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A few days passed quickly. In addition to traveling, Li Mu also began to further control the subsequent layout through the branches of Zhuji and Longmen Escort Agency in Hangzhou.

At the same time, in order to prepare for a rainy day, several large sea vessels were prepared in advance at the Hangzhou Bay Port.

That day, Li Mu suddenly received a business card from Qian Xiwen, inviting him to attend a poetry meeting to be held in Xiaoyingzhou the next day.

Li Mu silently looked at the name card, it seems that a big change is about to begin. Su Tan'er also rushed over when she heard about this. During these days, she visited partners and heard about the Liqiu Poetry Meeting. She heard that the threshold was very high, so she took the post and read it.

Xiaoyingzhou, where the poetry gathering was held, is actually just one of the three small islands on West Lake. It is also known as the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon Island and is known as the most scenic spot in West Lake.

Because there is an island in the lake and a lake in the island, it is like the fairy island of Penglai, so it is named Xiaoyingzhou. It is one of the more famous attractions in Hangzhou.

According to the person who sent the invitation, tomorrow's Xiaoyingzhou Beginning of Autumn Poetry Festival will not only be attended by scholars and talented people. Since it is led by the prefect, local gentry, officials, wealthy merchants and prominent figures will also attend.

Although he didn't care much, Su Tan'er really wanted to go. The Su family wanted to expand their business in Hangzhou, so they would inevitably have to deal with these people, participate in a poetry reading, show their presence, or make some connections, which would be very necessary for future development.

Li Mu thought it would be useless to go, as less than half of the people who attended the poetry meeting would survive in the future, and eight out of ten would go bankrupt. However, Su Tan'er didn't know this.

Then he went. Qian Xiwen was also thoughtful. He even sent him an invitation for a poetry meeting.

Su Tan'er looked at the name card and said, "This Mr. Qian is a really nice person."

Li Mu nodded and told him about the Qian family's coral pen case.

Su Tan'er was somewhat emotional: "As expected of a scholarly family, they are well-educated, well-behaved, and good at managing the household."

Li Mu smiled and said, "He is indeed a good person. He is not rigid and quite interesting."

……

The next morning, there was a poetry gathering at Xiaoyingzhou.

Li Mu gave the managers and shopkeepers of the Su family a day off and arranged for them to take their families for an outing in the suburbs, with all expenses covered by the company.

Li Mu made the same arrangement for the internal staff of Zhuji and Longmen Escort Agency's branches in Hangzhou.

So, he and Su Tan'er took a few maids and guards and rushed to Xiaoyingzhou.

Although it is the Beginning of Autumn poetry gathering, it is actually still the hottest time of the year. The summer heat has not yet subsided, and the rolling heat waves seem to be causing a layer of vapor to rise above the West Lake.

However, the water is cooler than the land, and there is a breeze, so it is not that hot.

Those who have received invitations to today's party are basically people with family background and background in Hangzhou, or those with a certain level of talent.

As the crowd gathered, more and more boats appeared on the lake, and many of them were marked with the logos of various families. There were the Cao family, the largest local rice merchants, the Long family, cloth merchants, the Chen family who ran a brothel, and some official ships that had set sail.

At this time, they opened the windows, rolled up the curtains, and let the boats drift slowly on the lake. The weather was too hot, and those who arrived early would rather float on the lake for a while.

However, although the poetry gathering in Xiaoyingzhou has not yet begun, a small gathering on the lake has already begun, with two or three wealthy people or three or five scholars, chatting and laughing, and discussing the country.

Similar to these people, Li Mu and Su Tan'er and their group were also sitting in a pleasure boat, drifting on the lake with the breeze. He had no interest in today's poetry reading and didn't care when it started.

Looking down from the pleasure boat, Xiaoyingzhou was covered with lush greenery and the scenery was extremely beautiful. I could even see the Baoning Temple in the distance. I stretched and looked around boredly.

He had excellent hearing, and the passionate voices of several scholars on a nearby pleasure boat suddenly reached his ears.

"Brother Wang, have you heard? The two countries of Jin and Liao are now fighting in the north. It is said that Jin is forcing Liao to fight."

"Yes! The Liao Kingdom was so powerful in the past... I never thought it would decline like this now."

At this time, a scholar next to him said passionately: "Our dynasty will definitely seize this opportunity and swear to march north. When the smoke of war rises in the north, I will join the army and drive out the barbarians and recover Yanyun with my royal army..."

A scholar praised loudly: "Brother Zhang is very righteous. I have the same idea. However, the war between Jin and Liao has been going on for a long time, but there is no news of the use of troops in the capital. I don't know when they will send troops north. The court used to be afraid of Liao like a tiger. Will it be..."

