Xu Ying chose a silver lock that he was satisfied with, and asked Shi'an. After receiving Shi'an's affirmation, he said:
"Then I bought it. Store, bring me a box to put it in." Xu Ying said as he took out two taels of silver.
The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes with a smile, took a small wooden box, wrapped the silver lock with cloth, put it in the box, and handed it to Xu Ying.
"Seller, how do you sell this lock?" On the other side, Onion also pointed to a small gold lock and asked.
The shopkeeper was so busy that he trotted over and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you have good taste. This is made by the famous Master Yang in Yinzhou City. It was originally sold for six taels of silver. Today, at the Guan Wang Hui, I will only charge you five taels of silver."
Onion honestly took out five taels of silver. The shopkeeper was so happy that he wrapped the gold lock, put it in the box as before, and handed it to Onion.
The three of them came out of the lock shop together.
Xu Ying couldn't help but asked Shi'an: "Why don't you ask me why you bought this safety lock?"
Shi'an smiled helplessly, "You always have your own reasons for buying. Why should I be curious about it?"
Xu Ying shook his head and smiled softly, placing the box in Shi'an's hand, "Give it to your third sister for me, and say 'thank you' to her for me. I know you are very capable, so you don't need such a safe lock to keep you safe."
.
But this is my wish, don’t dislike it for two taels of silver.”
Shi'an thought for a moment, understood, and put the box away, "It seems that you have understood the three sentences of my little sister."
Xu Ying raised his head and glanced at the sky, then smiled and said: "The setting sun, the west wind, and the autumn colors are thick. Young people don't know it, and they feel sad when they get angry. I thought about it all night and suddenly realized that it was a crossword puzzle."
The setting sun, west wind and autumn colors are thick, which is the word "white"; when the heart fire rises, sorrow arises, this is the word "grain". When these two words are connected with "Shao Bu Shi", it becomes the word "mu"."
Shi'an glanced at him, then turned to look for Qingyu and Hongtao in the crowd. When he saw their figures, he turned back and asked slowly: "Have you thought it through?"
Xu Ying took a long breath and said resolutely, "Yes, I have thought about it for a few nights and have thought it through."
"When will you leave?"
"We'll leave tomorrow. We have to finish the last Prince Guan meeting in Yinzhou no matter what." Xu Ying said with a smile.
After a pause, he said with some apology, "I plan to go there alone. After all, I am not familiar with the place there and I don't know what I will encounter.
And the journey is long, and I really don’t want my mother to suffer this pain with me..."
Shi'an nodded slowly: "I understand. Just go and worry about your mother. We will take care of her and won't let anything happen to her. You can rest assured."
Xu Ying squeezed Shi An's shoulders and smiled gratefully, "I knew you boy... your family has been so kind to me, and I will never forget it. No matter what kind of person I become in the future, you
, are all my closest friends."
"Hurry up." Hong Tao held Qing Yu in hand. After waiting for a long time, Shi An and the others didn't come over, so she urged them impatiently.
Several people quickly walked a few steps to follow.
...
The sun gradually set in the west, and finally sank, and thousands of lights began to light up throughout Yinzhou.
Every household is lit up with colorful lamps. If you look around from a high place, the whole Yinzhou seems to be covered with a layer of colorful gem gauze, which is bright and picturesque.
At the gate of the inner city, a tall altar had been set up. A circle of torches was lit around the altar, illuminating the night. State Shepherd Cao Shen, dressed in official uniform, and with all the officials in Yinzhou, were standing on the altar.
Pray to King Guan for rain.
Under the sacrificial platform, a group of dancers wearing ghost masks were performing sacrificial dances to drum music. The sound of drums and singing were loud. On the two-foot-wide main street, thousands of government officials were blocking both sides of the road with killing sticks.
In the middle, there is a red carpet that extends to the entrance of the outer city.
After all, the main street has limited space. Only those who came here first to occupy a seat were lucky enough to see it up close. Nine out of ten people in the entire city actually climbed to high points around the main street, such as rooftops. Of course, taking a ride
There are also many people taking the stairs.
However, in the current bustle, the people's focus is not on the sacrificial ceremonies that are the same every year, but on the entrance to the inner city.
There, the team that invited King Guan was already waiting, and the reason why they were more curious than in previous years was that this year there was a different kind of person in the team that invited King Guan.
"Have you heard that this year, King Guan has invited an additional household? It's called Shange."
