The dragon and the tiger are located in the imperial state, and the emperor's son Jinling visits the ancient hills.

Since the beginning of the army, the great grandfather has swept the world and is unstoppable. A scholar once said: "Jinling is the capital of the emperor, and it is the foundation of the first to pull it out." Grandpa Tai ordered the Confucian scholars to write poems for Zhongshan, and the poem said: "Ao Zuli is the four poles, and Zhongshan is a dragon." The grandfather couldn't help but shout loudly, believing that Jinling City did have the spirit of the emperor, so he followed the advice of the Confucian scholars, and ordered Liu Guoshi and others to pray for the land and carefully build Nanjing.

There is a stone city in the west, Zhongshan in the east, Xuanwu in the north, although the city of Nanjing is no longer the prosperity of the Beijing division in the past, but the momentum of the tiger and the dragon has not been reduced in the slightest. Meng Dongting rode a horse and walked between the mountains and rivers of Nanjing, looking at the smoke curling from the house, everyone smiling, and the autumn breeze dyed the layers of forest gold, only to feel very comfortable, as if for many years his own generation of scholars "the world is determined, the people are happy" long-cherished wish, I can't help humming a few Huaiyang tunes.

Just as he was proud, Meng Dongting suddenly felt a hot pain in his back, and hurriedly looked back, only to see a hideous-looking evil dragon with his mouth wide open and gnawing at his back, so frightened that he was flying out of the sky, and screamed and urged the horse to run forward, and when he didn't run long, it was another big water blocking the way, he looked back, the evil dragon was only a stone's throw away behind him, and the sharp fangs were about to be inserted into his back in an instant.

As soon as he entered the water, the river water was desperately poured into his mouth, his nose was not smooth, he didn't want to drink this water, he only opened his mouth and swallowed it widely, and just when he reached his throat, he felt that it was astringent and unusual, and he couldn't help but let out a "wow" sound, and spit out the yellow soup that was half swallowed.

But I heard a coquettish cry of "ah", and then an angry female voice sounded: "This kid doesn't know what to do, I kindly fed him yellow lotus water to drink, but he vomited me, looking for a ......"

In a trance, Meng Dongting only felt as if he was not in the water, but on a soft collapse, and suddenly felt pain in his body, and wanted to turn around and hide, but he heard a "plop" sound, and then his eyes went dark, and he fell into chaos again.

There seemed to be a delicate female voice in the distance: "Come, pull him to the firewood room for me, and don't bring him to this room again until my father returns." ”

Another submissive voice came: "Yes...... Yes, miss, it's just that he is still seriously injured and has not yet recovered, and the master ordered it before leaving......"

"Slap" The crisp sound of a slap on the face, the delicate voice increased a lot, as if he was angry: "If you want to do it, you can do it, why is it so much nonsense......"

After that, Meng Dongting gradually disappeared.

I don't know how long later, Meng Dongting woke up again and found that he was in a pile of firewood and grass, his whole body was still sore, and his back and forehead were still a little scorching, but he didn't feel that his body was as wet as falling into water. I didn't know if it was a dream or a dream just now, I said it was a dream, but my back hurt and it was true, I was still on a soft collapse just now, why did I sleep in this firewood and grass pile in a blink of an eye.

Meng Dongting shook his groggy head, and wanted to get up, but he never thought that his hands and feet couldn't use his strength at all, and he just supported his body a little, and he felt dizzy, and fell heavily into the firewood and grass, but his stomach was gurgling at this time.

Meng Dongting suddenly felt hungry, and only felt that even if he brought him a cow right now, he could eat it up at all. The feeling of hunger cleared his mind a little, and in retrospect, what he could still remember was that Ouyang Bei jumped into a river valley with him, and then he didn't have the slightest impression of what happened after that.

Just when he was thinking a lot, he suddenly heard a "squeak", the door of the firewood room opened, and he saw a slightly fat young man walking in with a food box, and saw Meng Dongting waking up and looking at himself with wide eyes, and couldn't help but say happily: "Oh, you are awake, I'll go tell the housekeeper!"

After that, he left Meng Dongting, who looked confused, turned around and ran to report to the housekeeper.

After a while, I saw a thin middle-aged man walking into the door of the firewood room with the young man who had just reported to him, the middle-aged man had a black beard under his chin, and his appearance was very shrewd and capable, obviously he was a housekeeper.

As soon as the housekeeper entered the door, he quickly covered his nose, obviously smoked by the strange smell mixed with all kinds of smells in the firewood room. I saw him pinching his nose and frowning and said to Meng Dongting: "You kid has finally woken up, I don't know where you offended our eldest lady, I can only temporarily wronged you to live here." As he spoke, he pointed to the young man next to him with his hand, and continued: "In the future, Wugui will bring you food and medicine, and you should take care of your body as soon as possible." ”

Although Meng Dongting was very impatient when he heard the butler's words, he didn't say anything unpleasant, so he replied in a weak voice: "Thank you Lord Butler for your care! Dare to ask me where this is?"

The housekeeper pinched his nose and smiled: "You kid can wake up from such a serious injury, it can be regarded as a fool and a fool." This is the firewood room of the Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of War, and it was my old man Wu who saved you, and his old man is now away on business for several months, and you can thank him again when he comes back! By the way, what is your name?"

