Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 54: Looking at the flowers in Yingchuan, none is as beautiful as Shishi

Madam Li looked at Yang Yuan's figure walking along the sedan chair through the gap in the curtain of the sedan chair.
Thinking about how this young man racked his brains to marry a widowed young woman, I couldn't help but secretly admire him.

"He is such a sentimental young man. I should lend him a helping hand and help them find a good match!"

As for Yang Yuan's intention to package Dan Niang to appear more noble in order to win his father's consent, although it might be a bit of a deception, as long as his intentions were good, Mrs. Li didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Although there is no word "packaging" in this era, packaging as a concept has existed since ancient times.

Jiang Ziya fishing in the Wei River, Chen Zi'ang smashing his zither in public, and Lu Zangyong retiring to the Nanshan Mountains, aren't they all packaging and hype?

The ancients were well aware of this and had many different ways of doing it.

As long as you don’t package yourself to harm others, what does it matter?

Take herself for example. If it weren't for Madam Li who spent a fortune to invite famous scholars from Bianjing to write poems for her,
How could she, at the young age of thirteen, become the head of the upper hall in Tokyo, where "all the flowers in Yingchuan are beautiful, but none is as pretty as Shishi"?

Mother Li is a woman of great courage. When she was very young, she gambled on her future.

Mother Li risked the ruin of her family and spent a huge sum of money to invite the famous scholar to compose a poem for her.

Therefore, there are Zhang Xian's "Shishi Ling", Qin Guan's "A Bunch of Flowers", Yan Jidao's "Shengcha Zi", and Zhou Bangyan's "Yulan Er"...

At the age of thirteen, she became famous all over the world...

Mother Li's courage was rewarded a thousandfold.

And what about her? She also won the reputation of "the head of the Tokyo upper hall" and the reputation of "the flying general" who was chivalrous and righteous.

But people today only remember the beauty of the head of the Tokyo Shangting. How many people remember her heroic deeds of being chivalrous and righteous even more than men?
When the Jin army invaded the south, she donated a large sum of money to reward the soldiers who fought against the Jin army. However, the money she donated was embezzled by the treacherous minister Liang Shicheng.

Shishi suppressed her anger and donated another sum of money, but Liang Shicheng actually embezzled money again.

Miss Shishi was furious and she took out another large sum of money.

But this time, the money was not donated to the court, but to recruit heroes from all over the world to assassinate the Grand Marshal Liang Shicheng!
It was at that time that she met the knight named Yan who recommended himself.

Unfortunately, Liang Shicheng was surrounded by many experts, and the assassination attempt was ultimately unsuccessful.

The current Taiwei, what's wrong with being greedy for your money? How dare you hire someone to assassinate me?

General Liang was so angry that he wanted to crush this ignorant ant to death.

But Li Shishi was such a smart woman that she had already prepared a backup plan.

The rumor that an official went out of the palace in disguise and visited Miss Shishi quickly spread in Tokyo Bianliang.

No one knows whether it is true or not, but who dares to conclude that it is false?

No one dared to ask the emperor for confirmation.

Therefore, although the "Assassination of Liang" case caused a sensation among the people, the officials above remained silent.

Miss Shishi was finally safe and sound, and General Liang did not even dare to touch her.

But do you think that the matter ends here? Of course not.

If a woman hates someone, she will never give up as long as she is given another chance.

When Emperor Qinzong of Song ascended the throne and the six traitors were punished, Liang Shicheng was banished from Tokyo and exiled to another place.

However, when Liang Shicheng was escorted to Bajiao Town, southwest of Kaifeng, he was killed by the escorting officers.

The officer who killed him was the one bribed by Miss Shishi!

A few months later, Bianliang fell.

Zhang Bangchang, the Prime Minister of Song, was supported by the Jin people as the emperor of "Great Chu". Miss Shishi paid a large sum of money to let the ranger named Yan recruit heroes to assassinate the false emperor.

After this failure, the rumor that "the official had a private favor with Li Shishi" could no longer protect her, so she had to leave.

When the ranger named Yan was escorting her to the south, he was shot down into the rolling waves by the flying feathers of the Jin army.

People at that time once said: Li Shishi was generous and heroic, and was famous for her chivalry, so she was called the "Flying General".

But when this comment came out, she had not yet assassinated General Liang, let alone Emperor Zhang.

It can be seen that she is usually very generous and chivalrous.

Compared with the Han Dynasty's Flying General Li Guang, their status and position are extremely high, but how can we tell who is more patriotic?

Shishi asked herself that in terms of generosity and righteousness, she, Li Shishi from Tokyo, was no less than Liang Hongyu from Jingkou.

But Liang Hongyu had a confidant, Han Shizhong, who accompanied her throughout her life.

But she, Li Shishi, was alone, reading Nanhua by candlelight...

……

In the "Shuiyunjian" restaurant, Dan Niang was lying behind the counter, drowsy, with her cheek in her hand.

It was a quiet afternoon and the store was completely silent.

In the distance, cicadas are chirping continuously, which is the first wave of cicadas' singing this summer.

Suddenly, Dan Niang seemed to realize something. She looked up and saw Mr. Yang, whom she had just seen in her dream, standing in front of her alive.

Dan Niang was just happy, and before she could say anything, she noticed the beautiful woman standing next to Mr. Yang.

Mrs. Li stood there calmly and gracefully, neither saying a word nor moving.

But when Dan Niang took a look, she felt as if every part of her body was moving.

Her eyes were so gentle and warm that one could willingly drown in them.

