The Counterfeit Madam Hou

Chapter 13: Banquet (on)

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Yanshoufang is just to the east of the West Market. Liu Qinghuan followed the Qiuci band into Yanshoufang from the west gate, and hurried to Zhou Mansion with ease.

Along the way, the members of the band were chatting and joking in a low-pitched Hu language, and Peng Peng occasionally interjected a few words, and then glanced in Liu Qinghuan's direction. Seeing that he was getting closer and closer to the Zhou Mansion, Peng Peng felt more and more uneasy. He frowned thickly, always feeling that something was about to happen—this kind of keen intuition honed on the battlefield has always been accurate.

He walked to Liu Qinghuan's side, lowered his voice and said, "Wulala, I always have a bad feeling, why don't we find a chance to slip away."

Liu Qinghuan turned her head to look at him, a playful light flashed in her beautiful eyes: "Are you afraid?"

"Of course I'm not afraid!" If he was alone, of course he wouldn't be afraid, but now he is accompanied by Mrs. Hou Ye... The story of Hou Ye killing a cheetah with one punch in Xishan has long been rumored in the army. But I don't want to follow in the footsteps of the flying general at all.

Following the team into an alley in front, Pengpeng opened his mouth to continue persuading, but this time just before he had time to say the word "Ulala", the few people at the front of the team suddenly fell down on the floor. on the ground.

Three figures flashed over quickly, blocking the team's way, Peng Peng was about to step forward to protect Liu Qinghuan, another figure rushed in like lightning, Liu Qinghuan only felt a chill on his neck, an exquisitely crafted dagger It's already on her throat.

The man with the dagger smiled and moved his head closer to her: "Shh, don't talk, beauty."

His Chinese is very jerky, and he has a strong foreign accent. The position against the light made Liu Qinghuan only able to see his tall silhouette and the ostentatious falcon mask on his face.

She pursed her lips, and remained silent obediently. The man seemed to be satisfied with her performance, and slightly hooked his thin lips. Peng Peng frowned and stood there stiffly. The opponent's martial arts were very high, and now that Liu Qinghuan was under the control of others, he didn't dare to act rashly.

He tilted his head slightly, and glanced behind him. I don't know when, the entire Kucha band has all fallen down, just in this short moment.

A person at the end of the alley saw that there was still a fish that slipped through the net, and was about to come over and knock Peng Peng unconscious in the same way, when Peng Peng covered his head and cried out in pain: "Ah! I fell!"

When the voice fell, he had collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud.

The man holding the dagger glanced at him, as if he had no interest in him, then turned his gaze to Liu Qinghuan: "Are you Anaye?"

Liu Qinghuan nodded.

The man slightly distanced himself from her, but the sharp dagger in his hand was still pressed against her neck: "Now we are going to replace this Kucha band to perform at Zhou Jinjin's banquet, but we have lost a Hu who is good at Huxuan dance. Ji." When he said this, there was another smile on his thin lips, and even his cold voice was no longer as arrogant as before, "As long as you dance obediently for a while and don't do unnecessary things, I promise I won't hurt you. you."

Liu Qinghuan nodded again.

"Very good." The man said these two words with a smile, and withdrew the dagger in his hand.

Liu Qinghuan breathed a sigh of relief, and saw that they began to strip the clothes of the people on the ground. She twitched the corner of her mouth and turned her head away, and there was a rustling sound in her ear. Suddenly the masked man chuckled, and told the people around him, "Move faster, are you ashamed if you don't see the beauty?"

Liu Qinghuan: "..."

She stared at the wall without turning her eyes, but the sound of changing clothes was obviously much faster than before.

"Okay." The masked man hooked Liu Qinghuan's chin through the veil, making her turn her head. Liu Qinghuan looked at the person in front of her, her eyes moved slightly. He had already taken off his mask and changed into a barbarian's costume, but the lapels stood up high, covering the parts below the bridge of his nose, and the pointed beard hat rolled outwards to form a layer of fluff, covering his forehead.

Only those falcon-like eyes could see clearly.

After the group of people changed their clothes, they dragged the person who had collapsed on the ground to a more secluded place, and then left their robes with some conscience, picked up various musical instruments on the ground, and walked out of the alley.

Liu Qinghuan glanced back, she had seen those robes on the Zoroastrian priests before, but the Zoroastrians came out to do bad things, so they didn't hide it so much? Is it because the background is too hard or people are stupid and have no medicine

Pengpeng pulled the robe on his body, looked at Liu Qinghuan's back going away, and whimpered in his heart. Shanshan Mani, this time I really want to follow in the footsteps of the parachutist.

After coming out of the alley, it didn't take long to arrive at Zhou Jinjin's mansion. The main hall is hosting a banquet. In order to present "Magnolia Spring", Zhou Jinjin specially invited many well-known literati and scholars. Of course, his pig and dog friends are also indispensable.

