Chapter 297: Time Goes Wrong on Linjiang Tower

Chapter 297: Time Goes Wrong on Linjiang Tower

Chapter 297: Time Goes Wrong on Linjiang Tower

Hengyang Prefecture, 30 miles away from Xifengdu, is surrounded by mountains and rivers. It has been the most important town in southern Hunan since ancient times. There are tens of thousands of households in the city, which are densely packed with Han and Miao people. The people are simple and tough, and are known as "Banman" outside.

The streets were wet after the rain, and a horse-drawn carriage with a green canopy drove out of the alley.

In front of them was a section of the Xiang River that ran through the city and was as wide as 13 or 14 meters. It was the flood season, so the woman pulled the reins, turned the carriage around, and let it go parallel to the river, looking for the ferry to the island in the middle of the river.

"The island is Linjiang Tower. Your Excellency, do you think the Right Envoy would linger in a restaurant or a brothel?"

She waved the whip, secretly wondering if he was just making up an excuse to go out for a drink.

After all, Linjianglou is one of the three largest restaurants in Hunan, with a long history and a reputation for its wine.

The man in the car lifted the curtain and looked across the misty water towards Dongzhou Island.

Under the shade of towering trees, three-story high buildings are looming. They were built by Li Lun, Prince of Gui and son of Emperor Shunzong of the Tang Dynasty, and rebuilt in the Song Dynasty. They are indeed ancient and charming, with a long-lasting aura, and blending well with the river water.

"The music master loves wine and music. He often travels around the country as a musician, visiting restaurants and brothels to earn money."

"Moreover, a fortune teller had calculated years ago that Feiyan's fate was... thin and light, and that she would need to be exposed to the worldly world more often."

"It's inconvenient to bring Feiyan with you in the mountains, so I guess they'll stay in the city."

Zhang Yu naturally knew that Qu Yang would go to the Liu Mansion in Hengshan on June 6th, just to rescue people under the noses of the Five Mountains Sword Sect and the Orthodox Sect. Even if some people did not take action because of their friendship with Liu Zhengfeng, it would be difficult to deal with the top three guards of the Songshan Sect alone.

That is the last resort.

If we can intercept Qu Yang in advance and know his strengths, that would be the best.

"Did Miss Feiyan tell the adults?"

Du Xiaochai couldn't help but ask, after Qu Youshi semi-retired in Zhufeng Courtyard, he almost cut off contact with his old friends in the sect, and later even dismissed herself and Zhao Changfeng. She knew some of the things Zhang Yu talked about, but didn't know some of them.

"Before I returned to Blackwood Cliff to take up my post, Master Qu and Feiyan occasionally sent me letters."

Zhang Yu lowered the car curtain and thought to himself.

Perhaps after that, he had made up his mind to live in seclusion from the world.

The ducks know first when the water is warm, and the cicadas cry first when the wind is cold.

Qu Yang has been in the martial arts world for many years, and he has obviously heard the prelude to the impending catastrophe in the martial arts world. Even if he has no ambition for fame and fortune, as the Right Protector of Light, he cannot stay out of it when the war breaks out.

In the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, one has always been in and out of the sect, and there has never been a word of leaving the sect unless the leader gives personal permission.

"Shut up!"

The green-covered carriage stopped in front of the ferry and let Zhang Yu off.

Du Xiaochai continued to move forward, she still wanted to visit several other places in the city.

At the riverside ferry, a straw market was spontaneously formed, selling snacks, straw sandals, rain gear, fish and shrimp. Although the Three Hunan provinces were not as wealthy as the southeast, they were also famous for being a land of fish and rice. With abundant resources and surplus output, a relatively widespread commerce could be formed.

If people struggle to make ends meet every day, the market will only be depressed, and this is true both in ancient and modern times.

Seeing a new guest, the fortune teller in hemp clothes cleared his throat and said, "A commoner with divine physiognomy can predict a hundred years..."

"Old turtle for sale, genuine century-old turtle, just fished out from the bottom of the river!"

The fisherman wearing a bamboo hat nearby saw that the man had a fair complexion and a heavy bag behind him, so he hurriedly started to sell his wares. In front of him lay a turtle with a dark carapace and the size of a millstone. Its feet were tied with straw ropes and its head was tucked into its shell.

