It was raining outside the window, and as the sky gradually turned white, there was a lot of noise outside, buzzing like a busy city.
"Don't dawdle..."
"hurry up……"
Ye Jingtang opened his eyes and pushed open the stern window. He saw a large ship loaded with goods. There were several stewards from merchants' homes on the ship. They ordered Lifu to cover the goods. It seemed that the wind blew open the oilcloth at night.
Leaning out the window to check, we can see that the merchant ship has docked. On the right is the pier embankment. Even though it is raining, the pier is still crowded with people. There are horse-drawn carts and ox-carts loaded with goods. Traffic is almost blocked. Behind the pier is a large town.
Looking toward the river, the scene is even more magnificent. Thousands of sails gather on the riverside under the light rain. The masts and sails block the entire view. Although you are on the river, you can't see the river view at all. At a glance, there may be no less than a thousand large and small ships moored.
On the river bank.
Such a prosperous level is not surprising to Ye Jingtang. After all, this is the "Jinjiang River Estuary" and Xiwang Town is on the bank.
There are many rivers in the Wei Dynasty, and there are three major rivers that enter the sea, including Daliang River, Qingjiang River, and Wujiang River.
For the sake of shipping, all dynasties have been constructing water conservancy projects, and slowly built two large canals, the Jinjiang Canal and the Wuxi Canal, thus completely connecting the three rivers. You can take a boat from his hometown of Honghe Town to the other side of the Wei Dynasty.
Jiangzhou estuary.
The intersection of the two grand canals is the estuary of the Jinjiang River at your feet. People who travel from north to south almost have to pass through this place. Although it is only a small town, its scale and prosperity are no less than any large city. Jianghu people usually
They all regard this place as the gateway to the capital.
The annual meeting of Honghua House was held here. Firstly, the major boat gangs formed an alliance to establish Honghua House here. Secondly, there were too many people coming from north to south, so the leader of Honghua House came here in a low-key manner.
At this point, it's hard to attract people's attention.
Having arrived at the destination, there were no accidents along the way, and the stone hanging in the heart of Ye Jingtang was finally relieved.
Scanning the river, I couldn't find the small cargo ship flying the "Zhang" flag. I guess it had already arrived and was unloading its cargo elsewhere.
Ye Jingtang put away his thoughts, arranged his clothes and walked out of the room. Li Jian and others were seen standing on the shore, communicating with the dock stewards about loading and unloading and other trivial matters.
In the next room, Sanniang had already packed up. She was wearing a dark purple dress and a very dignified and mature bun. She looked like a smart and capable female shopkeeper.
Niao Niao was still lying on the bed, lying on the windowsill with her arms and legs spread out, her belly still covered with a handkerchief, and she couldn't bear to look at her sleeping appearance.
Last night, I still took turns keeping watch with Niao Niao, and the night terror hall did not wake Niao Niao. After washing up at the stern of the boat, I put a bamboo hat on my head, got an oil-paper umbrella, and headed to the town with Pei Xiangjun.
Xiwang Town has a huge flow of people. There are no less than 100,000 people gathered in the town. The roads are always blocked. Even if it rains, you can still see businessmen and people from the world running around.
Ye Jingtang walked along the street and took a look. Before he arrived at the inn where he was staying, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from ahead, and the vehicles and pedestrians on the street moved to both sides to avoid it.
Tap tap tap...
"Don't block the way..."
Ye Jingtang frowned secretly, protected Sanniang and retreated to the street. He looked up and saw a motorcade approaching.
At the front of the motorcade were eight swordsmen dressed in brocade robes, bamboo hats and raincoats. The horses and their clothes were all valuable.
Behind the eight swordsmen was a carriage, which was quite spacious. The door of the carriage was closed so that the occupants could not be seen. Behind the carriage were several stewards and servants on horseback.
Xiwang Town is full of Jianghu people, and the identity of a person who can make everyone give way is definitely extraordinary.
Ye Jingtang looked carefully and saw that the eight swordsmen all had tags hanging on their waists and carried broad swords on their backs. The blades were extremely heavy, weighing no more than forty or fifty pounds by visual inspection.
Junshan Terrace...
Ye Jingtang recognized the identities of these people from the shape of the sword and frowned slightly.
Before his adoptive father died, he left a suicide note, asking him to find trouble with the people who deposed his adoptive father if he had the chance in the future.
And this enemy is none other than the ancestor of Junshan Terrace, the ‘Daokui’ Xuanyuan Dynasty, who is generally called the ‘Junshan Divine Marquis’ by people in the world.
