Burning incense, ordering tea, hanging pictures and arranging flowers, and all other other things should not be a burden to the family.
Daxuan loves flowers. Every year on the 15th day of February, it is the Flower Festival. During the day, thousands of people in the capital come out to visit gardens and enjoy flowers. There are flowers everywhere in the markets. Men, women, old and children arrange and wear flowers. A top-quality Yaohuang peony can
Sold for three thousand yuan.
The lantern man was patrolling the night, and it was naturally dark. Ma Guangli sighed softly and said: "During the day, I wanted to accompany my wife to enjoy the flowers, but in the end, I was wasted in the Yamen for a whole day because of Wang Shijie's murder!"
Li Pu'an said: "Don't mention the killer again. It's so scary at night. We might as well go to the market to see if there are any good flowers."
Wang Zhennan shook his head and said: "It's already this time, what else is there to spend? It's all the leftovers chosen by others!"
Ma Guangli smiled and said: "You can just pick the rest, it's cheap!"
Meng Shizhen looked at everyone: "It's okay to go to the market. I can explain the rules clearly. You can't knock the bones out, and you have to give money when you buy things!"
The largest market is in the west of the city, called Xiji. It is too far, so everyone went to the market in the north of the city.
The north of the city is poor, but it is a festival after all. The Flower Festival is an important festival in Daxuan, and the market is very lively.
The best time to sell flowers has passed. Now the vendors just want to get rid of the flowers as soon as possible because the prices are really cheap.
Xu Zhiqiong fell in love with a jasmine hairpin and asked for the price. The flower seller was a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old. When he saw the lantern man, he quickly said: "Just give this flower to the lantern man."
Meng Shizhen frowned and said: "What are you talking about? Who is taking advantage of you? Just negotiate the price!"
The young man plucked up the courage and said, "To be honest, this is top-grade jasmine. If you put it in daylight, one plant would cost at least three hundred dollars."
Three hundred cents per flower! Xu Zhiqiong smacked his lips.
Li Pu'an said from the side: "Who asked you about the price during the day? If you don't sell these flowers, you will go home and wait for them to dry up. Let's say the current price is!"
The young man said: "This flower will not wither for a while. Look carefully, it is a dried flower."
It turns out that this jasmine is not a fresh flower, but a processed dried flower, but the quality is not compromised at all. When you put it up to your nose, the fragrance is intoxicating.
Xu Zhiqiong said: "I bought these flowers."
The young man said: "I am also in a hurry to close the stall. This flower will cost you eighty cents!"
Seeing that the other hairpins were also exquisite, Xu Zhiqiong took out his wallet and said, "I'll buy three!"
The young man thought for a while and said, "Three of them will be your two hundred coins."
Xu Zhiqiong counted out two hundred coins, and the young man put flowers in three bamboo tubes and handed them to Xu Zhiqiong.
The flowers are placed in bamboo tubes, which is convenient for carrying. The merchants in Daxuan do business thoughtfully.
Xu Zhiqiong took out one and gave it to Meng Shizhen. When buying something in front of the leader, he should bring one to the leader. Xu Zhiqiong naturally understood the etiquette.
But Meng Shizhen waved his hands repeatedly and said: "Zhiqiong, you don't understand the rules. You can't give away hairpins casually. If I accept them, our brothers will not be able to explain."
Xu Zhiqiong quickly took the flowers back. He had no interest in Meng Shizhen. He really didn't know the rules here.
Ma Guangli joked from the side: "Zhiqiong, why did you buy three flowers? How many sweethearts do you have?"
Wang Zhennan said: "The most beautiful ones are when you were young. Three are not too many."
Meng Shizhen said sarcastically: "No matter how many I have, I will have more than you!"
Wang Zhennan heard this and said: "Meng Qingdeng, we have an agreement. I choked Shi Chuan and made you lose face. You must not forget what you promised me."
Meng Shizhen pursed her lips and promised to find another concubine for Wang Zhennan.
"There is no rush now, just wait for my news."
Li Pu'an looked at Xu Zhiqiong: "Let me tell you, Zhiqiong hasn't found his sweetheart yet. The three flowers he prepared are for Lady Goulan. There happen to be three dancers in the peach blossom shed in Beiyuan Wa City."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled innocently, it seemed that Li Pu'an was also a frequent visitor to the Peach Blossom Shed.
Meng Shizhen looked at Li Pu'an in surprise: "Have you been to that terrible place?"
"That place is not bad. Once you go there, you will know that Zhi Qiong is a man who enjoys happiness!"
