Spring and Autumn King's Banner

At a corner off the main street of Yanguan Town, a wealthy young man with a gloomy face walked in front, followed by an elderly woman who followed suit.

After walking some distance away from the main street, the young man who had a dark face just a moment ago suddenly smiled lightly.

The old woman who was following him raised her eyes and glanced meaningfully at her young master, then asked softly: "Why are you laughing?"

Ke Yuzhi snorted, "I always thought that this cross-continental trip would be boring. I would just do a few businesses and pick up the slack, and then bring back a so-called cultivation seed. But I didn't expect that I would encounter it here." Such an interesting person."

This young master dressed in splendor kept walking, but he was no longer as gloomy as before. Instead, he said with some interest: "Didn't Grandma Xin see that the young man was deliberately provoking?"

The old woman following him did not answer directly, but handed over another sentence and asked: "My dear sir."

The young sect leader Ke Yuzhi, who was waiting for an answer, didn't mind the specious flattery from behind him. He smiled thoughtfully as he walked and said, "I don't care why he deliberately provoked me. It's just a worm shaking a tree. His calculation is right." It's not important to me. What I'm more curious about now is the sentence he said intentionally or unintentionally that someone came to take his life..."

Speaking of this, he suddenly stopped and turned around to look in the east direction. Although he was separated by courtyards, he seemed to be able to see the location of the town entrance. His eyes were gloomy and he said lightly: "I'm very curious. Why would anyone want to take his life? Does he have a grudge against someone? Furthermore, those who can say such things should not be those in the countryside who only use a worthless hatchet to chop people. You are a reckless man, but how could he, a man with nothing to gain but a mud-legged man, be able to survive in the hands of such a person and remain unscathed?"

The process of speaking was also the thinking process of the self-proclaimed young sect master of the city. He opened the folding fan in his hand with a click, shook it slowly and continued: "Is there something to rely on? Or has the person changed his mind? Or maybe this matter is just the way it is. Did he just make it up to scare me?"

"What do you think, Aunt Xin?" When he said this, the young master turned his head and looked at the silent old woman beside him for the first time.

The old woman still lowered her eyebrows and lowered her eyes. She looked at the young master of the master's family as if she were in a position of superiority. She just replied in a plain tone: "I am stupid, it all depends on the young master's consideration."

Hearing this, Ke Yuzhi just smiled without comment, turned his head and took a deep look at the old woman, then turned around and continued to move forward, murmuring in a low voice as if talking to himself: "That's why I said this person is very interesting, and finally let me know I have some interest in killing him! I really want to see if he can still be as tough as he is today when he dies and has nothing to do. In addition, although I am determined to get the knife, should I also be on guard? One hand? To avoid capsizing in the gutter? "

……

At the east entrance of the town, Hou Junchen, the watchman, who was lying on a bamboo chair with his eyes closed and basking in the sun, heard the low murmur of the young man next to him. He opened his eyes and looked at the young man in surprise.

"What?" The young man raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile.

The sloppy man shook his head, "Nothing, I just think you are really brave, you little bastard! You don't know who is on the other side, and you don't know the extent of his methods, so you dare to commit suicide like this? You still have the courage to do so?" It’s really just because you haven’t studied that you don’t know how to write the word death, right?”

"So why do you think I'm still standing here?" The poor boy didn't get angry when the man cursed. Instead, he looked at the man with a smile and said, "You have been eating from me for three years, why don't you pay me some food?"

Hou Junchen regretted it at this moment. He used to think that this little bastard was quite interesting, so he always liked to joke with him, and stealing a bite of his food was considered a joke. As for now... he wants to take advantage of him. I don’t know if it’s too late or not?

"Say boy, why didn't I realize you were so calculating before?" The sloppy man raised one foot and put it on the bamboo chair under his buttocks. He habitually began to rub the dirt between his toes while squinting at the young man with a faint smile and said: "Besides, you can't just pluck the wool while I do it alone, right? If it's bald, it won't grow back, do you understand?"

