Zhurou

Chapter 236 Eye-catching

There were seven or eight people waiting outside. Li Yan, also known as Wei Chengyan, ate a pancake, thought for a moment, and pointed out the one who came forward to speak. He then said to the others, "They will come a little slower. You wait here. Then we can ask them whether they want to stay at the post station or other accommodations in the capital. Just listen to their arrangements."

Everyone took orders and led their horses to wait.

While Wei Chengyan was talking to his two men, they each mounted their horses. The other man seemed to be quite familiar with the roads in the capital, and led the way quickly. The two of them went in the direction of Donghua Gate, around the Zhongwazi area where the road was being rebuilt, and they walked and stopped many times before finally arriving at the entrance of Li's Escort Agency on Caomen Street.

Wei Chengyan looked at the scenery along the way and sighed: "Everyone says that the capital is prosperous..."

The subordinate laughed and said, "Now that the Di people have retreated, they will surely gather here again. In less than three to five years, the good times will return. Third Boss, just wait and see!"

Wei Chengyan shook his head and said, "Since I returned to Jingzhao Prefecture, I haven't been to the capital for three to five years, so there's nothing to see."

The subordinate grabbed the reins and said hurriedly: "We have made such a great contribution this time. We don't know how the court will reward us. The third in command may be promoted to the capital..."

Wei Chengyan sneered, "We have always been disliked by those people. This time, second brother brought us to such a big limelight, we will be regarded as a thorn in their eyes. If you do more, you will make more mistakes. If you do less, you will make fewer mistakes. If you do nothing, you will make no mistakes. Just wait and see. When second brother comes back, I don't know how they will nitpick us. Let's go back to Jingzhao Prefecture as soon as possible and stop nagging them!"

He added: "Don't annoy me, I'm not as good-tempered as my second brother!"

The subordinate was chosen to follow Wei Chengyan, so he must be knowledgeable. He quickly changed the subject and said, "Second Master has entered the palace to see the emperor today, but he doesn't know what the emperor looks like?"

Wei Chengyan did not say anything polite to this confidant, and replied: "What can it be? Two eyes, a nose, and a mouth - only seven or eight years old, and still a ball..."

He had only said half of his words when he recalled what the little emperor looked like today. Although it was difficult to get a close look at his face, he only remembered that he was very supportive and it seemed easy to get along with him. He was about to swallow the next few words when the horse under him accidentally stepped on a dark spot on the ground, splashing water everywhere.

The horse was startled and snorted, and tried to move its hind hooves away, but perhaps because it didn't find the right footing, it accidentally stumbled.

Wei Chengyan quickly let go of the horse's belly and turned over. After he stood still, he gently patted the horse's head and scolded with a smile: "You are so big, but you can't even stand up after slipping. You who come from the official post..."

He wanted to say something that looked good but had no effect, but after the reins were loosened, he saw that the horse just kept walking forward on its own, shaking water and kicking its hooves at the same time, without waiting for anyone, and would not turn around. He couldn't scold it after all, and felt that it was pointless to scold such a stupid horse, so he could only sigh.

But when the subordinate saw this, he hurried forward and grabbed the horse and brought it back.

The Third Boss's good horses were well known to everyone in the escort agency. Seeing his expression, his subordinates hurriedly said, "Although the prosperity of the capital is far less than in the past, the Niuxing Street Horse Market has always been very famous. If the Third Boss is free, why not go and take a look."

Upon hearing about the horse market, Wei Chengyan immediately turned his sigh into joy and said with a smile: "I will have an audience with Your Majesty tomorrow. If there is still early time after the audience, I will go to the horse market and come back."

While they were talking, they had already walked to the gate of the courtyard in front, but saw two stone lions sitting quietly and the gate was tightly closed.

The subordinate hurried forward and knocked on the door, but there was no movement for a long time. He had to lean closer to the gap to look, and it was pitch black inside.

"It's only this hour, and these lazy people are going to bed so early, and they don't even do their evening lessons! I'll have to tell my second brother when I see him, so he won't pick on me and scold me alone!"

As Wei Chengyan spoke, he went forward and knocked hard on the door, and called out. After a long time, he heard a response from inside. Not long after, someone asked through the door, "Who's outside?"

"It's me, Wei Lao San!" Wei Chengyan said with full energy.

The subordinate hurriedly followed and shouted: "The Third Master is here! Open the door quickly!"

The door opened quickly from the inside, and an old man with a lame leg and a broken arm held a walking stick with half of his arm, picked up a lantern hanging nearby and held it up high. After seeing the face of the subordinate clearly, he looked at Wei Chengyan, and his wrinkled face suddenly smiled like a chrysanthemum, shouting, "When did the third boss come? Why didn't you send someone to tell us?"

He hurriedly let people in.