Xuanyuan Dynasty was ranked among the Eight Great Leaders, reached the pinnacle of the world, and was awarded the title of "Junshan Marquis" by the imperial court. It can be said that both black and white have reached the apex; Honghua Tower, even in its heyday, had to give way to courtesy.
Ye Jingtang understood the difference between them and did not rush up to find trouble. They just pretended not to see him and continued walking.
But what surprised him was that when the carriage passed by, the window was slightly raised, and someone looked out from inside the carriage.
Looking out of the corner of his eye, he could see this middle-aged man sitting in the carriage, dressed like a gentleman in a brocade robe, with a serious and handsome face, and eyes like a hawk.
Ye Jingtang did not recognize this person and did not turn around to look at him. He waited until the carriage was far away before asking:
"Sanniang, who is this person?"
Pei Xiangjun looked at the shops on the street and responded unhurriedly:
"Xuanyuan Hongzhi, the second son of the Xuanyuan Dynasty, travels around all year round and is responsible for socializing. He is probably planning to go to the Zhou family to celebrate his birthday."
"Why is he looking at me?"
Pei Xiangjun motioned to the Chilong ring-headed sword on Ye Jingtang's waist: "The Dragon Slaying Order of Junshantai slayed the ring-headed Chilong. As both swordsmen, you saw the other person carrying the sword on his back, so you took a few glances at him.
Ye Jingtang suddenly realized, raised his hand and put away the knife at his waist:
"I'd better wrap my knife when I go out from now on."
"Um……"
----
Gulu gulu...
The carriage drove through the streets under the rain. There was constant noise outside the window, but it was very quiet inside the carriage.
Xuanyuan Hongzhi sat upright, his eyes still looking out the window, his brows furrowed.
His son Xuanyuan Zhe, who was sitting next to him, looked a little confused:
"Dad, what were you looking at just now?"
After Xuanyuan Hongzhi was silent for a long time, he shook his head and sighed:
"Kuaiyazi has been dead for decades, but there are still people in the world who use the Chilong Sword. Alas..."
When Xuanyuan Zhe heard this, he immediately understood why his father sighed - in the last years of the previous dynasty, Kuangyazi was the leader of swordsmen, and the Chilong Sword was extremely popular in the world. His father was in his fifties, and he was born at the end of Kuangyazi's dominance of the sword world. , witnessed with his own eyes the rise of the Dragon Slaying Order and the decline of the Chilong Sword, and his feelings for this sword were far deeper than those of contemporary warriors.
Then Zheng Feng, the successor of Kuangyazi, was abolished by the Xuanyuan family because of his sister-in-law's affairs, and the roots were not eradicated. As a result, his father had a knot in his heart and was always worried that one day someone would come to his house with a glass dragon knife to settle old and new grudges. .
"Dad, you are worrying too much. Zheng Feng himself has learned swordsmanship in a wrong way. The Eight-Step Crazy Sword has been lost for a long time. Even if there are apprentices, what will happen if the swordsmanship that was broken by grandpa decades ago appears again?"
Xuanyuan Zhe glanced at the warriors on the street outside the carriage:
"As for the Li Long Huan Shou Dao, there used to be too many in stock. You could see one every few days. Most of them were old knives passed down from ancestors or purchased from the market. They are very common..."
Xuanyuan Hongzhi shook his head: "The rivers and lakes are the rivers and lakes. There was a cause yesterday and there will be a result today. Even if you are invincible in the world and above ten thousand people, you will not be able to escape the fate of the rivers and lakes. Back then, I advised your grandfather to eradicate the roots, but your uncle insisted on it. Regardless of the chivalrous obstruction, the result will be good. This moment of hesitation will lead to thirty years of suspicion..."
"Why don't you send someone to check out the new swordsmen in the world?"
"There are thousands of swordsmen in the world, where can I find them?"
Xuanyuan Hongzhi withdrew his gaze and returned his unsmiling look:
"Let's go to the Zhou family first. The Zhou family has occupied Honghualou's ancestral property. If Honghualou doesn't show up to ask for an explanation during this birthday party, it means the situation is over. Qingjiang Pier is the main port of Yunze's two states. Such a big piece of fat can't be saved without me.
The Xuanyuan family nodded, but the Zhou family couldn't eat..."
"So what if Honghualou shows up? In the eyes of children, you should let go of things you can't hold, so as not to walk around without food. Honghualou is also considered a longevity star in the world, why can't you understand this truth?