The Possession of My Beloved

Because of the war, those black-tailed fat sheep have become in demand.

The gentlemen in Guan Nei are picky with their tongues! They are not short of money and silver. Taking advantage of this season when the fat sheep are not easy to enter the customs, if they can get it, they will definitely be able to sell for a big price.

Miantang negotiated the price and felt confident.

The last time she exchanged sheepskins with the farmer, she also had a brief talk with him. When the farmer was attacked by the barbarians, he ordered the shepherds to drive a large number of sheep into the dense forest in the river, and hid with his family. Only a few lambs and old and weak cattle were swept away by the barbarians.

The border has been blocked for too long, and no one knows when the ban will be lifted.

If he can't sell sheep, the daily expenses will be unbearable.

So when I heard that this dirty-faced boy was interested in buying his sheep, although he was skeptical, he still gave the price, and the price was very low.

When Miantang came to Sanguan for the second time, she asked two guards to sell medicines and daily necessities on the street corner. And she followed Uncle Liu to the ranch to negotiate.

The rancher didn't expect that this humble grazing boy would actually spend money to buy sheep. The man on the grassland did not have the hypocritical courtesy of a businessman in the country, so he simply sold 200 sheep to Liu Miantang at the previous price.

Liu Kun looked at the sheep and was worried, this is not a dead thing, but how can I put it on the car?

Miantang had discussed with the ranch owner long ago that he had borrowed five shepherds and was busy driving sheep to get to Jintuo Town.

Liu Kun heard this, and whispered to Miantang: "If you let people follow us, isn't that shortcut to customs clearance going to be exposed?"

Miantang was smearing the sheep's foreheads one by one with cinnabar-based paint. After listening to Liu Kun's words, she said without raising her head: "Otherwise, this shortcut can no longer be used. In half a month at the earliest, the border will definitely be lifted. When a large number of merchants flood in, we will have nothing to do. After doing this, our purse will be rich, and we will not be ashamed to see Jiangdong’s elders. But if If we don't leave, I'm afraid we will become fat sheep in other people's mouths."

Liu Kun heard this and asked Miantang in surprise why she said that.

Miantang put on a leather hat and revealed her bright eyes: "Today on the street, two barbarians have been whispering behind us. Their dialects are a bit heavy, I I can't hear it clearly, but I heard them say the word 'hudali'. Hudali is the jargon for their barbarians to kill more alive. It's similar to the meaning of sheep fattening and slaughtering. Those two people have been with us for a long time these days, about Seeing that our business is almost done, they are going to start when we are out of town."

Liu Kun was a little ashamed when he was surprised. He is an old man, how come he never noticed someone following them?

But Miantang smiled and said: "Those barbarians can track wolves on the grasslands, they are ghosts one by one! Not to mention these two are veterans at first sight, if they don't Knowing that I can speak savagely, maybe I still can’t show my clues. I just don’t know how many accomplices they have other than these two people who step on the plate…”

Liu Kun actually understands Barbarian language, but older people have no advantage in learning foreign languages, and they are not as skilled as Liu Miantang. So apart from some daily and business words, I really can't hear anything else.

Miantang let Liu Kun take over and continued to give the sheep a red forehead, while she rubbed her hands on the wool, took out a map from her chest, and muttered to herself: "If I'm here to rob, where do I start, so that I can be safe..."

Liu Kun looked sideways at the big girl Liu in their family, and suddenly felt that she was a very good little girl.

But looking at the way she was concentrating on looking up the map, it was obvious that she had already made up her mind, thinking about how to take care of those tortoise sons!

That scumbag is exactly the same as when Mr. Lu Wu was young!

Alas, the old man is now seriously ill and his energy is not as good as before. Otherwise, the prestige of the Shenwei Escort Bureau will not plummet!

Liu Kun couldn't help but think of the former glory of the **** bureau. At that time, where did he go to be called Master Liu without respect?

Thinking about the tricky business he is doing now, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

But the most important thing right now is the thing that is being watched.

After Miantang's advice, Liu Kun paid attention this time. Didn't he have two sneaky barbarians following him?

Three levels are actually a mixed area of ​​three no-holds. In the past, there were even a large number of bandits and swordsmen gathered here. It's just that after being recaptured by King Huaiyang, some local officials such as county chiefs have been set up to manage a group of militiamen to maintain order on the streets.

So the number of barbarians is less than before, but there are still many barbarian businessmen who got rid of nomadic life.

It is precisely because of this that Liu Kun never noticed the two barbarians following him.

Miantang bought a large number of black-tailed sheep, and this trip has achieved its purpose. And the goods she shipped the second time were sold similarly. After all, iron pot salt is something that every household uses.

