Chapter 61: Narrow Road of Enemies

  On a winter morning, people always feel lazy and don't want to get out of bed. Pang Gang also wanted to be lazy, but he couldn't do so at this moment. If he indulged in pleasure now, it was very likely that he would lose his life in the future because of today's affair.

  At dawn, when the sky was just slightly bright, a loud slogan sounded in the outer courtyard of Kong Fu. This was Pang Gang leading the soldiers to practice on an empty land in the outer courtyard.

  Pang Gang was fully armed, holding a long spear and training with the soldiers. Behind him stood thirty halberdiers and shield bearers, while sixty arquebusiers trained in firearms on the other side.

  This is a piece of land about three or four mu, originally the place where the Kong Mansion's mules and goods were parked, now temporarily occupied by Pang Gang as a training ground.

  The officers and soldiers were conducting drills, which was a novelty for the servants of the Kong Mansion. Many servants got up early to watch the Western-style exercises on the empty ground, whether they were maids or menial workers, all watched with great interest. Even Kong Rulan couldn't resist the teasing of her personal maid Ling'er and sneaked over to join in the excitement.

  Pang Gang was wearing a suit of chain armor, with an eight-sided iron helmet on his head and a long spear in his hand. He stood to one side, shouting orders: "Raise your guns!"

  "Kill!"

  Dozens of soldiers' long guns in their hands stabbed forward in unison, with a momentum that was unstoppable. The steel knives in the hands of the knife-shield soldiers behind them also flashed brightly, and with a command from the commander, they hacked at the empty air, sending chills down people's spines.

  The people in the Kong Mansion had never seen such training before, they all stretched their necks to watch with wide eyes and open mouths, some whispered to each other.

  "Second Brother Niú, take a look. Those bandits really have some skills. They're shouting so loudly and their movements are very uniform. It seems they've been practicing for quite some time."

  "Hmm, that's necessary. If this young master didn't have some ability, the old master wouldn't have married our Kong family's eldest miss to him, right?"

  "This is indeed true, when has our master ever made a losing deal?"

  Not to mention the servants whispering around, even Kong Rulan and her maid Ling'er who were secretly watching from the side were also stunned. Having grown up in the Kong Mansion since childhood, they could not have imagined that just over a hundred soldiers training together would have such an astonishing momentum.

  Kong Rulan, like many rich young ladies, enjoyed reading plays or books by talented authors in her leisure time, such as "Yu Jiao Li", "Hao Ou Zhuan", "Qin Xin Ji", "Luan Jing Ji", "Chen Qing Ji" and so on, which were also the popular fashion among the common people at that time.

  Yesterday, when her father decided to marry her off to Pang Gang at the banquet, she felt a faint sense of resentment amidst her shyness. Which young girl doesn't have romantic thoughts? Especially since Kong Rulan is currently at an age where she's just starting to develop feelings, and having read some idle books, she naturally yearns for the life of a talented and beautiful person described in them. When she suddenly heard that she was being married off to these rough and unrefined martial artists who don't understand romance, she couldn't help but feel a faint sense of loss.

  This morning, she also didn't know why, but was persuaded by Ling'er and came over in a daze. When she saw Pang Gang's majestic appearance while training the soldiers, her originally lost mood suddenly surged with a thread of sweetness.

  "Could he be my future husband?"

  Little Ling'er, who didn't know the taste of worry, said with a smile on her face: "Oh my, miss, look at those soldiers brought by Master Gao, they're so intimidating! Each and every one of them looks like they're ready to kill, it's really scary. I think from now on, no one will dare to bully us."

  After listening to Ling'er's childish words, Kong Rulan, whose mood was still a bit disheveled, couldn't help but smile: "You little scamp, always talking nonsense. Since you like him so much, I'll let him pamper you more from now on."

  Ling'er was only fifteen years old, but in ancient times, girls matured early, and fifteen was considered the age of marriage. She knew that if her own young lady got married, she would definitely have to follow suit. At this moment, hearing her young lady's joking words, she couldn't help but blush with a small face, but she didn't want to show weakness either. Immediately, she pouted and retorted: "Miss, who are you talking about? It's only been one day, and you're already so familiar with the uncle?"

  Kong Rulan's face turned red with shame as soon as she heard it, and she stretched out her delicate jade hand to pat Ling'er's small buttocks, scolding: "Well, you also dare to mock me, I must deal with you."

