——The servant shouted loudly, and the young man's high-pitched voice echoed in the huge mansion.
"Master! Master!"
"Oh, what are you yelling about? I can't even read the book anymore!"
A man who was nearly fifty years old but looked quite young slowly opened the study door, frowned, and responded helplessly.
He was holding a copy of the Book of Changes in his hand, which was full of traces of his writing and ink. It could be seen that this man was a very studious person - in fact, he had indeed devoted his life to the study of the Classics.
And at this age, he was still studying the "Book of Changes" tirelessly every day, and annotated a "Book of Changes" that was widely circulated among Jiangdong scholars.
But...this doesn't mean that the current life is what he wants.
He had an official position, but due to some reasons, he had nothing to do at home, so he had no choice but to enjoy himself by studying books every day.
Today, his mood was unusually high. He had planned to write down some thoughts again, but he was disturbed by the noisy shouting so early in the morning.
"Master! Master! There is someone outside the door asking to see you!"
"Tsk——"
Although he was already a little bored, when he heard what the servant said, he had no choice but to put on his robe and slowly walk towards the main courtyard outside the courtyard.
"Who is it?"
——
Squeak...
The door was slowly opened by the servant, and there were two people outside, all wearing raincoats. Overall, they seemed a bit petite, because the cloak covered their heads and their faces could not be seen, so he did not react at first.
But when the other party opened his mouth, he could no longer remain calm.
"Uncle Yu? It's me, Shang Xiang."
"Oh my God!"
——
I don’t know what kind of chaos they have experienced. In the huge mansion, dozens of servants stood outside the door without daring to make a sound. They were afraid and nervous as they listened to the conversation between their master and the well-connected noble woman in the house.
dialogue.
"Sister Lingqi...this is the Uncle Yufan I'm talking about. When he was the county magistrate in Fuchun, I often went to his house to play. I heard that now he has returned to his hometown in Kuaiji, so I suggested that we come first
Here - don’t worry, Uncle Yu will never reveal our traces."
"I see."
Sun Shangxiang smiled sweetly, and poured tea for Yu Fan in a familiar manner, while explaining to Lu Lingqi, who still had a grudge.
"Wait, wait, wait... wait, girl, can you explain to me first, how did you get here?"
Yu Fanren was a little confused.
Not to mention Sun Shangxiang, the cold and charming woman sitting not far from him was still holding an exaggerated painted halberd in her hand - no matter how she tried to stop the other party, the other party insisted on splicing the painted halberd.
Get up, I really don’t know what happened to Sun Shangxiang to be with such a woman...
Of course, the biggest problem is Sun Shangxiang's problem.
Yu Fan frowned tightly, tried his best to lower his voice, and said anxiously to Sun Shangxiang:
"Girl, don't you know how big a fuss has been made about your disappearance outside recently? You...you just came to my house in such a arrogant way. If someone discovers..."
"What will happen if someone finds out?"
Sun Shangxiang didn't seem nervous at all. After pouring the tea, she leaned on the table and looked at Yu Fan curiously with her big eyes open.
When he saw Sun Shangxiang's appearance, Yu Fan always felt that his memory was blurred, as if he had returned to more than ten years ago. The young girl in front of him, who had just grown up, was still a little one who wobbled when she walked. The only thing that remained unchanged was that no matter what she did,
She laughs all the time, laughing happily and carefree, opening her big eyes that are interested in everything, looking at everything around her curiously.
"...Girl, just be fine..."
Seeing that Yu Fan seemed to be brewing for a long time, and finally just uttered such a word of relief, Lu Lingqi on the side seemed to be relieved.
"This person seems to have no ill intentions towards Sun Shangxiang..."
With this thought in mind, she also pressed the painted halberd in her hand against the wall.
"Anyway, girl, first tell me what happened during this period. If you are not in a hurry to leave today, just stay in my house. Generally speaking, my house is quite safe - no...
If you want, you can stay forever, Jiangdong today... is not very peaceful."
Yu Fan rubbed his eyebrows, sighed, and said slowly.
——
Kuaiji County is governed by Shanyin County.
Different from Wu Jun's sense of prosperity, the aristocratic families in Kuaiji seemed a bit decadent.
Among them, the only ones who can barely rank among the first-class and can be compared with Gu Lu and Zhu Zhang of Wu County are the Yu family and the Xie family.
Of course, a hundred years later, the Xie family developed extremely well, and some members of the family even became generals and ministers for a while. This is a story for another day.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xie family was not as glorious as it would be later.
In addition to these, scholars and new officials who often couldn't stand the squeeze from everyone in Wu County would also live near Kuaiji.
The estrangement between families cannot be smoothed over in a day or two.
However, these will not affect the prosperity of Shanyin City.
There is Wuxiang Street in the city, which is the most prosperous commercial road in the city.
Shops of all sizes in the city are often open near Wuxiang Street.
As long as it’s not a rainy day, Wuxiang Street will always be bustling with people——
But not every section of Wuxiang Street is so crowded.
Pass through three alleys and reach the end of Wuxiang Street. Not far from the gate to the east of the city, there is an alley.
From a normal perspective, this is definitely just a lane with nothing special about it - deep and winding.
However, this is a section of the road that many city officials will definitely visit in their spare time.
In modern terms, this is an alleyway where flower and bird art vendors gather.
In ancient times, there was no leisure and entertainment, except drinking and visiting brothels. Of course, the poor and uptight scholars with moral integrity could only visit such places to satisfy their eyes and mouth.
"Hmm! This calligraphy is really good! The writing is strong and can turn freely - but the power of the writing seems to be a lot worse, and the fluctuations throughout the text are small. It's a pity -"
"Hmm, this word is also very good. His technique is vigorous and powerful, and he can attack from all sides. It seems that this person's skills are quite deep. I just don't know if I will get the chance to get to know this person. - Brother, can you write it?
Where is the person who placed this copybook?"
"Old man... you have been looking at my stall all afternoon without buying a single word. You are always muttering about the quality of this word, which makes other customers who want to buy also leave in anger... You are like this
, it’s hard for me to do it too!”
A middle-aged man who looked a little thin and a little frail was squatting in front of a calligraphy and painting stall, commenting on the copybooks with great interest.
But it was obvious that the vendor in front of him with the copybooks had taken the trouble to do so.
He said that he would drive this person away.
"This...I...how much is this calligraphy worth?"
"I see you are also knowledgeable. No more, no less, five taels of silver."
"Ah...five taels..."
As if he knew that it would be bad if he just didn't buy it, the middle-aged man planned to ask about the price. But after hearing the price, he couldn't help but touch his pocket in fear——
But it is true that this man had black hair and a gray beard, and looked elegant and easy-going, but he turned out to be coy when he paid for the calligraphy. It is no wonder that others disliked him.
"Hey...he's another talkative guy who has no money, get out of here, get out of here! Don't delay my business!"
After being scolded, the middle-aged man could only leave in despair.
However, he was not discouraged. After leaving the calligraphy and painting stall, he saw something more interesting at a glance——
"Hmm! There is actually someone selling inkstones! I have to take a closer look at this!"
