Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 480, Riddle Poem 479, and Chayin County

Feng Xiuhu joked, "You're taking on appraisal jobs too? Is this thing even authentic?"

The eclipse ignored him and flicked its tail twice to express its dissatisfaction.

Feng Xiuhu leaned closer, his tone becoming more serious: "How did you tell the difference between real and fake?"

Shi raised its tail and pointed to the finely detailed parts of the painting: "This style of painting landscapes does indeed match the style of the late Sheng period, and Bei Zhen and Nan Yu were split off from the late Sheng, so they also continued and inherited this style."

This alone is not enough to convince Master Feng. He tilted his head and thought for a moment: "It's just a style, it doesn't prove anything. As long as you have the skills, future generations can refer to and imitate them."

Shi shook his head: "Skills can be imitated by later generations, but they will never know the secrets of the past."

The tail points to the upper left corner of the map, where a line of incomprehensible poetry is written in delicate handwriting.

Year after year, the evening bell tolls in the sky, and the green mountains, suppressing their tears, await the arrival of the clouds.

Let me ask you in the evening mist, for the secrets of heaven will surely enter the jade palace.

Feng Xiuhu saw the poem during the day, but failed to grasp its essence.

Hearing Shi mention it, seemingly with a hidden meaning, Feng Xiuhu asked, "What kind of big deal could you call 'secret'? Wasn't the fall of Nanyu a normal dynastic change?"

Shi avoided answering: "It's all in the past, there's nothing to say. You just need to know that this poem is enough to prove that the illustrator was someone who knew about this back then, and it also proves that the painting is probably genuine."

Feng Xiuhu pursed his lips and said, "You suddenly appeared in the middle of the night. I thought you were also interested in the treasure of Nanyu Kingdom."

Shi grinned: "You think I'm as greedy as you? I just haven't seen this kind of painting technique in a long time, so I wanted to take a closer look."

Feng Xiuhu casually asked, "When was the last time you saw him?"

"A long time."

Shi paused for a moment: "I saw it in Xi Jun's hands."

Feng Xiuhu was taken aback: "...She has quite a wide range of hobbies."

Shi said slowly, "You know, whether it's a human or a god, once they have a long lifespan, they always want to find something to do and want to try everything."

"But to be honest, Xi Jun doesn't have much talent in this area."

"...She draws really badly."

……

Wake up the next day.

Bao Xiaojuan no longer mentioned the treasure hunt together, nor did she try to persuade her to stay.

He personally escorted Feng Xiuhu and the others out of the village, then bowed and said goodbye.

Before leaving, Bao Xiaojuan said to Feng Xiuhu, "Second Master, you can rest assured on your journey. I have sent my brothers to various mountain strongholds to send messages, saying that Second Master will be passing through Yu'ai Prefecture. Anyone with eyes can recognize Third Master's figure at a glance, so there is no need to worry about bandits blocking the way."

Upon hearing this, Fang Youliu was the happiest. He quickly cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "You are a paragon of righteousness!"

Bao Xiaojuan returned the greeting with clasped hands, pointed out the way down the mountain to the three men, and then led the bandits back to the stronghold.

With everything back on track, Shunzi was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

He patted the safe and laughed at Feng Xiuhu: "Brother, I watched it all night, and not a single gold voucher is missing."

Fang Youliu also testified on his behalf: "That's right, I didn't hear any snoring last night, which means he really didn't sleep."

Feng Xiuhu didn't care about that. He asked Fang Youliu, "What's the next city?" Fang Youliu had already done his homework and replied, "The closest one is Chayin County. We can go to the county town for lunch, but we don't need to stay overnight. We can set off after we've filled our stomachs. As long as we don't waste time along the way, we should be able to reach Zhenqiu City before nightfall."

Fang Gaode Liu's performance remained stable, and the carriage entered Chayin County precisely at midday when the sun was high in the sky.

Having been away for so long, Feng Xiuhu has now seen a lot and broadened his horizons. There isn't much in this ordinary little county town that can arouse his interest.

The carriage traveled along the street, and the three of them found a restaurant that looked quite lively to have lunch.

Seeing the carriage stop at the gate, the eager servant quickly came up to greet it, waving his hand and shouting, "Over here! Over here! Move in, hey, that's enough!"

It gives off a vibe of a parking attendant.

After the three men alighted from the carriage, the servant led them inside, smiling obsequiously as he asked, "You three gentlemen are clearly from out of town. Are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"

Shunzi chimed in, "Let's have a hot meal, some of your family's signature dishes, and then we'll leave."

The servant led them to a seat by the window and said, "In that case, I will take care of it. The food will take a while. You three must be tired from your journey. Why not try the local specialty plum blossom tea to relieve your fatigue?"

When it came to local characteristics, Fang Youliu became interested—and indeed, he had been either listening to gossip or getting into trouble while following Feng Xiuhu, so he couldn't wait to write down a serious cultural project.

So Fang Youliu said, "What is plum blossom tea? Tell me about it properly."

The servant smiled but didn't respond.

That's true, other people are still at work, why would they have so much time to waste arguing with you?
Shunzi knew the rules, so he took out a silver plate and placed it on the table: "Then let's have a pot of it to try. It'll be included in the meal cost, and the rest can be your throat-soothing fee."

With a sweep of the rag, the silver plate fell into his sleeve.

The servant beamed and flattered, "The three gentlemen are indeed discerning people."

He began to explain in detail: "Meixiang tea is a specialty of our Chayin County. It is unique and cannot be found anywhere else. The reason it is called this is because when you taste this tea, there is a subtle fragrance on your tongue that lingers, much like the fragrance of plum blossoms in the twelfth lunar month, which is exceptionally elegant."

Fang Youliu pressed further, "Where does the fragrance come from? And why can't it be grown elsewhere?"

The servant pursed his lips and shook his head: "I'm not very worldly, so I can't really explain why. But I've heard learned gentlemen say that the geology of Chayin County is special, and the soil is different from other places, which is why the tea grown there has such a unique character."

Fang Youliu then asked, "So where exactly is the difference?"

The servant chuckled and said, "How else could it be different? Of course, it's because there are mineral veins underground."

Fang Youliu suddenly realized and explained to Feng Xiuhu and the other person: "That's right, I should have thought of that earlier. The presence of minerals changes the soil composition, thus affecting the growth process of plants."

Feng Xiuhu rolled her eyes at him: "Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I don't know? You're kidding! I studied science."

Fang Youliu then looked at Shunzi.

Shunzi sneered: "Why are you looking at me like that—I wouldn't understand any of this anyway."

Fang Youliu shook his head helplessly, feeling that he couldn't find common ground with these two.

The servant turned and left to serve them tea.

Just then, a voice broke in.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand these things. You just need to understand that if we don't unite as one, there will be no more Meixiang tea in Chayin County."

A slender wrist reached in through the window, and the three looked down—the hand was holding a flyer covered with slogans written in bold, shocking characters.

(End of this chapter)