Peach

Midsummer night, the moon hangs high.Flying birds passed under the mottled night of thin clouds, leaving a series of echoes of flapping wings over the curfew capital.

On the Zhanghua Platform, the smooth bluestone slab was coated with a layer of silver frost by the moonlight, revealing a few light-colored dark lines faintly.Looking down from mid-air, the lines are complicated and not very clear.

The national teacher stood in the center of Zhang Huatai, wearing a cloud-pattern wide-sleeve robe woven with silver thread, and chanted with his eyes closed.Behind him stood the seven princes, all with their heads down, not daring to look around.

"The gods are coming, all princes, please." The national teacher did not turn his head, but gave a light order.

Behind the Zhanghua Terrace is the Zhanghua Hall, where the gods that the dynasty has relied on for generations are enshrined.Several futons were placed on the ground, and the princes filed in and sat on the futons in an orderly manner, waiting for a miracle.

Legend has it that when the gods descended, Zhanghuatai was as bright as day, and most of the capital could be seen.The emperor and all the ministers waited eagerly under Zhang Huatai, waiting for the moment of divine light.

A stick of incense passed by, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the weather was calm.

Half an hour passed, the breeze was blowing, and the night kite was whining.

An hour has passed...

Nothing happened.

The emperor couldn't sit still anymore, and climbed up to Zhang Huatai with his clothes on his hem: "Master, what's going on?"

The national teacher was silent for a long while, and glanced at the silent Zhanghua Palace: "The blood of the royal family is not uniform, and the gods will not come." That is to say, the gods are unwilling to make a choice, and they must find the other princes who are living among the people, so that they can show themselves. Miraculous.

Hearing this, the emperor's face turned blue and red, and he groaned for a while: "I asked people to look for it."

There was no miracle, and in the Zhanghua Palace, the princes looked at each other in embarrassment.To put it bluntly, it is because the blood is not in order; to put it bluntly, it is that the gods look down on them.

No one noticed that in the shadow of the beam, there was a round red-feathered chicken standing steadily, with drooping eyes, looking at these princes boredly.

Southwest Fortress, Jiuru Town.

This place is the hub connecting all places, and it is very prosperous with people coming and going all year round.However, it is located in a remote place, with no one under its control, and there are mixed religions and fishes and dragons.On the street, fortune-tellers, drug sellers, and fightrs abound.

"Boom——" A series of crisp sounds, someone fell from the sky and knocked down the fortune-telling booth.

"Brother, be careful." A gangster-looking man next to him immediately stepped forward and helped the fallen man up.

"Thank you!" The man bowed his hands and saluted, gritted his teeth and rushed out again, fighting hard with the big man who pushed him.

The gangster and the fortune teller looked at each other, smiled and weighed the purse that had just been delivered, curled their lips at the person who was fighting, and cursed a fool secretly.The two quickly cleared up the stall, and the fortune teller took off his coat, which was wearing a brown bunt like a gangster.

Two gangsters were leaning on the side of the street.One stared at the gate of the "Hongshangyuan" on the opposite side, and laughed at the brightly dressed girls in front of the gate who were welcoming guests; the other kept looking at the other side of the street, when he saw a small figure appearing Among the crowd, the sneaky mung bean eyes suddenly lit up.

"Xiao Qi!" The gangster ran over in three steps at a time, and met the child who seemed to be only five or six years old.

That child was extremely good-looking, with pink lips, fine nose and peach blossom eyes, even though he was wearing coarse clothes, he couldn't hide his delicacy.He lives in the outskirts of Jiuru Town, his father is unknown, his mother's surname is Chang, and he lives with his uncle's family.Uncle gave him the name "Chang Qi", which is not auspicious at all.

"Brother Chen." Seeing the gangster running over, Chang Qi quickly walked a few steps, jumped up, patted the gangster on the shoulder, and said hello.

Xiao Chen reached out to catch him, dragged Chang Qi into the alley, and took out a child's clothes made of brocade from his arms, "Hurry up and change, the one surnamed Ma will come out in a while."

