As the head of the White Lotus Sect and the richest man in the river, Fan Yingde's 60th birthday was far more prosperous than ordinary people imagined, with more than 3,000 guests alone, and seventy or eighty tables were set up in the main hall, just for the heads and faces to sit like seats; Characters with low rank and lack of prestige can only sit in the side hall, flower hall and back hall; This location was far from enough, and there were many more guests who had to sit in the open air in the garden and courtyard - unfortunately, Wu Yuanming and Zheng Xin, who went to the banquet under a pseudonym and fooled Fan Yingde with the shou peach shou noodles they bought casually on the street, were among them.

Looking at the high-rollers and well-dressed gentry who came and went in the hall, Zheng Xin, who was sitting in the corner of the compound with Wu Yuanming, couldn't help but feel jealous, kicked Wu Yuanming a few times under the table, and whispered in Wu Yuanming's ear: "Stinky thief, it's all your bad idea!" Who am I, Zheng Xin? When do you sit in the garden at a feast? Hurry up and think of a way for us to sit in the main hall, otherwise how can I find my sister and master? ”

"Do you still have the face to blame me?" Wu Yuanming glanced at Zheng Xin and replied angrily: "Who told you to be so stingy?" I originally asked you to buy a painting of Wang Xizhi's ink treasure to worship his birthday, but you were reluctant to pay for the silver, only bought some longevity peach noodles perfunctory, and you don't know that the more such a large family, the more snobbish the guests, of course we have to sit in the garden. ”

"After buying Wang Xi's ink treasure, we won't have much silver left." Zheng Xin Zhenzhen retorted eloquently: "Originally, for me, it doesn't matter if the silver is spent - because as long as I find my sister and master, I won't worry about running out of silver flowers, but what should you do?" Aren't you going to Yangzhou again? I don't leave you some silver to wrap up, how can you go south? Hmph, kindness is not rewarded! ”

"Less of this! Just your stingy appearance, and give me money to save the entanglement? Wu Yuanming was full of depression, and debunked Zheng Xin's stingy nature and said: "You are as virtuous as my sister Hui'er, and you will become bad if you say that men are rich at every turn!" You didn't give me any of the silver and jewelry you got from Menghu, all of them are in your hands, and when you find your sister and master, you can send me away with ten taels of silver at most! ”

"Nonsense! Am I so stingy—I'll give you at least fifteen taels of silver, I don't care, find a way to get me to sit in the hall!" Zheng Xin was exposed by Wu Yuanming, and he was so angry that he kicked Wu Yuanming under the table and urged him endlessly. At this time, the ceremonial officer at the front door suddenly sang: "Lord Zhou Peigong has come to pay respects." Hearing this shout, Wu Yuanming hurriedly shrank behind Zheng Xin, peeked at Zhou Peigong and his party, and sure enough, he saw Kong Sizhen, Qiang Donkey, Li Yuliang, Wu Ciyou and others coming in with a handsome scholar, Zheng Xin turned around and asked Wu Yuanming softly: "Is the scholar in the middle Zhou Peigong?" Born so handsome, not much worse than you. ”

"It should be him, handsome and useful? Isn't it a big traitor with a personal face and a beast's heart? Wu Yuanming replied in a low voice. At this time, the master Fan Yingde heard that Lord Qincha had arrived, and had already led a group of family members out of the hall in person, although Fan Yingde was sixty years old, his hair was already like silver, but his voice was very loud, and he seemed full of energy, and he bent down to Zhou Peigong and hugged his fist, and said in a loud voice: "Fan Yingde, a grass man, has seen Lord Qincha." Fan Yingde is a grass people, and the cheap life is actually visited by Lord Qincha Jade Toe, and the grass people are really ashamed. ”

"Old Hero Fan is so polite, please get up, please get up." Zhou Peigong politely picked up Fan Yingde, and said affectionately: "This official was ordered to investigate the case of the Cangzhou West Election Officials who harmed the people, thanks to the help of all the heroes of the rivers and lakes who came to pay homage to the old hero Fan, they are all in the face of the old hero. When Zhou Peigong lifted the red cloth, the guests watching the excitement immediately exclaimed - Zheng Xin's big eyes also bloomed with greedy light, it turned out that on the gold lacquer plate, there was a pair of very rare cat's eye gemstones, and they were the size of thumbs, which were extremely precious.

