On the second day of the first lunar month, Shang Cheng still woke up very early as usual.

Instead of getting up right away, he rested his head on one arm and closed his eyes intending to stare for a few more moments. He said to himself, this is the Chinese New Year, even the emperor and ministers have to take a five-day holiday, and you, a "sick person", need to rest even more.

But he couldn't sleep. The habits he had developed over the years stubbornly reminded him that it was time to get up.

He listened quietly to the rooster's crowing from the direction of the stove in the backyard; In the distance, there are roosters in response and morning. There were people walking in the courtyard, the door of the wing room turned and made a jerky creak, and the two men whispered two short words, and then there was a slight sound of footsteps and the sound of the door being closed. He knew that it was two guards on duty who were on duty. Farther away, there was the rustling of brooms dragging on the ground...... He opened his eyes. A dim white light appeared on the paper-covered window lattice, and the vague outlines of everything in the bedroom could be seen. On the wall next to the kang head hung his usual waist knife, except for the gluttonous swallow and a few pieces of white copper skin at the bottom of the sheath, the wooden scabbard was only covered with a layer of moisture-proof varnish; In the misty white light of the morning light, the wood texture of the circles on the sheath was barely recognizable. The room was very large, more than a dozen steps wide, but the room was empty and there was hardly anything, only a low cabinet in the corner of the room. There was an oil lamp on the cabinet, and the yellow light from the fire, which was not much smaller than a bean, was mixed with the morning light coming in through the window......

He sat up, put on his fur coat and walked out of the upper room.

The fog had fallen in the middle of the night, and now it was still sparse and white, and I couldn't see too far.

He had barely stepped out of the house, and the cold air peculiar to the early morning immediately followed the wind down the unbuttoned collar and placket of the big coat, and he felt a chill in his chest, back, and limbs. He struck a spirit, and the last bit of sleepiness suddenly vanished, and his mind was completely clear. He stood under the dripping rain eaves and took a long breath, then slowly exhaled it, raised his arms and legs twice, and stepped down the stone steps.

Quiet in the courtyard. The hour had not yet passed, the sun had not risen in the east, and most of the people in the city were still asleep; The guards in this small courtyard were no exception. He could hear snoring coming from the chamber; Duan Si could also be identified muttering in his dreams. From the stern tone, you can know that Duan Si is probably scolding which unlucky guy hey, this guy is not restful when he falls asleep!

The guards standing on the stone steps outside the courtyard door heard the noise and turned back alertly. Seeing that it was him, he didn't make a sound, and immediately stood up with his legs and chest, from his head to his waist and then to his heels, as straight as a javelin, and his right arm was thrown at his chest, and he didn't drop his arm until he walked down the green steps of the small courtyard gate.

He walked to the small martial arts arena in the side courtyard. The thin-soled, short-waisted cowhide boots stepped on the bluestone slab, making a slight clattering sound, which was particularly clear in the silent early morning. After walking through the two courtyards, I met the invited butler and two servants. The servant was carrying a long broom in his hand, and it seemed that he had just finished cleaning the house. The butler whispered something to the steward as he walked, and when he saw that he had only taken a step towards the side of the road, he nodded and went his own way. This is the rule of the county uncle's mansion, it doesn't matter, and when you see Shangzhuguo, you won't let it go; If you have something important, go to the chief manager Li Fengyi one by one, and you don't need to say hello to Uncle Ying! The two guards who happened to be passing by also saw him, and they did not say anything, and after silently saluting, they came out separately and walked behind him more than ten paces; The other continued to follow the route.

He first jogged two or three laps on the martial arts arena, felt that his body was warm, and his hands and feet were moving, so he took off his fur, crackled his fingers one by one, nodded at the guard, and tried his fists and feet.

The guard was short and dundun, with high eyebrows, small eyes, a square nose, and a square face, with large pieces of red and bright red hanging on his cheekbones on both sides, and he walked with a little looped legs, so he knew at a glance that he was not a Han from the Central Plains. This is one of the group of "Hachagen" slaves that Shang Cheng rescued on the grassland, there is no name, because the cutlass is good, I don't know who gave him a nickname called the scimitar, and those close to him called him the old knife, and over time this became his big name. Among the nearly 100 personal guards who have followed Shang Cheng before and after, he has won the most heads, and his achievements are also the greatest, even if Da Zhao has always been a foreign soldier in the army, he was promoted to the captain of the seventh grade of Guide one step earlier than Bao Kan; Now he is the captain of Zhaowu under the sixth rank. It's just that Lao Dao's Chinese dialect is very poor and illiterate, so although the rank is not low, he has never received a real position, so he has been following Shang Cheng as a personal guard.

