Shasha sha...
The rain curtain outside the window was pattering. As the sky gradually turned pale, a noisy commotion also rose outside, bustling like a busy market.
"Don't dawdle..."
"Hurry up, hurry up..."
Ye Jingtang opened his eyes and pushed open the side window at the stern of the ship. What came into view was a large ship fully loaded with goods. There were several stewards from merchant families on the ship, directing the laborers to cover the goods properly. It seemed that the oilcloth had been blown open by the wind last night.
Leaning out of the window to take a look, he could see that the merchant ship had docked. To the right was the wharf embankment. Despite the rain, the wharf was still crowded with people. The carriages and ox carts loaded with goods almost blocked the traffic. Behind the wharf was a large town.
Looking towards the river, the scene was even more magnificent. Under the light rain, thousands of sails converged by the river. The masts and sails blocked the entire view. Although they were clearly on the river, they couldn't see the river scenery at all. At a glance, there were probably no less than a thousand large and small ships anchored along the riverbank.
Ye Jingtang was not surprised by such prosperity. After all, this was the "Golden River Estuary", and the town on the shore was Xiwang Town.
The Great Wei had many rivers, with three major rivers flowing into the sea, namely the Daliang River, the Qingjiang River, and the Wujiang River.
In order to facilitate shipping, the dynasties had been building water conservancy projects, gradually creating two grand canals, the Jinjiang Canal and the Wuxi Canal. As a result, the three rivers were completely connected. One could take a boat from Honghe Town, his hometown, all the way to the estuary of Jiangzhou at the other end of the Great Wei's territory.
The intersection of the two grand canals was the Golden River Estuary beneath their feet. People traveling far and wide almost had to pass through this place. Although it was just a small town, its scale and prosperity were no less than those of any large city. People in the martial arts world usually regarded this place as the gateway to the capital city.
The annual meeting of Honghua Tower was held here. Firstly, it was because it was here that the major shipping gangs had formed an alliance to establish Honghua Tower. Secondly, there were so many people coming and going from the south and the north here that it was very difficult for the hall masters of Honghua Tower to attract attention when they came here in a low-key manner.
They had already reached their destination, and there were no accidents along the way. The stone that had been weighing on Ye Jingtang's heart was finally put down.
Scanning the river, he didn't find the small cargo ship flying the flag with the character "Zhang". He guessed that it had already arrived and was unloading goods elsewhere.
Ye Jingtang put away his thoughts, tidied up his robe, and walked out of the room. He could see Li Jian and others standing on the shore, communicating with the wharf manager about trivial matters such as loading and unloading goods.
In the next room, Third Miss had already packed up. She was wearing a deep purple dress, and her hair bun was very dignified and mature, making her look like a capable and shrewd female shopkeeper.
The bird was still lingering in bed, lying on the windowsill with its limbs spread out. A handkerchief was even covering its belly, and its sleeping posture was unbearable to look at.
Last night, he and the bird had taken turns keeping watch. Ye Jingtang didn't wake up the bird either. After washing up at the stern of the ship, he put on his wide-brimmed hat, picked up an oil-paper umbrella, and went to the town together with Pei Xiangjun.
Xiwang Town had a huge flow of people. There were no less than more than a hundred thousand people gathered in the town, and the roads were often blocked. Even in the rain, one could see merchants and martial artists rushing around everywhere.
Ye Jingtang walked along the street, looking around. Before they reached the inn where they were going to stay, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from ahead, and the vehicles and pedestrians on the street moved to the sides to make way.
Tata ta...
"Get out of the way..."
Ye Jingtang frowned slightly, protected Third Miss, and stepped back to the side of the street. Looking up, he saw a motorcade coming towards them.
In front of the motorcade were eight sabermen dressed in brocade robes, wearing wide-brimmed hats and coir raincoats. Both the horses and their clothes were of great value.
Behind the eight sabermen was a carriage, which was quite spacious. The carriage door was closed, so the people inside couldn't be seen. Behind the carriage were several stewards and servants on horseback.
There were many martial artists everywhere in Xiwang Town. The person who could make everyone give way at the same time must have an extraordinary status.
Ye Jingtang carefully examined them and could see that all eight sabermen had nameplates hanging from their waists and were carrying large broadswords. The blades were extremely heavy, judging by eye no less than forty or fifty jin.
Junshan Terrace...
Ye Jingtang recognized the identities of these people from the shape of the broadswords and frowned slightly.
Before his adoptive father died, he left a suicide note asking Ye Jingtang to find an opportunity in the future to seek revenge from the person who had crippled his adoptive father back then.
And this enemy was the old ancestor of Junshan Terrace, "Saber Grandmaster" Xuanyuan Chao, whom people in the martial arts world generally called the "Marquis of Junshan".