"Just a small courtesy, I hope the old hero smiles." Zhou Peigong smiled at Fan Yingde. But in the face of such a valuable gift, Fan Yingde thanked him and said: "Fan Mou thanks Lord Qincha for his love, but this gift is too precious for Fan to accept. ”

"Don't accept such a valuable gift? Fool! I don't know how many people muttered secretly, Zheng Xin even leaned into Wu Yuanming's ear and muttered: "Stinky thief, if you give me such a valuable thing, I will definitely accept it!" I'm not as stupid as him! Wu Yuanming sneered, coldly watching how Zhou Peigong acted, as Wu Yuanming expected, Zhou Peigong looked surprised, and said in surprise: "Old hero Fan, this thing is just a little bit of the official's mind, and it has no other meaning, I don't know why Old Hero Fan refuses to accept it?" Could it be that Old Hero Fan refuses to reward the official's face? ”

"Definitely." Fan Yingde said loudly: "It's not that Fan doesn't give face to Lord Qincha, but that the Lord is an official of the imperial court, and Fan is just a grass man, or a person in the rivers and lakes, and has no contact with the government." If Fan accepts this heavy gift, it means that Fan has money and property exchanges with the government, and is suspected of colluding with the government to oppress the people, and he cannot explain to heroes from all walks of life on the rivers and lakes. Therefore, it is okay for Lord Qin to come to Fan's house for a banquet, but Fan can't accept any gift from Qin Cha! ”

"Good!" There was a round of applause inside and outside the compound, since ancient times, it is not uncommon for the government and the local government to oppress the people, and the intimacy between the people in the rivers and lakes and the government has become a big taboo, just now when Zhou Peigong presented a heavy gift to Fan Yingde, the people in the rivers and lakes present were envious, and they were more suspicious of Fan Yingde, but now Fan Yingde made his heart clear in public, and everyone was more confused about him, and they admired him even more. And a trace of embarrassment flashed on Zhou Peigong's face, and after that, he also ordered the servant to put away the gift, and arched his hand: "In this case, this official will not embarrass Old Hero Fan - but this official will eat Old Hero Fan for nothing." ”

"Hahahaha......." Zhou Peigong's witty words made the audience laugh. Here, Zheng Xin leaned into Wu Yuanming's ear and whispered, "Did you see it?" Fan Lao Hero confiscated the gifts of the Tartar lackeys, and expressed his unwillingness to deal with the Tartar government in public, and he deserved to be the head of the Mixed Yuan Sect. Wu Yuanming snorted coldly in a low voice: "Don't worry, who knows if he is acting as a double reed?" Who knows if he took more behind his back? ”

"Do you dare to doubt the old hero Fan who is highly respected in the rivers and lakes?" Zheng Xin's face changed color, and he glared at Wu Yuanming and asked viciously. Wu Yuanming shrugged his shoulders and said in a low voice: "It's not just me who is suspicious, I'm afraid that your master is also suspicious—otherwise, why wouldn't your master and your sister not appear in public in Hejian Mansion?" Wu Yuanming is indeed suspicious of Fan Yingde, because Wu Yuanming clearly remembers that in history, when his father raised troops to rebel, the White Lotus Sect in the north did not follow the Qing court to fight his father, but took the opportunity to also play the banner of anti-Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty to follow his father to fight Xiao Mazi, and now Fan Yingde organized a turtle killing conference against his father in the name of the White Lotus sect, which is completely opposite to the situation in history, so Wu Yuanming has always been hostile to this Fan Yingde, suspecting that he is a traitor to the White Lotus Sect who has renegaded into a lackey of the court.

Just as Wu Yuanming and Zheng Xin were talking in a low voice, there was a sudden commotion at the gate, and then, Liu Haozi, who had been a thug in Hexing Loubai yesterday, broke in with dust, and while pushing away the Fan family who was blocking him, he shouted rudely: "Old hero Fan, I, Liu Haozi, am sorry for you, I originally wanted to bring the head of the dog official who Wu Sangui placed in Cangzhou to give you a birthday today, but I didn't know that the son of the king and the eight lambs and turtles reported in advance, and the dog official hid without a trace early, causing Lao Tzu to die of two good horses." There's no way, two catties of raw gold cakes, count me Liu Hemp's filial piety to the old hero Fan. ”