Although Miantang sells well salt, it is not as fine and white as the well salt in Sichuan and Shu, and it does not sell well. However, this kind of salt made by digging wells and extracting brine can easily escape the official tax and is difficult to trace, so the price of Miantang is extremely low.

Although the people of Sanguan can also eat salt, the price is very high, comparable to the price of meat. There are many poor people who are reluctant to give up money and have not eaten salt for a long time. When they buy a small jar, they can't wait to dip a little bit into their mouths with their fingers to make up for the taste. Just a little bit, the whole person is alive. .

It didn't take too long, a small car of well salt and six or seven iron pots were sold out, and the medicinal materials were all collected by the owner of a local drugstore, ready to be used for processing pills.

Miantang's empty car is empty, and she can load the sheep. But there were so many sheep that couldn't be loaded into the car, so Miantang only had people pick up the old and weaker ones and load them into the car, so that they wouldn't be able to move when they were on their way.

After loading the car, Miantang and the others spent the night in the car and horse shop before going on the road. The sheep and the car had to be watched, but Miantang didn't use anyone else, so he took the initiative to ask Ying to watch him all night.

Now that I know someone is following me. This time on the return trip, Miantang and the others didn't rush. And driving a large flock of sheep can't be done too fast.

But after leaving the town, those stalkers disappeared.

Miantang knew in her heart that after the thieves figured out the time and route of their departure, they set up traps and ambush in a place suitable for playing games early in the morning.

Although Liu Kun often used darts, but at that time, the escorts of the **** bureau were all out, there were many courageous people, and the officials along the way were well prepared. As long as you are not greedy and take the wild road, generally there will not be too many accidents.

But now there are only four of them, not counting the borrowed shepherds and drivers. Among them, Miantang still had broken hands and feet, and could not fight at all.

Knowing that it was a dangerous road with tigers in the mountains, Liu Kun really hadn't gone through it.

So, when he was about to reach the desolate boundary, Liu Kun couldn't help but persuaded his eldest girl, don't leave, stay for a while, the border is unblocked, and then go back from the road .

But Miantang said firmly: "No, if the ban is lifted, I'm afraid these sheep will not be able to sell at the agreed price. Uncle Liu, don't worry, I have a good idea..."

As she spoke, she approached Uncle Liu and whispered in a low voice.

Liu Kun's eyes widened as he listened, and he looked suspiciously at the ten carriages ahead. The carriage was also full of sheep. All the sheep were out of strength and could not keep up with the large army. They were temporarily opened for a small stove and moved into the carriage. So when the night is approaching, I only feel that the white flowers on the car are moving.

A group of chariots, horses and sheep slowly walked into the wilderness.

Just as they walked to a canyon, Miantang suddenly ordered the carriage team to stop moving forward, prepare to rest on the spot, and cook hot soup for dinner.

Some of the shepherds were puzzled and said to Miantang in men's clothing: "This little brother, there is a stream after crossing the canyon. Isn't it more convenient for us to camp there?"

Mian Tang said unmoved: "Just rest here."

Since the owner speaks, other people naturally obey, so they stop and prepare to set up camp.

But as soon as they stopped, the robbers hiding in the dark turned their eyes red.

If they go a little further, they can just enter the canyon, where there are traps and dark piles they planted, and they can outflank these mongers without much effort.

But now, they actually abandoned such a good campsite and only stayed on this bare road.

When the time comes to encircle them, it will be hard to go around the wilderness...

Just as the leader of this gang of gangsters frowned, one of his subordinates came over and asked in a savage language, "Do you want to wait until dawn?"

The gangster shook his head, according to his original intention, he did not leave a single one alive. But now, the most important thing is to plunder their silver and fat sheep.

Sanguan is a place where barbarians and Han people are mixed, and it is easy for them to turn back to the barbarian land.

Thinking this way, the gangster leader decided to launch a sneak attack while they were preparing to cook.

The barbarian robbers are equally sturdy. There is no opening remark of "This mountain is mine", and when it is possible to cut people with a knife, there is absolutely no other nonsense.

So when they emerged from the hiding place, their eyes were fierce, they approached the camp quickly, and they were ready to drop their swords and try not to leave alive. After killing them, Throw it in the wilderness to feed the wolves.

One of the thugs pulled a bow and arrow and took the lead in shooting a feather at the dirty-faced boy who had been standing on the carriage!

I thought that the kid would fall down, but unexpectedly, she used a small iron pot to quickly block the front door, and the arrow was blocked by the iron pot with a bang.

The boy reacted really fast. After parrying the arrow, he immediately jumped off the carriage with a sharp iron whistle, and then turned into the white flock of sheep and disappeared.

The coachmen and shepherds in the convoy were instructed by Miantang in advance, saying that they would drill into the sheep as soon as they heard the whistle.

They couldn't figure out the situation for a while, but they still followed suit.

