Fishing Terrace, where wild gulls no longer recognize me after ten years away. White clouds drift back and forth, the green mountains remain. I open my heart with wine. I lack the talent of Yi Yin and Zhou Gong to save the world, violate the prohibition of Liu Ling and Ruan Ji against excessive drinking, and still owe Li Bai and Du Fu poetic debts. Suanzhai laughs at me, and I laugh at Suanzhai.
Returning late, the wild apes mourn on the hills of West Lake. Twenty years, how many romantic oddities, flowers bloom and fall. I gaze at the cloud-piercing platform for generals. I plan strategies to secure the country with sleeves filled with constellations, and break through the enchanted fortresses of smoke and moon. Suanzhai laughs at me, and I laugh at Suanzhai.
(Two poems in the rhyme of Suanzhai by Zhang Kejiu of the Yuan Dynasty, "Dian Qian Huan", as an inscription)
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The weather in Wuzhou City was fiercely hot. The little wildflowers in the corners of the streets, perhaps knowing their days were numbered, were exerting all their strength, angrily putting on their final display. The yellowish color, contrasting with the grey city walls, was particularly glaring.
To the right of the main street, alongside the lake, was a newly built wine house in Wuzhou, the quietest and most bustling place. The so-called quiet bustle wasn't contradictory; quiet referred to the environment, while bustle referred to the crowd.
It was shortly after noon, and the sun in the sky scattered dazzling light, baking hot air shimmering in the city, driving all the idle people into the wine house. Behind the wine house was a small lake, newly opened up. The lake breeze took advantage of the situation to pour in, like the large fans produced by the Internal Treasury, except it didn't need human power and could still bring coolness to everyone in the building.
Green duckweed flourished on the lake surface, thickly covering the water, blocking the sunlight, and using shadows to shelter the fish in the water.
Ever since a place called Baoyuelou appeared in Kyoto, all the wine houses in the world seemed to have gone mad overnight, learning from that kind of arrangement: a lake behind the building, a courtyard beside the lake.
It was just that this building, lake, and courtyard in Wuzhou City all belonged to one person.
This person, for the people of Wuzhou, was like the quietness of this building, the green duckweed on this lake, and the gentle breeze traveling among the people, omnipresent, protecting and blessing everything in the city.
Wuzhou had no great merchants, no great clans, no great armies, only… this one lord.
Since this lord, born of humble origins, entered officialdom more than twenty years ago, his name had become a symbol of Wuzhou City. As long as he was there, the people of Wuzhou lived well.
People all have a love for their hometown. Although everyone in the world thought that lord was the number one treacherous minister of all time, for Wuzhou, that lord… was Wuzhou. Even in officialdom, people often abandoned the use of his name and directly referred to him as Lord Lin of Wuzhou.
Yes, the person we're talking about at this time is Lin Ruofu, the last prime minister of the Great Qing Dynasty, now living in retirement in Wuzhou.
Since Lin Ruofu resigned and returned to his hometown, he naturally rarely met with the people of Wuzhou, given his status. Even those governors who were as respectful as grandsons, and the governors-general who treated him with the respect due to a disciple, didn't have many opportunities to see his face. But his influence on Wuzhou City was still unmatched. Not to mention influence, at least half of the industries in Wuzhou City were owned by the Lin family.
Wuzhou City flourished because he had embezzled from the world. Therefore, no matter what, the people of Wuzhou would not say a bad word about Lin Ruofu, not even the most passionate students.
But other people didn't necessarily feel the same way.
"I must speak out against this injustice for the Ming family!" In the wine house, a man around thirty years old said indignantly, his eyebrows full of agitation. It was unknown what profession he was in, but the sharpness in his words couldn't be concealed. "Could it be that forcing someone to death is settled by the court just by deducting some salary?"
The affair in Jiangnan had a huge impact, and it also affected the territory of Wuzhou in Jiangbei. There was a lot of discussion about the Jiangnan affair in the world now. After all, the Qing Kingdom wasn't a closed country that strictly controlled speech, and the Eighth Bureau of the Supervisory Council didn't have the ability to supervise every place outside Kyoto. Therefore, people were quite bold when discussing it.
