No matter what kind of conversation Zhu Jing had with Mrs. Tai and Jiuniang in private, this dinner at the Zhao Guogong Mansion on this day still seemed to be happy and the family was happy - the fly in the ointment was that the brothers Zhu Tingfang and Zhu Er did not return in Cangzhou, so it could not be regarded as a complete reunion.

But even so, Wu was still overjoyed. Whether it is the kindness released by the Zhu family, Zhu Ying's undisguised affection for Zhang Shou, or the emperor's words that Zhang Shou obtained, she only felt that the hard work of the past ten years was really worth it. Therefore, when she took the carriage back to Zhang Yuan at night, when Zhang Shou sent her back to the room, she couldn't help but hold Zhang Shou's hand.

"Ah Shou, you are also famous for going to Cangzhou this time, and now you have been given the word by the emperor, can you tell the emperor to build a family temple, so that Xiucai and the lady can enjoy the incense offering all the time?"

Zhang Shou didn't expect that Wu didn't urge him to get married, nor did he make other requests, but reminded him that he should build a family temple for his parents. Although the system of this dynasty is that only the official of the five grades can build a family temple, but the system is nothing more than human affection, if he is willing to submit a letter to request, it is conceivable that this matter should be approved as soon as possible. After all, his life experience has always been closely linked to Zhu Ying and Princess Yongping.

He glanced at the Wu family with a pleading look on his face, and thought of the widow Zhang who desperately gave birth to a child, but he died himself, and finally nodded: "I know, I will start doing it immediately." Mother, don't worry, now I almost have this strength. ”

"Good, good!" Wu cried with joy, wiped his eyes, and then said with great relief, "I have always looked forward to this day, when the family temple is completed, I will go with you to worship Xiucai and the lady, you unfold the emperor's words there, they must be very happy under the nine springs...... Don't talk about this at night, you go back and have a good rest! ”

Since he set off from Tongzhou early in the morning, Zhang Shou has been running from here to there non-stop, and he is indeed very tired at this time. Fortunately, he came out of the palace and sent Ge Yong home with Zhu Ying, otherwise if he took Ge Yong to Zhu's house for that dinner, he doubted that the teacher would fall asleep directly on the dinner table.

At this moment, he sent Wu into the room, and when Zhang Shou walked back, he couldn't hide his exhaustion, couldn't stop yawning, and when he turned his head to the side in a trance, he found that Ah Liu, who was half a step behind him, was still in good spirits at this time, and he felt a little incredible.

"Ah Liu, how long did you sleep last night, you can still be so energetic at this time, are you a night wanderer?"

"I'm used to it, I just need to get two hours of sleep a night." Ah Liu replied without any reluctance, and when he saw Zhang Shou looking at himself as if he had seen a ghost, he said with a natural face, "Why don't I have time to learn things?" Crazy people used to come to teach me at night. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Shou couldn't help but feel terrified after being stunned for a moment. Indeed, since he came, he remembered that during the day, he was at home, and occasionally went out to chop wood or do some chores, and he would never leave his sight for long. To practice the martial arts, horsemanship, driving and other skills of today, you can really only squeeze time out of sleep.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward and touched Ah Liu's head with some mixed feelings. He felt in his heart that maybe it was because of lack of sleep, so he was only a few months younger than him, but Ah Liu was half a head shorter than him.

"I didn't know that you were the patron saint of the night." He smiled and quipped, then took two steps back, and said in a relaxed tone, "In the future, whether you are out and about, or when you are at home, you can sleep a little longer if you are fine, and don't be so alert as a cat that comes out at night." I'm not a prince or nobleman, and not so many people want my life. ”

Seeing that Ah Liu didn't speak, obviously not planning to listen to himself, Zhang Shou thought about it and changed his statement: "Didn't you summon a large number of people for Zhang Yuan?" and Yang Haozheng, these boys from Rongshui Village, plus the little peanut from Cangzhou this time, you don't have to do everything yourself, try to train and train others, and leave things to others to do. ”

Speaking of this, he took himself as an example and said: "Look at me, when you do things, don't you have Zhang Chen and them to do it for you?" ”

Ah Liu was a little moved by Zhang Shou's words, especially in the face of that clear but unquestionable gaze, he was unconsciously a little moved. So, after just a moment's hesitation, he nodded and said, "I'll give it a try." ”

Seeing that Ah Liu accepted his proposal, Zhang Shou immediately laughed, and when he walked to his courtyard, he remembered Zhu Er, who was still in Cangzhou, and asked: "I still forgot one thing, haven't you always been ordered to teach Zhu Er martial arts?" He's in Cangzhou now, you can't teach him, right? You remember to give him free wages for the past few months. ”

Hearing this, Ah Liu suddenly muttered reluctantly: "That's a lot of money......

