The city is a typical four-part design of the Cangyun Empire, and is divided into four major urban areas: east, west, north, south, and west.
There are rows of residential houses in the south of the city, the streets in the north are busy with traffic, the sycamore trees in the west are full of fallen leaves, and the sunset in the east is beautiful.
Under the leadership of Liu Long, Li Mu and the others quickly passed the inspection at the city gate. Although Gongsun Qi drove Liu Long's team five miles away, he was still the team leader appointed by the empire, and his dignity still remained.
After a routine inspection, the Guards soldiers stationed at the city gate did not make things difficult for him, but decisively let him go.
The four of them entered the city from the north. A flat and wide bluestone avenue stretched out. There were no less than a hundred shops on both sides. What surprised Li Mu and others even more was the frequent exchanges of merchants from the north and south. Countless caravans came and went. Compared with Qinglan,
The city is no less generous.
You must know that Lishui City is just a remote small town in the empire, but the scene of being crowded is comparable to that of any major city.
"How about it, Li Mu, this Lishui City is not much different from your Qinglan City, right? Even though the city is not big, I can guarantee that you can find everything you can think of here. By the way, the Mingque Tower in front of you
The dancer is quite good, tonight... I will take you..."
Liu Long was happy to see that Li Mu and the others were conquered by the prosperity of Lishui City. He had stayed here for a full three years, which was the longest he had stayed in any place other than the imperial capital. Naturally, he already had feelings for them.
"Ah hum..."
Li Mu, who was already walking side by side with Liu Long, just heard this young uncle's invitation to the evening event. Before he could refuse, he felt a chill on his back.
Looking back, Lin Qingzhu was looking at him coldly with a look that said, "If you have the ability, go ahead." Li Mu was also frightened and hurriedly waved to Liu Longzhi, saying that he only needed to help them find someone.
Just stay anywhere.
"Oh, ok, ok, eldest brother was careless. I didn't expect that my younger siblings are here too. Let's go to the hotel and stay in the hotel."
Liu Long looked at Li Mu and then at Lin Qingzhu. He understood something in his heart and quickly changed his words. But this time, Lin Qingzhu blushed with embarrassment and put his hands on Li Mu's waist.
He pinched it hard and grimaced in pain.
While talking and laughing, the four of them came to a small three-story building. The whole building was made of fine huanghuali. The carved beams and embroidered columns exuded an antique flavor. A red-bottomed piece hung on the eaves of the second floor.
The plaque with gold characters reads "De Yue Tower".
"Here we are, this is the best restaurant in Lishui City. The braised Lishui fish here is definitely a must-try delicacy. There are guest rooms on the third floor of Deyue Building. You can stay here. Don't worry, the expenses will be covered by Brother Liu.
On the body."
The relationship between Liu Long and Liu Ruoying is extraordinary. As a cousin, Liu Ruoying has shielded her naughty brother from scolding countless times. And since Li Mu calls Liu Ruoying aunt, she can naturally be regarded as Liu Long's.
I am a junior, so it is only natural to take care of me.
"Then thank you, Brother Liu."
Li Mu also agreed without hesitation. After all, he had already been short of money when buying pills. Since Liu Long was willing to pay, he naturally accepted it happily. Lin Qingzhu on the side was a little embarrassed, but Liu Long didn't see the slightest sign of it.
He didn't care, so he let Li Mu go silently.
Fang Yan, who was always following at the end, was unusually quiet. He kept observing every corner of Lishui City along the way and stopped several times, thoughtfully.
"belch……"
The quality of the chefs at Deyuelou is truly astonishing. In particular, the braised Lishui fish was not only extremely delicious, but also melted in your mouth. Li Mu couldn't bear to put down his chopsticks until his stomach bulged.
"Okay, it's getting late. Your rooms are in the three innermost rooms on the third floor. You've worked hard all the way. Get some rest early. I'm going back to the barracks too."