Because of the unnatural death of Old Madam Ming, the reputation of Fan Xian, the imperial envoy patrolling Jiangnan, suffered a great impact. And after a series of actions, the Ming family was already in a precarious state, which further confirmed Fan Xian's ruthlessness. The world often sympathized with the weak, so there was some contempt for the government in the discussions.
It was just that Fan Xian, after stepping onto the stage, was too dazzling, and even the darkness of the Supervisory Council couldn't diminish his radiance. So not everyone was speaking out against the injustice for the Ming family, and those young students didn't know where they got the news from, and once again leaned their butts towards the side of the leader of the world's scholars, Little Fan.
In the end, not many people actually believed that Little Fan, who was full of poetic talent, would embezzle the Ming family's silver.
"The Ming family? What injustice?" A young man in his early twenties scoffed. "They're just a big bandit who colluded with pirates and robbed goods. Little Fan dealing with them is a blessing to the court and a blessing to the people. Only a fool like you would make such a stupid gesture."
The middle-aged man was furious and slammed the table, saying, "Where did these pirates come from? Don't spout nonsense. I'm from Suzhou. How kind and compassionate was Old Madam Ming... She's already dead, how can you allow this snot-nosed brat to slander her randomly!"
The young man who had been arguing with him was a scholar in Wuzhou City. Hearing the middle-aged man announce his origin, he knew that the other party was a traveler from Suzhou. He couldn't help but sneer, fanning himself with his fan and saying, "This matter has already spread throughout the scholarly circles. The Ming family... Do you really think they're that clean?"
"As for Little Fan... May I ask, brother, do you know what kind of shady things Little Fan has done?"
The Suzhou merchant was stunned. Thinking carefully, he found that Lord Fan had been working for the court in Kyoto for the past few years. If he had done any evil deeds, there really wasn't anything to say.
The Wuzhou scholar smiled and said, "Can't think of anything, right? Little Fan is naturally talented, and his conduct is very upright. He exposed the corruption in the imperial examination, and went to the Northern Qi to promote the national prestige abroad. How could such a person seize profits from you copper-smelling merchants? If the Ming family hadn't secretly done too many things that angered both gods and men, how could they have provoked Little Fan to take action?"
In fact, these words were a bit far-fetched, but they made the Suzhou merchant unable to refute them for a while. He could only say bitterly, "The Ming family colluded with pirates? The people of Jiangnan don't know about it, but you people of Wuzhou know about it... Where are the pirates? Why hasn't the court caught them? If the Ming family really has problems, the court should openly try the case in a fair and just manner. How can they use force to bully people?"
The two sides argued more and more fiercely, their voices gradually rising, and their tempers also flared up. The merchant, although not at a loss for words, was already red-faced. He stood up, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to start a fight.
Fortunately, someone came up to stop him, and the weak scholar didn't suffer a loss.
But no one noticed that during the process of breaking up the fight, a few black feet seemed to kick the Suzhou merchant a few times, causing the merchant to cry out in pain.
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Watching this scene, the people in the wine house were a little stunned, especially those travelers passing through Wuzhou. They thought, arguing about Little Fan's affairs, why did the Suzhou merchant seem to have offended all the people of Wuzhou? After watching for a while, these travelers felt even more chilled. Even the waiter went up and kicked him!
Finally, someone couldn't stand it anymore. A delicate shout came from a table in the corner: "Stop it!"
The owner of the voice was a woman, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, light yellow clothes, wrapping her shapely body, with a long sword tied around her waist. She seemed to be a figure from the Jianghu world. Her appearance was quite delicate.
The few people at the same table as her heard this shout and secretly thought it was terrible. They thought that their little junior sister was going to cause trouble again, and they glanced at their master behind the table with some fear, wanting to call the woman back. They didn't expect the woman to move quickly and already walked to the middle of the building.
