The heavy rain clouds have not yet occupied the entire sky. Between the clouds, you can see the clear blue sky, which makes people expect that the wind from outside will suddenly blow away the clouds and haze.
The Bagong Mountain shrouded in black clouds, against the background of the blue sky and black clouds, the peaks and ridges are green and the scenery is clear and picturesque. The mountains before the heavy rain also have a majestic silence, the fog is completely gone, and the forty-one peaks are vivid
It can be seen that the Feishui River and Huaihe River in the distance seem to be still and still, the mountains and rivers are quiet and beautiful, and the scene is extraordinary.
There is a unique kind of vanilla in Bagong Mountain in Shouchun. It is fragrant and fragrant. If it is transplanted elsewhere, the fragrance will be lost. In late spring, when the vanilla is growing, Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun rode up the hillside and felt the fragrance all over the mountain.
, the two of them went looking for this herb and chewed it, the aroma became even stronger.
Xie Daoyun was in a happy mood and raised his voice: "I once saw Zizhong hand-copying "Huainan Honglie". In Volume 16, there is a passage in the Mountain Instructions that I love deeply. Does Zizhong know which sentences it is?"
Chen Cao said: "Let me try to guess." He ran through the words in Volume 16 in his mind, and said slowly: "Orchids grow in deep valleys, and they are not fragrant if you don't want to obey them; boats are on the rivers and seas, if you don't want to take them."
Don't be arrogant; a gentleman does what is right and does not stop for unknown reasons. Is this a sentence?"
Xie Daoyun smiled with a charming smile. He turned his head and looked at the Feishui River in the distance. He sighed in his heart, "It is enough to have a confidant in life." He said, "Zizhong crossed the Huai River today. When will he be able to return?"
Chen Cao said: "The road is blocked and long, and it is difficult to know when to return. If everything goes smoothly, I will be able to return in late autumn or early winter."
Xie Daoyun said: "Although Zi Zhongming went to Di Qin as an envoy, he seems to have other plans, so be careful."
Chen Caozhi said with a smile: "Master said, 'Wealth and honor can be sought after, even if you are a warrior with a whip, I will do it.' Today I will hold the whip and go north, trying to influence the general trend of the Three Kingdoms. I will only fight this once, and I will definitely be able to come back and see you again."
Brother Yingtai’s.”
Although Chen Caozhi said that he was seeking wealth and honor, Xie Daoyun knew that Chen Caozhi was not just a person seeking fame and fortune for his own selfish purposes. Zizhong's ambitions were small in front of his eyes and big in the world. Zizhong came all the way from Qiantang, and now
At a time when his ambition is to conquer the world, how can such a high-spirited yet calm and confident man be disliked by others?
A blazing bolt of lightning pierced the sky, followed by thunder, and dark clouds rolled in and filled the air, covering all the clear blue sky in an instant. The surrounding mountains seemed to be covered by rain and fog, and the sky was dark like a dome.
It's like a cover, rolling and rolling, brewing a downpour.
Duan Si's family generals Duan Zhao, Huang Xiaotong, Ran Sheng and their three hundred sergeants, Shen Chiqian and twenty Shen's private soldiers, two envoys from Di Qin, and more than ten private soldiers and servants of Xie Daoyun were all waiting at the foot of the mountain to set off.
, when Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyunchi went down the mountain, the dense raindrops were like a curtain opening from north to south, and they quickly caught up with Chen and Xie who were not wearing rain gear.
Huang Xiaotong and another old servant of the Xie family quickly handed over the bamboo hat for the coir raincoat. Chen Caozhi put on the bamboo hat first and then the coir raincoat. Then he looked at Xie Daoyun, but he took the coir raincoat and put it on first. Suddenly, his face was wet with rain, and the raincoat was wet.
.
Chen Caozhi thought to himself that Xie Daoyun had obviously been used to serving others since she was a child, so she was still a little unfamiliar with these daily things, but after all, she was a girl from the Xie family in Chen County. Although she was a little embarrassed by the heavy rain, she would not rush around and sit upright on the horse.
