See Jiangshan

On the last day of July, the registration deadline for the fight between the two courtyards.

No one thought that Xu Ran had found a teammate.That person was in the same class as her, named Li Zhengsheng, and he used to call her Boss Xu when he booed with her.After class, I took the initiative to find her, saying that my cultivation was not good, and I didn't plan to sign up, so I never formed a team.Seeing that everyone has reported recently, I am also enthusiastic, but the other teams are already full.

Xu Ran patted him on the shoulder: "You should have said it earlier!", and rushed to discuss with the two friends.

Cheng Qianren pondered for a moment: "Since he's a martial artist, I'll take a test with the papers. This way, I can get enough of both literature and martial arts. You and Gu Er have higher hopes, at least we have 600 taels."

Gu Xuejiang was not very energetic, she just smoked and nodded lazily.

Xu Ran's post-criminal identity is no secret, and the students of Qingshan Academy have many scruples.She originally thought that she would miss the opportunity to fight with the two courts, but unexpectedly, the situation turned around, and she immediately pulled the two together: "Alright then, let's go, Li Zhengsheng is waiting for us outside the Hall of Qinxue!"

The Hall of Diligent Learning is located on the central axis of Nanyuan, facing south from the north.Freshmen enrolling, old students graduating, and discussing major issues are all inseparable from here.

Not long after school was over, the avenue was full of people. The three walked around the stone and walked through the corridor, and an open square suddenly came into view.

There is no shade of trees in the four fields, and the large bluestone square bricks glow with a layer of hazy white light under the scorching sun, which can be seen from people's shadows.Looking at it from a distance, it feels harsh and hot.

What was even more frightening was that the square was densely packed with people, talking and laughing loudly, and the noise was louder than ten thousand cicadas.Not afraid of the scorching heat, it seems that everyone has a lot of energy.

There is a row of tables and chairs under the stone steps of the gate of the hall, and a large oil-paper umbrella shades the sun. Under the umbrella are four non-participating students who are responsible for registration.

Xu Ran struggled to find her classmate in the crowd, and rushed forward with her friend.Immediately caused everyone to complain. "What's the squeeze? It's not the hour yet, and the door of the hall is closed."

She had no choice but to shout loudly: "I offended everyone! We are here to sign up, and we are in a hurry."

There was a lot of commotion, and everyone in the square could hear it. There really were some idiots who waited until the last minute to sign up.Many people have recognized them.

Xu Ran, a classmate, has a broad face and looks honest.

At this time, his face was slightly pale, sweat was rolling on his forehead, and he hesitated to explain to the three of them: "The registration deadline at Youshi, all contestants can enter the palace. The judge will explain the rules of the competition, and draw lots on the spot to decide the arrangement of the preliminary competition. Now it is about Youshi, So everyone is waiting to enter the palace."

Xu Ran was very excited: "Why are you talking so much, let's go sign up and introduce them to you."

Originally, there was a deacon of the college in charge of the registration office, but it was near the end and no one came for a long time, leaving only a few students in charge.Hearing the movement, he glanced at the timer and said: "Take the waist card and report your name. You hour is almost here."

The pen and ink were scribbled, and the three names were recorded on the last page of the book.

"Cheng Qianren from Nanshan Backyard, Xu Ran from Qingshan Courtyard, Gu Xuejiang from Chunbo Terrace..."

"Why is there only one person missing?" The senior brother at the registration office dropped his pen and quit: "It was clearly notified that four people will form a team! It's a hot day, don't you use the brothers for entertainment?!"

"No, we..." Xu Ran was suddenly at a loss for words.

She saw a group of people walking not far away, and Li Zhengsheng was standing behind them.

Zhong Tianyu, dressed in a golden crown, came out more and more, and said with a leisurely smile: "Hey, there is still one person missing. What should I do, why don't you ask everyone present, who is willing to form a team with you?"

Cheng Qianren felt something was wrong from the very beginning.But he couldn't tell what was wrong, and he couldn't bear to spoil Xu Ran's interest.Although certain kinds of bad outcomes were guessed, this was far from expected.

It turned out to be a poor game.

