"If you have the opportunity, you bring that Xiang Kang Gongzi here, and let the official see what the descendants of Xiang Yan, the famous general of the old Chu, look like, and what is the difference between them and ordinary people."

Zhou Xian Ling was just a casual order under curiosity, it didn't matter if he could see Xiang Kang or not, and whether he would forget about it completely in the future, I am afraid that even he himself could not be sure. But there was no way, he said this to Feng Zhong, who had just retained the throne of the pavilion chief, and Feng Zhong not only kept it in mind, but also carried it out as a holy decree.

Feng Zhong is actually a scheming person - otherwise he would not have been inadvertently discovered by the Xiang brothers until the last moment when he organized people to arrest Xiang Bo; I will not choose to visit Zhou Xianling's house when he is about to have dinner, so that Zhou Xianling can taste the already very delicious flower chicken on an empty stomach.

It was precisely because of his scheming that Feng Zhong paid more attention to Zhou County's casual orders, because Feng Zhong knew too well Xiang Kang's ability to speak the Tao, and he could see from various things that Xiang Kang was actually a person who was righteous and knowledgeable, and knew that once Xiang Kang and Zhou Countyling met, it would be easy to please Zhou County's order with Xiang Kang's mind and eloquence. And as long as Zhou County Ling appreciates Xiang Kang introduced by himself, then his official position is equivalent to an extra layer of protection, and even if there is any mistake in the future, he can ask Xiang Kang to lobby, which is better than asking for help from himself.

Therefore, on the second day of October, he was delayed for a day in the county seat, and after paying homage to the county Cheng and the two county lieutenants in turn, Feng Zhong just returned home on the third day of October, and immediately bought a gift, and asked the doorman to bring two jars of wine, and came to Xiang's house to pay New Year's greetings, and begged Xiang Kang and himself to go into the city to meet Zhou County.

Feng Zhong's luck is good, the children of the Xiang family, who have been traveling all day long, happened not to go out of the village to play that day, Feng Zhong arrived at the entrance of the village, and saw the children of the Xiang family and a group of men and women from the same village who were in the idle period of farming were playing Liubo and throwing pots in the open space in the village, and his primary target Xiang Kang also knocked on Erlang's leg and sat on a big stone to watch the excitement. Feng Zhong was overjoyed, hurriedly and quickly came directly to Xiang Kang, and said with a smile on his face: "Xiang Gongzi, Zhengdan is fine." ”

"Brother Feng, is the matter done? The position of the pavilion chief, no problem? ”

Xiang Kang's words made Feng Zhong a little surprised, and when he hurriedly asked Xiang Kang how to know, Xiang Kang smiled: "How do you still know?" Look at you smiling so happily, isn't that what it is? ”

Feng Zhong suddenly realized, hurriedly bowed his hand to Xiang Kang, and whispered with a smile: "Thank you, brother, according to your instructions, as soon as the two Miyue chickens are made, the county will immediately promise not to investigate my mistakes last year and let me continue to work." ”

"Congratulations." Xiang Kang bowed his hand and said goodbye, glanced at the gifts and wine jars brought by Feng Zhong's guests, and asked casually: "What?" Who else to congratulate the New Year? ”

"For you, brother, of course." Feng Zhong was also quite good at talking, and said with a smile: "Brother, you have helped me so much this time, foolish brother, I won't come to congratulate you on the New Year, who will I give you a New Year's greeting?" ”

Glancing at Feng Zhong again, seeing that the kind smile on his face did not seem to be fake, Xiang Kang hurriedly excused himself and said, "Big brother doesn't have to be polite, don't worry about it." Besides, you also know my situation, you came to congratulate me on the New Year, and I don't even have anything to treat you, so I don't need to. ”

"Brother, you're welcome." Feng Zhong snatched the gift from the doorman's hand, stuffed it into Xiang Kang's arms, and then pointed to the two jars of wine and said, "I don't need your hospitality, brother, do you see?" I brought the wine, let's have a good drink today, brother, big brother, I'm here to congratulate you on the New Year, why do you have to invite me to your house to sit down, right? ”

