Chapter 356: Nice to meet you [Thank you all for your support! Bowing again!]

The horse Xu Zaijing was riding today was not one of the two dragon horses,

but the offspring of the imperial-gifted Li horse and Xu Zaijing's first mount.

That is, the little Li horse.

Both parents were rare fine horses,

so after a few years, the little Li horse not only had grown to a shoulder height not inferior to the Li horse, but because it was a male horse, the little Li horse was much stronger than its mother.

Also because it was a male horse, the little Li horse had not been gelded, so its temperament was much more violent than its mother's.

Such a carefully raised male horse was extraordinarily strong and very difficult for ordinary people to tame.

Unfortunately, it encountered Xu Zaijing.

After being disciplined by Xu Zaijing with both soft and hard methods several times, the little Li horse became incredibly obedient in front of Xu Zaijing.

Especially since there were two dragon horses sent from Northern Liao as the little Li horse's mates, one of which was even pregnant, its life was much more comfortable than its master's.

Also, people rely on clothes, and horses rely on saddles.

The little Li horse itself had beautiful muscle curves, and its fur was shiny and smooth all over!

Coupled with the Northern Liao saddle on its back, and the leather straps fixing the saddle all over its body decorated with gold and jade, its attire matched the grand attire of the noble youth on its back very well.

It was no wonder that it could attract exclamations from everyone at the entrance of Pan Lou in the afternoon.

The little Li horse looked at the few humanoid creatures in front of it and snorted disdainfully!

Then it attracted the two noble youths who turned their heads to look at it, their eyes full of admiration!

"Jing-ge'er, when did you get such a divine and handsome Li horse again!"

Xu Zaijing on the horse's back said helplessly: "Sixth Young Master, if you don't know how to speak, say less! What do you mean by 'got'?"

Liang Han bowed hurriedly: "A slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue!"

Qiao Jiulang turned his head to look at the little Li horse's belly and raised his eyebrows.

During the conversation, Xu Zaijing had already dismounted and handed the reins to Alan beside him.

After Alan took the reins, he first fed the little Li horse a fruit to please it, and then led the little Li horse toward the courtyard next to Pan Lou.

Actually, Alan didn't have this habit of storing fruit to please them when he was raising dragon horses before, but after being dragged by the little Li horse several times, he learned it.

He understood that the little Li horse was also a creature that needed to be stroked in the direction of its fur.

The horses used for riding and pulling carriages by the wealthy families gathered around Pan Lou were mostly gentle female horses.

So on the way to the courtyard, the sturdy little Li horse caused a commotion among the horses of the wealthy families around.

The coachmen or small servants of each family also knew horses, and seeing the little Li horse's appearance, they kept shouting and pulling their own female horses hard to prevent them from getting too close and being kicked by the little Li horse.

After entering the courtyard, Alan directly asked for a separate stable, otherwise the little Li horse would definitely kick and bite those gelded horses.

Watching the little Li horse's perky horse butt disappear next to Pan Lou,

Liang Han smacked his lips, then hurriedly caught up with Xu Zaijing, who was walking in front, and together with Qiao Jiulang, surrounded Xu Zaijing and walked toward Pan Lou.

Dragon Boat Festival,

was originally a day for Bianjing scholars and commoners to compete in hosting banquets.

The owner of Pan Lou, after careful consideration, chose today to hold a "meet-and-greet" for the future top performers of Bianjing's two major brothels, and the effect was very good.

But it was also a bit too good.

Some ordinary Bianjing commoners could no longer enter Pan Lou.

To enter, they had to have the Pan Lou small servant check their invitation.

Seeing Xu Zaijing's group, the Pan Lou waiter Ming-ge'er bowed hurriedly:

"Fishing Carriage elder brother, I don't need to look at the invitation! I recognize all the young masters!"

"Fifth Young Master, Sixth Young Master, Ninth Young Master, please come in, the three of you."

Liang Han smiled freely: "You little monkey have a good eye, Fishing Carriage, reward!"

Catching the string of copper coins thrown into the air by the Fishing Carriage with both hands, Ming-ge'er shouted hurriedly:

"This small one thanks the young master for the reward!"