Zhong Tianyu winked.

For people like them, there are many things that are not easy to do by themselves, and they lose the status of the sons of the aristocratic family.A few funny dog ​​legs are needed to prop up the scene at critical moments.

Immediately, someone stood up the stone steps, pumped enough real energy, and shouted to the students all over the square: "Is anyone willing to form a team with the three of them? Stand up!"

All the contestants who had signed up and were waiting to enter the hall to listen to the training, wished there were fewer people to compete.Immediately, the pot exploded, just watching the show.

"That's Xu Ran who has been fighting for a month? The two swords behind his back are really impressive!"

"What's the prestige? Look at Young Master Zhong in the imperial capital. He obviously has a problem with them. Something has happened."

"There is also Cheng Qianren, who is said to have entered the Tao overnight and said he wants to win the top three in martial arts. He is my friend's classmate and hasn't gone to class for a long time!"

After hearing all kinds of discussions, Zhong Tianyu felt comfortable physically and mentally, and finally let out a mouthful of turbid air in his chest.He shook his head again and again: "It's a pity, no one wants to. It seems that you will not be famous."

Gu Xuejiang lit her pipe and smiled casually, showing no embarrassment at all.

The few people shouting on the stone steps suddenly felt the sharpness on their backs, and avoided his gaze one after another.

Zhong Tianyu sneered, turned around and scolded: "What are you afraid of, his surname is Gu now!"

Li Zhengsheng behind him also lowered his head, not daring to look at Xu Ran who was burning with anger.

Zhong Tianyu waved his hand, feeling slightly disappointed: "It's none of your business, go get something from my servant."

Li Zhengsheng breathed a sigh of relief, responded in a low voice, and walked quickly.

But he couldn't leave.Because a sword was in front of him.

The sword is not out of its sheath, and its style is old, but there is a faint overflow of terrifying pressure.

Cheng Qianren stopped him in his retreat at some point, his whole body was indifferent.

Li Zhengsheng had difficulty breathing, his face turned pale, Wu Xiu's intuition worked at the critical moment: this person is more terrifying than Xu Ran.

He made a decisive decision, ran to Xu Ran and lowered his body to salute: "I was injured, and I need a bottle of qi invigorating pills to get better before the double courtyard fight. I'm sorry, but you are also a martial artist, and you know how important pills are, right? ?...Please, let me go. You will definitely find other teammates. Our team only wants to make it into the top [-], so it won’t prevent you from making it to the top three.” After finishing speaking, he apologized repeatedly.

Seeing his appearance, Xu Ran suddenly felt disappointed overwhelmed by anger: "Get lost."

Gu Xuejiang Shiran stepped forward, held Cheng Qianren's wrist holding the sword, and shook her head slightly: "Let's go." Turning to the arrogant young man in Chinese clothes, she said softly, "It's useless. I once said that if If you can't kill me, don't mess with me. Because I am very vengeful."

Cheng Qianren's heart sank, even though all eyes from the square were on them.Sympathy, sarcasm, gloating, the list goes on.

He doesn't care about these things, life has given him greater malice.What are a few gossips?

More tick-tocks, urging people, the brothers at the registration office looked complicated, sighed and closed their umbrellas.

Zhong Tianyu smiled and said, "There is no one left."

"And I."

The clear sound is like a voice from outside the sky, everyone can hear it clearly.The crowd fell silent for a moment.Under coercion, some people gave up a passage.

The man walked through the bustling square and came before the eyes of everyone.

He used to say very little, and only put his badge on the table.

But someone recognized him and exclaimed, "Lin Duzhi!"

No one expected this change, and there was an uproar in an instant.

"It's really him, Lin Duzhi, the number one in Nanshan!"

"Why did he come?"

The senior fellow at the registration office was stunned, so Lin Duzhi picked up the pen and quickly wrote a line.

"Now, there are four of us."

He said so.

As soon as the voice fell, the more leaks were exhausted.

The bell echoed, the sound of neat footsteps sounded, and there was a commotion behind the crowd, and the students hurriedly gave way to salute.

