Handbook for Avoiding the Court

The knock on the door rang a few times again, Zhou Zhi sat on the ground slumped, he almost peed his pants, the knock on the door over and over again really pissed him off, he yelled at the unlucky kid outside the door : "Get out!"

It was extremely cold in the early morning, especially on the lake, and the cold wind was still carrying water mist. A servant in a gray short coat was carrying a basin of hot water, with a towel on his shoulders, and four servant girls followed him.

Hearing the angry voice inside, they walked in tremblingly one by one.

The maids put the cakes on the table, changed the charcoal fire, and poured hot tea. The other two waited on Zhou Zhi to dress and wash, and the gray-coated attendants lit the incense. go out.

"Wait!" Zhou Zhi lowered his eyes lazily, but his voice was icy cold, "Bring me Butler Zhou!"

Zhou Zhi's affairs on the cruise ship, no one in the entire Zhou Mansion except Zhou Xian knew about it. As for the dandies on the other ships, they all respected him as their ancestors, and they must not betray him, after all, except for him, the God of Wealth , who will take them to eat and drink spicy food, sing and sing every night, drunk and dreamy, who will not be nostalgic.

"Master..." Before the gray-coated servant went to pick him up, Zhou Xian rushed in scrambling.

"Zhou Xian, how many years have you been serving me?"

"Go back to Master, it's been 35 years, Master, I...I have no other choice, that man caught my Xiang'er...I...I'm sorry, Master..." Zhou Xian clenched the corners of his clothes tightly with both hands, tears streaming down his face, and looked at him. It's heartbreaking.

Zhou Zhi had a cold face, with a murderous look in his eyes: "You mean my life is not as good as Zhou Xiang's? Should I die or is my life cheap?"

"No, master, that person said it, just to ask the master something, and it will never hurt the master at all." Zhou Xian hurriedly touched his forehead to the ground, knocking one after another, and there were muffled "dong dong" sounds in the cabin. Surprised, the servant girls on the side all lowered their heads and dared not take a look.

"Then what do you see on Master Ben's neck?" Zhou Zhi raised his hand and pulled at his collar, revealing the thin scar.

Zhou Xian raised his eyes to look at the wound, his face was ashen-colored, and after a while, he closed his eyes slightly, took out a short knife from his sleeve, and aimed a knife at his palm, four fingers rolled neatly aside, Clean and neat.

The timid servant girl screamed out, then fell to the ground and passed out.

With a blank expression on his face, Zhou Zhi waved his hand, and the gray short-coated entourage, as if they had received a pardon, hurriedly dragged the fallen servant girl out quickly.

Zhou Xian was sweating profusely, his whole body was trembling violently, his spine seemed to be pulled away and he sat slumped on the ground.

Zhou Zhi didn't care, picked up the hot tea on the table, sipped it slowly, and said after a long time, "Go back to the mansion and escort all the young masters and ladies back to the countryside. If you dare to leak the slightest bit of information, I will Even the heads of your family are taken away, that's fine, get out of here! Bad luck."

Zhou Xiande made his figure shake and retreated.

At this time, Fang Ji did not go too far. He lay on the horse's back, holding the reins tightly with both hands, and let the white horse gallop freely.

Fang Ji had planned to let Zhou Zhi tell all the secrets he wanted to know, but God failed, his inner power was suddenly out of his control, rampaging in his body, as if it was about to burst out at any time.

Fang Ji's heart sank immediately, he forcibly suppressed the scurrying internal force and escaped from the cruise ship, this was the first time he had seen such a situation, Fang Ji thought about it for a long time, perhaps it was caused by the flame beads, now his own internal force has increased suddenly compared to before Doubled, the body will not be able to integrate this menacing internal force for a while, and I don't know how long this situation will last?

Whether this is a blessing or a curse, I really can't tell.

Probably because Fang Ji was overheated all over, and the white horse was so hot that he came to the edge of a cold pool with his hunchback, pouted his hoof, shook Fang Ji off his horse, and fell into the cold pool.

A huge splash was thrown from the calm cold pool. The weather in early spring was already freezing cold, but when it plunged into the cold pool suddenly, Fang Ji only felt that he was in the realm of ice and fire.

