"... I was in the palace on weekdays, and I had heard about Liheng's name, but unfortunately Liheng didn't attend the last meeting, and I never got the chance to meet him. It's a pity. When I saw him today, I realized that Liheng was a young talent. Lao Ben wants to go to Dongji to see a good Duan inkstone, but I don't know where Liheng and the little county master want to go..."
"It's just that the county lord is about to reach his old age, so it's always a bit inappropriate to walk around like this..."
At this time, it was the beginning of February, and the Jiner store opened for a few days, and the business was quite booming. But it was finally after lunch, and there were still some private rooms on the second floor. When Ning Yi, Zhou Pei, Song Qian, Zhang, and Li came over together, the lobby below seemed quite lively. I didn't know Yunzhu and Jiner were there No, because he had led outsiders, Ning Yi didn't need to look for them. He sat down in a room on the second floor and had tea and conversation.
This room is beautifully furnished, and it occupies a good location. If you open the rear window, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of Qinhuai, but the weather is still cold at this time, and the window cannot be opened. Several potted plants are placed around, and there are several ink paintings and poems on the wall, which have a very scholarly atmosphere. After a few people sat down in the room and the waitress in the shop served refreshments, Zhang and Li also spoke.
The slightly chubby Li Tong smiled harmoniously. Among the two, they basically pretended to be red-faced and held Ning Yi warmly. Zhang Rui's status was placed there. He was also old, and he directly questioned Ning Yi with a frown. In fact, these two people may not have no envy, jealousy and hatred for this in their hearts. Although Li Tong has a talent and a reputation, he has not had much interaction with Zhou Pei and Zhou Junwu during the few years he entered the palace. Zhang Rui taught the two sisters in the palace. There are some things about the younger brother, who have the status of master and apprentice, but in any case, it is impossible for the two sisters and younger brothers to go to a certain academy to attend classes like Ning Yi. It is said that they often take them here and there. This relationship is really different. .
Zhou Pei is an independent-minded girl. In the past, she would probably have been a little sullen about Zhang Rui's remarks that "the county owner will be in his old age, it's inappropriate to walk around like this", but today it's a little different.
It was only in the morning that I had a fight with Ning Yi, and I was seen crying beside me. At this time, the two masters made it clear that they were going to smash the master's place. Xiao Zhoupei was secretly relieved, and told the old master that he did not go out. Free things don't matter. Her stomach was already a little hungry, but at this time, her appetite increased greatly. She took the cake and sat by the side to eat it, like a good baby who respected the teacher and obeyed the teachings. She wished she could nod her head vigorously. What kind of fallacies Ning Yi used to refute the two masters. Of course, the topic of each other was still brewing at this time, and Ning Yi also replied with a smile that he was going to the concubine's house to deliver something, so he took Zhou Pei along the way.
Li Tong smiled and nodded: "The Concubine's Mansion... But is Duke Ming's mansion? I heard that Li Heng and Duke Ming have a lot of friendship?"
"It's a chess friend."
"Presumably Liheng is very capable of chess, and he has some experience in playing. He has flaws in the future, so we can make an appointment and talk about a game."
Li Tong was talking politely here, but Zhang Rui glanced at the corner of the room: "What Li Heng is going to send to Duke Ming's mansion, could it be those things?"
Ning Yi glanced at him: "Old Zhang knows?"
"I'm afraid this is a stun gun in the army. I don't know where Liheng got it from?"
Zhang Rui frowned, and Ning Yi roughly explained. He asked Kang Xian to get these burst guns to study. The technology content of burst guns is not high. Now most of them have been understood. It is useless to leave too many in the small yard. Among them, there are two broken ones. . Although Kang Xian's power in the dark is also great, this musket is something in the military after all. Ning Yi thought it would be better to go back and let Lu Agui report it, so he took it and prepared to send it.
At this time, everyone had already said something, and the topic suddenly turned to the gun. Zhou Pei was chewing the cake, looking around a little confused. Originally, the topic should have been cited in literary poetry. The three of them had a fight here, provoking first, and then the two masters were fighting against Ning Liheng, drinking orders, writing poems, writing essays, and then citing them as good stories was what she was looking forward to. development of.