The black-clothed inspection team lined up neatly and marched into the square.

Across the crowd, Cheng Qianren met the legendary court judge for the first time.

Eight people clear the way in front, followed by 16 people.Tall and tall, with a knife on his waist, the black robe is unmarked and unadorned, with wide sleeves fluttering like a thick night.

As if because of his arrival, the blue sky and scorching sun were cast a shadow.

The man was striding like a meteor, and he was in front of him in a flash, Cheng Qianren didn't see his face clearly, so he bowed his head and saluted with everyone.

At the time of You, there was a bang, dust flew up, and the door of the palace opened wide.

Four members of the inspection team guarded the entrance of the hall, and the rest followed the court to the first seat in the hall.

Under the awe-inspiring aura of the court judgment, the court was silent, and the students lined up spontaneously and filed into the hall with their sleeves folded.No one cared about the farce just now.

Zhong Tianyu and the others were not contestants, they stood dumbly under the stone steps.Countless people hurried past them.

The situation changed suddenly, expectations fell through, and the anger reached the extreme, but calmed down instead.He finally said what he had planned for a long time: "Before the retest of the double-court fighting method, old friends and old friends gathered in Nanyang. How about playing a game of polo? Do you dare to come? Meet old friends and catch up on the old days."

The northern land is vast, and there are many racecourses in the outskirts of the imperial capital. There is no prince or grandson who knows how to play polo.It's just that when the master of Huajian Lake was around, no one dared to say that he played better than him.

"Why not?" Gu Xuejiang passed him without squinting.

Xu Ran raised his eyebrows suddenly, hummed softly, and stepped into the hall.

The hall was shady, standing in the dark crowd, Cheng Qianren asked Gu Er in a low voice: "Can you ride a horse now?"

Gu Er replied in a low voice: "Of course not. First promise, at least he won't make trouble before playing polo. Besides, Nanyang is rainy in summer and autumn, and the school ground is muddy. How can you run a horse?"

Cheng Qianren: "..." Convinced.

The judge sat in the first place, and several inspectors stood beside him.A deacon handed in the registration book, and the court judge glanced at it briefly: "Even number, very good, no one has a bye in the first round."

His voice was deep and low, although it was not loud, it strangely spread throughout the entire palace, which lifted people's spirits.

Cheng Qianren finally saw his face clearly, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, and his facial features were extremely sharp.

In the imagination of many people, this big man who is in charge of all the laws of the academy should be middle-aged or old.Today, when I come to the magnificent Hall of Diligent Learning, I will explain to them the precautions for the competition, and encourage them majesticly and lovingly-"Children, I am proud of you. The glory of Nanyuan tomorrow will be forged by you."

But the reality is cruel, Chu Lanchuan just glanced at the crowd coldly, waved his hand, and then some inspectors went down to hand out booklets.

"Send the rules and regulations, and read them yourself. If you don't understand, you don't need to participate."

His gaze was like a knife, and many students bowed their heads.Cheng Qianren felt that he still didn't say a word - "everyone here, it's all rubbish".

The booklet was about two fingers thick, and it was detailed in teeny script. Xu Ran didn't bother to flip through it when he got it in his hand. Suddenly, he saw a member of the inspection team who looked familiar: "Cheng San, isn't this confiscating our 30 tael team leader?" 30 tael is her Win the lottery of Zhong Shiliu, hard-earned money.

"Hmm." Cheng Qianren was taken aback, "Did Zhong Shiliu come today?"

"Come here, stand behind Zhong Tianyu's group, holding the Rin Shuang Sword." Gu Xuejiang wanted to laugh a little: "He is relatively short, so he was blocked."

Lin Duzhi hesitated: "Is it a young man with dull eyes and pale face? There is something wrong with him..."

Before the whispers were finished, just as the court judge swept his eyes, the surroundings fell silent, and several people quickly shut up.

"The early stage is a team competition. The final is a single competition. Let's not talk about anything else, let's draw lots." Chu Lanchuan flipped through the registration book and suddenly said: "This time we will do it backwards."