Dan Niang knew from childhood that she was a beauty, but when she saw Madam Li, she actually felt a little ashamed of herself.

Dan Niang's heart immediately went ringing with alarm bells. Who was she and why was she standing next to Mr. Yang?

"Mr. Yang, this lady is..."

As Dan Niang spoke to Yang Yuan, she stared at Madam Li without blinking. "Oh, this is the female teacher I invited for you..."

Yang Yuan quickly glanced around and said in a low voice, "Let's go to the back and talk in detail."

When Dan Niang heard that it was a female teacher who was found for her, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

She is a master of setting up "beauty traps" and is naturally very beautiful.

But it was not until she saw Madam Li that she realized there were women in this world whose charm and beauty could make her so convinced.

If this woman wanted to snatch the man from her, she would be too embarrassed to fight back, because... her opponent was too strong!

Dan Niang quickly called Qingtang to help her guard the counter, and then asked Yang Yuan and Madam Li to go to the third floor of the back wing.

After inviting Madam Li to sit down and have some tea and rest, Dan Niang called Yang Yuan out on the pretext of helping Madam Li arrange a room.

"Mr. Yang, you already have Madam Li, why are you still looking for me? Isn't this like looking for a horse while you are still riding one?"

Dan Niang's tone was sour, like a little nagging woman.

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "When I came to find you, I hadn't seen what she looked like yet."

You'll die if you try to coax me! Dan Niang's teeth started to itch.

Dan Niang called Yang Yuan out. Li Shishi saw it and knew that it was Dan Niang who called him out on purpose.

Mrs. Li believed Yang Yuan's statement even more about the relationship between the two.

She was very fond of Dan Niang as soon as she saw her. It was obvious at first glance that Dan Niang and Yang Yuan were a perfect match made in heaven.

I will definitely help you with this!

Outside, Yang Yuan told Dan Niang how he knew about Madam Li and what reason he used to invite her.

Only then did Dan Niang realize that Yang Yuan had actually met Madam Li today as well.

Moreover, in front of Mrs. Li, he described himself as his sweetheart.

Dan Niang's resentment and sourness disappeared in an instant.

Dan Niang said happily: "She knows it now. Sir, don't worry, I will never tell her anything."

The two returned to the room again. When Mrs. Li saw Dan Niang, she smiled gently:
"Don't worry, young lady. Although the time is a little short, according to Mr. Yang, it's not a big problem."

"In that case, thank you very much, sir!"

Dan Niang agreed respectfully, emphasizing the word "sir".

From now on, you are my husband, so you are not allowed to have any ideas about your apprentice's son-in-law!

……

After Yang Che left the "Moshanghua" embroidery workshop, he returned to the Imperial City Office to cancel his leave.

He had already gotten the answer from the fat man. His good brother really quit his job and had never been to "Moshanghua" for a single day.

For a moment, Yang Che didn't know what to do with Yang Yuan.

He tried hard to fulfill his responsibilities as an "eldest brother who is like a father", but not only had he never been a father, he didn't even have any experience in how to be an eldest brother.

He didn't know how to communicate this matter with Yang Yuan.

He didn't understand why Yang Yuan gave up this opportunity.

It was a career that would clearly pay well in the future, an opportunity that others would beg for, so why did my second brother refuse it without telling me?

Because he didn't understand, Yang Che felt extremely anxious.

The old father's mentality is that even if I leave you a mountain of gold, if you are lazy, you don't have a proper job, and you don't have any survival skills, he will be worried that you will starve to death without him.

What exactly does my second brother want?

Facing the Jin people's secret agents, Yang Che, who was both resourceful and decisive,

Facing Yang Yuan, this troublesome brother, he was filled with worries and had no idea what to do...

……

When Yang Che returned to the Imperial City Division, Zhao Mi, the commander of the four wings of the Dragon God Guard, was waiting for the emperor in the parade ground of the Palace Front Division.

Zhao Mi was dressed in military uniform. Although he was in his sixties and his hair and beard were gray, he still looked dashing.

He stood outside the gate, his posture straight as a spear, his gray beard fluttering on his chest.

There were more than a dozen riders on fast horses in front, galloping towards the gate. The horses were swift and agile, and they were as fast as the wind.

There were more than a dozen knights on horseback, and although they were all wearing ordinary clothes, Zhao Mi still recognized the emperor at a glance.

The official wore a black gauze turban, an ochre-yellow round-necked, wide-sleeved robe, and a belt embroidered with rhinoceros horn, gold and jade.

He was guarded by a dozen knights, riding his horse at full speed with superb riding skills.

Seeing the group of fast horses approaching, Zhao Mi clasped his fists and saluted, and said in a deep voice: "Zhao Mi, the Dragon Guard in front of the palace, respectfully welcomes the emperor."

"Please stand up, my dear."

Zhao Gou, who was nearly fifty years old, pulled the reins of his horse suddenly. The horse stood up and neighed.

As soon as the huge horse hoof landed, Zhao Gou had already lifted his leg to dismount, and Zhao Mi hurried forward to support him.

The emperor's adopted son, Prince Pu'an Zhao Yuan, the chief eunuch of the inner court Zhang Quwei, and more than a dozen guards also dismounted from their horses.

Zhao Mi helped the emperor down and bowed to Prince Pu'an.

Zhao Yuan did not dare to neglect this veteran general who commanded a large number of troops. He quickly returned the greeting humbly and said hello with a smile: "Hello, old general."

Zhao Gou could not wait to ask: "When Yuan'er came to the palace to pay respect today, she mentioned that the enemy-killing bow had been improved. Is that true?"

(End of this chapter)