After making an appointment with Zhang Xiaobao, Wang Zhongxiao followed Master Yu and led his large team straight to his courtyard in Douzhaocai Hutong.
This is a courtyard house covering an area of one acre, located in the East Second Ring Road of Beijing! Although this house is incomparable with Wang Zhongxiao's residence in Qujing General Military Office, the latter is not only larger and more spacious, but also newly built, and the decoration and everything inside are new. Wang Zhongxiao's house in Beuzhaocai Hutong, Beijing, is an ordinary, dilapidated courtyard house. It is incomparable to the renovated houses of the Dim Sum Zhang family and Gunpowder Guo family in the same alley, let alone the weaving Cao family. 's house. It’s almost the shabbiest house in the entire Bean Sprout Alley... This Bean Sprout Alley is inhabited by officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so they’re not short of money!
However, Wang Zhongxiao didn't care if the house was dilapidated. He just cared about this location. In fact, he was thinking of moving a few miles further west in the future!
When Wang Zhongxiao got off his horse again and was looking at his "courtyard" with a smile. Master Yu had already gone up and patted the door with a smile. The gate of the courtyard suddenly opened. A short, fat middle-aged man with a springy face and a green dress and a small hat came out of the door. When he saw Master Yu, he asked: "Master, who are you looking for?" ?”
"Second Master Li, it's me, Yu Deshui!" Master Yu obviously recognized the man, and bowed with a smile on his face.
The fat man was stunned for a moment, and then he recognized it was Master Yu. He quickly bowed in return, and then said with excitement: "Master Yu, it's really you! Are the Second Young Master and the others here?"
"It's here, it's here, it's all here... Mr. Li, look, aren't they all here?" As he spoke, Master Yu pointed behind him.
The fat man took a quick look and saw the tall Wang Zhongxiao. Then he rushed out of the door without saying a word and came to the Second Young Master Wang.
Although this fat man was dressed as a servant, when he saw Wang Zhongxiao, he didn't say hello. Instead, he came up to hug him and said in an elder's tone: "Zhongxiao, you are finally back! I miss you uncle so much." , how are you doing in Yunnan these years? You have suffered a lot, right? Oops, you have grown so tall!"
This fat man turned out to be Wang Fuchen's younger brother, named Li Fuhan...what a name! Fu Bi Han Dynasty. It's a pity that he only has a good name but no good ability. Therefore, Fu Bi could not join the Han Dynasty, so he could only take advantage of his brother Wang Fuchen and became Wang Fuchen's butler, managing the family business in Beijing for Wang Fuchen.
Although Li Fuhan didn't have much ability, he was still a good man. When Wang Fuchen went to war with Hong Chengchou, Wang Zhongxiao was still a little baby, and his mother died early due to postpartum wind, so Wang Zhongxiao was entrusted to Li Fuhan and his wife. both. The couple later worried a lot about the little devil Wang Zhongxiao. In the end, they really couldn't teach him well, so they wrote to Wang Fuchen and asked Wang Fuchen to send Master Yu to Beijing and take Wang Zhongxiao to Yunnan to be taught by Wang Fuchen himself. However, the two couples were still worried that Wang Zhongxiao would have no companions when he arrived in Yunnan alone, so they asked their son Li Jixiang, also known as Xiao Lizi, to go with them.
Although Wang Zhongxiao had changed his soul, he still remembered that this uncle was kind to him, so he hugged him and replied with a smile: "Okay, I'm fine! Uncle, look at this spear, it's all the same." Six feet tall!"
"Really? Let me see."
Wang Zhongxiao immediately took off the spear he was carrying and showed it to his uncle.
It's really a spear that's 1.6 meters tall. If converted into meters, it's over 5 meters tall! It is difficult for infantry to use such a long gun, let alone on horseback? Therefore, Wang Fuchen, Wang Zhongxiao and his son had to start practicing the "Yang Family Spear" from the second-foot-long spear, and increase it little by little, until it reaches the top of the six-foot-long spear.
And if a knight who can wield a six-foot-long spear can practice the "Yang Family Spear", he must be a master!
Wang Zhongxiao was less than 18 years old, but he could already use a 16-foot long spear, which shows how talented he is in martial arts. However, after Wang Zhongxiao changed his soul, he became more sensible. After showing his uncle the spear, he immediately called his cousin Li Jixiang over, and then praised him in front of his uncle: "Uncle, Jixiang has been here for the past two years." He has also improved a lot, you can see that the spear he wields is also 14 feet tall!"
"Really?" Li Fuhan turned to look at his son, his face full of joy. When he was talking to Wang Zhongxiao just now, he got distracted and found his biological son among the people who followed Wang Zhongxiao. Although his biological son was short and fat, he had a tiger-like head and a big head, and he liked it just by looking at it.
"Dad, my child is kowtowing to you!" Li Jixiang kowtowed to you with tears in his eyes. "Dad, where is my mother? Is my mother okay?"