"The whole world is vast and boundless, and I know everything from ancient times to the present. I charge three taels of silver for a divination. If it doesn't work, I won't charge you."

The fisherman added: "The old turtle is very intelligent. Eating it will make you smarter."

The fortune teller in hemp clothes sighed. He just had no business, so he had nothing to do, so he advised the fisherman that selling spiritual objects was unlucky and could easily harm one's virtue. It would be better to let the old turtle go and accumulate blessings for himself and his descendants in order to plan for a good future.

As a result, I was targeted.

Fishermen make a living by their physical strength, but in the area of ​​Sanxiang, singing songs on the river is popular. They denounce evil and praise good, and they sing whatever they want, and they are not inferior to others in bickering.

Four or five black boats were waiting in front of the pier, ferrying passengers to Dongzhou Island. From time to time, there were boats coming from the middle of the river. Those who had the leisure to go to Linjiang Tower to drink and have fun were mostly scholars, merchants, and knights-errant.

Zhang Yu was about to find a boat to cross the river when he was stopped.

"Please stay!"

"Are you calling me, sir?"

Zhang Yu looked at the man in sackcloth clothes. His hair and beard were snow-white and his face was sallow. It seemed that his business was not very good.

The other man stroked his beard and chuckled, "If you look back, it's fate, and if not, it's also fate."

Zhang Yu waved his hand and said with a smile, "Sir, please don't say anything. I never tell fortunes."

“Why don’t you tell fortunes?”

"Because I don't believe it!"

Zhang Yu turned around and walked to the end, hurriedly jumped onto the ferry, and told the boatman to start the boat.

"You are looking for someone, am I right?"

When Zhang Yu heard this, he turned around abruptly and saw the fortune teller in hemp clothes standing on the dock, looking at him with a smile.

"Do you want to go back, guest?" asked the old boatman rowing the boat.

Zhang Yu looked at the fortune teller in hemp clothes who felt he had won the game, and slowly turned his back.

"Go to Dongzhou Island!"

On the shore, the smile on the man in sackcloth clothes froze on his lips.

After a long while, he sighed, "It's rare to meet such a stupid person!"

Dongzhou Island is not very big, with an area of ​​about 500 acres and is as long and narrow as a boat.

The island is particularly lush with trees, flowers and plants, and is visited by many tourists.

Boats from various docks on the Xiangjiang River may come here to pay tribute to the ancient monuments on the island. There are four ferry crossings alone, which symbolizes welcoming guests from all directions. Two hundred steps up along the stone road is the highest point on the island.

The Linjiang Tower that has withstood the vicissitudes of the Tang and Song dynasties.

An old man was sitting on the stone steps outside the door. He was wearing a straw raincoat and straw sandals, with a hunched back. He was facing the guests coming in and out of the door with his back to the old man. His eyes were slightly closed, and his hand holding the bow was trembling slightly. The sound of the erhu was cold and sad, enough to make people sad and cry. Several guests in the building could not bear it and fled, covering their ears.

"Old man, this is the red envelope given to you by the shopkeeper. Please go somewhere else to get it."

The restaurant owner suffered a double torture and could no longer bear it, so he asked the waiter to deliver two red envelopes.

"Ordinary eyes and ears are used to hearing the chaotic sounds, but they cannot hear the true sounds of this world. How ridiculous, how ridiculous."

The old man narrowed his eyes, ignored the red envelope that was handed to him, sighed a few words, and raised his hand to grab the bow.

The bow was about three feet long, made of a wooden bow pole, hollow in the middle, with what seemed to be a metal sheet hidden inside. Horsetails were tied at both ends as bow hairs, and it was clamped between the two strings for playing.

Seeing that he was about to attack again, the waiter was so scared that he quickly took out the hidden red seal from his sleeve.

"There's no more left, old restaurant owner. I advise you to quit while you're ahead. If the owner gets angry, you won't get a penny."

The old man shook his head slightly, grabbed the two red envelopes and stuffed them into his arms.

He held the huqin, put on a bamboo hat and left.

"This old restaurant, I thought it was so noble."

The waiter stood outside the door and shook his head slightly. There were many strange people in Hunan and Xiangxi, and he had seen many musicians who came to the door to sing for money and beg for alms. He usually gave them a few dozen coins and did not dare to offend them too much. There were rules in the underworld, and so were the people in the market.

