Changle Floating Life

The spring breeze is mighty, it is the season of cold food and pear blossoms every year.

Xuzhou on the banks of the Yangtze River is a land of wealth in the southeast and a place of rich fish and salt.

In a restaurant on the back of the river and facing the street, two men in brocade robes sat on the second floor in a private seat leaning on the railing.The waiter from the shop came to serve food and drinks, and saw the two of them staring out the window, and one of them complained: "Young master, the things in the restaurant outside are not clean, you should use less. If you want to try something new, you should choose something more elegant. This place is close to the market. It's too noisy." He was not happy, and his voice was as clear as a zither.

The shop waiter stuck out his tongue secretly, deliberately stepped up his steps, and walked over to serve the two of them wine and food.Apart from crab and shad, the dishes ordered by the two of them include braised lion head, Wensi tofu, mandarin fish in vinegar, boiled dried shredded fish, etc., which are all common local dishes.The waiter sifted the wine and said with a smile: "Gentlemen, today is a good day for Ning Yuan to marry a woman in Shengping Street. The merchants' homes on both sides of the long street, inside and outside the door, upstairs and downstairs, are all idlers watching the excitement. Qing Ke, many people even came here from other places. It’s a bit noisy, but it’s also a rare event in the world without this shop after passing this village.”

The son looked like he was wearing a fragrant cloud gauze, waving a white moon fan, turned his head and smiled at him, saying "thank you".The shop clerk peeked out, he was a man in his early twenties, with handsome features and a whole body of style.Sitting opposite him was a young man without a crown, with long eyebrows and beautiful eyes, like a virgin.

What a beautiful child!

The mountains in the south of the Yangtze River are warm and warm, and there are quite a lot of handsome young people, but if compared with this one, they are more than gentle, but not gorgeous.

The waiter's eyes rolled wildly, and he glanced at it several times, quite amazed.The boy quickly picked up his chopsticks and tapped on the table, and said crisply: "What are you looking at, I don't want a pair of tricks?!"

The beauty is alluring, and the waiter in the shop does not believe that he dares to gouge people's eyes, so he retreats to the side with a smile, rubs his hands and asks: "Is there anything else you need?"

The older man threw a whole ingot of silver into his arms, and said in a gentle voice, "What you said just now is very interesting. Please find a well-informed doctor of tea. We brothers want to hear some anecdotes to amuse us. "

The waiter in the shop responded repeatedly, nodded and bowed down, and went downstairs.The second floor has already been reserved by these two people.After the people retreated, Pei Zhaoye poured a glass of water and wine into his mouth, and said casually, "Feng Mian, calm down your temper, don't cause trouble outside. When we come out to handle the case, we are not righteous, how can we be righteous?"

The people around didn't know the mystery behind his words, and just a little bit of water has already solved the trouble of the shop boy's eye-gouging.Zuo Fengmian's mind was guessed, her pretty face blushed, and she was about to say something, when suddenly she heard the loud sound of firecrackers coming from the end of the long street, one after another.Passers-by on both sides of the street stretched their necks and cheered loudly: "The bridegroom is here!"

Footsteps were heard on the stairs, Zuo Fengmian glanced at it, and said coldly: "Why is it you again?"

It was the waiter from the shop just now who came up, took off his dirty apron, and put on a nondescript long gown, holding a folding fan in his hand, and said with a flattering smile: "My lords, you need to find someone who is knowledgeable." The doctor of tea in Guangxi, you really found the right person!" He is really not afraid of death, so he volunteered to recommend himself!

Pei Zhaoye was afraid that Zuo Fengmian would make trouble with him again, so he quickly pointed to an empty bench next to him, and said kindly: "Sit down and talk, we brothers are new to Guibao, why is it so lively today? I never Coming from Beijing, it is the prince and concubine, and I have seen many princesses. Is there any place for a married woman to live?"

