Wan Xi originally wanted to take a look at the situation of the weekly examination in the court, but when she heard that her father was going to compete with Yu Hou, it was inconvenient to leave; Zhou Fa misses his brother in his heart, but he doesn't want to miss watching his uncle shoot arrows. The two of them looked into the court together, and saw that Taiji was taking care of Zhou Kao, so he was relieved.

Yu Yan tidied up his clothes and returned to the court to sit down, looking like he had returned victoriously. He looked at Yue Fei, and the two looked at each other and smiled. Yuefei said: "Didn't my father say that he wanted to compete with that Xinjia adult? Why don't you go outside to watch? ”

"Don't look at it, I guess my father is probably not as good as Lord Xinjia."

"Yo, you haven't married Wan Xi back yet, and you're starting to look at outsiders? Look, I'm not going to sue you before my father. ”

Yu Yanhun said nonchalantly: "It's not that I'm looking at outsiders, it's just that my father's archery skills are, don't I know yet?" He now hunts only once a year in the early spring, and the rest of the time, either too cold or too hot. Even at home, when did you see him practising archery? Anyway, if I had to bet on who would win between my father and Lord Xinjia, I would definitely not bet on my father. ”

Sure enough, as Yu Yan said, during the test firing, Yu Mengyan actually missed two arrows, one arrow at the lower tongue, one arrow at the Hou bow, and Xin Jia was all four arrows. It wasn't until a shot that Yu Mengyan finally didn't miss again, but Xin Jia had an arrow hit, so in the end, Xin Jia won.

Yu Mengyan laughed and said, "I'm rusty, I'm unfamiliar!" Lord Xin Jia is indeed superb in archery, and the widow is willing to bow down. With that, he drank all the wine. Xin Jia didn't need to drink alcohol to win, but he also accompanied Yu Mengyan to drink.

Xin Jia said: "Lord Yuhou, do you want to continue the competition of double shooting?" ”

Yu Mengyan waved his hand again and again: "No need, if you drink like this again, if I, the host, can't accompany me later, won't I sweep away the interest of the guests?" ”

Xin Jia had no choice but to turn his head to Zhou Chang and said, "Lord Zhou Chang, the two of us haven't fought for a long time. It's better to take advantage of today to see who has improved their archery skills over the years. ”

Zhou Chang arched his hand at him and said with a smile: "That's exactly what I mean." ”

This week, Chang has been fighting with Dog Rong all the year round, although he is accustomed to the battle formation, and Xin Jia practices martial arts on weekdays, but he does not dare to slack off a little, so the two can be said to be equal. At this time, the two of them did their best and did not give in to each other, and they were both frequently selected. The crowd of onlookers in the courtyard did not favor either side, so whoever won the lottery erupted in cheers.

Yu Yan heard the endless cheers in the courtyard, and he was displeased, and secretly thought: I didn't expect these two people to be so good at archery, but they overshadowed the limelight of our victory over the weekly exam.

In order to relieve Zhou Kao's hangover, Taiji here made him drink two pieces of honey in a row, and Zhou Kao was a little sober. He heard the noise of people in the courtyard, and looked out to realize that it was his father who was competing with his uncle. He wanted to go down to the porch to watch the battle, but as soon as he stood up, he felt lightheaded, and he almost fell.

Seeing Zhou Kao's depressed expression, Tai Ji couldn't bear it, and comforted him: "Don't be discouraged, that Yu Gongzi is four or five years older than you, even if you lose, you won't be ashamed." When you are a few years older, you will not be weaker than him. ”

Zhou Kao didn't say anything, but what he thought in his heart was: If my archery skills can reach the level of my father or uncle, I will definitely be able to recover the disadvantage. In the final analysis, I am not good at learning my own arts, and I can't complain about others.

Zhou Chang and Xin Jia tried twice in a row, but in the end, they had their own winners and losers. The two of them drank relatively happily and felt very happy. Before I knew it, it was almost dusk, and I only heard Yu Mengyan shouting: "Come on, hold the lamp!" Today's banquet will be all night long, and you will rest when you get drunk! ”

Xin Jia looked at Zhou Chang and said in a low voice: "Lord Yuhou is so gracious, it is indeed beyond my expectations. It's just that we still have to hurry tomorrow, and we don't know what to find to get out of the seat, which is really tricky. ”

Zhou Chang said: "I don't care, I just don't know if my sister-in-law needs to rest." If her body can't support it, then no matter how Lord Yuhou keeps her, we have to go. ”

"Okay, let's discuss it with your sister-in-law first, and then we'll make plans."

