The river here was narrow, and it was the dry season, so the distance between the shore and the sandbar was only a little over a mile. Chen Wangcheng ordered his men to find a small boat, and had his men row it to the sandbar himself. He found the servants who were lying in ambush here, and after he gave them instructions, it was completely dark.

"Second Master, why don't you spend the night in the reed hut and come back at dawn?" the subordinate suggested kindly.

"No, they're still waiting for me on the shore." It was only February, and the nights were very cold. A young man like Chen Wangcheng would not sleep outdoors. "It's only a mile away. We can get there in no time."

After saying that, he jumped onto the boat that brought him here, turned around and reminded him again: "That's a snow-white boat, you can recognize it from a distance. Remember, don't hurt that kid's life, kidnap him and go to Huai'an to hand him over to Manager Song, he knows what to do."

Judging from the situation, Song Xiaoming has completely become the scapegoat for the nobles.

"Don't worry, Second Master. I've remembered everything." The subordinate smiled and nodded.

"What if... I mean what if we get caught by mistake." Chen Wangcheng's eyes shone, and he looked at everyone and asked, "What would you say?"

"We are unemployed boatmen, and we are here to seek justice from Zhao." The subordinate said with a smile, "Don't worry, Master. We will never betray Nanjing."

"Yes." Chen Wangcheng nodded in satisfaction and reassured everyone, "Don't worry, if something really happens, the Canal Transport Office will come forward to rescue you and will not let you suffer."

"Don't worry, Second Master. We are members of the canal transport industry in life and dead members of the canal transport industry in death!" The servants responded loudly, their morale very high.

After all, it concerns the life and death of the entire canal transport group, and they still understand the principle of "the lips and the teeth are cold".

"Okay, then I'll wait for your good news." Seeing that the army's morale was good, Chen Wangcheng was very happy, so he ordered the ship to sail with confidence and disappeared into the dark night.

~~

After a while, the boat reached the other side. Chen Wangcheng and his companions looked around but could not see any soldiers waiting on the shore.

"What's going on?" Chen Wangcheng asked curiously, "Where are the people?"

"Is it because it's too dark to see clearly that we've gone astray?" the guard leader guessed.

"Well, it's possible." Chen Wangcheng squinted his eyes and looked around. It was pitch black upstream and downstream, and it was indeed not easy to tell the direction.

"Leave two behind, and the rest of you to search separately." After he gave the order, several guards went their separate ways, leaving only two people to protect the place.

All the lighting devices such as torches were left on the horses' backs. The three men didn't even have a tool to start a fire. They could only stand there in the dark, waiting for the people who were sent out to find the horse team and come back to pick them up.

For a moment, the river bank was extremely quiet, with only the sound of the rushing river being heard.

This dark and silent scene made Chen Wangcheng feel uneasy, so he made small talk and said, "Let me tell you two a joke."

"Okay." The subordinate said in a muffled voice.

"It is said that when Lord Dongning was young, he was very slow to understand things. He was already in his teens, but he still didn't know anything." Chen Wangcheng laughed and said, "That year, his second uncle got married. On the second day of the wedding, at noon, the couple didn't get up. His grandmother was waiting for the newlyweds to serve tea, so she asked Lord Dongning to urge them."

"After a while, Lord Dong Ning came back. His grandmother asked, 'Have you woken up?' Lord Dong Ning said, 'Half woken up.'" Chen Wangcheng laughed strangely and said, "Everyone in the room was confused. What does this mean? Has it woken up or not? So they asked him what 'half woken up' means. He said..."

Chen Wangcheng pinched his throat and imitated the tone of a child: "Well, because Second Uncle only got up the upper body, and the new aunt only got up the lower body..."

After saying that, he burst into laughter and said, "Do you think Coke is funny or not? It's been so many years, and we still laugh when we mention it..."

"Hey, why aren't you laughing? Don't you understand?" he asked curiously, turning around.

What answered him was a sharp dagger.

A man pressed his neck from behind and whispered viciously, "Don't come out, or I'll kill you!"

Chen Wangcheng was immediately frightened and stunned, like a goose with its neck pinched, how could he make a sound? He allowed the other party to stuff a piece of cloth into his mouth, and then tied his hands behind his back.

The two guards behind him were naturally captured silently.

The main reason was that it was too dark and the other party couldn't tell who was who among the three, so they could only spare their lives.

As for the rest, they were not so lucky...

~~

On February 12, Master Zhao finally dealt with the aftermath of the incident and boarded a boat at Furong Pond, ready to leave Jinling.

Yu Jiachang and others came to see them off. Looking at the burned-down Kuailv Building, it stood out among the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains, as ugly as a scar on a beauty's face. As a result, the number of people visiting the Hibiscus Pond decreased a lot.

After all, safety comes first in leisure and entertainment. After a fire, there will be some adverse effects for a period of time...

Yu Jiachang was very ashamed that he had received an early warning but still failed to prevent arson, so he asked for his resignation from Mr. Zhao. He said that he was too old to follow Mr. Zhao's new ideas, so he decided to retire and return to Caijiaxiang Primary School to watch the children grow up.

"Captain, I am responsible for this incident." Young Master Zhao did have the idea of ​​changing people. He had observed that the Xiaocangshan business district was booming, but its quality had not improved. The taste was even worse. The bright red and green tones were hardly acceptable.