The three of them walked out of the market chatting and laughing, but met an acquaintance on the way.
Senior sister Yuchilan was hurrying to Qingyi Pavilion.
Xu Zhiqiong was planning to go find her tomorrow and unexpectedly met her here.
They hadn't seen each other for many days, and the two felt a little awkward. The senior sister asked, "Are you going on night patrol?"
Xu Zhiqiong nodded.
Yuchi Land said: "I have other matters on my side, so I'll take the first step."
In the Imperial City Division, there are some things that cannot be inquired about casually. No matter Wuwei Camp, Qingyi Pavilion or Zhangdeng Yamen, they all have the special nature of a spy agency.
Xu Zhiqiong took out a jasmine stick from his arms without asking any further questions.
"Here, give this, senior sister."
Needless to say, the simplest expression is Yuchilan’s favorite Zhiqiong.
Several colleagues wisely hid in the distance.
The senior sister held the jasmine flower, her eyes a little moist.
Daxuan is a civilized and enlightened country, unlike those ignorant and stubborn dynasties in history books, where there are many taboos when it comes to the relationship between men and women.
Daxuan doesn’t have so many taboos, and Daxuan doesn’t have that much ignorance.
Senior sister wanted to hug Zhiqiong, but even if she hugged her on the street, she wouldn't attract any strange looks.
But after thinking about it, I was still a little shy, blushing and not daring to look into Xu Zhiqiong's eyes.
Yuchilan wanted to put the hairpin on, but remembered that today was a special day and she couldn't wear it.
She wanted to find something to give Xu Zhiqiong as a return gift, but there was nothing suitable at the moment.
The two stood silently on the street for a long time, and Yuchi Land said: "Zhiqiong, I have to leave."
Yuchilan hid the jasmine in her clothes and slowly disappeared into the night.
Xu Zhiqiong looked at Yuchilan's back with a sweet smile.
He has a lot of patience towards his senior sister.
Colleagues came over to make fun of her, and Ma Guangli said: "This girl is great, she looks solid!"
Wang Zhennan shook his head and said: "A good woman is a woman who has a slender waist but light palms and can be hugged by one arm. This girl is too strong."
Li Pu'an nodded and said: "Brother Zhennan is still an expert. This girl is a bit old."
Everyone was making comments, but Meng Shizhen called Xu Zhiqiong aside and said a few words alone.
"If I'm not mistaken, this girl is from Qingyi Pavilion, right?"
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and said, "It was the same year I was in the academy."
Meng Shizhen sighed and said: "Young girl is a good girl. I can see that she is sincere to you. But brother, I want to advise you. In our industry, despite the fact that you are usually lazy, it is actually a business of licking blood from the edge of a knife. To put it bluntly,
If you don’t listen to me, if you have a child in the future, you may lose your father in the blink of an eye, so don’t let your child lose his mother again.”
Xu Zhiqiong was stunned: "How do you say this?"
Meng Shizhen lowered her voice and said: "That girl is wearing soft armor and has many weapons hidden under her clothes. You can't see it, but you can't escape my eyes. She must have killed someone tonight."
Xu Zhiqiong looked very surprised, but felt very calm inside.
The eldest sister is a student of the Way of Killing at Wuche Academy. The Imperial City Division is a secret service agency, and killing people is a common thing.
But the senior sister is only a ninth grader after all, so it would be too risky for her to carry out the assassination mission alone.
Meng Shizhen said: "You don't have to worry about this. The girls who have just started can only watch from the sidelines. The real ones are Lao Qingyi."
Xu Zhiqiong was a little curious: "What is going on? No, Qingyi Pavilion must take action?"
Meng Shizhen smiled: "It's an ambiguous thing."
"This, how can we talk about this?"
Meng Shizhen talked eloquently: "There are things that can be seen in the Imperial City, and there are things that are not. The things that can be seen are all done by the Wuwei camp. They take the imperial edict, raid homes and arrest people, and they have a good reputation and a good reputation.
There is noodles inside,
But there are some things that are not so justified. You say this person should be killed. There is no imperial decree, so you say he shouldn’t be killed. The emperor has said more than once that he wants to kill him. Now it is Qingyi Pavilion’s turn, they can kill him.”
Xu Zhiqiong was stunned: "Why can they kill?"
Meng Shizhen lowered her voice to a very low voice: "According to the Daxuan Law, the Qingyi Pavilion has the power to hoe and kill traitors. They can kill them first and then report them. As long as they can produce evidence of the crime, even murder is considered innocent. The most important thing is that the emperor does not need to know about it. This
It has nothing to do with the emperor."
