Chapter 195 An Invitation

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, sugar melons are sticky.

According to custom, this is the day to worship the kitchen god and sweep the dust, so on this day, every household will start to get busy.

Rich people set up a large table of offerings and pray for the blessing of the kitchen god.

Poor people will also buy a few sugar melons to show their appreciation.

The New Year atmosphere has become stronger from this time.

At the same time, at the west gate of the county city, several guards in armor are warming up around a fire.

The cold wind is howling, and they are wearing armor, so even if they are close to the warm flames, these guards are still freezing.

Despite this, when a large group of merchants pass by, these guards will still come forward to check dutifully.

Some merchants tried to pay bribes, but they were sternly rejected.

However, they did not make things difficult, and they would let them go as soon as possible after confirming that there was no problem.

After finishing the work, the sun was already high in the sky. One of the guards looked at the pedestrians who were talking and laughing and rushing home with some envy, and couldn't help sighing.

"It's great. When can we have a home in the county city?"

Someone next to him laughed and said, "Hehe, Lao Qi, you are greedy for a wife!"

"Yes, I am greedy for a wife. What's the matter? Don't you want to marry a wife?" The guard called Lao Qi immediately retorted.

This made the other party speechless, and the guards who were warming themselves by the fire at the city gate were all silent.

Yes!

Who doesn't want to marry a wife and then start a family?

But the key is that their previous identities do not allow them to do so!

As cavalrymen under Wei Hongbin, which decent woman would be willing to marry them?

Not to mention the decent women, some people who couldn't hold back their anger planned to go to the brothels to find a singing girl to talk about life, but the other party showed contempt when they heard their identities, and they were unwilling to serve them even if they were paid.

The reason is simple.

It is really that Wei Hongbin and his men have a bad reputation in Yunxiao County.

Even if these people did not do anything bad at the beginning, once they are branded with this label, it will be difficult to get rid of it for the rest of their lives.

This is also the reason why these guards are in a gloomy mood.

At this time, a sound of horse hooves came from the long street, and then a captain in armor came to the city gate alone.

When he turned over and got off the horse and lifted his cloak, it was Sun Yingkui.

He saw that his face was full of frost, and his eyebrows and beard were frozen.

Despite this, he still did not stop at all and asked.

"Is there anything going on?"

The guards shook their heads.

"Captain, everything is normal."

"Okay, now that the end of the year is approaching, there will inevitably be those blind bandits who intend to sneak into the city, so you must not take it lightly." Sun Yingkui instructed.

"We understand."

Looking at these guards standing in the cold wind, but not daring to leave their posts, Sun Yingkui sighed secretly.

How could he not know the embarrassing situation these people were in.

This is why he had to patrol the city several times a day.

It was because he was afraid that these guards would be lax or unable to resist temptation, and something would happen.

This kind of thing may not be a big deal for others, but for these guards who have made meritorious contributions, it is like a catastrophe.

Because there are countless eyes staring at them from top to bottom in the entire county city.

Fortunately, these guards also understand this truth, so they have been conscientious and have not made any mistakes.

After a few more words of encouragement, Sun Yingkui turned around and was about to leave.

There was a sudden commotion on the official road, and then someone shouted, "It's Young Master Zhao!"

"Young Master Zhao is back from his trip!"

Sun Yingkui was shocked and immediately looked up.

As expected.

A dusty carriage appeared on the official road, and the smiling young man sitting on the shaft was Zhao Ya.

A large number of people had gathered around the carriage, chatting with Zhao Ya enthusiastically.

Some of the brave women even squeezed forward with excitement, saying something almost admiringly.

Sun Yingkui was stunned at first, then smiled and shook his head.

He knew that Zhao Ya was quite popular in the county city now, but he didn't expect him to be so popular.

But this was not surprising. After all, it was Zhao Ya's help that made the county city rejuvenated in the past year.

Nowadays, not everyone in the county city has enough food, but at least there is basically no phenomenon of starving to death.

This alone is enough to make people sigh. In addition, the improvement of public security and the return of peace around the county city, all of which combined, it is not surprising that Zhao Ya can be supported by the lower-class people.

It took Zhao Ya more than a quarter of an hour to walk from the official road to the city gate. In the end, it was Sun Yingkui who came forward, which made these enthusiastic people disperse.

Then Sun Yingkui and his guards saluted Zhao Ya together.

