When the maid outside the door first spoke, Wang Yi knew that Su Po and Hou Ding were definitely not looking for him. Although he is not very familiar with them, because the fathers of several families have worked together several times, they do not treat each other as knights in private, so if Su Po and Hou Ding want to see him, they will knock on the door and come in, it is impossible for people to pass on the word, let alone say anything "please see".

When the maid had spoken a second time, he put down the lamp and stood up, and took three or five steps back.

The two singers also hurriedly left their seats to avoid their seats. They dodged to the wooden wall behind Shang Cheng, lowered their arms, and lowered their heads with their hands on each other.

As soon as Su Po and Hou Ding stepped into the door, the tiger took a step and clenched his fists with both hands on one knee to give Shang Cheng a big salute in the army:

"Subordinate Su Po (Hou Ding), Jin to see the general!"

Shang Cheng was a little confused. He is now the Shangzhu State of the third grade, and it is very common for the two eighth-rank lieutenants to perform such a solemn military salute when they see him. But this is not in the military. In the barracks, after the subordinates saw the big salutes, they either went into the list by themselves, or there were the Chinese soldiers who held the flag or ordered the Chinese army to be on his left and right, or the deputy positions in charge such as Guo Biao, Zhang Shao and others ordered them to be listed. But he and Wang Yi went out just to have a comfortable dinner, and the guards didn't bring any of them, so who should tell Su Po and them to stand up now? He couldn't give that order himself. Su Po and their rank is too low, and secondly, they are neither risking their lives to break the enemy and return from a difficult rush to help, they have no merit and qualifications, just ordinary references, if he personally gives the order, there will be orders and commands in the future, how to distinguish the merits of the soldiers from the merits of the treatment?

Fortunately, there is also Wang Yi.

Wang Yi knew why Shang Cheng was embarrassed, so he hurriedly took two steps forward, stretched out his arms and helped him, and said, "Two of you, please get up." ”

With his words as a foreshadowing, the following is easy to do. Shang Cheng followed and said, "Get up." And he said, "This is an ordinary meeting for dinner, so don't be restrained, come and sit down and drink and talk together." ”

Several handmaidens hurriedly carried two more chairs and placed them on the table, and the slender lady also took two clean bowls, chopsticks and wine cups, and placed them under Wang Yi.

The practice of the slender lady is also based on ordinary principles. Guests who usually come to Liangfeng Restaurant also add bowls and chopsticks when they are half-drunk, and they usually rearrange their seats according to their respective identities, according to the order of their teachers, their age or their official positions. But Liang Feng's environment is too fine and elegant after all, which is very different from the atmosphere of the means of opening and closing in the military, so there are not many generals who come here to entertain guests and drink. Even if one or two groups of people occasionally come, they are all generals who are scholars, either talking about poetry and chapters or talking about what they have seen and heard in Vientiane and all parts of the world, and their style is no different from that of ordinary scribes. She felt that although Su Po and Hou Ding's titles were not high, they were not ordinary people. Su Po and Hou Ding's fathers are both four-rank generals, and they are also the founding marquis, which is far inferior to the founding prince, but it is a few points less than a county uncle, so they take it for granted that they should arrange their seats like this, so that the four guests do not feel unfamiliar and restrained.

She was able to set up a seat like this, but Su Hou and the others didn't dare to take their seats at all, and stood respectfully in place waiting for Shang Cheng to speak. The slender ladies don't understand the rules of the army, but they know it clearly. Not to mention the two of them as little eight-rank captains, even their fathers are here, and they don't dare to drink at the same table with a Shangzhu country. is Wang Yi, he can eat and joke with the general, not because of his Duke Yiguo, but because he and Shang Yanshan are close friends and are already familiar with each other; Otherwise, he would be a mere Mingwei general, and he would not have the courage to sit against Shangzhuguo.

