Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 220 Suzhou is not peaceful

Standing atop the tower, he waved in that direction, and the rain clouds that were about to form in the sky were blown away. At this moment, the voyage would be smooth sailing.

On the boat, Xu Xuan was sitting on the third floor, gazing at both sides of the river.

Not far from the Shangtang River lies the Grand Canal of Jiangnan, also known as the Tongling Waterway.
This is a waterway dug in Jiaxing during the Qin Dynasty, connecting Suzhou, the capital of the Wu Kingdom, and Shaoxing, the capital of the Yue Kingdom, and linking the Taihu Lake basin with the Qiantang River.

The academy's boats traveled to Suzhou via this waterway.

On the way, everyone naturally reviewed their lessons whenever they had free time. Xu Xuan even brought Yu Gong to give a large lecture. How could such a capable person be wasted?

In my spare time, I would listen to my teacher play a piece of music, which made the journey quite relaxing.

"Suzhou has been the seat of the prefecture since Wu Zixu built the great city of Helu in the Spring and Autumn Period. One can imagine how prosperous this place is."

"The literary style and customs here are similar to those of Qiantang; both are places of peace and prosperity."

"It was a bustling place, with many merchants and outsiders, skilled in silk weaving."

"Decades ago, when I visited Suzhou, I had a duel with the governor of Yangzhou and won by using my fist and foot skills."

The crowd listened to the elder's sharing with some speechlessness, since it was said that the people of Jiangnan were gentle and refined.

How did you develop this writing style?
I imagine that in the future, this place will be described as a place where I, an old man, once traveled and defeated a certain official or literary figure with my spear.

When Yu Gongzheng was getting into the conversation, he noticed that a scholar was looking out the window, which was quite impolite.

Upon closer inspection, Ji Hanqing's words were truly rude.

"Student Ji, could you tell me how beautiful the scenery along the river is, making people linger and forget to leave?"

There are people outside.

"Where is no one?"

"I mean there are people in the river."

The old man choked on his words, while the others followed Ji Rui's gaze and crowded around the side of the boat to watch.

"There really is someone!"

Yu Gong frowned. Based on his experience, he could tell at a glance that the man was not dead, and immediately ordered his men to retrieve him.

The students immediately dispersed; they didn't even know if the man was dead or alive.

Some are afraid, some don't want to be associated with bad luck, and some are simply not interested.

So Xu Xuan remained on the spot, and Yu Gong Sanqi was left behind.

The three people behind were well-informed, didn't care about bad luck, and were simply curious.

Upon closer inspection, Zao realized that Zao was a student from a poor family. He had no jade pendant, no makeup, and his fingers and teeth revealed his daily habits and diet.

Furthermore, this scholar's robe must have been starched and washed too many times, as it is severely deformed.

If there's no reaction from the loyal and devoted heart, then it's not the work of a demon.

I just don't know if he has any official rank or title. If he does, that would be a big deal.

The magistrate of Suzhou County can now add a note about lax law enforcement.

Ning, however, felt this was an omen, suggesting that things might not be peaceful on the road ahead.

A day later, the man woke up and continued his suicidal behavior, calling out things like "Ruiyun, Ruiyun".

It turns out it was suicide, and it was all for a woman.

There was another wave of chaos as they rushed toward the edge of the ship.

Someone tried to stop him, like Qiao Feng, who knocked the scholar down with a single palm strike.

Some people were watching, such as Qian Zhongyu, who seemed to recognize the man but were too lazy to care.

Someone was playing the piano.

Ning Caichen's "Hard Control Technique" made the scholar kneel down on the spot, weeping bitterly, and almost fainting.

"I understand that this person is troubled by love."

The song was so heart-wrenching that the man was in so much pain that he couldn't jump off the boat, and drool was dripping from his mouth.

Professor Shi nodded in satisfaction, "This child is like me."

Yu Gong sighed, for Chong Qi's scholars were difficult to fathom.

Then several servants dragged the scholar back to the cabin, and threw him overboard when they reached the shore. What an ungrateful scoundrel!

