Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 2: Information Dealer

Chongjing Academy is located on Shuangfeng Mountain on the north bank of the Shushui River, across the water from Shuyang City, the capital of the Rui Kingdom.

There is a Luming Terrace at the mountain gate. When you climb up the terrace, you can see a river as clear as autumn water and the capital of the gods shrouded in mist, majestic and magnificent. The two stone tablets beside the terrace are engraved with "Beautiful Mountains and Rivers" and "Prosperous Land for Culture" respectively.

A gravel path starts from the stone steps of Lumingtai, winding along the mountain to lead to the villages dotted at the foot of the mountain.

The trail is not deserted as woodcutters, hunters, tea growers, pharmacists, and tourists come and go.

When the servants and guards of the Marquis' Mansion arrived at Chongjing Academy, they were stopped outside the mountain gate. They had to wait until the afternoon, when Shen Lingshu summoned them. Only then were the four servants able to carry the sedan chair inside to take her out and leave the academy.

Before they had gone far, they met an old woman carrying two large baskets and a young child following her.

When she saw the guards from the Marquis' Mansion, the old woman wanted to give way, but she was too old and frail to bear the weight, and the basket on her shoulders was shaking. Fortunately, the young child held on to the basket desperately and prevented her from falling to the ground.

This actually blocks the way.

Seeing this, Shen Lingshu ordered the guards to go forward and help the old woman.

The old woman put down her burden, panted and sat by the roadside, wiping her forehead with a handkerchief, and repeatedly said, "Thank you very much, my lord."

As she spoke, her eyes fell on the swords worn by the guards of the Marquis' Mansion, which had exquisite patterns unique to the Marquis' Mansion of Wuding.

The child looked innocent and said crisply, "Would you like to buy some chestnuts? They are grown at home, very cheap and very fresh."

The guards of the Marquis' Mansion who came forward to help saw that the chestnuts in the basket still had their prickly shells on. They shouted, "These are too fresh. Who has the time to peel them?"

"Bought them all."

Shen Lingshu felt sorry for the grandparents and grandchildren and ordered them to buy the two baskets of chestnuts.

The old woman and the child thanked him profusely, took the money and sat down on the rocks beside the path to rest, intentionally or unintentionally, they kept looking towards the gate of Chongjing Academy.

The clouds roll and the mountain breeze makes the shadows of the trees sway.

Less than half an hour later, a dark-faced man wearing a plain academy robe came out and walked down the mountain with a swagger.

The old woman stood up tremblingly, and staggered as she passed the man, almost falling.

When the man extended his hand to support the old woman, she felt that his palms were covered with calluses. He did not look like a scholar, but rather a laborer.

"Sir." The child stepped forward, pointed at the two stone tablets beside Luming Terrace, and asked curiously, "What are those words?"

The man looked back and blurted out: "Isn't that 'Shanshui'..."

He suddenly stopped talking, scratched his head in embarrassment and walked away.

The old woman and the child looked at each other, their eyes were shrewd and strong, completely different from before.

"It seems that Gu Jingnian has discovered that we are following him..."

--------

Gu Jingnian disguised himself as a servant of the marquis's mansion, lowered his head, and carried Shen Lingshu's sedan chair down Frost Maple Mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, Shen Lingshu changed to a horse carriage, and he followed on foot, heading towards Jing.

The carriages and horses ahead raised dust all over his face and his clothes were smelly, but the oppressive feeling of being watched constantly for the past seven days finally dissipated.

After crossing the Chutang Bridge, funeral processions would appear from time to time, with yellow paper clearing the way and singing to call back the souls.

Gu Jingnian noticed that most of the mourners were just holding urns, and a few were carrying coffins. The ruts on the wheels were very shallow, and it didn't look like there were corpses on them.

At that time, people mostly buried their dead. Today, there were so many dead people being buried at the same time, and there were only ashes. They must have died in the fire.