All the students were puzzled, but no one asked more questions.The rules of the whole court are determined by the court, not to mention that he wants to smoke backwards, even if he smokes lying down, kneeling, or dancing while smoking, who dares to say no?

Needle drop can be heard in the hall.I could only hear the deacon singing loudly: "The last team, the [-]nd team sent people to draw lots—"

Xu Ran tugged on Cheng Qianren's sleeve: "Why do you all look at us?"

Cheng Qianren: "...Because we are the last team."

He looked at his friends, Xu Ran hadn't reacted yet, blinking his eyes, Gu Er's hair was not tied up today, his clothes were disheveled, Lin Duzhi's expression was indifferent, his brows and eyes were drooping, but the tips of his ears were red, obviously shy, trying to pretend hear.

Cheng Qianren had no choice but to brush off his robe, walk out of the crowd, and climb up the stairs.

There are many places that need to draw lots for Nanyuan big and small competitions, and someone has already brought white jade lottery tubes and put them on the gilded case in front of the judge.

It used to take a little more effort to get started, but not now.A great practitioner sitting in the town is far more effective than any anti-cheating formation.

If there was any substance in Wanqian's gaze, Cheng Qianren quickly took out a white jade stick, looked down, and said, "Sixteen."

I was still talking about Zhong Shiliu just now, so what did I say?

The inspector who inspected the lottery said in a loud voice: "Team 16 will play against Team No. [-]. On the first day, Chenshi is the first field, the text test site is Qifengge, and the martial arts test site is the west area of ​​the riding and shooting field."

Immediately, a deacon wrote and copied it.After today, the results of the lottery will be posted in various parts of the academy and made public.

Cheng Qianren walked in a hurry, and halfway down the steps, the judge's voice behind him sounded heavily: "Leave after the lottery is drawn, don't stay to take up space."

Nanyuan Four Fools went out with the drawn No.16 team.

After a stick of incense, every student who walked out of the hall expressed deep sympathy for the people in the hall.Without the dark and spacious hall and the imposing judges, the air is fresh and life is beautiful.

***

The wind picked up at dusk, and the heat gradually subsided, and the water vapor and lotus fragrance from Taiye Pond were blown by the wind.

The sky is full of sunset, the number of pedestrians in the college is gradually decreasing, and the stone road is plated with a layer of light gold.

Cheng Qianren knew about the quarrel between Xiaolu and Gu Er a few days ago, because he saw him reading in the morning again in the woods.Sometimes they met Xu Ran who came to him for a match, and the three of them talked together without mentioning Gu Xuejiang.When eating with Gu Er, Lin Lu was not mentioned.

So he didn't expect Lin Duzhi to come today.

Cheng Qianren said earnestly, "Thank you."

Lin Duzhi was a little embarrassed: "Well...no need."

Xu Ran patted him on the shoulder: "Du, you are too righteous!"

Only Gu Xuejiang didn't speak, she didn't know what she was thinking.

Cheng Qianren felt that the two needed some time.Between friends, just speak up.So he waved at Xu Ran: "Two tricks on the shooting range? Go or not?"

"Let's go! Who is afraid of whom!"

The remaining two were silent all the way.

In the evening breeze, the rays of the sun are gradually soaked in the dark blue of the western sky, and a round of light moon shadows hang quietly on the willow branches.

The singing of cicadas and birds is gradually decreasing, and there is no hot and crowded daytime. Nanyuan College is like a domineering beauty who has removed her heavy makeup, revealing her calm and gentle true face.

The lights near and far are turned on successively, and countless corridors and pavilions are shrouded in a warm yellow halo, shining brightly.

Maybe it was because he was relaxed after walking for a long time, or maybe it was because the summer night wind was refreshing and pleasant, Lin Duzhi spoke naturally.

He found that it was not difficult to express himself clearly without any preparation or courage.

"I still can't answer your question, because I don't use a knife."

"But we can think of other ways. I won't leave you alone."

Gu Xuejiang stopped, looked at him, and suddenly opened her arms: "I'm sorry, thank you."

Lin Duzhi was startled suddenly, his whole body tensed up.Carefully put away the coercion that was about to erupt, and let him hold her without moving.