At the beginning of the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the dawn drum had already sounded for many hours, but the winter morning was still not fully transparent, and a full moon was turning the unlit sky a little hazy.

In previous years, it would have been a quiet morning after a carnival. And this year, the atmosphere in the whole Tingzhou city is solemn and mournful.

Last night's lantern tower fire burned half of the sky in Tingzhou and burned the hearts of countless people. If you look closely, you will find that there is still a fine black dust floating in the early morning sky, like the sorrow that cannot be dissipated in people's hearts.

At the side gate of the North Courtyard Guard, four richly decorated carriages came out, surrounded by more than 20 capable warriors, and the carriages drove towards the inner south gate of the inner city.

In the carriage at the front, Mrs. Pei, whose face was as gloomy as iron, sat on the soft couch in the car, her mood fluctuating.

She didn't expect that the battle between Wen Xitang and Ruyi would go out of control and turn into a monstrous disaster, causing such a big death and injury.

She lifted the corner of the carriage curtain and glanced at Wang Peizhong on the horse, her heart full of boredom.

This Wang Peizhong came to the Wang family from the Pei family as Mrs. Pei's dowry servant.

He was originally an orphan who was exiled to Wenxi County, and he was about to freeze to death on the side of the winter road. It was Mrs. Pei's grandfather who took him in, raised him as a domestic servant, asked him to help in the kitchen, and gave him the name Pei Zhong.

The people of the Pei family originally looked down on this orphan, and many people excluded him, teased him, and bullied him openly and secretly. No one could have imagined that this emaciated orphan looked gloomy and cowardly, but a ferocious man-eating beast lurked in his chest.

A fat maid who had laughed at him suddenly drowned in the lotus pond in spring for no reason; The chef who bullied him suddenly stumbled one day, and small stones were actually eaten in the steamed crystal dragon and phoenix cake, and he was scolded by the cane for thirty and driven out of Pei's house...... There are more and more things like this, and many people are beginning to doubt and fear Pei Zhong.

Naturally, some people were dissatisfied with Pei Zhong's actions, and reported these unsubstantiated suspicions to Mrs. Pei's grandfather one by one.

The old man was not shocked or angry when he heard this, and was silent for a moment, but did not say anything, only saying that he knew and reprimanded the informant slave.

When everyone thought that Pei Zhong was going to be punished severely, Mrs. Pei's grandfather made a surprising decision to promote Pei Zhong from the kitchen where the fire was cooking to the domestic samurai team responsible for guarding the home.

Many years later, Mrs. Pei still remembers that her father was very puzzled at that time and asked the old man why he had treated Pei Zhong so much.

The old man looked at his son and granddaughter, and said with hatred: "On the day when Pei Zhong was taken in, it coincided with hunger in Hedong, and there was hunger everywhere on the road, and the thin Pei Zhong was the last one with a hot mouth. Such a person, if he is not very lucky, is a beast with a fierce chest, and can do what others cannot do. A certain life never expects luck, and prefers to control the beast to strengthen the Pei family. Compared to a ferocious beast, two worthless, ignorant servants are nothing! ”

Later, it turned out that the old man did not look away, the gloomy Pei Zhong is indeed a rare loyal dog, scheming, sharp claws, and fierce hands, for more than ten years, in order to maintain the reputation of the Pei family in Hedong, he has done many invisible deeds, and has become the most powerful assistant of the old man, and sometimes even more useful than the old man's children.

And the old man also trusts and values Pei Zhong very much, letting him fully display his talents on the dark stage, and never easily interferes with his decisions.

In order to make Pei Zhong desperate, the old man also personally Zhang Luo married a young lady of the Jiang family who lived in the Pei family to Pei Zhong.

This little lady of the Jiang family is considered to be Mrs. Pei's distant cousin, born in Tianshui Jiang, and she is also a lady. Helplessly, his family was in the middle of the road, his parents died, and he had nowhere to live for a while, so he took refuge in the Pei family.

Pei Zhong naturally would not object to the red line drawn by the old man, and the little lady of the Jiang family had to submit to the will of the Pei family under the eaves.

But the relationship between Pei Zhong and his wife has always been very poor, and the kind, virtuous Jiang and gloomy Pei Zhong are not people of the same world at all.

At the time of childbirth, Jiang, who had been depressed for a long time, encountered dystocia, and after desperately giving birth to a baby, he died due to a blood collapse.

After his wife died, Pei Zhong, who was holding the baby, had no joy or sorrow, and was so indifferent that it seemed to be someone else's business.

But since then, Pei Zhong has been alone and has never continued.

