During the Northern Song Dynasty, Jingzhou had a self-made businessman surnamed Zhang Yuanwai, Yuanwai, happy and charitable, once because he saved a chen surname mountain bandit head, so the nearby mountain bandits are also very face-giving, but all the goods outside the staff, these mountain bandits never plunder, Zhang Yuanwai also has a brother surnamed Wang, named Wang Kun, this Wang Kun, originally an idle hooligan, thanks to Zhang Yuanwai's care, did not take seven or eight years, became a rich man in Jingzhou, but this Wang Kun, but different from Zhang Yuanwai, stingy and harsh, Moreover, he was full of cunning and liked to seduce some powerful people, so this Wang Kun was in the local area and was deeply welcomed by the county orders and the scholars.
Zhang Yuanwai, the old man has a son, only because this business, is the lower nine stream of the doorway, some elegant people really look down, so Zhang Yuanwai inspirational, to let his son Zhang Xian read, good exam name back, become a famous scholar, but fortunately this Zhang Xian is very smart, coupled with the father's heavy gold cultivation, young age, in the township is already the head of the people, and even the entire Jingzhou people, when teaching children to read, are taking Zhang Xian as an example, perhaps because of this, This is still the dream lover that girls in Jingzhou often talk about.
However, this Zhang Xian, in fact, had a marriage contract when he was not born, and he married his brother Wang Kun of the opposite sex, saying that if the wives of the two were girls, they were sisters, if they were boys, they were brothers, if they were men and women, they could marry Qin Jin, because at that time Wang Kun was still an ordinary person, and he felt that it was naturally a good thing to marry this big brother with a different surname, and sure enough, this member of the family was happy to have a noble son, and Wang Kun was a daughter.
But later, when Wang Kun was under the care of Zhang Yuanwai in all aspects, when his identity was close to Zhang Yuanwai, he began to be jealous of everything outside Zhang Yuanwai, and he thought in his heart why Zhang Yuanwai was so popular with outsiders, even if it was a beggar on the street, he was also admiring Zhang Yuanwai, and he was very much spurned by some people, and even some people said that Zhang Yuanwai had such a brother as him, he was eight lifetimes of mold, plus he only had a daughter, it was very unhappy, after all, under the thinking of men and women, Wang Kun was still very unwilling. And for the education of her daughter, it is also laissez-faire, over time, Wang Kun's daughter Wang Qian has become a celebrity in Jingzhou, coupled with the beauty of the long, usually mixed with some officials' children, the reputation is very difficult. I don't care about who I am.
But there were unexpected storms in the sky, and occasionally on such a day, a fire broke out in Zhang Yuanwai's home, and this fire burned Zhang Yuanwai's home to the ground, and Zhang Yuanwai and other cadres were buried in the sea of fire, only Zhang Yuanzi escaped from the sea of fire with the help of several beggars and saved his life, but even so, Zhang Yuanwai's face was also burned, leaving a scar.
Because this fire happened very strangely, many people think that this is someone deliberately setting the fire, because this fire was burned together from several places, and it was also burned up in a blocked way to escape, if it were not for the rescue of Zhang Gongzi Zhang Xian, the prince of Zhang Gongzi, if it were not for the rescue of Zhang Gongzi Zhang Xian, who had been favored by Zhang Yuanwai, Zhang Xian would also have been buried in the sea of fire.
This incident alarmed many people, not only the county, even the prefectural government, but there was no eyebrow at all, but then I didn't know where the gossip came from, it was the robbers on the nearby hills who took revenge on Zhang Yuanwai because they were unevenly divided the loot with Zhang Yuanwai, and inadvertently this matter was also planting Zhang Yuanwai with stolen goods, but it was very convincing, because many people knew that this zhang yuanwai had kindness to the head of the mountain bandits, Chen Scarzi, and the mountain bandits did not rob Zhang Yuanwai, but they could not keep any transactions behind them. For a time, the streets and alleys also began to spread.
