The wine shop's business was getting better and better, and several tables were filled with customers. This made the proprietress smile from ear to ear. This was a rare sight in the past. As she shouted and served the wine and meat, she calculated in her heart that she had earned a few pieces of silver and a few copper coins today. She thought about her youngest child, who was studying in a private school, who was always clamoring to buy brushes and ink. How could the family afford this expense? Otherwise, which decent woman would be willing to show her face in public? Most would rather face the yellow earth and back to the sky. Now, she could finally fulfill that child's wish. The tables were full, but there were still people behind her asking for wine. Moreover, they had no intention of leaving immediately. The proprietress had no choice but to bring out a few stools. Fortunately, the men did not think it was unsightly and only cared about drinking and eating. If it were in the past, the men who settled down in the tavern would often look at the proprietress and tease her. Beiliang women were bold and unyielding, not inferior to men. As long as the men did not go overboard and pinched them when they delivered the wine, the proprietress would not get angry. However, today, the customers all glanced to the east of the post road as if they were waiting for someone. Not long after, more than 20 people had gathered in the tavern. As a result, the handsome young man who occupied a table was particularly eye-catching. In the beginning, no one wanted to share a table and drink, but for some reason, after seeing the young man's appearance and temperament, they all subconsciously avoided him. Now, the proprietress saw that more and more customers were coming, and there were even more rich people dressed in silk. She was a bit worried about the young man. What kind of place was Beiliang? In other places, there was a saying that a disagreement would lead to a fight. Here, everyone had a violent temper that was like knives and sand. Perhaps one more glance would lead to a fight. The proprietress did not care that the young man made her lose a few pots of wine and a few pounds of meat, but she was afraid that he would get into trouble and suffer a loss. She would not be able to bear it if such a handsome young man was beaten black and blue.
Just as the proprietress was about to squeeze out a smile and speak to the young man, she never thought that what she was afraid of would happen. A group of tall and sturdy men with sabers at their waists had set their eyes on the table with three empty seats. The proprietress was truly afraid that the young man did not know the dangers of the jianghu. She was afraid that he would feel that he had lost face and would open his mouth to hurt her. At that time, sabers and swords had no eyes. So what if he had some family background to rely on? After so many years in Beiliang, when had there not been a year where she had not heard of a few scholars being beaten half to death? In Beiliang, unlike other places in Liyang, it was not easy to wear scholarly robes. Only a young man with a cold saber could intimidate the people of the jianghu. However, the proprietress had also heard that it seemed that the young King of Beiliang had issued an 'imperial edict'. Nowadays, even the children of generals did not dare to privately wear cold sabers. It was even very rare to see someone riding a horse in the downtown area. The proprietress did not understand what it meant to worry about the country and the people. She only felt that the world in Beiliang was indeed better. The proprietress heaved a sigh of relief because although the young man looked young, he had a lot of jianghu experience. He took the initiative to chat with the fierce-looking men for a while, and then smiled and asked for ten catties of Green Ant Wine from her. The five middle-aged men who did not look like they were in the business of making a living saw that the young man was tactful and had a few more smiles on their faces. Outside of Beiliang, as long as they were not the descendants of generals, not everyone would dare to draw their sabers and start a fight within Beiliang. Moreover, the descendants of generals were also divided into three, six, and nine ranks. The height of their father's official hat and the number of soldiers they commanded determined whether they could act tyrannically within a county or a province. For the people of Beiliang's jianghu, almost every one of them had suffered at the hands of the descendants of generals. Often, there would even be people who would be targeted for no reason and would find a lame excuse to kill them. Afterwards, when they reported to the authorities, it would be nothing more than a sentence of 'small fry using their skills to commit murder'. As the descendants of the generals of the Beiliang cavalry, how could we bring shame to our family's reputation? We would naturally lend a helping hand when we see injustice on the road. When the officials forced the people to rebel, the people had no choice but to rebel. However, if they rebelled, they would die. Back then, in the three provinces of Beiliang under the rule of butchers, other than the Wudang Mountain, where the immortals and immortals cultivated, which was still considered a famous sect in the martial arts world, no one else could claim to be a big sect in Jianghu. Wasn't the reason why this was the case because they were all harmed by the numerous descendants of generals? Those Jianghu masters who were truly skilled in martial arts were all hired as watchdogs, and in turn, helped the evildoers to suppress the wanderers of Jianghu who did not have any backing. In Youzhou, there was the Sun family who came from the same hometown as the Spear Fairy Wang Xiu. The children in the family were all proficient in the spear, but because they were unwilling to rely on the authorities and the descendants of generals, when the head of the family died, they were quickly exterminated by the enemies of a general. It was said that out of the family of more than forty people, only two or three managed to escape.
The proprietress, who had seen many customers coming and going, would occasionally think that it was not easy for people like her to make money by selling wine. Those who were in Jianghu usually looked heroic, but in fact, it was probably even harder for them.
