Su De looked bitter and cried out sadly: "That's terrible!"
"What do you mean?" Su Rou was puzzled.
"Those four guys are not easy to catch. If they are determined to hide, it would be easy for them to hide for ten days and a half in such a huge imperial capital," Su De responded.
"Don't worry, the prince will catch them." Su Rou comforted, "You know, this is the imperial capital, and the royal power has all the power and power. Not to mention a few living people, even a few flies and mosquitoes have nowhere to hide.
."
"I hope so." Su De chewed his teeth.
…
Imperial Capital, Wenwu Road.
At this moment, Zhang Xiaozhu and Yuan Taiping were strolling leisurely while bathing in the rich fragrance of books and ink.
There are many shops on both sides of the spacious and bright street, but they are all shops selling paper, inkstones, pens and ink, books, calligraphy and paintings, literary instruments, etc.
Occasionally, I saw one or two teahouses, and they all had their signboards erected as a pretext for drinking tea, writing poems, and discussing Taoism.
Zhang Xiaozhu and Yuan Taiping, two people with a combined literacy of less than 500, felt awkward and strange walking on such a street.
In the quiet and elegant environment, smelling the fragrance of ink and books, listening to the sounds of books and poems, and the occasional melodious melodies, the two of them felt that their bodies and minds were relaxed as never before, as if every pore in their bodies was relaxed.
The pure breath from the street enters the body, washing away the evil spirit left over from the battlefield.
The two of them walked along the street for more than a thousand steps. The street gradually widened on both sides, like a gourd mouth, and became wider and wider as they walked forward.
After walking forward for more than a thousand steps, the street has turned into a wide square.
In the center of the square, a huge bronze statue more than ten feet high broke into the sight of Zhang Xiaozu and Yuan Taiping.
The bronze statue is wearing a golden battle armor, holding a sword high, roaring with its mouth open, eyes flashing with lightning, and its crown of fury rising, making it unparalleled in power.
The two walked to the front of the statue, raised their heads and looked at the statue's face, and recognized the person engraved on the statue at a glance.
His face is very similar to that of Su Hanju, the king of Zhennan. The only person who is qualified to erect such a huge statue here and who looks similar to Su Hanju is Su Hanlin, the founding emperor of the Great Su Empire.
The two of them approached directly under the statue, and sure enough, they saw the four characters "Emperor Su" where the characters' deeds were carved below.
Perhaps because they looked similar to Su Hanju, Zhang Xiaozhu and Yuan Taiping were not too shocked by Su Hanlin's statue, so their eyes only stayed on it for a while before losing interest.
Their eyes were quickly drawn to a majestic gate five hundred steps away behind the statue, due north.
On both sides of the gate, two white marble pillars carved with dragons and phoenixes rise from the ground, supporting a red-tiled gate tower three feet high. Below the gate tower hangs a huge plaque with gold rim and brown bottom, with dragons and phoenixes surrounding it, and four inscriptions on it.
The powerful gilt characters in the sky.
Zhang Xiaozu looked at the plaque from a distance and said: "I can recognize the first two characters, which are the same as your name. They are pronounced Taiping. I can also recognize the second character, which means "study", but I don't know how to pronounce the last character?
"
"The last word is courtyard, the courtyard of the courtyard." Yuan Taiping responded.
"Taiping Academy." Zhang Xiaozu read the four words together and couldn't help but praise: "Taiping, the country is safe and healthy, and the world is peaceful. Just like your name, it has profound and beautiful meanings. What a good name!"
"Thank you for the compliment!" Yuan Taiping smiled.
"Come on, come closer and take a look." Zhang Xiaopou greeted, walked towards the gate of the college, and asked Yuan Taiping: "Do we have such a college in Baiyun City?"
"No." Yuan Taiping shook his head and replied.
"There doesn't seem to be one in Yancheng." Zhang Xiaozhu said, and then pondered: "Academy, also called an academy, should be a place for learning. You said, in this magnificent academy, in addition to teaching the knowledge in the books, does it teach anything?
