Poor Family

Every February, local officials from all over the country will come to Beijing to report on their duties. During this period, there will often be some conflicts between local officials and patrol officials.

According to the laws of the Great Chu, except for certain public officials, no one is allowed to ride horses in the downtown area.

However, some local officials, probably because they are used to domineering in the local area, or because they have other reliance, often ignore this law.

On the eighteenth day of the second lunar month, Shi Zhenghe and a group of soldiers from the northern city, Ma Siyacha, were patrolling the area around the Jinghe River in the outer city.

Jing River, one of the three major rivers in the capital, flows in from Deshengmen, then flows out from Dongbianmen, across the entire northern city.

The banks of the Jing River have always been the busiest areas in Beicheng. After February, with the return of spring and the revival of everything on the earth, more and more people go out to enjoy the scenery, and even the banks of the river are bustling with pedestrians walking shoulder to shoulder.

Especially in the Shidongqiao area, because of the beautiful scenery and the Lianhua Lake where you can swim in the lake, a large number of tourists gather.

The Shidong Bridge is a ten-hole arch bridge, and the arch holes gradually increase from both sides to the center of the bridge. The bridge is thirty-five meters long and eight meters wide.

On the bridge, a large crowd gathered, walking or stopping, talking and laughing to watch the scenery on the river.

Originally everything was very harmonious and beautiful, but suddenly, a few galloping tall horses rushed up the bridge, seeing that some pedestrians had no time to dodge and were about to be trampled by horseshoes, Shi Zhenghe arrived in time, punched the horses on the head, The horse, and the man on the horse fell to the ground together.

"Bold!"

The rest of the horses stopped suddenly, and the man on the horse glared at Shi Zhenghe: "You are so brave, you dare to intercept the carriage and horses of the governor of Nanzhong, don't you want your head?"

Shi Zheng and Ning Mei looked at the group of people in front of him: "You are the ones who are bold. After entering the city, you are not allowed to ride horses in the downtown area. This is the imperial court's law."

As he spoke, he looked at the carriage behind him.

Obviously, these people on horseback are opening the way, the purpose is to escort the carriage behind to cross the bridge.

"Cars and horses are not allowed to pass here, and there are too many pedestrians around, please choose another way."

The man on the horse didn't pay attention to Shizheng and these low-rank patrol officers of the soldiers and horses at all, and said coldly: "If you are sensible, make way quickly, my governor is in a hurry to enter the palace to face the saint, if there is a delay , you can’t afford it.”

As he spoke, he raised his whip and prepared to ride his horse across the bridge again.

After hearing that the person who came was the governor of Nanzhong, the other people in Bingmasi retreated. They didn't want to cause trouble, so they all retreated to the two sides.

Only Shi Zhenghe was still standing in the middle of the bridge, staring at the group of people on the opposite side who were about to cross the bridge again, and shouted loudly to the carriage behind: "It is the duty of the soldiers and horses of the North City to protect the security around the Shidong Bridge." , and please don’t embarrass me, my lord.”

In the carriage, Mu Shaowu, the governor of Nanzhong, was impatient to wait. He was delayed for some time on the road. Today is the deadline for his duty report, and he is in a hurry to meet the saint. Facing the soldiers from the northern city who blocked him, he was extremely annoyed. , knocked on the car door, and spit out two words: "Cross the bridge."

It's just some low-level yamen servants. After the face-to-face sage, find a meal with the commander of the North City Army and Horse Division to resolve it peacefully.

Hearing the order, the coachman yelled 'cross the bridge' loudly.

As soon as the words fell, the riders who had intended to rush directly whipped their horses one after another.

When Shi Zhenghe saw him, his expression turned serious, he looked back at the crowd gathered at the stalls on both sides of the river, his eyes were fixed, when the horse rushed towards him, he jumped forward a few steps, jumped mid-air, "bang bang bang", a few feet He kicked the one on the horse's back off the horse's back.

"Hold the horse!"