Because of the injury and change, Zhang Xian was in a coma for a long time, and when he woke up, he found that he had been thrown into a broken temple, surrounded by some beggars who had been favored by his father, these beggars were respectful and respectful to Zhang Xian, very polite, although they were beggars, but some good food and drink were waiting for Zhang Xian.
Zhang Xian was also deeply grateful to these beggars, telling them that although their homes were burned, there were still some shops and family properties in Jingzhou that could help these beggars, but the beggars told Zhang Xian one thing, that is, the family property of the Zhang family in Jingzhou was purchased by the Wang family, that is, their uncle with a different surname, the future father-in-law, and the money purchased was temporarily confiscated by the county government to serve as a way to avenge Zhang Yuanwai and to give funds to the officials and soldiers who suppressed the mountain bandits. Some of the original loyalists to the Zhang family were dragged into prison, saying that they were suspected of arson and colluding with mountain bandits.
As Zhang Xian, who only cared about reading the sages, his heart was also full of resentment, and he had planned to get up and go to his future father-in-law to ask for an explanation, but he was stopped by a few old beggars, who told zhang Xian, and they told Zhang Xian that although they did not know who harmed Zhang Yuanwai, they understood that Zhang Xian's future father-in-law, Wang Kun, and Xianya seemed to have colluded, and had long planned to collect all the things of the Zhang family, which seemed to be a good thing to discuss, and it was inconvenient to say other things.
This manifest voice naturally has some doubts, but after all, this is something he can't imagine, that Wang Kun is a brother who worships with his father, and he is also a future father-in-law who is married to himself, so Zhang Xian dragged his sick body, regardless of the strange eyes of others, and came to the door of the palace under the careful embrace of the beggars.
After coming to the gate of the palace, only to see a few young people in very exquisite clothes guarding the gate of the palace, their mouths are full of rhymes about some fireworks, these people see Zhang Xian's dirty appearance coming, seems to realize what is general, full of ridicule, but also said what toad wants to eat swan meat, and now this look, but also want to climb the Wang family Miss Wang Qian, really laughing to death, just at this time, Miss Wang Family came out, Miss Wang Family dressed up in flowers and branches, when seeing a group of beggars outside the door, She couldn't help but cover her mouth and nose lightly, a look of disgust, and when she saw Zhang Xian, she was first slightly stunned, and then smiled contemptuously.
"Who am I, it turned out to be Zhang Xian's brother, did you eat it?" If you don't eat, there are still a lot of leftovers in our house at noon, enough for you and your brothers to eat a meal, if you are not disgusted, you can come to our palace every day, we are not short of you such a number one person. ”
Although Zhang Xian had also read the sage book, he was inevitably a little angry about what Wang Qian said, but a few more righteous beggars came up to refer to Wang Qian's various curses, beggars, not exquisite, put Wang Qian's eyes with tears and stomped his feet, and then several family members rushed out, holding sticks just to drive Zhang Xian away, just at this moment, Wang Kun walked out with a greasy belly, looked at the beggars in front of him with a mocking look, and finally his eyes fell on Zhang Xian.
"Eldest nephew, I also have deep sympathy for the eldest brother's affairs, after all, I have been a good person all my life, but I have ended up with this fate, it is really a pity, who let him have something to do with those mountain bandits, rest assured, Uncle Wang has already sent officials and troops from the county to clear up those mountain bandits who harmed the eldest brother, I have also spent a lot of money, and I am also kind to the fullest, but even so I have to express myself."
Wang Kun said this, waving at the next person behind him, who actually brought several large wooden plates, and a large pile of cakes fell on the plates.
"It is said that the grace of dripping water, when the fountain repaid, when Brother Zhang saved more than twenty years ago, he only gave me half a cake, and now I send you so many cakes, it should be enough, if it is not enough, you open your mouth, I let the next person do more." 」
That Wang Kun said, took a wooden plate from the next person's hand, and directly raised it towards Zhang Xian, and suddenly there was a rain of cakes, while Zhang Xian was clenching his fists, and his nails were directly cut into the flesh, bleeding, but in the end he still turned around and walked back step by step along the road.
