Chapter 306: The Miraculous Xu Wulang [Thanks to everyone for your support! Bowing again]

The second day of the Lunar New Year.

The end of the Chen hour (before 9:00 AM).

In the West City of Bianjing,

outside the Xinzheng Gate,

the Imperial Guard soldiers guarding the gate were standing around bored. After letting out a yawn, they closed their eyes slightly to enjoy the warm winter sun.

Opening their eyes, they saw bare, old trees by the roadside not far away.

Further to the west, across the large bridge over the moat, stood the towering Baojin Tower within Jinming Pool, which they had seen countless times.

Suddenly,

after his arm was nudged by a fellow Imperial Guard comrade,

"Look quickly!"

He turned his head to look in the direction his comrade was indicating, and then his eyes went wide.

In the eyes of this Imperial Guard soldier, a carriage with a gaudily decorated cabin, pulled by a sturdy horse with a sleek, glossy coat, was just emerging from the city gate.

A wooden plaque with the three characters "Feiyun Terrace" hung on the carriage cabin.

An Imperial Guard soldier to the side looked at the slender maid following beside the carriage, licked his lips, and smacked them.

At this moment,

the curtain on the side of the carriage cabin was lifted by a corner, revealing fingers as white and translucent as scallions.

Seeing the stunningly beautiful face wearing a veil that flashed by, the soldier was dumbstruck.

After the carriage passed, a faint fragrance lingered.

The soldier's comrade asked:

"You say, what is this top courtesan of Feiyun Terrace going to do in the middle of the morning?"

"Hey! I'm asking you a question? Are you stupid?"

Only after being shoved did the soldier come to his senses. He tilted his head and asked in confusion:

"Ah? What did you say?"

The comrade repeated the question. The soldier, his gaze chasing the waist of the maid beside the fine horse and fragrant carriage, said:

"You just arrived at the Bianjing Imperial Guard, on duty today, so you don't know yet!"

"I heard it's the young master of the Yongchang Marquis Liang family, along with sons from several other families in the capital, who organized some kind of Bianjing horse race."

"They did it once last year."

The comrade said:

"So?"

The soldier, having been interrupted while watching the beauty, was somewhat impatient. His gaze continued to chase the maid as he said casually:

"This year, more people know about it, so sons from many wealthy households and squires in Bianjing have also gone."

"Several well-known brothels and pleasure houses in the capital, like Feiyun Terrace and Qiyun Tower, haven't they all sent their top courtesans to join in the fun?"

"If these girls happen to catch the eye of one of those young masters, they'll be set!"

The comrade nodded and said:

"Cough! Stop looking, the Captain is walking over."

On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, the Imperial Guard military officer who had greeted Gu Tingye walked out from the gate passage.

One hand rested on his waist sword, while the two fingers of his other hand stroked the mustache on his lip.

Watching the carriage go into the distance, he turned his head and said to his subordinates at the city gate:

"Did you see clearly the carriage that just passed? Which family is it from?"

"Reporting to the Captain, I saw clearly, it is a Feiyun Terrace carriage."

The Captain shook his head, let out a sigh full of regret, and said in a low voice: "This is eight or nine times out of ten going to be a future top courtesan!"

Turning around to head back, his eyes suddenly widened:

In the tall city gate passage, a group of people was walking out. Leading them was a deep brown, incredibly spirited, tall horse.

The Captain took a close look and thought to himself that this was even taller and more spirited than the black horse he had seen on the afternoon of New Year's Eve.

After this group of people drew near, he saw that following behind this horse was Gu Tingye, who was laughing heartily.

In the time it took to be stunned,

the group had already arrived outside the city gate. The Imperial Guard military officer hurriedly lowered his head, bowed, and cupped his hands in a salute.

After Gu Tingye nodded, he continued to follow behind Xu Zaijing and walked forward.

The several Imperial Guard soldiers outside the city gate had eyes that were even brighter than before.

