It will be the Lantern Festival in a few days.
The Lantern Festival in Jiangnan is more lively than New Year’s Eve.
According to legend, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the day when the Heavenly Official of the Shangyuan Dynasty bestows blessings. On this day, people will display lanterns to pray for blessings.
It is also said that the Lantern Festival was celebrated by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty in order to commemorate the pacification of the "Zhu Lu Rebellion". He deeply felt that peace and prosperity were hard-won, so he ordered that starting from the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, the city gates would be opened for three consecutive days, allowing the people to come and go freely. Jin Wu couldn't help it. People can stay up all night to make lanterns, so Lantern Festival lantern festivals can be seen everywhere.
The lanterns are especially popular in Jiangnan, and Jiangnan is most respected by the West Lake. The lantern festival in the West Lake has never disappointed anyone.
Before the Lantern Festival arrives, local craftsmen have already made many lanterns. Every night, the streets and alleys, painted boats and cruise ships are filled with lanterns.
In order to sell more lanterns, the craftsmen all show off their magic skills and compete with each other to light up their own lanterns to attract tourists.
Naturally, you have to try West Lake Fish in Vinegar when you visit West Lake. There are many chefs who can cook West Lake Fish in Vinegar, but the one who cooks it most authentically is Fatty Wang from Tingyuxuan.
Xiao Ding discovered an interesting thing. It seems that every good chef will gain weight. Maybe they choose to be chefs because they love to eat. If they love to eat, they will inevitably gain weight.
The upstairs of "Tingyuxuan" was full of guests and friends.
People of some status are surrounded by beautiful women. They smile coquettishly, half-heartedly, and accompany the men around them to eat, drink, and have fun, because they know that as long as they make the men around them happy, there will naturally be benefits to be gained.
Ever since Xiao Ding and the others came upstairs, those women couldn't laugh anymore because the men around them no longer cared about them.
The men glanced at Tang Qingqing and Ye Rongqiu from time to time, and the women also stared at Tang Qingqing and Ye Rongqiu from time to time.
Men are appreciative, women are jealous.
Originally, these women were pretty good-looking, and some of them were even rare beauties. But compared with Tang Qingqing and Ye Rongqiu, they seemed extremely ordinary.
Tang Qingqing is cute and cute, Ye Rongqiu is cold and noble, Tang Qingqing is free and easy, and Ye Rongqiu is heroic. The most important thing is that both of them have a peerless appearance.
The most irritating thing is that such a rare beauty in the world is actually accompanied by a young and gentle boy. Although this boy is also handsome and handsome, how can he be favored by two beauties at the same time?
So the eyes of those men were full of jealousy.
The guests upstairs are mostly businessmen and tourists, but they are not martial arts people. The martial arts heroes gather together and talk about Jianghu affairs.
"Oh, I didn't expect that the Thirteen Taibao of Lin'an would be taken away by someone overnight. It's really like the wind and water are changing, and the way of heaven is reincarnation."
"Although these thirteen Taibao have done many evil things and have received retribution this time, the strength of someone who can take them all down should not be underestimated."
There were three people at the table behind Xiao Ding drinking and chatting, and judging by their attire, they were members of the Huashan sect.
Xiao Ding suddenly stood up, held the wine glass, and came to the table of three people. He cupped his fists and said with a smile: "Excuse me, look at the attire of these three brothers. Could it be that they are Huashan disciples?"
When the three of them saw Xiao Ding's high-spirited and confident attitude, they did not dare to neglect him at the moment. After the three of them returned the courtesy, one of them, an older middle-aged swordsman, replied: "Your Excellency has good eyesight, and I would like to serve you properly." I am a disciple of Huashan, I wonder if you have any advice?"
Xiao Ding smiled slightly and said: "I don't dare. I have some connections with the two elders of your sect, Song He. I miss you very much after we say goodbye to Shaolin. I would like to ask where they are now and whether they are in good health."
When the three of them heard this, they were very obedient. This young man dared to claim that he had an acquaintance with his master and uncle at such a young age. Although they were suspicious in their hearts, they did not dare to make a mistake.
The person who spoke just now asked cautiously: "Do you know your surname?"
"My surname is Ding, Ding from A, B, C and D. Everyone calls me Xiao Ding, but I seem to have forgotten my real name, haha..." Xiao Ding laughed.
Xiao Ding, Shaolin Temple...
