Early the next morning, Zhao Yu got up early and came to the room where Master Chen was resting, but he didn't expect to see the old lady outside the house who seemed to be exercising.

I saw that the old lady was only wearing thin clothes, and with one arm up and down, he slowly held a stone lock.

According to Zhao Yu's visual measurement, that piece of stone lock weighs at least sixty pounds or more, and it is not easy for ordinary adults to lift it with one arm, but this Chen Taishi is good, not to mention the figure, even the arm holding the stone lock is not shaking, which shows that the basic skills are quite solid.

Thinking about it again, an old man in his seventies and eighties can still lift a stone lock weighing more than sixty pounds with weight, which makes people wonder how brave this old lady was when he was young.

It is no wonder that even his righteous son Xue Ao said that even if the old lady was thirty years younger, he was not sure that he would be able to win.

"Brother Mao, what is this, boss?"

Seeing Mao Zheng and two or three guards standing on the side, Zhao Yu stepped up.

“……”

Mao Zheng glanced at Zhao Yu with a subtle expression.

Since yesterday, Taishi Chen pointed out to him that Zhao Yu was 'a ghost in his heart and did not dare to recognize him as his righteous son', Mao Zheng's evaluation of Zhao Yu in his heart has decreased, after all, he was kind enough to persuade yesterday, who would have thought that in exchange for Zhao Yu's hypocrisy.

It can only be said that Mao Zheng is really worthy of being the son of Mao Gong of Ye County, although he already has some opinions about Zhao Yu in his heart, he still answered Zhao Yu's question elegantly: "Whenever the boss has time, he will not neglect morning exercises." …… The stone lock was asked by the old man to come to your village. ”

"Oh."

Zhao Yu nodded suddenly, and then turned his head to look at the old lady who was picking stone locks.

To tell the truth, he came here this time to ask when the old lady would leave Kunyang for Ye County, but he didn't expect the old lady to practice in his cottage in the morning.

Looking at this posture, it seemed that he was going to live in the cottage for a few more days, which made Zhao Yu feel a headache.

At this time, Taishi Chen also noticed Zhao Yu's arrival, and with a soft 'bang', he put the stone lock in his hand on the ground.

Seeing this, a guard from the side immediately stepped forward with a dry cloth in his hand: "Boss." ”

"Hmm."

The old lady took the dry cloth, wiped her body and armpits, and then walked towards Zhao Yu and Mao Zheng with a smile on her face.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Boss......

However, before he could finish speaking, he saw the old lady and said with a smile: "Zhou Hu, this mountain is full of spiritual energy, and the old man is going to stay for a few more days......

Zhao Yu's face under the mask stiffened slightly.

I have to say that the old lady in front of him is the object of flattery from everyone wherever he goes, but for Zhao Yu, it is a huge trouble, he can't wait to send this old lady to Ye County and end the mission of 'guide' early, but who would have thought that this old lady would want to live in his cottage for a few more days.

What else is said to be full of aura, Zhao Yu has lived on this mountain for many years, but he has never felt any aura-although the air is really good.

"It doesn't seem to be a mess......

Looking at the old lady's smiling appearance, Zhao Yu's forehead couldn't help but ooze a layer of sweat.

He immediately realized that the reason why this old lady wanted to 'stay a few more days' was not at all because of 'this mountain is full of spiritual energy', but was waiting for him to answer on the matter of 'whether he agreed to be his righteous son'.

“…… You wouldn't be unwelcome, would you? ”

The old lady asked with a smile.

Zhao Yu pressed the irritability in his heart, and forced a smile on his face: "Why did the boss say this? It's an honor for me that my lord is willing to stay here a few more days......"

Hearing this, the old lady laughed with satisfaction, and even turned her head to Mao Zheng and smiled: "Zizheng, what does the old man say, it doesn't hurt to stay for a few more days." ”

Mao Zheng smiled and said nothing, and then glanced at Zhao Yu quite meaningfully, but unfortunately Zhao Yu was secretly scolding his mother at the moment and didn't notice it.

After a while, after everyone had breakfast together, the old lady smiled and said to Zhao Yu: "Zhou Hu, you gather the group of children we met yesterday for the old man, and the old man should teach them the truth that 'evil is invincible'." ”

Zhao Yu was secretly helpless, so he had no choice but to call the two brothers Deng Bai and Deng Song and order them to gather the group of naughty children in the village.