  "Hehe......" Ling'er giggled and ran off, laughing as she went: "What I said is the truth, isn't it? Although Master is a military general, he's also a man who knows how to be gentle and considerate. In the future, Miss will be very fortunate."

  "You're still talking!" Kong Ruo Lan became even more embarrassed and quickly chased after her, Ling'er hastily ran away, leaving behind a burst of laughter...

  At noon, after finishing lunch, Pang Gang walked to the backyard for a stroll. As it was early winter, most of the flowers in the garden had withered, except for a few plum blossoms that were blooming proudly. Pang Gang walked up to the plum blossoms and took a deep breath, and a faint fragrance wafted into his nostrils, refreshing his mind and spirit.

  Pang Gang slowly walked towards the garden exit on the other side, just about to return to his room, when suddenly a few people came walking from the front. At the lead were Kong Wen and an old man wearing a light blue robe, behind them were Kong Lin and another young man wearing a white robe. Kong Wen was explaining something to the old man in light blue, who was walking ahead of him with great care, but the old man's face looked very unpleasant, clearly not giving Kong Wen any face.

  Both sides soon met and stopped in their tracks. When Kong Wen saw Pang Gang, he hastily introduced: "Lord Sun, Young Master Sun, this is the Ling Mountain Wei of Qingzhou, Commander Pang Baihu, who has just been engaged to my little daughter. Son-in-law, this is Lord Sun Zili, who has just retired and returned to his hometown, and his son, Young Master Sun Xiyi. Come quickly and pay your respects to Lord Sun."

  As soon as Kong Wen spoke, everyone's eyes focused on him, and Pang Gang also recognized the two men who had been making trouble for Jibaozhai recently - Sun Xiyu and his father. Objectively speaking, the selling style of Sun Zhili and Sun Xiyu, the two fathers and sons, was very good, at least better than Pang Gang in terms of appearance. The elder Sun Zhili was slender, with three wisps of whiskers under his chin combed neatly, exuding a strong literary air. Just standing there, he gave off a strong official aura that was overwhelming. As for the younger Sun Shilin, he had a kind of androgynous beauty, but Pang Gang always felt that there was a hint of darkness in their eyes, which made people feel very uncomfortable.

  At this time, Sun Zili, the former Minister of Rites who had retired and returned to his hometown, spoke up. He stroked his three tufts of beard under his chin and asked in a calm tone, "So you're the one chosen by the head of the Kong family as the son-in-law with the dragon's speed? You really are young and promising."

  "This old man is so ambiguous when he speaks." Pang Gang cursed in his heart, "If you're young and promising, then be young and promising, but he had to add the words 'looks like' in front of it, this is clearly belittling people."

  "I don't dare to accept!" Pang Gang, who was increasingly displeased in his heart, cupped his hands and said modestly: "Pang Mou is only fortunate enough to have been mistakenly favored by General Yue Fei, who has betrothed Miss Rouran to me. I do not dare to trouble the elders with praise."

  "Hmm!" Everyone was stunned after hearing this. Sun Zili, the former Minister of Rites, had retired from his position and was a second-grade official in the imperial court. Generally, people would respectfully address him as "Your Excellency", but he was called "Elder" instead. Although it couldn't be said that Pang Gang was wrong to call him "Elder", Pang Gang had never met Sun Zili before, and he was only a low-ranking fifth-grade military officer. According to reason, he should have knelt down and paid his respects when meeting the second-grade civil official, but instead, he called him "Elder" as soon as he opened his mouth. Wasn't this a sarcastic remark that Sun Zili had already retired and was no longer an official in the imperial court, so it wasn't worth calling him "Your Excellency"?

  Sun Zili's face slowly sank, although he held back his identity and didn't say much, but the one behind him didn't have such good breeding.

  Sun Xiyi, who had been harboring hatred towards this rough and rude martial artist for daring to snatch away the woman he had set his sights on, immediately jumped out from behind and loudly scolded him upon hearing that this small martial officer dared to be so disdainful of his own father.

  Thanks for the reward from 神不是** and 一剑飘123!

  Atop went to Sanjiang today, it's not easy! Whether this book can continue or not depends on all of you. Book-reading friends, please give Atop a click, recommendation and collection!