Pei Zhong's son, under the special care of the old man, has enjoyed the treatment of the Pei family's young gentlemen since he was a child, and studied and played with them.

Before the old man died, he took Pei Zhong's hand and said, "What you do is worthy of a certain name." I've worked hard for you for so many years, so let's take it easy in the future, just protect my baby granddaughter alone. ”

In this way, Pei Zhong took the old man's entrustment and guarded Mrs. Pei from Hedong to Moxi. His son could be brought to his side, but Pei Zhong insisted on putting him in Pei's house.

After Pei Zhong came to Wang's house, his first request was to change his name to Wang Peizhong, in order to show his loyalty to the new lord and not forget the old master.

At that time, Wang Zhengjian smiled and said that he didn't need to change his name, but Pei Zhong's idea was very strong, and he couldn't stop talking. Wang Zheng saw that it was not easy to save Mrs. Pei's face, so he agreed.

After coming to the Wang family, Pei Zhong or Wang Peizhong changed his gloomy color in the Pei family, and even lowered his eyebrows and was pleasing to his eyes, and even had some kind eyebrows from time to time.

Although the slaves and servants who came with the Pei family felt strange, they didn't dare to say anything because of his former prestige.

The servants of the Wang family only regarded Wang Peizhong as a bad person, and they came to the Wang family as a dowry slave after being excluded from the Pei family.

Originally, the people who married together from the Pei family were still ready to see him exert his might, and he killed all sides in the Wang family, but unexpectedly, after Pei Zhong changed his name to Wang Peizhong, he seemed to be a different person, and he didn't care about the exclusion and ridicule of the servants from the Wang family, but just served Mrs. Pei wholeheartedly.

After Wang Zhengjian learned of Wang Peizhong's generosity and loyalty, he was very impressed and looked up to him more and more.

Over time, Wang Peizhong, who won the trust of Wang Zhengjian and Mrs. Pei, gradually became the housekeeper who took care of the affairs of the house.

And over the years, Wang Peizhong has always greeted people with a smile, so that the new servants of the Wang family feel that the Wang family's housekeeper is amiable, and they don't know his previous fierce name in the Pei family.

Only Mrs. Pei knew what kind of fierce beast was still dormant under Wang Peizhong's smiling face.

For so many years, the fierce beast has been sleeping, just because after Mrs. Pei married into the Wang family, it was basically smooth sailing and there was no danger, so the fierce beast had no stage to perform.

After Mrs. Zhang entered the Wang family's house, Wang Peizhong was a little nervous, but after Wang Fei was born, he basically regained his kind demeanor.

It wasn't until the day that the little wild species appeared, looking at Mrs. Pei, who was so angry that she went crazy, that the fierce beast opened its eyes that had been closed for many days and began to prepare to stretch its muscles and bones and show its fangs.

Mrs. Pei is well aware of Wang Peizhong's past and ability, and trusts him.

Wen Xitang, the business name of the Pei family, followed Mrs. Pei's steps all the way west, and the decision-makers were naturally the patriarchs, elders and Mrs. Pei of the Pei family, and the most outstanding clansmen and trusted servants of the Pei family were the specific executioners. During the period, it was Wang Peizhong who coordinated and liaison.

It is precisely because of this deep trust that Mrs. Pei entrusted the most confidential matter to Wang Peizhong for execution.

Whether it is to strangle the small wild species or suppress Ruyiju, it is all carried out by him.

Unexpectedly, Wang Peizhong made mistakes one after another, and there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity outside Broken Leaf City, but he failed to cut the grass and eradicate the roots.

spent a lot of money to build a lantern wheel and rehearse songs and dances, but it was still robbed of the limelight by Ruyiju, so that he had to use extraordinary means and caused more trouble.

The aftermath of the arson incident caused him to make a gesture of compassion, virtue and meekness, and called on the ladies of the high-ranking officials of the North Court to go to the Saidai Temple to offer incense and pray for blessings.

"The lady is still worried about Wen Xitang's business?" Mrs. Pei's gaze made Wang Peizhong feel something, and he approached the car window and asked in a low voice.

Although he knew that Mrs. Pei was the only one in the carriage, Wang Peizhong's words were still very cautious.

Mrs. Pei snorted coldly, and replied in a strange manner: "When the concubine was young, I heard that my grandfather praised you for hiding a fierce beast in your chest, and you can choose people to devour and shock the Quartet. Since marrying into the Wang family, I haven't seen the tiger out of Sheng for a long time. In recent years, there has been an opportunity to hunt, but unexpectedly, the beast has repeatedly missed, defeated by broken leaves, and then defeated in Nanshi, I don't know how you taught me? ”

Listening to Mrs. Pei's cynicism, Wang Peizhong frowned slightly, but his expression was still calm.

