My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 43 In the world of life, everything is impermanent

In the dead of night, a few moths fluttered back and forth on the lampshade.

Grand Master Xiao Wenbi lowered his head and listened to the sound of papers being turned. He spoke in a low voice to the young emperor directly above him.

"Your Majesty, it's late at night and it's time to rest. Tomorrow we have to take exams for all the princes."

"There's still one more thing to finish. If the Grand Master is tired, go back and rest first." The emperor turned over a page of the roster and looked at the names on it, as well as the simple life relationships. His eyes swept across it quickly, and then landed on a At the name, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Grand Master, the branch altar in Ding'an City was attacked before, but was it caused by a group of people wearing yellow scarves?"

Xiao Wenbi, who was about to leave, stood back and said, "Yes, I have reported this to His Majesty before."

"Taiping Dao...hehe, these days, my spies told me that this religion is still spreading and developing followers. Why don't you guess that the prefect of Ding'an City and the Marquis of Ding'an don't pay attention to it?"

Kitamiya picked up the wolf hair resting on the inkstone, dipped it in ink, and circled Su Yong's name on the tip of the pen.

"Then let him be the prince of Ding'an Hou. His ancestor Su Hu was also a general who was able to conquer battles. He had a lot of food in those days. After so many years, he has been weakened a lot by the previous emperors, but he is still running around. I am upset to see him. , If they want to play like this, then I will accompany them to have fun. I will take the exam tomorrow and do some tricks on his test questions to get him to jail."

"I obey your Majesty's will."

The old man bowed his hands and slowly exited the hall.

The door closed against the wind and snow outside, and a few snowflakes floated on the red carpet. Kitamiya glanced at the roster, suddenly lost interest, and threw it to the ground.

In fact, there was another reason why the eldest son of the Su family was imprisoned. He wanted to find out how to decipher the Night Banquet Picture. The rumors that there were superb martial arts in the picture were not groundless, but he pretended not to be interested. After all, the Grand Master and Master He didn't completely trust Xiao Wenbi.

'Old thing. '

He cursed softly, then took another piece of paper and wrote down tomorrow's test questions.

County policy, state policy, and national policy.However, there are two other tests, the formation of the army and the martial arts of bow and horse, which are placed later and will be held after the policy questioning.

The first three questions above are actually to test whether outstanding people among the princes govern a place or a country. Generally, there are no books to test this kind of questions. They all rely on the feelings of being the prince over the years.

The day after their arrival, 34 princes, princes and sons of governors bathed and changed their clothes, and were invited to enter the palace. After being interrogated by eunuchs in Yuehua Pool, they came to Zhaowen Hall together.

Seats have been set up here, and pens, inks, paper and inkstones are all ready.

Su Yong followed the young eunuch to his seat, smoothed the paper, polished the ink block, waited until there was a roll call, and handed out the test questions. Su Yong glanced at the questions, and unlike some of the princes who scratched their heads and scratched their heads, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, this The three questions were simply given away.

My father is a bit lazy. Although he doesn't personally handle all the big and small affairs in Ding'an City, he can handle them from the side. He naturally has his own experience and experience under the influence of his ears and eyes.

In less than a moment, he started writing. Before the eunuch who invigilated the examination could stop writing, he wrote a long article eloquently, and concluded with a rather cool and unrestrained sentence. He put down the pen and asked for instructions to collect the paper.

This scene surprised the surrounding princes, but time was tight and no one said anything. When it was over and they returned to the post house, they looked at Su Yong who quickly returned to the post house room. They frowned slightly and talked quietly.

"The person who turned in the paper early today is the prince of Ding'anhou, right?"

"It seems to be called Su Yong."

"Is he so powerful?"

"Probably knowledgeable."

These mutterings were intertwined, and what came out was still a buzzing noise. Naturally, Su Yong did not hear it very clearly. He was preparing to write a letter in his room and give it to two confidants, so that the post office clerk could deliver it to Rong Rong. I went to Ding'an City in Zhouzhou to report that my family was safe.