"It's Old Zhu!" Wei Chengyan smiled and threw away the reins in his hand. He patted the shoulder of the person who answered the door twice, and walked forward with big strides. As he walked, he asked loudly: "Why is there no one here? Is there any food in the kitchen? Ask them to pick up a pot of vegetables and meat to fill my stomach!"

At this point, he turned around and asked the man who answered the door, Lao Zhu, "I heard that there are a lot of good wines in the capital. Does our escort agency have any hidden?"

Old Zhu had a lame leg, but he walked fast and steadily. He could catch up in a few steps and replied, "Last time when we were guarding the city, all the capable men in the escort agency went to apply for the job. Later, the second in command went north and took away the rest of the men who could ride horses. I was the only one left to guard the gate!"

The complaint in his words was obvious.

"Third boss, look at my skills. I can beat a few Di thieves to death with just a cane. It's no problem for me to fight three or five of them alone. How come Wu Lao Si, who has a lame leg like me, can go, but I can't?"

He then said, "It just so happens that the Third Master is here. We have won the battle in the north this time. Do you want to take advantage of the victory and push forward? You may as well take me with you..." He pointed at the man who was closing the door behind him and said, "Look at that young face. How can he be as good as me on the battlefield? This boy is very smart and much smarter than me. It's better for him to stay in the escort agency to look after the house, isn't it?"

The latter could hardly lock the door, but he dared not refute, so he had to swallow his anger and call out "Uncle!"

Wei Chengyan knew that the old men in the escort agency who were injured in the battlefield were the most difficult to deal with, so he didn't dare to talk to them. He hurriedly begged, "Mr. Zhu, I call you Mr. Zhu! I only had a few pancakes today, and I'm so hungry that I can't even breathe!"

Old Zhu knew it was impossible and was just joking. But when he heard this, he became anxious and said, "How can a grown man like you only eat a few pancakes a day?"

He leaned on his cane and said, "I'm the only one left in the escort agency. I only have two pancakes left. Boy, go to the kitchen to get some water and pancakes for the Third Boss. I'll go to the street to find something to eat!" Wei Chengyan couldn't ask him to go, and he didn't want to eat pancakes. But he was really hungry, so he quickly pulled him back and said, "You wait a moment. We'll go back and forth and I don't know when we'll be back. I'll ask Xiao Zhu to take me with you."

As he said this, he winked at his subordinate, who quickly opened the door.

But Old Zhu shook his head and said, "There used to be some stalls nearby, but since the beginning of summer, the Jiaomenzi area has been full of shipping boats. The boatmen work day and night, and there are many people eating, so many vendors have moved there. Only some people selling drinks are left in these two streets."

He pointed to the door and said, "I'm afraid that kid is in a hurry to come back and doesn't know the way and can't find the right place. Let me lead the way!"

Wei Chengyan said: "Nothing, I'll go find Xiao Zhao first and ask her..."

As soon as he said this, he suddenly realized that something seemed wrong. Although he didn't know the exact time, it was not appropriate to go to a girl's house in the middle of the night when he was not on the way to Jingzhao Prefecture. He just asked and said, "Old Zhu, do you know where Xiao Zhao lives?"

Old Zhu was very confused and asked, "What Xiao Zhao?"

"Xiao Zhao, Miss Zhao!" Wei Chengyan patiently explained, but seeing that the old man opposite him was still confused, he immediately panicked and asked, "Didn't my second brother have any contact with Miss Zhao during the time he came to Beijing?"

He stretched out his hand and pointed at his face, saying, "Ephedra face, there is something growing on this half of the face, he is a person who speaks and acts in a very interesting way!"

Old Zhu leaned half of his body on his cane. He became nervous after being asked by Wei Chengyan. He tried to keep his drooping eyelids open and thought seriously for a long time. He said, "The Second Master has been busy since he came to the capital. When he has a little free time, he goes to the east of the city to farm. How can he have time to interact with Xiao Zhao and Lao Zhao?"

He pointed with his good arm toward the wall inside the courtyard and said, "There are so many hoes, shovels, harrows, and other tools left there since the second in command led the troops away."

Wei Chengyan's mind was buzzing after hearing these words. He couldn't help but wonder: Didn't my second brother come to Beijing with Xiao Zhao? Why did he go to the fields when he had nothing to do? When did he develop such a hobby?

But he couldn't say too much, so after thinking for a while, he simply asked, "I haven't heard of Xiao Zhao, but I think you've seen Mu Xiang. Is Mu Xiang here?"

When talking about wood fragrance, Lao Zhu usually shook his head and said, "I have never seen it."

He continued, "I really don't know what Zhao Xiang is talking about. I heard that after the second master came to the capital, he personally whipped the carriage for the princess. Later, he found a farm next to hers. We didn't think much about it before, but if he was talking about frequent contact with women, I'm afraid it would be the current princess, except for the mosquito."