After thinking for a moment, he replied unhurriedly: "The matter of broken leaves is incomprehensible. When the servant was luring him to hunt and start on the galloping horse, he saw that the little wild breed fell from the horse and was injured, and he was almost hopeless. Unexpectedly, in less than half a day, the small wild seed actually woke up on its own, which was really unexpected. ”

Mrs. Pei has heard Wang Peizhong's explanation many times, so she has no comment.

Seeing that Mrs. Pei did not respond, Wang Peizhong continued: "As for the matter of Ruyiju, it is indeed that I underestimated the opponent. I thought that Hu Xuan's singing and dancing would be enough to overwhelm Ruyiju, but unexpectedly, there was a sword dance master over there, and a solo dance overwhelmed a hundred Hu Niang. Although the last resort was prepared in advance, it was still too hasty when it was launched, and the wind of last night was ignored, which caused the matter to be a bit big. ”

"It's a bit of a big fuss?!" Mrs. Pei angrily tore open the curtain of the car, lowered her voice and shouted angrily: "Hundreds of people have been killed and wounded, so that the whole city is shocked; Dozens of little Langjun and little ladies almost died in the fire, involving nearly half of the high-ranking officials of the North Court; The fire is boiling, and the position of Lang Jun's north courtyard may be unstable. That's what you mean by 'making a bit of a fuss'!! ”

In the face of Mrs. Pei's anger, Wang Peizhong did not panic, he replied slowly but firmly: "This life was saved by the Pei family, and I am only loyal to the Pei family in this life." When the old master entrusted me with the responsibility of guarding the lady, I will definitely do my best to protect the lady, as for the life and death of other people and their official positions, they have nothing to do with the subordinates. ”

Wang Peizhong's words in a flat but firm tone made Mrs. Pei's heart slightly shocked, and her anger disappeared a lot.

She remembered Wang Peizhong's hard work and loyalty over the years, and sighed softly: "Everyone in Tingzhou knows that Wang Yong is the number one loyal dog who is inseparable from Xiaoye, but who knows that Pei Zhong is better than that Wang Yong!" ”

"The lady praised it!" Wang Peizhong heard the gentleness in Mrs. Pei's tone, but he did not show a flattered attitude, but continued to talk about the matter: "In all fairness, that Wang Yong is indeed difficult. It's a shame to say it, and after searching for a long time, I still haven't figured out where Ah Lang found him. Looking at the hands and soldiers, it doesn't look like an outlaw, it should be from the army. But there were no such figures in the Beiting and Anxi armies before. I tried my best to bypass Judge Du and find Wang Yong's household registration, which only simply recorded: 'Yingzhou people, who have been unhappy since childhood, do not know who their parents are. Later, he was a Long March athlete and came to Beiting'. This Wang Yong is cautious and meticulous, and he is very attentive to taking care of that little wild species, and rarely shows flaws, which is really difficult to deal with. When he was in Shattered Leaf City, if he hadn't happened to encounter someone fighting in the dense forest, he wouldn't have had a chance to throw that little wild seed off his horse. Of course, in the end, it fell short and lived up to the lady's entrustment. ”

"Then this fire burned well, smashed the backbone of the loyal dog, and he couldn't ride a horse for ten days and half a month, it's really a golden opportunity!" Mrs. Pei turned her anger into joy, giggled, and her opinion on the fire quietly changed.

"This is indeed a bonus, so I have been thinking about it last night, and I must make the most of this opportunity. The matter of the location also has some eyebrows, so I suggested that the lady go to Saidai Temple for a trip. Wang Peizhong replied in a low voice.

"Whether it's really suitable, let's talk about it when we go to Saidai Temple, after all, seeing is believing." Mrs. Pei tapped her fingers on the car window and said softly: "The fire must also be cleaned up from beginning to end, don't give someone a handle, and don't let Lang Jun be suspicious." ”

"Rest assured! I have already found out that Ruyiju has indeed invited a female swordsman with excellent swordsmanship to sit in charge, and the four people in charge of the operation have all been killed by her, and the body is in the room of the Fa Cao official office. However, these four people were all Mobei horse bandits recruited by the caravan from near Lingzhou, Hexi, and they had been hiding outside the city since they came to Tingzhou, and they had never been seen by anyone. The bandits didn't know that we had recruited them, so they would never be involved in Wen Xitang. Wang Peizhong's meticulousness in doing things is evident in just a few words.