Xun Er did not have a good impression of Han people. She had only come into contact with three kinds of Han people: officials, businessmen, and those who had committed crimes in the Central Plains and fled here.
The officials were greedy by nature, and the businessmen were too cunning. Not to mention those fugitives, they were all scum. Since this Yang Fan was a fugitive, in Xun Er's opinion, he must also be a scum, at most a scum that was not too ugly.
She did not believe the reason that Yang Fan told Xue Lian. In her eyes, this little sister-in-law was naive, innocent, and easily deceived. And this Han person looked too dangerous.
In order to have more children to inherit power and property, and to ensure that the succession of power would always be carried out within the headman's family, the headman would have many wives and concubines. Having dozens of wives and concubines was considered rare, and some headmen had hundreds of wives and concubines.
In order to ensure that wealth and power could be inherited by their real children, the Barbarians set up strict rules. Once there was any behavior that violated the rules of marriage, regardless of whether it was a man or a woman, they would be killed. Even if they were born into a noble family, they would be exiled to the land of plague and never return.
Xue Lian was already married to her little brother, so she was afraid that something would happen to her little sister-in-law. The result of her overflowing protectiveness was that she would drag Xue Lian away and make her spend less time with this unreliable man.
Yang Fan saw that this White Barbarian girl had a deep prejudice against him, so he could only smile bitterly and follow the old man to the side courtyard. This old house was really not small, but it was old enough. The roof was overgrown with grass. Except for the main house where the head of the family lived, most of the houses built around the main house were dilapidated. Now, in order to rent them out, they only patched the roof to prevent leakage and repaired the walls to prevent ventilation.
Perhaps the old man also felt that since this guest was acquainted with his Miss, this kind of accommodation was a little poor, so he looked a little embarrassed and hesitated when talking about the rent. Yang Fan did not care much, as long as he had a place to live.
The most important thing was that not only was Xue Lian a local, but she could also help him inquire about a lot of information that he might not be able to obtain. Xue Lian's acquaintance, Xun Er, was the daughter of a certain barbarian chieftain. Since her father had the qualifications to attend the banquet to welcome the imperial envoy, he should be able to obtain more information. This was enough.
So, Yang Fan happily paid for the room and the horse, and asked the old man to take care of the horse. When the old man left, Yang Fan lay down on the empty bed and let out a long sigh. Along the way, he was afraid that if he was one step late, countless lives would fall under Huang Jingrong's butcher knife. Therefore, he traveled day and night. Even though his body was sturdy, by this time he was about to fall apart.
Yang Fan did not notice that he had just arrived at this place. He should not have known anyone here, but not only did he bump into Yang Xuelian, he also bumped into another old friend. While he and Yang Xuelian were chatting on the way to the Yang Family, he had already been noticed by that person.
After Yang Fan entered the Yang Family Residence, that person stopped under the eaves of a house across the street. He looked around, pretending to look for someone, but secretly stared at Yang Fan's movements.
This person wore a gray pointed felt hat with a curled brim and had a blue and white striped felt draped over his body. His feet were dark and dirty, and he looked to be around thirty years old. His face was covered with green stubble, making his cheeks seem abnormally thin. Looking at his clothes, he seemed to be in dire straits.
His bare feet and felt attire was the same as many of the people of the local minority tribes, so he did not attract any attention. Even if Yang Fan were to walk face to face with him, he would most likely not give him a second glance.
But if Yang Fan could recognize who he was, he would definitely be shocked. Compared to Xuelian, who had changed eighteen times between childhood and womanhood, this person had changed even more thoroughly. Even if he personally revealed his identity, Yang Fan still found it hard to believe that this person was actually the elegant, refined, powdered, and flower-hairpin Young Master Liu, Liu Junfan.
Back then, Liu Junfan had happily planned to go to Dunhuang to be the son-in-law of a noble's daughter in the minister's mansion that Ah Nu had rented. In the end, he had waited and waited, but his sweetheart had never appeared with her father and brother. Liu Junfan had become a scapegoat, and all the money he had earned from selling his ancestral home had been used to compensate Wu Sansi.
Liu Junfan, on the other hand, had been beaten forty times by the Luoyang government and had been lying in jail for three days, groaning and groaning. Before his buttocks had recovered, he had been dragged along the road and sent to Feng Province to be a bandit.
This Brother Liu was penniless, so how could he have the money to bribe the two officials who escorted him to eat and drink all the way? Without money, he had suffered a lot along the way. Fortunately, he had been lucky enough to survive and not die on the road.
After arriving in Feng Province, he had met a benefactor. He had hit it off at first sight with a burly, gorilla-like chief who had thick eyebrows and big eyes. The chief took good care of him, so Liu Junfan did not suffer much when he was banished to the army. It was just that during the first few days he had been in the army, he always walked like a duck with his buttocks swaying back and forth, which looked rather strange.
Liu Junfan was sentenced to five years of banishment, and the old soldier who had hit it off with him two years ago retired. Liu Junfan had completed his military service last year. After he was released, he settled down here and no longer thought about returning to Luoyang.
