Chapter 21: Sharing the Peach and Regaining the Heart
Xuan Liang carefully looked at the Heiyun family opposite him. Seeing that their boat was full, his wife was pregnant, and they had three sons and two daughters, Xuan Liang felt somewhat envious.

Not only was she laughed at by her colleagues for not being able to have children, but she was also looked down upon by her subordinates and superiors.

My wife’s brothers and nephews are no longer a help. If I had any children, how could I have fallen to this point?
Although he is indeed a little bit incapable, if he has many offspring, he can easily control a troupe of three to five hundred people, and his superiors will pay attention to him.

It is too difficult to develop if you rely on yourself alone and have no successors.

Heiyun also observed the other party. The man's skin armor was already of fine quality, and the embroidered outer robe exposed under the armor was even more impressive. The most eye-catching thing was the red scarf embroidered with flowers on the other party's head.

He always felt that this peer in front of him was a bit dissolute and frivolous, but Heiyun didn't dare to show it. He took the initiative to get off the boat and bowed: "Greetings, righteous man!"

"No need to be polite. My commander Qu already knows your purpose, so he ordered me to bring you some things."

As he spoke, he picked up the bamboo basket with both hands and handed it to Heiyun. Heiyun's expression froze and his eyes dimmed, then he came to his senses, smiled and took it with both hands.

However, Xuan Liang still held the bamboo basket with his left hand, and reached into the linen rice bag with his right hand and took out the bright red longevity blood peach, then he released his left hand.

He signaled Heiyun to load the bamboo basket onto the boat, then handed over the peach in his hand and said, "This is a gift from my master Qu Shuai. I hope you will eat it immediately so that I can report back with the peach pit. Eat it quickly. My master Qu Shuai has extraordinary skills, and this is an extraordinary gift."

Heiyun took a bite without thinking, the peach juice flowed into his mouth, the peach fragrance filled his nose and spread around.

Heiyun could clearly hear the sound of his daughter swallowing saliva, so he stopped sucking the peach juice and looked at Xuanliang.

Xuan Liang glanced at the two little girls, thought for a moment and shook his head: "Master Qu has instructed me to do this, so please don't make it difficult for me."

Heiyun just nodded and ate the peach clean in two breaths, leaving behind the smooth peach core without any flesh or juice.

Handing the peach core back with both hands, Heiyun couldn't help but let out a long sigh. The rich peach fragrance blew on Xuanliang's face, and Xuanliang also swallowed hard.

Xuan Liang then looked at the peach pit in his hand carefully before saying, "My commander Qu has also said that he is willing to escort you away from this troubled place and settle in a peaceful place. Where do you want to go?"

"Brave men, we are from Mengze. We cannot bear the harsh rule and would like to go to Huainan to seek refuge with Lord Liu of Yangzhou."

Heiyun pointed upstream and said, "There are many fishermen and poor young men following us along the way. When we pass Pengcheng, the majority of them are from Pei. Their leader wants to kill you warriors and offer them to the prefecture."

After eating the peach, Heiyun realized that the other party Qu Shuai had obvious good intentions, and felt that his son had a high status in the group, so he became more flexible in his thinking: "Now that the Pei people have suffered a great death, only our Liang people, Xuhuai people and the children of Pei are left, with sixty or seventy boats, and nearly a thousand men, women and children."

"There are actually thousands of people? This may be beyond the expectations of my commander Qu. I will report back to him later."

"Thank you for your hard work, brave warrior."

Heiyun bowed deeply, lowered his head and saw the other person walking away, then he raised his head and stood up straight. When he turned around, he saw his wife checking the bamboo basket.

Seeing the heavy bag of five-zhu coins at the bottom of the bamboo basket, Heiyun couldn't help but let out a long sigh towards the sky, and he felt completely relaxed.

Dead people are worthless; there is no additional value in winning over one's own family.

Compared to these things, the safety of my own Saburo is the most important.

He actually faked his own death and escaped from the tightly guarded corvee camp. What kind of means did he use?

For a moment, he began to suspect that some officials were teaming up to do something.

When serving in the army and doing corvée labor under the rule of Cao Gong, one had to live within the sight of officials and die under their noses. Otherwise, if one disappeared without a body, the family would be severely punished!
Last year, there was even a funny murder case. A soldier died, and after the news was reported back, the military governor arranged for his widow to marry another single soldier who was serving outside. The new couple had not even met each other before, but because the new husband was on the run, the unlucky woman was punished according to the law and executed by being thrown into the market for three days.