Driving their horses across the wide Dragon-Protecting River outside the city gate,

when Xu Zaijing and a group of young noble sons from the Zhang, Qi, Gu, and Zheng families of Xingguo Lane descended the bridge together,

they happened to overtake the fine horse and fragrant carriage of Feiyun Terrace.

The carriage curtain, which had only been lifted by a small corner at the city gate, heard the sound of hooves behind it. The driver turned his head and took a look.

Then, the corner of the curtain that was lifted became larger and larger.

When Xu Zaijing and the others passed the carriage, and Gu Tingye tilted his head to look,

they could already clearly see the face inside the cabin, somewhat shy, but as beautiful as a flower above the veil.

Hearing Gu Tingye exclaim, Zheng Xiao and Qi Heng, who were following behind him, specifically tilted their heads to take a look.

But they only saw the gently swaying curtain!

Hiss!

The curiosity of several young masters was piqued.

After Xu Zaijing and the others walked to the front of the carriage,

Zheng Xiao said: "Brother Ye, what does the girl in that carriage look like?"

Gu Tingye raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Fair skin and beautiful features!"

"Second Uncle, how beautiful?" Qi Heng asked curiously.

Gu Tingye smiled without a word. Qi Heng and Zheng Xiao turned their heads to look again, but unfortunately, they couldn't see the beauty, only the carriage and horses.

Xu Zaijing and the others descended the bridge and walked for a stretch. After passing the tall Baojin Tower on the south side of Jinming Pool, they reached the west wall of Jinming Pool.

On the west side of this west wall was a patch of low-lying Daoist temples.

And to the west of the temples, between them and the distant three-story Wu Tower, was the wide official road where Xu Zaijing and the others had slowed their horses on New Year's Eve.

Xu Zaijing and the others looked out, and at this time, the people gathered by the official road were far more numerous than last year.

Each group of people was also much larger than last year.

However, unlike last year, when most of those riding horses were sons from noble and high-ranking official families, today, among those riding horses, there were quite a few women.

In the open space in front of the temple and Daoist temple gates,

there were even more carriages parked to the side, and from time to time, women could be seen gracefully stepping down from the carriages, supported by the hands of their maids.

Xu Zaijing's excellent eyesight swept across, and the signs on those carriages were mostly the names of various brothels and pleasure houses.

Riding closer, they could even hear the north side of the crowd gathered on the official road,

from time to time, the sounds of whipping horses—"Drive!" "Ha!"—and the thundering sound of horses galloping and trampling the ground could be heard.

At this time, a rider by the roadside not far away waved and shouted: "Several brothers, over here!"

Xu Zaijing looked over; it turned out to be Liang Liu Lang shouting.

Around him was a group of young nobles from Bianjing like Rong Xian and Chai Jin, as well as sons of officials from the Hai, Huangfu, Chen, Li, and Shen families.

The mounts of this group of young nobles and officials were clearly much better than those in the middle of the road. They were separated from others by servants, and there were no women around them.

Xu Zaijing and the sons of the Zhang, Gu, and Zheng families were all powerful nobles of the Great Zhou, and their mounts were even slightly better than those of Liang Liu Lang and the others.

As soon as they arrived in the vicinity, they attracted the gazes of most people.

Xu Zaijing sat on the back of his Dragon Colt, waved at Liang Han, and then smiled helplessly:

"I say, Pei Erge Zheng, you and Fourth Brother Zhang, keep your mounts further away from the rear of my horse. We've been at this for the whole journey, what kind of flattery is this!!"

Hearing Xu Zaijing's words, Gu Tingye, Qi Heng, and the others all laughed.

Zheng Xiao and Zhang Fangling pulled on their reins and said: "This, they are willing themselves, we are powerless to help!"

"Two brothers, hurry to the front! If you crowd behind my horse again and get kicked, don't blame me!"

As Xu Zaijing spoke, the Dragon Colt, being human-like, lifted its hind legs.