This is far from Zhao Hao's original intention of building Xiaocangshan into a high-end leisure and entertainment center that leads lifestyle trends and creates consumption trends.

But he couldn't change people at this time, otherwise it would discourage the loyal old friends. So he took the initiative to take the responsibility and tried to persuade them to stay.

Finally, after much persuasion, he was allowed to work for another year and it would not be too late to retire after he had found a successor.

After saying goodbye to his old neighbors, Zhao Hao took a pleasure boat to the Jinchuan River.

When passing by Xiaoxiang Tower, I suddenly heard a melodious flute sound.

Young Master Zhao could not help but look in the direction of the voice, and saw the courtesan Qi Jingyun, without any makeup, wearing a paddy field cloak and a grey gauze scarf, like a yellow crown, sitting elegantly on the balcony. The melodious sound of her flute attracted countless bees and butterflies who were intoxicated by her.

To become the most beautiful woman in the world, one must not only be extremely beautiful, but also have unique skills. For example, Zheng Yanru plays the pipa very well, and Qi Jingyun plays the flute very well.

"What a great piece of music 'Yangguan Sandie'." In the cabin, a pair of good friends who were playing the zither and reading the Golden Sutra had unfriendly expressions on their faces.

"The willows at the long pavilion sway in the wind, I am so sad. My old friend is bidding farewell to me on the ancestral road. We parted at the ten-mile pavilion. Love is the deepest, love is the deepest, love is the deepest. I can't bear to be separated from you, I can't bear to be separated from you..." Ma Xianglan hummed along with the tune.

Xiao Zhuzi snorted and said, "I knew that Qi Hua Kui would leave the Qinhuai River and go to Xiaocang Mountain with bad intentions. She is obviously here to fish for golden turtles."

"It is said that the music played by Master Qi is a sound of seven emotions. It is indeed very pleasant to the ears and touching to the heart." Secretary Ma was not as direct as Zhang Xiaojing. She sighed and said, "It's a pity that the emotion was expressed incorrectly. With the young master's musical accomplishment, he will definitely not be able to hear the meaning of the song."

This is also what made Secretary Ma very depressed. She played the piano very well, but playing for the young master was like playing the piano to a cow. She had no choice but to give up her musical expertise and do secretarial work...

Sure enough, Mr. Zhao on the deck just politely waved goodbye to the female cadre of his support group... When Xuelang formed the Red Mansion Poetry Society, he invited two courtesans, Zheng Yanru and Qi Jingyun, to be the left Lantai and right Nanyan. With the efforts of the three and a group of backbones, the poetry club once grew to hundreds of people and became famous in Jinling.

But as Zhao Hao's new works were difficult to produce in the past two years, Xuelang went to Kunshan, and many of the poetry club members dispersed, and Zheng Yanru lost her enthusiasm. In the past two years, it was Qi Jingyun who managed the poetry club, and it didn't fall apart. Her Xiaoxiang Pavilion became a gathering place for the Red Mansion poetry club members.

When Zhao Hao was on vacation in Xiaocangshan, he felt sorry for the fan leader after learning about this, so he accepted the invitation to participate in a poetry reading. He also released several of his "new works" to entertain fans.

That poetry gathering was quite grand. Including Zheng Yanru, all the members of the poetry society who had not shown their faces for many years were present. Even the Qinhuai courtesans who were usually unattainable came to seek a chance encounter. Unfortunately, Mr. Zhao had gone back to Liuyun Mountain Residence early, leaving them empty-handed.

The beauty queen is infinitely good, and it has nothing to do with Mr. Zhao. He will not do a business that loses money...

Qi Jingyun finished the song, watched the pleasure boat disappear on the Jinchuan River, and then sighed with infinite regret. Mr. Zhao is now even more unattainable...

She gently put down her flute, picked up the gold-sprinkled paper on the table and read it intently. On it was the "Water Melody" that Mr. Zhao gave to Xiao Zhuzi.

"The east wind has nothing to do but make up a myriad of flowers. When I have free time, I look at all the shadows of the flowers, and only the slanting moon is visible..." She was a little dazed for a moment, and it was not until the maid brought her back to her senses that she realized that Master Zhao had sent a note to her.

Qi Jingyun's heart was beating wildly, wondering how could Tie Di not understand Dong Xiao? She couldn't help smiling, unfolded the post and looked at it, but she couldn't help but stand there in a daze.

It was not a poem for her as she thought, but a letter of appointment for her to be the artistic director of Xiaocangshan Management Company.

"What the hell is this?" Qi Jingyun was confused. What does an art director do?

Yes, she is the one that Mr. Zhao is looking for to take over Yu Jiachang's class. After all, the taste of Qinhuai courtesans has always been at the top of Ming fashion, and they have always been the ones leading the new trends in Jiangnan... It can be said that she is a professional match. Let her follow Yu Jiachang for a year to get familiar with him, and she should be able to do the job.

But in order to avoid suspicion, Mr. Zhao decided not to make an invitation in person, otherwise there would be five jealous people at home, which would be really troublesome.

If Qi Jingyun is interested, he will naturally write to ask him, and he will just say it in the letter when the time comes.

It can be seen that the establishment of Lianli Company has profoundly changed Mr. Zhao's style and made him more self-disciplined.

~~

The pleasure boat left the Hibiscus Pond, and Zhao Hao looked back, sighing with regret in his heart:

"Oh my god, I have never had any health care in my two lifetimes..."