The body was only allowed to be collected by the family after maggots were found in it.

On the boat, Xuan Liang handed over the peach core and carefully repeated Hei Yun's words.

Black Bear resisted the urge to go visit his brothers and sisters. He held the peach pit in his hand and examined it carefully. He smiled and said, "Go get a basket. I want to put the peaches in it."

"Yes!"

Xuan Liang quickly entered the bird room. The black bear on the wooden platform mobilized the eight existing white magic powers and integrated them all into the peach core, and as a result, three of them popped out.

After absorbing five white magic powers, the peach pit in his hand cracked in full view of everyone, and grew fresh and tender leaves. Then the peach branch grew straight up, and in four or five breaths it looked like a green feather duster.

On the boat behind, Zhang Ding was supervising the new sailors scrubbing the deck. When he noticed something unusual, he immediately grabbed the rope and jumped over, came to the wooden platform, and looked up and stared.

By the time Xuan Liang came onto the deck dragging the bamboo basket, the peach tree in the black bear's hand was already more than ten feet tall, with roots growing around its arms and then entwining its trunk before hanging down to the ground.

When the dense roots stopped, the straight peach trees blossomed. In the eyes of these sailors, it seemed that their commander was holding a large spear covered with peach blossoms.

The peach blossoms in the wind fell almost at the same time, flying three or four steps away and disappearing one after another.

More and more sailors jumped to the ship. The ropes reserved between the masts were used up. Some sailors climbed the ladders, while others looked up and watched.

The green pea-like peaches swelled up quickly, and soon the basket was filled with bright red blood peaches.

"Spiritual Blood Peach, can be planted in the Peach Garden Land Card, each growth cycle provides five times the number of blood peaches."

It was unclear how many peaches would be produced when the peaches ripened next time. The black bear looked up and saw eight peaches in each layer on the tree trunk, clamping the trunk together. At a glance, there were at least fifteen or sixteen layers.

Looking at the abundant fruits, he didn't feel any heaviness in his hands.

Xuan Liang was so excited that he couldn't speak. After handing over the bamboo basket, he knelt beside it and looked up.

"Get up and hold the basket steady."

The black bear touched the bamboo basket with its toes, but Xuan Liang's legs were too sore to fight. Zhang Ding stood up from the crowd of kneeling watermen and quickly climbed onto the wooden platform, gasping for breath while holding the bamboo basket in both hands.

Then they saw the black bear picking peaches and putting them into the basket. Xuan Liang and Zhang Ding seemed to want to remember every peach.

A basket only holds sixty-four peaches, each of which weighs about a hundred grams, or half a pound. We were worried that if we put too many in, the peaches at the bottom would be crushed.

"Zhang Ding, go and distribute the peaches, one to each person." "Xuan Liang, when you go to deliver peaches again, give one to each person, and you can eat them when you come back. Also tell them that my attitude remains unchanged."

After Black Bear finished speaking, Xuan Liang took out a spare flower scarf and Black Bear put peaches in it, only seven in total.

At this time, Zhang Ding also handed the bamboo basket to the sailors in the audience, and went to the deck to start distributing peaches. The sailors did not dare to make a noise but were unwilling to give in easily. They were silent and pushed each other in the crowd.

Chen Yang, who was kneeling among the sailors, stood up and saw Qu Shuai looking at him. He turned his head and gestured to the side. Chen Yang quickly stood up, poured out a bucket of river water, and carried the empty bucket onto the wooden platform.

Black Bear put another twenty-four peaches into the barrel and asked Chen Yang to divide the peaches.

Finally, the black bear picked a few more peaches and turned the peach tree into a card, which was integrated into the Peach Garden card. Suddenly, two peach trees, one big and one small, appeared on the card, just like a mother and child.

By the time the peaches were distributed, the anxious sailors had already eaten most of them. Most of these people were new sailors recruited by Xia Pi.

The old sailors and guards who had experienced the killing that night were more organized and observed the blood peach with curiosity and excitement.

After Zhang Ding and Chen Yang finished dividing the peaches, Xuan Liang also climbed up the ladder and took the peach from Black Bear. He asked curiously, "What is the purpose of Commander Qu giving me the fairy peach today?"