Caishikou cut down several people, it is said that the officers and soldiers were arrested by the mountain bandits, but according to a beggar, among those who were cut down by the government, one of them he knew was a death row prisoner who was imprisoned, so the officers and soldiers did not suppress the mountain bandits at all, and they said that the Chen Scarzi who had been rescued by Zhang Yuanwai had thousands of people under his command, not to mention the county government, and the government did not have some means, and they could not do it, and they were falling into the well.
After experiencing these things, Zhang Xian seemed to have changed into a person, no longer had the original breath of weakness of the bookish, but quickly integrated with the life of the beggars, and now he turned over, there was only one choice, that is, to take a meritorious name, or to be a mountain bandit, but first do not say that his father's death has nothing to do with the mountain bandits, just say that he is a scholar who has no power to tie the chicken, can people see it, so Zhang Xian still chose to continue to read hard, although his books also left with that fire. But these beggars are very powerful, and they have asked for a few books from some readers, and this reader is also happy, and he has all the books in his brain.
In this way, seeing that spring was coming, Zhang Xian was more diligent, in order to deal with the test and the temple test, he made sufficient preparations, as for the entanglement of the westward journey to the imperial capital, although it was lacking, but after living with these beggars, he saved all kinds of savings, this plate of entanglement was almost useless, but these beggars were not bad, in order for Zhang Xian's examination to get a meritorious name, he also made a lot of effort, put together a few strings of copper money, funded Zhang Xian, Zhang Xian was also extremely grateful.
However, suddenly one day, when Zhang Xian was reading until late at night, he was ready to go to the toilet, but he was sneaked from behind, and then put in a sack, after more than an hour, Zhang Xian felt that he was thrown to the ground, struggled to climb out of the sack and found himself in a brightly lit hall.
It is said to be the main hall, but it is slightly simple, sitting on the seat in the center of the hall is a beard, which looks very fierce, and the two sides of the hall are also sitting a lot of people, and these people are mostly dressed in animal skins, the same are very fierce, but next to the beard headed by this hall, there is a woman wearing animal skin jackets, delicate faces, a pair of watery eyes flowing, very curious to look at herself and a woman of similar age.
"Boy, you're old Zhang Na... What about the dog? ”
"Dad, that's when a father calls his child a dog, not what you think."
As soon as the woman heard the bearded man at the head of the group, she smiled and smiled, which was cute.
As if Zhang Xian realized something in an instant, Zhang Xian stood up directly, pointed to the beard and said.
"Are you that old scarring?" Not to mention that my father has the grace to save your life, but only to say that my father also has the grace of knowing you, why did you harm my father? ”
Zhang Xian shouted loudly, and then looked at the beard of the leader who was first slightly stunned, and then looked at his daughter.
On the other hand, the woman stopped smiling, slowly stood up, held her chest in her hands, came to Zhang Xian's near front and circled around Zhang Xian, couldn't help but nod, and said faintly.
"Give me a reason for my father to kill your father!"
"Uneven sharing of the spoils..."
Zhang Xiangang said what he had heard, and seemed to realize something instantly, and his momentum suddenly weakened by a few points.
But looking at the woman, she smiled.
"Although the little girl has not met Ling Zun, she often hears her father talk about Zhang Yuanwai's goodness, but I believe that you know Zhang Yuanwai better than I do, that is, your father, so the person who harmed your father should be someone else."
"It's not you, but who is this person?" Zhang Xian said urgently.
"On the Yizi Post on the mountain, we buried Zhang Yuanwai and his wife with a crown tomb, and when you have paid homage, we will tell you the truth, but as for whether you believe it or not, that is your business."
After the fire, the bodies of the parents have been reduced to ashes, Zhang Xian did not even have money to get the crown tomb, and he made a simple spiritual seat on the incense on weekdays, and now Zhang Xian, when facing the tomb of his parents, was unusually calm, just asked in a deep voice, who killed the parents, and Chen Dayu, that is, the daughter of Chen Scarzi, told Zhang Xian their gossip, which also made Zhang Xian understand what is called perfidy and the coldness of people's hearts.
