Deng An looked at Wei Chong's back disappearing in the crowd and said: "If Old Wei can find a boat, I will look after the door and drive the carriage for him from now on, and I will never talk nonsense in front of him again." In fact, he and Wei Chong have had a good personal relationship for the past six months. This was just a joke.
Fang Jinshi got off the carriage and stood by the river to look at the scenery for a while. He saw a small black-topped boat parked not far from the center of the river. Seeing them waiting on the shore, the boatman sailed towards them and reached the shore. When they were more than ten feet away, the boatman on the bow collected the wood pulp and said to Fang Jinshi and the others on the shore, "Do you want to cross the river, sir?"
Fang Jinshi looked up at the boatman. He was only about twenty-three or fourteen years old. He was thin and tall, with a dark and shiny complexion. It was so cold that he was only wearing a summer jacket, and it was half open. Huai, when he looked at people, his eyes were a little cross-eyed, which made the people he looked at very uncomfortable. The strange thing was that the boatman had a piece of white cloth wrapped around his head, and he was still in mourning.
A single sheathed sword was hung on the cabin wall of this small black-topped boat, which was very incompatible with his dilapidated wooden boat. There was a small stove on the bow, and white smoke came out of the cauldron. Something is cooking.
Deng An said to the boatman: "Your boat is too small to ferry many of us, and there are still carriages."
The boatman said to Fang Jinshi, "I was asked to ask this young master if he wanted to cross the river. I won't cross the river with others." Fang Jinshi couldn't help but feel a little strange, and said to the boatman, "Who is my friend? Please tell me."
The boatman said: "If you want to cross, I will move closer and ferry you alone. If you don't want to, there's no need to ask."
Fang Jinshi looked at his followers who were going to the south of the Yangtze River together, and Deng An said: "Master, we'd better cross the river together tomorrow." Fang Jinshi was just curious about who asked the boatman to ferry him across, but there was obviously something wrong with the boatman. , he would not cross the river alone. He bowed his hands to the boatman and said, "I have some friends with me. Thank you very much, big brother."
The boatman didn't insist, and didn't even pay him any more attention. He turned to the back of the boat and said, "I asked him, but he doesn't dare. Let's go back." I think there is another one at the stern of the awning boat, that is The boatman asked him to ask the person behind Fang Jinshi, but the person behind him didn't answer the boatman loudly, so the boatman just rocked the boat and drifted away.
Fang Jinshi thought for a long time but couldn't figure out who his friend could be. Deng An suddenly said: "Old Wei is back." Fang Jinshi turned around and saw Wei Chong and a middle-aged man walking over from the distance of the ferry. This man was short and fat, with a fat head and big ears. He always smiled first when talking to people. He was still twenty or thirty steps away from Fang Jinshi, so he quickened his pace and walked over and said, "Brother Fang has come to Sizhou." No one informed me in advance, so it would be rude not to go to greet me."
He spoke very politely and called Fang Jinshi "Leader Fang". It had been a long time since anyone had called him that. Fang Jinshi said: "You're welcome." He turned back to see Wei Chong. Wei Chong came over and introduced Fang Jinshi: " This is Shi Hu, he is the person in charge of Xiu Wang¡¯s business in Surabaya, and he is also Uncle Shao¡¯s brother-in-law.¡±
Fang Jinshi hurriedly said: "It turns out to be Brother Shi. I'm disrespectful." This Shi Hu turned out to be from King Xiu. Wei Chong wanted to find a boat to cross the river, so he naturally thought of King Xiu's men. Huaidong belonged to King Xiu Zhao Zicheng. Although the fiefdom is no longer like before the Han Dynasty, the king of the fiefdom can be said to be unparalleled in his own territory, but the Xiuwang lineage has lived in Huaidong for a long time and is also very powerful.
Shi Hu said: "Brothers have long known the name of Chief Fang, and today when I saw him, he is indeed so elegant and elegant, he is truly extraordinary."
Fang Jinshi saw that the fat man could really talk, and he liked him very much when he complimented him. Deng An said to Wei Chong on the side, "Is there a boat to cross the river?"
Before Wei Chong could say anything, Shi Hu said first, "Does this brother look down on Prince Xiu's Mansion? When we get to Sizhou Mansion, will Fang Tou be unable to lead across this small Surabaya?" Although his words were a bit unkind, But when he said it with a smile, he clearly regarded Fang Jinshi as one of his family members. Fang Jinshi said, "Then I'll trouble Brother Shi."
Shi Hu said: "It's just a small matter, how can it be called trouble? Tonight, Leader Fang will follow me back to Sizhou City. I'll call some friends to help Leader Fang take care of the wind and wash away the dust. I'll send you on a big boat to have a smooth journey tomorrow morning." We can go straight to Pingjiang Mansion without having to go ashore."
Fang Jinshi said: "Brother Shi is too polite. Unfortunately, my brother has something urgent to do in Pingjiang Mansion. It's best to get there as soon as possible. I wonder if we can find a boat to cross the river tonight. I'll treat Brother Shi and the other brothers well later." Have a good drink.¡±
Shi Hu said: "That's fine. Since Fang Tou is in an emergency, let's have a good drink from now on. I'll have someone arrange a big boat right away to at least take you out of Hongze Lake."
