This is a wine shop, called "Moxiang Building", located in the east corner of Chen Guojing City, the princes of the country can not have the lord's mansion, can also not have the pack horse trading house, but the wine shop is indispensable, because the wine shop is not a single place to sell wine, it is the strength of the family, it is both a restaurant and a chess shop and an inn, but all the pedestrians and merchants from the south to the north will gather here.

Once there are more people, the news is naturally well-informed, and if Anguo's spring peach fruit wine is transported to Cai Guo, it will definitely be able to buy a good price, because the beauties of Cai Di especially like this kind of soft but not strong wine. Similarly, Cai Guo is rich in all kinds of musical instruments, the piano and the bell are complete, Anguo prefers the bell, Lu Guo loves the qin, and Wei Hou loves the gonghou, as long as they find the right news and doorway, the merchants are naturally rich in money. Of course, this is just an ordinary small business, the bulk of the trade is controlled by the ministers of various countries, scholars and doctors, their sense of smell is more keen, often pay attention to the general trend of the world, such as the Qi State will go to war with the Dai State, the Dai State lacks iron, lack of grain, the Qi Marquis lacks bows, grain carts, and such as the Southern Chu across the river, and the Jiangbei vassal states are deeply worried about the Southern Chu to the north, they need chariots and armor, and even brave warriors who are not afraid of death.

Therefore, large and small merchants from all over the world are willing to come to the wine store to taste a cup of wine, make a pot of tea, set up a game of chess, or share with acquaintances, or bid for all kinds of news at a high price, so that every major event that happens in the land of Zhongzhou can be quickly known by the world.

Jingcheng "Moxiang Building" occupies a large area, the whole east of the city is included in it, the decoration is not gorgeous, just like its name, along the street is a three-storey green bamboo building, the entrance hall is a chess battle house, on both sides is the elegant seat winery, the innermost is a row of inns.

Today's business is very good, whether it is the wine shop or the chess room, it is full, because on the chess table in the main hall, a Chen Guoshi and a Lu merchant are setting up a big game of chess.

This kind of big game of chess is not something that ordinary people can play, because every move they play will be commented on, and everyone in the world cherishes their feathers, if they are not skilled enough, who will play this kind of big game that may lead to ruin? What's more, in the end, these comments will be spread to all parts of Zhongzhou, which is one of the important criteria for the princes to judge when selecting talents.

The chessboard is hung high on the wall, whether it is a person who eats wine or a person who plays chess in the chess house, you can clearly see that the maid of Moxianglou is holding a long pair of tweezers and drops the chess pieces on the wall.

The crisp sound of falling children is endless.

Perhaps because the game was too intense, the crowd of onlookers upstairs and downstairs didn't even talk about it anymore, they all watched the fight in the game for a moment, and the people who played chess were not as eloquent as Fang Cai would show their layout every next move.

"Crackle, crackle......"

Chen Guo's scholar is a young man, and he is also a very prestigious chess player in Jingcheng, with a ruthless chess style and a shocking landslide, but now he has fallen into an inextricable quagmire, and the merchants of Lu have been tepidly forcing him to the brink.

"I lost."

The last chess piece fell, Chen Guoshizi was sweating profusely, his face was pale, all his spirit was lost in that moment, as if he had aged ten years all of a sudden, and a maid of Moxianglou who had been guarding him quickly helped him into the chess house, where a pot of tea had already been brewed.

The merchant of Lu State was not happy to win the chess, he just hugged the crowd of onlookers lightly, and walked straight to the backyard of Moxiang Building.

When he arrived at the backyard corridor, there were no idle people around, so he paused and said to the maid behind him, "You go and greet the guests." ”

"Yes." The maid turned and left.

The merchant of this Lu country was about thirty years old, with the standard face and style of a businessman, rich and soft, and gorgeously dressed, he raised his eyes and looked around, bypassed the flower garden planted with gladiolus, came to the innermost part of the Moxiang Building, stopped again in front of a small courtyard, straightened his clothes, and knocked on the fence door.

"Squeak." The door opened, and behind it stood two women, dressed in blue and white clothes.

The merchant nodded at them.

This is a quiet courtyard, quiet and beautiful, the elegant cherry butter flowers bloom all over the courtyard, the fragrance is not seeping, there is a bird cage hanging on the crooked neck willow tree, a pair of yellow-eyed birds are pecking silently inside, the house is very simple but very elegant.

The Lu merchant came to the eaves, held his snort, and waved into the bamboo curtain: "The proprietor, the matter has been done." ”

"Come in." An unspeakable, inexplicable voice came from the room, neither soft nor soft, like a cold spring falling into a cold pool, one by one.

The interior furnishings are consistent with the style of the small courtyard, fresh and elegant, orchid incense burner, ink-white landscape painting, low case made of green bamboo, there is a face on the case, the body is black, and the fifty strings are white.

