Zhou Jianlai carried four baked cakes and knocked on the wooden door of the small courtyard.

The old woman who sold the baked cakes was very friendly and enthusiastic, and not only promised to give him credit, but also wrapped him four hot baked cakes that had just come out of the oven. He enthusiastically told him that Old Man Wei had bad teeth, and the hot baked biscuits were crispy and chewy, which was just right.

"Who?" there was a knock on the wooden door, and an old voice came from the courtyard.

"Seniors, junior Zhou Jianlai, fortunate to be recommended by Tianwu Zhenren, learned that the seniors have amazing skills, the younger generations are brave, take the liberty to come to the door, eager to learn the arts, I hope that the seniors are not stupid, and accept the disciples. Zhou Jianlai said worriedly, for fear of being closed.

After a moment of silence, a response came from the courtyard: "Come in." ”

Zhou Jianlai immediately breathed a sigh of relief, pushed open the wooden door, and stepped into the courtyard. It was obviously noon when the scorching sun was at its peak, but as soon as he entered the courtyard, he felt a cold breath sweeping over his body, almost making him shiver.

"Senior, the disciple took the liberty of bothering. Zhou Jianlai's eyes found Wei Zi's figure in the courtyard of Erjin.

Wei Zizheng was sitting at the stone table in the inner courtyard with his back to the courtyard door, with two side dishes and a pot of wine on the table, he was drinking and eating alone, when he heard Zhou Jian come to push the door in, he didn't look back, just asked out loud, "Have you eaten lunch?"

"Didn't eat. Zhou Jianlai replied honestly.

"Come and have a bite to eat. ”

"Good. "Maybe it's because I've been messing around the informal Tianwu Dao people for a long time, and Zhou Jianlai was very sincere in the eating session, not polite to Wei Zi at all, and said: "Senior, junior passed by the street and brought you a few baked cakes, I don't know if it suits your old taste?"

"Mrs. Wang has been making baked cakes for decades, and her craftsmanship is excellent. ”

"It's good if the seniors like it. Zhou Jianlai couldn't help but feel proud in his heart, and said that he was inspired by his own wit, so he cheekily went to take four baked cakes on credit, which resolved the embarrassment of coming to the door empty-handed.

Zhou Jianlai quietly looked at the scenery of the courtyard as he walked.

This is a two-entry courtyard facing north and south, the courtyard is not large, but the wall facing south of the inner courtyard has been demolished, so that the inner and outer courtyards become a courtyard, so it looks spacious and deep.

Two rows of pines and cypresses were planted near the courtyard wall, although they were all dead, but the fine branches and leaves of the pines and cypresses were still hanging on the trunks, blocking most of the sunlight, making the yard faint and adding a bit of gloomy atmosphere.

Under the pines and cypresses on the west side of the courtyard wall, there are several small mounds, one of which has some paper ash in front of it, it seems that it should have been burned in the last two days, Zhou Jianlai couldn't help but feel a little frightened, and the pine and cypress in the yard were just planted, and they were still buried in the yard, which was weird.

However, what made him even more terrifying was still to come, when his gaze passed over Wei Zi, shot into the main hall with the door wide open, and landed on the rows of spiritual seats, he couldn't help but feel creepy. And when he saw the names on the spirit cards, they were all the ancestors of the Wei family of the royal family of the previous dynasty, among which the twelve emperors of the Great Wei Dynasty were in the center, and Zhou Jianlai couldn't help but feel a little cold on his back.

However, thinking that the old man in front of him was the widow of the royal family of the previous dynasty, Zhou Jianlai was quickly relieved in his heart, and it was natural for future generations to worship the ancestor spirit card, even if Emperor Su came, he couldn't say anything.

The doors of the four wings in the east and west are also open, and like in the main hall, there are also spiritual seats for the ancestors of the Wei family.

"Senior" Zhou Jianlai walked to the stone table, suppressed the horror in his heart, and saluted respectfully towards Wei Zi.

"Sit down. Wei Zi raised his hand and pointed to the stone bench beside him.

"Thank you, senior. Zhou Jianlai sat down on the stone bench, hurriedly sent the baked cake in his hand to Wei Zi, untied the oil paper, and said, "Just baked, seniors eat it while it's hot." ”

Wei Zi smiled and said, "I'm old, I can't eat much, one is enough." He picked up a piece of baked cake, pushed the remaining three in front of Zhou Jianlai, and said, "You can eat it." ”

"Hmm. Zhou Jianlai nodded happily, feeling that the kindness of the Duke of Wei in front of him was like an ordinary and kind grandfather next door, which made his worried heart settle down.

"Do you want to drink?" Wei Zi picked up the flask and poured himself a glass of wine, and asked Zhou Jianlai at the same time.

