Chapter 1: The Struggle for Face (I)

The private room on the first floor, called "Feng Ya Xuan", is a separate house located in the back garden. I saw the red wall and green tiles covered under the green pine, far away from the noise, clean and elegant. Two lanterns, which are not very bright, swaying in the wind, add a bit of charm to this small courtyard. Stepping on the cobblestone path just in front of the Zhu Gate, the courtyard gate will "squeak" open, and the door is answered by two pretty maids carrying lanterns and wearing colorful neon clothes, no more than sixteen years old, with fair skin and graceful figures, the tulle on the chest slightly reveals the color of the belly pocket, and Qi Qi Jiao said in a coquettish voice: "Distinguished guests, please." "The present is leading the way.

A few steps into the pond is a verdant pond with two vermilion bridges, and a bronze wind lantern is fixed on each pillar of the bridge, which dots the water surface and outlines the reflection of the bridge. A water pavilion connects the two wooden bridges.

Walking along the wooden bridge and through the arch to the second level of the courtyard, you will be greeted by a wooden house that is half built on the water and half on land. Under the deck of the first half of the wooden house, there are a pair of stone pillars propped up in the water every two feet, and the other half of the shore is surrounded by red walls, which is actually a courtyard in the middle of a courtyard. The wooden bridge diagonally opposite is also connected with the pavilion end to end, two beautiful girls play a guqin together in the pavilion, the sound of the piano is long, endless, take a closer look at the pair of girls who play the piano are actually a pair of twins. At this time, a small boat floated on the pond, and the two girls on the boat held a penny, and gently supported it, the boat was hung with water lines, passing past Yeluqi and Luo Tianchu, and the other girl held a flower basket and smiled at Luo Tianchu. In addition, there were five or six young girls nearby, all young and beautiful.

Yelu Qiqi said: "Why are the women here all Song people?" The fat shopkeeper said: "They are all noble ladies of the Southern Dynasty, either scholarly families or official eunuchs, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are all knowledgeable, after the defeat of the Southern Dynasty, they fell into the red dust, and they were bought by the villain for a lot of money." Yeluqi said: "What I asked was why they were all Song people, who asked about this." The fat shopkeeper was a little embarrassed and said, "This ...... The main Song Dynasty women were the most popular among the guests, especially the girls with noble backgrounds, and the guests were willing to spend a lot of money. Ye Luqi frowned and said, "Then what's the difference between this place and the Qinglou?" The fat shopkeeper smiled bitterly: "In these years, the restaurant is the Qinglou, and the Qinglou is the restaurant, how can the business be maintained without any new things." However, there is nothing filthy in the shop, and the girls that the guests fancy are all taken out to do their good deeds. Ye Luqi chuckled: "No wonder the surname Pei likes to come here, it turns out that there are other plans." The fat shopkeeper said with a smile: "Pei Gongzi is a frequent customer of this store, and he is generous, and the small shop is maintained by these big customers." ”

The group went up to the deck, and the maidens who had just played the harp and rafted all came ashore, lined up on both sides, and then the fish entered the wooden house. The interior of the house is luxuriously decorated, and the brightness of the candles is just right, soft and warm. The light gauze curtains, the orange walls, and the faint fragrance of the incense burner made the girls even more delicate, and they looked like they could be picked.

After Ye Luqi and Luo Tianchu sat down, Ye Luqi said: "The beauty is beside her, why don't Lin Daxia invite you to eat and drink to accompany you?" The fat shopkeeper smiled: "Yes, I don't know which one the prime minister has taken a fancy to?" Luo Tianchu said embarrassedly: "I don't need it." The fat shopkeeper smiled: "The guest officer doesn't have to be polite, these girls are all reasonable and versatile, and it's good to sing a few songs to cheer up." ”

