"My family has summoned me. There are some things at home. I have to leave early today. I hope Mr. Zhu will forgive Haihan..."
"I'm afraid it won't be peaceful tonight..."
"The house is over there, Mr. Zhu doesn't need to send it away..."
"Forgive me, forgive me..."
"Haihan Haihan..."
Fires shot into the sky, troops were mobilized, and the sudden chaos lasted for a short time in Hangzhou. The situation in Sijizhai also woke up from the initial shock and panic, and began to tilt in the direction that things should be.
The news about the rebellion of Qi Yuankang, the counselor and political officer, was obtained not long after the incident. There is no need to say what the inside story was at this time. The fact that a fire was lit in the city and such a large-scale army was mobilized probably means that
Many things have reached an irreversible point. At this time, most of the people who came to Zhu Yanlin's banquet were people with a certain background. Their families had more or less their own power and connections. With such a big thing happening above, many things
At this time, they have to be on guard and prepare.
In order to respond immediately, half of the people began to say goodbye to Zhu Yanlin one after another. On the streets outside, in the city, the atmosphere began to become solemn. Every household in the residential area closed their doors and dimmed their lights.
, apart from the occasional troop of soldiers running past, there were groups of people rushing home on the streets. Although the chaos had only spread to a few streets on the east side, no one knew when martial law would begin in the city.
The area near Sijizhai is now one of the relatively lively gathering areas in the city. In addition to restaurants and tea shops, there are also two brothels nearby. Some people rushed back as soon as they learned of the chaos, while others were relatively calm and felt that they were nothing.
However, most of these shops have closed their doors and no longer accept new customers. Therefore, when the carriages near the Four Seasons Zhai gradually dispersed, it did not mean that the party had dispersed. Dozens of people who stayed behind
People still maintained the size of the gathering and stayed in the hall.
One of the main reasons for this may be that Lou Minzhong's son Lou Jingzhi still stayed in the cultural gathering and did not leave. Zhu Yanlin and Qi Yuankang did not have a close relationship. No matter how things turned out in the end, since this gathering
It was him who initiated it. Naturally, it must be maintained.
There were fewer people, and there was chaos outside. The waiters in the restaurant extinguished many lights in the building. Most of the people who stayed gathered on the platform on the second or third floor, with Zhu Yanlin and Lou Jingzhi as the centers.
, looking at the development and changes of the war in the distance, giving advice and chatting. Someone started to write a poem: "The water of the West Lake flows around the south of the Yangtze River, and the lonely city is unclear at midnight... It is such an eventful autumn..." It felt like giving guidance to the country, and was invited to participate in the cultural meeting.
The courtesans did not send them away, but they did not dare to sing any more at this time. They were called up to talk to everyone, commenting on poems to liven up the atmosphere. These women were not flower vases, and after a while, everyone set up a table here.
, it can be considered as a drink according to the current situation.
Not everyone is gathered here upstairs.
At this time, Lou Shuwan was walking with Ning Yi between the corridors on the first floor. At this time, most of the lanterns had been withdrawn. The light here seemed dim. Looking sideways, there was a yellow light on the second floor, and there were voices and laughter.
It could still be heard that someone was holding on to the railing of the corridor and looking into the distance, but not many people noticed the people walking in the corridor below.
The corridor in the courtyard leads to the side of Sijizhai facing the river. At this time, the night breeze is slightly cool. Lou Shuwan, dressed in men's clothing, is walking beside Ning Yi, gently holding her arms, looking at the waterway at the other end of the field of view.
, a returning two-story boat sailed slowly past the field of view, with lights seeping out of the boat's windows, creating an especially quiet atmosphere.
Speaking of which, since the city of Hangzhou was destroyed, everything around us has actually become abysmal. The days are anxious and pale, and everyone’s busyness is of little significance. After the situation has calmed down, the cultural gatherings I participated in will no longer be the same as before.
Some of the elegance and elegance were just tasteless patronage and flattery. But surprisingly, just as the situation suddenly became more tense, she seemed to feel the atmosphere of the past again.
It was as if she was at a gathering of intellectuals, but she left the venue to have a tryst with the man she loved. Elegance, heartbeat and tranquility intersected at this moment - in fact, she had never really experienced this kind of feeling in the past.
Yes, but the love plots in the storybooks that I have seen and heard from word of mouth are mostly about this kind of mood.
"Involved in political affairs... things happened so suddenly, and the Lou family's business is so extensive now. If Miss Lou doesn't go back immediately, won't there be any problems?"
At the end of the courtyard is a long corridor parallel to the river. Ning Yi rested his hands on the railing and looked at the boat in the distance before talking about it. Lou Shuwan sat down on the bench inside the railing and smiled.
He shook his head: "There is indeed some business with Mr. Qi at home, but the matter has nothing to do with the Lou family. Moreover, this kind of matter can only be solved by my father and brother. I just asked the servant to go back and report.
I received the letter, but the situation is still chaotic at this time. It is better to wait here until the situation becomes clearer before going back, so as to avoid any misunderstandings with people on the way."
"That's true." Ning Yi nodded and sat down next to him. This position faced the corridor and window on the second floor over there. Due to the obstruction of the corridor eaves, only the light seeping through could be seen, but laughter could be heard from time to time.
Occasionally, there are women singing poetry in a low voice, probably appreciating poetry.
Lou Shuwan lowered her head and spoke softly: "Logically speaking, the Councilor for Political Affairs is also a high-ranking official, almost the same as a prime minister. I didn't expect that something like this would suddenly happen... I heard before that this Lord Qi is both civil and military, although he is a senior official.
