Zheng Anping returned to his hometown and talked with Zhang Lu for a long time. Unexpectedly, the east was white. Zhang Lu said: "Young Master, I just endure the hardship and walk, and I will go inside to ask for help."

Zheng Anping said: "Since the emperor has given me a gift, why should I report it to the village?"

Zhang Lu said: "If you don't tell the villagers, how can you know the merits of the young master?"

Zheng Anping hurried back to the post house. Everyone made breakfast together in the post house, and also served a bowl of Masangong, with a lot of vegetables, jams and fruits.

Mr. Zhongyue's medicine is very effective, and their wounds have shown a tendency to heal. I heard from Zhang Lu that General Mangmao was planning to murder Lord Xinling. Although I didn't dare to believe it, I always felt a little sad and felt that I

This injury seemed a bit worthless. But he also knew that this matter could not be explained openly and could only rot in the stomach, so it was even more uncomfortable. Everyone did not sleep well at night, so everyone took a nap outside the mourning hall throughout the morning.

The white cloth Zhang Lu bought in the city was delivered by the head of the village himself. Also arriving in the car were the quilts and some fruits that Zhang Lu brought from home. The postmen came to the door to welcome them, thanked them one by one, and put their clothes on their hands.

The head of the village then went outside the mourning hall, rushed inside to pay homage, and presented the funeral ritual: a jar of candied dates. After paying homage, he sat in a cubicle, made friends with everyone, and expressed his deepest condolences.

At this time, there was a knock on the door, and Mr. Zhongyue's voice sang loudly: "Xinling Jun Wuji is sincere and dedicated to the Ma family!"

This voice frightened the soul inside, and Zhang Huang said: "When Lord Xinling arrives, where will I go?"

Zheng Anping took him out, opened a room that had been unoccupied for a long time, pushed him in, and said: "Quiet!" The head of the house quickly ran in. Zheng Anping closed the door, and went out with the three of them.

Kneeling on both sides, Zheng Anping said: "How dare you trouble me to come in person!" The other three just bowed their heads and remained silent.

Lord Xinling bowed deeply and said: "Brother Ma died in the country, so he deserves to be sacrificed!"

Mr. Zhongyue sang again: "Mr. Xinling sacrifices!"

Under the guidance of Mr. Zhongyue, Lord Xinling crossed the gate and went straight to the back hall, followed by ten retainers, each holding a sacrifice, arranged on both sides. After they finished walking, the four postmen stood up and followed

Go in.

Mr. Zhongyue led Lord Xinling to the compartment of the mourning hall in the back hall and arranged the sacrifices. Four postmen entered the mourning hall and knelt down again by the door. Mr. Zhongyue took out four sets of mourning clothes from the compartment.

temporary

The white cloth they wore was much more delicate, with clothes, trousers, and belts. The four of them took off their bloody clothes, hid them in the corner, and put on these mourning clothes. Although it was a little cold, it was better than the original clothes.

.

After they changed into mourning clothes and removed the tributes from the cases, Mr. Zhongyue entered the compartment, and the four postmen knelt down in front of the door. Mr. Xinling came out first, followed by Mr. Zhongyue, and all the retainers were carrying offerings.

The items are held on small tables and arranged in the compartments one by one.

Lord Xinling came to the door of the mourning hall and bowed first. Mr. Zhongyue sang in praise: "Lord Xinling, I sincerely worship you!" He took the first sacrifice from the retainer: a pig's head and handed it to Lord Xinling.

, and sang praises again: "Sacrifice!"

Lord Xinling took the pig's head and held it in his hands. Zheng Anping at the door quickly took it with both hands and placed it on the confession case. The following were millet, millet, and water, all placed on the case one by one. Then came silk, cloth, and clothes.

, crowns, were laid out one by one on the ground in front of the case. Finally, there was a bunch of money and a pot of wine. The money was placed on the clothes, and the wine was sprinkled on the ground in front of the door. Mr. Zhongyue sang praises for each offering.

After the ten gifts were presented, the four postmen bowed down and thanked them. Finally, Lord Xinling beat his chest and shouted: "Mr. Ma is gone!" Mr. Zhongyue said in time: "The ceremony is completed!" Lord Xinling withdrew.

The retainers also gathered in front of the door as if they were joining in the fun. They greeted each other one by one, and the four of them bowed back one by one. Their heads were a little dizzy.

Finally, Mr. Zhongyue sang: "Sending a letter to Lord Ling!" The four of them stood up quickly and followed the retainer, sending them straight out the door. The retainer took a pottery pot from the car, and Mr. Zhongyue explained: "I'm afraid the lamp oil won't be enough."

After that, I specially offer a pot of castor oil to help him use it." The four people thanked him, knelt down again, sent the letter to Lord Ling, and boarded the car.

When the group of people finally disappeared, the four of them fell to the ground with an "ouch" sound. Their whole bodies were sore and their wounds were in pain. They rested for a while before they recovered.

Seeing Mr. Xinling walking away, the headman came out of the dark room. He took the initiative to carry the oil in for the four people and filled the lamps with oil. He and the four people reinstalled the door panels that had been removed yesterday. They were diligent and considerate.

The man was a little dissatisfied and said: "Elders don't have to work hard, the boys will come on their own."

The head of the village said: "You guys can have Mr. Wei Xinling personally come to you, and you can build an unparalleled building, and you will get the highest reward. Mr. Zheng lives in my house, and there will be many people who will seek refuge in you in the future!"

Zheng Anping said: "I am a humble person living in a noble village. I will not forget the great favors I have received!" The village chief greeted him repeatedly and reluctantly drove away. Zheng Anping asked him to tell Zhang Lu that he would stay vigil at the post house today and would not go home.

