Chapter 31 City God Temple Street, Huaiyin Pawnshop
"Brother Luo, please stop following me. If Tianjing wins the championship, we will compete in the Kyushu Championship. I'm obviously jumping into the pit of fire to do this favor for you!"
"Brother Ji, don't get me wrong, we are just passing by. By the way, you are going to Liulichang, right? I know that place very well!"
"Brother Luo, you must give up. You can't add any more money... I would like to ask, how much more can you add?"
"Brother Ji, are some of the lions talking too much? Thirty thousand taels of silver, how many martial arts masters could have been hired in the past?"
"..."
Following this conversation, Ji Yuan finally arrived at Changshunfang.
Just at this moment, the Golden Crow extinguished the last trace of the afterglow, and the sky became dark.
There are restaurants, bars and shops lined up in rows, with lanterns hung high and lights lit, giving off a prosperous atmosphere.
Tianjing, as the most benign place and the center of Jingchao, naturally would not close its doors at night.
Before the curfew started, the streets were very busy.
The shouts and hawking of hawkers and the smell of cooking oil from the stalls quickly emerged in various markets... interweaving into an extremely rich market atmosphere.
"Brother Ji, do you particularly like antiques?
My home is quite big, and I have a lot of calligraphy, paintings, and jades. You can come and have a look next time you have time."
Luo Yuzhen smiled enthusiastically and spoke eloquently:
"But it's getting too late now. Like Yun Ting Zhai, all the time-honored stores in Deyiju are probably closed, and there won't be any good stuff to buy.
Real experts come here during the day, because at night the lights are dim and it is often easy to see things wrongly, making it difficult to take things seriously."
This third young master of Tongbao Bank is worthy of being the second richest generation in Tianjing.
Whenever he talks about eating, drinking and having fun, he is full of confidence and speaks volumes.
Ji Yuan raised his eyebrows and asked:
"Is there a possibility that I just want to buy some unseemly antiques?"
Luo Yuzhen frowned and said hesitantly:
"Brother Ji, do you like to collect things buried with tombs? Underworld weapons?"
Ji Yuan smiled faintly and did not reply.
The last time he visited Liulichang, he discovered a peculiarity.
It’s not that the more expensive the antique, the more likely it is that the power of Tao Yun will remain.
For example, Shen Haishi's achievements in painting are not very high. He is a deviant and wins by surprise.
He specializes in painting mountain and wild spirits, which are weird and evil, so he got the nickname "Ghost Fairy".
It sounds famous, but the three paintings he is most famous for are only sold for five or six hundred taels of silver.
But that volume of "The Skeleton Bodhisattva's Night Banquet of Bliss" contains one hundred and fifty white Taoist aggregates.
On the contrary, it is the famous master of the world and the sage of the previous dynasty.
Regardless of whether their paintings are authentic or not, their Taoist aura is relatively weak.
Ji Yuan believes that the reason lies with Shen Haishi himself.
"Brother Ji, that... Tomb burial objects, especially the underworld artifacts, are prohibited from trading. Even if they are kept privately at home, it is considered a violation of Jing Lu!"
Luo Yuzhen reminded her kindly.
"Brother Luo, have you seen this robe?
Fu Sitiqi of Beizhen went to the City God's Temple alone to investigate whether there was a circulation problem of illegal items in the antique market. This is called fulfilling his duty.
Besides, as long as you don’t take it out, who will know you have it hidden?”
Ji Yuan shook his Yunying robe, and Luo Yuzhen was speechless.
Could this be what the eldest brother and the second brother often say, being flexible and abiding by the bottom line of the law?
The two of them strode across the street where stalls were closed, twisting and turning, and arrived at the Chenghuang Temple.
Liulichang is divided into three areas, each with its own local snakes.
There is a temple at the other end of West Street, which is dedicated to the City God.
The sage ruled the world, destroyed mountains, cut down temples, and destroyed obscene sacrifices.
The order was ordered to build Chenghuang temples in every prefecture, prefecture, and county, and to ennoble them into four categories: king, duke, marquis, and uncle.
Every year, the local court official must personally conduct sacrifices.
Therefore, as long as it is a Chenghuang Temple, the incense has always been quite strong.
But it was late at night, so no one would come to pray to God or worship Buddha.
Luo Yuzhen was afraid of getting lost, so she quickened her pace and said nervously:
“I don’t come to the City God’s Temple very often.