"Brother Li, you are worrying too much. As you all know, my father is on good terms with Commander Liu. I once heard my father say that the court has begun to organize its army and will march north at any time to recapture Yanyun. Moreover, as you all know, Prime Minister Qin, who provoked the conflict between Jin and Liao, has risen again. The court has been planning for this for eight years, and it will definitely not end in failure. After a while, everything will be clear."

A scholar nodded thoughtfully: "Brother Zhang's words make sense. In my opinion, the court should mobilize the army after the autumn harvest, so as not to delay the harvest and have sufficient food and grass."

At this time, a scholar sighed and suddenly interrupted, "Don't just look at the war between Jin and Liao in the north. Our south is not peaceful either. The bandit problem is getting worse and worse. I heard a few days ago that Fang La is said to have fought hundreds of miles away. Many counties in the southwest have been swept up in it, and officials are being killed and rebelled everywhere."

One person said, "Brother Chen, don't worry about this. Hangzhou is an important commercial center. The imperial court relies on it very much. We also have the Wude Army to guard it. Even if the banditry is rampant, we can keep it out."

……

"Yes! Brother Chen, the bandits are just a minor problem. In the south, there is the Wuwei Army led by Chen Shisheng, in the north, there is the Wuzuo Army led by Kang Fangting, and the Wude Army in Hangzhou blocks their eastern route to prevent them from spreading. The bandit problem is said to have been brought under control."

A scholar echoed, "Brother Li's words make sense. The bandit problem in the southwest is minor. Kang Fangting used troops in the southwest at the beginning of the year. When Fang La and his ilk encountered them, they all fled. They could not become a major force. The most important thing now is to march north and recapture Yanyun."

The scholar surnamed Chen nodded silently: "I hope I am overthinking it!"

Li Mu listened silently and glanced at the scholar named Chen, thinking that your guess is completely correct and Hangzhou City is about to fall.

However, few people would believe such a thing. Under the current circumstances, the banditry in the southwest would not affect Hangzhou. If it were not for the sudden earthquake, the city of Hangzhou would not have fallen.

Thinking of the big earthquake, Li Mu looked at the lake. There were a lot of fish on the water today, running around everywhere, and from time to time some fish jumped high.

It’s not that no one noticed these anomalies. The fish in West Lake were not so active in the past. But the reason is easy to find. Look at how many pleasure boats and ships are gathered in West Lake now. It’s understandable that so many boats have disturbed the fish, so some anomalies have occurred.

Not only the fish, he had excellent eyesight. Not far away on Xiaoying Island, large groups of ants crawled out of their nests, as if they were moving. Although the weather was hot now, it was not stuffy, and it didn't look like it would rain, so why did the ants crawl out?

Then I thought about it again, the cats and dogs I met this morning were also a little abnormal, and the rooster was crowing in broad daylight.

These visions may not mean anything, but then a big earthquake came.

Li Mu looked at the sky. The sun was high in the sky, and there were no clouds in the sky. It was a normal day. The people on the boats around him were talking and laughing, and there was a lot of joy. No one could have predicted that a terrible earthquake was about to happen.

Li Mu sighed and walked back to the cabin. Time passed quickly, the poetry meeting officially began, and many people began to land on Xiaoyingzhou.

Now that he was here, Li Mu also planned to go down for a walk.

Xiaoyingzhou itself is a long and narrow circular island. Although it is a poetry gathering, many people come. People walk and sit in the woods, enjoying the scenery, which looks somewhat similar to an outing.

Li Mu and Su Tan'er walked down from the pleasure boat with several maids. At this time, the large and small boats anchored here were almost connected together, which was very spectacular.

When we arrived on the island, there were crowds everywhere and the experience was not very good.

From time to time, I could hear complaints: "It's still too hot in the beginning of autumn. Isn't it asking for trouble to hold a poetry gathering at this time? What are those officials thinking?"

Someone else explained, "In fact, poetry gatherings were not held at this time before. It was a precedent set by Xiong Ruming, who was the prefect here a few years ago. At that time, disasters hit many places. In order to collect disaster relief supplies, someone gave the idea to prefect Xiong to invite many people to visit the island, let the wealthy families donate some supplies, and let the talented people write some poems."

"At that time, we also invited great scholars such as Qian Xiwen, Mu Bochang, and Chang Yu'an to strengthen the momentum. Now that Prefect Xiong has been transferred, with the presence of several great scholars, the Beginning of Autumn Poetry Gathering has been preserved."

Many people suddenly realized the truth after hearing this, and complained less. After all, the organizers of the poetry reading were all big shots, and many of their children were present.

