Ning Que was the most inconspicuous in the back of the mountain of the Academy, but Mr. Thirteen was the most famous among the people.
His name was spread in the military camp at the frontier fortress, and the people in the streets of Chang 'an were talking about the slash at the side door of the Academy. The people in the Stone House might not know Mr. First or Mr. Second, but how could they not know that Mr. Thirteen was the owner of the Old Brush Pen Shop, Sir Ning?
After Chu Youxian said those words on the stage, the pavilion was silent for a moment. Then, there was a sudden burst of cheers and shouts of excitement.
The South Jin royal merchant gripped the railing tightly, his face pale with anger. He glared at Chu Youxian and shouted, "Who are you!"
Chu Youxian held his fan with one hand and placed the other on the back of his hand. He bowed to the crowd and said, "I am Chu Youxian from Dongcheng, Mr. Ning's representative."
Then he looked at the west pavilion on the third floor and at the ugly expression of the South Jin royal merchant. He smiled and said, "I can sell the Chicken Soup Calligraphy to anyone but you South Jin people. Do you have a problem with that?"
The South Jin royal merchant trembled with anger and scolded, "How can you say that?"
The owner of the Stone House cupped his hands and explained, "Today, the Old Brush Pen Shop's seven calligraphy pieces have special rules. The supplementary rules have been sent to everyone. Everyone should know that Sir Ning has the right to choose his own buyer."
The South Jin royal merchant thought of the document he had seen on the table in the pavilion and suppressed his anger. His chest heaved up and down as he said, "Even if Sir Ning has the right to choose his own buyer, he should be the one to do it. How can he let this representative who we don't even know is the real one exercise his right?"
"Did the Old Brush Pen Shop know about what happened just now? Was Sir Ning here just now? You Tangs, don't use such shameless methods! "
The owner was silent for a moment before he smiled and said, "You are right. Sir Ning was here just now, but he has already left. Before he left, he asked Mr. Chu to make the decision."
The South Jin royal merchant was stunned.
As mentioned earlier, Ning Que's reputation in Chang 'an was too resounding. Especially after he killed Liu Yiqing, his position in the hearts of the Tangs was extremely high. Everyone wanted to see his true face.
At this time, the high officials and nobles in the pavilion were originally here for his calligraphy. When they heard that he was in the pavilion earlier, they couldn't help but beat their chests and stamp their feet in regret.
Someone shouted, and the sound of footsteps rang out in the pavilion. Dozens of people opened the bamboo curtains and rushed down the wooden building, unable to restrain their curiosity and excitement, towards the outside of the courtyard.
The Chicken Soup Calligraphy had already belonged to Grand Secretary Wang's residence. The people present could not drink the chicken soup, so of course they wanted to see what the old hen that made the soup looked like. In the blink of an eye, the Stone House was empty. The royal merchant of South Jin Kingdom stood by the railing. His expression was extremely ugly, but he had nothing to say.
"Honorable Ning, wait a moment!"
"Mister Thirteen, wait … My master invites you over!"
People walked out of the courtyard, passed through the green forest, and came to the shore of Willow Lake. Looking at the boat that was getting further and further away from the quiet lake, they waved their arms and shouted for Ning Que to come back.
The boat leisurely moved on the quiet lake. From afar, they could only see a figure dressed in black walking out of the black canopy. He greeted them with his hands folded in front of his chest, and then went ashore.
Looking at the back of the figure disappearing into the alley beside the Victory House, the people by the lake sighed with regret.
…
…
There was a rumor in Chang 'an City that the seven calligraphy sections being auctioned by the Stone House were stolen by the little handmaiden of the Old Brush Pen Shop. Ning Que was present today, so naturally, this rumor was denied in some ways.
While the auction of the Stone House was going on, the little handmaiden Sangsang was in a quiet study in the backyard of the Yingou Casino in the western city. She was staring at the pile of papers on the table.
Since the night at the Spring Breeze Pavilion two years ago, the underworld of Chang 'an City had been under the control of the Fish-dragon Gang. The study of this casino, which used to belong to a big shot in the western city, had become the Fish-dragon Gang's warehouse.
The papers on the table looked a little new, and the handwriting on them was neat. They were not outstanding, and could not be compared to the calligraphy sections in the Old Brush Pen Shop. However, the actual value of these papers was actually quite high.
These papers were the title deeds of houses and land.
Several old stewards of the casino with deep wrinkles were calculating the title deeds of houses and land. Mr. Qi, the leader of the Fish-dragon Gang, stood aside and stared at them worriedly.
The beads on the abacus in the hands of the old stewards moved very fast, making a clicking sound in the quiet room. It sounded crisp and pleasant, but it made Mr. Qi more and more worried.
The beads on the abacus were still moving fast, and there was still a long time before the calculation was completed. Sangsang put down the title deed of the newly built three-sectioned house on the lakeside and said, "41,462 taels of silver are still missing."
Mr. Qi looked at her with a slightly strange expression, thinking that these stewards were the best accounting experts in the casino, but they had not calculated it yet. Where did she get this number?
Sangsang knew what he was thinking, but she did not explain and waited calmly.