Zhao Ya smiled and waved his hand, "Okay, no need to be so polite. Has the city been peaceful during my absence?"

"Peaceful and nothing happened." Sun Yingkui responded.

"That's good!"

Zhao Ya drove the carriage to the city, and Sun Yingkui and others watched him go.

Suddenly, Zhao Ya thought of something and threw a small bag over.

Sun Yingkui reached out to catch it, and then Zhao Ya's voice came.

"Today is the Little New Year. You have all worked hard. Let's go to the city for a few drinks after you get off duty. I'll treat you!"

There were several silver bills in the small bag.

Sun Yingkui and the guards were all warmed up.

Not only because of the silver bills, but more importantly, someone finally saw their efforts.

"No wonder Zhao Shaoxia is so famous in the county city at such a young age. He is really good at dealing with people!" A guard was full of praise.

Zhao Ya naturally didn't know this. At this moment, he had already driven the carriage quickly across the street and arrived at the door of Dingtai Martial Arts Hall.

When he saw him, the guard in front of the door was stunned at first, and then shouted in surprise.

"The little master is back!"

"The little master is back!"

The shouts came one after another, and Zhao Ya felt a little helpless.

Because some of those who kept calling him master had white beards.

If it were a few years later, wouldn't someone call him master?

At this time, Miao Shaocheng and Xu De hurried to the door. When they saw that it was Zhao Ya and Meng Shiwen who came back, they were overjoyed.

"I said you would come back after the New Year. If Zui'er hadn't followed, I would have suspected that you had kidnapped my senior sister and eloped!"

Miao Shaocheng was still as outspoken as ever.

Xu De wanted to stop him but failed, and couldn't help but glance at Meng Shiwen with some worry.

But she was not angry at all, as if she didn't hear it, and she took Zui'er and left.

Seeing this, Xu De couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately.

Senior sister didn't care, otherwise Old Miao would be miserable today.

Thinking of this, he glared at Miao Shaocheng fiercely.

Miao Shaocheng also realized that he had said something wrong, scratching his scalp and giggling.

"Let's go, go see the master first, the master has been talking about you these days!" Xu De said.

When they arrived at the back study, Lu Dingtai was writing.

After entering the fifth realm, Lu Dingtai's power increased day by day, and he could only restrain himself a little when writing.

"Master!" Zhao Ya bowed respectfully.

"You're back!" Lu Dingtai asked without raising his head.

"Yes!"

"Have you done everything?"

"Master, everything is done!"

"Tell me about it."

So Zhao Ya briefly told Lu Dingtai what happened after returning to Wuxiang City.

After listening, Lu Dingtai put down the pen in his hand, wiped his hands with a hot towel, and looked up at Zhao Ya.

"Lian Shizong? Haha, this group of monsters actually appeared, it seems that the world is really going to be in chaos!" Lu Dingtai sneered.

"Master, you also know Lian Shizong?"

"Of course I know, do you think that I, the master, have been guarding this small piece of land in the county city and don't know anything about the situation outside? Don't forget, I, the master, once traveled around the world and fought in the rivers and lakes with a sword." Lu Dingtai said proudly.

Zhao Ya was a little amused.

The master's arrogant character was becoming more and more obvious.

So he didn't dare to speak, but just nodded.

"Back then, this demon sect was not well-known, and many of them had completely disappeared. But now, with the collapse of Dayan, these descendants of the demon sect are beginning to stir again."

"But you did a good job this time. You completely destroyed Qingzhu Ridge. Lianshi Sect also lost five Gu masters. It was considered a serious injury. Don't think about recovering your strength in a short time."

At this point, Lu Dingtai glanced at Zhao Ya, "And when I saw you come in, your footwork was like stepping on air. It seems that your lightness skills have improved again!"

"Yes, Master, I have some insights."

Zhao Ya did not hide it.

Because in front of Lu Dingtai, his progress could not be concealed anyway, and he didn't want to hide it.

"Very good, it seems that your comprehension is indeed beyond the ordinary." Lu Dingtai nodded with satisfaction, and suddenly looked at Xu De and Miao Shaocheng on the side with regret.

"Look at your junior brother, and then look at yourselves, you are still eating and sleeping all day long, don't you know how to make progress at all?"

Xu De and Miao Shaocheng lowered their heads, stammering and not daring to speak.