The knowledge of cultivation? Can you learn the unique martial arts that are regarded as treasures by various sects? Can children from ordinary people also enter the academy to study? "
Zhang Xiaozhu asked a lot of questions, and every time he asked a question, his tone became more urgent and his eyes became brighter.
Ever since he witnessed the tragic scenes of the Daya Army massacred the cities in Jincheng and Haoyue City, leaving no one alive for a hundred miles, he has always had a question in his mind: why are martial arts skills only in the hands of a very few people, and why can't everyone be allowed to practice martial arts?
?
If this were the case, the common people would be able to defend their homes by putting down their hoes and picking up their swords. How could they be unable to fight back against the wanton slaughter of the Daya Army, and how could there be a tragic scene where there was no living person for hundreds of miles?
Zhang Xiaozu desperately wanted to know whether the academy in front of him was the answer in his heart.
While keeping up with Zhang Xiaopou's increasing pace, Yuan Taiping responded: "Look at the students coming in and out. Many of them are wearing powerful military uniforms. I think they come to the academy to teach martial arts, but can they learn unique martial arts?
It’s unknown.”
It's lunch time now. In front of the wide courtyard gate, there are groups of energetic young students, some coming in and some going out, laughing and playing, it's really lively.
The youngest of these students is only six or seven years old, and the older ones are only fifteen or sixteen years old.
Most of them are dressed the same, either gray-white Confucian shirts or silver-gray short-sleeved uniforms, which must be the uniform regulations of the college.
"They are dressed neatly and uniformly. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to get in with our clothes." Yuan Taiping frowned when he noticed that the students were uniformly dressed. He and Zhang Xiaopou were both wearing brocade robes, which was very eye-catching among the students.
Zhang Xiaozu responded: "No need to go in, just go to the front to find two people and ask a few questions."
"I...I maybe...maybe can help you sneak into the academy." A crisp voice suddenly sounded next to Zhang Xiaozu and Yuan Taiping.
Zhang Xiaozhu stopped when he heard the sound and looked at the person who was speaking. He found out that it was a little girl wearing a scholar's shirt. She was only eleven or twelve years old.
She stood there, looking timidly at Zhang Xiaozhu and Yuan Taiping, her round face flushed, as if she had been holding back the words for a long time and mustered up great courage to say them out.
Zhang Xiaozu looked at the little girl in front of him, whose eyes were full of timidity, vigilance, panic, and a bit of determination, and asked curiously: "Why?"
"What...why?" The little girl looked very nervous and her words were stuttered.
"Why do you want to help us sneak into the academy?" Zhang Xiaozu asked.
"Repay...reward, I want a reward, not free." The little girl glanced around with vigilant eyes and answered Zhang Xiaozu in a low voice. She was obviously afraid that others would know what she had done.
"How much?" Zhang Xiaozu asked, fearing that the little girl wouldn't understand, so he added: "How much remuneration do you want to charge?"
"Five-five taels of silver." The little girl's swollen and red face had just calmed down a little, but then it became swollen and red again.
It can be heard from the tone of her voice that five taels of silver is a big number to her, and she needs to muster up courage to dare to say it.
"Okay." Zhang Xiaozu nodded readily, and then asked curiously: "How are you going to let the two of us sneak in? Do you want to change into your college's clothes?"
The little girl did not answer Zhang Xiaozu's question, but glanced at Zhang Xiaozu and Yuan Taiping, and said firmly: "You must promise me first that after entering the academy, you will not wander around, not stir up trouble, not bully the weak, let alone
Tell others that I brought you into the academy, otherwise I would not have brought you into the academy."
Zhang Xiaozu nodded and said: "We came here because of its reputation. We just want to visit the academy and appreciate it."
After hearing this, the little girl breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Zhang Xiaozhu's words gave her some reassurance. Then a happy smile appeared on her round face and she said, "Okay, I'll take you in right now."
Zhang Xiaozhu saw all the subtle changes in the little girl's expression. Seeing that the little girl believed his words easily, he couldn't help but be slightly surprised. Then he shook his head and smiled, feeling that the little girl was so simple that she believed whatever he said.
While Zhang Xiaozu was feeling emotional, the little girl suddenly raised her white and tender hands towards the two of them, then quickly sealed them and slapped them in the air.
