Chapter 21 The Deceased

  The entire Gan Manor was filled with the fragrance of purple flowers, and Qiying came out of her father's room much quieter than usual. When Old Master Liu saw his daughter's dispirited look, he too felt a slight movement in his heart, and let out a soft sigh towards the door. Perhaps the secret would soon be revealed. When talking to Qiying about Yunzhong City, Old Master Liu obviously hid something. Yunzhong City? Humph, what gods or ghosts could there be in this world? The reason for all those daunting rumors was nothing but the fabrication of that madman in the city. If it weren't for that madman's outrageous act eighteen years ago, perhaps he wouldn't have had to hide in the desert all these years. Eighteen years later, why did someone bring up those matters again?

  Although Shazhou is located inland, the city's outskirts are just three hundred miles from the vast desert where human habitation is scarce, forming a stark contrast with the prosperous scene within the city. Although the city has gathered many merchants, nowadays in Eastern Jin Dynasty, even those big bosses are learning to be like Jiangnan scholars, each holding a fan and occasionally leaning against the railing, embracing beauties and singing a few lines: "Where will I wake up from my drunken sleep tonight?" The founding emperor of Eastern Jin was one who fought for his empire on horseback. Although Eastern Jin is the strongest country on this continent, when it comes to literature, the great master Zhong Sun Li was actually from Western Qin. Even so-called scholars of Eastern Jin often went far away to Western Qin to study under Zhong Sun Li's guidance. It wasn't until then that the proud and arrogant emperor of Eastern Jin promoted literature throughout the country.

  The Tian Sha River may be a landlocked river, but after nightfall, the scenery along its banks is comparable to that of the Qinhuai River. Those fake wind liu bosses wouldn't miss such a good opportunity, and the merchants on both sides are also doing their best. However, there is one small shop near the Dongyuan Bridge that doesn't have any lights on, which is the fruit shop that was crowded out during the day. Occasionally, passersby would shake their heads and sigh at the owner's lack of business sense. The owner is a slightly stout middle-aged man who has long been tired of the scenery along the Tian Sha River, so he turned off the lights early and went to rest in his shop.

  "Clang!" With a sudden sound, the originally sleeping Fatty Uncle on the bed suddenly jumped up, agilely dodging this dark arrow. At this moment, he was completely different from the stout shop owner in the daytime. Conditioned reflexively, he grabbed the long sword under the bed board and hid into a patch of darkness, vigilantly gazing around.

  After a long time, a bright and clear laugh broke the eerie silence: "Dead fatty, long time no see." The person who was originally hiding in the darkness only came out now, but his hands did not let go of the sword at his waist, and his face showed a hint of surprise. At this moment, Fat Uncle had changed back to his daytime expression, narrowing his eyes with a smile that was not quite a smile as he looked at the person who had entered the room without knowing when: "You're still the same, coming in without making a sound, wanting to scare people to death in the middle of the night."

  "Was it you and her who mentioned the thing about Yun Zhong Cheng?"

  "The Emperor's temper you are aware of, in the past eighteen years he has never given up, since Lord Liu is unwilling to return to the capital, I can only personally come to make this trip. However, your daughter is quite interesting, perhaps she can complete what Lord Liu was unable to do back then, and in front of the Emperor, it would be considered making up for past mistakes. Considering our many years of friendship, I should speak on behalf of Lord Liu. Maybe except for Liu Yi, no one else dares to call him 'dead fatty' anymore. His former companions are either dead or imprisoned, meeting an old friend in a foreign land should be a touching scene, but he only addresses him as 'Lord', not because they have become estranged, but because of the imperial decree, he is also powerless."

  The house fell silent again, and it wasn't until about half a stick of incense later that Fat Uncle shook his head and put the sword back under the bed. That guy was still as elusive as ever, coming and going without a trace, and he himself hadn't even noticed when he had left. The memories of the past were already yellowed like old paper, and no matter how high his current position or wealth, it couldn't compare to the joy of being with his brothers in the past.

