Chapter 3 Chapter 3
"Master, the territory of Chuzhou is ahead." Sheng Li saw the boundary stone tablet in the distance and immediately reported to Ling Suye.
The carriage traveled on the road for seven days in a row, and the surrounding scenery was the same unchanging withered yellow grass. Sheng Li was nervous, afraid that he had gone in the wrong direction.
Fortunately, he followed his master's instructions and bought an old horse from the Liu family in Mobei that often went to Chuzhou.
Fortunately, Lao Ma did know the way.
Ling Suye had been sleeping lightly against the carriage, but he woke up immediately after hearing this and said, "We'll spend the night at the first post station we pass."
"yes."
The days of traveling were very difficult.
Sheng Li felt annoyed after looking at the same scenery for seven days.
Not to mention Ling Suye, a blind man who couldn't see anything. He could only listen to the creaking sound of the wheels rolling over the dry grass in the carriage, day after day.
However, compared to Sheng Li's obvious irritability, Ling Suye seemed much calmer.
He has been blind for three years, so these seven days won't make any difference.
As night fell, the surrounding scenery gradually disappeared into darkness, but there was still no sign of the post station.
Sheng Li was a little anxious, but he continued to drive the carriage forward. After turning a corner, he saw two white lanterns in the distance. His tone finally relaxed a little: "Master, we will be there in about half an hour."
Ling Suye hummed, "Slow down, keep the car steady."
Sheng Li didn't understand why, but he did as he was told.
Ling Suye took out the herbs that he had asked Sheng Li to buy a few days ago, twisted the 'Purple Cloud Clothes' that had been soaked in the medicinal juice for seven days on his fingertips, then used his other hand to pry open his eyelids and covered his eyeballs with a thin layer of 'Purple Cloud Clothes'.
Three years ago, his pupils were taken out, leaving only the whites of his eyes - if someone saw this, it would only increase suspicion.
That's why Ling Suye needs the 'Purple Cloud Robe' to disguise the outermost layer of his pupils.
After disguising himself, Ling Suye closed his eyes again, his eyeballs moving slightly under the thin layer of eyelids, feeling a little uncomfortable.
Then he asked Sheng Li to put on a hood to temporarily hide his face.
·
Arriving at the post station, Sheng Li stopped the carriage and was about to lift the curtain to pick up his blind master.
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of the driver of the carriage next to him doing the same thing—this was very different from the way he had seen healthy drivers get off carriages before. Only when assisting a blind person did he need to reach into the carriage and help them get off step by step.
While he was distracted, the people in the carriage next to him had already come out.
Sheng Li's heart suddenly started pounding, because the man being helped down had his eyes closed! Just like his master usually did!
"What did you see?" Ling Suye asked.
While helping him get out of the car, Sheng Li whispered about the situation in the carriage next to him.
But the place was empty and quiet, so even if he whispered as quietly as possible, the people around him still heard him. The man who was helped down smiled and said, "You have accompanied your master to Chuzhou. Don't you know that your master killed himself to practice the skill of touching stones to identify jade?"
"The family's secret method is naturally kept secret from everyone." Ling Suye said lightly.
Only then did Sheng Li realize that his master came to Chuzhou to gamble on stones.
What that person said, "touching the stone to judge the jade", is probably a unique trick.
However, he was also very confused. He had followed his master for nearly three years, and he only knew that he was an excellent doctor, but he had never heard that he could gamble on stones!
The blind man next to him, with his eyes closed, laughed and said, "You really come from a humble family and haven't seen the world. Is this method of blinding your eyes from childhood and only training your hands to feel stones and identify jade worth hiding from everyone? This method has spread everywhere in our area. Even children with bright eyes are blinded by their parents and trained to feel stones."
Sheng Li felt a chill on his back when he heard this.
Blinding a child's eyes, so that he will never be able to see any colors or scenery in his life, has become a "secret method" and is widely practiced?
How foolish that child's parents are!
He looked back at his master in shock, as if he couldn't believe that his master had such a background.
"It must have its own unique features to be the secret method of our family." Ling Suye spoke in a calm tone, neither humble nor arrogant.
The man immediately stopped talking and whispered to his servant, asking him to describe the situation on Ling Suye's side. It seemed that he regarded him as a strong enemy.
The servant first described Ling Suye's simple carriage. Seeing that his master was still asking questions, he could only say with a bitter face, "His characteristics... are particularly good-looking. Does that count?"
Sheng Li couldn't help but burst out laughing.
He turned to look at his host. In the moonlight, the slender young man, his long hair loose, his eyes lightly closed, his lashes drooping, his nose high and steep. He was quite tall, even taller than himself. His face was a sickly pale from days of travel, his lips pale, but this didn't detract from his elegant appearance; instead, it only added to his sense of fragmentation.
"Is it funny?" Ling Suye tilted his head slightly and asked him.
Sheng Li stopped immediately and said, "Sheng Li doesn't dare."
Walking into the inn, even though it was late at night, the lobby was still full of people and brightly lit. Sheng Li took a quick look and saw a blind man with closed eyes at almost every table.
His heart shuddered, and the words "the world is cruel" floated in his mind.
—A blind man who can sit here and be waited on must be quite capable. And those blind men who were blinded since childhood and haven't developed the skill of 'touching a stone to identify jade'...
