Back house.

Hua Yaozu and his wife called all the servants around them out, closed the door, and asked: "Ze'er, tell me what's going on. Why did the officials suddenly confer you a title?"

Naturally, Hua Ju couldn't tell them the real situation, so he made up a random story, saying that Huizong went out to play incognito today and suddenly fainted, and he happened to pass by and rescued him.

"This is the fan he gave me." Hua Ju handed the royal fan to Hua Yaozu.

Hua Yaozu was about to kneel down to receive it, but Hua Ju stopped him and said, "Dad, this is at home, there is no need for this."

Hua Yaozu said sternly: "This is a gift from the official family, so you must not disrespect it."

"This is just a fan. It's not in front of him. He won't know if you kneel down to the fan."

Hua Ju didn't say much to his father, but simply put the fan into his hand, then walked to the table and sat down, picked up the kettle and poured a glass of water to drink.

Hua Yaozu carefully held the fan and looked at it carefully with his wife for a while, then placed the fan on the table in front of him and both knelt down to kowtow to the fan.

Seeing her father and mother worshiping the fan devoutly like worshiping gods, Hua Ju shook his head, stood up and said, "You guys worship slowly, I'm going back to the house."

"Wait a minute."

Hua Yaozu stood up and walked to him and said, "You are going to the palace tomorrow to express your gratitude. Do you want to prepare some thank-you gifts for the officials?"

"Thank you!"

"Yes, you are not allowed to bring any gifts of thanks when entering the palace to express gratitude."

This was the first time Hua Juzha heard that he had to bring gifts when he entered the palace to express his gratitude. He almost laughed out loud and said, "Dad, that's the emperor. What do you think our family can do to impress him?"

Hua Yaozu thought about it and it was indeed true. He was the emperor and the entire Song Dynasty belonged to him, so he would look at the things given by ordinary people.

"Then what should I do? Is it possible to go empty-handed?"

Hua Yaozu frowned and said, "No one I know has ever come to the palace to express gratitude. I can't find anyone even if I try to ask. What should I do?"

Seeing his father's serious and worried look, Hua Ju walked up to him, looked him up and down, and said jokingly: "Dad, I found that you have a talent for comedy."

Hua Yaozu didn't understand what he meant and asked: "Comedy talent, what does it mean?"

"nothing."

Hua Ju originally wanted to make a joke, but then he decided to forget it and waved his hand and left.

"This is serious business, why are you leaving?" Hua Yaozu shouted.

Hua Ju turned around and stepped back, saying, "Don't worry about this, I know what to do."

"you you--"

Hua Yaozu also wanted to call Hua Ju back, but Zheng walked up to him and said, "Ze Ke is old and has his own ideas about things. Let's not worry about it and let him figure it out on his own."

"I'm worried that he is young and careless. If he messes up, he will be in trouble."

Mrs. Zheng was not worried at all and said: "Although Ze'er is still young, he acts and speaks with reason and integrity. Since he says he knows what to do, he must already know what to do."

Why didn't Hua Yaozu know that his son was outstanding? As a father, he wanted to help his son think more carefully. After all, the Hua family finally had a knight, and they didn't want to be dismissed from the title because of mistakes in some details.

Looking at the imperial fan on the table, Hua Yaozu couldn't restrain his inner joy and said, "I really didn't expect this kid to be knighted."

The Hua family was a businessman's family, with a low social status. They had to smile at everyone they met. They were often exploited by official officials and gangsters, which made them miserable.

Now that someone in the family has been awarded a title, I will no longer be afraid of those people.

Mrs. Zheng said: "Didn't the Taoist priest who treated Ze'er say that in the future, Ze'er will definitely become famous. He will be blessed and wealthy. If you forget, I will."

Hua Yaozu patted his forehead and said: "I also remembered what you said. The unknown Taoist priest did say that I have been so busy these years that I forgot about it. It seems that the Taoist priest is not simple, maybe he is

The gods came down to earth specifically to enlighten the zelkova."

Mrs. Zheng said with deep feeling: "When Ju'er grows up, we will no longer have to worry about his affairs. We just need to take care of the family affairs and not hold him back."

Mrs. Zheng has always been strict with Hua Ju. First, she is worried that something will happen to him, and second, she is worried that he will learn bad things outside.

But through his handling of Shang Jincai's matter just now, as well as his calmness in the face of the imperial edict and his ease in dealing with Yang Jian, she realized that Hua Ju had grown up and was more experienced in acting and speaking than their parents, and there was no need for her to continue.

If you are worried, you can let him go through the ups and downs.

Hua Yaozu nodded, gently touched the imperial fan, and said with emotion: "Yes, it is indeed time to let go."

On the left side of the back house, there is a small single courtyard, which is Hua Ju's residence.

His yard is very unique. It has two yards, front and back. There are flowers and plants in the front yard, there is a rockery, and there is a stone table under the tree. You can sit under the tree to drink tea and read in your free time. Anyone who enters will know that this is the residence of a scholar.

The place.

But the courtyard is a different scene. There are no furnishings for literati, but some things that would be used by martial arts practitioners.

On the left side of the wall, six pairs of large and small stone locks, six stone burdens, and a two-and-a-half-meter-high wooden frame made of logs are neatly placed. A two-meter-high wooden frame made of cowhide is hung with an iron chain in the middle.

A boxing bag that is long, two feet in diameter and wide, filled with sand.

