The group of people in the teahouse were discussing the matter of exterminating the Horse Gang. Some people were positive about Ang Lee's arrival. They felt that this could at least reflect the attitude of the imperial court, which meant that the imperial court still attached great importance to Summer Province. Others felt that it would not be of much use. The number of soldiers in Summer Province was too small to deter the fierce Horse Gang.
Ang Lee laughed off the discussion of these ordinary businessmen. Soon, he would use his strength to prove that these businessmen's guesses were wrong. As long as he worked hard, he could always find a way to exterminate the Horse Gang. But before that, Ang Lee needed to play around, see the beautiful scenery of Summer Province, and visit the scenic spots and historical sites. This trip would not be in vain.
The teahouse was a very good place to socialize. The longer Li An stayed in the teahouse, the more suspicious he felt it was. Because there were too many people here and too many people were chatting randomly, a lot of information would be spread out unknowingly. If there were spies of the Horse Gang among them, then the Horse Gang would be able to get a lot of information, which would make it easier for them to attack the caravan and prevent the soldiers from encircling and suppressing them in advance.
As for who were the spies of the Horse Gang, Ang Lee could not judge at the moment. For example, the shopkeeper of the teahouse, the tea brewer, and the businessmen who often came to drink tea could all be spies of the Horse Gang. Everyone was suspicious.
Of course, there was more than one teahouse in Summer Province. There were many brothels and restaurants. These places had many guests. There could be spies of the Horse Gang in every place. In other words, there were spies in all these places. This way, they could more comprehensively inquire about all kinds of useful information.
It was impossible to find the Horse Gang informants hiding in Xia Zhou City just by looking at their eyes and behavior. As long as one was an informant, he or she had some skills. It was not easy to find them. If they did not even have this ability, how could they be informants?
At least, Ang Lee had been watching the teahouse for a long time, but he had not found the slightest bit suspicious. It seemed that there were no spies of the Horse Gang in the teahouse in front of him.
The best way to find out whether there were spies in the teahouse was to quickly release a big piece of news, or an urgent piece of news that was important to the Horse Gang. Once this news was released, the spies of the Horse Gang might not be so calm. They might immediately carry out an operation to pass on the information, and then give themselves away.
For example, Ang Lee told everyone in the teahouse that there was a secret huge army of the Tang dynasty that was already on the way to Qiwu Mountain. In half a day, tens of thousands of troops would surround Qiwu mountain............... and no Horse Gang could escape.............................. Horse Horse Horse Gang...... in...............
But today, Li An only brought two guards with him. No one was up to the task of tailing him. Therefore, it was better to wait first to prevent such a good plan from being wasted.
"Sir, let's order a song!"
Two young ladies suddenly appeared in the teahouse. They came in without being stopped. It seemed that they were regulars of the teahouse. They often came to sing for the customers. So the tea brewer was familiar with them and naturally would not drive them away.
The people who came to the teahouse to drink tea were all a little rich. Naturally, they could afford to listen to songs. Soon, a person tipped a pile of copper coins and casually ordered a song.
As the euphemistic song echoed in the teahouse, the atmosphere became a little quiet. The people talking also lowered their voices to avoid affecting the beautiful song.
Ang Lee gently stared at the two young ladies and found that they were not old. They were about fifteen or sixteen years old. One of them was holding a pipa and playing it. The other was holding a guzheng and standing still quietly. It could be seen that their skills were different. One was playing the pipa and the other was playing the guzheng. But they could not play the two at the same time. When one was playing, the other was standing next to her.
In this case, if someone ordered a song, the one who was free would also play. However, they could not play together. At least, they had to be far apart. For example, the one who played the pipa was in the hall on the first floor. Then, the one who played the guzheng could go to the private room on the second floor to play. In this way, the sound would not interfere with each other and the playing effect would be better.
"Sir, this is the special snack of our teahouse, The Buddha's Palm. Please try it."
The tea server brought over a new batch of tea and a few plates of side dishes.
The Buddha's Palm. When he first heard the name, Ang Lee thought it was a great dish. When he took a closer look, it turned out to be an inconspicuous chicken foot. However, this chicken foot was much bigger than the chicken foot in the general store. It was just that the large chicken foot had more meat.
