In the great Zhou Dynasty, Douxun was the leader. Since the Pingkang Alliance was signed in the twelfth year of Cunxu's reign, the popularity among the people has become more and more prosperous. From the princes to the foot soldiers, they are all filled with unspeakable emotions and devoted themselves to the fierce battle for this large pottery basin.
When Zhaowei was young, he had raised a Ningjin Red-Toothed Blue. Because of its nine consecutive wins, Zhaowei was named the "Invincible Marquis". In the tenth game, Bubaihou died under the teeth of a cricket raised by the "Chun Qiu Ba Ya" of the Dou Chu team. Zhaowei was depressed about this for a long time and wrote a letter asking Rong Yuqing to find another strong general for her.
Rong Yuqing came to Beijing this time and brought with him a purple gold back in excellent condition. It also coincided with the opening ceremony of Spring and Autumn Ba Ya at Xianghui Tower. Zhaowei and Qi Lingzhan discussed two invitations and hugged them early on the fifth day of the first lunar month. Go with a clay pot.
Rong Yuqing boasted all the way: "I personally caught this Zijinback in the cracks of the brick kiln. If I hadn't just killed a cricket and lost my strength, I might not have been able to catch it. Look at its thin shell, loud roar, and rough teeth. Like bamboo shoots, it can truly be said to be a code of virtue among crickets."
Zhaowei disagreed: "That's how you praise Bubaihou."
Rong Yuqing said: "The Bubai Hou has never been defeated in my hands. I think the feng shui of Yongping Hou Mansion is not good, and I have no ambition to raise him."
Zhao Wei sneered: "That's right."
The two squeezed into Xianghui Tower. The hall was already crowded. Eight wide-mouthed clay pots were displayed on the stage. Crickets were fighting fiercely in the pots. People crowded around to watch, sometimes cheering and sometimes sighing.
Xianghuilou sent the invitations from Guandouxu to the fourth-rank and above court officials, but few officials came with great fanfare. Most of them sold the invitations or gave them to the tribesmen. Therefore, most of the people present today are Yongs who are fond of this way. A wealthy businessman from Beijing and a young master.
There is only one person who has a very high status and is seated in the high hall. He is the current seventh brother, His Royal Highness King Su.
King Su's name was Li Jiqian. He was playful by nature and was good at everything from horse racing to fighting cocks to training pigeons and walking birds. Today, he is given the title "Su" to remind him to be respectful and cultivate his moral character. And His Highness King Su was fanning the wind with a 10,000-tael silver note, saying that he would buy the last cricket that won today.
Zhaowei gave Rong Yuqing a nudge with his arm: "How about it, uncle, are you confident that you can make a fortune of ten thousand taels of silver?"
Rong Yuqing smiled and said: "What's the rush? Let's take a look first."
The rules of cricket fighting are that the loser's cricket belongs to the winner. If the cricket is killed in the fight, the loser must pay the winner the equivalent amount of silver. This is a huge gamble, and the atmosphere in the venue is very lively. The crickets in the basin are hugging each other and throwing each other, making sounds, and the drums and drums are vibrating around the stage, cheering and cheering.
The Cricket Fighting Team has its own method of catching, feeding, and training crickets. After about half an hour, the winner of the eight pairs of crickets in the basin was determined. Seven pairs of crickets from the Spring and Autumn Team were the winners. In the end, only the winner was There was only one cinnabar head left, with its long beard raised, lying majestically in the clay pot. There was not a single wound on its body.
King Su clapped his hands and said happily: "Okay! Submit it, I will reward you!"
The squad leader picked up the clay pot and was about to touch it happily when he suddenly saw a young man standing up and saying, "Wait a minute."
Zhaowei followed everyone's gaze and couldn't help but darken his face. He said to Rong Yuqing contemptuously: "This is Yao Heshou's second son. Did you see the scar on his face? I beat him."
Rong Yuqing turned his head to look, and sure enough he saw a round scar at the end of the young man's eyebrow. Although it was not shocking, it showed a bit of ruthlessness in this handsome face.
About five or six years ago, when Yao Heshou was already extremely powerful, Yao Bingfeng was teasing the young lady on the street. He happened to be caught by Zhao Wei. She took off the slingshot hanging from her waist and picked up an angular stone from the ground. It hit him hard on the face. If he hadn't been able to dodge quickly, he would have been missing at least one eye today.
Yao Bingfeng covered his bleeding brow and asked Meng Cong to arrest Zhaowei and take him back to the Prime Minister's Mansion for disposal. Fortunately, the person who came back to report the news ran fast and the group was stopped at the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
The person who came to get her was Qi Lingzhan, and beside him stood the livid-faced Yao Heshou.
