seven 1
That night, Liu Qingye couldn't sleep. The cheers and singing in the arena had long since stopped, and even the crackling of the bonfire had gradually faded, but his heart was noisy - Dan Ying, Dan Ying's junior sister, Dan Ying's clan leader, Dan Ying's leader... The red headscarf in his dream was drifting farther and farther away, and finally reached a place he couldn't reach! Although he had decided that no matter what, even if Dan Ying didn't look at him again, he would still stand by Dan Ying. But when it was really late at night, how could he feel?
I turned over in anguish, and everything that had happened since I met Dan Ying came to my mind: I chose her, and she chose revenge. It was fate that chose us, and there was nothing I could do... Even though I kept thinking about her, there was nothing I could do... There was nothing I could do...
He sat up from the bed: If there is really no other way, why am I still here in agony? Since this is fate, my longing for her every night is useless. It is better to just give up and fight this fate - I will help Dan Ying and kill her great enemy Galdan. Then, won't we be together!
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt enlightened: I, Liu Qingye, can neither lead troops nor fight. I have only studied martial arts with my master since I was young. Only by practicing my own martial arts well can I help Dan Ying! After thinking about it, he sat cross-legged on the bed, silently recalling the inner strength of Songqiao Academy. He practiced while thinking, and forgot about the fatigue. He practiced until dawn without noticing it.
This went on for several days. He accompanied Dan Ying in studying and practicing martial arts during the day, and practiced breathing exercises alone at night, and recalled martial arts moves. His progress was indeed great. Cao Mengsheng compared his progress and nodded in approval, thinking that he had finally come to his senses. He had no idea that he was doing it for the woman he loved. When Wang Chunshan and others saw this, they only praised the students of Songqiao Academy, saying that they were indeed amazing. Of course, Liu Qingye didn't take these compliments to heart. He only cared about Dan Ying's occasional glances - just a slight smile, and he was satisfied.
On the evening of the eighth day, he was practicing sword techniques alone in his room when he suddenly heard a quarrel outside the door. It was the voices of Dan Ying and Li Mingxin.
Li Ming thought to himself, "Sister Danying, Uncle Meng is right. Using troops to fight a war is a big deal and should not be taken lightly."
Dan Ying said angrily: "What do you mean by reckless? How many of our Uyghur brothers and sisters have been killed by that bastard Galdan? Uncle Meng asks me to read some crappy military strategy here every day. What's the point? I want revenge, not to be an emperor!"
Li Ming thought to himself, "Didn't Uncle Meng just teach you that 'Warfare is the most important matter for a country'? The Junggars have strong soldiers and horses, so we need to take a long-term view on revenge."
Dan Ying said angrily: "What do you mean by long-term planning? You asked me to compete for the leadership, and I won. Our thirteen Uyghur tribes should work together and immediately defeat that bastard Galdan. But... Uncle Meng sent all the tribe leaders away..."
Li Ming thought to himself: "Sixth Uncle Meng has his own plan - sister, you see, the Junggars are extremely barbaric, accustomed to war, and have always been burning, killing and looting everywhere. Even if we want to fight, we don't know where they have gone..."
"Then what should we do?" Dan Ying raised his voice, obviously furious, "If we don't fight them, do we have to wait for them to fight and kill us first?"
Li Mingxin was speechless for a moment, and Dan Ying shook her hand off and said, "I don't care, I will go and tell my master and other uncles that I don't want to learn any military tactics, I just want to kill all the Junggar bandits!" After that, he turned around and left. Li Mingxin called her anxiously a few times, but she just ignored him.
Seeing the shadow of Dan Ying on the door, Liu Qingye hurriedly opened the door and chased after him, but Dan Ying had already gone far away. Li Mingxin was startled and asked, "Junior brother, did I disturb you?"
Liu Qingye hurriedly asked what was going on. Li Ming thought to himself, "It's all because of Uncle Meng Liu. He insisted that Dan Ying learn the art of war. How can I stand watching Dan Ying's temper? She has been clamoring for a long time, insisting on summoning the thirteen tribes to attack Junggar immediately... Alas..."
As he was talking, Meng Hu and Chen Luohui came over. Chen Luohui saw them and couldn't help but joked, "Hey, Sixth Brother, we came at a bad time!"
Li Mingxin spat, "Seventh Uncle, you're never serious! I won't tell you that." He turned to Meng Hu and said, "Sixth Uncle Meng, I can't persuade Sister Dan Ying. She ran to Uncle Wang's place."
Meng Hu frowned, looking a little annoyed: "This girl has an unreasonable temper! She has the determination to avenge her people, but she is actually an uneducated young lady."
Liu Qingye felt very unhappy when he heard him say this, but after all, Meng Hu was his elder, so he didn't dare to get angry.
