sea

Chapter 84
After breakfast, the three of them set off on the road. The little boy was very reluctant to give up, tearing at Gu Zhen's sleeve.Gu Zhen patted his head and gave him a big piece of silver. The child didn't know it, so he asked strangely: "Is this shiny candy?" .” The landlord and his wife were overjoyed, and after a few words of evasion, they accepted it with a smile.

The three hit horses and went straight to Huizhou. Yao Qing's horse was fast, and Lu and Gu's horses were slow. She ran a long way on purpose, turned her head around, and jumped at the two of them to demonstrate, which made Gu Zhen annoyed: "Zhi Niang Thief, if I knew this, I might as well find two Shanxi donkeys to ride on."

This unhappiness was fleeting, and after a short while, Gu Zhen became very excited and laughed and talked about the scenery.His mind is mysterious and cunning, and all the geographical customs, legends and native products of various places are fascinating.Not only Lu Jian listened with gusto, but Yao Qing also forgot to show off her horsepower and was absorbed in listening to it, only to feel that there were many things that she had never heard of before.

After traveling for two days, we headed west along the Xin'an River, and arrived at the border of Huizhou the next morning. We saw the mountains and ridges, stacked with green and green, reflecting in the river, dyeing the river of smoke and water into a melting blue color.

Touching the scene, Gu Zhen waved his whip and smiled, pointing: "This Huizhou deserves the word 'Wubao Tianhua'. The northwest is Huangshan Mountain, and the 72 peaks are beautiful in the world; this Xin'an River is a gathering of hundreds of springs in Huangshan Mountain. The cold invades the skin. There is a saying that "there is no old pine in the sea, and there is no good work in the easy water". This Huangshan pine and Xin'an water have transformed into the best Hui ink in the world. "Gold is easy to get, but Hui ink is hard to find". Famous. The Fang family's 'Tongque tile' in modern times and the Cheng family's 'Sapphire case' are all good inks that do not let the ancients. And the water-dyed silk satin is also very good. As for the loquats of Santan and the fungus of Huangshan , those are rare treasures..."

Having said that, he turned his eyes and saw a few fruit vendors on the side of the road. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Yes, I forgot about that." He got off his horse, bought a bunch of dried fruits, and said with a smile, "This torreya It’s a local product, come here, let’s share and eat.”

Yao Qing had eaten it before, and it was not uncommon, but Lu Jian felt it was new. Seeing that the torreya seed looked ordinary, when she peeled it off and tasted it, it tasted delicious.Gu Zhen said: "This torreya has a poem that says it well: 'It tastes sweet from Xuanjun bee honey, its rhyme is better than that of Yongcheng's camel milk cake, a little bit of spring flow teeth and cheeks, ten years of flying dreams around the rivers and lakes.' I just love the last sentence, 'Ten years of flying dreams around the rivers and lakes', if you can roam freely in the rivers and lakes for ten years, how happy it is!" After speaking, he laughed loudly, his brows were full of pride.

Now that Huizhou is in sight, further dangers loom large, but Gu Zhen talks and laughs happily, as if nothing happened, this unrestrained demeanor makes even Yao Qing feel heartbroken, and said with a smile: "Smelly fox, there is another thing produced in Huizhou, but you forgot to mention it!"

Gu Zhen said: "What production?" Yao Qing said: "Does Wang Zhi count as Huizhou's production?" Gu Zhen smiled and said: "That also counts! But Huizhou not only produced Wang Zhi, but also produced a very famous person. Who do you think?" Yao Qing wondered, "Who is it?" Gu Zhen said, "It's Mr. Hu Zongxian, who supervised Xianjiang Jiangnan."

Both Lu and Yao were surprised, Gu Zhen clapped his hands and sighed: "In this state, there are two big figures who are as powerful as fire and water, which is rare in the ages."

Entering the city gate while talking and laughing, Gu Zhen led the two of them around the city a few times and came to a big house."Moxianfang" is written on the gate of the house, and a stone tablet at the head of the gate is engraved with two lines of official script: "The essence of a skill can be hidden through the ages."

Gu Zhen laughed and said: "This old Cheng, the skill of flattering himself is getting better and better." After finishing speaking, someone in the distance responded: "This Xiaogu, I don't understand the words. The old man is not a horse, where is the flattering? If there is no flattering, why would you take a selfie?"

The three of them followed their directions, and an old man in a broad robe and a crown came riding a donkey with a box of books on his back.Gu Zhen spread his hands and said with a smile: "Old Cheng, hello." The old man turned over and got off the donkey, hugged Gu Zhen, beaming with joy: "Xiao Gu, I haven't seen you for several years, where have you been hiding? With girls, have you forgotten your old friends?"

