Chapter 345 Whatever you want to explain, I will beat you
However, Xu Yunfan didn’t have to go to work anymore. The people from the Ministry of Industry couldn’t find him in the Hanlin Academy, so they simply came to his door.
There was no way. Xu Yunfan had written everything about the highway clearly and clearly in the project book, but when it came to actual construction, it was extremely difficult.
How to blast a mountain? What to use?
Everyone knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. However, the problem is that this road needs to be built from east to west. According to Xu Yunfan's plan, this route is indeed the most suitable at present. However, there is a small hill in the middle. It is not high, but it is several hundred meters high. It is estimated that it will take several months to move it manually.
If we turn a corner, not only will the workload increase, but we will also have to cross a large river in the middle. In this case, this road will be unbuildable.
Lord Qi came in person, and Xu Yunfan had to see him. Fang Zixi hurriedly invited him in, poured him a cup of hot tea, and then went to the study to call Xu Yunfan out.
When Xu Yunfan heard that Lord Qi was coming, he felt like he had seen a savior. He looked at Xiao Hengzhi, who had been supervising him all morning, and after Xiao Hengzhi helplessly held his forehead and waved his hand to tell him to get out, he ran away.
Xiao Hengzhi looked at Xu Yunfan's impatient back and took a deep breath.
The voice arrived before the person arrived. Xu Yunfan was still outside the house. "Lao Qi, long time no see."
Listen to this disrespectful tone. If it were anyone else, they would probably say that Xu Yunfan didn't know the rules, but Lord Qi was very happy.
After learning about Master Qi's intention, Xu Yunfan frowned and said, "I have neglected this matter. In that case, I will go with you personally."
"Is this okay? Don't you still have to take part in the imperial examination? It's just a few days away." Lord Qi went to the Hanlin Academy and couldn't find Xu Yunfan, only to learn that Xiao Hengzhi had asked for leave for him, allowing him to stay at home and read books to prepare for the imperial examination.
Xu Yunfan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I've already read the book. It's just the imperial examination. It's nothing special. If I want to, it will be easy. You can't do this without me. The power of explosives is not to be underestimated. One mistake will hurt people. This matter is of great importance. It is a matter of national importance and involves human lives. How can this scholar stay out of it? Let's go together tomorrow morning."
"This..." Lord Qi was in a dilemma. If he delayed Xu Yunfan's time because of this, Xiao Hengzhi would definitely skin him alive. "This is not good. What if the imperial examination is delayed?"
The imperial examination cannot wait for anyone, and the mountain blasting issue can be postponed for two days at most.
"How could that be? We can go there on horseback, and the round trip will only take a few days. I'll assume you're delayed there for two or three days, so the round trip and the return trip will only take four or five days. There's no delay."
Fang Zixi on the side sighed softly. In order not to be restrained by Xiao Hengzhi, Xu Yunfan would rather go to work than read.
Upon learning that Xu Yunfan was going out again, Xiaobao and the other children were reluctant to let him go. Xu Yunfan comforted them and waited until Lord Qi and his guards came over before he jumped on his horse.
"Yunfan." Qin Run was holding Xiaobao. Seeing that the person was about to leave, he couldn't help but take two steps closer, looking up at the person, full of reluctance to let go.
Xu Yunfan bent down and kissed Qin Run under Xiaobao's aggrieved gaze. "Don't worry, I'll be back in two days. It won't be too long. Just wait for me at home."
Qin Run nodded, "Well, be careful and don't get hurt." Xu Yunfan told him last night that this was a very dangerous thing. He was worried because other people had never used explosives.
Compared to Qin Run's reluctance, Xu Yunfan said heartlessly, "I know, don't worry, I know you will feel bad if I get hurt, I can't bear to make you feel bad, please don't be so reluctant to leave me, if you are like this, I don't want to go far away."
In front of Xiaobao, Qin Run couldn't say anything else. He held Xiaobao's butt with one hand and used his free hand to stroke Xu Yunfan's neck. He kissed Xu Yunfan on the face again and again, "Go ahead. Remember to come back early when you finish your work."
Xu Yunfan rode a tall horse, looked back frequently, and left reluctantly.
He knew that he would be back in just four or five days, but every time he looked back and saw the person standing outside the gate, his reluctance to leave grew instead of diminishing.
When they arrived at Lijia Village, Xu Yunfan didn't even have time to rest. He took a dozen guards with him and went up the mountain carrying a bag of explosives.