The two returned to the court, and Xin Jia summoned Mrs. Jiang and Tai Ji to the side and said, "Lord Yuhou's posture, it seems that there will be another night banquet." I'm worried that this will delay our trip, so I'm going to discuss with you whether we should retire to Lord Yu. ”

Zhou Chang said on the side: "Sister-in-law, we are mainly worried that your body has not healed yet, and we are afraid that you will not be able to bear it." ”

Madame Jiang replied, "I don't feel tired now, so you don't have to worry about me." ”

Xin Jia said: "But we have to set off on the road tomorrow, this road is tiring, if you are not good to recuperate, how can the injuries on your body heal?" ”

"Actually, Mrs. Di told me a way before, which can make us arrive in Echeng faster, so we don't have to be in such a hurry."

Taiji asked, "What kind of method is that?" ”

"It is to go to Rui to take a boat, walk by water for two days, and then get off the boat at Mengjin Ferry. Just walk another day by land to Echeng. ”

Zhou Chang and the others were silent when they heard this, and Mrs. Jiang continued: "Mrs. Di also said that she wants to stay in Yucheng for a few more days, and then go to Chaoge with us. ”

Tai Ji couldn't help but say: "Sister-in-law, you insisted on refusing to take a boat to Chaoge before, why have you changed your mind now?" ”

"If so...... If it's only a two-day boat ride, I'll be okay with it. Besides, Mrs. Di said that the mountain road in Yiguan is very difficult to walk, and I am also afraid, in case the boulder rolls down the mountain......"

Xin Jia said: "Since Madame agrees to take the boat, it will be easy to do." We ......"

"That's great!" Tai Ji interrupted Xin Jia's words and said, "Sister-in-law agrees to take the boat, then we can arrive at Chaoge earlier, and we can see my father as soon as possible!" We will stay in Yucheng for one more day, and then set off after my sister-in-law recovers from her injury, do you think this is good, big brother? ”

Xin Jia looked at his wife and Zhou Chang, and when he saw that no one objected, he said, "Okay, that's what I said." We still go back to the inn early tonight to rest, although Lord Yu Hou has good intentions, but drinking and having fun all night is too indulgent, and I don't want a few children to be contaminated with this arrogant and lascivious atmosphere. ”

After a while, Xin Jia gave Zhou Chang a look, and the two of them saluted Yu Mengyan and said, "Lord Yuhou, I am grateful for your hospitality." It's just that it's getting late, so please allow us to go back to the museum early to rest. ”

Yu Mengyan said: "The sun has just set, how can it be called late?" My son yesterday in Shouyang Mountain winter hunting, the harvest is quite rich, the widow specially ordered people to concoct a lot of special game, but also please be sure to taste one or two, so as not to waste my mind. ”

Xin Jia said: "Thank you for your kindness." It's just that we still have urgent matters to rush to Chaoge to meet our father, so we hope that Lord Yuhou will forgive us. ”

"Hmm, is the old man Xin okay? Speaking of which, I haven't seen him in a long time. I don't know when Lord Yi Shou and Lord Zhou Hou are going to leave? ”

"My father is very old, and he always has some old diseases, but he doesn't care about them. We plan to rest in the city for the rest day and then set off for a boat ride to Chitsudo the day after tomorrow. ”

Yu Mengyan pondered for a moment and said, "Oh, the widow is also going to Maojindu. In the past few years, the widow has not gone out much, even if he goes to the court to pay tribute, I will leave it to Yu Yan and his retainers. But this time the new king ascended the throne, and I had to go. In this case, the widow has the heart to walk with the two adults, I don't know what the two of them think? ”

Xin Jia said in his heart: Lord Yuhou's move is quite a gesture of goodwill, but it is inconvenient to refuse. Being able to make friends with a big country like Yu Guo is no harm to Xin Guo. So he said: "I am very honored to be able to walk with Lord Yuhou. It's just that I don't know how long it will take for Lord Yu Hou to prepare, and when will he be able to set off? ”

Yu Mengyan said with a smile: "The tribute for the widow to meet the king of Shang has already been prepared, and as for the trivial matters such as packing up and packing some grain, it can be done within one day." Since Lord Xin Jia said that he was going to Ruicheng the day after tomorrow, would it be okay for us to exchange money at the East City Gate the morning after tomorrow? ”

Xin Jia Zhou Chang thought that he would not delay his trip, so naturally he had no objection, but he resigned repeatedly. Yu Mengyan saw that he couldn't keep it, so he had to get up and send him straight to the door of the Hou Mansion. He saw that Zhou Kao was drunk and couldn't ride a horse, so he specially ordered someone to drive a carriage for Zhou Kao to ride.