Zhao Ya saw this and quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Hey, why haven't I seen the second senior brother?"

"Him? Humph! He forgot his mother after marrying a wife. He hasn't shown up in the past few days. Who knows what he has been doing!" Lu Dingtai said.

At this time, Shen Dao's laughter came from the courtyard.

"Master, you are wronging me. Didn't I come to visit you yesterday?"

As the voice sounded, Shen Dao and Shi Qingqing and his wife walked into the house together.

Lu Dingtai, who was originally unhappy, quickly eased his expression when he saw his apprentice coming with his wife, and even nodded to Shi Qingqing.

"Qingqing, what do you think of the calligraphy I just wrote?"

Shi Qingqing walked closer, looked him up and down, and then couldn't help but sighed: "Master, your calligraphy is getting better and better. In my opinion, even the calligraphy masters in the capital are no better than you!"

"Oh?"

Lu Dingtai's face lit up, but he was a little embarrassed to admit it, so he could only ask: "What's good about it? Tell me."

"Look, this font is majestic and has a strong character. What's more valuable is that it doesn't look sharp because of this. Instead, it has a kind of restrained and divine flavor. It's really amazing!"

"Hahaha, it's not as good as you say. I just wrote it for fun!"

Although he said so, the joy on Lu Dingtai's face still betrayed him.

The four senior brothers in the distance looked at this scene and couldn't help but be filled with emotion.

"Second Senior Brother, why do I feel that in Master's mind, my junior brother ranks first, followed closely by my sister-in-law?" Miao Shaocheng said.

"You don't have to think about it, it's just the way it is!" Xu De affirmed.

Shen Dao then smiled and said: "But that's fine. Master is getting more and more angry now. It's good to cultivate his temperament by writing. It just so happens that Qingqing has been practicing calligraphy since he was a child. He is smart and can coax the master with just a few words. Happy, why not?”

As he spoke, Shen Dao patted Zhao Ya on the shoulder, "Junior brother, when I heard that you were back, your sister-in-law bought a lot of vegetables. She is staying at my place tonight. We won't go home until we get drunk!"

Looking at the second senior brother who was obviously starting to gain weight, Zhao Ya thought that marriage is indeed the best medicine for a man to gain weight, and then nodded with a smile.

"Even if you don't say anything, senior brother, I will still have to bother you!"

That night, Zhao Ya took Zui'er, Miao Shaocheng and Xu De to drink at Shen Dao's house.

In order to entertain them, Shi Qingqing cooked a table full of dishes himself.

And just when their brothers and sisters were feasting.

Meng Shiwen met Lu Dingtai in the study.

"Master!"

"Well, have you paid your respects?"

Although he was polite to Miao Shaocheng and others, Lu Dingtai was surprisingly gentle when facing Meng Shiwen.

"yes!"

"Just pay homage and let him let go of the past grievances. After all, he is still your father." Lu Dingtai sighed.

Meng Shiwen hesitated for a moment, and then asked in a low voice: "Master, what happened between you and my father back then that led to such a quarrel?"

Hearing this, Lu Dingtai was stunned for a moment, then sighed and said: "It's all in the past, so there's no need to ask anymore, but I can tell you that your father is a good man, but he is a little extreme in his behavior."

"Go, it's getting late, your second junior brother must have already started dinner, so go over and join in the fun!"

Lu Dingtai waved his hand and signaled Meng Shiwen to leave.

Meng Shiwen was silent for a moment, then said goodbye and left.

After she left, Lu Dingtai sat on the chair without speaking for a long time, and it was not until a long time later that he sighed slightly.

"Junior brother, I really don't know whether it is good or bad for her to hide it like this. After all, it is you on one side and her... mother on the other!"

As he spoke, Lu Dingtai looked sad, as if he had suddenly become much older.

After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the New Year is coming.

This is the second New Year that Zhao Ya and Zui'er have spent in the county, but this year is very different from last year.

Because so many things happened in this year.

As the absolute protagonist, Zhao Ya naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Invitations came like a snowflake, and Zhao Ya refused most of them. Only a few of them with really good relationships would he accept.

Even so, it still took me more than ten days to finish the year.

After the New Year, everything gradually returned to normal.

Zhao Ya also quickly devoted himself to training and did not dare to slack off at all.

On this day, when he was practicing in full swing, an invitation came quietly, with only three words on it.

Shang Luoluo.