The waiter in the shop, Dr. Tea, swiped the floor and opened the folding fan, and began to talk slowly.Xuzhou has a prosperous scenery and rich families, and it is known as the largest metropolis in the southeast.Ning Yuanwai, who married the daughter, is a big salt merchant from the wealthy side of Xuzhou. He is known as Ning Bancheng, the God of Wealth. There are silk and satin shops, north-south goods stores, and countless farm houses.

This member Ning is in his fifties and has only one only daughter. This year, she was engaged to a poor scholar in the city when she was a child.Last year, smoke rose from the ancestral grave of this poor scholar, and he won a juren. He seemed to be so happy with the God of Wealth. He picked an auspicious day, and married the couple today.

As he was talking, the sound of gongs and drums was getting closer, the sound of firecrackers was loud, and the voices of people were buzzing.Both Pei and Zuo leaned over to look at the street.At the front of the line were four handsome teenagers, dressed in new thick clothes, with buns on their heads, and holding bamboo baskets with happy characters in their hands, throwing candies and preserves to passers-by. "It's sweet-scented osmanthus sugar added by Qianyiju, a well-known merchant from the Ministry of Household Affairs. I heard that [-] catties were ordered early in the morning. Qianyiju hired additional staff for this, and worked without sleep for three months. The candy melon seed cake alone requires more A few thousand taels of silver."

The crisp candy of Qianyiju has always been exclusively for the imperial court, and ordinary people can't see it in the market.

Four teenagers walked by, followed by a 24-member fine music troupe, full of reeds and reeds, with a long charm, not as vulgar as the ordinary alleys and weddings troupe. "This is a musician specially invited from Suxin Pavilion, the largest music hall in the south of the Yangtze River. He is not an ordinary suona player. I heard that everyone is hired for 100 taels of silver a day."

After the music class, there was a man riding a tall horse, covered in red and colorful all over his body.Behind the white horse is a large sedan chair with eight lifts, four pairs of red gauze lanterns, and a group of people hugging and escorting a couple of newlyweds.

Zuo Fengmian mocked, "Ju Ren's style is nothing more than that."

Dr. Cha said: "This man's name is Zhao Nanxing, and he is a descendant of a famous official. I heard that his ancestor is Zhao Ziming, the iron-faced censor during Zhaoren's reign."

Zuo Fengmian was puzzled and said, "Zhao Yan's posthumous title is Marquis Wen, and his government is simple. How could his descendants marry such a stinking family?"

Before Pei Zhaoye could answer, Dr. Cha closed his folding fan with a snap, and raised his voice: "You two, this good-looking one is only here now."

Pei and Zuo stretched their heads to look again.

After the newcomers, there was a dowry-carrying team, and there was no end in sight.There are about [-] to [-] tans of jewelry, playthings, four-season robes, and silk cotton.In the middle are bed tents, box cages, and daily furniture, all of which are extremely exquisite, and there are more than [-] sets of one after another.

At the back of the line were twelve young men in green clothes, but they didn't move as fast as the people in front. They all held a thin yellow booklet in their hands and followed the line without saying a word. .Behind them are eight people in black, holding only yellow books in their hands.

Zuo Fengmian turned his head and stared at Dr. Cha, who dared not show off, and hurriedly said: "The ones in blue are the stallholders of the twelve pawnshops, holding the account books of the pawnshops. The eight behind are the court officials of the eight banks. He is also holding account books. This God of Wealth Ning is a married daughter and a son-in-law, and uses pawnshops and money houses as dowry. Master Juren abandoned Confucianism and went into business, and tomorrow he will be the new owner of these shops."

I see.Generally, weddings and funerals are only attended by people within the five servers.There are so many people here today, except for those who are just watching the excitement, they probably want to set up a friendship with this new owner who is the leader in the southeast business world.

Pei and Zuo glanced at each other, and Pei Zhaoye smiled and said, "I heard from the north that Xuzhou's salt business competes for extravagance. Weddings and funerals, clothes and horses cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's not a lie that the salt merchants are rich. Okay. A god of wealth marrying a daughter is busy all over the world. Xuzhou really deserves to be a fairyland in the world of Dazhou, a paradise of peace."

