readx;? In the evening, there is still a lively scene in the night market of the West Imperial City, although the holy area is now turbulent, and the war in the north is in full swing, but these things are too illusory for the West Imperial City far away in the southwest, even if the front line is still a river of blood, but this remote West Imperial City has always been a song and dance, peaceful and prosperous. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The people are the people, they only know how to live their lives in peace and stability, as long as the war does not affect their side, then everything has nothing to do with them, because there are some things that they absolutely do not have the qualifications and power even if they want to care. Because for the ordinary people of the Western Imperial City, compared to the life-and-death battle between Lan Shixun and the Holy North King, they were more concerned about how much taxes the Western Imperial City would collect this year, whether the Imperial Emperor's tribute and silver city lord could be handed over on time, and so on, similar to these things related to their vital interests.

Midsummer night, the lively night market in all kinds of industries, on both sides of the street row of vendors on all kinds of ornaments to eat, almost every vendor around the gathered a lot of customers to come to inquire, and the teahouse restaurants on both sides are even more crowded, a lantern used to solicit business will illuminate the whole street as bright as day, walk through the front of these teahouses and restaurants, sometimes you can hear the bold drinkers shouting together and the noisy fist toasting, sometimes you can also hear the literati and ink writers of the Western Imperial City talking and laughing together in groups and chanting poems and songs, and sometimes from some large restaurants come out of the sound of the wind and moon singing and dancing。

The excited shouts of men and the flattering smiles of women are intertwined under this night, accompanied by the beauty of the hook column with the trembling branches and pink delicacy, the mighty and unyielding martial cultivators with swords, and the handsome sons with lupine scarves and the business merchants who talk and laugh and talk happily, the interpretation of the Western Imperial City under the night is extremely wonderful. Although the Western Imperial City is not very big, it is so prosperous that even Jinling City, the imperial capital of the Holy Land, has not appeared for a long time.

Maybe it's a kind of tranquility in the chaos, maybe it's a luxury of drunken gold fans, or maybe it's a kind of self-escape from night and night songs. In short, today's Western Imperial City looks more interesting than ever.

In the bustling crowd of the night market, a middle-aged man in a brocade robe is strolling through the noisy streets, with a smug smile on his face, and from time to time he will stop and play with interesting gadgets from the vendors on both sides. Whether it is this person's body shape or his appearance, he is like a full martial artist, to put it bluntly, he is a rough man. But now this person is dressed in a brocade costume and holding a folding fan in his hand, which looks really nondescript to such a strong man. But even so, none of the passers-by who met him dared to show ridicule, on the contrary, they nodded and bowed respectfully to this person, and the vendors on both sides occasionally took the initiative to run forward, taking their own things and taking the initiative to stuff them into this person's hands, and there was always a flattering smile on their faces. And behind this strong man, there are more than a dozen guards armed with swords, which shows that this person's status here must be good.

And the reason why he dared to be so ostentatious in the Western Imperial City was because he was the current master of the Western Imperial City, a veritable Western Imperial City Lord, Pang He!

"City Lord, do you see how prosperous and lively our Western Imperial City is? This is all because of the city lord's wisdom and martial arts, and he has good governance!"

Pang He was followed by a small middle-aged man with a mustache, this person was short and small, thin and hated to be skinny, and the whole face belonged to the pair of big eyes that were dripping and rolling the most obviously, and the character of slapping horses between words and demeanors was unobstructed, this person's name was Ma Quan, a typical dog-headed military division. When Yang Ling was the lord of the West Imperial City, he served by Yang Ling's side, and later was demoted with Yang Ling, and then I don't know by what means, he actually came back to life again, and now he has returned to the West Emperor's Mansion, and he has become a dog leg around Pang He, and this horse power also won Pang He's favor with his three-inch tongue and slapping horse's kung fu, and now Pang He is quite important to him. is even more intimate than the Feng brothers who followed Pang He to the Western Imperial City back then.

"It's just a few days before the end of the month, how are the preparations for this month's tribute?" Pang He asked casually, focusing on playing with the gadgets on the vendor next to him.

"If you go back to the city lord, this tribute is still 30,000 silver shells!" Ma Quan said with a sneer, "This is simple, tomorrow I will take people to these restaurants to take a turn around and count them!"

