Knife splashing

Chapter 141 Huaye Tower

The Hua'e Building has a reason for its name.

During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Minghuang built the Hua'e Xianghui Tower in the Xingqing Palace out of friendship for his brother's abdication of the throne, where he played music, drank wine, and slept in the same bed with his brothers.

At that time, this building was ranked higher than the four famous buildings and was known as the best building in the world. Later, it became the permanent residence of Emperor Ming and his concubine.

Today, although the four famous towers have gone through wars and have been renovated many times, they are still there, but the Hua'e Xianghui Tower has completely disappeared in the dust.

The former Xingqing Palace is now the Chang'an Palace.

In order to avoid suspicion, the Prince of Chang'an only rebuilt part of the palace and did not dare to overstep the line in any way, let alone recreate the No. 1 building in the world.

But among the people, it is another matter.

The Emperor Minghuang also had another identity, the founder of the opera industry.

The so-called "Liyuan" was a special singing and dancing organization in the Tang Dynasty palace. It gathered together many great figures from all over China. The Emperor Minghuang himself was a versatile person and served as the conductor himself.

During the Lantern Festival in Chang'an, the bright lanterns reflecting the snow and the colorful costumes still capture the imagination of many scholars and writers.

The Emperor called himself Sanlang and often scolded during rehearsals: "Practice well, don't embarrass me, Sanlang!"

In many dialects, "old" is also a nickname for "young".

Therefore, the Ming Emperor was also worshipped as Lao Langshen.

The disciples of the opera troupe have been worshipping him for generations.

The name "Hua'e Building" must be extraordinary...

……

"Young Master, please come in."

Before entering the door, a servant greeted me with a smile.

Even though Li Yan was wearing a dark coarse cotton military uniform, which looked very low-class, the other party's words were refreshing.

People who do this job are called "big teapots" in the north and "turtle men" in the south. They have a low status and once they become one, they will be looked down upon for the rest of their lives.

Among them, some are truly miserable people. Their mothers are prostitutes. They grew up in brothels and are accustomed to being looked down upon by the world.

Still others are street scoundrels who were brought up by brothels and have cruel hearts and vicious hands, and have more or less taken lives.

"Thank you."

Li Yan said this out of habit.

The servant was stunned for a moment, but he quickly recovered and became more respectful. He bent down, raised his hand and led the way.

As soon as he entered the building, Li Yan stopped.

The layout of this "Eye Tower" is truly extraordinary.

As you enter the gate, you will see a huge stage in front of you, with a Persian red carpet, musicians playing music and singing, and women dancing.

What surprised Li Yan was that the women had fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes, and were all beautiful Hu girls from the Western Regions.

There was affection between their brows, their jade arms were stretched out, their snow-white bare feet were spinning, and their light clothes fluttered with their dance steps.

"Young Master, this is the Hu Xuan Dance."

The big teapot beside him was not in a hurry either, and introduced with a smile: "In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the Huxuan dance was popular in Chang'an, and these girls were selected by the shopkeeper himself in the Western Regions."

"Which girl do you like? You can ask her to come into the house and dance for you alone later."

"Not urgent."

Li Yan shook his head and said, "I'll reserve a seat first and invite someone later..."

"Brother Yan!"

A familiar shout came from a distance.

The main hall of Hua'e Building is quite large, with a huge pool behind the stage and a pear flower woodcarving in the center. Surrounding the lobby is a three-story red building with many rooms and people coming and going.

Li Yan looked in the direction of the voice and saw a disheveled man leaning against the railing on the second floor on the right, a wine jug dangling from his hand. A woman was lying beside him, her eyes hazy with drunkenness and full of teasing.

It was the "Night Crying Man" Shen Sanyou.

Li Yan was stunned, then he burst into laughter.

There were too many people here and the smell of powder was too strong, so he did not use his magical powers and did not notice that Shen Sanyou had arrived early.

After the servant went upstairs, Li Yan was even more dumbfounded.

The layout of the Calyx Building is also unique.

The corridors in the room were very spacious, also covered with red carpets, and there were individual seats separated by screens.

Some were empty, while others had women drinking with guests.

The table in front of Shen Sanyou was already filled with wine jugs and a few plates of exquisite side dishes, but it was already a mess.

He looked at Li Yan, scratched his head embarrassedly, and said with a smile: "Little brother Li, I'm waiting for you to treat me to a drink. I think about you day and night."

"This morning you sent someone to deliver a message, and I couldn't wait any longer. I thought it would be inappropriate to keep you waiting, so I came a little earlier..."

puff!

The woman next to him was middle-aged, but still charming. She covered her mouth with her fan and laughed, "Sanlang, you didn't just come a little earlier. You've been drinking since morning."