Looking in the direction of Youzhou in the east, she saw a cloud of dust at the end of the posthouse road. The proprietress only glanced at it slightly. There were often cavalrymen of Beiliang passing by on the posthouse road, and she had already figured out the trick. It seemed that there were only about a hundred of them, which was really nothing in Beiliang, which was rich in iron cavalry and big horses. The proprietress saw that everyone inside and outside the tavern, regardless of whether they were sitting on chairs or stools, stood up as if their butts were on fire. Their eyes were blazing with passion, and they were even more fascinated than when they saw a naked woman. This made the proprietress somewhat puzzled. Could it be that some big shot had graced them with his presence? She was just a rural woman who could only afford to sell Green Ant Wine. Whether it was in Jianghu or in the imperial court, there were many things that she did not take to heart even if she heard about them. As a woman who was content with counting a small pile of copper coins every day, how could she worry about the great cause of the country for the King of Beiliang? During this period of time, she had heard many customers talk about the Wu family's Sword Tomb, but she did not take it seriously. She stared fiercely at all the customers who left their seats, afraid that they would take the opportunity to run away with the money for the wine. After being busy for half a day, the proprietress could finally take a breather. She was in the mood to look at the young man who had ordered a lot of Green Ant Wine. She pursed her lips and smiled. Who said that only men were allowed to look at beauties? Women also liked to look at handsome men. At this moment, the young man also stood up and stood under the shade of the big locust tree next to the tavern table by the courier road. His hands covered the cuffs of his sleeves. She looked at his side profile and envied him for having a pair of attractive eyes. Moreover, when he looked at her, he did not have the look of an ordinary man who wanted to eat her alive. His eyes were clean, just like the old well in the village. The water from the well was exceptionally clear all year round. It was good to drink a ladle of it to quench one's thirst or use it to make wine. The proprietress could not help but laugh out loud as she thought about it. She wondered which family's young woman was so lucky to be stared at by such a handsome young man every day. If it were her, she would be willing to eat less and save money to buy rouge and powder that she had never used to apply on her face.
The proprietress was right. There were indeed 100 riders coming from here to Liangzhou. However, even a woman like her, who did not know what Jianghu was, could see that the 100 riders were not ordinary. The riders were all people who used swords. They were not armored and carried crossbows like the cavalry of Beiliang, nor were they dressed in bright clothes like the retainers of important people. Everyone's face was as hard as stone. Many of the swordsmen looked to be in their seventies, but when they rode by, their waists were like erect military spears. Their spirit was not something that the old people in the village could have. Especially when the 100 riders looked at the tavern almost at the same time. Not only did the proprietress retreat in fear, but almost everyone else also retreated. However, for some reason, the more than 100 swordsmen did not stop after the leading rider urged his horse forward without looking sideways. The proprietress was relieved. It was good that they did not stop. Otherwise, she would not dare to charge them for the wine.
The young vassal king, who was deliberately ignored by the 100 riders of the Wu family, put down his arm. In the end, he did not say anything. It was inevitable that he felt a little embarrassed. Of course, Xu Fengnian knew more than anyone else present. Wu Liuding, who was in the lead, intentionally turned a blind eye to Xu Fengnian, and the sword slaves behind him could only continue forward with Sword Crown. Hsu Fengnian did not get angry. He sat down and asked the proprietress for half a catty of Green Ant Wine. Anyway, he had shown his sincerity. It did not matter if the leader of the 100 riders of the Wu family did not appreciate it, but he could not put his hot face on a cold butt, right? If it were not for the sake of the Wu family's great grandfather, whom he had just met, he would not have waited at the border of Liangzhou. Since Wu Liuding wanted to put on airs, then let him. Hsu Fengnian would not make things difficult for him.
Hsu Fengnian calmly drank the wine. In his mind, he was weighing the strength of the 100 riders of the Wu family. Wu Liuding and the six or seven people behind the second rider, Cui Hua, could all be considered top-notch experts. If the battle was in a stalemate, and victory or defeat was only a hair's breadth away, who could stop these 100 riders and 100 swordsmen? There was no need to consider Tuoba. As long as the Martial God of Beimang was on the battlefield, he did not need anyone to protect him. Hong Jingyan should be able to handle it, and Murong Baoding would probably not be able to handle it. However, in a battle between two armies, the legend of taking the head of a general in the midst of an army of ten thousand was very rare in the Spring and Autumn Period. Especially with the appearance of several types of large crossbows that were easy to assemble and astonishingly powerful, it was very difficult for someone to achieve the feat of breaking through a battle formation or even entering and exiting a few times. It should be known that a Fish-Duck Treading Crossbow, which was made by the joint efforts of several elite soldiers, was so powerful that it was known as the "Fifty Flying Swords" in Jianghu. That was because within the range of five hundred feet before the Fish-Duck Treading Crossbow's power had decreased, a single Fish-Duck Treading Crossbow was equivalent to a flying sword of a sword immortal! It was difficult to dodge, let alone face it head-on.
If Wang Xianzhi had not broken Gao Shulu's physique … Hsu Fengnian thought of this and laughed at himself. There were no ifs in the world.
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