"This tortoise grandson will get married the day after tomorrow, and he still dares to play. I'll wait for the young master... Tsk, the material is good, where did it come from?" , the outer coat sprinkled with red and gold is very rich.It's just that the hem is a bit long, and you will step on it when you walk.

"I just came from Yunjin Zhaishun." Xiao Chen was a little proud, squatting down and straightening his clothes, "The family he was betrothed to was Wang, and Ms. Wang's boudoir name was Wanrong, remember?"

"Understood, Wanrong." Chang Qi winked, raised his chin, walked out of the alley proudly with his hands behind his back.

The two gangsters followed Chang Qi, and the three walked into the Hongshang courtyard swaggeringly.The girl at the door looked at them and smiled, Chang Qi reached out and pulled the girl's clothes, and said hello with his mouth: "Miss Xiaoru."

Xiao Ru tapped his head lightly, and quietly gave him two candies.

Chang Qi stuffed it into his sleeves without changing his expression, stepped over the threshold, looked left and right, and looked at a table of clients in the lobby.

Sitting at that table was a man with a fat head and big ears, drinking flowers and wine with his arms around him. He was exactly the Mr. Ma they were looking for.Mr. Ma just got engaged to a wealthy family in the town, yet he dares to spend time and drink here.

Chang Qi walked over quickly, and slapped that fat back: "Brother-in-law!"

"Who?" Mr. Ma was startled, turned left and right, searched for a long time, and finally saw the short and stubby child, "Who are you?"

"I'm Wang Wanrong's younger brother. I saw you when you went to my house two days ago!" Chang Qi laughed and imitated a young master who didn't know how to behave.

Mr. Ma looked at the child carved in pink and jade, and then at the two attendants behind him, his heart skipped a beat.He knew that Wanrong had a younger brother, but he had never seen him before. Children are naughty, so it is normal to see him wherever they go.We are relatives, and we have to see each other sooner or later, which is fine.But the problem is, seeing the future brother-in-law in the brothel Chu Pavilion is really a bit embarrassing.

"Well, brother, why did you come here?" Mr. Ma was very scared, looking around, afraid that Master Wang was also nearby.

"I went shopping and forgot to take the money. I just saw you here." Chang Qi smiled innocently, "Brother-in-law, lend me five taels of silver. I want to buy... um, lend me."

Hearing this, Mr. Ma rolled his eyes, thinking that this brother-in-law is going to buy something shady, right?With a firm mind, he pulled Chang Qi and whispered, "I didn't bring that much money, so I can only give you three taels, but we have agreed that we will not let your parents know about seeing me here today. If If you miss it, I will tell them about your random shopping."

Chang Qi frowned and thought for a while: "Deal!"

Mr. Ma quickly took out his money bag, took out the remaining three taels of silver, and handed it to Chang Qi.Chang Qi smiled and said: "Thank you brother-in-law, I will pay you back sometime."

"Go." Mr. Ma raised his eyebrows, and met his brother-in-law with a "knowing" look.

Chang Qi turned his back and rolled his eyes, who has "under the hood" with you, idiot.

Walking out of the Hongshang courtyard arrogantly, Chang Qi and the two gangsters looked at each other.Xiao Chen picked up Chang Qi, ran away, and quickly hid in the alley.

"Hahahaha, you stupid pig!" The three of them laughed loudly, Chang Qi took off his fancy clothes and threw them to Xiao Chen, and took out some broken silver to share equally.

"Have you pawned the clothes?" Chang Qi took out the candy given by Miss Ru, and threw one into his mouth.

"What do you pawn, if you take it, you will be spotted by others, and you will throw it back to Yunjinzhai." Xiao Chen picked up the clothes and shook the ashes.

"That's right, this is called robbers!" Another gangster, Da Chen, followed suit.

"Oh." Chang Qi nodded, it turned out that this is called "Pirate also has a way", and learned a new word.After bidding farewell to Chen and Xiaochen, Chang Qi stuffed the one or two taels of silver he had just distributed into his socks, put on his shoes again, and went home with a harmless face.