"Where are you talking?" Gu Zhen said with a smile, "Women don't have any, but I encountered a few bedbugs, which made my head covered with bruises. As a last resort, I came to your house to avoid the limelight, and borrowed a few ingots of ink envoys along the way." Old Cheng smiled. Pulling back, he said sternly: "It's okay to avoid the limelight, but these ink ingots are only sold and not borrowed."

Gu Zhen laughed and said: "This old Cheng, I haven't seen you for three years, and he is still so stingy." Old Cheng said: "If you are not stingy when dealing with your young master Gu, why don't you drink the northwest wind?" Laugh, let's go hand in hand, a servant boy came out to lead the horse to lead the way.

Sitting in the hall, Gu Zhen introduced both parties. When talking about the old Cheng, he said with a smile: "This old brother Cheng is a big-name Gongze. He inherits his ancestral business and makes ink for a living. The ink I mentioned earlier is the 'Sapphire Case'. His family's signboard is really worthy of the compliment of 'one skill can cover the ages'."

Cheng Gongze and Gu Zhen couldn't help talking and laughing, but they were very polite to Lu and Yao, and they hurriedly gave in a few words.Gu Zhen said again: "I have a lot of enemies in this world, and I have a few friends, and Old Cheng is one of them." Cheng Gongze's eyebrows brightened upon hearing this.

At this time, the tea was served from below, and Gu Zhen took a small sip. In a blink of an eye, he suddenly saw Cheng Gongze staring at him intently, with a nervous expression on his face, and smiled unconsciously: "This tea is mild in taste and has a strange aftertaste. Could it be the wild tea picked from the cliffs of Mount Huang with its extremely cold air?"

Cheng Gongze raised his brows with joy, tut-tsk said: "Ghost spirit, you can taste it, you can taste it..." Gu Zhen smiled and said: "You old Cheng, what treasure do you have, don't hesitate, just give it all Come out!" Cheng Gongze turned back to the back hall with a smile, brought a few pieces of jade to play with calligraphy and painting, and there was an exquisite sandalwood box.

Gu Zhen played with each other one by one, and when he got the jade to play, he smiled and said, "Is this a new handicraft of 'Nianyulou' Hong Dezi? I haven't seen you for a few years, and this old Hong hasn't made any progress. I'll scold him another day." Picked up another one Scroll painting, tut tut, "Han Gan's picture of grazing horses is not a fake, it's the real one! It's unreasonable!" Even though he laughed and scolded, when he commented, he was unambiguous. Cheng Gongze smiled and nodded repeatedly when he heard it. .Suddenly, Gu Zhen picked up the sandalwood box, and when he opened it, it turned out to be an ink ingot.He played with it repeatedly and sniffed again, but his expression remained calm. Seeing Cheng Gongze, he became nervous again.

Gu Zhen put back the ink ingot, and suddenly said: "This ink ingot is exquisitely crafted. Needless to say, there is one thing that is not as good as before." Cheng Gongze sighed: "You can see it." Gu Zhen said: "This ink ingot Why is the aroma much worse?"

"Speaking of which, I'm going to blame you, Xiaogu!" Cheng Gongze smiled wryly, "You have been missing for the past few years, the trade routes in the South China Sea have all been cut off, and the strange fragrance from the South China Sea has never come to China. Half of the beauty of Hui ink lies in the ink. Half of the magic lies in the fragrance of ink, Nanhai fragrance cannot be paid as a tribute, and we can only use some local medicinal herbs to make up for it, the fragrance is naturally far worse."

Gu Zhen smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I will take care of this trivial matter." Cheng Gongze said happily: "It's all thanks to my brother, but there is nothing to say..." Gu Zhen stared and said: "Fuck you, ask me to sign it." A military order?" Cheng Gongze scratched his head and laughed, he specialized in the art of ink making, and when it came to ink making, he was a little crazy.

Gu Zhen said again: "That's all?" Cheng Gongze said with a smile: "There is another treasure, but it is Cheng's favorite, guess what it is?" Gu Zhen turned his eyes and said with a smile: "Needless to say, it must be It's a daughter!" Cheng Gongze also laughed and said, "Xueyan, come out!"

Suddenly, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl turned out from the back of the hall, her head drooped, she was very weak, and she wished everyone a blessing, she raised her eyes slightly, and said timidly, "Master Gu!"

Gu Zhen took a look at her and said with a smile: "The girl has changed eighteen years. Three years ago, she was still a little girl, but now she has become a beauty. But the word "young master" is not appropriate. I am called your father and brother. You You should call me Uncle Gu."

Cheng Xueyan's pretty face flushed, she bit her lip and kept silent.Gu Zhen turned to Cheng Gongze again: "Does my good niece have a husband's family?" Cheng Gongze said: "Not yet, the little girl has high corners of her eyes and looks down on others. It's all because I'm spoiled." I also recognize a few, but most of them are not things, or I can be a matchmaker."

