Fang Jie had heard the phrase "Grandma Liu entered the Grand View Garden" countless times in his previous life, and it was only when he entered Chang'an City that he fully understood what it meant. Because he who entered Chang'an City should have the same mentality as Grandma Liu who entered the Grand View Garden.
It's not just that the eyes are not enough, not only the various shocks, but also the uncontrollable feeling of smallness that emerges from the heart. Anyone who stands in the big city of Chang'an will feel that he is just a speck of dust. A city is so big that no matter which direction you look at it, you can't see the edge, no matter where you look, it is full of prosperity, then this city has become an immortal legend.
Those Chinese and foreign cities recorded in the history books of previous lives, such as the ancient Roman city, Baghdad, and Constantinople, the imperial capital of Byzantium. Compared with Chang'an in front of Fang Jie's eyes, these famous big cities are like the comparison between weeds and giant trees. The ratio of fireflies to bright moons.
What surprised Fang Jie the most was not the size and prosperity of the imperial capital, nor the majestic and majestic buildings in the imperial capital, nor the glamorous women in bold clothes on the street, but that Hongxiu Zhao actually owns real estate in the imperial capital!
Moreover, it was a magnificent three-story wooden building on Minghua Street, the busiest place in the imperial capital. The two front and back courtyards occupy no less than ten acres of land in Chang'an, where every inch of land is expensive!
When I got closer, I found that the wooden building was covered with dust and paint and had lost its bright colors. The chain locks hanging on the door were also full of rust. I don't know how many years it has dutifully sealed the wooden building, and how many winds and rains it has experienced. Or, what kind of mission is shouldered like a human being.
And just when the team of Hongxiu Zhao stopped in front of this wooden building, and Xi Thrush with a dignified and sad expression stood in front of the iron locked door, Fang Xie felt the atmosphere around him change in a trance, and he subconsciously Looking around, he suddenly found that the busy street had become quiet, and everyone was focusing on Xi Huamei.
Businessmen from nearby stores also rushed out, looking at Hongxiu Zhao with strange expressions.
Fang Jie didn't know what this expression meant, but he was sure that Hongxiu Zhao must have had a glorious past in the imperial capital.
At this moment, someone suddenly shouted loudly.
"Hongxiu is calling back to Chang'an!"
"The Red Sleeve is back!"
With this shout, the whole street even fell into boiling. The crowd began to squeeze over here, especially all the men, with a kind of excited light shining in their eyes. What surprised Fang Xie the most was that although the women onlookers didn't shout together, there was no trace of disgust in their eyes.
How mysterious and glorious is a singing and dancing shop with its past, which caused such an enthusiastic response from the people in the most proud imperial capital of the Sui Dynasty
"There's something you definitely don't know."
Xiao Dingdian sniffled proudly, arched his shoulders and explained, "The Red Sleeve Trick was very famous in Chang'an, the imperial capital, so big that you can't imagine it even if you want to break your scalp. Eleven years A long time ago, when Hongxiuzhao opened in Chang'an City, do you know what kind of big shots were there to congratulate them?"
She proudly raised her round chin, and said with her fingers: "Scholar of Shuhua Pavilion, Shangshu Zuopushe, ministers of various ministries, ministers, the stern and selfless minister of Dali Temple, even the noble and arrogant are monitoring the censors. All the dignitaries and dignitaries in the imperial capital have arrived and personally handed out congratulatory gifts. Even the empress sent someone to send a screen with four autographed inscriptions written on it."
The pride on Xiao Ding Dian's face cannot be faked, it is very real.
"Eleven years ago?"
Fang Jie frowned slightly and asked: "At that time, you were not included in the red sleeve trick, right?"
