Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu could only be said to be aware of the plans of Master Qingwei and the Imperial Master, but he had no idea to what extent they were carried out and in what manner.

It’s no wonder he is not in the Taiping Tao camp, nor is he a high-level person. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, he is already a high-level member of the Taoist sect. But Qi Xuansu knows his own family affairs. When he can remove the word "vice", he will be considered a real high-level Taoist sect. Of course, the deputy headmaster Da Zhenren is not within the scope of this "vice".

In fact, this is also reasonable. The various deputy hall masters, deputy palace masters, plus assistant managers, or deputy palace masters, add up to several hundred people, while the number of full-time officials is no more than forty.

From deputy to chief, it seems that there is only one level difference, but in fact there is a difference of four or five levels, which spans the threshold of Jinque.

Even after entering Jinque, Zhenzhi Zhenren is still secretly divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower. The chief palace is higher than the palm palace, and the palm hall is higher than the palm palace. If the master in charge did not have the bonuses of the chief counselor and the second counselor, which are similar to the status of a prince, he would still be lower than the masters in Pingzhang. Above the master in Pingzhang, there are the deputy masters and masters. After the great master is the master, there is the great master.

There are thousands of miles between Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu and the Grand Master.

After finishing the day's routine, Qi Xuansu asked Zhang Yuelu to go shopping in Xiujing City together. The two of them have been in Fenglinzhou for so long, but they still haven't had a good look at this Xiujing City.

The ancient cities in the Central Plains were divided into areas by Fang City, such as the Twenty-fourth Fang in Yujing plus Taiqing City. The city of Fenglinzhou is divided into towns, which are roughly similar to cities and streets.

There is a town in Xiujing called Kabuki, which originated more than a hundred years ago, a few decades after the fall of the Wei Dynasty, probably during the Taizong period of the Daxuan Dynasty. His ancestor’s name was A Guo. The word kabuki is borrowed from Chinese characters, and its original meaning is "tilt", because there is a strange movement during the performance. Later it was nicknamed "Kabuki". Song represents music. Dance means dance. Ji is a performance skill. Because Kabuki performances were deeply rooted in the folk and were very popular among the people, women from all over Fenglinzhou imitated Aguo and competed to perform Kabuki. Some warriors fought for these women and even killed each other.

Later, Daomen broke the isolation of Fenglinzhou and brought all kinds of new things. Kabukicho further developed and almost became a city that never sleeps, known as the sleepless street.

Of course, Kabukicho is said to be a song and dance performance, but in fact, everyone knows exactly what is going on. The oirans on the Qinhuai River are still very particular about selling their skills rather than selling themselves. But then again, if they don't sell themselves, why would those warriors fight for women.

In the past, Taoism has always been indifferent to this place. However, as Daomen prepares to end his life in person, many people begin to worry about the fate of Kabukicho, because Daomen is known to like to rectify the atmosphere, and often uses thunderous means to clean up the mud and muddy water, even achieving the feat of not having a brothel in Yujing City, and Qi Xuansu I've done this kind of thing myself.

It's just that Daomen doesn't have the energy to pay attention to these small things now, so this sleepless street remains the same. No matter how war is raging outside, it is still a place of life and wealth.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu's goal today is this sleepless street. Of course, not all of them are brothels and other places. There are also some taverns, places that specialize in Fenglinzhou folk dances, and other places for fun.

Zhang Yuelu is not averse to such places, and was even very curious about such places for a time. It was Zhang Yuelu who took the initiative to see Li Qingnu's performance. This is also where Zhang Yuelu is quite unusual. If she were born a man, she would probably be a free and uninhibited person.

The two of them changed into casual clothes and came to Kabukicho. They found a place to watch a kabuki performance, and then discovered that the dancing woman was actually played by a man. It is undeniable that the man playing the woman was more charming than the woman. Every move, every move, every frown, every smile, she was more slender and softer than an ordinary woman, but the two of them still felt a little weird.

Is it true that all art in this world consists of men pretending to be women?

Moreover, the makeup looked a bit like whitewashing the walls, and the two of them couldn't accept it.

So the two of them changed venues and wandered around the streets.

Although the place was a mixed bag, and the two of them had changed into casual clothes, the aura that belonged to Taoist people still kept all kinds of young people at a distance, and they did not dare to come forward to provoke them, so no one with a blind eye came to tease Zhang Yuelu. Things naturally did not give Qi Xuansu a chance to show off his skills. .

Of course, the most likely thing is that Zhang Yuelu can solve the problem by herself. She will not pretend to be weak. She always responds head-on and attacks all kinds of provocations. Li Tianzhen and Xu Kou were both the ones who were severely beaten.

Finally, the two found a tavern and planned to try Fenglinzhou's sake and shochu.

I just didn't expect that this tavern had a hidden secret. In addition to selling wine, it also had the function of half a gambling house. It only gambled on some special things, such as chess, cards, etc., which was also ingenious.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu wanted to simply drink some wine, but they didn't expect that a group of Taoists happened to be playing cards here. It was none other than Cheng Lixue, Qi Xuansu's senior brother in the Wanxiang Taoist Palace.

Cheng Lixue was also shocked when she saw Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu.

