Xuanmen Xiaoguo Shi is divination again

Chapter 40 Drunk Immortal Tower

Mu Xici sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, the sun was shining on the small tea table through the curtain of the carriage, and it was all over.

It has been snowing for five days in a row in central Beijing, and it didn’t clear up until last night. The two episodes of things that haven’t opened for a long time took advantage of this opportunity to open at the same time. The people and cars on Qingshi Street were very lively, but the cars and horses paralleling them were very busy. Fewer and fewer.

Today they are going to the small market in Zhongshi, which is open all year round, less than ten miles away from the imperial city.

Mu Xici stretched out her hand to straighten her sleeves. After confirming that Ninglu was willing to help her take care of the restaurant that day, she asked Zhan Mingxuan to search around for the most suitable shops in several markets. After some screening, she finally stayed. I went to the "Zuixian Building" in Zhongshi.

In terms of the size of the square market, the central market cannot compare with the eastern and western cities; but in terms of the degree of prosperity, the central market is comparable to the eastern and western cities, even worse.

After all, it is a place that is not closed on weekdays, and it is adjacent to the imperial city. Although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs. After thinking about it for a long time, she still thinks that this place is the most suitable place to earn some money, and to secretly receive some news about what should and should not be.

The carriage passed through one long street after another, slowly heading towards a certain corner of Zhongshi.

It is said that Zuixianlou used to be the largest restaurant in Beijing, and the owner, Shen Qi, was a very personable person. He didn't want to open the store in the middle of the street, so he found the most remote corner in Zhongji.

However, the food and drinks in his building are really cheap and delicious, even if he pushed Zuixian Tower out of the bustling city, there is still a lot of traffic in front of his building every day.

There are even some greedy dudes who, in order to taste a sip of wine from Zuixianlou, sent the servants of the mansion to wait at the entrance of the restaurant early in the morning.

Zuixianlou used to be the largest restaurant in Beijing.

And now-

Mu Xici raised his eyes slightly, the carriage stopped steadily on the deserted street, Zhan Mingxuan who was acting as the driver knocked lightly on the door, Lingqin jumped out of the carriage immediately, took Zhan Ninglu, and helped past her.

"Miss, we're here." Zhan Ninglu laughed and put away the wooden pedals on the car, and Mu Xici nodded slightly.

It can be seen that there are very few people coming and going here, the five-day wind and snow has accumulated half a foot of cotton in front of the building, and there are a few footprints scattered on the snow, most likely Lingqin just stepped on it.

Zhan Mingxuan led the carriage to the corner of the street, fastened the horse, and then escorted the three girls up the stone steps in front of the building.

The plaque hanging on the beam was covered with a heavy layer of dust, but the chic and elegant "Zuixian Tower" could still be vaguely seen; the pairs on both sides of the door were also mottled and peeled off with gold paint, which Mu Xici had identified for a long time , just now recited the fourteen small characters:

Fighting wine in front of the building to wake up drunk, a dream in the mountains asks about life and death.

interesting.

Mu Xici hooked the corners of his lips, this couple is not perfect, but they have a unique taste, not like a restaurant, but more like a Taoist temple in the mountains.

Lingqin knocked on the door at the behest of her young lady, the echo from the room was empty, and after a long time, the door creaked and was pulled open, revealing the haggard face of a young man.

"Guests, are you going the wrong way? The Baoyan Tower has to go along the main road for three miles and then turn left." The young man said, with an indescribably tired and hoarse voice, Mu Xici smiled upon hearing this : "We have never gone wrong, and we don't want to go to Baoyan Tower——Guilou, isn't it open today?"

"Hey, how many of you are here for Zuixian Tower?" The young man was startled, then his eyes widened. After receiving the affirmative reply from Mu Xici and others, he immediately became energetic, "Go, go! You go to the first building Sit here, the little one, go up and invite the shopkeeper!"

"Thank you." Mu Xici responded, and led a few people into the building. The moment she entered the room, she frowned without a trace, then looked up at the beams of the room, and then turned her gaze to Zhan Mingxuan's face.

The latter swept in the direction she had looked at before, and nodded slightly at her.

Mu Xici closed her eyes, and slowly sat down. The restaurant looked dilapidated from the outside, but the inside was cleaned clean and spotless.

"Miss, it's so big here." Lingqin looked around and sighed with emotion in a low voice, "It's bigger than the restaurants we've been to before."

"The small shop was originally the most prosperous restaurant in Beijing, so the place is naturally bigger." A slightly vicissitudes male voice came from upstairs, and the four of them turned their heads subconsciously. About thirty years old, with a handsome face, he doesn't look like a businessman at first glance, but more like a Confucian scholar.

"Shen Qi is the shopkeeper of Zuixianlou. What would you like to eat?" Shen Qi folded his hands and lowered his eyebrows, "It's just that there are not many ingredients left downstairs, and some dishes need to wait for a while .”

"It's okay, shopkeeper Shen, we don't choose. You can make whatever you want with the leftover ingredients." Mu Xici's eyes were bent, and the long eyelashes concealed the dark wave in his eyes .

She could see clearly that whether it was the guy who opened the door for them or the shopkeeper Shen in front of her, they were all wrapped in a strong and lingering evil spirit.

Such evil spirits cannot be accumulated in a day or two.

After thinking about the plaque, the thing on the beam...

Mu Xici caressed the corner of his clothes, and probably had some guesses in his heart. After hearing this, Shen Qi smiled and nodded: "Okay, Shen will go down and get ready, please wait a moment for the guests." After speaking, he strode around to back kitchen.

"Eh? Why did Shopkeeper Shen go to the back kitchen by himself? There are no other employees in the building?" Zhan Ninglu was extremely surprised. She remembered that when she came to Zuixianlou at this time last year, there were still a lot of people, and there were no places upstairs or downstairs that were not crowded with people. , the long line outside the building can also go to the corner of the back street... How come it has only been a year, and this place has fallen to such an extent?
"Girl, you don't know that the Zuixian Tower has not opened for half a year, and you are the first table guests in the past six months." The young man who brought the tea smiled wryly, "I'm afraid the shopkeeper will delay the future of the guys. As early as four months ago, I paid all my wages for this year, and sent everyone away!"

"Hasn't opened for half a year!" Zhan Ninglu covered her lips and whispered, "Why did it take so long? Wasn't Zuixianlou's business very good before?"

"The business in the past was really good." The young man nodded, and poured tea for several people. Mu Xici picked up the tea bowl and took a sip. The tea tasted mellow without any astringency.

"But it has inexplicably gone downhill since eight months ago." The young man who poured the tea put away the teapot, raised his head and recalled carefully, "First, there were two tables of guests eating, and suddenly there was a disagreement and a fight , causing the shopkeeper to lose a lot of tables, chairs, benches, and various utensils; finally, a group of customers got sick for some reason, and they insisted that there was something wrong with the food in the building, and made the shopkeeper pay a lot of medical expenses. "

"Afterwards, all kinds of strange and bad reputations spread, and the number of people who came here became less and less. This way, the Zuixian Tower gradually fell into the cold." The young man lowered his head and sighed, "It has become what it is now."

It used to be so lively, but now it is so deserted. Looking at the empty lobby, the young man couldn't stop feeling sour.

"Then why didn't you leave?" Mu Xici put down his teacup and asked casually.

　I was sleepy last night, and ended up eating a bad stomach. I didn’t go to bed until after [-] o’clock. I slept in a muddle in the morning, and my head hurts in the afternoon.
　　post late

　　sorry sorry
　　probably not tomorrow

　　
　
(End of this chapter)