The next morning, the three of them got up early, put on their military uniforms, and went to the city to buy some gifts—it was still the Spring Festival, and it was not good to go to the governor's house empty-handed. When he came to the general's residence, he first asked the butler to report, and after a while, the butler led the three of them to the reception room, and not long after, the general received his three subordinates.

Zhong Nan carefully looked at the number one person in the Qingzhou military, Shi Changting was less than forty years old, medium height, Chinese face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, sitting on the chair with his head up, a strong military smell.

Shi Changting asked the three of them about their intentions, and when they heard that they were "coming to pay New Year's greetings", he didn't speak, just picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, and only when Zhong Nan and they were a little restless did he ask again: "Say, why did you come, you are all gentlemen, what is there to say?" ”

Zhong Nan saw that his chief acted in a straightforward style and didn't like to drag mud and water, so he stepped forward and said, "General, there is actually one more thing to report to you. ”

"What?" Shi Changting was not surprised at all.

"Yesterday, the little one beat Huang Gongzi of the Laizhou prefect's family at Changfeng Restaurant." Zhong Nan replied.

"And me." Cui Dazheng and Chen Kepeng said together next to him.

"Oh......" Shi Changting responded, and took two more sips of tea before pointing at Zhong Nan and saying, "You tell me the cause and effect of the matter!" ”

So Zhong Nan briefly stated the matter from beginning to end, from the time they went downstairs after eating to see the gang of sons, to the end of the other party fleeing in the wilderness, without a trace of concealment. There was a detail in the middle that Zhong Nan caught - when he stated that Huang Gongzi said, "Even if the general sees this son, he has to take a detour", Shi Changting, whose face has been as calm as water, snorted coldly.

After listening to Zhong Nan's statement, Shi Changting put down the teacup, his face was calm, and after a pause of a few seconds, he asked, "Finished?" ”

"That's it!"

"Is there a hint of truth?"

"The small sentence is true, the general can send someone to Changfeng Restaurant to verify!" Zhong Nan's answer was neither humble nor arrogant.

"Someone!" Shi Changting called the housekeeper and whispered a few words, and then the reception room fell into a brief calm.

There was silence in the reception room for a while, Zhong Nan knew that Shi Changting was observing them, although he was a little nervous, but he was not worried, because at present, his boss was not a mindless martial artist, on the contrary, he had the temperament of a Confucian general.

"Which battalion are you a soldier and what is your name?" Shi Changting broke the silence and asked Zhong Nan.

"General, the small ones are the small soldiers of the infantry battalion."

"What about the other two?"

"General, in fact, I was the only one who did it, and the two of them were taking care of the pair of grandchildren at that time." Zhong Nan didn't want to involve the two comrades-in-arms.

"General, we're all done!" Chen and Cui said.

Shi Changting slapped the table and said loudly: "Did I ask who did it?" The momentum of the superior immediately made the three of them as silent as cicadas, they knelt on the ground and bowed their heads silently, and after a while, the general asked Zhong Nan again: "What is the relationship between the two of them and you?" ”

"General Yu, they are all comrades of my infantry battalion," Zhong Nan pointed to the two of them and introduced them one by one: "Chief Chen Kepeng and small soldier Cui Dazheng." ”

There was another silence, Shi Changting took the teacup and drank it to himself, there was no expression on his face, and the three kneeling people had no choice but to continue to kneel. After a while, the housekeeper came to Shi Changting's side and whispered for a while, which should be their verification of the incident. After hearing this, the general just said "um", and then motioned for the butler to step aside, while he himself continued to drink tea, but did not say a word. Zhong Nan and the three of them looked at each other, and they didn't dare to come out, so they could only wait quietly.

After three or five minutes, the general finally drank the tea, he glanced at the three of them with his eyes, and finally stopped his eyes on Zhong Nan, as if he was remembering something, and then asked, "Your name is Zhong Nan, right?" ”

"General, yes."

"You were sent from Suzhou Mansion to Shandong to fill the army? What did you do? Shi Changting then asked again.

"General Yu, the little one killed someone nemantly in Suzhou, so he was sentenced to be confiscated to Shandong." These resumes are all recorded and cannot be covered up for life, Zhong Nan can only answer truthfully.

"Manslaughter? What is that for? Shi Changting continued to ask.

"The other party teased my lady, and the little one couldn't hold back for a while, so he ......"

"Huh...... It's a man! Shi Changting said, there was more praise than rebuke in his words, and he made a decision after a slight pause, "Come to my personal barracks tomorrow to report." ”

Zhong Nan touched his nose, what does this mean? He couldn't pretend to understand the key question, so he asked Shi Changting head-on: "General, this is ......?"