Seeing that Feng Zhong's movements and tone were quite sincere, Xiang Kang couldn't continue to excuse himself, so he could only say to the Xiang brothers who had already gathered around to watch the excitement: "Brothers, Brother Feng is here to invite me to drink, let's have a drink with me." ”

The brothers of the Xiang family, who like to eat and drink, applauded, and hurriedly hugged Xiang Kang with Feng Zhong and walked to the village, leaving to watch the lively men and women of the same village look at each other on the ground, and said in surprise: "I heard it right, right?" The pavilion chief came to Xiang Kang to congratulate the New Year with gifts? When did Xiang Kang become so powerful? Even the pavilion chief respects him so much? ”

Not only were the young men and women in the same village dumbfounded, but Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Sui and other Xiang brothers were actually quite shocked, because they not only saw Feng Zhong taking the initiative to pay New Year's greetings to Xiang Kang, but after arriving at Xiang Kang's dilapidated hut, they also saw Feng Zhong scrambling to take a bowl and pour wine, holding the wine with both hands and inviting Xiang Kang to enjoy it, so respectful that they regarded Xiang Kang as his boss and elders. The completely upside-down scene was so strange that Xiang Guandu couldn't help but quietly push Xiang Zhuang with his elbow and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter?" How could Feng Zhong respect Xiang Kang like this? Are you going to help Xiang Kang scare this Feng Zhong again? ”

Only Xiang Kang knew that Feng Zhong would never be courteous without anything, and after drinking two bowls of rice wine, he took the initiative to say to Feng Zhong: "Brother Feng, is there something wrong?" If you have something, just say it, don't be so polite, as long as I can help, I will try to help. ”

"It's still a brother." Feng Zhong flattered him with a thumbs up, and then said: "Brother, then I'm welcome, two things, first, I want to ask if you can still make Chu Palace food, can you teach my mother-in-law to make a few more dishes?" ”

"I'll have to recall that, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem." Xiang Kang agreed, and then asked, "What's the second thing?" ”

"I want to ask you to accompany me into the city for a trip to meet the county lord of our Xiaxiang County." Feng Zhong said the purpose, and then told Xiang Kang the cause and effect of the matter, explained the reason why Zhou County Ling was interested in Xiang Kang's identity, and said: "Brother, don't worry, I think this matter is a good thing, even if you and the county lord can't talk about anything, it is also a good thing to be able to know the county lord, maybe you can use this relationship that day in the future." ”

Xiang Kang did not immediately agree to Feng Zhong this time, for two reasons, one is that Xiang Bo was rescued by Xiang Kang that night, Xiang Kang had to prevent the news from leaking, and the government set up a trap to trap him. The second is that Xiang Kang must weigh the consequences of befriending Zhou County, and worry about whether it will arouse the disgust of his own brothers - the Xiang brothers' bitter hatred for the Qin Dynasty government is not just talking, but at the same time, Xiang Kang also has to worry about whether he, the descendant of Xiang Yan, will be targeted by people with intentions if he is too ostentatious, which will lead to unexpected consequences.

After thinking about it carefully, Xiang Kang soon found that he was a little worried about the first point - if the government really wanted to arrest himself to ask for the crime, he would just send someone to arrest him, and he would definitely arrest Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Guan and other criminals together, and he couldn't make such a deliberate design to trap himself without the power of the chicken, and gave Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan and others the opportunity to escape.

The second point is not a big problem, because when calculating, Xiang Kang suddenly remembered a historical detail - in history, Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu took advantage of the opportunity to be guests at the Huiji County Guard's Mansion and suddenly killed the County Guard and raised troops to rebel, which is enough to prove that the Xiang brothers did not resist making friends with the officials of the Qin Dynasty. At the same time, Xiang Liang, Xiang Bo and the Xiang family brothers have never deliberately concealed their identity as descendants of the Xiang family in Xiaxiang County, and even the neighboring Yu family knows that they are the nobles of the Chu State, if anyone wants to make a fuss about this, they will definitely do it a long time ago, and they don't need to wait until today, they can't worry too much.