The master of the group at the table had a calm face, approaching middle age, with his whole body's essence contained within, making it impossible to see how deep his cultivation was. He just shook his head with some headache, and he didn't seem to have any way to deal with this girl.
The few people who were throwing punches and kicks saw a meddlesome person coming, so they dispersed, leaving behind the pitiful Suzhou merchant in the middle. After all, this woman was carrying a sword, and no ordinary commoner wanted to provoke her.
"Why are you hitting him?" The woman frowned and asked.
The citizens of Wuzhou in the building smiled and didn't bother to pay attention to her. The scholar earlier sneered and said, "Insulting a court official in public, even if the adults are generous, can't we hit him?"
"Insulting a court official?" The young woman frowned in disgust and said, "What's so great about that Fan Xian?"
There was a commotion in the building. Even the Suzhou merchant, who had been disrespectful to Fan Xian in his words, couldn't help but be surprised when he heard the woman shamelessly look down on Fan Xian.
Who was Fan Xian? In this world today, who else could be more prominent than him? How dare this girl say such a thing?
The Wuzhou scholar sneered and said, "Little Fan is indeed nothing great, but it's hard to find someone more outstanding than him in this world."
The pretty woman frowned, seemingly thinking that bullying these people wasn't much of an accomplishment, and asked, "But what does this have to do with you?"
The Wuzhou scholar smiled sarcastically, "Don't understand? Little Fan is our son-in-law in Wuzhou. This person actually dared to speak ill of our son-in-law in a wine house in Wuzhou. Don't you think he deserves a beating?"
Wuzhou's son-in-law.
Fan Xian married Lin Ruofu's daughter, and naturally, he established a close and strangely intimate relationship with Wuzhou, a place he had never been to. Since Prime Minister Lin retired, Wuzhou City no longer had a voice in Kyoto, and the people were a little annoyed, but Fan Xian, this son-in-law, was so overbearing that the people of Wuzhou naturally felt a sense of vicarious honor. How could they allow travelers from other places to recklessly discuss Fan Xian?
The Suzhou merchant's beating was truly an unwarranted disaster. Who told him to forget the relationship between Little Fan and Wuzhou?
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The pretty woman seemed to hate hearing Fan Xian's name. The corners of her lips curled up, revealing a hint of sarcasm: "So what? We haven't seen him dare to act recklessly in Northern Qi? So he's just relying on his father-in-law's power, hiding in Wuzhou City like a tortoise..."
So this group of people was actually from Northern Qi!
Although the Southern Qing and Northern Qi had already restored diplomatic relations, and the two countries were in a honeymoon period due to the marriage alliance and Ku He's acceptance of a disciple, after all, they were old enemies for decades, and the animosity between the people of the two countries hadn't diminished much. Hearing the woman reveal her identity at this time, everyone in the building showed a look of alarm and fear.
Even the beaten Suzhou merchant felt unlucky. He spat on the floor and left the building without even thanking his benefactor.
The pretty woman came from a noble background, and her master's sect was one of the best in the world. She had never suffered so many cold looks since she was a child, and her mood suddenly became extremely bad.
Just at this time, the Wuzhou scholar angrily scolded, "Little Fan is a tortoise... Then what is your Northern Qi Holy Maiden?"
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The wine house suddenly became quiet, so quiet that even the movement of the strands of hair beside the pretty woman's angry face could be heard.
The Northern Qi woman's face became cold, and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes. She seemed to be truly angered by this sentence. Her fingers slowly pressed on the hilt of the sword at her waist, and a sword intent forced out, instantly freezing the gentle breeze in the building in place.
How could ordinary people resist such a mysterious realm? The Wuzhou scholar felt his legs go weak and knelt on the ground with a look of horror.
Above the wine table, the Northern Qi woman's master, a middle-aged man with a solemn face, shook his head in disapproval and said, "Do not harm anyone."
The Northern Qi woman reluctantly abandoned the sword hilt, but her face changed unpredictably, and she slapped out a palm!
Just at this moment, a grey shadow flashed and blocked in front of the Wuzhou scholar!
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The middle-aged man at the table frowned.