After some time, the old stewards of the casino finally finished the complicated calculation. The leading steward carefully cleaned up the title deeds of houses and land on the table, and respectfully reported, "According to the letter of intent a few days ago, the total number is still missing is 41,600 taels of silver."
This number was a little different from the number Sangsang had calculated, but not by much.
Mr. Qi looked at Sangsang in surprise, thinking that it was really amazing that she could only make such a small mistake in mental calculation.
Sangsang knew that her calculation was correct, and those old stewards had calculated the tax rate wrong on a title deed. However, thinking that the difference was not big, she did not point it out.
Looking at her expression, Mr. Qi made a gesture to let those stewards of the casino leave, and then said seriously, "The price of houses and land at the foot of Yanming Mountain is indeed cheaper than other places in Chang 'an City, but if we buy so many houses at once, some greedy guys will always raise the price."
Then he shook his head and said, "Although the brothers in the gang can lower the price, and the Chang 'an Local Government has also talked to someone, we can't go too far. If someone reported this to the imperial court, it would be hard for me to explain to Second Brother Chao when he comes back. So this is probably the final price."
It turned out that the title deeds of houses and land on the table were the deeds of the houses by the Yanming Lake.
The Yanming Lake had recently been dredged by the Ministry of Works of the imperial court, and the accumulated lake mud was still piled up near the sand and stone mountains. It was said that it would not be better until next summer.
Because of this, although the scenery of the Yanming Lake at the foot of Yanming Mountain was beautiful, it was still not a good place for people in Chang 'an who paid attention to the quality of life.
The land and housing prices by the Yanming Lake were the cheapest in Chang 'an City. Nowadays, most of the houses by the lake were dilapidated old houses, and the occasional new houses were built by ordinary people who were greedy for cheap.
Hearing Mr. Qi's words, Sangsang nodded and said, "Young master has already predicted that the price will be raised."
These days, Mr. Qi had been secretly buying the title deeds of houses and land by the Yanming Lake at Ning Que's request. As the leader of the biggest gang in Chang 'an City, he naturally had countless subordinates to do this for him. But at this time, he still did not understand why Ning Que wanted to buy these properties.
"It's good to stroll by the Yanming Lake occasionally. It's not suitable to live there."
He frowned and said, "Even if you want to live there, you don't have to buy all the houses by the lake. No matter how low the price is, it's still a huge sum."
Sangsang said, "I don't know why young master wants to buy all the houses by the lake. Maybe he wants to be quiet and doesn't want to be disturbed."
Mr. Qi shook his head repeatedly and thought that if he really wanted to be quiet, there would be so many beautiful places in Chang 'an City to build new houses, and there would be no need to make such a big noise.
And it was obviously a losing deal.
"More than 40,000 taels of silver."
Sangsang looked at the title deeds of houses and land on the table and said to herself, "I don't know if it will be enough."
Mr. Qi said, "I do have some money in my hands, but it's all in the public account. I just manage it for Second Brother Chao and other brothers, so I can't take it out."
Sangsang nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. Qi."
Mr. Qi waved his hand to show that it was okay, and then he came up with an idea and said, "In fact, as long as Ning Que enters the palace and says something, it's not a big deal to get more than 40,000 taels of silver."
Sangsang thought about Ning Que's intention of buying the houses by the Yanming Lake and understood that he definitely did not want to have anything to do with the imperial court. She shook her head and said, "Let's see what happens in the Stone House."
"There's no need."
Ning Que walked into the room and looked at the title deeds of houses and land on the table. He said, "If the price on the letter of intent will not change, then we have enough money in hand."
Mr. Qi sneered and said, "The price we offered is already very generous, and we have already signed the letter of intent. If the owners of the houses by the lake temporarily raise the price, do they really think our brothers of the Fish-dragon Gang are a group of people who believe in Buddhism?"
Ning Que liked Mr. Qi's attitude very much and said, "The money will probably be sent here later. At that time, I'll have to trouble you to sign the contract with the owners of the houses."
Mr. Qi was a little surprised and asked, "Whose name?"
Ning Que said, "Second Brother Chao's name first."
It was not uncommon for people in Jianghu to entrust their property to their brothers. Mr. Qi said without hesitation, "Okay."
Ning Que said, "Can this matter be kept a secret?"
Mr. Qi said, "It depends on how long it takes."
Ning Que calculated the time and said, "This winter at the latest."
Mr. Qi said, "No problem."
…
…
After leaving the Yingou Casino in the western city, Ning Que and Sangsang did not directly go back to the Old Brush Pen Shop, but went to Yanming Mountain.
The two looked at the lake at the foot of the mountain and those scattered courtyards on the other side of the lake.
The reason why they bought these courtyards was that the Old Brush Pen Shop was too busy now. Although Ning Que liked the lively atmosphere of Lin 47th Street very much, he knew that he could not continue to live there after the visit of the Great Divine Priest of Revelation.
He bought all the courtyards by the lake for the sake of tranquility, but there were other more important reasons. However, those reasons did not need to be known by others.
Sangsang looked at the houses on the other side of the lake and asked, "Will we live here in the future?"
Ning Que nodded and said, "After winter, this lake will be frozen solid."
…
…
(Only one chapter today. Then I feel that my state is almost back. I'll go to work on the outline.) (To be continued.) If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for it. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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