Li Yan was not angry either, he shook his head and smiled: "Senior, aren't you afraid that I will break my promise and leave you here?"

"fine!"

Shen Sanyou was already a little drunk, and waved his hand and said, "If the person doesn't come, the gift will be fine. Just send someone to settle the bill."

"Hahaha, that won't work."

Li Yan laughed, then looked around, "Senior, there are too many people here, why don't we book a private room to continue drinking."

…………

"It's not appropriate to open a private room."

Shen Sanyou shook his head directly, raised his head and smiled: "Look here, everything is beautiful, bright and airy."

"Not only is it expensive to rent a private room, but if you want to see the beauties you have to pay more. Isn't this a big rip-off?"

"Besides...I have a way to save more money!"

He chuckled, leaned closer and whispered, "In this Pingkangfang alley, there are many empty houses of Chang'an nobles."

"If you like any girl, I'll take you there for a night. It's much more fun than here."

"Especially the Chang'an Palace. Wow, it's so elegantly decorated. It really wins my heart!"

Li Yan: “…”

"What's wrong? Are you embarrassed?" Seeing Li Yan's look, Shen Sanyou was immediately dissatisfied.

Li Yan said speechlessly: "We have already stayed in that house, and we have also promised the palace to guard it at night and drive away the wanderers."

"Shameless!"

Shen Sanyou slammed the table hard and cursed: "Isn't the house for living in?"

"These princes and nobles have so many houses, but they don't even look at them. They are almost moldy. What's wrong with me living in one of them?"

"How stingy!"

“Hahahaha…” The woman next to her was so amused that she couldn’t straighten her back.

Li Yan took a glance and felt a little surprised.

Logically speaking, the girls in brothels are well-informed and have good taste, so this would never happen.

Most likely he is Shen Sanyou’s old lover.

Shen Sanyou cursed a lot, but did not mention the matter again. Instead, he took a sip from his wine glass and sneered, "I know what you want to do, you just want to ask about the affairs of the Xuanmen Dao in Chang'an."

"Don't worry, there will be a good show later, let's watch it first."

"A good show?"

Li Yan became interested.

At this moment, Shen Sanyou's eyes lit up and he pointed downwards, "Look, the fun is about to begin!"

Li Yan looked down, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

On the stage below, the Western Hu girls who had just appeared had all dispersed, and two people strode onto the stage.

A man wearing a blue cloth gown, tall and thin, with deep wrinkles on his face, white beard and hair, a solemn expression, and playing with a pair of walnuts in his left hand...

The other one was a middle-aged man, white and plump, wearing a robe, with a smiling face, looking very friendly...

The fat man coughed, and seeing that he had attracted everyone's attention, he bowed respectfully to the people around him and said, "Dear elders, I am the leader of the Wu Clan. Today I would like to exchange skills with the Yang Clan."

"In our business, we value skills, but who is better is up to you to decide." "Later, the disciples will hand out some chips, and after both sides show their unique skills, you can vote for the one who looks the best."

"Everyone, please forgive me if this bothers me."

As he said this, he raised his hands, clasped his fists, and bowed deeply.

"it is good!"

"Tsk tsk, this evening was not in vain!"

"Show your real skills, I will reward you if I am happy!"

The audience around cheered and made a noise.

The fat martial arts troupe leader also made faces and bowed left and right, with a lively expression, and kept saying funny things, which caused bursts of laughter in the room.

With just a few words, he had taken control of the atmosphere in the hall.

Seeing this, the tall and thin old man on the side stepped forward and clasped his fists and said, "Everyone, what the martial arts master said is right. Our business requires real skills. Just talking is useless."

"You are all well-informed people. Our drama troupe has many skills, so we naturally cannot compare them one by one. It would waste your time."

"So there will be three fights next: one is strength skills, the second is clever skills, and the third is ancient magic tricks."

Then he turned around and asked, "Master Wu, you first?"

The fat man hurriedly cupped his hands, "I am a junior, so I naturally have to give way to Boss Yang."

"After you."

Although both sides looked friendly, they were actually confronting each other sharply.

"Alright."

Boss Yang nodded, sneered, and turned to leave the stage.

It turned out to be the troupe of Xicaimen.

Li Yan also noticed it now, and wondered why there were acrobatics in this brothel?

Seeing this, the woman next to Shen Sanyou covered her mouth and laughed, "This little brother doesn't know that in the old days, opera was called Sanle Baixi."

"During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, during the Lantern Festival, almost all the troupes in Shenzhou would gather in Chang'an and compete to perform in the Hua'e Xianghui Tower."

"Our shopkeeper naturally welcomes them to come in. Therefore, there are always opera performances in Hua'e Building every night."

