Tao Manwu was riding on the neck of a certain bad guy with a clear conscience, looking into the distance and leisurely touring the temple fair. Suddenly, he noticed that the guy with the fake mask had stopped. Following his line of sight, he saw a skinny young lady standing in front of him, timidly handing out a thin brochure. Hsu Fengnian was stunned for a moment and took the brochure from the skinny young lady. This kind of brochure was a small trick used by storytellers to attract business. It roughly wrote a few sentences about the content of the story, whether it was about the Iron Horsemen, the Fireworks Fendai, or the Ghost Period. The fragrance of wine was afraid of the deep alley. Other than the main character staying in the wine shop or teahouse, the person setting up the stage on the street would invite customers to come in and listen to the story. The level of extravagance was linked to the level of fame. Some famous storytellers could often hang a golden banner outside a downtown restaurant. This one was quite shabby, with only a piece of paper at the end of a red post. But what surprised Hsu Fengnian was that he recognized this young lady. She was the grandfather and granddaughter he saw in a secluded teahouse in the city before leaving Beiliang. The old and blind storyteller was talking while drinking wine, and the young lady was holding a low-quality pipa.
Hsu Fengnian was even more shocked when he saw what was written in the brochure. She dared to tell the story of the heir of Beiliang traveling thousands of miles in the city of Beimang? He looked around and quietly watched the young lady hand out more than a dozen brochures before following her into a relatively quiet teahouse with Tao Manwu on his back. After sitting down, he ordered a pot of tea. Sure enough, he saw that there was an empty space in the center of the teahouse. The blind old man habitually placed a bamboo board and a bowl of turbid wine on a small wooden stool. After his granddaughter handed over the simple brochure, she trotted to the old man, carefully picked up the pipa, and whispered a few words to her grandfather. Probably because the old man's story of His Royal Highness of Beiliang was too fresh and shocking, most of the brochures he handed out attracted real customers who were willing to pay for the tea. The owner of the teahouse beamed with joy and was very satisfied with his vision and courage. The blind storyteller picked up the bowl and took a sip of wine to moisten his throat. He didn't get to the main topic, but said in a clear voice, "Today, I won't talk about the smoke powder of a man and a woman entangling together, nor will I talk about the spiritual monsters outside the human world. I'll just talk about the heir of Beiliang traveling thousands of miles with two swords at his waist. It's enough to make the officials laugh a little."
When the old storyteller finished speaking, the young lady took advantage of the opportunity to play the pipa.
The old man picked up the bowl and drank another mouthful of the strong wine rewarded by the owner of the teahouse. He gently put it down, picked up the bamboo board, and recited according to the rules, "Intelligence and cleverness are innate, ignorance and hedonism may not be true. Absurdity is only because the times have risen, war and war horses laugh deeply. The long river of nine bends is shallower than the heart, ten heavy armored horses are like thunder. How can wine and women forget the country, only then do you know that poetry and books mislead the world? "
The sound of the pipa gradually rose, but it was still like a small bridge and flowing water, not sonorous.
Hsu Fengnian, who was sitting in the corner, smiled knowingly. He didn't look at the grandfather-granddaughter pair, but just looked out the window at the stream of traffic. He somewhat admired this old storyteller, who actually dared to speak well of His Royal Highness in Beimang. Fortunately, Beimang's culture was rough and open-minded. There was no literary prison, and very few people were convicted for speaking. Even if one criticized the government, it wasn't a big deal. Of course, what the old man said was based on hearsay, and it was very different from the truth. However, it was quite a gimmick, and the audience found it very interesting. Especially when he talked about how His Highness the Heir Apparent had single-handedly faced off against Prince Jingan Zhao Heng and a thousand armored cavalry outside Xiangfan City, some of the customers who didn't take it seriously at first became engrossed in the story. A few of the audience members who originally wanted to leave also returned to their seats and asked for another pot of tea from the waiter. The blind old man also pretended to stop at this moment. The customers knew that he was going to collect money. There were a few tables that threw some copper coins into a large white porcelain bowl. Ding ding dong dong, it was very pleasing to the ear.
The elder no longer kept them in suspense and continued to speak tirelessly. When he reached the part where the prince of Northern Liang used a spear to stab a valiant cavalry general to death, the guests immediately gasped in surprise and clicked their tongues. They first looked at each other in dismay, and then began to discuss spiritedly. Most likely, they didn't believe that this prince had such ability in a horse battle. As for the Prince of Jingan, Zhao Heng, the Northern Mang people had heard about it because the storyteller had told them too much about the Li Yang Dynasty's princes' struggle for the throne. They knew that this vassal king was only unlucky, unable to become the supreme ruler of the nine and five. Hsu Fengnian saw that Tao Manwu was speechless, and his eyes were wide open. He looked like he wanted to rush over and urge the old man to quickly talk. Hsu Fengnian pricked his finger under the table and dripped a drop of blood to nourish the sword. After keeping the sword in his sleeve, he poured himself a cup of tea and closed his eyes to concentrate. The blind old man was very clever. When the audience was a little impatient, he finally talked about the ancestral court of Taoism, Mount Longhu. He talked about the great general Xu Xiao's deeds in Jianghu. The audience was immediately intrigued again. Hsu Fengnian couldn't help but laugh. There weren't many people who survived the battle on the snowy plains, and those who survived would never reveal the secrets of heaven. The old man was very mysterious. When he talked about the Mount Hui Yue's Purple Thunder Formation, he only said that it was the supreme divine ability of the Sword God Li Chungang. Most of the audience scoffed. Looking at the situation, wasn't this old man wearing a sheepskin coat even more powerful than our Beimang's God of War, Tuoba? Then why wasn't this old God of Sword among the top ten martial arts judges? They only heard that there was a Đồng Thái holding a peach branch. The old man heard the boos and countless boos, but he wasn't anxious. At this time, the sound of the pipa became louder and louder. It was like a silver bottle breaking and splashing water, making people worry if the little girl's weak and delicate hands could hold on.
