Mingyu blushed and nodded, then stopped talking. The two of them walked forward slowly as if they had a tacit understanding. When they saw something interesting, they discussed it in a low and intimate voice.
After walking for about half an hour, Mingyu felt her legs and feet go numb. She hadn't walked such a long distance since she came to the capital. Moreover, it was almost noon and the sun was high in the sky, making people feel hot and tired.
"Let's go sit in the teahouse." Sima Hong said with a smile, "It looks quite lively over there, as if someone is telling a story."
After entering the teahouse, Mingyu realized that there were quite a few people inside and outside the teahouse, including tired traveling merchants and people who had come to take a break after shopping with their families. In the middle was a middle-aged storyteller who was talking very fast. Even the waiter who served tea was listening to the story with a look of concentration. When the two of them entered the shop, no one even greeted them.
"Forget it, I'll go around and see if there are any other teahouses. You wait here," said Sima Hong.
Mingyu nodded, wondering what the storyteller was talking about that made everyone so fascinated.
After Sima Hong left, Mingyu took a few steps forward, and the storyteller's voice reached her ears clearly, speaking in authentic Beijing dialect.
"… He is an excellent spearman. He uses the 18-style Vajra spearmanship passed down from his ancestors to the fullest in front of the battlefield. He kills gods and Buddhas..."
Mingyu was still wondering, who is this? I have never heard of the immortal in the myth who knows the Eighteen Styles of Diamond Spear Technique.
At this meeting, the storyteller was heard to say passionately: "The 18-year-old Marquis of Anxi relied on his family's 18-style Vajra Spear Technique to kill the Tartars in the battlefield. Everyone was terrified and applauded and cheered "Good!" Someone else shouted excitedly: "What's next?"
Mingyu was choked by her own saliva.
"Don't worry, don't worry." The storyteller took a sip of tea from the teapot in his hand and continued, "The Tartars lost three generals in a row to Lord Sima, and none of them lasted more than three rounds. The fourth time, the Tartars' leader was replaced by a female general."
Everyone immediately exclaimed "Huh?"
The storyteller looked around proudly and said, "Don't underestimate the Tartar woman. She is a Tartar princess with great martial arts skills. As soon as she saw Sima Hong, she wanted to compete with him..."
Everyone's eyes lit up as they listened. Mingyu's eyelids twitched as she listened. Why did she feel that this legendary story was going to develop in a wrong direction
"… The two fought for three hundred rounds on horseback. Lord Sima thought she was a woman and only used three or four percent of his strength. But the foreign princess was not someone to be trifled with. Despite her great skills, she was not able to defeat the Lord Sima even by a single move… The Lord Sima saw an opportunity and knocked her off her horse with a single spear!"
When the storyteller got to this point, he smiled in a way that everyone could understand, and said, "Lord Sima felt sorry for her because she was a woman. It was not easy for her to go to the battlefield, so he wanted to let her go, but the princess refused to go back. Their custom is to marry a man who can defeat them..."
All the men present were envious and yearning. How beautiful and noble the Tartar princess must be!
Mingyu twitched the corners of his mouth, with an expression that said, "As expected."
In this way, in less than a cup of tea, amid the storyteller's flying words, Sima Hong first took a foreign princess as his bedmate, then a loyal and martial arts maid, a graceful and intelligent young lady who traveled thousands of miles to join the army and offer advice, and after entering the capital, the top girl in the capital offered herself as his bedmate...
Mingyu was quite stunned. She looked around at the people who looked infatuated and wished they could replace Sima Hong, and quietly retreated.
Sima Hong happened to come over at this moment. Seeing Mingyu still standing at the door, he smiled and raised the water bag in his hand. The autumn noon sun shone strongly on his handsome face. His nose was straight and his eyes were gentle. Mingyu suddenly felt warm in her heart. This smile was directed at her alone.
Sima Hong walked to the shade at the entrance of the teahouse and handed the water bag in his hand to Mingyu, saying with a smile: "There are not many teahouses nearby. I saw a family selling milk wine, so I bought a bag for you to try. We will go to eat directly later."
Mingyu nodded, unplugged the water bag and took a sip. The milk wine was not really wine. It was a bit like the yogurt drink Mingyu had drunk in modern times, a bit sour and sweet, with a fishy taste of goat's milk.
"Is it delicious? If not, put it down and let's go eat." Sima Hong was a little nervous. It was the first time he bought such a cheap street food for Mingyu. He was really afraid that Mingyu would not like it. Mingyu smiled and shook her head, with a trace of white milk still on her lips. "It tastes okay, sour and sweet."
"Yeah." Sima Hong said softly, his eyes unable to move away from the white milk on the corners of Mingyu's bright red lips. Resisting the urge to lick it, he said, "As long as you like it." He gently reached out and tucked a strand of Mingyu's hair behind her ear.
