The place where Xu Zhijie brought them to, where is the official residence of a local magistrate, it is clearly a fortress!

This fort is along the wall, and at intervals, there will be a sentry post, and you don't need to look to know that the guards in charge of guarding the sentry must be armed with strong crossbows. Anyone who is stupid enough to break into Xu Zhijie's mansion will be shot into a hedgehog by random arrows.

The gate of the fortress, even if you don't have to go closer, you can feel its weight from a distance. Gu Panxi couldn't help but think that if the gate of Zhao Wang's Mansion in the past was the same size as Xu Zhijie's gate, he was afraid that Di Yunlong would hit him beyond recognition and fall apart, and it would be impossible for him to break in.

"Mr. Xu's mansion is really different."

Gu Panxi hesitated for a long time, but he couldn't help but comment like this.

Of course, Xu Zhijie heard Gu Panxi's words, and couldn't help but smile: "When a soldier acts, safety is naturally the most important. Let the Hou Ye and Mrs. see it laugh. ”

After that, Xu Zhijie made a gesture of invitation, and let Shi Feiqing and Gu Panxi take the lead in entering.

Gu Panxi looked up and saw that the sentries above her head were all waiting solemnly, so she couldn't help but swallow her saliva, a little worried, but she still took the lead in walking towards the heavy double-leaf gate under Xu Zhijie's kind invitation.

The door creaked open a crack. Gu Panxi looked in along the crack in the door, and found that just to pull the door, there were as many as four people standing behind the left and right doors, which was an exaggeration.

Fortunately, after Gu Panxi entered the mansion, he found that the layout inside was no different from the layout of an ordinary mansion, and it was just pavilions, long and short corridors, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

At least what Xu Zhijie brought them to was the mansion where he really lived, not some weird secret base.

Bizarrely, there doesn't seem to be a butler or anything like that in this mansion.

After Shi Feiqing and Gu Panxi and his entourage entered the mansion, it was still Xu Zhijie who personally led the way, and brought them all the way to the living room.

Gu Panxi's eyes widened, revealing a stunned look, Xu Zhijie keenly caught Gu Panxi's stunnedness, and said with a smile: "Let Mrs. laugh again, right?" The subordinate can only trust the subordinate soldiers brought out by his own leader, so in the mansion, there are no subordinate servants. In fact, on weekdays, the officials cook by themselves and take care of three meals a day, and they don't need these boys to take care of them. It's just that today, thinking that there are distinguished guests coming to the door, they let a few of them who are the best at cooking come out to prepare such a table of meals.

Master Hou, Mrs., coarse tea and light rice, please don't mind, please also two, oh, and several subordinates and friends of Mrs. Hou, taste it. If the taste is mediocre, you can bear with it, but if you think it's really unpalatable, please don't be restrained, just say it, and the lower officials will definitely reprimand and reprimand the few boys who are in charge of cooking today! ”

Hearing Xu Zhijie say this, Gu Panxi was stunned again, she couldn't help but tilt her head sideways and ask Shi Feiqing in a low voice: "Feiqing, Jiangnan Chief Soldier, how many rank officials are you?" ”

Shi Feiqing said without hesitation: "It's the second product." ”

Ho!

A dignified second-class court official, a local officer, there is no half of a servant in the mansion, and in ordinary life, he still relies on his own cooking to meet the needs of three meals...... This Xu Zhijie is really not an ordinary product.

Gu Panxi looked at the dishes on the seat again, Xu Zhijie said it well, because there were distinguished guests, so he specially looked for a child

The best cooks in the soldiers cooked.

But there are seven people in Shi Feiqing and Gu Panxi's entourage alone, but there are only six dishes, and most of them are mainly green vegetables, but there is a big pot of rice, which clearly means that the dishes are not enough, and the rice is full. If you talk about the quality of the dishes, it is indeed worthy of Xu Zhijie's self-proclaimed "coarse tea and light rice". At this point, it is rare for someone to be as honest as Xu Zhijie......

All this, instead of making Gu Panxi feel that Xu Zhijie was inconsiderate, he had a lot of good feelings for him. A person of high authority can be so thrifty, so simple, so stoic, and outstanding in character, which is absolutely extraordinary.

Of course, the premise is that all this is not pretended by Xu Zhijie.

However, Gu Panxi learned from Xiaoqi that even if Xu Zhijie asked the women of the Qinglou to accompany him, he would never touch half of their fingers, but just asked them to sing, sing, play chess with him, and chat with him.

Just looking at Xu Zhijie's habits in the past, it is difficult to think that everything he is doing now is pretending. Unless, he can keep pretending for years and months, wearing a mask all the time.

Can anyone do such a thing?

Gu Panxi was deeply skeptical.

Xu Zhijie said enthusiastically: "Okay, you guys have come all the way to the mansion of the lower officials, and you are hungry when you think about it." Please use your chopsticks! Hou Ye, madam, don't see outside, although this is far less than Hou Ye's mansion, but please treat this place as your own home, don't have the slightest restraint. ”

Shi Feiqing nodded.

Gu Panxi smiled and said, "Since Mr. Xu is so hospitable, our husband and wife are welcome!" ”

Everyone immediately moved their chopsticks, picked up their back molars, and began to feast.

First, Shi Feiqing Gu Panxi and his party were really hungry, and secondly, because Xu Zhijie's enthusiasm and simplicity made them unload their defenses, so this coarse tea and light meal tasted extraordinarily delicious.

