Chapter 274 Diamond Old 5
Chapter 274 Diamond Number Five
A copper kettle was placed ten feet away in the yard. A dozen women were sitting on bamboo mats, drinking cold drinks comfortably. The drink was iced sour plum soup. Seasonal bayberries were cooked in a pot, and then the recently popular cane sugar was added. The sour plum soup was then put into a ceramic jar and frozen in well water. It could be taken out when needed. It was icy and chilly, a great product for relieving summer heat, and was loved by both the lower class people and the upper class.
Of course they would not line up, but draw numbers and then go to play the game of tossing arrows when it was their turn, with each person throwing ten arrows.
Xiao Xia sat on a small chair, holding a scoreboard, counting everyone's scores out of boredom. The pot-tossing game was very particular, with a full score of five points for each throw. Zero points for missing the target, one point for hitting the pot, two points for hitting the lip of the pot but not going in, three points for hitting the lip of the pot and having it bounce in, and five points for throwing it directly into the pot.
The girls surrounded Yang Feiyan, but their eyes glanced at Xiao Xia intentionally or unintentionally, and the topic was occasionally directed to Xiao Xia. Soon, his background was revealed by the outspoken Yang Feiyan.
He was seventeen years old, and his title was Prince of Xihai County. He was also a general and a general of the Right Wuhou Guard. He had a private house of ten acres in Qinrenfang, two manors and nearly two hundred shops under his name. The most famous ones, such as Dazhou Jewelry Shop, Wencui Restaurant, Dazhou Counter Shop, etc., were all his private properties and did not belong to the family. The Wanhuhou Restaurant was given by him during a conversation, and the dazzling gem necklace on Princess Xiao's neck was also given by him.
More importantly, he is not engaged yet.
All the girls' eyes widened at what they heard. A rich bachelor would be the center of attention in any era, let alone a powerful bachelor.
The Sui Dynasty was not the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although it was nominally a Han dynasty, it was actually a shadow dynasty of the Xianbei Hu people. Women in the Sui Dynasty had a very high status. From the empress in the palace to the common women, all of them were very capable, busying themselves with housework. Wives from the upper class would also give advice to their husbands.
When it comes to pursuing their own love happiness, women are also very proactive. Not only do their parents help them consider it, but they will also take action on their own. As long as they are well matched, their parents will respect their daughters' choices.
"Mr. Xiao, I always miss the shot, can you give me some pointers?"
A girl in a yellow skirt stood in front of the throwing line and waved to Xiao Xia with affectionate eyes.
The girl's name is Yuan Lin. She is the granddaughter of General Yuan Zhou of the Right Guard. She is sixteen years old this year. She was promised to Dou Kang's third son since she was a child. Her fiancé died of illness two years ago, which affected her marriage.
It's not that she can't get married. With her powerful family, it would be easy for her to choose a new partner. It's just that it takes time to choose and consider again, so she still hasn't found anyone.
Yuan Lin had never met Xiao Xia and didn't know there was such a rich bachelor in the world. Now that she had discovered him, how could she not seize this opportunity?
Yuan Lin looks very good, with a tall and plump figure, especially her breasts, and fair skin. She is very beautiful after putting on makeup. Of course, this is a typical figure of Xianbei women. After middle age, they will easily gain weight and become very wealthy.
Xiao Xia raised the scoreboard in his hand, smiled apologetically, and said that he was counting the scores.
"Mr. Xiao, please!" Yuan Lin begged again, and the sugar content increased by three degrees.
At this time, all the women present reacted and realized that Yuan Lin was bold and aggressive, and was going to take the first step towards the diamond Xiao Laowu in front of her.
"Sister Yuan, your gestures are not right. Let me teach you!"
Cui Mei, a petite girl, suddenly appeared in front of her, blinking her big eyes and saying, "You should hold the bronze arrow flat. You are holding it at an angle now, and the position is wrong. You should do it like me, and I will guarantee that you will hit the target with one throw."
Cui Mei threw the arrow lightly, and the bronze arrow drew an arc and went into the bottle accurately with a "dong!"
The women behind all applauded enthusiastically, not knowing whether they were applauding Cui Mei for her beautiful projection or for successfully preventing the scene that made them unhappy from happening.
Xiao Xia also seemed to understand something. He looked towards Cui Yu, and saw Cui Yu's beautiful eyes looking at him lovingly. Their eyes met, and Cui Yu lowered her head shyly. Xiao Xia's heart skipped a beat and his face turned red.
At this time, a maid ran over and said, "Third Master, the prince wants you to come over."
Xiao Xia nodded, waved to Xiao Mei and said, "Xiao Mei, come here!"
"Brother Xiao, you say something!" Cui Mei jumped over.
"You keep the score. I have something to do."
"All right!"
Xiaomei took the scoreboard and sat down obediently.
Xiao Xia really liked Xiao Mei's liveliness and cleverness. He touched her head lovingly and looked at Cui Yu deeply again. This time, Cui Yu did not lower her head shyly. She pursed her lips and smiled, nodded slightly to him, as if she understood what he meant. Xiao Xia also smiled, then turned and left.
