Two days later, Cao Shi sat in the back garden of the Hou Mansion to bask in the sun. At the end of June, it was the hot summer day. It was estimated that the sun rose in the morning was about twenty degrees. Unlike the dry and heat of the Yellow River Basin in the previous life, the east of the river was like the water town in the south of the Yangtze River, and the climate was wet and swamped everywhere. After sitting there, his clothes were soaked by the wet heat.

Cao Shi was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and half-legged shorts. He held a 20-pound stone lock and played with a short-sleeved shirt soaked in sweat. The marquis's mansion was helpless about the "bold" style of Junhou. Every time the little maids saw Junhou with a naked upper body, they would scream and cover their faces and run away.

The literary master Fan Taguang repeatedly advised him and made the lord change his original intention. Fan Taguang, who failed to persuade him once, was very angry. Cao Shi proudly advised him: "What's the point of training in the heat of summer? Besides, I did not hinder people in the back garden of my lord's mansion, and I never thought about the idea of ​​losing my manners in front of guests. If this is not possible, then should I also have to dress neatly without any etiquette in the room?"

The nearly sophistry technique defeated the straightforward Fan Taguang. Instead, Uncle Chen, who has always been stubborn, smiled and instructed Master Wen to put down his burden and not be angry about the actions of Junhou in the Hou's Mansion. It is a good thing for young Junhou to be vigorous and vigorous. As long as you keep the external etiquette and do not lose your duty.

The two "teacher" figures in the Hou Mansion let go, and the officials of the Hou Mansion would not ask for trouble and make suggestions. The back garden of the Hou Mansion became a forbidden place where only the Hou Mansion and maids could enter and exit. Here, as long as the Hou Mansion did not do any hindering behaviors, they would not care about small matters such as physical exercise.

The sun was rising, and Cao Shi stood up and threw his shirt aside and practiced the swordsmanship with his hands shirtless. The so-called family tradition originated from the enhanced version of military swordsmanship during the Chu-Han war. At that time, Cao Shen used a forty-five-year-old sword to capture the city and land for the Han king. He suffered more than 70 wounds like a general like a rotten skin. If it weren't for this set of killing swordsmanship, Cao Shen would have long been a dry bone in the tomb.

The style of martial arts practice in the Han Dynasty came from ancient times, from the three dynasties to the Warring States Period, there was a tradition of wearing swords. Swords were a symbol of identity and reflected the style of martial arts in ancient times. Since the rise of the Han Dynasty, the etiquette system of the marquises was in accordance with the Warring States Period. Not only did they need to be proficient in the Han Dynasty and the Zhou rituals, but they also had to practice shooting, warding, swordsmanship, and riding.

Wei Junru and Wei Shaoer were still running around the back garden. Their standard for morning exercises is fifty sit-ups, jogging for a quarter of an hour, and jumping rope with special rattans 500 times. The two girls couldn't understand Junhou's morning exercises at all. They only knew that getting up early every day became the most painful thing. After a morning exercise, they were sore all over and even felt pain in serving tea and water.

The two people's situation has improved in recent days. They have to eat boiled eggs every day. There are a few cows in the Hou Mansion. The milk produced is boiled in a small pot. There are more than a dozen meals a day and the two sisters feel that they are more energetic than before. They used to be busy all day and sleep tiredly. Now they exercise early in the morning and do things during the day and have the mood to chat and play for a while at night.

Not long after Chen Shi, guests who were attending the banquet arrived one after another. Some were driving carriages, and ox carriages were crowded with twenty people in the middle of the road. Some were riding a donkey leisurely on the wilderness next to the road, and some were walking without any things, as if they had made up their minds to have a free meal.

Uncle Chen was responsible for the etiquette reception and recording the guests' names, bringing gifts and placing guests' house servants, and other chores. Sun Qi, a doctor from the school, changed into a new set of clothes and stood in a conspicuous place in the mansion. More than 20 strong servants were patrolling back and forth with sticks in their hands, guarding against those who were fishing in troubled waters entering the Marquis' Mansion.

