As midsummer approached, the weather gradually became hotter. Shortly after the morning bell rang, the scorching sun climbed up to the window, and the chirping of cicadas added to the sound in the silent courtyard.
"Zhiliu zhiliu—"
"Jile~..."
There were two miscellaneous books placed on the windowsill, along with a small wooden donkey that was casually bought as a toy.
The chubby bird, feeling bored, was kicking the wooden donkey with its claws, shaking it back and forth, and imitating the chirping of summer cicadas.
Ye Jingtang stood beside the wardrobe, in front of the bronze mirror that Luo Ning had used, carefully tidying up his black gentleman's robe.
Today, he was going to take a boat with Third Miss to Xiwang Town to attend the mid-year meeting of the various halls of Honghua Tower. After that, he also had to go to Shuiyun Sword Pool in Zezhou. The earliest he could be back would be in the second half of May.
Fearing that the courtyard would be neglected again during his long absence, he had specifically told the old escort master, Yang Chao, yesterday to come over every few days to water the plants and take care of the place.
Otherwise, when Miss Luo, the chivalrous woman, came back next month and found that he had let the flowers and plants die, even if she didn't say anything, she would surely blame him in her heart for being irresponsible.
After taking care of the courtyard, Ye Jingtang led his horse and left Shuanggui Alley. He rode quickly to Tianshui Bridge, which was several streets away.
It had been twenty days since he entered the capital. The twelve escort masters he had brought from Liangzhou had all settled down. With the help of the Pei family, their wives and children had even started side businesses. The youngest, Liuzi, had even become the future son-in-law of the grain store owner, thanks to Chen Biao's matchmaking.
Regarding such family matters, Ye Jingtang was quite concerned. He specifically stopped outside Zhenyuan Escort Agency, pulled Liuzi out, and earnestly admonished him:
"A real man should be able to hold his own in public and support his family at home. If you don't make progress in the future and delay that girl, I'll break three of your legs..."
"Young master, don't worry. Once Old Yang leaves, I'll definitely be the escort leader..."
"Hey! You son of a bitch!"
Before Liuzi could finish his words, the old escort master, Yang Chao, walked out directly with a knife in hand, scaring Liuzi into turning around and running away.
Ye Jingtang shook his head and smiled. He grabbed the bird that wanted to fly over to watch the fun and quickly walked into the deep alley.
Inside the boudoir of the Pei family's mansion.
The chirping of cicadas came from the courtyard. Pei Xiangjun sat in front of the dressing table. She had just taken a bath and was only wearing a light yellow bellyband. Holding a slender lip brush, she carefully applied cherry-red lipstick to her lips.
Pei Xiangjun actually had excellent talent for martial arts. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been accepted as the last disciple of Pei Cang and succeeded him as the leader of Honghua Tower.
The reason she was still at the bottom among the grandmasters and hadn't achieved remarkable feats in the martial arts world was mainly due to her physical conditions limiting her upper limit.
This didn't mean that Pei Xiangjun was in poor health. Instead, the Overlord Spear of the Pei family was a top-notch external martial art, characterized by wide and powerful movements. It was originally not suitable for women to practice.
A tall and beautiful woman like Dongfang Liren, whose height was no less than that of a man and had a well-proportioned figure, might have achieved something if she practiced the spear.
However, Pei Xiangjun was different. Her mother was a renowned gentle and delicate lady from a noble family in Jiangzhou. Influenced by genetics, she wasn't very tall. With excellent nutrition since childhood and her practice of martial arts, her figure had become very "fertile".
In simple terms, her buttocks were full and plump, and her chest was magnificent and upright.
Such a figure on a woman could be said to be a natural beauty, but it was really awkward for her to wield a large spear. It was much more difficult for her to reach the peak of martial arts compared to ordinary people.
The maid Xiuhe stood behind her, combing Pei Xiangjun's hair. She tilted her head and glanced at Pei Xiangjun's much larger chest, with a hint of envy in her eyes. After thinking for a moment, she asked:
"Leader, have you considered the matter that Madam mentioned?"
