Emperor Kangxi: The First Rule of the Palace

Chapter 6
It is a custom handed down from several dynasties that the old emperor dies, the new emperor ascends the throne, amnesty the world, and selects scholars by opening subjects.In fact, before the imperial edict was promulgated, the candidates from all provinces had already been on the road in an endless stream.After the beginning of spring, there were several sunny days in Beijing, and the ice floes in the North Sea melted, as if they were about to freeze, and the wooden ice boats played by children were afraid to put them up.A bit of spring breeze blows over, although it is still a bit chilly, it is not so soaking in the bones.The dozen or so guest rooms in the Yuepeng store were gradually filled with people.It's just that the third room in the upper room is still inhabited by Wu Ciyou.Later, there were more people renting houses, and Wu Ciyou felt sorry, so he asked Mingzhu to move here and live in the Westinghouse.The two brothers give lectures on poems and papers every day, waiting for the envoy to be issued.

This day is "February [-]", the day when the dragon raises its head.Although it is not a big festival, as long as people are interested, people can always find a reason to play.

Wu Ciyou made an appointment with Mingzhu, and they went to visit Xishan together.

It was "early spring" at that time, and it was warm and cold, and the willow ribbons were yellow.The two walked on foot, and turned to the area along the West River without realizing it.Here is a big wharf in the former Ming Dynasty, with row upon row of shops, rows of shops, and a variety of juggling arts. On the stalls, there are Song inkstones, Ming porcelain, golden chopsticks and jade bowls from the previous dynasty, gold-carved eight-treasure screens and jasper vases, as well as overseas imported goods. There are red sandalwood glass crystal lamps, chime clocks, copper Maitreya Buddha, snuff bottles, calligraphy and paintings of celebrities...there is a dazzling array of everything that one expects to find.The two of them were looking for peace and didn't want to bump into this place, but it was much noisier than inside Xizhimen.Mingzhu saw that Wu Ciyou was not in high spirits, so she said: "The scenery on the river over there is good, we might as well go there." Wu Ciyou nodded and said, "That's fine."

While talking, suddenly a large group of people on the left applauded loudly, Mingzhu squeezed in to see, it turned out that a man and a woman were performing martial arts.The man was 45 years old, shirtless, and walking around.He opened the circle of people, tied his braids in a bun on the top of his head, picked up two half bricks on the spot, and pinched them vigorously with five fingers, and with a "bang", the bricks in both hands immediately shattered.Everyone shouted "Okay!"

The man Fa Ke said: "I'm new to the noble land, and I live in a sparsely populated place. It all depends on the care of all the elders and children. Although I have a few tricks, I don't dare to boast in front of real people. There is a backlash. I still want to see Guan Haihan!" Then he pointed to the girl standing aside and said, "This is the little girl Shi Jianmei. She is 17 years old and has not yet been hired. It's not that the little old man Haikou bullies others, let her sit here On the sesame cake, whoever can pull her up will give the gentleman as a dustpan, and there will be no regrets!"

Mingzhu was dumbfounded.He seemed to have seen this woman somewhere, but he couldn't remember it anymore, so he turned to Wu Ciyou and said, "Brother, this is interesting, let's take a look."

Wu Ciyou looked at that woman, she was delicate and charming with a bit of vigor and toughness, although she didn't have a very beautiful face, she was also very charming.I saw her standing aside with her braids in her hands, pursing her lips and smiling, not shy.Hearing the old man finished speaking, he made a move in the arena. His slender steps are like willows swinging in the wind, and his advances and retreats are as smooth as a boat sailing on the water. An expert can tell at a glance that his lightness kung fu is extraordinary.She pierced a door, then squatted on a stack of seven or eight sesame cakes.

At this time, more and more people watched the excitement.People push each other, but no one dares to try.After a long while, suddenly a strong man jumped into the circle, blushing and said: "Let me try!" As he said, he rushed forward to take the girl's arm, and the force was pulled, but unexpectedly the woman flicked the arm, and the man stood up. Unable to stop, he stumbled five or six feet away.He got up, patted the dirt on his body and said, "It doesn't count, she used ingenuity!" The old man smiled and said, "You might as well try again."

The man stepped forward to pull the girl again, who knows how hard he tried, but the girl turned back and forth, but her body seemed to be stuck on the sesame cake.The man blushed, but the woman smiled mischievously.He was about to let go of his hands and admit defeat, but the old man said: "If you have friends, you might as well pull them together." Seeing this, the man waved his hand to the crowd and said, "Fifth brother, fourth brother, eldest nephew, you all come to help." I give it a hand!"

As soon as the voice fell, several people in the crowd came out in response.There were two people in their 30s, and the young one was also in his 25s. They all walked forward together with broad arms and round waists, full of vigor.Wu Ciyou and Mingzhu couldn't help secretly sweating for the girl.

The girl pulled out two colored ropes from her bosom, took one in each hand, exposed four heads and handed it to four people, it was like two people pulling her hand together.Just about to pull it, the young man said: "It won't work, if she let go of her hand, we will all have black noses and swollen eyes." The old man laughed and said: "Let go and lose!"