Buttoning the coir raincoat on the back was done leisurely.
Chen Caozhi leaned over and took the bamboo hat from Xie's old servant, stretched out his arms to put it on Xie Daoyun, and suddenly found that Xie Daoyun's chest jacket was wet, and the outline of her breasts was visible. It turned out that Xie Daoyun was rushing to put on the raincoat to cover it up.
this!
Xie Daoyun tied the hat belt under his chin, raised his eyes and asked, "Zizhong, how do you cross the river in such a heavy rain?"
Chen Cao said: "We made an agreement with Governor Yuan last night to send a few more large ships. It hasn't rained heavily in the Feishui River and the upper reaches of the Huaihe River in the past few days, and the water has not yet risen significantly. It is still too late to rush across. If it is delayed until the afternoon, the water will
The price has gone up. Brother Yingtai, please just say goodbye. Take care on your way back and be careful of thieves."
Xie Daoyun looked at the torrential rain that was raining down like random arrows, cupped his hands and said: "Well, Zizhong, hurry up and hurry up. I wish you a safe journey and a successful return."
Chen Caozhi thanked him, and he and Ran Sheng led the soldiers northward in the rain.
Xie Daoyun immediately rode down Bagong Mountain and watched Chen Cao and his entourage disappear into the rain. They remained motionless for a long time. Although they had raincoats and bamboo hats to protect them from the rain, the rain was so heavy that they were almost drenched. Those private soldiers and servants of the Xie family were almost soaked by the rain.
They all stood by in the heavy rain. After a while, Xie Daoyun suddenly smashed the mare under his crotch, and the horse rushed straight to the northwest for dozens of feet. All the Xie clan members thought that Mrs. A Yuan had forgotten something and was going to do it now.
He went to catch up and informed Chen Caozhi, who either killed the horse or chased him on foot. However, he saw Xie Daoyun turning the horse's head and running back, saying: "Go back to the city!"
The Feishui River flows eastward and merges into the Huaihe River at the Fengtai Gorge Pass. Chen Cao and his party waited for the rain to stop, then took a warship to cross the Huaihe River. Then, after traveling northward for several miles along the left bank of the Feishui River, they turned northwest and headed to the two rivers.
Ruyin County, a hundred miles away.
Ran Sheng was very embarrassed because he was almost robbed by the refugees on the north bank of Shaopi yesterday due to the night rain. He did not expect that there would be such chaos in Huainan. Now that he has arrived in Huaibei, after passing Ruyin and Xincai, it will be even worse.
It was peaceful. Xuchang had been occupied by the Xianbei people. The Xianbei people might attack Chenjun and Luoyang at any time. Therefore, after crossing the Huaihe River, Ran Sheng ordered his sergeants to be on guard all the way. Two cavalry scouts and eight infantry scouts took turns to guard ten miles away.
Let a large group of suspicious people approach them without noticing.
At the beginning of Shenshi on March 28th, Chen Cao and his party came outside Ruyin City. Because the yoke of a carriage carrying weapons broke, they took a break by the roadside. While repairing the yoke, they sent people to Ruyin.
The governor of Yin County reported the news.
At this time, a group of forty or fifty people came from the south. Some were on horseback, some on foot, and some pushing wheeled carts. They were all strong men. When passing by Chen Caozhi and others, they saw the sergeant repairing the carriage.
The leader immediately bowed his hand to Chen Caozhi and asked politely: "Is there anything I can do for you, the envoy?"
Chen Caozhi looked slightly surprised and took a closer look at this man. He saw that this man was in his twenties, with straight eyebrows and a majestic figure. He was riding a yellow gelding and wearing two swords. However, he was not dressed as a military officer. He was just an ordinary civilian. Chen Caozhi
Cao Zhi returned the courtesy and said, "Thank you very much. It's just a small matter. I dare not bother you with it."
The man bowed his hands on his horse and led the group into Ruyin City.
Seeing Chen Caozhi staring at the backs of the group of people, Ran Sheng asked, "Brother, do you recognize these people?"
