Fu Shifeng

Chapter 70
After leaving Chang'an, head east along the Weishui River, about 180 miles to Huazhou, which can be reached in two or three days by ordinary vehicles and horses.

In addition, the Guanzhong and Gyeonggi areas have smooth roads and dense post stations, making travel the most convenient.If you don't want to ride a horse, there are also endless water transport boats on the Guangtong Canal.

Su Wangting's ancestors lived in the area of ​​Fushui Town, Huazhou for generations, and they are considered a big local family. There are lands and houses in the village, and there are also shops in the town. It is not rich and expensive, but they are not worried about food and clothing, and they can afford to support scholars like Su Wangting.

According to the early assumptions of the elders in the clan, if Su Wangting had been following Prime Minister Lu, he would not dare to say that he was in a high position now, but he should also be appointed by the court.Unexpectedly, when he later went to the Western Regions to do business, he was once regarded by the elders of the clan as throwing away the basics and chasing after the waste, deeply ashamed.

But later, Su Wangting sent back gold and silver belongings to his family several times to support the education of the Yuanfang people, and everyone's opinion gradually changed, and the Su family was also regarded as a local model by other villagers.Coupled with the important relationship between Lu Xiang's disciples, the local states and counties were greeted, and they did not dare to make trouble and forcibly expropriate them.

So when Cheng Sanwu and his group came to the Su family's ancestral house, what they saw was not the old country house that was in disrepair and overgrown with weeds, but a large family house surrounded by streams and canals and the walls were painted with chalk.

When the Su family heard that Su Wangting was back, they all went out to greet him.Su Wangting's father passed away many years ago. Fortunately, there are other brothers in the family to take care of his mother.Su Wangting had been married for many years, and had already given birth to two sons when he was still working under Lu Xiang's family. Among them, the eldest son had married a wife and started a family with a daughter.

"Ouch, old Su, are you a grandfather now?" Seeing Su Wangting hugging his granddaughter on his lap to tease, Cheng Sanwu was particularly surprised. He moved closer and asked curiously, "Your name is Miss Gui? How old are you this year? "

The girl in the red coat and tiger-toed shoes said in a crisp voice, "I'm six years old!"

Su Wangting coaxed his granddaughter Gui Yatou and said, "He is your Uncle Cheng, please call Uncle Cheng."

Gui Yatou learned well: "Hello, Uncle!"

"Uncle?" Cheng Sanwu was taken aback, looked at the well-informed Changqing beside him, and replied with a smile, "It's my grandfather's brother."

Cheng Sanwu heard the words and complained: "Old Su, you are so dishonest, you call me old!"

At this moment, Su Wangting was no longer as shrewd and capable as before, and completely turned into an old man protecting his cubs, blowing his beard and staring: "This is my granddaughter, of course I call you uncle!"

As soon as this remark came out, the whole room roared with laughter.Afu also seemed to be amused by the side, the granddaughter of the Su family saw her, pointed at her and shouted: "Beautiful sister!"

Su Wangting's heart jumped, and he was so quick-witted that he didn't know how to respond.

Just before the three of Su Wangting left Chang'an City, they saw Afu and Qin Wangshu waiting on the official road, and said that they would also like to watch the Weinan Doubaohui.Su Wangting couldn't stop him, saying that he would go back to his ancestral home in Huazhou to meet his family first, and Afu followed suit.

Logically speaking, Su Wangting has been doing business in the Western Regions for many years, and it seems reasonable to bring back one or two barbarian servants.But even though Afu was only wearing an ordinary narrow-sleeved skirt, her demeanor and demeanor couldn't conceal her dignity. Everyone could see that she was not a servant.The Su family is just a big family in the country, and the family members can't help but feel ashamed when they see Afu, and only Gui girl dares to speak so childishly.

Afu just smiled lightly when she heard the words, took a small wooden box from Qin Wangshu beside her, and handed it to Gui Yatou to open. Inside was a pair of golden hairpins decorated with pearl bracelets. She asked, "This is my sister?" For you, do you like it?"

Although the six-year-old girl had memorized things, she might not be aware of the preciousness of gold, silver and jewelry. Seeing this, Su Wangting immediately refused: "No, no! This gift is too precious."

"How about treating it as a dowry for her?" Afu smiled and handed the jewelry to Su Wangting's daughter-in-law. The other party was very surprised and was at a loss for a while.

Su Wangting yelled at his son and daughter-in-law: "Don't you thank me?"

The son and daughter-in-law hurriedly saluted and thanked, Su Wangting continued: "Clean the guest house quickly, don't neglect the nobleman!"

The daughter-in-law said she was stepping down, and Gui Yatou asked again: "Does the pretty sister like Uncle Cheng?"

Hearing this, Cheng Sanwu, who was drinking water, choked on the spot and slapped his chest repeatedly.Afu turned her face away, smiling like a flower, but Su Wangting hurriedly covered her granddaughter's mouth, scolded, and then quickly apologized to Afu: "The country people don't know etiquette, and talk nonsense, please forgive me, Miss Afu."