The young man smiled and said helplessly: "I can't help it, my family is poor! If I had a family like the guy named Ke just now, why would I still be looking for help like this? Doesn't that mean I don't have the fortune to be rich?"

After hearing this, Hou Junchen also smiled, casually put down his foot on the chair, then raised the hand that had just rubbed his feet without any scruples and rubbed the messy hair on his head that was like a chicken coop.

He turned his head and glanced at the tall sword mountain blocking the end of the official road outside the town entrance, and then looked at the official road that went around the foot of the sword mountain and extended into the distance. After a moment of silence, he looked back at the young man and looked at the young man slightly. He solemnly said: "Boy, let me say it again, don't fucking try to take advantage of me! I'm just a country watchman who just wants to eat and die, and his abilities are very average! If I can't protect you, I can't be your master. If you want to learn skills or find support, you have to find another expert!"

Hearing this, the poor young man glanced at the slovenly man, then at the two pairs of dishes and chopsticks in his hand that had just been used and had not yet been washed, and said with a half-smile, "Old monkey, you don't want to renege on your debt, do you?"

A fleeting thought was exposed in person, and even though this slovenly man was always informal, it was inevitable that he would be a little embarrassed. He rubbed his nose and retorted angrily: "Who said I am going to default on my debt? You must give me some time. Let me think about it?”

……

At the intersection in the center of the town, the storyteller surnamed Lu, who sells books and also tells stories, is still lying on the bamboo rocking chair in front of the bookstore in the northeast corner of the intersection, holding the small teapot in one hand and a book in the other. A rare ancient book that is not dense.

The storyteller was watching it with great interest and was exclaiming in admiration. Sure enough, the ancients were much more sincere in writing than today's people. They spoke to people and persuaded them with great care.

The first article in the book he was flipping in his hand was to advise the emperor at that time to treat the virtuous and virtuous, and to select and employ people based solely on their talents regardless of their origins. All talented people could be used. Only in this way can the world be united into one family!
A simple truth can also be said profoundly!
It's eloquent and less than a thousand words, but it has become an eternal masterpiece that has been passed down to the world for thousands of years!

Although the character of the person who wrote this famous article was widely criticized by most literati and historians from thousands of years later to the present day, there is no denying that his talent and learning have also shone for thousands of years. The exquisite calligraphy with perfect technique and spirit can open up a new line of calligraphy, and it can definitely be called "everyone"!
Just when the storyteller saw the joy, he suddenly frowned. Then he placed the ancient book in his hand on the desk beside him. He raised his head and looked far away in the direction of the east entrance of the town. His eyes were cold and silent. hair!

……

At the east entrance of the town, the slovenly man Hou Junchen pondered for a moment under the gaze of the poor young man. Suddenly his eyes lit up, but before he could speak, a cold warning sounded in his ears: "Surname Hou, if you dare to talk nonsense, be careful I will cut out your tongue!"

The sloppy man didn't take it seriously at all, he chuckled, and replied using the same method of the Immortal Family's voice transmission: "A dead Taoist friend is not a poor Taoist! The cycle of cause and effect, retribution is not good, so I have to pay back this meal money! You old boy can If you are being used as a pawn, just enjoy yourself secretly!"

The young man standing next to him was confused. It was obvious that he did not have the ability to hear the two previous conversations between the two of them with a doggy voice and a bad tone. He just watched the person sitting in front of him helplessly. The watchman in the small town on the bamboo chair went through a series of unpredictable expression changes in just a few moments, which even seemed a little funny.

After the sloppy man sent a message to reply, he didn't give the other party any chance to rebut or stop him. He smiled directly at the young man with strange eyes beside him and said: "Boy, I am not capable of helping you with this grudge between you and Shuixiu Lake." What's the matter? If you want to find help or someone to give you some advice, you can go to Wufang Pavilion."

