The Marquis Is Innocent

Jiang Meng followed the gaze of the leader, Diao Mo, and saw a woman with a face mask walking towards the tooth man under the protection of several people beside her.

…

The Western Han and Qiang have always had deep grievances.

However, it is different from the Xiongnu conflict. In addition to the objective reasons for the two sides competing for space, there are also historical reasons for the improper rule of the Han Dynasty.

The scene just now, although Xiao Qiao couldn't see it, but considering that since this has always been the case, he has just arrived, and although Wei Shao is relying on him, it is not easy to touch the vested interests of these local tyrants, so after hesitating, he finally decided to leave. .

But did not expect such a thing to happen again. Hearing the young man calling "Sister", he was still unwilling to accept such a beating for the Qiang girl. For some reason, he thought of his auntie Qiao Ci, how could he bear it, turned around and came back quickly walked over.

When the steward saw that the queen did not listen to his advice, it seemed that he was about to intervene, so he had no choice but to follow.

The young man's eyes were bruised and his mouth was bleeding. The middle-aged man with teeth was still not relieved. He kicked away the Qiang girl who was crying and begging beside him. Come over: "Stop!"

Tooth man turned his head and saw that the speaker was a woman wearing a scorpion, and was stunned for a moment.

The west is windy and sandy, and it is common for women to cover their heads with cloth towels when going out. He took a closer look.

The thin silk on the other layer, although I can't see the face clearly, but I can vaguely see the outline of the facial features, I feel that the woman is beautiful, and I hear her voice.

I looked at her clothes again, although the material was good, there was nothing outstanding.

Finally, look at her entourage. A middle-aged man with a sheep's beard, a servant girl. I guessed it was a young woman from an ordinary big family.

This Yaren surnamed Hu, has a backstage, and usually doesn't pay attention to the ordinary big family in Jinyang City on weekdays. This is the color embryo again, and evil thoughts arise in my heart, and I really want to lift the veil to see what happens. Guo Zhen stopped at her words, and said with a smile: "Which woman are you, and why are you here if you don't twiddle needles and thread at home?"

The steward was furious and scolded: "Presumptuous! You know—"

Xiao Qiao stopped the steward, glanced at the dozens of Qiang people **** on the ground, and said coldly: "I bought all of your people, how much they cost!"

The steward was stunned.

Tooth and the people watching the fun are also stunned. After reacting, he hesitated, and said, "You want to buy all of them?"

Xiao Qiao said, "You didn't understand what I said?"

Yaren then believed it, thought for a while, and gave a slightly higher number. He thought she was going to make a counteroffer, but he didn't want to even blink his eyes, so he heard her say: "Send me all the people to the north of the city. Office! Send money to future generations!"

Tooth man was genuinely surprised.

Last year, Bingzhou changed hands, and Wei Shao, the Marquis of Yan, replaced Chen Xiang as the head of Bingzhou. Local wealthy households are waiting for Wei Shao to come to Pangla for friendship. Waiting on tiptoe until not long ago, news came out that Marquis Yan arrived in Jinyang and settled in the government office in the north of the city. In the first few days, the wealthy households in Jinyang felt the wind and rushed to visit them. Those who presented beautiful women and those who presented gold and silk almost didn't break the threshold.

Wei Shao lived in the government office in the north of the city. Tooth people naturally know.

As soon as the woman opened her mouth, she said to send everyone there...

The tooth man hesitated for a while, then tentatively said: "Is Madam kidding me?

He had changed his tune and called her "Mrs."

Xiao Qiao said coldly: "I told you to send it, you can send it to me, where did you get so much chatter?"

The tooth man immediately heard the indisputable tone that only superiors could unconsciously bring out, and he didn't dare to be arrogant. Even the Qiang people on the ropes stood up.

As the young man said, these Qiang people were indeed not prisoners of war, but were innocently captured from the Qiang people of all ethnic groups in the Huangshui area. In this group, there were nearly a hundred people who were originally sent together, and they fled all the way from Huangshui to this place. In the end, only a few dozen people remained. Most of them do not speak Chinese and do not understand. All I know is that this young woman with a face covering her face bought herself. I don't know how this is going to be, and I was stumbled and driven forward.

Xiao Qiao came to the boy and saw that he seemed to be dying, so he ordered the steward to bring him into the carriage together.

Seeing that the young man was dirty and covered in blood, the steward hesitated for a while, but he did not expect this young man to be unusually tenacious, so he slowly got up from the ground, bowed deeply to Xiao Qiao and said, "The grace of my benefactor for saving my life, Unforgettable! My body is dirty, I dare not stain the benefactor's car, and I can walk by myself."