Now, when the old knife saw Shang Cheng greeting him with his empty hands, he immediately shook his head. With a scimitar in hand, it was as easy for him to clean up the general as it was to nibble on a bun and drink soup; But if he hadn't carried a scimitar, the general would have easily beaten him to the ground. He has eaten enough of this kind of suffering, so he will never be fooled again!

He refused to be fooled, and Shang Cheng was reluctant to suffer, so he and he picked a twenty or thirty pound stone lock dance on the sidelines......

He was reading a book in his study when the sun climbed the treetops. Duan Si knocked on the door and said that the old Xu Guozi who was on the other side of the door sent his eldest son to send an invitation card, wanting to invite him to come over for a meal at noon today, but I don't know if he can be free today.

He shook his head. Originally, it was very common for the neighbors to come and go to each other to invite a guest for a meal or something, and he was not a high-ranking nobleman, and he would not put anything on the shelf of Zhu Guoying County Bo to dislike the old Xu Guozi. But he couldn't eat this meal today. He dared to vouch for his own head, today's meal was definitely Gu Shi's plot behind his back! One of Lao Xu Guozi's daughters is Gu Shi's concubine, and she can be regarded as Gu Shi's half-pulled father-in-law, who doesn't know about their son-in-law? And he only co-starred in a martial arts show with Yang Liehuo yesterday, and pointed at Gu Shi's nose in front of hundreds of officials in Zichen Hall and scolded him for pulling a bias, just to completely "draw a line" with Yang Du and Gu Shi! He finally took out an arm from the whirlpool, if he ate today's lunch, wouldn't yesterday's two punches and kicks be in vain? Gu Shi is too, thinking that all the beautiful things in the world will fall on the head of the Gu family, and he is delusional about borrowing a meal to have a "glass of wine to relieve his suspicions and smile", how could he agree?

He saw Duan Si standing still, and thought that he didn't see him shaking his head, so he added: "You just said that I have a bad headache and can't even get up from the kang." Give them back a gift and say thank you. ”

Duan Si still didn't move. He said with a smile, "I don't think it's a good idea if you don't go today." You think, everyone lives in the same neighborhood, they are all neighbors, look down and don't look up to see them, if you don't agree, you are afraid that other people will gossip. Now it is rumored everywhere that the threshold of our Ying Bo Mansion is high, if you lose the face of the Xu family today, other people don't know what's inside, and they don't know what unpleasant things will be preached......"

Shang Cheng was reading the book in his hand, and Duan Sitou's two sentences didn't go to his heart at all. But Duan Si explained a lot of truths in a wordy way, and he was a little surprised when he also called "you" one by one. He closed the scroll and asked, "What do you want to say after muttering for a long time?" ”

"Where do I want to say something?" Duan Si immediately lowered his head to avoid his scrutinizing gaze, and grinned, "I just think, you and Yang Du shouldn't be able to pull Poyang Hou in a fight, right?" The people of Guhou didn't mean it. Of course, one by one, there is no grudge against other people's old Xu family, right? "He had already heard about the fight between Shang Cheng and Yang Du in the Zichen Hall yesterday evening. Although his talent is high, after all, he has not been able to read and write for a long time, and many of the profound truths hidden behind the books have not yet been comprehended, so although he feels that this matter is a bit strange and strange, he has not thought too much, let alone regarded the relationship between Shang Cheng and Yang Du as a great event. He just wondered why Shang Cheng could suffer in his fists and feet. Yang Du's leg was grabbed by Shang Cheng, and he couldn't stand steadily, why didn't Shang Cheng kick Yang Du out with a kick, but wanted to delay his work and smash it with his fist, is this unclear that he is waiting for Gu Poyang to come up and persuade him to fight?

The more he spoke, the more Shang Chengcheng felt that his words were flickering, either he had other intentions or he was taking the benefits of the old Xu family and helping people speak. He put down the book, looked directly at Duan Si and said, "What are you babbling about?" If you have a fart, let it go! ”

"It's not, is it?" Duan Si scratched his chin and said. He lowered his head, and his body seemed to be a little unsteady on his feet, and he stood there twisting and twisting, and said, "I just think, you ......"

Shang Cheng was only five or six steps away from him, but he didn't hear what Duan Si was muttering clearly, and couldn't help but scold him and said, "Be louder!" ”

"You ......"

Shang Cheng still didn't hear clearly. He glared at Duan Si and asked, "Have you accepted the things of the old Xu family?" ”

"How is that possible?!" Duan Si's voice immediately became louder, and his pronunciation and pronunciation were very clear.

