On the second day after returning from hunting in Haidian, early in the morning, before dawn, Wang Zhongxiao and Li Jixiang, who was yawning all the time, arrived outside Dong'an Gate together. Wang Zhongxiao was carrying the bag, and Li Jixiang was holding the horse. The horse also carried the bedroll that Li Zhang packed for Wang Zhongxiao, as well as Wang Zhongxiao's spear, bow and arrow, waist knife, shield, a box of books, as well as pens, inks, papers and inkstones.
In fact, according to the old rules, those who go into battle to kill enemies must bring spears, bows and arrows, waist knives, and shields. You have to have a good guy to protect the emperor. With just a waist knife, if you encounter a group of heavily armed assassins and you can't protect yourself, how can you protect the emperor?
But those are old rules. Nowadays, the imperial guards don't bring those when they go to the palace for duty. They just come with a waist knife. So when Wang Zhongxiao showed up at Dong'an Gate with this set of equipment for going out to fight, he even startled the gatekeepers of the Xiaoqi battalion. They thought they had seen a ghost so early in the morning that they would pull this set of equipment so early in the morning. Aren't those who left the house the evil Amma and the evil Mafa who had already suffered their retribution? When I got closer, I realized that I wasn't seeing a ghost, but an old antique. If it weren't for the high gold content of the Qianqing Gate walking badge, and Wang Zhongxiao's reputation as a "pig-killing warrior" was so impressive, the guards guarding Dong'an Gate almost didn't let Wang Zhongxiao in.
Although Wang Zhongxiao went in, Li Jixiang still had people stop him from entering. Who told him that he didn't have a waist card? Therefore, Wang Zhongxiao could only send Li Jixiang home first, and then ask Zhang Xiaobao or Guo Jinbao to deliver it to him after his waist card was obtained.
Of course, Li Jixiang's "guard family" could not enter the Forbidden City, but they could reach the red shop outside the Forbidden City, which was the house where the guards lived. These houses are all old houses. Like the Forbidden City, they were handed down from the Ming Dynasty. The people who once lived in them were the Jinyi soldiers who protected the Ming Emperor. Master Yu was bragging to Wang Zhongxiao yesterday, saying that his father, his grandfather, his great-great-grandfather and other grandfathers all lived there.
Wang Zhongxiao followed the instructions of his master Duolong and walked forward along the street inside Dong'an Gate. After a while, he arrived outside Donghua Gate, where a row of small courtyards were built against the roots of the Forbidden City wall.
Donghua Gate has been opened at this time, and there are many carts delivering water, food, meat, rice and noodles coming in and out... This is all the work of Zhang Xiaobao, his family and other imperial kitchen masters. ! The imperial kitchen is not only responsible for the food and drink of the emperor's family, but also for hundreds of imperial guards, more than a thousand guards and soldiers, as well as the Eight Banners Guards on duty in the imperial city, servants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, foreign officials, and The daily flow of food and drink for eunuchs, maids, servants, etc. is astonishingly large!
The row of small courtyards at the base of the Forbidden City Wall all had door numbers. Wang Zhongxiao quickly found the small courtyard where Duolong lived. The door of Duolong's courtyard was closed, and no one had gotten up yet! Wang Zhongxiao didn't dare to disturb the leader's sleep... Only when the leader sleeps well can he serve the people well, no, now he is serving the emperor! So he just waited outside the courtyard gate.
I don't know how long I waited, but it was already dawn. The guards from several nearby courtyards went out to have breakfast in twos and threes, but there was no movement in Duolong's courtyard.
Just when Wang Zhongxiao suspected that his master was about to oversleep, he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from behind: "Shikai, are you here so early?"
This is Doron's voice!
Wang Zhongxiao quickly looked back and saw that his master Duo had put on the yellow mantle of the imperial guard, carried a thin waist knife, and put on a hat with flower feathers. Next to him was a man in a blue robe holding a hand. The little eunuch holding a fly whisk... No, not a little eunuch, but a child and a big eunuch! Because Wang Zhongxiao saw that although this eunuch was young, he was still a child, but the crown on his hat was golden. This was the leader eunuch of the seventh or eighth rank.
So Xiao Mazi is the leader eunuch... This must be Xiao Mazi's confidant!
Wang Zhongxiao hurriedly jogged all the way to Duolong and saluted: "My disciple, please pay your respects to Master."
Duolong smiled and nodded, then pointed to the little eunuch beside him, "This is Master Gui... called Master Gui!"
Lord Gui? Eunuch Gui? Xiao Guizi?
He is indeed the Emperor's confidant!
Wang Zhongxiao quickly bowed to the little Guizi and said, "Zhongxiao pays his respects to Mr. Gui."
After finishing the ceremony, he took out a ten-tael banknote and stuffed it into the little eunuch's hand, and said with a smile: "Please have tea with Mr. Gui."
