2

Duan Siping had been very smart since he was a child.He could speak well at the age of two and write poems and essays at the age of seven.He could also do all kinds of household chores，so people liked him very much.

Once he went to Cangshan Mountain to herd cows，and one of the cows suddenly cried，“Siping is the king！Sping is the king！”Just as the cow finished crying，some horses grazing at the foot of the mountain，cried out，“Siping is the king！Sping is the king！”He felt surprised and scared.When he got home，the chickens at the door called to him in unison，“Siping is the king！Sping is the king！”This almost scared him to death.If the King Yang Ganzhen's entourage heard these words，what would happen to him？The more he thought about it，the more scared he felt，so he didn't even dare to go out.

News spread quickly and soon all people knew that Duan Siping would be the king.Even Yang Ganzhen，the king of Dayining Kingdom，heard about it.Since Yang Ganzhen had abolished Zhao Shanzheng and made himself the king，he had been worrying all day long that someone else would usurp his throne one day.He was so shocked to hear the rumour that Duan Siping was going to be the King，that he immediately ordered to arrest Duan Siping.But he failed to catch him.It turned out that Duan Siping had already knew the king's order，so he had fled to the north in the night.

The king sent troops to chase after him.The troops were about to catch up with him in Shangguan when he saw an old man dealing with buckwheat on a flat piece of land.Duan Siping hurried over and asked the old man for help.The old man hid him in a stone cave.The chasers didn't see Duan Siping and asked the old man，“Did you see a young man passing by？”The old man said，“I didn't see anything.”The soldiers searched around for a while but did not find him，so they returned back.After they left，the old man found a boat and took Duan Siping to Xiaguan.

Soon after Duan Siping left，his younger brother Duan Siliang and his friend Dong Jialuo rushed to Shangguan to look for him.The old man told them where Duan Siping had gone.Duan Siliang and Dong Jialuo hurried to Xiaguan and met with Duan Siping.Then，the three of them went to the east together and arrived at Pindian，where they lived in seclusion.