"The western election official in Cangzhou ran away ahead of schedule? It seems that there are indeed Dad's spies in this Hejian Mansion. Wu Yuanming thought about it for a while and understood the reason why Liu Haozi said this - yesterday Zhou Peigong planted the blame on the head of the Western Election Official with the plan of blaming Jiangdong, and Liu Haozi, who was jealous and hateful and easy to show off, rushed to Cangzhou Mansion overnight to find the Western Election Official to settle accounts, and wanted to use the head of the Western Election Officer to send Fan Yingde, who initiated the turtle killing conference, but his father Wu Sangui also had a detailed work in Hejian Mansion, and revealed the news to the Western Election Officer in Cangzhou in advance to let him escape in advance, and also let Liu Haozi run away in vain. Thinking of this, Wu Yuanming was suddenly overjoyed, Dad's people are his hardcore lackeys, if he can find them, he will be able to do a lot of things, but how can he find them?

Wu Yuanming has a bad habit, that is, he is easy to ignore what is happening in front of him when he is thinking, so when Wu Yuanming comes back to his senses from thinking, Fan Yingde, Zhou Peigong and others have already entered the main hall, and Liu Haozi took a dozen or so bandits to sit at the table behind him, but he couldn't sit down in the hall, and the garden had already opened a banquet for wine, and everyone guessed the fist and wine, which was already very lively. Wu Yuanming hurriedly asked Zheng Xin in a low voice about the reason, Zheng Xin glared at Wu Yuanming, and replied in a low voice angrily: "Are you deaf?" Just now, Fan Lao Hero said that the hall was full of people, so he had to wronged that ugly monster to sit in the compound with us. ”

"Hmph, I'm afraid I dislike that Liu Hezi's water bandit background." Wu Yuanming snorted coldly, understanding the psychology of these people very well. However, Wu Yuanming still admires Liu Haozi a person, not to mention the resolute and unexpectedly strong martial arts, it is rare to have that pure heart of patriotism and love for the people, so Wu Yuanming has the intention of making friends with him. Wu Yuanming grabbed a pot of wine and two wine glasses on the table, walked to the scolding Liu Haozi with a smile, poured two glasses of wine and said: "Liu Yingying, I am a scholar who has no power to restrain chickens, but I admire Liu Yingying's righteous act of going to Cangzhou County overnight to kill the stolen officials, as well as Liu Yingying's bright and upright personality!" The hero has worked hard, and I want to pay tribute to the hero with a cup of respect, and the hero must be rewarded for this face. ”

"Mr. is too polite, Liu Haozi dares to refuse?" After a hard day and a night, I didn't even have a place in the main hall here, and I had to endure the white eyes of those high-rollers in the rivers and lakes whose eyes were above the top, Liu Haozi was depressed and breathless, and suddenly met Wu Yuanming Such a confidant, Liu Haozi suddenly smiled, and hurriedly took the wine glass handed by Wu Yuanming, and drank it all after touching the two glasses! At the end, Liu Haozi still insisted that Wu Yuanming sit with him, and then met three cups, Wu Yuanming did not shirk his intention to make this friend, and drank three bowls of wine in a row with Liu Haozi, who had a hearty personality, and laughed heartily, and the relationship immediately became very close.

"Good brother, it's refreshing!" Liu Haozi gave Wu Yuanming a thumbs up and laughed: "If my brother is free to go near Luoma Lake, you must go to Guanchang Island in the middle of the lake to find Liu Haozi...... By the way, haven't asked for a brother's name yet? And the little lady who was at the same table with her brother, I don't know who she was? ”

"In Xia Wu Yuanming, a native of Gaoyou, Jiangsu." Wu Yuanming introduced himself, and pulled Zheng Xin from the next table to Liu Haozi, and introduced: "This is the lady below, whose nickname is Xin Xin." Xin Xin, haven't you seen Liu Yingying soon? Zheng Xin secretly stepped on Wu Yuanming's foot with a flushed face, blessed Liu Haozi, and said in a shy whisper: "Xin Xin has seen Liu Yingying, Liu Yingying Wan'an." My father-in-law drank some wine and loved to mess around, Liu Yingying must not be surprised. ”

"There, there." Liu Haozi replied very coldly - this is not Liu Haozi putting on a show, the main thing is that Liu Haozi has always hated beautiful women, and although Zheng Xin has makeup on her face, she can't completely hide her beautiful beauty, and she is still a beautiful little daughter-in-law with a lovely appearance. Therefore, Liu Haozi had an extremely cold attitude towards Zheng Xin, and only casually said a few perfunctory words and pulled Wu Yuanming to talk and brag, making the arrogant Zheng Xin very angry, and sat beside Wu Yuanming with a straight face without saying a word.