Xuanyuan Chao was among the Eight Grandmasters, reaching the peak in the martial arts world. He was also the "Marquis of Junshan" conferred by the court, achieving the highest status in both the underworld and the officialdom. Even in its heyday, Honghua Tower had to show some deference to him.
Ye Jingtang understood the gap between them and didn't rush up to cause trouble. He just pretended not to see them and continued walking.
However, to his surprise, when the carriage passed by, the window was slightly lifted, and someone inside the carriage looked outside.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a middle-aged man sitting in the carriage, dressed in a brocade robe like a wealthy gentleman, with a serious and handsome face and eyes like a hawk.
Ye Jingtang didn't recognize this person and didn't turn his head to look. After the carriage had gone far away, he asked:
"Third Miss, who is this person?"
Pei Xiangjun was looking at the shops on the street and replied unhurriedly:
"Xuanyuan Hongzhi, the second son of Xuanyuan Chao. He has been running around outside all year round, responsible for communication and interaction. I guess he is also preparing to go to the Zhou family's birthday celebration."
"Why did he look at me?"
Pei Xiangjun motioned to the Chi Dragon Ringed Saber at Ye Jingtang's waist: "The Dragon-Slaying Order of Junshan Terrace is to slay the ringed Chi Dragon. As a fellow saberman, when you saw him carrying a saber, didn't you also take a few glances at him?"
Ye Jingtang suddenly understood and raised his hand to put away the saber at his waist a bit:
"I'd better wrap the saber up when I go out in the future."
"Yeah..."
----
Gulu gulu...
The carriage drove through the street under the rain curtain. The noise outside the window was continuous, but it was very quiet inside the carriage.
Xuanyuan Hongzhi sat upright, his gaze still fixed outside the window, his brows furrowed.
His son Xuanyuan Zhe, who was sitting next to him, looked a bit puzzled:
"Dad, what were you looking at just now?"
After a long silence, Xuanyuan Hongzhi shook his head and sighed:
"Kuang Yazi has been dead for decades, yet there are still people in the martial arts world using the Chi Dragon Saber. Sigh..."
When Xuanyuan Zhe heard this, he immediately understood why his father was sighing. In the late years of the previous dynasty, Kuang Yazi was the Saber Grandmaster, and the Chi Dragon Saber was extremely popular in the martial arts world. His father, who was in his fifties, was born just at the end of the period when Kuang Yazi dominated the saber world. He had witnessed the rise of the Dragon-Slaying Order and the decline of the Chi Dragon Saber with his own eyes, and his feelings for this saber were much deeper than those of contemporary martial artists.
Later, Zheng Feng, the successor of Kuang Yazi, was crippled by the Xuanyuan family because of his little aunt's matter. They didn't eliminate the roots completely, which made his father develop a complex. He always worried that one day someone would come to settle new and old scores with a Chi Dragon Saber in hand.
"Dad, you're overthinking it. Zheng Feng himself has deviated from the saber technique, and the Eight-Step Fierce Saber has long been lost. Even if he has apprentices, what can they do with a saber technique that was broken by grandpa decades ago?"
Xuanyuan Zhe glanced at the martial artists on the street outside the carriage:
"As for the Chi Dragon Ringed Saber, there were too many of them in the past. You can see one every few days. Most of them are ancestral sabers or old sabers bought from the market. They are very common..."
Xuanyuan Hongzhi shook his head: "The martial arts world is the martial arts world. What happened yesterday种下因 (sowed the cause), and today there will be a result. No matter how invincible you are in the world or how high your status is, you can't escape the fate of the martial arts world. Back then, I advised your grandpa to eliminate the roots completely, but your uncle insisted on caring about that bit of chivalry and stopped him. Look what happened. This moment of hesitation has brought thirty years of being suspicious and on edge..."
"Should I send someone to check on the newly emerged sabermen in the martial arts world?"
"There are thousands of sabermen in the world. How can we possibly check them all?"
Xuanyuan Hongzhi withdrew his gaze and resumed his serious expression:
"Let's go to the Zhou family first. The Zhou family has occupied the ancestral property of Honghua Tower. If Honghua Tower still doesn't show up to demand an explanation at this birthday banquet, it means that its power has declined. The Qingjiang Wharf is the main port of Yunzhou and Zezhou. Without the nod of our Xuanyuan family, the Zhou family can't swallow such a big piece of fat..."
"What if Honghua Tower shows up? In my opinion, if you can't hold onto something, you should resolutely let it go, lest you end up in trouble. Honghua Tower is also considered an old-timer in the martial arts world. How can they not understand such a simple truth..."