On the fourth day of the fourth month of April, in the morning, the bright moon is half hanging.

Zhao Ziwu stood in a shadowy area in front of Huamanlou with a sigh on his face, holding a wooden box wrapped in fine cloth in his arms.

Yesterday, Zhao Ziwu had already done some investigation, and then sadly found that not to mention seeing Yu Lanyu, he didn't even go into the building.

This is not the reason for the full building, in fact, if you want to go in, as long as you are "well-dressed", you can walk in and no one will stop you. But yesterday, although Zhao Ziwu bought a new dress, when Zhao Ziwu walked to the door of Huamanlou, he was discouraged.

In and out of Huamanlou, some of them were known to Zhao Ziwu, of course, these people did not know Zhao Ziwu. These are all characters with heads and faces in Fucheng, wearing brocade clothes and silk, and walking with jade.

Compared with the two, although Zhao Ziwu is wearing a new clothes, he still does not look like a big man in Fucheng, if this outfit walks in to inquire about the news, it will definitely be refreshing.

And even if you go in, just sitting there and drinking a cup of tea is sky-high, let alone meeting with Yu Lanyu.

This is not to blame Zhao Ziwu, the ants peep into the sky, but it is just a corner of the sky, how to talk about its size. Before this, Zhao Ziwu had never been to Baixiang Street, without him, the girls here were naturally beautiful and versatile, but it was just two words, spending money.

The place of smoke and willows in Fucheng is naturally the dominant one in Baixiang Street. But Fucheng is not all rich and noble. Fucheng, which has a population of 200,000 people, also has some streets where middle and lower class people enter and exit. Zhao Ziwu is one of these places in and out, and Zhao Ziwu rarely goes back after getting married.

Although it didn't go very smoothly yesterday, Zhao Ziwu decided to use the second plan after discussing it with Li Caoben. Although Zhao Ziwu didn't think of a way to see Yulan directly, because the entire Baixiang Street belonged to Huamanlou, he naturally had to inspect it by himself.

There are also three personal maids beside Xiaoxian Gu, who have the responsibility of patrolling, except for one maid to guard the third floor, and the other two maids need to sit on the street and the end of the street respectively.

Zhao Ziwu looked at the moon in the sky, and felt that the hour was almost up, so he turned around and leaned against the wall and left the front of the Huamanlou. If someone notices Zhao Ziwu, they will notice that this person who is out of place and leaves, his steps are getting firmer and firmer, and his body is getting straighter and straighter.

Zhao Ziwu knew that this was his chance to change his fate, and perhaps it was also the only chance in his life.

..........

Lilac Pavilion.

Located at the end of Baixiang Street, Tian Yizhi, one of the two maids on patrol, is sitting here tonight. Tian Yizhi ranks third in the age of the maid next to Xiao Xiangu, so she is also known as the third chief manager. I heard that he is sensible and has a gentle and sweet personality, which has become one of the reasons why Zhao Ziwu chose this person.

Zhao Ziwu stood ten meters away and looked at the "cloves" on the plaque, and after looking at it a few times to make sure it was right, he took a deep breath and walked in.

Before entering the door, a bright-eyed little guy greeted him and opened his mouth to say a few sycophants, and then asked: "Is this master here to drink or to look for flowers?"

Although this little guy is young, his eyes are old-fashioned. It was the kung fu of entering the door, and the little guy who saw it already knew that Zhao Ziwu must be a "rare guest", and looked at the things that Zhao Ziwu still had in his hand wrapped in cloth, and he didn't ask too much. Instead, I introduced the five girls in the Lilac Pavilion, which girl had any talents, what hobbies, and the little ones all came together. For example, the willow girl has a slender figure, a skin like condensation, a weak and touching face, and the girl Shuiqing was once a lady of a famous family, and she is absolutely perfect for piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.

Zhao Ziwu seemed to be listening to Xiaowu's introduction, but in fact, he looked in all directions and roughly looked at the layout of the cloves. Lilac is two floors high, the layout and decoration are more elegant, as soon as you enter the hall, there are already more than 20 people in extraordinary clothes sitting in the position to listen to music and enjoy music, the second floor is by two beauties in the piano, around the back and forth of a dozen small maids and beautiful maids flow back and forth. In addition, there is an elderly bustard who is talking to a well-dressed guest who is seated in front of him, and this old bustard, who is probably Lilac's steward.

After listening to the introduction of the little girl, Zhao Ziwu asked who the girl upstairs was.

The little girl also understood what Zhao Ziwu meant, and hurriedly replied: "The one wearing the blue dress in front is the little Shuiqing girl introduced before, and the accompanist is named Laneige, who is a Qingqi. ”

While speaking, Xiao Wu also led Zhao Ziwu to find a seat and sit down.

Zhao Ziwu asked the little maid to serve a pot of good spirits, two side dishes, and paid the silver. Then he said that he should send it quickly, and the extra money would be a reward.

The little guy was already smiling, and when he heard the words of the guest, he smiled like a flower, and said that this master will wait a minute, and the little one will be sent to you.

The charm of money is really the first weapon in the world, and after a while, the little guy brought the wine and food up, and poured a few good words for Zhao Ziwu. If Li Caoben is here, he must be lamented that the service quality of the little guy has nothing to say, he looks quite handsome, and he is definitely a talent who can drive customer flow in a modern bar.