Fang Jinshi thanked him again. Shi Hu immediately arranged for people to handle it. He and Fang JinshiWei Chong went to a nearby restaurant and sat there for an hour. Sure enough, a tall ship docked on the shore.
Fang Jinshi said a few more polite words to Shi Hu. Deng An had already arranged for Fang Jinshi's entourage to board the ship. Shi Hu insisted on sending them out of the Hongze Lake area. Fang Jinshi wanted to see if the ship left his entertainment arrangements. , but that didn¡¯t work, so we agreed and boarded the ship together.
This big ship is divided into two layers. There are more than 20 boatmen on the ship. The high mast hangs the white sail and moves along the river in the river wind.
The boat had been walking for two hours, and it was getting late. The sun was setting in the west, casting thousands of rays of rays of light. At this time, the river turned a corner, the river surface suddenly became very wide, the water flow also slowed down, and the embankments on both sides of the river were almost gone. It is sparsely populated and has very few houses.
Shi Hu shouted loudly: "Cheer up, Duanshiji is here." Some of the boatmen responded together, climbed up the mast with flags, and looked around.
Fang Jinshi also tensed up and went up to the bow of the ship to look around. Shi Hu took a long gun from the cabin and said: "Twenty miles down the waterway from here, river pirates often appear and rob passing merchant ships, so be careful. "
Fang Jinshi nodded. He suddenly regretted why he had followed Shi Hu's advice and abandoned the land route but took the water route. The people he brought with him, except Wei Chong, were all weak people who could not be beaten. , especially with a physically challenged woman like Yun Nuer.
After the boat passed a cliff, Fang Jinshi saw three big red characters "Duanshiji" carved on the stone wall. He always had an ominous feeling. Since ancient times, generals had violated place names. When Fang Jinshi saw such place names, he felt a little uncomfortable. , he went down to the cabin and said to Wei Chong: "There are many thieves here, be careful." Wei Chong didn't know what he was thinking, and it took him a long time to raise his head and ask: "What?"
Fang Jinshi said: "I heard that there are often thieves in this section of the river, so we have to be careful."
Wei Chong then said: "Young master, don't worry, I will take care of everything."
Fang Jinshi patted him on the shoulder and walked into the cabin. Yun Nuer inside had heard him talking to Wei Chong. When he came in, he asked with concern: "What's wrong?"
Fang Jinshi said: "Something is wrong, but maybe I am too worried."
Yun Nuer hummed, and after a while she said, "Can you promise me something?"
Fang Jinshi asked: "What's the matter?"
Yun Nuer said: "I want you to promise me that if something bad happens, you will never put yourself in danger for me."
Fang Jinshi looked at her face and said after a long time: "Okay, I promise you."
Yun Nuer was stunned for a moment, because she thought Fang Jinshi would say something to her about never giving up, but she never expected that he would agree so happily, which made her feel a little disappointed.
Fang Jinshi looked at her expression, smiled and said, "What's wrong?"
Yun Nuer shook her head and said: "Nothing."
Fang Jinshi took her hand and said: "People named Fang have many bad things. For example, they are flirtatious, sometimes timid and afraid of causing trouble, and have no ambitions. But I have the same good thing, which is that I can be a good person for anyone." He will never give up his woman and run for his life."
Yun Nuer couldn't help but said: "Then why did you agree to me so quickly?"
Fang Jinshi said: "Because here and now, there is no way to retreat. So what if I don't agree to it?"
Yun Nuer's expression changed and she said, "What do you mean by that? Do you think I'm betraying you?"
Fang Jinshi looked at her blankly, paused for a moment and then said: "If I doubted you, I would not have said such words to you. I will wait until he appears to see how you act. Wouldn't it be that you can see it more clearly? I I tell you this because I believe you will never betray me for him."
Yun Nuer said: "It turns out, it turns out you know everything."
Fang Jinshi said: "I have a woman who is very good at inquiring about information. Although she often scolds me, she will never harm me."
Yun Nuer said: "But I always hurt you." Fang Jinshi said: "That was before. I know that you have been serving me very hard in the past few days. You want to be with me in the future, right? "
Yun Nuer lowered her head and said: "Yes, butbut I" Before she could say anything else, she heard someone on the bow of the boat shouting: "The water thieves are coming."
Fang Jinshi calmed down and said to Yun Nuer, "Don't come out here. I'll go up and take a look."
He quickly ran to the bow of the boat and looked around, and saw twenty or thirty bamboo rafts floating out of nowhere on the river. There were three or four people on each bamboo raft, all holding weapons and shouting loudly. These bamboo rafts were extremely fast. Quickly, they all rushed towards the big ship and surrounded it.
Shihu stood on the boatHe shouted: "Who is the leader of the Pai Gang? Sizhou Shihu is here."
A man on the bamboo raft on the left put his hand in his mouth and blew a loud whistle. The big men on the bamboo rafts quickly became quiet. The man stood on the bamboo raft holding a bamboo pole in his left hand and akimbo in his right hand, and said to Shi Hudao "Shilipo's surname is Qu. Does Uncle Shi recognize us country people?"
Shi Hu looked him up and down, and then said: "It turns out to be Qu Laosan. He has been famous for a long time. I am really lucky to meet him today."