Yi Hang walked closer and looked at the two of them with a smile, but the first thing he said was: "Birds of a feather flock together, and people flock together."
This statement had a profound meaning. Xie Fu and Cui Sanfei glanced at each other and saw each other standing up to give up their seats, and they immediately understood.
Xie Fu said: "Brother Yi, please sit down." He was extremely gracious.
Yi Hang laughed heartily: "I can meet Brother Xie here. There is no difference between sitting and standing. It doesn't matter if I am squatting."
Cui Sanfei asked the person next to him to move up his seat, and the three of them sat down.
Yi Hang immediately made a recommendation.
Only then did Xie Fu realize that the fat man sitting next to him had a great background. He was actually the young master of the Cui family, one of the Nine Surnames and Thirteen Hopes. He politely expressed his admiration for him.
Cui Sanfei had a good impression of Xie Fu just now because of Xie Fu's paintings. Seeing that Xie Fu was as close as a brother to Yi Hang, he immediately became very interested in Xie Fu.
Cui Sanfei knew very well who Yi Hang was. Cui Sanfei himself was a naughty master. Together with the prince, he built the White Horse Guild Hall and attracted a group of friends to taste good wine, admire beautiful women, and appraise treasures... It was extremely absurd. thing.
It is no exaggeration to say that there are not many people who can play at the same level as him. In his opinion, the so-called dandies in Chang'an are dandies, but their level is not high, and they are more like vassals.
Chang'an's No. 1 Dandy is not a free man. Of course, many of his actions are shameful to many people, but Cui Sanfei's creed is that people will be destroyed if they don't do it for themselves.
This "people are not for themselves" castrates selfishness and retains the personal self.
Friends of friends are my friends. As the saying just now shows, birds of a feather flock together and people divide their paths, Cui Sanfei smiled and said, "It seems that Brother Xie is also a bastard."
Xie Fu laughed loudly: "Miuzan is far inferior to Brother Yi."
Yi Hang snorted: "Brother Xie, why are you so modest?" He whispered to Cui Sanfei.
After Cui Sanfei heard this, he immediately stopped smiling and looked at Xie Fu with a serious expression: "It's you. I've been looking for you for a long time."
Seeing this, Xie Fu was confused and asked, "Did I offend Brother Cui in some way?"
Cui Sanfei said in a deep voice: "You have offended me greatly, I want to compete with you."
Xie Fu was confused, but Yi Hang burst into laughter.
Xie Fu asked: "Brother Yi, what did you say to Brother Cui just now? Why does Brother Cui suddenly hate me so much?"
Yi Hang laughed softly in Xie Fu's ear: "I told the third fat man that you are the Li Shaodian who controls the five girls at night."
Although Li Shaodian's reputation rose in Yangzhou, he was also a legend in Chang'an.
Cui Sanfei regained his smile: "Brother Xie can control five women at night, and I also have the experience of controlling seven women at night."
Xie Fu looked at Cui Sanfei's chubby face and fat figure. Although he was very suspicious, he still smiled and said: "Brother Cui is still awesome."
Yi Hang added: "Don't mention it, the three fat guys are really good at coaxing and playing with women. Silla maids, Bodhisattvas, and beauties from the Western Regions are basic daily routines. In front of him, I am like a firefly competing for the brightness of the bright moon."
Cui Sanfei responded: "No, you are still the best! I heard that you played for three days and three nights, and I played for one night, but I was the one who fell."
Xie Fu said with a smile: "In this case, those seven young ladies must be the most beautiful among the people."
Cui Sansan smiled when he heard the words: "Brother Xie, there is no need to praise me so much. Only after comparing with each other will I know, how is the Yingxian Tower tonight?"
"Shadow Immortal Tower?"
Yi Hang said with a smile: "A place where we communicate with our hearts, where the charms stand out and break through the green house, and the fairy boudoir wants to reach the clouds."
Xie Fu probably understood that it was a place similar to a brothel, and he made a sound on his forehead.
But the two of them blocked Xie Fu's mouth in unison: "That's it!"
Yi Hang smiled and said: "Dragon duel, the dragons cherish each other."
These are all words of tiger and wolf. Xiuyun on the side couldn't help but cover her ears, but she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to hear the three young masters' instructions.
At this time, in the corner, the music of silk and bamboo suddenly fell silent.
Everyone present knew that this was a hint. The master arrived and looked at it.
The visitor was a middle-aged man, wearing a red uniform, with a handsome face and a flowing beard. His behavior was full of the aristocratic elegance of a wealthy family.
Walking slowly, there were no servants around him, and he seemed peaceful and approachable.
This person is none other than Wang Zuoda, the head of the Wang clan.
The water leads to the winding alleys of Baohua, and the lamps hang on the mountains of Jinling Town. The name Zuo Da represents the royal style.
"Master Wang."
All the guests present stood up and saluted.
"Wanzhi is grateful for your kindness and came not far away. Zuo Da expresses his deep gratitude. Those who come today are guests and friends. There is no need to be polite. Everyone is welcome. If there is any negligence, I will give you a drink as a penalty. I hope you can forgive me. .”