Meng Hu continued, "Does she think that she is smart enough to become the leader of the alliance, and that everything will be fine? What does she know about war? Even if she is the leader of the alliance, if it is not to prevent the Uyghurs from falling into the trap of the Qing Tartars, would our Chuan Deng Society have to do anything and be regarded as the lowest class?"
Liu Qingye knew that Meng Hu had always regarded the incident of hitting the plate with a hidden weapon but being exposed by Fu Chatao as a great shame. Hearing what he said, he thought: What tricks did Dan Ying use? She gave up the position of leader to Reyiza at that time out of sincerity, and she deserved everyone's admiration. She is so straightforward, unlike you who are so cunning... It was clearly your plan, and almost made others think that Dan Ying was a shameless villain.
Meng Hu complained a few more times, but when he saw Liu Qingye frowning and not saying anything, he stopped and said, "Qingye, what are you thinking about? Did I say something too harsh?"
Liu Qingye hurriedly tried to find a few words to perfunctorily deal with him, but Chen Luohui had already said, "Sixth brother, you are really smart all your life, but you are foolish for a moment! Children are talking in private here, and you come here to mess things up. Hehe, it is better to demolish ten temples than to destroy a relationship. Have you forgotten this principle?"
"Oh!" Meng Hu slapped his head, "Sure enough, I made Dan Ying so angry that she lost her temper!" He smiled at Liu Qingye and Li Mingxin and went to meet Chen Luo. As he walked, he said, "Sooner or later, Dan Ying will have to suffer a little, and then she will change her temper!"
Li Mingxin has always been thin-skinned. At this time, even his neck turned red. He stammered, "Master... Junior brother... they... they always say... you must..."
Liu Qingye, however, had no other thoughts. He only thought: Dan Ying has such an impulsive personality. I should go to Master and cause trouble again! He immediately said to Li Mingxin: "Senior Sister, I will go and persuade Junior Sister."
Liu Qingye hurried into Cao Mengsheng's room, only to see Cao Mengsheng and Wang Chunshan discussing something, and no trace of Dan Ying was found. Wu Shuiqing said, "Dan Ying did talk nonsense just now, and I have already told her. I think she should reflect on herself." Monk Liaoyuan, Yan Tiebi, Chi Yunzi and others also said a few words, and the meaning was roughly that Dan Ying had been making a fuss about attacking Junggar, which was absolutely not acceptable, and that they must take a long-term view. Only Cao Mengsheng interrupted and said, "Qingye, go to the front and back of the village to look for your junior sister, don't let her do anything stupid!"
Why did Cao Mengsheng need to give instructions for this? Before he finished speaking, Liu Qingye had already turned and rushed out, searching the village from front to back, but there was no trace of Dan Ying. Liu Qingye's heart skipped a beat, as if he was standing on a high platform made of logs, and someone pulled out a log from the bottom: Dan Ying, is there really something wrong?
He did not dare to delay for even a second, and hurriedly brought General Black over, and searched the grasslands and deserts around the village, but still could not find it. When he returned to the village, it was already time for the lights to turn on, and he saw Ah Xu coming out of the house, so he went up to him and asked, "Ah Xu, have you seen the red eagle?"
Ah Xu was stunned and asked, "Why, Miss Dan Ying is missing?"
Liu Qingye paused, didn't answer, and walked away.
Ah Xu understood most of the situation after seeing it, and chased after him, shouting, "Liu Qingye, don't worry, I'll go ask Wu Tan and Zai, and you go ask Moller..."
Before he could finish his words, Liu Qingye had already rushed into Moller's house.
Dali's mother was doing needlework by herself. When she saw Liu Qingye rushing in, she asked, "Hey, Liu Qingye, why did you come back alone? Where are Miss Dan Ying and my Moler?"
Liu Qingye said: "I'm looking for them!"
Dali's mother was startled and dropped the work in her hands. "Mole hurried out in the evening, as if he was going to accompany Miss Dan Ying to go horseback riding. I heard him mumbling something like 'father' and 'grandson'... I don't understand... You... you didn't go with them?"
Father? Grandson? Liu Qingye was stunned: Ah... Yes, on weekdays, Moller accompanied Dan Ying to listen to Meng Hu's explanation of "The Art of War", and once joked: "You Han people are so interesting, calling people 'grandson' and 'father'!" Now he was muttering like this, thinking that Dan Ying had hit a snag with Wang Chunshan and others, so he came back to complain to him... Moller was a man who listened to Dan Ying's words. If Dan Ying made trouble, he would probably not persuade him... Then Dan Ying... Could it be that he really went to cause trouble for Galdan alone?
Thinking of this, Liu Qingye broke out in a cold sweat. Seeing his expression, Dali also panicked: "Liu Qingye, could it be that my bastard boy instigated Miss Dan Ying to... cause... cause something bad?"
I hope not! Liu Qingye thought to himself. But he had no time to answer and hurried back to Cao Mengsheng's room.