Xiao Ding rolled his eyes and said seriously: "Whether there is me or not, I am now a member of Hongxiu Zhao. None of the girls in the building now are the same group as they were eleven years ago. But look, Is the pride on each of their faces fake? No matter when we joined Hongxiu Zhao, we must be proud of the glory of Hongxiu Zhao. What you need to know is that even the princes and nobles wanted to come to Hongxiu Zhao at that time If you invite to watch singing and dancing, you have to pay the price properly. If the girls don’t want to dance, the senior members of the first and second ranks are not qualified to let them dance.”
"Such a glorious past to be proud of, why haven't I heard you talk about it?"
"Aunt Xi said, as long as you don't return to Chang'an for a day, don't mention the past for a day. No matter how glorious the past is, it is just the past. She also said that as long as Hongxiu Zhao returns to Chang'an, she must regain the glory of eleven years ago Come."
"Ms. Xi is very courageous. As long as she comes back, those high-ranking officials and nobles will flock to her like they did eleven years ago."
Fang Jie couldn't help admiring.
Xiao Dingdian's expression darkened slightly, and he murmured: "The reason why Hongxiu Zhao has such a big face in the emperor is not because Mrs. Xi has good hands and eyes. It's because... the original owner of Hongxiu Zhao is the emperor. A person with more than 10,000 people. Only a person like him can make those adults who are over the top willingly come to give gifts. Only a person like him can make a singing and dancing club stand aloof in the imperial capital."
"One person is under one person and above ten thousand people..."
Fang Jie couldn't help repeating it, and then a name suddenly appeared in his mind.
So he asked in amazement: "How could a character like him open a singing and dancing shop? And...he disappeared without a trace ten years ago, why did Hongxiu Zhao appear in Fan Gu a few years after he disappeared?"
"Because he was the most outstanding figure in the entire Sui Dynasty at that time, even His Majesty the Emperor who had just ascended the throne respected him, so you should know that a person who has reached his status will ultimately want to fight for the relationship between himself and the emperor. Considering the relationship between them. His Majesty the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty could not stop him from opening a singing and dancing shop, he did not enter the court hall, and His Majesty the Emperor could not leave him to stand at the forefront of the officials. The free and easy, How can anyone understand it?"
It was not Little Dingdian who said this, but the old cripple.
Fang Jie pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Knowing how to advance and retreat is the greatest blessing."
…
…
Hongxiu Zhao's servants were cleaning the wooden building, and many people from the neighborhood also came to help. Mrs. Xi sent someone to buy seasonal fruits, made fragrant tea and put it aside. She looks like a noble and honorable woman, but she also changed into a commoner clothes to fight with the neighbors in the neighborhood.
It's not just her, all the girls with red sleeves are cleaning.
There were only two people who didn't join hands with them. One of them was the mysterious candle wick that made people itch when they thought about it occasionally. The other is an old cripple sitting on the stone steps beside him drinking.
Of course, Fang Jie and Shen Qingfan didn't help either.
After entering the city, Cui Lueshang went to visit the elders of the family. Naturally, he has many courtesy that cannot be ignored. The unreliable Xiang Qingniu was said to be going to see Master Xiao in Qingle Mountain, but when he left, his eyes kept drifting to the Shuxiang Tower on the other side of Chengmen Street. The big dog was looking for a place to stay, and Shen Qingfan stood under a oleander to look at the colorful flowers.
Fang Jie went to a nearby tavern to buy some cooked meat, wrapped it in oiled paper and sat next to the old lame man.
"Would you like to have a drink with you?"
He asked flatteringly.
The old cripple rolled his eyes at him, then took out a wine glass from his sleeve and handed it to Fang Xie as if by magic. Fang Jie took it, poured a cup, looked at the busy crowd and asked, "Can you tell me about Hongxiu Zhao's past?"
"You want to know about that man?"
asked the old cripple.
Fang Jie nodded, and said in a dazed way: "How could such a stunning and stunning figure suddenly disappear? Although I don't want to admit that the current emperor has done something wrong, I can't find a reasonable explanation." gone."
The old cripple said: "If the people in the government listen to your words, they will lock you up and put you in prison immediately. Before the end of the autumn, your head will be chopped off without even asking for guilt."