Zhang Yu followed the sound of music and passed an old man in a straw hat and raincoat at the corner. He looked back and seemed to have seen this man somewhere, but he couldn't remember where he was.

"Where exactly is this place?" He did not think much about it. The man was too ordinary. He was among the crowd of people. There were thousands of dark-skinned, bitter-faced fishermen, boatmen, woodcutters, sedan chair bearers, and lower-class people who had been ravaged by the wind and frost.

"Your Majesty, please!"

When the waiter saw the man coming with a heavy bag on his back, he immediately came forward to meet him.

"Is there a seat upstairs?"

The waiter said happily, "There are seats available. Please go upstairs, sir."

Zhang Yu looked around the building. The first floor was full, and so was the second floor. He did not see anyone who resembled Qu Yang.

He went straight to the third floor, which had the best view.

At this time, there were only two empty tables, one in the innermost corner. Zhang Yu chose a seat next to the window and sat down.

The walls were covered with gauze, on which were written poems left by literati. The seat fee was half a tael of silver per table, and the main expenses for wine and meat had to be calculated separately.

The waiter asked attentively, "What kind of wine would you like, sir?"

Zhang Yucai had collected more than 30,000 taels of silver and was well off, so he wanted to indulge in a life of luxury.

"I don't know how to get drunk by the spring breeze and autumn moon, but when I wake up from my dream, my hair turns white. I heard that the best wine in Linjiang Tower is called 'Years Wrong', and it is weighed five catties and served on the table. There is also the silver crucian carp tofu soup from the Xiangjiang River, and these dishes are served together."

All the meats he ordered were those that replenished the blood and invigorated the Qi. As a warrior, he needed to train his Qi internally and his body externally, and he needed to eat high-quality meat frequently. Rice, porridge and cabbage alone would not develop solid and strong muscles and bones.

As the ruffian says, you will have strength only if you are full.

If we change it into the Wudang Niubizi Sutra, it is called refining essence into Qi.

"Why haven't you gone yet? Are you worried that I don't have enough silver?"

Seeing the waiter looking embarrassed, Zhang Yu stood there and asked with a smile.

"Sir, you only know one side of the story, but not the other."

"What's the second one?"

The waiter said, "Sir, this Sui Sui Cuo is indeed the best wine in our building. It is brewed with 16 kinds of medicinal herbs and mixed with grains. Each jar of wine must be stored in the cellar for three years to prevent it from changing its taste and color. However, this wine is extremely strong. Let alone... five catties, even if it is one catty, ordinary people cannot leave the building. Last time, someone who didn't believe in evil drank one and a half catties and was drunk for three whole days. Not only did the building pay for the medicine, but it almost caused a lawsuit for murder."

Zhang Yu liked wine to begin with, and after hearing what he said, he became even more interested. He took out two large silver ingots, weighing more than twenty taels, and placed them on the table, saying with a smile, "Weigh the amount of wine you want, I know how to handle it. If I get really drunk, this will be the cost of the medicine."

It would be a bastard not to make money if you have the money. After hearing what he said, the waiter had no choice but to take the silver and prepare wine and food.

"Another stranger has come who doesn't know how to live or die."

"I bet he gets drunk after five drinks..."

"You don't look like someone who can drink. Three cups is enough!"

People were whispering all around, Zhang Yu had plenty of internal strength, so naturally he heard those words. He smiled lightly, ignored them, and only paid attention to the beautiful scenery outside the river. The river is surging, and it has not changed for a thousand years. Life is a hundred years, and the success or failure of a fisherman or woodcutter with white hair can all be determined by a pot of wine.

Four more people came up here, a man and a woman, and two men in black who seemed to be guards. The man saw that the seats by the window were all taken, so he could only sit down at the table in the corner in a depressed mood.

"Sister, please take a seat! I heard from uncle that you are also familiar with classics at home. Do you know the origin of the name of Linjiang Tower?... Linjiangxian was originally a Tang Dynasty Jiaofang song, which was composed to mourn the two concubines of Shun who jumped into the Xiangjiang River and died. Later, it was used as the name of a ci tune. Su Dongpo and Li Yi'an both left famous poems under this ci tune. The two poems engraved on the wall are them. It's a pity that the people of this dynasty were so romantic, but they were unable to leave behind masterpieces that can be passed down through the ages under this ci tune... Ahem, I am not talented enough, so I should make up for this shortcoming."

