Taiping Inn

There is a high slope not far from the dock on the north bank of the river. In the early years, it was where the navy placed the artillery. However, as the country became more peaceful, it became increasingly deserted. The artillery in the artillery had long been withdrawn, leaving only a mottled artillery with weeds.

Li Xuandu and Liu Chen stopped on the artillery and looked into the distance. Although the river was vast, Li Xuandu had excellent eyesight. Looking far away, he could vaguely see a slender figure standing on the bow.

At this time, the big ship was moving slowly, and the surrounding passenger ships and cargo ships made way for it.

Liu Chen also followed Li Xuandu's gaze and looked: "It's the Qian family's boat."

"I know." Li Xuandu narrowed his eyes: "If I'm not mistaken, the person on this boat should be Qian Yulou."

"Qian Yulou?" Liu Chen was slightly surprised and said: "Is it the eldest daughter of the Qian family? I heard that this eldest daughter of the Qian family is smart and capable. In the past few years, she has been in charge of the Qian family's business in several southwestern states and is not often in the ancestral home in Jinling. Why did she return to Jinling at this time?"

Li Xuandu said softly: "This shows that Jinling has changed, and you can fish in troubled waters."

Speaking of this eldest daughter of the Qian family, Li Xuandu has never met her, but he has heard Qian Yulong mention her.

According to Qian Yulong, he and this half-sister are born to be incompatible. What brotherly love and brotherly respect, the brother regards the sister as the apple of his eye, and the sister regards the brother as a mountain to rely on, are all nonsense, and they don't apply to them. His sister was born strong-willed. She had always believed that women were inferior to men. The person she admired most was the Mingkong Empress who had ruled the world thousands of years ago. Therefore, she was very hostile to her brother who was destined to inherit the position of the head of the family. She had never stopped making small moves, both overt and covert.

This made Qian Yulong quite helpless. Putting aside her daughter's status, the inheritance of a large family always emphasizes that if there is a legitimate heir, the legitimate heir shall be established, and if there is no legitimate heir, the eldest son shall be established. This can minimize the internal friction caused by the struggle for the position of the head of the family. As the eldest son of the legitimate heir, Qian Yulong can be said to be a foregone conclusion as long as he does not make a big mistake. What's more, the Qian family has never had a female head of the family. He can't understand why Qian Yulou is competing with him.

The reason why Qian Yulong complained to Li Xuandu was because Li Xuandu was also caught in the "succession dispute" at that time. The two of them were in the same boat. Qian Yulong also wanted to use Li Xuandu as a supporter, but as Li Xuandu completely lost power later, this friendship ended.

Just as Li Xuandu was looking at the three-story ship, the woman on the ship was also looking at the river bank on Li Xuandu's side.

She held the railing with both hands, leaning forward slightly, wearing a snow-white cloak, and an extremely precious bird skirt inside, which was a skirt made of multiple bird feathers twisted into silk threads. It was one color when viewed from the front, one color when viewed from the side, one color in the eyes, and one color in the shadow. It was praised as "all the shapes of birds can be seen".

Following the woman were not maids, but seven or eight valiant warriors, especially an old man with a pale golden complexion and flashes of light between his eyes. He was obviously a master with good cultivation.

The woman looked at the north bank of the river for a while, then retracted her gaze and turned to the south bank of the river on the other side.

The south bank of the river was Jinling Mansion, and in Jinling Mansion was the Qian family's ancestral home that she had not returned to for a year.

The woman's face was a little gloomy.

Just as the woman turned around, Li Xuandu also retracted his gaze and said to Liu Chen: "Let's find a ferry to cross the river and try to get to Jinling City before dark."

Liu Chen has been to Jinling City many times. People in their line of work are naturally very taboo to attract attention. They must not cross the river directly with light skills. Therefore, every time they go back and forth, they take a boat. They know the time required and say: "It won't take that long. If it's fast, we can reach Jinling City at 15:00."

Li Xuandu said "OK" and strode to the dock below.

After arriving at the dock, the two found an inconspicuous passenger ship. Among the many ferries, it was not too big or small, and the silver required was not too high or low, one silver per person.

The ferry was about to set sail, and the guests began to board the ship one after another. After Li Xuandu and Liu Chen followed the crowd on board, they found a corner and sat down casually without showing off.

There were no accidents during the whole crossing process, and everything went smoothly.