"You were never like that."
Fang Jie smiled and said.
The old cripple took a sip of wine and said after a while of silence: "Ms. Xi is a loving and righteous woman. Although that person is only her boss and has no other close relationship, after hearing that he left Chang'an, Mrs. Xi said I left Chang'an alone to look for him. Because he was kind to Aunt Xi, and he wanted to repay his kindness... Although at that time, Aunt Xi didn't know how to repay her kindness, and she was on the way to find that person. I met the man in the blue shirt you saw in Fan Gu that day."
"love at first sight?"
Fang asked.
The old cripple smiled, but there was some sadness in his smile: "Well, he stayed with her for a month and then left. This parting is ten years. She changed from looking for one person to looking for two people."
"Hongxiu Zhao has a great reputation in Chang'an City, but it has only been open for more than a year. After the proprietor of Hongxiu Zhao disappeared, Aunt Xi left Chang'an City. Not long after, when the proprietor was there, those officials who tried their best to curry favor with Hongxiu Zhao People came and announced that Hong was dismissing Hongxiu Zhao, and so many good girls were expelled from Chang'an City. After so many years, I don't know how those people were doing well... I heard that some of them have fallen into prostitution... These are all evil debts .”
"You were there?"
Fang asked.
"I am here."
The old cripple nodded.
"You can't stop it either?"
Fang Jie asked again.
"I?"
The old cripple snorted coldly and said: "What's the use of personal cultivation? Can one person stop an empire? Although the government didn't seize the red sleeve moves back then, what they brought with them was the order of a big man. None of the courtiers who gave congratulatory gifts to Hongxiuzhao could offend that big man. They could only watch Hongxiuzhao fall into disrepair. What makes me hate the most is not the ruthlessness of the big man. It is sitting in a higher seat The indifference of that person, from the beginning to the end, he didn't stand up and say a word for Hongxiu Zhao."
"If he had said a word back then, Hongxiu Zhao would not have disappeared in Chang'an."
Fang Jie sorted out what the old cripple said, and then thought about it carefully. A plot that makes people feel blocked and even disgusting gradually becomes clear. The more you think about it carefully, the more you feel that this world is dark and cold, and people are at a loss for what to do.
If his guess is true, then this conspiracy is shameful enough to nail the man who now sits on the throne of Sui supreme power to the rack of shame forever.
After the old cripple drank a few sips of wine, he didn't know whether he was a little drunk or in pain, his eyes became a little blurred, he looked down at the wine gourd in his hand and murmured: "If I had enough courage back then, I wouldn't be afraid Death, go kill a few people, and get this out, I'm afraid that person's seat will be shaken for a while even if he won't lose it."
"Just a guess, isn't it?"
Fang Jie patted the old cripple's shoulder and said, "Perhaps, it's not what we thought at all."
"Perhaps? Us?"
The old cripple smiled, and some light returned to his eyes: "Then tell me, how did we guess? You only heard this. If you can guess it, I will admit that you are very smart, old man."
"What's the use of admitting I'm smart? It's no good at all."
"If you can deduce everything based on what I said before, no matter whether it is the same as our speculation or not, no matter whether it is true or not, as long as it sounds reasonable... I will teach you twenty-four hands and bones. If your guess is the same as what we guessed back then, I will teach you a knife technique."
"Stingy!"
Fang Xie curled his lips and said, "One-style sword technique... why don't you say half-style?"
"Don't be dissatisfied..."
The old cripple caressed his beard and smiled: "Old cripple, my sword technique is not something that anyone can learn if they want to. If I don't want to, I won't teach you if the talented eighth-rank master knelt down and begged me."
When he said this, he didn't know whether it was on purpose or not, he glanced at Bi Huajiao, who was standing under the oleander blossom, with a Shen Qingfan.
When Shen Qingfan heard these words, the corners of his mouth twitched and his eyes were cold and arrogant.