"You are from the outer circle, you don't even know about Shange."
"Who is this big family in Shange? I've never heard of it."
"I haven't heard of it either. I only know that there is an extra house this year. This is something we haven't seen in many years. I came here to take a seat at noon, just to take a closer look."
"If I didn't live nearby, I wouldn't bother to come and see it. It's the same thing every year, which is boring. This mountain pavilion is not even a small wealthy family. I don't know what kind of back door there is. Don't look forward to it, lest you wait.
I'm disappointed."
"I heard that many children from rich families are disciples of Shange. What does Shange do?"
"It's just a place that teaches martial arts. It has a new twist. Those young masters have a lot of money and probably don't want to stay at home, so they find an excuse to come out and keep the door closed all day. Who knows what they are doing in there that is shameful."
"I wonder what the fight between the He family and the Si family will be like this year. I heard that the He family spent more than five thousand taels of silver this year."
Among the crowd, there was a heated discussion about this year's King Guan.
The observation deck on the side of the city gate was also not peaceful.
In the observation deck, the Si family and the He family occupied a separate area. Other wealthy families also sat in their own seats and discussed quietly with each other.
Si Tenghan took a sip of tea and half-smiled, "Boss He's face is glowing red. This is a sign that King Guan is entering."
He Wanming chuckled, "Boss Si has always been very good at predicting things. It seems that this King Guan has indeed entered the door of my He family."
Si Denghan said with a bit of curiosity: "I wonder if the boss of that mountain pavilion can hear it? I am a little curious about them."
He Wanming smiled with disdain: "I have always been too lazy to pay attention to these things that are not on the stage."
Si Denghan snorted angrily. He had heard from his grandson that there might be a chance of competing for the crown prince in Shange this year. Old guy, God had better look after you, otherwise, it will be up to you where the He family will lose its face.
Mrs. He was concerned about her grandson and said seriously: "Shen'er is a disciple of Shange. This year, no one of you is allowed to leave first. You must see me through to the end."
He Wanming frowned, but didn't say anything. If he didn't speak, other children and grandchildren naturally didn't dare to say anything.
On the other side, Si Denghan also spoke to his family members, but they couldn't leave first either.
Both families have spoken, and the other big players can only suppress their desire to take a few glances and then run away.
On the altar, the sacrificial ceremony has been completed. Cao Shen led all the officials down the altar, walked up to the inner city gate tower, and then shouted "Please Guan Wang" in a drawn-out voice.
The drum music that had been prepared downstairs began to play, and the ghost masks performing the ritual dance also turned around and walked onto the red carpet while dancing.
The common people all stretched their necks and looked at the city gate. There, the tall middle gate slowly opened, and countless bright lights could be vaguely seen.
"Come out, come out." The people watching shouted excitedly.
As the door opened, a tall golden figure two feet high sat on a golden lotus seat, and was slowly carried out by eight strong men also dressed in gold-lined clothes.
The golden body is tall and tall, and the carvings are lifelike. Under the firelight, the golden light shines, and from a distance it looks like King Guan descended to earth. The lotus seat is no different from a real lotus, and even the fine lines on the lotus leaves are clearly visible.
As expected of this year's established King Guan, the golden statue is not a novelty, but it is made of pure gold. It is not just five thousand taels, but probably tens of thousands of taels. Most people will not earn so much in their lifetime.
The crowd, not surprisingly, exclaimed. Especially when the golden body approached, the feeling of oppression from the tall body made people's hearts tremble. Some even thought that if they could break off a piece, they would not have to worry about half their lives.
When Si Denghan saw the vulgar gold body, he did not hide his ridicule: "Boss He is indeed rich and powerful."
He Wanming didn't care, and was even a little proud, "Only this golden body can accommodate Prince Guan."
Si Denghan secretly cursed that businessmen in the market were not allowed to appear on the stage, and looked behind the golden body.
One wave of exclamations from the people downstairs did not stop, and another wave of exclamations started. Behind the golden body of the He family, a nine-story glazed tower, also two feet high, emerged from the gate of the inner city.
The periphery of the glazed tower is inlaid with various gems, and the top of the tower is a luminous pearl as big as the mouth of a bowl. Thirty-two white jade bells hang from the eaves of the tower. Every step you take makes a sweet sound as clear as a spring.
The huge tower shines brightly under the night sky, with its blue, green and bright red colors, dazzling everyone who sees it.