After the waiter Ming-ge'er finished shouting, two very good-looking serving maids wearing thin clothes at the entrance of Pan Lou hurriedly lifted the wide door curtain made of silk gauze.

Feeling the gazes of Qiao Jiulang and Liang Sixth Young Master, the two serving maids were full of shyness.

One of them even boldly looked at the three of them before hurriedly lowering her head with a bashful look.

This made Liang Han keep looking at her.

Qiao Jiu on the side said: "Sixth Young Master, what's wrong?"

Liang Han frowned, his eyes full of thought, and said: "Hiss, how come she looks a bit familiar!"

Feeling the gazes of Xu Zaijing and Qiao Jiulang, Liang Han said: "Why are you two looking at me like that?"

Xu Zaijing and Qiao Jiulang didn't speak, continuing to stare at Liang Han with smiles on their faces.

"I didn't!"

Liang Han said hurriedly.

Xu Zaijing raised an eyebrow: "The two of us didn't say anything either!"

"Jing-ge'er, Jiulang, believe me, I really didn't!"

Qiao Jiulang: "Yes, yes, yes."

The three of them were talking, and had not yet bypassed the huge screen clustered with fresh flowers to enter Pan Lou.

Then they heard the sound of pleasant silk and bamboo wind and percussion music coming.

After walking past the screen, they saw a huge round wooden stage nearly a zhang high standing on the first floor of Pan Lou.

The height of the wooden stage had almost reached half the height from the first floor to the second floor.

There were also many tables placed around the wooden stage, mostly wealthy households of Bianjing; under the contrast of the height of the wooden stage, the position on the first floor was no longer the best.

The place Xu Zaijing and the three were going to was the second floor, which had the best view and position, and that was clearly not a place one could go just with money.

When walking up the stairs, Xu Zaijing and the three happened to pass by the place where the musicians were located.

Among the musicians, two women holding pipas stood up and bowed after seeing Xu Zaijing.

Scanning around, he saw that behind Yang Luoyou, there was also a little girl holding a drum.

Recognizing that the two were the former pipa top performers Yang Luoyou and Great Master Tang, Xu Zaijing nodded politely to show respect.

Under the guidance of the waiter, Xu Zaijing and the three arrived at the corridor on the second floor; at this time, the corridor had already been separated into many single rooms by exquisite screens.

"Jing-ge'er, we are here!"

Xu Zaijing listened to Liang Han's words, looked at this spacious compartment facing the wooden stage, and nodded in appreciation!

This location is quite deep, and people don't often pass through the corridor.

After sitting down in front of the table filled with Bianjing snacks, under the porcelain bowl containing the snacks, there was an exquisite flower note pressed down, on which was written the name and address of the shop selling these snacks; if one really liked them, one could find this shop through the flower note.

Qingcao came outside the screen, waved at the Pan Lou maid not far away, and said:

"This young lady, please have someone send over the small stove for boiling tea."

While Xu Zaijing was eating snacks with Liang Han, Qingcao began to prepare the tea.

By the time the flower note on the table in front of Qiao Jiulang, which read 'Liang Gate Li He Family', was piled full of pumpkin seed shells,

Qi Heng and Gu Tingye then waved at the three of them from the first floor toward Xu Zaijing.

Soon, both of them went up to the second floor.

"Sister Qingcao, making tea?"

A young lady's voice came,

Xu Zaijing turned his head to look; it turned out that Gu Tingye, besides bringing Zhi Que today, had also brought Cheng Qiuniang from the courtyard.

After Qi Heng brought Bu Wei in, he scanned the compartment and, seeing that the Yun sisters hadn't come, sighed with quite some disappointment.

Bu Wei smiled and stood beside Qingyun: "Brother Qingyun!"

Qingyun smiled and nodded.

The young servants of Liang Han and Qiao Jiu were both younger than Bu Wei; after Bu Wei finished calling people, the two hurriedly called out 'Brother Zhi Que, Brother Bu Wei.'

Bu Wei and Zhi Que nodded just like Qingyun.