Wang Zuoda's voice is clear and clear, with a hint of calmness and indifference, which is both peaceful and elusive.
After Wang Zuoda said this, the nearest maidservant immediately walked towards him quickly to bring him wine.
However, Wang Zuoda raised his hand to signal the maid to step back. He bowed and picked up the wine glass from the water, then straightened his posture and said, "Here's to you all."
All the guests imitated and reciprocated. The head of the Wang family represented a transcendent identity, like a civil emperor. How could he not reciprocate when he bowed like this to show respect.
After some polite courtesy among famous families, Wang Zuoda sat down by the Qushui River and dined with the guests, enjoying the pleasure of drinking wine in April under the spring sun.
The sound of silk and bamboo music resumed, and the orderly and lively atmosphere returned to its original state.
Yi Hang said with a smile: "The head of the Wang family is really elegant and elegant. He seems to be peaceful and amiable, but he is inexplicably intimidating and unattainable. He doesn't know who his father-in-law is."
Cui Sanfei laughed loudly: "Anyway, he is definitely not my father-in-law."
Yi Hang smiled and said, "Why are you here, those three fat men?"
Cui Sanfei smiled and said, "I'm here to make friends."
"Three Fatty, do you still have few friends?"
"No, no, no, most of my friends are those who are interested in profit and scheming, but what I want to make are friends who have the same interests regardless of their origins or social status. Thank you, brother, I'd like to toast you."
Thank you Fu for not talking nonsense and just drink the wine.
At this moment, a dozen guards in black clothes came carrying a huge square rock, which was more than three feet long and half a foot thick. If it were all based on stone, it would weigh at least 100,000 kilograms.
Dozens of them were able to lift their weight and walk forward vigorously. This scene would be frightening to death if it happened in the market place.
You must know that a horse can only pull more than two thousand kilograms at most. If it is pressed on the horse's back, it will be crushed to death in an instant.
Sun Shaochang stopped a dozen guards in black clothes and said loudly: "Master, the chessboard is here!"
Everyone was surprised when they heard this. The chessboard has arrived. What does this mean?
Could it be that this huge rock is a chessboard, but why is it so huge? A rough estimate is that if this huge rock stood up, it would be as big as a three-story pavilion with three facades.
Wang Zuoda stood up and approached the giant rock. He raised his hand to support the giant rock. The giant rock immediately detached from the shoulders of more than a dozen black-clad guards and flew up.
With a bang, the ground shook and the mountains shook, dust flew up, and countless peach blossom petals scattered on the ground flew and danced in the strong wind.
The dust dispersed, and the flower petals fell to the ground again, returning to silence.
Looking at the huge rock again, the bottom has sunk half a foot into the ground. It stands rooted to the ground, just like a three-story pavilion dropped out of thin air.
The rock surface was flattened and dark in color, but a thick layer of copper was cast on it, with engraved lines crisscrossing each other. If you carefully counted the 17 vertical and horizontal lines, it turned out to be a huge Go board.
Someone joked: "For such a big chessboard, I'm afraid the chess pieces must be at least the size of a palm."
Xie Fu looked at this huge erected chessboard, but it was different from ordinary chessboards. It was divided roughly from the middle part, with deep vermilion paint on the top and dark black paint on the bottom, just like the distinct boundaries between Chu, River and Han.
There are nine horizontal lines in the dark dark lacquer, and there are words at the beginning occupying one page. They are listed in order: "A, B, C, D, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xinren."
Others probably noticed this, knowing that Wang Zuoda had a profound meaning in setting up this huge chessboard, and waited for Wang Zuoda to explain.
Wang Zuoda said loudly: "Everyone here is a young man, but Wang only has a daughter."
After saying that, he took out an object from his hand, waved his hand and threw it towards the huge chessboard. The object was firmly attached to the position of the star in the red lacquer part.
It was a silver-lacquered bronze medal with a lifelike flying phoenix carved on it.
Wang Zuoda smiled and said: "Wang believes that there is no fairness in this world. Winning or losing is in his own hands, and his destiny is also in his own hands, so this second round of martial arts selection is not fair. No, luck or misfortune is also in your own hands."
Wang Zuoda paused for a moment to let everyone have space to think, and then continued: "The rules of the competition will be explained to everyone by Governor Sun. I won't disturb everyone's chess game. I'll excuse you now."
Play chess?
There is only one chessboard, and no one can play it. Here are more than a hundred people.
Wang Zuoda walked away, and Sun Shaochang came to play on the huge chessboard and said with a smile: "I believe you are all very confused about how to play this chess. Please be patient and I will explain it to you in detail."
"Please take out the gold and bronze medals you are wearing."
After seeing everyone take out the lacquered gold bronze medals representing their qualifications to seek marriage, Sun Shaochang said: "Young masters, please leave your names on the bronze medals."
Someone asked: "Is it okay to write with pen and ink characters?"