"A small chicken foot can be named The Buddha's Palm. You are really good. Tell me about it! This chicken foot, no, The Buddha's Palm. What's the name? "
Ang Lee asked curiously.
Although this was a veritable chicken foot, it should at least have some connotation. Otherwise, it would not be worthy of such a good name.
Since ancient times, many expensive dishes were not necessarily because of how delicious they were, but because they had a very domineering name. This domineering name added too much luster to the dish, making it stand out from the masses. It made people feel that the name was very high and had cultural connotations. For example, Farewell My Concubine was actually just a turtle and a pheasant. Such a name made people feel that this dish was very awesome. There was also a plate of chicken claws called Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, a plate of purple eggplant called Purple Clouds Divine Skill, a plate of tomatoes sprinkled with white sugar called Volcanic Snow, and the most awesome dish was a bowl of plain water with a small piece of scallion leaf called A Small Boat.
Generally, the domineering name of a dish would easily make people associate it with profiteers and deceit. This was because many dishes were really too ordinary. Whether it was the ingredients or the technical difficulty, they were very ordinary. However, there were many fascinating names. This was indeed suspicious of deceit. After all, many people who saw the menu for the first time would not know what kind of dish A Small Boat was. They would think that there would be a lot of delicious dishes. In the end, it was just plain water with a piece of green onion. Wouldn't this make people faint from anger?
The tea brewer naturally did his homework. When he heard Ang Lee's question, he replied very calmly, "Sir, our Buddha's Palm is naturally different. Look at this head. It is more than three times bigger than an ordinary chicken's claw. It is the best claw!"
After listening to the tea brewer's words, Ang Lee almost spat out the tea on the floor. These words were too shameless. The thinner the chicken's claw, the better. The thicker the chicken's claw, the cheaper it would be. At least this was the case in the future. This was because the thick chicken's claw was raised for meat chickens. The chicken meat of this kind of chicken was unpalatable and relatively cheap. The size of the chicken's claw was also relatively large. It was also very cheap in the future. However, in Xia Zhou of the Tang dynasty, perhaps there were very few people who engaged in feeding pens. Therefore, this kind of fat meat chicken could be sold at a higher price, especially the fat chicken's claw. It was much more expensive than the chicken's claw of an ordinary grass chicken.
Perhaps in the eyes of the people of the Tang dynasty, only meat chicken's claw could eat meat. The chicken's claw of a grass chicken was just bones and chicken skin. There was no meat at all, so it couldn't be said to be delicious.
This was also closely related to the living standards of the ancient people. In the later society, there was too much fish and meat. In the society of the Tang dynasty, most of the people were still vegetarian. Therefore, meat was more precious. The fatter the meat, the more popular it was. Perhaps this was also the meaning of "fat is beautiful"!
In short, in the Tang dynasty, the fatter the meat was the best. The fatter it was, the better it was, and the better it could be sold at a higher price. In fact, in the special era of the later generations, fat meat was also king. At that time, people wanted to buy more fat meat and didn't like to eat lean meat. Perhaps it was the same in Xia Zhou City! The people liked to eat fat, so fat was expensive. The people liked to eat lean, so lean would be expensive. This was an eternal truth.
"The Buddha's Palm. I must try it."
Ang Lee tasted it and felt that the taste was not bad. He nodded with certainty.
"What's the situation with these two girls?"
Ang Lee asked curiously.
He always felt that these two girls had a kind of innate strong temperament. On the surface, they were as gentle as water and looked pitiful. But in their bones, they didn't seem to be so.
The tea brewer also had nothing to do, so he answered, "Sir, you may not know. These two girls were originally from rich families. They learned zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, and various kinds of musical instruments since they were young. Unfortunately, there was a sudden accident in their family and all their relatives died. Only the two of them rely on each other. They are quite pitiful."
After saying that, he looked sympathetic.
"There was a sudden accident in their family. I see. I wonder what happened?"
Ang Lee asked curiously. Anyway, he was bored, so he might as well gossip. In this way, he would appear to be normal and ordinary, a very ordinary person.