The reason why we want to find the Deng brothers for this matter is because the brothers were the children in the cottage at the beginning, and with their relationship with Zhao Yu, they were naughty in the village, until they gradually got older, and in the past two years, they became the captain of the guard of the 'village ban' under the promotion of Guo Da, and the brothers gradually became stable and got rid of the 'bear child' attitude.

After a short time, the children in the cottage were gathered in an open space outside the cottage and played the game of 'officers and thieves' again.

Only this time, a certain old and disrespectful old man, as 'a passing officer and soldier veteran', volunteered to become the 'leader' of the group of children who pretended to be officers and soldiers, and led them to scream at the other group of children who were pretending to be black tiger thieves.

During this period, the Deng brothers, who joined the 'Black Tiger Thief' side in the name of Zhao Yu, also tasted the old lady's fist and enjoyed the same treatment as the five tigers of Chenmen.

With the intervention of this old lady, the black tiger thief was quickly defeated by the officers and soldiers.

This kind of artificial intervention angered the group of children who pretended to be black tiger thieves, and these naughty children stood in the distance and watched from a distance regardless of Zhao Yu, the real leader of the Black Tigers, pointing at Taishi Chen, shouting and scolding 'dead old man' and 'dead old man', and Zhao Yu also secretly pinched a cold sweat for them.

Of course, these open-mouthed boys were hammered all over the ground by Master Chen in the end, and they no longer dared to speak ill of them.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Yu suddenly thought of Xue Ao.

He felt that with Xue Ao's character of 'the eldest in the sky, the second in the earth, and the third in me', it is estimated that he was definitely beaten by the old lady when he was young.

After beating the naughty bear children, Chen Taishi let the children sit around him, and he, like those children, sat on the ground and told these children who were not deeply involved in the world what were officers and soldiers, and what were bandits.

In view of the fact that these children are still young, Taishi Chen also spoke very shallowly when explaining the reason, only saying that the officers and soldiers are protecting their families and the people, and the bandits are evil people who do all kinds of evil......

During this time, a child may interrupt: "Old man, what you said is not right. …… When a wicked person attacked Kunyang, it was my black tiger thief who protected the county. ”

On the side, there were other unconvinced children who chimed in: "That's it, there are nursery rhymes." ”

After that, a few children sang: "In the north of Kunyang, there are mountain bandits, retreat from the rebels, and protect the people." ”

Taishi Chen stroked his gray beard and listened to this nursery rhyme with a smile.

After a while, he smiled and asked the group of children, "Little baby, is the black tiger thief you are talking about, is it really a bandit?" Don't forget, the black tiger thief in your mouth, its leader is Captain Yingchuan, an officer and soldier! …… The real thieves, they rob houses and houses, do all kinds of evil, and kill people without blinking an eye...... If you wait until you meet these scum, it will be bad, they will kill your parents, they will rob your family of valuables, even your little children......"

As the old lady described it vividly, a group of children who were once proud of being 'thieves' suddenly turned pale with fright.

It's no wonder, after all, they've only seen the 'Black Tiger Thief', but they've never really encountered any other bandits.

About an hour later, these naughty children were gradually corrected by the old lady's wrong concept, even a few of them who 'worship Zhou Hu' and 'worship the black tiger thief', after Chen Taishi said 'the black tiger thief is not a thief but an officer and soldier', they also shook their long-standing beliefs.

In fact, Taishi Chen is right, the Black Tigers have gradually gotten rid of the image of 'bandits', especially in Kunyang, where the local people look at the Black Tigers no different from the county officials.

During this period, Zhao Yu was quietly watching.

As far as he could see, the old lady really wanted to correct the children's attitudes, probably hoping that these children from the bandits' den would also be able to follow the right path.

Aside from everything else, Zhao Yu really respects this old lady, after all, with the identity and status of this old lady, it is hard to imagine that he will spend so much energy for a group of 'sons of mountain people'.

But even so, Zhao Yu still hoped that the old lady would leave here as soon as possible.

He said to Mao Zheng quietly: "Brother Mao, if the boss stays here, will he delay his trip to Yexian County to worship Lingzun?" ”

Mao Zheng smiled faintly and said, "It's okay, my father's sacrifice day is October 22. ”

As soon as he heard this, Zhao Yu's face suddenly changed.

