sea

Chapter 45
Everyone looked along the trend, and at the end of the road, a brown shadow swept over like the wind, and the shape could be recognized in a blink of an eye, it was the man in sackcloth.I saw him rushing to the pavilion with a tin pot in his hand, but stopped suddenly.He stopped as soon as he said he was running wildly. Lu Jian thought about it, and felt that he couldn't, and was even more astonished in his heart.

The scribe laughed and said, "Pour two cups!" The sackclothed man carefully put down the teapot, took out two porcelain cups, and filled them with tea.Qi Jiguang took the tea and saw that the tea was green and boiling, he was surprised and asked: "Is this tea made nearby?" here."

"Stop bluffing me, you are poor." An official said with a smile, "it is at least ten miles to Nanjing City, and twenty miles back and forth. How can you bring tea back from the city with this little time? Even if you can, the tea is still there Why is it still boiling?"

Qi Jiguang smiled and said: "There are so many strange people in the world." Gently blowing away the powdered tea, he took a sip slowly and praised, "Good tea, but it's a pity that Qi is rude and doesn't understand tea ceremony, so I can't tell what is good about it."

The scribe smiled and said, "This tea is as thin as a sparrow's tongue. It is a product from the young buds of Biluofeng in Dongting. The water is light and sweet. It is the stubborn stone spring of Huishan Temple in Wuxi. I am not good at wine, but I like tea. Therefore, I will encourage you with a cup of tea. If the general can escape from the cage in the future, please remember what you said today, and don’t forget it.”

Qi Jiguang clasped his hands and said with a smile: "I have a lot of auspicious words, how dare I ask your name?" The scribe shook his head and said with a smile: "I am a useless person, a lowly scholar, and my name is not worth mentioning."

Qi Jiguang is magnificent, and the scribes are not well-known, and he will not force him, so he smiles and turns away.Lu Jian followed him for two steps, and suddenly felt a chill down his back. In a blink of an eye, a sharp light flashed under the sackclothed man's hat, like a knife's edge.Lu Jian's eyes were stinging, and he turned his eyes hurriedly, and saw that Mo Yi was chanting again, looking at him intently.

Lu Jian's heart beat wildly, he couldn't help but took two quick steps, and followed closely behind Qi Jiguang, but the chill on his back didn't dissipate until he had walked several miles, it was expected that the man in sackcloth and Mo Yi couldn't see him, and the chill just dissipated.

Qi Jiguang glanced at him, frowned and said, "Brother, your face is so ugly." Lu Jian said, "I don't know why, but I just feel uncomfortable." Qi Jiguang only thought that he was worried about his own affairs, and said, "When we arrive in Nanjing, we will resign ourselves to fate." That's all."

Lu Jian didn't answer in silence, but the cold light under the bamboo hat was always flashing in front of his eyes. As he thought about it, sweat dripped down his forehead, and he couldn't help asking himself: "Who are those two people? Why do I feel flustered when I see them?" ?” He couldn’t figure it out, and he was approaching the city before he knew it.A group of people entered the city through Fengtai Gate, and saw a thoroughfare for ten miles, scattered in all directions, with tens of thousands of families, and the city was full of stars.Soon he came to the Governor's Yamen, the official handover was completed, and Qi Jiguang went to jail awaiting trial.Lu Jian was about to part, feeling very sad, holding Qi Jiguang's hand, his eyes were slightly red.Qi Jiguang sighed: "I will send you off for thousands of miles, but I will have to say goodbye at the end. Brother, you sent me here. I will never forget you, brother."

The head of the cell urged them, and the two had no choice but to leave in tears. Lu Jian watched Qi Jiguang walk into the cell door, and his heart sank. He lingered in front of the governor's mansion for a long time, watching the officials dragging Zhu Yizi in and out, But I don't know who to ask for help.Walked back and forth for a while, but felt hungry, touched his body, but there was no money, and then remembered that all the money in the bag had been given to the official, so he turned around and walked on the street, looking at the taverns on both sides, smelling the fragrance of food The smell of meat makes you swallow your mouth water.

While wandering around, he suddenly felt that someone knocked on his calf. He looked back in surprise, but it was the "Golden Turtle" who had won Wancheng. The old man had a plaster on his forehead, and there were several bloodstains on his cheeks and neck.Lu Jian couldn't help being surprised and said, "Why are you? Where's Gu Zhen?"

Ying Wancheng's face was gloomy, and he said angrily, "He didn't come to look for you?" Lu Jian said, "Didn't he be caught by you? Why did he come to me?" Jian's face turned a few times, and he sneered, "You're a very nice kid, much more honest than that bastard Gu Zhen. It's rare for us to see you again, how about going to a restaurant for a drink?"