Already.

After the chief left, the four of them sat in front of the lobby door to discuss the next step.

Originally, everyone listened to Ma San when something happened. Now that Ma San is dead, Zheng Anping is the oldest among the four and has "seen the world", so he has become the backbone of everyone. Zheng Anping said: "Brother Ma's matter, I

Although they are brothers, they are not family members. They still need their families for funeral matters, and we cannot do it arbitrarily." Everyone agreed unanimously.

Among the four, only Zheng Anping had been to Ma's house, so this task fell to Zheng Anping again. Zheng Anping said: "One is for private purposes, and the two are for public affairs. I would like to ask a brother to accompany him." Everyone also recommended Su, the second oldest person.

Brother.Brother Su

He excused himself: "There must be no one in the post. There are only two boys left for fear of upsetting the world. It's better for Xiao Si to go with us. Brother Quan and I will take care of the post." Seeing what Brother Su said, Xiao Si did not dare to object, so he said

: "It's all thanks to Brother Zheng!"

Ma San's friends are all soldiers. Now during the war, there is no way to report the news, and they don't even know where they are. Except for Lord Xinling, no one comes to express condolences. The four of them had nothing to do, and their wounds started to hurt, so they

It was decided to light a fire, debridement, apply medicine, cook porridge and eat, and go to bed. After agreeing on the order of the night watch, the postmen went to a small room in the backyard and fell asleep.

After breakfast the next day, Zheng Anping took the festival talisman from the post, pretended to be a public servant, and went to Huayang. The festival talisman of Liang Xiyi was genuine, and the two of them did not dare to work too hard.

I rested for one night at the post station and another at the Great Wall Post Station. After breakfast, I left the Great Wall and came to Xinhuayang.

After leaving the Great Wall, there was no post station to rest, so we had to eat and sleep in the open air. When we reached Xiaoyi, Zheng Anping asked the city gate to be opened and showed his talisman, indicating that he was a Wei soldier who went to Huayang on business and stayed here. The man from Kaicheng

An old man was called over, and the old man said: "It's okay to have a rest, but there is no food."

Zheng Anping felt strange and said: "How can there be no food in such a big city?"

The old man said: "Your Majesty came from Daliang, I'm afraid you don't know. We have been stationed in our city for several days. We have run out of food and fodder, and our best men have been captured by the army. There are hundreds of people in the city, all old and weak, women and children. I don't know how to survive!"

The two of them entered the city lord's palace, opened a side room, and let them in, saying: "I am an elder and temporary lord of the city. Your Majesty, I will rest in the palace for a while. If there is any movement at night, I hope you will not come with me!"

The last sentence shocked the two of them. The old man obviously didn't want to say clearly what would happen at night, but it was obviously not a good thing. After the elder left, the two closed the door and whispered: "What can I do?"

Everyone knows that the Wei army took the entire city as prisoners, and he stayed in the city for many days. Although he did not directly conflict with the people in the city, the relationship was definitely not harmonious. If they knew that they participated in the attack on the small city, would they

…

I was thinking wildly, but I couldn't make up my mind. In the end, Zheng Anping said: "If you don't want to sleep in the open and live here, nothing may happen. Even if something happens, we can fight to the death with two crossbows and two halberds! Stay alert at night.

!" Before leaving, Brother Su lent his halberd to Zheng Anping in order to make the trip smooth, so the two of them had two halberds.

The two of them arranged the crossbows and arrows, refastened the halberds, and patrolled around the room. There was nothing unusual. They untied the grain bags, ate a meal of grain, and then rested against a corner to ensure that everything was fine.

They can hear each other's movements, and they can take care of each other, so they won't be caught in one fell swoop.

In the haze, I heard noisy human voices. Listening to the movement, everyone seemed to be gathering in the square outside the city, and there was a faint sound of "Hum, hum" from cows. Both of them woke up and listened carefully, and someone spoke.

, but I couldn’t hear clearly. It seemed that someone said something like “there must be consequences”. After a long quarrel, everyone also

He did not enter the city, but left directly. At this time, the rumble of the car became more obvious, as if there were two or three cars carrying something heavy. It was not until the sound of the car gradually faded away that the door of the city lord's palace was heard to creak.

It opened and closed with a sound. The two of them were so nervous that their hands were sweating, and they didn't dare to fall asleep again. They were waiting for the day...but nothing else happened all night.

At dawn the next day, the two of them did not dare to stay long, so they hurried out of the house and saw two people guarding the city gate. Zheng Anping explained that he stayed overnight yesterday and was leaving the city now. The two of them worked together to open the city gate and let the two of them out. The two of them were vaguely aware of each other.

I felt that these two people must be women because they were talking about nothing. But I didn't dare to take a closer look, so I left quickly after leaving the city.

After coming out of the small town, the two quickened their pace and kept going all the way, finally arriving at Masan's hometown outside Nanguan at dusk.

The arrival of the two people attracted everyone's attention. Soon someone recognized that Zheng Anping had come with Ma San, but at that time, he was dressed as a merchant, but now he was dressed as a soldier, and they stepped forward and asked

: "But friends of Masan?"

Zheng Anping knelt down and worshiped: "It is Wei Shu!"

People hurriedly helped him and said, "Since you are a friend of Masan, why do you do this?"

Zheng Anping said: "Brother Ma... died for the country!"...

Although everyone did not understand what "dying for the country" meant, it could be seen from Zheng Anping's sad expression that something bad must have happened, and he quickly shouted: "Please, Grandpa, please Grandpa!"

Taigong Ma was tremblingly called over, and everyone was talking: "Mr. Ma, something happened to Ma San!"

Ma Taigong said to Zheng Anping: "What's wrong with Ma San?"
Chapter completed!