Time flies, a few years pass in a hurry, and in a blink of an eye, it is another spring and March.

Jiangning, south of the city, Zaowang Temple.

I don't know what the incense used to be here, but now it is deserted, the clay idols with missing arms and legs are crooked, and the drapery is so dirty that it is no longer visible in its original color. On the offering table, there was a tattered pottery bowl containing half a bowl of soil, but inside was three sticks of incense as thick as a finger. The incense has been lit, and there is little smoke. In front of the offering table, there was a chair with half a leg missing, and two bricks were placed where the legs were missing.

On the chair, sat a burly young man, seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a half-new silk coat, with a grass in his mouth, and a short-handled military knife in his hand, looking at the direction of the temple gate with the corners of his mouth split, sneering, which made the face with a half-foot scar even more hideous. Behind him stood twenty or thirty teenagers of various ages, the eldest eighteen and nineteen, and the younger twelve and three. Everyone's face was a little cold, except for the handsome young man standing behind the chair. There was a gloom in his eyes, he lowered his head and whispered to the young man in the chair: "Brother, don't use the knife, what should I do if I get into a lawsuit?" ”

"Little brother, don't be verbose, do you want me Zheng Laohu to bow his head and be a little one? It's a big deal to exchange a life for a life, who is afraid of a **! The scar-faced boy said viciously.

"But my mother ......" the beautiful young man was about to say more, but he was covered by the sounds around him.

"Second brother, don't worry, is our fist vegetarian, hmph, those boys don't come, if you dare to come, our brothers can't beat him to death!"

"That's it, we've been crisscrossing Nancheng for several years, and we're so at ease that we dare to post arrogantly, not for us to practice!"

"Birdman, I think our Tiger Gang in the South City is like those in the North City, and he can swallow it if he wants, and he doesn't look at how big his dog's belly is!"

As he was talking, he heard the sound of horses' hooves gradually sounding, and it seemed that someone was riding a horse to the ruined temple.

Although the young man here said it ruthlessly, he mentioned it in his heart. The Tiger Gang dominates the Southern City, and although there are thirty or forty people, the number of Heroes of the Northern City who were destroyed seven days ago is no less than them. Wei Xin, the eldest brother of the Heroes Club, is the youngest son of the Wei family in the north of the city, the Wei family is the largest squire in Jiangning, and three out of ten acres of land outside Jiangning must be the Wei family. The silk of the Wei family is directly supplied to Jiangning for weaving, and the son of the Wei family is an official in the weaving mansion, and his family power is comparable to that of the children of ordinary people.

Outside the temple, four fast horses arrived in a flash. Several teenagers jumped down from the horse, three of them smiling, and one of the slightly older looked up at the sky with puffed eyes. Among the three smiling teenagers, two are eleven or two years old, and one is fourteen or five. Among the two young ones, one is slightly weak, and the other is tiger-headed. The tiger turned back to the angry young man and smiled: "I am willing to lose the bet, Wei Wu, since you are defeated by my brother, you should be willing to be my brother's long-term follower." Although you are not a slave, but you have signed a deed, is there such a slave who gives the face of the master? Although he smiled, there was a bit of ruthlessness in his eyes, and in the end he was already scolding.

The young man who raised his eyes to the sky, hearing this, suddenly turned pale, and he didn't know what to say.

The fourteen or five young men said seriously: "According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, since you have signed the deed, even your biological parents cannot interfere with it, if you disobey your master, you will only be fined a fine of silver!" ”

The angry young man's eyes were full of grief and indignation, but he had to bow down and said, "They are all slaves, don't they, please forgive the master, the second master, and the Gu master!" ”

Another eleven or twelve-year-old slightly weak teenager smiled and waved his hand: "Get up, it's all your own people, what do you care!" Cao Song, Gu Na, don't scare him anymore. I only felt funny in my heart, I was afraid that I didn't know the details and saw Wei Wu's grief and grievances, and I would definitely treat him as a high-flying and domineering gentleman, and Cao Song and Gu Na were his dogs.

The angry young man was the little overlord who had been invincible in the north of Jiangning City-Wei Xin, the boss of the Chengbei Heroes Association, although he was not very old, only seventeen years old, but he couldn't be quiet with the help of the young man.

The old man of the Wei family has the heart to discipline his young son, but he is also afraid of guilt, and every time he doesn't wait for his son, he is pinched by his wife and begged for mercy. Wei Xinxiao was fine, but he just took a group of boys to fight. Now, as he gets older, some unscrupulous ruffians have begun to instigate him to do some things to bully men and women, but fortunately, the people of the Wei family are watching him closely, and nothing major has happened. However, the Wei family did not dare to let it go any longer, if something really happened, not to mention the reputation of the Wei family, even Wei Xin's surname would be difficult to protect.