"For street performers, Hua'e Tower is a Feng Shui treasure land. These two are the most famous troupes in Chang'an. The two sides agreed to compete. Whoever wins will occupy the Hua'e Tower next year."

"Oh I got it."

Li Yan nodded slightly, but he had lost interest.

In his previous life, he had seen a lot of both ancient and modern magic tricks, not to mention various acrobatics, and was knowledgeable.

Even in this life, Suzaku Street is full of street performers. What has they not seen?

Seeing this, Shen Sanyou smiled mysteriously and said, "Just watch. These two troupes are different from ordinary troupes."

As he was speaking, a person walked up from below.

This is a middle-aged man with a strong build, dark face and an honest look. He looks like an old farmer in the country.

"Dear fellow villagers..."

As soon as the man opened his mouth, he spoke with a strong Yuzhou accent.

He clasped his fists and said to the people around him: "What I am going to show you is the traditional strength skills, raising the sword and drawing the bow. As the saying goes, a Spring and Autumn sword weighs 100 pounds, and it is powerful enough to kill four gates..."

"Uu——!"

Before he could finish his words, someone booed.

"Hey, brother, don't be impatient."

The man on the stage said calmly, "I know most people are tired of this, but since you dare to do it, you must have a unique skill!"

"Everyone knows that raising a sword and drawing a bow is nothing more than playing with a heavy sword and drawing a hard bow. It would be unsatisfying to watch an ordinary person playing with a Guandao weighing more than 100 kilograms."

"Then I'll add a little more..."

"What, what did you say?!"

"Increase to 200 kilograms?"

"Hey, this is not difficult for me..."

As he spoke, he suddenly stretched out four fingers.
"Increase to 400 kilograms!"

Everyone gasped.

Even Li Yan found it a little unbelievable.

He knew this traditional acrobatics, which was about waving an iron Guandao and showing amazing strength.

Even if it weighs 400 kilograms, he can still perform some sword tricks.

That's unusual...

Seeing that everyone's attention was drawn, the man shouted, "Come on, all talk is fake."

"Look here, brothers, carry it up to me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several men came up from the stage.

They formed a group of two, each sitting on the left or right, carrying a wooden stick on their shoulders and holding a long Guandao, shouting slogans as they walked towards the stage.

This Spring and Autumn sword is black in color and is forged entirely from cast iron. The blade is two fingers thick and has two large copper rings at the head and tail.

The Spring and Autumn period broadsword requires extremely high waist, leg and arm strength, and this handle is more of a decoration than a weapon.

This is also what the statues in temples hold.

Boom!
Even though everyone handled it with care, it still made a dull sound when it landed.

"Pooh!"

The sturdy man spat, rubbed his hands, and was about to go forward to lift it, but halfway, he pretended to hear something and stared into the distance with wide eyes, "Hey, the brother over there doesn't seem to believe it. You said this is made of paper?"

"Come on, guys! Let's see if I'm lying!"

"it is good!"

Some curious people immediately went up to the stage to check it out.

This big knife was indeed not tampered with.

Some people were unable to move it at all. Some martial artists with amazing strength could only pull it up half an inch even though their faces turned red and their necks became thick. After giving a thumbs-up to the men from the opera troupe, they all left the stage.

"Hahaha!"

After some testing, the audience burst into laughter.

The man stopped talking and took off his clothes, revealing his shiny, black, lumpy body.

He grasped the handle of the Guandao in a snatch-lifting posture, took a deep breath, and as his body moved, his muscles twitched rhythmically and began to move like threads.

"rise!"

With a roar, the heavy Guandao was slowly picked up.

At the same time, his face became gloomy. He exerted force with both arms and swung the Guandao in a circle.

Afterwards, the speed became faster and faster, and various tricks were played.

Go with the flow, look back at the moon, win from defeat...

Although these movements are part of swordplay, they are mostly fancy sword moves used only in dramas. If they are used with such a heavy object, it would be simply horrifying.

"it is good!"

"it is good!"

The heavy Spring and Autumn sword flew up and down, making a whirring sound, which made everyone in the hall change color, and then there was thunderous applause and cheers.

After seeing this, Li Yan's expression also became solemn.

This is the art of body manipulation!
That is to say, please take something.

This method is somewhat similar to the medium. There are people in the folk who are good at mediums. They often play with swords and fire, and demonstrate it at various temple fairs and sacrifices...

The man below has not yet developed the dark power, but he is almost at the peak of the bright power and has extraordinary strength.

But the fact that he could wield the 400-jin Spring and Autumn sword so easily was due to his use of the Tong Body Technique.

At this moment, a ghost has attached itself to him...

(End of this chapter)