The disadvantages were eliminated, and after thinking about the benefits carefully, Xiang Kang found that it was definitely a lot of benefits to make friends with the county order, not only could he find the temple gate where he could burn incense directly when there was something, but he could also get some confidential information from the county town that ordinary people could not access - for example, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled, and it was better to prevent it in advance than to smear it all day long.

After quickly weighing these pros and cons, Xiang Kang made up his mind on the spot, and immediately said: "Okay, since it is the eldest brother who speaks, then I will give you this face, say a time, let's go into the city together and meet that county for a while." ”

"Great, Brother Xiang Kang really gave face." Feng Zhong applauded with great joy, and hurriedly said, "Brother Xiang, strike while the iron is hot, how about going tomorrow?" ”

Xiang Kang, who didn't care about the time, agreed, and immediately agreed with Feng Zhong to go out together the next morning and be invited to visit the county magistrate surnamed Zhou in the city. Feng Zhong was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly toasted Xiang Kang again and again, and finally invited Xiang Kang and the Xiang brothers to his home, and took the initiative to let Xiang Kang and the Xiang brothers eat and drink together at their own house.

That night, Xiang Kang naturally fooled his brother with rhetoric, letting the Xiang brothers know that they were visiting Zhou County Order for their own interests, and it didn't take much effort to get the Xiang brothers to agree that they would go into the city alone to visit Zhou County Order the next day. Then the next morning, just after breakfast, Feng Zhong, who was neatly dressed, came to Xiang's house, respectfully invited Xiang Kang out of the door, and went straight to the county seat with Xiang Kang talking and laughing.

After entering the city smoothly, under the guidance of Feng Zhong, Xiang Kang, who was also dressed very neatly as much as possible, came directly to the gate of the county temple where Zhou County ordered the office. However, at this time, Xiang Qi's anxious shout suddenly came from the rear, "Uncle Ji! Uncle Ji! Uncle Xiang Kangji! Wait, don't go in yet. ”

Xiang Kang turned back in confusion, and saw that his nephews Xiang It and Xiang Yang were rushing towards this side quickly, Xiang Kang knew that something must be wrong, so he hurriedly greeted him and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"The Yu family is ......, the Yu family is here." Xiang It gasped and said, "As soon as you left today, someone from the Yu family came to our house, saying that there was a big incident in their family, and Duke Yu was very sick and couldn't take care of anything, so he wanted to ask us to go to Yan Jiting to help his family." Uncle Xiang Zhuang Ji and the others went first, and asked me to report to you and tell you to go quickly. ”

"It must have something to do with that single right lieutenant!" Xiang Kang quickly came to a conclusion in his heart, and at the same time, he immediately found that this matter was really troublesome - the door of the county temple had already entered the pass just now, and it was okay that Zhou County Commander didn't have time to meet him, if he happened to have time to meet him, he wouldn't be able to go to Yan Jiting to help the Yu family immediately.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Feng Zhong, who found that the situation was not good, came up and asked.

"Yan Jiting's Yu family is friends with me, and his family has an emergency and wants to ask me to help." Xiang Kang explained casually, and then asked Xiang It and Xiang Yang: "The people of the Yu family, did they say what happened?" ”

"I didn't say anything specifically, I just said that the Shan Right Lieutenant deliberately cleaned up their family, wanted to kill Yu Zhi, and wanted to force Yu Gong to death." Xiang It replied a little vaguely and said, "Uncle Xiang Zhuang and Ji have already gone, Uncle Ji, you have a lot of ideas, you should go too." ”

"Okay, I'll go right away." Xiang Kang made up his mind, extremely worried that if he was not present, Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan's muscular and simple-minded reckless men would make things out of order, and when the time came, not only would the affairs of the Yu family be more troublesome, but maybe they might also harm their own brothers. So after nodding, Xiang Kang immediately turned to Feng Zhong and said, "Brother Feng, I'm very sorry, the matter on the Yu family's side is too urgent, I have to leave immediately, otherwise I'm afraid it will be too late." ”

"But what about here?" Feng Zhong's face was crying, and he said: "The officer guarding the door has already gone in to pass it on, if the county respects him and agrees to meet, how can I explain it?" ”