Because of these things, there was a traffic jam at the city gate for a long time before the Shen family team entered Jing and headed towards the north of the city.

There is Beishi in the northwest corner of the city, which is very busy with business and travelers.

When they got close, the curtain of the carriage was opened, and A Yuan poked his head out and said, "The young lady asked us to have dinner at Fengcai Tower."

Fengcailou is a very famous restaurant in Beijing, located at the busiest intersection of Taipei City.

The group entered the building and asked for a private room. Shen Lingshu sat down and hooked his finger.

"Xiao Nian, go buy me a handkerchief."

"Yes."

Gu Jingnian bowed in response, left the private room, and naturally left the Shen family's team.

Shen Lingshu rolled his eyes and smiled with satisfaction.

She was broken off from engagement but still helped Gu Jingnian, not because she was a nice person, but because of curiosity.

"I want to see what kind of woman can seduce him."

"girl?"

"Come with me... Ahem, you all wait here."

Leaving behind the guards and servants, Shen Lingshu took A Yuan out of the private room, opened the window facing the street in the corridor and looked out.

Gu Jingnian had just walked out of Fengcai Tower and turned west.

"Walk."

"Miss, don't you want to eat?" A Yuan couldn't help but said aggrievedly: "Because of this lunatic, I even missed my meal."

She was really hungry, and how could a maid have the confidence to do that? So she spoke in a lower and lower voice as time went on.

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and catch up."

Shen Lingshu walked quickly and was in high spirits.

The streets and alleys of Taipei City are crisscrossed. Starting from the third alley, you will reach the place where brothels and theaters are concentrated. Turning into it, you can see prostitutes waving handkerchiefs to attract customers on the street.

Of course, these are all vulgar women. If you want to find beauties, you have to go further inside.

Shen Lingshu started spitting and cursing when he saw Gu Jingnian entering the third alley from afar.

"Well, I thought he was in love with someone, but it turns out he is infatuated with a prostitute."

Her fiancé would rather linger in brothels than break off the engagement. She felt humiliated but also fortunate, at least she didn't really marry such a whore.

"No wonder he was afraid of letting others know." A Yuan suddenly realized.

The maid didn't know what a brothel was like, she just heard it was very expensive, so she cursed, "This lunatic will ruin the general's family business sooner or later! Girl, let's go back, the food is served."

"Why are you in such a hurry? Now that you're here, let me see how charming that woman is."

Although Shen Lingshu despised Gu Jingnian, she became even more curious.

She had long heard that the women in brothels were seductive and behaved in a seductive manner, which was very different from ordinary ladies, but unfortunately she had never seen it.

His steps became faster and faster, and as he turned a corner, he saw Gu Jingnian entering a yard.

The yard was old and dilapidated, and the people coming in and out were all commoners in short brown clothes. She felt very strange. Why would Gu Jingnian fall for the woman there?
When I looked over, I saw two large crooked characters written on the gate of the courtyard, which were "Washe".

"what?"

Shen Lingshu couldn't help but feel puzzled and walked straight in.

When they entered, Gu Jingnian was gone. Instead, there was a tall and thin man who came up to them with a gong plate in his hand, which he handed to them without saying a word.

"Ten cents."

"what?"

The tall and thin man turned around and pointed. There was a stage vaguely visible behind the door wall. There seemed to be someone performing on the stage, and people cheered from time to time.

"Performance, ten cents."

Seeing the excitement, A Yuan forgot about serving the food and counted out ten coins from the purse he carried with him.

This is her private money.

"Here, ten cents."

The tall and thin man then gestured to the number "two" and said, "One person, ten cents. You, two people."

He speaks very incoherently and seems to have some mental problems.

"Oh."

A Yuan wanted to ask if this person was the only one who spoke the most fluently here, otherwise why couldn't someone else be asked to greet the guests.

But no matter what, judging from the man's appearance, he couldn't lie to her.

After paying the money, the master and servant walked around the door and saw an acrobatic performance going on inside.

