It was night, night fell, birds returned to the forest, and the sound of nightingales faintly came from the distant hills, and two figures walked through the streets of the city of Bairen, towards the tallest and most gorgeous mansion in the center of the city.

Those two were Zhao Fan and Li Mu, and they were going to Zhang Rui's Mansion tonight, ready to negotiate with Zhang Rui about their trip to Cloud City.

Zhang Rui's mansion is not far from the Zhao family's small courtyard, but after a while, the two came to the door of the mansion.

Zhao Fan raised his head and looked at the vermilion lacquer gate in front of him, which was in stark contrast to the ordinary wooden doors around him, and his eyes were calm.

The prefect of the county, called the order, is directly appointed by the monarch and is responsible for the military and political affairs of the county.

From the analysis of literature records, the scale of Zhaoguo County is different. Zhao Hao once said that Zhao had many "Wanjia Zhiyi (County)" ("Warring States Policy, Zhao Ce III"), and Zhao Sheng, the king of the Plains, was ordered by King Zhao to "seal the county with a thousand households" ("Warring States Policy: Zhao Ce I").

There are large and small counties, and there are also differences in status. Among the towns are coinage towns and warehouse towns, which are not ordinary towns, but important towns or frontier towns that are quite prosperous politically, economically, commercially, and culturally. Wherever money is minted, there are usually workshops for smelting and casting weapons. This shows the importance of its position.

Bairen City is such a coinage city, the popular copper "knife coin" in the city, the knife coin is cast with the words "white (Tongbai) people", at that time, Zhao only two places Handan and Bairen minted copper coins. From this, it can be seen that the economic prosperity and commercial development of Bairen City.

Zhang Rui, as a cypress order, does not mention Yulu, and other windfalls such as receiving gifts must have a lot in a month, so the establishment of such a luxurious mansion is also expected by Zhao Fan. Therefore, at this moment, he did not show anything unusual.

There are two big red lanterns hanging in front of Zhang Rui's mansion, and on both sides of the vermilion lacquer gate stand two generals in armor, and the bright swords exude a cold luster under the reflection of the moonlight, as if they are invisible, like everyone announcing that the people who live in it are the masters of this cypress city.

The two generals saw two figures walking out of the night, their bodies tensed at the moment, holding swords in their hands, and they said coldly: "What person? ”

Zhao Fan walked out of the darkness, listening to the arrogant tone of the two generals, a touch of coldness flashed imperceptibly in his black eyes, but soon, he was pressed down by him, he took a step forward and said with a smile: "Zhao Fan, Li Mu, when you came to discuss with Lord Zhang Rui, please trouble the two brothers to go to Tongbing." ”

The two generals couldn't help but be startled when they saw that it was Zhao Fan and Li Mu, and the horizontal color in their eyebrows disappeared in an instant, and the two of them glanced at Zhao Fan in awe, and said resignedly: "Where does Mr. Zhao Fan say, this is the duty of our two brothers, what's the trouble." ”

After speaking, the two generals bowed to Zhao Fan and Li Mu, and quickly returned to the house to Zhang Ruitongbing.

Zhao Fan saw the very different reactions of the two before and after, and couldn't help sighing, no matter what era it is, this kind of cheap surname that bullies the soft and is afraid of the hard exists.

"Brother-in-law, do you think Zhang Rui will agree to our request?" After seeing the two generals leaving, Li Mu asked with some concern.

Zhao Fan smiled and said, "It's okay, it's just a few people, Zhang Rui won't say anything because of this." ”

Li Mu nodded, but there was still some hesitation in his expression, after all, he wanted to fake the news of his father, and in his heart, he still resisted.

While the two were thinking, a few hurried steps came from inside the house to outside the house, Zhao Fan looked up, and saw that in addition to the two generals just now, Zhang Rui, who was wearing a raccoon dog suit and a Huiwen crown, also walked out.

