Although it is possible to kill someone with a borrowed knife, it is not as if raising a tiger will bring harm to oneself. After much deliberation, Yan An decided to keep a backup plan. He visited his old friend overnight, but his old friend's servant said that he was out.
Yan An asked, "Where did he go? When will he return?"
The book boy stammered, "The flower boat in the river bend."
Yan An knew where that place was as soon as he heard it.
After asking his old friend which flower boat he had visited, he immediately asked the driver to go to Hequli instead. Hequli was the most prosperous and lively place in the capital, and even when the moon was at its highest point, it was still crowded with tourists.
The lights are on, just like daytime.
Both scholars and wanderers like to linger here, giving rise to countless romantic stories of infatuated men and resentful women.
Yan'an rarely frequents such places.
But his old friend is a frequent visitor here.
As soon as he boarded the flower boat, a waiter who had been waiting for a long time came forward to greet him and asked with a smile: "Is this the banquet master?"
Yan An said: "My last name is indeed Yan."
The servant was delighted, smiled attentively, turned around and wanted to lead the way: "That must be you, my lord! Please follow me..."
Yan An asked: "Did someone ask you to wait for me here?"
I already have a candidate in mind.
"Yes, I've been waiting here for more than half an hour!" The wind in this season was not very friendly, and the servant was not dressed thickly. His hands were red from the cold, as if he had touched a large block of ice. He smiled and added, "Finally, you are here."
Yan An already guessed who was waiting for him.
We walked to a private room on the third floor of the flower boat.
The servant respectfully pushed open the hollow flower door, and the hot wind with a strong rouge scent blew in his face. Yan An secretly thought that his old friend's hobbies were the same as always, and changed into the clogs handed to him by the maid. Walking around the screen, the sound of stringed instruments clearly penetrated his ears.
In the private room -
A young man, wearing only a moon-white undershirt, was blindfolded with a woman's handkerchief and playing games with several people.
As soon as Yan An came in, he happened to be hugged by the young man. The cold air on Yan An's clothes had not completely dissipated, and the young man knew something was wrong as soon as he touched it, so he raised his hand and grabbed the handkerchief off. Seeing Yan An's face clearly, he was bored: "Ah, why is it Xingning."
Yan An calmly pried his hands apart.
"Sounds disappointing?"
The young man threw the handkerchief into his arms and sneered, "You are good-looking, but you have to know yourself. How can a stinky man like you be liked by any of the girls here? Besides, there is no such thing as a visit without a reason. You are here to cause trouble for me, and I am not allowed to say a few words of dislike? That doesn't make sense!"
Yan An was despised by the young man, but he was neither angry nor annoyed, he even smiled. The young man secretly rolled his eyes, picked up the clothes scattered on the ground and put them back one by one. But he didn't put them in order, which made him look very untidy. Yan An glanced at the gambling tools scattered on the ground and said, "It's been a long time since we last met. Do you want to play a few rounds of hand?"
The young man raised his hand to refuse his invitation.
"No, no, after playing two rounds of hand-to-hand combat with you, I will have to strip naked and jump into the Qu River to swim back. It's so cold, it could cost me my life."
Young people have two preferences.
One is to look at beauties, the other is to play cards with others.
If you stack buffs, you can get double the fun by playing cards with the beauty. Others come to the flower boats in the river bend to have fun. If they are having fun, it is normal to stay away from home for three or five days. The young man comes here to play cards, and the chips are varied.
One time I lost so much that I ran home naked.
It’s really embarrassing.
It’s just that the person involved doesn’t take it seriously, and as a friend I can’t say anything either, since it’s not his face that’s being embarrassed anyway.
Yan An laughed and said, "You also know that you have very bad luck in gambling? Then why do you still enjoy gambling?"
Someone’s luck in gambling cannot actually be described as bad, because there is no word “win” in his gambling!
Anyone can beat him, but he will lose every time he gambles. If he doesn’t stop in time, he will definitely lose everything.
"Because I know this, I never gamble, let alone my life." The young man waved his hand, and the musicians and dancers in the private room bowed and left. Finally, only the young man and Yan An were left. The young man changed his relaxed and comfortable attitude and said seriously, "I know why you are here."
Yan An asked: "Do you know?"
The young man smiled and said, "What happened at the court meeting today has already spread everywhere. Why would you come here at this time? I was originally planning to pack up and leave overnight, but after thinking about it, I decided to stay. Don't think too much, it's not that I changed my mind..."
Worried that Yan An might misunderstand, the young man simply laid it out.
"It is impossible for me to give Zheng Qiao even a little help."
Yan An sighed and said, "But Junior Brother..."