Shang Cheng heard it clearly this time. Duan Si used to be a little greedy for money, but now it is impossible to still have this problem; He knew that very well. He's even weirder. Damn, Duan Si, a straightforward and straightforward man, suddenly became twisted and pinched, what kind of fame is this? This thought only turned in his heart, and he saw some clues, so he opened the scroll again with a smile, and asked casually: "Help the old Xu family talk so hard." One by one, you have a crush on his daughter, right? ”

Duan Si's little concern was exposed by him on the spot, and he immediately laughed, leaned forward with a hippie smile and helped him fill the cup with bitter tea, patted his ass and said flattering words: "I know that I can't hide your magic eyes!" It's the second daughter of the third child of his family......"

Shang Cheng snorted in his nostrils and said, "If you see it, you will ask the matchmaker to say goodbye." You are also a general now, and Lao Xu Guozi is just a six-grade captain, and you will not insult the lintel of his family if you marry his family. Besides, the old Xu family is just a founding son, and you may not be knighted in the future, let alone just a founding son! So you just come to the door to propose, don't worry about him not agreeing. After a pause, he added, "I'm not going to this meal today." Don't worry, even if I don't go to dinner, the old Xu family will not make things difficult for you in family affairs. After speaking, he lowered his head and continued to read.

Duan Si realized that the fight between Shang Cheng and Yang Du was not as simple as it seemed. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Then I'll go and talk to the boss of the Xu family." ”

Shang Cheng didn't say anything more.

But after a while, Duan Si came back again. But this time it was not Lao Xu's family, but someone who came to pay homage to Shangzhuguo.

Shang Cheng was a little impatient. Living in the capital, what annoys him the most is that there are people running to disturb him twice a day for three days, so that he has no leisure time; Even if outsiders say that the threshold of Ying County Bofu is high, there are still so many long-legged guys who want to step in and make friends. So it's better to say Yanshan! In Yanshanwei's one-acre and three-point land, the civil and military officials in Yanshanwei Town are all his subordinates, and no one dares to disturb him indiscriminately without official business; If he wanted to hide, he didn't have to open his mouth, and when he coughed, someone would naturally help greet him. But he wanted to avoid a quiet place in the capital, not to mention coughing or two, even if he stood on the door with a knife and blocked the door and was not allowed to enter, there would be "enthusiastic people" who came to greet him and gave him a thumbs up......

He asked unhappily, "Whose house is it again?" ”

"It's not a treat, it's here to pay a respect." Because the matter had nothing to do with him, Duan Si returned to his old face.

"Greetings to Uncle Ying?" Shang Cheng hurriedly didn't react to what was going on, and only after a pause did he remember that he was Uncle Ying. He casually copied a brush and threw it over, asking, "Who wants to see me?" ”

"Two Founding Princes." Duan Si said. He opened the first two copies of the pile of thick paper stickers in his hand and looked at them. "One surnamed Su and the other surnamed Hou, both of them are the titles of the fourth grade. It's just very raw, I've never seen it before. Oh, by the way, both of them still brought people here, saying that they were the most unpromising boys in their own families, and they brought them to recognize the gate of Ying Bo Mansion today. The boys ......" he flipped through the stickers again. “…… The two boys, one named Su Po and the other Hou Ding, were both eating food in the Liyuan camp. One by one, they also handed over their resumes. As he spoke, he put a bunch of things on the big case.

Shang Cheng looked up and thought for a while, and finally remembered who the person was. That night, he and Wang Yi had dinner in a Liangfeng restaurant, and it was Su Po and Hou Ding who came to see him at that time. I ignored them at the time, but I didn't expect them to have a heart, so I went home and invited the elders to come to pay homage to me during the New Year. Oh, the so-called "recognition of the door" of the two founding marquis probably just to stuff the doll under their command and listen to the command, otherwise how can they teach the doll to bring their resume? It's a pity that they made a mistake, he Shang Yanshan himself is "recuperating", where is the opportunity to help them teach their juniors!

However, the face of the two founding marquis still has to be given. He sighed and said to Duan Si, "See." Go and invite them to sit down in the outer study, and I'll go there at once. Then find someone to inform the stove room to see if you can get a table that can be set up, and if not, go outside and invite a few chefs back. "And he got angry." What kind of did Gao Qiang and Li Bong do! After spending so much money, the chef I invited back couldn't even cook a decent meal, so I didn't dare to treat me at home! Go back and tell the two of them that if they can't hire a good cook, I'll send them back to Yanshan to guard the beacon tower! ”