Zheng Xiao sighed with some surprise and some envy, then pulled on his reins and said: "Let's go, let's go! Ha!"

As he spoke, he drove his horse toward Liang Han, and Gu Tingye and the others followed.

Xu Zaijing remained at the back. He patted the neck of the Dragon Colt and said: "This group of people has no good intentions."

Alan, who was riding a horse behind Xu Zaijing, nodded.

When he arrived beside Liang Han, Xu Zaijing saw several unfamiliar faces.

The atmosphere between several of them and Gu Tingye was like needles against wheat awns.

Along with that, the looks they gave him also held a hint of defiance.

The gazes of several others were full of goodwill, and they nodded at Xu Zaijing.

Xu Zaijing didn't care about those who were defiant, but instead smiled and nodded at the noble sons who had nodded at him:

"I wonder who these several are?"

Liang Han said:

"Brother Jing, these three are from the first branch of the Pei family of the Duke of Xin. They are the second, third, and sixth brothers from my aunt's family. They are all slightly older than you. Their uncle is Minister Pei Yuanchen."

Xu Zaijing cupped his hands and smiled:

"I have met the three brothers."

"However, I haven't really seen the three of you in Bianjing before."

Pei Erge Pei smiled and cupped his hands: "Greetings, Fifth Young Master! My father, brothers, and I have been stationed in Taiyuan! Naturally, you haven't seen us! However, I have seen Marquis Xu and your elder brother before."

Sixth Brother Pei looked at Xu Zaijing's mount and said: "I heard from your elder brother before that you are even more formidable than him. Shall we have a chance to spar?"

Xu Zaijing's eyes lit up and he said: "Tomorrow, the third day, I have invited the martial artists of the Jin envoy to spar at the polo field of Sixth Brother's family. Why not go together?"

"The Jin state that defeated Northern Liao? Go! Must go!" Sixth Brother Pei said with a smile.

Subsequently, Xu Zaijing asked when he had met his father and brother, completely ignoring the gazes directed at him from the side.

While everyone was talking,

the carriage they had encountered by the bridge had already stopped by the roadside.

Suddenly, one of the sons of wealthy families in the middle of the road rode his horse out from the crowd.

He passed in front of this group of people and galloped toward the carriage.

Xu Zaijing had sharp eyes and said: "Liang Liu Lang, isn't that Qiao Jiu? What is he going to do?"

Liang Han turned his head to look at Gu Tingye, whose expression was ugly, and then looked at Qiao Jiu riding his horse and the carriage, saying:

"Looking at his anxious appearance, it's eight or nine times out of ten that Yunniang of Feiyun Terrace has arrived."

Xu Zaijing turned his head to look at Liang Liu Lang: "Yunniang? Is there also a Mother Ruan?"

Gu Tingye, who was confronting several others, had his ears twitch. After a burst of embarrassment on his face, he lost his momentum.

Xu Zaijing's reputation as a master of "bedroom affairs" was spread thanks to the "blessing" of these scoundrels like Liang Han, Qiao Jiu, Rong Xian, and Gu Tingye!

Especially that scoundrel Rong Xian!

Later, it was added to and embellished by those monsters from the families of the Duke of Han and the Duke of Ling, and that was how his innocence was ruined!

The three brothers of the Pei family of the Duke of Xin to the side looked at Xu Zaijing. The eldest, Pei Erge Pei, scanned Xu Zaijing up and down and said:

"Hiss? Mother Ruan? Before, when we were in Taiyuan, we heard merchants from Bianjing say that a Xu Wulang who was formidable at bedroom affairs had appeared in Bianjing, and it was spread very magically. Could it be you, Brother Jing?"

Xu Zaijing: "It's not me! I don't have it! Don't..."

One of the people who had been confronting Gu Tingye and was not on good terms with him said loudly:

"How is it not you?"

Xu Zaijing looked over, and Gu Tingye to the side said: "What, did your mother tell you?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 307 =====