When they heard that soldiers had come to Lijia Village to blow up the mountain, the nearby villagers were very curious. From the seventy-year-old man to the toddler, no one had ever seen a mountain being blown up. The rocks on the mountain were so hard, how could they do it?
Out of curiosity, young and old came to see it.
In order to prevent flying debris and rolling stones from injuring people, Xu Yunfan had people set up a cordon around the hill to prevent people from approaching.
Before going up the mountain, Lord Qi asked Wu Shi to buy a pig and a few chickens and ducks, cooked them whole, and then paid homage at the foot of the mountain. Only then did he allow Xu Yunfan to lead his men up the mountain.
The old man said that there are all kinds of monsters and mountain gods living in the mountains, and they must be worshipped before large-scale tree felling or mountain excavation activities. Otherwise, the mountain gods will be disturbed and get angry. At the very least, the construction will not be able to start, and at the worst, people's lives will be lost.
Xu Yunfan was afraid of ghosts. Lord Qi said that he had to worship before going up the mountain, so he obeyed. This delayed him for a long time. After finally going up the mountain, he thought that after finishing the work today, he would be able to return to Beijing tomorrow morning. Once he was in a good mood, he naturally worked faster.
After the guards placed all the explosive packs in the locations designated by Xu Yunfan after his inspection, everyone retreated and began to go down the mountain.
A guard ran and shouted, "Cannons are firing, cannons are firing..." After hearing this, the guard at the foot of the mountain took another look and found that no villagers had crossed the cordon, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
Just when everyone running down the mountain thought everything was done, someone suddenly shouted heartbreakingly, "Hold the gun! Hold the gun!"
The firing line was only halfway lit, and now they called for a pause?
Xu Yunfan paused as he was running down the mountain, his anger suddenly rising up. He quickly turned around with the guards and ran up again, cutting off the fuse at the last moment.
Fortunately, when he made this thing, he made the fuse long and burned slowly, otherwise it would be ruined now.
TNND legs!
Xu Yunfan ran down the mountain in a rage, ran directly to the guard in charge of the alert, and grabbed the guard's collar, "Damn it, didn't I tell you not to let the people get close? We're about to explode and you're shouting stop? Are you trying to kill yourself?"
The guard felt extremely wronged. "Master Xu, we have already done as you ordered and not let the people get close, but..."
He pointed to the front and saw Lord Qi trying hard to persuade a domineering young man who was holding the horse reins, but the young man looked unhappy.
"What's going on?" Xu Yunfan had good eyesight and he knew at a glance that this boy was not an ordinary villager's boy.
The guard said, "It's the Xiao family army. They were going to pass through here. When you were going up the mountain, scouts came to clear the way. Lord Qi personally negotiated with them, and they went back. But the Xiao family army didn't come. Instead, a guy came on horseback, ignoring all the obstacles and forcibly breaking through the cordon. Lord Qi is furious at the moment, but it seems that this guy doesn't take his anger seriously at all."
MD!
After hearing the whole story, Xu Yunfan became even angrier. What was wrong with the Xiao family army? How dare they delay his work? Even if Xiao Hengzhi came, he would have scolded him, let alone a guy he didn't know.
Isn't this asking for a fight?
Xu Yunfan stepped forward, but before he even got close, he heard the other party say in a condescending voice, "Master Qi, we're in a hurry, and you can't afford to delay us. There's no better time to blow up the mountain than this. Hurry and get rid of the people. Don't delay our journey."
Xu Yunfan was unhappy when he heard this.
Your time is time, but mine is not?
His husband, son and two brothers-in-law are still waiting for him to come back.
This guy is simply asking for a beating.
If he hadn't run fast just now, this guy would still be standing here talking nonsense, and even Lord Qi would have been carried away.
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. What's wrong with you? I'm going to hit you.
"Xu..." Before the two adults could say anything, Lord Qi heard a snapping sound.
The sound was so harsh that it made people's skin tighten. Lord Qi subconsciously closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, Lord Qi was stunned. Huo Zhiyu had been slapped and his head turned to the side.
It must have been unexpected, or he couldn't believe that there would be a day when he would be beaten, so Huo Zhiyu didn't react immediately. He just covered his face with his hands, his eyes full of disbelief.
Looking at Xu Yunfan again, Xu Yunfan put his hands on his hips and said, "I'm going to hit you with the head. Are you fucking deaf? Didn't you hear the words 'fire'? Or do you just not understand what people are saying? We can't afford to waste time. Bullshit! Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you yell at us to get out of the way? We're following the emperor's orders and handling state affairs. How dare you delay us? How many people are there in your family? Are your heads enough to chop them off?"
