tea should be good."
"Do you think this is a teahouse in the city? I'll bring you a pot to see if you want to drink it."
The waiter put away the copper coins and left, leaving the man in black and the old man looking at each other in confusion.
"Hey, this attitude!"
"Just make do with it. The people who come to this place are all foot traders who travel to and from the capital. No one has much money, so there is no need to coddle anyone." While he was talking, tea came. The old man poured it for the two of them.
Tea, while saying, "But the good thing is that things are cheap, you never spend a lot of money, and our expenses are going to bottom out soon."
"What are you talking about? It's not that we don't have money, it's just that it's inconvenient to carry so much money..."
Zhou Shi walked straight through the broken tables that were surrounded by them and came to the two people.
"Apart from the fact that my beard and hair have grown a little longer and there's a little more dust on my face, there haven't been many changes... It should have happened not long after I left Jiangdu."
Combining the memories previously hidden in "The Yin Soldier Formation", he recognized An Rudao and Guan Zhan at a glance, and roughly guessed the time of this memory.
Perhaps in order to deceive others, An Rudao changed his iconic phoenix pattern clothes into black clothes. But Guan Zhen was still wearing a simple bun, and his white beard was uneven, with no trace of careful trimming. p>
"Be patient, we should enter the capital at this time tomorrow." Guan Zhen advised.
"I hope, but if we can't find anyone tomorrow, we might have to sleep on the streets... Bah! There's straw in this tea!"
An Rudao spat on the ground. Several porters who were chatting loudly on the side saw this and said with a smile: "Hey, gentlemen, you are lucky if you can drink straw. Who doesn't know that the tea leaves in this restaurant are broken into pieces?"
Broken straw hat, if the straw hat is not enough, add a handful of sawdust!"
Just then the waiter came over with the dishes and cursed: "Bah! Even a broken straw hat can't cure your long tongue, hurry up and eat your food!"
The porters laughed and continued chatting about rumors inside and outside the capital. Zhou Shi came up to take a look at the "meat" An Ru wanted and couldn't help but frown.
"Is this meat?" An Rudao used chopsticks to stir twice in the dark mess and picked out a suspicious-shaped object, "Isn't this water?"
"Let's make do. How many of the customers here can afford meat..." Guan Zhen whispered, picked up a bun, tore it open, and found no filling.
"Hey..." An Rudao muttered a few words, dipped his bun into the sesame water and swallowed it one bite at a time.
"Hmm... the sound of horse hooves." After eating two steamed buns, he said to himself and closed his eyes, "The army, about three hundred people, is fully armed."
"Here? At the gate of the capital?" Guan Zhen was a little surprised. He heard a horse neighing from outside the door, and the door of the restaurant was kicked open.
"The officers and soldiers are staying overnight, and the idlers are waiting to leave quickly!"
A soldier stepped into the store and shouted loudly.
Zhou Shi saw rows of tall war horses standing outside the door. A large flag was erected in the army with the word "horse" written on it.
"With the fang flag, it doesn't look like a rebel army." An Rudao took a look and said.
"If there is a rebel army at the foot of the capital, then it's okay..." Guan Zhen whispered, about to get up, "Let's go too."
Unexpectedly, An Rudao grabbed him and said carelessly: "What's the rush? I'll just leave after eating."
They didn't panic, but other people in the store got into a mess and rushed out of the door. After a while, only they and the three store owners who hurried out were left in the store.
"Master Jun, Master Jun." The shopkeeper walked forward with a smile, "Our poor place is too small to accommodate so many men, or..."
The leading soldier raised his eyebrows and put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist: "What do you mean? Do you want my general to sleep under a tree?"
"No, I don't dare..."
"Hurry up and prepare hot water and hot dishes. If you dare to neglect my general, you will be punished as a collaborator!"
At this time, a shout came from outside the door:
"What are you doing! I told you not to disturb the people!"
A giant over two meters tall leaned into the store and immediately blocked the door. With his heavy armor, it was like a steel city gate.
But this guy's body proportions are very strange. His upper body is like a giant drum on a city gate, his legs are thick and short, and his head is even smaller than that of an ordinary person. Most of it is covered by a hat-like helmet, and he only has one mouth.
Exposed.
When the shopkeeper saw this man, he was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground, while the soldier clasped his fists and saluted very respectfully:
"General Ma."
"Get out of here! Shopkeeper, my men are just rough guys, don't blame them. We will go to Beijing tomorrow to meet the Holy Spirit, and we will only stay for one night."
"Yes, yes..." How dare the shopkeeper not obey, and bravely shouted, "Come on, come on, prepare a room for the military master..."
"Don't worry, the store owner, we will never stay in vain. Yang Lianping!"
A similarly armed soldier walked into the store and waited for orders.
"Housekeeper, we have food and accommodation for three hundred people in total. Please take care of the bill."
"Don't dare, don't dare..." the shopkeeper said, his face softened a little. It seems that the general is reasonable.
But when he saw Yang Lianping struggling to take out a piece of leather from the gap in the breastplate, his face wrinkled again.
The young soldier spread the leather on the ground and said gently:
"Seller, this is a military coupon. You calculate the account and I will issue it to you. You can take it to the armaments office in the capital and exchange it for silver coins."
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"Yes..." The shopkeeper picked up the abacus lifelessly, obviously having no illusions about the effectiveness of this "military ticket".
Seeing that the situation was stable, the waiters breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts. But at this moment——
"Waiter, another pot of tea!"
This shout startled the store owner. When he looked back, he found that An Rudao and Guan Zhen were still sitting calmly, with no intention of leaving.
An Rudao picked at the gap between his teeth with his nails and said leisurely: "Boy, the water is getting cold now. Please bring it back to me to warm it up."
Just as the waiter was about to chase them away, Yang Lianping had already arrived at the table, cupping his fists and saying:
"Both of you, it's just a matter of convenience for officials to do business. Please find another place."
But An Rudao didn't even raise his head, he just held the empty bowl, shook his head and said:
"The water is delicious but hard to cook. If it is not stewed thoroughly, it will smell fishy, and if it is overcooked, it will be chewy. So it is best to put it in the pot as soon as it boils. When it is brought to the table, it is still gurgling. Damn it.
The remaining warmth will cook it."
He suddenly turned his head and smiled at General Ma:
"Seizing the right moment to leave the fire is the secret to preparing a bowl of water. General, why don't you take a bite?"
The soldier who opened the door couldn't stand it anymore and scolded: "How outrageous! You want my general to eat——"
"Back off!"
The loud shouting made the tables and chairs in the store rattle. The store owner and the waiter even covered their ears and squatted down, with expressions of pain on their faces.
General Ma walked to An Rudao step by step and looked down at this rude guy.
Guan Zhen remained calm, but quietly put one hand under the table.
The giant clasped his fists and said, "Don't mind it, we will eat and live, but we won't disturb each other."
An Rudao nodded with satisfaction and knocked twice on the table.
"Store, open a room for me."
The three hundred soldiers had a simple dinner and expertly camped beside the road. Only General Ma and a group of close followers headed by his attendant Yang Lianping rested in the guest room.
After the second watch, it’s dead of night.
"The capital is just around the corner, why don't you rush all night as planned?" Guan Zhen asked in the guest room.
"Hey, it's time to relax once in a while." An Rudao lit the lamp and sat peacefully on the bed, "Besides, we have an honored guest to entertain tonight."
"What's so expensive..." Before Guan Zhen could finish his words, he heard two "dong dong" knocks on the door.
An Rudao smiled at the old man and asked, "Who is it?"
"Master, Ma Qiushi, the vanguard of the former Zhenbeiguan Army, would like to see you."