Chapter 39 Extracurricular

Chaoyang Gate is the main city gate on the east side of Nanjing City.Out of the city to the east, there are official roads leading to Jurong and Danyang.On both sides of the official road, row upon row of houses and shops stretch out from under the city wall.It was already daylight now, and the streets became lively.There was an endless stream of firewood and vegetable loads rushing to the city for sale.People running idle errands and looking for work also began to wander around.A pig with its four hooves upside down was carried by two strong men, and it walked past groaningly; two ox carts full of charcoal creaked and creaked forward, and were suddenly stopped by someone. , so I stopped temporarily and started bargaining...

Chen Zhenhui came to the exit of the alley, stood still first, looked at the tall and majestic city gate at the west end, and found that the situation there was as usual, and there was no special movement, so she shifted her gaze to the pedestrians on the street.Because Hou Fangyu said just now that the leaders of those idlers and rogues have promised again that they will lead their disciples to help out, so now he wants to confirm whether those people have come or not?However, this is actually difficult to identify.Although there were indeed some people who looked like idlers wandering around, Chen Zhenhui couldn't tell for sure. "Well, those bosses are quite trustworthy. Since they have accepted the money, they probably won't cheat!" After comforting himself in this way, he withdrew his gaze, crossed the street diagonally, and walked towards the opposite alley.

This is an alley where the bamboo industry gathers.At a glance, there are many moso bamboos of different thicknesses arranged in bundles beside the lanes and the walls of the houses; a fishy and damp smell unique to bamboo rows floats in the air.Not far from the alley, there is a small tea house.That is the gathering place that the social friends pre-booked.Now, Chen Zhenhui has stepped into the door, and at the same time, she heard Mei Langzhong's excited voice saying: "Everyone, that Mayao Herbal was originally a criminal minister. It wasn't until two years ago that Ruan Huzi spent money to buy Zhou Yanru's doorway, so he was restored to office. What virtue and ability did he have? Instead, it’s really extremely arrogant. Is it tolerable, which one is unbearable?"

"That's right!" Another voice came up, it was Lu Wei, a student of the Imperial College who participated in the letter to the imperial court, "This time, the succession of the great reunification is due to the destiny, not human power. He Ma Yaocao is greedy Taking the merits as his own, proudly calling himself Yi Dai Yuanxun, I really don’t know that there are shameful things in the world! Now..." He was about to continue, when he suddenly saw Chen Zhenhui approaching him, he stopped. Chen Zhenhui nodded to Mei and Lu, and then looked around.He found that in the small tea house, there were ten or twenty people sitting at least, and they were all gentlemen in square scarves and Confucian clothes. They were drinking tea while listening to Mei and Lu quietly. say.Seeing Chen Zhenhui coming, those who knew her stood up and greeted her affectionately.

Chen Zhenhui politely returned the salute, and exchanged names with those who hadn't met one by one, and said words like "I have long admired you" as usual.Then, he asked Mei Langzhong about the situation, and when he learned that the people had almost arrived, and everyone was very excited, they were determined to save Shi Kefa even at the cost of their lives. Chen Zhenhui was very moved.In fact, at this moment, I am afraid that only he knows the price that everyone will pay because of this generous promise; and for him, how important and precious this kind of selfless and fearless support is.So he folded his hands on his chest and said excitedly:

"You gentlemen resolutely came to the gathering today to join in the charitable deeds, which fully proves that the hearts of the people are not dead, the righteousness is still there, and the Ming Dynasty will never perish! Thank you Zhenhui!" After speaking, he bowed deeply.After expressing this, he thought that there were still two meeting places that had not yet been inspected. Time was running out, and Shi Kefa might come anytime, so he didn't dare to stay long, and told everyone to wait patiently, when to act, wait for the notice, and then hurry exited the door. Half a quarter later, Chen Zhenhui was already walking in another alley.Moved by everyone's sincerity in serving the country, he still feels agitated at this moment; at the same time, he also has a sense of responsibility. "Yes, this time blocking the street, we must try to be resolute, fierce and steady, and try to avoid big troubles. In this way, even if the court wants to investigate in the future, it will not lead to a big prison, at least it can make most people People will be saved!" He silently warned himself.