What do you mean? Is this group going to live until October 22?

Although Zhao Yu knew very well that the high-ranking and powerful Chen Taishi had no time at all and had been living in his cottage, Mao Zheng's words really startled him.

"The old man is temporarily living here, doesn't it bother the virtuous brother?" Mao Zheng asked meaningfully.

"Of course not, why did Brother Mao say this?"

Zhao Yu was a little frightened, he felt that Mao Zheng had something to say.

That night, Mao Zheng smiled and said to Master Chen: "Boss, Zhou Hu has begun to be a little suspicious that day. ”

"Haha, of course."

Master Chen stroked his beard and smiled: "That Zhou Hu is a smart man, wise and cunning, the old man deliberately stayed here, he must be suspicious...... Let's make him suspicious, although the old man has the heart to accept him as a righteous son, he also needs to beat him......"

Mao Zheng nodded when he heard this.

As a result, Taishi Chen lived in the Black Tiger Village for three days in a row.

Every day, the old man went to play with the children, and after playing, he taught them the correct concept of life, what is good and what is evil, and at noon and night, he drank wine and ate meat in large bowls with Zhao Yu, Niu Heng, Guo Da, and Chu Jiao.

After a few days, not to mention Niu Heng, even Guo Da, Chu Jiao and others couldn't help but give a thumbs up and praise when they mentioned this old man: "That's a respectable old man." ”

Only Zhao Yu has been suffering for the past few days, and he can't figure out what this old man wants to do.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the fourth day, that is, on the afternoon of the ninth day of the third lunar month, that Taishi Chen felt that the time was almost up, so he instructed Mao Zheng to invite Zhao Yu to the house where he was temporarily staying.

"Come, Zhou Hu, sit."

After a while, when Zhao Yu came to the house, Taishi Chen beckoned him to sit down at the table, and then asked with a smile: "That day, the old man proposed to accept you as his son, and it has been three days since then, how have you thought about it?" ”

"Is that really the case?"

Although Zhao Yu didn't understand why this old man was staring at him, he also knew that this matter might not be able to be mixed.

Obviously, unless he answered, the old lady would probably continue to live in his cottage.

Thinking of this, he arched his hand and said respectfully: "Thanks to the importance of the boss, Zhou Hu is flattered, but the identity of the boss is not trivial, and he is afraid of gossip and does not dare to climb ......"

Hearing Zhao Yu's refusal, Taishi Chen was not angry or annoyed, he chuckled and said: "Zhou Hu, you don't want to be the son of the old man, but you have different intentions for the imperial court, and you don't want to meet the old man on the battlefield one day, right?" ”

“……”

Zhao Yu was struck by lightning, and looked up at Taishi Chen suddenly, and the expression on his face became a little unnatural.

He forced his composure and said with a smile, "Why does the old man think so? ”

"Huh."

The old lady snorted lightly, the smile on her face slowly retracted, and a pair of tiger eyes became cold.

For a while, the old lady vaguely exuded an incomparable momentum.

I don't know if it is the momentum of the superior who has been in a high position for a long time, or the murderous aura of Rong Ma's life, all in all, this powerful momentum made Zhao Yu's hair stand on end, and he even shivered unconsciously.

"The old man has lived all his life, will he still not be able to see through a person?"

The old lady said in a deep voice with a straight face, that seriousness, that majesty, Zhao Yu had never seen it during this time, as if the sleeping tiger had finally taken off its lazy disguise.

was stared at by the old lady's tiger eyes, Zhao Yu was like sitting on pins and needles.

"This is the ...... 'Tiger Under the Sun' Chen Zhong and Chen Taishi!!"

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Yu forced himself to calm down.

Because when he entered the house, he noticed that there were only two people in the house, Chen Taishi and Mao Zheng, if Chen Taishi intended to be unfavorable to him, it stands to reason that he would not support the twenty guards.

It's just, what exactly does this old lady want to do?

Just when Zhao Yu was secretly suspicious, he heard the old lady say in a deep voice: "Let's say, tell me about your relationship with the rebels, if you have half a sentence to hide, the old man will not be polite!" ”

"Say what? Relationship with the rebels? Could it be that Kunyang aroused the suspicion of the old lady? …… It must be, Ye County and Kunyang are forty miles apart, and the rebels stormed Ye County, but they did not send troops to destroy Kunyang's fields, a fool can see that something is wrong...... Well, this can be recognized, but the question is, how much does this old man know?'