The young eunuch seemed very happy that Wang Zhongxiao called him "Master Gui". It was not that he wanted to be called "Master", but "Master" was a common title in Beijing. Although they all serve the emperor, the eunuchs are not proud of their jobs and want others to treat them as normal people. The title "father-in-law" may seem respectful to others, but to the eunuch himself, it is still a bit harsh... Therefore, if you are really close to a certain eunuch, you will usually call them a common title. Eunuchs don't even call them father-in-law among themselves.
"Don't call me Ye," Xiao Guizi smiled slightly, "You are a sixth-grade Lan Ling bodyguard, and I am just an eighth-grade minister... From now on, we will still treat each other as brothers. You will call me Brother Gui, and I will call you Wang. Brother."
"Okay, Brother Gui!"
Wang Zhongxiao was so happy that he was now Mingzhu's student, Duolong's disciple, Xiao Guizi's brother Wang - there was someone in the court!
At this time, Xiao Guizi smiled and said to Wang Zhongxiao: "Brother Wang, the emperor heard that you kicked someone over when you were competing with Guanyin Bao outside the Jingyun Gate Arrow Pavilion. He felt that you were a bit dishonest, so he wanted you to fight with Guanyin Bao. Guanyin protects the competition from the last one! Let’s compete on Yingtai Island in Xiyuan... Don’t try to cheat again this time!”
"Since the Emperor has decreed that no cheating is allowed, then I will definitely not cheat!" Wang Zhongxiao replied with a smile, "Brother Gui, when will I go to Yingtai Island in Xiyuan?"
Xiao Guizi said: "You need to settle down first, then go to the guard stall with your master to complete all the necessary procedures, and then go to Yingtai with me immediately to wait. When will the emperor finish his work?" I came to Yingtai to see you wrestling with Guanyin Bao."
As soon as Xiao Guizi finished speaking, Duolong pointed to the small courtyard where he lived and said to Wang Zhongxiao: "Disciple, this is my master's red shop. I am the only one using it now. There are still several empty rooms. You can live here. But I usually don’t come over to sleep at night. I have a good friend in Bada Hutong... so you are actually the only one living in this courtyard. In addition, your horse must be led by our guards. There will be someone to take care of you in the dedicated stable. You carry your luggage into the yard first, and then I will take you to the stable and settle your big horse. You ride this majestic horse, but it takes a lot of effort to raise it. , remember to give a greeting gift to the stableman who takes care of the horses, so that they can take good care of you."
...
When Wang Zhongxiao put on the guard's yellow mandarin jacket, put on a warm hat with double-eye flower feathers and a gilt clam top, hanging on his waist a gold-plated waist knife with a shark skin sheath specially used by the imperial guards, he followed Little Guizi's father-in-law. We walked across the Forbidden City together, then entered Xiyuan through Xihua Gate. When we landed on Yingtai Island, it was almost noon, and Uncle Fu and Guanyin Bao had already arrived.
Uncle Fu was sitting fishing in the Yingxun Pavilion in the southernmost part of Yingtai Island, near the Taiye Lake. Guanyin Bao was standing behind him as a bodyguard. When he heard footsteps coming from behind, Uncle Fu looked back. At a glance, he realized that the people coming were Wang Zhongxiao and Xiao Guizi, and he laughed loudly: "Datou, you are really energetic in this yellow mantle. If you stand behind the emperor, those three princes will see you." How dare you rebel?"
Wang Zhongxiao quickly gave the young man a thousand-year-old salute: "Bless me, sir."
Uncle Fu stopped fishing. He turned around and looked at Wang Zhongxiao with a smile, "Tell me the truth, if you don't cheat, can you win against Guanyin Bao instead of giving up?"
"Um..." Wang Zhongxiao glanced at Guanyinbao, a short and stocky man, "Your Majesty, to be honest, I'm really not sure that I can beat Brother Guan Yinbao... I'm tall and have good hands. I have long legs, so if it’s a fist and kick competition, I’ll definitely have the upper hand. But compared to a wrestling match, my brother is much stronger than me, so if I get hit hard by him, I might fall down.”
"So you kicked him out of the blue?" Fuquan asked with a smile.
"Isn't this a lie?" Wang Zhongxiao was quite thick-skinned. He even admitted that he was cheating and said with a smile, "If I hadn't cheated and followed the rules of wrestling, I would have definitely lost!"
Fuquan turned around and asked Guanyinbao: "Is he right?"
"Yes!" Guanyinbao said, "Brother Wang's skills are on horseback. The spear that shot into the sky yesterday would have been used twenty or thirty years ago. Maybe he could earn a batulu. But it's better than knocking him down, slave. I’m still sure I can beat him.”
Fuquan nodded, and just as he was about to say something, the voice of a boy whose voice was changing came from outside Yingxun Pavilion, "I also want to see a real Kung Fu wrestling match. It would be better for you two, one of you should admit defeat, and the other A sure win, what better than that? It’s boring!”