"I didn't expect the two virtuous nephews to come, please come in quickly." Zhang Rui walked out of the mansion, and without waiting for Zhao Fan and Li Mu to speak, he greeted him politely.

Seeing Zhang Rui's smile on his face, there was no arrogance in his demeanor because he was a Bai Renling, Zhao Fan also nodded in his heart, although it can't be said that this person is a corporal of Lixian, but it can be regarded as exquisite. If Li Mu's father was not the county guard of Yunzhong County, and he had not designed to kill Jiao Hei and the others before, would Zhang Rui still greet him so politely?

"Oops! I can't help it, I can't help it, Lord Zhang Rui is a Bai Ren Order, how can he deign to greet us in person? It's really a broken sail. Zhao Fan suppressed the thoughts in his heart, raised his head, and pretended to be flattered.

Li Mu on the side also hurriedly excused himself and said: "That's right, just order someone to take us in, Lord Zhang's move is too polite." ”

Wang Rui glanced at Zhao Fan, his slightly closed eyes were slightly open, two essences flashed in his eyes, and a taste of appreciation was refracted from his eyes, and then he said with a smile: "The two virtuous nephews are young and promising, welcome them, what does it matter, don't mention anything else, hurry up and follow me in." ”

Zhao Fan has been hunting in the mountains and forests since he was a child, how sharp his eyes are, he accurately took the fleeting essence in Wang Rui's eyes into his eyes, but on the surface, he still quietly said a few polite words to Wang Rui, and then followed him into the mansion.

Zhang Rui's mansion is far more luxurious and magnificent than the Zhao family's courtyard, and the courtyard is full of all kinds of flowers and trees, which looks extremely pleasing to the eye.

Zhang Rui took Zhao Fan and Li Mu along the bluestone path to the front hall, the road side is brightly lit, on the right side is a white wall built on the water, about two meters high, covered with black tiles, the wall is built into undulating waves, the red lacquer door of the moon hole in the middle is hidden, there is a piano sound and the sound of music faintly comes, I think it should be Zhang Rui's house to raise the singer.

The three of them came to the front hall, took off their boots, and sat down according to the table, Wang Ruisan clapped his palms, and several women with Nana walked in, each holding a stack of fruits and wine cups on their hands.

"Let's go down." After the cases were full of food, Wang Rui waved his hand at the women.

"Hehe, since Lord Zhang Rui served as the commander of the Bai people, our city has been said to be rich, and the people have praised it, and it has been a thriving situation. Fan has admired Lord Zhang Rui for a long time, usually the adult is busy with affairs, can not be seen, last night the adult has important things to deal with, inconvenient to stay, today said to visit the door, rudeness, I hope the adult forgiveness. ”

For Wang Rui, Zhao Fan didn't have any good feelings in his heart, and he didn't know much about it, but he still had to do enough kung fu on the surface, so he immediately poured wine for him and said with a smile.

Hearing this, Wang Rui smiled and waved his hand and said, "It's just a trivial matter, where is it worthy of the admiration of a virtuous nephew?" ”

Although he said this modestly, Wang Rui still had a smug look on his face. As a cypress order, of course, he hopes that the people will say that he governs the city well, and people are like this, although he knows that the person who says this may not be the same, but after hearing someone praise what he cares, he still can't help but dance with his eyebrows.

"My Bairen City is located in the middle of the Zhao Kingdom, and there have been few wars, and it is also a beautiful thing for the people to live and work in peace and contentment." Zhao Fan lightly held the wine cup in his right hand and raised it to his mouth, as if he had no intention of saying.

Wang Rui's eyes rolled, and he said a little dejectedly: "Even so, it is difficult for this official to be promoted, if there is no other opportunity, maybe he can only be a Bai Ren Ling for the rest of his life." ”

Zhao Fan's mind was racing, and according to the historical knowledge he had learned in later generations, he immediately understood what Wang Rui meant......

;