"What matter?"
"You know, the benefits should stay within the family. The young master is handsome and the leader is naturally beautiful. You two are a perfect match..."
"What肥水 (benefits)? Am I fat?"
"Heehee~ The leader is thin where she should be thin, and plump where she should be plump. If you take off your clothes, you could make the young master stare blankly..."
Pei Xiangjun "tched" softly. When a maid ran in and said that Ye Jingtang had arrived, she composed herself, stood up, put on a light spring dress, and left the Pei family's mansion.
Seeing Ye Jingtang waiting at the door, Pei Xiangjun smiled:
"Jingtang, let's go."
Ye Jingtang took a look at Third Miss. Although he thought she was beautifully made up, he didn't show any strange expression. He raised his hand to lift the carriage curtain, helped Third Miss and Xiuhe get in, and then sat outside the carriage, holding the horsewhip and gently tapping:
"Giddy up!"
Gululu~~
The carriage rumbled forward, heading towards the riverside dock...
-----
In Guantou Town, more than ten miles away on the east side of Yun'an City.
In the courtyard of the carriage and horse firm in the town, Blood Bodhi, who had been pursued by the government for many days, was dressed as an ordinary old man. Holding a purple clay teapot in his hand, he leaned on a reclining chair, basking in the sun with his eyes closed and concentrating.
Tata...
With a gust of breeze, two figures landed in the courtyard. Both were dressed as martial artists wearing斗笠 (wide-brimmed hats). One held a spear, and the other had empty hands.
The martial artist with the spear and wearing a hat walked up to Blood Bodhi, cupped his hands in a salute:
"I am Lu Ruan. Young Master Yan sent us here. We will follow your orders from now on."
"I am Chen Ming."
Blood Bodhi raised his eyelids, thought for a moment, and asked:
"Chen Ming, the 'Heart-Piercing Hand', and Lu Ruan, the 'Seven-Foot Spear'?"
Lu Ruan, who was tall and thin, admired: "Senior, you haven't been in the Great Wei for many years, yet you still know my name."
"It's not surprising to have heard of outstanding younger generations in the martial arts world."
Blood Bodhi stood up with the help of his walking stick, a faint smile on his face. However, this smile wasn't out of admiration for the rising stars.
After his fight with Ye Jingtang last time, Blood Bodhi had found a clue about the Roaring Dragon Picture, and his goal had changed - instead of helping the green bandits risk assassinating the Prince Jing, he now wanted to find a way to get the Roaring Dragon Picture from Ye Jingtang. After all, Ye Jingtang was much easier to deal with than the Prince Jing.
As a top assassin, Blood Bodhi was in charge of all the arrangements for assassinating the Prince Jing, and the employer was responsible for providing him with information and manpower.
Taking advantage of this convenience, Blood Bodhi had recently found out Ye Jingtang's identity - the adopted son of the Pei family at Tianshui Bridge in the capital city. He might have learned martial arts in the Black Yamen and had an ambiguous relationship with the Prince Jing. The Pei family had arranged a boat, and they were going to Xiwang Town to do business recently. Ye Jingtang would be accompanying them.
The son of a merchant, traveling alone without the escort of top experts from the Black Yamen, was undoubtedly the best opportunity to make a move.
However, he alone was no match for Ye Jingtang. To avoid being easily defeated, Blood Bodhi had used the excuse of assassinating the Prince Jing to ask the employer to find him two helpers.
Both Chen Ming and Lu Ruan were notorious bandits in the martial arts world, amassing wealth by robbing and killing. Their martial arts skills were all of the first-class level, and either one of them could fight Ye Jingtang for a few rounds.
With the three of them working together, they were confident that they could break through Ye Jingtang's extraordinary saber skills. Afterward, it would be easy for him to take the Roaring Dragon Picture for himself, secretly plot against and eliminate his two teammates to silence them.