Hearing Shi Zhenghe's shout, the courageous soldiers and horses, Siyachai, rushed up the mountain and pulled back the restless horses.

At this moment, a black figure flew out of the carriage behind with a 'whoosh', and in the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Shi Zhenghe, and slapped Shi Zhenghe's face fiercely.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Shi Zhenghe didn't give in at all, raised his fist to greet him, and took the palms of the black-clothed people.

"Boom~"

During the collision of fists and palms, a huge impact erupted, directly shaking the river under the bridge to explode.

The blasted river water flew to the front of the bridge, wet the clothes of many people on the bridge, and caused everyone to back away in horror.

In the carriage, Mu Shaowu narrowed his eyes when he saw Shi Zhenghe who had resisted his adopted son Duan Feng's ten palms one after another. His adopted son is a ninth-rank master, and in a place like Bingmasi, there is actually someone who can confront him head-on.

Whether it was in the capital, Mu Shaowu still had scruples. He was worried that the other party had a background, so he hesitated for a while, and then shouted: "Duan Feng, come back."

Hearing Mu Shaowu's voice, Duan Feng, Shi Zheng and Qi Qi stopped.

Duan Feng stared at Shi Zhenghe blankly for a while before turning back to the carriage.

Then, the people on the bridge and on both sides of the bridge saw that the chariots and horses of the governor of Nanzhong began to turn around, and did not continue to forcefully cross the bridge.

Seeing this, the Yacha of Beicheng Bingma Division was relieved, but also a little surprised.

In fact, there are quite a lot of local officials who are self-righteous and unruly. In the outer cities, they hardly slow down. They rampage and cause many troubles.

Afraid of their identities, when they met on weekdays, Bingmasi and the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion mostly turned a blind eye and did not dare to confront them head-on.

This time, Shi Zhenghe actually stopped a governor, and even made people take the initiative to make compromises, which really surprised them.

However, some people showed concern: "That's the governor of Nanzhong, we won't cause trouble, right?"

When Shi Zhenghe heard this, he frowned: "We are fulfilling our duties and have not made any mistakes. If it is true that we will be blamed, I will bear it alone."

"Afterwards, the fourth master led the rest of Bingmasi to continue patrolling."

Shi Ying, who was following Shi Zhenghe, told everyone in the Shi family in detail what happened on the Shidong Bridge yesterday.

When the family members heard this, they all fell into silence.

After a long while, Mrs. Shi asked: "After returning to the Military Division with them yesterday, did the commander say anything?"

Shi Ying shook her head: "No, the commander didn't say anything, everyone thought it was all right, but who knows, the fourth master just came back from his street tour today, and the father-in-law from the palace came to say that the emperor has summoned him."

Seeing Mrs. Shi's and everyone's faces were worried, Shi Ying said again: "Mrs., the servant and Shi Yong went to the gate of the palace with the fourth master. At the gate of the palace, they saw King Duan, the commander-in-chief of the five cities' soldiers and horses."

"The fourth master entered the palace with Prince Duan. The servant secretly took a look at Prince Duan's face. When Prince Duan saw the fourth master, he smiled. The servant thought that nothing would happen to the fourth master when he entered the palace."

Hearing this, Shi's family members were startled for a moment, and then their hearts slowly fell back into their stomachs.

King Duan was in charge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Cities' Army and Horses. He was rarely in charge on weekdays. He actually waited at the gate of the palace and personally brought Shi Zhenghe into the palace to meet the saint. He was also full of smiles. It's not about condemnation.

Madam Shi asked again: "Who is waiting at the gate of the palace?"

Shi Ying: "Shi Yong has been waiting at the gate of the palace for the fourth master to come out."

When Mrs. Shi heard this, she was immediately worried.

Shi Ying and Shi Yong were selected from Zhuangzi by the second son's family before they returned to the uncle's mansion. They were chosen to be next to the second son because of their looks and strength.