No reward without merit. Zhang Ding and the guards, who had a military life, looked at the black bear, waiting for an answer.

"There will be many disasters in the future, and I need your help..."

Black Bear looked down at the blood peach in his hand and smiled: "This will also let you know my methods, so as to avoid making mistakes."

"Don't dare."

Several people said this, and Xuan Liang spoke up: "Now, I should repay the commander's kindness with my own death."

"There will be a time for you all to serve me."

Black Bear weighed the blood peach in his hand and looked at it with lowered eyebrows: "It is also good for you to know that this peach has the effect of nourishing the body. Although it is not a rare treasure in the immortal palace, it is also a rare thing in the world. After eating the peach, rest peacefully and don't make noise or cause trouble."

"Thank you, Marshal Qu, for your gift."

Everyone bowed again until the black bear took a bite. Then they started to eat the peach. Soon, it was all eaten, leaving only the pit.

Xuan Liang saw that Black Bear had no intention of collecting the peach pits, so he asked, "Captain Qu, do you have any explanation for these peach pits?"

“Drilling holes and stringing them into bracelets can ward off evil spirits, and if you don’t like the hassle, you can carry it with you.”

With just a casual glance, Black Bear handed the peach pit in his hand to Xuan Liang: "I'll give you this one too. It's of no use to me."

"Thank you, Marshal Qu, for the reward."

The people around were envious and Xuan Liang stepped forward to catch it with both hands. Seeing this, Black Bear waved his hand and said, "Go about your business. Wait until these people gather together before setting sail."

Xuan Liang stopped and turned to ask, "General Qu, do you want to recruit more elite soldiers?"

Seeing Black Bear looking at him, Xuan Liang quickly said, "It's like this. Last time when I was recruiting sailors, I heard from my relatives and elders that there are some old friends of Chen Yuanlong in the city. They are good at fighting in the camp. If they are given armor and weapons, they will be sharp soldiers."

Zhang Ding and Chen Yang also looked at Xuan Liang, each with their own thoughts.

Black Bear frowned, thinking about the feasibility of recruiting a group of soldiers from Xia Pi.

There is enough food in the cabin, and the sailors who have eaten peaches today will have a high level of cohesion and can naturally form a group of soldiers.

The three ships carried thirty-eight sets of leather armor, and he also brought four sets of leather armor, as well as some scraps of wooden armor made by the sailors themselves.

These wooden armors have little effect against soldiers, and hanging them on the body can only increase courage.

Armor had almost no practical effect when worn by sailors.

This leather armor is only of practical significance when you are actively fighting.

Otherwise, in terms of defense alone, such thick ship planking is better than anything else.

Xuan Liang's proposal came at the right time.

In order to protect the migrating teams upstream, it is necessary to have a small team of soldiers with tactical strike capabilities.

Objectively speaking, there is an urgent need for this kind of force at present. As for the fact that this team of soldiers comes from Xia Pi, it is nothing in the long run.

Since Xuanliang wanted to bring more of his fellow villagers to gamble their lives, why should I refuse?
After a brief thought, Black Bear said, "Okay, the limit is 40 people."

"Then how can I convince Liu Dai? He was once Cao Cao's chief of staff. He has fought dozens of battles since the campaign against Dong Zhuo. He cannot be convinced by Cao Hong alone."

"You can use the fact that the Sun and Cao families are in harmony as an excuse. Since Liu Dai is a former chief historian, he will understand Cao Cao's overall situation."

Black Bear couldn't help but smile as he spoke: "The White Goose Bandits are fierce and stubborn. We have encountered them three times in a row. In two fierce battles, we suffered heavy casualties. It would be a good thing for Xia Pi to recruit some young knights and veterans from Xia Pi."

Xuan Liang also laughed when he heard it, and bowed deeply: "Then the servant will go."

Zhang Ding watched Xuan Liang get off the wooden platform, then he bowed to Black Bear and said, "The commander wants to escort the poor people of Liangpei to relocate. I would like to ask for your permission to lead the boat upstream to observe the changes. If there is any change, I can also help."

"Okay, come back before sunset, and bring a few more old people with you. If you don't come back before sunset, I will come to pick you up."

Black Bear agreed immediately and told him what he was considering.

It is very tiring to row against the current of the Si River just by paddling, but a transport ship has sails, so it is not very difficult to go upstream.

　Happy Year of the Dragon

　　
　
(End of this chapter)