Yuan Lin kept staring at Xiao Xia and found that he actually looked at Cui Yu several times. She also turned her head to look at Cui Yu and saw Cui Yu looking at Xiao Xia with affection.
Yuan Lin suddenly felt a strong sense of jealousy in her heart, and she suddenly realized that Xiao Xia and the Cui sisters had an unusual relationship and they had known each other for a long time. After Xiao Xia left, the young women were no longer in the mood to play pot tossing. They used the excuse that it was too sunny and sat in the shade without moving.
Another young woman, He Ruohui, came forward and whispered to Yuan Lin, "Didn't you notice? Just now, that Mr. Xiao was paying attention to Cui Yu. It seems that their relationship is a bit ambiguous!"
Yuan Lin sneered and said, "How could I not know? She asked her sister to stop me from contacting Master Xiao. Her intention is too obvious and too disgusting!"
There was also a gleam of heat that was hard to conceal in He Ruohui's eyes. She had been extremely enthusiastic about money and wealth since she was old enough to understand. Unfortunately, her grandfather He Ruobi was rather stingy, and she had received very little monthly allowance since she was a child. This made her secretly swear that she must find a husband who was as rich as a country.
Unfortunately, there are too few young men like this. When she heard that Xiao Xia actually owned nearly 200 shops and two manors, her heart was boiling. Two hundred shops! My God, only a fool would not fight for such a husband.
But He Ruohui was very cunning. She wanted to take advantage of Yuan Lin first, and then use her scheming and skill to take Xiao Xia into her hands.
"Young Master Xiao's conditions are good and really tempting. Why don't we take the initiative and invite him out for dinner? They are not engaged anyway, so you can just take him away and the Princess of West Sea will be none other than you."
"us?"
Yuan Lin looked at He Ruohui with a half-smile, "Could it be that Ah Hui also has ideas?"
"What would I think?"
He Ruohui said nonchalantly, "I just can't stand the little actions of the Cui sisters. They actually insulted Sister Yuan in public. It's really disgusting. I just want to lend a hand to Sister Yuan and let the Cui sisters see that the Guanlong nobles are not easy to mess with!"
Yuan Lin clenched his fists and glared at Cui Yu fiercely as if to protest, "Who dares to compete with me for the man I like?"
Xiao Xia followed the maid to the courtyard. When they reached the round gate of the inner house, Xiao Xia suddenly felt a hostile gaze locking onto her. Turning back, she saw Yang Ling standing by the door, staring at her coldly.
Yang Ling folded his hands in his arms and said to Xiao Xia coldly: "I'll tell you only once, Xiao Qing was the one I fell in love with first, you'd better not take her away!"
Xiao Xia was very disgusted by this condescending tone. He looked at Yang Ling coldly, ignored him and continued walking forward.
Yang Ling stared at Xiao Xia's back and slowly clenched his fists.
He suddenly quickened his pace and took a shortcut to the living room. He wanted to stand behind his father first and not give this bastard any chance.
When they reached the courtyard, the maid pointed to the lobby and said, "It's in the lobby, please come in, sir!"
Xiao Xia walked towards the lobby and heard someone say faintly: "Let me see it, I can see it, and I will write it down. The only condition is that you can only see it by yourself, and you must not tell anyone else except yourself!"
Everyone laughed and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Yuan, we won't reveal the secret!"
Xiao Xia was stunned. Who is Yuan Taishi? Could it be Yuan Tiangang?
He walked into the lobby, which was filled with important officials of the Sui Dynasty, including Gao Jiong, Yang Su, Su Wei, Yuan Min, Yuan Zhou, Dugutuo, He Ruobi, Wei Xuan, Shi Wansui, Yuwen Shu, etc. Yang Guang sat in the main seat. His eldest son Yang Zhao was not there, probably because he was accompanying a young guest. When he met Yang Ling just now, he was actually standing behind his father. He ran away so fast.
In fact, Yang Ling looked quite good, tall and handsome, with strong martial arts skills, and was good at riding and shooting. Of course, he was still far behind Xiao Xia, mainly because he did not have a solid Yuan, and later he stopped taking the medicine, so his ability to break through obstacles disappeared.
Without the blessing of breaking barriers, his martial arts would be limited to his innate strength, experience and proficiency, and he would no longer have the ability to perceive in all directions.
Yang Ling's biggest problem was his character. He was spoiled by his mother since he was a child, which made him develop an arrogant personality. He was also mean. Yang Zhao always said that his brother was very similar to Yang Liang, the King of Han.
Xiao Xia stepped forward and bowed to his father and the others. Yang Su patted the couch next to him and said with a smile, "General Xiao, sit over here. This is a seat reserved especially for you."
Yang Su was very grateful to Xiao Xia for what happened to his son Yang Jishan. Wei Xuan also smiled and said, "Hurry up and sit down. We are asking Yuan Taishi to read our fortune!"
Xiao Xia was not polite and sat down among the ministers. However, he did not notice that a look of jealousy that was hard to conceal flashed in Yang Ling's eyes.
(End of this chapter)