Zhao Ziwu broke his head, and he definitely couldn't imagine that Li Caoben was here, and he was under a lot of pressure at the moment, after all, this was related to the future fate of his family. At this point, it is impossible to retreat, but fortunately, the steps have been discussed with Li Caoben before, and at this time, you only need to act according to the plan. In the meantime, Zhao Ziwu also admired Li Caoben's performance very much, and also wondered how such a character could collide with the third prince and make such an imbecile mistake, and in the end, it was also attributed to Li Caoben's poor alcohol consumption and worse wine, and he made up his mind never to drink with Li Caoben in the future.

Zhao Ziwu was patient, drinking and eating food while listening to music and enjoying music, as if he really came here to have fun. After sitting and listening to a few songs, after drinking about a pound of liquor in the pot, Zhao Ziwu seemed to be overwhelmed by the wine, picked up the painting and walked towards the back hall.

If you look closely, you will find that some guests come in and walk to the back hall under the guidance of the little maid, and some of them choose to sit down and drink and enjoy the fun before walking to the back hall. Although there is a saying that there are 100 people on the first floor of Huamanlou, in fact, it does not stop there, and the so-called 100 people are the Oiran of the Twenty-four Pavilion. And the women in the back hall of each pavilion are not counted among the hundred, and these women in the back hall are not like the choices that these hundred people have, so they can only be attached to Huamanlou.

Zhao Ziwu's identity is not enough, and the capital is not enough, he just wants to choose the five top brands of Lilac, and people can't look down on it. And the top card target is too big to fit into this plan. Therefore, at this time, Zhao Ziwu seemed to have drunk too much and walked backwards, in fact, he had been a soldier for a few years, and he was a jailer in a cold prison.

At this time, there were several guests walking to the back hall together, and when they met each other, they also showed a subtle smile that you understand and I understand, and Zhao Ziwu was also 'in the same stream', and his expression was a little exaggerated compared to it. When a few people walked to the back hall, several maids came forward one after another, and one of them, a delicate and lovely maid, walked towards Zhao Ziwu.

"Childe, please. After the maid finished speaking, she led the way in two steps ahead.

Zhao Ziwu followed behind the maid, passing through the long back hall, there was another scenery, there was a carriage wider road, and on both sides of the road were small buildings with two stories high. Zhao Ziwu followed the maid to walk on the side of the road, looking at the door of the house along the way, the red lanterns were basically lit, and there were small rectangular wooden signs hanging under the lanterns, and the wooden signs were engraved with black "Lilac Yiyi" and other handwriting. And along the way, there have been many positive faces, and combined with the news he has obtained, Zhao Ziwu vaguely knows what it means in his heart, and he also slightly understands the meaning of the so-called Hundred Flowers One Street, One Street, and Twenty-four Pavilions.

After walking about a hundred and ten steps, he passed three lanterns and stopped under the fourth. Zhao Ziwu looked at the six signs under the lantern. There are three up and down the brand, only in the middle of the upper row there is a "lilac self-two" brand facing up, look closely, the wooden sign has a faint lilac pattern, the material of the wooden sign is also very particular, it is a very thick peach wood, ordinary people are reluctant to buy the peach wood in Baixiang Street is only used for façade decoration.

At the suggestion of the maid, Zhao Ziwu chose the last one in the next row, and sure enough, it was the "Lilac Jilu".

Follow the maid into the hall door, take a look at the dim and bright room in the middle of the upstairs, continue to follow the maid into the first floor by the right side of a door engraved with "Ji Lu" in front of the room, after entering, Zhao Zi waited for the maid to light six good fire candles, the candle is engraved with patterns, and there is even a faint incense after burning, I think it is to add some special ingredients.

The maid then covered it with a bright yellow lampshade, and the room suddenly became bright. Zhao Ziwu secretly said extravagantly, and took the opportunity to quietly look at the furnishings in the house, listening carefully to the movement upstairs, if it weren't for Zhao Ziwu standing against the wall close to the middle room, feeling the slight vibration and sound coming from upstairs with his body and ears, I am afraid that there would be no one upstairs at all.

After the maid finished tidying up, she came to ask Zhao Ziwu in a low voice about her preferences.

Zhao Ziwu went to check whether the door was closed again, turned his eyes to look directly at the maid, and said with a serious face: "Call your chief steward to come, there is something important to discuss." ”

The maid was a little surprised when she heard this, and subconsciously glanced at Zhao Ziwu again, and her heart was also firm in her previous judgment, the person in front of her was not a powerful and wealthy businessman, although he was well-dressed, but he knew at a glance that although the clothes he was wearing were newly bought and had some value, they were not the best clothes that were generally tailor-made by Xungui, and he did not wear good jade ornaments on his body, and then looked at his complexion, figure, walking posture, performance after entering the house and other details, and concluded that this person should be born in the army, and his status is not high, this person should not come to Baixiang Street to have fun, it is likely that there is another purpose。

In addition to the fact that the things in his arms cannot be judged to be valuable, Zhao Ziwu is already exposed in the eyes of the maid.

(End of chapter)