The name of the Wei family is Wei Ren, the word is Fengyang, and he has served in the Jiangning Weaving Mansion, although he is only a petty official from the sixth grade, but he is deeply valued by Cao Yin because of his ability.

Since Cao Yan moved to the outer courtyard four years ago, he began to live a life of both civil and military affairs. In terms of literature, he continued to study in ethnology; In terms of martial arts, in addition to insisting on exercising every day to strengthen his body, he also began to practice martial arts with several worshippers of the Cao family. Riding and archery was taught by Cao Yin himself. Cao Yin originally didn't want his son to indulge in martial arts, but when he saw that he set his new home as "seeking his own home", he knew that it was "it is better to seek others than to seek himself", so he felt guilty and couldn't bear to criticize him.

What Cao Yan did was just to be able to protect himself in a critical moment, to exercise to strengthen his body, and to learn swords and riding and archery for self-defense. From the beginning of running and walking to the later weight-bearing running, Cao Yan challenged his physical limits again and again. Whenever he was physically exhausted, he looked at the plaque that read "Seek Shelter" and recalled the pain of losing his voice after his broken leg after being kidnapped that year. If he can't learn the art of self-defense, then he will have to rely on bodyguards to protect the hospital in the future, and he will have to control his life in the hands of others, which he is unwilling. Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and persevered.

The book still has to be read, but Cao Yan has no idea of taking the top prize. In the Qing Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of children were admitted to Xiucai, tens of thousands of Xiucai were examined, thousands of people were examined, and hundreds of Jinshi were examined. One in a hundred thousand chances, although Cao Yan has a good memory, he doesn't have the confidence to make a standout eight-strand essay. Reading is just to increase knowledge and distract from the fatigue caused by physical exhaustion.

"Seeking one's own home" is adjacent to the Cao family's school, and in addition to Cao Yan, the maid Huixin and Dark Fragrance are waiting here. Huixin is a tortoiseshell, and because she wants to avoid the name of the treasure of the big girl in the old lady's courtyard, she changed her name. Cao Yan asked her, and knew that her real name was Feng Manlan, so she took the "Huixin" in "Lan Zhi Huixin" to make her a new name. At that time, she was pointed out to Cao Yan by the old lady with the tortoiseshell, because Cao Yan thought that her surname was not good, and she was sent to Chunnuanju under the pretext that the third sister was waiting for a few people. In order to prevent the old lady from pointing out the maid to herself again, Cao Yan begged to make up for the little maid Luomei who gave Huixin a hand. The old lady thought that Luomei's name was not good, so she changed her name to "Dark Fragrance". When the courtyard in front of him was cleaned up, Cao Yan moved out of the old lady's courtyard with Huixin and Dark Incense.

Cao Song in Xifu heard that his brother was learning martial arts, so he came over every day to follow. He is tired of reading, and seems to prefer all kinds of sweating exercises. Knowing that Gu Na was in the Cao family, Cao Song even pulled him over. For his titular "companion", Cao Yan was lukewarm at first, and he was in no mood or time to coax this slightly awkward child. Later, when he learned about marrying his mother, he found that he was unintentionally confused and flustered, and Cao Yan couldn't make up his mind. Anyway, he is also a child, experiencing the loss of his father and his mother's marriage, and the situation under the fence, it is normal to be a little awkward, so why bother with him. Thinking like this, he became kind to Gu Na.

Although Gu Na is awkward, he is not a fool, and he can naturally understand Cao Yan's concern, although his face is still light, his heart gradually depends on him.

Cao Yan, Cao Song, and Gu Na went to study together, wrestled and fought together on the school field, and four years passed in a blink of an eye. Although the professor's master is the same, the three of them are different in martial arts. Cao Song only practiced attacking, fighting faster than ruthless than fists; Gu Na only practiced defense and rarely took the initiative to make a move. Cao Yan is different from the two of them, practicing both attack and defense.

At first, because of his young age and weak strength, Cao Yan couldn't even beat a nursing home. A year later, he was able to attack in a courtyard with ease, and he was able to win both in attack and defense. No one will let him because he is the son of the house, because Cao Yan will take out a few silver ingots to make color heads every time he competes with the nursing home, and the winning one has to buy wine money, and the one who loses will wash the stinky socks of the other nursing homes for half a month.

After another year, one against two, and then for three years, the numbers slowly increased. It wasn't until a few months ago that several nursing homes cooperated and couldn't keep Cao Yan, and Cao Yan's school life came to an end. To be able to enter the Cao family as a nursing home, there is a little bit of real kung fu at hand. Although Cao Yan does not have any magical internal strength and peerless miraculous skills, it is not easy to practice such close kung fu with his flexible skills and sufficient physical strength.