At that time, Asu had already asked Wutan and Zai, and they both said that they had not seen Dan Ying. The three of them also came to report to Wang Chunshan.
Wang Chunshan frowned and said, "This child is too willful."
Meng Hu said, "I just said a few words to her and she ran away. With this temper, how can she lead the thirteen tribes in the future? She treats leading troops to fight as a joke!"
Wu Shuiqing said: "This girl has always been spoiled, and it's not her fault. If she doesn't come back at this time, should we go look for her?"
"Fourth sister, you must not do that." Meng Hu said, "You also said that this girl is spoiled. She thinks everyone has to obey her. If you go to find her, isn't it the same as telling her that we are afraid of her face? We must teach her a lesson. Only in this way can we teach her to become a good leader of the thirteen tribes in the future."
Wu Shuiqing was stunned and looked at Cao Mengsheng.
Cao Mengsheng said with a gloomy face: "No, it's so late and she hasn't come back yet. Even if she is just being naughty, how can we abandon her? Galdan's troops may attack at any time. If something happens to her, how can we face the leader of the Tashan tribe... and..."
Seeing his master's anxious expression, Liu Qingye knew that his master was concerned about Dan Ying being Ye Bailian's daughter and was protecting her everywhere. At the moment, he was also extremely worried, so he immediately stepped forward and said, "Master, I'm going to look for my junior sister!"
Asu, Wutan and Zai also said: "Let's go find Miss Danying together!"
There was also a thunderous shout from the other side. It was Cheng Anren: "I'm going too. Miss Dan Ying is my savior!"
Cao Mengsheng glanced at the four young men, then at Cheng Anren, and said, "Okay, let's go together." Without asking Wang Chunshan, he went out.
That night, the sky was dark and the grassland was pitch black. The half-human-high grass swayed in the wind like a surging ocean.
Cao Mengsheng didn't dare ask everyone to search separately for fear of getting lost, so the six of them lit torches and searched aimlessly in the same direction.
Liu Qingye looked towards the dark and boundless land. The cool breeze had calmed his anxious mood a little. But looking at such a grassland, how could he not think of the horse racing with the Dan Ying that day - he didn't know if it was this direction, and even if it was, was the Dan Ying going here?
I didn't know how far I ran, but I heard Cheng Anren shouting, "Look, there seems to be a village over there !"
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and indeed there was a little fire and a dozen tents faintly visible. Walking a few dozen feet closer, they saw horses and herdsmen. Liu Qingye saw owl feathers swaying on the heads of those people, and his heart moved: Ah, it must be the Kazakh tribe that rode here at the beginning! He suddenly had a strange feeling, and he whipped General Hei twice, leaving everyone behind and rushed forward.
There was a bonfire over there, and someone was playing the dombra and singing Kazakh folk songs. Liu Qingye suddenly barged in on horseback, and everyone couldn't help but look at him. Several young people immediately recognized him as the Han boy who played "chasing girls" here. They shouted and surrounded him, some reproaching, some happy. Liu Qingye was puzzled, but when he looked into the crowd, he saw Dan Ying and Moler looking at him.
At this sight, he didn't know what he felt, most likely the joy of regaining what he had lost. He jumped off the horse, jumped over the Kazakh boys, and ran straight towards the Dan Ying, secretly swearing in his heart: Today I will hold the Dan Ying in my arms and never let it go.
But Dan Ying stood up suddenly: "Master..." It turned out that three young men, Cao Mengsheng, Cheng Anren and Wu Tan, had also arrived.
Moler stepped in front of Dan Ying and said, "Master, Miss Dan Ying and I are not going back. We are going to find the other twelve tribe leaders and kill Galdan to avenge Master Tashan!"
Cao Mengsheng looked at the two of them and said nothing.
Cheng Anren yelled, "Damn it, what do you two know? If you two could kill all of Galdan's gang, I would have killed all the Manchu Tartars long ago. Girl, don't cause trouble for your master and brothers, and go back with everyone!"
Dan Ying was stunned for a moment, raised his head and said, "I won't go back. We Uighurs don't have such cowards. Uncle Meng and his men only know how to discuss things all day long, and when they are done discussing, Galdan will kill who knows how many of our compatriots - Master, tell me, is it because you Han people only know how to discuss things that you lose to the Qing bandits?"
Cao Mengsheng was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to respond.
Dan Ying said, "You are all my father's friends. You all said you would help me. You asked me to practice martial arts, and I did. You asked me to study, and I did. You asked me to compete with Uncle Reiza for the position of leader, and I did. But what's the use now? I haven't seen a single drop of the blood of the Junggar people! I won't listen to you. I am the leader of the thirteen tribes, and I will order everyone to kill the Junggar bandits!"
As soon as she said this, Wutan, Asu and Zai responded: "Yes, we also want to kill the Junggar bandits!"