When Liu Qinghuan arrived with the fake Kucha band, the dancers in the hall had just finished dancing a piece. Someone urged Zhou Jinjin to take out "Golden Magnolia Spring". Zhou Jinjin just waved the folding fan inlaid with gold in his hand artificially, and said to the crowd with a smile: "I heard that an orchid came to the West Market recently, and Hu Xuanwu danced. It’s a must, I specially invited her here today to help everyone.”

Although you can't appreciate famous paintings, you can appreciate beauties, and the people in the hall didn't make any mistakes, but waited for the beauties to appear. After Liu Qinghuan came up shyly, she almost froze in the lobby.

She had never heard that Tang Zibo would come too.

She blinked quickly, today's banquet was more exciting than she imagined.

The sound of playing music suddenly sounded, and Liu Qinghuan was slightly taken aback. He thought it was a group of rabble who had become monks halfway, but he didn't expect that they could actually play musical instruments. She didn't look at Tang Zibo any more, but turned quickly in the hall following the rhythm.

Hu Xuanwu's clothing was already light and elegant, but the flying hair and long skirt with wide sleeves were intertwined with each other, which caught the eyes of everyone in the hall for a while. The jingling of the wrist ornaments around the waist added a touch of agility to this light dancing posture.

There were instant applause everywhere, rendering the atmosphere of the whole banquet even more enthusiastic. Even Zhou Jinjin's eyes changed inadvertently. He didn't like the looks of barbarian people. Although the high nose bridge and white skin seemed fresh for a while, it was by no means as good-looking as the talented Dacheng woman. But the dancing orchid in front of him seemed to have some special magical power, which made him reluctant to look away, for fear of missing a look that the beauty inadvertently cast over him.

Those eyes are not seductive, but can seduce souls.

Zhou Jinjin touched the bones of the folding fan, and remembered that he seemed to be short of a fourteen-bedroom concubine recently.

After the dance, there was endless applause in the hall. Everyone was intoxicated by Orchid's wonderful dance, and forgot the famous painting that was still waiting to be appreciated.

But there are always people who are all drunk and I am alone.

A clear and cold hum came from the left, like a basin of ice water pouring out the raging fire in the hall. Liu Qinghuan followed the sound and looked over, and saw a young man wrapped in a headband kneeling on a seat, his brows were full of bookishness.

Although she didn't know this person, but to be able to attend this banquet, she must be a well-known young talent in Chang'an City.

"Brother Jing, are you dissatisfied with the talent's dance music?" Zhou Jinjin shook his folding fan and looked at the young man eagerly. Cao Jingren just won the Jinshi a while ago, and he is also the youngest Jinshi ever. I heard that the emperor looked at him differently. This time he finally invited him here, he didn't want to offend others, it would be even better if he could marry his eldest daughter to him by the way.

Cao Jingren glanced at Zhou Jinjin, and his tone was still clear: "I'm just dissatisfied with you." Zhou Jinjin was stunned for a moment, before he could speak, he heard Cao Jingren say: "I came here today for the "Magnolia" that Ding Mao learned. , if you really have this painting, show it to me to see if it is genuine."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the class mocked Cao Jingren for being puzzled. Cao Jingren had talent and arrogance, so he immediately responded with a word of past. Seeing the tension between the two, Zhou Jinjin hastily asked his servants to enter the room and brought up "Magnolia Spring".

The painting scroll was wrapped in a good brocade suit. Zhou Jinjin took the brocade suit, opened it carefully, and took out the painting. The scroll unfolded slowly in front of everyone's eyes, and everyone in the hall held their breaths, as if they were witnessing some miracle. When the jade-like magnolia flower was completely presented in front of everyone, there was a burst of exclamation from the hall.

Liu Qinghuan also stretched her neck to look at the painting in Zhou Jinjin's hands. This painting is much smaller than ordinary paintings, perhaps only half the size of ordinary poems and paintings. But it is a poem about plum blossoms.

The main hall, which was so lively just now, is now so quiet that only the breathing of the crowd can be heard. After staring at "Magnolia Spring" for a while, the talented scholars in Chang'an dutifully expressed their praises, and what's more, they were excited. He immediately wrote a poem to express his admiration for the master.

Zhou Jinjin's pig friends don't know how to paint or write poems, but they know that Zhou Jinjin paid a lot of money to buy this painting, and even at that price, it must be a masterpiece! So they also praised Zhou Jinjin one after another, only Cao Jingren looked at the painting without saying a word.

Liu Qinghuan's eyes fell on Cao Jingren, and she found that besides her, there were two other people in the hall who were also paying attention to Cao Jingren.

One is Tang Zibo, and the other is the masked man who kidnapped her.

Cao Jingren stood there for a while, then suddenly walked towards Zhou Jinjin. Maybe it was because his demeanor was too clear, the people around the painting automatically gave way to him. He leaned into the scroll to look at it for a while, then changed several angles to examine it, and finally even touched the paper on which he painted. Then, under the gaze of everyone, he finally straightened up and took a look at Zhou Jinjin: "Good luck, it's an authentic work."