As a native of Xuzhou, Dr. Cha also felt honored after hearing this, and he was indescribably comfortable: "You two, why don't you also go to Shengping Street to make up the number. The Ning Mansion occupies more than half of the street. , It’s easy to find. I heard that as long as you go to say congratulations in these three days, no matter rich or poor, you will get red envelopes. Even villains are ready to go to cheer after work.”

On Shengping Street in Xuzhou City, neat bluestone slabs are paved to the bottom, shaped like ingots, high in the middle and low on both sides, so that the street will not accumulate water when it rains.Xuzhou has a lot of rain. During the rainy season, other places in the city suffer from waterlogging, but this place is dry and clean, so the street rent is also high, and it is densely populated and very prosperous.

Today all businesses closed their shops, and the carriages lined up to the stone bridge outside the street.There were crowds of people under the stone bridge, Pei and Zuo followed the crowd to the side of the bridge, a man in a long gown stopped them with his hand, and said very politely: "Do you two have a famous post?"

Pei Zhaoye said: "The two of us are leather goods dealers, with a humble name of Fengtai Trading Company, and we have always done business with Guibaohao. Today we came to have some fun, but we didn't bring the famous invitation card."

The man in the long gown saw that the two of them were handsome, with bright clothes and hats, so he stretched his hand to the left, and said apologetically, "So it's from the Brothers' Firm. The proprietor is happy today. There are too many people who came to congratulate. Shengping Street is already called The carriage is full, and no one can pass. Please also ask the two brothers to pass through the side street, and there will be someone to guide you there."

Pei Zhaoye took Zuo Fengmian under the bridge and walked to the small street on the left. Zuo Fengmian stretched out his head and glanced, and said with a sneer, "Salt transportation from Lianghuai, Yangzhou Xuezheng, governor of water transportation, prefect of Xuzhou, hmph, and Princess Zhenguo's mansion." With just one glance, he saw clearly the banners on the main street and the colors of the waiters, and remembered them all in his heart.

Pei Zhaoye led him through the side door from the side street under the guidance of Ningfu Qingke.The two intellectuals at the door also looked like literati. After receiving two ingots of ingots and asking their names (nonsense), they sent servants to lead the way.

Turning around the screen wall, the entrance is the Hanging Flower Gate. There are three front, middle and back halls built inside the gate, all of which are connected. The open space is filled with banquets, and half of the seats are occupied.The servants led them through the front nave and directed them to sit down at the last table near the door in the apse.

Pei Zhaoye looked up and saw a plaque hanging on the bright hall in front of him, with three big characters "Xieshan Tower" in official script.It turns out that this bright hall is built along the mountain, all the way up to the mountain, the middle of the mountain is vast and green, covered by terraces and pavilions, it is very secluded and graceful.

Zuo Fengmian snorted, "These salt merchants will enjoy themselves."

The back hall was not as lively as the front hall and the middle hall, and most of the seats were empty, but the two of them also saw that it was not impossible to buy one of these seats.Sitting with them were two people from Yizhou County, poking their heads. One of them asked them in a low voice: "May I ask you, where is the fairyland and what is it called?"

Pei Zhaoye said casually.

The other person hurriedly cupped his hands, "Admired for a long time", and asked again: "I wonder how much money you two gave?"

Zuo Fengmian felt playful, and stretched out two fingers to shake.

The man took a deep breath and said, "Is the twenty thousand silver still the last seat in the front hall?" He looked at his companion and stroked his chest as if he was content.

At dusk, the lights are all on, and the buildings in the middle of the mountain, like a sky lantern, lead directly to the Tianhe River.The hall gradually filled up with people, most of whom were disciples of officials and wealthy families.The two Shu people took a moment to pass the film to say hello.