It was rare, but the swear words that Xu Yunfan had accumulated over the years seemed to burst out all at once today. Lord Qi had never seen this side of Xu Yunfan. In his impression, when facing different people, Xu Yunfan could be humorous and witty in his conversation, and of course there were times when he used elegant words, but he had never seen Xu Yunfan swear in anger.
But come to think of it, it's only February, but Xu Yunfan is sweating profusely, looking unusually disheveled. He must be either scared or tired. If it were him, he would probably just curse even harder.
"You dare to hit me?" Huo Zhiyu came back to his senses.
Xu Yunfan: “…”
So all my words were in vain, right? "What's wrong with hitting you? I'm hitting you."
Huo Zhiyu stared at Xu Yunfan, "Do you know who I am?"
Xu Yunfan said unhappily, "I don't know. Even if I knew, I'd still give you a slap. Why are you glaring at me? I'm telling you, even if you were the prince of Dayan, you'd have to take this slap today. What can you do to me? You're still glaring at me. Are you unconvinced?"
"Okay, very good." Huo Zhiyu knew that Xu Yunfan was not someone to be trifled with. This man was not a real man. He even beat his own brother. He had no manners at all. He covered his face and asked Lord Qi, "Lord Qi, who is he?" If you dare to hit him, you'll be punished.
"I'm Xu Yunfan. Are you going back to find someone to deal with me? Go ahead. If I'm scared, I'll write my name upside down."
Lord Qi stood beside Xu Yunfan without saying a word, obviously on Xu Yunfan's side.
If it can blow up a mountain, how can the power of this explosive be small?
In this way, if anything went wrong, today, either he and Huo Zhiyu would be hit, or Xu Yunfan and the others would not be able to get down the mountain. No matter which one it was, the consequences could not be compensated by Huo Zhiyu's words.
"Okay, just wait for me."
Huo Zhiyu had never been treated so disrespectfully, let alone beaten. After suffering such a great humiliation today, one can imagine his resentment towards Xu Yunfan.
In fact, Huo Zhiyu knew who Xu Yunfan was. The Huo family wrote to him, and the letter explained how Xu Yunfan targeted the Huo family and did not give face to the Lu and Huo families.
Huo Zhiyu rode away on his horse. After Lord Qi told him that it was Huo Zhiyu, Xu Yunfan put his hands on his waist and stomped his feet fiercely, "Damn it, if I had known it was a member of the Huo family, I should have slapped him again. The slap just now was still too light."
Master Qi said dejectedly, "Master Xu, the fuse is half burned. What should we do next?"
Xu Yunfan irritably brushed back the stray hair on his forehead that had become messy from running so fast. "What else can we do? We have to think of another way. Otherwise, the fuse is too short, and the mountain will explode before the person who set it off gets away. That would be no joke."
In the afternoon, while the two were still discussing countermeasures, a group of troops appeared.
MD.
Xu Yunfan, who was narrow-minded, was very angry. Seeing the culprit coming, he couldn't let him go without venting his anger. How could he let him go?
"Whoa."
Several horses responsible for clearing the way neighed when their owners pulled the reins, raised their front hooves high, their nostrils widened, and exhaled a puff of hot air.
Xu Yunfan, who was blocking the road, took two steps back in disgust. "Stop, stop, stop. The road ahead is blocked. Didn't you scouts come here to explore the way? Why are you here again? Which army of the Xiao family are you from? Tell me your names."
Listen to the tone, it's extremely arrogant.
In the carriage, Huo Zhiyu, whose left cheek was swollen with five fingerprints, cried bitterly, as if he had suffered a great injustice. "Brother Feng, you have to make the decision for me!"
Xiao Feng lifted the curtain of his carriage and found the young man blocking his way quite pleasing to the eye. Thinking of his tone just now, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smile, completely ignoring Huo Zhiyu's coquettish tone, "Who is that?"
Xiao Feng's question was obviously not directed at Huo Zhiyu, but at Lin Xiao who was beside him.
Lin Xiao looked up and saw, "This man has outstanding appearance and is tall. He must be the Xu Yunfan who ordered the road closure mentioned by the scout."
"Xu Yunfan?" Xiao Feng smiled. "Oh, isn't that my brother-in-law? I have to go meet him then."
"Brother Feng~" Huo Zhiyu glared at Lin Xiao, and when he looked at Xiao Feng, he deliberately put on a delicate and pitiful look.
If any other man saw this, he would have been so heartbroken that he would have drawn his sword to vent his anger on him.