It was Qi Lingzhan who dealt with the aftermath of this matter for her. I don’t know where his ability came from. He was able to appease Prime Minister Yao and hide it from the Marquis Yongping and his wife. Unfortunately, she turned around and was beaten with a ruler and was punished to read "The Analects of Confucius". "The Three Precepts of a Gentleman" were copied three hundred times.
Thinking of this, Zhaowei's teeth and hands itched. Seeing the sneer on her lips, Rong Yuqing warned, "Little ancestor, please don't cause trouble for me, or your mother will expose me!"
Zhaowei winked at him and said, "What's the rush? Let's take a look first."
Seeing the servant behind Yao Bingfeng holding a clay pot with a cricket in it, the squad leader took a look inside and saw that it was a Jinshan Huabai of average quality, so he asked kindly: "Yao Young master, do you want to fight with crickets?"
Yao Bingfeng waved his fan and said: "My only one is worth four thousand taels. If I lose, I will pay you. If you lose, you have to pay me ten thousand taels."
The leader, who had been tinkering with crickets for twenty years, was confident that he would not miss the mark. He happily handed over his hand and said, "Master Yao, please bring your generals to the stage."
The drums started beating again in the hall, and Zhaowei and Rong Yuqing squeezed forward. She was wearing Qi Lingzhan's old clothes when she was a child. Yao Bingfeng didn't recognize her for a moment, and only stared closely at the two crickets fighting with each other in the basin.
Cinnabar Head was bigger, holding Jinshan Huabai and pushing forward. Just when everyone thought that Jinshan Huabai could not hold on, they saw Cinnabar Head suddenly froze and could not move, and then he was pushed over by Jinshan Huabai. On the ground, he jumped on his upper body and bit half of his head into pieces.
The situation changed suddenly and everyone was surprised. Zhao Wei could see clearly and frowned deeply.
Yao Bingfeng proudly threw away the folding fan in his hand and asked the class leader: "How is it? Do you accept it?"
The leader's face was ugly. He picked up the Zijin Bei with half of its head bitten off from the pottery basin. After examining it for a long time, he sighed and raised his hand to King Su who was sitting on top of it: "This Zi Jin Bei is not of the highest quality. Now that he has been bitten to death, he will no longer stain the prince’s eyes.”
Yao Bingfeng said to Prince Su: "Your Majesty is noble in gold and jade, and ordinary bed bugs are naturally not worthy of it. I can barely see this golden mountain slippery white one in my hand. I give it to Your Majesty for fun."
Prince Su leaned lazily between his chairs and said with a slow smile: "This one in Master Yao's hands is now worth ten thousand taels of silver. I dare not accept it rashly. Otherwise, when the court starts in the next year, the imperial censor will give you a discount." I gave it to you privately."
Yao Bingfeng said: "I brought this insect to Xianghui Tower today just to sell it for a price. Now the prince has got the insect and I have got the silver. It is a fair transaction. What is wrong with it that can be impeached?"
After saying that, he looked at the supervisor with a half-smile. The supervisor understood and asked someone to get a 10,000 tael of silver notes.
When he raised the tray containing the banknotes in front of Yao Bingfeng, his palms were so cold with cold sweat that he could hardly hold the wooden tray.
This cinnabar head was the highlight of their team, and ten thousand taels was the entire income of the Douchi team for the whole year, but it was lost in the middle of a chat and a laugh. What’s lost is not only money, but also the reputation of the team. The shift leader glanced at the faces of the workers around him and saw that all of them had miserable faces, as if they were mourning for their heirs, and felt so uncomfortable that he wanted to vomit blood.
But it doesn't matter if you feel uncomfortable, or if you don't accept it, your life and property are important, so you will inevitably have to spend money to eliminate the disaster.
Yao Bingfeng stretched out his hand towards the banknote, and suddenly heard a clear shout from the crowd: "Wait a minute!"
A slim man squeezed through the crowd and came forward. Yao Bingfeng felt that he looked familiar, so he squinted at him for a long time, and his face suddenly turned pale, "Qi Zhaowei, are you Qi Zhaowei?!"
Zhaowei turned around and grabbed the pottery basin with the purple gold back from Yu Qing's arms. He raised his eyebrows and asked Yao Bingfeng: "My purple gold back is worth ten thousand taels. Do you want to fight?"
"Then you have to give me ten thousand taels if you lose. Do you have that much money?" Yao Bingfeng sneered at her, "Be careful if you get your legs broken when you go back."