In the past, the uncle's mansion didn't have high expectations for the second son's family, and the servants they selected were only required to be obedient and do things. But now that the second son has entered the palace, the people around him have higher expectations.

Mrs. Shi hurriedly ordered Mrs. Shi: "You ask Mr. Shi to take a few smart people to go there personally. If there is any news, please pass it home."

Mrs. Shi nodded, turned around and explained.

While Shi's family was waiting anxiously, Shi Zhenghe was kneeling in the main hall of Qianqing Palace.

On the dragon chair, the emperor looked at Shi Zhenghe while drinking tea.

The first impression that Shi Zhenghe gave him was that he was as tall and strong as a bear. He had seen many soldiers in the army, but few of them could grow as tall and strong as him.

Seeing the bulging muscles on Shi Zhenghe's arm, the emperor suddenly became interested, stood up and walked in front of Shi Zhenghe, poked Shi Zhenghe's stiff arm with a folding fan, and asked curiously: "How did you train your muscles? "

Shi Zhenghe was dumbfounded by the question, he thought that the emperor summoned him to ask him to blame him for blocking the governor of Nanzhong yesterday, but he didn't expect that the first question he asked would be this.

Shi Zhenghe's reaction was fairly quick, and he quickly replied in a respectful voice: "Return to the emperor, this subordinate started to practice foreign martial arts when he was more than ten years old, and he has become like this after practicing."

The emperor nodded in understanding, and then smiled again: "I heard that your eldest son was able to draw a tie with the mighty young general Zhao Shengming, and your younger son also helped the officers and soldiers catch three Jiangyang thieves. Did you teach me all the kung fu?"

The superb martial arts displayed by Shi Zheng and his father and son not only made others curious, but the emperor was no exception.

You know, it's not easy to train a martial arts master. The northwest border is poor and remote. Shi Zhenghe was just a small military household before, and there is no way to train such a powerful son.

Shi Zhenghe shook his head honestly: "Back to the emperor, when my subordinates were in the Northwest, they spent most of their time in the guards and rarely went home. Apart from teaching the eldest son some basic boxing skills, the children taught themselves the rest. of."

"Self-study?"

The emperor laughed out loud, the lie was too false, but looking at Shi Zhenghe's innocent expression, the emperor's eyes were filled with interest: "How did they teach themselves?"

Shi Zhenghe replied: "Your Majesty, Beiyan's secret work is usually hidden in border cities. Because of a coincidence, four children under his subordinates discovered a hidden pile of Beiyan, and found a large number of martial arts secrets inside."

The emperor really did not expect this answer, and King Duan's eyes widened in shock: "Isn't this a bit of a joke?"

Shi Zhenghe: "This subordinate also feels the same way. I don't know if someone offended someone in that Beiyan hidden stake. The Beiyan secret workers inside have been killed. The four children of my subordinates bumped into it. They just wanted to go in and look for it. Looking for food and belongings, who knows, finally moved back a basket of martial arts cheats."

"How many martial arts cheats?"

The emperor and Duan Wang Qiqi looked at Shi Zhenghe.

Shi Zhenghe: "There is a box full of dozens of books."

The emperor and Wang Duan looked at each other in dismay. For martial arts secret books, each family always hides them as deep as they can. Now that they find a box of martial arts secret books, is Shi Zhenghe's family's luck going to be turned upside down?

Shi Zhenghe continued: "After getting the martial arts secret book, everyone in our family was dazzled. In the end, the eldest son focused on boxing, the second son focused on sound wave skills, and the eldest daughter even mastered swordsmanship. My youngest daughter is the most powerful. She can take everything. Come and practice."

The emperor looked at Shi Zhenghe who answered seriously, and felt that he was showing off, but he still had some doubts: "Are you sure those are all martial arts secrets?"

Shi Zhenghe nodded his head: "It should be. There are internal kung fu and external kung fu. The subordinate's previous kung fu was not as good as it is now. They only improved a little by practicing boxing and kicking skills according to the secret books. .”

