Brother Donggong

When the sun was about to set, a whole bunch of us—I and Cui Bicheng’s carriage, Pei Tan and his guards, Xie Meng, who was about to bruise on his head, and his remnants of the Snow Eagle Guard—run away Back to Yongjing.

The nine gates of Yongjing are closed tightly, with a solemn and quiet look of "I am noble, please do not disturb the idlers", coupled with the echo of the evening drum and morning bell of the Huguo Temple in the distant mountains, the whole is a squat A big monster dozing behind the sun.

When I read history books, I often think wildly.

Live forever and become a demon.

1000 years ago, my great-great-great-great...grandfather, once one of the four vassal states in the world, Ji Gongni, the monarch of Zheng Guoguo, seized the country from riots, rebellions, and wars, and established the mighty Dazheng Dynasty , Dominate Huaxia.

That period of history is not only engraved in dusty history books, but also left on some old buildings.

For example, the Yongjing city gate in front of me.

The north gate of Yongjing is built with black stone bricks. Above the tall city wall is a three-story attic, which looks rugged and intriguing.This place is not as majestic and gorgeous as ordinary palaces. The firmness here carries a bloody smell that will never go away. It is the trace left over from a bloody battle thousands of years ago.

At that time, the enemy's army besieged Yongjing. In order to protect Yongjing, [-]% of the soldiers of Zheng State buried their bones outside the city wall of the North Gate.

It is said that the blood on the city wall flowed down everywhere at that time, staining the masonry of the city wall black.

Later, each generation of King Zheng had to hold a grand ceremony of salvation when he ascended the throne, guiding those dead souls to walk the road of the underworld, to the country of death where they could not return.

Miserable.

Now, the city wall stands in front of me, and I can see it from the carriage. It stands there like a man-eating monster that only exists in rural legends and ghost stories about ignorant village women scaring children.

Yong Jing...

I am back again.

Although I just left yesterday.

When entering Yongjing, the surroundings were extremely quiet.

There is no hustle and bustle of the past.

The common people went home to eat and sleep.

Because of this unusual quietness, I thought of my poor fourth brother again.

The royal families of Dazheng have produced a kind of people, just like my fourth brother Qingsu.

——Gorgeous and handsome appearance, slight nervousness, always straight waist when walking, graceful steps, lingering mask-like calmness at the corners of eyes and brows, and engraved in the bone marrow, that kind of pride of phoenix and dragon .

They are like the red lotus blooming only for one season in the forbidden palace, or the bright peach blossoms on the Qishan Mountain outside the palace.

I don't know how tragic the palace change is, I only know that the fourth brother finally picked a good time to go on the road.

Qingsu and Wenzhan sympathize with each other, they are brothers after all.

So we all know to reduce trouble for each other.

They also know that many people will die after they die, so try not to cause trouble for others.At least the delicate beauties in the harem can't drag the mop broom back and forth to wipe the blood that can never be wiped clean.

It rained heavily last night, washing everything between heaven and earth.

No matter how much blood, how many killings, how many corpses there are, they will all be washed away by a heavy rain.

How good!

As soon as I arrived in Yongjing, I sent Pei Tan and Xie Meng's oil bottles back.

Standing at the gate of my luxurious and freshly baked Qi Wang Mansion, Cui Bicheng and I looked at each other in blank dismay.

This is an uninhabited mansion, behind us there is only a cucumber who has had diarrhea all night and was scared green by the assassin.

Cui Bicheng looked at me, I looked at him, I touched the bank note in my sleeve, and then I patted him on the shoulder loyally, "Come on, I'll treat you to dinner. Cucumber, wash and sleep first, I'll give it to you." You bring the buns back."

So, Cui Bicheng and I rushed directly to Guanzhi Tower.

It was completely dark and it started to rain.

No matter what the East Palace has experienced today, the south of Yongjing City is still prosperous.Such luxury has never been broken for anyone or anything.

I often think that if one day Dazheng subjugates the country, Yongjing should still be like this—the songs will be sung, the dances will be danced, the money will be bet, and the horses will run.Whether it is a bastard or a prince or a general, they have changed one crop after another.There will always be people who are down and people who are prosperous.

There are many things in this world that are actually distorted.

Just like Confucianism and Fengyue.

In fact, they are all one thing, but they have two faces.It's just that rules and regulations are for others, and indulgence is for yourself.

