Xu Xiling had just sung a song. If Shi Luo refused at this time, it would appear that she was too pretentious and arrogant, as if she regarded herself as a queen and the daughter of a noble family, and did not take Liu Xiu and others seriously at all.
Shi Luo whispered: "Miss Xu is too generous, how can my singing skills compare with Miss Xu?!"
Just as Xu Xiling was about to speak, Shi Luo said shyly: "Since Miss Xu recommended me to sing a song, it's easy for me to show off my shame."
After speaking, Shi Luo cleared his throat and sang a song.
"The swallows in front of Pianpian Hall, hiding in the winter and coming to see each other in the summer; two or three brothers, wandering in other counties. Who should mend the old clothes, and who should wear the new clothes? Thanks to the virtuous master, I will take them as my clothes. The husband-in-law comes from the door, leaning towards me
Ke Bei Xiao. 'Please don't look at Xiao Qing, the water is clear and the rocks are visible.' Seeing the rocks is so complicated, it is better to return home than to travel far away."
The song sung by Shi Luo was called "Yan Ge Xing". It was a very popular song at the time and was often performed by Yuefu in various places.
The main idea of "Yan Ge Xing" is that a wanderer living abroad has a very difficult life and feels homesick.
Shi Luo's voice is soft and gentle, and has the flavor of Jiangnan Wunong's soft language. The lyrics of the song "Yan Ge Xing" are very close to the artistic conception, and are also very suitable for the current situation of Liu Xiu and others.
When she finished singing, Liu Xiu, Deng Yu, Yao Qi, Zhu You and others lowered their heads in unison, with sad looks on their faces. Xie Cheying looked around at everyone and asked Liu Xiuxiao: "Master, what do you think
How does Arrow sing?"
Liu Xiu came back to his senses, immediately touched his palms and exclaimed: "Like water and like a song, the lingering sound lingers around the beams, gentle and sweet, and the pearls are round and jade-like!"
Shi Luo's face turned red after being praised by Liu Xiu, and he smiled sheepishly at Liu Xiu. Xi Cheying couldn't help but laugh out loud, and then took a special look at Xu Xiling.
If you fail to steal the chicken, you will lose the rice.
Xu Xiling's voice and singing skills are both superior to Shi Luo's, but at this moment, her "There is a Beauty in the North" is naturally far less contagious than Shi Luo's "Sexy Song".
Hearing Liu Xiu's words of appreciation for Shi Luo, and seeing Liu Xiu's smiling face and looking at Shi Luo with shining eyes, Xu Xiling became more and more unhappy. Along with this, the more and more she looked at X Che's shadow, the more she disliked it.
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Just when everyone was sitting around the campfire laughing and joking, Liu Xiu suddenly stopped talking, tilted his ears, and listened carefully. Deng Yu and others looked at him in confusion and asked: "Lord, what's wrong..."
Liu Xiu raised his hand to stop everyone from asking questions. After listening for a while, he straightened his face and said, "Someone is coming, and there are many people!"
As soon as he finished speaking, little bits of firelight flashed out behind them. At first it was just sporadic firelight, but soon, the firelight became one, covering the mountains and plains as far as the eye could see.
This situation caused everyone's expressions to change. Zhu You exclaimed with interest, "Who are these people?"
"I'm afraid the person who came here is evil, we have to leave quickly!" Liu Xiu greeted everyone and stood up first. The others also stood up quickly and quickly packed up their things. The women all got on the carriage, and the men got on their horses.
.
But in just a moment, the fire had spread to their vicinity. There were densely packed torches, and there were densely packed people standing under the torches.
Most of them were young and strong men, some holding swords in their hands, some holding spears, and some holding targets and hoes. When they saw Liu Xiu and others, they were like wild beasts seeing their prey.
The monster screamed and rushed straight up.
Liu Xiu said anxiously: "It's the Tanxiang Army! Let's leave quickly!"
This time the number of the opponent is not a few hundred, but at least thousands. With such a large number of people, even if the individual soldiers are not strong, they can defeat Liu Xiu and others just by relying on the strength of numbers.
People were beaten into pulp.
The escape route when they came was completely blocked, and Liu Xiu and others could only run along Huangze Lake. But gradually, the enemy also appeared in front.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Liu Xiu, who was riding in front, encountered several arrows fired from the enemy on one side. Liu Xiu swung his sword with all his strength to block, and several arrows fell to the ground with a clanking sound.
Immediately afterwards, a dozen young men in shabby clothes rushed out of the grass by the lake, some with spears and some with wooden sticks. When Liu Xiu approached, they stabbed him with spears and wooden sticks.
Come.
Liu Xiu secretly gritted his teeth, used all his arm strength, and swung his sword outward, clicking, clicking, whether it was a spearhead or a stick, they all fell to the ground.
The young men in the front stepped back and shouted loudly: "Liu Xiu is here! Liu Xiu is here!"
Dense figures in the night began to gather quickly towards Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu had no time to pay attention to the enemies rushing towards him, and kept urging his horse forward.
Fortunately, the opponent had not yet formed a complete encirclement. Those who rushed out to intercept were all killed to the ground by Liu Xiu and others.
They ran along the lakeside for more than ten miles in one breath. Finally, no enemy came out nearby, but the shouting from behind never stopped. It was obvious that the enemy was still chasing after them.
Running further, a wide river blocked the way.
