Ningguan City in Yingzhou has completely surrendered to the Northern Chu. The Xue family of Ningguan has a very special status in the Taichu Dynasty. Although no one in the Xue family can be an extremely popular minister, they have guarded Ningguan City for three generations by Xue Ding, and their achievements are not outstanding for the time being. Ti, whose loyalty was deeply trusted by Emperor Taichu.
When Xue Ding's grandfather and father took up the post of Ningguan garrison, as usual, their family members stayed in Kaiyuan City. However, when Xue Ding took office, he received a privilege that was envied by all frontier generals, that is, his family members could accompany the army.
Without this privilege, Xue Kai would not be able to defect to Beichu so easily, and would most likely have no choice but to surrender to Xinhan. After all, Xue Kai always has to take into account the safety of his family. If Kaiyuan City falls, the relatives of the Xue family who are hostages will naturally fall to Xinhan. With his hands, Xue Kai will have no choice when the time comes.
While Chu Zhongan was treating his injuries in Ping'an Valley, Erzhuang was busy in Ningguan City.
Although the Ningguan cavalry and the Northern Chu army defended the same city, although the New Han army retreated in the face of difficulties, it also caused constant conflicts between the soldiers. Although the Ningguan soldiers would not disobey Xue Kai's decision, they were not friendly to the Northern Chu army.
Although this Northern Chu army was not elite, and its combat power was naturally inferior to that of the Ningguan cavalry, they were not weaklings either. The two sides only got along for a few days before there were many armed fights.
After Xinhan withdrew, Xue Kai was summoned by Chu Youshe, the king of Northern Chu. Since he had already defected to Northern Chu, Xue Kai naturally had no reason to refuse. Erzhuang also asserted that Xue Kai would not go to Shengcheng, the capital of Northern Chu this time. Where there is danger, there will only be benefits.
Before Xue Kai left, he promoted Er Zhuang to Ningguan General. The post of general was already regarded as a senior general in the army. Xue Kai's unusual promotion of Er Zhuang did not cause much turmoil. Xue Ding's actions before his death made Er Zhuang in Ningguan. The military has a special status, and even if someone is not convinced, they dare not really speak out.
After Xue Kai left, Ningguan military affairs naturally fell on Xu Youming, the most senior general in the army. This munitions captain was also a hands-off shopkeeper. He left all the specific matters to Yang Zhenglin and Er Zhuang.
General military affairs are nothing to Er Zhuang. After all, he has been trained by Sun Zheping since he was a child. These are all matters that are easy to handle. What troubles him the most is the dispute between the two armies. He has tried various methods and still cannot calm down. This kind of Things still need a long time to adjust.
In the evening of this day, the two heroes who had just resolved a friction between the two armies were walking on the streets of Ningguan City. His face was full of exhaustion. At this time, Ningguan City had returned to its former tranquility. Very lively.
Being in a busy city and looking at the noisy streets, Erzhuang felt much better.
Suddenly, a short and thin man rushed out and bumped into Er Zhuang. Er Zhuang was already strong and skilled in martial arts, and the man sat down on the ground.
"Don't you have eyes when you walk? If you knock me down, you will be in big trouble. Pay for it!" The thin man shouted loudly before he even raised his eyes.
But when he saw Er Zhuang, his expression immediately became downcast: "Oh, it turns out to be Master Jun. I'm really sorry. Yes, I don't have eyes when I walk. Please forgive me, Master Jun!"
Er Zhuang frowned, with a somewhat surprised expression on his face. He glanced at the man with interest and pretended to be angry: "Get out of here!"
"Yes, yes, get out of here..." The thin man immediately nodded and bowed as if he was receiving amnesty, and ran away as if running away.
The passers-by who originally wanted to watch the excitement fled when they saw the thin man leaving and the ferocious expressions of the two men.
Er Zhuang's expression quickly returned to normal, and he continued to move forward as if nothing had happened. There was a piece of paper in his hand, and it was the short man who stuffed it into his hand.
"It's interesting." Erzhuang whispered to himself. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him anymore, he secretly glanced at the note and saw that it read: Sun Zheping's disciple, please come to Zhuangyuan Building to talk.
Er Zhuang was shocked, but he still pretended to be calm. With a pinch of his fingers, the note turned into powder.
He changed direction as he walked and walked towards Ningguan City Zhuangyuan Building.
It was already night when Er Zhuang arrived at the entrance of Zhuangyuan Building. Although it was a troubled time in both Yingzhou and Ningguan City, the business of Zhuangyuan Building was still booming.
"Hey, this military officer looks unfamiliar. It's your first time to come to our Zhuangyuan Building. Please come in quickly. The girls in our Zhuangyuan Building are very nice. I will definitely let the officer have a lot of fun!" See the old madam from the Zhuangyuan Building. Er Zhuang immediately greeted him warmly.
"Master Jun is so tall and majestic. Girls must like you. I think Master Jun's temperament is worthy of being a martial arts champion!" The old bustard was not tall. He raised his hand and touched Er Zhuang's chest. He complimented with a smile on his face.
Although Erzhuang blushed a little, he still followed the old bustard to the Zhuangyuan Building. He didn't have the nerve to resist even if he was eaten by the old bustard.