Zhang Shou was suddenly angry and funny: "Why are you so wealthy?" Don't forget, when we came out of Cangzhou, we had already determined that Cangzhou had a bumper cotton harvest this year, coupled with the efficiency of spinning machines and looms, cotton prices would not fall, but would only rise. I'm also a man with 500 acres of cotton fields, so I can sell it for a lot of money. Coupled with the income from Zhang Chen and Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, I am not short of money. ”

"Oh." Ah Liu agreed weakly, thinking about the small amount of income every month, he felt extremely painful.

However, thinking that Zhang Shou was indeed not as short of money as before, he gradually stopped thinking about this, but couldn't help but think of what happened to Zhang Shou and Ge Yongmian today. Although he was not able to share the same table, he took turns to eat on the side like the guards, and since he always pricked up his ears, he did not miss a word of those conversations.

When he followed Zhang Shou for another distance, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "When I saw the emperor today, why didn't the young master ask about the establishment of a port in Cangzhou?" ”

Zhang Shou didn't expect Ah Liu, who had never cared about foreign affairs, to ask this, and he was slightly stunned at this time, and he smiled and said: "Because this was originally the emperor's matter for Yingying and her eldest brother, I was just driven out of the duck by chance to participate in it, so there is no need to point fingers." You also heard it in the Zhu family before, Zhao Guogong already thinks I am too eye-catching, in short, I am too good at causing trouble. ”

"How can you compare to Zhu Da when you make trouble." Ah Liu's face was full of displeasure, and then he added, "Zhu Er is not much better!" ”

"Yes, yes, their brothers are the ancestors who make trouble, and Zhao Guogong still thinks they are honest."

Zhang Shoutou replied without replying, and then suddenly asked, "Ah Liu, weren't you thrown to my house by your crazy master?" Since you came with a mission, when did you consider yourself my family? With your ability, even if you don't do anything as a royal attendant, you should have another future, but now that you are trapped in such a small home, don't you have any regrets? ”

For Ah Liu, this question is easy to answer. He said without thinking about it: "Young master, do you remember, you have always said that I am too short and I need to eat more to grow taller, no matter what Aunt Liu does, you will leave me a copy, which will increase my appetite." ”

Seeing that Zhang Shou stopped and was slightly stunned, he continued: "The lady usually saves money, but every time she asks Aunt Liu to measure and cut your clothes for the four seasons, she will remember to add a set to me. Later, young master, the clothes you can't wear when you are tall are all worn by me, from silk silk to silk cotton, I have not been missing. ”

Ah Liu paused, and his face rarely showed a little melancholy: "Lao Liu Tou makes fun of me every day, but he will always give me dozens of extra Wen during the New Year, saying that it is the New Year's money given by the elders to the juniors, and he will always bring me something when he comes back." Aunt Liu has a knife mouth and a tofu heart, and after learning to cook with the young master, she pulls me to be the one who tries the dishes every time, but in fact, she changes the way to let me eat more. ”

He rarely said so much, but when he said this in one breath at this time, he seemed to feel that it was still not enough: "It was the young master who said to me, Ah Liu, you have to talk more, otherwise you won't be able to marry a daughter-in-law in the future." It was the lady who said to me, Ah Liu, you have to take care of Ah Shou and take him to heart as a brother...... As for the future that the young master said, regret it. I didn't even think about that. ”

A casual smile appeared on the young man's face.

"The madman taught me so many things, let me protect you, and I've done it. I'm clear up with him, and if he asks me to do something else, then I can only live with him. This is my most important home, and I feel at ease here, and it is more important than anything else. I have nothing to regret. ”

"You, let me tell you what is good!"

