After passing Yinzheng, most of the painted boats on the Qinhuai River stopped attracting tourists and only parked quietly at a corner on the river bank, or cruised slowly on the river. In addition, there were also some cargo ships, which also rushed to arrive before dawn.

The freshest aquatic vegetables from all over the country are delivered to large and small shops, brothels and trading markets on both sides of the river.

The most eye-catching one is a two-story building boat.

Different from ordinary painted boats, except for the two-story cabin, almost half of the deck of this building boat is an open platform.

Three braziers were set up on the platform, arranged in a zigzag shape, with flames burning inside. The entire platform was illuminated as bright as day, but the cabin on the other side was hidden in darkness.

Four musicians sat in a corner of the platform, playing, playing and singing according to their duties, making the sound of silk and bamboo wind music spread across the river several miles away. Sixteen dancers in colorful clothes were interspersed among the fire pots, dancing gracefully.

Eight other girls in white clothes with hanging hair and bare feet filed out of the cabin on the first floor, holding trays in their hands and walking up the wooden ladder outside the cabin, delivering plates of wine, fruit and other food to the second floor.

In the cabin on the first floor, there were obviously important people who were condescendingly watching the moving singing and dancing on the deck.

Liu Jing shook her robe sleeves, crossed the four-foot-wide river, and landed lightly on the deck.

The dance music stopped suddenly.

"Master Xiang is in such a high mood." Liu Jing walked for two steps with her hands behind her hands, "It's almost dawn now, but I'm still drinking and enjoying the art here."

"Master Liu, you are well." Xiang Yixuan's voice came down from the second floor of the cabin, "Xiang is not talented and has no ambition. Apart from listening to music and watching beautiful women dancing, I don't know what else to do.

.”

"In this way, I can only envy Master Xiang's life." Liu Jing chuckled and changed the topic: "May I ask Master Xiang, have you seen any strange people on the ship?"

Xiang Yixuan said leisurely: "Isn't it strange that Mr. Liu doesn't go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing?"

"I mean before me." Liu Jing raised her head and looked at the cabin on the second floor, as if she wanted to see through the cabin in the darkness. "Master Xiang is having a banquet with wine on the boat. I wonder if I can participate and ask for a glass of water."

Does wine warm your stomach?”

He didn't wait for Xiang Yixuan to answer and climbed up the stairs directly.

A short, fat middle-aged man came down the stairs and said, "Mr. Liu, wait a minute, Mr. Xiang hasn't spoken yet."

Although his tone was gentle, he made it clear that if Xiang Yixuan did not agree, he would never give way.

Liu Jing looked up again and looked at Xiang Yixuan standing in the darkness.

Xiang Yixuan said calmly: "Liu Sheng, Mr. Liu, please come up."

The short and fat man Liu Sheng bowed slightly, stood on the side of the stairs to get out of the way and said: "Master Liu, please."

Liu Jing climbed up the stairs, and when she almost reached the top of the stairs, she looked into Xiang Yixuan's cabin with a pair of hawk-like eyes.

The cabin was covered with thick blankets and the light was very dim. Except for Xiang Yixuan who was standing by the window watching the dance, there were only eight girls in white sitting around a long table. Some of them burned incense, some cooked wine,

Some are cutting and processing food. Foods such as bamboo shoots, shrimps or crabs are peeled open by their spring onion-like fingers, and the bamboo shoot skins, shrimp shells and crab shells are piled on small plates.

"Master Liu, please sit down." Xiang Yixuan held the wine bottle in his hand, gestured to Liu Jing, and told the girls, "Xiaodie, Xiaoyan, beat your legs and pinch your back for Master Liu."

"Yes." The two girls responded delicately.

Liu Jing proposed to go upstairs to see if Lan Qiao was hiding in the cabin. Since she didn't see him at the moment, she naturally wanted to go check the next ship. How could she really be dragged here by Xiang Yixuan?

He coughed lightly and said, "I still have business to attend to, so I won't bother Mr. Xiang any more."

Seeing him turn around and go downstairs, Xiang Yixuan asked curiously: "Master Liu, don't you want to drink to warm your stomach?"

"Let's wait another day." Liu Jing waved her hand without looking back, and jumped onto another cargo ship passing by in the opposite direction.

Seeing Liu Jing go away, Xiang Yixuan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Xiaodie, it's okay."

The girl named Xiaodie lifted up a corner of the blanket, revealing a large hole under the blanket. A rope hung in the hole, leading to the cabin on the first floor.

"First Young Master Lan, Second Young Master Lan, Master Liu, let's go." Xiaodie said with a smile.

Lan Qiao jumped up from the cave and said, "Thank you, Brother Xiang."

"No need to say thank you." Xiang Yixuan said with a smile: "Downstairs is the kitchen. This hole was originally opened for the convenience of passing dishes, but I didn't expect that it would be used by you today."

At this time, Lan Feng also climbed up along the rope and said, "Thanks to Butler Liu for blocking Liu Jing, we had time to hide. This hole is really wonderful. No matter Liu Jing wants to search upstairs or downstairs, we can do it."

You can hide on the other side."

Xiang Yixuan said angrily: "There's a big battle tonight in Huaiyuan. I'm sure I'm starving. Let's have some snacks first. Xiaodie, take a bowl of fermented glutinous rice balls and give it to Mr. Lan."

