She woke up from a deep dream,
It was already March in the human world.
It was getting warmer and warmer along the way,
The vegetation was lush, and the spring air was flourishing.
Lin Daiyu was so hot that she changed into a thin spring shirt early. But because of the cold, she suddenly warmed up,
She even vomited once. When she leaned against the boat and was weak,
She remembered that she had gone south several times, but she had never come here. It was said that all the merchants in the world gathered, and as the capital of the Chamber of Commerce alliance,
Guangzhou, where the west wind was blowing in the east.
The port,
When they got off the boat,
Before lifting the curtain, Lin Daiyu was about to put on the curtain hat,
Big Ni threw the veil hat into the river.
"Mr. Lin, we don't need this here," big ni said.
But..,
Apart from the Taizhou Prefecture, where she was the second-in-command..,
Even in the former Yunnan, apart from the short period of time under Shou Yulou's rule, if she wanted to go out in public, for a beautiful woman who was not accompanied by a man..,
A curtain hat was always necessary. To avoid attracting criticism.
Big ni lifted the curtain.
At the port of the Southern Kingdom,
The hot sea breeze blew over,
Accompanied by the hubbub of human voices.
Coincidentally, a western woman stepped down from another boat next door,
She was wearing a sunshade hat,
Blonde hair and blue eyes,
She was wearing a fluffy dress on her lower body, and her upper body was revealing half of her snow-white chest. She was holding a folding fan.
When she saw the handsome young Chinese woman leaning against the side of the boat, she was stunned, but she smiled and nodded. Then, she elegantly held her folding fan and walked away with her head held high.
There was no man beside her. She only brought a few cute children with her. As well as a maid.
Lin Daiyu saw that half of her breasts. Even though she admitted that she was no longer the frog at the bottom of the well in the past, she couldn't help but blush.
She asked big ni in a low voice,
"This is... a western prostitute in Guangzhou?"
Unexpectedly, before big ni could speak, the boatman waved his hand repeatedly, "Good Girl, you must not let anyone hear you! This is probably a western noblewoman who has settled in Guangzhou with her husband. If you are heard talking like this, these shrewish westerners will cause trouble. "
Not a prostitute?
She looked up. Under the sunlight, the water was green, the sky was blue, and Guangzhou was colorful.
In the bustling port, there was an endless stream of ships. In the distance, there was actually a ship made of steel. Its body was like a giant in the ship, and it was emitting roaring steam.
She stared at the ship for a long time before moving her gaze away and looking around.
As for the passengers on and off Class-A, as well as the carriages and horses coming and going on the shore. Indeed, there were men and women mixed together. Women and men did not deliberately separate themselves from each other. They conversed with each other and did not stand out.
There were female workers dressed up as coolies, and female merchants delivering goods.
There were also noblewomen who chatted and laughed freely, walking arm in arm with men, or traveling alone with their servants. Most of them were Chinese, with some women from Taisi.
In the mainland, even under the rule of the uprising army, under the banner of the alliance army, most people were still conservative. For a young lady from an ordinary family, not to mention going out on a trip, even if someone saw her beautiful face, they would still be embarrassed and angry.
— — In front of her seemed to be a completely different world from the mainland.
A woman, with her hair tied up and wearing a short shirt, seemed to be a coolie. She was talking and laughing with several of her female companions.
"Miss Lin, let me help you." Seeing Lin Daiyu leaning on the door of the cabin for a long time without any intention to get off the ship, Da Ni thought that this delicate looking girl was probably tired from the journey. After all, before coming to Guangzhou, she had just vomited because of discomfort. She hurried to help her.
"No need." Lin Daiyu pushed her hand away and said, "They all went down by themselves."
She calmed herself down, and like the other women who got off the ship, she held the handrail next to the gangplank and slowly got off the ship.
Walking on the streets of Guangzhou, she was dazzled by the strange customs of the Southern Kingdom. For a moment, she stood on the street, in the middle of the people coming and going.
The streets of Guangzhou were narrow. In addition to the carriages and pedestrians, there were all kinds of banners hanging on the shops on both sides of the street.
Bright red banners of ready-made clothing stores were hanging down from the second floor. There was a banner with a picture of a man wearing a hat on the other side, which crossed the street.
People hawking coconuts and people hawking cotton cloth were mixed together. On the windowsills of shops and houses, there were clusters of flowers decorating the city. Guangzhou Flower Market was also famous all over the world.
On the street, there were people with short hair without a bun. There were also scholars with disheveled hair but wearing robes, shaking their heads.
Brushing shoulders with these scholars, there were western men with big noses wearing the kind of clothes called "waistcoats" worn by Qingqing. They wore leather boots, but had greasy hair and powdered face.
The women on the street were also dressed up to compete with each other. There were Chinese women in western clothes, and there were also court ladies in short skirts.
They were in groups, wearing leather shoes, parading the street, or shopping, accompanied by a group of lechers. Some of them were laughing and talking freely, and some of them had cigarettes in their mouths. They were not feminine at all.
All kinds of bright and colorful patterns jumped into her eyes. It seemed that there had never been an imperial court regulation regarding the dress of scholars and commoners — oh, there really was no such regulation. Guangzhou had always been the place where the Chamber of Commerce alliance had been stationed. It was scornfully called "the court of merchants" by the imperial court and the militia.