  Wei Chengyan was totally unprepared. When he heard such an answer, he was stunned. His first reaction was, how could his second brother give face to the royal family like this?

He didn't know what happened that day, so he didn't dare to guess, but he couldn't help but be suspicious. He couldn't help but think of the familiar voice he heard in the palace today. However, this association was so absurd that he quickly stopped thinking and tried to endure hunger before asking again. Then he heard the sound of carriages and horses outside, and then someone shouted, "Is this the Li's Escort Agency?"

The subordinate, Xiao Zhu, was standing by the door and opened it. He saw a carriage parked outside. A man jumped out from the front of the carriage and asked, "Which one is Master Wei San?"

After getting Wei Chengyan's agreement, the other party waved to the back, and two waiters came down from the carriage, holding out four large wooden boxes. They stood in front of Wei Chengyan and said respectfully, "This is Taifenglou, and we've specially sent you some food."

Wei Chengyan said: "I didn't order any dishes."

"It was ordered by another guest. He only said his last name was Zhao. He ordered a few large dishes and hurriedly urged that they must be delivered to the Li Escort Agency before midnight. He also said he wanted to see Master Wei San and asked the innkeeper to pass on a message, saying 'Brother San, please wait a few days.'"

Wei Chengyan was suspicious at first, but when he heard the word "Zhao" and the words brought by the shopkeeper behind him, he suddenly grinned and opened half of the door.

At that moment, the two men entered the room, and four wooden boxes were opened one by one. There were five or six dishes stacked on top of each other, as well as snacks and a large pot of drink. The drink was placed in an ice box, with white steam coming out of it.

Leaving aside the other dishes, all the bowls, chopsticks, pots and plates were silver in color, and the way they were picked up and put down were clearly silverware.

The two men set the table and did not wait any longer. They bowed and left.

Old Zhu asked hurriedly, "When will you come to get the plate and cup?"

The two men said, "This plate and cup was sent by the guest, and he never asked to take it back."

Before the Di people went south, there used to be big restaurants in the capital that used silver bowls and plates. But ever since the retired emperor was abducted to Xiazhou, the capital city was looted several times, and all the big restaurants went bankrupt or ran away. They were no longer as luxurious as before. Now, looking at the plates and cups again, they were more exquisite than ordinary silver cups. Their shape and polishing were very delicate, and they were also decorated with carved clouds and inlaid flowers to match the dishes served on them.

Wei Chengyan was already starving. He knew who had sent it, so he was relieved. When he saw that it was silver, he was not at all cautious. He opened the front of his robe, sat down with his legs apart, and said to the two people next to him, "What are you waiting for? This is a table of delicious food. Are you just looking at it and not eating it?"

The weather was very hot. There was a jade teapot with a bright red body and six large jade cups in the ice box on the table. Wei Chengyan took out three of them and poured a cup for each one. He picked up one cup and drank it in one gulp. He felt cool from head to toes, and from mouth to stomach. All the fatigue of the day disappeared, and the taste also seeped through his tongue. It was a bayberry ice drink with seven sweet and three sour tastes.

Although it was not as delicious as wine, this bite of it whetted Wei Chengyan's appetite and made his mouth water. He couldn't help but think in his heart: Xiao Zhao is really righteous.

He didn't care about the others, he picked up the chopsticks and flew around the table, swallowing the food whole.

The dish was indeed matched to his taste, with more meat and less vegetables, and a slightly heavier taste. But considering the hot weather, a few sweet and sour dishes were added. The three of them ate until their stomachs were full, and they went to bed that night without saying a word.

  Wei Chengyan was so hungry that his brain couldn't work at first, and then he was so full that his brain didn't want to work either. He had always trusted that "Xiao Zhao", and although he didn't know what was going on, since the other party asked him to "wait a moment, Third Brother", he naturally waited obediently. But in his heart, he had already been like a cat scratching, using his remaining brain to guess several situations, and he couldn't help complaining: Second Brother left so peacefully, and was gone for such a long time, and when he saw me come back, he didn't say a word, did the thing with Xiao Zhao succeed or not?

Then he thought: No matter whether they succeeded before or not, these two are useless. Now that I am here, I will wait until the business is done and see what I, Wei San, can do! Even if they fail, I will make it happen for you!

The next morning, he went into the palace to meet the emperor. After finishing all his work and checking in on time, he still went to Niuxing Street to stroll around the horse market for half a day. As expected, he got nothing. Although there were a few good horses, they were just ordinary and not pleasing to the eye.

Thank you for the sachet given to me by Tingyu xlh, and the amulet given to me by SKE48_kino and book friend 20220915224615614~