Xu Zhiqiong understood that the emperor wanted to kill someone but did not want to do it himself, so he ordered Qingyi Pavilion to kill him first and then report it. Afterwards, Qingyi Pavilion would take the blame, but he would not be punished, and the emperor could leave himself clean.
"Yes, why can't Wuwei camp kill first and then report?"
Meng Shizhen smiled: "There are three hundred female officials in Qingyi Pavilion. Killing the rebellious officials and traitors is enough. Wuwei Camp has two thousand elite soldiers. If you ask them to kill first and then show off, do you know who they will kill?"
Xu Zhiqiong understood that Wuwei Camp was too powerful in combat and must be strictly restrained, so it could not have the power to hoe traitors and kill traitors.
What about Zhang Deng Yamen?
Meng Shizhen said: "Leave the light things to Wuwei Camp, leave the ambiguous things to Qingyi Pavilion, and what about the shady things?"
Matters that are not visible to the public should be handled by the Yamen.
Xu Zhiqiong asked: "Do we have the right to hoe traitors and kill traitors?"
Meng Shizhen asked: "What kind of traitor should we hoe? What kind of traitor should we kill?"
"Could it be that, I, we don't kill people?"
Meng Shizhen laughed and said: "Kill! Kill with dignity!"
"Then, then we don't have to take responsibility?"
Meng Shizhen said: "What's the responsibility? Those who died all deserved to die, and they died clearly. If someone dies without understanding, then he must understand it. As long as we can explain it clearly, it will be considered as if he dies clearly.
You have to understand even if you don’t understand, remember?”
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and understood something.
Why did Wu Xu say that Wang Shijie died in the line of duty?
Because Wang Shijie didn't understand it, so he had to understand it.
He was killed by an evil thief who had no clues, no identity, and no witnesses. But Wu Xu said that the evil thief had killed Wang Shijie, so he killed Wang Shijie.
You have to understand even if you don’t understand.
This is the prerogative of the Deng Deng Yamen.
After working as a lantern-carrying man for more than ten days, Xu Zhiqiong still didn't know much about the lantern-carrying yamen.
…
When they arrived at Beiyuan, Xu Zhiqiong was about to light the lanterns. Meng Shizhen waved his hand and said, "Brother, you have been working hard for several days. Let's take a rest today. We brothers will light the lanterns. You can have a drink with your classmates and Bai Shaoyao."
Let’s have a cup of tea and buy some flower cakes from Second Sister Lin. Don’t go to the Peach Blossom Shed, it would be disrespectful to you.”
Ma Guangli said: "Meng Qingdeng, my stomach is so heavy today..."
"You are not allowed to have diarrhea today!" Meng Shizhen turned to Li Pu'an and said, "You are not allowed to repair the house today!"
Li Pu'an smiled: "Who said anything about the house? I just want to tell Zhiqiong that Sister Lin's flower cake is indeed delicious, but that girl has a bad temper and won't even touch it. You can buy an extra cup at the White Peony Tea Shop.
Tea, that little lady can give you a kiss."
"Kiss, kiss where?"
"Kiss on the cheek!"
Everyone laughed, and Xu Zhiqiong also giggled.
It was just a kiss on the cheek, your position is too low.
It would still be interesting if the face was removed.
Xu Zhiqiong carried a lantern and went to the city gate. Wu Shanxing asked with concern: "Zhiqiong, I met the red lantern man during the day and asked about you. I told the truth. Let's get together as brothers in the evening."
For a moment, you didn’t break any rules, did you?”
Xu Zhiqiong shook his head and said, "Then, what rules can be broken?"
Having said that, Wu Shanxing was much more cautious tonight and did not dare to talk nonsense. After chatting for a while and having two drinks, Xu Zhiqiong went to the white peony tea shop again.
The landlady is not enthusiastic today, I think she was frightened during the day.
"Master, your tea." After the tea was brewed, the proprietress shivered and sat next to Xu Zhiqiong, waiting for a kiss on the cheek.
Xu Zhiqiong drank tea, put down the tea money, got up and left.
I don’t lack a face, but I’m too lazy to kiss you.
After crossing two streets and arriving at the intersection, I saw the waiter from the flower cake shop looking from afar.
"Master Denglang, you are finally here, our boss is very anxious!"
Xu Zhiqiong arrived at the flower cake shop, sat down calmly, and ordered a pound of flower cake.
