Water Margin: Gao Yanei is actually a Gal Genius

Gao Jin followed the servant toward the West Garden. The path wound its way through the covered corridors, the view constantly cut off by strange rocks and flowers, the scenery changing with every step, making the garden seem vast, yet like a maze.

This was not Gao Jin's first time visiting Xiyuan; he had been there several times before. Following the servant's directions, he now understood that Cai Xiu's banquet was being held on the island in the center of Jingtian Lake.

In the northwest corner of the Cai Mansion's West Garden, earth was piled up to form a hill, and tall pavilions such as Yunxiu Hall were built, offering a panoramic view of the entire garden.

A pond was dug in the middle to draw in fresh water, which was then gathered into "Mirror Lake". An island was built in the center of the lake, and "Hanbi Building" was built on the island, which occupies a large area.

The southern part was densely planted with exotic flowers and trees, and contained elegant residences such as the "Four Pavilions," presumably serving as a private meeting place for the Cai family. Gao Yanei had never been there before, so Gao Jin could only guess in secret.

There is also a painted boat moored in the lake, called "Unmoored Boat".

As Gao Jin flipped through Gao Yanei's memories, he secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. Although both Gao Yanei and Cai Yanei were sons of officials, the difference between them was just too great.

I just passed by an artificial hill on my walk. The servant introduced it as "Duxiu Peak". It is a whole piece of Taihu tribute stone, more than two zhang high, with holes all over it, and is shrouded in mist from morning to evening.

During the transport, three bridges over the Bian River were demolished, and a thousand porters were mobilized.

Just for this stone?

The flowers on both sides of the walking path were beautiful. At first, Gao Jin didn't pay much attention to them, but later he was surprised to see the golden leaves on the lakeside leaves. It was already autumn, so where did all these flowers come from?

The servant explained casually that the garden had a "New Year's Eve Kiln" and a "Warm Greenhouse," which forced out-of-season flowers to bloom simultaneously. For today's banquet, his son had brought out a third of the out-of-season flowers.

Upon hearing this, Gao Jin looked closely and discovered that the soil beneath the flowers had been disturbed.

He was relieved, almost misunderstanding that there was a master in the Cai family who had installed heating throughout the entire West Garden.

What Gao Yanei considered trivial and ordinary, Gao Jin found profoundly impactful, like a thunderclap in silence. When he saw several red-crowned cranes by the lake, he suddenly understood: one should not underestimate the ancients.

Gao Jin thought the lake in the West Garden might also be a hot spring lake. He asked a servant, who, although he didn't know what a hot spring was, understood that Gao Jin was asking about the lake in the garden, and proudly replied...

"Jingtian Lake draws fresh water from the Jinshui River and enters the park through an underground channel. In winter, the channel is kept warm by charcoal fires to prevent the lake water from freezing, and in summer, ice is stored in the underground channel along the lake, so it is cool all year round."

Gao Jin didn't understand what this servant was so proud of. The lake at the Cai residence could have been built with a lot of money contributed by this servant, so he didn't know what he was so happy about.

Gao Jin remained silent, exited the winding covered corridor, arrived at the straight path by the lake, and walked towards the north side of Mirror Lake, where a stone bridge led directly to the island in the center of the lake.

It seemed that there were two routes to the banquet at the Cai residence: one on foot and the other by sedan chair. After Gao entered the straight road by the lake, the people in the sedan chair would occasionally overtake him from behind with light laughter.

The thin sedan chair bearers swayed precariously as they moved, which made Gao Jin smile. If the passengers were to fall and get hurt, the Cai family would lose face.

"Hey, isn't this Brother Tuizhi? What brings you here to admire the lake view? Hurry up and head to Hanbi Tower. Brother Renzhi has been longing to see you." The man's voice was high-pitched and affected.

Upon hearing this, Gao Jin flipped through Gao Yanei's memories and had already guessed what was going on. Looking back, he saw that it was indeed Li Kuo, the fat pig who was adopted by the eunuch Li Yan.

Why is Li Kuo called a fat pig? He has a triple chin with overlapping waves of flesh, and a pair of squinting eyes that hide a cold glint. His neck is as thick as a winter melon, and his belly trembles like snow waves. He wears a brand-new swastika-patterned turban on his head, with a palace flower the size of a bowl inserted in it; he wears a purple robe covered with brocade flowers, but the jade belt cannot restrain the fat around his waist, which bulges out from both sides.