Fang Ji took out his dagger and stuck it on the wall of the pool, holding his hands tightly to prevent himself from sinking. The internal force in his body made him uncomfortable, and the cold on his body made him tremble all over. He stayed up all night, Fang Ji thought in his heart , I am not going to die here.

I don't know if it was the effect of the cold pool, but after about half an hour, Fang Ji obviously felt that the internal force in his body gradually calmed down.

Fang Ji was really exhausted. He stepped on the moss-covered cold pool wall, pulled out his dagger, and jumped to the ground. He didn't care about getting wet, and lay down on the spot. In the sky, the sky was full of sunshine, it was a good weather, but it was too glaring, Fang Ji smiled wryly, and murmured: "Ah Jin, I'm so tired..." Then he couldn't hold on any longer, and fell into a deep sleep.

Fang Ji woke up under a burst of cold stimulation, the white horse stood by his side, sticking out his tongue to lick his face from time to time, it was wet and warm.

It turned out that he was still alive.

Fang Ji looked at the setting sun that was gradually sinking. It turned out that he had slept for almost a whole day, and his wet clothes had already been dried.

Fang Ji lifted up his robe and shook it, collected himself, smiled and said, "It's easy." Then he stood up, jumped on the horseback, and left in the dust.

Fang Ji originally planned to hurry back to Ningcheng, but he never thought that he fell asleep halfway and delayed the important event. It would be impossible to reach Qingliang Temple before dark. , Fang Ji suddenly remembered something, since passing by, why not...

Finally arrived at Rushi Village when night fell. The village was brightly lit and festive. A group of men, women and children were around a long table pushing cups and changing glasses, talking and laughing.

Fang Ji was a little hesitant. He had always avoided such occasions. Fang Ji took back his foot from entering the gate of the village, and wandered outside the village alone to enjoy the cool breeze.

"Who is outside the door?" An old man's voice came out.

As soon as Fang Ji heard it, he knew it was calling him. Since he was seen, it was hard to dodge, so he went in bravely.

The bustling people in the village fell silent for a moment, and all of them stared curiously at the unexpected visitor.

Fang Ji bowed to the crowd, and was having a headache on how to speak, when an old man staggered over with a wine jar, Fang Ji saw who he was at a glance.

"Uncle Xu!" Fang Ji stepped forward excitedly, took the old man's skinny hand, and bowed respectfully to him.

With a smile, the old man nodded to Fang Ji, but said in his mouth, "Who are you?"

Fang Ji looked at the old man, his face was vicissitudes, his body was thin, and his temples were grizzled, which was very different from Xu Changxu in his memory. When he was a child, Xu Changxu often took his little hand to walk around various shops. I don't like to study, I always touch my head, and I don't get annoyed. I teach him over and over again. That chiseled face and those warm eyes are like a bright light, making his life dull and boring. With a little bright brilliance.

It's just that it's only been six or seven years, and it's embarrassing that this person has aged like this.

Xu Changxu and Fang Qimin are called masters and servants, but in fact they are like brothers, but the good times didn't last long. After Fang Qimin passed away, Fang Rumeng found an excuse to fire him. Because of Fang Ji's lack of memory, the following six or seven years, Fang Ji never saw him again.

"Uncle Xu, Ah Ji is here to see you." Fang Ji's throat choked, and his heart was sore.

Xu Changxu was probably a little dazed from drinking, but after hearing these words, his mind cleared up a lot. He tried hard to open his hazy eyes, stared at Fang Ji carefully for a long time, his voice trembling: "Ji'er..."

Without waiting for Fang Ji's response, he took his hand and walked towards the inner courtyard, and then there were cheers from the crowd outside.

The moment Fang Ji stepped into the small courtyard, Fang Ji's heart was even more sour. The bleak and desolate small courtyard, the rotten wooden door, even the threshold was missing, and the two crooked windows were shaking in the cold wind.

Fang Ji asked in disbelief: "Uncle Xu, is this your yard?"

Xu Changxu leaned against the wooden door, hidden in the shadows, but could vaguely see a pair of smiling eyebrows, he said leisurely: "The loess is up to the neck, and any residence is the same, but in the end it is just a coffin wrapped around the body."

Hearing this, Fang Ji felt an inexplicable feeling of desolation in his heart, but he was puzzled. Uncle Xu had been the housekeeper of Fang's family for 20 years, so he had some savings. Why?