Zhao Yu looked at Taishi Chen in disbelief.

Although he didn't understand the reason, he knew that Taishi Chen was cheating him, but he didn't dare to take risks, after all, the Taishi in front of him did have the power to decide his life and death, unless he made the first move......

But even if he strikes first, he can't beat this Taishi Chen in front of him, take a step back and say, even if he can subdue this Taishi Chen, what so what? How dare he harm this old man?

If he dares to do this, the Five Tigers of Chenmen and even the entire Jin Kingdom will be allowed to hunt him down to the ends of the earth, and even if the world is big, I am afraid that there may not be a place for him.

At this moment, all kinds of thoughts turned in Zhao Yu's heart.

Suddenly, he gritted his teeth, got up and knocked on one knee at the table, clenched his fists and confessed: "Humble duty is guilty, lowly duty does have some connection with the rebels......

He was gambling, betting that the old lady had other arrangements for him, instead of forcing him to confess his guilt and beckoning the guards to come into the house and take him down.

During this period, he secretly looked at the old lady's face, but found that after he 'confessed', the old lady's tense face was actually relieved a lot.

"Get up and tell me what happened." The old lady closed her eyes and said lightly.

"Yes."

Zhao Yu hugged his fists, his mind was flying, and he said with something that didn't matter: "When the humble post first came into contact with the rebels, at that time, the humble post had not reconciled with Kunyang County, and was still a bandit...... Although he was later forced to retreat from the Nanyang army, he was afraid of the general Wang sending troops again, so after learning about the rebels, he sent people to Nanyang County to spread rumors in the name of the rebels, hoping to divert General Wang's attention to the rebels, but he never wanted to attract the attention of the rebels. Half a month later, a man who called himself the 'Nanyang Canal Envoy' found his humble post and persuaded him to defect to the rebels. …… This man said to the lowly that if he was willing to defect to the rebels, he could divert the attention of the general on my behalf...... Of course, the lowly position did not agree to it, after all, the lowly position did not dare to do the rebellion...... Taishi Mingjian, when Guan Shuo led the rebels to attack Kunyang, he also led the officials and people to resist and broke off the relationship with the rebels. ”

"......" Taishi Chen glanced at Zhao Yu noncommittally and asked, "What is the name of the person who calls himself the 'Nanyang Canal Envoy'?" ”

"This ......" Zhao Yu hesitated slightly.

Seeing this, Taishi Chen's eyes became sharper and sharper: "Until now, you still have to hide it for him?!" ”

"Don't dare." Zhao Yu lowered his head and said in a low voice: "This person's name is Zhang Zhai, and he claims to be a believer in 'Anping Dao'. ”

“……”

Taishi Chen stroked his long gray hair thoughtfully.

Looking at his expression, it seems that he is no stranger to 'Anping Dao'.

Immediately, he asked, "What else?" ”

"And ......"

Zhao Yu glanced at Taishi Chen quietly, and said slowly: "When Guan Shuo attacked Kunyang, I also tried to negotiate with Guan Shuo in consideration of the tens of thousands of people in Kunyang, but unfortunately Guan Shuo ignored it at first, and led an army of 80,000 to storm my Kunyang, and was finally repelled by the lowly position. …… During this period, Zhang Zhai reappeared and reconciled with Guan Shuo, although at that time he was humble and resentful that Guan Shuo attacked Kunyang, causing countless casualties to my Kunyang soldiers and civilians, but considering that if this thief made a comeback, I Kunyang would not be able to be saved, so he ...... So he privately promised the rebels to 'not send troops to support Yexian' in exchange for Guan Shuo's promise not to send troops to attack Kunyang'. ”

"Hmm."

Taishi Chen nodded slightly, and then asked, "What else?" ”

"And? Isn't it ......?"

Zhao Yu lowered his head and said solemnly: "Other than that, I haven't been in contact with the rebels again." ”

Hearing this, Taishi Chen said lightly: "Is the murder of Liangcheng Lieutenant Tong Yan related to you?" ”

“……”

The pupils in Zhao Yu's eyes shrank slightly.