It was getting dark, so he put down his book and thought about whether he had behaved impolitely when he came to the capital to take the exam in front of the palace. Then he got up and followed the other princes to the food department to have dinner.

Regarding his performance in the Zhaowen Hall today, as soon as he sat down, several princes from the Marquis family came over to make friends. Although they were jealous of outstanding people, the normal way was to become friends so that they could ask for help in the future.

"Master Su, what happened in the examination room today shocked everyone." A simple-faced young master smiled, cupped his hands, and sat next to Su Yong.

The other three people also sat down around him: "The questions asked by Ce Ce made me so anxious that I almost peeed today. Halfway through writing, the test paper was collected."

"With what you have in your head, how can you compare with Brother Su?"

"By the way, Brother Su, do you have any plans for tonight? Why don't we go have fun later? In the past, when I was in Wuping County, I heard that in the brothel land of Yanjing, the women were all like flowers and jade, with supple skin, and they could produce water after three strokes. If you still have unique hobbies, I heard that there is a place with good quality men."

It was okay at the beginning, but Su Yong almost choked when he heard the words "good man" at the end. He joked with them for a few words and declined politely. It seemed that his face was relaxed, but he was actually very tired in his heart.

Because he knows that the emperor in the Jinluan Palace wants to target the princes of various states to prevent the other party from getting caught in various things that happen. He must abide by the rules no matter when and where. After all, there are many people in the family waiting for him. Take him back.

Beside him, the four young masters were still talking non-stop. In the food department, the Duke and Crown Prince of another state were also talking in a low voice, looking at him from time to time.

At this moment, many footsteps sounded at the door, and then there was a noise. Many people in the Food Department raised their heads and looked at the door.Someone put down their bowls and chopsticks and stood up: "Meet the Grand Master!"

At the door, an old man in black robes strode in, smiled and cupped his hands at everyone: "You princes, are you satisfied with the food in the hotel?"

He smiled and glanced around, landing on Su Yong who also stood up and saluted, "Prince Ding'an, please come out and ask me something."

The tone was pleasant, but the words made everyone present look at each other.

Su Yong's heart skipped a beat, but he kept a smile on his face, nodded politely, walked out of his seat, and followed the old man outside.Fifty Imperial City soldiers stood in the courtyard outside the food department, wearing armor and holding spears, standing in rows on the left and right, staring at him with murderous expressions on their faces.

"Grand Master, I wonder what's the point of calling Yong out at night?" Su Yong had experienced wind and waves, so he would not be frightened by such a scene.

At this time, all the princes and princes in the food department also rushed to the door. The four people who had just chatted with Su Yong were also among them. Seeing the scene outside, they knew more or less that something bad was going to happen.

Xiao Wenbi walked down the steps of the food department and looked at the son of Marquis Ding'an in front of him. After a moment, he stepped away from him and said, "I heard that the eldest son of Marquis Ding'an is talented and knowledgeable. He started handling government affairs with his father at the age of 14. He is filial and respectful. Be courteous to others. The Marquis of Ding'an was attacked by an assassin. During the time when he was recovering from his injuries, the affairs in the city were all handled by Mr. Su and the city's prefect..."

Su Yong stood there, quietly looking at the old man who stopped on one side, and pursed his lips: "Master, what do you want to say?"

"Master Su is so virtuous, has learned a lot about people, and has a good way of dealing with politics. Could it be that everything is fake?"

The old man over there turned sideways and looked at Su Yong, his eyes becoming stern.

"Perhaps it should be said that Mr. Su is very capable and daring!"

"The Grand Master's words really made Yong confused. What is going on?!"

Su Yong has a gentle temperament, which does not mean he has no temper. He was forced to raise his voice by the hidden words of the other party: "Yong has always done things upright and followed the rules. Why is he so bold?!"

"It seems that the prince will not shed tears until he sees the coffin." The old man raised his hand, and a soldier came over. He threw something in his hand and fell to the ground. As it rolled, he could see a human head, with a white face and no beard, and a palace on the head. The jewelry that identifies one's identity makes it obvious that he is a eunuch.

