The bleak cold wind swept over the city of Xichuan, with yellow leaves and dust covering the heads and faces of the pedestrians.

Before Dong Cheng could cover his sleeves, he was choked with a mouth and nose, and his coughed to a red face. He finally waited until the wind stopped and the dust stopped before he recovered.

The boy behind him tried hard to push a wheelbarrow with a snail and followed Dong Cheng towards the entrance of the alley. However, at this moment, countless people suddenly rushed into the alley, pushing Dong Cheng, the boy and the car aside.

Before Ning Ci left office, the ban was lifted and refugees were allowed to enter the city.

For a time, tens of thousands of hungry people flocked to Xichuan City, and the mixed fish and dragons filled the small city with a lot of robbery. Theft also surged, and many robberies occurred. The situation did not improve until the new county magistrate took office.

However, for a moment, there was no way to drive all the hungry people out. Now the streets and alleys are still begging for a living, or are drowned and curled up under the eaves.

Seeing a large number of yamen runners passing through the long street outside the alley, Dong Cheng, like everyone else, looked out, wondering what happened, and he actually caused a big noise in the street.

The sound of horse hooves came from the distance of the long street outside the alley. After a while, the newly appointed county magistrate Liu Wugong stopped at the entrance of the alley. Two teams of yamen runners followed closely, holding killing sticks and hitting the ground, shouting in unison, further driving away the hungry people and pedestrians crowded in the alley.

Under the collision, the young boy, who was strong and powerful, could no longer hold the wheelbarrow and poured it down. The pen, ink, paper and inkstone in the box were spilled all over the floor in a "wa" instantly.

These are the tools that Dong Cheng relies on to make a living.

The boy shouted anxiously: "Don't step on it!" However, he was so strong that he could not push away at all, but was hit by the panicked and fleeing hungry people. He sat on the ground and was able to step on his body a few times. Dong Cheng finally dragged him out.

I don’t know if it was anxious or painful, but the boy was about to cry out loud even as he whimpered.

Only then did Liu Wugong notice that Dong Cheng and the boy who were squeezed under the eaves could not move. They dismounted and drove the hungry people around and left and right away, walked up to him and bowed, "Why did Lord Dong set up a stall so late today?"

There are many winding alleys in Xichuan City, but there is only a north-south main street.

Dong Cheng set up a pen and ink stall on the main street every day, writing letters on behalf of others and prescriptions to supplement the household expenses. He saw Liu Wugong passing by him several times without looking sideways.

Dong Cheng knew that Liu Wugong could not recognize him, but was afraid of having something to do with him. Dong Cheng didn't think there was anything wrong with him, but when he saw him coming over, Dong Cheng frowned slightly in confusion, glanced out of the alley, bowed and said:

"Liu County Magistrate Liu, how dare Dong Cheng be an adult? He was once a cold and he was very uncomfortable. Today, he was a little better. The house was cold and there was no firewood and the rice bucket was about to end. Seeing that it was not too late, he took the boy to the street to serve people with his pen and ink, earning a few copper coins..."

"This stall has also been collapsed, and the pen, ink, paper and inkstone were trampled into disgrace. It seems that Lord Dong cannot set up the stall today," Liu Wugong smiled, "Can you go to Lord Dong's house to ask for a cup of tea?"

"Can there be an old friend suddenly become interested and feel relieved to see with his own eyes how shabby and embarrassed Mr. Dong is so embarrassed?" Dong Cheng asked coldly.

Liu Wugong refused to speak, but just signaled the yamen runners to clear out the alley and not ask the idle people to stay in it.

Soon a team of armored horses came and entered the alley and scattered guards. Some people stood on the eaves of the courtyard wall and looked at the alert.

Dong Cheng sighed softly, and walked back regardless of the pen, ink, paper and ink, scattered all over the floor and the pouring wheelbarrow.

"What's going on?"

Dong's wife took her two daughters to wash clothes in the yard. When she saw Dong Cheng and the boy come back empty-handed, she came over and asked a question, but when she saw Liu Wugong wearing official uniforms walk in, her face turned pale and she didn't dare to ask anything else.

Liu Wugong looked at the narrow yard full of debris, pulled out several clotheslines to dry the washed clothes, and signaled the yamen runners to put all the washed clothes together.

"These washing clothes are all from the master's family, so you can't mess up." Dong's wife then stood up and muttered in a low voice.

"Don't be too rude, look carefully inside and out," Liu Wugong ordered the yamen to investigate the house, and bowed to Dong Cheng and asked, "Except for the wife, the two ladies are here, where are the eldest sons?"

"Dong Yi is in the private school of Liujia in the east of the city - why? Is this old friend planning not to let my family go?" Dong Cheng asked coldly.

"I came from Jing Zisai to Xichuan. On the way, I was not sure about the recent situation of Lord Dong's family. I couldn't understand it. I couldn't wait for the Lord Dong to ask again, but I was speechless, right? Lord Dong, don't think too much." Liu Wugong said.

On the huge Jingxiang Road, only one person can be called "entourage". Dong's wife looked at Dong Cheng in fear, worried that the fear of the past few months would become a bloody reality.

After a while, I heard a loud striking footsteps outside the yard. I could imagine the appearance of a soldier standing in the alley - two generals threw Dong Cheng and the boy into the yard directly.