Duan Wang looked disbelieving: "Martial arts cheats are not so easy to practice, how many of your children have become masters by themselves?"

Shi Zhenghe: "It's not all self-taught. My eldest son said that when they were practicing martial arts on the Gobi Desert, they met an expert a few times, and that expert gave them advice several times."

The emperor and King Duan looked at each other again, at this moment, both of them were somewhat unsure whether what Shi Zhenghe said was true or not.

To be honest, all of this is too much of a coincidence.

Let's say it's a lie, Shi Zhenghe doesn't seem to be lying, and he probably doesn't have the guts to deceive the emperor.

Duan Wang looked at the emperor's face, and asked with a smile: "Those martial arts cheats should still be there?"

Shi Zhenghe nodded: "It's still there. We brought it back when we returned to Beijing, and it's now displayed in the study of my two sons."

The emperor smiled: "Would you mind lending me a look?"

Shi Zhenghe didn't dare to mind, he quickly shook his head: "After the subordinates go back, they will immediately send those secret books to the palace."

The emperor looked at King Duan with a smile: "The emperor will accompany you for a walk."

King Duan quickly smiled and said: "My brother is planning to do this. I really haven't seen dozens of martial arts cheat books at one time. Let me open my eyes today."

Saying that, he looked at Shi Zhenghe who was kneeling on the ground, "Let's go, my king will accompany you to the Wuchang uncle's mansion."

Shi Zhenghe nodded, and was just about to get up when the emperor asked, "Why didn't you let the governor of Nanzhong cross the bridge yesterday?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Zhenghe was so frightened that he knelt on the ground again, and replied a little nervously: "Going back to the emperor, it is the duty of the military commander to protect the security of Beicheng. Horses are not allowed in the downtown area. This is the imperial court's law."

The emperor smiled: "You are quite responsible. Let me ask you, since you have such a kung fu, why don't you stay at the border and serve the country?"

Shi Zhenghe's heart tightened, he thought for a while, and quickly replied: "Return to the emperor, this subordinate wants to spend more time with his wife and children."

He didn't deliberately complain, but directly expressed his thoughts in his heart, and he didn't find any high-sounding reasons to fool him. The emperor raised his eyebrows and looked at Shi Zhenghe kneeling on the ground, and his impression of him became a little better: "Okay, take Duan Wang, go to the Uncle Wuchang's mansion to get the cheat book."

Only then did Shi Zhenghe stand up tremblingly, followed behind King Duan, exited the Qianqing Palace, and walked out the gate of the palace, only to realize that he was covered in cold sweat.

Wang Duan looked at Shi Zhenghe wiping the sweat off his forehead with a smile, and said with a smile: "It's always like this when you first see Sheng Yan, and it will be fine after you get used to it."

As he said that, he laughed twice, patted Shi Zhenghe on the shoulder in satisfaction, and said as he walked, "You have given the commander of the army and horse a face this time, what reward do you want to ask for, tell me, if you can satisfy me , the king must be satisfied."

When Shi Zhenghe heard this, he was a little confused: "My subordinates don't quite understand what the lord means."

Duan Wang shook his head with a smile: "To tell you the truth, this king has long been displeased with those local officials who do not obey the rules, and has long wanted to deal with them, but those guys are surrounded by experts, soldiers and horses. If you hit someone, you can only turn a blind eye."

"Do you know who the person who challenged you on the Shidong Bridge yesterday?"

Shi Zhenghe shook his head.

Duan Wang smiled and said: "It's Duan Feng, the adopted son of the governor of Nanzhong. That guy is a ninth-rank master, or a top-level one. He has practiced his palm skills to perfection. I didn't expect to be stopped by you."

"Why do you think the governor of Nanzhong would take the initiative to avoid it? A government officer who can stop a ninth-rank expert must have someone behind him."

Shi Zhenghe was silent: "The governor of Nanzhong guessed wrong, and there is no one behind his subordinates."