Lu Jianwei felt hesitant, but in order to inquire about Gu Zhen's whereabouts, he reluctantly agreed, and suddenly saw Ying Wancheng walking in front, with a limp in his left leg, and he was already limping.

Lu Jian saw that he was covered with injuries, and was very surprised: "He is so strong in martial arts, and has the magical power of 'turtle mirror', who hurt him to this extent? He was originally with Gu Zhen, where did Gu Zhen go?" He asked Full of doubts, he walked in silence.

Ying Wancheng came to the crossroads, picked a magnificent restaurant, led Lu Jian up to the second floor, sat down, and greeted the waiter, "Master orders." Seeing his gorgeous robes, the waiter respected him first , smiled and said: "Old members, please tell me."

Ying Wancheng said: "First, let's have three whites and three delicacies, one steamed and two stewed." The guy was stunned for a moment, and said with an apologetic smile: "Can the old man explain it clearly?"

Ying Wancheng sneered and said: "You are still a buddy of the big restaurant. The three whites are the three whites of Taihu Lake, small whitebait, baicai fish, and white shrimp; the three delicacies are the three delicacies of the Yangtze River, saury, shad, and puffer fish. White shrimp, white fish, and white shrimp. Puffer fish are all steamed, and the other four fish are all stewed."

The waiter hesitated and said: "This is six dishes, and the portions are quite a lot." Ying Wancheng sneered and said, "Why, I'm afraid the master won't be able to eat it? If the master can't eat it, he will walk around." The waiter had to agree, and was about to turn around and Ying Wancheng He also said, "Wait a minute, it's not over yet. Let me have a bowl of crouching dragon and phoenix young soup..."

The clerk was very troubled, and said embarrassingly: "I have never heard of this soup before, how can I make it?" The tip of a young chicken breast is chopped into shreds. These two things are added with pepper, green onion, coriander, etc., and it takes half an hour to make a clear soup. Throw away the dry ones, leaving only the soup. The abalone is Wolong, and the chick is Fengchu. , so it has this name. Don’t play with the master, the material is wrong, the master will know it once he tastes it.”

The clerk hurriedly laughed and said: "Our century-old store, how dare we make fake ones?" Ying Wancheng sneered slightly, and said in a continuous manner: "I also need a pair of iron goose feet, a roasted soft-shelled turtle, a bowl of bad hoof tendons, A plate of stir-fried corrugated clams with bamboo shoots, a bowl of braised Jiang Yao Zhu with fern pink. Corrugated clams and Jiang Yao Zhu must be fresh products from Taizhou, and the masters from other places don’t want it. I also need fire meat from Pujiang. As for crabs, the master of sea crabs is tired of eating. Four pairs of river crabs are steamed first; one camel hump from Mobei, steamed with honey; one bear paw from Liaodong, stir-fried with green onions from Shandong. The big white clams in Sanjiang are good, and I drunk two pairs for the master. Well, the master is afraid of fishy, ​​so he eats monkeys alive The brain will be saved, and the dried fruit will not stick to the teeth. Let’s make two bowls of watermelon paste to relieve the heat. The watermelon in this paste should be from Hangzhou. Peach Blossom Juice, decocted on low heat until [-]% off, stir sugar and finely refine, remember the order of refining the paste, don’t make a mistake.”

After all, I ordered another pot of aged No. [-] scholar red and two pots of famous Sichuan wine.He kept a lot of treasures, but the clerk was sweating profusely. After he finished ordering, he tremblingly said: "There are many small shops here that don't have everything. I have to go to other restaurants to borrow money. I will definitely not miss the master."

Lu Jian frowned and said, "Mr. Ying, can you finish all this food?" Ying Wancheng sneered and said, "I can't finish it, throw it away and feed it to the dog."

The dishes were coming up like flowing water, and it took more than half an hour for them to be ready.Lu Jian had been hungry for a long time, gobbled it up, and was full after eating three dishes, but Ying Wancheng picked up a chopstick here and a spoonful there, chewed slowly, tasted every dish, but no matter what the dish was, No matter the soup, it is only a chopstick and a spoonful, so don't eat too much.He eats well, the river crabs are peeled very finely, the shells of the crabs are disintegrated neatly, and the eight breastplates are about to fly away. If they are pieced together, they can be assembled into a whole crab with an empty shell.

Lu Jian couldn't stand it, and couldn't help asking: "Senior Ying, where is Gu Zhen?" Ying Wancheng was tasting drunk clams, when he heard the words he hesitated: "Run away." The injury is because of Gu Zhen." Thinking of how Gu Zhen played tricks on the golden tortoise, Lu Jian couldn't help laughing, bowed his head and laughed secretly.