A wrestling began again, and the four strong men each pulled a rope end and pulled it in one direction with all their strength. The momentum was really powerful.But the woman sat motionless on the sesame cake, letting the four people tug left and right without paying attention.After a long time, the few pieces of sesame cakes couldn't bear it anymore, only a bang bang sound was heard, and they were crushed into several pieces.Thousands of onlookers cheered like thunder after seeing such a wonderful performance.

Wu Ciyou also forgot the reservedness of the scholar, and followed the crowd to cheer loudly: "Happy!" The five of them stalemate for a while, the girl slowly retracted the silk ribbon into her arms, and then shook it violently, the four of them couldn't hold it back, and let go all at once. , fell off his back.

The crowd applauded again, and the old man turned over the gong to collect the money.Just at this moment, there was a sudden commotion outside the circle. While pushing people, several burly men stabbed the onlookers with whips, "Get out of the way! Lord Murima is here!" Hearing "Murima" With these three words, Mingzhu felt her heart skip a beat, she poked Wu Ciyou quietly with her hand and said, "Brother, this place is not beautiful, let's go." Wu Ciyou was looking at Xing's head, and he was not willing to go, shaking his head and said: "Maybe you can look at it again." Let’s go again in a while.” Mingzhu had no choice but to stand down again.While talking, people had already flashed a passage, and Murima rolled off the saddle, threw the whip to the servants, rolled up his sleeves and walked forward to ask: "Old man, is this your daughter?"

When the old man saw that it was a noble official, he hurriedly bowed and said, "Return to the master, this is Shi Jianmei, the righteous daughter of the villain."

"Okay!" Murima sneered, and said, "I heard that the four strong men can't afford to pull her, so the kung fu is not bad!" The old man hurriedly said: "Master Cheng praised her, but she has only practiced internal skills for a few days. In fact, it makes the experts laugh." Murima looked sideways at Jianmei for a while, then turned her head and said to her servant: "This little lady is pretty! I would like to learn about her internal strength!" As she spoke, she stepped forward Just talk.

As soon as the two joined hands, Jianmei suddenly withdrew her hand and threw out a silk ribbon.Murima gave an evil laugh and continued to pull with her hands, but Jianmei couldn't give in, she turned over and rolled aside, a carp stood up and said: "Don't play tricks, show real kung fu!" Wow.The old man took a step forward, greeted Murima, and said: "The master's methods are powerful, we are convinced, and I beg the master to honor you!"

"Hold your hand high?" Murima laughed loudly, waved her hand, and said, "What you said just now doesn't count? I pulled her up, and she is mine! Why, I am not worthy of her?" The old man gently supported Jianmei with one hand, grabbed Murima's sleeve with the other hand and said: "Master, if you use hard work to pull her up, the villain never said that you use a poison ring as a hidden weapon, this..." The words did not end , Murima waved her hand impatiently and said: "I don't have time to listen to your ramblings, let's go!" Two soldiers rushed over and held Shi Jianmei up.

"Wait a minute!" Wu Ciyou couldn't see the past, stepped out of the crowd, arched his hands, and said loudly: "Master Murima! I don't know martial arts, but this girl got up by herself, you didn't pull her up." Get up! Not to mention, even if you are welcoming a relative to marry a daughter, you have to choose a good day and auspicious day. How is your behavior different from snatching a relative?" Murima looked Wu Ciyou up and down, and said with a smile: "You are a stinking son , can’t beat me as a third-class slave, what do you have to say here?”

Seeing that he was so rude, Wu Ciyou became angry, and he was not afraid of anything anymore.Mingzhu pulled him from behind, but he broke away and took a step forward and said: "The majestic city, at the foot of the emperor, is the place to be reasonable. Woodcutters and traffickers can speak up, why should I not? I want to take care of it!"

Before he finished speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulders, and Murima gave him a whip: "You are so fucking tired of work! Is this stinking performer your sister, or your sister, and you protect her like this?" Wu Ciyou endured his pain and anger and replied: "When the road is rough, everyone can help, it doesn't have to be my sister!" At this moment, Mingzhu came over in a daze, and hurriedly stepped forward to pull him over: "Brother, don't say a word!"

At this moment, I suddenly saw a young man flashing out from the crowd, walked up to Jianmei and held his hand to look at it, then turned around and bowed to Murima and said, "Master Murima, you are counted as hurting someone with a hidden weapon." Is it fair and honest?"

When Murima saw the person coming with a sword hanging from his waist and a tassel on his head, she knew that the person coming was not good, but she couldn't give in, so she raised her face and asked, "What do you do? Can you take care of your business?" Mingzhu But at a glance, it was his cousin Wei Dongting who came.There were so many people at this time, and it was inconvenient to go up to see each other, so he pushed Wu Ciyou and said, "This is my cousin, Wei Dongting." Wu Ciyou nodded appreciatively.