Zhang Xiaozu and Yuan Taiping only felt a slight fluctuation in the space in front of them, and then they were enveloped by an invisible spatial light curtain.
The two of them stared at the little girl's white and tender hands. They were so shocked that they almost screamed. They never expected that such an inconspicuous little girl could possess the power of space.
The little girl was a little embarrassed to be stared at by the two, her round face turned red again, and she said timidly: "I used the power of space to hide you two, and now no one else can see you. But my space control
The strength is very average, so you must follow me closely, otherwise if you are not more than ten steps away, it will be beyond my control and you will show your form."
"Understood." Zhang Xiaozu and Yuan Taiping responded.
"Please, girl, please lead the way." Zhang Xiaozu said.
"Yes," the little girl responded, looking around warily for a few times. When she saw that no one was paying attention, she walked towards the college gate with confidence.
Zhang Xiaozhu looked at the little girl's alert look and couldn't help but want to laugh. He felt that besides being innocent, she was also a bit nervous.
Just standing in the square with people coming and going, using the power of space without concealment to make him and Yuan Taiping disappear, this is such an eye-catching thing, but she doesn't seem to have any concerns, but
After hiding the person, everything was in order, and before setting off, he became vigilant belatedly.
Zhang Xiaozu thought to himself that no one was paying attention here, otherwise they would have found him long ago.
The little girl walked very fast. Although she kept walking around to find a less crowded place because of her nervousness, she still quickly arrived in front of the courtyard gate.
The gate tower is towering, the courtyard gate is wide open, and there are three gatehouses on the east side of the gate.
There is a square stone platform in front of the gatehouse. On the stone platform stands a middle-aged man dressed as a guard. The man has sharp eyes and patrols around, strictly guarding the courtyard gate to prevent people from outside the courtyard from sneaking into the college.
The little girl led Zhang Xiaozu and Yuan Taiping to the far west, keeping as far away from the guards in front of the concierge as possible.
The little girl clenched her two little hands tightly, her palms were full of sweat, her heart was pounding, beating like a drum, and she looked like she was almost suffocating from nervousness.
It can be seen that this is her first time doing this job.
Fortunately, there was no danger, and the three of them passed through the courtyard gate smoothly and entered the college.
Facing a wide flat avenue, leading to the depths of the college.
On both sides of the avenue, there are green pines and cypresses, flower beds and pavilions, small bridges and bamboo forests, deep winding paths, and beautiful scenery.
"It's okay. It's okay." The little girl patted her heaving chest, turned around and glanced at the guard in front of the concierge, and stuck out her pink tongue playfully, with a look of joy on her little face.
"Li Ran—Li Ran—I've found you!"
Suddenly, a boy with thick eyebrows who was about the same age as the little girl ran over to her with an anxious look on his face.
He didn't have time to stand firm when he arrived, so he grabbed the little girl's arm, dragged her and ran in one direction, saying as he ran: "Go and have a look, something happened to your brother. He and a senior brother from the fifth grade
It’s a life-and-death fight!”
"Ah!" The little girl was so frightened that she screamed, her left foot twitched with her right foot, and she stumbled hard. However, regardless of the pain, she got up and ran again.
Zhang Xiaozu and Yuan Taiping were left on the spot, touching the tips of their noses in embarrassment. Because the little girl ran away, the space light curtain lost control and collapsed. The two acted out of thin air, startling several students passing by.
The two of them stood there, feeling a little at a loss for a moment. They didn't know whether they should leave the college voluntarily to avoid the embarrassment of being kicked out later. However, they soon discovered that the students passing by would only look at them one more time and had no other abnormal reactions.
, seems to have become accustomed to people from outside the academy sneaking into the academy.
Yuan Taiping looked at Zhang Xiaozu and cast a questioning look, meaning he was asking whether he was going or staying.
"Is there also a life-and-death competition in the academy?" Zhang Xiaozu asked with interest.
"Go and have a look?" Yuan Taiping asked with a smile, he was also more interested.
(Thanks to book friend 36009917 for the generous tip)
This chapter has been completed!