The Yamen of the Suzhou Prefect, which is only two streets away from the Yamen of the Governor of Yingtian, is lit up tonight, and the traffic is busy, and it is very lively.

The old lady of the Suzhou prefect celebrated the birthday banquet of the full moon, the parents of the eight counties and one state within the jurisdiction of Suzhou Prefecture, the squires, businessmen, and meritorious families in Suzhou City and the surrounding areas were invited, and even those who wanted to live in Suzhou, the heads of the rivers and lakes, black and white, and the helpers also came to congratulate, even if they couldn't come, they also sent people to send gifts early, so as not to lose etiquette.

Someone stabbed this matter to Zhao Jinlian, the governor of Yingtian, and the governor suppressed this matter on the grounds that "Suzhou Mansion is happy with the people, and it is inconvenient to ask". After all, he only gave his mother a birthday two days ago, and earned more than 100,000 taels of silver inside and out. The governor would not have done anything that only allowed the governor to set fires and forbade the people to light lamps. However, I secretly still feel that Xiao Xiao's appearance is too ugly this week, and his subordinates, gentry, three sects, and nine streams do not refuse to come, and some of them have lost their identity as officials.

Don't you know that Zhou Xiao himself also has suffering, the governor guards the pastoral side on behalf of the Son of Heaven, and the money is a big deal, and the following mansions, garrisons, and generals are ten thousand taels of plans, and Zhou Xiao wants to collect money here, so he can only set these picks and expenses layer by layer, or he will loot the neighborhood squires, find a reason to repair it, and ask them to spit out some gold and silver; or Yin eats grain, and collects taxes in the Year of the Dragon in the Year of the Horse, it is said that the Taicang Mansion has already put the tax in the Kangxi period, if it is really calculated.

Fortunately, there is heaven and Suzhou and Hangzhou, Suzhou is a rich land in the south of the Yangtze River, the land of fish and rice, commerce and handicrafts are developed, and there has been no war on the border over the years, and the people are used to it, as long as there is food to eat, they will not rebel. If you catch up with the desolate places in the western part of the border, such as Hidden Yang City, if this tax collection law is used, I am afraid that it will already be ten rooms and nine empty, and it will be revealed.

Suzhou, Yangzhou, Changshu, Jinling, Songjiang, and Hangzhou have always been short of official positions, and if it were not for the extremely hard relationship in the imperial court, the backing was very large, or a lot of money was spent, it would be difficult for ordinary officials to become vacant here. It is said that the previous prefect, transferred to the Ministry of Rites as a staff member, just moved to hire ten big ships, for a time, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is lined with flags, so not spectacular, there is a supervision of the imperial history to the imperial court to impeach, as a result, the prefect ran to the home of the metropolitan governor Yuwen Tianlu overnight and knelt all night, crying bitterly, to repent of the past, after donating nearly half of the property, the metropolitan governor only pressed down this performance.

The Ming Dynasty established the country by force and ruled the country by literature, and the military generals have always had a low status in the imperial court, but the Governor of Yuwen is an exception. This Dadu Governor, who made great contributions in the Jingjing Rebellion, leaned towards the government and the opposition in the imperial court, and was named the Duke of Anguo by the imperial court, if it was at the beginning of the founding of the country, he would have been named a king with a different surname, even so, he was almost under one person in the court, above ten thousand people, even if he was a cabinet scholar, he also avoided three points.

Before going out, Fan Wuchang thought twice, and replaced the previous satin robe with a green cloth straight jacket, with two patches on the cuffs. First, he has no fame, and if he dresses inappropriately to attend such an occasion, he is easy to be caught, and secondly, he is not thinking about showing off his wealth, if he dresses too dazzlingly, he is easy to be targeted.

Xiao Jinyan was asked to change into the costume of a small servant, his original clothes, all over his body were patches and holes, and he really couldn't wear them out. On the other hand, Li Chengcheng is still dressed as a rich boy, with a brocade blue gown, a bright yellow jade pendant around his waist, and a Xiaoxiang fan in his hand. Zhao Lanjiang doesn't care about these, he is still dressed in animal skin, his hair is scattered, and he is dressed as a guest in the rivers and lakes. However, before leaving, he still put the long knife in the inn.

