The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 352 Encounter on the way
The sky in Jiangning in May is clear and blue. Although it has just passed the beginning of summer, it is already a bit hot.

In the south of Jiangning City, the Qinhuai River Wharf is a busy scene.

Cargo ships from commercial houses, official ships from the government, and boats used by dignitaries to play. Ships of all sizes entered and exited the pier. The raised sails were like maple leaves, floating on the green river.

A cruise ship with colorful flags slowly sailed out from the crowded pier. The official of the Municipal Shipping Department responsible for the management of the pier personally waved the flag and ordered other ships to give way. Then he respectfully bowed to the cruise ship and smiled. His face was full of flattery.

"I was waiting in line to sail for more than three hours, but the ship just arrived, so why should I let it go first?"

There were merchants standing on the bow, watching the colorful flag cruise ship sailing away from the dock, and scolded angrily.

The boatman running the boat glanced at him: "Is this your first time in Jiangning, right?"

The merchant said: "I have been here several times by land before, but this is the first time I have escorted goods by water. My father used to take care of the business at home. Recently, my father is ill in bed, so I can only come here."

The boatman pointed at the cruise ship and said with a smile: "Can the proprietor see the flag hanging on that ship?"

The merchant looked away and said, "You see, it's the word "zhou", so what?"

"How?" The boatman sneered, "That is the flag of the famous Taifu Zhou Zong's family! Taifu Zhou is not only an important official of the court, but also the owner of thirteen boat companies in Jiangning! Among the ten boats running on the Qinhuai River Seven or eight ships belong to the Zhou family."

The merchant was shocked: "Huh? It turns out that is the extremely wealthy Zhou family! No wonder the officials of the Shipping Department are so respectful!"

The boatman hugged his arms and leaned against the mast: "So, when you enter Jiangning City, it's better for the proprietor not to talk nonsense. This is the western capital of our country, the Tang Dynasty, at the feet of the emperor. You don't know if you will offend any powerful person with one sentence." People!"

The merchant wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "I am young and ignorant, thank you for reminding me! Thank you very much!"

"Hey, you're welcome, proprietor," the boatman said proudly.

Although he is a boat operator, he travels to the Qinhuai Canal all year round. He thinks he has seen the world, and it is not a problem to scare these businessmen from various states and counties.

The merchants looked from a distance and saw the sails of the colorful flag cruise ship moving south along the river. They couldn't help but murmured: "I wonder if Master Zhou will be on that cruise ship."