There are many pawnshops on West Street, and the way to the east and west is not very clean, so it is easy to cause trouble. Brother Ji, you have to be more careful."
The further you go into Liulichang, the darker the sky becomes.
There was no one around, only a pawn shop was open.
The weird thing is that some of their door panels are black and some are red.
It seems to represent different meanings.
"Brother Luo, do you know what it means?"
Ji Yuan asked curiously.
He remembered that the tea stall owner once warned him not to enter the red shop, but to enter the black shop.
"My second brother said that the red shop collects jewelry and jades, mostly stolen by thieves and thieves, and they are eager to take action.
Therefore, the owners who dare to open a red door pawnshop are not afraid of trouble and have strong ideas."
Luo Yuzhen felt terrified and explained carefully:
"The items collected by the black shop are forbidden items with unknown origins and are not allowed to be sold openly by the imperial court.
People from the four sects who rob and dig graves often come here.
Brother Ji, if you want to buy things for the tomb and the coffin utensils, you have to go this way."
No wonder this street is so deserted.
The patrons of this pawnshop are either big bandits or robbers, but they are not serious people at all.
Ji Yuan's eyes flashed and he asked again:
"Do you have a reliable connection? I'm here now, so I must try it out."
Luo Yuzhen looked back at the way he came, and saw a thick fog filled with gloomy air, and said helplessly:
"My second brother said that the pawnshops on Chenghuang Temple Street, whether red or black, are all under the control of Buddha.
The 19th black shop at the corner of the street is called Huaiyin Zhai. It is under his name. It is a time-honored brand, so there should be no problems.
But...Brother Ji, is it really appropriate for you to wear the Tiqi robe of Beizhen Fusi?"
Ji Yuan held down the waist knife and said with a smile:
"I heard that the Song commanders from Nanzhen Fusi often come here. What does a little Tiqi mean?
Is there any dignified person that I haven’t received before? I’m sure they won’t turn them away when they see me.”
Seeing that Ji Jiulang was so interested, Luo Yuzhen had no choice but to accompany him.
Whether his good sister's marriage can be ruined depends on whether the other party is willing to help.
"Brother Ji, there are expensive and cheap weapons. Do you have enough money?"
Luo Yuzhen just had the words "I want money" plastered on her forehead.
"I'll just take a look, but I may not be able to see anything I like."
Ji Yuan didn't answer the question, so it wouldn't be a big deal if he stepped on Yang Xiu.
But the final test of the martial arts competition, the Jiuzhou Competition, is really difficult to get on stage.
Jiang Zhongxungui is not a vegetarian, and he is willing to let a Liaodong mud-legged person steal the limelight.
In just a moment, Ji Yuan found the nineteenth shop.
The door panels on both sides looked as if they had been smeared with ink, making them dark and eerie.
The plaque on the head has the three characters "Huaiyinzhai".
There was an oil lamp burning inside, and the light was quite dim.
An ordinary person would really not dare to go in.
Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes, his cold eyes condensed into a single line, and he stepped up the steps and crossed the threshold.
Behind the wooden counter that is half a person tall, a middle-aged man wearing a melon cap is immersed in the account book.
He felt the wind blowing and shook the oil lamp. He quickly looked up, his eyes shrank, and he asked:
"Is the officer praising something or looking at something? Or investigating a case?"
Ji Yuan glanced around, forced a smile on his face, and said lightly:
"Are you the shopkeeper? I want to collect some dated items from the soil."
The man in the melon-skin hat nodded and said respectfully:
"Little Zhang Dong. May I ask what your official name is?"
Ji Yuan raised his arms and leaned on the counter, announcing his family background:
"Bei Town Fusi Ji Jiulang. Don't worry, I won't be investigating the case of tomb robbing and fighting. I just want to find a few good things today."
Hearing what Ji Yuan said, the man in the melon-skin hat breathed a sigh of relief, smiled a little more, and said:
"It turns out to be Mr. Ji Jiu, let's invite him inside."
At his age, he could not call the fifteen-year-old Ji Yuan "Master".
But he didn't look awkward, he was so natural, it's no wonder he became the shopkeeper.
Seeing the man in the melon-skin hat walking around the counter, holding the oil lamp, lifting the thick curtain that blocked the line of sight, he turned around and asked:
"I wonder if Mr. Jiu likes small objects such as jade, bottles, and stoves, or does he prefer large objects such as bells, tripods, and coffins?"
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