Yao Qing looked on coldly, and seeing Cheng's father and daughter's mood languishing, she couldn't help but brighten her heart, and said: "Smelly fox, will you suffocate you if you don't say a few words?" Gu Zhen smiled and said: "Okay, I won't talk about it. But there is one business matter I have to ask Old Cheng." Cheng Gongze said: "Brother, please tell me." Gu Zhen said: "You are the leader of the business here, and you have a wide eye, and help me check one thing." Ask him to come over and mutter a few times, Cheng Gongze His expression changed several times, he nodded, and left the hall in a hurry.

Cheng Xueyan said: "Please invite Young Master Gu to eat in the back." Gu Zhen smiled and said: "It's easy to say, easy to say." The three of them followed her to the backyard, only to see beautiful stones, water songs, and deep bamboos, but it is a clean place.

Cheng Xueyan led the three of them to the small hall in the garden, and arranged meals by himself.She looks cowardly and timid, but she is neither humble nor overbearing, and orderly, not like a weak girl, but like the head of the family.However, Gu Zhen was flirtatious and flirtatious, teasing her a few times, making her face flushed, before she finished the discussion, she left in a panic.

After eating, Gu Zhen went to sleep in the wing.Lu and Yao were sitting and talking, and after a while, the servant girl came to report "the fragrant soup is ready".After taking a bath, Yao Qing felt refreshed, and went back to her room to take a nap, who knew that halfway through her sleep, she had a nightmare, and suddenly woke up with a start, already profusely sweating.

Recalling the flames and scorched corpses in the dream, Yao Qing sat there for a long time with her heart trembling.It was late at night when I had to put on my clothes and go out.The moon is covered by idle clouds, and the garden is silent, except for a lamp in the distance, which is like a bean, provoking meditation.

Yao Qing approached, through the window screen, she could see the woman's figure, she recognized Cheng Xueyan, she was not surprised: "This girl is awake at midnight, but what is she doing?" Going up to the roof, Jiewa looked, Cheng Xueyan was sitting in front of the desk , letter pen writing.Yao Qing looked at it carefully, and was surprised, the rice paper was full of the word "Gu Zhen", large and small.

After writing a paper like this, Cheng Xueyan was in a daze for a while, ignited the writing paper, threw it into the brazier, then sighed, and sat back on the bed in a daze.Yao Qing sighed to herself, thinking: "The stinky fox has committed crimes again, as for this woman, hmph, she is also very idiot, flowing water has no intention, why should falling flowers be affectionate?" She hated Gu Zhen for being frivolous and boring, but also full of contempt for Cheng Xueyan.

Just as I was about to leave the room after covering the roof tiles, I suddenly saw a black shadow flashing towards the moon, as light as a cloud, flying away.

Yao Qing was taken aback and rushed after him.That person was very alert, Yao Qing felt someone was following her as soon as she moved, and immediately accelerated her steps.Yao Qing also quickened her pace, one after the other, crossing the fence of Cheng's house, climbing walls and walls among the houses in the city, chasing each other.After a while, the two remained three zhang apart, the man couldn't leave Yao Qing, and Yao Qing couldn't catch up.Looking from the back, the person was slim and graceful with narrow shoulders and a thin waist, clearly a young woman.As a result, Yao Qing took a deep breath, raised her breath and chased after her.

Not long after, Yao Qing's body became hot and her forehead was covered with sweat. Suddenly, the woman got up high and landed on a roof, shrunk her body, and the cat was in the dark.

Yao Qing was afraid that the other party would plot against her, so she stopped and lowered her head, and leaned to her left.The woman's eyes reflected the moonlight, shining brightly in the darkness, and she giggled suddenly, her laughter piercing her bones, like a thin thread, repeatedly teasing at the tip of her heart.Yao Qing felt itchy, pinched off a broken tile, and threw it over.

The distance between the two was several zhang, and when the broken tiles were shot, it was like a stone sinking into the sea. The woman's eyes were as clear as before, but there was a little more smile.Yao Qing was secretly surprised, and was about to cast "Kun Yuan", when she suddenly saw two green fires ignited under her eyes, which were erratic.

Seeing this vision, Yao Qing's heart was shaken, she had accumulated enough earth energy, but forgot to release it, and suddenly heard the woman laughing: "Pink lion, don't be naughty, you tickled me."

Yao Qing was puzzled, and the woman laughed again: "Return you." As soon as the words fell, a strong wind picked up.Yao Qing waved her sleeves to wrap around the object, it was the broken tile, she was about to fight back, but suddenly felt something was wrong, when "Kun Yuan" arrived, the roof tiles under her palm lifted up, forming a barrier in front of her, only listening to the ding ding There was a sound, and sparks burst out from the blue tiles.