It was still early, and the streets of Jiuru Town were still lively.

"Little brother, where is your family?" The wrinkled old lady asked him with a smile.

"It's behind you." Chang Qi said seriously.

The old lady was startled, and turned her head quickly, but there was nothing, and when she turned her head again, the beautiful child had disappeared.Stamping his feet angrily, Jiuru Town really has bad feng shui, it is very difficult to kidnap a child.

"Walk around, take a look, and think about it. It's better to feed a pig or a sheep than to feed a mouse..." The yelling of selling rat medicine can be heard from a distance, and Chang Qi walked past the stall Turn back again.

"Medicine seller, do you have medicine for mouth sores?" Chang Qi picked up a pack of rat poison and looked at it.

"Hey, I don't have such harmful things." The bearded drug seller sneered.

Chang Qi threw down the rat poison and turned to leave, but he heard the drug seller whisper, "But there are some that are harmful to animals."

Chang Qi, who had just taken two steps, turned back immediately: "I'm going to kill the beast."

"Two pennies." The bearded man took a yellow paper bag the size of a copper coin from his bag.

Chang Qi took the yellow paper package and gave the bearded man two pennies.

"Rat medicine is worthless, and it only costs two cents for a pack. Mix it with water or rice, and the mouse will die if it touches its mouth." The bearded man looked at Chang Qi and smiled inexplicably.

Chang Qi lives on the outskirts of the town, where there is a farm with a large chicken farm and farmland, belonging to a Jianghu sect called King Kongmen.His uncle, Chang Sheng, was also a disciple of the Vajra Sect, but because of his poor aptitude and no status, he was thrown into this farm to guard the sect's belongings.

There are guards everywhere in the farm, and ordinary people can't get close.

Chang Qi lay on the fence, looked at the frisky chickens inside, and swallowed his saliva.Every morning, he comes here to pick up eggs and do chores, and his wages are one egg.

"Xiao Qi, did you make money?" The guards at the chicken farm were killing chickens. They would kill a few chickens every day and send them to the tavern in the town.

"Father Qiu, I want to buy half a chicken, okay?" Chang Qi fished out some money from his sock.

"Okay, why not?" Father Qiu reached out and patted Chang Qi's head, "I heard that your mother is sick?"

"Well, go back and drink some chicken soup for her to replenish her body." Chang Qi said obediently, her big bright eyes were foggy, which made people feel distressed.

Father Qiu gave him half a chicken, and also gave him the chicken intestines and gizzards.Chang Qi thanked him and went home with half a chicken.As soon as he arrived at the gate of the small courtyard, he was stopped by a chubby child.

"Chang Qi, are you going to steal again?" This little fat man is Chang Qi's cousin, named Chang Jiabao.He is obviously a cousin, but he is half a head taller than Chang Qi, and looks seven or eight years old.

"Hey, our little Qi got rich today!" The aunt who was also somewhat fat came out twisting her waist and stood with her cousin, "Come on, give it to my aunt."

"My mother is sick, and I have to make soup for her." Chang Qi hid the chicken behind him and stared at his aunt warily.There is a black mole at the corner of my aunt's mouth, which is not very good-looking on weekdays, but it looks especially disgusting today.

"How dare you hide the stolen chicken! Take it out, or tell my father!" Chang Jiabao stood beside his mother, full of confidence.

Neighbors came out one after another to watch the excitement. The Chang family would be noisy every day or two, and there were always endless dramas.

Chang Qi pursed his lips, stretched out his hand to grab the chicken intestines, held the sticky lump in his hand, and said seriously: "This is not stolen, it was cleaned up by Father Qiu and given to me, if you don't believe me, try it." As he spoke, he stuffed the raw chicken intestines into his cousin's mouth.

The author has something to say:

small theater:

Bird: As usual, the first player to play is the attacker.

Qi Qi: There are so many people in front, how do I know who they are?

Bird Gong: Chirp!