After that, he thought about it again and continued: "In addition, according to your current ability, you can't keep the knife hidden in your house! Rather than forcing yourself to keep it and hurt yourself, you might as well listen to my advice and make a deal with it. Of course, Shuixiuhu Ke is not a good buyer, but as for who you should do this deal with, how to do it, and how much benefit you can get, these all depend on your own vision. And it’s up to you!”

"That's all I have to say, it's like I've paid for your meal! Don't ask me about the rest, not a single more word! You can get out!"

After the watchman Hou Junchen said this, he pointed directly to the courtyard door opposite the official road, then closed his eyes and began to bask in the sun. It seemed that he did not intend to say another word!

The young man took a deep look at the middle-aged man who had closed his eyes and was silent, and finally returned home with the two pairs of bowls and chopsticks. After some consideration, he finally chose to go to Wufang Pavilion in the town.

Then let him take a look, how much is the so-called meal money that the weird Hou Junchen said is worth?

-

Snow Alley in the south of the town.

At the entrance of a certain mansion, a pair of mighty and fierce stone lions squatted on both sides of the front steps. The lions' heads were raised high and roaring to the sky. There was a small stone lion hiding behind the two stone lions, with teeth and claws showing, and the momentum was menacing.

A young man with a slightly gloomy face sat with his legs drooped on top of one of the stone lions. Behind him was the main entrance of the house made of gray bricks and blue tiles. You can go down five steps in front of the door and reach the stone lions. On the street paved with bluestone slabs.

A finely crafted gold plaque hangs on the top of the gate of that magnificent house. On the plaque, two simple words are written in regular script: Zhao Zhai.

Today, Zhao Jicheng couldn't shirk it in the end, so he took leave from the rural school and stayed at home.

In the past few days, some foreigners had come to their house and said they wanted to see him. He could probably guess some reasons why he didn't meet them immediately. However, since yesterday at Wufang Pavilion, he met the mud-legged guy named Chu. The real conflict began. After careful consideration, he chose to stay at home today.

The Zhao boy, who had no worries about food and clothing, had not been welcomed by the children of the four wealthy families in the town since he was a child. Whenever he saw him in the streets, he would inevitably be laughed at and said that he was the son of a nouveau riche.When Liu Qinghui and Zhu Zhen and their men were blocked at the corner of Qingshui Street, and happened to be bumped into by the wild child who was passing by without a father and mother holding a stone, Zhao Ji, who was also a child at that time, Achievements began to worry about a problem.

Why was it that he was targeted by that group of people even though everyone was a citizen of Yanguan Town?Obviously that bastard named Chu is not as good as him!

The boy's father, who was rumored to be a nouveau riche who had run out of luck, was named Zhao Yu. He was one of the few people in the town who had left Liangzhou and gone to other places.

No one in the town knows where the young man named Zhao who left his hometown more than 20 years ago went?All I know is that when he came back after more than ten years of absence, he was already lame in one leg, and there was a silly and foolish woman by his side.

Zhao Yu, who was already in his 30s at the time, hired a group of carpenters and masons in the town to renovate the Zhao family's old house soon after returning to his hometown. The two words "Zhao House" hanging on the door of this house are now considered impressive. The courtyard of a wealthy family.

The people in the town also came back to this courtyard. It turned out that this Zhao family child, who had left home after his parents died long ago, had been away from home for many years. Although he was lame in one leg, he did make money, and it seemed that It is only slightly worse than those four families, and it is already considered a very wealthy family.

Not long after the Zhao family's old house was renovated, the Zhao family, which had been in ruins for many years, had a new addition to their family, a fat boy with a handle!Naturally, he was born to the stupid woman Zhao Yu brought back, that is, the sinister young man sitting at the door of Zhao's house now!
In fact, what saddens the young man the most is not the statement about "being stuck in mud", because most of the most vicious words are about his lame father who needs a crutch to walk and his silly mother who needs other people to worry about eating.