Xiao Qiao saw that although his face was dirty and embarrassing, his eyes were clear, and he spoke politely, as if he had been educated, and he liked him even more, so he smiled and nodded.

Chunniang was kind, and she was very sad to watch from the side, so she hurriedly went over and untied the rope from the Qiang girl's hand. The Qiang girl kowtowed to Xiao Qiao seven or eight times in a row, and crawled to the boy's side. A long list of words that Xiao Qiao could not understand came out of her mouth, which should be asking him about his injury. The young man shook his head, as if to comfort her a few words, then turned around and followed the group of Qiang people, staggering forward. The Qiang girl hurriedly helped him with a respectful expression. It made Xiao Qiao feel that the two were not like siblings anymore.

The thought flashed by, and Xiao Qiao didn't think about it any more. Under the watchful eyes of countless eyes, he left the market and boarded the carriage back to the office.

The people watching the excitement began to discuss the origin of this mysterious little woman. After a while, they gradually dispersed. In the end, the few remaining people were still standing there.

Jiang Meng said, "Where did that woman come from? She actually lives in the Jinyang government office! Could it be related to the Marquis of Yan?"

Diao Mo didn't say a word, and just watched the carriage that was sitting on the little woman gradually drifting away, until he couldn't see it, Fang withdrew his gaze.

"Headman, I just made a mistake and saw that the boy seemed to have a tattoo of the Beihe people on his arm."

Another follower suddenly said.

Jiang Meng was stunned for a moment, and then his face showed disdain: "It's actually a Beihe person! Gan Yang Han people breathed life, and they deserved to be robbed and humiliated like this!"

The Beihe people are another big group of the Qiang people in Longxi besides the Shaodang. Today's old patriarch is named Yuan Wang. He has been holding the patriarch's staff for more than 40 years. He is quite wise. He led the clan to farm and build houses, and gradually changed from nomadic to settled. very famous among them. Only later, the Beihe people, like the other Qiang people in Longxi, were squeezed by Chen Xiang and Feng Zhao, the prefect of Liangzhou, and forced to move far away.

Last month, Diaomo planned to attack Shangjun and invited the Beihe people to join the fight, but was declined by the old patriarch Yuanwang. The Beihe people did not move. After the defeat, Jiang Meng was naturally dissatisfied when he mentioned the Beihe tribe who did not work together.

Diao Mo said: "Everyone has their own aspirations. The leader of the Beihe clan has high morals, and he also has his own considerations when he does not go into the army. I have always respected him. Stop talking nonsense!"

When Jiang Meng saw what he said, he closed his mouth.

Diao Mo pondered, the appearance of the young man just now appeared in front of his eyes, and suddenly he felt a little familiar. I can't remember where I saw it for a while. After hesitating for a while, he ordered a follower to follow him to see what happened. Then he took people and left the city first.

…

Xiao Qiao bought these twenty or thirty Qiang slaves at once, but the steward couldn't understand it.

It's just that the lady likes it, so the servants naturally dare not ask any more questions. The first thing I did after I came back was to order these Qiang slaves to wash their heads and shower their bodies, put on Han clothes after they were clean, and each was given a pair of shoes. Then take it to dinner. Each person is given two cakes, and there is no limit to porridge.

When the Qiang slaves finished eating, the steward asked Xiao Qiao what they were going to do to the Qiang slaves.

Xiao Qiao didn't know what to do with them. At first, I bought it in the market, which was purely impulse consumption. Seeing that the steward had finished asking questions, and waiting for his instructions, he said, ask them first, let them go if they want to, and don't force them to stay.

The steward was dumbfounded.

It turned out that Madam had nothing to spend to buy so many Qiang slaves just for fun.

I didn't dare to ask anything, so I turned around and called someone who could speak Qiang language, so I really went to ask.

Which Qiang slaves couldn't believe that they had such good luck at first. It was successfully bought first, not only putting on clothes and shoes, but also eating a full meal. I thought it was good enough, but now, the young lady has let herself go.

No one believed it at first. They all looked at each other. Later, it was confirmed that it was true. After a dozen people left, there were still half of them left. They refused to leave, saying that they would have no family when they went back, and the journey was so long that they might not be able to return to the Huangshui area alive. They just wanted to stay and serve. lady. Twelve men and two women. All are young.

The steward couldn't drive him away when he saw someone rushing, so he turned around again, and went to report to Xiao Qiao again.