Xiang Kang hesitated for a moment, and then arched his hand and said: "Then I can only ask the eldest brother to tell the county the truth, I think Zhou County Zun should be reasonable and understand my hardships." Then ask the eldest brother to tell Zhou Xianzun, and say that if there is a chance, I will definitely come to the door to apologize. ”

After that, Xiang Kang didn't give Feng Zhong a chance to distinguish, and pulled Xiang He and Xiang Yang to rush back and forth, Feng Zhong couldn't stop it, so he could only cry out repeatedly, "Brother Xiang, you are saving one person and harming another!" You're gone, what should I do here? ”

It is also deserved Feng Zhong's bad luck, Xiang Kang just left with the front foot, and the back foot of the door who went to report before returned to Feng Zhong and said that the county order was invited, Feng Zhong was sweating profusely, so he could only stammer and explain the reason to the county temple Menzi. As a result, when the disciple heard this, he was furious and said angrily: "What are you kidding? I just passed it on for you, and the county zun also agreed with you, and the person you brought suddenly left, how can I explain to the county zun? Let's go, you go in and say to the county yourself! ”

Helpless, Feng Zhong had no choice but to obediently follow Menzi into the official temple, and stubbornly entered the back hall to salute Zhou County's order who was taking a lunch break. And Zhou Xianling saw that it was only Feng Zhong who came in alone, so he was inevitably very strange, and hurriedly asked: "Feng Zhong, didn't you say that you brought that Xiang Kang Gongzi to meet this official?" Where is he? ”

"The county respects the sin, he suddenly has an urgent matter, so he left first." Feng Zhong's voice was full of crying, first told Xiang Kang's friend about the accident and asked for help, and then said that Xiang Kang chose to help his friend first, and then bowed and said: "The county lord forgives the sin, it's all the fault of the villain, the villain didn't know that things would be so coincidental, Xiang Kang's son just arrived at the gate of the official temple and something like this happened, causing the county to wait for him in vain, the villain is guilty, the villain is guilty." ”

When he said these words, Feng Zhong's face was not only pale, but his heart was even more dead, and he was ready to be dismissed on the spot. However, to Feng Zhong's great surprise, after listening carefully to his explanation, Zhou Xianling not only did not get angry, but also said in surprise: "For the sake of friends, would you rather give up the opportunity to meet with this official?" This Xiang Kang Gongzi ....... ”

Talking to himself in surprise, Zhou Xianling suddenly raised his voice and said, "What a chivalrous man!" ”

"County Zun, aren't you angry?" Feng Zhong asked cautiously.

"Why is the official angry?" Zhou Xianling asked rhetorically, and said: "If that Xiang Kang Gongzi chooses to die to his friends in order to meet with the official, the official will look down on him!" That Xiang Gongzi is chivalrous and righteous, and this official is proud to have such a chivalrous person under his rule! ”

Feng Zhongchang breathed a sigh of relief, and the heart that was tightly mentioned in his throat was suddenly put back into his stomach, and said secretly: "Brother Xiang, you are really a lucky star, such a thing, the county lord can not only not be angry, but also look up to you even more!" It seems that being a man is really good. ”

"Okay, it's okay, Feng Zhong, go back." Zhou Xianling waved his hand and said, "When that Xiang Kang Gongzi is done with his friend's affairs, you invite him to come to see me again, and then the official will personally go out to meet him." ”

Feng Zhong grinned, and he didn't know how to evaluate what he had encountered today. Zhou County Ling thought about it for a while, and then ordered: "By the way, you are the pavilion chief, Shiling Pavilion and Yanji Pavilion are not far away, find a way to inquire about what happened to Xiang Kanggongzi's friend's family, if you can help, try to help Xiang Gongzi." If there is anything that needs the help of the official, you can also call that Xiang Kang Gongzi to tell me that the official likes a chivalrous warrior like him. ”

Feng Zhong hurriedly nodded and thanked Zhou Xian Ling for Xiang Kang, and muttered in his heart: "I knew that playing Zhou Xianzun would have such a result, just now I should have followed Brother Xiang Kang to help the Yu family, maybe Zhou Xianzun would also look down on me because of this." ”