"Collude with the eunuchs to secretly replace the test papers and pretend I don't know!"

Xiao Wenbi suddenly threw the paper out of his sleeve, which was today's test question, "This is what you answered, look at this again!"

The old man also had a signature book in his hand. When he opened it and turned to Su Yong's name, the handwriting on it was roughly the same as the handwriting on the test paper. It could be read carefully, but it was slightly different. It was obviously written by two different people.

There was an uproar in the Food Department.

All the princes were whispering to each other.

"I was wondering why he wrote so fast. It turned out that someone had already written it for him and he just needed to change the contract."

"The crime of deceiving the emperor is a serious crime."

"Look again."

"Grand Master, this is not by me!" At this time, he could not care about the words of the people over there. Su Yong knew that he was clearly going to get him, and wanted to defend himself. As soon as he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the old man's loud shout. : "Fraud in the palace examination and bribery of the eunuchs in the palace. Either of these two things is enough to kill you. The writing is right here. Why do you have to quibble? If you have any grievances, you can go to the prison and submit a note to explain the whole story to His Majesty!"

He waved his hand suddenly, and the test paper and the roster flew into the air: "Take it away!"

Two soldiers came up with shackles and grabbed Su Yong who wanted to come forward to defend himself. Su Yong struggled hard. He did not have the martial arts skills of his second brother and third brother Su Chen. After being held by his shoulders, he could not move. The heavy shackles were now It also hit his neck.

He shouted: "Grand Master! Yong has never made a mistake, please find out the truth!"

The moment the shackles were closed, there was a sudden sound in the air, tiles flew down, a spear passed through the hanging treetops in front of the eaves, and swished through the captured soldier.

Almost at the same time that the soldiers were impaled on the ground with their spears, the leaves rustled.

The figure in a green hat swooped down and hit another soldier's chest with a palm, sending the shackles flying away. Zhu Gongdao grabbed Su Yong's shoulder and pulled out his spear. Xiao Wenbi over there spread his fingers and covered it with his palm. , pressed the resisting gun barrel and pushed it back to the opponent's chest. The air was distorted in an instant, directly sending Zhu Gongdao, the gun, and Su Yong flying out, hitting the courtyard wall hard, and the bricks and stones burst and collapsed.

He has been practicing intensively for decades, and his martial arts has long been among the best in the world. The only person who can surpass him is the master level. Even though the palm he just struck was hastily, it was not something that ordinary people could catch.

At the other end of the field of vision, the courtyard wall was smashed, and the smoke filled the air. The old man's beard was bulging, and he walked towards the smoke. However, in the smoke, two figures overlapped, suddenly jumped up, flew to the eaves, and stepped on the roof tiles. The film quickly disappeared into the night.

Xiao Wenbi probably maintained his identity and did not pursue him personally. Instead, he raised his hand and whispered to the soldiers behind him: "Chase! In addition, summon Xiao Yan Dao, Feng Feili, and Yin Yang Boy to keep them in the city."

"My dear princes, please enjoy your meal in peace. We will continue to take exams tomorrow, so be a good student and rest up."

He smiled and cupped his hands at the people looking at the door. When he turned to leave, a soldier under his command came over, picked up something from the ruins, and presented it to him with both hands.

It's a woman's purse.

The stitching and color on it had long since faded away from their original appearance and looked old. The old man didn't pay attention at first, but something in the shape of a jade pendant was exposed from the opening of his purse, which made him stop.

He took the purse and opened it. Inside was half a jade pendant.

Xiao Wenbi only glanced at it, then walked out of the post house with the remaining soldiers, got on the carriage and returned to the imperial city. On the way back to the imperial city, he held half of the jade pendant in his hand, and in the other hand, there was still half of it. .

Gently stick them together and make a tight fit.

On the left and right sides are written: Wen Bi and Wen Yi.

"Sister..."

Xiao Wenbi looked at the jade pendant folded in his hands, his hands trembling slightly.

(End of this chapter)