While drinking and drinking, I suddenly heard a hearty voice saying at the door: "I'm late, I apologise." A man in a royal blue embroidered robe passed through the hall, followed by two handsome servants, as if flying against the wind. Okay, in the blink of an eye, he walked to the steps of Mingtang.The old and the young rushed out to greet them.The young man was wearing a red robe, as if he was the official bridegroom walking along the long street today.The old man was of medium build, with gray hair, but his steps were extremely vigorous. He seemed to be the God of Wealth Ning in the mouth of the crowd.An old man and a young man surrounded the brocade-clothed man and walked into the bright hall.

A person at the same table asked enviously: "Whose family is that the prince's son?"

Someone said: "He is the son of the Governor of Water Transport. He and the groom are classmates of Plum Blossom Academy."

Zuo Fengmian glanced at Pei Zhaoye and said, "Master, I ate too much and my stomach feels a little uncomfortable." Seeing Pei Zhaoye nodding, he left the table to find the toilet.

The servants of the Ning family are well-trained, and someone immediately followed them to show the way.When he saw the gable of the latrine, Zuo Fengmian turned around and smiled and said, "I'll go by myself, you can do your work." The servant wanted to wait outside for him to lead the way back, but today, there was no one idle inside and outside the compound, so busy After turning around, he wanted to be lazy for a while and drink water elsewhere.So he said a few words, then turned and walked away.

Zuo Fengmian pretended to go into the toilet, but turned around the gable wall, seeing no one around, performed lightness kung fu, jumped up the treetop, and went to the pavilion on the mountain.

Behind the Mingtang is the mountain road. The curved corridor folds one level, and after four or five folds, there is a pavilion with the inscription "Qiqiu Pavilion", but the door facing the top is locked.The two sides of the pavilion are empty, and the cliff is steep, and there is no way to climb.

Zuo Fengmian took a deep breath, pulled the ground several tens of feet, and when he was about to fall, suddenly a silver whip flew out from his sleeve, wrapped around a protruding boulder, raised his breath again, and easily climbed over the Qiqiu Pavilion. It landed on the top of the corridor on the upper floor.

He didn't go down the curved corridor any more, he walked up the cat body of the ceiling, and finally came to a relatively flat place halfway up the mountain.There are two small and exquisite courtyards built here, and the forehead is called "Weiwan Mountain House". The moon extends in all directions, and the wind attracts all directions.Looking down, the Shengping Street at the foot of the mountain is brightly lit, and the drums are singing at night.

The servants are all entertaining guests at the foot of the mountain, and there are only one or two maids and servants guarding the door in the mountain house.He carefully avoided people, touched it and entered the east wing of the courtyard.Inside is the study room furnishings, lit with ever-burning lamps, and there are many loads of goods on the ground, pasted with big red happy characters, which looks like a dowry parading the streets today.He rummaged through it, first opened a shelf full of jewels, then opened clothes, shoes, the four treasures of the study, jade decorations, and even opened the load carrying erotic pictures, but he couldn't find it. Those twelve yellow books.

There was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and he was about to rummage in another room when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps outside the door, someone was coming.Zuo Fengmian glanced around, there was nowhere to hide, then looked over his head, flew onto the roof girders, and found a dark place to hide.

The door was kicked open, and the governor's son dragged the bridegroom's collar in. Without saying a word, he pushed the groom to the ground, knocking over several dowry loads, and jewelry rolled all over the floor.The girl's servant stood in the yard outside, anxious, not daring to come in.

The bridegroom officer Zhao Nanxing stood up from the ground, straightened the ripped skirts, and growled with anger, "Yuan Shangqiu, please show some respect. This is the Ning Mansion, not the governor's office, nor the Plum Blossom Academy. You are free to be presumptuous." .”

Governor's son Yuan Shangqiu has thick eyebrows and big eyes, red lips and white teeth, and he looks like a young boy.With his hands on his chest, leaning against the door panel, he couldn't help sneering: "Xiao Nanxing, you have become a talent. You just got married today, and you dare to use Ning Bancheng to suppress me. Is it a big scare to treat me as a father? I'm happy, I immediately burned Ning Bancheng's belongings."