The four of them came to the prefect's yamen, and on such important occasions, the chief housekeeper and the second housekeeper inside the government were too busy, so they transferred a few messengers from the government to help welcome the guests.

The guests are also divided into three, six, nine and so on, if the person who comes is an official with an edict or title, or the governor, a nearby colleague, Zhou Xiao will personally greet him from the main gate, if it is an official of the lower county or a subordinate in the house, according to different positions, the chief butler and the second housekeeper will greet him from the second gate. Like Fan Wuchang and the leaders of the major gangs, it was not their turn to walk through the gate, and the deacon of the government government greeted them from the side gate.

Coincidentally, the three of them were greeted at the side door, and it was the two poor people who sent the invitation two days ago, and when they saw Fan Wuchang, the tall poor man smiled and didn't smile, and said: It turned out to be Boss Fan, our brother is still thinking, what kind of moth is there in Boss Fan's house this time, and he can't come.

Fan Wuchang laughed, where are the two poor masters, the Lord of Futai is our Suzhou Mansion parent official, there is a happy event in the family, we came to the ancestral tomb to smoke the green smoke, a blessing from several lifetimes.

The Takasha asked, "Your ancestral grave is on fire, and why is it smoking?"

"No!" Fan Wuchang said, "I'll just give you an analogy." ”

"The adults said, if there is something white in the house, it will not be used. There is no shortage of one or two of our Zhou adults to come to the ceremony. ”

Fan Wuchang said that I didn't come last month, so I was named by Zhou Papi, if I don't know anything this time, if he really wants to repair me, he will let me destroy my family for any reason. What's more, not long ago, Zhao Lanjiang broke into the prefect's yamen late at night, put a big knife on Zhou Xiao's neck, and released him. Now that Zhao Lanjiang is still in Suzhou, it is naturally inconvenient for him to make a move, if Zhao Lanjiang leaves one day, this matter will not be over, it is better to take the opportunity to reconcile with Zhou Xiao this time, lest he think about it that day and settle accounts after the autumn.

Li Chengcheng said on the side, "Shopkeeper Fan, don't pretend to be confused, these two are trying to ask for favors from adults." ”

Fan Wuchang monkey spirit, where would he not know this, in Suzhou Mansion, the king of Hades is difficult to see, and the little ghost is even more difficult, they deliberately make it difficult, just don't want to let themselves go in easily, thinking of this, he took out two taels of silver from his arms, pretended to step forward, put his left hand on his shoulder, and pulled a messenger's hand with his right hand, stuffed the silver over, and said in a low voice: "Little meaning, please drink tea with two poor masters." ”

Gao Cha's face eased slightly, and while saying that we are embarrassed to accept the favor of the shopkeeper Fan, he put the silver in his arms casually, and the two laughed, hooked their shoulders, and welcomed Fan Wuchang and others to the backyard.

Zhou Xiao is the governor of a state and lives in Suzhou Mansion.

The design of the government is extremely exquisite, with the front yard yamen office, and the backyard private residence, which is a four-entry courtyard. The first one is used by the prefect to meet guests and hold ceremonies, the second is the guest hall and study, and the third and fourth are the inner house and living place, rockery, flowing water, garden, and the arrangement is scattered.

This banquet banquet was held in the backyard. The gentry and officials with heads and faces in Suzhou were invited to the upper wing, and the rest of the merchants, Jianghu sects and declining squires sat in the courtyard, with clear hierarchies.

The courtyard stage is set up in the courtyard, and now the guests are not full, and the troupe from Kunshan County is babbling and singing on the stage, Xiao Jinyan didn't hear what it was, it seemed that a widow named Li Er's sister-in-law was going to remarry or something.

Gao Cha took Fan Wuchang to follow the ceremony, Xiao Jinyan put the gift box to the servant, and said, "The head of the Golden Buddha." ”

There is a little guy who sings, "Suzhou City Fan shopkeeper, give a golden Buddha!"

