What a lucky world!

Chapter 128: Zihu Villa, you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, also used the back door?
Ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta.

The daylight was just right, and two light cavalrymen stepped into Lanling City.

Lanling City, the seat of Lanling County, its name can be traced back to the founding period of Dayu. The founding emperor of Dayu and his queen had three sons. The youngest son grabbed a handful of orchids during the "Zhuazhou" ceremony when he was young, so he was named "Lan".

Prince Lan was a martial arts prodigy who made many military achievements during Emperor Gaozu's uprising. However, he was ambushed in a battle in Lanling County and died. Due to the urgency of the war, he could only be buried hastily on the spot.

Later, when the Dayu Dynasty was established, Emperor Gaozu wanted to move Prince Lan's tomb to a place with better feng shui, but was stopped by the crown prince, who believed that his younger brother's resting place should not be disturbed. So he built a mountain here as a mausoleum and named it Lanling.

Now, with the passage of time, Prince Lan's heroic youth has turned into a legend, and Lanling City has become a prosperous city after several wars.

History is like a book, every page is the waves of the past, reading it is like a passing dream, and we will eventually become part of the dream.

As he stepped into Lanling City, Zhang Mu felt as if he was dreaming of returning to the Blue Planet. All he saw was people jostling each other and running around.

The avenue leading into the city gate is straight and wide, stretching into the distance. To my left is the sound of gongs and drums, to my right is the high-pitched shouting. Children play and laugh on the street, and horse-drawn carriages pass by busily.

Zhang Mu and Zhuge Nanxian rode their horses forward. At this time, Zhuge Nanxian was not in disguise, but was still dressed as a woman. She traveled with Zhang Mu, and they were a perfect match, a talented man and a beautiful woman. They attracted a lot of admiration.

"This Lanling City is a little different from other places." Zhuge Nanxian said softly.

Zhang Mu also nodded with emotion.

If he only looked at Lanling City, he would certainly think that the Dayun Dynasty was prosperous and the country was at its peak. However, he came from Wan'an County, so how could he lie about what he saw with his own eyes?

There is only one explanation.

This so-called big city has sucked all the blood and sweat of the people and created a kind of deformed prosperity.

There are frozen corpses on the road, but the rich are still singing and dancing.

The prosperity before him at this moment seemed to Zhang Mu like a scene of chaos.

……

"I'm going out to do something, you can go for a walk by yourself." After finding an inn to settle down, Zhang Mu and Zhuge Nanxian said.

Along the way, the two of them became somewhat of a acquaintance.

Because Xuan Ji's poison had not yet been cured, Zhuge Nanxian did not mention leaving, and Zhang Mu naturally did not say it either.

"Is there any danger?" Zhuge Nanxian asked.

Zhang Mu shook his head: "I'm just going to see an elder."

"Then go ahead." Zhuge Nanxian said softly, "I'm going to buy some ingredients to make detoxification pills for Xuanji Mao'er."

As he spoke, Zhuge Nanxian held out his hand: "I don't have enough silver."

Zhang Mu smiled and took out all the banknotes from his pocket and handed them to Zhuge Nanxian. Zhuge Nanxian took them without hesitation, thought for a moment, took out a few and stuffed them back into Zhang Mu's pocket, saying, "You can't go to see an elder empty-handed."

"Every time my second uncle went to see my grandfather, he brought many gifts."

Zhang Mu was stunned for a moment, then put the banknote away, gave a few more instructions, and left the inn.

Of course, Zhang Mu came to Lanling City this time not just to recruit Ye Hanzhou.

There was also the demon disaster in Wan'an County last year.

In Zhang Mu's mind, this matter has a higher priority than recruiting Ye Hanzhou.

Although several months have passed since the incident, Zhang Mu still remembers Mr. Song's decisiveness.

Even though he has defected to Qianyuan Wuzhai, the message still needs to be conveyed.

However, Zhang Mu did not act rashly. Instead, he found a tavern first, gave the waiter a few coins as a tip, and asked about the background of "Purple Lake Villa".

"Sir, are you asking about Purple Lake Villa?"

The waiter received the reward and smiled brightly. He bowed to Zhang Mu and said, "Who in Lanling City doesn't know about Zihu Villa?"

"It's on Zixia Lake in the east of the city."

"Purple Lake Villa and Fenglin Villa on Jinchuan Mountain outside the city are two precious places in Lanling City, one for literature and one for martial arts!"

