Chapter 144 Parting the Way

In the evening, Chu Tianya had dinner with He Bo, Meng De and others, as well as Ma Yu, Xiao Fei and Xiao Ai, a table full of people, like a big family.

In the past two days, many scattered Xishanzhai people came to Mengde. The Kaiyang Palace was already full of 500 or 600 people. The Qixingzhai cavalry who were originally stationed here moved to Qixingtang to live in order to vacate the room. Qixingzhai is generous and enthusiastic. Those who come are all guests, and they are all carefully received and entertained. Whenever you have a meal, there must be ten ox carts to pull the food and bring it to Kaiyang Palace.

Now, those men are squatting in the big yard of Kaiyang Palace to eat, and the sound of cups and plates is quite spectacular.

After dinner, Meng De called Chu Tianya to the secluded platform on the second floor of Kaiyang Palace and said to him, "Brother, I still have to discuss something with you."

Hearing him say the word "re", Chu Tianya understood, so he said, "Does Seventh Brother want to leave Qixing Mountain?"

"Hmm." Meng De nodded, "There is some turbulence in Qixingzhai now, which is not suitable for hospitality. Ma Yu and I stayed here with hundreds of brothers, and it was difficult for them to eat and drink all day long. Although the host family did not have an eviction order, we have to be a guest!"

"That's true." Chu Tianya smiled and said, "But there is more than one reason why the seventh brother wants to leave, right?"

"Of course." Meng De smiled and said, "You can hide it from anyone, but you can't keep your brother in the dark. There are several reasons. The one mentioned above is only used to deal with the people of Qixingzhai. The real reason... We two brothers can't hang on a tree. In case something happens in Qixingzhai, at least there is a way out. Therefore, I want to leave first and return to Xishan and rebuild Qingyun Fort. At that time, the Jurchens aimed to cut off the threat of the Xishan forces to them, so they sent heavy troops to destroy Qingyunbao and capture the king. As soon as Qingyunbao was destroyed, more than a dozen other small villages had no leaders. Because they were afraid of suffering the same fate, they all broke up. According to the brothers who escaped from outside in recent days, the people and horses of the West Mountain 18 villages used to be scattered around Hedong. After the battle of Huanglonggu, Qixingzhai was so powerful that they all wanted to come and join. Later, I learned that Meng was still alive and happened to be in Qixing Village, so more and more people came to Qixing Mountain... The hundreds of people in front of me were actually only a small part of the people who recently defected to the cottage. Brother, do you understand what I mean?

"I understand." Chu Tianya answered gently and nodded.

In the past, the strength of the 18 villages in Xishan was not weak. In the era of Zhang One-eyed, he was already eager to fight against Taihang Zhushan. Due to the scattered geographical distribution of the eighteen villages, the Jurchens only focused on Qingyunbao when they attacked Xishan. As soon as Qingyunbao was destroyed, the other 17 villages were scattered.

But the horse was lost, and the people and horses of the seventeen villages were saved after the catastrophe. According to conservative estimates, the number of people is no less than 20,000. Recently, many people from the original seventeen villages have come to the seven-star village. In fact, most of them are for the old master Meng De.

But now that Meng De himself is under the shelter of others, how can he be so thick-skinned to borrow chickens to lay eggs and pull the team in Qixingzhai? Whether out of courtesy or suspicion, Meng De had to let many brothers defect to other leaders of Qixingzhai and become people of Qixingzhai.

"If I stay here for one more day, I will lose one more strength." Meng De said from the bottom of his heart, and he said, "So I want to hear my brother's opinion. If you agree, I will say goodbye to Guanshan and Jiao Wentong tomorrow. I have figured out the reason - after the disaster of Qingyunbao, our dead relatives have not yet been grounded. Now, it's time for me to collect their bodies.

"Then the seventh brother raised the flag in Qingyunbao and pulled up the team again?" Chu Tianya said.

"Uh-huh..." Meng De nodded and looked at Chu Tianya with a serious expression. "According to the brothers who came back from outside, the Battle of Taiyuan destroyed the whole place in Hedong, and in addition, the two states of Shuodai, which were destroyed by Juri, were displaced by the Juri. Now, there are no less than 100,000 exiles in Hedong! Xu Han, a senior official sent by the imperial court to take over Taiyuan, knew that he was busy with liquidation and internal stranglement, and there was no time to take care of these people in distress - if I go back to Xishan, I will recruit the exiles, and my strength will rise greatly in a short time! The troubled times have come, and there is nothing more realistic and confident than mastering the army in my hands. In the future, it will be better for our brothers' own family business than waving our tails and begging for mercy under the shelter of others. Brother, if you want to achieve a career, you can also take it as your first capital! As a brother, I don't have the extraordinary talent and ability to do great things like you, but I have the stupid strength to take the horse for you!"

