"Swords and spears have no eyes; Fugui, you must be very careful!"
"Second brother, second brother, I... Wuwuwu..."
"Second uncle, this is Grandma's New Year's money, all for you."
"Go back, everyone go back, no need to worry too much."
Three days passed in a flash, and it was the day when Zhou family's second son, Zhou Fugui, was to join the army. Of course, he was forced to join, that is, conscription. If he refused, Zhou Fugui and his whole family would face a terrible fate.
Helpless, Zhou Fugui had to prepare to head to Youzhou early in the morning, awaiting fate's arrangement.
The elders and youngsters of the Zhou family came to see him off, crying and wailing as if they were sending Zhou Fugui to the execution ground... However, Zhou Fugui's journey was indeed a matter of life and death.
Only Zhou Fugui's eccentric old mother seemed unfazed...
"Fugui, this old horse is old, but it's quite understanding." Being conscripted, he still had to prepare his own horse, provisions, and military equipment. Thus, Zhou Dashan brought over the family's only plow horse.
The military equipment was a set of inferior bows and arrows from home, and the Yan court only gave the Zhou family a mere two hundred coins.
One should know that a strong horse was worth at least a hundred guan in the south.
After three days of diligent practice with bow and arrow, Zhou Fugui could already draw the bow and shoot, and his aim was quite good.
Zhou Fugui nodded, took the reins, and gently stroked the horse's back.
The old horse was a dun horse, its mane had lost its luster, and its body was even peeling in places. Zhou Fugui truly doubted if this old horse could be ridden, let alone charge into battle...
The dun old horse was quite understanding, sticking its head out and nudging against Zhou Fugui's waist.
"Fugui, I'm here!"
"Hehe, Fugui, I'm here too!"
The Yan court's large-scale conscription this time did not only include Zhou Fugui's family but also people from ten miles around. Luoyan Village had over two hundred households, and almost every household had someone conscripted. For example, Suo Dacheng, Li Hu, Wu Changshuan, Gu Gounu, Pan Jian'gui from Luoyan Village were all conscripted, as was Xu Mancang. Relying on Zhou Fugui's past "fame," everyone gathered at Zhou Fugui's home to head to Youzhou together.
"Let's go together? Good, good..." Zhou Fugui smiled upon seeing this, "We are all neighbors, it will be good to look out for each other on the way."
"To look out for each other on the road to the Yellow Springs." Pan Jian'gui, who lived at the west end of Luoyan Village, had an ugly appearance with a pockmarked face, hence the nickname "Pan Jian'gui." No one even knew his real name. Pan Jian'gui said in a sarcastic tone.
"Alright, it would be quite good to go to the Yellow Springs together, but have you seen the Yellow Springs, Pan Jian'gui?" Zhou Fugui replied with a laugh.
"The Yellow Springs? Have you been there?" Pan Jian'gui retorted after a moment of stunned silence.
"Isn't that obvious? If I had been there, would I be talking here?" Zhou Fugui replied with a smile.
You're even more obvious, everyone thought disdainfully.
What they didn't know was that Zhou Fugui had indeed seen the Yellow Springs.
This was also the main reason why Zhou Fugui was not afraid of this journey. At worst, he could strike up a conversation with Granny Meng again, refuse to drink her soup, and then reincarnate as a prince, or the son of an official, a rich second generation, or a demolition second generation, etc.
"Fugui..." After a bout of noisy chatter, Zhou Dashan pulled Zhou Fugui aside and said in a low voice, "We are all Han people, and our ancestors have always been Han people. Our Zhou family had great glory in the Great Han Dynasty. Don't forget it."
"Oh? During the Han Dynasty? Who from the Great Han are we descendants of?" Zhou Fugui asked in surprise.
"Descendants of Marquis Wu of Han, Zhou Bo," Zhou Dashan said solemnly to Zhou Fugui.
"Oh..." Zhou Fugui seemed somewhat dismissive upon hearing this.
Even if Zhou Dashan's brothers were descendants of Zhou Bo, the Marquis of Han who served as Prime Minister twice, Zhou Fugui remembered that Zhou Bo's son, Zhou Yafu, was forced to death by Emperor Wu of Han. Moreover, despite their ancestors' glory, the Zhou family had fallen into such a state now. How could they still dare to mention their ancestors?
"What about Mother? What is Mother's background?" Zhou Fugui asked.
Zhou Fugui always felt that his eccentric old mother was a bit strange.
"You are still young, I will tell you these things another day," Zhou Dashan replied.
Still young? He was about to be sent to war to die... Zhou Fugui muttered to himself, then kowtowed three times to his mother, elder brother, and elder sister-in-law, and said with a wave of his hand, "Brothers, let's go!"
...
On the road leading to Youzhou City, the closer they got to Youzhou, the more people there were. Along the way, there were shouts of people and neighing of horses, it was exceptionally lively.
The more than two hundred people from Luoyan Village, including Zhou Fugui, were like trickles merging into the sea, disappearing without a trace, and almost no one paid attention to them, except for Master Duan.
"Master Duan is here, Master Duan is here!"
"Master Duan, why have you come, old sir?"
As Zhou Fugui, Xu Mancang, and others were on their way, a group of people suddenly turned from the roadside. Upon seeing them, everyone turned their heads. Among them, sycophants rushed forward to flatter them.
"Heh heh, you are all warriors from my Lumingsiang, going to war for the country. Today, this old master has specially come to see you off," said a stout man in his fifties, riding a horse, looking at the group of villagers on the road.