There is a saying in the 21 st century, if you can drink one pound and drink eight taels, you are sorry for the people, you are sorry for the party, and you can drink eight taels and one catty. Therefore, for Wu Yuanming, an outstanding civil servant who has been the focus of training, it is very handy to drink and brag and pat on the back, and those methods in the 21st century wine field are just a few things, Wu Yuanming coaxed the depressed Liu Haozi and those water bandits to him to be happy, and regarded Wu Yuanming as a friend of life and death who can be relieved - if it weren't for the fact that the scene and environment did not allow it, Liu Haozi really wanted to kowtow to Wu Yuanming. And Zheng Xin scolded Wu Yuanming angrily in his heart for dragging her into an embarrassing situation, while constantly looking at the guests who came and went, looking for their companions of the Heaven and Earth Society, but after searching for a long time, Zheng Xin still found nothing, not even the shadow of an ordinary Heaven and Earth Society congregation.

After searching again and finding nothing, Zheng Xin had no choice but to come to Wu Yuanming's ear in public and bite the root of his ear, muttering: "Stinky thief, didn't you say that my master and sister would come to pay Fan Yingde's birthday?" Why can't I find them? Zheng Xin and Wu Yuanming's intimate actions caused a burst of evil laughter from the water bandits, Wu Yuanming apologized to the water bandits, and also leaned into Zheng Xin's ear and whispered: "If my expectations are not bad, your master should have found out that Fan Yingde was wrong, so he didn't come to pay his respects in person, or came to investigate the situation in disguise." ”

"What then? How can I find them? Find a way! Zheng Xin couldn't bear to be shy, and whispered in Wu Yuanming's ear intimately. Wu Yuanming had a headache for a while, and said in his heart, who is your master Chen Jinnan? Will you casually reveal your identity in such a place? In desperation, Liu Haozi picked up a bowl of wine and handed it to Wu Yuanming, and said dissatisfiedly: "Brother Wu, you are good at everything, but you are too close to the little lady, we are heroes in the rivers and lakes, righteousness is the most important!" Come on, let's do another bowl! ”

"Brother Liu, don't blame, Xin Xin is afraid that I will be drunk and will not be able to ...... at night Hehe,! Wu Yuanming's words were halfway through Zheng Xin's hard claw, and he had to stop in pain, and smiled bitterly and touched another bowl of wine with Liu Haozi, fortunately, the wine provided by Fan Yingde's family is brewed wine and distilled wine, and the alcohol content is not much higher than that of beer, and Wu Yuanming can still hold on. However, Rao is like this, even after being poured more than ten bowls of wine by Liu Haozi, Wu Yuanming's head still feels groggy and a little drunk. And Zheng Xin couldn't bear it anymore, and pulled up Wu Yuanming and insisted on leaving here, Wu Yuanming had no choice but to tell Liu Haozi to get drunk and leave, "Brother Liu, my brother's wife, Hedong Lion, go first, we will have a date later." ”

"Brother Wu, don't panic, let's drink three more bowls, and it's not too late for you to leave." Liu Haozi still had a belly in his stomach and did not boast to Wu Yuanming, where he was willing to let Wu Yuanming leave, and pulled Wu Yuanming just to not let go, and Zheng Xin was in a hurry to find the master and sister, grabbed Wu Yuanming's other hand and didn't let go, and the two pulled down, almost dislocating Wu Yuanming's two arms. Wu Yuanming screamed in pain, "Xin Xin, Brother Liu, let it go." ”

While Wu Yuanming was shouting, there was a sudden commotion at the gate of Fan Yingde's compound, and someone shouted, "Head!" Head! Hearing this shout, Liu Haozi and Zheng Xin both let go of Wu Yuanming, and rushed to the courtyard gate with all the guests to check the situation, Wu Yuanming also followed, only to see that five or six bloody human heads had been thrown on the ground in front of Fan Yingde's house at some point, rolling everywhere, and on the street in front of Fan Yingde's house, five or six black-clothed masked men were riding on horses with hard bows in their hands, and it looked like the heads should have been thrown by them.