Shang Cheng knew what was going on in their hearts by looking at their expressions. The rules in the army have always been big, and this has nothing to do with whether he is putting on a show, but the actual situation needs to be so. Why is it that in the army, the main post is the main post, the deputy post is the deputy post, and the senior level is always the senior level? Because what the army pays attention to is strict discipline and pursues clear orders, otherwise there will be too many military orders in the war, which will cause confusion in command, and you will not know how you will die when the time comes. He also knew that Su Hou and the others didn't dare to sit, so he had to let Wang Yi sit first, and then beckoned to them and said, "I said that I asked you to sit down, what are you doing without standing?" ”

Su Po and Hou Ding both heard a hint of displeasure in his words, and hurriedly came over, moving the chair back a few inches before sitting. When he sat down, he also put his hands on his knees, his waist was straight, his eyes were never evil, and his face was solemn.

Shang Cheng lifted the chopsticks and put them down helplessly. It's been more than half a month since I arrived in the capital, and I finally went out for a light meal, but I bumped into two stunned little officers who wanted to listen to him; It's a fart for this meal! What's more, these two officers were only temporarily serving under him at that time, and they didn't really belong to his orders, he had a bullshit to say to them! He moved his gaze from Su Po's face to Hou Ding's face, and then glanced back at Su Po from Hou Ding, and saw that the two of them were neither here to drink with him nor to ask him for advice, so he was ready to wave his hand and let them go.

He didn't speak, so Su Po and Hou Ding naturally couldn't speak first. In fact, the two of them came here in a daze, and they couldn't tell what they were going to do this time. It is meaningless to thank Mo Gan for saving his life back then, and the military does not talk about this. Besides, Shang Yanshan needs them to be grateful? The others are the county uncles of Shangzhu and Shifeng, what can they give thanks...... Are you here to meet the general? They are not Shang Yanshan's subordinates, and they may not be ignored at all. Not to mention the two of them, even their parents came to see them in person, and whether they can meet or not depends on the mood of the general. The threshold of the county is high, and they don't know about it.

But they came anyway.

Right now, under Shang Cheng's gaze, both of them were a little at a loss. Although there was a brazier burning in the attic, the temperature was not too high, and the temples of the two people were hot sweat running down their cheeks and necks; I didn't dare to wipe it with my hands, so I could only sit upright and look ahead.

Wang Yi could guess what they were thinking. Shang Cheng's prestige in Yanshanwei is not to be mentioned, but he has no reputation outside Yanshan. It's Wang Yi himself, if it weren't for the fact that his two uncles and elders had participated in the two top-secret military meetings of the Prime Minister's Mansion last winter and this summer, and secretly revealed a little bit of news to him, he would not have known what Shang Cheng was capable of. Therefore, except for some important ministers in the court and veteran generals in the army, who knew how powerful Shang Cheng was, no one knew his methods like Su Po or Hou Ding or even their fathers. And there are some things that everyone knows in their hearts. It is said that at that time, he was afraid of being surrounded by the enemy one step later, and he was so panicked that he even abandoned the grain and military supplies, and ran to Luhe overnight, apparently teaching the enemy to be frightened. Although Sun Zhongshan won a series of victories in Heishui Ximen and Yandong in the late autumn and early winter, he had already gone to work to recuperate at that time, and it was Guo Biao who was acting in charge of Yanshan's military administration, so the two great victories had nothing to do with him. But it's just such a person, there is no outstanding military exploits and no brilliant resume, the speed of promotion is unmatched since the founding of the country for 100 years, the eighteenth year of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty Yan Dongyi County a war to the seventh rank of the captain, the nineteenth year of Mogan a war to the fifth rank of the general, twenty years when Zhang Shao won in Yanzhong, he was just in Beijing to report on his work, stained Zhang Shao became the Huaiyuan general under the four products, this year is even more weird, others fight life and death to fight a medal and a half, he is idle next to the side to recuperate but across the pillar country straight to the pillar country, even the knight is different from others, It is a feudal county uncle. There is another point, that is, no matter who it is, no matter what method it is, it is impossible to find out what Shang Cheng has done to get up so quickly. Therefore, many people are puzzled and curious about his good luck. Especially those young generals in the military, on the one hand, they want to know Shang Cheng's ability, and on the other hand, they want to learn his tricks to soar to the sky. So Su Po and Hou Ding came to Jin to see him, probably with this idea.

