Jinghong Tower

Chapter 354 Zhou Cangyue is here

Earl Yan'an was in a bad mood and suddenly wanted to have a couple of drinks in this small restaurant.

The proprietress still has such a charming figure and such a sweet mouth.

But the business of this tavern is still so quiet.

The last time Lord Yan'an came to this tavern, it was also by accident. He had a few too many drinks that time and went crazy on the street, driving away all his followers and guards, not allowing them to follow him.

Later he went into this tavern. Seeing that he was so drunk that he couldn't tell east from west, but was still clamoring for wine, the proprietress was worried that he would get drunk to death, so she coaxed him to drink sobering soup.

A customer recognized him as the Earl of Yan'an, so the landlady sent someone to the Earl's house to inform him, and someone came to take him away.

A few days later, when he passed by this tavern, he dismounted and went in to have a few drinks. When he left, he left a large ingot of silver as a thank you.

Today he came here again, and Earl Yan'an asked his entourage to wait outside while he went in.

After ordering a pot of wine and four side dishes, Earl Yan'an sat in the corner drinking silently and thinking about what happened today.

At this time, the proprietress came over and handed over a handwritten newspaper: "Sir, this is the new one on the market today, and we only bought this one in our restaurant. Please take a look first."

The Earl of Yan'an seldom came to these small street restaurants, but he had heard people say that these taverns and teahouses now privately had morning and evening newspapers from the capital. If those who could not buy the morning and evening newspapers could also have handwritten newspapers, which was the same as the free tea and melon seeds.

Originally, Earl Yan'an had no interest in these newspapers. It was only after those three bowls of melodrama that he began to read a few issues of the newspaper seriously.

He took the handwritten newspaper and started reading it. The person who copied the newspaper wrote in a neat and clear official script.

The most eye-catching part of the handwritten newspaper was the news of the great victories in Bozhou and Xuzhou. Earl Yan'an was annoyed when he saw it and was about to throw the handwritten newspaper aside when he saw a person sitting opposite him.

Earl Yan'an narrowed his eyes and looked the man up and down. He was about eighteen or nineteen years old, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, bronze skin, and a bright look. He was dressed in coarse cloth and brown clothes. He looked like a farmer, but his good looks did not look like something that could be grown on the farm.

"Who are you?" asked Earl Yan'an.

The young man smiled at him, revealing a row of snow-white teeth. His smile was so bright, as if he had just picked up a gold ingot.

Seeing his smile, Earl Yan'an frowned. He still couldn't remember who the kid in front of him was.

"Who is your father if you dare to share the table with Master Ben?"

The Earl of Yan'an has already confirmed that, despite the shabby clothes this kid is wearing, he is most likely the child of some noble family, who is naughty and dresses up like this on purpose to go out and play. Otherwise, he would not dare to be on equal footing with the Earl of Yan'an even if he had the guts of a bear or a leopard.

The boy shook his head: "You really stump me. I really don't know who my father is."

Earl Yan'an was already in a bad mood, and now he met this ignorant boy, so he immediately got angry and cursed: "You don't even know who your father is, then you are a bastard."

The young man's eyes widened, as if he had seen something strange. Suddenly, he leaned forward, eye to eye, nose to nose with Earl Yan'an, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "You dare to call Zhou Cangyue a bastard, and you are considered a big shot."

Although the Earl of Yan'an was drinking, he was not drunk. In addition, he was wronged in the Duke Dingguo's Mansion today, which made him rethink his life. Therefore, his mind was unusually clear at this moment.

"You, you, who do you say you are?" Earl Yan'an thought he had sharp ears and eyes, and he knew that the guy just now was talking about Zhou Cangyue!

The legendary Zhou Cangyue is less than 20 years old, handsome in appearance, and can look like a real woman when wearing women's clothes.

As soon as he finished speaking, Earl Yan'an's eyes fell on the patch on the boy's shoulder.

In fact, although the boy's clothes were simple, they were about 80% new. However, there was a patch on the left shoulder. It seemed nothing at first glance, but it looked awkward upon closer inspection.

Two words flashed through Earl Yan'an's mind: Beggars' Gang.

Isn’t Zhou Cangyue the leader of the Beggars’ Sect?
Although the Earl of Yan'an was neither good at literature nor martial arts, he was a well-known playboy in the capital when he was young, and there were many gangsters around him. He vaguely remembered someone saying that members of the Beggars' Sect, even if they were wearing silk and satin, had to put one or two patches on their clothes. This was a rule left by their ancestors.

Without waiting for the young man to answer, Earl Yan'an asked again: "Are you really Zhou Cangyue?"