"Is it okay?" Zhou Jianlai asked cautiously.

"Hehe, if you like to drink, you can drink, if you don't like to drink, you don't drink, what is there to do. Wei Zi smiled.

"The junior dared to offend and accompany

Seniors have a drink. Zhou Jianlai picked up a wine glass from the tea tray, then took the wine jug from Wei Zi's hand, first respectfully nodded a little into Wei Zi's wine glass, then filled his wine glass, picked up the wine glass and said to Wei Zi: "The younger generation respects the seniors, and wishes the seniors a long life and good health." ”

"Good. Wei Zi happily picked up the wine glass, took a big sip, and said, "It's been a long time since anyone has drunk with the old man." ”

"Ahem, cough, cough" Zhou Jian took a sip of wine into his throat, choked and coughed and wheezing, his face couldn't help but turn red, and he explained embarrassedly: "The younger generation smelled the fragrance of the wine, and thought it was a light and soft flower brew, but I never expected it to be so strong, so that the seniors saw the joke." ”

"Haha" Wei Zi laughed and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Good wine. Zhou Jianlai gave a thumbs up and said, "The liquor is in the throat, and the fragrance lingers, just like the chivalrous man who fights the sword world, and he can't do without the company of beauties." ”

"yes. Wei Zi sighed and said quietly: "If you can be accompanied by the beauty of the world with a sword in this life, what more can you ask for?"

"yes. Zhou Jianlai sighed with emotion, and his face couldn't help but show yearning.

At this moment, it seems that time stands still, an old man and a young man hold a wine glass, the old man regrets the passing youth, the young man yearns for a better tomorrow, and a strange sense of sympathy quietly appears among the old and the young.

"Want to learn the sword?" Wei Zi said loudly, breaking the silence.

"Yes. Zhou Jianlai nodded without hesitation.

"Then you have to ask them if they would like to teach you the Wei Clan's swordsmanship, an outsider with the surname of the side?" Wei Zi said, pointing to the spiritual seats in the five houses.

"The younger generation is dull, please ask the senior to guide the maze. Zhou Jianlai didn't understand.

"Go to each room and kowtow three times, put a stick of incense, and the incense burns out, even if they promise you. Let's start here. Wei Zi pointed to the room on the south side of the west wing.

Zhou Jianlai was puzzled, he didn't understand, he felt that it was very simple, but listening to Wei Zi's tone, it didn't seem to be easy to do.

"With their consent, the old man will pass you on the Wei swordsmanship. Wei Zi said.

Zhou Jianlai drank the remaining wine from the wine glass, got up and arched his hand towards Wei Zi, and then turned around and walked towards the room that Wei Zi pointed to.

With a wave of Wei Zi's robe, an invisible force shot into the room, only to hear a crisp click, as if something had been shattered. With this slight sound, a cold and biting yin wind suddenly gushed out of the room, hitting Zhou Jianlai's body head-on, making him shiver. Immediately afterwards, a majestic momentum rushed out of the room and pressed on Zhou Jianlai's body, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Sword intent!" Zhou Jianlai was shocked in his heart, this majestic momentum was extremely familiar to him, it turned out to be sword intent, he restrained his expression, became solemn and serious, and the sword intent's will erupted, competing with the sword intent pouring out of the room.

One, two, three steps until he reached the door, he stopped, and a blush flowed from the corner of his mouth. Kenshin's will was already on the verge of collapse, and he didn't dare to take another step forward.

Zhou Jianlai now understood what Wei Zi's words meant. However, he was not in a hurry but rejoiced, because this was not only a test, but also an excellent opportunity to cultivate, so he immediately sat down cross-legged in front of the door, closed his eyes, calmed down, and carefully comprehended the sword intent gushing out of the room.

......

"Dog, say it's okay not to slap your face!" In the Li family's martial arts training field, Niu Dawa was hit in the face by Li Hongwu's punch, and immediately his mouth and nose were bloody, and he was so angry that he jumped like thunder, only to see his arms shake, the tiger's body trembled, the muscles of his whole body suddenly bulged, and the clothes on his body were all torn with a hiss, fortunately, his pants were relatively loose, otherwise he would have had a naked fight with Li Hongwu. Immediately after, a bronze light suddenly appeared on his body, and his fists slammed into his chest angrily, making a sound of gold and iron.

When the Tianwu people on the sidelines saw this scene, their eyes immediately widened, and they shouted: "Isn't this the old bald donkey's King Kong not bad magic skill? Damn, that treacherous old dog can't steal into the Shaolin Temple's Tibetan Scripture Pavilion, right?"

Bang!

Zhang Xiaopaw fell to the ground, his body rolled more than ten times before stopping, spat on bloody saliva, and once again threw himself at Li Hongbo and Li Hongtao.