Of course, there is another reason why they came. The right hussar army served by Su Po suffered serious battle losses during the northern expedition the year before last, and its performance on the battlefield did not match the title of the three armies on its Liyuan, so the imperial court was furious and did not restore the soldiers of the right hussar army. Not only did it not replenish it, but the military department also continued to transfer the few remaining officers and men from the Right Hussar Army and the Right Shenwei Army to other armies, so in the past two years, there has been a rumor in the army that the two armies will be abolished sooner or later. Su Po, the battalion lieutenant, has actually been in name for a long time. Hou Ding's experience is similar. The mighty army is one of the main forces of the nineteen-year Northern Expedition, after the defeat of the Northern Expedition, Sima and Sima Governor and military brigade-level generals and colonels were replaced, the new military Sima and Hou Ding's father had a vendetta, of course, it was impossible to see Hou Ding, and within a few days of taking office, he picked a small mistake to remove Hou Ding from the post of lieutenant of the cavalry battalion, and casually pointed to a forage field for him to be a commander. Because of this, Hou Ding was so angry that he fell seriously ill, and he didn't get better until this summer...... These two are arrogant people, most of them offended some colleagues and colleagues when they were in their positions, and now they are not reused, and naturally there are people behind them who smash black bricks and say small things in front of their bosses, and life must be difficult. In addition, their elders are neither in the Xiao or Yang line, they have long been on the side of the army, and they can't help them at all. So when the two of them came over this time, they must also have the idea of leaving a good impression in front of Shang Cheng. They were thinking about it, whether he was lucky or on the right path, he was also a pillar of the country, he said a word, Xiao Jian and Yang Du naturally didn't listen, but if someone else changed, how many people dared not listen?

He pondered the thoughts of Su Po and Hou Ding in his heart, so he stood up and poured wine for them.

Su Hou and the others hurriedly stood up, held the lamp and said, "Don't dare." ”

Wang Yi ignored them, filled all the lamps in their hands, and hummed softly: "Still flustered?" Toast the General! ”

Only then did the two of them react. Su Po took the lead, holding the lamp with both hands to face Shang Cheng, and the words "subordinate" were spoken, Shang Cheng had already waved his hand impatiently and said, "My wine today is already a little heavy." If you don't have anything important, drink this bowl of wine and go down. ”

Su Po and Hou Dingleng paused for a moment before they said one after another:

“…… Be! ”

“…… Obey the order! ”

After speaking, he swallowed the liquor in the cup with his head down, and then withdrew from the pavilion step by step with the cup in his hand, until the maid at the door covered the cotton curtain. Shang Cheng didn't look at them again from beginning to end, but Wang Yi sent the two of them out of the door, holding hands outside the door and talking to them a lot.

After sitting down again, Wang Yi pondered for a long time, and finally made up his mind to advise Shang Cheng into two sentences. He felt that Shang Cheng had gone too far. Although the Su Hou family is not powerful at the moment, they can't bear the long-term seniority of the elders in the army, it doesn't matter if Shang Cheng offends the two juniors, he always has to give their elders a face, right? Just don't soothe the two of them with gentle words, why don't you even get up to send them off when they say goodbye?

Shang Cheng was dumbfounded by his advice, and was silent for a long time before asking, "You didn't drink too much, did you?" He remembered that Wang Yi was in his teens, and his father and grandfather died one after another. For more than ten years, why didn't the two old men teach Wang Yi anything that could be used? And Wang Yi's two uncles and uncles, don't they usually point out Yiguo Gong? Let him send two eight-rank captains, isn't this or what can it be?!