During the banquet, someone recognized Fan Wuchang, and when they saw him making such a generous move, they said that this iron rooster had changed his temperament and gave such a valuable gift. Then I thought about it, by the way, I heard that he had a lawsuit not long ago, and he almost didn't throw his life into it.

Gao Jie said, "Shopkeeper Fan, the old lady is happy today, in addition to being able to kowtow to the old lady in person, the adult also invited the top brand Yang Xiaoxiao from the newly opened Tianxiang Building to come and sing, this time you are here." I'll set you up in a private seat in a moment. ”

Xiao Jinyan muttered, "If you know that you can come to the play with a piece of iron lump, you shouldn't go to Tianxianglou two days ago." ”

"What did you say?"

Xiao Jinyan hahaha, "I said that I have long admired the name of the Yang family in Tianxianglou, and I have been blessed with the blessing of my lord, and I am fortunate to meet you today." ”

At this time, someone shouted, "Squire Fan!

When Fan Wuchang heard this, there were three people sitting on the table not far away, looking dressed up, they should be people in the rivers and lakes. Fan Wuchang didn't know these three people, but on this occasion, there was someone he knew, and it was better to talk than nothing, so he took the three of them to sit over, looking at each other blankly.

The man at the head of the man, "Squire Fan doesn't know us anymore?"

Fan Wuchang was puzzled: "What are the three?"

The leader laughed, arched his hand, and said, "It's really a noble person who forgets things, five years ago, we kidnapped your little son." ”

Fan Wuchang had a black line on his face, he really wanted his own life, it turned out to be the three ghosts of Jiangnan.

The boss is full of evil and Zhang Liang, his martial arts are strong, the second flying mouse is unfavorable, his light skills are superb, and the third is good at picking up gold in the spring, and his theft skills are unparalleled. These three people are famous Jiangyang thieves in the Jiangnan area, they are doing the business of robbing houses and houses, specifically picking on big families in Jiangnan, repeatedly committing crimes, robbing the ten-year-old Fan Xiaodao, if it were not for the rescue of the master of the free faction, Fan Xiaodao almost died in his hands. Because of this, Fan Wuchang made up his mind to let Fan Xiaodao go out to learn art.

In the past few years, the three ghosts of Jiangnan have disappeared, and they rarely appear on the rivers and lakes, and they never imagined that they would encounter them on such occasions.

When the enemy meets, he is very red-eyed.

Fan Wuchang was about to get up, Zhang Liang hurriedly held him down, Fan Wuchang was a little panicked, "What do you want to do?"

Gou Yi said: "Recently, I have been a little short of money, and I want to borrow some money from Boss Fan." ”

Fan Wuchang said not to borrow.

Zhang Liang said, "Ling Lang is almost fifteen or sixteen years old this year, right?"

Fan Wuchang said, "Uh-huh. ”

"Then don't blame the brothers for being unkind. ”

Fan Wuchang nodded, "You're welcome, Xiaodao's unfilial son, now that the Loose Sect is learning art, you want to see him and beat me to death." ”

Pang Chun laughed, "I said that Boss Fan has nothing to fear, it turns out that Ling Lang has joined a famous teacher." However, if you run away, your son can't run away from Lao Tzu, and if you run away from the monk, you can't run away from the temple, so I'll leave you a message today, your Fan family, we'll decide. ”

Fan Wuchang glanced at Zhao Lanjiang, Zhao Lanjiang understood, sat next to him, held a wine glass, and put it in front of the three of them, "Drink." ”

The three ghosts of Jiangnan said, let's talk here, and you don't have the right to intervene.

Zhao Lanjiang slapped his backhand, "I'll let you drink." ”

The three ghosts couldn't dodge, each of them received a slap in the face, they were furious, and they were about to turn over the table and kick the stool, but they found that Li Tingcheng and Xiao Jinyan were already standing behind them, Li Tingcheng folded a fan against their backs, as long as the internal force vomited, it would be crippled at the least, and it would be killed on the spot.