Duan Wang snorted in dissatisfaction: "Why is there no one behind you? You are a member of Bing Ma Si, and this king is your backer."

Shi Zhenghe was stunned for a moment: "Oh."

Oh?

This is the end?

Duan Wang looked at Shi Zheng and said 'oh', then stared at him, suddenly angry and speechless, this is a lump of elm wood.

At the gate of the palace, Manager Shi waited anxiously with a few servants of the Shi Mansion, carefully avoiding the nobles who entered and exited the palace gate.

"The fourth master is out!"

Shi Yong has sharp eyes, and he found out as soon as Shi Zhenghe came out.

Seeing Wang Duan and Shi Zhenghe standing together, Director Shi quickly trotted over to pay respects.

"My lord, shall we ride a horse or a carriage?"

"Riding a horse is physical work. Do you think this king looks like a person who does physical work? Take a carriage!"

When Shi Zhenghe saw that Manager Shi didn't prepare a carriage, he couldn't help being a little embarrassed: "But my subordinates didn't prepare a carriage."

Duan Wang: "This king has his own carriage, who wants to ride in your house? You are lucky, you can ride with this king. This king can tell you, this king is not easy to invite people to ride in a carriage."

Director Shi stared at Shi Zhenghe in a daze as he followed King Duan into the luxurious five-horse carriage at the gate of the palace.

"My lord is going to the uncle's mansion, hurry up, go back to the mansion immediately and tell the old man and the old lady."

Duan Wang wanted to come to the uncle's mansion, which caught the Shi family by surprise, and there was no time to clean up the other things. The master of the Shi family had just changed into the clothes to meet the guests, and the porter came to report, saying that Duan Wang's carriage had entered Changle East Street .

Mrs. Shi hurriedly took Shi Zhengde and several grandchildren to the gate to greet them.

King Duan didn't have much impression of the Wuchang uncle's mansion. He was still very young when the Prince Regent's case happened. Since then, the Wuchang uncle's mansion has been silent, and he has no chance to know about it.

When the carriage stopped at the gate of the uncle's mansion, looking at the gray-haired old man Shi, Wang Duan still saved face, and talked to old man Shi for a while.

"The emperor is still waiting in the palace."

King Duan looked at Shi Zhenghe: "Let's take me to get the martial arts secret book first."

Martial arts cheats?

Old Master Shi and the others were confused when they heard that, seeing that Shi Zhenghe led King Duan to the Songfeng Pavilion, they also went with him.

Pine House.

When the uncle's residence allocated the courtyard to Shi Dingxuan and Shi Dinghao before, they only entered the courtyard twice. Now, the first courtyard is used by the two brothers as a place to live, while the second courtyard has been transformed into a martial arts practice. field.

As soon as you enter the second yard, the purpose of entering is wooden stakes of different heights, as well as various knives, guns and sticks.

"Your two sons are very hardworking."

Duan Wang smiled and praised.

Shi Zhenghe replied: "My eldest son usually works hard, but as for the younger son, he is a bit playful."

Duan Wang smiled and said: "Don't be too harsh, your two sons are not very old, it's normal to be playful."

While talking, a group of people entered the study.

"My lord, those are all on the bookshelf."

Wang Duan couldn't help twitching the corners of his mouth when he looked at the martial arts cheats laid out on the bookshelf carelessly.

He also has a secret book of internal strength in his hand, which is the secret box of the headgear in the secret room, and the mechanism has been set up several times, so he still feels unsafe.

Looking at this defenseless martial arts cheat book that was placed on the bookshelf like an ordinary book, to be honest, he was a little bit heartbroken.

Duan Wang stepped forward quickly, stretched out his hand and moved back and forth on the bookshelf for a while, before picking up a book of boxing.

Duan Wang had some good eyesight. After flipping through two pages, he looked at Shi Zhenghe with a complicated face.

It's really a martial arts secret book!

The luck of this family is absolutely doomed!