At this time, I heard Zhang and Li talk about some trivial things about Kang Xian, and Zhang Rui said: "I have seen that musket a few times, and these kinds of objects are really annoying, and there are also some in the army. Such as tasteless, clever and obscene skills, harmful and useless. Liheng is interested in these things, and the old man has heard it a few times. This kind of thing is really inappropriate. Liheng should concentrate on learning and focus on beneficial things. Otherwise, I am afraid that it is inevitable to make mistakes.”
Zhou Pei's eyes widened as if with a thud, she held the cake in both hands, moved her butt back, and sat upright with her eyes twitching, paying attention to the expressions of Ning Yi and the other party. He pursed his lips, looking like a rabbit, waiting for Ning Yi's rebuttal, but saw Ning Yi smile and folded his hands: "What Zhang Lao said is."
There was no fire, and the rabbit's ears drooped down. She had heard Kang Xian talk about Ning Yi's temperament in the past. Her master has always been the kind of person who can politely apologize a hundred times and nod his head a thousand times, but never change his actions. If Grandpa Qin or Grandpa Consort were here today, he might show his sincerity to discuss with others, but the two in front of him obviously couldn't arouse his desire to fight, so he just nodded.
However, Ning Yi was willing to back down, but he was not willing to let it go. Zhang Rui shook his head: "Liheng is young and vigorous, and he may not agree with what the old man said. But what the old man is referring to is actually not above the firearm itself. Firearms, in the eyes of the old man, are only very loud when fired, which can be scary. Their range is not as good as that of bows and arrows, and their accuracy is extremely low. It is extremely troublesome to reload between each firing. It can't be used in rainy days. The only advantage, but because it is a gunpowder launcher, even a child and an old man can use it if he points the way, but... this is also the biggest disadvantage."
Although this old man showed his attitude of kicking the hall, he was not a sham. He actually knew this musket very well: "What's the benefit of putting a weapon that a child can use in the army? What my sergeant in the Wu Dynasty lacked now? , It has never been these strange objects, but the morale of the military. I think that the Jurchen family can defeat the Liao army with less victory. My sergeant of the Wu Dynasty saw the Liao people, but he was defeated by the wind. Is it true that people are so different? I have also seen Jurchen, and it is not a three-headed and six-armed soldier. Today, I am a soldier of the Wu Dynasty. I am greedy for life and fear of death. Now they are slack in training, they can't swing their knives, and they can't open their bows. It's not because they lack strength, but because they lack courage and blood. If these things are placed in the army, it will only make the army more useless, that is, the power of this firearm will be doubled. , is also harmful and useless!"
"That's the truth." Ning Yi nodded, this time it wasn't perfunctory. He did agree with what the other party said.
"Tian Xingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement. These ingenious and lewd skills can only make people lazy and degenerate. What the sages said is the truth. I heard that Liheng is interested in these things. But now Liheng is a teacher, and I heard that the little prince has also learned these things, which is a bit too much..."
Zhang Rui and Zhou Pei and Zhou Junwu have apprenticeships. Although they are not very close, they also know that the little prince suddenly likes the study of things. This statement may deceive ordinary people, but in the eyes of these old people, it is a real quirk. Kinky skills, the study of craftsmen. The old man changed the subject and finally turned to this matter, but Li Tong didn't know it, and frowned: "It's not because of Liheng's ability to learn, it shouldn't be like this, I don't know what Mr. Zhang is referring to..."
The atmosphere in the room finally became weird at this time, but in a sense, it could be said that it finally got to the point. Zhou Pei put the cake next to his mouth and took a bite, frowned and looked at Ning Yi, feeling that the matter was tricky. If the old man Zhang scolded Ning Liheng in the Wangfuzhen for a while, she would also feel shameless. At this time, she was worried about what kind of words Ning Yi should use to refute.
Zhang Rui and Li Tongzheng looked at me and said a word. Suddenly someone knocked on the door. After a while, a veiled woman came in with a tea tray, but she was not a servant in the restaurant. The woman was very beautiful. , behind the veil, his eyes were bright, and it seemed that he was at least the steward of the restaurant. He smiled and said a few polite words, added tea and cakes, and then turned to go out. Li Tong seemed to have remembered something, looked at the woman's figure in a daze, and forgot to criticize Ning Yi for a while, but Zhou Pei recognized it. Yuan Jin'er's oiran, she has left her membership and knows her master.