Among these strange dresses, the only thing in common was that among the women who came and went, no matter if they were scholars or commoners, they rarely tied their feet.
She was a woman standing alone on the street. Other than her beauty, no one gave her an extra glance. After all, Guangzhou was changing with each passing day. No matter how beautiful a woman dressed as an ordinary woman in China was, she could not attract the attention of the people of Guangzhou who pursued novelty and dared to take risks.
Here... was this the Guangzhou that her uncle had invited her to go with him?
It was completely different from Yunnan when Shou Yulou was still in power, but it was like a different world.
It was Qingqing who said that the new Chuhai Alley should be built like Guangzhou Alley. Guangzhou?
Was this the kind of world she wanted to build with her own hands?
"This place has always been under the rule of the Chamber of Commerce alliance. It is said that Guangzhou is the place where the Chamber of Commerce alliance is located." Lin Daiyu said softly.
A series of bells rang — dong dong dong —
Da Ni pointed to a pointed stone building in the distance with a cross on top and said, "That is Western Christianity, the kind that the Great Commander believes in. It is called a church. "
Rows of men with big noses wearing long black robes and bearing the temperament of monks walked in.
And the one who brushed past them was a Taoist priest who was shouting "fortune telling" and "fortune telling".
The fortune telling stall was in front of the church.
Da Ni whispered, "Those big-nosed men are really overbearing. But if the officers of the Chamber of Commerce saw them driving away the Taoist priest, they would ask them for the crime of bullying and humiliating the Chinese. "
And next to the Taoist priest, a few children ran past. As they ran, they shouted, "Selling newspapers, selling newspapers! South Xunnan tabloid! Strange news! Strange news! Last night, the hero of the flower world, Miss Zhang, opened a gambling house! The Chamber of Commerce alliance is heading north again! "
The goateed Taoist priest wearing a soapy cloth picked up the newspaper. As he shouted fortune telling, he lowered his head and read the newspaper, muttering.
Taoist priest, church, newspaper.
The old and the new were all mixed together, forming a strange demeanor. The demeanor of the city of Guangzhou.
There was no imperial court, no rebel army. This was actually a city that was built and managed by a group of merchants.
"Miss Lin?" Da Ni swayed in front of her, "What is there to see about a Taoist priest? Come with me, there is more in front … "
Lin Daiyu was lost in her thoughts and did not pay attention to her.
A group of young coalition officers walked past the street. They seemed to be patrolling. They did not have the bitterness and hatred of the rebel soldiers who belonged to the peasants. They also did not seem like the imperial court officers who acted like bandits. They were only young and lively, full of vitality. This group of young people laughed and sang as they walked. Each of them held a bright red flower in their hands.
"Let's go — let's go, brother!
There is no noble race in this world.
There is no lowly person in this world.
Freedom must come from the hands.
The emperor is just one person.
Let's go — "
Da Ni looked at her expression and said, "This is called 'Freedom Song'. It is a military song. I heard that recently the coalition army is going to change its name to 'Freedom Army'. I also heard it from my man. "
As she spoke, she suddenly thought of something and smacked her head, giggling foolishly, "Miss Lin … Bah bah bah, Mr. Xiaoxiang, I heard that the inspiration for this name change came from your 'Li Xianglan's Work Diary'. Many of us here have seen this play. I've also seen that play. That poor lad only suffered because he wasn't born in Guangzhou. "
… Her book?
Oh, she remembered.
"There is no way to find paradise in the world. Where can I find freedom in the world?"
Freedom.
After a long while, she took a deep breath. It was the morning tea time in Guangzhou. The fresh fragrance of flowers, the fishy smell of the sea breeze, the mellow smell of the morning tea, the fragrance of the noblewomen, the smell of inferior cosmetics on the coolies, and thousands of smells mixed together.
On the street, someone was coming with a smile. He was reciting, "The freedom flower is planted and blooms freely. This flower is not an ordinary one. It blooms and dispels the clouds. It grows freely with the fragrance of the wind."
A fiery red kapok, which was unique to Guangzhou, was pinned in her hair. "I long for my son to be such a flower. It blooms freely and never withers."
"Uncle." Lin Daiyu turned around and saw Lin Ruoshan with the soldiers and officers of the coalition army waiting for her on the street. It was the same group that was patrolling before.
Lin Ruoshan was also in his fifties. He was old. But his spirit, energy, and spirit still seemed to be in his prime.
The young officers behind him, who had sung 'Freedom Song', heard that Mr. Xiaoxiang was coming and couldn't wait. When they saw Lin Ruoshan's signal, they rushed forward and shyly threw a flower into Daiyu's arms.
Lin Ruoshan asked her with a smile, "This city is now called 'Freedom Capital'. The most common kapok in Guangzhou is called 'Freedom Flower'. Do you still like Guangzhou? "
Lin Daiyu took down the fiery red kapok and put it together with the one in her arms. She buried her face in it and sniffed. Then she raised her head. Suddenly, her eyes were full of tears.
"I like it."
She suddenly felt relieved. She also felt relieved about Li Qingqing and the others. Since the coalition army, which was now called the Freedom Army, could create such a Guangzhou, why couldn't they take down Nanjing?
The depression, worry, anger, and self-doubt along the way were swept away.
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