The housekeeper on the side had never seen such a stupid person, so he could only remind him: "Thank you soon, general, not everyone can enter the barracks!" ”

Zhong Nan finally understood that his boss was planning to help the three of them carry this matter down, he knew that the Ming Dynasty was a civil official, and the military attachés of the same grade were shorter than the civilian officials, the Qingzhou prefect was the fourth grade, and Shi Changting was from the third grade, looking at Shi Changting's official rank, but he really had to compete, and it was hard to say what the result would be. Zhong Nan was suddenly excited, his boss was so responsible, he couldn't cause too much trouble, so he asked, "General, ...... the Laizhou prefect?"

"It's okay, the prefect is not as high-grade as the general, not to mention that he just helped Huang Zhiqiang teach his son a lesson?" Shi Changting said lightly: "And didn't you say that you only beat the family, not his son!" ”

"Yes!" Zhong Nan responded.

"What's that fear, not to mention that even if he really beats his unsuccessful son, it's not a big deal." Shi Changting said lightly, "Also, the next time you see that kid, remember to inform me, hmph, I want to see how he let me walk around!" ”

It seems that the general is also a little angry, and he doesn't treat Huang Zhiqiang, the prefect of Laizhou, very much, but the three of them don't know how to pick up this topic. Zhong Nan thought of the two brothers who came together, and asked bravely: "General Yu, Chen Shichang and Cui Dazheng ...... they?"

"Since the relationship between the three of you is quite good, then the two of them will come to the pro-military camp together tomorrow!" Shi Changting laughed.

Cui Dazheng was very happy, how could he disagree. Chen Kepeng also gladly accepted that his own junior officer was much worse than the personal soldiers of the generals, "the seven-grade official at the prime minister's door", being a personal soldier by Shi Changting's side, the chances of promotion were much higher than before.

After thanking Shi Changting, the three of them happily left the General's Mansion, Cui Dazheng was the happiest, and he had to take Zhong Nan and Chen Kepeng to his house, saying that he was going home to report the good news, so the three of them went to Qingzhou City to buy some New Year's goods, and then went to Cui Dazheng's house.

Cui Dazheng's home is in the suburbs of Qingzhou, nearly two hours away from the city, and it was past lunch when he arrived at the destination, Cui Dazheng hurriedly reported the good news to his parents and sister as soon as he entered the house.

Since Zhong Nan and the others brought some cooked food, it didn't take long for the meal to be served, and Cui's father and the three of them drank two glasses of wine and went out, saying that there was still some work to be done in the field. Cui's mother was holding the soles of her shoes on the side, leaving only the little sister of the Cui family to do chores for the three drinking men. Cui Dazheng's youngest sister is called Cui Lihua, almost sixteen years old, at that time she had reached the age of getting married, because of her poor family, she never said a suitable person, so she stayed at home to serve her parents.

Cui Lihua has been observing Zhong Nan, this man has only come to the house three times, but she feels that Zhong Nan is very different from her brother, or different from other men she has seen, but what is the difference, she can't tell, this is an indescribable feeling, very mysterious. Looking at Zhong Nan in front of her, she couldn't help but have a thought of wanting to get closer, Cui Lihua was stunned by her thoughts, and then her face turned red.

The daughter's small movements were completely seen by Cui's mother, and after thinking about it, she could naturally understand eight or nine points. Cui's mother couldn't help but look at Zhong Nanlai, her son's comrade was born very strong, and his height of more than one meter and seven points was not outstanding in Shandong, but his face was good, he was a handsome guy, and he looked comfortable, no wonder his own girl could meet his eyes. But depending on the age, this guy should be older than his son, I don't know where it is, who else is there in the family, whether he is married, thinking about this, Cui's mother decided to ask Cui Dazheng after dinner.

The three of them chatted while eating, drinking, and the meal ended after two or three hours, after which Cui Dazheng was dragged by his mother to the back room to talk for a while, Zhong Nan and Chen Kepeng waited outside, and after only five minutes, Cui Dazheng came out and dragged them back to the barracks together.

Cui Dazheng saw that there was no one else in the barracks, so he patted Zhong Nan on the shoulder and asked directly, "Zhong Nan, what do you think of my sister-in-law?" ”

"My little sister is very good, diligent, and sensible."

"Then consider being my brother-in-law?"

Looking at Cui Dazheng's appearance is not a joke, Zhong Nanzi can't be treated casually, he said very formally: "I already married a wife when I was in Suzhou, although I don't know where she is now, but I will always wait for her!" ”

Since Zhong Nan has already married, Cui Dazheng knows that his little sister is out of play, and he feels a little regretful. Zhong Nan had never said these things before, he and Chen Kepeng had always thought that Zhong Nan was also a bachelor, and when they heard Zhong Nan mention it, it was inevitable that they would not be curious about Zhong Nan's wife, and Chen Kepeng was also interested, so the two urged Zhong Nan to tell the story of him and Qiu Xiang.

After listening to Zhong Nan's narration, Chen and Cui admired Qiu Xiang very much, there are too many couples who "fly separately when disaster comes", a woman like Qiu Xiang who never leaves her husband should be cherished, they comforted Zhong Nan, as long as you can become an officer above the general in the army, you can have your own mansion, and then send someone to find Qiu Xiang, and the two can be reunited.