The pretty woman's palm had already been slapped out and couldn't be withdrawn. It slammed hard into a hard object!
She groaned and felt a powerful force coming from the other person. She was no match at all. Her chest felt tight, and she was forced back several steps.
The person who came was wearing grey clothes, with one hand steadily blocking in front of him, and a long saber was held in his tiger's mouth, with the tip of the saber stabbed into the floor. He used this saber to block the pretty woman's erratic palm.
The pretty woman looked at the strange saber in the grey-clothed man's hand, and at the other person's expressionless face. She snorted coldly, knowing that she wasn't the other person's opponent, but she wasn't very afraid. Her master and fellow disciples were all sitting at the table behind her. As long as Ye Liuyun didn't come to the Southern Qing, who could do anything to her?
But she wasn't willing to suffer the loss of this palm. She bit her fine teeth, flipped her wrist, and drew out the thin sword at her waist. Sword flowers bloomed, and she prepared to attack.
"Come back."
The middle-aged man at the table behind her slowly said. Although his voice was light, it had an irresistible majesty.
The girl stomped her foot angrily and retreated to the table, saying unwillingly, "Master, let me fight another round. I don't believe I can't beat him."
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Last year in Shangjing, even your senior brother Cheng Puzhu Cheng was defeated by this lord. How could you be his opponent?"
The girl was stunned and looked back. She saw that the expert who had suddenly appeared bowed to her master: "Lord Lang Tao, long time no see."
"Brother Gao, long time no see, what a coincidence today."
The middle-aged man at the table was naturally Ku He's first disciple, the number one expert in the palace, Haitang Duoduo's senior brother, Lord Lang Tao.
And the grey-clothed man who had saved the Wuzhou scholar's life earlier, holding a long saber, was naturally Gao Da, the leader of Fan Xian's personal tiger guards.
A coincidence? It was certainly not a coincidence that the two groups of people suddenly met in Wuzhou.
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Lang Tao looked at Gao Da and smiled: "He still refuses to see me?"
Gao Da's expression didn't change, and he replied respectfully: "The journey was tiring, the young mistress is resting, and the young master doesn't have time."
The girl looked curiously at her master talking to this person. Only then did she know that her master knew this person. It was just that she had been practicing in the mountains and didn't know what had happened in Northern Qi, so she hadn't guessed Gao Da's identity. Even this trip to Jiangnan was her own decision, and she didn't know her master's true plan at all.
Lang Tao slowly lowered his head, gently pinching the wine cup with two fingers, and said softly: "Please help me bring a message, this matter can't be dragged on like this... We Northern Qi people always have the pride of Northern Qi people."
After saying these words, Lang Tao stood up and prepared to leave the building with his disciples.
Just at this moment, a bamboo curtain beside the building moved slightly, and a handsome and refined young man slowly walked out from inside the curtain. This young man was extremely beautiful in appearance, with thin and slightly pursed lips, and a harmless smile on his face. It was just that today, this smile carried a hint of chilling meaning.
Lang Tao stopped his footsteps and looked at the person who came with a meaningful look.
The young man just nodded slightly to him as a greeting, then turned his face away, looking at the girl who had caused the trouble with a smile that wasn't a smile: "This is Southern Qing territory. You committed violence on the street. Do you think you can just leave like this?"
Lang Tao was slightly startled. He didn't know why the other person would make things difficult for his female disciple with his status. He was about to say something, but he saw the other person resolutely wave his hand to stop him. Lang Tao shook his head helplessly. Now, there were too many places where the Northern Dynasty relied on this young man, so he had no choice but to let him play.
The Northern Qi girl didn't recognize who the other person was and thought he was another pedantic scholar who only knew how to speak激人 words. She sneered and said, "A lady never changes her name or her surname. My name is Wei Yingning. Do you have any advice?"
"Wei Yingning?" The young man looked at this pretty woman, his eyes lighting up. Connecting it with the news he had received recently, and Lang Tao's purpose in coming to the south, he immediately understood why this woman was so angry earlier.
