Compete for the Song Dynasty

Wang Pang vaguely took a nap upstairs, unaware that it was already past noon, the snow outside had stopped, but the cold wind was blowing, and the streets were few passers-by, the porridge and cake shop was closed, and Xiaosi When he came back after drinking, he saw that Wu Nan and Mrs. Pan were busy preparing dinner and were about to say something to Wu Nan when Wu Ling, Dai Zong and Shi Qian came back one after another.

Wu Ling entered the door and said: "It's so cold, Wu Nan will warm up the wine later, let's have a good drink, and I will give it to your uncle."

Wu Nan poked his head out of the kitchen and asked, "Is uncle really going to go out with the prince?"

"It's not true, but there is nothing wrong with the county government now. I talked to the county magistrate and agreed." Looking back, I saw the waiter Xiaosi staring in the shop and scolded: "You kid will help Wu Nan more in the future. If you don't Itchy hands to gamble."

Xiaosi squeezed and laughed: "How dare you little one." While speaking, he sneaked a glance at Wu Nan, but Wu Nan simply didn't look at him. [

Dai Zong and Shi Qian found a clean table and sat down. Seeing that there were some side dishes and sauced meat on the table, Shi Qian was about to reach out to grab it, but Dai Zong hit him on the back of his hand: "It's like I haven't eaten every day, good food It’s a waste to eat it for you without gaining any meat.”

Wu Ling also sat down and turned to Xiaosi and said, "Go and see if the prince has rested, if the prince wakes up, just ask the prince to go downstairs."

Just as Xiao Si was about to turn around to invite the king, Shi Qian stood up suddenly: "I'd better go, you all walk too hard, it's not good if the prince still rests and wakes you up, besides, the prince has sharp eyes, I'm afraid I won't be able to see you." It's not clean."

Dai Zong is funny, when it comes to dirty hands and feet, Shi Qian has no right to speak here, he actually despises other people's schemes, and others don't take it to heart, but Xiaosi's fair face flushed, and he turned to remove the man next to the table. The stools were all turned upside down on the table, as if he was busy closing up and tidying up, as if he didn't hear anything Wu Ling Shiqian said.

The curtain at the back door was lifted, and Wang Pang walked in and said, "No need, I took a nap earlier, but I'm awake now."

Several people who were sitting stood up, Wang Pang motioned for them to sit down, and walked over to be the first seat: "Wu Ling's business is done."

"It's done. I'll go home tonight and tell my wife. We'll be on our way tomorrow."

Shi Qian was surprised and said, "Does the military official book also go with us?"

Wang Pang nodded and hummed, Wu Nan brought warm wine to the table, and served three or five hot dishes, Wang Pang invited him to sit with him, Wu Nan was afraid of his low status, Wu Ling said: "My lord wants you Sit down and sit down, don't act like a little lady." Wu Nan then sat down opposite Wang.

After drinking for the third time, Dai Zong said: "In the past, I only heard that the King of Zhennan had four great generals, but this time I have seen them. In the future, I will also forget to give advice from Senior Wu."

Wu Ling waved his hands and said with a smile: "How dare you do that, I didn't even know I had such a reputation."

Dai Zongdao: "Zhezhang Wuhan four generals, it is said that they fought with the prince on the battlefield, went to Liao Dynasty and Koryo to fight Japanese slaves, everyone knows it."

Wu Ling laughed loudly: "You are wrong. Back then, there were not only a few generals around the prince. They were as strong as Nawa, and each of them was very vigorous. It's just that those years were considered stable, and the prince was unwilling Don't worry, how did we get the reputation of being brave because we fought so few battles, besides, I think the people around the prince are all very good, so brother Dai Zong's kung fu is unmatched."

"What about me?" Shi Qian asked, looking at Wu Ling with his head tilted.

"You, little brother, what skills do you have?" Wu Ling asked with a smile, knowing that he was a servant next to the king at that time.

Shi Qian patted and said: "The people around the prince were powerful back then, and now they are even more powerful. My master Zuo Ning is the No. 1 light kung fu around the prince, and it is easy to fly over the walls; Ma Sheng can understand horse language, but can't command thousands of troops. But he can command tens of thousands of horses; the Hercules Wei Mingcheng Si and the one who is good at binding Hu Tieling with ropes are all unique skills."

Wu Ling was both surprised and delighted when he heard this: "I never thought that there are so many high-level people around the prince, why don't you see other people accompanying the prince to go out?"

Shi Qian said: "Well, most of them are in Yongle City, helping the eldest son succeed, you will see him sooner or later, now the prince is just walking around, I am enough."

Everyone laughed when they saw that he was bragging and didn't make drafts, and said that others praised him in the end. Wu Ling laughed and said: "Our generation may not be better than you young people. Back then, people as old as you and you There are quite a few children by the prince's side, so there really isn't one who can talk and laugh like this." [

Shi Qian was dissatisfied and said: "This is a joke, but I also have unique skills."

At the moment the store door is closed, Pan Jinlian has already packed up, sitting in a corner of the store doing female celebrity, the clerk Xiao Si is tiptoeing towards the door, when Shi Qian suddenly said: "My special skill is stealing, you at the door What are you going to do?" Startled, she hurriedly stopped: "I, I, I will go home."

Everyone looked at Xiaosi in unison, only to see Xiaosi standing there in a panic, with his hand still on the door to open or close it.

