Encounter with the Four Great Talents

Hua Dingwu glanced around strangely, but found nothing wrong.Tang Shen squinted his eyes to look carefully, and asked, "Don't you think the port is empty?"

This is true, usually there are a lot of merchant ships coming and going here, the port is always bustling with people coming and going, ships of all sizes can fill the entire port.But now, apart from some big ships, there are not many small boats in the port, which makes it even more empty.It stands to reason that there is no reason not to do business in this season, but the port is so empty, which makes people feel strange.

Hua Dingwu looked at it, and called Wu Dao: "Go and ask."

At this time, Wei Ting came over with a small burden on his back: "There is no need to ask specifically, I have already checked, and it is said that there are heavy rains and floods in many areas in the south, so the shipping business has to be suspended. It is said that some waterways have been closed. The local government has stopped using it, and now most of them are by land."

Tang Shen frowned: "Flood? Do you know where it is?"

"The area along the southeast coast." Wei Ting handed the burden to Wu Dao, and said, "It's not far from Wu County, Suzhou, so we'd better be careful along the way."

Hua Dingwu nodded, and looked up at the clear sky. It was rainy in the south this season, but it was so rainy that it stopped shipping. It seemed that something was wrong.Tang Shen was not worried. He grew up in the south. It is normal for this season to have a lot of rain, and it comes and goes quickly. As long as the local dykes and dams of the big river are well protected, there will be no disasters.But the Tang family was in Wu County, so it couldn't be flooded.

The wind was strong on the surface of the water, Hua Ding general Tang Shen was escorted back to the cabin, and he was not allowed to come out to catch the wind.Then I went to the owner of the ship and asked about the situation along the way.Tang Shen had nothing to do and didn't bother to go out to bask in the wind and sun, so he took a book and leaned on the bed to read slowly.

The Hua brothers and Wei Ting inquired from the ship owner that it is indeed rainy in the south recently, and the current will be faster than usual, but these big ships will not be affected too much, especially because the waterway is used to it, unlike going out to sea. There are hidden reefs or something, as long as you are careful not to rush, you will not have any problems.The owner of the ship is an old sailor. He has traveled the north-south waterway for decades, and has experienced strong winds and rains. He is very confident.Several people were relieved when they heard this, thinking that even if the walking days were longer, as long as they could arrive safely, it would be fine.

There were no other guests, and the big ship sailed away quickly. Tang Shen put down his book and looked out the small window. He could only see many white clouds leaving quickly, feeling a little uneasy for no reason.

Dongyue came in with tea: "Second Master, how about some tea?"

Tang Shen smiled and sat up to pick up the tea, blinked and asked her, "Aren't you upset that Yonglu won't go with you?"

Dongyue rolled her eyes at him, and said, "There's nothing to be sad about. He's doing serious things now, and it's not like he won't see her forever, but it's only a matter of a month or two."

Tang Shen continued to make fun of her: "Yeah, if he does a good job, maybe next year you two will have a good time. I've said what I said, as long as he earns back his capital, I will allow him."

Dongyue's face was flushed: "My servant just said why is he so late at night, second master, you are too unkind!"

Tang Shen raised his eyebrows: "Why, you don't want to marry him? That's fine, I'll change the conditions for him later."

"Second Master!"

"What's the matter?" Qiuxiang came in with a plate of dim sum, and was startled by Dongyue's roar. Tang Shen smiled and waved her hand to tell her not to care. Looking at Dongyue's appearance, Qiuxiang knew that he might He was teased by Tang Shen again.Putting down the snacks, he said, "Second Young Master, this is just bought by the servants on the pier, and it's still warm. It's not delicate, but it tastes good, try it."

Tang Shen saw that it was just an ordinary bowl cake. It was not expensive, but it tasted good and could fill you up, so traders would buy a piece when they were hungry.Tang Shen didn't particularly like sweet food, so he tried to take a piece, and after taking a bite, he realized that it wasn't sweet at all. The taste was fine, so he ate another piece.

Seeing that he was going to take the third yuan, Qiuxiang hurriedly stopped him: "Second son, there is something else to eat at noon, so let's eat less."

Tang Shen wrinkled his nose: "Then why don't you bring these, you won't let them eat after you bring them."

Qiuxiang was teased by him and laughed, and Dongyue came over to anger him: "Sister Qiuxiang is afraid that it won't taste good if it gets cold again and again, so she is kind enough to treat her like a donkey's liver and lungs."

Qiuxiang was taken aback by her, and quickly waved her hand and said that she didn't mean it, but just brought it thinking that Hua Dingwu would also eat some.Tang Shen, however, was used to the servants who had been close to him teasing him for a few years, and he gave her a look: "I was going to reward you for a taste, but now I don't think it's necessary."

"Oh, Second Master! Don't be so stingy!"