"He is no longer your junior brother!" The young man did not leave with the newspaper overnight for Yan An's sake. He did not want to hear the news that Zheng Qiao had killed his fellow senior brother one day. "Xingning, considering our past friendship, I advise you to give up on him. None of the things he did was 'excusable'! This man's crimes are too numerous to list!"
The young man couldn't bear to see Yan An's depressed expression, but he continued to speak. He listed more than 30 names in a row, each of them was a well-known figure, the only thing they had in common was that they died at the hands of Zheng Qiao, and some of them had their entire families wiped out.
The young man said, "Since ancient times, no tyrant has lasted long. Zheng Qiao will die without a burial place. Xingning, if you help him now, you will harm more innocent people. Yan Mingshi has lived a life without regrets. Can you bear to ruin his reputation because of Zheng Qiao?"
The "famous scholar at Yan" mentioned by the young man refers to Yan An's father.
Yan An said: "But my father didn't let him go before he died..."
When the young man heard this, he knew that he could no longer persuade her.
He said, "If that's the case, forget it. I can't persuade you. In the future, you should be careful around Zheng Qiao and don't go against him. He has lost his humanity and is no longer the same as before. It's hard to say whether he still has some affection for you, his senior brother!"
The air in the private room is quiet.
The only sound left was the crackling of the burning candle.
Yan An didn't give up and asked again: "Can't you help me?"
Is it not okay to not be affiliated with Zheng Qiao and just help him
The young man shook his head: "It's the same, I will definitely lose."
Yan An completely gave up.
However, there are still some things that can be discussed, such as the current situation in the northwest of the mainland. Zheng Qiao made a lot of moves and played a good hand badly. Yan An spent a lot of time to sort it out. The more he understood, the more he realized that Zheng Qiao had reached the cliff at this time.
Just one step and there will be no recovery.
But Yan An still wanted to take a gamble.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
He always advised young people not to indulge in this, but he didn't realize that he was the biggest gambler, and it was a gamble with almost no chance of winning.
The young man also made a few suggestions, which coincided with his idea - to take a risky move, first deal with the rebels led by the Pig King, and then turn around to deal with the separatist forces that were growing their ambitions.
As for Beimo and Shiwu... we must not take it lightly!
The threat posed by the two is ten times greater than that of the Pig King's rebels!
I don’t know if Zheng Qiao’s brain was kicked by a donkey. He actually made such a bad move and colluded with these two evil guys!
Yan An had no choice but to remain silent! If Zheng Qiao was not his junior fellow apprentice, he would have scolded him too.
It's boring to just curse without drinking!
The young man clapped his hands to signal the boat boy to bring new drinks. How could he not have a few drinks after not seeing each other for so many years
After today, I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again in this life.
Yan An watched the young man drink cup after cup of sake, and suddenly remembered some details. He asked with concern: "You just said that you were going to leave overnight, but do you have a place to go?"
Young man: "Not yet, just looking around."
Yan An sighed inwardly.
If Zheng Qiao had not become what he is now, or if he had conquered Xin State and governed it with peace of mind, his old friend might have stayed.
It's no use saying anything now.
The young man added: "I plan to go to Sibao County to take a look."
Yan An asked, "Sibao County?"
The young man smiled and said, "The two Zhui Kings are of the same character as Zheng Qiao, so there is no need to consider them. However, we can take a look at those forces whose ambitions were aroused by Zheng Qiao's edict. Perhaps there will be one that suits our taste."
Yan An shook his head: "The chances of winning are too slim."
Zheng Qiao still has territory, troops, and a complete team. If he can wake up and correct himself, it will be easy for him to gain a foothold in the northwest of the mainland. On the other hand, those forces are short-lived. Old friends are betting on these people, and they are afraid that they will lose everything.
The young man said, “We have to give it a try.”
Yan An: "... Who said just now that he wouldn't gamble with his life?"
The young man said confidently: "Once I place a bet, I will win!"
Yan An didn't know where his confidence came from.
If he could win, who would have been the one running home naked
The young man saw the doubt on Yan An's face from the corner of his eye, and felt a little guilty. Well, he admitted that he was stubborn and spoke with confidence, but in fact he was not sure. But was it his fault? It was obviously the fault of the scholar!
Which of the scholars' ways is not serious
But his way of being a scholar is to "lose every time he gambles"!
Yes, you read that right.
His way of being a scholar is to lose every time he gambles.
A man who regards gambling as a major hobby in life is given the literati's way of "losing every time he gambles", and the young man feels the greatest malice that fate has imposed on him. However, there is no truly useless literati's way in this world, and there are gains and losses in everything.
The young man lowered his eyes and looked at the Wen Xin flower seal that he had casually thrown on the ground. It seemed that there was some undercurrent flowing deep in his eyes...
Always lose every time you gamble
If you do the opposite, you will win every time you gamble soon.
The two of them clinked glasses and drank to their heart's content.