Gao Jin squinted at Li Kuo's sedan chair. The chair's weight made the frame creak, and the four servants from the Cai household had flushed faces, their foreheads bulging like earthworms. Two other servants held onto the sides of the chair to prevent it from losing its balance on the road. The direction the sedan chair had come from left four shallow sweat marks on the stone pavement.

Retrieving the man's courtesy name from his memory, Gao Jin cupped his hands and said, "Brother Rongchuan, it's been a long time, and you've grown even more robust. I drank some wine before I came, and I'm just relaxing by the lake to avoid offending you all."

Li Kuo squinted, his throat rumbling like a bellows, then suddenly grinned, revealing his gold-plated front teeth: "Brother Tuizhi is frail. The autumn wind is biting and the chill is intense. Be careful not to catch a cold and end up in bed again. You should go to the attic soon."

"Thank you for your concern, Brother Rongchuan."

"No need for such labor, no need for such labor. How could a poor man like me have the good fortune of Brother Tuizhi?"

"Brother Rongchuan, you jest. Please." Gao Jin smiled, his face stiff. Inwardly, he thought, "You fat pig, you dare to make sarcastic remarks about me?"

"Then I won't keep you any longer. Brother Tuizhi, remember to come early, or there won't be any seats left." Li Kuo lowered the sedan curtain and said to the servant supporting the sedan chair beside him, "Let's go."

The four sedan chair carriers walked extremely fast, as if they wanted to get the people there as soon as possible and end their suffering sooner. Before long, the sedan chair, which had become small in Gao Jin's sight, also stepped onto the stone bridge.

As the sedan chair reached the middle of the stone bridge, it suddenly overturned and tumbled into the lake. Four servants, along with the sedan chair and a young servant who was holding it, all rolled into the lake with a loud "splash".

A young servant was left on the shore, panicked and gesturing wildly.

The guards standing nearby immediately rushed over, but none of them went into the water. Instead, they surrounded the area, pointing and whispering as if offering advice.

Watching Li Kuo appear and disappear in the water like a fat catfish, Gao Jin's lips curled into a smile as he slowly made his way towards him. Now who's fallen into the water and caught a chill? This is karma!

Halfway there, some of the guards reacted quickly and held their spears upside down, passing them into the lake. Li Kuo, who was struggling in the water, clung tightly to the spear shaft. The people on the shore pulled together, shouting in unison, and dragged Li Kuo back up.

The scene resembled a toad emerging from the water and being fished ashore, which made Gao Jin burst into laughter.

After being rescued, Li Kuo kicked the remaining servant into the lake. As if that wasn't enough, he snatched a spear from a guard beside him and started stabbing wildly into the water while leaning against the bridge.

Gao Jin frowned, quickened his pace, but slowed down after walking a short distance. Li Kuo poked around in the lake a few times, then tossed aside his spear and strode towards the Hanbi Pavilion on the island.

When Gao Jin came onto the bridge, the servants and young men who were still alive in the lake came up. Their clothes were wet, but they didn't dare to change them. They sat in a secluded corner.

Meanwhile, the guards were retrieving the remaining two servants. The two dead servants were unlucky; one had been stabbed through the throat by Li Kuo, and the other had been stabbed in the eye socket.

Gao Jin remained silent, glancing at the remaining servants. Two of them had blood flowing from their arms, clearly just lucky that they hadn't been stabbed in any vital areas.

The remaining person was the luckiest, without a single wound, but was still shivering in the autumn wind.

Given the choice between killing everyone to vent his anger and letting everyone live to show benevolence, Li Kuo actually chose to casually stab them a couple of times, completely disregarding human life. This sent a chill down Gao Jin's spine.

With a wry smile, Gao Jin realized that his previous thoughts were simply naive, because these spoiled brats didn't treat their servants as human beings at all.

To them, those servants were disposable commodities. If Gao Jin mocked the Cai family's servants for being thin, Cai Xiu would probably be ashamed and indignant, but the fate of those servants would be hard to predict.

These people certainly wouldn't wait for the servants in the mansion to grow up strong and muscular; they would most likely hire some strong and muscular men to serve as servants.

As for the old ones? ...Gao Jin didn't know either.