Chapter 159: I've been waiting for many days, it's time to take action

Inside Zhuxi Pavilion, heavy curtains hung on all sides to block out the cold. On the carpet inside, a hexagonal Qilin-shaped incense burner burned with fine agarwood.

On the beauty couch, Liang Jinxian lay lazily on his side, his handsome long eyelashes lightly closed, holding a Xiu furnace in his hand, and a long, bony finger slowly tapping the Xiu wall to the music in the room.

Across the curtain, Liu Ningyan knelt on a cushion, cradling a pipa. Her fingers plucked the strings, each note clear and melodious, but her face showed no emotion.

After a while, Liang Jinxian opened his eyes in boredom.

He chuckled softly, "It seems that this prince is not favored by Miss Liu, otherwise, the song "Crossing the River Crane" would not be played so dryly and boringly."

Liu Ningyan lowered her eyes and slowly stopped moving.

"Forget it," Liang Jinxian sat up. "Since the beauty is not interested, I won't force her. I heard that Miss Liu is not only good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also an expert in tea making. I wonder if I, Liang, would be lucky enough to have a cup of her?"

Hearing this, Liu Ningyan handed the pipa to the maid and walked forward slowly with her hands tucked into her sleeves.

She knelt gently across from the long table, first picking up the kettle to check the charcoal fire in the stove, then using the tongs on the table to stir it up a bit, and then adding water to the kettle.

While waiting silently, she took a little dry tea leaves from the teapot and evenly poured them into the purple clay teapot.

Liang Jinxian half-opened his eyes, watching her movements quietly, and sighed with regret, "No wonder she's become the top performer at Zuishenglou. It's hard to find a woman with such talent and distinction even in the capital. What a pity."

Liu Ruyan paused.

I don’t know what he meant by “regret”.

There was an imperceptible contempt on her lips. After the tea was finished, she poured a cup, stood up, walked around the long table and brought it to Liang Jinxian.

Liang Jinxian closed his eyes and leaned against the soft pillow, smelling the fragrance of tea, and said casually: "Let it go, I can do it myself——"

Before he could finish his words, a flash of cold light flashed, and he suddenly turned over. However, it was still too late. The cold dagger scratched the back of his hand, causing a slight pain.

He lowered his eyes and saw a new wound on the back of his hand, which had been healed with great difficulty. Bright red blood was oozing out of it.

Liang Jinxian's eyes suddenly turned cold, and when he looked up again, the person was already approaching.

Liu Ningyan did not hurt him, and when she was about to attack again, her neck was suddenly grabbed.

"Do you think that because I've tolerated you for so long, I'm easy to talk to?" Liang Jinxian's face was gloomy, and there was no sympathy in his eyes. "I hate it most when others touch my hand, and you just did the thing I hate the most."

He exerted force with his five fingers, and Liu Ningyan's slender arm was like a delicate porcelain bottle, which could be crushed with just a little more force.

Liu Ningyan's face turned pale, but her eyes, full of hatred, stared at him intently.

Seeing this, Liang Jinxian chuckled, "I didn't kill your entire family. If you want to blame someone, blame Duke Xin. The entire Hezhou was his work. As for me... I just took advantage of the situation."

"You...are in cahoots..." Liu Ningyan said with difficulty, "The son will pay for the father's debt...Heaven and earth will punish you...you will not die a good death..."

"retribution?"

Liang Jinxian laughed out loud as if he had heard a very funny joke.

He laughed for a moment, but suddenly went crazy.

He violently threw Liu Ningyan away, his face grim. "If it comes to retribution, I don't owe any of you any money! It's you, Dazhao, who have trodden on my pain and sucked the blood from my bones. You are the ones who deserve retribution the most!"

This was a bit confusing, and Liu Ningyan was stunned.

But soon, Liang Jinxian seemed to realize something was wrong and immediately stopped his crazy behavior.

He wandered around the room for a while, then asked gloomily, "Where's Shen Zongji? How's he doing over there?"

.

In Luyang County, a banner reading "Zhuang's Seafood Snack Shop" hangs in front of a street shop. At this moment, Zhuang Wan is teaching a few women cooking skills in the shop's backyard kitchen.

The women stood in front of the table, each with a chopping board in front of them, busy filleting the fish.

"Fish should be killed quickly so that they are more chewy..."

"Place the fish horizontally, skin side down, and cut diagonally from top to bottom..."

"Slicing fish requires careful knife skills. Hold the knife steadily and apply even pressure. The slices should be as thin as tofu so that they can absorb the flavor when marinated..."

As Zhuang Wan spoke, he carefully observed the situation of each person and stopped in front of a woman for a moment.

"It's too thick. Your technique is wrong." She snatched the knife from the woman's hand, demonstrated it again, and said, "It should be done this way. Don't be impatient. First strive for stability, then speed and precision."

"Okay." The woman nodded.

After a while, Erya came to the door and asked, "Is Sister Ruyi busy?"

Zhuang Wan turned her head and asked, "What's the matter?"

Erya: "My mother said that Uncle Mazi from the west of the city was injured while fishing this morning. I plan to go and see him."

"Are you injured? Where are you injured?" Zhuang Wan hurried over.

Uncle Mazi from the west side of the city was a wealthy fisherman with considerable skill, catching fish that others couldn't. Consequently, Zhuang Wan had a contract with him, requiring him to deliver a certain amount of fish to the shop every day.

Erya couldn't explain it either: "I didn't see it either. I heard from the person who reported it that it seemed to be quite serious."

After thinking for a moment, Zhuang Wan said, "Let your mother wait for a moment. I'll go and take a look."

She explained some things, went to the shop opposite to buy some dry goods, and then went to the west of the city with Cui Niang.

On the other side, in a teahouse in Luyang County, two men wearing straw hats observed the situation for a while and looked at each other.

One person said, "Just keep an eye on it. I'll go back and report to the city lord immediately."

After the man stood up, he jumped on his horse and galloped towards a small courtyard.

Luyang County was now nearly overcrowded with the influx of officials and military personnel from other regions. However, with only one inn, housing became a challenge. Locals resorted to converting their unused homes into small rooms and renting them out. Suddenly, a number of "private inns" sprang up. Many people paid a small fee to stay in the various rooms of the mansions, never knowing each other, creating a bustling and chaotic atmosphere.

Shen Zongji has been staying in a remote house for the past two days. Due to the remoteness of the place and the low prices, it is mostly crowded with porters and small vendors.

After the man entered the room, he glanced at the person sitting in the corner smoking a pipe. The person smoking the pipe nodded to him, and then he went straight to the door of a room on the west side of the backyard.

There was a knock on the door, and the person inside asked, "Who is it?"

"I, Zhu Qian."

The next moment the door opened, and Commander Yu stood in the dim room.

He gestured for Zhu Qian to close the door, then walked to the bedside: "City Lord, Zhu Qian is back."

Beside the bed, Shen Zongji was having the doctor change the dressing. He had just chopped off his arm, and although it had been half a month, the wound had become more serious due to his constant travel and had even festered.

If it were an ordinary person, such an injury would definitely make them grimace in pain. But when the doctor was cutting the bone to remove the festering wound, Shen Zongji didn't frown at all, as if the wound was not on him.

"Any news?" he asked.

Zhu Qian immediately reported: "Miss Zhuang went out, and she didn't bring anyone else with her, only a woman."

"Are you sure?"

"I saw it with my own eyes."

Shen Zongji nodded: "Then let's do it."

I've been waiting for many days, it's time to take action!