The three of them seemed to have remembered something, and the middle-aged swordsman asked tentatively: "Xiao Ding? Could it be that he is Shaoxia Ding who broke through the three elders' Tiangang Demon Subduing Formation with a single blow in the Shaolin Temple?"
Xiao Ding smiled and said: "Ashamed, it's just me."
The three of them were shocked. They stood up suddenly and bowed: "Uncle Master has told me that if I meet Shaoxia Ding in the rivers and lakes in the future, no matter what the master does, no disciple of the Huashan School dares to disobey him."
Xiao Ding hurriedly sat the three people down and said with a smile: "No need to be polite, I just heard the three people below talking about the thirteen Taibao of Lin'an being taken away by others. What happened?"
The person who just stirred up the topic was a young swordsman in his thirties. He lowered his voice and said, "No, just the night before, the Thirteen Taibao were raped by others, and even their nest was burned to ashes. The officials only found thirteen masks in the rubble.”
The swordsman from the center sighed: "The Thirteen Taibao are rampant in the world, and they have countless enemies. Some people have long wanted to eliminate them quickly, but it is a pity that these Thirteen Taibao are insidious and cunning. They never show their true colors when committing crimes. After committing crimes, they disperse and hide. It's Those who wanted to get rid of them in the rivers and lakes had no good idea, but they were all killed overnight."
Xiao Ding frowned and said, "Are there any clues left at the scene?"
"Except for the thirteen masks, nothing was found."
Xiao Ding was a little disappointed and said with a smile: "Okay, I won't bother you anymore. If the three brothers see Song He and the other two, say hello to me and say that Xiao Ding is very concerned about you."
"Definitely, definitely, I will be thinking about you, young hero."
Xiao Ding returned to his seat, looked out the window at the bright lanterns on the West Lake, and smiled bitterly.
Sikong Zhaiyue scratched the short beard on his chin again and said with a smile: "Looking at your listless look, I bet you haven't come back with any useful information."
Xiao Ding sighed: "Yes, there is news, but it's really useless."
Tang Qingqing said angrily: "Then you won't be so gloomy. The sky has not fallen."
"The sky has not fallen, but all our clues are broken. There is no information about the escort, and there will no longer be any information about the Thirteen Taibao. We seem to have lost." Xiao Ding smiled, laughed Very ironic.
Tang Xiaotian gritted his teeth and punched the wall. Xiao Ding said this, so what hope is there?
Failure, failure sometimes cannot dampen a person's energy, but disappointment can wear away all a person's confidence.
There are certain levels of disappointment, and the most complete disappointment is despair.
Absolute no hope, absolutely no chance, can destroy a person's confidence. What can a person without confidence do?
Ye Rongqiu seemed to have suddenly thought of something. She stared at Xiao Ding and said slowly: "Do you think the two men in white who escorted the escorts will go to the Evergreen Escort Bureau to ask for compensation?"
Xiao Ding pinched his brows and said with a wry smile: "This whole thing does seem to have a lot to do with those men in white. It is even very possible that they were the ones who robbed the escorts. They didn't even have the receipts from the Evergreen Escort Bureau." Leaving without collecting one proved that they had no intention of asking for compensation. Because their purpose was not to compensate, but to completely defeat the Evergreen Escort Bureau. They deliberately chose to escort the escort in full view of the public on the day the Evergreen Escort Agency was established. , that’s the intention.”
If the Evergreen Escort Bureau does not compensate, it will break its promise. For the Escort Agency, breaking its trust is equivalent to bankruptcy, because no one will choose an escort agency without credibility.
If Evergreen Escort Bureau chooses to compensate, it will also face bankruptcy. After all, the amount of one hundred thousand taels of gold is really shocking.
No one knows who is escorting the escort, and no one knows who is robbing the escort. There are no clues to be found.
Zhou Ziheng sighed: "The Tao is one foot high, the devil is one foot high, alas..."
Tang Qingqing had been deep in thought. She suddenly slapped her thigh and asked eagerly: "If the escort is stolen, the escort agency will compensate all the losses of the escort. If the escort loses contact, how should the escort be compensated?"
Sikong Zhaiyue rolled his eyes at her and said, "Looking at your shock, the escort has lost contact. The escort agency should also contact the escort designated by the escort to compensate. Do you think you can escape?"
Tang Qingqing stared at him and smiled: "Have you noticed that after all calculations on this matter, only Wugou Villa is guaranteed to make a profit without losing anything."