Sun Shaochang responded: "Okay."
Someone else asked: "If you just carve it with a sword, it doesn't matter if you damage the bronze medal, right?"
Sun Shaochang answered all questions: "As long as you can leave your name on the bronze medal, it's fine."
This matter should not be trivial, lest you lose your qualifications to seek marriage, you must do as required, or write your name on the bronze medal with pen and ink, or carve your name with a sword, and some even show off their skills by pointing the sword and waving their fingers to write. Write your name.
Sun Shaochang waited for a while before explaining the rules of the second round of martial arts selection: "As you can clearly see, this chessboard is divided into two parts, red and black. This silver medal represents my young lady, who will monopolize half of the country. After a while, Don’t let your bronze medals fall on the vermilion paint.”
Someone asked: "What does Governor Sun mean by this?"
Sun Shaochang did not answer the man's question and continued: "This black lacquer has nine horizontal lines, corresponding to A, B, C, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xinren, and seventeen vertical lines. Excluding the nine characters of A, B, C, Ding, Wuji, Geng, Xinren, it occupies nine eyes. There are still one hundred and forty-four points left. These one hundred and forty-four points will be where you will make your moves in the chess game."
Hearing this, everyone had vaguely guessed that the bronze medal in their hands was a son, and that it would go down to the one hundred and forty-four eyes in a while, but they still had a lot of doubts.
Sun Shaochang continued: "There are a total of 163 people who have passed the preliminary selection this time. After a while, you can place the bronze medals in your hands into any of the 144 eyes, and then group them into groups A, B, C, D, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xinren." , each word is a group, each group has sixteen people, and the winner will advance to the next round."
Someone asked: "There are nine groups if there are nine characters. Does that mean there are only nine people who can stand out this time?"
Sun Shaochang responded: "Yes, there are only nine winners in this round."
Nine people!
Many people have already looked at the experts around them, secretly considering whether they can become one of these nine people.
I don't know if I compare, but I am shocked when I compare. I am afraid that I will have to use all my family's strength to fight for this seat.
Knowing this, Zhu Jiuchun and others already looked ugly. He had never expected that the Wang family would come up with such a move. If Uncle Duan were placed in a group with him, even if Uncle Duan could help him clear out the strong enemies in the same group, in the end only If one person stands out, Uncle Duan will also be eliminated.
But if Uncle Duan is placed in other groups, he can't guarantee that he can stand out.
Let’s listen to the details of the competition before making arrangements.
At this time, someone asked again: "Director Sun, there are 163 people in total, but there are only 144 eyes. What should we do with the remaining 19 people?"
Sun Shaochang responded: "If there is nothing to fall on, it will be eliminated as a forfeit, so everyone bets first. I want to make a statement here. The bronze medal is counted when it falls on the goal, and it cannot be moved any further. There is no regret in making a move. Others are not allowed to cause trouble and knock down the bronze medals on the chessboard, and violators will be eliminated.”
This is forced abstention, forced elimination. Before the actual competition, nineteen people are destined to be eliminated first.
Cui Sanfei said with a smile: "It's interesting. This is a game of 100 people. I have never played such an interesting game in my life." He held the bronze medal in his hand and was ready to move.
Yi Hang smiled and said: "Three fat guys, don't be anxious, bet first and lose first."
Yi Hang's general meaning is that making the first move is equivalent to exposing yourself as prey on the chessboard.
Cui Sanfei said calmly: "That's not necessarily true. Haven't you heard of taking the lead? Brother Xie, what do you think?"
Xie Fu smiled and said: "I think we still need to hear more about whether it is a group fight or a one-on-one fight."
Yi Hang laughed loudly: "I like group fights."
At this time, someone asked Xie Fu's question just now: "Director Sun, how do people in the same group compete?"
Sun Shaochang pointed at the chessboard: "Compete one by one, one column vs. two columnists, three columnists vs. four columnists... In the first round, eight winners will be determined to advance to the second round, and in the second round, four winners will be determined to advance to the third round. Three rounds, the winner of the third round will be determined and the two will enter the final duel.”
That is to say, the final winner of each group will go through four rounds of duel.
Hearing such rules, Li Huichao and others secretly frowned. They felt that this chess game was more difficult to play than real Go. In addition to playing against many opponents, they also had to consider giving up their stones or even their trump cards. .
Someone asked about the order of the second round.
Sun Shaochang said: "The winner of one or two will versus the winner of three or four, the winner of five or six will versus the winner of seven or eight, and so on."
This clearly tells you who your opponent will be in the next round, which is even more confusing. It's better to be confused and just do it.
But for Li Huichao and others, they cannot be confused. While playing the game, they must accurately judge the opponent in the next round, or even the opponent in the next round. "
Only then did they understand what Wang Zuoda just said - winning or losing is in their own hands, and their destiny is also in their own hands.
You can choose someone as your opponent, and others can choose you as their opponent to eliminate you. This is a mutual game.
And its complexity is that hundreds of people play the game together.
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