Blood Bodhi secretly deliberated. After confirming that there were no obvious flaws in the preparations, he felt eager to act. He stood up, leaned on his iron walking stick, and walked out of the carriage and horse firm:
"Let's go."
...
-----
On the other side, downstream of the Qingjiang River.
A passenger ship was sailing along the winding river channel. The deck was filled with merchants and travelers from all over the country.
In the guest room on the second floor of the ship building, the wife of the leader of the Pingtian Sect, the overlord of the martial arts world, stood by the window facing the river. Dressed in a green dress, she held a small watermelon in her arms. With her naturally enchanting peach-blossom eyes, she stared blankly at the gloomy sky.
The source of the Qingjiang River was Tianlang Lake in the territory of Beiliang. It ran from north to south, crossing the territory of the Great Wei Dynasty, and finally flowed into the sea in the area of Guancheng in the south.
Luo Ning had set off from the capital city and was sailing downstream along the Qingjiang River, which could directly take her to Tiannan. She had already been on the journey for four or five days.
It was also a few days, but the experience of traveling home by boat was worlds apart from living in Shuanggui Alley.
If the few days in Shuanggui Alley were the most unforgettable, then the time on the boat was the most difficult to endure.
Luo Ning stood by the window, staring blankly at the riverbank. The naturally beautiful girl beside her was also listlessly lying on the couch, sighing:
"I'm going to die without the bird... Master, why don't I go back to the capital? You can go to the birthday celebration alone..."
Luo Ning brought her thoughts back and looked at Zhe Yunli beside her:
"How can I rest assured if you stay in the capital alone?"
"But there's Brother Jingtang."
That's exactly why I'm not at ease...
Luo Ning simply couldn't handle that shameless little thief. She didn't want a day to come when Ye Jingtang would hold one of them in each hand or stack them together...
She didn't even dare to think about these little thoughts, let alone say them out loud. She just comforted her:
"It's just about a month. After we go to the Zhou family's birthday celebration, we'll go back to the capital. By then, Ye Jingtang should have rescued Master Qiu..."
Zhe Yunli turned over on the couch, propped up her face with her hand, and her two fair feet swayed in the air:
"Once we get back to the capital and rescue Master Qiu, we'll still have to go back to Nanxiao Mountain."
"You and I are from Nanxiao Mountain. Do you want to stay in the capital for the rest of your life?"
Zhe Yunli didn't have that intention. She looked at her master:
"I just think it's a pity. Brother Jingtang is so powerful. If he serves the court and becomes successful in the future, what if he turns against us? We have to find a way to lure Brother Jingtang up the mountain."
Luo Ning sighed: "The Great Wei is in its prime. It's easier said than done to restore the country. Ye Jingtang has his ambitions in the court. How could he follow us in rebelling? How are you going to lure him?"
Zhe Yunli thought carefully for a moment, blinked her big eyes, and suddenly had an idea:
"Brother Jingtang isn't married yet. Why don't we try the beauty trap?"
?!
Luo Ning's celestial-like face turned cold, and she angrily scolded:
"What are you talking about? I'm your master!"
Zhe Yunli was confused: "Huh~! Master, what are you thinking? There are plenty of young and beautiful girls in the Pingtian Sect. How could we ask you to do such a thing? Besides, even though you're the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world, you're still older than Brother Jingtang. How could he fall for your beauty trap..."
??
Luo Ning took a deep breath. The small watermelon seemed to have turned into a big watermelon in her hand. She looked around, found a ruler, and prepared to teach Zhe Yunli a lesson.
Zhe Yunli, who had been talking nonsense, saw this and immediately got up and ran:
"I was wrong, I was wrong. I just said it casually. Master, don't take it seriously..."
Luo Ning bit her silver teeth. It was only after Zhe Yunli ran out of the door that she gradually suppressed the anger in her eyes. She turned her head and looked towards the distant north, in the direction of Yun'an City, her eyes filled with a myriad of thoughts...