After the tea and food were full, Xu Zhijie took Shi Feiqing and Gu Panxi to visit his mansion.

As Miss Xiaoqi of Yanyulou said, Xu Zhijie is a lonely person, and his life is very lonely on weekdays, although his mansion is not small, most of the rooms are placed with armor and weapons, as if his mansion is used as an arsenal. Among his mansions, the most eye-catching is a huge martial arts arena built on the side of his mansion.

Xu Zhijie introduced: "This martial arts arena is a place for lower officials to exercise on weekdays, as well as to train their disciples. The lower officials heard that Hou Ye was a high apprentice of the Sword Saint who was drunk three times a day, and he didn't know if Hou Ye would be able to appreciate the face and learn from the lower officials? ”

Shi Feiqing and Gu Panxi glanced at each other, and when they saw Gu Panxi shaking his head slightly, he replied: "It's not that Ben Hou doesn't want to appreciate his face, it's just that the sword has no eyes, so this battle will be avoided." ”

Xu Zhijie laughed out loud and said with a smile: "Follow the wishes of the Hou Ye." It's just that the lower official still has a reluctant request? ”

"Commander, please speak."

"Can you show the lower officials the famous musket?" When he said this, Xu Zhijie's eyes lit up, obviously he couldn't hide the anticipation in his heart.

"What kind of reluctance is this?" Gu Panxi smiled, neatly pulled out his musket from his waist, and handed it to Xu Zhijie, "Chief soldier, please take a look." ”

Xu Zhijie didn't expect Gu Panxi to be so straightforward, and hesitated for a while before taking it solemnly with both hands.

"This is the divine musket that made the Hun iron cavalry terrified in the battle of Tumubao?"

Xu Zhijie didn't expect this famous divine soldier

, The size is so small, it can make Gu Panxi walk around with it around his waist, and he didn't expect the musket to be so light.

There is really a lot of energy.

Xu Zhijie played with the musket cautiously and enthusiastically for a while, hesitated for a moment, and asked a little embarrassedly: "Master Hou, madam, the lower official has another reluctant request." I don't know ......."

"The chief soldier wants to test the power of the musket?" Gu Panxi didn't wait for Xu Zhijie to finish speaking, so he continued with a smile.

Xu Zhijie nodded hurriedly and agreed: "Madam is really like a god. Exactly, Xia Guan wanted to be cheeky and try the power of this musket that shook the frontier. ”

"It's even more of a trifle."

Gu Panxi spread his hands. Now she is bent on getting close to Xu Zhijie, of course, she has no reason to refuse this small request.

The moment Xu Zhijie heard Gu Panxi's promise, his eyebrows immediately danced, and he was as happy as a general horned child who heard his mother promise to buy him a new toy, completely lacking the calmness and composure he had shown before. Shi Feiqing and Gu Panxi saw it, and they both secretly felt funny.

Xu Zhijie couldn't wait to let his guards arrange a few straw figures, ready to use them as targets. Under the guidance of Gu Panxi, Xu Zhijie put on a posture, raised the musket flat on his chest, and aimed it at a straw man ten zhang away.

"Madam, is it possible to launch this crescent-shaped bracket as long as you pull it?"

Xu Zhijie confirmed again and again.

Gu Panxi patted his chest and packed the ticket to him: "Exactly." Don't be nervous. This dragon is a musket, but it is a top masterpiece carefully crafted by Master Lu. Absolutely safe, it won't blow up. ”

"Explode? What does it mean to explode? ”

Gu Panxi didn't say anything, but as soon as he said it, Xu Zhijie became even more nervous. He was curious about the novelty of the musket, but more awe-inspiring.

There is no other reason, after all, he is also a survivor who has fought on the battlefield. It is difficult not to be in awe of the murder weapon, to be vigilant and fearful.

Gu Panxi also felt that he was getting darker and darker, coughed dryly, and said with a wry smile: "Mr. Xu, don't worry, it was Mrs. Ben who said a lot just now." Please rest assured that this musket is absolutely safe and reliable. ”

Xu Zhijie nodded in a daze, said yes, and then squinted, aimed at the straw man's head, and pulled the trigger.

"Boom!"

There was a loud bang, which shook Xu Zhijie, who heard the gunfire for the first time, and his right hand that grabbed the gun also shook a few times because of the recoil, almost letting the musket fall off his hand.

But what shocked Xu Zhijie even more was the state of the straw man being shot.

Xu Zhijie didn't hit the straw man's head as he wished, the bullet missed and fell to the straw man's abdomen, and the bullet passed through, knocking out the straw man's abdomen with a hollow half the size of his head. This kind of power really completely subverted the understanding of Xu Zhijie, who only knew arrows.

"Divine Soldier...... Divine Soldier ...... What a miracle soldier! ”

Xu Zhijie, who had finished the test gun, had not been able to calm down, and just muttered such a sentence on his lips.

After visiting the mansion and trying the musket, Xu Zhijie took Shi Feiqing and Gu Panxi back to the living room. Those cups and plates were in a mess, and they had been cleaned up at the moment, and Liu Qingyan and Mu Wanwan were sitting inside drinking tea and waiting.

After sitting down again, Xu Zhijie got straight to the point, and finally cut to the main topic of this meeting, and asked Shi Feiqing and Gu Panxi: "Lord Hou and his wife will not come to Jinling this time, just to visit the mountains and rivers and take a look at the prosperous days and nights of Jinling, right?" ”

(End of chapter)