Seeing the sleepiness on Li Mu and Lin Qingzhu's faces, Liu Long said wisely that he had asked the waiter to arrange the room when he entered Deyue Building. Captain Liu's name still has some effect, the store owner
He directly packed up the three quietest rooms for Li Mu and the others to rest.
After bidding farewell to Liu Long, the three of them followed the Deyuelou guy to the third floor.
There are wing rooms on both sides of the long corridor, about twenty of them. All the door lintels and windows are carved from rosewood, which is elegant yet heavy. The light wood aroma also makes Li
Mu arrived feeling relaxed and happy.
After saying hello to Lin Qingzhu and Fang Yan, Li Mu opened the door of his room. What he saw was a large rosewood marble desk in the center of the room, and a red sandalwood table next to the window.
A large wooden bed with fine workmanship and gorgeous carvings.
In addition, floor-to-ceiling porcelain vases and pineapple wood carvings are also placed in the wing, adding a sense of charm to the entire room.
"Brother Liu is bleeding a lot this time. This room must be very expensive. Sure enough, money is important everywhere. If you have money, you can live in this five-star wing. If you don't have money, you can only sleep in the wild."
Looking at such a gorgeous wing in front of him, Li Mu also lamented the importance of making money, and began to plan in his mind how to make a fortune.
"Dong dong dong..."
As soon as Li Mugao sat down, he heard a knock on the door. He quickly got up and opened the door, only to see Lin Qingzhu and Fang Yan standing outside the door.
"You guys haven't rested either? I originally planned to go find you again tomorrow morning."
Li Mu was not surprised by the arrival of the two of them. Even though he was arm-in-arm with Liu Long and had fun all the way, he was actually carefully observing every detail of Lishui City, and he did discover some strange things.
place.
"It turns out that Brother Mu also noticed it. I thought I was the only one who noticed it. I didn't expect that both you and Fang Yan were secretly observing."
Lin Qingzhu grabbed Li Mu's arm and shook her into the house. The girl's body fragrance mixed with the aroma of red sandalwood in the room, which made Li Mu a little distracted. He cursed in his mind that he was smelly and shameless before he recovered.
"Let me tell you first, Brother Liu brought us into the city from the north of the city. We met countless caravans along the way, but have you noticed that 90% of the caravans only transported one kind of cargo, which was concentrated iron ore?
, so the question is, the iron ore mine is outside Lishui City, why don’t these caravans transport the ore directly from the mine?”
The three of them sat around a mahogany round table, and Li Mu was the first to speak. It was a puzzling practice for a large number of caravans to abandon the more convenient mines and load the ore into trucks in the city.
"There is another point of doubt. The shops in the north of the city are densely packed, and it looks like a bustling scene. However, I noticed that there are quite a lot of poor and beggars gathering in the alleys on both sides of the avenue. This is the richest district in the whole city, and there are still so many
Poor people have appeared. It can only be said that the widespread rumors that everyone in Lishui City is living a prosperous life is not entirely accurate."
"I have also noticed, and have you noticed that among the civilians in Lishui City, there are very few middle-aged men? Almost all the boys and men in the shops are younger than us, and the rest are all women.
, there are not even any old men. Even if the mines and military conscription consume labor, where have all the older men gone over the years? "
The three of them talked to each other and talked about all the doubtful points they had observed along the way. There are many seemingly ordinary places in Lishui City, but once you examine them carefully, you will find something strange.
As the conversation progressed, the expressions of the three people became serious. Lishui City was full of weirdness, and the whole city seemed to be shrouded in fog, making it difficult to discern the truth.
"Okay, the three of us can't figure out the reason here. Brother Liu is stationed outside the city all year round, and he may not necessarily understand some things. Maybe we will find something when we go to the city tomorrow.
"
Li Mu said goodbye to Lin Qingzhu and Fang Yan, and stood alone at the window. The sky had darkened at this time, and the lights on the avenue downstairs were still bustling with caravans and travelers. But for some reason, Li Mu always felt that this city
It exudes a lifeless feeling, which makes people very uncomfortable.