"Tut-tut!" Hearing Ma Quan's words, the smile on Pang He's face couldn't help but fade away, only to see him squeeze his teeth with a sad face, and said with a resentful expression, "This imperial sect is inevitably too much, they collect tribute silver on a monthly basis, so that I can't keep any inventory in the Western Imperial City, and if this continues, the city lord will soon be unable to eat!"

"Alas, this is also something that can't be helped, who let our fourteen cities in the southwest join forces to deal with Lou Zong back then? That time completely angered the Sect Master of the Holy Domain, this will continue to put pressure on us, the purpose of the Sect Master of the Sacred Domain is very clear, that is, to make us pay the price for what we did at the beginning!" Ma Quan said helplessly, "The Emperor Sect is leaning against the big tree to enjoy the shade, and our little Western Imperial City really can't afford to provoke it!"

"Then you can't get used to them so much!" Pang He said with a sinking face and an unhappy tone.

"That's that!" Ma Quan was so frightened that he hurriedly looked left and right, as if he was afraid that Pang He's words would be heard by the disciples of the Imperial Sect, "I believe that this way of collecting tribute silver will not last long, in just one year, our Western Imperial City has raised taxes five times in a row, and the common traders are basically almost to the limit of what they can bear, I believe that these Imperial Sects must also understand, after all, they just want to deter us, and they don't want to completely fall out with us, after all, it is not good for the Imperial Sect to force us to a dead end!" They can't collect the tribute, and they can't explain to Xuanzong and the Eastern Sect Master......, right?

"I'm just afraid that they don't know what to do, so that I, the city lord, am not a person inside and out!" Pang He said worriedly, "Do you think I don't know? Who else in the Western Imperial City still thinks of me well? Who doesn't scold me behind my back and scold me as a lackey of the Imperial Sect?"

"No! No, the city lord thinks too much!" Ma Quan said with a smile, "Look at the rest of the fourteen cities in the southwest, those city lords have to do a lot more than us, they don't help the emperor to squeeze the people, but also have to leave enough oil and water for themselves, I heard that ......" Ma Quan's words not only peeked left and right a few times, but then lowered his voice a few points, "I heard that there is a famine in the city of Buring now, and the people are not happy, it is said that many people have gone to the gate of the Marquis of Buring to make trouble!" In contrast, our Western Imperial City can still maintain today's peaceful and prosperous era under the rule of the city lord, which shows the wisdom of the city lord! Compared with the people of Buling, we of the Western Emperor don't know how much happier they are, and it is too late for them to think that the city lord is good? How can they insult the lord?"

"That's different!" Pang He said with a sneer, "Buring City is in the middle of a desert of seven thousand miles, and they don't even rely on farming, they don't rely on mountains or water, even if they don't have taxes and the people have difficulty living!

"That's!that's!" Ma Quan hurriedly laughed, "Back then, Louzong relied on the closure of the city, and the closure became the center of the southwestern cities, and it was the most prosperous and lively. Now that Louzong is gone, another emperor has emerged, and the emperor relies on our West Imperial City, this is not necessarily a bad thing for us, no matter how we say that we are also at the feet of the emperor, even if it is for the sake of face, the emperor will never treat us badly!"

"There is some truth in this sentence!" Pang He nodded slowly, "Now that each city pays one million silver shells per month, I plan to personally go to the Imperial Sect next month to see if I can be a little accommodating to our Western Imperial City!"

"If the city lord goes out in person, the emperor will definitely agree!" Ma Quan nodded and smirked, "The city lord went to the emperor, it was to give them a big face, and it was too late for them to be grateful......?"

After being slapped by Ma Quan like this, Pang He's mood suddenly became much more relaxed, and he saw that after casually instructing him to collect the missing 30,000 silver shells as soon as possible, he took people to continue to visit the night market with great interest again.

However, just a few steps before Pang He led the talent forward, three suddenly appeared figures that suddenly blocked Pang He's way, and these three people were all fresh faces for Pang He, and they were also specially arranged by Lu Yifan, they were Lu Wencai, Ah Chang and Qin Qingyu.

"Dare to ask this person in front of you who is the city lord of the Western Imperial City?" Lu Wencai asked with a smile on his face.

"Who are you?" Ma Quan frowned and walked forward quickly, and scolded with a brutal face, "Do you know that the city lord still dares to stand in the way and look for death?"