Sure enough, after the woman went out, Ning Yi also stood up with a smile: "You two talk first, I'll go out."
After saying hello, Ning Yi left the room, and sure enough, Yuan Jin'er was sneaking around in the corridor not far away. She used to come here to instruct the workers to do things or something, and she didn't mind being looked at by her appearance. At this time, she regarded herself as the owner of Jin'er Store, but she became reserved and kept her face behind a scarf to maintain a sense of mystery. When Ning Yi passed by, she said, "I've been busy recently, why are you here?"
"Passing by, where is Yunzhu?"
"Sister Yunzhu was just above, and I can't find it now. I don't know what happened. I was called out. I heard from Xiaomin that you seem to have come over, so I came to see and came with you, except for the little boy. Girl, who are the others?"
"The big talent who lifts the bar."
"Genius?" Jin'er blinked. Ning Yi nodded: "very famous."
"No wonder... I seem to have seen that fat man... "
During the conversation, there was a noisy voice from the hall on the first floor, and there were also performances of the piano mixed in the voice. Jin'er probably had something to do with it. She looked out from the window on the second floor facing the street several times, and Ning Yi also took a look.
"Uh... It's alright, it's none of your business, go and fight with those two geniuses." She thought for a while and snorted, "To be honest, it's not fun without women when you stinky men fight, after all It is to show off in front of women. Or will someone come in to see you arguing? The two sisters of Yancuilou are here today, and they are beautiful. You would never want Sister Yunzhu to accompany you, although she must be interested in favoring you. …”
A man just wanted to show off in front of a woman, Yuan Jin'er's casual remarks really hit the nail on the head. In fact, there is nothing to argue about this matter today. People like Zhang Rui have their own logic system, and they are impeccable. To talk about the impact of the qualitative change in technology, if it is someone like Qin Lao, everyone has known each other for a long time, and maybe they will think about it seriously, but these people will not.
Even if the two sides are sincere, there is no possibility of persuading each other. This kind of thing has no meaning of sincerity. Ning Yi was planning to go back and list some detailed data about Qi Qiao's prostitution skills to fool the two of them. They were both idle and bored.
He went downstairs to a thatched hut to wash his hands and then came back up. The data had already been listed in his mind. He had just entered the corridor on the second floor when something happened unintentionally.
The noisy voice from the rear was mixed with the music. Ning Yi was walking towards the room. The sound of footsteps came from behind, and he pushed his shoulder.
The storefront of Zhuji No. 2 store is spacious and the corridors are not narrow. The man wanted to push Ning Yi, obviously because he was in a hurry, Ning Yi didn't mind this matter. The man was a tall and burly man. He looked like he was from the north and entered a room with an open door on the side.
"That's the guy..."
The man said something like this. When Ning Yi walked over, someone was closing the door, and a few words of conversation were vaguely heard from inside. Ning Yi didn't pay much attention to it. He looked at the corner of the corridor in front of him. At that time, Yuan Jin'er was no longer there. Seeing how she seemed to be in a mood today, she didn't know why... Just as he thought about it, his footsteps suddenly stopped, and for a moment, he tapped his fingers twice on his side.
After self-taught the second-rate internal skills taught by Lu Hong, my physical fitness has improved a lot, and my hearing ability has improved. When I just walked by, I seem to have vaguely heard a sentence such as "The guard next to Qin Siyuan...", but I can't be sure. At this time, he took two steps back, listened intently, and vaguely heard some residual sentences.
"… Are you sure you want to do it?"
“… just in time for the chance…”
“…too hasty…”
"Look at it first, and when you're done, leave the city immediately..."
what happened
Someone in the room was louder, but he could hear it more clearly, but he couldn't draw the whole picture for a while. The people inside talked a few more words. Ning Yi stepped forward, and then the door opened and came out. The person should have glanced at him before heading towards the exit of the corridor. When Ning Yi looked back, he saw one tall and thin, wearing an animal down coat, while the other looked like a noble man, two of them. The pace of man is quite steady.
Ning Yi thought about it and walked over.