The guests in Pan Lou were becoming more and more numerous,

and the performances on the circular stage were gradually becoming more exciting.

Among them, many performers were top courtesans who had 'debuted' on such circular stages several years or a dozen years ago.

Many years passed,

some skilled female musicians and dancers had redeemed themselves, but met the wrong person and returned again.

Some female musicians still had some fame, and after dancing or playing music, they would get some reward money.

A performance on the stage today might attract new patrons; after all, not all men like green, inexperienced young girls.

Mature sisters are also liked by many people.

And those who had long been ignored didn't even have a chance to get close to this circular stage.

Cheers rang out from time to time in Pan Lou,

and Qingcao, who was boiling tea in the compartment, walked to the back after filling a cup of tea for Xu Zaijing.

After pouring tea into several Pan Lou tea cups on the tray, Qingcao carried the tray to Qingyun and the others and said softly:

"Brother Qingyun, Bu Wei, drink your tea."

Xu Zaijing listened to the 'Thank you, Sister/Younger Sister Qingcao' voices from behind, looked at Liang Han on the side, and said: "Sixth Young Master, what are you thinking about?"

Gu Tingye, who was being fed pumpkin seed kernels by Cheng Qiuniang, also looked over and said: "He must be thinking about the young ladies under Mother Ruan's command!"

Qiao Jiulang also looked over and said: "Sixth Young Master, it's agreed, you won't fight with me for Yunniang!"

Liang Han waved his hand and said: "Go, go, go, even if I don't want to, are you sure you can win her, Jiu Lang?"

Saying this, Liang Han pointed around the second floor and said:

"Jiu Lang, over there are the families of the Duke of Korea, the Duke of Ling, and the Duke of An, and over there are several Prince's mansions; they have all been invited by Mother Ruan to watch the performances of several young ladies!"

"Fight with them? Can you really win?"

Qiao Jiu clicked his tongue and said: "That's not necessarily true!"

Saying this, he glanced at Xu Zaijing again.

Which made Xu Zaijing feel baffled.

After Liang Han finished speaking, he continued to fall into deep thought, closed his eyes, frowned, thought for a while, and then shook his head.

At this time,

Gu Tingye on the side took the tea water handed over by Cheng Qiuniang, took a sip, and said: "Hey, before, we were at Pan Lou..."

"Clap!"

Suddenly,

Liang Han slammed the table and opened his eyes.

"Sixth Young Master, what are you doing!"

Gu Tingye, who was almost choked, asked.

Liang Han said: "Jing Ge'er, I remembered!"

Looking at Xu Zaijing's 'what did you remember' expression.

Liang Han hurriedly said: "It's those two maids at the entrance of Pan Lou!"

Hearing this, Gu Tingye glanced at the back of Cheng Qiuniang, who was going to pour him tea, gave Liang Han a thumbs up, and said: "Sixth Young Master, tsk tsk tsk, our heroes think alike!"

After finishing, he also raised his eyebrows.

Liang Han rolled his eyes at Gu Tingye and said: "Jing Ge'er, do you still remember when we came to play at Pan Lou before, it was also around this date, those rich, evil young men I told you about?"

Xu Zaijing heard Liang Han's words, frowned, pondered for a moment, and said hesitantly:

"Sixth Young Master, are you talking about the time we came to Pan Lou after my father set out for the north?"

"You also said those rich, evil young men who had tattoos and were circling two or three young ladies riding horses looked like they had just arrived in Bianjing!"

Liang Han nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, yes, yes! Jing Ge'er, I saw those young ladies riding horses in the carriage coming to Pan Lou at that time, they are exactly the ones we saw at the entrance just now!"

Xu Zaijing gave a thumbs up and said: "Sixth Young Master, good memory!"

After Xu Zaijing and Liang Han's words, Qi Heng on the side also nodded and said:

"Jing Ge'er, now that you mention it, I remember too."

"I just don't know what happened to those rich, evil young men."

Liang Han picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and said: "What could happen, either they were set up by someone to be caught in adultery and had to pay money, or they were dragged to a gambling house and lost everything."

