(12)
The moonlight this night was dimmer than in the past few days. This was certainly related to the fact that they finally left the wilderness and returned to human society. Look at the little bits of starlight being reproduced on the earth. Rows of lanterns are hung in mid-air connected by ropes and thin wires. Their light is enough to cover up the sky covered by mist.
When entering Huaishuo Town, you must first pass through the checkpoint at the city gate. After passing this checkpoint, there are mobile sentries on the street waiting for outsiders to come. This is a situation that often occurs under overnight curfew laws. Although it is unreasonable, it is very effective in suppressing criminal behaviors such as stealing, murder and escape.
If there hadn't been a courier boy leading the way to negotiate with all parties, Bai Feng, Su Qing and his party would probably have been detained and sent to the dungeon as soon as they passed the first checkpoint based on their reputation as "wanted criminals".
This is by no means alarmist, but the actions of Huaishuo's soldiers and civilians made them truly feel this fact.
However, as soon as they stepped into the city, they were followed by many wild bees and butterflies. These people did not hide their purpose at all and followed the convoy blatantly. Among them were garrison soldiers dressed as sergeants, tramp-like wanderers, and wealthy nobles driving carriages.
The only thing they have in common is that, besides moving in the same direction, they all carry swords and look solemn.
These people have different costumes and different classes, and their purposes may not be the same.
Sure enough, when they arrived at Mrs. Li's residence, the wealthy and noble gentry were the first to grab the privilege of entering. Their dull and boring expressions suddenly became charming, and they immediately pushed away the servants in front of them with shame and arrogance. He strode in with his arm in his arms.
It is said that the mansion is quite lively. It is obviously a night under curfew, but the lights are still bright and the instrumental music is playing. Those who pushed cups and changed cups took turns to ring the wine chips, and responded to each other with the music and dancers. It must be that this group of wealthy and noble people traveled far and wide to come here just to participate in tonight's carnival.
When the messenger boy saw that all the lords, ladies, and young masters had gone in, he dared to go up and inform the gatekeeper, saying: "Please tell Madam, I have found Mr. Su..."
When the gatekeeper saw this, he quickly ran towards the high-rise building behind him.
At this time, those officials came up and pretended to point at Bai Feng and others and scolded: "Hey, you people, don't think about taking advantage of the nobles inside, I've been watching outside!"
After saying that, the vagabonds came up to guard the door.
"It seems that these are the accomplices of the devoted Mr. Xiao, right?" Su Qing twirled his beard and said with disdain: "Tonight, I don't know who is staring at whom?"
After a while, the servant brought good news. He grabbed Su Qing's hand and invited her: "Mrs. Li is inviting me!"
Walking in the atrium, before reaching a certain hall, everyone can clearly see the smoke lingering in the night sky, and several strange strands of incense are intertwined to form an extremely unique aroma.
In every small house passing by, there are singers dancing and playing music, and there are gourmets and drinkers making toasts and reciting poems. It wasn't until they passed the sixth small house that they saw the main hall.
The door was wide open and there were no empty seats. There were probably dozens of seats surrounding a temporary high platform in the middle. The woman on the stage wore heavy makeup, exposed her breasts, and danced in a coquettish way; the guests in the audience pushed their glasses to their stomachs, ate various greasy foods with their lovers in their arms, and took a few friends to enjoy the fun together.
They caroused so much in the brightly lit and ostentatiously decorated living room that they often lost track of time. From dusk to midnight, from midnight to noon tomorrow, then sleep from noon to dusk, and start the cycle again at dusk.
According to what the messenger boy said, this banquet will be held for several days every month. All kinds of talented entertainers, rich men with noble taste, and generals and soldiers who have made brave military exploits all like to come. When he said this, his face was full of expectation and appreciation, and his eyes were always looking for something in the crowd.