"I heard that they were robbed by Horse Gang, the Horse Gang of Mount Qiwu. Her father was killed in a dispute with the Horse Gang. The caravan's belongings were robbed. Their family borrowed money to buy these belongings. Even if they sold all their belongings, it was not enough to pay for the debt. The creditors came every day and almost drove the whole family to death. Only the two of them were left."
The tea brewer said.
Ang Lee sighed sympathetically and asked, "They are also from Xia Zhou. Are no neighbors willing to help them?"
The tea brewer shook his head and said softly, "They are not from Xia Zhou. I heard that they are from Yinzhou in the east. Their ancestors have lived in Yinzhou for generations. This was the first time they came to Xia Zhou to do business. They even risked their lives for business.
They are really unlucky. "After hearing the tea brewer's words, Ang Lee nodded thoughtfully. Although what the tea brewer said seemed to make some sense, Ang Lee felt that the probability was too low. Or rather, their family was too unlucky. The first time they came to Xia Zhou to develop, they met with a disaster. This was too unlucky, so unlucky that it could not be described with words.
In addition, there was one thing that Li An suspected. The two sisters were from Yin Province, not Summer Province. Their story was also told from their own mouths. Previously, when merchants came to drink tea, they would occasionally confirm it. However, these merchants who confirmed the identities of the two sisters quickly left Summer Province, and not a single one of them stayed. Most of the merchants only knew that the two young ladies were pitiful people, and could not confirm their identities.
Every month, there were many merchants who came to Xia Zhou to do business. Some had just arrived, while others had left. It was bustling with activity. Who would remember a merchant who had been robbed by the Horse Gang? Similarly, no one would remember the passing merchants who verified the identities of the two sisters. In other words, in the eyes of all the merchants, this pair of singing girls was just a pair of insignificant people at the bottom. They rarely paid attention to this pair of sisters. Everyone was very busy and had a lot of things to do.
Since ancient times, there had been a saying that there must be a demon behind an abnormality. If too many coincidences were put together, then there was a high possibility that it was not a coincidence, but a man-made coincidence. In other words, it was deliberately done.
Of course, this was only a guess. It could not be completely confirmed. Before there was enough evidence, Ang Lee would not easily convict anyone.
But no matter what, Ang Lee had already suspected this pair of sisters. He always felt that they might not be what others thought they were. Perhaps they were the eyes of the Mountain Bandits.
Since there was a seed of suspicion, then it was necessary to clarify the matter. Ang Lee felt that he should carefully observe this pair of sisters to see if there was anything else about them that was worthy of suspicion.
"Have you seen enough? Your eyeballs are about to fall out."
Seeing that Ang Lee had been staring at the sisters and ignoring her, Li Hanlu appeared to be a little unhappy. She frowned slightly.
Ang Lee smiled gently and said, "This pair of sisters looks good. It's pleasing to the eye. Why don't you look more and see if there's anything wrong?"
Hearing this, Li Hanlu looked over suspiciously. She was now dressed as a man, so it was very normal to stare at women. No one would think there was anything wrong with it. Moreover, Hanlu was born with a heroic spirit. As long as she dressed up well, no one would be able to tell that she was a woman.
"Do you see anything?"
Ang Lee asked with a smile.
Li Hanlu continued to stare at the two young ladies. Because of the distance, she could not see too many details. But Li Hanlu could still see the nature of their gentleness and toughness.
"They seem to have practiced martial arts, but they shouldn't be very good at it."
Li Hanlu said.
Ang Lee looked around and whispered, "Do you think they could be the eyes and ears of the Mountain Bandits?"
"That's unlikely! Their whole family died in the hands of the Mountain Bandits. How could they be the eyes and ears of the Mountain Bandits? "
Li Hanlu said.
"Shh, lower your voice. It's just a guess. I'll tell you the details when we go back. Don't make it public."
Ang Lee warned in a low voice.
Although he was not very sure, Ang Lee felt that his feeling could not be wrong. Other men were mostly uncouth, but Ang Lee had seen countless women and was very familiar with women. Even if there was an abnormality in a hair, it could not escape Ang Lee's eyes.
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