The man was caught by Qi Ning and thought he had committed something. Hearing what Qi Ning said, he breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Sir, there are interesting things over there. You should hurry up and take a look. The competition ring , it has been going on for three days, and today is the last day, and the winner will be determined later."
Qi Ning was surprised and asked: "A martial arts arena?"
"The Tian family is setting up the arena." The man explained: "If you can win the arena, there will be a reward of one hundred taels of silver. It is said that there will also be a mysterious gift."
"One hundred taels of silver?" Qi Ning laughed dumbly. If it had been before, maybe one hundred taels of silver would have been enough for him, but the things he has come into contact with recently often cost thousands or tens of thousands of taels, and one hundred taels of silver is really a small amount. It was pitiful, and he only had a hundred taels of silver to set up in the arena. Of course, a real master would not be able to lower himself to compete in the arena just for this little money. "What is the mysterious gift?"
The man chuckled and said, "I heard it's a very good thing. Some people say that he will be recruited by the Tian family to be his uncle. But what exactly it is, we can only guess and cannot confirm."
"Oh?" Qi Ning often heard the term "competition to recruit brides" in his previous life, but he had never seen it with his own eyes. Now he was a little interested, "You mean the Tian family set up a ring to compete in martial arts to recruit brides?"
"I also heard people say it privately, and Mrs. Tian didn't say it clearly. We don't know what's going on." The man was a little anxious: "Sir, I'll go over and take a look first. I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up if I wait too long."
Qining let go of his hand and the man ran away.
Qi Ning looked back at Ximen Zhanying beside him and asked with a smile: "Zhanying, how about we go take a look?"
Ximen Zhanyingli ignored him, thinking to himself, he would just spend the whole afternoon letting him waste his time. When it got dark, he couldn't help but go back home. No matter what he did, he could just follow him until the evening.
Many officials in the Shenhou Mansion have to undergo very harsh tests when they join the job. Many of them even take several months to pass. Compared to them, an afternoon is nothing.
Duan Canghai had already come closer at this time and said: "Master Hou, the Tian family's martial arts competition ring has been set up for several days, but those who compete are all three-legged cat kung fu, and no one who is a real master will go."
"A hundred taels of silver, let those real masters show off to others like monkeys in public?" Qining said: "Since the Tian family is going to set up an arena, they should be more grand and show off a hundred taels of gold. Maybe It can really attract a few people with real skills."
Duan Canghai said with a smile: "So when women do things, they are just small-minded and can't get on the stage." Suddenly he realized something, turned his head and saw Ximen Zhanying staring at him coldly, his beautiful eyes were like blades at this time Normal, very sharp, Duan Canghai immediately knew that he had made a mistake, so he smiled and said: "Miss Ximen, I... I'm not talking about you."
Ximen Zhanying sneered but didn't say anything.
Qi Ning couldn't help but ask: "What do you mean?"
"Master Hou, I knew it on the first day the Tian family set up the arena, but there were hundreds of weird things happening in the capital every day. I felt that Master Hou wouldn't care about such trivial things, so I didn't report it." Duan Canghai explained: "This Tian family is in the medicinal materials business...!"
"Oh?" Qi Ning said, "You also open a drug store?" He thought to himself that he has become more competitive with drug stores these days.
Duan Canghai said hurriedly: "No, Mr. Hou, the medicinal materials business of the Tian family is different from ordinary pharmacies. Our Yong'an Tang pharmacy is full of patent medicines. The Tian family is different from us. They are in the business of crude drugs."
"Herbal medicine?" Qi Ning was a little confused: "What's the difference?"
Ximen Zhanying heard it from the side, and seemed to have found a place to vent, showing disdain. Qining glanced at Ximen Zhanying and said, "Why, you think I don't understand, and you feel comfortable? Are you still there?" Do you know? It’s like a mountain apart. I’m not a doctor, so it’s not surprising if I don’t know.”
Ximen Zhanying wanted to argue, but thought that once he talked to him, this scoundrel would never stop talking, so he simply held back.
"Master Hou, crude drugs are unformed original drugs." Duan Canghai was a little embarrassed, "The medicinal materials in the drug store have been processed and can be decoctioned after buying them. However, crude drugs are different and need to be dried in the sun. The drug store is They are in the business of treating patients, but the Tian family is in the business of a pharmacy.”
"Oh?" Qining understood at this time: "Yong'antang has also done business with the Tian family?"
"I've done it." Duan Canghai said: "There are more than a dozen drug dealers like the Tian family in the capital, and there are also many doing this kind of business around the capital. However, most of the crude medicines of the Tian family are shipped from Bashu, and their sources are authentic. Therefore, it is still somewhat famous in Beijing, and many medicinal materials of Yong'antang are purchased from the Tian family."
"You just said that women do things with little taste, so what do you mean?" Qining asked doubtfully, "Could it be that the Tian family medicine shop is run by a woman?"