Hua Dingwu walked in and raised his eyebrows seeing the three people arguing: "What's wrong?"

Tang Shen waved to him with a smile, took a bowl of cake and stuffed it for him: "Taste the taste, it's not bad."

Hua Dingwu ate it, nodded, got up early in the morning and ate in a hurry, but he still had some appetite, so he ate another piece when he thought the taste was okay.Then he said to Tang Shen: "There are indeed some floods in the south, but it doesn't seem to be serious, and it shouldn't affect our navigation."

Tang Shen nodded: "There has always been a lot of rain in Suzhou, and the officials don't deal with floods every day. Unless it happens once in a hundred years, don't worry about it. There is little water in the north. You may not have experienced it. In fact, heavy rains occur every year in the south. "

Dongyue said while packing her things: "Yes, Mr. Hua, don't worry about this. Over there, there are often heavy rains for days and nights. When it rains, the creeks can turn into big rivers, and it will pass in a few days." gone."

Hua Dingwu nodded. He had never been to the south, and he had only heard of floods a few times, but he had no actual impression.Tang Shen laughed and told him not to worry, so he stopped thinking about it. Seeing how calm these southerners were, it wasn't a big deal.

The boat sailed peacefully for a few days. In order to prevent accidents, it stopped sailing as soon as it got dark. I exchanged news with other boats passing by. I didn’t hear of any catastrophe ahead. It’s just that the water flows fast.So a boatload of people felt relieved, what to do and what to do.

Tang Shen really liked taking a boat. When the weather was fine, it was interesting to bask in the sun on the deck, chat with Hua Dingwen, and see the scenery on both sides of the strait.

It's just that some accidents happened today. When Tang Shen and Hua Dingwen were playing chess, Wei Ting who was sitting next to him suddenly stood up and let out a cry of surprise. Hua Dingwu next to Tang Shen immediately looked up at him: "What's wrong?"

Wei Ting put his hands on his eyes and watched for a while, saying: "There seems to be something blocking the way ahead."

Everyone stood up and saw that there seemed to be something blocking the middle of the river in front of them. When they got closer, they saw that two boats had collided with each other.This is the turning point of the water flow, which is already a little narrow, but the water flow is fast, and the two boats bumped into each other somehow and blocked the river.

The owner of the boat immediately stopped the boat and leaned against the shore. There was no village or shop behind. It was quite desolate. There were many people standing on the embankment who seemed to belong to these two boats.The owner of the ship sent someone to get off the boat to ask, and came back to report that the ship going south was traveling at night last night, but he didn't see it clearly, and the current was so fast that when he changed direction, he didn't control his direction and hit the ship going north.Because of the severe collision, both ships suffered some damage.

Hua Dingwu and the others were glad that they didn't rush the night, otherwise something might happen.

But it can't be blocked here. Fortunately, they are all old boatmen. In order to prevent the road from being blocked, they have already started to pull the boat to the shore and start discussing the solution. It will be fine after a while.

Tang Shen didn't go to the ground for a few days. Although there was no scenery nearby, he couldn't help but want to step on the ground.After talking to Hua Dingwu, there was no objection, and several other people also wanted to step on the ground, so a group of masters and servants all got off the ground and walked on the shore.

The boatman is more concerned about when the channel will be opened. After all, they are planning to rush to the next ferry before dark, which is safer.It's not good if it takes too long.So the boatman also brought a few sailors to help, leaving some people to watch the boat.

Tang Shen stepped on the dry sand for a while, and felt that the world was shaking after sitting in the boat for a few days.Shaking his head and taking a few deep breaths to find his balance, he began to look around, then squatted down with a hush.

Hua Dingwu has been guarding him, and when he saw him like this, he also squatted down: "What is it?"

Tang Shen pointed to a small hole near the river: "Look, there must be crabs there!"

Hua Dingwu looked at his shining eyes and twitched the corners of his mouth: "Want to eat?"

"Yeah!" Tang Shen didn't like to eat that thing in his previous life. There were so many shells inside and out, and he didn't know how much effort he had to make to get full. He would rather give up this delicacy than compete with those bones and shells.But here it is different, these little things are naturally stripped clean by the girls just waiting for him to open his mouth, so naturally he likes it.Touching his chin, Tang Shen bumped him lightly with his shoulder: "When shall we go to Yangcheng Lake? Eat crabs!"

Hua Dingwu was funny, but still nodded, although he can't eat more of that thing, but since he likes it, it doesn't hurt to eat a little.It's just that Wei Ting came over to attack him: "That doesn't have to be a crab hole, it might be a water snake hole or a water mouse hole, or it might be a toad's hole. I heard it tastes good, do you want to catch it and eat it?"

Tang Shen's face was full of disgust: "Don't say those things!" Wei Ting laughed.