For example, Guanzhi Building, which opened its doors to engage in flesh and blood business, has an unfathomable literati air.The huge courtyard is made of blue bricks and small tiles, carved beams and painted buildings, the long corridor reflects the waterside pavilion, the pavilion is connected with the pavilion, there is a faint sound of silk and bamboo, and the willows are dark and the flowers are bright.

Cui Bicheng and I sat in the hall to eat.

I took the big teapot from Guanzhi Building to the outside restaurant 'Yanxunshan Restaurant' and ordered four small dishes, a bucket of rice, and a small jar of Nurhong.

There was a person sitting on the red sandalwood armchair opposite us, it was that man, but his face was powdered, he was wearing very good clothes, a bright underclothes, covered with a layer of black soft gauze.He was leaning on the imperial concubine, and beside him was a child holding a wooden tray in which his teacup was placed.

He is the boss of Guanzhilou——Liu Yimeng.

I used to call him Liu Yi.

Liu Yi said, "Young Master Qi, don't you know how much I miss you~~~~~~~?"

"Sigh~~~~~~~~~"

I was eating a piece of tofu, and my back teeth were sour when I heard him say that.

In Guanzhi Tower, I said that I am the son of a rich family in Yongjing, but the whole Nancheng is so big, who doesn't know who's background?

Liu Yimeng only recognizes silver that is white and colorful, as for whether the silver came from the palace or from a rich man, he doesn't care!

Liu Yi was originally the number one singer of Kunqu opera in the Jiqing troupe, and he studied Guimen Dan. Back then, he became popular in the whole city of Yongjing with the incomparably beautiful Du Liniang in "A Dream in the Garden"!

When Liu Yi got older, he used the money he had saved to go to Jianghuai, picked up a few people to please people while he was in trouble, and came back to build the Guanzhi Building. After ten years of operation, he is actually considered to be the number one in Yongjing City. .

Although he doesn't sing anymore, he hasn't let go of his kung fu over the years. He has practiced every flicker, smile, walk, and gesture in front of the mirror thousands of times, so that he must reach the point where he is so beautiful that he doesn't look like a living person.

But that is usually.

If when he was doing business and asking for people, he still had the delicate appearance of a lady from an official family, always flattering Xizi, then I think he can only end his life in the court of prostitutes now.

I ate two bowls of dry rice and drank with a small wine boat when I heard Liu Yi suddenly say, "Master Qi wants to take Lian'er away today?"

This Lian'er is my girlfriend.

I nodded, "Yeah. Liu Yi, we're already acquaintances..."

Liu Yi bowed his head to drink tea, pursed his lips and smiled, as if he had heard what I said a thousand or eight hundred times.

I continued, "Xiao Lian is getting old too, I'm here to scrape together some money, if he can redeem himself, it's a good thing we've done, don't you think?"

Liu Yi replied, "That's right. Xiao Lian is the number one here. Although he hasn't been with me since childhood, he hasn't been here for a long time. He's only a little over a year old, but I still treat him like my own son. .”

"Young Master Qi, you also know that if it wasn't for you, Young Master, Lian'er would still be a courtesan. That child is proud and arrogant, and never stays with customers. Only after a few rounds, guests come here to praise him. , set up a few tables of wine. In this way, even if you redeem him now, he can still do business. And no one has taken his share, and all the money belongs to you, young master."

I rolled my eyes at what he said.

If it is possible to tell whether the shepherd in the brothel is a young man or a broken man, how can he tell the difference between the young man in the Xianggong hall?

Also, even if I don't become a male concubine after I redeem Lian, I won't let him eat this bowl of rice again.

Lian is not as red card as Liu Yi said, even I always thought that besides me, he has no other business at all.

Not to mention anything else, just looking at his name, you can tell that this person is not a red card.

The Guanzhi Building is like a rich lady in the wind and dust, and it is exactly the same as the official biao who killed the two second-rank official residences before my father fell into a coma.

The top card of Guanzhilou is called Yunjin.

Listening to the name, it's clear that there are clusters of flowers blooming, rich flowers blooming all over the building, but there is no word "hua".

Look at the name of my girlfriend - Lian, it immediately becomes inferior.

A lotus is a flower.

Let you climb and fold.

However, fortunately, he is not white lotus, red lotus, lotus paste, lotus flower, lotus root, lotus leaf, or lotus pod.