Wang Yi glared at Shang Cheng. He was a little annoyed. He kindly advised Shang Cheng to be humble and not to be arrogant, so as not to offend others unconsciously, but he was ridiculed and ridiculed by Shang Cheng.

Shang Cheng only ate and drank by himself, and ignored Wang Yi at all. The meal was intermittent, and the wine was not happy, and he was very unhappy!

The two of them were silent and the other was bored, and the atmosphere at the banquet was immediately a little depressing. The two singers really saw what the general's majesty was this time, and they didn't even dare to persuade them to drink, so they sat on the drum bench with silk silk and didn't say a word, for fear of accidentally causing a disaster.

At this moment, the main door of the attic room was pushed open with a creak, and a person walked in, and said to Wang Yi first: "I heard Liang Feng's girls say just now that you are here to entertain distinguished guests, and I thought they were coaxing me, but I didn't expect you to be here." As he spoke, he turned his head and squinted his eyes at Shang Cheng, as if he was thinking about something, and suddenly clasped his palms together and said with a smile, "Who is my Dao so good!" Haha, Uncle Ying, last year's farewell, has been good this time? ”

The man looked to be no more than thirty years old, with delicate eyebrows, and a pair of shiny black eyes shining in the yellow light of the lantern under the slightly shady black eyebrows; The head, fur fur, and thick-soled boots are not very strange, but the whole body is packed up and down tightly and neatly, with a quiet smile at the corner of the mouth, which makes it more personable. Shang Cheng only remembered who this person was after a moment, and was about to retreat from the table to salute, Wang Yi stood up first and said, "Seven Kings, why are you here?" ”

The person who came in was Chen Huang, the king of Jinan who had a relationship with Shang Cheng in the imperial city at the beginning of last winter.

Chen Huang first returned the half-salute with Shang Cheng, and then said to Wang Yi: "I heard in the afternoon that Qingshan returned to Beijing from Chang'an, and he also invited Mr. Dingyi back from Taibai Mountain. No, I made an appointment with Zhong Kuangong and Wenshi Gong, as well as Li Temporaria and Li Changguan, to wash the dust for the two of them. ”

Shang Cheng was not familiar with the Beijing Division, and he had never heard of Chen Huang's two Chang'an guests, but he only knew that the King of Jinan was here to catch them up. However, since you can ask the king of Jinan to invite Zhu Xuan and Chang Xiu to accompany him, it is definitely not today's Confucianism or the article. He followed Chen Huang's words: "If I had known that the Seven Kings were going to set up a feast here, Xiande and I should have gone over for a night meal. He rubbed his stomach very rudely, glanced at the table full of cups, plates and bowls with regret, and sighed and said, "Oh, this is all full of wine and food......"

Chen Huang knew he was acting. Shang Yanshan is vulgar? If he was really rude, would Zhang Pu be so cautious about him? If he is really a reckless man, Ye Xun can be cleaned up by him without a sound and almost want to resign? What a vulgar and reckless thing is just a polite refusal of his own invitation. He wasn't annoyed either. Anyway, he just wanted to take this opportunity to meet Shang Cheng, and it didn't matter if he got it, because he said with a smile: "This is mine." Or, another day, I will invite the general again and again, just to make amends? ”

"Okay." Shang Cheng said very happily, "Let's make an appointment another day." But what the Seven Kings said about making amends, I don't dare to take it. ”

"Then let's make an appointment another day." Chen Huang said goodbye with a smile.

Shang Cheng and Wang Yi sent Chen Huang out of Xinlinxuan until Chen Huang and his two entourages did not enter a courtyard in the distance, and then returned to the attic room and sat down again.

After having a meal but meeting so many people and things, Shang Cheng no longer had the heart to drink. He had something to ask Wang Yi, but the wine shop was not the place to speak, so after sitting for a while, he asked Wang Yi to quickly settle the account and leave.