Listening to Liang Han's words, Gu Tingye raised his eyebrows.

At this time, Qingcao at the entrance said:

"Young Master, Young Master Hai has brought people over."

When Xu Zaijing and the others hurriedly stood up, Hai Chaojie had already revealed his figure beside the screen.

Hai Chaojie cupped his hands and said to the people behind him: "Everyone, this is the Duke of Qi's mansion, the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion, and the Yongyi Marquis's mansion that I told you about..."

The group of people behind Hai Chaojie hurriedly cupped their hands and greeted them.

Xu Zaijing looked at the people beside Hai Chaojie; he knew Shen Herui of the Shen family and Chen Silang of the Ministry of Revenue, but the other young people following them were somewhat unfamiliar.

Qi Heng, Gu Tingye, and the other four had similar expressions.

Seeing the expressions of Xu Zaijing and the others, Hai Chaojie introduced with a smile:

"Everyone, this is the eldest son of the former Minister of Rites, Lord Su, Su Song, Su Zirong, whose ancestral home is Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Circuit."

Xu Zaijing, Gu Tingye, and the others hurriedly cupped their hands in greeting: "Nice to meet you!"

Su Zirong cupped his hands and returned the greeting.

Hai Chaojie continued: "This is the eldest son of the former Vice Minister of Rites and Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, Lord Wang Shao, Wang Hou, Wang Chudao."

Gu Tingye and the others cupped their hands and said: "Nice to meet you!"

Xu Zaijing glanced at Wang Hou and asked Hai Chaojie: "Is this Lord Wang Shao, Wang, the same Lord Wang who presented the 'Strategy for Pacifying the Rong' to His Majesty, enabling our Great Zhou to expand its borders by more than two thousand li in Hehuang?"

Hai Chaojie nodded with a smile and said: "Jing Ge'er, you are right! Since the birth of the Imperial Prince, what His Majesty has used in the Hehuang region is Lord Wang Shao, Wang's Strategy for Pacifying the Rong."

Hearing the conversation between Xu Zaijing and Hai Chaojie, Qi Heng and the others hurriedly cupped their hands in another greeting.

And Wang Chudao, hearing the two praising his father, felt slightly embarrassed, cupped his hands, and said:

"Nice to meet you all! My father also told me before that when the Marquis of Yongyi was in the Western Army, he once received military orders from the old General Cao to lead troops to conquer the Qiang people and fight against Bai Gao."

"The Marquis of Yongyi also made great contributions in recovering Hehuang!"

Xu Zaijing hurriedly declined modestly: "Brother Chudao, you flatter me! Lord Wang's strategy contribution is greater!"

After another round of mutual praise, Xu Zaijing looked at Su Song, Su Zirong, and said: "Brother Zirong's ancestral home is Quanzhou Prefecture?"

Su Zirong nodded: "That's right!"

After finishing, Su Zirong looked at Xu Zaijing curiously, waiting for the rest.

Xu Zaijing smiled and said: "My second sister-in-law's father once served as an official in Quanzhou Prefecture, so I asked this question!"

Hearing Xu Zaijing's words, Su Zirong cupped his hands and said: "I wonder which lord it is?"

Xu Zaijing replied: "It is Lord Sheng Hong, Lord Sheng, who is currently serving in the Ministry of Personnel."

Upon hearing this, Su Zirong's eyes lit up and he said:

"So it is Lord Sheng! When I was studying at home before, my father once entrusted someone to take me to Lord Sheng's mansion to ask for calligraphy advice."

"When I came to Bianjing, I even went to the mansion to pay a visit!"

Gu Tingye on the side said: "When did you go? We are all studying at the Sheng family school, but we haven't heard of it?"

Su Zirong said: "That day, I heard Lord Sheng say it seemed to be a school break!"

Everyone suddenly realized.

In the interval of speaking,

Shen Herui, who was standing behind Hai Chaojie, said: "Zirong, the younger brother of Brother Gu Tingyu, Gu, whose literary talent you have always admired, is Brother Ye."

Hearing this, Gu Tingye immediately straightened his chest: "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!"

(End of chapter)