After the school life, Cao Yan became a little confused, and he didn't know what to do for a while. Cao Song and Gu Na, seeing that Cao Yan did not go to the school grounds, lost their interest in dancing and playing with swords. After Cao Song said that the front street of Li Street, he wanted to find Yuzi to "act chivalrous and righteous" and act as a "hero"; Gu Na is holding a book every day, in addition to studying the homework in the school, he also has to complete the homework left by Zhuang Chang.

Because Cao Song didn't like to use the banner of the Cao family, it didn't take long for him to suffer, and he was beaten by the ruffians outside and his nose and face were swollen. Cao Song loves face and refuses to let his servants help, so he only comes over to ask his brother to be angry for him.

Cao Yan felt sorry for Cao Song, and also wanted to try the skills of outsiders, so he happily went. Unexpectedly, one-on-several, easily defeated each other. Cao Song thought it was funny, accepted these people as his younger brothers, and set the rules, which was considered to be a clean place.

When the matter reached the weaving mansion, Cao Yin and Zhuang Chang only thought that they were children messing around, and they didn't take it to heart. The tutor of the Cao family is here, Cao Yan's surname is introverted and introverted, and the two brothers have their own proportions.

Not to mention a group of hooligans who are fighting and fighting, even the masters are not to be afraid, because since Cao Yan has been secretly protected by two masters of the Cao family behind him four years ago, there will definitely be nothing to do. Only Wei Ren thought of his little brother, and his heart moved, and he privately asked Cao Yan to teach Wei Xin a lesson. When the time comes, even if the mother wants to stop it, she can't.

Wei Ren is Cao Yin's right-hand man, and he is very familiar with Cao Yin and Cao Song. Although Cao Song didn't want to do much, Cao Song heard that it was the boss of the Chengbei Heroes Association who wanted to teach a lesson, so he was naturally eager to try and circled around his brother all day long. Cao Yan was so embarrassed by him that he couldn't do it, so he agreed to come down. In the three days before and after, Gu Na investigated the members of the Hero Club and the rules of haunting, and formulated the corresponding "annihilation" plan.

On the ninth day of the third month of the forty-fourth year of Kangxi, at the Chengnan Market, Cao Yan, Cao Song and Gu Na came forward and led the Heroes Association and their party to the uninhabited alley. A quarter of an hour later, the Heroes Society was disbanded, and Wei Xin, the boss of the Heroes Society, was defeated and signed a deed of sale.

Although Wei Xin was impulsive and willing to sign the deed of life after gambling and losing, he thought that the hero he had relied on for many years would disappear like this, how could he be willing, go home and gather twenty or thirty thugs to protect the courtyard, and angrily look for a place. As a result, it was naturally not surprising that the servants of the Wei family fell to the ground, and Cao Yan and others won.

When the movement was too big, the wife of the Wei family cried and complained, the old man of the Wei family had already obtained the letter of the eldest son, knew that the other party was the son of the Cao family, pretended to bring people over, and pretended to be frightened and pleaded guilty, and finally returned home because of "fright" and "serious illness", and with an iron face to implement family law on the youngest son who "beat the son of the Cao family" and "brought ruin to the family". Mrs. Wei didn't dare to persuade her again, and Wei Xin was also frightened, so she obediently let her brother send her to Cao's house to be Cao's long-term follower.

Wei Xin went from an arrogant and domineering young man to a child younger than himself, and the loss in his heart can be imagined. After a few days in Cao's Mansion, seeing Cao Yan and his eldest brother Wei Ren talking and laughing, like a best friend, Wei Xin knew that he had been fooled. You know, but the things that these boys of the Cao family took the initiative to pick up, and after a big fight, he still suffered a loss here, and what "brought ruin to the family" is nonsense. Thinking like this, he got angry and ran back to his house.

Although the old man Wei was reluctant to let his son be a servant, he also knew that if he was allowed to mess around, he would cause a big disaster sooner or later, so it was better to be on duty in the Cao Mansion for a few years, and after a few years, the surname would be smoothed out and seek fame through the Cao family. Therefore, he was ruthless and tied up and sent back to Caofu.

Before Cao Yan could speak, Gu Na had already proposed that according to the "Great Qing Law", it was a capital crime to run slaves. In the end, it was Cao Yan who said good things, and only played twenty boards. Wei Xin didn't have the support of his family, and he was beaten again, so he had to obediently make a long follower, but he cursed these few dogs in his heart.