Qin Official

In the end, Liu Ji rejected Zhang Er's invitation and chose to go east.

From Shanfu County to the east, there is a flat Tu Road, which can be walked for dozens of miles to reach the Wei-Chu border. After passing the border barrier between the two countries, you will reach Peixian County.

But Liu Ji did not take the main road because it was crowded with Wei refugees fleeing the Qin army. Some of them came from Meng County and some from Taoqiu. They all had their families with them and their faces were full of fear. Because of the large number of people, bullock carts collided with each other from time to time and were scrapped on the way, blocking the road and causing greater chaos...

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Although Liu Ji did not know this sentence and he was not a serious gentleman, he knew how to avoid Tudao, which was full of robbers, and take the mountain path that he was familiar with.

A few months ago, he said goodbye to his fellow township party members and headed west to Wei State with only a two-foot sword. This was the path he took.

Liu Bang's family is located in Fengyi, Pei County, Chu State. Fengyi is a border town between Chu State and Wei State. In the small towns, there are many immigrants from Wei State, and the local accent is a mixture of Chu and Wei.

Even Liu Ji's father, Taigong Liu, leaning on his staff and recalling the past of his family, said that Liu Ji's great-grandfather was once a high official in the state of Wei. It was not until their grandfather's generation that he moved to Fengyi, and it has only been a few decades.

Therefore, Liu Ji also has some Wei blood in his body. Perhaps this is why he always yearned for the Western Central Plains world when he grew up.

Liu Ji was especially fascinated by Lord Xinling of Wei State who stole the talisman to save Zhao and treated Xian as a corporal.

Although Lord Xinling had passed away when Liu Ji was wise, his posthumous reputation has endured for a long time, even beyond the courts of other countries, and is widely spread among the people all over the world. It spread from Wei to Fengyi and reached the ears of young Liu Ji. .

According to the public opinion in the government hall, Wei Wuji was a minister who resisted the emperor's order, put the country in danger, and followed the Tao but not the emperor; according to the opinions of the people, Lord Xinling broke down the hierarchy, made friends with the world's elite with his talents, and established the knight-errant ethos. The hero who pushed.

Regardless of his status, young Liu Ji was fascinated by it. In his eyes, the highest realm in life was to follow Lord Xinling to the world.

Liu Ji's character was very different from his father and brother who were law-abiding since he was a child. He was rebellious and restless, and he was unruly. When he became an adult, he did not follow the example of his second brother Liu Zhong to work hard in the fields, nor did he want to listen to his parents' advice and settle down to manage the property, so he married an unattractive girl from the same country early. Instead, he wandered around Zhongyang and embarked on a career. The path of Ren Xia...

Although this kind of life is comfortable, it will definitely be disliked by relatives and looked down upon by neighbors in the countryside.

So when he was in his twenties, after he was tired of the small and cramped world of Zhongyangli and Fengyi, Liu Ji went to Peixian County to work under Wang Ling, a local rich man and the boss of Peixian ranger. As a brother, you should call Wang Ling big brother.

Wang Ling was also a county knight, but his reputation was limited to Pei, and his influence was not as great as that of Waihuang Zhang'er.

A few years later, Liu Ji swaggered back to Fengyi with some of the shabby and willful spirit he had learned from Wang Ling. After this experience, he is no longer the liar who followed the young people in the countryside. Instead, a group of country boys, such as Lu Wan and others from next door to his house, gathered together in small groups and began to play the role of the first rural hero in Fengyi. They said "Nai Gong Zhu Zi" every time they opened their mouths.

However, in the eyes of his family, he is still an idle prodigal, an old bachelor who has not yet married a wife at the age of thirty! I spent the whole day wandering around with a group of unemployed and dissolute teenagers!

This situation came to a head when he and his younger brothers went to his sister-in-law's house to have a casual meal, but his sister-in-law deliberately scraped the pot and drove him away.

Liu Ji, who had lost face in front of his younger brothers, felt aggrieved and vowed to do something great to make his relatives, hometown and party look at him differently.

And this so-called great cause is to go to Wei State, which he has longed for, and seek refuge with Zhang Er, who claims to have inherited the "Xinling Style". Judging from those rumors, Zhang Er may be a hero second only to Lord Xinling. If he becomes a guest himself, he may encounter some opportunities.

Fengyi is hundreds of miles away from Waihuang County. After leaving Chu State, it is separated by Shan County, Meng County, Shi County and other places of Wei State. For Liu Ji, who is already thirty years old, this is his first overseas trip. With only a two-foot sword on his body, sleeping in the open air, and with nothing to rely on, he walked all the way to Zhang Er and bowed to him.

However, Zhang Er left him somewhat disappointed.

"Corporal Zhang Er Lixian is true, but he only imitates Lord Xinling in every aspect, but in the end he cannot become Lord Xinling."

In Liu Ji's eyes, if Lord Xinling is a tiger, then even though Zhang Er painted his body with patterns and showed his majesty with his teeth and claws, he still can't change the fact that he is just a yellow dog.

Liu Ji's heart cooled down, and besides eating and drinking all day long, he no longer wanted to seek any opportunities. He only planned to stay here for a year and a half, eat and drink enough, then say goodbye and go back to his hometown. By then, with this trip, he will surely become famous in Peixian County. Isn't it because of his status as a former guest of Xinling that he became famous? If he can do it, why can't Liu Ji?

In Liu Ji's view at that time, being a county knight like Zhang Er and Wang Ling and competing with them was his pursuit in life.

Until the war broke out, Daliang was surrounded by the Qin army.

The huge Wei State suddenly became extremely fragile and was easily squeezed by Qin State. Those Wei soldiers passing by Waihuang also became vulnerable and collapsed under the Qin army's attack.