However, when he stepped into the idle house temporarily borrowed from a wealthy family, he unexpectedly discovered that the order inside seemed a bit chaotic for some reason.People stood scattered in groups of three or five, discussing a lot, but they couldn't see the leader Wu Yingji.Chen Zhenhui was a little puzzled when she suddenly heard someone calling from behind: "Brother Dingsheng!" Chen Zhenhui looked back, and it turned out that Yu Huai had come back from the outside.Because he left in a hurry, he looked a little annoyed, and a rare anxious expression appeared on his smart and delicate face.

"Brother is looking for brother!" Yu Huai walked up to him, and said, "Brother must stop the second one to succeed!" "Oh, what?" Yu Huai wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, took a breath, and was about to answer when a few scholars nearby gathered around and said in one go: "Brother Dingsheng, how did this happen?" "If you want to do it like this, the younger generation will have to quit!" "Yes, quit, quit!" Chen Zhenhui was taken aback, and hurriedly asked: "Everyone, what's going on?" "That's it..." Everyone yelled again in a swarm, but they couldn't hear clearly because they were anxious and chaotic.In the end, it was Yu Huai who waved his hand, stopped everyone, and said the matter again.It turned out that although Wu Yingji was the leader of this group, he arrived very late today.Not only that, but he also brought seven or eight people who looked like gangsters, each armed with sharp weapons and with rough expressions.After Wu Yingji arrived, he called everyone together, and asked the gangsters to bring two bundles of wooden sticks, asking everyone to get one, and said that today's events can be big or small, in case there is a civil uprising , Everyone has a wooden stick, so they can defend themselves against enemies and so on.In this way, everyone was scared to panic.Because it was clearly agreed beforehand, when the time came, they would just block the street and kowtow, prostrate on the ground to petition, and never said that they would use force.Yu Huai also tried his best to dissuade him from the sidelines, but Wu Yingji refused to listen.

"Then where is the end now?" Surprised and annoyed by this extravagant nonsense, Chen Zhenhui immediately asked. "In the courtyard behind." A young Confucian scholar replied. "Ah, here he comes!" said another. Chen Zhenhui looked back and found that Wu Yingji was coming out of the small door next to the main room, holding a black wooden stick in his hand.Chen Zhenhui immediately separated from the crowd, strode forward, and asked without saying a word: "Ciwei, how can you do this? Didn't you say it clearly in advance, why did you get these guys?"

Wu Yingji glanced at his friend, knowing that he was wrong, so he kept a straight face and didn't answer. After a while, seeing Chen Zhenhui staring at him closely, he said in a low voice, "Brother is taking precautions before they happen!" "Prevent it before it happens? Brother, if you act like this, you will only invite your own troubles! No, no! Get rid of these guys and those people immediately!" Wu Yingji didn't say anything, but he didn't intend to follow suit.He stood motionless, with a stubborn and stubborn expression on his dark and thin face. Chen Zhenhui's eyes widened, and her face turned livid.He stomped his feet vigorously: "Okay, okay, since this is the case, forget it! No one cares about today's matter—disband!"

Seeing that Chen Zhenhui was furious, Yu Huai took the opportunity to resolve it. "Okay, okay, you two don't have to be like this. Brother Dingsheng, please don't be angry, and brother Ciwei, don't insist. How this matter was decided at the beginning, we should do whatever we want!" He said, winking at Chen Zhenhui, Immediately, he stepped forward and reached out to take the stick from Wu Yingji's hand. This time, Wu Yingji didn't resist, but with a sullen face, he flicked his sleeves, took big steps, and walked towards the main room. Yu Huai didn't stop him, he held the stick, blinked at Chen Zhenhui, and said, "Okay, it's okay. If you don't have time, please do it yourself. Everyone here has a brother!" After speaking, he made a gesture of excuse me, turned around, and hurriedly followed into the main room.