The boatman closed his eyes and said lazily: "Who knows, maybe they are the women of the Zhou family. Anyway, these wealthy children who have no worries about food and clothing like to travel around by boat when they have nothing to do, which makes the canal wharf more and more crowded. It’s getting more and more crowded.”

~~~
The Caiban cruise ship sailed three or four miles away. Instead of continuing south along the main river, it sailed into a forked river in the southwest direction.

This is a tributary of the southern section of the Qinhuai River. Along the river, you can reach Banqiaodian, Moling, and Danyang.

The river here is slightly narrow, and there are very few recreational boats sailing in. Most of them are small passenger boats, awning boats, and sampans, transporting vendors and goods.

There are vast farmlands on both sides of the river. As far as the eye can see, the grass seedlings are green and several curved weeping willows grow along the river bank.

Accompanied by the soothing and melodious sound of the pipa, the cruise ship moves briskly on the clear water and clear waves, and from time to time, a bold bird of prey lands on the bow of the ship.

The sound of the pipa suddenly stopped, and a woman in a green skirt suddenly ran out of the cabin with the hem of her skirt in hand, smiling coquettishly and opening her arms to pounce on the naive finches.

The grain bird was frightened and flew away chirping.

"Miss, slow down!"

A young maid of fifteen or sixteen years old hurriedly ran forward.

"Dongmei, look, those birds are flying so fast!"

The woman in the skirt raised her head, pointing at the few cornbirds flying towards the fields and smiling innocently.

The warm sunshine fell on her smooth and unpainted cheeks, reflecting a layer of radiant light.

The gauze sleeves slid down from the forearms, revealing skin as delicate as mutton-fat jade.

With dark eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, a beautiful nose and cherry lips, and a delicate smile, she turned out to be a rare and stunning beauty.

The maid Dongmei said helplessly: "These are just wild sparrows picking up grains. How can they compare to the cages of Shezhou colorful sparrows raised by the master. The beautiful and expensive colorful sparrows in the house are hung there all day long. I don’t see the young lady looking at them more. , I saw a few wild birds in the fields today, which made the lady extremely happy."

The woman in the skirt held up the railing, enjoying the cool river breeze on her face, and said with a smile: "The colorful birds are beautiful, but they are kept in a cage all day long, and they have long lost their agility. They are like a dead thing, without any trace of it." There is nothing to be angry about.

Although wild birds are ordinary, they can fly freely between heaven and earth without restraint."

Suddenly, the woman in the skirt stepped on the railing, leaned her upper body out of the bow of the boat, opened her arms and let the river wind blow, and tried her best to shout with the loudest voice in her life: "I, Zhou Xian, also want to turn into a wild bird and fly high. Look!" This vast world!”

The clear and beautiful voice was like a joyful oriole, but it frightened the maid Dongmei so much that she quickly pulled her down.

"Miss, come down quickly! You can't swim, how could you fall into the river?"

Dongmei held Zhou Xian's arm tightly, fearing that she would lose her footing and fall from the bow of the boat.

The rare indulgence made Zhou Xian extremely excited. His slender neck and cheeks were flushed. He waved to a few chirping finches on the weeping willows on the bank and shouted: "Little bird, little bird, come here~"

While jumping and shouting, he giggled like silver bells.

Dongmei didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and her young lady was playing too crazy.

Looking at the rippling blue water under the bow of the boat, Zhou Xian suddenly had another idea and said excitedly: "Dongmei, can you fish? How about we fish on the bow of the boat?"

Dongmei opened her eyes wide: "How can my servant know how to fish?"

Zhou Xian said with a smile: "I don't know how, it doesn't matter, let's fish for fun! I went to Uncle Zhou Tong and asked for two sets of fishing gear."

Dongmei looked at the sky and wondered why: "Young lady, please promise me that you will go back after playing for a while! We have violated the family rules by sneaking out. If the master finds out, the servant girl will definitely be beaten to death by him, and the young lady will also be punished." .”

"Oh! I promise you, we will turn around and go back when we get to the Banqiao store! The river fish in the Banqiao store is the most delicious, let's have a meal before going back!" Zhou Xian smiled mischievously, like a greedy cat.

Dongmei had no choice but to go to the back cabin of the boat and ask for fishing gear from Zhou Tong, the leader of the Zhou Family Nursing Home who was accompanying her.

After a while, Dongmei came back with two sets of fishing rods, and Zhou Xian played with the fishing rods enthusiastically. While the two girls were discussing, they stretched the fishing rods out of the bow of the boat, dropped the fishing lines and hooks, and started fishing.
~~~
"Master Marquis, the boat boss said that if we walk more than two miles, we can merge into the main channel of the Qinhuai River."

On the passenger ship, Hu Guangyue got out of the cabin to report.

"I know, go ahead and urge them to row faster. If they can reach Jiangning before dusk, the reward will be doubled." Zhu Xiu ordered lightly.

Hu Guangyue was ordered to retreat.

Zhu Xiu stood on the bow of the boat, holding the railing with one hand and shaking the folding fan with the other, squinting and looking at the river ahead.

Pan Mei stood beside him, opening her clothes to reveal her dark, furry chest, and shaking her goose feather fan violently. It was so hot that he wanted to jump into the river and take a bath.

Duan Duan had an exquisite white feather fan, but when it came to Pan Mei's hands, it felt like a fan burning on fire.

