Roselle Peony

The spring of the first year of Zhengsheng was Lu Shangqiu's first spring in Luoyang City.The climate in Luoyang is slightly better than that in Chang'an, and the willow branches in the yard sprouted early.The snow water turns into mountain springs, and birds of all colors look for the fruits left on the branches in winter.

Lu Shangqiu had been grounded by King Liang throughout the winter. Except for working hours, he was bored in Prince Liang's mansion for the rest of the time, unable to see the sun, his face was pale and pale, and he looked particularly weak.

It was quite cold outside, so King Liang ordered his servants to put a fox fur blanket on the stone bench in the gazebo in the garden of the palace, wrapped his lover in fox fur, and carried him to the gazebo to sit and rest.

"I heard that someone is willing to give a thousand gold for a picture scroll of Mr. Peony." Liang Wang hugged Lu Shangqiu and said, "Lu Lang, if I sell the whole box of picture scrolls, wouldn't it be a huge profit? "

Winter goes to spring, and the snow in the courtyard melts.The warm sun shines on the body, very comfortable.

The man in his arms smiled bleakly at King Liang.

It was rare for King Liang to see his jokes win a smile from a beautiful woman, and he was so fascinated by it.With the beauty in his arms, the prince couldn't hold back, he held his beautiful lips that were slightly parted, opened his white teeth and drove straight in, teasing the beauty's tongue.

"Hey, little prince, please stay!" Suddenly, the voice of the servants of the palace was heard.

Lu Shangqiu hurriedly pushed Liang Wang away.

In the blink of an eye, two teenagers ran happily into the front yard, holding a kite in each hand.

The leading boy was about twelve or thirteen years old. He was dressed in crimson red brocade clothes, and his eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to that of King Liang. On his head was a small bun in the style of a royal family, and he was holding a unicorn face in his hand.This is the "little prince" in the mouth of the servants - Wu Chonglie, the second son of King Liang.

The child following behind was the same age as the young prince, wearing a green shirt, slightly shorter than Wu Chonglie, holding a green dragonfly in his hand.This son's name is Fang Zhiwu, and he is the grandson of Fang Yize, the son of Fang Xuanling, the Prime Minister of the previous dynasty. Because of Fang Yiai's rebellion with Princess Gaoyang, the whole family was sent to the south of the Five Ridges, and Wu Zhao came to the throne and was able to return to Beijing when the world was amnesty.He was talented and intelligent, and was selected by Liang Wang as the companion of the young prince. Every day, the two went to study in the aristocratic school under the Luoyang Taixue together, quite like Lu Shangqiu and Yang Yuanzhen back then.

As appointed by King Liang, Lu Shangqiu, Wu Chonglie and Fang Zhiwu are already very familiar with the tutor of the little prince.Because his own children—Wuzai, Wuyi and Lanze were all brought back to his hometown in Bingzhou by his father, and they were not allowed to see each other again, so he empathized with these two bright and bright children, and cherished them very much. Teach with heart.

"Father, we are going to fly a kite, do you want to play with us?" Wu Chonglie ran to his father quickly.Seeing Lu Shangqiu sitting next to Daddy, he carried the kite on his shoulders and cupped his hands politely, "It turns out that the master is also here, and Lie Er has seen the master."

"Wu'er has seen the prince and the master." Fang Zhiwu also caught up panting, and saluted the prince and the master.Lu Shangqiu nodded to the students one by one.

"I didn't see that your father and master are busy!" Liang Wang was in high spirits, and was upset by these little devils, "Go to the backyard to play with your uncles, don't bother Daddy and his wife." Master."

Wu Chonglie walked back with his mouth pursed, turned around after walking a few steps, and said with a smirk: "Daddy, Lie'er saw you kissing your wife just now!"

Lu Shangqiu was embarrassed, his face flushed.

The son is naughty, but in front of his lover, Liang Wang is not easy to be violent, so he can only reprimand the impolite brat with a livid face: "Children, why are there so many nonsense!"

Wu Chonglie made a face at his father, pulled Fang Zhiwu and ran away quickly.

King Liang put Lu Shangqiu back into his arms and said, "Good master, Lie'er was the most naughty in the past, but now he knows how to say hello when he sees you."

"My lord teaches his son well." The lover uttered a few words, which already made Liang Wang very happy.

After being made such a fuss by his son, the prince's accumulated desires disappeared.He rested his chin on his lover's forehead: "How about we fly a kite too?"