"Oh? I know Fenglin Villa. That's where the swordsmanship master Ye Dafeng lives. Does that mean Zixia Villa is Wen?" Zhang Mu asked with a smile.

"Exactly!" the waiter said proudly. "Purple Lake Villa was founded a hundred years ago by the literary leader Zhao Daru. To date, it has produced two top-ranking scholars, three runner-ups, seven third-place finishers, and over a hundred Jinshi scholars." "I heard that the current Prime Minister, Zhang Xiang, also studied at Purple Lake Villa for three years."

"It's truly a beautiful and elegant place!"

At this point, the waiter suddenly thought of something and said, "Actually, this Zihu Villa is most famous. Besides being famous for its literary works, it's also famous for its wines!"

"Lanling City has three famous wines."

"The amber wine from Zihu Villa is the best among them!"

"Although our shop doesn't have that famous wine, our winemaker was once an apprentice at Zihu Villa for a few years. The wine he brews has a bit of the flavor of amber wine. I wonder if you'd be interested in trying it?"

"I'll definitely do it next time." Zhang Mu promised.

After leaving the tavern, Zhang Mu called a carriage to take him to Zihu Villa.

……

After about half an hour, the carriage brought Zhang Mu to a ferry crossing, which was bustling with people.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Zhang Mu got off the carriage and turned to ask the coachman.

The driver smiled helplessly and said, "You may not know, my friend, but there is a great scholar giving lectures at Zihu Villa these days, and these are the scholars who have come to listen."

A hint of confusion flashed in Zhang Mu's eyes: "A dignified Purple Lake Villa can't even handle this transportation issue?"

Perhaps Zhang Mu's words were too blunt, seeming somewhat disrespectful. A scholar in Confucian robes nearby overheard them, closed his folding fan, and bowed to Zhang Mu, "Brother, you are wrong."

Zhang Mu heard this and looked at the other party, then he bowed and said, "Please give me some advice, brother."

"I don't deserve the title of 'brother,'" the scholar said. "The one who came to give lectures today is Zhang Daru, one of the Four Elders of Jiangdong. It's only natural that we younger generations flock to him."

"With so many people, it's naturally more complicated."

"Those literary talents have already made arrangements to go up the lake and onto the island."

"The owner of Zihu Villa is kindhearted and willing to open this opportunity to students from disadvantaged families, so he specially prepared two ferry crossings."

Zhang Mu raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Two ferry crossings?"

"That's right!" the scholar said. "What you're seeing now is the Three Questions Ferry. At the ferry is the old man from the villa. As long as you answer the old man's three questions and he's satisfied, you can get on the ferry."

"The old man asked questions about the Four Books and Five Classics, so there were many people waiting to board the ship, so it was naturally a bit crowded."

Zhang Mu asked curiously, "What about the other ferry crossing?"

"The other one is called the Poetry Ferry," the scholar said. "As long as you write a brilliant poem, you can board the ferry and travel."

"Where is the poetry ferry?" asked Zhang Mu.

The scholar pointed to a place not far away, and Zhang Mu saw a lonely little boat there.

Seeing Zhang Mu's pensive expression, the scholar continued, "Writing is a natural gift, a rare find by a skilled hand. Poems that are considered brilliant by Purple Lake Villa are surely worthy of being passed down through the ages. It's not crowded there, so if you think you have the talent... Hey? Where are you going? No, you're really going..."

Seeing Zhang Mu walking quickly towards the Poetry Ferry, the scholar originally just wanted to confront Zhang Mu, but now seeing his actions, he became curious and followed him.

"Hmph, I want to see what kind of poetry you can write..." The scholar muttered in his heart. He stood here for a day and a night just to conceive a poem and pass it on to the poetry crossing. This would make him famous.

You know, it is a poetry ferry and there are also poetry requirements.

Before him, there were several students who were famous for their poetry and all hit a wall! He didn't believe that the boy could come up with a poem that would be passed down through the ages so quickly.

But soon, he saw a scene that was a little unbelievable to him.

Zhang Mu did not write any poems, but took out something from his arms and handed it to the boatman. After seeing it, the boatman bowed and invited Zhang Mu to get on the boat.

The boat drifted slowly. Zhang Mu stood at the bow to thank the scholar. At this moment, the scholar had only one thought in his mind -

"Fuck!"

"The dignified Purple Lake Villa actually has a backdoor?"

(End of this chapter)