Confucius's residence is a two-hall courtyard, the front yard is where Confucius usually meets, reads books, and writes books, and the backyard is turned into an open-air school.

Around the school, a row of tall and lush pines and cypresses were planted along the courtyard wall. In the center of the pines and cypresses, a clearing more than four feet wide was overgrown with a soft, thin round piece of grass. Duanmuci told us that every morning the Confucian scholars would come here with their book bags, mats, and dry food to attend the lectures, and the master who was in charge of the lecture that day sat on a five-foot-high wooden platform on the side of the grass.

Now, sitting on the high platform and talking eloquently is a white-clothed Confucian in his early twenties. Judging by his age and bearing, he thinks that he is the well-written and well-spoken Wei Ren Bu Shang that Kong Qiu said.

At this moment, Bu Shang is talking to his disciples about the Wei poem "Shuoren".

Huge people, dressed in fine clothes. The son of the Marquis of Qi and the wife of the Marquis of Wei. The sister of the East Palace, the aunt of Xing Hou, Tan Gongwei is private.

The hands are like soft wattles, the skin is like clotted fat, the collar is like a grub, the teeth are like a rhinoceros, the head of the mantis is like a moth eyebrows, the smile is clever, and the eyes are beautiful.

…………

I always thought that this poem was only intended to praise the peerless beauty of Zhuang Jiang, the wife of Duke Wei Zhuang back then, but Bu Shang had his own deeper understanding of it. He saw beauty in the poems, and he also saw the courtesy. Many of his ideas immediately attracted me, and I couldn't help but sit down on the grass.

After that, the feeling became even more wonderful, and I had obviously memorized the article "Shuoren", but at this time, when it came to the mouth of the erudite and talented Bu Shang, it suddenly became completely unfamiliar. It was like a stone that had always been in front of me, and I had been convinced for many years that it was just a stone. But suddenly, one day, a person's words cleared the fog in front of me. I realized that the stone turned out to be a shining piece of gold, but for many years I was blind and blind to its light. I couldn't help but be overjoyed by the feeling of a mouth popping up.

After Bu Shang, Duanmu Ci told us about the Wei poem "Qi Ao", Confucius was in great interest today, and he also sat on the high platform on crutches and told us about the Qin poem "Yellow Bird".

Questioning, exploring, arguing, different ideas collided in the air around me. I was like a wheat field that had been dry for a long time, and suddenly ushered in a rain. My eyes, my ears, my heart, I open all my senses to surprise after surprise.

Just as everyone was discussing the funeral ceremony from the poem "Yellow Bird", a man in a dark brown coat and a dark crown on his head rushed in from the front yard coldly.

"Master—Master—" The man shouted as he passed by us, carrying the hem of his deep coat, and headed straight for the high platform.

What kind of person is this, and how can he shout in the Confucian Mansion?

"Hongyun'er, do you know him?" I glanced at the man's back, turned my head and asked Shirtless.

"It's Ran Yong, the head of the Jisun clan." Wuxian replied in a deep voice.

Ran Yong? I've heard of this person for a long time. I heard that he and his half-brother Ran Qiu are both talented under Kongqiu, and now both of them are officials under the Jisun clan. Today, he hurriedly came to Kong Qiu in disregard of the gentleman's manners, could it be that something big happened in the country of Lu?

I glanced at Wuxi, and the two of them stood up in unison and walked towards the high platform where Confucius was.

"Yong, a gentleman should be serious, what kind of system do you shout like this!" On the high platform, Kong Qiu picked up his cane and hammered it heavily on the ground.

"Master...... Yong is reckless, please Master, forgive your sins! Ran Yong panted and ran up to the high platform and bowed down.

"You have always been steady and polite, why are you so panicked today?" Kong Qiu's face was relieved, and he asked slowly.

"Master, something has happened to Qi Guo! Qi Xiang Chen Heng has killed the king! Ran Yong stood up and looked at Kong Qiu and shouted bitterly.

"The Chen family has killed the king!"

"Gongzi Yangsheng, who has only been doing it for four years, has actually been killed again!"

"It's a big rebellion, ......"

"Two generations of monarchs of the Qi State have been killed by their subordinates, where is this etiquette?"

…………

Ran Yong's words made the more than forty Confucian students in the courtyard explode at once.

Ignoring the unguarded obstruction beside me, I took a few steps onto the high platform: "Mr. Ran, what did you say?" Chen Heng killed Qi Hou? When? Where is it? ”

Ran Yong glanced at me, turned his head to Kong Qiu and said, "Qi Xiang Kanzhi strayed into Chen's mining when he fled, and was killed by Chen's pursuers at Guomen. Qi Hou and Mrs. Jun were also captured by Chen Heng's men on the way to the north, and both died. ”

Kan stopped dead! Qi Hou and Lu Ji are also dead! What about Yu An, who escorted them? What about Zhang Meng? Ran Yong's words fell on my ears like a thunderbolt.

"Zhonggong, where did you know about this?" Duanmu Ci helped Ran Yong on the ground.

"Mrs. Qi is the sister of Dr. Jisun, and the news is that Dr. Jisun's cronies in Linzi ran to death and three fast horses were just sent to Jisun's mansion." Ran Yong grabbed Duanmu Ci's hand and said urgently.

Lu Ji is Ji Sunfei's sister, and Ran Yong is the head of Ji Sun's family, so his news is true!!

But didn't Qi Hou and the others go to Gaowan City? Didn't Dr. Gao send someone to answer? Why did they still fall into the hands of Chen Heng?