The lover shook his head slightly: "They are all children's stuff."

"Lu Lang hasn't been out of the mansion for quite some time, don't you want to go outside and have a look?"

Lu Shangqiu was silent.Why didn't he want to go out of the house? It has been almost a year since he moved to Luoyang City, and he has never had time to go around the city.However, thinking about how the King of Liang kept him tightly around him all the time, how could he let him walk freely?He could even imagine walking on the street and being recognized by people, pointing and making jokes.

Seeing his hesitation, Liang Wang knew that he was conflicted, so he suggested: "How about this, on the eighth day of the next lunar month, how about you follow me to watch the martial arts examination?"

***

In March of the first year of Zhengsheng, in order to coincide with the happy event of moving the capital, Emperor Zetian set up a new policy for the first time, setting up martial arts.The purpose of this move is to select brave and strong men for the Great Zhou Dynasty to defend the family and the country. The emperor also hopes to select good generals who can serve the country loyally and serve the country from among the common people.Luoyang City was bustling with people for a while, and the lively scene was comparable to the liberal arts palace examination.

Just south of the Luoyang Imperial Palace, a high arena was built in the middle of the normally empty Royal Holy Land Square.The emperor's throne is located at the highest point in the north of the arena, and the rest of the princes, princesses, generals, and ministers are seated in private rooms on both sides according to their ranks.The west side is where the dignitaries and dignitaries of the capital who received the invitation settled down, the east side is the rest area for the ring players, and the south side is so crowded that it was originally reserved for ordinary people to watch.

Liang Wang ordered someone to bring a chair, and Lu Shangqiu sat down.

After a while, all the officials were seated together.He saw that the servants of the other chambers and the chiefs of the army were all standing, and he was the only one not only sitting, but also sitting next to the prince, he couldn't help blushing.

"Let's stand still, sir." Sensing the gaze from the opposite general's seat, he stood up quickly.Unexpectedly, when he got up, he moved the chair under his feet and made a harsh "squeaky" sound, causing the princes and princesses in the side room to look at King Liang's side.

"If you want you to sit, then sit, there is so much nonsense." The prince was annoyed when his lover slapped his face in public.

Seeing that King Liang was angry, Lu Shangqiu had to shut up and sit down obediently.

Liang Wang regretted that he had scared him just now, so he held his lover's hand in his palm and gently stroked and comforted him.

After a while, the Empress appeared, and shouts of long live came from all around, and everyone present kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times, the sound shook the imperial capital, the darkness was overwhelming, it was very spectacular.

After the queen announced the start of the martial arts, she got up and left in a dragon chariot shortly after, returning only at the finals.This move is to avoid the martial arts taking too long, accidents, and injury to the emperor's dragon body.It was very difficult for the common people to see the Emperor Longyan, and they didn't complain much.

Martial arts are divided into three parts: one is the arena, which is to fight with swords and swords, and compete with someone whose fist is harder;Today is the arena.The candidates who can come in to fight in the ring have all passed the preliminary written test.

The first few group arena matches were quite boring, they were all the children of high-ranking officials and noble families. Although they passed the test, they would fail when it comes to actual combat.

Watching a group of dancers dancing on the ring.Lu Shangqiu couldn't help yawning a few times, thinking: These people's kung fu is simply not as good as that of Yang Yuanzhen back then.However, if Brother Yuan neglected martial arts, that would be another matter.

The spring sun was shining warmly, and all civil and military officials looked bored, and some even fell asleep. Even Princess Taiping, who was more excited than anyone else at first, kept covering her mouth and yawning.

At this time, the eunuch said: "Yongzhou Juzi Wu Daniu."

The name was so rustic, and there was a burst of laughter from the audience.A nine-foot burly man jumped onto the ring with a "boom". This man was shirtless, his muscles were tense, and there was a unicorn tattoo on his left shoulder.The weapon he used was a three-foot-long sledgehammer, and the sound just now was the sound of the sledgehammer hitting the ground.Everyone was whispering, it's really hard to judge a person by appearance, this seemingly well-developed, simple-minded person actually passed the written test.

As the name suggests, this man is as powerful as a bull, and he swung the sledgehammer like a tiger. As soon as he came to the stage, he swept across the area, and no one could defeat him for a while.

At this time, it was the turn of a swordsman to confront Wu Daniu. This swordsman held a ten-foot bronze sword with sharp swordsmanship.The two were evenly matched, and they fought for about thirty rounds. Wu Daniu was careless for a moment, and the sledgehammer swung slowly, and the sword flashed.When a group of people saw that Daniel was injured, they all sweated for him.Unexpectedly, the big man fought with trapped beasts, turning a sledgehammer so fast that it was almost invisible.