His combat power can already win against either Li Hongbo and Li Hongtao, but he is not the opponent of the Six Heavens of the Sea Realm at all, so the Heavenly Martial Daoist let him fight with one against two, and narrowed the battle circle to limit his dodge space.

The horn sounds, sharpening the sword and wiping the sword.

The three leaders of the Half Gang are seizing the moment of tranquility before the war and desperately improving their strength.

......

On 11 May, the city lord Qi Wuwei issued an order to levy materials for the war, and the poor families were exempted from the levy, and the wealthy merchants and gentry of the family were releved.

On that day, the whole Yancheng was in a bloody storm, dozens of families were raided, and hundreds of wealthy merchants and gentry were cut down and hung under the city gate to show the public.

The people applauded, and the rich businessmen and gentry and clansmen wailed and complained.

......

On May 12, 100,000 troops left the north gate of Yancheng and drove into Baihuang Mountain.

Situ Qing and Tang Jiucai sat in the army.

On that day, a rebel envoy came from Dongwangcheng, saying that he was ordered by the anti-king Li Yuande to discuss important matters with Qi Wuwei.

Qi Wuwei didn't see the messenger when he saw it, so he directly ordered someone to cut off his head and hang it at the city gate.

The two armies fought, and they didn't kill them, but Qi Wuwei broke the rules, intending to tell the anti-king Li Yuande that there was nothing to talk about between them, and they would see the truth on the battlefield.

......

On May 13, Qi Wuwei, the lord of the city, issued an order for conscription, as long as they were young and strong, they could sign up, and those who signed up to join the army could get a bowl of water and a bowl of millet every day.

The pay was good, and an army of one million was assembled on the same day.

......

On May 14, Yu Wenrui, a closed disciple of the Medicine Immortal and the future successor of the Medicine King Valley, raised his arms and shouted, calling on the rookies and junjie of Yancheng and the major sects to gather together to discuss the plan to quell the rebellion and drive out the big tooth dog.

The city lord's mansion contributed and spread invitations.

Banquet time, 7 p.m. on the 16th.

Banquet venue, City Lord's Mansion.

......

At noon on the 15th, in the Dongcheng District of the North Eight Cities, in the second courtyard, Zhu Zixiao lay in a comfortable bamboo chair, hiding in the shade under the eaves to enjoy the shade, holding a piece of white paper in his hand, from time to time he raised it in front of his eyes to take a closer look, and then sighed and put it down.

In the courtyard, Lu Kaixue was flipping through some herbs, and he guessed that Zhang Xiaopu and the three were very likely to join the army and kill the enemy, so he was preparing some medicine for them to treat external injuries.

Wu Dayou squatted under the wall, smoking a pot, but unfortunately there was no tobacco in the pot, just pretending to be enjoyable. There was tobacco, but he didn't dare to smoke it, because smoking would make him thirsty, and the water was gold at the moment, so how dare he drink a drop more.

Zhu Zixiao's maid is teaching Wu Dayou's granddaughter Xi'er to do needlework.

Compared with the tense atmosphere in Yancheng, the five people in the courtyard lived a very comfortable life.

"Childe, don't think about it, your brows are wrinkled. Unless the old man of the Wei family comes back from the dead, no one knows what is drawn on this piece of paper. Seeing that her young master took out the blank paper she found in the Wei family from her arms to study, the maid couldn't help but feel distressed and said.

"Probably a road map for the treasure. Wu Dayou guessed that he had said this dozens of times.

"Zhu Gongzi, don't think about it. Lu Kaixue also persuaded, "I think it's a code, only the old man of the Wei family knows it, and it doesn't mean anything to others." ”

"Really?" Zhu Zixiao muttered, raised the note in his hand to his eyes, and said to himself: "I think it should be a very important thing, otherwise how could it be so hidden." But what is it?"

Zhu Zixiao turned sideways, stretched out his hands to spread the white paper, and looked at the dazzling sun, wondering what to do. However, he had used this method many times, and if there were any clues, he would have discovered it a long time ago.

This time, Zhu Zixiao had a stubborn donkey temper, stared at his eyes wide, didn't blink, stared at the white paper and searched carefully little by little, but after a quarter of an hour, his eyes were dizzy by the sun, and he couldn't help but feel nausea of fainting and vomiting, so he turned his body sideways and closed his eyes to rest.

"Ahh

"What's wrong?!" Zhu Zixiao was so frightened that he almost fell off the recliner.

Lu Kaixue and Wu Dayou were also frightened, and looked at the maid in a hurry.

The maid seemed to have seen a ghost, the frightened expression on her face distorted her handsome features, she stood up suddenly, the needlework basket on her lap bounced far away, holding a big red cloth in her hand, and rushed towards Zhu Zixiao.