The Great Wei Music Bureau

Last time we talked about Dugu Long and Murong Bufan were about to fight in the hall, and the hidden master, Manager Zhou, was instructed by Tuoba Jun to stop them. So at this critical moment, let’s stop talking nonsense and just read on.

Chief Steward Zhou stretched out his hands and patted the two men on the shoulders, but the strength was very different. His left hand gently patted Dugu Long's shoulder, and with just two pats, Dugu Long's black dragon phantom was shattered! Chief Steward Zhou's right hand patted Murong Bufan's shoulder heavily, and with just one pat, Murong Bufan spit out blood and knelt on the ground on the spot. Then he withdrew his hands and said seriously: "You two young people are too impulsive. How dare you fight in front of His Majesty and the Queen Mother! You don't take the dignity of the royal family into consideration at all?"

As soon as he finished speaking, an evil wind blew from his body to both sides, knocking the Xiongnu prince and the shaman priest to the ground, and also knocking down many unprepared civil servants. Dugu Long looked at Zhou Zongguan with astonishment, Murong Bufan looked at Zhou Zongguan with fear, and Tuoba Jun looked at Zhou Zongguan with relief. Three people, three different looks, for a moment you could hear a pin drop in the hall.

Murong Bufan squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Who are you and why are you so strong?"

Chief Steward Zhou said with a smile: "It doesn't matter who I am. I am just a servant of His Majesty. But you are a fool who has offended His Majesty. Why don't you apologize to His Majesty and the Queen Mother?"

Upon hearing this, Dugu Long immediately knelt on the ground and said loudly: "I have offended the majesty of heaven and deserve to be punished. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Liu Yuan, the Xiongnu prince, immediately knelt on the ground and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Emperor of Wei, General Murong was impulsive and offended Your Majesty. Please spare his life!"

Tuoba Jun smiled and raised his hand to signal the two to stand up. He said, "General Dugu, Prince of the Xiongnu, you all should stand up. It is normal for young people to be a little aggressive, but this is the palace of the Great Wei. It is naturally inappropriate to fight in the hall. As for offending the majesty of heaven, how do you think this matter should be handled, mother?"

Empress Dowager Xiao was watching with great interest and said, "Oh, it's been a long time since I've seen brave men fighting for their lives. Steward Zhou, you've ruined my mood."

Chief Steward Zhou bowed and said, "I know my crime, please punish me, Queen Mother."

Empress Dowager Xiao smiled and said, "Alright, why do you want to punish me? You are here to protect His Majesty. No reward or punishment. Just serve me on the side."

Manager Zhou bowed and replied, "Thank you, Queen Mother!" Then he walked to the side, leaned against a pillar and pretended to sleep.

Tuoba Jun smiled and said, "Since the Queen Mother didn't blame me, then I can't blame him either. It's just that Liu Yuan, this General Murong seems to be seriously injured, you should take him back and take good care of him. Don't miss the dinner tonight. I have gone to great lengths to please the Queen Mother. Even if General Murong can't come, you have to be there!"

Liu Yuan kowtowed and stood up. Tuoba Jun did not forget to tease him, "No need to kowtow. You Huns don't have this etiquette." Liu Yuan looked up at Tuoba Jun, then saluted according to Hun etiquette, and together with the shaman priest, helped Murong Bufan up and walked out of the hall.

The farce that just happened shocked the whole court. Even Nangong Ting was frightened. Although this Chief Steward Zhou was discovered and recommended by Nangong Ting's father, he only knew that this Chief Steward Zhou was a hidden master. He never thought that he could easily subdue two fourth-grade peak masters, one of whom was the strongest fourth-grade in the Wei Dynasty, Dugu Long, who was known as the number one in the extraordinary realm. This was not something that could be done by talking. After the three men left, the court officials straightened their clothes and stood back to their original positions. Each of them returned to their original appearance, but they all had their own calculations in their hearts. Tuoba Jun smiled and said, "General Dugu, you guard aside. We will meet the other two delegations later." After speaking, he gave Tongqing a gesture, and the little eunuch shouted loudly, "Announce the Qiang delegation to see you!"