Xu Huai, Xu Wuji, Shi Zhen, Han Gui and others walked into the yard and glanced at the yard full of miscellaneous items. The main room was very low and the light was dim. Then they bowed to Dong Chenggong, who was standing aside with a cold and vigilant look, and asked with a smile: "Why, are old friends even stingy to give me a cup of tea when they meet?"

After saying that, Xu Huai walked straight towards the low main hall.

Xu Wuli bowed to Dong Cheng and said, "Xu Huai and we went to Jing Zisai to inspect the military patrol this time. When we passed Xichuan, we were going to Xixia Pass. When we thought of Mr. Dong living in Xichuan, we thought of coming and visiting him. We didn't make an appointment in advance, so please don't blame Mr. Dong..."

Among so many people, only Xu Wuqi can be regarded as Dong Cheng's real old friend. He explained the reason for visiting him and bowed to Dong's wife.

There is an Eight Immortals Table and a wooden cabinet to enshrine the tablets of ancestors in the main hall.

Dong Cheng sent his wife and children to burn tea, and walked into the house with Xu Wuji, Shi Zhen and Han Gui, and sat down calmly, saying, "The humble house is simple, and it's just a cup of rough tea to enter the guests..."

Xu Huai looked at the hall hanging by Dong Cheng's handwritten characters, and then said: "Cai Ying, Cai Yuanyou, Xu Huai, and Chu Shan have a life-and-death grudge. However, there were many court officials who advocated the Northern Expedition of the Khitan back then, and the reasons were quite complicated. I would not think that they were all the minions of the Cai family father and son. If I really thought so, I would be ashamed of Mr. Guo who died in Yingcheng..."

Guo Zhongxiong was a member of the Cai clan. During the two northern expeditions of Dayue, he served as the prefect of Lanzhou and the deputy envoy of Hedong Road Transportation. He was also the backbone of the main expeditions of Khitan. He has always actively provided advice for Cai Yuanyou and Liu Shizhong, but in the end he was trapped in Yingcheng and did not surrender, and was killed by the Chihu people, without losing his integrity.

Wen Hengyue was still Ge Boyi's direct subordinate.

"..." After Xu Huai mentioned Guo Zhongxiong, Dong Cheng sighed slightly, silently.

Dong Cheng's ancestral home is Yingchuan and has long fallen into an opponent. Xichuan is the home of Dong's wife's family.

Dong Cheng was demoted to a citizen from Tangzhou and was unable to return home, so he brought his wife and children to Xichuan to join his wife and brother who was an official in the county government office.

When Dong Cheng was appointed as the governor of Tangzhou by Chongwen Pavilion, he was a new nobleman of the Cai Party. His wife was very proud of calling the wind and rain in Xichuan. However, after the Cai Party became a rat crossing the street that everyone called to beat, his wife and brother had a hard time in the county government. He was involved in several old cases and was expelled from the county government.

Dong??????????????????????? Cheng's wife and brother had a dispute with someone two years ago and were imprisoned. He almost lost all his money and was able to get out of here. But since then he was still ill, and it became increasingly difficult for the two families to make a living in Xichuan.

When Dong Cheng recalled the past, he sighed in his heart for a moment, but listened to the noise outside the door. After a while, he saw his son Dong Yi walking in in a hurry and asked:

"What happened?"

"This, this," Dong Yi panted and said in a panic, "I heard that some officers and soldiers came home, and the child hurried back for some reason, but I didn't know that the envoy was here."

Xu Huai glanced at Dong Yi and continued to say to Dong Cheng:

"I rushed to Jing Zishi Army before, and passed by Xichuan to Xixia. I thought that Mr. Dong lived in Xichuan and visited him. I guess Mr. Dong knew Jing Zi, right? "

Dong Cheng remained silent.

Dong Yi waited for a while, and saw that his father never responded to Xu Huai's question, he stood aside and said:

"Jingzi is 150 miles west of Xichuan City. Its ridge is beside mountains, and it is located at Qingliu, connecting to Qinchuan and Ezhu. It has always been a place where military striving for deer. The terrain is still above Xichuan. In the past, there was a wooden bridge built on Danshui, which was once called Caoqiao Pass. Because its area is full of Jinghua, it is commonly known as Jingzi Pass, which is the seed of grass seeds. After the Dayue Dynasty, it was changed to purple Qi from the east. Jingzi Road has always been deserted and remote until the end of the previous dynasty, and the vassal states were invasive.

Crossing the rivers, Luo, Hehuai, in order to make the Yangtze River, Huaihe and the Huai grain tax arrive in Sichuan and Shaanxi, the civil servants were digging a transportation road from Jingzi to the west and between the mountains. Since then, merchants have been continuously circulating. Since the founding of the Great Yue Dynasty, a patrol military camp has been set up in Jingzi to control the danger. Xixia is located above Xishui, with Chongyang and the water flowing east along the mountain and flowing into Xishui to the north of Sishan. From Chongyang and the water to the west is Shipingzhai, Shangluo County, Shangzhou. Although the road is rugged, it is favored by private businesses…”

"Mr. Dong, what Guizi said is indeed a bit real and knowledgeable. There are few clerks in the company and I don't know how to be able to bear his responsibilities?" Xu Huai looked at Dong Cheng and asked.

Dong Yi stared at his father with an urgent look on his face.
Chapter completed!