The middle-aged man's name was Duan Mu. He was from the Xianbei Duan clan and was the Wanhun of Lumingsiang, roughly equivalent to the Baozheng of the Xia Dynasty, the head of a township.
As the saying goes, enemies meet on a narrow road. Zhou Fugui had been beaten by the Duan family, which led to the current situation. Therefore, Zhou Fugui couldn't help but look at Duan Mu Chen and others a few more times.
"Oh, isn't this the little overlord of Lumingsiang? Why have you become like this?" Duan Tianjuan, Duan Mu's son, standing beside Duan Mu, also saw Zhou Fugui and said with a cold laugh, "You're not dead yet? You have a thick skin."
"I have this nickname?" Zhou Fugui asked, looking around.
"Yes..." Li Hu replied.
"Fighting and causing trouble..." Wu Changshuan replied.
"Don't talk about Fugui like that, okay?" Xu Mancang shouted, "Fugui stands up for us poor people, he is a righteous and noble person."
"Oh, that's good." Zhou Fugui was greatly relieved and muttered to himself before looking up at Duan Tianjuan on horseback and saying, "Thanks to young master Duan, I'm not dead yet, and I'm alive and kicking, extremely happy."
"Haha, alive and kicking, extremely happy? My dear wife, come here..." Duan Tianjuan laughed heartily, called a woman over, and said, "My dear wife, he says he's alive and kicking and extremely happy."
The woman's beautiful eyes stared at Zhou Fugui, silent. Her exposed, delicate face showed no emotion.
Seeing this, Zhou Fugui's heart instantly burned with anger.
The woman was Qin Yulian, who had broken off their engagement. For some unknown reason, she had become Duan Tianjuan's woman?
The saying goes, the hatred of killing a father and the resentment of taking a wife. Zhou Fugui had been indifferent to this marriage, but now Duan Tianjuan was humiliating him with it, and in front of everyone. Zhou Fugui felt extremely ashamed and indignant.
Some villagers who knew what had happened between Zhou Fugui and Qin Yulian were all looking at Zhou Fugui.
"My dear wife? When did young master Duan get married? You didn't even invite me for a wedding banquet?" Zhou Fugui felt somewhat ashamed and indignant, but his expression was as calm as water.
"Married?" Duan Tianjuan, being a Hu person, favored Han customs. He took out a folding fan from somewhere, fanned himself gently, and said, "How can such an inauspicious and lowly woman become my young master's wife? She is merely a concubine in my chambers."
"Inauspicious? Lowly? Concubine?" Zhou Fugui scoffed upon hearing this, "So young master Duan likes to take in inauspicious and lowly people? There's an old saying, birds of a feather flock together. I'm sure everyone has their own judgment about what kind of person you are, young master Duan."
Since he had taken Qin Yulian, he should treat her well. At this moment, Zhou Fugui even felt a sense of injustice for Qin Yulian.
It serves your Qin family right, for trying to climb the dragon and cling to the phoenix, you've now ruined a good daughter. Zhou Fugui also felt a slight sense of schadenfreude.
As soon as Zhou Fugui said this, a group of villagers burst into laughter.
Zhou Fugui was indeed eloquent and could quickly grasp the flaws in the opponent's words and counterattack, some people thought to themselves.
"You lowly Han slave, how dare you mock Tianjuan? Treason! Treason! Someone, arrest him and punish him!" Duan Tianjuan was so angered that his face turned red, and he couldn't speak for a moment. Duan Mu naturally became furious and waved to his subordinates.
The Hu people had driven away the Xia kingdom, and the Han people in the northern regions had a low status, comparable to slaves. Some Han people were even slaves, and almost no one dared to contradict the Hu masters so much, all of them were timid and subservient. How could Duan Mu and his son not be enraged?
The Duan father and son were used to being arrogant and overbearing. How could they tolerate a person of humble status contradicting and cursing them to their faces?
Even if they beat Zhou Fugui to death, Duan Mu and his son would only have to compensate some money or cattle and sheep.
Arresting Zhou Fugui, imprisoning him in the Duan family's water dungeon, and then humiliating Qin Yulian in front of Zhou Fugui would also be a very satisfying and delightful thing. Duan Tianjuan almost laughed out loud at the thought.
The wolf-like and tiger-like subordinates of the Duan father and son surrounded them, intending to capture Zhou Fugui.
"Why are you arresting me?" Zhou Fugui, gripping his bow and arrow, asked with a dark face.
Most of Zhou Fugui's fellow villagers were afraid of the Duan father and son and kept their distance. Only a few close friends like Xu Mancang and Suo Dacheng, gripping their weapons, gathered around Zhou Fugui. The sarcastic Pan Jian'gui also gathered by Zhou Fugui's side.
"Lumingsiang is my territory. You are all my household slaves. Do I need a reason to arrest and punish a lowly slave like you?" Duan Mu said with a cold smile.
"Not so!" Zhou Fugui said calmly, "Zhou has been appointed to join the army by imperial decree and is already a person of the court. You have no right to arrest me."
"Pah! You mere dog slave, dare to call yourself a person of the court? Guards, quickly tie him up!" Duan Tianjuan said loudly.
The stewards of the Duan father and son surrounded them, and the atmosphere became tense. Zhou Fugui and the others knew something was going to happen.
"Giddy up... giddy up... giddy up..."
Just then, dozens of fierce horsemen galloped over, looking coldly at the two sides in confrontation.