Zhang Shou has always felt that he is actually a very cold person, and his attitude towards everyone seems to be very gentle, but in fact, there is a kind of coldness in his bones that rejects people thousands of miles away. Even though Zhu Ying is so gorgeous and sunny, when he first saw her, he was too troublesome to hide away, even if Wu and other family members, he only used politeness and politeness to get along with her at the beginning.

But at this time, he felt that not only was his heart hot, but even his eyes were a little warm. He couldn't help but sigh softly when he looked at the young man who was unusually inconspicuous in the pile of people, who was as silent as a shadow on weekdays, but took good care of him in every aspect.

"Ah Liu, you don't just remember how good we are to you at home, you also have to think about how good you are to us and how much you have done for us. Without you, relying on us alone, this family doesn't know what the hell it looks like. ”

Seeing that Ah Liu raised his eyebrows in disbelief, he smiled and said: "Moreover, you go and ask Zhu Er yourself, ask Zhang Chen and a few of them, what do they say about you in private, do you envy you for never getting tired and being omnipotent?" Go and ask Little Peanut yourself, how does he worship you? ”

"You're an indispensable part of the house. However, you also need to think that your body is more important. ”

Until he sent Zhang Shou back to the room, seeing that the door was closed, Ah Liu still couldn't help but think in his heart, what is called his body is more important. He has always been exercising diligently, because of his good health, he has the ability to follow Zhang Shou to the north and south, the ability to deal with various emergencies, and the ability to live longer.

Does Zhang Shou think that he is not diligent enough to practice? Or do you feel that his martial arts are not good enough?

In this way, he is indeed far from a madman......

With such a deep understanding, Ah Liu went directly to the martial arts arena in the backyard. As the former Luwang Courtyard, there are all kinds of facilities here, including the martial arts arena where the King of Lu once came to watch the pro-guard competition. On the weapon rack on the side, eighteen kinds of weapons were shiny, obviously when he followed Zhang Shou to Cangzhou, the little guys at home were not lazy.

He casually pulled out a large knife, tested the weight, and then danced the knife in the field. At his age, he is proficient in all eighteen weapons, of course it is impossible, what Hua Qi taught him is just the key to the use of various weapons, so he uses some weapons well, such as bows and arrows, and some weapons are not very good, such as this narrow and heavy broadsword.

And his moves and styles don't seem to have too many rules, but if there is an opponent in front of him at this time, he will definitely taste the most intense killing intent in that seemingly chaotic situation.

Because Ah Liu is not limited to moves, but to kill. In the days before coming to Zhang's house, he was taken by Hua Qi to all kinds of most dangerous desperate situations, using daggers with cloth strips wrapped around handles, ropes, and all kinds of local materials, and taking people's lives in life-and-death struggles. As for the horse thief, the villain, the ruffian, the bandit...... Or something else, he didn't remember for a long time.

"Good practice."

Hearing this sudden sound, Ah Liu's whole body suddenly tensed. He clenched the big knife in his hand tightly, and instead of turning to look at where the sound came from, he secretly stored his strength.

"Very good, it seems that you still remember what I taught you, people are most vulnerable to sneak attacks when they turn around in a hurry."

With this voice, a figure appeared on the wall, and a middle-aged man with messy hair shook his arms, falling from the sky like a big bird, and landed more than ten steps behind Ah Liu. Almost as soon as he landed, the young man with his back to him suddenly swung his knife back, and in an instant, the two exchanged more than ten moves, and each other's moves were all fancy, as if they were fighting for life and death.

After more than ten moves, the two suddenly separated, and at this time, Ah Liu stared at the pair of black spikes with seven pairs of fingers, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said, "You have changed weapons again!" ”

Hua Qi suddenly smiled: "This is the weapon that Grandpa Taizu gave to his attendants back then, called the Emei Thorn." I've always used this, but I don't use it very much outside, so you haven't seen it much. Boy, I haven't seen you for a long time, you can actually use the big knife that you are not good at to insist on more than a dozen moves under my Emei stab and grow again. ”

In the face of such praise, Ah Liu's reaction was extremely flat: "When did you come?" Did you hear what the young master and I said? ”

"Huh? What did he say to you? Hua Qi seemed a little surprised, he raised his eyebrows, and then said casually, "I'm here to tell you something." You have to teach a few more helpers to come out, the emperor has a great plan, and the young master of your family is the target of everyone, and he will be even more hated in the future. This garden is sparsely populated, don't let people like me get in easily! ”