Going out from the back door of the inn, you come to an old alley. On the other side of the alley is a wall, and inside is a large round building.
The round building was produced in Jiangzhou and is actually quite rare in Yunzhou. It is round in shape, with a two-story building on the outside and a bluestone square with a diameter of 20 feet inside.
The Round Building has some history and the interior decoration is quite gorgeous. It is usually regarded as a tourist attraction in Xiwang Town, and wealthy businessmen often entertain guests here.
At this time, there was silence in the round building. In the hall due east, there were several chairs, and the hall masters were among them, all waiting for the arrival of the building master.
More than a hundred incense owners stood outside along the eaves of the round building. You can see familiar faces such as Li Sanwen and Mrs. Huang Zhu; then there are the core disciples, such as the children of incense owners such as Li Jian.
There were probably no less than two hundred people standing neatly underneath the round building, but compared to the size of the round building, it was not crowded.
Ye Jingtang and Sanniang appeared outside the round building. The Honghualou disciples who stood silently in silence all bowed their hands in a bow. The eleven hall masters sitting in the hall also stood up.
The Honghua Building keeps a low profile. Although the area around the Round Building has been cleared, it is right in front of Xiwang Town. In order to prevent the experts from passing by and noticing, no one shouted loudly. The imposing manner of imposing orders and prohibitions coupled with the depressing rainy night, the atmosphere was quite
There is a sense of oppression.
When Pei Xiangjun entered the round building, his original charm of a charming lady disappeared, and his face was neither happy nor angry. He walked slowly through the circular corridor under the attention of his disciples.
Ye Jingtang followed behind and could see that the people around him had respectful eyes; while the hall master sitting in the hall had different expressions.
The twelve halls of Honghua Tower are equivalent to the twelve heads of the house, and their statuses are different. The specific order can be seen from the seats.
The position of the building owner is under the central hall of the hall, and the tall middle-aged man wearing a white brocade robe on the right is Song Chi, the second head of Honghua Tower, on the left is Chen Yuanqing of Zhuque Hall, and on the right is the head of Xuanwu Hall, and the rest are
The little church owner named after the place.
The four major halls were all formerly boat gangs from various states, and other hall leaders were rising stars who joined one after another.
When Honghua Tower was at its peak, three generations of old, middle-aged and young people were able to gather together seven grandmasters and one martial leader, almost dominating the world.
However, in recent years, the fortunes have been bad. Xuanwu Hall in Wuzhou was the first to fall behind, and the head of the family was not even able to become a grandmaster. Then the Pei family was also out of business, so Pei Xiangjun could only be promoted to the throne. There were only three grandmasters left in the entire Honghua Mansion.
Although Baihu Hall and Zhuque Hall are also facing the predicament of being out of business, the situation is better since the hall masters are in their prime years.
The second master, Song Chi, has just turned fifty, and his martial arts is ranked in the middle among the masters. It is possible that he will become a top master in the future, and even challenge the eight great masters.
The third master, Chen Yuanqing, single-handedly defeated a powerful enemy of the Jiangzhou Cao Clan back then. He is a master of the family with a record of success. Although he is not as good as Song Chi, he is only in his early forties and has an unlimited future.
Pei Xiangjun is also an entry-level grandmaster, and he is younger, but after he succeeded to the throne, he was limited by his strength and the situation in Honghualou. He never went out to settle things, and he had no actual record to support him, which resulted in a lot of water.
The situation where the leader is weak and the ministers are strong has resulted in the second and third leaders being more important than the first leader, Pei Xiangjun.
For example, now, although the burly Song Chi and the elegant Chen Yuanqing also stood up to greet the master, their expressions were completely towards their nephews.
Pei Xiangjun was not as strong as the two hall masters, and he was indeed a junior. He had no choice but to deal with this situation. He walked slowly to the high chair in the middle of the hall and sat down, raising his hand slightly:
"Everyone, please take your seats."
In fact, there are not many rules for internal meetings in Honghua Building.
Song Chi, the second master, sat down next to him and raised his hand to ask the junior who was here for the first time to serve tea to Pei Xiangjun. At the same time, he looked at Ye Jingtang who was standing behind him:
"Who is this?"
Ye Jingtang stood behind Pei Xiangjun's chair and bowed his hands:
"Junior has a night terror in the hall, my father Pei Yuanfeng."
"oh?"
Hearing this, all the eleven hall masters present turned their heads and looked at the Night Terror Hall.
The previous owner of the building, Pei Yuanming, was truly a top-notch master. He even served as the 'gun leader' for a period of time and had a high prestige in Honghua Tower. It was a pity that he died at the hands of the contemporary gun leader Duan Shengji.
Pei Yuanfeng is Pei Yuanming's younger brother, and is known to many hall masters. He even fought with Song Chi back then, and his talent is only slightly weaker than his brother's. If he grows up smoothly to this day, he will most likely become a top grandmaster.
Song Chi looked a little more serious and asked:
"Yuanfeng is back?"
"My second brother passed away at the beginning of the year. He sent his adopted son to the Pei family and asked me to take care of him."
"..."
When all the hall masters heard this, they all looked disappointed and sad.
The Pei family is the founder of Honghua Mansion. The old family leader and his two sons have passed away. The only child, Pei Luo, cannot enter the world. This is equivalent to losing his incense in the world.
Chen Yuanqing, as the third head of the family, even called Pei Yuanfeng brother when he was seven or eight years old. When he saw his old friend's adopted son, he was quite friendly:
"When we get to Honghua House, even my nephew and I, if anything happens to us, feel free to talk to us. Although our Honghua House is not as good as it used to be, my brother Song and I, as well as the owner of the building, have some weight in what we say in the world."
