Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2669 Still Vigorous in Old Age 53.0
Merlin led Bai Meng, Yingbao, Yingjun, and Jin Jing, who had come upon hearing the news, to the flower hall. Their expressions were all somewhat solemn, and it was unclear why they had been summoned so suddenly.

"Xiao Jing is here too, that's perfect, saves Xiao Lin from having to look for you again."

After seeing several people greet Chu Han and Master Jiang, Xue Ruitian and Song Yaojia pointed to the portrait on the board and asked them to identify it carefully.

The group exchanged glances, walked up to the board, and looked at the portrait on it. They raised their eyebrows slightly, looking at Xue Ruitian and Song Yaojia with great confusion.

"Don't look at us, look at these portraits, do they remind you of anything?"

“I have more than just a vague impression of her; she’s more like a half-acquaintance.” Bai Meng looked at the three people on the board, pointed to the girl in the middle, and said, “Isn’t this An Ji, the owner of the largest dance hall in Nanshi? But she looks a bit younger than this portrait.” He frowned slightly, looked at Master Jiang, and said, “The An Ji we know seems to be older than this portrait.”

"This is what she looked like many years ago." Master Jiang sighed softly. "So we do know each other!" He looked at the children who claimed to know Anji and said with a half-smile, "You...you didn't all go to that dance hall, did you?"

"Fourth Grandfather, please calm down. That dance hall is a legitimate place, under the jurisdiction of the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau). Although most of the dancers and musicians in the dance hall are Hu people, they are all registered in the Jingzhao Prefecture." Song Yaojia waved his hand at Fourth Grandfather Jiang. "If any mansion in Xijing City needs to hold a banquet and needs dancers to entertain, it will either be the Jiaofangsi or this dance hall. These two will account for 80%, and the remaining 20% ​​will be distributed to other dance halls in Xijing City. These dance halls must have skills that other dance halls do not have in order to perform in the mansions."

“Yes!” Bai Meng nodded gently, sighed softly, and said, “When my grandfather was still alive, my family used this dance studio for several banquets. The prices were fair, and the dancers were indeed very good. The person who contacted my steward wasn’t An Ji, but this person.” He walked over and pointed to the person to An Ji’s left, “This person is called An Shan, and he’s the official person in charge of the dance studio, what we usually call the manager.” He then pointed to the person on the right and said, “This person is called An Qi, and he’s a servant. He does all the errands. Although he’s a servant, like An Shan, he’s An Ji’s right-hand man, a true confidant.”

"I see." Master Jiang nodded, then looked at the other children who had seen these three people before. "Anything else to add?"

“Fourth Master,” Eagle Leopard said, glancing at the portrait on the board, “we should have seen what they looked like when they were younger.”

“But I have seen them before.” Jin Jing raised his hand and, seeing everyone’s eyes on him, explained, “I saw them once many years ago. It was the first time I came to the capital with Master Huilan. It happened to be during a banquet held by the Xia family. I saw them then.” He thought for a moment, “At that time, nothing had happened yet. The Marquis and his wife were still alive, and the rumors had not yet appeared.”

“Yes!” Fourth Master Jiang nodded. “Actually, the rumors really started when the Shen family army returned to the capital for their second report.” He looked at Chu Han, then at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Xue Ruitian. “That time happened to coincide with the Empress Dowager’s birthday, and all the mansions were holding banquets. The Shen and Xue families naturally wouldn’t be left behind, but since they were rarely in the capital, they didn’t know who to invite to entertain them, so they…” He looked at Xia Chen, “Your father and several friends in the capital consulted with them, and they all recommended An Ji’s dance studio, so…”

"So we invited them, which led to such a huge disaster." Xue Ruitian sighed. "Was it because we recognized them at the banquet?"

“Yes!” Fourth Master Jiang nodded. “No one told us what they investigated before, but it’s easy for the other side to recognize them. They were in the dark, and we were in the light, completely unaware of what was going on. Isn’t it normal to be outmaneuvered? But…” He looked at Eagle Falcon and Eagle Leopard, “How do the two generals know them?” “They were invited to the Prince’s banquet.” Song Yaojia sighed. “The two generals have been there, haven’t they?”

“Yes.” The falcon and the leopard exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously. “I’ve seen that Miss Angie a few times; she dances quite well.”

"She dances quite well!" Jin Jing glanced at the two of them. "I heard she's very difficult to invite. No matter your status, you might not be able to persuade her to attend. She can only attend banquets if she so chooses, nothing else. If she doesn't want to, even if you give the dance troupe a mountain of gold, she won't even bother. However..." He sighed softly, "I heard that their dance troupe has been around for many years. Anji inherited the troupe from her mother, and I also heard..." He looked at everyone and said, "Anji looks exactly like her mother."

"Is it Mother, or her?" Shen Cha sneered. "This dance hall has been in the capital for as many years as they have been here, just changing one identity after another."

“That’s what I think too. As for how they did it,” Song Yaojia looked at Chu Han, “maybe the medicine is theirs.”

"Hmm." Chu Han nodded. "We can't rule out that possibility, and the possibility is very high."

"Moreover, I understand now. They know so much information, some of which we know, but much more that we don't. Where do they get all that information from?" Song Yaojia sighed. "This channel is incredibly useful."

“That’s right,” Xue Ruitian nodded to Song Yaojia and said, “At banquets in various mansions, they don’t even need to deliberately gather information; they know more than we do. After all, a lot of information doesn’t easily come to our attention.” He looked at Chu Han, then at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, “Gentlemen, what have we said? Don’t you have anything to add?”

"You've said everything you wanted to say, what else can we say?" Shen Haolin looked at the portrait of An Ji, then at Master Jiang. "Back in the teahouse, was it she who kissed the little prince?"

“That’s right, it was her!” Master Jiang nodded. “And it was her on the street that time too.” He spread his hands. “I don’t like watching these dances, so I don’t have a deep impression of them, and I don’t know anything about dance studios or anything like that, so I don’t really know their identities.”

“It’s normal. Fourth Grandfather is surrounded by talented men like Qi Bo. They prefer to go to the manor in the suburbs to admire flowers and enjoy the flowing wine cups. This kind of dance,” Song Yaojia shook his head slightly, “is just for the occasion, nothing important.” He looked at Chu Han, “Grand Uncle, what’s your opinion?”

"The dance studio is probably just a cover; the three of them probably don't usually stay there."