Wei Dongting crossed his hands, raised his face and replied: "It's a coincidence! My surname is easy to control, so I have to take care of such things!" Murima slapped his chest and said: "I am Great General Jingxi, what is your fame?" Wei Dongting smiled slightly and said: "Don't say General Jingxi, even the Overlord of Western Chu, you have to be reasonable here!"

Namurima was originally the direct brother of the imperial master Aobai, he was always arrogant and lawless, and was used to bullying others.This time when he came to Beijing to report on his duties, it was Aobai who summoned him in a letter, saying that he would be entrusted with a good job.But he was always afraid of his elder brother, and when he saw Jianmei Lingxiu and handsome, he deliberately snatched it up as a gift to his elder brother, but he didn't want to meet Wu Ciyou and Wei Dongting again, so he couldn't help feeling angry.But after thinking about it: "The capital is an important place, it is not suitable for the wind to hold the fire high. In this place with complicated personnel, you may encounter some online, so it is better to go away." After thinking for a while, he sneered and said: "Master, there is something important to do. If you don’t want to be poor mushrooms with your kid, let’s go!”

"Of course you can go, but you have to stay!" Wei Dongting raised his eyebrows and shouted.That Murima just smiled, got on his horse, and said "go", the two soldiers set up Jianmei and ran away, Wei Dongting sneered, then pulled out his knife in a "bass", jumped forward, and used a With one hand, he pulled the shoulder of one of Jianmei's soldiers, and kicked the other soldier down. Hearing "Oh my god", both of them fell to the ground in the blink of an eye.Shi Jianmei flung herself away, and kicked with a smile, causing a soldier in front of her to stumble and chew on the mud.The spectators had already retreated to the distance.

Murima was furious, raised her whip and hit Wei Dongting with a "slap".Wei Dongting dodged sharply, grabbed the whip with his hand and pulled it, and Murima fell headfirst on the horse!Several soldiers panicked for a moment, rushed up to help Murima, and drew their swords to force Wei Dongting.The spectators nearby saw that the incident was getting serious, and ran here and there in a panic.Wu Ciyou hurriedly shouted to the old performer: "Hurry up and leave!"

The old man was originally unwilling to make a move, but seeing that there was no room for change, he yelled: "Eat the stick!" He pulled a three-section stick from the ground and danced it like a whistling wind.The old performer's three-piece stick crackled and knocked down three or four of Murima's followers, lying on the ground humming.Wei Dongting originally thought the old man was timid, but seeing how ruthless he was, he couldn't help admiring him secretly.Seeing that the situation was not good, Murima drew a knife to protect herself, and shouted: "Hurry up and urge the horse team to come!" A young servant had already retreated, jumped on the horse, and flew away.

Mingzhu dragged Wu Ciyou into the crowd with one hand, turned back to Wei Dongting and shouted: "Thirteen Lang, don't love to fight, go!" Hearing this, the old man knew that it was his own people who were reminding him, so he hurriedly covered his whole body with three sticks , and fight and retreat.Wei Dongting's waist knife danced like a silver light, and he followed closely.Mingzhu pulled Wu Ciyou and said: "Brother, this guy's rescue will be here soon, let's go!" Wu Ciyou grabbed his hand, but walked a few steps forward, standing under an old tree and watching from a distance.Mingzhu was taken aback for a moment, and hurried over.

Seeing Wei Dongting guarding the old man's father and daughter across a small bridge, Wei Dongting was standing at the head of the bridge, and the dozen or so soldiers slowly approached him with knives.Wei Dongting stood still suddenly, put the knife back into its sheath calmly, slowly took out a handful of objects from his bosom, and waved it with the wind, the four soldiers in front said "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhss,The people in the back didn't know what was going on, and when they hurriedly stepped forward to help them look, there were more than a dozen extremely thin silver needles on their faces, and two people were blinded by their eyes, howling and pulling out those silver needles randomly.The few remaining people looked at each other in blank dismay, watching the three of them cross the river and enter the woods on the opposite bank.Seeing that they stopped chasing from a distance, Wu Ciyou pulled up Mingzhu and said, "Let's go back."

Wei Dongting fought back all the soldiers, ran to the woods, and found Jianmei and his daughter under an old willow tree deep in the woods.Seeing Wei Dongting approaching, the old man hurriedly stood up, bowed and bowed and said, "Strong man, if you hadn't rescued me today, I'm afraid my father and daughter would have escaped from the murderous hands. Thank you for your kindness, I will give you a salute first!" After speaking, he fell to the ground It's just a bow.He also said: "Jianmei, you still haven't thanked your benefactor!" The woman immediately bent down to worship, and Wei Dongting hurried forward in a panic, using both hands to support her.At this time, he took a closer look, and suddenly exclaimed: "Ah! You are Mei Mei!"

Hearing this name, Jianmei was also startled, and when she took a closer look, she recognized that this was Brother Ting who had been with Huangzhuang in Rehe when she was young, and couldn't help shouting: "Brother Ting, I can see you. "After speaking, two teardrops rolled down the cheeks.Seeing her crying, Wei Dongting was a little at a loss, hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief and handed it over, saying: "Just now I was only focused on fighting, but I didn't recognize it was you!"

(End of this chapter)