It was late at night, and under the Shanghu Inn, which was only a lake away from the Xijiao Night Market, a group of mourners were wailing and passing downstairs. The sad and sad anger formed a sharp contrast with the bustling and noisy on the other side of Xinghu Lake.
Among the mourning team, the patrolling guards in groups of three and two were more frequent than on the previous day. They would appear every quarter of an hour. If there was any sign of trouble, they would stop and investigate.
Although the imperial court blocked the news, the accident at the mouth of the Yellow River gradually affected the lives of the people in the capital, and they all vaguely felt that something big had happened.
Nowadays, every house in the capital is closed and no one dares to go out at night. There are only people in the flower streets and willow lanes by the Star River.
In the upper room on the roof of Shanghu Inn, Xia Shang watched all this with a deep frown. Sitting across from him was Li Zijin, who was yawning repeatedly. Jiang Nan beside him was obediently silent. Seeing that his husband's tea had gone cold, he went outside to pour it.
After that, hot water was added.
"Jiangnan, it's late today, you should go back." Xia Shang said lightly, "Now it seems that I will stay here for a while. It will be inconvenient for you to be there next time."
Sai Jiangnan had no objection, nodded, and said goodbye to his husband. Then he whispered to Li Zijin: "Your Highness, there is only so much I can help you, the rest is up to you."
Li Zijin still yawned again and again, without any seriousness or nervousness at all.
It's not that the young prince is young and ignorant, it's just that at the moment he can't understand what the seriousness shown by Xia Shang means.
Seeing Jiang Nan leave and the moment the inn door closed again, Xia Shang asked: "Jiang Nan seems to be introducing me intentionally. Is there any reason for this?"
Li Zijin was a little confused, wondering why Xia Shang suddenly asked this.
Then he turned to the oil lamp on the table and looked at the prince again.
On the surface, apart from being young and good-looking, this man does not have any sense of the nobility of royal blood in his words and deeds, at least not from his past words and deeds.
Perhaps this is also an important reason why the youngest prince won the favor of Xia and Shang.
"It doesn't matter, that's not the point." Xia Shang denied his question.
"gentlemen……"
"Wait a minute, His Highness has an extraordinary status. You have to be careful when saying the word 'sir'. At least you need to understand some of my status and some of the problems I face in advance to avoid regrets."
"Identity and problem?"
Xia Shang did not answer, but silently took out a waist card.
"Your Highness, can you recognize this object?"
Li Zijin held the badge in his hand and said nonchalantly, "I've seen it before. I've seen it on the guard next to my eldest brother. It's the same as yours, but there's a 'three' in its mouth."
"Does Your Highness know what this belt represents in the capital?"
Li Zijin shook his head.
Xia Shang frowned slightly: "Let's put it this way, His Highness's eldest brother, second brother, and third brother are all looking for this waist card. It can be said that they are all looking for the person who holds this waist card. They have only one purpose, either
If you can control me, you will either kill me. This is one of the reasons why I changed my identity in the capital. Moreover, people in the world are also afraid of this waist card. I believe there are many people who want me to die, and there are also many people secretly
Looking for me and waiting for an opportunity to kill me. It can be said that the murderous intentions surrounding me are no less than His Highness. For such a dangerous person, Your Highness is still willing to call me 'Sir'?"
"Don't worry, sir, he is a learned man. Regardless of his status, I, Li Zijin, don't mind or fear him." Li Zijin answered easily.
Such ease made Xia Shang a little disappointed, but it was reasonable. After all, this was just a kid in his mid-14s. It was unrealistic to expect him to be like a precocious prodigy. Li Zijin obviously couldn't weigh it now.
Pros and cons.
But no matter what, a piece of beautiful jade without pollution can give the craftsman enough room to perform.
Li Zijin put the belt card on the table: "Tonight what we are discussing should be how to rectify Mr.'s name and how to give him a legitimate and legitimate status as a young master, rather than these trivial matters."
"I already have an identity, businessman Xia Shang."
"Businessman? This..."
"The status of a businessman is indeed not enough to be recognized by the world, but I will naturally be able to do something. Your Highness will not worry about this matter. If His Highness has to worry about such a simple identity, then there is no need for me as a 'sir'.
"
"That's the case..."
"In that case, there is nothing else to do tonight. I just want His Highness to know some things about me in advance, as long as His Highness does not regret it. Before becoming a young master, Your Highness is not allowed to see me here again. During this period,
Your Highness, it would be best for you to calm down in the palace."
"When is the time?"
"It depends on fate, it may be one month or two months, or it may be a year and a half."
"so long?"
"Your Highness, there is no need to worry about this matter. You should go back. There are still guests coming tonight."
"There are other guests coming? Who?"
Li Zijin was outspoken and asked the question, but he regretted it a little after he said it. He stood up and bowed politely, stopped talking, opened the door silently, and left.
There were no two people in the guest room, only Xia Shang. However, the guest Xia Shang mentioned appeared shortly after Li Zijin left.
"boom!"
With a muffled sound, the door opened and closed for an instant. At the same time, the open window of the door was also closed by an invisible force. The light on the table was almost blown out by the strong wind. Fortunately, Xia Shang and Xia Shang had been careful.
Protecting her, as if she knew something like this would happen.
The tall man's shadow was printed on the door frame, and the weak light illuminated the gloomy face of the man in front of the door.
"If I remember correctly, senior should be called Guangxie, right?"
The other party was Guang Xie, the middle-aged man who was with Nangong Chuxin on Xiantao Mountain. But this man was by no means a simple vulgar man, his aura was that of a rare martial arts master.
Xia Shang sat at the table and spoke calmly.
Guang Xie didn't talk nonsense. He took two steps forward and pressed a long sword directly on Xia Shang's shoulder: "You brat, stop pretending to be a ghost in front of me. How did you know that I was nearby?"
"If you want to talk, senior, why don't you sit down and talk slowly? Are you still afraid that a helpless scholar like me can escape under your nose?"
Guang Xie raised his eyebrows coldly, a bit arrogantly: "I'm sorry you can't do any tricks."
After saying that, he took back the sword that was pressing on Xia Shang's shoulder, walked to sit across from Xia Shang, slapped the sword on the table, and forcefully used the sword blade to create a deep mark on the table. It seemed to be a display.
How deep is your inner strength?
This trick may be useful to others, but it has no deterrent effect on Xia Shang.
Having met so many masters, Guang Xie probably wouldn't be in the top ten. What he did made Xia Shang despise this person. (To be continued)