Putting the 'poster' behind the two of them clearly shows the status of Sanniang, the female leader.
Song Chi sighed and motioned to the young master behind him:
"This is my son Song Changqing. You two are about the same age. Let's talk more."
After Ye Jingtang met them one by one, they handed over to Song Changqing, who was quite muscular.
Song Changqing, who was twenty-five and six, did not regard Ye Jingtang as his opponent, and returned the salute like a senior brother.
After Song Chi finished speaking, he started talking about business:
"I'm in Chongzhou, and I heard that Shuiyun Jiantan robbed all the business at Qingjiang Wharf. Qinglongtang was founded at Qingjiang Wharf, and the ancestral property was robbed. What is the owner's plan? Do you want me and Yuan Qing to go there?
?”
The question seems to be a concern, but the meaning behind the words is very clear - the family property has been robbed, and if the landlord can't handle it, don't be brave, let go, delegate power, and leave the matter to us.
In the past, it would have been difficult for Pei Xiangjun to answer this kind of question, because she really couldn't settle the matter.
But today is different. Pei Xiangjun sat on the chair openly and said with a smile:
"I will resolve this matter as soon as possible. All the hall leaders are here today, so I will announce something first."
"oh?"
Song Chi's eyes were quite surprised, and he thought that Pei Xiangjun had figured it out and was ready to give up his position, but looking at Pei Xiangjun's expression, it didn't look like that.
Chen Yuanqing asked: "What arrangements does the landlord have?"
Many hall masters looked over.
Pei Xiangjun raised his hand slightly and asked Ye Jingtang to take a step forward:
"From now on, Jingtang will be the young master of Honghualou..."
"Buzz..."
"this……"
Before he finished speaking, the whole hall was in a state of shock. All the hall masters and even the old incense master who was listening outside looked at him in astonishment.
After Song Chi confirmed that Pei Xiangjun was not joking, he frowned and patted the armrest:
"Xiangjun, do you know how important the 'young master' is in the sect?"
Pei Xiangjun responded calmly: "The young master is my designated heir. If I die, he will directly take over the Honghua Building; if I lose contact, he can order the disciples on his own, and all the hall masters must obey orders."
The third master, Chen Yuanqing, although he has no intention of becoming the first master, has always supported Pei Xiangjun, but at this time he shook his head slightly and reminded:
"Xiangjun, being at the helm is more than just a title. Only by being able to convince the public can you make the people below obey orders. You were in the position in the past, and I and the other hall masters had no objections. But your performance over the years...sigh."
The hosts of all the halls had the same idea - Pei Xiangjun himself didn't take any trouble, and even people like Baoyuanmen began to ride on his head and run wild. How dare he arrange for a young master to ride on the heads of all the hall masters?
No matter how loyal they are, with such a big family fortune, they can't just follow stupidity and mess around at the helm!
Song Chi's face really didn't look good. After thinking about it, he didn't get angry and directly raised his hand and said:
"Jianghu people speak with their fists. If Nephew Ye Xian has the ability to take over, the hall masters sitting here will naturally not question the decision-making of the original poster. Changqing, go outside and fight with Nephew Ye Xian, let all the elders take a look at Nephew Ye Xian
A pound of gold."
Song Changqing is the successor of the White Tiger Hall. When his father becomes the building master, he will be the young master. This opportunity to show off his talents in front of the major hall masters must be treated with great vigor.
Song Changqing took a step forward, first bowed to the many hall masters, and then raised his hand to signal to the rain curtain outside the hall:
"Brother Ye, please."
Ye Jingtang came here just for this matter. He didn't say much at the moment. After bowing to the sitting hall master, he and Song Changqing walked out of the gate and came to the Bluestone Square under the rain.
The hall masters and incense masters present also looked serious, wanting to see why the original poster made such an outrageous arrangement.
But as soon as the two of them walked into the rain curtain and before they could get into position, a shout suddenly came from above the roof of the round building:
"who?"
Then a sharp whistle sounded:
"call out--"
As soon as the sound came out, the round building fell into solemn silence.
All the top executives of Honghua House are meeting in Xiwang Town. No matter how ambitious you are, you must be prepared to avoid being taken over by other forces in the world.
The whistle is a reminder that a powerful enemy is coming, and all personnel are ready for battle.
Chen Yuanqing and Song Chi's expressions changed slightly as they sat down, and they immediately rushed out of the hall, broke through the rain curtain, and landed on the top of the round building.
sough--
The disciples of the Incense Master who were watching around Qingshi Square also looked like they were facing a formidable enemy and flew up at the same moment.
And on the long street facing the river outside the round building, the sound of "swish" was also heard in the air. There were no less than a hundred people listening to the sound!
Both Ye Jingtang and Song Changqing looked puzzled. Seeing this, they also touched the pillars, landed on the eaves of the round building, and looked outside.
Under the heavy rain, the roofs of the small streets near the river were densely packed with people. They all looked around as if facing a formidable enemy, holding swords in their hands:
"what happened?"
"Who came to kill?"
"I don't know, it seems like there are only three of them."
"The hall master, the incense master, is all inside. How could only three people knock on the door? Be careful of thieves lurking in the dark..."
Directly below the round building, under the back wall of the inn, are three guests in bamboo hats surrounded, back to back, looking towards the roof with horrified eyes, and talking in low voices:
"What's going on? We were ambushed?"
"Is it necessary to ambush so many people?!"
"..."
The two sides faced each other blankly, and the entire river bank fell into an eerie silence at this moment...