The Qiang delegation was waiting outside the palace. When they saw Liu Yuan and the shaman priest helping Murong Bufan out of the palace, they hurried forward to ask. Liu Yuan didn't say much, just said: "The Emperor of Wei has a peerless master by his side. Don't be rash when you go in." Then he left. Then the decree to summon them to the palace came. The three of them looked embarrassed, exchanged glances, and followed the eunuch who led the way into the palace. With Liu Yuan's previous experience, the Qiang delegation was particularly respectful, so there was no excitement. They chatted a few words and left.

Next came the last Di tribe delegation. The eunuch who announced the decree shouted outside the palace for a long time before he saw the Di tribe delegation. But when he got closer, he was shocked. There was a mountain among the delegation representatives! It was none other than Zhai Baishan. His tall and strong figure really gave people a sense of oppression like a mountain pressing down on their heads. The young eunuch straightened his neck and said to the leader of the Di tribe delegation: "Messengers, the Xiongnu delegation had some unpleasantness when they came to see you just now, so you must be careful when you come to see your majesty next time, and don't provoke your majesty again. If something really happens, I'm afraid it will not end well."

Upon hearing this, the leader of the Di tribe took out a silver ingot and secretly put it into the young eunuch's hand, saying with a smile: "Thank you for telling us, sir. We will be careful. Please lead the way." In this way, under the gazes of countless people, the three representatives of the Di tribe delegation entered the hall.

As soon as he entered the hall, Zhai Baishan's tall and burly figure stunned all the court officials. Even Tuoba Jun was shocked and thought: My God, there are actually such tall people in the world! Not only tall but also so strong, it seems that what Dugu Rong said is true! Zhou Zongguan, who was pretending to be asleep, squinted his eyes and looked at Zhai Baishan, then closed his eyes and pretended to sleep again.

Tuoba Jun felt relieved when he saw the little move made by Zhou Zongguan. After the three of them saluted, he smiled and said, "This warrior must be Zhai Baishan, right? I just heard some rumors about you from the King of Zhenbei, saying that you are invincible in the grasslands. Today, I see that your reputation is indeed well-deserved."

The leader of the Di tribe delegation was the son of the Great Chanyu of the Di tribe, named Gu Zhou. He was a man with a quick mind and a steady mind, and was deeply loved by the Great Chanyu. Zhai Baishan was a rare genius in the Di tribe in a hundred years, and had extraordinary martial arts. Coincidentally, Zhai Baishan was the only one in the tribe who only listened to Gu Zhou, and sometimes he even disobeyed the Great Chanyu's orders, and had to ask his son to persuade him. During this mission to the State of Wei, the Great Chanyu chose Gu Zhou as the leader because of his thoroughness. When he heard that Gu Zhou was leaving, Zhai Baishan clamored to follow him, and no one could persuade him, which led to this scene.

Another representative of the delegation was the Zoroastrian priest Xianmu Ding. The Di people believed in the God of Fire and were very pious. When a fire from heaven burned the grassland, they all believed that they had done something wrong and thus were punished by the God of Fire. They would kill cattle and sheep for sacrifice. The Di people's worship of the God of Fire reached an almost obsessive level.

Gu Zhou smiled after hearing what Tuoba Jun said, "Your Majesty, my brother just looks a little fierce, but he is actually a gentle, kind and simple person, not warlike. Everyone who sees him thinks he is extremely fierce, but in fact, he is a shy person. It's just that we grassland people admire strength, and when we see a strong opponent, we want to compete with him. As a result, everyone who sees him wants to compete with him, but no one can beat him, so he got the title of Invincible."

Zhai Baishan shook his head and said, "Brother, why are you lying? It was obviously me who took the initiative to fight those people. Didn't the Great Khan teach us that men of the grassland should be brave? Brother, don't you often fight with others? When you couldn't win, didn't you ask me to help you? Why do you say something different here?" Zhai Baishan's honest and heavy voice caused laughter in the hall, but Gu Zhou looked embarrassed.

Empress Dowager Xiao smiled and said, "Interesting, interesting. I haven't seen such an innocent child in a long time. Zhai Baishan, please step forward a few steps and let me take a closer look."

Zhai Baishan said "oh" and walked forward. He was stopped by Manager Zhou when he was about to reach the steps. Manager Zhou did not look up at him, but just said calmly: "Little friend, just walk up here. The Queen Mother can see clearly."

Zhai Baishan scratched his head and said "oh" again, then turned to look at Gu Zhou, who gave him a look that said "behave yourself". Zhai Baishan looked up and looked directly at Empress Dowager Xiao and said, "Look, mother-in-law."