Li Xuandu looked at the Jinling Mansion getting closer and closer, and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion.

The last time he came here, it was not the white sky and earth like today. It was February at that time. The spring breeze in the south of the Yangtze River had lost its chilly spring chill and brought a slight warmth. In this spring breeze, boats were interweaving on the river, willows on both sides of the river bank were swaying, grass was growing and warblers were flying, and there were even scholars and girls riding horses for an outing. It was a complete picture of spring in the south of the Yangtze River.

Jiangnan is the best in the world, Jiangzhou is the best in the south of the Yangtze River, and Jinling is the best in Jiangzhou.

As the saying goes: "Jiangnan is a beautiful place, and Jinling is an imperial state." Jinling Prefecture is known as the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties and the capital of the Ten Dynasties. After the decline of Longmen Prefecture in Zhongzhou, it has protected the inheritance of the Central Plains for many times, so it is also known as the literary hub of the world.

Although the ferry docked at the ferry port, it was still about 200 miles away from Jinling City, it was no less lively than Jinling City. Now that it was winter, there were still nearly a hundred ships of various colors stranded here, coolies and boatmen were interweaving back and forth, and the dock calls were endless.

Li Xuandu and Liu Chen walked silently among the crowd, quickly left this place, and came to a secluded place. Liu Chen took out a "Zi Fu" from his Xumi treasure and lit it.

About an incense stick later, a woman wearing a veil appeared not far away. The veil on the woman's hat was different from the "shallow exposure" popular nowadays. The gauze hanging from the brim of the hat hung all the way down to the calf, which was equivalent to covering the whole person. Then the woman took off the veil and revealed her true face. Although she was middle-aged, she was still bright and beautiful.

Liu Chen introduced Li Xuandu: "Mr. Li, this is the Blue Bird of Zibu in our Tingfeng Tower."

The woman bowed and said softly: "Mr. Li, just call me Liangzi."

Li Xuandu clasped his fists and saluted: "Li Xuandu."

Liangzi nodded slightly, and then said: "Mr. Li, please follow me."

After that, she led the way in front, and Li Xuandu and Liu Chen followed her side.

On the way, Liangzi introduced: "There are twelve bluebirds in the twelve departments of our Tingfeng Tower, eight of which are guide bluebirds and four are sitting bluebirds. They just have different duties and there is no distinction between high and low. Liu Chen is one of the eight guide bluebirds, I am the sitting bluebird of Jinling Prefecture, Chen Mao is the sitting bluebird of Longmen Prefecture in Zhongzhou, and the other prefectures only have sitting nightingales."

Li Xuandu asked: "What about the other two sitting bluebirds?"

Liangzi said: "One is stationed in the Tingfeng Tower in the Imperial Capital, and the other is stationed in the main building all year round."

Li Xuandu nodded and did not continue to ask further.

Liangzi continued, "The matter of Governor Qin going to Jinling Prefecture this time involves various forces and is of great importance, so we will have three bluebirds in Tingfeng Tower to be responsible for this matter. If it were normal times, at most one bluebird would be needed."

Liu Chen interrupted, "If it weren't for a figure like Governor Qin, if it were any other small figure, only one nightingale would be enough to lead the way, or even a raven would be enough to lead the way."

Li Xuandu sighed lightly, "I can't waste my peace money. So much peace money is enough to buy the life of a master of the Return to the True Realm from Wan Dumen."

Liu Chen smiled slightly.

Li Xuandu asked again, "By the way, who is leading the way for the Blue Luan Guard?"

Liangzi shook his head and said, "The Blue Luan Guard doesn't trust the guides of our Tingfeng Tower, so they just inquire about the news and never use guides. Moreover, they are also good at tracking, so there is no need to do this."

Li Xuandu nodded, understanding.

Qiu Anqing had told him before that Qin Xiang and his party had been attacked in Dongting Lake and suffered heavy losses. From this point of view, it should be the work of Qingluan Guard. Of course, in Jingzhou, Qingluan Guard can only be auxiliary, and the real person in charge is the governor of Jingchu. In terms of power and position, no one can compare with this frontier official unless the left governor of Qingluan Guard comes in person.

Liangzi hesitated for a moment and said, "I have to say that it is not wise for Mr. Li to come to Jinling Mansion at this time."

Li Xuandu smiled and said, "Everyone will inevitably make a few stupid mistakes in their lives. If everyone only does smart things, this world will be too boring."