After bidding farewell to Xin Jia and the others, Yu Mengyan and Yu Yan returned to the court, and Yu Yan deliberately boasted to Mrs. Di: "Mother, the child defeated that Zhou Gongzi today, and it can be regarded as fighting for some thin noodles for our Yu people." ”

Mrs. Di only smiled slightly: "I think that Zhou Fang is just a small border country, better than a Zhou Gongzi, it is not a rare thing." When the king of Shang ascended the throne, the princes of the world gathered to sing the court, and they must perform a big shot. If you can outperform the heroes in the big salute, it will be a great achievement to make the Yu clan glorious and proud of their ancestors. ”

Yuefei couldn't help but ask on the side, "Mother, what is the gift of a big shot?" ”

"When the king of Shang ascended the throne, he must pay tribute to the previous king, and when the sacrifice is performed, 18 princes will be selected to worship with him. It is a great honor to be able to participate in the sacrifices of the previous kings, and all the princes of the world want to win a place. Therefore, the big archery salute is held before the sacrifice, and the princes of each side can only send one person to test the archery on behalf of their own clan. Only the eighteen princes who were able to win the Great Shooting Salute were eligible to participate in the sacrifice of the Shang king. ”

Yu Yan smiled and said: "Then the candidate for our Yu country's competition is naturally me." ”

Yue Fei didn't like Yu Yan to take the credit alone, and said: "Big brother, don't be complacent too early, if you don't use my strategy today, you may not be able to win." ”

Yu Mengyan frowned and said, "Strategy? What the hell are you two doing? ”

Yu Yan felt ashamed in his heart and didn't dare to answer. But Yue Fei said nonchalantly: "I once heard the eldest brother say that the tail feathers of the bow and arrow are made with the eagle feather as the top, and the horned eagle feather is the second; But there is a kind of golden eagle in our Yu country, which is the king of birds, and the feather arrows made of the tail feather of this golden eagle shoot farther farther than the feather arrows of ordinary eagle feathers. It's just that this golden eagle tail feather is relatively rare, so it is specially used in the battle array, and the feather arrows used in hunting and practice are usually used in ordinary eagle feathers. ”

Yuefei glanced at her father when she said this, and then said: "Just now I asked my eldest brother to use an ordinary eagle feather arrow for that Zhou Gongzi during the test shooting, but when it was time for the official competition, I replaced him with an arrow with a golden eagle tail feather. That Zhou Gongzi didn't know the mystery of the arrow feather, so he missed an arrow, isn't it my credit? ”

Yu Mengyan glared at her fiercely and said, "Nonsense! If such a thing is spread out, who will dare to come to Yuhou's mansion as a guest in the future? ”

Yuefei has been arrogant and indulged since she was a child, and she is rarely reprimanded by her father like this, her eyes are red at the moment, and she said aggrievedly: "My daughter is also for the eldest brother's lifelong event, and I hope to help the eldest brother show her skills in front of Wan Xi." Unexpectedly, now it has become my fault, and it is really in vain for my kindness. ”

Yu Mengyan saw that Yue Fei was in such a situation, and it was not easy to have a seizure when she was angry. Seeing this, Yu Yan hurriedly came out of the round: "Father, I think that Zhou Fang is just a small country, even if we play Zhou Gongzi, you don't have to be angry about it." ”

Yu Mengyan said: "Hmph, don't underestimate Zhou Hou, this person is a difficult opponent when he fights, maybe we will ask him in the future." ”

Yu Yan smiled disapplausively: "Our Yu soldiers are well-fed and the terrain is dangerous, except for the army of the merchants, how can we ever be afraid of the rest of the princes?" How could there be a request for Zhou Fang? ”

"You know what? The reason why my Yu country can become rich in the world is completely dependent on the salt pond outside the city, and I don't know how many people among the princes of the Quartet are coveting our treasure land. Although I do not have the ambition to become the co-ruler of the world, I always need to do my best to preserve the inheritance passed down from my ancestors. As young and frivolous as you, with no one in your eyes, how can I rest assured that I will pass on the throne to you after a hundred years? Yu Mengyan said that he was excited, and kept pounding the ground with his hands. Seeing that his father's tone was extremely heavy, Yu Yan was so frightened that he fell to the ground, and said repeatedly: "The child knows that he is wrong. ”

Yu Mengyan sighed, and continued: "In the future, you must be cautious in your words and deeds, and you must not cause trouble again and make enemies on all sides." You must know that the current henchmen of Yu Country are in great trouble, just between the elbows and armpits, and the name of the 'Broad-mouthed Giant Catfish', you should always know, right? ”

Yuefei interjected and said, "Wide-mouthed giant catfish, I also know it." It was a huge fish monster born in a large river, and it was said to be almost a foot long, and it could swallow a child as young as five or six years old. When I was a child, my mother forbade me to go to the river to play, and always told me to be careful not to be eaten by giant catfish. But to say that this giant catfish is a big problem for my Yu country, is it a bit exaggerated? ”

After hearing this, Yu Yan gave her a look again and again, and whispered: "The wide-mouthed giant catfish that my father said is a human, not a fish. Don't talk nonsense. Yuefei stared at him with wide eyes, thinking: How can a wide-mouthed giant catfish be a human?