"Meteor Hammer!" Someone below exclaimed.

The swordsman was also dumbfounded, and when he came back to his senses, he had no choice but to raise his sword to resist, and took the next move.Hearing only a sound of "clang", the bronze sword in the swordsman's hand was actually split in two by the bull.The sledgehammer swung down from the swordsman's head, cutting off half of his hair, only a few inches away from his brains bursting out, and the blood spattered on the spot.

The eunuch sang: "Juzi Wu Daniu wins!"

The Fat Rider General on the opposite seat gave a thumbs up.

Since then, Wu Daniu has been invincible, and even one of the official officials fled without a fight because he was afraid of his meteor hammer, and gave up the match with his life.

The sun was setting, and finally the last martial arts candidate came, and the queen reappeared on the throne of the emperor to watch the battle.

The eunuch sang: "Luozhou Juzi Huishu."

I saw a person holding a long stick and leaping onto the ring. It was a monk with a bald head, thick eyebrows and big eyes, nine distinct ring scars on his head, and he was wearing the monk's robe of the local Shaolin Temple.

"So light work!" Someone from the audience praised.

When the arrival stood still, everyone lowered their heads and talked a lot. They didn't expect the empress's martial arts exercise to have such a great appeal. It was said that they came from a background, and even the stick-wielding monk from Shaolin came to fight in the ring.

After Huishu bowed to the queen, he got up, holding the monk's stick and posing.

The moment the monk turned around, Lu Shangqiu held his breath.This monk's facial features are so familiar, in his memory, it seems that he also has such a face, which has been preserved for a long time, so long that it is engraved in his heart.

Before he could think too much, there was already a fight in the arena over there.

Monk Huishu is good at lightness kung fu, the monk's stick in his hand looks fragile, but it contains profound internal strength, and the Shaolin Arhat's stick technique and the unknown sword technique are well integrated, suitable for attack and defense, flexible and changeable, and Wu Daniu's Meteor Iron The hammer fights are evenly matched.

The monk's stick skills, body shape and appearance all made Lu Shangqiu feel very familiar, which made him hang in his heart and hold his breath to watch the battle.King Liang could only feel the hands of the people around him involuntarily clenched him, but when he turned his head, he saw Lu Shangqiu staring at the Shaolin monk intently, nervous and anxious in his eyes, and couldn't help but look gloomy.

After a while, the two people on the stage had already exchanged hundreds of moves, from the stage to the audience, and from the audience back to the stage, still no winner.

"It can't be done, it can't be done, I'm out of strength, I won't fight anymore." Wu Daniu had won several games in a row before, and gradually lost his strength, so he hurriedly called a stop, leaning on the sledgehammer to breathe heavily.Monk Huishu respected his opponent, so he also stopped and let Wu Daniu recover his strength.

"Keep playing, I haven't watched it enough yet." Someone booed from below.

Such a good-looking fight suddenly ended, the crowd began to commotion, and the officials here also began to get impatient.

The eunuch shouted: "When the winner is not determined on the stage, you must not rest at will."

Huishu turned around and apologized to the eunuch.Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Wu Daniu suddenly jumped up, grabbed the hammer and attacked the monk's waist.

Lu Shangqiu couldn't help shouting at the monk: "Be careful!"

Monk Huishu heard the voice and quickly turned around to fight.Wu Daniu exerted all his strength in this blow, Huishu was forced to bounce back lightly, the hammer barely grazed his waist and knocked the monk's stick out of his hand.

The monk lost his weapon, and there were voices of regret from the audience.Some people in the high-ranking seats shouted: "Sneak attack from behind, victory is unarmed!"

After the eunuch asked the emperor for instructions, he came over and announced: "Today's ring competition, the winner is Wu Daniu, the son of Yongzhou."

Everyone sighed, but no matter how much everyone disagreed, they still wanted to overthrow the emperor's decision.

Wu Daniu cheered happily in the middle of the ring.

Monk Hui Shu expressed his gratitude to those who raised their fists in the prince's banquet, and bowed their hands to the audience one by one: "Please be safe and calm, and we will wait for the riding and shooting competition tomorrow."

The author has something to say:

Gong No. [-], stepmother, I have been waiting for you for hundreds of years~ You finally came out to play tricks~