Zhao Nanxing was so angry that his face was pale and his lips were blue, trembling, he lowered his head and smoothed the creases on his sleeves one by one, and after a long time he lowered his voice and said, "If you want to ask anything, just say it."

Yuan Shangqiu was also straightforward, staring and said: "Seven days ago, Younger Brother asked you to go to Plum Blossom Academy, why didn't you go? It's fine if you don't go, why did you write that letter again?"

Zhao Nanxing gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Yuan Shangqiu's face darkened, and he said coldly: "Don't you have anything to say? He was there in the rain for half a day, and finally received a last letter from you, and he fell ill and passed out when he returned."

Zhao Nanxing raised his head suddenly, his expression flustered: "How is he doing now?"

Yuan Shangqiu looked him in the eyes, saw that he did not seem to be a fake, his disgruntled expression decreased a lot, and he shouted: "I am asking you, not you asking me. Why did you write that letter?"

Zhao Nanxing pondered for a long while, then suddenly opened his mouth to sneer: "I just said that the marriage is approaching, and I have no time to go out, and I didn't say anything else. Keep him close, why don't you go?"

"You..." Yuan Shangqiu blushed, and was about to hit him with his fist, when he suddenly heard an exclamation from outside: "It's on fire, it's on fire!"

The two rushed out the door immediately when they heard the sound.

Seeing that there was no one in the house, Zuo Fengmian went out through the side window he had just entered, stood on the gable wall, and saw a raging fire ignited on the top of the mountain at some point, burning half of the sky red.Taking advantage of the wind, the fire tends to spread downward.His heart tightened, thinking of the twelve yellow books, he gritted his teeth, and went even further to the top of the mountain instead of retreating.

The courtyards on the mountain are sparse and the towers are towering, all of which are engulfed in a sea of ​​flames.Zuo Fengmian remembered the terrain, found the accountant's place, opened the door and saw that the ground was also full of dowry loads.He opened them one by one and found that they were more expensive than the ones halfway up the mountain. They were all important documents such as land deeds and house deeds.He was overjoyed, covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve with one hand, drew one after another, searched one by one, but still couldn't find those yellow books.

At that time, the smoke was billowing and the flames were scorching. He couldn't hold it any longer, and was about to go out to hide, when the wind whistling in his ears, he was swept aside by a person, and a big ball of fire fell on the place where he was standing.

Looking up, it was indeed Pei Zhaoye, and said anxiously: "Go, there is no need to look for it, the mountain is also burning."

Zuo Fengmian was taken aback, and said: "How is it possible so fast?" Before he finished speaking, a puff of thick smoke entered his throat, causing him to cough violently.

"Cover it!" Pei Zhaoye picked him up horizontally, stepped on his feet, moved in the sea of ​​fire, and escaped from the top of the mountain in the blink of an eye.Both of them had sparks in their hair, and they jumped into a small pool in the mountain stream to put out the fire.Zuo Fengmian looked down the mountain, and sure enough, the mountain house halfway up the mountain and the Mingtang at the foot of the mountain were also on fire, and the gongs and drums on Shengping Street were resounding, needless to say it was a mess.

"Someone set the fire on purpose." He said firmly.

Pei Zhaoye scooped him up, and said with a headache, "Let's get out first, then talk, it looks like something is going wrong."

The two of them flew down under the cover of rocks and trees.Gradually seeing the "Weiwan Mountain House" halfway up the mountain, Pei Zhaoye suddenly opened his eyes wide.

Standing on the burning eaves was a man with a long and thin waist, and the flames formed a vortex around him.He seemed to feel Pei Zhaoye's gaze, looked back here, and then flew to the top of the mountain.

The two went up one by one, barely missing it.Pei Zhaoye remembered that he was very good at lightness kung fu, if there is no trace of the breeze, it will be gone in a blink of an eye.

The author has something to say: The next chapter: The princess comes out of Guo Xiangfu