Guests kept coming in and leaving, and those who felt tired would retire first to rest, while the young and strong could continue to squander. They gambled, fencing, singing, dancing, and wrestling... There was no scruple here. People came, including old people with white hair, young children, young men, women, men, those with families, and those without families. Yes, there are also Xianbei people, Qiang people, Han people, Di people...
The endless noise and quarrels made the four people who had just come from the silent wilderness feel very uncomfortable. Murong Yan and Bai Feng left that place early and found a quiet place in the mansion to stay.
"Oh! Look, the lady is right there!" The messenger boy looked at the crowd for a long time and finally pointed out a certain direction.
I saw a slutty girl with long black curly hair and a black silk dress pushing among the men, playing dice in her hand, and shouting something: "You can't leave if you lose again." Got it!"
After that, she sat down next to the man and happily opened the new points. At the same time, Su Qing also silently walked to the gambling table. When the dice was spinning on the compass and about to fall, he secretly threw a stone, destroying the original result.
"Who dares to ruin this girl's good deeds!"
Su Qing first picked up the dice that had been blown away, then walked to Mrs. Li and sat on the floor, so that everyone around could see clearly, and said: "Everyone, look, this dice is the same as the original one? "
"This... this, when was this changed!"
Everyone took a closer look and found that the three sides of the blown dice were exactly the same!
"It seems that Mrs. Li's gambling skills have improved to a new level recently. She actually learned how to change dice secretly?" Su Qing said sarcastically: "My dear friend, you can refuse to admit this bet, lest others become someone else's skirt. .”
"Thank you brother, I'll take my leave first!" The young master stood up in a daze, pushed Mrs. Li away with a red face, bowed deeply to express his thanks, and left in a hurry.
Mrs. Li was bored when she saw the crowd around her disappearing instantly, and complained to the thief: "You...you hate it. The slave family succeeded so quickly, but you suddenly came out to ruin my good deeds!"
"Anu, why are you still looking like this? You are even more wanton than before!"
As soon as Su Qing finished speaking, Mrs. Li suddenly climbed onto the gambling table, condescendingly, and angrily moved her fair and translucent face towards Su Qing, and asked: "What do you care about me? You don't want to marry me. Why don't you marry me?" Why do you care about me? We haven’t seen each other for many years, and now you’ve caused me so much trouble! The first thing you said when we met was to criticize me and show contempt for me? Who do you think you are!”
"Anu?" Zi Chai, who had been waiting quietly for a long time, reacted after hearing the abuse and thought in her heart: "So Mrs. Li's name is Anu?"
"Pah!" A clear and loud slap came from Su Qingye's slightly red and swollen left face. When Zi Chai saw her son being humiliated in public by an unknown woman, she naturally went to help him.
"Mrs. Li, what are you doing! Aren't you and Master Su old acquaintances?"
Mrs. Li pointed at Zichai angrily and asked, "Where did our Mr. Su get this little girl again?"
"This is my sister..." Su Qing stuck out her tongue and licked the broken corner of her mouth. She knew that although this blow was not painful or itchy, it actually vented the dissatisfaction of the other party for many years.
"Didn't you say that your sister has died a long time ago? Could it be that this is another trick of yours?"
"So, I recognized a new one."
"Oh, anyway, I can't tell which of your words is true and which is false. But the fact that you were hunted down by Xiao Sugu with a reward cannot always be false." Mrs. Li sighed loudly and stood up from the gambling table. He jumped down lightly and walked towards the door with bare feet. At the same time, he did not forget to wave to the people behind him to follow: "Follow me. If I hadn't missed my old relationship, I would have let those charlatan killers kill you." The body was broken into thousands of pieces.”
younger sister? Old love? Zichai, Bai Feng, and Murong Yan remembered this conversation clearly. It was obvious that Su Qing still had many secrets and knots in her heart. In order to unravel these fogs, they had no choice but to go together, no matter whether the place Mrs. Li took them to was more noisy and chaotic.
