Chapter 115 Seeking Fortune in Danger
Chapter 115 Seeking Fortune in Danger
Chang Sun Sheng finished the class early and all the students left. Chang Sun Sheng stood alone in front of Xiao Xia's wooden target, still a little dazed.
The second disciple Xie Yingdeng whispered, "Master, this Xiao Xia must be a seasoned veteran."
Chang Sun Sheng shook his head slightly. "The moment he shot his first arrow and held the bow, I knew he was a novice. It was definitely his first time holding a walking bow. His subtle habits could not be hidden from me. He must have practiced archery no more than thirty times."
"But how could he......"
Chang Sun Sheng sighed, "I don't know either. I can only say that many martial arts are interconnected. His terrifying power is not his accuracy, but his strength and control. The depth of each arrow shot into the target is exactly the same, one and a half inches. I was able to achieve this after practicing archery for twenty years."
"Master, is this Xiao Xia born with a divine arrow?"
Chang Sun Sheng shook his head, "No, it's his inner strength that is terrifying, it's close to the eighth level."
Xie Yingdeng frowned, "Master, how is that possible? How old is he?"
Chang Sun Sheng hesitated for a long time and said, "Today is the second time I have seen him. The last time was on the Jiangnan Grand Canal. King Yang Liang of Han asked me to kill him and Xiao Cong together, but I couldn't do it. I found that there is a true ninth-grade master hidden behind him, with unfathomable internal strength. Xiao Xia must have received instruction from this person, and he is likely to be his master."
Xie Yingdeng sighed, "The Imperial Academy is truly a place of hidden talents!"
Chang Sun Sheng covered the wooden target with a cloth bag again, and then instructed his apprentice: "This person's background is definitely not simple. Only you and I know this matter, and you must not tell anyone else."
"Master, please rest assured. I will keep my mouth shut. But I am worried that Assistant Li will tell others."
"Don't worry about him, he doesn't understand!"
In Longshan Restaurant, Cui Lian poured a glass of wine for Xiao Xia and asked curiously, "Chang Sun Sheng actually covered your target with a cloth to prevent people from seeing it. Tell me yourself! What's so surprising about it?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "It was my first time shooting arrows, and I hit seven out of ten. I don't really understand, is this considered a good result?"
Wei Chengfeng beside him said with a smile: "If this is your first time shooting arrows, hitting seven out of ten arrows is already pretty good. The county school has archery classes, haven't you ever shot before?"
Xiao Xia shook his head. "Maybe the north and south are different! The south focuses on swordsmanship, while the north focuses on horseback archery."
Cui Lian's eyes lit up, "Then my dear brother must be an expert in swordsmanship!"
Xiao Xia picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "Brother Cui, you are joking. How can a scholar be an expert in swordsmanship?"
Wei Chengfeng hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother, are you still interested in the restaurant in Chongrenfang?"
"Of course I'm interested. I want to go and take a look first, but are you willing to sell it for 4,000 guan?"
"My father is in charge of the family property. I'll tell you the truth. Five thousand guan is the asking price, and four thousand guan is the reserve price. If you really want it, my father can give it to you at the reserve price."
Xiao Xia groaned for a moment and said, "In fact, if it is left for ten or eight years, the smell should be gone. Why is the Wei family in such a hurry to sell it?"
Wei Chengfeng smiled bitterly and said, "My dear brother, you are my classmate. I don't want to hide it from you. I have to tell you the truth. The Wei family thought the same thing as you did at the beginning, so they spent 10,000 strings of cash to buy it. After buying it, they realized they were cheated. "It smells bad" is just an excuse. The fundamental reason is that the feng shui is not right. A year after buying this restaurant, many things happened to the Wei family. Several elders passed away one after another. All the family businesses were in a slump. Last year, we lost tens of thousands of strings of cash. We invited three alchemists in a row, and in the end, they all pointed to this restaurant."
At this point, Wei Chengfeng sighed and said, "We later found out that the Dou family's fortunes declined and they suffered a series of misfortunes because of this restaurant, so they sold it at a low price of 10,000 strings of cash. After the restaurant was sold, the Dou family's fortunes began to improve. The people who had been suffering from illnesses recovered, and the restaurant business in Pingkangfang was booming. In June last year, the head of the Dou family resumed his official position and title.
We started selling the restaurant last October, and we lowered the price from 8,000 guan to 5,000 guan, but no one wanted to buy it, not even one person asked.”
"Could it be that the restaurant is a haunted house? Or was it a cemetery in the past?"
Wei Chengfeng shook his head. "Daxing City was newly built in the third year of Kaihuang, and the restaurant was built in the fifteenth year. It's only been seven or eight years. How can there be any haunted house? The cemetery is even more unreliable. If it is a cemetery, then Chongrenfang should be a cemetery. There can't be only three acres of cemetery. According to the Taoist priests, it is that river that caused the missing corner of Qian, which is not good for the male protagonist. To be honest, I think it's a bit far-fetched, but the three Taoist priests all pointed to the same location, which makes people have to believe it!"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I am more interested now that you mention it. How about you take me to see it later?"
"That's fine. It's very close anyway. Let's go after we finish this drink."
In the Wenbo Restaurant next door, several other students from the Imperial College also gathered together to drink.
They were the students who were dissatisfied with Changsun Sheng's constant tutoring of Xiao Xia during the archery class. There were five of them in total, all of them were children of Guanlong nobles.
The leader was named Dou Dexuan, who was tall and strong with excellent martial arts skills. The other slightly thinner man was named Dugu Huai'en, who was the military advisor of their small group. The other three were Houmo Chenfeng, Yuan Ping and Yu Xiaoyan.