When the sky was slightly bright, Yan An woke up from his hangover with a splitting headache and found that his old friend had left, leaving only a thick letter. He read it carefully and chuckled.
Although the old friend did not agree to help him, the letter he left behind had already written down all the people in Zheng Qiao's account who could be used and who could not be used, who could be trusted and who could not be trusted... and even his personal temperament and taboos.
These contents cannot be obtained by "intentionally".
This proves that—
The old friend had seriously considered Zheng Qiao.
It’s a pity that Zheng Qiao really disappointed him. Everything he did after taking over Xin State was a minefield!
It was impossible for the young man to place his only bet on Zheng Qiao, let alone entrust his life to him. But after all, it was a huge effort and energy, so it was just right to leave it to Yan An.
The young man, carrying his bag and his servant, left the land in the morning mist and headed for Sibao County. This storm that had been building up for a long time had reached its critical point! Almost at the same time, many people who had heard the news also tacitly followed the same path.
Shen Tang, who was in the whirlpool, felt nothing.
She slept until dawn.
Chu Yao, who was outside the house, knocked on the door twice before waking her up.
With messy hair, Shen Tang half-closed his eyes sleepily and splashed cold water on his face. Under the stimulation of the cold water, the remaining sleepiness dissipated. He had tied his hair two or three times, but the ponytail was still crooked.
"Forget it—I won't fight with myself anymore."
The longer you comb your hair, the more hair you lose.
Chu Yao couldn't bear to watch it anymore and lent a hand.
"Goro is still listless?"
Shen Tang yawned: "Not enough sleep..."
If the dark circles under the eyes were any darker, they could disguise themselves as giant pandas.
She said, "My energy was drained last night, and not only was my recovery very slow, I also had nightmares all night. I was running away in my dreams, and more and more zombies gathered to chase me. I ran for my life, and when I woke up I felt like both my legs were going to be useless..."
Chu Yao opened the warm breakfast.
The aroma of porridge wafted into the air, and there were several plates of appetizers.
He asked puzzledly: "Zombies?"
"Zombies are the living dead. Their bodies are dead, but they can move. They like to chase the breath and smell of blood of the living." Shen Tang picked up the porridge and sipped a big mouthful. Her empty stomach was perfectly soothed. She felt alive again. "How ugly!"
This dream is totally incomprehensible.
In her dream, it wasn't just zombies that were chasing her. There were also flying creatures, crawling creatures, and swimming creatures. Shen Tang didn't get caught by them because of her extreme skills and perseverance. In the end, she was too tired.
Shen Tang said: "... I jumped into a coffin."
Chu Yao: "Coffin? What kind of coffin?"
Perhaps because of his literary talent, Chu Yao was very interested in strange dreams. He could also listen to Shen Tang's nonsensical nightmares with great interest, and would occasionally express his own opinions or questions. Qi Shan, who was listening to this from the side, just wanted to roll his eyes.
Shen Tang stopped eating.
She thought carefully: "A wooden coffin."
As for what kind of wooden coffin it was, I have no impression.
She jumped into the coffin and the nightmare ended.
Qishan tried to join the group chat: "It must be a bad omen."
Chu Yao rolled his eyes at him.
"What are you talking about so early in the morning? It's obviously about seeing a coffin and getting rich!"
Even if it is a disaster, it will be a good thing when it comes to Wulang!
Qishan: “…”
Failed to join group chat.
Before he knew it, Shen Tang had added seven or eight bowls of porridge.
The wooden barrel containing rice porridge is empty.
She licked the rice grains from her lips and asked, "Anything else?"
Chu Yao: "Don't eat too much at breakfast."
Shen Tang touched his stomach: "Not full, at most five points."
As soon as these words came out—
Qi Shan said: "This is already the largest amount you eat on a normal day."
A whole bucket of porridge!
Qi Shan even wanted to secretly complain that Chu Yao was feeding pigs.
It’s still not enough to eat
Shen Tang: "But—I'm really still hungry."
The east kitchen of the County Magistrate's Mansion was always occupied. Chu Yao stood up and said, "I'll go to the back kitchen to see if there's anything to eat."
If you’re not full, just add more. It’s not a big deal!
When I came back, there was another big bucket of rice porridge.
Chu Yao was afraid that she wouldn't have enough to eat, so he brought two more plates of pastries.
Qishan: “…”
Shen Tang worked hard and soon finished all the food.
"Eh—" she said suddenly, "That's weird."
Qi Shan asked with concern: "Oh, are you finally full?"
"No, my literary energy has recovered, and there's a lot more of it."
After a good night's sleep, he recovered 40% of his energy. After eating two buckets of rice and two plates of pastries, his energy recovered another 10%. Although the total was only 50%, it was still more than before.