(11)
The Zhao family's mansion is located in the southeast corner of Yuyi Town, only two long streets away from the nearest city wall. Logically speaking, this place shouldn't be a noisy place.
This place is remote enough and far away from the Magpie Bridge in the center of the town. The two long streets nearby are also shops selling expensive supplies such as silk and spices, and ordinary people rarely set foot there. However, this does not prevent this place from becoming one of the most prosperous places in Yuyi Town.
Because the entire Yuyi Town is built on undulating hillsides and valleys, this unique phenomenon is created. The Zhao Mansion, which was not considered luxurious at all, happened to stand on the high ground surrounded by valleys.
In order to witness with their own eyes the palace where miracles have taken place, devout believers will look up and worship in front of the palace when they board the palace. Most people from all walks of life who visit the Zhao family do the same. It's just that the latter generally don't need to worship, because this is not a place where miracles happen, it is full of human accidents.
To find the gate of Zhao Mansion, you have to walk on a long street paved with fine cobblestones. And because this is a long street that goes up diagonally, you have to walk with your head up.
At the same time, this street is also where the largest number of foreign businessmen gather. From early morning to night, you can see people successfully trading goods, then leaving with the most unrestrained smile on their face.
Early this morning, two unexpected guests came to visit. They were a man and a woman.
The man is wearing cloth, carrying a long sword at his waist, and is more than seven feet tall. Although his face is weathered, it can't completely cover his still youthful face; the woman is wearing blue silk satin, rolling up extremely large sleeves and narrow Qu Ju, with an enchanting figure, is holding a potted plant with a strange flower on it.
The two men came up without announcing their names. The man caught the boy standing guard in front of the Zhao Mansion and asked, "Excuse me, is Mr. Zhao in the mansion?"
The boy asked: "Who are you? How dare you come to disturb our Mr. Zhao this early in the morning?"
"I'm Bai Feng. I'm Mr. Zhao's retainer. I'm here to 'present flowers' to Mr. Zhao!" The man stepped aside and greeted the woman behind him.
I saw the girl holding the little flower staggering up the steps, about to present it to the janitor.
"Stop! Who are you? Our master never said we had guests coming this morning!"
Bai Feng walked to the woman's side and explained: "Brother, have you ever heard of the 'bloody mandala'? Mr. Zhao has coveted this rare flower from the Western Regions for a long time! If you keep it out today, you won't be afraid. Was he furious?"
"Blood Mandala? I've never heard of Mr. Zhao having such a hobby..."
"Hey, why are you so ignorant!" Bai Feng was quite upset and leaned over to whisper to the other party: "This man of letters has some hobbies after all... Look at this 'Blood Mandala', is it a top-grade product? Mr. Zhao He has suffered many setbacks recently and deserves someone to comfort him..."
The doorman tasted it carefully, then looked at the direction Bai Feng was pointing, and found that the 'bloody mandala' in his mouth was not the bright red flower, but the man holding the flower. A beauty.
"Oh! I see, we are all men, why do you need to hide what you say! I once heard that the mandala flower has psychedelic poison, but now it seems that it is not a rumor!" The boy looked at the eyes. The beauty said again: "Since it is the young master's need, I should let you go!"
"Brother, this matter is very confidential. Please don't report it to Mr. Zhao." Bai Feng then added: "You also know that the Zhao family has strict rules. If someone finds out, Mr. Zhao will be punished and he will definitely be angry. For you and me!”
"Understood! Understood!" the doorman responded, stepped out of the way, welcomed the visitor in, and pointed out a rarely visited garden path to the visitor.
In this way, Bai Feng and Ajuan successfully found the door of Zhao Kuo's house.
They looked around and saw that it was quiet, then quietly knocked on the door curtain. However, Zhao Kuo seemed to have lost his temper after staying inside for a few days. He just murmured almost in a whisper: "Who is it... The people who brought food and drinks were just left at the door. I can't go out..."