From a distance, one could hear the heartbeat of Second Sister Lin, but this girl was stubborn and pretended not to care.
The two of them were in a stalemate, and the man was so anxious that he stamped his feet.
Miss Lin wrapped the flower cake and handed it to Xu Zhiqiong.
Xu Zhiqiong didn't say much, put the money on the table, got up and left.
The evening breeze blew, and Sister Lin bit her lips to prevent others from seeing her tears.
This is heartless.
Why are you ignoring people?
Could it be that he was blamed by the red light man?
Could it be that I won’t even be able to say a word in the future...
When she was sad, she suddenly smelled a burst of fragrance. Xu Zhiqiong came behind him at some point, put a jasmine stick on Sister Lin's head, and kissed her on the cheek.
Second Sister Lin turned around and punched Xu Zhiqiong: "What are you doing? Why are you kissing me? Why should I let you kiss me?"
This girl is very competitive and insists on kissing her back.
Xu Zhiqiong can't let her go. If you kiss her back, I have to kiss her back.
The two of them kissed until midnight. Xu Zhiqiong remembered something and had to go to Goulan.
Whether you want to watch or not dance is second to none. I heard that Yi Hongdeng held a light in front of Goulan Gate. The owner of Goulan was so frightened that he lost his mind and had to give him an explanation.
There was still half a street away from Wa City, and Xu Zhiqiong was thinking about how to mention this matter to the boss of Goulan.
Suddenly I saw a woman shouting in the night: "Let go, I don't recognize you, let go!"
Xu Zhiqiong took a closer look and saw a man holding a woman's arm and walking forward. He kept saying: "Look how many people you have lost to me? You took off your clothes here to show others, you
If you don't want me to live, please go home!"
Looking at the back of the woman, she looks like a dancer on the fence.
This is when my husband came to visit me.
It seemed that this kind of thing should not be taken care of, but looking at their retreating figures, Xu Zhiqiong felt that something was wrong.
The dancer shouted loudly: "Someone, help me, I don't know this person!"
No, this is not right!
I have seen this happen in my previous life! This is a common method used to abduct women.
This man is a bastard! (Human trafficker)
Xu Zhiqiong caught up to him in two steps and yelled: "Where is this bad guy from? Let that woman go!"
When the woman heard Xu Zhiqiong's voice, she quickly shouted: "Master Deng Lang! Save me, save me!"
She really is a dancer.
The man didn't turn around and said: "Master Denglang, this is my wife and my family's business. The common people have not violated the king's law, so you should leave this matter alone."
Such a calm tone, I would like to see where you come from.
Xu Zhiqiong concentrated his eyes and looked at the top of the other person's head, trying to see how many sins the other person had.
If I recruit another evil person today, I can almost reach the middle of the ninth rank.
The other party's head was filled with clouds and fog, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
Xu Zhiqiong was shocked. Under what circumstances could he not see his crime clearly?
The Taoist Master once said that the first one is a cultivator of the Canglong Domineering Way, the second is one who is blessed by the True God Canglong, the third one is a judge of the same sect, the fourth one is one who has advanced cultivation, and the fifth one is one who practices strange sects and magic.
No matter what category they are, they should not be easily provoked.
Xu Zhiqiong softened his tone and said: "Regardless of whether he has violated the king's law or not, you should let him go first."
"Master Denglang, let me advise you again, it's best to leave this matter alone!" The man never looked back, but judging from his back, he was also a little nervous.
"I still have control over this matter! Do you want to let it go?" Xu Zhiqiong raised his voice.
The man said: "So what if you don't let me go?"
Xu Zhiqiong shouted: "Lantern holder, hold the lantern!"
As soon as he heard the word "hold the lamp", the man panicked, dropped the woman and ran away.
Seeing this, Xu Zhiqiong picked up the dancer and turned around and ran away.
The man ran for a while and felt that the footsteps were wrong.
It seems he ran away.
Shouldn't he be chasing me?
Looking back, Xu Zhiqiong's back almost disappeared.
A white lantern man, just one.
Then what kind of light does he hold?
He was deceived!
…
Xu Zhiqiong just ran wildly with the dancer on his shoulders. He did not go to the hook fence. If the man caught up with the hook fence, he might not be able to beat him.
He was sure that this was a kidnapping, and he should send the girl back to the Yamen immediately. Xu Zhiqiong was confident in his speed. As long as he ran, even if his opponent was a seventh-level killer, he would not be able to outrun him.