Out of the corridor, there is a row of platforms followed by stairs, and you can see the situation in the hall. The two people who came out of the room stood here and looked down. At this time in the hall, the liveliness was slightly reduced, and the girl invited from Yancui Building was performing on the stage. Ning Yi stood beside the two of them, glanced down, then waved to the side, called a junior, asked the name of the girl performing on the stage, and then turned to leave.
At a table on the side of the hall, Nie Yunzhu was talking to the shop assistant with Mr. Qin there. There was nothing on the table. It was obvious that Mr. Qin had just come over and sat down for a while. A few days ago, I heard from the old man at Qin Lao's side that after the second Zhuji store opened, he would come to have a look when he was free.
It was in this direction that the two people next to him were watching.
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Zhang Rui was talking to Zhou Pei in the room. Regarding the departure of Ning Yi, Zhang Rui and Li Tong explained that Ning Yi had fled, but Zhou Pei knew that was not the case. Can't chase it out and take a peek. After all, one is the number one talent, and the other is one of the four leading actors of the brothel. Maybe there is a lingering love story. It's just that on the one hand, she didn't like Ning Yi losing face, and on the other hand, she was a little pissed at what happened in the morning. Yes, I just don't know what theory to use.
Zhang Rui was very happy about some of the remarks he had just said about Ning Yi, and he acted as if he was teaching Zhou Pei earnestly, mainly to let this clever little county master get lost and realize who is better. Master, Li Tong was thinking that Ning Yi would come over later, so he should have nothing to say. It's just that this thing is a bit strange. Talents have always been fighting each other. If others say that they are wrong, they will never admit it, but today, Ning Yi was not angry, so he just smiled and said, "You are right. "It's really uncomfortable. When he comes later, I have to be more serious. If it is spread later, people must realize that Ning Liheng has lost face. He then remembered that the shop was called Jin'er Store, and the woman who looked a lot like Yuan Jin'er, and for a while, he put his mind on it.
Not long after, the door finally opened, and Ning Yi walked back. First of all, he whispered a few words to Song Qian, the palace guard who was sitting beside him, who seemed to be invisible. Then Song Qian frowned and went out with a serious expression. Come this way. Li Tong smiled and said, "Liheng, I just chatted with Mr. Zhang for a while, and have some thoughts..."
That Zhang Rui frowned: "It's not just an idea, Liheng, I do feel that this matter is quite serious, and it is related to the future of the little prince, so it should not be ignored. You must have an explanation for the past few days. Otherwise, it will not only spread in the palace, but the old man will also advise the lord, this matter is not directed at you, but... but..."
Before the old man finished speaking, he blinked his eyes, and Li Tong also widened his eyes. Zhou Pei, who was beside him, shrank his head and chewed on the cake, and his mouth was open for a while, but he couldn't bite down. Ning Yi didn't answer the words of the two at this time. He looked back at the door of the room, but picked up the long bag with five flash guns from the corner of the room. He put the bag on the table, untied it and looked at it, picked up a gun, untied a small gunpowder packet, poured the gunpowder into the barrel, poked it with a long iron, and began to reload it. .
At this time, Ning Yi was standing there doing the work at hand. He had lost interest in the boring debate. Zhang Rui and Li Tong were both sitting across the round table, not knowing what this guy was going to do. Ning Yi loaded one gun, and after thinking about it, he went to load another. When his eyes swept over the two of them, he smiled kindly at them, but the corner of his eyes glanced at the door. Of course, at the moment, Zhang Rui and Li Tong couldn't notice such a move.
"You... you..." Li Tong swallowed, "Jun, gentlemen do not move..." After stammering this sentence, there is no way to go on. How can there be such a debate, because he is said to be clever and lewd If the skill is useless, I will destroy the two of myself...
Ning Yi took out a fire pistol on his body, opened it, shook it a few times in his hand, blew it up, then closed it and put it away, then wrapped the two loaded pistols and carried them in a posture that they could be pulled out at any time. Get up and take a deep breath.
"There are things outside, you sit inside for a while... Maybe it's a mistake..." He thought for a while, then said, "I hope it's a mistake..."
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It feels like it's working anyway, I hope it gets faster and faster...