Chu Tianya listened carefully to every word of Meng De, and his heart was both shocked and moved.

Ask yourself, Chu Tianya remembers that his motivation when he married Meng De was purely a stopgap measure, just to unite him to deal with Zhang Duan. But from that day on, Meng De regarded Chu Tianya as his own brother and dedicated everything he had to Chu Tianya without reservation, including his relatives, family property and beloved women!

Now, Meng De, who has nothing to die in the disaster, is still putting himself in the shoes of Chu Tianya, operating for him, planning for him, and making unreserved dedication for him!

This kind of righteousness or kindness, like a father like a brother, without reservation.

Too many words were stuck in his mouth. Chu Tianya didn't know how to speak for a moment, but he was silent.

Seeing that Chu Tianya looked solemn and sad, Meng De couldn't help but be surprised and said, "Brother, what's wrong with you? If you think it's inappropriate, just say it, and we two will discuss it in detail.

"No. The seventh brother is far-sighted and thoughtful. Chu Tianya took a deep breath to hold back the palpitations and emotion in his heart. He smiled and said, "Now Xu Han and Qixingzhai are having a good time in a quarrel, but they have missed a good opportunity to buy people's hearts and enrich their strength. At this time, it is indeed a good time for the seventh brother to return to Xishan to rebuild the cottage. But it will be very difficult and difficult for tall buildings to rise from the ground. Among other things, if you want to recruit soldiers and horses, you have to use money, food and supplies. Where are you going to get these things from?

"There is no other way but to plunder the state and county." Meng De's face was tight, "If you want to achieve great things, you can't be too obsessed with small things, especially in troubled times. Since our court and government abandoned their territory and the people ignored it, they are not qualified to continue to occupy the tax money and grain handed over by the people of the Song Dynasty. Instead of making the grain piled up in the warehouse moldy, copper coins rusty, or just fattening a group of corrupt officials or even leaving them for the female real women as military resources, it is better for us to reach out and use them. After the Battle of Taiyuan, most of the states and counties in Hedong were desolate, but there were still many Fushuzhou counties that had not been affected by military disaster from the east and west from the Xishan territory, or went to Hexi to plunder Xixia; it made me angry, even if I had to take out a few pieces of fat from Xu Han's mouth!"

Chu Tianya took a deep breath again and then nodded, "It seems that the seventh brother has been thoughtful, and I have nothing to worry about. I just want to remind you that since it is the banner of righteousness to collect the hearts of the people, you can't hurt too many civilians when plundering the state and county.

"You can rest assured about this. Although Meng De was born in a reckless and not a good person, he has never done that kind of bullying the weak and afraid of the hard, fish and the common people. Meng De said, "I just don't like those corrupt officials who eat vegetarian food, and the rich and unkind squire bully! Even if I go to the state or county to borrow grain, I will be measured. As a last resort, we will not use swords and soldiers with our own people.

"The seventh brother is right. Although our court and government are very inactive, they are their own people in the face of the foreign enemy. Chu Tianya nodded and smiled, "After hearing what Brother Qi said about this, my heart was full of pride and I really wanted to work with you to rebuild Qingyun Fort. Unfortunately, my younger brother is now in a special situation, and it is not convenient to leave Qixingzhai for the time being. If the time is ripe, I will come to the seventh brother as soon as possible!"

"It's not a rush. As I just said, if Meng De can make some achievements in this trip, the newly built Qingyun Fort will be a family business of our brothers. Meng Laoqi can have some real talent and learning in his chest, and he knows it in his heart. At most, I can be a horse leader, but I don't have the ability to protect my family. Only you, brother, can lead us miserable people to find a way out. Meng De sighed with emotion. He shook his head and sighed and smiled. He looked at Chu Tianya with a firm expression. "The feeling of family destruction is really bad. I don't want to try again, and I don't want my brothers and relatives to try again. Brother, listen, now I'm just going to make an outpost and do some bedding. The fate of these people in the future depends on you!"

Chu Tianya nodded deeply with his eyebrows. He didn't know what kind of words he could express his mood at this moment. So he stretched out a hand and put it in front of Meng De.

Meng De smiled and slapped Chu Tianya's hand. The two of them clenched their hands!

It turns out that there is really no need for hypocritical politeness or bold words between brothers.

Chu Tianya's eyes were very wet, and Meng De patted him on the back and laughed. The two brothers stood side by side on the platform of Kaiyang Palace, bathing in the sunset.

Look up, thousands of miles of rivers and mountains!