I am very satisfied.

I do his business instead of looking for the top card because the top card is too expensive and I don't have that much money.Moreover, the top business can't go to the kang when they meet each other. It needs to recite poems and make pairs, and flirt with piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but I don't know how to do these things.

I admire those princes and grandsons who hold the top cards, the talents who cross the river.At the point when I’m burning with desire, I can still pretend to be sour and recite the little words of “the hungry birds gather in the ancient garrison, the wild pheasants fly in the deserted city, and the remains of the fire are left in the year of the robbery”, so they are the pillars of the country, and I am just a libertine.

When I first met Lian, I always thought he was the big teapot here, and I never thought of him as a shepherd.

Lian's appearance is very delicate, like a bowl of noodles in clear soup, not a pleasing appearance.And he seems to have a bad temper, at least he can't talk to people well.

If others don't speak, he doesn't speak either.After others spoke, he still didn't speak.And they don't pour wine or serve dishes.The guests came here to have fun, and they would never see his face with an inexplicable expression again, so no one flipped his sign at all.

I found him because I thought he was very interesting.

I also don't want him to pour wine and serve vegetables, as I eat, he just looks at it.If he wants to eat and can eat it, he can eat it together.Then when I took off my shoes and went to bed, I didn't hesitate, everything was as natural as spending money to buy food.

I feel that if I pay 1000 taels of silver, I will be taken advantage of.

I said to Liu Yi, "Liu Yi, it's not been a day or two since the two of us have been arguing about this matter. You want 3000 taels, and I'll counter-offer to 1000 taels. This is already a fair price. Otherwise, you can keep it." Xiao Lian is eating for nothing. Even if you want to sell him to another hall for business, you still can't sell him at this price."

Liu Yi raised his head and smiled at me at this time, "Master Qi, to tell you the truth, although Xiao Lian's worth is not one of the best in Yongjing, she is definitely top-notch. Now some customers directly take out Wenyin 100 taels Call him Bureau."

I am not happy to hear it.

As soon as I patted the bowl, I said, "Liu Yi, it's not as unkind as you to do business! Last time we talked about it, I'll redeem him, and you won't let him do business again. What's going on with you this time?" ?”

Liu Yi sneered, "How can we not go if the client asks the bureau? We are in this business, so we cannot offend the client. Besides, we talked about a good son to redeem Xiaolian, but it's been a month, and I haven't seen him yet." It's your money. Besides, my son, who doesn't know your identity in Yongjing City? Seeing that your house is going to be destroyed, I don't have the skills that Brother Lang did back then. I can go to Da Nei if I ask for a debt Besides, I also want to plan for Xiaolian's future. Xiaolian follows you and is your son, who knows that one day you won't be tight and sell him to pay off the debt?"

"Liu Yi!! You ungrateful and ungrateful bastard!"

I had just slapped the table and hadn't scolded anyone when I heard a scream from the other side of the corridor—ah! ! ——

It's Xiaolian!

I jumped over in front of the table, and Cui Bicheng put down the bowl in his hand. He glanced at me and didn't speak. He leaned against the window, so he stretched out his arm and opened the window.

From here, I can see a few people on the other side of the gazebo not far away. Xiao Lian is kneeling on the steps with messy hair. His arms are in a very weird posture, and the arc of the fold is not like ordinary people can bend. It looks like his arm has been broken!

I was so startled that my jaw almost fell into the soup bowl!

The Guanzhi Tower can be regarded as the number one in Yongjing City, and they have already been so overbearing that they can bully customers in the store.Generally, idlers don't even come in. Who would have the guts to abuse other people's courtesans on the site of Guanzhilou? !

The garden of the Guanzhi Building is very special. The corridors are lined with exotic plants and fragrant flowers.Under the humid and warm atmosphere of summer, the aroma of steaming becomes more and more intense.

In front of the corridor is the lotus pond, and there is a gentle breeze on the vast water surface.

There is a gazebo in the center of the pool, with the words "no wind" written in big seal characters.

Those people came over from the pavilion.

The person walking in the front is wearing a white gown, and his long ink-like hair hangs behind him.

He got closer, and I could see his raven-wing eyebrows and a pair of cold star-like eyes, as if looking at me expressionlessly through the past years.

Prince of the Eastern Palace——Wen Zhan!