"Don't dare, don't dare!" Lu Wencai always maintained a smile on his face, but Qin Qingyu on the side watched coldly and remained silent, Ah Chang was always smiling, Lu Wencai turned a deaf ear to Ma Quan's scolding, and still said with a smile to Pang He, "The city lord really doesn't hide it, we are a chamber of commerce from Jinling, and you also know that Jinling City is not stable now, and life is not good, so our chamber of commerce moved here." When we first arrived in Guibao Land, we found that the prosperous era of the Western Emperor was extremely prosperous, so we wanted to gain a foothold here! However, when we first arrived in Guidi, it was naturally inconvenient for us to be unfamiliar with the place, so we would like to get acquainted with the city lord, I wonder if we have this honor?"

As soon as they heard this, Pang He and Ma Quan unconsciously glanced at each other, and a look of pride flashed in their eyes. There is a chamber of commerce settled in the West Imperial City, which means that someone has come to send them money again, and it is also a chamber of commerce from Jinling City, which must be very rich. Therefore, Pang He and Ma Quan both realized for the first time that they might be able to make a lot of money this time. Maybe it's still an evergreen tree.

"The Chamber of Commerce from Jinling City?" Pang He asked in a deep voice expressionlessly, "Then do you know whose territory the Western Imperial City is?" The Western Imperial City has the rules of the Western Imperial City, isn't it something you can settle in if you want to?"

"We all understand this!" Lu Wencai is not a martial artist, but if he does this kind of sophisticated business, he is quite handy, I saw him come forward with a smile on his face, and said respectfully, "Our president specially set up a table of banquets at the Tide Inn, and I want to invite the city lord to enjoy it!" When we first arrived, we didn't understand many of the rules of the Western Imperial City, but we knew that the entire Western Imperial City was the territory of the City Lord, so we hope that the City Lord can give us advice, as long as we can do it, we will definitely do it!"

"Even if you know the rules, you will know the rules!" Ma Quan walked to Ah Chang's side with a swaying step, and suddenly reached out and touched Ah Chang's delicate face with a wicked smile, which frightened Ah Chang subconsciously took a step back, and Qin Qingyu on the side couldn't help frowning, and a look of disdain flashed in his eyes, "What's the name of this little beauty?

"Oh, her name is Ah Chang, and she is the sister of our president!" Lu Wencai turned around and stood between Ma Quan and Ah Chang without leaving a trace, and said with a smile, "This lord, if you have time, please go to the Tide Inn together!"

"What kind of person is your president?" Pang He asked with a raised eyebrow and a puzzled expression.

"Our president is a person who likes to make friends everywhere, and he is also a person who likes to help friends solve difficulties!" Lu Wencai said with a smile, "Our president has already prepared a meeting gift for the city lord, just waiting for the city lord to appreciate it!" As he spoke, Lu Wencai turned around slightly, stretched out his arm and made a gesture of invitation to Pang He.

Now in the Western Imperial City, Pang He has no scruples at all, he has enough confidence that he can run rampant in the Western Imperial City, so in the face of Lu Wencai's invitation, Pang He didn't hesitate at all and agreed, and then under the guidance of Lu Wencai and the three of them, he swaggered towards the Tide Inn with Ma Quan and more than a dozen guards.

The Tide Inn was also in the middle of the city, not far from the place where Pang He and Lu Wencai met, and they arrived here with a stick of incense. The Tide Inn has five floors, such a scale is one of the best deals in the West Imperial City, and most of the guests who enter and leave the Tide Inn are also powerful people in the West Imperial City, and Pang He is very familiar with this place, because he himself often brings people here to eat and drink wantonly, and it is worth mentioning that Pang He came to the Tide Inn to eat and drink, and never settled the account once, and the shopkeeper here also dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, knowing that Pang He ate and drank for nothing, but he could only serve with a smile, who let himself eat in other people's territory？

Tonight's Tide Inn is as lively as ever, the lobby on the first floor is already full of guests, as soon as you step into the inn, you can see the delicious food, smell the aroma of wine escaping in the air, and hear the endless noisy laughter and the sound of changing glasses in the lobby. The lobby is surrounded by huge lanterns with the word "tide" written on it, illuminating the whole inn very brightly, not only does the inn not look depressed because of the night, but also because of the darkness outside to set off the brightness of the atmosphere more.