Entering the Zhuangyuan Building, the old bustard arranged for him to take a seat. The short man who bumped into Er Zhuang on the street was hiding in the darkness of the Zhuang Yuan Building. After seeing Er Zhuang, he immediately got into a secret passage.
Soon the man came to the secret room on the second floor where Chu Zhongan and Chu Boping met.
"Zhou Shan is here!" the short man saluted.
"Thank you for your hard work, please step back." A clear female voice sounded, and the owner of the voice was none other than Cheng Le'er, the number one scholar in the number one building.
"Sister Le'er, Zhou Shan is here, how should we deal with it and invite him here?" Another gentle-looking woman said.
"Suya, it's too eye-catching to invite him directly. Isn't this a test for Wen Zhuangyuan? Let's invite him here with this." Cheng Leer took out a post from his arms and said.
This gentle woman is Tao Suya, the literary champion who was re-sent after Lu Feidi married Xue Kai. She is slightly inferior to Lu Feidi in terms of looks, temperament and talents, but she is still outstanding compared to ordinary brothel women. .
To compare with Lu Feidi, Tao Suya was not followed by many people when she first came to the Zhuangyuan Building. However, a new generation replaced the old ones, and soon she became the most popular literary champion in the Zhuangyuan Building.
"Is it just this couplet? It's very ordinary." Tao Suya took a look at the post and said with some confusion.
"This couplet has some special meaning. We had a couplet with the second young master when he came here. I heard that this Zhou Shan has a very good relationship with the second young master. I want to see what kind of second couplet he can come up with." Cheng Leer said with a sly smile.
"So that's it, I'm a little curious too." Tao Suya suddenly realized.
"Let's go quickly, don't waste time." Cheng Leer picked up Tao Suya and walked out.
Erzhuang refused the old madam's offer to arrange for a girl. He just ordered a table of delicacies. With the relationship between the Xue family and him, he was not short of money now.
While Erzhuang was eating cabbage and paying attention to the surroundings, a very outstanding-looking woman suddenly walked up to the high platform. She was the girl Qianqian who asked the question.
"Dear gentlemen and masters, it's time for the number one scholar in this article to make friends through writing. Sister Tao will personally ask the questions. Please write the answers on the post being distributed. I will let everyone know if anyone is successful in a while." Miss Qianqian The words were exactly the same as what Chu Zhongan heard at that time.
Her words were still clear and loud, and everyone present heard them clearly.
As soon as she finished speaking, they began to distribute posts and pens to each guest.
The agency was activated as usual, and the post with the question accurately flew to Miss Qianqian's hand.
"Miss Tao's topic today has come out. The topic is: Poems by the Talented Lingyun and Yongxue." This time she chose to get straight to the point.
"This couplet is somewhat familiar. I seem to have seen it somewhere."
"You don't think you can ever enter Wen Zhuangyuan's boudoir in this life. Where have you seen it? This is a question that was asked in the Zhuangyuan Building a few years ago."
"Really, I didn't expect that Zhuangyuanlou would actually use the previous questions again. If I had known, I would have spent a lot of money to buy the answers to those previous questions."
"It's useless to buy answers. You and I, there is no answer to the criteria for getting the first prize in Wen Zhuangyuan. You have to impress Wen Zhuangyuan. Even if you scratch the post, Wen Zhuangyuan will still be invited." Go up."
"What? Isn't that a suspicion of fraud? Fraud in scientific examinations is a serious crime. Damn it, what is fraud in a brothel?"
"This is the genius of the No. 1 Scholar House. If you want to marry Fangze, the No. 1 scholar in civil and military affairs, you have to be willing. You can't do it if you have money. What's the point of cheating in this?"
Everyone was talking a lot.
Erzhuang listened to everyone's discussion and knew that this was a question that had been asked before. He didn't want to enter the boudoir of some Wen Zhuangyuan, so he was going to hand the post back directly.
But the girl Qianqian on the high platform spoke again: "Perhaps some regular customers have noticed it. This couplet was published once a few years ago. At that time, Mr. Yuan Ping'an entered Wen Zhuangyuan's boudoir."
Hearing the word 'peace', Er Zhuang frowned and retracted his originally outstretched hand.
"This peace and stability has something to do with it. The Zhuangyuan Tower must also be related to Jin'an. It seems that the couplet will not work." Erzhuang thought to himself.
"I have an impression of this, grandma. The Wen Zhuangyuan back then is now the general's wife. I don't know what kind of blessings that Yuan had in her previous life!" A strong man who looked a bit rough said with envy.
"Shut up now. If you offend the general, he will drag you to feed the dogs!" someone advised from the side.
The strong man showed a look of panic, shrank his neck and said nothing. He secretly looked around, making sure that no one was paying attention to him before he dared to raise his head.
Only then did Erzhuang know that Lu Feidi was born in the Number One Scholar Building, and he had some vague judgments about the current situation.
After pondering for a moment, he took a writing brush and wrote on the post: A hero sings and cuts with a sword.
Soon Si took the post back.
Not long after, Miss Qianqian stepped onto the high platform again, holding a golden post in her hand, which was much more heroic than the previous post.
"Sure enough, there is a post for the top pick."
“I don’t know who is the lucky one who got a thousand cuts!”
"It's my turn this time."
Everyone under the stage had different expressions, some were happy and some were sad.