At this time, the storytelling in the teahouse had already ended. Several children held plates in front of the tea drinkers. When they heard the sound of copper coins falling in the plates, they bowed with a smile and said, "Thank you, sir. Good luck to you!"
At this time, a little boy walked up to Sima Hong and Mingyu, and turned back to ask the storyteller in a childish voice, "Third uncle, are you still going to accept these two people?"
The storyteller glanced at Mingyu. He still had an impression of this pretty girl. The young man was wearing luxurious clothes, so he must have received a lot of reward money. He quickly said, "Everyone who has heard this will receive it!"
The little boy quickly held the plate out to Sima Hong, "Thank you, sir. Good luck to you!"
Sima Hong looked at Mingyu with a smile, "What did they say?"
Mingyu thought about it, and her smile looked a little sinister to Sima Hong. "We just talked about how Lord Sima was an unparalleled spearman. He took in his eighteenth wife, Ru, before the battle. His first seventeen wives included a Tartar princess, a rich lady, and a loyal maid..."
Sima Hong's head was as big as three, and he smiled awkwardly. He looked at the child and waved his hands, saying, "No, no, this is complete nonsense!"
When facing Mingyu, he was nervous and his mouth was prone to mistakes. Sima Hong was careful with Mingyu and said with a smile: "Mingyu, don't listen to that person's nonsense. I am good at using a knife, not a gun.
Mingyu was both angry and amused. This idiot, the point is not whether he used a knife or a gun...
The little boy refused to give in. His cunning eyes flickered between Mingyu and Sima Hong. He could tell at a glance that Sima Hong was tall and strong, and didn't look very kind. He thought this pretty sister was easier to talk to. His little black hands grabbed Mingyu's collar and said, "Big sister, please be kind and give me two! How can you not give me money after you've heard what I just said!"
Mingyu was so surprised that she didn't have time to react before two small black handprints appeared on her clothes.
Sima Hong, who was about to take out the silver, was furious. What was the damn boy holding on to? He shouted in a low voice: "Let go!" He was born tall and strong, and was full of murderous aura on the battlefield. When he frowned, his aura was very scary.
Although Sima Hong thought he had been very gentle to the child, the child was only four or five years old and was still frightened. He ran to a middle-aged man and cried loudly, pointing at Sima Hong and crying breathlessly, and said a lot of nonsense.
Immediately, several middle-aged men with unfriendly faces walked towards Sima Hong.
Sima Hong knew that storytellers like this would not act alone and usually brought people with them. When they encountered customers who were unwilling to pay, a few people would go up to scare them. He was not afraid of these people's fancy moves, but Mingyu was still by his side, so he could not start a fight, otherwise he could not guarantee that he could protect Mingyu.
"You seem to be a rich young man, why are you so stingy?" a leading man shouted, "How dare you bully my son?" As he said that, he shook his fist in front of Sima Hong as if in a demonstration. In his opinion, these young men are all just for show, and although they look tall and strong, they are actually empty shells and can be knocked down with one punch.
Sima Hong looked at the fat black fist and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He put Mingyu behind him, bowed his hands and smiled politely, saying, "My dear brother, it was a misunderstanding just now. I wanted to give money, but the boy scratched my clothes as soon as he stretched out his hand. I was anxious and stopped him. I hope you can forgive me if it was rude."
"What is my wife?" One of them tilted his head to look at Mingyu who was protected by Sima Hong, pointed at Mingyu and said, "She has her hair done in a bun like a girl."
Sima Hong smiled and said, "It's not like we haven't gotten married yet!"
The leader had long seen Sima Hong's intention to pay money to settle the matter, but out of greed, he wanted to blackmail Sima Hong to pay more. Judging from his appearance, he was from a wealthy family. He called a few people to surround Sima Hong. The leader said in a bad tone, "My son was scared to death by you. Sir, what do you think we should do?"
Sima Hong's smile was a little cold. This group of ruffians were just taking advantage of him and Mingyu because they were alone, and wanted to extort money from them. If they brought servants and maids with them, how could this kid get close to them, let alone dare to grab Mingyu's clothes.
The teahouse owner watched nervously from the side. Although he welcomed storytellers because more people would come to drink tea and thus business would naturally improve, he also did not want a fight to break out in his teahouse. He had been running a shop and doing business for so many years that he had developed a pair of vicious eyes. This young man was wealthy and had a strong and vigorous body. He must have practiced martial arts and had a murderous aura. Just his eyes made it seem that he was not someone to be trifled with. If something really happened, he would be in trouble too.
At this time, they happened to see several patrolling yamen runners coming over here. The teahouse owner was overjoyed and winked at his waiter, who immediately stood on tiptoe and shouted, "Official, Official! Come here quickly, there's someone causing trouble here!"