The group strolled around for a while and took a short rest in a pavilion in Xiaoyingzhou. Su Tan'er saw the women from several cooperating merchants' families and went over to chat and greet them with a smile. Li Mu also walked out of the pavilion and looked at a group of ants moving in the grass on the side of the road.

After squatting down and watching for a while, a voice suddenly came from the side: "You are the Ning Yi from Jiangning!"

Li Mu turned his head and saw a young man in his early twenties, wearing luxurious robes and accompanied by two sturdy followers. At this moment, he held his chin high, looking a bit domineering.

He looked Li Mu up and down and said with contempt, "I thought he was some kind of person. A mere son-in-law with no sense of shame is actually qualified to participate in the poetry gathering. This Liqiu Poetry Gathering is getting worse and worse."

Li Mu looked at him quietly. It had been so many years since he had been ridiculed in person. He had originally planned to come and have fun, but now it seemed that he had to exercise some strength.

His expression did not change at all, and he asked calmly: "Do we know each other?"

An attendant behind the young man jumped out and said, "You don't even recognize our Master Lou. Remember, this is Master Lou Shuheng of our Lou family."

Li Mu shook his head helplessly. He had no intention of contacting her at first, but he didn't expect her to suddenly jump out at this time. After listening to Lou Shuwan's experience of returning to Hangzhou, he felt that a son-in-law dared to be so thorny and not give face to the Lou family, so he came to teach them a lesson!

It’s true... there are all kinds of people!

Lou Shuheng raised his head with a look of contempt, and opened his mouth to say something else.

Li Mu chuckled and walked over slowly. It didn't seem like he was walking fast, but he arrived at the place in an instant.

With a loud slap, Lou Shuheng was slapped and flew out, falling to the ground, with one of his cheeks swelled up immediately.

After a scream, the two followers finally reacted. Just as they were about to rush forward, Li Mu kicked one of them. The two followers flew several meters away, lay on the ground groaning for a long time without getting up.

Lou Shuheng was frightened by the scene in front of him and staggered to his feet. This startled some people nearby and they turned to look over.

Seeing this, Lou Shuheng quickly shouted, "They're beating people! They're beating people! Come here quickly! People from Jiangning are causing trouble in Hangzhou."

As the son of the Lou family, he often hangs out in brothels and poetry gatherings. The Lou family is also a famous wealthy family in Hangzhou with enormous wealth. Lou Shuheng is also well-known for his romantic reputation in Hangzhou, and many people know him.

With this shout, many people recognized him. Some wanted to build relationships with him, while others were encouraged by his shouting and ran over.

He ran and shouted:
"presumptuous!"

"You dare to hit someone, how arrogant."

"The people of Jiangning dare to go wild in Hangzhou."

……

Li Mu ignored these people and walked to Lou Shuheng in three or two steps. Without giving him a chance to react, he grabbed his hair and slapped him several times. There was blood at the corner of Lou Shuheng's mouth and his cheeks were completely swollen like a pig's head. The arrogance in his eyes was completely gone, and there was only endless fear.

Li Mu loosened his hand slightly and immediately fell to the ground.

At this time, the scholars finally arrived. One of them hesitated for a moment, shouted, "Mr. Lou, let me help you..." and rushed up directly. Several scholars and followers also rushed up.

Li Mu shook his head helplessly, slapped each of them, and they all flew out. Then more people heard the noise and ran over to watch the fun.

Some people heard that the Jiangning people were causing trouble in Hangzhou, and they were aroused and rushed forward as well. Li Mu slapped each of them.

In less than a minute, the scene was filled with people lying on the ground, wailing, holding their swollen faces.

Li Mu smiled faintly and glanced around. Everyone subconsciously avoided his gaze. He shook his head, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, turned and left. The crowd instantly made way for him. No one dared to say a word, and they looked at his departing back in horror.

Su Tan'er and a few little girls were found. They had just come from a distance to watch the excitement, but before they arrived at the place, they realized that it was Li Mu who did it.

"Husband, are you okay?"

Li Mu said: "I didn't even use a bit of strength, what can happen?"

Su Tan'er looked around and knew that if she stayed here any longer, she would inevitably get into trouble. She whispered, "Husband, why don't you go back?"

Li Mu looked up at the sky. He didn't know when the earthquake would come, but it should be not far away. It was time to leave.

Nodded: "Then let's go back to the pleasure boat!"

A few people returned to the pleasure boat and continued to enjoy the cool air in the lake.

More than half an hour later, the ground shook, followed by a loud rumbling noise. An earthquake had occurred...

(End of this chapter)