Those gangsters couldn't help laughing hahaha when they saw this. These soft Chinese people are really interesting! Is it safe to hide in the flock with your neck shrunk?

What a bunch of lambs!

But when they were relieved and sprinted with all their strength, more than 20 "sheep monsters" suddenly appeared in the pile of sheep in the semi-circular carriage.

It was too late when the robbers saw that the sheep standing up were actually big men in sheepskin with horns. Those big men were all carrying bows and arrows in their hands, and all of them were good players. The arrows like raindrops shot towards the bandits.

With a wailing sound, the bandits fell to the ground one after another. Even if some people managed to clear the rain of arrows, they were slashed to the ground with wide and long sabres by the big men who jumped out of the carriage.

Liu Kun did not hide with the coachmen, he took two escorts and followed the sheepskin men hidden in the carriage to fight the robbers.

.

When Miantang emerged from the flock, Liu Kun was cleaning up the battlefield with the men who helped, and making up for the dead bandits.

As for those coachmen and shepherds, all of them were so frightened that their legs were trembling and their hearts lingered.

Miantang walked over, and hugged the leader of the big man named Alianyi: "Thank you for your help, let you shrink in the carriage and sheep all the way, I really wronged you."

According to the etiquette of the barbarians, Ah Lianyi responded, and said in skilled Chinese: "You are the adoptive mother of our little prince, and also the benefactor of our tribe. I really don't deserve it."

It turns out that these people are all under Lin Siyue.

So I thought of asking Lin Siyue for help.

Lin Siyue listened to Miantang's opening, and without hesitation, she dispatched the warriors from the tribe overnight to serve Miantang's errands.

So Miantang took it all into account, and on the night he was about to set off in the carriage shop, he let these barbarian warriors hide in ten carriages loaded with sheep in sheepskins, so as to confuse and follow the people who stepped on the plates. Bandits, let them know the details. Then he stopped in this open field, suitable for shooting arrows, and waited for the bandits to take the bait.

Sure enough, the bandits were impatient, and after they stopped, they began to show their bodies.

Those drivers didn't realize that there were so many people in the car, and they straightened their eyes for a while, complaining that the owner was not telling the truth.

Mian Tang said with a smile: "I'm really sorry for not telling you guys, I'm really afraid that you're scared and your face will be revealed. If the robbers notice something wrong, they may be more prepared. It's enough, it's not just a dozen people. If there are a large number of hungry wolves, even if we are prepared, it will take some effort, right?"

The coachman and the shepherd said, if you had said it earlier, we would not have been able to take up the errand, and we would have left the company long ago!

But now the journey is more than half of the journey, and according to the shrewdness of this young owner, no wages will be given to the place. So there is no other way, they have to continue to bite the bullet and go on their way. I hope the next thing goes smoothly, but there will be no more robbers!

Miantang was relieved of her worries this time, and she could leave with confidence and boldness for the rest of the journey.

Because I was in the wild, I was on the road every day, so I could only fool myself into eating a cold meal. Only at night, I could cook with a little heart.

In order to thank the warriors of the Guli tribe for their help, the next night, Miantang asked the driver and herdsmen to help, looking for some wild fruits, digging some wild vegetables and wild ginger. Liu Kun picked three fat sheep, slaughtered them and cut the meat into large pieces, put them into the pot piece by piece, and then threw in a few handfuls of wild vegetables and sliced ​​wild ginger. .

For a time, even if there was no wine, everyone drank sheep soup and ate heartily.

The taste of black-tailed sheep is fresh and plump, and it does not need too fragrant seasoning to cook. What's more, Miantang also took out the chili oil that came with it and blended it to resist the smell of sheep mutton, and the spicy feeling was beating on the taste buds.

Not to mention the warriors of the ancient Li tribe, even Liu Kun also felt that the chili oil was particularly fragrant.

It is made by deep-frying with scallions, filtering the dregs, and pouring hot oil on top of Lingnan red chili powder. Even the fine sesame seeds inside are shipped from far away.

Liu Kun was just asking idle questions, but he didn't expect the jar of chili oil that Miantang carried with him to be so poor.

Miantang smiled bitterly. Originally, he was deceived into becoming a military dependent. In addition to the pharmacy, he devoted himself to the kitchen to teach Mama Li how to cook and serve her husband.

I didn't learn anything else. She really learned a lot from Mama Li. Even the method of making this jar of chili oil, Miantang learned from Mama Li.

When she came out from Wuning Pass, except for a few large pots of steamed buns, Mama Li almost emptied the small kitchen, and brought her all kinds of ingredients, even she liked to eat I brought her three bags of honey-flavored pork jerky.

Unfortunately, along the way, Fan Hu and others were too good to eat, and her snacks were finally used by them to eat steamed buns.