Xiao Feng pulled out the hand that was wrapped around Huo Zhiyu, "Lin Xiao, let's go down and take a look."
"Okay." Lin Xiao got out of the car with an expressionless face.
Three people got out of the carriage: a man, a boy, and a woman. Xu Yunfan glanced at them one by one before turning to the man in the middle. "May I ask the name of this young general? Does he know about the Ministry of Works' blasting of the mountain and blocking the road today?"
"I know." Xiao Feng did know, as the scout had told him when he came back.
Xu Yunfan spoke first: "Since you knew why you let people break in? Do you know that because of your breaking in... Damn it, if we're not careful, either he will die or I will die. Can you afford this loss? Giving you a slap is considered light. Damn it, come here and let me slap you again." Otherwise, he would be furious.
For some reason, if anyone else had been so brazen with him, Xiao Feng would have lost his patience and slapped them directly. But when he saw Xu Yunfan with his hands on his hips, he pursed his lips. He inexplicably felt that Xu Yunfan was a little ridiculous. "Master Xu, this is not good. Young Master Huo is a brother. It is really unmannerly for a gentleman like you to fight with a brother."
Huo Zhiyu's face turned pale. Xiao Feng's words seemed to be speaking up for him, but the term "Young Master Huo" made the relationship between the two of them clear.
It's ungentlemanly of you, mother.
Xu Yunfan took two deep breaths. "I don't care if you're a man or a woman. If you mess with me, you're all my fucking enemies. I almost lost my life because of this. Two slaps on his face was the least of my worries. Don't be so ungrateful and lose your composure. How can a general like you say such things? Are you out of your mind? When you kill the enemy on the battlefield, do you have to distinguish between men and women, old and young? You won't kill men and women? You're stupid."
"There is no distinction between men and women on the battlefield, only between enemies and friends," Lin Xiao emphasized.
On the battlefield, they had encountered fifty-year-old men and teenagers, but they could not show mercy. If they did, they would be the ones to die.
When the army arrived, the villagers who had come to watch the artillery fire retreated far away, fearing that they would displease the nobles. But when they saw Xu Yunfan standing in front with his hands behind his back, their desire to watch the fun was awakened, and some villagers slowly approached without being noticed.
Huo Zhiyu glanced at the villagers who had gathered around him, his face burning with heat. "Brother Feng, it's not like that. I just asked them to make way and then set off the fireworks later. This isn't something that can't be postponed..."
"How do you know this is something that can be postponed? Do you know what a cannon is?"
"I don't know. I..."
Xu Yunfan interrupted Huo Zhiyu again without any hesitation. "Since you don't know, what's the point of talking? We are acting on the emperor's orders. You are so arrogant. Are your orders higher than the emperor's orders? Do you know that if we hadn't run fast because of you, I and a dozen guards would have been crushed to death. If it weren't for saving you, I would have been on my way back to the capital. Today, I don't care who you are in the Huo family or who is following you. If you dare to delay the royal business, you must give me an explanation."
Knowing that he was in the wrong, Lin Xiao's eyes darkened, and he was obviously very dissatisfied. Of course, this dissatisfaction was not directed at Xu Yunfan, but at Huo Zhiyu's unauthorized decision-making.
They listened to the scout's words, and Xiao Feng also ordered them to rest for half an hour. However, Huo Zhiyu refused to do so. He felt that he was superior to others and dared to let him wait. He ignored her advice, grabbed a horse and rushed over. In the end, he went back crying, saying that he was bullied.
Huo Zhiyu thrived on the border, he was good at winning people's hearts, many people were on good terms with him, plus he had the support of the Huo family, who were close to the Right Prime Minister, so some people had to give him some face.
Maybe he had been praised for too long, so Huo Zhiyu took it for granted that as long as the other party was a man, he should give in to him. Now look, he got slapped in the face.
Facing Xu Yunfan's questioning, Lin Xiao remained silent. She was just a doctor with outstanding medical skills. She returned to Beijing just to escort Xiao Feng back. It was not her turn to interrupt in such matters.
Xiao Feng: "What explanation do you want? Scholar Xu, can you please let me take him back to the capital for the time being? Once we're back in the capital, I won't interfere with your decision-making. After all, this man chased me to the border. If I can't bring him back safely, it will be disastrous."
If Fang Zixi was here, he would be able to guess who was speaking even without looking at Xiao Feng, but it would be strange if Xu Yunfan knew it.
The last time Fang's mother asked Fang Zixi to say something to Qin Run and the others, maybe because pregnancy makes people stupid for three years, Fang Zixi forgot it the next day.
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