Before Fang Ji could ask, Xu Changxu said eloquently: "I was too busy before, and I never took a good look at your aunt. When she was dying, I realized that I regretted it. Even if I took her to search all over the world for miracle doctors, they couldn't save her. Returning her life, I'm afraid I can't make up for it in this life, I hope I can meet her in the next life, I don't know if she will recognize me after crossing the Naihe Bridge and drinking Mengpo soup..." After saying that, Xu Changxu He took a few sips of wine hard, not knowing whether it was choking or sad, a tear hung from the corner of his eye, but it never fell.

These words deeply hurt Fang Ji's heart. He seemed to see his future appearance through Xu Changxu's loneliness. He turned his face away, not daring to look any more. .

Xu Changxu put down the wine jar, looked at the dark sky, and said, "Ji'er, what are you doing here?"

Hearing this, Fang Ji put away his confused thoughts and said, "I want to ask Uncle Xu to return to Fang's house and continue to serve as the chief housekeeper. I want Uncle Xu to help me regain the status of the head of the Fang family."

Xu Changxu smiled bitterly and said: "I have been away from the Fang family for many years, and now the Fang family's employees are all your mother's people. Even if I want to go back to help you, I am afraid that I will be powerless. The people under my command will not listen to me."

Fang Ji naturally knew about these things, but he had no arrows to turn back, no matter how hard it was, he had to persevere.

"Uncle Xu, don't worry, as long as you help me find those who were in charge before, I will naturally have a way to get rid of my mother's people one by one."

Xu Changxu rubbed his forehead, trying to recall those old people who were devoted to Fang's family, he straightened his mind, and said, "Are all the managers of Fang's family still at your disposal? The real power is firmly in the hands of your mother." , she won't let go easily."

"The private seal of the head of the Fang family is in my hands, but the keys to the property and the official seal are in the hands of my mother. Naturally, the major managers of the Fang family listen to my mother, and it is only a few old shopkeepers who admit the private seal of the head of the family. Yes, I want to defeat them one by one. If it is not possible, I will ask the three elders of the Fang family to come forward and directly ask my mother to give up the position of head of the family."

Xu Changxu thought for a long time, and said: "You also know the identity of your grandfather. If those three old things are allowed to come forward, I'm afraid they will only make you worse, and they won't really help you. They are eyeing the other family's property, how can they make you foolish?" The child takes over the Fang family's property, even if you become the head of the family, as long as your mother is still there, all the people under her will belong to her, and you are probably just a puppet who has no real power."

"In recent years, I have occasionally checked the accounts of the Fang family, and found that the Fang family has not had any income over the years. Even if it is a shop with a good business, when I ask the accountant, they are secretive and refuse to tell the truth. I suspect that my mother has embezzled it. But I can't find out where the money went."

Xu Changxu remained silent. Although he was not very optimistic about this fledgling Fang Ji, Fang Qimin Jiuquan should be relieved that he had the will to take over the Fang family. However, how could this inexperienced young man belong to his mother? opponent.

Seeing that Xu Changxu hesitated to speak, Fang Ji lowered his eyes and said with a gloomy expression, "If Uncle Xu doesn't want to..."

"No, no, uncle Xu is naturally willing. If you have such a heart, your grandfather Jiuquan should also laugh. It's just that this road is hard. Are you really willing to go on?" Xu Changxu sighed.

Of course Fang Ji is unwilling, but what can he do, he can't help himself.

A gust of cold wind blew in, and a few dead leaves floated in from the small courtyard, and the sound of guqin suddenly sounded outside, like a mountain spring, crisp and euphemistic, with a twist of the ending, it was like a lover whispering softly.

Fang Ji's heart warmed up, and he remembered that New Year's Eve, when Mo Jin stroked the zither and danced the sword himself, flowers fell one after another, full of warmth.

Fang Ji became more determined

"Uncle Xu, this is the list from the Meng Family Winery. I ordered a carload of good wine there, and it will be delivered to the village tomorrow. This is a small wish from me." Fang Ji handed the list to Xu Changxu, and said : "I will not disappoint Uncle Xu."

Xu Changxu took the list, looked into Fang Ji's determined eyes, patted Fang Ji's shoulder, and said with a smile, "Ji'er has grown up, don't worry, uncle will help you."

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