Who would have thought that when he woke up the next day and heard that Yu Gong was on the ship, he immediately went mad again and wanted to pay his respects to the old man.

Such a bizarre request was naturally ignored, so he rushed back onto the deck. Ning Caichen habitually placed his hands on the strings, and the man immediately bowed and begged not to play.

He was seeking justice from the authorities.

Qian Zhongyu walked over and imitated Master Xu's striking angle, delivering a powerful front and back slap.

clap clap clap!
"Don't embarrass scholars anymore."

“When visiting someone of high status, one should be respectful. Look at yourself, dressed so disheveled, how can you have the face to stand before them?”

The scholar, after being jolted awake, was filled with shame. He ran back to his cabin to straighten his clothes before revealing his identity and formally asking someone to convey his request to see the official.

It turns out that this person's surname is He, and he is considered a celebrity in the Yuhang area.

He has some talent, but he is rather weak and lacks courage.

He was the kind of scholar that Qian Zhongyu hated most.

He is famous for a classic love story—a famous courtesan and a poor scholar.

Ruiyun was originally a famous courtesan, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and could be called the top courtesan in the brothel.

Because of her widespread fame and her temperament, she had the right to choose her own husband for her first night.

Who would have thought that after meeting so many patrons, she would take a fancy to this poor scholar, and naturally, Madam Cai would not allow it.

During the stalemate, one day a dark mark appeared on Ruiyun's face, which gradually expanded and, after more than a year, spread to her left and right cheekbones and the bridge of her nose.

Everyone who saw her sneered, finding her incredibly ugly, and from then on, no one ever visited her again.

That's how it came to be taken by He Shusheng, who sold off his family property. After they got married, the ink mark mysteriously disappeared again.

It is said that a celestial being who roamed the mortal world witnessed the couple's love and thus touched the ink marks, which can be considered a strange and unusual story.

Xu Xuan
Don't blame everything on the gods; they've been gone for so many years.

This scholar probably doesn't have that ability, so Miss Ruiyun is indeed resourceful and ruthless.

But now that she's already married him, why is she still trying to kill herself?

"The Five Gods of Suzhou have abducted my wife."

"I sought help from every government office, but no one stood up for me. In despair, I jumped into the river."

"Having learned that Lord Yu is on the ship today, I naturally request that you take action to save my wife."

In his youth, Yu Gong was incredibly skilled in martial arts, and his chivalrous actions were also quite direct and violent, leaving behind many stories of exorcising demons or killing corrupt officials throughout the country.

Xu Xuan verified that most of them were false; after all, if so many stories were true, the old man would have been exhausted long ago.

In particular, the story depicts the large number of corrupt officials killed, which is almost equivalent to emptying out most of the court. Emperor Jin had to execute him first in order to preserve his empire.

Xu Xuan was more curious about what these Five Gods were.
Why hadn't he heard of it?

"In the south there are five channels, just as in the north there are foxes. However, in the north, foxes are still driven away by all sorts of methods; but in the five channels of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, if there is a beautiful woman in a family, she will be raped and taken advantage of. Her parents and brothers dare not complain, and the harm is even more severe."

Yu Gong came out, but his expression was somewhat strange.

"But it couldn't be the Five Gods."

"Those filthy things were chopped into dust by me decades ago."

The story of exorcising the demon was not spread because of concerns about the reputation of the family at the time, since Wutong was known for his debauchery of other people's wives and daughters.

So what exactly is this new Five Gods?
There are too many supernatural and ghostly things happening, so Suzhou is not peaceful at all.

The boat docked, and the bustling city of Suzhou remained as graceful as ever, but everyone looked at it with a hint of scrutiny.

Darkness lurks within.

As soon as they disembarked, several people surrounded He Shusheng and started talking all at once.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright, Scholar He."

"Your wife is back."

"The Five Gods were captured and killed by the daughter of the Golden Dragon King, and the abducted girls were all returned."

Xu Xuan and Yu Gong exchanged a glance.

It turned out to be the case.

This method is quite interesting. Why don't we take the students to see who this Golden Dragon King really is?

It sounds like something from the water again.

(End of this chapter)