Yao Qing said secretly, it turned out that the woman was very cunning, she threw the broken tile back first, Yao Qing took it, but felt that her hand strength was weak, she suddenly felt contemptuous, who would have thought that the woman threw the tile just to confuse the opponent, Sui that tile suddenly shot out sharp hidden weapons, many and ruthless, if Yao Qing hadn't been quick-witted, she would have almost taken advantage of her.

Yao Qing waved her hand, there was a small sound, and the tiles all over the sky seemed to have spirituality, overlapping as before, and the owner of the house was never disturbed.She looked up and saw that the houses all over the city were ups and downs, disappearing into the depths of the night, but the roof where the woman was lying was empty, as if no one had ever stayed there.

Facing the evening wind, Yao Qing stood silently for a while, tore off a piece of clothes, wrapped her palms, leaned over and touched a few three-edged thin cones about an inch long and short, reflected in the starlight, they were slightly blue, clearly poisonous.

Yao Qing was secretly annoyed, thinking that this woman is really vicious, if the opponent was not her, Nineteen would have lost her life.Wanting to chase after him, but also afraid of the hidden pyramid weapon, he hesitated for a while, then turned back disgruntled.

Back at Cheng’s house, the sky was slightly bright, and suddenly Gu Zhen’s room was brightly lit, and when he approached, there was a human voice coming from the door, Yao Qing opened the door and took a look, Gu and Lu were sitting at the table, Gu Zhen was holding a The letter paper looks very strange.

Yao Qing's heart skipped a beat, and she shouted: "Another book?" The two of them were surprised when they saw her, and Gu Zhen smiled and said, "Morning beauty, I heard something last night and saw this when I woke up." Yao Qing Next, I saw that the ink on the paper was still wet, and there were eight big characters written crookedly: "A catastrophe is coming, leave Huizhou as soon as possible."

Gu Zhen said: "This word is ugly and weird. From my point of view, it should be written with the left hand. The person who left the word must be an old acquaintance, and deliberately left the word behind his hand, so that I can't see his identity."

Yao Qing sneered, threw the letter back to him, and said, "What old acquaintance? It's just a good old friend!" Lu and Gu looked at each other, and Lu Jian asked, "What good old friend?" Yao Qing told the story of what happened at night. Having said that, he threw the pyramid on the table again: "It's clearly this woman who submitted the letter. Just think about it, who is the best friend in your life, who has such a kind heart?"

Gu Zhen stared at the pyramid, examined it for a while, and suddenly said: "You said that woman's voice is charming and soft?" Yao Qing said: "It's more charming and soft than the girl in Cuiyunlou!"

A trace of trance flashed in Gu Zhen's eyes. When he woke up, he suddenly saw the other two looking at him, and he couldn't help but smile and said, "Look at me?" Lu Jian frowned and said, "Did you guess who it was?" Gu Zhen shook his head Said: "There is someone to choose, but I'm not sure." Yao Qing snarled, and said: "What do you mean you are not sure? The old friend is much better!" Gu Zhen smiled, but remained silent.

Soon it was bright, Cheng Xueyan prepared breakfast and came to invite her.After dinner, the three of them tasted genuine fragrant tea, and suddenly saw Cheng Gongze running in sweating profusely, with joy on his brows.Gu Zhen smiled and said, "There must be good news."

Cheng Gongze ran away in a hurry, took a bowl of tea and drank it all in one go, and said with a smile, "I checked all night and found two things related to what you ordered. The first is that ten stones were stolen from the home of Liu Zhengde, a wealthy household in Baishou Village, southwest of Huangshan Mountain. New rice, two fat sheep. Reported to the official yesterday, the official dispatched to investigate, and saw rice grains scattered in lines on the ground, and went to the mountains. The official dispatch was afraid that it was the work of bandits, so they did not dare to go deep. The second case was Taiguang Town, southeast of Huangshan Mountain , the 'Fu Ling Tang' in the town lost some medicinal materials, I sent someone to ask, but it was arsenic. Xiaogu, do you think it's your fault?"

"Arsenic?" Gu Zhen thought for a while and smiled, "It's too much work, brother Cheng. I should say goodbye to you if you bother me all night." Cheng Gongze was surprised: "Why don't you stay for two more days?" Gu Zhen said: "I have many enemies. It's very powerful, if you stay here again, I'm afraid it will bring you a catastrophe, so the sooner you leave, the less trouble you will have."

Cheng Gongze was not from the world after all, his face turned pale when he heard this, and he was speechless.Gu Zhen begged for some dry food and wine, and exchanged for two good horses.During the period, Cheng Xueyan never showed up again, and only came to see the three of them off when they were about to leave. His eyes were slightly red and swollen, and he bowed his head in silence.Yao Qing saw it, and couldn't help but glanced at Lu Jian, secretly rejoicing: "Fortunately, he is rustic, his words are tasteless, and he doesn't have the ability to flirt."

(End of this chapter)