Since telling Wang Yi to go to the checkout, Shang Chengcheng has never said a word. It wasn't until he left a few alleys in Liangfeng's wine shop that he reopened his mouth.

He asked Wang Yi: "Why did you let the king of Jinan come?" Although he said it harshly, he didn't mean to blame Wang Yi. After all, Chen Huang, the king of Jinan, and Wang Yi are cousins, and Chen Huang is secretly competing with Chen Jin, the king of Chengdu, for the position of the prince. At this time, Wang Yi naturally wanted to help Chen Huang. Therefore, Wang Yi pretended to invite himself to dinner and create an excellent opportunity for Chen Huang to meet a coincidence, and he was not surprised at all.

Wang Yi paused for a moment, and then said helplessly: "He is my cousin after all." He smiled bitterly and said, "I'll just say that I can't hide this from you, and he doesn't believe it......"

Shang Cheng was silent for a long time. He is also deliberate and considerate. After a long time, he asked again: "When do you plan to go to Jiazhou?" "At present, all kinds of big and small things in the capital have accumulated together, maybe one day it will break out, it is really a stormy and eventful autumn, no matter who he is, if he is involved, he will be planted if he is not careful, although he does not want to watch his friends being swept into the whirlpool and hurt, but Jinan Wang Chen Huang and Wang Yi are cousins, and it is impossible for Wang Yi not to get involved. Alas......

Wang Yi hesitated for a moment and said, "The Ministry of War originally said that I should leave Beijing before the Lantern Festival, but the king of Chengdu also came to me the night before yesterday and said, ......" He stopped, a little unsure whether to tell Shang Cheng or not.

"What did he say?"

Wang Yi hesitated for a long time, until he came to the end of a deep and silent alley, and then said: "He said that he wants to marry me in front of me today, and please marry the princess of Changsha to our Wang family today." ”

He was not vague or ambiguous, but Shang Cheng still took a long time to connect Princess Changsha and Chen Pu, and then turned his brain to react, "Our Wang family" refers to Wang Yi himself. He muttered a foul word in his belly, and directly said that Chen Pu is just marrying you, you have to go around in two circles! But he immediately became alert: this matter is definitely not that simple!

He didn't rush to connect the whole thing and think deeply, but asked Wang Yi first: "Just now, it was the formation where we just entered Liang Feng, and it was the place where Su Po held the birthday banquet, I saw a woman looking at you wrong, didn't you?" ”

Wang Yi's expression suddenly became a little unnatural. But he still nodded and said, "It's Tu Guohou's granddaughter." She...... Well, she maybe, well, she might like me more. ”

Shang Cheng was not interested in Wang Yi's words at all, and he didn't care about the private affairs of the Tu family's daughter and Wang Yi, so he asked bluntly: "If you want to marry her, will her family disagree?" ”

"Of course it's impossible not to agree!" Wang Yi said very simply. But he immediately changed his words and said, "But the king of Chengdu said, ...... And the princess of Changsha......"

Shang Cheng cut off his words and said sharply: "Don't even think about it!" Don't say it's a princess, you can't touch a fairy! You must not get involved in this matter! No one can touch it. Whoever happens to this matter may end up in a catastrophe! He groaned. Don't ask why, and I won't tell you! It's best for you to finish the dowry or other etiquette as soon as possible, and strive to settle the matter of marrying the daughter of the Tu family before the king of Chengdu asks for you today! ”

Seeing that a beautiful matter was said by Shang Cheng to be so dangerous, Wang Yi was reluctant and did not dare to despise it a little. But if he wanted to agree to Shang Cheng immediately now and give up a princess to marry the daughter of the Tu family, he felt very confused and reluctant. He thought about it, tomorrow one by one, it was tonight, and now he would go to see the two uncles and uncles, and let them help with it!