Zhaowei raised his chin towards the class leader, "Can you please help us set up a sign?"
The rules of Douxun were written down on the paper, and Zhaowei picked up the pen and added another one: If you engage in deceit or other deceitful means, you will be judged according to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and you will be rewarded double the amount of the original owner.
After writing, he stamped it and handed it to Yao Bingfeng.
Seeing this, Yao Bingfeng's face changed slightly, and when he saw Shang Zhaowei's half-smiling eyes, he had no choice but to press his fingerprints.
The drums sounded again in the hall, and the bet of ten thousand taels against ten thousand taels made everyone present hold their breath and stretch their necks. Prince Su also leaned over slightly and stared closely at the two beard-bearded animals in the jar. cricket.
Rong Yuqing had a cold sweat on his forehead. He pulled Zhaowei's sleeve and asked quietly: "How can you guarantee that you can win?"
Zhao smiled and threatened him: "I can't guarantee that I can win, and I can't guarantee that your net worth is worth ten thousand taels?"
Rong Yuqing was so frightened that his face turned green.
Zhaowei walked slowly around the table, playing with a slender bamboo stick in his hand. At this time, he did not forget to admonish Rong Yuqing: "My good uncle, Yongjing is a place that eats people without spitting out their bones. Ten thousand taels scare you like this, if someone wants to tear your flesh and suck your blood in the future, what will you do?"
Rong Yuqing was worried and said: "You are really the prince's good sister, your tone of voice is exactly the same as him."
Zhaowei's smile froze on her face, and she turned her head and ignored him.
She concentrated on watching the fight between the two crickets in the jar. Her eyes seemed to be downcast, but she had a calm demeanor. King Su's eyes shifted from the crickets to Zhao Wei's face, and there was a hint of smile in his eyes.
The two crickets in the jar were in a very similar situation to just now. In terms of strength and fighting skills alone, Jinshan Huabai was no match for Zijin Bei. They were being pushed back by Zijin Bei, and were about to overthrow Jinshan Huabai when they saw him. Seeing that the golden mountain was slippery and white, it showed its teeth and wanted to bite Zijin's back.
Zhaowei quickly stretched out his eyes and blocked its teeth with bamboo sticks.
"May I ask Mr. Yao, where did you find this black-toothed cricket?"
Zhaowei picked up the golden mountain smooth white, opened its teeth with his bare hands, turned it around in front of the crowd, and then showed it to King Su.
She said in front of everyone: "We are all experts here, and we have been playing cricket fights for longer than I am. I would like to ask you, except for the red-toothed and green-toothed crickets, the teeth are red, and the mandarin-yang-toothed crickets have one red and one white tooth." Besides, have you ever seen a cricket with non-white teeth? Especially this Jinshan Huabai, produced in Jinshan, Hangzhou. I would like to ask Mr. Yao, where does the name 'Huabai' come from?"
King Su said: "The tooth is as white as a tooth and as smooth as jade, so it is named 'Slippery White'."
"Your Highness is knowledgeable," Zhaowei pressed Yao Bingfeng, "White-toothed crickets are not poisonous, but red-toothed crickets are poisonous. I wonder where the poison in this black-toothed cricket comes from?"
Yao Bingfeng opened his mouth in silence, and when he met her smiling eyes, he suddenly broke into a cold sweat on his back.
This cricket was a poisonous cricket raised by a Miao businessman using the method of raising voodoos. The Miao people warned him that this cricket had flaws. Its teeth had turned black, and it might be seen through by experienced experts.
Unfortunately, Yao Bingfeng didn't believe in evil and came up with an idea. He planned to get the limelight at today's Douchi Conference, sell it well to Prince Su, and earn ten thousand taels of silver to make up for the shortfall in the government account caused by his purchase of prostitutes. Who would have expected that someone would actually spot the flaw, and this person was the second girl from the Yongping Marquis Mansion who had a long-standing grudge against him.
Yao Bingfeng's lips turned white, he frowned and said, "White teeth and black teeth are all natural. I think you are afraid of losing and want to cheat!"
He refused to admit it, and Zhaowei stopped arguing with him. She turned to Team Leader Zhao and said, "Can Team Leader say something fair this time? After all, not only is your money involved now, but I am also involved in ten thousand taels." ...Oh, let me introduce myself. I am the second daughter of the Marquis of Yongping, the queen is my sister, the political counselor of the dynasty is my brother, my father is the Marquis of Yongping, and my mother is the shopkeeper of the Rong family cloth shop. You I don't dare to tell the truth for fear of offending the Yao family, but now I'm thinking about it, do you dare to offend me?"