Fan Taguang urged the food appreciation room to prepare ingredients in the backyard. The Han Dynasty banquets adhered to the ancient style of the pre-Qin period and treated etiquette very seriously. The food was selected to be fresh and plump, and it was not cooked with sick and dead objects. Some of the dishes that needed to be stewed for a long time began to be prepared from dawn. Since it was a banquet for guests from all directions, they had to show some real skills and could not let the guests laugh at the lack of people in the Marquis' Mansion.

The Hou Mansion was busy, and Cao Shi was the only one who was the most relaxed. After the morning exercise, he took out the world to read for a while, and spent a quarter of an hour to ponder the key details of papermaking. Then he took a shower and changed his clothes and closed his eyes on the bed to rest. He was not in a hurry to go to the front yard to deal with the guests he had never met. He heard that the thirty scholars from hundreds of families were working hard to win the upper hand at the banquet. Now he ran out and ran into a scholar who just grabbed him and didn't let go and talked about it. It was awful.

Cao Shi was not anxious at all, but Wei Junru and Wei Shaoer were anxious to go around and the host of the banquet was to meet and salute the guests. If he did not do this, he would be considered arrogant and rude. However, Junhou had the intention to lie on the bed and rest, which made the two sisters very worried.

"I'll sleep for a while, the prefect, the lieutenant will come and call me up."

Not long after, Cao Shi really fell asleep. Wei Shaoer tightened her sleeves nervously: "Sister, what should we do?"

"June can't be disturbed when you rest, go out and wait outside the room." Wei Junru's face turned pale with nervous expression. He didn't know how to control the position of the maid. He hurriedly left the room and turned his face sideways: "Sister, go to the gate of the backyard to wait. When he heard the loud singing of the front yard, come back quickly. I'll wake up Junhou."

"Here!" Young Master Wei ran out, and his actions were indeed much faster than before.

One mile away from the Pingyang Hou Mansion, dozens of soldiers wearing county and state armour were galloping on the trail. A loose team of less than twenty people behind the team was chasing desperately. Zhou Yangyou was wearing a chief lieutenant uniform and rode his horse with a sword. Hou Lingchang was riding a slow horse and chased him relentlessly.

Zhou Yangyou glanced at the green corn on both sides of the road, growing gracefully. Farmers who were farming in the fields sang crazi folk songs to weed and watered. Sometimes, farmers raised their heads and looked at the soldiers galloping around inquisitively. The experienced old man recognized the identity of the commander and looked worriedly towards the direction of the Pingyang Marquis Mansion.

The old man with a good memory remembers a scene that happened in Jiangyi more than 30 years ago. At that time, the Hedong County Magistrate also rushed to the Jianghou Mansion with dozens of officers and soldiers. After the founding father who had been responsible for his merits surrendered, Zhou Bo was afraid that the county Magistrate had committed a crime of rebellion and killing him. He brought his servants with swords and guns in a vain to resist, but was arrested and imprisoned. He was humiliated by the prison officers in the prison and almost committed suicide. In the end, he relied on bribery of a thousand gold to get a chance to escape.

Half a mile after walking, the soldiers in front suddenly slowed down because the road was stopped by a carriage. Zhou Yang rode his horse forward and was shocked when he saw the carriage of the prefect's mansion: "Why is Mr. Shen Tu coming? Yesterday he also said that he would take a leave of absence to go to the big banquet. Could it be that the big banquet was invited by Mr. Pingyang?"

"Duweiyou, what are you doing with the soldiers of the county and state to Pingyang Marquis? I invited you to the banquet with you and was rejected by you, but you changed into formal clothes and rode a horse to lead the soldiers. Is it to attack the Marquis of Pingyang?" Duke Shentu glanced at the number of soldiers of the county and state, and his originally gentle eyes immediately became much sharper.

The Han system stipulated that the prefect of the inner county was the county chief, and the commander was the county military chief. This was the case with the two teams of Hedong Prefect and the commander. The prefect of the border counties was captured with great military and political power. For example, the prefect of the Yanmen Prefect is close to the Xiongnu border counties, but whether it is an inner county or a border county, the prefect must know the troops and take charge of the troops so that a large war in the border counties can replace the deceased prefect at any time.