I turned my head to look at Shirtless, and his face turned pale.

"Master, Master, where are you going?" When I was in a state of turmoil, Duanmuci's anxious voice came to my ears. As soon as I turned around, I saw Kong Qiu brushing away Duanmu Ci and Ran Yong's hands, and walking down the steps with a cane.

"Master, go slowly!" Duanmu Ci and Ran Yong hurriedly lifted their clothes and followed Kong Qiu to the bottom of the high platform.

"Master, the grass is slippery, you ......" Before Duanmu Ci's words fell, he saw Kong Qiu's left foot staggering, and the whole person fell backwards suddenly.

"Master—" Everyone was shocked, and all the forty or so disciples in the middle of the meadow rushed up.

I saw the white-haired Kongqiu fall to the ground like this, and my heart was shocked and I quickly jumped off the platform.

"Master, how are you? Where did you fall? I pushed aside the crowd and crouched beside Kongqiu and asked urgently.

The elderly are the most taboo about wrestling, and many people never get up again once they fall.

"It's okay, help me up." Kong Qiu sat up, straightened his clothes and crowned hat, and handed his hand to Duanmu Ci.

"Master, you wait a minute, let the disciple take a look for you." I saw that Kong Qiu was about to get up, and hurriedly held him down.

"Yes, yes, Zi Huang is a doctor, let him take a look for you first." Duanmu Ci held Kongqiu's arm and looked at me eagerly: "Zi Di, take a look, how is the master?" ”

"Master, if you feel any pain, say it." I tried to calm myself down and carefully examined Kongqiu's injuries.

"Master, gentleman is serious, you just scolded me, why did you forget it! Where are you going in such a hurry? Ran Yong rubbed the knee of Kongqiu's left leg and choked.

"Yong, prepare a dress for me, I want to enter the palace to meet the king!" Kong Qiu waved his sleeve away from me, reached out and took the crutch handed by a disciple and stood up strongly.

"Master, let's go again tomorrow! Your body matters! Duanmu Ci and Ran Yong said in unison.

"There is a priority in things, the minister kills the king, the son kills the father, is there anything more important in the world!" Kong Qiu glanced at Duanmu Ci and took a difficult step on crutches. The forty or so disciples standing in front of him instantly separated to both sides like flowing water, and this stubborn old man bent his back like this, walking forward step by step.

Author's note: The ancients had names and words. Duanmu Ci, the word Zigong; Yan Hui, Ziyuan; Bu Shang, the word Zi Xia; Ran Yong, the word Zhonggong. Confucius called his disciples by their names, and the brothers and sisters were equals, so they called the characters.

Kong Qiu left, Duanmu Ci and Ran Yong also left, and everyone's figures disappeared in front of my eyes one by one.

"Let's go, let's go back too!" Shirtless stepped forward and gently shook my shoulder.

"Hongyun'er, how could Qi Hou and Lu Ji be killed by Chen Heng? Hasn't Chen Heng's 1,000-strong army been led away by Kan Zhi? It was only three days from the valley to Gaowan City, and Doctor Gao promised to send troops to greet him, even if Kan Zhi was killed in Guomen, it was impossible for Chen Heng to rush to Gaowan City so quickly? Yu An, Mr. Zhang, they ...... "I tugged at the placket of my shirtless chest, and the more I talked, the more anxious I became.

"Don't panic first, calm down first." Wuxian's eyes had regained his composure, he looked at me, and waited until my breathing gradually stabilized before he said, "In addition to Chen Heng, the Chen clan also has several high-ranking doctors in the court, and they also have their own soldiers and horses in their hands, and it may not be Chen Heng himself who captured the Marquis of Qi." ”

"But the route to Gao Wancheng is only known to a few of us, even if the Chen family still has soldiers and horses in Linzi, but when they transfer troops to chase them, Qi Hou and Yu An should have already met with Doctor Gao? What about Dr. Gao? Didn't he send you any message? ”

"No, I've already asked Ah Yu, and before we came, there was no news from Brother Gao's side." Wuxian's eyes darkened, and he let go of the hand holding my shoulder sneeringly, "It's me who underestimated Chen Heng too much, I thought that no news was the best news." Now it seems that something must have gone wrong on Gao Wancheng's side. ”

"The Marquis of Qi is dead, Mrs. Qi is dead, the person who escorted them ......" I thought of the day I escaped from the Qi Palace, and the night when I struggled to survive in the storm, and I couldn't speak anymore.

"Okay, don't think about it yet. We can't deduce anything now just from Ran Yong's words. Let's go, let's go back first, and then we'll think about it later. ”

"No, I can't go back."

"Why?"

"Yu An and Mr. Zhang may come back safely in a few days. The way I look now will make Si'er misunderstand, I can't see her. "Si'er's eyes will see through me, no matter how well I pretend, she will see the unease, self-blame and pain in my heart at a glance.

"Yes, Si'er and Dong Shu ......" Wuxian raised his head and let out a sigh, "Okay, I'll hide it from you Si'er first." It's okay for you to find a way to stay here today, Kong Qiu must have wanted to ask Lu Gong to send troops to attack Chen Heng when he saw Lu Gong this time. You're here waiting for him to come back and see how it goes, right? ”

"Hmm." I choked up and nodded, "Hongyun'er, I'm sorry. ”

"Don't say those three words anymore. You must remember what I said, that if there is a fight, there will be victory and loss, and if it is war, there will be sacrifice. No matter what the outcome of this matter will be in the end, it is not your fault, and you should not blame yourself. ”

sanjiangge