He was not a woman, so he couldn't say how much he admired the famous Zhang Yuelu. He probably remembered the time when he pimped Qi Xuansu. At this time, seeing the real master of the palace, he felt a little guilty.

In addition to Cheng Lixue and several other men, there were also several women, including Jiang Ye, Song Yu and others. Now it seems that they are in the same circle, and the ultimate level of this circle is probably Li Tianzhen or Li Zhuyu. It is really an unexpected joy to be able to come into contact with Li Changge and Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu could not turn a blind eye, so he could only say hello and introduce Cheng Lixue and Song Yu to Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu knew about Song Yu's existence, but there was no talk of wariness or hostility. The two were not rivals at all, just like Master Qingwei did not regard Yao Pei and Zhang Yuelu as opponents. His only opponents were Master Donghua and Cihang. Real person. However, Zhang Yuelu looked at Cheng Lixue with a sharp look, which made Cheng Lixue, who was already feeling guilty, even more guilty.

Jiang Ye and Song Yu both wore the popular trousers in the imperial capital today, with straight collars and front breasts, slits at the armpits, and waist-length skirts. The woman does not wear a middle coat, only wears the main waist, and wears a trousers, which will expose the white greasy on the chest, which is quite the legacy of Shengqi.

In terms of dress alone, Zhang Yuelu is extremely conservative. Not to mention her chest, not even much of her neck can be seen. But even so, Zhang Yuelu's brilliance easily overwhelms the two of them. She is the flower, and the two of them can only It's green leaves.

After a brief greeting, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu went to another table.

Cheng Lixue was a little distracted, but of course he was not fascinated by Zhang Yuelu. He was not Li Tianzhen, let alone Qi Xuansu. He would only stay away from women like Zhang Yuelu. He was just worried. Could this Junior Brother Qi be so unhelpful? Shouldn't they all be recruited? If not, why does the daughter of the Zhang family look at her with a slightly murderous look?

Jiang Ye was a little absent-minded, occasionally glancing at the backs of Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, with mixed emotions. The last time she was separated from Li Changge, she knew the fact that she couldn't catch Li Changge, and the young master of the Li family had no interest in her. But among the Taoist elites of this generation, the yin rises and the yang declines. Among the three Taoist disciples, only Li Changge is a man, and the remaining two are women. Further down, there is the sudden rise of Qi Xuansu, but it is a pity that the famous flower has its owner. Thinking about it, Zhang Yuelu and Yao Pei wanted to get married, so of course they couldn't marry anyone at will. They were also more qualified and confident to choose a man. The dispute between Zhang Yuelu and Yao Pei lasted for hundreds of years, so naturally it was impossible for them to marry, and that was Qi Xuansu.

As for Song Yu, he was even more silent.

She knew the details of Qi Xuansu, and Qi Xuansu also knew the details of hers. In the past, she was called Song Nianhao, and she was Qi Xuansu's senior sister, but now she was Song Yu. She didn't believe that Qi Xuansu wouldn't think too much about it.

She obviously didn't owe Qi Xuansu anything, but after seeing Qi Xuansu, she felt a sense of fear that her old story would be revealed.

The panic was mixed with a bit of regret.

What do you regret?

Do you regret that you didn't have the insight to recognize talents?

If she had taken a step further when this junior brother was still a blank piece of paper, would she be the one sitting next to him today?

There is a story in the West called The Biggest Ear of Wheat. A Western philosopher asked his disciples to pick the biggest ear of wheat in the wheat field, but they could only pick it once. The disciples picked and picked, always feeling that there were bigger ears of wheat behind. , and ended up empty-handed.

If she picks and chooses, will she end up empty-handed?

Of course, Qi Xuansu never meant this. To use a common saying, he came to the realization a bit late, that's why he was so unpretentious towards a beauty like Yue Liuli. After he became enlightened, he became stingy with feelings and refused to give easily. During his relationship with Zhang Yuelu, Zhang Yuelu had always been the one who took the initiative, and finally got to where he is today. If he had waited for Qi Xuansu to take the initiative, it would have been basically impossible.

Thinking of this, Song Yu glanced at Cheng Lixue subconsciously. He was also a relatively big wheat ear, but unfortunately he was not the biggest wheat ear. If she hadn't met Qi Xuansu today, she might have been tempted, but after meeting Qi Xuansu, she felt that it was nothing more than that.

Once upon a time, it was difficult to find water in the sea.

Women are always vain, comparing themselves to looks and men. Seeing Zhang Yuelu today brought Song Yu a huge sense of frustration, which even made her dare not have any provocative thoughts. This kind of frustration made Song Yu want to grab something even more.

This is what is called a sense of security, but when a woman wants to seek a sense of security, she has undoubtedly lost to Zhang Yuelu.

After Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu finished drinking, they felt a little itch and played a few cards. After all, Zhang Yuelu was not Yao Pei. He and Qi Xuansu had each other's wins and losses. There was also a lottery between the two, a Taiping money. In the end, Qi Xuansu made a net profit of Taiping. money.

After paying the bill, the two left together and continued their night stroll through the sleepless streets.

Song Yu glanced at the two people's leaving figures, sighed softly, and his eyes were filled with sadness.