Chen Caozhi smiled and said: "Sounds familiar! It seems to be the refugee bandit I met in the south of Shouchun City that day."
Chen Caozhi has an excellent memory. Although he cannot be said to have a photographic memory, he can memorize an article of about a thousand words after reading it three or five times. He is also meticulous and good at observation. That day, the refugees and thieves found out that they wanted to rob someone.
It was the Jin army. The leader said "misunderstanding, misunderstanding" twice, turned around and ran away. Chen Caozhi heard that the voice of the man riding the yellow horse just now was quite similar to the voice of the thief that day, and saw that all his men were wearing it.
The sword was most likely the same gang of homeless thieves that day!
Ran Shenghuan's eyes widened and he said angrily: "When I lead the people to catch up, I will capture all those thieves."
Chen Caozhi signaled Ran Sheng not to raise his voice, called Shen Chiqian over, and asked him to send two private soldiers to follow the group in front to see where they lived. It would be better if they could find out who they were.
Two Shen's private soldiers took the order and left.
The prefect of Ruyin County came to welcome Chen Caozhi in person, and accommodated Chen Caozhi and his entourage in the post. That night, he also entertained Chen Caozhi and Ran Sheng. When Chen Caozhi and Ran Sheng returned to the post from the prefecture of Ruyin, the two The famous Shen family had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Chen Caozhi, one of the eloquent Shen family members reported: "The two of us were ordered to follow the group of refugees to Shiping Inn in the north of the city. That inn seems to belong to this group of people. The owner was very familiar with the hotel, so he pretended that he wanted to stay at the hotel and asked for a guest room. After staying for more than an hour, he finally found out that the group was from Sujiapu in Ruyang, and the leader was named Su Qi."
Chen Caozhi nodded, said a few words of praise, and asked the two Shen clan members to go down to rest. He ordered someone to invite the Yi Cheng. The Yi Cheng knew that Chen Caozhi was an envoy to the Qin Dynasty, and that the sixth-rank prince Xi Ma , Haosheng respected each other. Hearing that Chen Caozhi had invited him, he came quickly. Chen Caozhi asked him about the Sujia Fort in Runan, but Yi Cheng couldn't answer. He only knew that the Sujia Fort was in Pingyu County. It's more than two hundred miles away.
After the Yi Cheng went down, Ran Sheng said: "Brother, I have two sergeants who are from Runan. When I call them, do they know anything about Sujiabao?"
Two sergeants soon arrived and talked about Sujiabao in Pingyu County, Runan County. One of the sergeants reported: "Going back to Chenpu, Governor Chen said that I had been to Sujiabao before joining the army. That was It happened ten years ago. I went to work as a servant in Sujiabao. At that time, the wall of Sujiabao was first built. There were about a thousand men, women, and children in the Su family. They moved from Yongzhou Shiping during the Yonghe period. , probably to avoid Ran Min's rebellion."
When Ran Sheng heard the sergeant mentioning his father's name, he couldn't help but "hum" and felt a little annoyed. The sergeant suddenly fell silent, wondering where he had made a mistake!
Chen Caozhi glanced at Ran Sheng and said, "No wonder the inn in the north of the city is called Shiping Inn. This is because you don't forget your hometown." He also asked the sergeant if he knew Su Qi's name?
The sergeant glanced at Ran Sheng anxiously, shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Chen Caozhi thought to himself: "Su Qi is only in his twenties and was a teenager more than ten years ago. Naturally, this sergeant has no way of knowing." Then he asked: "Who is the master of Sujiabao?"
The sergeant replied: "This little man knows that the name of the fort lord is Su Daozhi."
"Su Daozhi?" Chen Caozhi was silent for a moment. He felt that the name looked familiar. He seemed to be a well-known figure in history, but he couldn't remember who he was.
That was all the sergeant knew. Ran Sheng waved them away and asked Chen Caozhi: "Brother, do you want to conquer this group of refugees?"
Chen Cao smiled and said: "It's always a good thing to make friends with some refugees. Pingyu in Runan is the only way for us to go. We will go with them tomorrow."