Wang Pang frowned slightly, thinking that Shi Qian wouldn't say that for some reason, so he looked at Wu Nan, and Wu Nan also blushed for a long time and said, "Then, then you go back, early tomorrow."

Xiao Si seemed to have received a pardon, and ran away like flying, Shi Qian said discouragedly: "Excuse me, I was going to put on a good show for you just now."

"Don't go around the bush, just speak up if you have something to say." Wang said aside.

Shi Qian took out a silver coin from his pocket and put it on the table: "Does the lord know this?"

Wang Pang spoke, picked up the silver and looked at the bottom of the silver ingot, then put it back on the table, Wu Ling also picked it up and looked at it and handed it to Dai Zong: "My lord, this is the silver from your house, what is it that Shi Qian took out?" meaning."

Wu Nan lowered his head and didn't say a word or even look at the silver. Seeing that his expression was different, Wu Ling asked him, "Why, what's wrong with you?"

Shi Qian answered, "I'm afraid he feels uncomfortable."

Wu Nan kept waving his hands, and Wu Ling said anxiously, "What's wrong with this child." Pan Jinlian looked up at the table, and Wu Ling understood, and said, "My niece and daughter-in-law, please take two steps to my house. Help your aunt pack my bags."

Pan Jinlian didn't ask any more questions, she put down her needle and thread with a promise, and went out when she saw the cotton-padded clothes.

"Okay, now you should talk." Wu Ling urged again.

Wu Nan faltered, and Shi Qian said, "Don't ask him, he didn't know he lost his money, and I picked it up. If someone else used it to play with the money, I'm afraid it would be a disaster."

Wu Ling nodded and said: "Your buddy Xiao Si has a bad habit, that is, you took him in. It was better if I covered him before, but you should be more careful yourself in the future."

Wang Pang thought that Shi Qian must not be so easy to pick up, plus he saw a scene upstairs, Shi Qian must have discovered something, the little four wanted to gamble but was robbed by Shi Qian, and then he was robbed by the big guy opposite. Throwing it out of the shop, thinking of this, he asked, "Wu Nan, what does the shop diagonally opposite you do? Why does it have a fake signboard?"

"Going back to the lord, there is a cabinet shop opposite, and there are some Liubo, horse cranes, betting treasures, flower fairs, word treasures and other things inside."

Wang Pang was puzzled, and asked, "If I remember correctly, gambling was strictly prohibited in the early Song Dynasty. All gamblers in the capital would be executed. Are gambling houses open to the public now?"

Wu Ling sighed and said: "My lord, this place is no better than the capital city. This gambling house is a big money maker in the county, but all the county magistrates will turn a blind eye. As long as there is no life lawsuit, they will pretend not to know. The governor's road will be notified in advance, and all the houses will hang up the business signs and mix in, and the top and bottom will look good."

"That's the way it is, but if there is a real life lawsuit here, how do you say it?"

Wu Ling said: "The shopkeeper of this gambling shop is named Sun. I heard that he is from the capital. There are many rules. If you want to play in it, you must first sign the life and death documents. To put it bluntly, they are all terms of overlord, but even if you have this document The magistrate of the county is also easy to talk about after a lawsuit. They clearly say that there are winners and losers when playing with money. Those who are willing to gamble and accept the loser can enter. This is called risk education. After saving for many years, I was able to make a living in a place where there are two or three big people standing on this street. If the cooking cake is famous, it can be regarded as a living. Who knows that this kid has contracted the problem of gambling. When the old man left, he was still there. It’s about making money in the casino, and in the end the old man gave this recipe to Wu Nan, so he accepted an apprentice, and Wu Nan also learned a skill.”

Shi Qian asked: "Then why didn't he set up a pancake stall by himself, why did he become a clerk here?"

Wu Nan said: "At the beginning, he was naked and lost everything. When he wanted to sell the small shop, my uncle gave me some money and gave the shop to me. He also gave some money to bury the master. After that, he will have a living. , I watched his father leave him to work here for the sake of teaching me the craft. My mother-in-law always said that the two of them were too busy to leave him here, but I saw that he had the intention of repenting. Keep dragging.

Wang Pang had a general idea in his heart, thinking that such a person should not be allowed to stay, Wu Nan is an honest person, and he might not know if he sold him out, but Wu Nan blushed and said: "I can't blame him entirely, but he runs a gambling shop." It's not bad, if the prince goes to tell the county magistrate to close the gambling house, or tells old man Sun not to let Xiao Si go, then he will stop playing if the place is playing tricks."

Wu Ling said: "It's easy to say, even if the county magistrate agrees to the prince, we will not let it go when we leave, or have you made up for the deficit in the county? Besides, the old man Sun opened the door, how could he care who it is?" .”

Wang Pang asked: "Wu Ling, are you familiar with this shopkeeper surnamed Sun?"

"Although we can't talk about friendship, he still gives some face to the servants of the county government. What's the matter with the prince?"

"What Wu Nan said is not wrong, and this old man Sun also has a way. Since he wants to do it in a safe and stable way, he will give me a little favor for the sake of money. Can you give him about."

Wu Ling said: "That's out of question, but the prince really wants to help Xiaosi quit gambling."

"I don't have that kind of skill. I'm just helping Wu Nan relieve pressure temporarily, but this person Wu Nan should not stay any longer."

Wu Nan nodded.