Ying Wancheng suddenly snorted angrily, and said bitterly: "I chased that bastard all the way to Nanjing, and I almost caught him a few times, but he got rid of him with treacherous tricks. Hmph, now he's hiding in the crowd of the city, I can't catch him for a while."

Lu Jian made up his mind, thought of something, and asked, "Senior Ying, I have something to ask. You are well-informed, and you may have some ideas." Ying Wancheng was sipping watermelon cream in his hands, and immediately glanced at Lu Jian. Asked: "What's the matter?" Lu Jian said: "I have a sworn brother who was defeated in the war against Japanese pirates and sent to prison. Is there any way to rescue him?"

Ying Wancheng raised two fingers: "This is easy, it only needs two words." Lu Jianqi said, "Which two words?" Ying Wancheng smiled and said, "Silver."

Lu Jian was puzzled and asked: "How do you say that?" Ying Wancheng said: "If you have money, first give 50 taels to the prison chief, and your elder brother will never suffer in the prison; then go to the governor 100 taels from the gate of the mansion, entrust him to see the general manager of the mansion, and then send 300 taels to the general manager; through the general manager, give another 300 taels to the master; from the master to the governor 2000 taels, and then through the governor to the eunuch who oversees the army 2000 taels. Well, it only costs 750 taels of silver before and after, not to mention a defeat, even peeking at the emperor’s own mother, and it can be covered up.”

Lu Jian shook his head and said, "I don't have the silver." Ying Wancheng smiled and said, "You don't have it, but Gu Zhen has it. You just need to find him, not to mention 4000 taels, it's 4 taels. Is Jiu Niu pulling any hairs out of his body?"

Lu Jian was overjoyed at first, but then changed his mind and said: "You just want me to look for him, so you can follow me, I won't be fooled."

"Little baby is very good." Ying Wancheng sneered, "Unfortunately, if you don't look for Gu Zhen, your brother Lao Shizi will lose his head!" After finishing speaking, he put the bowl on his mouth, stood up slowly, The guy stepped forward and said with a smile: "Old man, do you want to pay the bill?"

"Fart." Ying Wancheng stared, "Who said it was the master who paid the bill?" Pointing at Lu Jian, he said with a smile, "This is the God of Wealth, you should ask him to pay the bill."

Lu Jian was stunned. Seeing that Lu Jian's clothes were worn out, the clerk was suspicious and yanked towards Ying Wancheng.But Ying Wancheng possessed the supernatural power of "Turtle Mirror", he was able to predict the enemy first, he jumped out of the window with a laugh, and when he landed with his bamboo stick, he limped and ran away without a trace.

The man couldn't win Wancheng, so he could only grab Lu Jian tightly and shouted, "I was killed by you, I was killed by you..." As he spoke, he burst into tears. If Lu Jian wanted to struggle, a hundred The guy couldn't catch him, but when he saw the guy cry, his heart softened, so he had to stand still.The guys in the restaurant heard that someone was eating for free, so they rushed up to the second floor with brooms and benches, and beat Lu Jian on the head.

The man was afraid of killing people, so he hurriedly said: "Don't hit him yet, let him pay you!" Lu Jian said with a wry smile, "Brother, I don't have any money, what can I give you?" Weeping on the ground.

Lu Jian was also very sad. Although he fell into the trap of winning Wancheng, he ate the meal himself, so he said, "Brother, don't worry, I will work as a waiter in the restaurant to make money and compensate you."

Suddenly someone sneered and said: "This meal is worth 500 taels of silver, even if you have been a clerk for eight lifetimes, you still can't pay it." Everyone looked around, but it was the shopkeeper who came up, and they stepped aside for a while, and the clerks on the ground were afraid of punishment. , crying harder and harder.Someone said: "If you can't pay him, then drag him to an official."

The shopkeeper had a square face, and he was not angry. He sneered and said: "This man is a poor man, can he pay me back when he sees the official? Come on, tie me up and drag him to the cellar for three days, and then let him go." He works for money."

All the staff cheered up, tied up Lu Jian with hemp rope, dragged him to the cellar, and locked him up.

Lu Jian sat alone in the depths of the cellar, thinking that what bound him was just a hemp rope, which would break if he pulled it, and the cellar door was also made of wood, which could be shattered with a single punch.But if so, wouldn't he become a shameless and untrustworthy person like the old thief Ying?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't think of where to find 500 taels of silver. It seemed that he would only be a waiter in this restaurant to pay off his debts for the rest of his life, but when he thought of Qi Jiguang, he felt sad.