On the right side stood eighty-one wooden piles as thick as a bowl and two meters high. The distance between the wooden piles was just enough for a person to walk sideways.

Only Hua Ju can enter this backyard. The stone locks, stone burdens, sandbags, and wooden stakes are all used by him for daily practice.

When his master left, he told him to practice diligently every day without slacking off, so he set up wooden stakes in the yard, found these stone locks and burdens, and made a special boxing sandbag. He practiced diligently every morning, noon, and night.

, six years, no matter it is hot summer or cold winter, it has never stopped.

Hua Ju pushed open the door and entered the backyard, closed the door, took off the scholar's long shirt he was wearing, walked to the stone lock, picked up the smallest pair, and started practicing.

These six pairs of stone locks, from large to small, weigh twenty kilograms each, forty kilograms, sixty kilograms, eighty kilograms, one hundred kilograms, and one hundred and twenty kilograms each.

At the beginning, Hua Ju could only train twenty kilograms. One year later, he could train forty kilograms. Another year, he could train sixty kilograms. Now, three years later, he has been able to train two kilograms at the same time.

One hundred and twenty pounds.

Of course, he was able to build a 120-pound stone lock in just six years. Apart from his own diligent training, the biggest contribution was due to the six strength-enhancing pills left by his master.

These six pills are called "Tiger Power Pills". They were made by his master by collecting dozens of precious medicinal materials. They can make you stronger after taking them.

However, "Huli Dan" is very powerful and you can only take one pill every year. Swallowing two pills at the same time is too much for your body, so you need to take it step by step. And after each dose, you need to soak it in hot potion for six hours.

, otherwise there will be danger.

Hua Ju takes one pill every year for six years, and the last pill was taken at the beginning of this year.

It was precisely with the help of six "Tiger Power Pills" that he was able to increase his strength in just six years.

Currently, except for the pair of stone locks weighing 120 kilograms, which are a little slow and laborious for him to practice, the rest can be easily danced, especially the three pairs weighing less than 80 kilograms.

No effort required.

Hua Ju practiced all six pairs of stone locks from childhood to adulthood, and then started practicing stone burdens.

The stone burden is very similar to the weightlifting barbell, except that the barbell uses iron plates, while the stone burden uses round stones at both ends.

The weights of these six stone burdens from small to large are 40 jins, 80 jins, 120 jins, 160 jins and 240 jins.

Practicing Shidanzi is the same as practicing Shisuo. There are no special moves. Just try to make the Shidanzi move freely in your hands. The longer you can persist, the more helpful it will be to improve your strength.

Now Hua Ju can swing the rest easily except for the 240-pound stone burden, which he still struggles with during practice.

After practicing the stone burden, Hua Ju immediately walked to the boxing sandbag and started practicing against the boxing sandbag.

This boxing sandbag weighs more than 160 kilograms. The sand is first packed with three layers of coarse cloth inside, and then covered with cowhide that has been treated with a special method on the outside. This makes it stronger and more durable.

Flat uppercut, straight punch, left swing punch, right swing punch, horizontal kick, side kick, and back kick.

Hua Ju continued to increase his strength, and the boxing sandbag moved more and more violently. The wooden frame used to fix the boxing sandbag also made a "creak, creak" sound, as if it was about to collapse at any time.

After practicing for about half an hour, Huaju stopped.

After taking a short rest, he walked to the wooden pile, slid his body sideways into the middle of the wooden pile, and walked around inside. At the beginning, he turned slowly, but the further back he moved, the faster he moved, but his body never touched

to any stake.

This is a movement exercise. His master said that only with flexible movement can one gain the upper hand in a battle, so he was asked to practice this method every day.

After walking around the wooden pile several times, Hua Ju came out of the wooden pile, stood in front of the wooden pile and did a few breaths. After his breath was evened out, he jumped onto the wooden pile and started walking around on the wooden pile.

Going around the middle of the wooden piles is about practicing dodge skills, while going around on the top of the wooden piles is about practicing stability. No matter how fast you go around, jump, or turn back quickly, you must keep your body balanced, otherwise you will fall.

When he first started practicing walking piles, Huaju fell off the top countless times. He even occasionally dropped piles in the first two years. It was only after he became more proficient in the past two years that he didn't fall again.

After finishing walking on the pile, Huaju finished breathing the breath on the pile, jumped off the pile, picked up the clothes he took off, went back to the house and closed the door. Without lighting the lamp, he went directly to bed, crossed his legs and began to meditate and practice the breath.

This kind of breathing practice was also taught to him by his master, but after six years of practicing it, except that he felt very comfortable and his mind was clearer after every breathing session, it did not improve his own strength in any way.

However, this is a required course taught by his master, so even though it is of no use, he still practices it every day.

One night has passed, and a new day is coming.

Before dawn, Hua Ju would get up and start practicing the exercises. When he finished the exercises, it would be full daylight.

After taking a rest, he went to take a bath, then went to have breakfast with his parents, and then waited in the front hall for Yang Jian to send someone to take him into the palace.

During this period, Hua Yaozu and his wife repeatedly told him to be careful when speaking in the palace and not to offend the officials.

"I know, I'm not stupid. He's the emperor. How could I go against him? Dad, mother, please stop talking. Besides, I'm getting nervous because of you." Facing his parents' repeated nagging, Hua Ju said

He said helplessly.

"Aren't we worried that you will make a mistake? This is an interview with the Emperor, so we can't be careless. Okay, if you don't want to hear it, we won't say anything."
To be continued...