Liu Xiu and others knew that this must be a flood. When they came to the river, there was no way to go. They could only run along the river. After running two or three miles, they saw the flickering fire ahead.
.
Zhu You asked in surprise: "Is there an enemy ambush ahead?"
If the Tanxiang army set up an ambush so far away, then they would have no choice but to accept their fate. Liu Xiu narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Rush over and have a look!"
There were only a few scattered lights in the front, and it didn't look like there was a heavy ambush.
When Liu Xiu and his party ran closer to the fire, they took a closer look and saw that they were several small boats docked on the shore. The few lights were the oil lamps hanging on the boats.
Several boatmen were sitting on the shore, eating and talking. When they saw Liu Xiu and others coming unexpectedly, everyone was dumbfounded, their faces full of confusion and sluggishness.
Liu Xiu took the lead in dismounting, walked up to several boatmen, raised his hands and said, "Boatboatmen, can you please help me cross the river now?"
Several boatmen are all in their thirties or forties, with dark skin and wrinkled faces.
One of the boatmen was about to speak when another boatman next to him gave him a hand. He then raised his eyes and looked behind Liu Xiu and others. Two or three miles away, there was a large firelight, and people's voices were faintly heard.
The sound of shouting.
The boatman asked: "Are those people behind you chasing you?" "Yes!" "Who are they?" "Tanxiang Army!"
When several boatmen heard this, their faces changed. The boatman who asked the question asked again: "Why are the Tanxiang troops chasing you?"
Liu Xiu said: "Previously, we encountered a small group of Tanxiang troops who robbed us in Dengcun. They disagreed and started fighting. We killed each other's people."
Several boatmen suddenly realized that no wonder so many Tanxiang troops were chasing them.
The boatman shook his head and said: "Looking at the accent, you are outsiders, right? You don't know that the Tanxiang Army has always held grudges and will retaliate. Even if they only kill one of them, they will not relent and will retaliate. We don't dare to send you away. Cross the river, otherwise, the Tanxiang Army will definitely not let us go in the future!"
Zhu You said urgently: "We can pay you!"
The boatman still shook his head and said: "No matter how much money you have, if you don't have the life to spend it, it's not useless?"
Several other boatmen also nodded repeatedly, indicating that their companions were right.
They are all locals living near Danshui and make a living by dangling. If they help Liu Xiu and others, they cross the river, pat their butts and leave, what about themselves? Where can they go?
Seeing that several boatmen refused to send his side across the river, and that the pursuers behind him were getting closer and closer, Zhu You's eyes turned red with anxiety, and he subconsciously raised his hand to hold the sword under his ribs.
If it didn't work, he could only kill these boatmen and seize the boat to cross the river.
Liu Xiuyou saw Zhu You's intention and pressed his arm first, shaking his head slightly.
By killing people and seizing ships, how do they differ from the Tanxiang Army who pretend to be rebels but are actually no different from bandits?
Liu Xiu stabilized Zhu You who was about to take action, pondered for a moment, and said to several boatmen: "Xiu can promise these boatmen that as long as they are willing to help me cross the river, we can pass Yecheng County and settle several boatmen." , I will never give the Tanxiang Army a chance to retaliate against you!"
Several boatmen were startled, and one of them asked cautiously: "I wonder who this gentleman is?"
"I, Liu Xiu, came from Luoyang on the orders of the Emperor to conquer Hebei!"
Hearing that the person in front of them turned out to be the legendary Liu Xiu, all the boatmen showed surprise. One boatman bravely asked: "Sir... no, is this the Liu Xiu who defeated 400,000 reckless troops in Kunyang?" "
"Exactly down there!"
Several boatmen looked at each other, and then they all knelt down and saluted each other, saying: "You guys didn't know that this is a grand visit, please forgive me!"
Liu Xiu quickly helped several boatmen up and said: "Right now, the Tanxiang Army is chasing us. I hope some boatmen can help!"
A boatman stamped his feet fiercely and said excitedly: "The common people have admired your merits and virtues for a long time. Now that I can see you today, even if the common people die, they will die without regrets!"
As he spoke, he looked at the other boatmen and said sternly: "My family members were all killed by Mang's thieves. You are the one who killed Mang. It's like you have avenged our family members. Today, you are in trouble. How can we stand by and watch?"
The other boatmen only hesitated for a moment, and then they all made up their minds and said to Liu Xiu and others: "My lords, hurry up and get on the boat. I will take you across the river!"
Liu Xiu and others were overjoyed when they heard this. As the saying goes, sow good causes and reap good results. Liu Xiu did not make achievements in vain. Even though he was jealous of Liu Xuan and the people of the Green Forest Department and was not reused by the reforming court, the people still remembered it. Liu Xiu’s achievements.
In addition, Liu Xiu's benevolent policies wherever he went also won him a good reputation among the people. Even here in Hebei, people had an excellent impression of Liu Xiu.
In troubled times, reputation is also one of the prerequisites for a person to achieve great things.
Although these boatmen have a total of six boats, they are all small boats. They are already very crowded even if they sit down, and horses cannot get on the boat anyway.
As for the two carriages in the team, it was even impossible to board the ship. The horses and carriages had to be abandoned on the shore.
While everyone was carrying their things onto the boat, the Tanxiang army behind them was already chasing them.
Liu Xiu drew out his sword and said to Deng Yu: "Zhonghua, don't take anything if you can. You take everyone on board first, and I will break up the rear!" As he spoke, he held his sword to face the first pursuer.