Luo Tianchu was still able to be calm in the midst of thousands of troops, but at this time he felt quite uncomfortable, and shook his head vigorously: "No, no, really no." "All the guests who come to "Feng Yaxuan" are not just for dinner, and they can't make a lot of money without looking for a girl to accompany them. The fat shopkeeper was unhappy when he saw that he insisted on not wanting to, but he was Yeluqi's guest, and he didn't dare to offend, so he said: "May I ask how many people the county lord wants to invite today, and the small one can also order the kitchen to prepare wine and food." Yeluqi said, "It's just the two of us, and there is no one else." The fat shopkeeper couldn't hide his disappointment, and said with a sad face: "Just two?" Ye Luqi said with a smile: "You see that we are few people, and you don't want girls to accompany you to drink, don't you feel uncomfortable?" The fat shopkeeper was embarrassed: "The little one doesn't dare, and it is the blessing of the villain to serve the county lord." Anyone can hear this insincerely, Ye Luqi took out a gold ingot and threw it to him, and said, "Is this enough to compensate you?" The fat shopkeeper's eyes immediately lit up, and he turned back to a flattering face, and said: "The county lord is the honor of a daughter, and he is a distinguished guest who can't be invited by the small shop, and he can make the county lord compensate, which is really annoying to the villain." Yeluqi said: "Go out, it's none of your business here." The fat shopkeeper said repeatedly: "Yes, yes, the villain will go down to the kitchen and ensure that the county lord is satisfied." Ye Luqi smiled and said: "Don't worry, it's not too late to serve the food after the surname Pei comes, otherwise he will stir it up, I'm afraid it will affect the appetite of the county lord." The fat shopkeeper was puzzled and said: "The county lord means ......" Yeluqi said: "The county lord occupies his private room, and he will definitely come to theorize with his temperament." The fat shopkeeper's face changed color and said: "The county lord and Pei Gongzi are both characters that villains can't afford to mess with, if the two of them don't agree and start to move, how should the villain's business continue?" Ye Luqi said: "Aren't you just distressed about these tables and chairs, you don't need to make such a big move to clean up the surname Pei." ”

At this moment, I suddenly heard someone say, "Who has such a big breath?" The door was pushed open as he spoke, and a middle-aged man walked in. He had pale eyebrows, a high nose, deep eye sockets, tired eyes, a pale look of a hangover, and was dressed in fine clothes, with a long sword encrusted with gems tied around his waist. There were six other people behind him, all dressed as rich boys. When the girls saw him busy lining up on both sides, Shi Wanfu said, "Pei Gongzi." ”

It was Pei Zifu who came, he reached out and touched the faces of the twin sisters, and smiled: "Ru'er, Cui'er, you are becoming more and more standard." The sisters blushed and bowed their heads with a smile. Pei Zifu laughed, then turned his head to look at Yeluqi and Luo Tianchu, and said with a smile: "As expected, the only one who dares to be disrespectful to this son in Linhuang City is His Royal Highness the County Lord." Yeluqi sneered: "You will put gold on your face." Pei Zifu was not angry, sat down opposite her and said, "This benevolent brother is tight-faced, I don't know what to call it." Luo Tianchu was about to speak, Yeluqi said first: "There are many people you don't recognize, how many people recognize you when you leave Linhuang City?" Pei Zifu smiled: "The county lord is always so choking when he speaks, I just want to get closer to this brother." Yeluqi said: "The lord of this county has already chartered this private room, and it seems that he has not invited you to sit down." Pei Zifu said: "The county lord is wrong, I booked this private room three days ago, if you don't believe it, you can ask the shopkeeper." "No one dares to mess with the fat shopkeeper, just a smirk. Yeluqi said: "I don't know if you have a reservation or not, but the lord of this county has already paid ten taels of gold, so this room is mine." Pei Zifu sighed: "Ten taels of gold, the county lord is really generous." As he spoke, he took out three silver tickets of one hundred taels from his arms, put them on the table, and said with a smile: "Ten taels of gold is only eighty taels of silver. The fat shopkeeper hurriedly said: "The little ones don't dare, the little ones don't dare." Pei Zifu pointed to the silver ticket on the table and said: "Prepare according to the specifications of three hundred taels, return the gold to the county lord, and the county lord can entertain all the things with ten taels of gold?"

The fat shopkeeper salivated over the silver ticket, carefully took out the gold ingot, and said: "Your Highness, you see ......" Yeluqi said coldly: "If you dare to return it to me, you will chop off your hand." The surname is Pei, I know that the money bank and the dart game in the city are all your business, what's the matter? Do you want to be richer than anyone?" Pei Zifu said: "No matter how rich the villain is, he is also from a humble family, and his status is humble. The county lord is a relative of the emperor, after the emperor, and he dares to compare. Yeluqi said: "My Great Liao Kingdom is no more, are you humiliating me?" Pei Zifu explained: "Don't dare, if the Great Liao Kingdom is still there, I can get to know the county lord in the next place." I don't know if the county lord has ever thought that if our two families join forces, won't this Linhuang City be in our pocket?" )