Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 23: Last Year on This Day

As soon as Yang Yuan entered "Moshanghua", Yu Jiguang and others could not follow him in directly.

Yu Jiguang, who was hiding in the dark, ordered Mao Shaofan: "Go to the embroidery workshop and pretend to be a guest. Find out the purpose of Yang Yuan's visit."

Mao Shaofan agreed and walked towards the "Moshanghua" embroidery workshop.

Yu Jiguang continued to hide in the dark with Chen Lixing and Da Chu until Yang Yuan came out, and then they followed quietly.

After leaving "Moshanghua", Yang Yuan went to the "Shuiyunjian" restaurant.

These two places are not far apart.

Coming out of the "Moshanghua" embroidery workshop and crossing Jijia Bridge, you will reach Qiantang County Government Office.

Walking further from Qiantang County Government Office, you will see restaurants along the banks of West Lake.

"Shuiyunjian" is located among them, a three-story restaurant hidden among the pink peach blossoms and green willows.

There is a huge peach tree planted in front of the building. Whenever the wind blows, the petals fall down in a riot of colour.

Peach blossoms floated onto the lake, dyeing the clear water in front of the building red.

On the lake, pleasure boats occasionally pass by, pushing the peach blossoms on the emerald green water to sway, just like the elegance of Qinhuai.

"Shuiyunjian" is not very big. Although it has three floors, it is exquisite in every detail, unlike the tall and magnificent buildings in the north.

The essence of Jiangnan scenery is the word “small”.

The building where people live is small and exquisite, the food they eat is small, and even the tableware is small.

It is in perfect harmony with the local landscape and customs, and what we want is exquisiteness.

The business of "Shuiyunjian" is very good.

You see, there is the West Lake in front of this place, and it is crowded with tourists.

Across the bridge at the back are the Imperial College, Imperial University and the Military Academy. How could the restaurant business here be bad?

Even though it's not dinner time yet, the store is bustling with customers.

From a distance, one can see green and white wine flags flying outside, and forks and gardenia lanterns lined up in front of the door.

Yang Yuan did not go straight ahead. When he was almost at the restaurant, he turned into a patch of grass.

Yu Jiguang and others thought he was going to relieve himself, so they pretended to be tourists and wandered around.

Yang Yuan crawled into the bushes, immediately placed the bag on the grass and opened it.

He first untied his head scarf, took off his linen sandals, and then loosened his outer robe.

He took out his elder brother's corner-knotted hat from the bag and tied it on his hair, then put on a pair of black satin official boots.

It would be much more convenient to put on these first and then put on your clothes than to put on your robe first and then adjust your crown, shoes and socks.

After putting on the official robe with narrow sleeves and a round collar, he put on the raccoon sleeves, tied the waist guard, and tied a leather belt on the outside.

Finally, hang a sword on the leather belt and tie a dark gray scarf around your chest.

Looking at Yang Yuan at this time, he looked like an imperial guard in ordinary uniform.

Yang Yuan looked at his outfit and felt that there was nothing missing, so he packed his changed clothes into the bag, still carrying it on his shoulders, and walked out of the bushes.

From a distance, Yu Jiguang and others were secretly surprised to see him coming out of the bushes, wearing a set of imperial army uniform.

Could it be that Yang Yuan is actually also a member of the Imperial City Bureau?

Yu Jiguang was very excited. Although the case involved a noble lady from the Jin Dynasty and the situation was somewhat complicated and troublesome, it would be a great achievement if the case was solved.

Yang Yuan rushed to the "Shuiyunjian" restaurant. As soon as he entered the gate, he saw crimson and green curtains, gold-covered red gauze, and gardenia lanterns that decorated the halls, courtyards, and corridors, making them bright and prosperous.

Entering the hotel, the bonsai, seasonal flowers, and bamboo flowers in the hanging windows make one feel like walking into a garden. As Yang Yuan looked around, a waitress came up to greet him attentively.

The waitress was a young girl in her teens, about twelve or thirteen years old, with a pretty face, like a flower, and a maid. She had long, thin crescent-shaped eyebrows and a face full of youthfulness.

She was wearing a beige short jacket that only reached her hips, and a pair of plain lotus-green pants with a white crotch, which made her look very clean and neat.

"Sir, please come in~~" the little girl sang a yes in a crisp voice.

"I am not here to drink, but to look for someone."

The waitress immediately bowed and said with a smile: "All the guests on the first floor are here. Sir, please take a look and see if there are any friends you know?
As for the private room on the second floor, there are currently four tables of guests. However, please tell your friend in detail, otherwise I will not dare to disturb the guests' drinking pleasure."

Yang Yuan shook his head and said, "I am not here to look for the guests who drink here, but to look for a barmaid in your shop."

oh~~
The waitress showed a hint of teasing charm.

She came closer to Yang Yuan, winked at him, and said with a chuckle, "Sir, you're here too early.

The barmaids of our restaurant will not come until after the lights are turned on. At this hour, I am afraid they are all still sleeping at home."

Yang Yuan also knew that he had arrived early, but he didn't even know the woman's name, so he might as well ask the waitress first.

Yang Yuan took out a few coins from his sleeve and stuffed them into his pocket, saying with a smile, "To be honest, I happened to see a few prostitutes in the attic on either side of your courtyard a few days ago.

There was a girl among them who was so charming at first sight!
Unfortunately, I was busy entertaining friends at the time and didn't have time to ask the young lady's name, so I'd like to ask you now."

It was almost two months ago that Yang Yuan saw that drunkard.

But it seemed strange that he suddenly fell in love at first sight after two months, so Yang Yuan said it was two days ago.

The waitress took the money and smiled even sweeter: "There are not many ladies serving wine in this restaurant, only seven in total.

Whether it is Chengxin, Ruyi, Anan, Shuangshuang, Tiantian, Lianlian, or Panpan, I am very familiar with them all.

I wonder which one you are looking for, sir?"

Ugh~, such a repetitive word, so disgusting.

Their stage names are too random.

Yang Yuan cleared his throat, recalled and described: "That girl, she is tall and slender, with an indescribable laziness between her eyebrows.

Well..., as long as she stood in the pavilion, even though she looked half dead, she was very charming. "

The waitress giggled again, nudged Yang Yuan with her elbow, and said jokingly, "Master, you are so humorous. All the barmaids in our restaurant are very pretty.

They serve wine and entertain guests until dawn every day, and every day they are either drunk or sleepy, which makes them look half dead... No, they look lazy and languid. "

This little girl movie...

Yang Yuan also knew that it was difficult for him to explain it clearly, so he said helplessly: "I can't tell you more details. Forget it, just give me two side dishes and a glass of wine. I'll wait for her here."

The measurement of wine is as follows: one liter is called jue, two liters are called gu, three liters are called zhi, four liters are called jiao, and five liters are called san.

Although the alcohol content of the wine was not high at that time, Yang Yuan did not want to drink too much, so he only ordered one glass.

He was about to find a table to sit down when he suddenly remembered a detail and immediately called the waitress:

"Hey, come here. I remember that the drunkard had a small beauty spot under her left eye."

The waitress smiled and said, "It will be easy if you can explain it clearly, sir... Hmm? There is a beauty spot under her left eye..."

The little girl suddenly stopped smiling, and looked at Yang Yuan carefully with a stern face.

Yang Yuan was pleasantly surprised and asked, "Young lady, have you figured out who she is?"

The little girl's eyes narrowed slowly: "Did the master really see her in my attic two days ago?"

(End of this chapter)