After an unknown amount of time, Lu gradually felt hungry, and it was already late at night.The shopkeeper of the restaurant was probably very angry and wanted to starve him for a few meals, so he didn't order the waiter to deliver the meal.Lu Jian was hungry and tired, and fell asleep leaning on a wine jar.

After sleeping for a long time, there was a sudden movement, Lu Jian was startled, followed the sound, and suddenly saw a little fire breaking through the wall on the left, and then the lights were brightly lit, and one wall turned over.

There was a hidden door in the cellar. Lu Jian was extremely surprised and couldn't help jumping up. Suddenly, he saw a person walking out of the hidden door. With the help of the light, Lu Jian saw the person coming, and called out: "The shopkeeper?"

The person who came was the shopkeeper of the restaurant. He was holding an oil lamp and said with a smile, "Master Lu has suffered a lot. I have offended you so much. I hope you will forgive me." What? I do not understand."

The shopkeeper took out a small knife, cut the rope and said, "This place is full of dangers, Your Excellency, come with me." He held a lamp and entered the secret door, and Lu Jian had to follow.Inside the secret door is a tunnel, low and damp, only allowing one person to walk. Lu Jian was puzzled, and couldn't help asking: "Shopkeeper, what's the danger? Why did you let me go?"

The shopkeeper said: "Ying Wancheng is guarding outside the restaurant." Lu Jian said angrily: "Well, this shameless old thief, I am worried that I can't find him." After saying that, he turned to go, the shopkeeper hurriedly grabbed him and said: " No way, he is not the only master of the East Island in this Nanjing City, besides the restaurant, besides Ying Wancheng, there are at least three, alas, two of the Four Masters of the East Sea have come."

Lu gradually turned pale with shock, and the shopkeeper sighed, "Master Lu didn't know that people were after you when you entered the city. They didn't come to look for you, but they wanted to use you as bait to lure that person out."

Lu Jian suddenly said, "Gu Zhen?" The shopkeeper nodded silently.Lu Jian said: "Then I should go out and fight them, so that Gu Zhen knows that the enemy is coming, so he can stay far away."

The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and said, "You underestimate Master Gu. When it comes to martial arts, those East Island masters may be great, but when it comes to fighting wits, who can beat Master Gu?" Lu Jian frowned, and said in surprise, "You are Gu!" Careful people?"

The shopkeeper nodded and said: "Either Ying Wancheng would choose this restaurant to frame your Excellency? He also suspected that this restaurant was related to Gu Ye, deliberately made you owe debts, and then watched from the side. If there are clues, he can follow the clues to find Gu Ye The only thing he didn't expect was perhaps this secret passage."

Lu Jian was startled when he heard that, hating his carelessness as a pawn to win Wancheng, he asked again, "Where are we going?" The shopkeeper smiled and said, "We'll know when we go."The secret road is narrow and long, and there are many forks in the road, which makes it difficult for people to distinguish things. After walking for seven or eight miles, the road ahead ends and a wall appears.

The shopkeeper fumbled on the wall for a while, and pushed forward, the wall turned over by hand. Behind the wall were several steps, and on the edge of the steps, there was another secret door. When the shopkeeper pushed the door, a gust of cold wind came in.Lu Jian went out the door, and was startled to find that he was under an arch bridge, with bricks and stones arching above his head, overgrown with moss, and the river gurgling under his feet, with a black color that was too thick to melt.

The shopkeeper clapped his hands three times, and a small boat came out of the darkness, and there was a person standing in the boat, wearing a coir raincoat and a bamboo hat, silently.

The shopkeeper clasped his hands and said: "Zhao sent it here, Mr. Lu, please board the ship." Lu Jian hurriedly said: "The shopkeeper, the money..." The shopkeeper Zhao said with a smile: "The restaurants are all owned by Mr. Gu, so what are you worried about Mr. Lu?" silver?"

Lu Jian was slightly relieved, and said: "The shopkeeper, don't blame him." The shopkeeper Zhao sighed: "Master Lu is really kind, don't worry, Zhao has his own sense of propriety."

Lu Jian cupped his hands and boarded the boat, and the man in coir raincoat swung the oar to hit the water and went down the river.After walking about a mile, Lu Jian looked back, and the arch bridge was submerged in the dark night, and the gentle wind was blowing head-on. At first, the lights on both sides of the bridge were dim, and gradually it became denser and brighter than a galaxy.From time to time, there are lutes, flute pipes, and laughter of men and women in the place where the lights are brightly lit. The pleasure boats on the river float to and fro, and the lights and candles in the boats follow the wind, and the streamer is like weaving.

(End of this chapter)