Lu Xu, who was blind but knew the way, nodded and said, "I know. I'll go alone and won't trouble Brother Song."
The servant nodded with a smile and went back the way he came.
When the blind zither player arrived in front of the Red Fish Restaurant, he encountered many female servants and maids who had woken up early in the morning to do their chores. The orioles and swallows happily called out to Young Master Lu a few times before they stopped. Those who were more daring than the other ladies in the restaurant even teased Lu Xu a few times, purposely asking this young master for advice on the meaning of 'a pear tree suppressing begonia' or 'a palm print seen in front of Mount Huayue'. The blind zither player had no choice but to beg for mercy, provoking even more coquettish laughter. This Young Master Lu, who spoke in a refined manner and had a gentle temperament, was initially very inconspicuous in the White Jade Lion Restaurant where the sons of the rich and powerful were more common than cabbages. If not for Master Li Shuangjia's high opinion of him, who would even spare a glance at him? In the second year after entering the restaurant, he was playing the zither when he bumped into a famous rich and powerful man in the city who was forcing himself on a young girl. Although the Jade White Lion Restaurant had more rules than the average brothel, the people did not fight with the officials. It was only a young girl, so there was no need to fall out with the local tyrant. The man, whose ancestors were the leaders of the Qingzhou army for several generations, forced himself on the young girl in the corridor and wanted to kill her. The blind zither player did not care about his own safety and rushed forward with his family's zither. He did not hit the evil man but was stepped on by the guards instead. It was a farce until Li Baishi personally intervened and saved the blind zither player's life.
Many people in the White Jade Lion Tower still remembered Lu Xu, who was covered in blood, sitting in the corridor with the pitiful dead girl in his arms. He took off his shabby clothes and gently covered the disheveled corpse.
Today, the Red Fish Restaurant somehow knew that Lu Xu was coming. Li Shuangjia's personal maid, Qi Fu, was already standing at the door to welcome him. Seeing the blind zither player, she smiled gently and said, "Young Master Lu, Miss is already waiting."
Lu Xu shook his head and said, "Today, I just want to tell the Red Fish Restaurant that I won't be playing the guqin in the future. Miss Li lent me the ancient guqin to paint a dragon. I want to pay back some of the money I earn every month. Miss Praying, I won't enter the restaurant and disturb Miss Li."
The beautiful maidservant, whose status in the White Jade Lion Pavilion was even higher than some of the red plaques, sighed regretfully. She bowed slightly to the blind zither player, and then turned to walk into the courtyard.
By the window on the second floor stood a beautiful woman. Qifu was already considered a rare beauty in Xiangfan, but compared to the woman upstairs, she lost all her color.
What was even more inconceivable was that behind the world's most famous courtesan, the Daoist nun Li Shuangjia, was an old man sitting on a yellow pear wood chair with his head lowered. He was tuning an erhu.
Li Shuangjia waited until Lu Xu's figure disappeared before he turned around and asked submissively, "Old Ancestor, do you really not need the lion slave to go to the reeds outside the city to meet the prince of Beiliang?"
The old erhu man with grizzled temples just closed his eyes and listened to the music.
Logically speaking, Li Baishi was one of the top ten courtesans in the brothel before the rouge review. She had built up a deep relationship with the aristocrats for more than ten years, and she was almost married to the leader of the Xilin party, Liu Zonghui. In these years, she had met many poor scholars who were not recognized by their talents, and they were all generous with their money. Some of them were even nobles in the imperial court. It was because of this that Li Baishi's reputation as Jiangnan's Double Champion came to be. Now that she was on the rouge review, she was fully deserving of being the head of the brothel. No one had ever heard of Li Shuangjia being intimate with anyone, and it could even be said that she was still a virgin. How could she let an old man stay in her room? Could it be that Li Baishi was into this? That was a bit too hardcore. Wouldn't the world be shocked if word got out?
The old erhu man who was respectfully called Old Ancestor by Li Shuangjia opened his eyes, but he still didn't speak.
Knowing that Old Ancestor didn't like him to talk about this topic, Li Baishi changed the question, "Old Ancestor, why do you value a poor boy with a wooden sword so much?"
The old man raised his head and glanced at the beautiful woman standing in front of the window, but his eyes didn't carry any emotion, and his tone was even colder, "This Old Man plays chess. When he starts, he knows how to end. You're just a flower vase that's pleasing to the eye but not to the heart, so why are you talking nonsense?"
The rouge woman, Li Shuangjia, who had been humiliated to the extreme, didn't have any anger. She became more respectful and subconsciously bent her slender waist. As a result, her chest swelled up so much that it almost burst her clothes. Her body was petite and exquisite, and the scenery on her chest was aggressive. Rumor had it that she had a pair of white lotus jade feet. She had learned Taoist bedroom techniques and Tantric Mandapa, and could make all kinds of mysterious postures on the bed. Therefore, there was a charming saying of a white jade lion rolling an embroidered ball.
This Old Man bent his finger and plucked a string, saying, "Lu Xu's chess skills were taught by This Old Man. This time, he came to the Red Fish Restaurant to see if this boy would become arrogant once he achieved success. Fortunately, teaching him chess was not in vain. He knew how to leave some loopholes and still kept the guqin you gave him. Originally, This Old Man's temperament when he first met him was that he wasn't willing to accept other people's kindness and not return it if he could. Whether or not he can set off a storm will depend on his own luck. The most wonderful thing about a chess piece is that even a brilliant chess player doesn't think that it can become the key to victory or defeat. "
Li Shuangjia lowered her head and said, "Old Ancestor's chess skills are naturally the best in the world. The whole world is Old Ancestor's chessboard. "
The erhu old man turned a deaf ear and said, "That boy Beiliang left the city today, so there's nothing for you to do in Xiangfan. Go to the capital."
Li Baishi nodded without hesitation and said, "Lion slave only listens to Old Ancestor."
The old man silently left the Red Fish Restaurant. He was going to a private residence in the northeast corner of Xiangfan. Inside, there was a puppet girl that he had personally trained. She was sixty percent similar to the Princess Pei, Pei Nanwei, and seventy percent similar in spirit. Now, the King of Jing An, Shizi Zhao Heng, was keeping her as a mistress in a golden house. Every time he went out to pamper her, he would be secretive, afraid that his father-king would find out. Zhao Xun thought that his itinerary was flawless, but he didn't know that every time he pampered and trained the girl that he affectionately called Nanwei, there was an old man standing behind the hole in the wall who looked at the two of them as if they were walking corpses. Zhao Xun's personality was cautious. He had already sent people to investigate the girl's past and background. There was nothing strange about it. Therefore, that private residence was the greatest place for him to enjoy himself in the world. The little beauty was too similar to the girl in the manor that he had to call "mother" every time he saw her. Every frown, every smile, and even the way she frowned were not far off. Every time he was scolded by his father-king in the manor, or after he ran into wangfei in the garden, he would come to the private residence to vent. He was extremely affectionate until he was exhausted.
After the Spring and Autumn War ended, it was a brand new game of chess. The old man had already quietly placed twelve pieces.
Most of them were still in the process of putting down pieces, but some were about to start.
After going to the private residence, the old man immediately left the city and headed for the reed marsh outside Xiangfan, which had the best scenery.
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