"Wow." A Yuan looked up and exclaimed in admiration, suddenly feeling that ten cents per person was not expensive at all.

There are tall poles erected on the roofs on both sides, with a thin rope tied to the top of the poles. It looks like they cannot bear any force at all, but two people are flying up and down on the ropes, doing various difficult moves.

There is no protection like this. If you fall down, you will probably be crippled if not killed.

Looking more closely, I found that they were originally disabled. One was missing his right hand, and the other was missing his left leg. Yet they could still fly around the thin rope like butterflies.

Then, a bald, beardless, dark-faced middle-aged man walked onto the stage and stood still. Two other people holding torches walked to his left and right, opened their mouths and blew at the torches, and the blazing flames immediately attacked the dark-faced middle-aged man.

"call--"

A wave of scorching heat came from the stage, and the audience shouted.

But the raging flames completely enveloped the dark-faced middle-aged man and burned him for a long time, which was very frightening to watch.

But when the fire died down, he was still standing there intact.

"Wow."

A Yuan fanned his warm face with his hands and exclaimed in admiration again.

"No wonder this guy is so dark, it turns out he was smoked black... burp!"

When she was halfway through her speech, she noticed that the dark-faced middle-aged man on the stage had completely empty eye sockets. His eyes had actually been gouged out. She was shocked and burped.

"Let's go, don't forget the business."

Shen Lingshu didn't want to watch anymore. She felt that these street performers were all miserable people, so she pulled A Yuan to the back to find Gu Jingnian.

What she was more curious about was what kind of person Gu Jingnian's lover was.

Everyone here is struggling to make a living, how can there be any beautiful ladies here?
She walked around the stage and was about to break into the back hall behind the stage when someone stopped her.

"You can't go in here."

He was a big man with a ferocious look, his face was covered with thorny black beard, and his nose had been cut off, leaving only a big scar.

Seeing this, Shen Lingshu took two steps back in fear, but still put his hands on his hips and said, "I'll find someone!"

"Can't come in."

"But I clearly saw him come in just now!"

"You can't come in!" the fierce man glared.

A Yuan was so frightened that he even pulled his own girl away.

Shen Lingshu was unwilling to suffer this loss and said, "I helped him, but his lover didn't appreciate it. What am I?"

"Who are you looking for?"

Suddenly a woman from the back asked, her voice very charming.

Then, a woman came over.

She was wearing only a straw hat and a cloth skirt, and had no makeup on, but even with such simple and clean attire, she still revealed her charming demeanor.

Shen Lingshu's eyes lit up, but then he thought that if this was Gu Jingnian's lover, she was a little too old. Gu Jingnian was only seventeen years old, and although this woman looked young, she should be in her twenties or thirties.

However, it was really such a beautiful woman who could coax a young man into forgetting himself, so she could understand why Gu Jingnian broke off the engagement.

"You are Gu Jingnian's lover...his confidante?"

The beautiful woman smiled when she heard this and asked, "What advice do you have for me, young lady?"

Shen Lingshu satisfied her curiosity, but did not give any further instructions. She said, "Since he has already broken off the engagement for you, you two..."

She wanted to say something to bless him, but then she thought that was too humble, so she changed her words.

"You two should take care of yourselves."

After saying this, Shen Lingshu felt relieved. He bowed and walked away, imitating the way he had done when he met that arrogant scholar today.

Seeing this, the beautiful woman smiled again, turned around and went back to the back hall, and went up to the small attic, where Gu Jingnian was standing.

"The young master's fiancée is here to catch him cheating."

Gu Jingnian was a little surprised. He had only given the wooden sign and had not yet revealed his identity, but this Feng Niang seemed to recognize him and Shen Lingshu.

In his heart, he looked up to Feng Niang, but he did not respond and remained silent.

"Mr. Gu, are you surprised?" Feng Niang said with a smile, "I am an information dealer."

