About 800 miles to the southwest of Bianliang, is located in the middle reaches of the Han River, the largest tributary of the Yangtze River, Xiangyang City, which belongs to Xiangzhou Mansion on the South Road of Beijing, and is the fief of Zhao Yuanzuo, the uncle of the current Great Song Emperor Zhao Zhen.

In the middle of May, it is already early summer, the sun is shining, the blue sky is floating a few lazy white clouds, and the occasional breeze sweeps in the dry air.

Xiangyang Xicheng Gate is located in the west of the city, it is nearly noon, the people who enter the city are weaving, but they are interrogated by the city gate guards one by one, and the queue into the city is getting longer and longer.

There were already people in the queue who were impatient with this slow wait, and the merchants who wanted to enter the city early, settle down early, and take a bath and eat to feel the Xiangyang style shouted there.

"There are four doors in Xiangyang, in the past, the four doors were opened, and they came in and out at will, but now why only one door is opened, we still have to be carefully interrogated, we are people who often come and go, and how can we be robbers and thieves, and we want to be humiliated here?" A few loud voices had already started shouting in the middle of the group.

"Hugh is too much, in recent days, water bandits have infested Xiangyang City, in order to prevent your lives from being threatened and your property from being damaged, the Xiangyang Palace, together with the Zhizhou Mansion, has issued a notice, since yesterday, all those who enter Xiangyang City need to be checked, if there are people who are not willing to wait, they can turn around and leave, no one will stop them!" When the guards heard that someone was trying to stir up trouble, they sent the man who was full of spirit to stand on a high place and announce it loudly.

The guard's voice reached the end of the line of people, and everyone could hear it clearly, but the shouters in the line did not dare to say more, and only bowed their heads and muttered a few words.

There was a pair of young men in the team, one of them had bright eyes, and although he had been in line for nearly half an hour, he still looked calm, but he could hear the shouts of the guard, and couldn't help but look at the man, but his face was a little more playful.

The brown-shirted man beside him, who was obviously an entourage, quietly asked the man in white: "Master, at this speed, I'm afraid I won't be able to enter the city at noon, so let's take it out...... Luckily? ”

The man in white shook his head lightly and said, "It's okay! Let's wait and see this Xiangyang landscape, wouldn't it be wonderful? ”

The man in the brown shirt looked up and looked around, and said with a puzzled face: "Except for the mountains and water, there is nothing special. ”

"No, you look at this Xiangyang City, surrounded by water on three sides, one side of the mountain, relying on the steepness of the mountain, according to the danger of the water, the city is high and solid, and there is such a wide moat, don't you think it is 'Xiangyang with iron'?" The man in white also whispered.

It's just that when he said the word 'iron Xiangyang', he thought of the 'Battle of Xiangyang' mentioned in a famous novel he read a thousand years later, and Xiangyang was finally captured by the Mongol army with trebuchets, so he couldn't help but look up again at the tall city gate made of large blue bricks, and sighed heavily in his heart.

"The master is really observant." The attendant looked around again and nodded emphatically.

I thought that when I didn't arrive in Xiangyang last night, I had received a secret report from the secret guards in the city and knew about the water bandits, but fortunately the master was smart and entrusted the carriage they drove to the nearby post station, otherwise I came in a carriage today, but I was blocked at the gate of the city, wouldn't it be eye-catching? In my heart, I admired my master more and more for his foresight.

The two men marched slowly with the procession, and after noon they came to the entrance of the city cave, and the two of them only carried a simple baggage, and at a glance they knew that they had not hidden their weapons.

The loud-voiced soldier asked, "Where did you two come from?" What do you do in Xiangyang? How many days? ”

The man in white blocked the brown-shirted entourage and replied slowly: "We are here from Bianliang, and we are the stewards of the Bianliang silk merchants. It's hard to say how long you will stay. ”

The soldier looked closely at the two men to see if there was anything suspicious, then nodded and waved for them to let them go.

The man in white smiled and thanked him, and then calmly walked into the city cave with his brown-shirted entourage and walked towards Xiangyang City.

And the loud-voiced soldier looked at the backs of these two people, lowered his head and frowned and thought for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned around and went up to the guard pavilion of the city wall.

As soon as the two entered Xiangyang, they hired a carriage from a carriage near the city gate, and sat in the carriage and let the chariot drive towards the city.

In the city, the man in white felt that Xiangyang was prosperous in the city, and it had a different flavor than Bianliang.

At this time, because the sky is getting warmer, the pedestrians on the street are already wearing summer shirts, the women in Chudi have many thin waists, and the streets are mostly breast enhancement bee waists, dressed in red and willow green, and the women who walk up and down are no less than the women of the big families in Bianliang, Kyoto.

The man in white was dazzled by the direct gaze, and his heart was secretly surprised.

From the west gate to the intersection of Xiangyang City, along the Xiangshui in the city, it will not take long to arrive at a restaurant built near the water.

The two got off the carriage and looked up, the three words "Wangjiang Tower" on the plaque were scorching in the sun, and the high-style restaurant was built according to the water, which was the premier restaurant in Xiangyang City.

The four-storey "Wangjiang Building" is full of people, as soon as the two enter the lobby of the building, there is immediately a restaurant Xiaoer to greet them, fortunately it is past lunch time at this time, and they barely find a window position on the third floor, and the two of them sit down and feel hungry in their stomachs.

Xiao Er served tea diligently, handed over the menu and asked with a smile, "What do the two guest officers use?" ”

The man in white didn't accept the menu, and said casually: "The two of us just came to Xiangyang today, and I don't know the specialties here, why don't you recommend them for us?" ”

Xiao Er of the restaurant pondered for a moment and said: "The bream in the Han River is also known as 'shrunken bream', the taste is very fatty, it is our famous dish in Xiangyang, you can order it to taste." It's better to have another three-inlay plate, Xiangyang hooves wrapped and a plate of sweet and sour cabbage, accompanied by a pot of Xiangyang's famous wine 'Bamboo Leaf Spring', which is enough for the two of them to enjoy. ”

"Four dishes and one wine, fish and meat, the combination is very good, just according to your words, cook these dishes quickly." The man in white nodded and said.

The little two crisp should get down, turn around and go downstairs into the kitchen to serve the dishes.

The brown-shirted man hurriedly poured another cup of tea for his master, and Fang asked, "Master, what do we need to do when we come to Xiangyang in advance?" ”

The man in white smiled and said: "Don't do anything, eat and drink, go shopping, just wait for the eldest brother and them to come, after dinner, we will find an inn nearby to stay, and we can come out at night to enjoy the night view of Xiangyang." ”

After finishing speaking, the man in white looked around and found that they were sitting by the window on the third floor, with an excellent line of sight.

The third floor of this "Wangjiang Building" is more elegant seats, and the price of food is slightly higher than that of the first and second floors, and the environment on the third floor is much quieter than the other second floors.

It's just that at this time, for some reason, there was a sudden sound of whispering in the building, and after a while, the discussion became louder and louder, so that the man in white couldn't help but listen, but the more he listened, the more surprised he became.