Xiao Qiao thought about it, and asked the men to serve as handymen temporarily, and the women to dry pulp. If she has nothing to do, just relax and use it when she remembers it.

Then he gave another order, and asked them to be placed in the outer courtyard and not allowed to enter the inner courtyard.

This is also for security reasons. After all, although she has no ill will towards these Qiang people, she is not sure what other people will do.

In the end, the siblings were left. Xiao Qiao instructed the steward to arrange a single room for living, and then asked Lang Zhong to come over to treat the young man.

Take care of everything.

…

A few days later, the Qiang youth's injury has healed a lot.

He called himself the single name Yuan and came again to thank him. When he looked at Xiao Qiao, his eyes were bright and full of gratitude.

He was dirty that day, and Xiao Qiao only noticed that he had a pair of clear eyes. Unexpectedly, after washing it and putting on neat clothes, it looks very neat.

In order to commemorate their ancestors, Qiang men are accustomed to wearing their hair and wiping their foreheads across their foreheads.

This young man named Yuan, with black hair and a shawl, with snow-white skin, stood there like a stick of bamboo, if it weren't for the bruises on the corners of his forehead and eyes, he looked like Adi Qiaoci when he was 12 or 13.

Xiao Qiao felt more cordial and fond.

But the more I looked, the more I felt that he and this Qiang girl were not like siblings.

If they weren't brothers and sisters, if they were plundered and sold together, there must be hidden feelings.

But it was not convenient for her to ask questions.

What's more, buying him that day was just an impulse, and she didn't want to ask more about other people's secrets. He smiled and said, "It's fine if you're fine. Some of the people who came with you that day have already left. When you recover from your injuries, if you want to leave, just leave at your own discretion, and I won't stop you."

…

That night, Chunniang was doing needlework in the room, gossiping with Xiao Qiao.

This is already the tenth night that Xiao Qiao came to Jinyang.

Wei Shao still didn't reply, and there was no new news from the steward.

Not only Chunniang, but Xiao Qiao gradually felt that something was wrong in her heart.

Chunniang glanced at Xiao Qiao, who was lying on the desk and devoted herself to drawing embroidery patterns for herself, and couldn't help but say, "The lady has been here for so many days, and I don't know when the man will be back."

Xiao Qiao didn't answer her.

Chunniang said again: "Xu is the male gentleman who doesn't know that the female gentleman is here? The female gentleman has nothing to do anyway, so why not send a letter to the male gentleman?"

Xiao Qiao's eyes still fell on the pattern, and finally she said with a smile: "Then Chunniang, tell me, what should I say in my letter to him?"

Chunniang hurriedly said, "Then said the lady misses you..."

Suddenly at this moment, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, followed by the steward's voice: "Xihe County has a letter to the lady!"

Xiao Qiao raised his eyes suddenly and stopped writing.

Chunniang hurriedly got up to receive the letter, and came back and handed it to Xiao Qiao happily: "It's also a coincidence! The maid also said that the female gentleman should write a letter to the male gentleman, and now the male gentleman has sent a letter to the female gentleman!"

Xiao Qiao took the letter that was printed with lacquer and sealed in a bamboo tube, took it out, unfolded it, glanced at it, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and his eyes were fixed.

Chunniang was originally smiling, waiting for Xiao Qiao to tell the contents of the letter. Suddenly seeing her look different, the smile slowly disappeared, and she asked anxiously, "What happened?"

…

The letter was written by Gongsun Yang, who was with Wei Shao in Xihe County.

Three days ago, Wei Shao originally decided to return to Jinyang, leaving Gongsun Yang in Xihe County to defend Liangzhou Feng Zhao. Before leaving, he had a temporary intention, and only brought a team of people and went to survey the terrain with Gongsun Yang, not wanting to encounter a sudden attack.

At that time, Wei Shao successfully protected Gongsun Yang from the encirclement, but his arm was accidentally injured by a bow and arrow.

I thought it was just a minor injury to the flesh, but Wei Shao himself didn't care at the time.

But that arrow crossbow was fed poison. Fortunately, the treatment was timely, and only the skin was scratched, and his life was not affected.

However, the remaining poison in Junhou's body has not been exhausted, and his body is still very weak, and he is now recovering from his injuries.

Junhou did not want the female monarch to know, and strictly ordered not to pass on the letter.

Gongsun Yang, however, felt extremely ashamed and blamed. Knowing that the lady was in Jinyang, he did not dare to hide it, so he sent a letter to report it.