Xiao Jinyan said, "Let you drink." ”

The three of them didn't dare to resist, so they hurriedly picked up the wine jug and killed it one by one. Zhao Lanjiang felt that it was not enough, so he took three jars of wine again, "Drink again." The three of them killed them honestly again, Zhao Lanjiang took the wine again, and the three ghosts of Jiangnan said, "This hero, we really can't drink anymore." ”

Zhao Lanjiang slapped the table, the three of them were so frightened that they hurriedly continued to drink, the wine banquet had not yet started, the three of them were already drunk, drunk and staggering, fortunately, there were many noisy people in the courtyard, and everyone did not pay attention to this.

Xiao Jinyan said, "As the saying goes, drink less, eat more vegetables, and if you can't reach it, stand up." Why do you drink so much?"

The three ghosts cried and mourned, "You let me drink." ”

Li Chengcheng said coldly, "We let you die, and you should die too." ”

Evil Guan Manying was resentful in his heart, but he had no choice but to be restrained, and said coldly, "Brother, our three ghosts are also famous and surnamed in the rivers and lakes, it seems that you are also a person in the rivers and lakes, leave a line in life, and see each other well in the future, there is no need to be so desperate to do things." What's more, now that we are people from Yixiaotang, you deceive people too much, aren't you afraid of being the enemy of Yixiaotang?"

"I said, how did you come to such a place, it turned out that Zao Wou-Ki was a lackey. No wonder, no wonder!" Li Tingcheng said to himself.

At this time, suddenly a fist wind hit behind them, Li Chengcheng and Xiao Jinyan were alert, they didn't have time to turn around, they slapped their backhands backwards with one palm, and made a hard move with the sneak attacker, poof, and the two took a few steps back. Xiao Jinyan only felt that his whole body was surging with qi and blood, and he hurriedly lucked himself, and it took a moment to resolve the discomfort, and Li Chengcheng was obviously not comfortable.

The two of them looked at the visitor with wary faces.

A Taoist priest wearing a golden beam crown and a Tai Chi robe stood behind him, "Huh", squinted at the two of them, and said proudly: "Among the future generations in the rivers and lakes, the person who can receive Zhao's three successful blows can be regarded as a leader." I don't know what the two of you call and what kind of school they inherit?"

Xiao Jinyan's heart was terrible, it turned out that this person was the master of the Laughing Hall, Zhao Wouji, one of the eight evil kings of the Demon Sect, and he couldn't imagine that his strength was terrifying. Among the younger generation, Li Chengcheng is on the list, and he is a master among the rivers and lakes, although Xiao Jinyan is not on the list, his martial arts are also the realm of five or six grades of Xuanxuan, and he can't imagine that under the joint efforts, it is so laborious to connect Zao Wouji's three successes.

Don't you know that Zhao Wouji was also secretly surprised in his heart, he saw that the three ghosts of Jiangnan were bullied, he was angry in his heart, and approached quietly, ready to teach a lesson, if it was an ordinary person, he would turn back first, and then attack, he punched quickly, and the two were injured even if they were not dead, who expected that the fist wind had not arrived, but these two young people had a sense of induction, and directly met each other with a backhand, and they were not injured. This kind of cultivation, at this age, very few people do it, either they are famous in the rivers and lakes, or they are famous teachers, so they try to speak out.

Xiao Jinyan haha, no door, no faction, nobody, not worth mentioning.

When Zhao Wuji heard this, he was moved with murderous thoughts in his heart, but when he came to the prefect's yamen tonight, he had other important matters, so he forbears his heart and says, "Since the two of them refuse to tell us, Zhao does not force it, and if Zhao Mou makes a disproportionate move and accidentally kills the two, don't forget to tell him when you see the king of Hades, the person who took your life is surnamed Zhao Wuji." ”

Xiao Jinyan laughed, "It turned out to be the hall master of Yixiao Hall, don't worry, other skills are not high, the ability to escape for your life is still a little conceited." Having said that, Xiao Jinyan was also worried about one of the eight evil kings on the rivers and lakes.

At this moment, a gong sounded, and someone sang, "Suzhou Governor Zhou Xiaozhou has arrived!"