Ever since he could remember it as a child, there was a jingle circulating in the streets that made him very unhappy, "In the Zhao family, my father is lame, my mother is a fool who relies on food, and she gave birth to a son who overcame his parents, and the bad boy was reincarnated into a nouveau riche and suffered..."

Look at this statement, it’s not much better than the one named Chu!In other words, he was worse off than Chu, because he had never seen Liu Qinghui and Zhu Zhen target that mud-legged guy!

There are many young people in the town who are about the same age as Zhao Jicheng, and almost everyone knows this rhetoric made up by some bastard!

The boy Zhao was able to leave home on his own for the first time when he was very young. In the following ten years, he heard almost all the unscrupulous taunts and chants from all his peers around him!

In the beginning, it was the so-called young masters from those wealthy families who took the lead, such as Liu Qinghui, and Zhu Zhen... Later, it evolved into those mud-legged bitches whose houses were not as well built as the backyard of his home. Read it together!

There will also be people who have nothing to do and come across the streets and alleys to his doorstep from across the entire Yanguan Town, just to shout loudly for this period, as if they are bullying and mocking someone who has better food than them but may not have as good a life as them. Being comfortable with peers is such a thing worth being happy and showing off!
Therefore, Zhao Jicheng never believed in the sentence written in the book: "At the beginning of human beings, nature is inherently good."

In the memory of this young boy from the Zhao family, there were very few peers in the town who had not ridiculed him with jingles in front of him. The only one who remembered him was the one who seemed to have the only way to go to the rural school after leaving home. The eldest daughter of the Liu family, and the wild child who lived at the east entrance of the town, had trouble getting a full meal, and whose life experience was not as good as his.

……

Today, Zhao's boy is at home on leave. After having lunch, he goes out and habitually sits on the head of the stone lion at the door, staring blankly at the clump of grass on the roof of the house across the street that has not had time to turn green again.

Not long after, a young man wearing a sky-blue gown walked in from the intersection of Jiuxue Lane, followed by a thin old man with a tall crown and a beard. The two of them walked slowly and stopped not far from the pair of stone lions.

The visitor looked at the dazed young man sitting high with interest and did not bother him.

Fortunately, the young man from the Zhao family did not keep the visitor waiting for a long time. He turned his head slightly and glanced at the two of them before turning his eyes back again. The content of his words was only two words: "Coming?"

The tone of this simple two-word speech was like meeting an old acquaintance whom I had not seen for many years.

A moment later, in the courtyard behind the house with the word "Zhao Zhai" hanging on the door, there was a young man wearing a sky blue gown and a young man with a naturally gloomy complexion. The two peers were sitting opposite each other at the stone table in the courtyard.

The tall, thin old man with a high crown and a rich man's belt who came with the former and a middle-aged man with a slight limp on crutches stood under the corridor beside the south wall of the courtyard with their sleeves folded, looking at the pair of young men in the center of the courtyard. Both were speechless.

The vegetation in the courtyard has not yet sprouted, so it looks a little desolate. A row of straight-cut poplar trees at the base of the west wall are bare and devoid of greenery. Sparrows in twos and threes are jumping back and forth on the tree branches, which makes the courtyard a little more lively. Lively.

The young master of the Xian family wearing a sky-blue gown looked at the Zhao boy who was sitting opposite, who was probably born with a gloomy complexion. He smiled and asked: "Young master Zhao should have known our purpose for a long time, right? Then I don't know much about it." Nonsense, I wonder if Mr. Zhao has thought about this deal with my Prime Minister’s Palace?”

The young man Zhao Jicheng did not answer directly when he heard this. He frowned and thought for a moment, then turned his head and looked at the lame man standing under the eaves of the courtyard wall. Then he looked at the young man in blue opposite and said: "To the north of Jiuzhou, There is a famous Prime Minister's Mansion in Xinghezhou, which is known to everyone in the world! Although the news is a bit limited in a small place like ours, I have learned more or less in the past few days, so I am not opposed to this deal. , as for whether it can be done...I only have one question."