"Shimei, Shimei, are you listening?"

The girl with the sword had dull eyes and a helpless expression, and she felt as if a hundred mosquitoes were buzzing in her ears.

She saw the waiter coming up with wine and meat and passing by in front of her. She looked in the direction she was looking, her eyes passed over several tables of guests and saw a familiar figure sitting alone by the window. She couldn't help but feel happy.

"Shimei, Shimei, what are you looking at?"

The girl with the sword glanced at the man, suddenly stood up and walked quickly to the window.

"Shimei, Shimei, where are you going?"

The man stood up and walked a few steps, but he saw the face he least wanted to see and the strange black bag. Thinking of what this person had done, he trembled with fear, took two steps back, and sat back in his chair in frustration.

When he was in Xifengdu, in order to verify that the two people were just performing ancient magic tricks, he deliberately stayed for a day, asked his guards to inquire, and went to the clinic in person, but what he saw was a corpse with a very tragic death.

"That's not a trick!"

He glanced at the two guards sent by the old man. He heard that they had also learned boxing from Sun Siwang in the Xi'an martial arts school for several years. Three or five people could not get close to him. At this time, the two of them lowered their heads and pretended to be dead dogs, not saying a word.

"Waiter, bring me the best wine in your store!"

The man was feeling troubled, and just then he saw the waiter passing by with an empty wooden tray, and he shouted angrily.

Zhang Yu gently put down the wine bowl and looked at the girl with a sword who walked to the table, with a puzzled look in his eyes.

"Girl, do you know me?"

The girl with the sword was not annoyed and smiled, "You don't remember? Look carefully again."

Zhang Yu looked carefully and found the woman to be sweet and innocent with bright eyes. Although she was not stunningly beautiful, she had the demeanor of a lady from a noble family, without the shy attitude of a girl who had been kept in seclusion. She was generous and chivalrous. In short, her temperament was very unique. However, he could not remember when and where he had seen her.

Zhang Yu shook his head.

The sword-wielding girl smiled softly, "On the seventh day of the seventh month in the tenth year of Yousheng, at midnight, in the West Garden of Mount Hua, in Lingshan's boudoir, a rapist broke into the room through the window..."

"do not talk!"

Zhang Yu quickly reached out to stop her. That was not a glorious thing to do, and it would not look good if it got out.

"Oh it's you."

He looked at the girl with the sword, and thought of that extremely loyal girl who refused to reveal Yue Lingshan's whereabouts.

"You finally remembered."

The sword-wielding girl was not particularly happy, but she felt relieved, as if she had fulfilled a long-cherished wish. She bowed and said, "Let's meet formally. I'm Qiu Daqi from the Righteous Alliance in Xiaguan."

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "The girl's name is Daqi, elegant but not vulgar, my name is Zhang Yu."

"Zhang Yu? Such a common name."

Qiu Daqi also laughed. She was straightforward by nature, especially in front of her close friends.

"Yes, there are many people named Zhang Yu in the martial arts world. Since we are friends, please take a seat."

Zhang Yu smiled and stretched out his hand, made a gesture of invitation, and asked the waiter to bring a set of bowls and chopsticks.

"What happened that night..."

Qiu Daqi sat down and chuckled, "Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone about what happened that night. I was afraid Lingshan wouldn't be able to tell her, so I resisted the urge to ask her."

"Thank you."

When Zhang Yu saw the girl like this, he knew that she didn't know that he was a member of the Sun and Moon Sect.

Qiu Daqi asked: "Can you tell me about you and Lingshan?"

Zhang Yu poured her half a cup of "Time Wrongs", then filled his own cup and drank it in one gulp. The wine rushed into his throat, but it was a bit bitter. He looked at the sword-wielding girl with an expectant look on her face, smiled and shook his head.

Just as Qiu Daqi was about to speak, he suddenly heard a familiar Guanzhong accent.

"Sir, there are no seats left on the third floor!"

"If you want to sit, there are places in the world where you can't sit. I came to Linjiang Tower to taste the best wine in the south. Bring me five catties of 'Years' and I can drink it while sitting on the ground."

These words are full of heroic spirit.

The waiter looked helpless as he met another drunkard.

(End of this chapter)