Meng Dongting replied: "In Xia Meng Dongting." Dare to ask the housekeeper, can Brother Ouyang, who brought me with me, be in the mansion?" It turned out that after this time of birth and death, and shared hardships, he had already regarded Ouyang Bei as his eldest brother in his heart.

The housekeeper shook his head and said, "He left early!, he left a note for you!" As he spoke, he took out a note from his arms, handed it to Meng Dongting and said, "Look slowly, I'll leave first, and tell Wu Gui if there's anything." It's a smoky place that hurts your head!"

Meng Dongting took the note and thanked the housekeeper again, only to see Wu Gui leave the food box to eat food and decoction, and he was stupid and amused, and then followed the housekeeper away.

Meng Dongting watched the two of them walk away, so he hurriedly unfolded the note to watch, only to see that it read: "Little brother, the foolish brother has the great revenge of the sixty-four members of the old Ma family to be avenged, and the only way to entrust you to Wu Shangshu is to take care of you." Don't say goodbye, don't blame!" The signature is written with the three words Ouyang Bei.

After reading the note, Meng Dongting not only did not blame Ouyang Bei in his heart, but on the contrary, he paid tribute to his enthusiasm for not being afraid of difficulties and bravely going to the future. I thought in my heart: "When I get better from my injury, I will definitely find an opportunity to find Brother Ouyang and help him." ”

In this way, Meng Dongting recuperated and recovered in the firewood room with peace of mind. Relying on his good physical foundation, in less than ten days, Meng Dongting's face gradually regained his rosiness, and he moved freely, not like a person who had just been seriously injured and was about to die.

On this day, the housekeeper took Wu Gui to the firewood room again, and when he saw that Meng Dongting was already alive, he couldn't help but snort: "Our master has a good heart, took you in, and found the best doctor for you to treat your injuries." You can't forget your roots, and you must always think about repaying. ”

Although Meng Dongting didn't like what the housekeeper said, he was also paying attention to it, so he hurriedly asked, "Dare to ask the housekeeper how to repay him?"

The housekeeper said: "Shangshu Mansion doesn't raise idlers, what will you do?"

Meng Dongting couldn't help but be stunned, he lived to be twenty-five or sixteen years old, but he really never seriously thought about what he would do. After thinking for a while, he said: "I have learned a lot in Xia, I know a little bit about piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, ancient porcelain and jade, and I also have some experience in other miscellaneous items." In addition, there are also wars and strategies. By the way, I will also write pleadings and lawsuits for others. ”

As he was talking, he saw that the butler's face was strange, and said, "Master Steward, what you have learned below, can you still make it?"

The housekeeper was as surprised as if he had seen a monster in broad daylight, and scolded: "What nonsense! Wugui, you teach this kid to carry water and chop wood every day, and the house is in charge of eating and drinking, and he is also given seven coins of silver in January." As he spoke, he turned around and walked out of the firewood room, leaving without looking back.

That Wu Gui almost laughed on the side, and saw that the housekeeper scolded Meng Dongting for a good time, so he grinned and said: "I said that this Master Meng, quickly follow me to chop wood and fetch water!" As he spoke, he took Meng Dongting to bring some firewood and miscellaneous items from the firewood room to the courtyard, and taught him in a matter-of-fact manner.

Wu Gui showed Meng Dongting how to chop wood, and explained to him what he needed to do every day, talking about where the water tank needed to carry water, where the courtyard needed to chop firewood and send salary, and so on.

Meng Dongting wrote them down one by one, and then asked, "Brother Wugui, then do I still sleep in this firewood room at night?"

Wu Gui said with a disgusted face: "If you don't sleep here, do you still want to sleep in the lady's boudoir?"

Meng Dongting smiled bitterly for a while, remembering the days spent in Yangzhou Prison, and laughed at himself: "Meng Dongting, Meng Dongting, there is a firewood room for you to sleep in for a long time, that's a good thing." ”

From autumn to winter, Meng Dongting carried water and chopped firewood every day to do some hard work, and the food in Shangshufu was very good, and his body became stronger day by day. He was already slightly taller than ordinary people, and he became burly at this time.

There are no other expenses every month, and the salary is slowly accumulating, just when the entanglement is enough, he will try to find Ouyang Bei and make plans.

On this day, he was chopping wood, when he suddenly saw the housekeeper hurrying over, and shouted, "Hey, Xiao Meng, come here!"

Meng Dongting put down the firewood knife, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked, "Master Housekeeper, what's the matter?"

The housekeeper hurriedly beckoned: "Don't ask too much, just follow me!"

Meng Dongting saw that he was anxious and hurried, thinking that there was indeed something to do, so he didn't ask any more, so he followed him.

Meng Dongting followed the housekeeper all the way, but walked in the direction of the inner house. What he is doing now is just the rough work done by the people of Shangshu Mansion, and he has never entered the inner house, only to see the rockery waterfall and the winding bridge corridor in the inner house garden.

But I didn't know that the housekeeper's tendon was wrong today, so he went straight inside with himself.