He is a civil servant, but he has some people under him, and he has a good relationship with the civil servants and military generals..."
She talked for a while, but felt that it was boring. She raised her head and stroked her temples, and smiled towards the second floor: "...What do Li Heng think they are talking about?"
"Poems and essays. In the past, they talked about political affairs during poetry meetings. Now that something happened, it's hard to talk about political affairs. But I can talk about some poems and essays in peace."
"Li Heng came out to hang out, do you think chatting with them about poetry is a bit boring?" In Lou Shuwan's opinion, Ning Yi is one of the best talents, she asked with a smile, Ning Yi also shook his head: "I
I didn’t like those very much, but when they really started chatting, I went out for a walk.”
"It seems that Li Heng finds it boring." Lou Shuwan continued to laugh and paused slightly, "Actually, I'm pretty much the same as Li Heng in this regard. I also find it boring, but... I actually think it's because I don't
Li Heng understands these things because he understands them too well."
"Ah……"
"I loved poetry when I was a child, but I never learned much. I like to see how those great talents feel high-spirited after reciting a good poem. It doesn't matter what the poetry is, it can make people feel so high-spirited. That's a good thing.
I thought that if I was in charge of business, I would be so high-spirited if I did well..."
As she said this, her mood seemed slightly depressed. Ning Yi stood up and said: "Miss Lou..."
Lou Shuwan raised her head and asked softly: "Can't Li Heng call me Shu Wan?"
"Not very good." The words were faint, like a confession, but Ning Yi's expression did not change, he just smiled as usual, "Let's go up and sit, it's not good to just wander around all the time."
"Well." Lou Shuwan stood up naturally and walked towards the second floor with Ning Yi. The brief conversation just now may have some meaning, but for a moment, it was as if it had never happened, and the two people melted into each other.
in the conversation that followed.
After returning to the second floor, someone came over to say hello: "This must be Young Master Ning Li Hengning. Just now I couldn't find the two of them, so I thought they had left. Only then did I hear someone say that Young Master Ning was here too."
What a waste of time."
Zhu Yanlin is about fifty years old. It is not an exaggeration to call himself an old man. He can be regarded as an orthodox scholar. He did not know about Ning Yi before. At this time, he obviously heard people talking about Ning Yi and knew what he had done.
The song "Watching the Sea Tide" was played, so it was taken seriously. The two of them chatted for a while, and at the guest gathering place on the other side, there were also people looking in this direction. The woman who sang "Watching the Sea Tide" before was one of them, because
When I heard the name, I asked the person next to me: "Is that Mr. Ning Li Hengning?" Probably because he read the lyrics, he became a fan of Ning Yi.
On the side, Liu Xiyang, who had not left, also looked at this scene with a bit of envy. Everyone in the academy couldn't tell much about the difference. At most, they felt that Ning Yi had a thorn in his body and a backer, so there was no need to mess with him. At this time, there was
Only when we understand the difference in treatment can we feel the sense of loss that is similar to that of a scholar.
But at this time, what not many people noticed was that not far away, Lou Jingzhi, who had always been the center of attention in this gathering, also heard some words. He looked at Ning Yi and asked someone in a low voice: "
Could it be that over there is the author of "Looking at the Sea Tide", the one whose surname is Ning Yi and whose given name is Li Heng?" After getting the answer, he asked a few questions. When he found out where Ning Yi was working now, he accepted the Wenlie Academy
, Ba Dao Camp and other information, he squinted his eyes and frowned thoughtfully.
The chaos outside is still continuing. As time goes by, it seems to have become more organized, and part of the chaos has been suppressed. If you have experience, you can probably tell that although the commotion seemed to be fierce from the beginning,
But the situation was far from out of control. At the Sijizhai, the party was also held in a relatively relaxed atmosphere. Although Ning Yi expressed his admiration for Ning Yi from the beginning, there were no special programs that required his participation.
.
Everyone's thoughts are outside. If everything continues like this, maybe it won't be long before the party is about to break up and everyone can go back. Ning Yi was originally nervous after hearing Liu Dabiao's words this morning, and even went out with weapons.
But after what happened, I realized that there was nothing wrong with me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Under such circumstances, an accident quietly struck me.
Not many people noticed that in the middle of the cultural meeting, a man entered the restaurant, looked upstairs for a while and then left. At this time, a group of sergeants hurried over under the leadership of the man.
If they were from a distance, others might think that these were soldiers rushing to support Qi Yuankang's rebel neighborhood, but when they arrived at the downstairs of Sijizhai, the leading general waved his hand: "Surround them."
After a while, Wenren Buer, who guessed the intention of this group of people, rushed to report to Ning Yi, but it was already too late.
Under the leadership of the general, a group of more than 20 people had entered the hall and headed towards the second floor. Liu Jin, who had followed Ning Yi, had already rushed up first and pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword. Everyone at the party was excited.
There was some doubt, but Ning Yi took a look and understood.
The man in front was about thirty years old, with a tall build and a murderous look on his face. He was a true warrior who had ever fought on the battlefield.
Ning Yi let out a breath.
That's Li Tianyou.
These people came over and sat down at the table around Ning Yi and Lou Shuwan. Lou Shuwan looked left and right, confused and nervous. For a moment, he didn't know what happened. After a moment, his face
Her face suddenly turned pale - she thought her home had finally been affected and something had happened.