Pan Mei couldn't get enough of fanning, so she snatched the folding fan from Zhu Xiu's hand and fanned it vigorously. She found that the two fans had about the same airflow capabilities.

"This fan is not cool at all, it's useless!" Pan Mei cursed in disgust.

Zhu Xiu grabbed the fan and glared at him fiercely: "You know nothing! This fan is not just for cooling off!"

Pan Meiniu's eyes widened: "Then for what?"

Zhu Xiu raised her head slightly and said proudly: "To reflect my handsomeness, chicness and grace!"

"." Pan Mei was choked and speechless for a while, and could only express her disgust with the word "bah".

Zhu Xiu said disdainfully: "Just wait and see, it won't take long for the folding fan to become popular all over the world. Especially the literati and elegant people in Jiangnan who pride themselves on being romantic are even more in love with this thing!"

"Hehehe~ Hehehehe~" Pan Mei ended this round of argument with a strange hum.

Suzhou is rich in bamboo and wood, so Zhu Xiu opened a Xianyuanzhai, specializing in making and selling folding fans.

In Pan Mei's view, the business of selling fans is not very reliable, and the so-called Xianyuan Fan is priced extremely high. Although it has just been launched in Suzhou, it has caused some excitement, but basically no one cares about it.

However, Zhu Xiu didn't care and let the craftsmen of Xianyuanzhai continue to make folding fans. He also invited painters to draw pictures and even wrote inscriptions himself.

I have stocked up on a large number of folding fans, but haven’t sold many of them until now.

Pan Mei gloated about her misfortune, saying that this business was going to be ruined.

However, in view of Zhu Xiu's glorious history of running a series of businesses such as salt factory, Guanghe store, and Shenghe mansion in Jingzhou, and never failed. Although Pan Mei is not optimistic about the folding fan business, she is not too sure about it.

Zhu Liang and Zhu Fang walked out of the cabin hand in hand, watching Zhu Xiu and Pan Mei talking from a distance and not daring to get close.

Zhu Xiu waved to them, and the two dolls hesitated for a while before cautiously stepping forward.

"If you feel the cabin is too stuffy, just go out for a walk and enjoy the breeze." Zhu Xiu said with a smile.

Zhu Liang whispered: "I heard that the boss of the ship kept a few old turtles in the back cabin. We want to take a look."

The eldest girl Zhu Fang also flashed a pair of big black eyes, full of eagerness and curiosity.

Zhu Xiu laughed and said: "You can go if you want. You can come and go on this boat without any restraint. But don't go to places where you can easily fall into the water to avoid danger."

"I know!~" Zhu Liang was very excited when he got the answer.

Scratching his head, the little guy hesitated and said, "You said you are a relative of mine, so what should I call you?"

Zhu Xiu smiled and said, "What do you think I should be called?"

Zhu Liang blinked: "You are younger than my father, so I will call you uncle."

Zhu Xiu laughed and agreed.

Pan Mei patted her chest and said, "You have to call me Uncle Pan!"

Zhu Liang hurriedly pulled the big girl to kneel down and kowtow, bowing like a model: "Kowtow to little uncle and Uncle Pan!"

"Let's go play!" Zhu Xiu nodded to them kindly.

The two dolls cheered, holding hands and jumping to the back cabin.

Pan Mei rubbed her beard and said with emotion: "In a blink of an eye, our old Pan is also an uncle! Old man, old man!"

Zhu Xiu glanced at him and said sarcastically: "Isn't that right? It's embarrassing for a man in his twenties to be a bachelor!"

Pan Mei said hey, "You have a lot of connections. Why don't you go back to Kaifeng tomorrow and introduce me to a daughter from an official family?"

"It's a trivial matter, I'll take care of it! If you give birth to a son in the future, you have to recognize me as your godfather!"

"Haha~ Needless to say! You are the godfather~~"

While they were talking and laughing, a huge cruise ship appeared in front of the river, heading towards the passenger ship at a very fast speed.
(End of this chapter)