The Qin army was approaching day by day, Waihuang was in danger, Zhang Er was uneasy, all of this was something Liu Ji did not expect.

Fortunately, he was smart enough and had a natural sensitivity to danger. Before the Battle of Waihuang, he took the initiative to stand up and shouted that he would protect the city for Zhang Er's kindness. But in fact, after holding on for a while and killing a Qin soldier, Liu Ji felt that he had repaid Zhang Er's favor.

"Defend the city for a while and kill one enemy. This is to live up to Zhang Er's hospitality for several months. I am not a righteous person."

"The situation is not good, so I ran away immediately. This is to be worthy of myself. I am not an ignorant person. My husband should be magnanimous and do great things. How can I bury a good life here?"

So when the dark-faced Qin official with a pale right bun jumped up to the top of the city and wanted to fight with Liu Ji, Liu Ji ran away without hesitation for a moment!

Later, he left Waihuang and fled eastward with Zhang Er because Liu Ji had already figured out Zhang Er after several months of getting along with him. He knew that he had no determination to defend the Wei Kingdom until his death, so he must have already thought of a way out. .

Instead of running around like headless flies like other rangers and being caught and beheaded by those tiger-like Qin soldiers, it is better to just stare at Zhang Er and go wherever he goes.

The worst plan is that even if they are unfortunately surrounded by the Qin people, Liu Ji will risk his life, cut off Zhang Er's head and offer it to him, and he will still survive! Liu Ji is a flexible person. Compared with his own life, his principles and faith can be temporarily discarded.

Fortunately, there were no surprises along the way. After all, Liu Ji was from the Chu state and didn't know much about the mountains and geography of the Wei state. He just kept "protecting" Zhang Er until he came to the familiar border of Chu and Wei before saying goodbye.

Unexpectedly, at the fork in the road, Zhang Er, who was moved by Liu Ji's "heroism and faith", actually invited Liu Ji to Qi State, as if he wanted to treat him as his right-hand man.

In the past, Liu Ji, who wanted to be a heroic hero, would definitely follow. He knew that although his family was well off, with land and a house, and his father could still marry a concubine, he was not wealthy enough to be a county hero. Following Zhang Er and using his connections and reputation to make a fortune is obviously a shortcut.

However, after experiencing the Waihuang War, Liu Ji's state of mind was somewhat different...

Over the past month or so, he had witnessed the Qin army's unstoppable sweep across Wei, and experienced the Qin soldiers' fearless attack on the outer Huangcheng.

The light knight who used to be considered great was actually so vulnerable to the Qin army's fierce attack.

The arrogant county knights in the past could only leave in a hurry when the Qin officials came to visit and became fugitives.

The country that Lord Xinling once wanted to protect is also in danger and will soon be wiped off the map.

Including himself, the faith that his fellow rangers talked about so beautifully was shattered in an instant when the disaster was approaching.

The world of Rangers that Liu Ji had believed in for twenty years began to appear cracks. The cracks slowly widened. After being completely shattered, what appeared in front of him was the broken old era, and a broader world...

He saw that a black fission from the west was rushing eastward, trying to sweep across the world, including the entire universe, and no one could be spared!

Liu Ji's cultural level was limited and his understanding of the current situation was also limited, so he didn't know how to express it in written language. I just have a vague feeling that within two or three years, the world will undergo great changes! In the face of these changes, is it a bit outdated to stick to the chivalry of Xinling and just be a ranger?

Therefore, after some hesitation, Liu Ji rejected Zhang Er's invitation. When the world situation changed, it would be wise to go back to his hometown to wait and see the situation.

I thought about it all the way, and before I knew it, after walking through many ravines and hills, and passing through lonely graves and grass, the path came to an end.

Liu Ji had bypassed the barrier between Wei and Chu that was crowded with refugees, and returned to Chu State over the mountains and ridges. His hometown, Fengyi, was right in front of him...

Compared with the chaos in Wei, this place is far away from war and still maintains the peace of the past. Farmers are busy in the paddy fields, and business travelers come and go in Chu-style clothes.

Looking at the familiar soil wall, the bearded ranger smiled: "A wanderer is sad for his hometown. When I was in Liang and Wei, I would always miss Feng Fei!"

Before entering the city, Liu Ji squatted down by the stream to wash his face, and drank some water, as if he could taste the taste of Chudi from inside.

But after he washed his beard, Liu Ji became a little troubled again.

It's nice to go home, but...

Liu Ji put the sword on his shoulder, tilted his head, and looked at the sky with some helplessness: "When I went there, I boasted that I would return with fine clothes and a horse, but now I still only brought back a sword, and even the scabbard was lost. Alas, when I get home, Aweng will accuse me of being a scoundrel again, unable to manage the industry, and not as good as Liu Zhong!"

…

Just when the wanderer Liu Ji bravely returned home and was chased, beaten and scolded by his father, on the other side, Heifu and his party had also left Waihuang, entered Yangwu County, and came to a village called Huyou (you). The place……

"Captain Heifu, you will stay here."

Pointing to Liyi Town in Humo Township not far away, the five hundred advocate Yi (yi) gave an order to Heifu and handed a wooden tablet with a red seal to Heifu.

When Heifu took a look, he saw that this was actually an appointment letter issued by Yingchuan County of the Qin State. It also had the signature and general seal of the frontline general, Major Wang Ben...

But I heard Zhang Ye say: "Captain Heifu, from today until the Wei Kingdom is conquered and the king sends formal officials to take office, I will be the county captain of Yangwu County, and you will be the wanderer of this household in Mou Township." !”