The head of the mountain bandits, Chen Scarzi, gave Zhang Xian 100 taels of silver to fund him to go to the capital to participate in the examination, but there was only one condition, that is, to take his daughter Chen Dayu and marry her, the mountain bandits had no culture, so the girl's name was very random, if it were not for his own mood, Zhang Xian would absolutely laugh out loud, because of the humiliation of Wang Kun's father and daughter to themselves, Zhang Xianjue, this mountain bandit leader was a bit of a taste of robbery, although they also showed benevolence and righteousness to their father, But in the end, this hurdle still can't be overcome.
"Think of beauty unless he is admitted to the championship,"
Just when Zhang Xian hesitated, Chen Dayu said such a sentence, this sentence made Zhang Xian weigh himself clearly in an instant, but after hesitating for a moment, he agreed, because he knew that if he did not agree, this gang of bandits did not know how to deal with him.
Although the road in the capital is very far, but the mountain bandits have tacit understanding, robbing anyone can, but the mountain bandits never rob the show talent who rushed to the capital to catch the examination, this is how many years have been handed down, plus there is Chen Dayu, Zhang Xian, who has no power to bind the chicken, also has a lot less trouble along the way, until he came to the capital Kaifeng.
This imperial capital kaifeng, that is far incomparable to Jingzhou, Zhang Xian felt that his family used to be very rich, but people here casually kicked open a door, everyone is no less than his Zhang family.
At this time, the emperor was already crowded with students from all over the world who went to Beijing to take the exam, plus it was the year of the big test, the streets of the imperial capital were even more lively than they were at the beginning, especially the fortune teller's territory on the street, it was also crowded with many people, the same, more is the students who calculate the future, Zhang Xianhao said that after experiencing the changes, he became more unbelieving, and since entering the capital, this seemingly mature Chen Dayu at first is like a little girl, everything feels strange, dead or alive to drag Zhang Xian's fortune teller, the mouth is still muttering, Saying that looking at himself and Emperor Zhang Xianlai is not a trip in vain, and Zhang Xian, who is dead or alive, pulls his throat and calls for my life to be up to me, in exchange for the blank eyes of many students who plan to divinate the future.
Maybe the two were too serious, or maybe Chen Dayan's strength was a little big, directly pulled down one of Zhang Xian's sleeves, this rush directly made Zhang Xian fall a, and plunged into the crotch of a beggar lying on the ground, and the beggar was shocked, but he smirked and looked at Zhang Xian, who was quite embarrassed, and touched Zhang Xian's face, laughing and shouting, Zhuangyuanlang, Zhuangyuanlang, plunged into my crotch. ”
Seeing that he had thrown Zhang Xian to death, Chen Dayu hurried over to help him, and the beggar smirked and said, "Madame Zhuangyuan is a tiger, and all the five products are rats!" ”
"Huh? The boy sang well, the old lady liked it! ”
Chen Dayu heard the words, his heart was happy, he directly threw a few copper coins to the beggar, and he lifted up Zhang Xian, who looked like a wolf, and quickly found an inn, but he did not know that after the two of them left, the beggar disappeared strangely. Chen Dayan found a time, sewed and mended Zhang Xian, mended his clothes, not to mention, Zhang Xian looked at Chen Dayan's needlework, although he looked disgusted, but in his heart he sighed that it was not a little bit stronger than those who used to be in the family.
In this way, the two of them survived to the day of the test, Zhang Xian, with his own talent, also performed well in the test, took the top three, with the qualifications of the temple test, Zhang Xian's mood did not change, but Chen Dayu said, cheap you boy, the whole jinshi can also play.
However, after the later palace examination, there was a big problem, when the list was issued, Zhang Xian was favored by heaven, perhaps because of his family's suffering, gave him a compensation, the examination of the emperor, the next day when the emperor personally sealed, the emperor frowned, because Zhang Xian's face had a scar, this scar came from being burned at that time, because in the eyes of many people, The title should be flawless, but Zhang Xian's unsatisfactory, seems to see the emperor's mind, and some snobbish and slippery courtiers on the side also came up to echo, Saying that this Yuanlang is naturally the best, so ugly, it will make Fan Bang laugh in shame.