"Okay, okay, of course," Li Fuhan looked at his son and was a little tearful. He helped him up and said, "Your mother and your sister are fine. They are both at home... Oops, Why are you still standing outside the door? Look at how confused I am. Come on, come on, come in, come in. Mother, Chunni... Zhongxiao and Jixiang are here!"
After saying this, he took one by one and dragged Wang Zhongxiao and Li Jixiang into the door. As for Wang Zhongxian, Wang Zhongyi, Wang An, and Wang Quan who came with Wang Zhongxiao, they were all the men who helped Wang Fuchen's son Zhang Luo when he was in Yunnan. They were all the children of Wang Fuchen's personal soldiers. Li Fuhan didn't know them, so he didn't talk to them. Greet one by one.
Wang Zhongxiao followed Li Fuhan into the gate. Inside the gate was the front yard of this two-in-one courtyard. To the south of the front yard was a row of inverted rooms, which were rooms with a wall to the south and doors and windows opening to the north. Because the lighting was not good, Therefore, they are generally used for servants to live in or to entertain guests. The toilets of the courtyard are also placed in this row of reverse-seat rooms. But now the houses in this row are empty, and Li Fuhan and his wife and their daughter Chun Ni live in the west wing.
Opposite the inverted house is a somewhat shabby-looking hanging flower door and a verandah that separates the front yard and the courtyard. The hanging flower door has been opened, and there are two women in flag uniforms standing inside. One of them is a middle-aged woman. Like Li Fuhan, she is chubby, but her facial features are very regular and her skin is quite white. If she can lose weight, she should She is a beauty. The other woman is a little girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, fair and round, with a little baby fat, quite cute, and she is staring at Wang Zhongxiao with her big eyes blinking!
Wang Zhongxiao has already recognized that the middle-aged woman is his aunt Li Zhang, and of course the little girl is his cousin Li Chunni... You can't talk to your cousin!
Thinking of this, Wang Zhongxiao strode forward, bowed to his aunt again, and said, "My nephew Zhongxiao has met my aunt."
Mrs. Li and Zhang returned the favor by saying, "Squatting down." Because Wang Fuchen recognized his stepfather, her aunt had no name or status and could not act as an elder to Wang Zhongxiao. After returning the gift, he said to his daughter: "Chunni, this is your cousin Zhongxiao."
"Chunni wishes you well." The little girl also followed her mother's example and gave Wang Zhongxiao a squatting salute.
Wang Zhongxiao clasped his fists and said with a smile: "I really didn't expect that Chunni is already a big girl...Uncle, aunt, is Chunni married to someone else?"
"Not yet," Li Fuhan said with a smile, "Many people have come to propose marriage. The Cao family of weavers, the Zhang family of the imperial kitchen, and the Guo family of gunpowder have all asked people to come. Little girl is almost spoiled for choice."
After hearing Fatty Li's words, Wang Zhongxiao was a little surprised. Although his cousin was pretty good-looking, she was just like that. She was much worse than Wu Xiaotuo. Why was she so popular? Is it because I have a Beijing household registration? But the grandfather of Wu Xiaotuo, who has a Kunming household registration, is Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi!
But Wang Zhongxiao just thought about it and didn't ask any more questions... Maybe it's not that fragrant, but he just feels very good about himself?
But Li Jixiang, who came with him, didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth and asked: "Dad, why does my sister smell so good? She is not very pretty, and we are not even a coater in our family. She should You don’t have much dowry to go with it, do you?”
After hearing this, Li Zhang and Li Chuni were a little unhappy, and their mouths pouted. However, Li Fuhan smiled and explained to his son: "Jixiang, it is precisely because our family is not in the banner that Chunni is popular. If our family is in the banner, Chunni should go to the draft. Aunt Xiaoyu from the Zhang family in the imperial dining room across the door. He was drafted into the palace at the age of five, and it has been eight or nine years since he was released... He will be twenty-five when he is released! He is already old! Even if he is old, it may not be his turn to dominate other children. , the daughters of Baoyi people can marry, and can also be concubines to the nobles of the Eight Banners. However, the daughters of Banner people will not marry Baoyi people, and the daughters of Han people in the outer city will not marry Baoyi people. People with bad family backgrounds and bad appearance will be looked down upon by the people in charge. Tell me, can our Chunni not be fragrant?"
Wang Zhongxiao finally understood why Li Chuni smelled so good, and why Zhang Xiaobao, whom he hadn't seen for many years, was so close to him. It turns out that the people in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are also unhappy - it is too difficult to marry a daughter-in-law with a Beijing registered permanent residence!
After understanding what was going on, Wang Zhongxiao smiled and said to Li Chuni: "Chunni, Cao Yin, Zhang Xiaobao, and Guo Jinbao will come to our house tomorrow. If you take a good look, you have to look carefully!"
Chuni's face turned red at Wang Zhongxiao's words, she lowered her head and just said "hmm" softly.
