Chuzhou, Xiang City.
It was night, deep in the Zhao Manor, on the spacious square, there was a hubbub of voices and bright lights.
Chuzhou's Minister Zhao was kind and generous. He saw money as dirt. In Chuzhou's Jianghu, there were many people who had received his kindness.
Minister Zhao had many friends. Not only did he often invite these Jianghu people to dinner, he would also generously help any hero who had no money to travel in Jianghu. He never mentioned the word "return".
In the eyes of these Jianghu people, this was a sign of great righteousness. Many people recognized him as a friend.
Speaking of which, it was strange. Although they spent a lot of money every day, the Zhao Family's business was getting better and bigger. Those who didn't know would probably sigh at Squire Zhao's business skills, but those who really knew the inside story would mostly spit on him and disdain his dirty tricks behind the scenes.
At this time, deep in the Zhao Manor, a dozen Jianghu men were talking and laughing, drinking to their heart's content. From time to time, the servants of the Zhao Family would serve them good wine and food.
Surrounded by the crowd was a man with a goatee and a shrewd face.
The man had a pair of triangular eyes and wore a minister's uniform. He didn't look outstanding. Even though he didn't dare say he was the best in Chuzhou, in Xiang City, no matter if it was a Jianghu person or a government official, who didn't know this was the "good benefactor" Minister Zhao?
"Brother Zhao, it's my fault this time. I couldn't do my job well for you. I'll drink to punish myself. I hope you won't blame me." It's a cold night, but there's a man wearing only a short-sleeved shirt, the muscles on his arms bulging. He cupped his hands towards Zhao Yuanwai, picked up a bowl of wine in front of him, and drained it in one gulp.
Minister Zhao's face was full of guilt. He said, "Brother Qin, don't say anymore. It's my fault. I didn't know that woman was so strong. Even Zhu Tufu and the others died there. If I knew she was so hard to deal with, I wouldn't have let you take the risk!"
He didn't act pretentious and filled the bowl in front of him to the brim. He looked at the crowd and said, "This bowl of wine is my apology to you brothers. Please promise me that you won't cause trouble for that woman anymore. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to rest easy!"
Everyone immediately raised their bowls to show their sincerity. They would no longer put themselves in danger, but if that woman came to bully them, they would not just stand by and watch. They would definitely lend their brother a hand.
Zhao Yuan was embarrassed on the outside, but he was finally relieved.
After all, this was the territory of Chu Zhou City. No matter how powerful the woman was, she couldn't be the enemy of all the Jianghu men in Chu Zhou City.
…
…
Wu Er followed Li Yi all the way back home. They talked in the room for a long time before leaving.
When he left, he still had a puzzled look on his face. His puzzlement stemmed from the task that the County Commandant had just given him. However, it was only a slight effort. Since he couldn't figure out the County Commandant's intention, he didn't need to think about it anymore. He just needed to do as he was told …
"Senior Han, Squire Zhao …" Li Yi muttered these two names as he walked out of the room.
These few days, he finally had some free time. If there was a grudge, there was a grudge, there was a grudge …
Xiao Huan was washing clothes in the yard. Li Yi had just changed out of them this morning.
Although the weather was good, the temperature of the water was very low. The young maidservant rubbed her hands a few times and blew on them twice. When Li Yi walked closer, he saw that her hands had turned blue from the cold.
"Don't wash them, don't wash them. Why don't you add some hot water before washing them?" Li Yi's heart ached as he held her hands. Her hands were so cold that even Li Yi couldn't stand it.
"Young Master, it's okay. It will be done in a while." The servant girl's heart was filled with joy as her hands were no longer cold. However, her face was red.
Li Yi reached out his hand and tapped her head. He said, "Listen to Young Master and go back to your room to warm up. It won't be good if you get frostbite."
When Li Yi was young, he had frostbite every year. It was painful and itchy. His hands were swollen like steamed buns. He had to be fed by his mother spoon by spoon. Later, he met an old Chinese medicine doctor who gave him a folk prescription. After that, he never had it again. However, he didn't want to relive that feeling in his life.
Xiao Huan was chased into the room to warm herself by the fire. If her slender and white hands got frostbite, he couldn't bear it.
He reached out to test the water temperature in the basin. He couldn't help shivering and immediately put his hands back.
Thinking that Xiao Huan washed clothes in such a temperature every day, his heart was even more distressed.
The silly girl didn't even bear to use hot water. He didn't know how she survived the previous winter.
Enduring the cold water and rubbing the clothes, he thought that the temperature had dropped a bit these days. It was still a bit cold to sleep with two blankets at night. It was time to think of a way to improve her living environment.
After rubbing the clothes and washing them, his hands were too cold. After a while, he took them out of the water and wrung them out to dry in the courtyard.
Looking out through the courtyard gate, Old Fang and a few other men were squatting under a tree, talking about something with their saliva flying everywhere.
These days, Fang had complained to him more than once that he was almost bored out of his mind. It seemed that he had to find some work for him to do to satisfy his requirements.
Under a big tree not far from the door, Fang was telling the men the story of The Return of the Condor Heroes. When the son-in-law was telling this story to the Second Miss, he had heard a few parts of it. Since he had nothing to do, he showed off in front of the men.
Of course, although he was talking with his saliva flying, the story had no beginning or end. It was almost not attractive. If it wasn't for the fact that they had nothing to do, no one was willing to see him talking here.
Fang saw that everyone was bored to death. Two of them even dozed off. He couldn't help but feel annoyed. They were both telling stories. Why could the son-in-law do it but he couldn't?
He was determined to compete with the son-in-law. With a turn of his eyes, the story immediately changed.
"Through the door, the man heard a rustling sound in the next room, mixed with the sound of water and a woman's thin moaning. The sound was getting louder. Then he heard the creaking of the bed and a man's heavy breathing …"
When this wonderful story was told, the crowd immediately became excited.
The two men who were about to doze off stopped immediately. As if they had been injected with chicken blood, they stretched their necks and waited for Old Fang to continue. The other men were not calm either. Their distracted attention was pulled back to the conversation.
They were all illiterate men. Usually, they told dirty jokes in extremely vulgar language. Fang and Li Yi had stayed in the brothel for a long time and learned a few tricks from the old storyteller. In an instant, these men's breathing became heavy.
Fang couldn't hide the complacency on his face. A bunch of idiots. He only used a little bit of skill to make them so excited. They were really country bumpkins who had never seen the world.
But he didn't stop talking. He continued, "The man was excited and put his ear to the door. He only heard a creaking sound. Who knew that the door wasn't closed tightly. It was suddenly opened by the man. The man was stunned and saw inside the room …"
When Old Fang said that, he stopped. The few men were just getting excited and their ears turned red. They hurriedly urged, "What's wrong with seeing the house? Hurry up and tell us!"
"I saw a man sitting on the bed in the room. A woman was washing his feet on the ground. Her movements were fast and the sound of water splashing …" Fang's face turned serious. He stood up and looked at Li Yi, who was standing behind the men and looking at him with his hands folded. He said with a smile, "Son-in-law, why are you here?"
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