Sheng Li didn't dare to think about their fate.
The waiter came forward and asked, "Would you like to have dinner in the lobby, sirs?"
Sheng Li glanced at Ling Suye's face and knew what he meant. He said, "No, we need a room upstairs. We'll make some hot soup and delicious food and send it to the room."
"Okay! Sir, please follow me."
The waiter led the way. Ling Suye didn't need Sheng Li's support. He walked steadily, stepping up the wooden steps one by one. He didn't look like a blind person.
As soon as we went upstairs, the originally quiet lobby immediately became noisy.
"How is that possible!"
"He's obviously blind, how can he walk so steadily?"
"Is he pretending to be blind?"
"But his eyes are closed!"
Some martial artists had noticed that Ling Suye's every step landed almost exactly where the waiter had walked. They whispered to each other, "This newly arrived 'Stone Slave' seems to be able to locate a location by sound. He must be extremely gifted."
"Stone slaves" is a derogatory term used by the upper class and powerful to refer to those who have blinded themselves since childhood just to identify whether there is jade in stones.
No matter how good they are at judging jade by touching the stone, they are still just slaves in the eyes of the powerful.
"Why don't we take him under our command?" his companions discussed with him.
"Okay, let's wait for the waiter to come down and ask him where he lives. Then we can quietly go upstairs and tell him who we are - we are from the Ye family of Chuzhou. He will definitely not refuse."
This stone gambling competition is not only a test of one's ability to identify stones, but also a competition between the three major families in Chuzhou, namely Ye, Zhou and Tian.
The Zhou and Tian families are old and aristocratic families in Chuzhou. They train "stone slaves" from a young age. They buy a bunch of children, blind them all, and then select them layer by layer.
The Ye family had no roots, but the old man was lucky. He went up the mountain to chop wood and found a jade mine, and became rich overnight.
The old man came from a poor family and thought that "stone slaves" were too cruel, so he never kept any in his own family.
Therefore, in this gambling stone competition held every ten years, the Ye family always came in last. This year was the sixth round of the competition.
The Zhou and Tian families bribed the prefect and set an additional rule this year - the family at the bottom would give half of its property to the winning family.
The Ye family cursed the Huang and Tian families for being obsessed with money.
But the prefect has already ordered people to post the notice, and his words are golden and will not be retracted.
This led to the Ye family guards going to various post stations to look for capable civilian "stone slaves".
·
The Ye family's guards were still waiting for their chance. The waiter brought Ling Suye upstairs, politely opened the door for him, and introduced him, "Sir, you only have one guard with you, so I guess you don't have any family influence. In Chuzhou, the Tian and Zhou families are both top-notch families, and they both treat 'Mr. Shi' as a guest of honor. You, sir, are obviously a man of real ability. You might consider the Tian and Zhou families. If you're determined, our shopkeeper can guarantee you."
Mobei is adjacent to Chuzhou, and the Ling family of Mobei is well aware of the family power struggles in Chuzhou.
In fact, the reason why the ancestor of the Ye family in Chuzhou was able to guard the jade mine was because he ran to Mobei and asked the ancestor of the Ling family to protect him.
Later, the old man of the Ye family would visit the Ling family every year. As he grew older and it was inconvenient for him to go out, the person he visited became his son.
When Ling Suye was a child, he met the son of the old man of the Ye family, who is now the master of the Ye family, several times.
He said in a grateful tone, "A guarantee, really? I'd like to thank you in advance, little brother."
The waiter was a little hesitant when he saw that he agreed so quickly. After all, those who have real ability will be a little bit arrogant. He was worried and wondered if he would meet an incompetent person this time.
He laughed and said, "I'll have to ask our shopkeeper about this. Sir, please consider it first. We'll talk about it tomorrow. I'll go prepare food for you. Hehe, prepare food."
In the room, Sheng Li lit a candle, and under the halo of light, Di Ling Suye looked even more graceful and elegant like a fairy.
After hearing no more noise outside, Ling Suye said, "Don't call yourself Sheng Li in front of others from now on."
Sheng Li was stunned.
Ling Suye showed a rare display of patience: "The Chuzhou gambling stone competition always attracts spectators from all over. I'm afraid you don't want to be recognized as the bright moon from the capital, right?"
He was clearly a blind man, with his eyelids always closed, but at this moment he faced Sheng Li directly, which actually gave Sheng Li the illusion of being "seen".
When Sheng Li heard the words "bright and bright moon" from the master's mouth, he felt that it was all something from his previous life.
He immediately clasped his fists and nodded: "Sheng... yes, I don't want to be recognized."
"The disguise technique is simple. I made a mask for you and will put it on you later. As for the name, you can choose one yourself." Ling Suye said.
"Choose...a name yourself?"
The word "name" was like a sharp thorn, piercing the softest part of Sheng Li's heart. He immediately thought of his other name, the one his mother had given him before he followed his aunt to the capital to recognize his relatives - Gu Xuanyou.
This name was once known only to my mother, my aunt, and the Ling family.
Now……
Sheng Li closed his eyes and said in a resolute tone: "Gu Xuanyou, Master, from now on, there will be no Sheng Li, only Gu Xuanyou."
Ling Suye: "..."
The author has something to say:
What should I do if the original hero is taken as a slave? Waiting online, very urgent.
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