Young man: "Yes, I am Zhou Cangyue. Apart from me, is there anyone else who dares to say that he is Zhou Cangyue in Jinling?"

Earl of Yan'an swallowed hard. Nanjing was the capital and Zhou Cangyue was a traitor. Only a fool would pretend to be Zhou Cangyue in Nanjing. If he was caught, no matter if he was real or fake, he would at least be torn into pieces by five horses.

"How dare you come to Jinling? And why did you come to me?"

As he spoke, Earl Yan'an looked around and saw that they were the only table of diners in the tavern and the proprietress had disappeared. He then breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't want people to see him and Zhou Cangyue together, because that would be a mistake he couldn't clear even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

Zhou Cangyue chuckled: "I've heard about your family, it's quite interesting, so I came to see you."

Yan Anbo.
Zhou Cangyue continued: "I heard that she was the one who found out about your family's affairs. She is really amazing."

Yan Anbo.
The affairs of his family were discovered by Jinghong Tower. The "she" Zhou Cangyue mentioned must not be anyone else in Jinghong Tower, but He Ran.

He had heard people say that He Ran and Zhou Cangyue had formed an alliance. Because He Ran wanted to conquer King Zhou, Zhou Cangyue handed over the Yu area that he had conquered with great difficulty.

"Aren't you afraid that I will catch you?" said Earl Yan'an.

Zhou Cangyue smiled and said, "Why should I be afraid? You don't have the ability to do so. Besides, even if you catch me, it will be the credit of Duke Dingguo. You are just a useless old playboy. It would be a waste if such a great credit fell on you. Of course, we should give glory to Duke Dingguo."

Earl Yan'an widened his eyes and pointed at Zhou Cangyue's nose, but couldn't utter a word.

If it was before today, he would never have believed what Zhou Cangyue said.

But after what happened in Duke Dingguo's Mansion, he felt that what Zhou Cangyue said was not impossible.

His role in Duke Dingguo was that he made a fuss that day and forced Liu Shanhe to take them to see the emperor.

After that day, Duke Dingguo no longer needed him.

His current situation is extremely awkward, and it is even worse than before when he had nothing to do.

While Earl Yan'an was thinking about many things, Zhou Cangyue had already picked up his chopsticks and started eating with a smile.

By the time Earl Yan'an finally figured things out, Zhou Cangyue had already eaten all four side dishes. The plate was so clean that it looked as if it had been licked, worthy of his beggar background.

But he didn't drink a drop of the wine in the jug.

The Earl of Yan'an sighed and said in a low voice: "Master Zhou, there are so many nobles in the court, and I am the least powerful. If you want to form a gang, you shouldn't come to me." He still has self-knowledge.

Zhou Cangyue said, "I'm actually quite busy. I'm very busy. I came to Jinling this time to take some time out of my busy schedule."

Yan Anbo.
Zhou Cangyue continued, "I heard that you have a good relationship with Duke Dingguo?"

Earl of Yan'an: "No, that's not the case."

Zhou Cangyue: "Whether there is one or not, you must know all of Duke Dingguo's sons."

Earl Yan'an nodded: "Of course I know them. I have watched them grow up."

Zhou Cangyue: "Are these sons all Duke Dingguo's biological children?"

Earl Yan'an was stunned. "Of course it is. How could it not be? In a noble family like ours, bloodline is very important. A biological child is a biological child, and an adopted child is an adopted child. There is no confusion about this."

Zhou Cangyue: "Duke Dingguo has five sons, and the second and third are only four months apart. What's going on?"

Earl of Yan'an didn't understand why Zhou Cangyue was asking about Duke Dingguo's sons, but he was indeed not bragging. He knew a lot about Duke Dingguo's family. They were all second-generation descendants of noble families and had been in the same circle since childhood. They knew each other's affairs very well.

"The second and third sons of Jing were not born to the same mother. The second son of Jing was born to the wife of the Duke, and the third son of Jing was born to the concubine. The two were only three or four months apart. After all, he was a boy, so he couldn't be raised by the concubine. So when Jing third son was born, he was registered under the name of the wife of the Duke. To the outside world, he was a legitimate child, but everyone knew in their hearts that he was born to the concubine."

Zhou Cangyue nodded, obviously very satisfied with the answer of Earl Yan'an.

"How does Duke Dingguo treat Jing Lao San? As far as I know, among Duke Dingguo's five sons, only Jing Lao San has no job and is idle all day long?"

The Earl of Yan'an said, "Jing Lao San is not good at martial arts. He has loved reading since he was young. He passed the examination for a scholar at the age of fifteen. If it weren't for the relocation of the capital, he might have passed the examination for a juren. Duke Dingguo just let him do what he wanted. His brothers were all assigned jobs, but he stayed at home all day to study."