Gu Zhou quickly knelt on one knee and said, "Queen Mother..."

Empress Dowager Xiao said first, "It's okay. It's natural for the child to call me grandma according to his age. I also like this child. You don't have to panic. Get up. I will chat with this child casually."

Gu Zhou stood up and wiped his sweat. Empress Dowager Xiao looked Zhai Baishan up and down and sighed, "How old are you this year, kid?"

Zhai Baishan said, "I am twenty-two years old."

Gu Zhou said angrily: "Tietou, you have to call her Queen Mother, not Mother-in-law! If you call her Mother-in-law again, you will have nothing to eat!"

Zhai Baishan nodded, and Empress Dowager Xiao asked again, "How tall are you, child?"

Zhai Baishan scratched his head and said, "To answer my mother-in-law, or the Queen Mother, I really don't know. Ever since I grew taller than my father, my father has not measured me again."

Gu Zhou bowed and said, "My brother is nine feet tall. He is indeed born taller. When he was fifteen, he was taller than his father."

Empress Dowager Xiao smiled and said, "Oh, what a good child. I like both of you very much. One is clever, the other is honest. They are both good children. Since I like them, I will give them something as a reward. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Tuoba Jun smiled and said, "If mother wants to reward me, then give me a reward. As long as you are happy, that's fine."

Empress Dowager Xiao thought for a moment and asked, "Child, are you married?"

Zhai Baishan smiled and said, "My mother said that I am still young and there is no need to rush. She also said that there is not much food at home and it is difficult to feed me alone. If I marry a wife who can eat, I am afraid I will starve."

As soon as these words came out, there was another round of laughter in the palace. Empress Dowager Xiao laughed and said, "What an interesting child. Let's put it this way. Let's not talk about whether you will starve or not. If you see a girl in Shangjing City that you like and want to marry her, I will help you to find a matchmaker!"

Zhai Baishan smiled and said, "Thank you, Queen Mother. I will go out for a walk these two days. If I see a girl I like, I will come and tell you!"

Empress Dowager Xiao really liked Zhai Baishan and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, you can tell me what kind of person you like first. I will help you find one and then arrange some dowry for you. This way, your parents won't have to worry about your family not having enough to eat!"

Upon hearing this, Zhai Baishan couldn't stop laughing. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, mother-in-law. No, thank you, Queen Mother!" He kowtowed so hard that everyone could feel the hall shaking.

Empress Dowager Xiao said with a smile: "Alright, alright, stop bowing. You grassland men don't like this etiquette!"

Zhai Baishan looked up and smiled innocently, "My dear Queen Mother, Brother Gu Zhou told me when we entered the palace that if I am not good at speaking, I should kowtow when I see the Queen Mother and the Emperor. He said that this is the highest etiquette for the people of Central Plains. Your Majesty, you are so good to me. I am indeed not good at speaking and don't know what to say, so I will kowtow to you a few more times." After he finished speaking, he was about to kowtow again, but was stopped by Manager Zhou.

Steward Zhou just put one hand on his forehead, and he couldn't knock down. Instantly he realized that the man in front of him was not simple. He looked at Steward Zhou and said, "You are so powerful! Let's have a fight, shall we? It is said that there are many masters in Wei, I also want to experience them."

Manager Zhou said with a smile: "My child, it's too early for you to fight with us now. Go back and practice more. Your simple nature is most suitable for martial arts. If you practice for another ten years, you may have the opportunity to make further progress."

As soon as Chief Steward Zhou said this, everyone in the hall started to talk again. Gu Zhou hurriedly came to Zhai Baishan and said, "If you dare to talk about fighting again, I will ask your father to punish you by not eating for three days when I go back!"

Zhai Baishan looked at Gu Zhou in surprise, and had to stand up angrily. He stood obediently beside the Zoroastrian priest, lowered his head and said nothing.

Tuoba Jun smiled and said, "Gu Zhou, it seems that you are the only one on this grassland who can control him. Can you tell me what method you used?"

Gu Zhou bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Baishan's father was originally the best fighter of our Di tribe. I have been practicing martial arts with his father since I was a child, so I grew up with Baishan and his brother. When he was a child, he often didn't have enough to eat, so I would bring him to my house for another meal. Over time, he and I became good friends, and later we went through life and death together, and entrusted our lives to each other. If I were to ask who I trust the most in this world, it would be him, and he would listen to me."