"In that case, I have three questions."

Feng Niang leaned over, looked at him deeply, stretched out her slender hand, and gestured with three fingers.

"Three questions, thirty thousand dollars."

She didn't care what he was going to ask, as if she knew it anyway.

Gu Jingnian reached into his arms, took out a small cloth bag, opened it, and found three pearls inside.

Feng Niang's eyes narrowed slightly, she picked up a pearl and looked at it carefully.

"There are mermaids in the Yi Sea, and their tears turn into pearls... This must be the spoils that General Gu got when he slaughtered the Yue Kingdom, which was friendly with the mermaids?"

Gu Jingnian stretched out a finger and said, "You asked me a question, ten thousand yuan."

Feng Niang laughed and gave him a look of anger with her beautiful eyes. She ignored him and put the three pearls away.

This means that he has agreed to the deal.

Gu Jingnian then asked, "Why is the court suspicious of my father? Why are there spies following me? Where can I find a book called Fengwuzhi?"

Feng Niang actually knew everything and answered in an orderly manner.

"Seven days ago, something big happened in the western suburbs. I don't know the details. I only know that the border army reported that General Gu colluded with the Yong Kingdom. The Yong Kingdom drove the aliens to be dead soldiers, and their combat power was extremely strong. In the battle of Yangshachuan, General Gu was once captured by the Yong army. After being released, he concealed the matter and reported a great victory. The captives he offered were actually alien assassins from the Western Yong Kingdom, which led to this incident in the western suburbs."

After hearing this, Gu Jingnian opened his mouth to ask for specific details.

"Don't ask, this is all I know." Feng Niang raised her hand and said, "As for what is your connection with this matter? You know in your heart that the court has sent people to secretly watch you, and they must find evidence from you."

The answer seemed like nothing had been said, but Gu Jingnian just frowned and said nothing.

He wanted to confirm this inference.

"The Fengwuzhi is an ancient book, and I have never heard of it being dispersed among the people." Feng Niang said, "Okay, I have answered all three of your questions, young master."

She bowed thousands of times to see the guest off.

Gu Jingnian did not leave, and asked, "What is the difference between Fengwuzhi and other books that record what happened in Yihai?"

Feng Niang smiled slightly, indicating that answering the questions would cost money.

Gu Jingnian said: "You haven't fully answered my third question."

"Well, I'll do it for the sake of your acquaintance with Shu Weng." Feng Niang said, "That volume of the book is not widely circulated. I know only one person who has read it, and he still treats it as a medicine book."

"Medicine Sutra?"

This was beyond Gu Jingnian's expectations.

Feng Niang said, "That man has no name. Others call him Master Ma. He has been working as a doctor in a pharmacy in Tongluo Lane in the south of the city for the past two years."

Gu Jingnian seemed to have more questions to ask, but he was hesitant. After hesitating for a moment, he changed the way he asked the question.

"Do you know all the tribes in Yihai?"

"Ok?"

Feng Niang did not answer. She folded her arms, sat down on the chair, crossed one leg over the other, and swung her toes in boredom. The smile on her face was no longer as refreshing as spring breeze, but a reserved smile when seeing off a guest.

With her, you only ask as many questions as you pay for. If you want to chat, that’s another price.

But at this moment, she asked: "Mr. Gu, why don't you just speak directly? Which kind of Yihai alien race do you want to ask about?"

Gu Jingnian sensed the inquiring intent in her eyes and shook his head, "Just asking casually. I am short of money, so I'll take my leave now."

Feng Niang looked at his departing back, her eyes flickering with curiosity, and she waved toward the window.

A little sparrow flew over and landed on the windowsill.

Feng Niang gently stroked the sparrow's head with her fingers. After a while, the sparrow spread its wings and flew away, and landed on the branch of a maple tree with the breeze.

Maple leaves slowly fall, and a young man walks across the bluestone slabs...

　The new book has started serialization, please read it~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)