Xiaodie responded and was about to go downstairs, but Lan Qiao glanced at the big bowl of braised big bones with sauce on the table, and said sheepishly: "I'm not afraid of Brother Xiang's jokes. At this moment, I want to eat that bowl of big bones."

"Huaiyuan, please." Xiang Yixuan pushed Da Gu in front of Lan Qiao and couldn't help laughing: "But please don't call me Brother Xiang again in the future. Just call me Simiao."

After the boat docked, everyone got off the boat and returned to the Xiang Mansion. As soon as they reached the door of the mansion, they saw Ben Yali coming up to her, pointing at Xiang Yixuan and saying, "Xiang Yixuan, I had a hard time looking for you."

Xiang Yixuan said in surprise: "What do you want from me, girl?"

"Where is Lan Feng?" Ben Yali glared at Xiang Yixuan and said, "Where did you hide him?"

Lan Feng, who was originally following the team, hurriedly came over and said, "Your Highness, please speak lower down, as if I have bullied you."

Seeing Lan Feng appear, Ben Yali's emotions suddenly became uncontrollable. She punched him hard in the chest and said: "You bastard, there has been no news for so many days. Do you know how worried I am about you? Still

I thought you were..." She almost choked at the end, glanced at Xiang Yixuan and said, "I thought you were killed by him."

Xiang Yixuan was puzzled when he heard this: "Why should I kill Second Young Master Lan for no reason?"

"Misunderstandings are all misunderstandings." Lan Feng smiled and persuaded: "Brother Simiao, Your Highness the Princess, if we have something to say, go in and discuss it. It is better than being here in the wind and rain."

Xiang Yixuan thought the same, took an umbrella from the servant and handed it to Lan Feng, indicating that he would hold it for Ben Yali: "Your Highness, please."

After everyone entered the mansion, Xiang Yixuan ordered the housekeeper Liu Sheng to take Kabuki and other maids down to rest, and personally took Lan Qiao, Lan Feng and Ben Yali to his study in Yunxian Pavilion.

Xiaodie was one of the four maids who served Xiang Yixuan closely in Yunxian Pavilion. At this time, she offered tea and then withdrew knowingly.

With the steam rising and the aroma of tea lingering in their noses, the four of them sat around an Eight Immortals table, looking at each other's eyes, and all of them had a complicated feeling that they couldn't even describe in a thousand words.

Lan Feng nudged Lan Qiao with his elbow and whispered: "Brother Simiao probably doesn't know about the Erqihui, otherwise it would be impossible for me to stay in his house for several days and still not make any move towards me. If

He is an accomplice of the Erqihui, and it is even more impossible for him to deceive Liu Jing in order to save you on the Qinhuai River just now."

Although his voice was low, it was still heard clearly in the silent study. Xiang Yixuan frowned and said, "The Erqihui you are talking about is a calligraphy, painting and antiques club organized by Liu Jing?"

"This is their superficial cover-up. The actual organization of Erqihui is much more complicated and more ambitious than this." Lan Qiao believed that Lan Feng's words were reasonable and gradually revealed their understanding of Erqihui.

The secret process of Erqihui was briefly told to Xiang Yixuan and Ben Yali, but they were concerned about the relationship between Xiang Yixuan and Xu Huizu, and concealed their suspicion of Xu Huizu.

When Xiang Yixuan heard such fresh information, he found it hard to digest for a moment. He picked up the tea bowl and took a sip and said, "Now that An Xiaohan is dead, what is your next plan?"

Lan Qiao said calmly: "I actually have another purpose in going to Beijing this time, which is to find the missing Miss Hongyilu, Li Jingshu."

Xiang Yixuan was taken aback and almost knocked over the tea bowl: "You mean, Mr. Hongyi and Princess Lin'an's beloved daughter disappeared? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Who did it?"

"The situation was extremely complicated at that time, and it was impossible to determine who took her away." Lan Qiao said with some pain, "We are just relying on pure assumptions, speculating that her disappearance may be related to the Erqihui, the White Lotus Sect, or Hua Yuxi."

"Then go find them!" Xiang Yixuan said anxiously, "Go find Hua Yuxi and Liu Jing. If you are afraid of seeing Liu Jing, I will go find him!"

Seeing Xiang Yixuan's unexpected enthusiasm for this matter, Lan Qiao said with some confusion: "In the final analysis, this matter has nothing to do with Simiao, and we don't want to involve Simiao in this dangerous whirlpool."

"It's already like this. How can we talk about whether it's implicated or not?" Xiang Yixuan slapped the table and said, "Rescuing people is like putting out fires. Miss Li's life or death is uncertain now. Every time we move slower, she will be in more danger.

.”

He glanced at the three people sitting there and saw only Ben Yali showing a knowing look. Lan Qiao and Lan Feng both had puzzled and confused expressions on their faces. They smiled helplessly and said, "You guys have been tired for a long day, so what's the point?"

Go and rest first, I will send someone to investigate this matter, and I will summarize the news with you tomorrow morning."

"Xiaodie, take the guests to Orchid Garden and let Xuerou Bingrou wait for them." Xiang Yixuan ordered while turning around and said, "Anyway, don't treat me as an outsider anymore. Let's work together. I'll take care of this matter."
Chapter completed!