"Listen up, people inside!" A man in black shouted in a Yunnan accent: "Tell Fan Yingde that old immortal, no matter how dare he go against the king of Pingxi, these heaven and earth will be thieves will be his example!" ”

As soon as the man in black finished speaking, the Jianghu heroes in Fan Yingde's family were already roaring and scolding, "Dog traitor! "Dog traitor, look for death!" "Wu Sangui, Lao Tzu and you don't share the sky!" There were even many impulsive people who had already picked up their weapons and rushed out, but the few men in black immediately opened their bows and arrows and shot random arrows, and the few Jianghu warriors who rushed to the front were injured by arrows and even fell. When everyone charged, the men in black had already fled, and the horses' hooves were dusty, and they disappeared around the corner of the street in the blink of an eye.

"Chase! Can't let go of those Wu Sangui's lackeys! I don't know who took the lead and roared angrily, countless Jianghu heroes roared and chased over, or chased on foot, or on horseback, and some people grabbed carriages and horses on the street, and chased with passers-by's horses, and Fan Yingde's courtyard was suddenly in chaos inside and outside. And Liu Haozi, the owner of Luoma Lake next to Wu Yuanming, was even more jealous and hateful, and chased him out with a big knife with a roar, and the water bandits behind him hurriedly followed. Zheng Xin also pulled Wu Yuanming and urged: "Stinky thief, hurry up and take a look." ”

"Don't panic." Although Wu Yuanming was a little drunk, his mind was still sober, he sneered and grabbed Zheng Xin, and whispered to those few human heads: "Xinxin, go over and take a look, is the appearance of those heads your heaven and earth?" Wu Yuanming's words reminded Zheng Xin, and Zheng Xin exclaimed in a low voice: "Yes, will my sister ......." Busy and Wu Yuanming squeezed to the door to see those heads, and after a closer look, Zheng Xin breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered in Wu Yuanming's ear: "I haven't seen these people, I don't know if it's our Heaven and Earth Society, but it's definitely not the congregation that my master and my sister brought to Hejian." ”

"Pingxi Palace!" Someone shouted again, and he was still holding a feather arrow shot by those black-clothed men in his hand, pointing at the inscription on the arrow and shouting: "Look, the arrow has the mark of Wu Sangui's dog thief!" He shouted that there was a new wave of angry scolding against Wu Sangui, and the heroes of the rivers and lakes present were all filled with righteous indignation, and their hatred for Wu Sangui was even worse. And Zheng Xin, who has been learning a lot of scheming with Wu Yuanming these days, did not participate, but leaned into Wu Yuanming's ear and asked, "Stinky thief, what's wrong?" Wu Sangui's dog thief not only did not scare the knights on the rivers and lakes, but made the people on the rivers and lakes hate him even more - in your words, it is simply more than worth the loss. Also, this kind of arrow seems to be exactly the same as the arrow that shot Brother Fang to death in Licheng County that day. ”

"Okay, my Xin Xin has grown a lot." Wu Yuanming had already seen that this was Kang Mazi's lackey playing a trick of killing people with a knife, but he didn't expect Zheng Xin to also see this. Joyful and drunk, Wu Yuanming couldn't help but kiss Zheng Xin's tender face like condensation, and said with a smile: "Let's go, let's chase those people in black, as long as we can catch one, the conspiracy of the Tartar lackeys can be exposed." ”

Zheng Xin was suddenly kissed by Wu Yuanming, and his face was suddenly red with shame, and he wanted to have a seizure but he couldn't help himself, and pointed to the back and whispered: "Fan Yingde and the minister surnamed Zhou have come out, don't you listen to what they say?" ”

"What else can he say? Isn't it that he swore to the sky that he would not share the sky with my father, and then called on the heroes and heroes of the world to settle accounts with my father. Wu Yuanming's drunkenness surged again, and he took Zheng Xin's soft little hand and walked out, and said in a low voice: "Let's go, if your master and your sister were there just now, they would definitely catch up and grab their tongues and torture confessions, maybe we can still meet them." ”