Yes, if there is anything else, it is that he managed to murder Tong Yan, and maintained a tacit understanding with his brother Zhao Yin, so that Xiang Xuan was guilty.

But unlike the previous two incidents, he must not admit this matter, otherwise he would not only not be the captain of Yingchuan, but also bear the charge of 'framing colleagues'.

"It's okay, Tong Yan is dead, and his bones are burned and buried deep on the East Wing Mountain, as long as I don't admit my guilt, there is no proof of death, not to mention that Xiang Xuan has admitted the matter......

All kinds of thoughts turned in his heart, and Zhao Yu said in a low voice: "Regarding this matter, the lowly position is also at fault, and the lowly position should not be ...... that day."

"The old man didn't ask you this. …… Raising his head, the old man asked you, Tong Yan was killed, but you conspired with the rebels? ”

"By no means."

Taking a breath secretly, Zhao Yu raised his head, looked into Taishi Chen's eyes, and said word by word: "The murder of Captain Tong is definitely not a conspiracy with the rebels. ”

That's right, he did it alone.

"......" Taishi Chen glanced at Zhao Yu deeply a few times, nodded suddenly, and raised his hand to the stool where Zhao Yu had just sit: "Sit, the old man still has something to ask you." ”

"Why do you still let me sit?"

Zhao Yu became more and more confused, but he intuitively thought that the old lady in front of him should not want to harm him.

"Boss...... Isn't it to blame for the lowly position? ”

Once he was seated, he cautiously probed.

Hearing this, Taishi Chen smiled slightly, shook his head and said, "Zhou Hu, you are very smart, and you are a little cunning. The old man can see that you still have something to hide......"

"Boss......" Zhao Yu's heart tightened.

"Wait until the old man finishes speaking." Raising his hand to interrupt Zhao Yu's words, Chen Taishi said: "It doesn't matter if you are to blame or not, even if you do have an affair with the rebels, with your merits so far, the court can also open the net, the reason why the old man wants to ask you is to see if you can face the old man honestly...... By the way, I also want to see which side you are on. Court? Rebels? ”

"This ......" Zhao Yu hurriedly said: "Of course, the humble position is on the side of the imperial court......"

"Really?"

Taishi Chen glanced at Zhao Yu and chuckled: "It's not that the old man is boasting, the old man intends to accept you as a righteous son, and ordinary people will never refuse, but you hesitated, are you afraid that one day you will 'kill father and son' with the old man on the battlefield?" …… It can be seen that your heart is not in the court. ”

"That's it......

Zhao Yu was secretly a little annoyed.

This is the so-called benevolence of a woman, if he was like Guo Da, he agreed that day, the Taishi Chen in front of him would never be suspicious, but he was swayed by the only remaining conscience in his heart, and he didn't want to take advantage of this respectable old man, but instead he showed a flaw.

Annoyed, he was also secretly frightened by the old man's acumen.

Just when Zhao Yu was silent, secretly thinking about how to explain, a smile appeared on Taishi Chen's face, and he saw him spread his right hand flatly, and said with a straight face: "Zhou Hu, be the son of the old man." ”

"What?"

Zhao Yu looked up at Taishi Chen in astonishment: "Boss, you ......"

He was really surprised, this old lady had obviously learned that he had some relationship with the rebels, and even suspected that he had murdered Tong Yan with the rebels, but he still wanted to accept him as his righteous son?

As if seeing through Zhao Yu's thoughts, the old lady shook her head and said with emotion: "Being the son of an old man is not all an honor, on the contrary, it is also a constraint and responsibility...... Zhou Hu, have you ever taken the table word? ”

"I haven't taken it."

Zhao Yu shook his head.

In fact, he has, but 'Zhou Hu' does not.

Seeing this, Taishi Chen stroked his long hair and pondered: "Well, then let's call it 'Juzheng'." ”

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Zhao Yu and said solemnly: "As long as you can do it, even if you meet the old man on the battlefield one day, the old man will not be ashamed of you." …… But if you do evil, the old man will deal with you personally! ”

"Staying in the ......"

Zhao Yu muttered as he looked at the old man in front of him in amazement.

He knew that this word, which was completely out of line with the word 'tiger', pinned on the expectations of the boss in front of him.