"It's me, Brother Zhao!" Bai Feng replied: "I have something important to come to you for!"
"And me!" Ajuan responded: "Zhao Kuo, how are you doing now?"
Before he finished speaking, Zhao Kuo quickly opened the door, invited only Bai Feng in, and then quickly closed the door. Ajuan didn't even see his appearance clearly. But before that, Ajuan took the opportunity to hold the door with all his strength and successfully left a crack in the door.
"What are you doing? What's wrong with you, slave? You're avoiding me like a ghost!" Ajuan angrily said, "Open the door quickly, I want to go in too!"
"You can't come in. If others see it, I will have to copy the scripture tens of thousands of times!" Zhao Kuo also pressed against the door as if desperately trying, and replied: "Later... later I will definitely see you, please wait first, wait outside obediently, don’t run around!”
"Okay." Ajuan agreed with a smile, then held the little flower and sat in front of the threshold to wait.
She was still mumbling the name "Blood Datura", as if she didn't know the name of the flower she was growing before, and she kept praising the name for its wonderfulness.
But after a while, there was a fierce argument in the room. This made the innocent girl unable to continue the beautiful thoughts in her mind, and was forced to listen to a sentence or two.
"You said Master Yao has something to do with the bandits who robbed our silver? This...how is this possible? How can I believe this..."
"Brother Zhao, it doesn't matter whether we are involved or not. The important thing is to help Miss Lou get back the money. Don't you think so too? So please tell me how to find the whereabouts of 'Yixiao Huangquan'."
"At least Caiwei... Caiwei will not sit idly by. If Caiwei knew about it, she would never help him!"
"Brother Zhao, I understand how you feel! However, the Yao Caiwei you know probably no longer exists!"
"You said you want to find the 'Yixiao Huangquan'? I know that there are many veterans in the town who have experienced the eradication of that gang of bandits. Maybe they know the whereabouts of the 'Yixiao Huangquan'. As for how to do it, I can help I can’t stand you anymore, Brother Bai…”
After a while, the door of the room was pushed open again, but this time the door was not closed quickly. Bai Feng knew the situation well and walked to the distance to act as a "sentinel" for the remaining two people.
Ajuan looked at Zhao Kuo's face covered with stubble, his face was quite thin and haggard, and countless unspeakable bitterness suddenly arose in his heart.
"Why are you like this..." Ajuan had never seen the other party look decadent, so she was naturally a little scared, so she had to hide behind the potted plant before she dared to speak. And the behavior of hiding behind a little flower made her look quite funny.
"Haha, anyone would be like this if you were trapped in the house every day, eating leftovers, and copying scriptures and articles thousands of times." Zhao Kuo sneered, "You are different, you are carefree. You're used to it, you can't stand me like this..."
"I can bear it! Of course I can bear it! Even if your appearance has changed, you are still you, and you still miss Miss Caiwei." After saying that, Ajuan held up the little flower in her hand, as if she really was He came to present flowers and said, "Look, the 'bloody mandala' we planted with our own hands is growing really well! I gave it to you. Smelling the fragrance of the flowers, you can sleep more peacefully."
"Blood Mandala? Who named this?" Zhao Kuo said with a smile: "And your clothes, I'm afraid I borrowed Miss Murong's again. After I've been thinking behind closed doors for a month, I will personally I will take you to make a beautiful Hanfu, and also take you to the 'Colorful Flower Field' in Woye Town to have a good time!"
"Really?" If it weren't for the fact that the skirt was too narrow and she was afraid of damaging other people's clothes, Ajuan almost jumped for joy, "But I still don't want to wear Han clothes. The clothes are too conspicuous, and the slave family will not change their clothes. The slave family works so hard just to see you..."
"Okay, go back to the trading house and live well and don't wander around. I'm afraid something big is going to happen in the near future."
After that, the two reluctantly said goodbye. The peaceful morning that Zhao Kuo was supposed to spend in self-blame was once again cast under the veil of conspiracy.