Hua Dingwen picked a few herbs that could be used as medicine on the shore, and said, "Those two ships were lucky. They hit a hole and didn't capsize. But they may need our help."

Hua Dingwu nodded and said, "Maybe we need to send them to the next ferry to find a boat to tow or hire a new boat."

Sure enough, the captain ran over after a while, followed by several people.After all, the boat was chartered by the Hua family, he couldn't make decisions without authorization, so he naturally wanted to ask the Hua family brothers for their opinions.After Hua Dingwen agreed, they discussed and sent three people to get on the Hua family's boat to the next ferry.Their ship is a cargo ship, and the Hua family's ship is a passenger ship, so there is no way to tow the two ships.Hua Dingwen is very talkative, as long as they don't disturb his group.After all, the identity is a little sensitive, and it's not that there are no enemies, so it's better not to get too close.

Just as she was about to board the boat, Dongyue suddenly ran over with her skirt in hand: "Second Master, Mr. Zhang is over there!"

Tang Shen was taken aback, stopped and looked at her strangely: "Mr. Zhang? Which one?" Tang Shen, who hadn't turned his head for a while, couldn't remember who this person was, and why Dongyue knew him.

Dongyue rolled her eyes: "Mr. Zhang Jingyu, Mr. Zhang. The one who used to come to our house often."

Tang Shen looked up in surprise, and sure enough, he saw a person standing in the distance looking in his direction.Judging by his body shape, he really looks like Zhang Jingyu.He lowered his head and asked Dongyue, "Why is he here?"

Dongyue shook her head and said, "Young Master Zhang didn't explain to his servants, it seems that he has something urgent to go back to Suzhou."

Tang Shen frowned, looked back at Hua Dingwu, Hua Dingwu naturally heard it, and said, "You stay here." As he spoke, he strode towards Zhang Jingyu.

It is true that Zhang Jingyu has an urgent matter to go south. Because the Zhang family was implicated by the Lin family, although Master Zhang's official position was barely kept, it was not as good as before. , naturally don't care whether he goes out to be an official, but Zhang Jingyu is a bit unwilling after all.Especially after Tang Shen was taken away by Hua Dingwu, he was even more angry that he was powerless now, so he wanted to go out to relax.It just so happened that an elder in the family passed away, so Zhang Jingyu decided to go south alone to give himself some air.Who would have thought that they would meet here.

Hua Dingwu walked up to Zhang Jingyu and looked at him indiscriminately. Zhang Jingyu had only seen him for a few months. He was not as thin and haggard as before, but he was gloomy and less cheerful. Thinking about it, these days seem to be going well. Unhappy.He brought only one entourage, and the two were dressed in ordinary clothes, each carrying a bundle, standing on the shore.

Hua Dingwu sized him up, and Zhang Jingyu naturally sized him up too.As always, the black clothes, the handsome and cold expression, and the aloof demeanor are so unique that it makes people uncomfortable.He clasped his fists and said hello: "Second Lord Hua." He didn't address him as an adult, after all, he just saw Dongyue, and he thought he was just taking Tang Shen for fun, not because he had official business to do.

"Mr. Zhang." Hua Dingwu had a mediocre impression of him, especially his little thought for Tang Shen made it impossible for Hua Dingwu to warm up to him.Although he was not active all the time, was rejected by Tang Shen, and never contacted him again, but such a paragraph always made Hua Dingwu a little upset, so he seemed a little lukewarm. "Master Zhang is going back to Suzhou?"

"Yes, an uncle in my family passed away, and my father ordered me to go south to pay homage." Zhang Jingyu asked, his eyes wandering to the Hua family's boat, and looked at the thin figure standing on the shore beside the boat: "Second Master Hua brought... ...Come out to play?"

"The Tang family is going to move to the capital. I'll accompany Shen'er to go home and have a look." Hua Dingwu shook his head. He really wanted to play, but judging by the current situation, it's not convenient. "Master Zhang is going to wait for the tugboat here?"

"Yes." It's not that Zhang Jingyu didn't want to borrow their boat, but thinking that Hua Dingwu would not be happy, he didn't bother to speak.Hua Dingwu said, "When will the tugboat be in trouble? It will probably take a few days to rest when we arrive at the ferry. Mr. Zhang, if he is in a hurry to return to Suzhou, he is not like us. We will also stop in Suzhou. Although our sailing is a little slow , but I think it will be faster than this ship."

Zhang Jingyu was a little surprised, he came to his senses and quickly cupped his hands and said, "This is really the best, just to disturb Second Lord Hua."

Hua Dingwu shook his head: "It's okay, you go and talk to the boatman."

Zhang Jingyu quickly discussed with the boatman, and then brought his servants to the Hua's boat with their bags.Tang Shen looked at Zhang Jingyu, frowned slightly, and said with a smile, "Brother Zhang, long time no see."