Afu leaned down slightly, and said to Girl Gui with a smile, "Sister, I just hope that Uncle Cheng will marry me home one day, but it's a pity that your grandpa won't let him go."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Cheng coughed repeatedly, beating his chest like a drum.

Su Wangting's wife is not an ignorant woman who is usually in charge of the family business. She could see that there was something weird in it. She stepped forward and took Afu's hands, and said comfortingly: "Sister, some men have great ambitions and can't restrain their minds. But don’t be in a hurry. Tell me well, old sister-in-law, I will help you as a staff member.”

Su Wangting was really worried that his granddaughter would talk nonsense again, so he had to be carried away by his son. Qin Wangshu also followed Afu to the back hall with Mrs. Su. In a blink of an eye, there were only three men left in the main hall, and they fell into an embarrassing silence.

"It's the hag who insists on coming, and I can't help it." Cheng Sanwu spread his hands.

Changqing lightly brushed off his sleeve robe, and said sarcastically, "Why don't you ask Brother Fu to help you agree? By the way, let's do the etiquette."

"What are you talking about?" Cheng Sanwu scolded: "You haven't seen Du Jianzhang's half-dead appearance. I don't want to provoke a dominatrix and be sucked into it by her."

Su Wangting sighed helplessly: "I can see that Miss Afu didn't mean anything malicious, she was just joking...Old Cheng, you are getting older, should you start a family?"

"Get married? That's so boring." Cheng Sanwu said bluntly: "Go to a brothel if you want to, change one every day, and be a groom every night."

"Changqing, what about you?" Su Wangting turned to ask again: "As far as I know, it's not impossible for people who practice Taoism to start a family."

"I have no intention of doing this." Changqing said indifferently.

Su Wangting shook his head: "I think your vision is too high. If you are not a couple of gods and immortals, you will not be tempted."

Changqing smiled but didn't answer, Cheng Sanwu was displeased and said bluntly: "Old Su, why did you become nagging when you came home? Just like those idlers in the country who care about talking about marriage."

"You can also see that I have become a grandfather, so I must be thinking about this." Su Wangting pointed to the two people opposite and said, "You are just two children. You are sensible if you don't know how to start a family. Look at my two sons, Although you are not allowed to take the imperial examination, one manages the land at home, and the other asks for a job in the state government office to help manage the company's money, so you don't have to live and drink in the Western Regions like me."

"What's the money?" Cheng Sanwu didn't understand.

"It's the money that the government lends to the people, earning interest to make up for the officials' salaries." Su Wangting said.

"Old Su, I think you can still live a comfortable life if you don't work for Master Lu." Cheng looked around. Although the Su family's ancestral house is not comparable to those high-rise buildings in Chang'an, it is neat and simple.

But Su Wangting said: "Old Cheng, if I let you leave with Miss Afu and concentrate on serving the Ministry of Internal Affairs from now on, would you be willing?"

Cheng Sanwu immediately shook his head: "Unless I really have nowhere to go, I won't seek refuge with those dead eunuchs."

"You see, you understand it yourself." Su Wangting said: "My current achievements are all due to the support of Lord Lu. Even if I don't mention knowing favors and repaying them, I don't need to find another way."

Hearing this, Chang Qing didn't seem to agree with it: "It's important to be supported by noble people, but if Brother Fu didn't do it himself, he wouldn't have achieved anything. How can we attribute everything to others?"

Su Wangting himself was a small official who was a foreigner, and he knew the difficulties of being promoted by the common people, but he didn't blame Chang Qing for it, he just sighed: "I hope so too, but the world cannot be controlled by others."

……

It is rare for Su Wangting to go home, and he must get along well with his family. Even if there is a wife and the eldest son in charge of the family, he is the head of the family after all, so he has to make good friends with the neighbors.

Returning home with wealth, if you only do some things to buy land and property, I am afraid that you will be a little greedy and only arouse the hatred of others.Su Wangting's ancestors did not dare to say that they were from a scholarly family, but they were also considered scholars of literature, and would not do such things that corrupted the family tradition.

In this dynasty, the imperial examination to select a scholar was naturally based on studying and studying.Although Su Wangting entered into business by himself and had no access to imperial examinations for three generations, he now funded a hometown school next to the shrine in Fushui Township, allowing children from the township to study, and hired literati from prefectures and counties as teachers. Study the classics and law, so that students can pass the state and county schools in the future.

This move naturally attracted the praise of the villagers, and even the nearby county government sent a county magistrate and a doctor of Confucianism to pay a visit in person.

Su Wangting was busy entertaining guests, and Cheng Sanwu and others did not disturb, but went to Xishan Taihua.

At first, it was just that Changqing wanted to go to the mountains for a visit. Cheng Sanwu had nothing to do and naturally came together, and Afu also followed after learning about it. Qin Wangshu accompanied him without any surprise, and it turned out that the four of them traveled together.