Living in Luoyang was not easy. He was penniless, so life would only be more difficult if he returned to Luoyang. Moreover, he did not even have travel expenses, so he could not afford to travel thousands of miles.
Therefore, Liu Junfan stayed in Feng Province and soon mingled with a group of fugitives who had escaped from the Central Plains. They specialized in reselling goods from Feng Province to Tubo and smuggling goods from Tubo to Feng Province.
Now that the relationship between Tubo and the Great Zhou Dynasty was tense, border trade had long been stopped. Although it was risky for them to do this, as long as they succeeded once, they would still earn a lot. However, Liu Junfan had neither influence nor capital. He was just a small errand boy. The majority of the money he earned from smuggling was taken away by his leader. His earnings were barely enough for him to make ends meet. Occasionally, he would go to a brothel with its half-closed door.
"It's him! It must be him! I can't be wrong! "
Liu Junfan stood under the eaves, his face horribly twisted, and his eyes filled with hatred. He clenched his teeth and sneered, "Xiahou Ying? The Dunhuang Clan? Hmph, you could have taken the road to heaven, but you chose to barge into hell! Now that you're in my territory, I'll teach you a lesson! "
Liu Junfan left quietly after confirming that Yang Fan had rented a room in this family.
…
"Brother Yang!"
Xue Lian sneaked into Yang Fan's residence, looked back, and gently closed the door. She playfully stuck out her tongue at Yang Fan, and then took something out of her bosom. Her bosom was bulging, and it was unknown what she was holding. When she took it out, it was an oiled paper bag.
Yang Fan was lying down to rest, but when he heard the noise, he quickly sat up and happily said, "Miss Xue Lian!"
Xue Lian walked to his side and said apologetically, "Brother Yang, I'm really sorry. People say that they meet an old friend in a foreign land, but now that I've met an old friend, I can't take care of you. I'm asking you to live in a house like this, and I'm even charging you for it."
Yang Fan smiled, "It's nothing. I think it's pretty good. The place I used to live wasn't even as clean as yours. If I hadn't met you, I might have wandered around for a long time without being able to find a place to live. What are you holding in your hand? "
Xue Lian secretly laughed, "This is a smoked rabbit. It's very tasty. I just secretly picked it from under the eaves of the back room. I'll give it to you to try."
Yang Fan quickly said, "That's not good. If your mother finds out, she might beat you. Quickly return it."
Xue Lian indifferently waved her hand and said, "Don't worry, my mother won't beat me. If she really wants to beat me, I'll tell my father. My father dotes on me more than my mother, he won't let my mother beat me. You keep this smoked rabbit. When you have nothing to do, you can tear it and eat it. It's very boring! "Xue Lian said and put the smoked rabbit next to his bed.
Yang Fan said with a smile, "Thank you. Later I'll go to the market and see if there's anything fun. You gave me a gift, so I should return the favor. Oh right, where's that girl in white? She looked at me like she was looking at a thief. Didn't she stop you from coming to see me? "
Xue Lian giggled and said, "You're talking about sister Xun Er. She's like this. Just now her father came over. She went to accompany her father and my father to talk. That's why I took the opportunity to run out."
Yang Fan remembered Xun Er's teasing of Xue Lian in the market. He couldn't help but laugh, "Is what Xun Er said true? You're already engaged. Your husband is Xun Er's elder brother? What kind of headman do you think her father is? He's very powerful here. "
When Yang Fan asked, Xue Lian's face blushed a little, "Yes! My father helped me arrange a marriage. I haven't seen sister Xun Er's little brother yet. Her father is a headman, but he's not from here. Their tribe seems to be further south. I don't know. In any case, here, the leaders of tribes with dozens of people are called headmen. The leaders of tribes with hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of people are also called headmen. There are as many big and small headmen as there are officials crossing the river. Who knows how big her father's tribe is? Maybe it's just a small village. "
Yang Fan said with a smile, "It doesn't look like it. Just look at that Xun Er's extravagance. Just look at that Xun Er's appearance. You should know that her brother must be very handsome. I'll congratulate you in advance for finding such a good son-in-law. "
The blush on Xue Lian's face that had just subsided returned. Embarrassed, she said, "Who knows? Sister Xun Er already said that she looks like her mother. As for what her little brother looks like, I don't know. "
Yang Fan said, "The wives and concubines of a headman are naturally extremely beautiful. If her little brother is Xiao Mu, he must be very handsome. If it's Xiao Mu, is this headman handsome?"
Xue Lian blinked her eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "Oh … I can't tell. Uncle's face is full of wrinkles. He looks very old."
Yang Fan took the opportunity to say, "Why don't I help you take a look? I'm a person who is good at reading faces. Just by looking at his current appearance, I can tell if he was handsome when he was young. But … if we sneak over and eavesdrop on his conversation with your father, won't we make him angry? "
Xue Lian said indifferently, "What does that matter? You are my friend. Uncle dotes on me the most. Come, I'll take you there! "
Xue Lian also seemed to think that this matter was very interesting. She flashed to the door and looked out like a thief. Then she waved at Yang Fan. The two of them, one in front and one behind, sneaked out.
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