In the magnificent atmosphere created by the pipa, the old man talked about the finale of the show, the arrival of the flying sword. He said that the old God of Sword used the word "sword" to make thousands of swords from Mount Hui and Mount Longhu fly to the snowy plains and cover the sky. The audience was dumbfounded. Oh my, could it be that he was really one of the few immortals on earth? When the old man talked about how Mount Longhu's Master Zhao asked the old God of Sword to return to his residence, the old man paused and said word by word, "Do you know what happened next?"
This time, the tea guests were very happy to give the copper coins. Soon, the big bowl was filled to the brim. Some impatient people ran to throw away the copper coins and sat back in their seats. They hurriedly said, "Old man, tell us!"
The blind storyteller drank a mouthful of wine and said with a smile, "Senior Li, who is in the Sword Celestial Realm, sent a message to the big Mount Longhu. His Royal Highness said that there was no need to return it!"
The whole tea house was dead silent. Then, there was a roar of applause. Many tea guests who felt that their anger had been vented began to hit the table. Tao Manwu, who was beside Hsu Fengnian, chuckled. Hsu Fengnian took out a small piece of silver and shook his head. The little girl originally thought that the old man's storytelling was brilliant and varied. Seeing that this stingy man was unexpectedly generous, she finally smiled. She grabbed the silver and ran to the center of the tea house. She gently placed it into the bowl with her face flushed red. Then, she ran back to Hsu Fengnian's side and snuggled up to him, not daring to look at others. Everyone only thought that this young man was most likely a rich son who had too much money and nowhere to spend it. They didn't think much of it.
When the blind storyteller talked about the Eastern Sea's Martial Emperor City, he only said that His Highness the Crown Prince carried a bowl to the top of the city wall, but he didn't tell the whole story. The guests in the tea house were shocked to the core. They all thought that this hereditary Crown Prince of the Northern Liang was really daring. They didn't investigate the details and heard that the storyteller was telling a story. When the old man said that the world's number one, Wang Xianzhi, flew to the surface of the East Sea, opened the Gate of Heaven with Sword God's sword, and made the East Sea rise, the tea house suddenly became silent. Beimang's people were valiant. No matter how feminine the Flying Fox City was, it was still in comparison to other cities. After all, the blood of warriors still flowed in their bones. They could look down on the emperors, dukes, and marquises of the Liyang Dynasty and look down on those soft and romantic scholars. However, they definitely wouldn't look down on the famous general Gu Jiantang from the Spring and Autumn Period. They also didn't dare to look down on the City Master of Martial Emperor City who had dominated Jianghu for sixty years. Everyone in Beimang only regretted that this old warrior wasn't from their dynasty. However, they wouldn't doubt that Wang Xianzhi could be ranked above Tuoba and become the world's number one! It was to the extent that they felt great reverence towards the mortal enemy of Northern Mang, the Butcher Xu Xiao. There was no lack of people in Northern Mang who sincerely admired Xu Xiao, regardless of whether it was in the marketplace or in the imperial court. When the rumor spread that the Emperor was willing to "marry Xu Xiao", they angrily scolded the arrogant Lame Xu for not knowing what was good for him. In the end, few people said that Xu Xiao didn't deserve to share the world with the Empress! In Beimang's view, who else in the world was more worthy of their Empress than the Butcher? The Emperor of the Liyang Dynasty? Get out of here and f * ck off.
In the end, the tide rose on the banks of the Guangling River. His Royal Highness cut off his flesh. Li Chungang cut off 2,600 armor with his sword.
The tea house was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Only the sound of the pipa could be heard.
Even the manager of the tea house was dumbfounded. He slowly took out a few pieces of silver that hadn't even warmed up yet and had the waiter put them in his bowl. He didn't feel the slightest bit of heartache. Luckily, he had invited this grandfather-grandson pair to tell stories today and earned a lot of extra money. He had made up his mind to let them continue to tell stories for a few more days. He was sure that business would be booming and money would flow in. After the story was finished, some of the wealthier customers added a bit more money to spare.
Hsu Fengnian patted Tao Manwu's little head and said with a smile, "Go, tell that sister who plays the pipa that I'm inviting them to tea."
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