In the third year of Jianyan, on the third day of the eighth month, at the time of Si, the sun was just rising, and the market was bustling with people coming and going. But a group of five people, dressed in gorgeous clothes, were seen walking in front, and there were shadows swaying not far behind them, as if someone was secretly following them.
The leader was wearing a white robe, looking around as if he was stepping into Tokyo for the first time. Beside him was a man in a green robe, dressed like a scholar, and another in black, looking quite chivalrous. The remaining two were both wearing red, with thick arms, steady steps, and alert eyes. They were obviously martial artists, and they were walking two steps behind.
I heard the man in white robe and the man in black robe talking: "Zhang Ai...Zhang Xiashi, is this your first time in the capital?" The man in black robe restrained his impulse to bow and replied: "It is indeed my first time here. I didn't expect that the capital is so prosperous." Needless to say, the man in black is Zhang Rong, the leader of Liangshanpo who came to Beijing to "report on his work". The man in white robe is naturally our Zhao Jiu, the official Zhao. The reason why he wears a white robe is of course that someone has a perverted idea of "white dragon fish clothes" in his mind. The remaining three people, the scholar in green robe is Xiaolin scholar, and the two dressed in red are Liu Yan and Qu Duan.
Why did these five powerful people dress up like this and mingle in the market? It was because there was no court meeting today, Zhao Jiu was bored staying in the palace, and Madam Pan always invited the emperor to taste ice cream. When Zhao Jiu was torn between humanity and reason, he remembered that Zhang Rong had settled in Xiangguo Temple for a long time, so he hurriedly took his attendants and went out incognito with the excuse of "investigating customs, observing people's work, winning over military officials, and working hard on state affairs".
When they arrived outside the palace, Xiaolin scholar was very taciturn. He would not say a word unless asked. Emperor Zhao, who was the most familiar with Tokyo and should have played the role of a guide, seemed to have just arrived. He could not explain the various places that were said to be, and others could only understand that Emperor Zhao was diligent and studious when he was young and had no time to wander around. Fortunately, Zhang Rong was also a rough man. He had no interest in the famous scenes in Tokyo, so he just went to the lively places, so the group came to the market.
Zhao Jiu and Zhang Rong chatted amid the hawkers' calls, occasionally attracted by the new things on the roadside. But given their identities and styles, they inevitably talked about the recent important events of the court, such as the palace examination that was about to take place.
The two were just talking about the custom of catching a son-in-law from the list, when they saw a group of people in front of them forming a circle. Outside the circle were several dates and some crushed pears, and inside the circle there was a lot of noise. Suddenly, a scream was heard, causing the crowd to exclaim in surprise.
Several people stopped immediately. Liu Yan and Qu Duan took two steps forward, one on the left and one on the right to protect Zhao Jiu. Zhang Rong also put his hand on his waist. Seeing that there was no movement in front, Zhao Jiu pursed his lips. Liu Yan understood and immediately went to find out the situation. After a while, Liu Yan turned back, nodded slightly and saluted, saying: "Official... Master Guan, I have found out clearly that there is a vendor selling dates and a vendor selling pears in front. The pear vendor saw that the dates were selling well, and he was jealous and told the customer who bought the dates that eating dates was not good for teeth, it is better to eat some crisp pears to quench thirst. The date seller was not happy and fought with him. Unexpectedly, he pushed the pear vendor and his head hit the ground. He had fainted and his life or death was unknown."
Everyone stared at Zhao Jiu, waiting for his decision, but Zhao Jiu looked at the crushed pear on the ground, the juice flowing out, and he wondered what he was thinking. After a while, Zhao Jiu asked everyone to turn back to the palace in a bored manner. Zhang Rong was about to say something, but he stopped. The remaining three people didn't say anything either. After all, the emperor had finally come out to relax, and encountered this kind of thing. Moreover, the identities of several people could not be exposed at will. Who knows what mistakes will happen if they rashly go up to ask. Of course, the best policy at this time is to leave.
Turning around the street, everyone saw that the emperor was not in a good mood, and no one dared to say anything. When they came to a writing stall, Zhao Jiu suddenly picked up a pen and ink and wrote a note, handed it to Liu Yan, and said with a sigh: "Ask someone to buy some pears, rock sugar, and wolfberries, and ask the kitchen to prepare them according to the method on the note." Liu Yan took the note, paid the pen and ink fee, and went to find the followers behind to make arrangements. Everyone was confused, but Zhang Rong was a big shot, and the others had more or less seen the emperor's tricks, so they didn't ask too much. Fortunately, everyone saw that the emperor was in a much better mood, and even Xiaolin scholar rarely took the initiative to speak to warm up the atmosphere.
The group was chatting and laughing, and not long after they walked, they saw two people dressed as vendors, pushing a cart of rotten kiwis, and shouting to sell them in a crying voice. However, the kiwis were so rotten that no one was interested in buying them. Bachelor Kobayashi and the other four did not take them seriously and were about to move on when Zhao Jiu quickly stepped forward, stopped the two vendors, and started chatting with them while asking the price. The four hurried to follow, but were stopped by Zhao Jiu's wave of his hand.
Zhao Jiu talked with the two men for a long time. It was noon and the sun was rising. Qu Duan and Zhang Rong were getting impatient. When Zhao Jiu ordered a pot of tea on the roadside and talked with the two men, Liu Yan also became impatient. However, Xiao Lin was slightly moved.
After a while, as the sun was high in the sky, the three of them finally finished their discussion. Before leaving, Zhao Jiu took off an ornament and gave it to the two vendors. The vendors naturally thanked him profusely and paid for the tea before pushing the cart away.
The remaining four people waited for a while under the sun. Scholar Xiao Lin and Liu Yan had been with the emperor for a long time, so after their initial impatience, they calmed down. On the other hand, Zhang Rong and Qu Duan became more and more angry.
After Zhao Jiu signaled and the four people followed, Qu Duan was still able to hold back his words, but Zhang Rong felt that the official was a loyal person, and seeing that there was no one around, he could not help but say: Official... Mr. Guan, if you were an ordinary person, it would be fine if you meddled in other people's business, but you... you are a promising person. Just now two people were fighting on the side of the road, and there was even a lawsuit about someone's death, but you didn't care about it. But when you saw two people selling rotten wood, why did you talk to them for a long time? It's really... Oh!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