"Oh, isn't this the city lord?" As soon as Pang He stepped into the inn, a fat old man in his sixties greeted him with a smile, this person was the shopkeeper of this tide inn, and he was an old fox with eight faces, "What kind of wind actually blew the city lord here today, our tide inn is really full of luxury......

"Shopkeeper, don't talk about this nonsense! This is when someone is here to entertain the city lord and have important matters to discuss, otherwise how could the city lord have so much leisure to your pastime?" Ma Quan said with a sneer.

"Oh oh! I don't know which dignitary it is......"

"It's the uncle on the third floor!" Before the shopkeeper could ask, Lu Wencai, who came forward from behind, opened his mouth and smiled, "The shopkeeper, take us up quickly!"

"Yes, yes, yes! It turns out that this is Uncle Lu who is making an east banquet to invite the city lord, and I will take you up!" the shopkeeper agreed with a smile, turned around and trotted all the way to the stairs.

"Who is Uncle Lu?" Pang He frowned slightly.

"If you go back to the city lord, our president's surname is Lu!" Lu Wencai replied with a smile as he walked, "The president invited the city lord to a banquet today, so he specially chartered the entire third floor of the Tide Inn, so as not to disturb the city lord's Yaxing!"

"Your president is really a big show!"

As Lu Wencai and others ascended the stairs, Pang He found that starting from the staircase on the second floor, both sides of the railing were actually full of guards in an orderly manner, and at the staircase on the third floor, there were four or five people standing in front of them with a smile waiting to greet them, they were Chu Ding, Luo Xiu, Mo Bai, Jiang Yi, Liu Meng, Bailifeng and others, in short, none of them were known by Pang He.

The more he went up, the more inexplicable Pang He's heart became a little inexplicably apprehensive, especially when he saw such a big battle on the other side, his pace slowed down a little, and his face was no longer as natural as just now. Seeing this, Ma Quan on the side first rolled his eyes, and then turned to a guard behind him and whispered: "Hurry back to the house and mobilize three hundred city troops to stand by around the Tide Inn, no matter what, the city lord must not lose his momentum in his own territory!"

"Haha...... Presumably this is the Pang City Lord, right? In Xia Chu Ding, I will be fortunate to be happy!" Facing Pang He, who walked up slowly, Chu Ding took the lead in bowing to him, and said with a smile, "Our president has been waiting for Pang City Lord for a long time!

At this moment, Luo Xiu had already stretched out his hand to stop the shopkeeper and signaled that he could go down. And Chu Ding and the others got out of the way of the staircase and invited Pang He and the others in.

The third floor is composed of private rooms, and at this moment the corridor is already full of mortal disciples standing straight on the left and right, and in the innermost private room on the third floor, the door is open at this moment, and the lights are bright inside, and it sounds noisy and extremely lively, and you don't need to think about it to know that it is the home of this tidal banquet tonight.

Pang He followed behind Lu Wencai with Ma Quan and more than a dozen guards with a slightly solemn gaze, and walked all the way to the innermost, while Chu Ding and the others followed at the end of the team with a smile, inadvertently blocking the retreat of Pang He and the others.

And just when Pang He and the others were about to turn into the private room, a fierce-looking big man walked out of it with his head down, and he and Lu Wencai almost collided at the corner.

"Why are you going?" Lu Wen asked with a chuckle when he saw this person.

"Looking for the shopkeeper to bring a few more jars of wine up......" Before this person could answer, he inadvertently saw Pang He behind Lu Wencai, and immediately forced a trace of an inexplicable smile on his vicious face, "City Lord Pang, don't come unharmed?"

"...... are you" Pang He's eyes stared at the big man tightly, he felt that this person was very familiar, but he couldn't think of it for a while, "You are ......"

"Yin Xi!" Yin Xi laughed, "Why is it that it's only been less than two years, and even I have forgotten?" Pang City Lord, go in quickly! An old friend of yours has been waiting for a long time! Haha......" With that, Yin Xi pushed everyone away and went downstairs on their own.

Pang He's heart became a little heavier, he still didn't remember who Yin Xi was, but his intuition told him that the Uncle Lu he was going to see tonight was definitely not an ordinary person, and a feeling of depression quietly rose to his heart.

Just after Pang He turned around and entered the private room with doubts, at this moment, surrounded by everyone in the room, the young man with a smile on the front seat made Pang He's whole person completely frozen there as if he had been suddenly struck by lightning!

Lu ...... Lu Yifan!"

......