"Oh, before I know it, Old Su has become that kind of boring old man." Cheng Sanwu rode on the horse and complained: "He is married and has a family, and he dragged me to chatter endlessly last night. "

Afu smiled faintly. Seeing her like this, Cheng Sanwu approached her and asked, "What did my old sister-in-law tell you?"

"She said that if she wanted to tie a man's mind, it would be best to be his good wife so that he would have no worries." Although Afu had a smile on her face, anyone could tell that she was not at all happy.

"Ha! Good wife, just you?" Cheng Sanwu patted his thigh and laughed loudly, ignoring the cold glances of Afu and Qin Wangshu.

Changqing said aside: "Brother Su has been doing business abroad for many years, so the family naturally depends on his wife for support. But I don't understand, Brother Su is extraordinary in martial arts, why is his wife an ordinary woman?"

"Lao Su is the successor of Lei Shou Iron Palm, and he abducted his master's daughter while he was practicing martial arts." Cheng Sanwu couldn't stop laughing, he naturally knew the past: "This Iron Palm Kung Fu is too strong , women can't practice. Old Su hasn't used martial arts very much these years, and his figure is blessed, you can't tell. If ten years ago, his pair of iron palms could smash the opponent's Tianling Gai alive!"

Having said that, martial arts is often not advancing or retreating. Su Wangting has not practiced martial arts for many years, and his palm strength may not be as good as it used to be.And running a business company and troublesome trivial matters will also hinder the improvement of martial arts.Wu Maocai was able to easily defeat Su Wangting back then, not only because of the advantage of spell blessing, but also because of Su Wangting's delay in martial arts.

"Lei Shou, Lei Shou...I seem to have heard of this name somewhere." Chang Qing pondered.

"It's Leishou Mountain. From here to the northeast, it's not far after crossing the Yellow River." Cheng Sanwu raised his whip and pointed.

Changqing pondered for a while, then suddenly said: "It turned out to be the ancient name of Zhongtiao Mountain. Shanyin is Puban, the capital of Shun, and Shanyang is the place where Uncle Boyi Qi Caiwei ate."

"What? What's all this?" Cheng Sanwu was puzzled.

Changqing didn't bother to explain. He raised his eyes and looked forward, and there was a continuous mountain stretching from east to west. The mountain seemed to rise from the ground, with no extra gentle slopes. look up.

Huashan Mountain is famous for its majesty and precipitousness. Although plank roads and stairs have been built throughout the ages, it is still inconvenient to climb and sparsely populated.Therefore, Taihua Mountain has always been regarded as a blessed place by the Taoist sages to live in seclusion and practice, and there are many altars and shrines set up by emperors in ancient and modern times.

It is said that during the Eastern Expedition of the Taizu of this Dynasty, the army passed by Xishan Mountain, and suddenly saw a golden armored general standing among the clouds on the mountain top, and everyone bowed down.All the soldiers in the army believed that this was the manifestation of the gods of Huayue Mountain, and their morale was greatly boosted.

Later, after several fierce battles, the Central Plains was initially determined. When the Taizu's team returned to Chang'an and passed by Xiyue again, he immediately ordered to build a shrine and canonize the Xiyue mountain god as the true king of the country.

Martial arts are popular in this dynasty, and there are many scholars who are eager to make contributions on the battlefield. If they have the opportunity to go to the border military town, they will come to the Xishan Zhenjun Temple to worship before leaving, praying for martial arts, so the incense will last for a long time.

"You said that the mountain god manifested, is it true or not?"

A group of people passed by Zhenjun Temple, Changqing respectfully offered incense, Afu and Qin Wangshu didn't like this way, they just wandered around, Cheng Sanwu looked at the wide-headed, big-faced, sitting and angry face on the altar The gold-plated statue of the real monarch asked Changqing.

Chang Qing didn't answer immediately, but saluted like a rite, and said after walking out of the main hall: "Do you want to listen to the court's opinion or mine?"

"Uh...is there a difference?" Cheng Sanwu scratched his head and saw Afu whispering to Qin Wangshu not far away.

"According to the imperial court, it is the great grandfather who responds to people with the heaven and the mountains and rivers, and naturally the mountain gods appear and cheer for the merits." Changqing said expressionlessly.

Cheng Sanwu had a weird expression: "This sounds like a way to lie to children."

"Fu Rui appeared on command. Whether it is true or not is unpredictable to outsiders, and it is more likely to be a deliberate fabrication." Changqing's tone was flat.

"But it is said that many soldiers saw mountain gods appearing, so it can't be all made up?" Cheng Sanwu couldn't help speculating.

"You also said that it's a 'legend'." Changqing sneered, "If it wasn't an illusion intentionally constructed by a master of magic, maybe it was the army passing through Taihua Mountain, and the breath of war and conquest resonated subtly with the land veins of Huashan Mountain.

"The earth's energy soars to the sky, described by Lieutenant General Goulian's army as a golden armored general. If this is the case, it is at best a mirage-like situation. It is purely the air of heaven and earth, and there is no destiny or magic. And this , is what I say."

(End of this chapter)