Yu Mengyan said: "I'm actually talking about Rui Hougang, the monarch of Rui State, and 'Broad-mouthed Giant Catfish' is a nickname given to him by others behind his back. Just by listening to this name, you can know that Rui Gang's temperament is an insatiable person. He controlled the river from Fengling Ferry to Mengjin Ferry, and the Rui navy did all kinds of evil on the river in this area, and passing ships could only be kept safe by paying tribute to them. If this is all it means to return it, then Rui Gang actually ordered to prohibit merchants from taking ships to Yu Country to buy salt, and its purpose is self-evident, that is, to force our Yu Country into a desperate situation. ”

Yu Yan was furious when he heard this, and said, "Father! Rather than sit back and wait, why not fight them to the death as soon as possible? We have 10,000 soldiers in Yu, can't we beat a Rui country? ”

Yu Mengyan shook his head: "If there is only one Rui country, of course it is not our opponent. It's just that Na Rui Gang is not stupid, he has already formed an offensive and defensive alliance with Chongguo on the south bank of the Great River, and that Chonghou Hu claims to be a direct descendant of Great Xia, and his strength is not weaker than that of my country. With these two sides joining forces, we don't have much chance of winning. ”

Yu Yanhuo stood up, clenched his fists and said, "But are we just letting Rui Guo bully and do nothing?" That's too much of a! ”

"Sit down for me!" Yu Mengyan shouted. Yu Yanqiang suppressed the resentment in his heart, puffed and panted in his nose, and sat back on the table after a while.

"For today's plan, only when Chongguo is at war with other countries and we are too busy to take care of ourselves, can we use force against Rui. Until then, all we can do is wait for the moment and not act recklessly. Yu Mengyan paused for a moment, and then continued: "Do you know how much trouble you almost caused the day before yesterday? If Zhou Gongzi and Wan Xi were burned to death by fire, or were killed by random arrows, Xin and Zhou would inevitably come to raise troops to ask for their crimes. If Rui and Chongguo take advantage of the situation at this time, my Yu clan will have the disaster of extinction in an instant! You should be glad I only have you as a son, otherwise...... Hum! ”

Yu Yan was frightened into a cold sweat when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "Father, forgive your sins!" ”

Yu Mengyan waved his hand and said, "It's not too early, you and Yue'er should go down and rest." Yu Yan and Yue Fei said goodbye to their parents, and then they went back to their rooms. Yu Mengyan sat on the seat, speechless for a long time. Seeing this, Mrs. Di poured a handful of wine for him and said, "You want to befriend Zhou Houchang and let him contain Chongguo, right?" But I heard that Zhou Fang's national strength is weak, I'm afraid he is not Chongguo's opponent, I think Zhou Hou must not dare to take the initiative to provoke Chongguo, right? ”

"Madam, you don't know much about Zhou Chang. This person led 5,000 soldiers to dare to attack Yincheng, and fought with the former king Shangxian in the suburbs of Yin, and was a powerful person who once made the people of Yincheng famous and changed color. If even Zhou Chang didn't dare to fight Chonghu, there would be no one among the rest of the princes who dared to provoke Chongguo. ”

Mrs. Di asked in surprise: "But even if Zhou Chang has that guts, what way can you make him obey your orders and go against Chongguo?" ”

Yu Mengyan said: "Now our number one enemy is the Rui Kingdom, and the neighboring countries, everything that can be won over must be tried to win over as much as possible. Zhou Chang, such means as coercion and inducement may not work, so there is only one way left: marriage. I see that the eldest prince has already tied his hair that week, and he should be about the same age as Yue'er, if it is ......"

"I can rely on you for everything else, but this one is not good." Mrs. Di interrupted Yu Mengyan and said, "Yan'er wants to marry the grandson of the Marquis of Xin, and I don't object to this - although the Xin Kingdom is small, after all, it is also a prince of generations, and it is worthy of my Yu family's family." But you only have Yue'er, a daughter, and you should always find her a husband who is the right person. What's more, I don't think Zhou Chang is a person at the mercy of others, if he doesn't serve you in the future, can this married daughter get back? At that time, didn't you end up with a bamboo basket to draw water? ”

Yu Mengyan glanced at his wife, and faintly felt in his heart that what she said was not unreasonable. He said, "Let me think about it again." ”