Zhou Cangyue asked again: "Are you familiar with Jing Lao San?"

Earl Yan'an thought for a moment and shook his head. "Among Duke Dingguo's sons, only Jing Lao San is the one I am least familiar with. He is a scholar and not the same kind of person as me. So it seems that I haven't seen him for several years. He doesn't like to go out and play, and he stays at home studying."

Zhou Cangyue: "Find a way to get Jing Lao San out."

Earl Yan'an was shocked. It turned out that Zhou Cangyue had bad intentions and was trying to drag him into a trap.

"Why should I help you make an appointment with him? Let me tell you, don't think I'm alone. My people."

Before he could finish his words, Zhou Cangyue chuckled again: "You have been guessing for so long, why didn't your people come in to look for you?"

Earl Yan'an broke the chopsticks in his hand with a snap, but he immediately put on a amiable expression.

"Oh, why didn't you tell me earlier? I had to lower my voice to talk to you."

He finally understood that the tavern was full of Zhou Cangyue's people and he was imprisoned.

Zhou Cangyue picked up the half of the chopstick that was broken by Earl Yan'an, raised his hand, and the half of the chopstick flew out, brushing against Earl Yan'an's ear and firmly nailed into the pillar behind him.

Earl Yan'an was thick-skinned and did not show that he was frightened, but only he knew that his inner clothes were soaked with cold sweat.

"You want me to ask the third brother to come out for you? Sure, it's not a big deal. I'll ask him out, but I'm not sure if he's willing to come out. I've also said that he and I are not the same kind of people. Besides, there's a generation gap between us. There's no younger generation in my family."

Speaking of this, Earl Yan'an felt that he was really pitiful.

The eldest son fell off a horse and died at a young age, the second son was killed by the concubine as soon as he was born, the illegitimate son was thrown off a cliff by the lady, and the adopted grandson and two granddaughters were also taken back to the clan by the lady. Now he is old and seems to be surrounded by beauties, but in fact he is alone.

Zhou Cangyue hummed: "I know about your family's affairs. Just think about how to ask Jing Lao San to come out. After all, you are the only one I know in Jinling, so you can only do this."

Earl of Yan'an: You are so unreasonable. I don't want to know you, you big traitor. I only want to know you because I have nothing better to do.

But now he is under someone's roof and has to bow his head. Earl Yan'an has to rack his brains to think about how to trick Jing Lao San out.

Zhou Cangyue was understanding and turned to go to the kitchen so that Earl Yan'an could concentrate on thinking.

After entering the kitchen, the lady boss patted her chest and said in a tender voice, "Boss, you jumped out so suddenly, it's really scary."

Zhou Cangyue smiled and said, "It's just this time. Next time I come, I will definitely greet you in advance."

This proprietress is none other than Sister Su Si, the leader of the Beggars’ Gang in Jinling.

At the same time, she is also the old gang leader's sworn sister. She has braided Xiao Hei Mei's hair and made clothes for her. Zhou Cangyue's good needlework skills were taught by Su Sijie.

Fourth Sister Su asked, "Why did you come to Jinling all of a sudden? What will the Tiger Army do without you?"

Zhou Cangyue said: "I have promoted several generals now. When I am not around, the Tiger Army will not be in trouble. Don't worry."

Fourth Sister Su looked at him and put her hand on the top of her head. "I haven't seen you for a few years. You have grown taller and become a big boy. When you came in just now, I couldn't recognize you."

Zhou Cangyue giggled. Fourth Sister Su pointed outside and said, "That man is notoriously unreliable in Jinling. Do you really want to cooperate with him?"

Zhou Cangyue: "It's not really cooperation, I'm just using him."

A few days ago, news came that Duke Dingguo had killed Liu Shanhe and imprisoned the emperor, and only then did Zhou Cangyue know who Duke Dingguo was.

At the same time, he also learned the name of Duke Dingguo.

His surname is Jing!
The surname Jing is very rare, and Zhou Cangyue had only heard of it once before.

Before his adoptive father died, he told him three things:
The first thing is that one must turn 18 years old before he can resume his male identity.

The second thing was to go to Zhending to meet an old friend on behalf of my adoptive father.

The third thing is that when you meet someone with the surname Jing, you must hide your identity and stay as far away from him as possible.

Zhou Cangyue did the first two things as instructed, but he almost forgot the third one.

It’s not that he is disobedient, but he has never met anyone with the surname Jing in all these years.

Just at this time, he learned that the Duke of Dingguo, who had the power to hold the emperor hostage and control the princes, was named Jing.