"That's right." Duan Canghai said with a smile: "The Marquis doesn't know that the Tian family medicine store has been operating in the capital for three generations. Since the founding of our country, the Tian family was the first batch of medicine merchants to enter the capital. The Tian family was originally The people of Bashu, at that time, the war had just ended, there were many injuries, and there was also a period of epidemic. The Tian family was very discerning. He was originally a small medicine man in Bashu, but he found an opportunity to sell medicine from Bashu to Beijing, and it soon became a trend. , when it was passed to Tian Zhongsheng, the family business was already quite big, and the foundation had already been laid in Beijing. It was a pity... It was a pity that when Tian Zhongsheng personally transported medicinal materials from Bashu to Beijing three years ago, he encountered robbers. Cars of medicinal materials were robbed, and people were also killed.”
Qi Ning was startled and frowned: "Then the Tian family has collapsed?"
"After such a big incident, many people feel that the Tian family will definitely not be able to survive." Duan Canghai said: "Although the Tian family has accumulated some property, the dozen or so carts of medicinal materials are not a small amount, and they have all been robbed. The Tian family was almost wiped out. At that time, the Tian family owed a lot of debts and was squeezed out by their peers. Everyone thought that there would be no Tian family medicine shop in the capital from now on, but no one expected that although Tian Zhongsheng died, he But the widow is amazing. She managed to hold on. In less than two years, she not only paid off all the debts she owed, but now the Tian family medicine store is still very active in the capital." Thumbs up and said: "That Mrs. Tian , He does have some abilities.”
Qi Ning asked: "Then the murderer was not found later?"
"The incident happened in Shu. It is said that local officials did investigate, but in the end it was ignored, and there is no reply to this day." Duan Canghai said: "Shu is a land of poor mountains and rivers, and bandits steal property and kill people. They go into the mountains. Once you hide, who can find him? It’s just a small medicine dealer, and it’s impossible for the officials of Shu to go all out to really find the murderer.”
Qi Ning nodded slightly, thinking that the Tian family was really unlucky, and asked curiously: "The Tian family is in the medicinal materials business, why did they suddenly set up an arena?"
"I don't know exactly why." Duan Canghai said: "But after the arena was set up, it was quite lively. Although there were no real masters, at the beginning many scoundrels really ran up to the arena for the one hundred taels of silver. I’m going to try my luck in the ring and fight wildly, but I don’t know what the situation is now.”
Qi Ning smiled and said, "Just now that boy said he had some mysterious gift and wanted to recruit an uncle. Is it possible that Mrs. Na Tian has been a widow for three years and now she wants to find a husband to keep her company?" Regardless of Ximen Zhanying's presence, he asked Said: "Duan Canghai, what do you think Mrs. Tian looks like?"
"I heard that he's really pretty." Duan Canghai chuckled and said, "Master Marquis, do you want to go over and take a look?"
Ximen Zhanying listened to the conversation between the two of them, frowned and snorted coldly.
Qi Ning just pretended not to hear and said: "Duan Canghai, you are not young anymore. At this age, other people's children are probably married. How about we go over and have a look. If it is really Mrs. Tian who is looking for a son-in-law, you still like it." , you might as well go up and show off your skills and marry Mrs. Na Tian."
Duan Canghai said awkwardly: "Master Hou, you... are you telling a joke?"
"It's not a joke." Qining said seriously: "You have served in the Marquis Mansion for many years. If you don't think about it yourself, I have to think about life-long matters for you."
Ximen Zhanying couldn't bear it any longer, so he sneered and said with a shameless face, "Shameless!"
"Zhan Ying, what do you mean by this?" The girl finally said something, and Qining immediately said: "Who are you calling shameless? Why are you so shameless?"
Ximen Zhanying kept his mouth shut and did not argue.
Qi Ning snorted, put his hands behind his back, and headed east. Duan Canghai hesitated and followed. Ximen Zhanying looked at Qining's back bitterly. When he walked about ten steps away, he finally gritted his teeth and stamped his feet. , followed anyway.
In fact, it is very easy to find the arena. Walk all the way east along the street. When you are about to reach the intersection, you see a group of people crowded in front of you. There is a arena among the crowd. It is not big. , two flags were hung, one side said "Heroes are invited to compete in their skills", and the other side said "He must be given generous gifts".
At this moment, there were two people on the stage going back and forth, and a fierce fight was going on.
Duan Canghai had a strong back and a lot of strength. Since the Marquis wanted to see, he naturally took the lead and squeezed his way through the crowd. Qining easily approached the audience.
There were two people on the stage, one was in his early forties, stout and dark-skinned, and the man he was facing was in his early thirties and slightly more elegant.
The State of Chu prohibited civilians from carrying weapons, so the competition in the ring was only a fist and kick competition without weapons.
Qining glanced around and saw three tables not far behind the ring. Three old men in green shirts and hats were lined up, sitting upright and looking very serious.
Qi Ning thought to himself, are these three experts actually supervising the competition? Just looking at the attire of the three old men, they looked very much like the servants of the mansion. My heart changed and I immediately understood that these three people were probably servants of the Tian mansion.
Seeing an old man with his eyes closed, he thought he was extremely well-educated, but when his head moved forward a few times like a chicken pecking at rice, Qining knew that the old man must have fallen asleep.
The old man was still able to sleep despite the fierce fighting on the stage. It can be seen that in the past few days, he has become accustomed to this kind of competition and can't even cheer up.