As a result, at this time, a black-faced official dressed in Erpin official clothes raised an objection, he mentioned that the reason why Zhong Kui of the Tang Dynasty died of anger touching the temple pillar was because of ugliness, and he believed that Emperor Shengming, the emperor of the previous dynasty, was naturally incomparable.
When this emperor heard this, he remembered the story about the exorcism emperor Zhong Kui, and wasn't this a copy of this in front of him? Coupled with the boasting of the black-faced minister, his heart was also slightly complacent, and he suddenly had a change of heart for Zhang Xian, who was quite ugly in front of him, and his heart was happy, and he directly sealed en ke Zhuangyuan and the official to the fourth pin, while those snobbish courtiers who had originally echoed the cunning were embarrassed and did not dare to squeak, because none of them wanted to be Lu Qi who pit Zhong Kui in the Tang Dynasty.
The emperor was happy, and asked about Zhang Xian's origins, after all, this Yuanlang is a fragrant feast of every session, Zhang Xian also did not have the slightest reservation to say his own things again, the emperor could not help but be angry when he heard it, just about to issue a holy will to investigate this matter thoroughly, and Zhang Xian, bold, said that thanks to the holy grace, if the emperor's favor is naturally a blessing cultivated for a hundred years, he does not want to waste the administrative resources of the Great Song, so he is willing to deal with it himself, the emperor heard the words and pondered for a moment, but also praised Zhang Xian, and even scolded some so-called parent officials. Even worse than some righteous bandit beggars, ordered the world to strengthen the management of the localities, and then learned that Chen Dayu, who had been accompanying Zhang Xian, was also quite interested, Xuan Shangdian also looked at it, and found that although this woman's appearance was also excellent, but her speech was rough and straight, but the emperor and the courtiers laughed incessantly, and Zhang Xian was sweating, the emperor was happy, and named Chen Dayu as the lady of the Four Pins, and Zhang Xian did not have to do anything to prepare for the Zhongzhou Assassination History.
Now that Jingzhou has long since lost its home, Zhang Xian's good news was sent directly to the county ya, and after the county order was learned, he ran away with a soft roll all night, and did not know where to go, until a few days later, when Zhang Xian sat on the lobby of the county court, no one knew where the county order went, which also confirmed that the county order was related to Wang Kun, and after the official army surrounded the palace, Wang Kun was still drinking and cursing, saying that these officials and troops were blind, and how good his relationship with the county order was, until he saw Zhang Xian, who was sitting on the horse, After learning that the county order escaped, he pushed everything to the county order's body, although Zhang Xian had no witnesses, but some charges could still be given to Wang Kun' an.
Later, Wang Kun's family property was confiscated, the whole family wanted to distribute the frontier, Wang Kun Xiaozhi was emotionally moved, wanted to let Zhang Xian leave a way for him to live, Zhang Xian smiled, but also agreed to Wang Kun's request, did not have to issue the frontier, became a beggar, originally planned to have a marriage contract with Zhang Xian with his daughter, and even turned over the dusty and crumpled marriage contract, but when Zhang Xian said that his daughter-in-law was as big as his official position, he was the wife of the Four Pins, and he was also the emperor's personal seal, and he had no way to fulfill the marriage contract, Wang Kun was dumbfounded In view of Wang Kun's intersection with his father, his daughter Wang Qian reluctantly accepted the Zhang family's maid of honor, without the need to charge the army, and served his husband and wife to eat and live.
Later, Zhang Xian learned that the county grandfather had already coveted the shops and businesses of the Zhang family, and tried his best to win wang Kun as an accomplice, so that several outlaws set fire to the Zhang family, and the reward was to return the freedom of these outlaws, and there were one hundred and two silver, and as a result, after these outlaws did these things, the county grandfather not only did not give silver, but also cut off their heads, which was really seamless.