Although these Guanlong nobles appear to be on different sides among the five princes, in fact they are still united behind the scenes and belong to the same interest group, which firmly controls Guanlong.
The five men were not students of the Imperial College, but students of the Imperial Academy. They were all seventeen or eighteen years old. After gaining some experience in the Imperial Academy, they went to various places to serve as officials.
Of course, there were many Guanlong children, some of whom served as guards in the palace, some were sent to school, and some just hung out at home.
But it doesn't mean that going to the Imperial College will make you weak. It's not the case at all. They all practiced martial arts since childhood and were very skilled. Dou Dexuan and Yuan Ping even broke through barriers last year and their martial arts skills were extremely high. "Brother, I heard from Assistant Li that the new guy shot arrows for the first time today and he hit nine out of ten arrows. Is this true?"
"Bullshit on him!"
Dou Dexuan said with disdain: "You just believe whatever he says? We couldn't even touch the target the first time we shot arrows. Is he a god? He hit nine out of ten arrows the first time?"
Dugu Huai'en nodded and said, "Brother is right. This person must have said this on purpose to attract Chang Sun Sheng's attention and make Chang Sun Sheng think that he has talent. Maybe he wants to become Chang Sun Sheng's third apprentice."
Yuan Ping said angrily: "Brother, this guy is probably a freshman and doesn't know the rules. How dare he show off in front of us? Why don't we give him a good beating and teach him how to behave?"
Dou Dexuan waved his hand, "Don't do anything rash, find out his background first."
Chongrenfang is worthy of being the place where all the imperial courts in the world are concentrated. Not only is its area twice as large as Wubenfang, but its population is also much larger than Wubenfang, making the business in the square extremely prosperous, with many restaurants, inns, and brothels. There are more than 20 restaurants of all sizes, and more than a dozen inns.
The Jinzouyuan was the Beijing office. All reports from various states were first sent to the Jinzouyuan, which then submitted them to the corresponding government office in the court, usually the Shangshu Province.
When officials from other places came to the capital to do business, they would first come to Jinzouyuan. Jinzouyuan also had accommodation facilities, but there were very few rooms, so it could only be used by officials. The officials' subordinates could only stay in inns, so the inns in Chongrenfang were also very developed.
The Wei family's restaurant is located at the easternmost part of Chongrenfang, which is next to the commercial street. In fact, the location is not very good, but the area is relatively large, covering an area of three acres, while other restaurants generally only have about one or two acres.
The Wei family's restaurant was originally called Yirenlou. Although the name sounds like a brothel, it was actually a restaurant. However, the restaurant has gone bankrupt, and its doors and windows are closed. It has become a warehouse with all kinds of goods piled up.
The restaurant is close to the Fang River. It is still winter and the river is frozen, but there is no strange smell in the air.
Wei Chengfeng sighed, "It's only better in the winter. After the spring, the stench comes. It appears at dusk every day and disappears in the middle of the night. It's a real headache!"
"Brother Wei said that the feng shui is bad. What's the problem?" Xiao Xia asked.
“It’s this river!”
Wei Chengfeng pointed at the river and said, "The river turns right at our restaurant, like a sickle, so it's called the sickle evil. Also, you see, the restaurant was originally square, but there's a corner missing in the northwest, about an inch of land. That's where the restaurant's warehouse is. We guess it was used to park the ox carts that deliver goods."
"Is this restaurant the main asset of the Wei family?"
Wei Chengfeng shook his head. "Not really! The main assets of the Wei family are farmland, and the assets in the city are shops in Liren City and Metropolitan City, as well as restaurants in Pingkangfang and Xuanyangfang."
"Since it is not the main asset, how can it affect the fortune of the Wei family?"
"Because it was a new asset acquired last year, after the Wei family bought it, their fortunes started to go downhill, and they encountered problems one after another. The Dou family was the same before, and they were miserable in the past few years. But after they sold the restaurant last year, their luck started to improve, and they got promoted and made a fortune. Otherwise, why would the three alchemists all say that there was something wrong with this restaurant? They are all famous alchemists in Chang'an?"
"Brother Wei, can you tell me the name of one of the alchemists?"
"Master Liu Qiming of Shangyuan Temple is the last Taoist priest who looked at Feng Shui for us. Shangyuan Temple is in Chongrenfang. Do you want to ask him about Feng Shui?"
Xiao Xia shook his head. "I don't know much about Feng Shui, nor am I interested in it. I just want to know if the three alchemists are in the same group?"
"They are not just one group of alchemists. Each of them is different. We did not tell them the opinions of other alchemists in advance, but they all pointed to this restaurant, which means that the restaurant's feng shui is indeed problematic."
Xiao Xia would never believe in this kind of feng shui. He knew in his heart that the reason why the three alchemists all pointed to this restaurant was because it was newly purchased at the beginning of last year and was of course a key suspect.
Xiao Xia didn't say anything more, and smiled and said, "Let me confirm one last time, the total is only 4,000 strings of cash, right?"
"That's right, four thousand strings of cash. The Xiao family will pay for the transfer and we will pay the tax. But I want to tell you something up front. If anything happens to the Xiao family after you buy it, don't blame us."
"Of course I won't blame the Wei family. Okay! I bought it on behalf of the Xiao family. Do you have any requirements for the title when buying it?"
Wei Chengfeng shook his head. "There are no identity requirements for commercial shops, but you can't turn them into residences. That's illegal."
"I know. I'll find a broker to help me with the paperwork. His surname is Ma, and he's the owner of Baocheng Shop."
Wei Chengfeng hesitated for a moment and said, "No one else even asked, do you really want to buy it, brother?"
Xiao Xia smiled slightly, "I don't really believe in this kind of feng shui, I just want it to be cheap!"
"Okay! I'll tell my father tonight."
(End of this chapter)