Fortunately, there is still such a jar of chili oil left. When Miantang stayed, he also took it with him, even if it was a dry and hard flatbread, it can become smeared with chili oil. Appetizing entry.

Mian Tang now thinks of the relatively comfortable days she spent in the house for the past two years, and she has the feeling of a previous life.

After the jar of chili oil was finished, she also decided not to think about the past in the kitchen stove and the house... But now, she has been eating frugally. A jar was quickly eaten up by everyone.

In the future...she probably won't think about it anymore! Miantang closed his eyes and drank a large bowl of sheep soup.

During the meal, Miantang chatted with Alianyi and inquired about the situation on the barbarian side.

Listen to what A Lianyi said, A bone fan is a tyrannical person, and he was originally not supported by the barbarian tribes. He was fine when he won a battle, and everyone shared the meat and ate together, chasing profit.

But now Agu Fan has been defeated by King Huaiyang, and the tribes that follow him are beginning to be dissatisfied.

But the King of Huaiyang had no intention of negotiating peace, as if he wanted to slaughter the Agu Fan.

Miantang listened calmly, and suddenly asked: "Then your Guli tribe also fought with Agufan?"

A Lianyi spat on the ground in disgust and said: "Who would be in the company of the rotten meat wolf? Even if the people of our Guli tribe die, they will never surrender to Agu. fan…"

After saying this, Ah Lianyi seemed to have consciously lost his words, so he remained silent and stopped talking, and just kept his head down and continued to eat mutton.

Miantang held the bowl and slowly drank the sheep soup. For some reason, she suddenly had a strange association in her heart.

When she once listened to Cui Xingzhou's pillow story, she told the story of the change of the barbarian throne.

For a while, I suddenly thought of the barbarian old Shanyu who died tragically in Agufan. It is said that the whereabouts of Lao Shanyu's only daughter is unknown after her father's death.

It coincides with the time when Mrs. Lin committed herself to the second son of the Hu family. Moreover, Mrs. Lin can speak Chinese and converse well. She should have invited a Han Chinese to be her master when she was very young. The little princesses of ordinary tribes do not have such pomp...

And now, these warriors around her look very different from those barbarians with flat noses, let alone ordinary barbarian herdsmen.

Hearing that they were speaking in a pure Wang Qi accent that she could understand, Miantang couldn't help but wonder if that Lin Siyue was the daughter of Lao Shanyu's whereabouts unknown. ?

But since the other party didn't want to be found out, Miantang didn't ask questions, but hurriedly urged them to turn around quickly.

If her guess is correct, then the situation of Lin Siyue and her dry son, Little Walnut, is also very dangerous.

Therefore, Lin Siyue's side cannot be short of manpower.

So early the next morning, Miantang invited Ah Lianyi to come over, thanked him again, and said that he was about to arrive at Jintuo Town. They don't need their **** anymore, please turn them around.

A Lianyi refused, only saying that his mistress ordered that Miss Liu must be sent to a safe area before she can go back with peace of mind.

But Miantang said with a serious face: "I heard that King Huaiyang has set up a lot of spies in Jintuo Town. I can't get out for a while, and when the time comes, Lady Lin will be unattended, but what should I do?"

These words made Alianyi hesitate. The princess and the little prince are the last hope of their tribe. If something goes wrong, nothing can make up for it.

Miantang is very good at persuading people, and her words will finally persuade Ah Lianyi and agree to go back.

Seeing Ah Lianyi and his subordinates leave, Miantang slowly sighed in relief. Ah Lianyi's army has seriously injured the bandits, and the rest are nothing to worry about. Even if these bandits want to take revenge, they are powerless for a while and can't hinder themselves.

The cargo this time is mainly sheep, all of which are living creatures with fur and panting. For the next journey, try to hurry up and leave the northwest as soon as possible. I also hope that Mrs. Lin and her son can be very peaceful and live a comfortable life.

Sure enough, the later itinerary was very smooth, and they came to Golden Camel Town smoothly all the way.

It was quite a sensation that such a large group of sheep rushed into Golden Camel Town. After all, it is really not easy to come here with a flock of sheep at this time. The sheep dealers in the town came over one after another to talk to Miantang about purchasing matters, and the prices quoted were also higher than each other.

Finally, Miantang divided the sheep into three parts and sold them to the three highest bidders.

Liu Kun couldn't close his mouth when he smiled. Although this journey is quite risky, the profit is also huge, which is worth the usual four or five times. Miantang took Liu Kun and a few bodyguards, and exchanged the cash for silver notes, wrapped them in thick oilcloth, and sewed them into the interlayer of the sheep's jacket.

But when they got up early the next morning, Miantang and the others set off early. Miantang found a small forest and changed into women's clothes. He also asked Liu Kun and several escorts to shave off their beards.

Liu Kun and the others refused to agree.