"Please speak." The young man named Chen Xi sat on the stone bench and raised his upper body slightly. He slowly raised the palm of his hand on the edge of the table, indicating to Zhao Jicheng that it was okay.

"Compared with your Prime Minister's Palace or our Zhuyu Mountain in Liguanzhou in the northwest, which one is more powerful?"

The purpose of the questioning is very tricky, and some of the reasons are self-evident.

The young man in blue, Chen Shi, smiled. He turned to the thin old man who was also standing under the eaves of the corridor and asked with a smile: "Are you strong... Mr. Chao, have you heard of Zhuyu Mountain?"

The thin old man just smiled and shook his head without speaking.

Chen Shi turned his head and looked at Zhao Jicheng opposite, smiled and shrugged, need he say more?

Zhao Jicheng smiled faintly when he saw this. He slowly leaned forward with his upper body and his arms lying on the stone table in front of him. His expression was a little playful and he chuckled: "Then if I say that one day in the future, I will demolish his Zhuyu Mountain." It doesn’t matter if he wants to cut off the fate of his so-called Immortal Sect’s mountain gate by using the name of your Prime Minister’s Palace.”

Under the eaves of the corridor, the thin old man remained expressionless. On the contrary, the lame man could not help but frown when he heard his son talking like this.

But when he was about to walk towards the stone table, he was held down by the old man on the shoulder, and the old man's faint voice came to his ears: "Fellow Daoist Zhao, it is better not to interfere too much with young people in some matters." Sometimes evil thoughts are not purely bad things! Besides, I guess what you are going to say next must not be the first time you say it today. Isn’t it a good thing that a son inherits his father’s hatred and makes a successful career?”

The middle-aged man Zhao Yu, who was blocked by the old man, sighed. His graying hair and vertical and horizontal wrinkles on his face made this man who was only in his early 40s look like he was over [-] years old.

He looked back at the tall and thin old man, but the old man did not look at him, but still stared at the two teenagers beside the stone table.

Although the lame man Zhao Yu didn't agree with some of the old man's words, he still silently took back the foot that took half a step, looked up at the courtyard, and said softly: "Senior Chao, I have something that I don't understand, could you ask me for advice?" ?”

The old man's expression remained unchanged, he didn't speak, he just nodded slightly.

"The reputation of the Xinghezhou Prime Minister's Palace has spread all over the world, but it has always only invited guests with foreign surnames to serve as worshipers but never accepted disciples with foreign surnames. This is also known to the world! Today's move seems to be...asking seniors for advice!"

The old man smiled and said: "What you said is true, but since I, the Prime Minister, can come to Yanguan Town to do business during this period, it means that our acceptance of your son as a disciple in the mansion is definitely not a lie. , so Mr. Zhao doesn’t have to worry about our sincerity.”

Zhao Yu opened his mouth when he heard this, but stopped talking.

The old man glanced sideways at the middle-aged man and said meaningfully: "Friend Zhao, as the saying goes, 'children and grandchildren will have their own blessings', let the young people choose their own affairs! Don't interfere too much, so as not to harm others or yourself. Both are not suitable..."

At the stone table in the courtyard, Chen Shi, a young man in blue, looked at Zhao Jicheng opposite with a playful and sinister expression on his face with great interest, and said with a smile: "Let's put it this way, long before we came to Yanguan Town, we met at the Prime Minister's Mansion. You, Zhao Jicheng, and the Zhao family have all known each other before, and we may even know you Zhao better than you do yourself! So you don’t need to ask for confirmation on this matter again and again!"

Then, he followed Zhao Jicheng's actions and lay down on the stone table in the same way. He looked at the opposite person and said with a faint smile: "I think you might as well guess why the person who comes to you to do business is the so-called "North and South Chen". "One of the "Beichen" Prime Minister's Mansion?"

……