The next day, Meng De went to say goodbye to Guan Shan and Jiao Wentong. The people in Qixingzhai are not stupid. Of course, they know the real intention of Meng De to leave Qixingzhai at this time. However, because Meng De gave a sufficient reason, although they have the intention to stay together, it is not easy to stop them.

At lunch, the people of Qixingzhai saw Meng De off in Kaiyang Palace. The banquet was presented with grain and rice, which was very enthusiastic. Almost everyone, including Xiao Linglong, believes that Chu Tianya will definitely go with Meng De. No matter what kind of intention and purpose, they are ready to persuade Chu Tianya to stay.

But Chu Tianya took the initiative to say that he would not leave, which made Guan Shan and others breathe a sigh of relief and save a lot of words.

Meng De and Ma Yan left with hundreds of people, and the Kaiyang Palace suddenly became much more lonely.

After nightfall, a bright moon hangs in the west building. Chu Tianya went up to the second floor alone with a pot of wine and sat on the floor to enjoy the moon in a daze.

"Actually, why don't I go with Meng De? What else can I do if I stay in Qixingzhai? ...Is it just because you can't leave Xiao Linglong, or is there another reason?" Staring at the white moonlight above his head, Chu Tianya asked himself this question.

Chu Tianya also felt a little confused about the way out and the future. The pool of water in Qixingzhai is getting more and more muddy and hidden, but he has a feeling that he can't get out of it.

Thinking about it carefully, his concern for Xiao Linglong certainly affected some of his decisions; but the most important thing is probably from Xu Han's pressure. Now, Xu Han is desperate to catch him. If he walks with Meng De at this time, it is likely that he will fall into Xu Han's hands as soon as he left Qixing Mountain. In that case, not only will you kill Meng De, let alone rebuilding Qingyunbao.

In short, although Qixing Village is not peaceful now, it is the only shelter in Chu Tianya. Moreover, it is hard to say whether Meng De's trip will be successful. In his words, it is not advisable for two brothers to hang on the same tree. It's the same to stay in Qixingzhai together, and it's the same to leave together.

"Meng De has sacrificed and paid so much for me, can't I do something for him?" Chu Tianya said to himself, "As long as I'm still here, I will have the opportunity to seek some help or convenience for Meng De. In case he fails, he will have a life-saving retreat at that time!"

Although this idea is very humble and helpless, the reality is so cruel. Born in troubled times and in times of trouble, it is always inevitable to pick up the tail and be a person. In Chu Tianya's view, it is nothing more than a spiritual victory method to save face and suffer. It is used to fool and bind 99% of the world's people and make them obedient and obedient.

Chu Tianya was once a member of the 99 percent, willing to play the role of a Taiping dog; but now he can only face and solve many problems related to life and death in a pragmatic, pragmatic and more pragmatic way.

"People are really forced out." Thinking of this, Chu Tianya poured wine into his mouth until the bottom of the wine pot was facing the sky, and his clothes were wet.

There was a sound of Du Du's footsteps from the floor. Chu Tianya listened and said, "Flying Fox?"

"It's me." Xiao Linglong finally stopped objecting to Chu Tianya calling her name.

Chu Tianya smiled and said, "It's a pity that the wine is finished."

"I brought it." Xiao Linglong walked up the platform to Chu Tianya, sat down on the spot, and put two celadon wine pots in front of them, "Jiannan burns spring."

Chu Tianya looked at the wine pot and then at Xiao Linglong's face, which was slightly crimson.

"This is the first time we have drunk when we had dinner together."

"That's right." Xiao Linglong's beautiful eyes flashed with a strange look, "Xu Han gave it to Wanyan Zonghan, but it was robbed by our Qixingzhai. If you don't drink it for nothing!"

"It makes sense!" Chu Tianya laughed, reached out and took a pot of wine in his arms. He looked sideways at Xiao Linglong, "It's suddenly so good today. Would you buy me a drink?"

"Let's think of it as a celebration for me." Xiao Linglong smiled mysteriously.

"What to celebrate?"

"It's not easy. I actually lived to be 18 years old!" Xiao Linglong smiled and said, "I remember that when I was very young, my mother often told me that I must get married before the age of 18, otherwise..."

"Is today your birthday?" Chu Tianya sat up straight and smiled, "Otherwise, how about it?"

"I will have a husband in the future!" After saying this, Xiao Linglong looked straight at Chu Tianya, with a devious and provocative smile on her face.

Chu Tianya blinked his eyes and couldn't help grinning.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm thinking, what will happen if I marry a husband and two other husbands?"

"...It will be the same as Zhang's one-eyed!"

"Let's, let's... drink and celebrate your eighteenth birthday!"