He turned to Lang Tao and asked, "Your disciple?"
Lang Tao nodded with a smile.
The young man scratched his head: "She's Wei Hua's younger sister?"
Lang Tao nodded again, somewhat amused, preparing to see how this young man would handle this matter.
No one expected that the young man just said "Oh" and didn't ask anything else. He turned to the girl named Wei Yingning and said softly and gently: "Seeing that there were no bad consequences, if you leave your sword behind, I'll spare you this time."
Leave the sword? Wei Yingning was furious. Tianyidao emphasized the importance of apprenticeship. The saber around her waist was bestowed by her master. It was said that when the sword is there, the person is there, and when the sword dies, the person dies. How could she leave it behind casually?
She sneered and said, "Who are you? How can you speak so arrogantly?"
A hint of fierceness finally appeared between Lang Tao's eyebrows. He didn't seem to have expected that this young man would be so ungrateful.
The young man looked at Wei Yingning and smiled: "It doesn't matter who I am, but I know who you are. You're Wei Hua's younger sister... And I'm on brotherly terms with your old father at the table. You're considered my junior. What's wrong with me disciplining you?"
He turned to Lang Tao and sneered, "Using this shameless method to force me to show myself, isn't that interesting?"
Lang Tao smiled wryly and sat back down. The disciples who were with him were horrified to see that their little junior sister was being humiliated, but their master, who enjoyed great prestige in Northern Qi, didn't care.
Wei Yingning listened to his words but didn't believe them at all. Her father was the Marquis of Changning, the Northern Qi Empress Dowager's own brother. How could he be on brotherly terms with this young man who was as beautiful as a woman? Her lips trembled slightly with anger, and she pointed her sword forward and shouted, "Stop talking nonsense!"
The young man looked at her disapprovingly, thinking that this kind of violent temper was unlike Wei Hua, that little Yin thief, but more like the old drunkard, Marquis of Changning. Not to mention his relationship with her family, just the mess that the Northern Qi old bitch had caused him, he had to teach her a good lesson today.
He waved his hand, and his action was as fast as lightning. His fingertip lightly touched Wei Yingning's tiger's mouth, and he cleverly took the long sword away!
This strike was as fast as lightning, and even more importantly, it was without any warning. The action was extremely subtle... What a beautiful little trick.
Wei Yingning watched this scene with wide eyes, as if she had seen a ghost, so frightened that she opened her mouth wide and couldn't speak.
The young man slowly stroked the sword surface of the long sword and praised: "What a good sword indeed. That kid Wei Hua embezzled all the money I gave him into his own mansion. Actually... He even had the nerve to snatch my wife."
Wei Yingning's chest felt tight, and she realized that she was really stupid. She didn't recognize the other person's identity until this time. Her elder brother was the commander of the Northern Qi Brocade Guards, a character that everyone feared. In this whole world, probably only that person dared to speak so contemptuously besides His Majesty the Emperor.
The young man lightly flicked the sword spine and looked at her, frowning: "My younger sister is your little martial aunt, and my unmarried wife is your grand martial aunt. No matter how you calculate it, you're my junior. Is there a problem with me teaching you a lesson?"
Tianyidao did emphasize this very much. Wei Yingning had nothing to say. She was just thinking about the hateful young man in front of her who was so frivolous towards Martial Aunt Duoduo and humiliated her Wei family so much. She was so angry that her face was flushed red.
"That's right, I'm Wuzhou's son-in-law." Fan Xian said with a smile: "I'm very clear about your intentions, but give up on that idea. Let Wei Hua also give up on this idea. To be precise, please let your Empress Dowager give up on this idea. In a few days, you... will also have to call me son-in-law."
After saying these words, he crumpled the sword in his hand into a ball of scrap copper and rotten iron, and threw it back.
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(The state of the start of the volume is slightly worse, because summarizing was too fun, and I wrote a five-thousand-word summary... That was wasted. If you want to see the summary, please read the previous chapter. I'm very happy writing it, and it doesn't cost any money, oh, it doesn't cost any money.)