Of course, the prefect of a county should know the army. When Duke Shentu was young, he worked as an official under the command of Wei Shang, the prefect of Yunzhong, and later served as a chief lieutenant in Yunzhong County for three years. He led his troops to fight back against the invading Huns and also met the Han general Li Guang. Cheng Buzhi was so powerful that he thought that he was not as brave as the two generals. The ability to know the army on the battlefield was not bad at all.

Duke Shen Tu said coldly: "The Han law stipulates that more than fifty people should be dispatched, the emperor must use the tiger talisman. Ordinary counties and states can only call for thirty people to suppress bandits. What is the reason for the commander to use forty-five people? Why hasn't he heard that the commander had a plan to send troops? Could it be that the commander could not speak indescribable secrets?"

The cold eyes passed by Zhou Yangyou and fell directly on the timid figure. The man was the Marquis and Chief Ding Hui who he would see every month. Duke Shentu was an official for many years and was familiar with the evil methods of lower-class officials. At this critical moment, the Marquis and Chief Ding Hui appeared beside Zhou Yangyou, and he almost guessed the activities of the two.

Mr. Shen Tu sneered and put down the curtains and urged the carriage to rush the carriage to rush on the road, leaving more than 40 county and state soldiers on the road at a loss. Zhou Yangyou's face turned blue and white and was secretly ashamed and upset: "Ding Hui, what's going on? Did you block the news of the Hou Mansion's banquet for the prefect and me? Why don't I know about this big banquet, you said!"

"The commander was wronged. The young minister returned to the Hou Kingdom and summoned the officers at night and had to be wary of the spies in the Hou Mansion. He had no idea that the Hou Mansion was preparing for a big banquet for guests!" Ding Hui was frightened and sweated in a cold sweat. He hurriedly explained. He didn't know that his servant had sent a greeting book, but the visiting book happened to have happened to have two people secretly discussing to overthrow the Hou of Pingyang. He waved his hand and put it aside as a trash. The banquet book of the Hou of Pingyang was also thrown into the garbage dump.

At this moment, it was already hard to get off the tiger. I saw a carriage passing by the soldiers of the county and state from time to time on the trail. The carriage carrying noble people stopped and pulled up the curtains to look carefully. Zhou Yangyou sighed and ordered to continue moving forward. This time he ignored Ding Hui's shouting and rushed on without saying a word.

Half an hour later, several halls in the Hou Mansion were full of guests. Cao Shi was wearing a solid-color formal dress and warmly entertained guests. After Fan Taguang's intentional arrangement, several living rooms were arranged in different categories. The halls of hundreds of scholars were already quarreling. On the other side, the halls of merchants were filled with joy like spring breeze, and the ice and fire on both sides made him unable to help but be amazed.

The husband's servant sang the title: "The prefect of Hedong is here!"

When we heard the arrival of our parents, no matter the gentry, scholars from various schools of thought, and well-known merchants in the county, they couldn't help but stand up straight and sit upright. The quarrels who were quarreling were all dark and serious, as if they almost fists and kicks were just a game and a dream.

Mr. Shen Tu stepped into the clothes and bowed to the guests in the hall, "It turns out that you have arrived early, but someone has arrived late."

The guests returned the greetings in the air and said they did not dare. The travelers from the Marquis's house led the prefect to the seat. Duke Shentu and Cao Shi greeted each other: "Junhou recovered from illness and was a great joy in the county. I originally planned to go to Anyi to entertain the banquet before returning to Beijing, but Junhou let his plan be lost in advance..."

Cao Shi said with a smile: "Your Majesty is the prefect, and you have to shoulder the welfare of all people. You have worked hard to have some rest. I am just an idle person in the marquis. I accidentally got cold and sickly bed for a hundred days before I was cured. In addition to recuperating, I was thinking about how to make people healthy and long-lasting, especially for a capable minister like the prefect who has contributed to the county, so I held a banquet to invite the prefect who are famous in the county to share my little experience with the prefect."

Duke Shentu was so flattered by the Marquis of Pingyang that he was so fond of ecstasy that he had a good impression of this young lord. He was also a great skill to be able to speak and do things. Duke Shentu felt that it was necessary to have more contact with the young lord of Pingyang lord.

At this moment, the envoy sang: "The Hedong Commander is here!"
Chapter completed!