The woman sat behind the desk, tilting her head to seriously straighten the strings, the bridge of her nose was very straight, a small bead of sweat fell on it, her fingers were slender, like jade, Xu has been more inaccurate, she was a little anxious, and her small mouth was pursed.

The merchant came in, and she didn't look at him, still paying attention.

The merchant knelt on the right side of the desk, took out a bamboo tube from his sleeve, and put the bamboo tube respectfully on the desk, but she still didn't look at him.

The merchant pressed his knees, lowered his eyes, and waited quietly, until there was a soft sound of 'ding' in the room, he raised his head and said with a smile: "This face has been dumb for three years, and I don't want to be repaired by the proprietor today." ”

"I haven't fixed it yet."

The woman raised her head, gently patted the dust on her hands, "pop" two soft sounds, any woman in such an action, either looks heroic and lively, or naughty and cute, except for her, she is so quiet, but very serious, black as ink beads in the eyes as if there is nothing in it, just quietly showing its beauty.

She is not very old, about thirteen or fourteen years old, but everyone who sees her can't help but forget her age, because she is too beautiful, and she is not real to the extreme, and any words piled up on her body will look pale and weak.

She picked up the bamboo tube on the case, took out the silk letter inside, read every word carefully, cut the letter into three pieces, stuffed it into three bamboo tubes, screwed on the lid of the tube one by one, sealed the vermilion mud, and then smiled: "How about that Chen Guoren?" ”

The merchant replied: "He has a sharp vision, a bold act, and a ruthless approach. ”

"Oh." The fine sweat on the wing of her nose slid down to her mouth, and she didn't wipe it, but wiped the sweat with her mouth. The maid beside her stretched out her hand, she handed the bamboo tube to the maid, and said softly, "Set off immediately, as soon as possible." ”

"Yes, proprietor." The maid got up and left cleanly.

The merchant hesitated for a moment and said, "Proprietor, this person may not be suitable. ”

The woman said, "Why not?" ”

Keshang said: "The three factions of Legalism, law, art, and potential, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, if it is judged by the national conditions, the law school and the art school are not suitable for our country, only the power of the faction to grasp the law and deal with the situation, and the rule of inaction can show its strengths." ”

"You have a point."

The woman frowned and thought for a while, and then said: "As we all know, since ancient times, our country has governed the country with benevolence and benevolence, and the ministers and doctors are also content with the old ways. However, if this is really the case, then why are you and I here? ”

The merchant was stunned, and beads of sweat rolled on his forehead.

The woman smiled: "That's it, I will leave Chen Guo in a few days, you decide for yourself on small matters, if you need to report major matters, you need to send more letters." ”

"Yes."

The merchant got up to leave, and when he was about to go out, the woman stopped him again and asked, "Are you looking for that Song child?" ”

The merchant was stunned, he didn't expect her to pay attention to such a trivial matter, and at this time, the woman lowered her head and straightened the strings, and said, "Is his talent really that good?" It's worth teaching him every day. Without waiting for the merchant to answer, she said, "Go, I just saw him, sitting on the thatched pile and basking in the sun." ”

……

Ji Lie sat on the thatched pile basking in the sun, of course he didn't know that someone was paying attention to him, a group of nine of them had been coming to Jingcheng for some days, the little black witch was very competent, he was good at communicating, and soon got on the line with the merchants here, but things were not as smooth as imagined, the reason was very simple, Chen Guo and Zhaoguo were going to fight, and the Chen soldiers of the two countries were shouting and blackmailing each other at the border, which made it difficult to buy money for customs clearance.

If you don't fight early or late, you just fight at this time, Ji Lie is very helpless.

The April sun is very mild on the body, which makes people drowsy, but Ji Lie doesn't want to go to the room to sleep, because the inn of "Moxianglou" is divided into three, six, nine and other classes, and they live in the worst class, the straw mat on the bed is already moldy, and the smell is really unpleasant, it is better to lie here in the sun and wait for Ji Ying and Xiao Hei to come back.

Moreover, it is also beneficial to bask in the sun here, for example, a merchant discovered him because of his maverick, and then took the initiative to teach him to play chess, Ji Lie was regarded as a fool since he was a child, naturally no one taught him to play chess, but he has a strong talent, which makes the merchant who is exquisite in chess full of praise. And this, for Ji Lie, is also a good thing.

Now, for example, he saw a man here, a person who was not supposed to be here, who was cleaning the next door with a broom in her right hand, and in her left hand she was dragging a branch that had been half burned by the fire.

That woman, the fugitive slave of the Fox Clan.

Coincidence or haunting?

Ji Lie couldn't be sure.

Separated by two walls in an alley, the woman swept the floor, squinted her eyes with a broomstick, and her eyes were not sharp or panicked, but looked very confused, as if she was trying to identify Ji Lie.

Ji Lie suddenly remembered that this woman had an eye disease, and it was normal to see clearly, and just when he was about to call Xiao Yu and Xiong Zhan to stand in front of the woman and let her take a good look, the merchant came.