  Unlike outsiders, the people in Gan Fu went to bed very early at night. The two young masters had no bad habits, so the servants were happy to be idle. Hou, a small servant outside Lao Ye's wing room, was sleeping soundly. Originally, the servant who took care of the injured should not have slept so soundly, and even when Lao Ye returned, he only turned over. The lamp in Gan Fu's study was still on, and Gan Jing let the servants go to rest early, which was a habit of Jing Young Master. Maid Xiaotao put down a small bowl of ginseng chicken soup in the study and went out.

  Mr. Jing's study had always been off-limits to everyone except for Xiao Tao, and the servants were all guessing that it was because of the huge amount of property the Gan family had to manage, so naturally no one was allowed near the study. Gan Jing sat in his study, usually at this time he would be carefully going over the account books, but today he felt a bit dazed, ever since that servant girl asked about Yun Zhong City, he couldn't shake off the feeling of unease.

  Knock knock! ~ The people outside knew the rules, and at this time, they wouldn't come to disturb themselves. Gan Jing slightly furrowed his brow, clearly somewhat displeased, but still allowed the person outside to enter. However, he only saw the person outside holding something in their hand, and with a ruthless kick, they kicked open the door: "Hehe, greetings to sir, I know sir works hard day and night, so I've come to comfort you." Qi Xi revealed a flattering smile, placing the ceramic cup on Gan Jing's desk, while simultaneously quickly moving the cup that Xiao Tao had previously sent over to another place.

  Gan Jing lifted the lid, and indeed, just by the flavor, he knew it must be Guo Ran's double-skinned milk. Suddenly, he also missed Huang Shu's craftsmanship a bit. It was hard for this girl to have such thoughts, but she usually didn't knock on doors when entering other people's rooms, and seemed to have some inexplicable resistance towards herself. Why did everything seem to be turned upside down today? No good deed goes unpunished, he put down the spoon in his hand: "I appreciate your kindness, but is it sincere enough to use someone else's craftsmanship to curry favor? Speak up, what's going on?"

  Qī xiè zì gù zài fáng jiān lǐ zhǎo le dì fāng zuò xià, cóng lái yě méi xiǎng guò zhè xiē xiǎo jì huàn néng táo dé guò duì fāng de yǎn jing: "Nà dōng xī kě shì wǒ qīn shǒu zuò de, pàng shū jiào le yī xià wǔ ne, zěn me yàng shì fǒu zěn me yàng de pǎo dé guò duì fāng de yǎn jing, qí guǒ yě méi yǒu shén me yào jǐn de shì, zhī suǒ jiù shì xiǎng zhǎo nǐ jiè diǎn qián, nà, nǐ kě bié gēn wǒ shuō méi dé jiè de o, zhī qián wǒ jiù diào chá guò le, gān jiā míng xià de huì fēng qián zhuāng kě shì zhěng gè dà xī běi zuì dà de qián zhuāng zhī yī."

  As soon as he heard this, Gan Jing almost choked. That girl actually came to borrow money from him? Given her style, she wouldn't have put something in the double-skinned milk, would she?: "Just looking at you now, you're richer than me. Those five large boxes of gold weren't deceiving people, were they? My mansion can't take out that much silver at a time either. It's really strange, Miss Liu. You obviously have a lot of money, so why did you think of coming to borrow from me?"

  "It's not convenient to bring gold on the road, originally I wanted to take those to the money house for exchange, but anyway those are also Gan family's industries, so I didn't bother to move them back and forth, just tell you directly, I only need to exchange 9,000 taels of silver tickets, 1,000 taels of cash, how to calculate in between I don't understand, you handle it as you see fit, the remaining gold all stays with my father, since you said my father has a favor for you, presumably..."

  "Don't go, actually no one has ever found the Cloud City, it's a treacherous journey and you're a woman, it's very inconvenient. You have so much capital now, doing some small business on the sandy island won't be a problem, isn't it better to live a stable life?

  At first, when I heard she was going to Kyoto with Old Man Liu, I only felt a little reluctant, but now hearing that young woman is actually going to find the elusive Cloud City, I'm worried and also have some admiration for her. If I could get rid of this burden of the Gan family or if I had the courage, I would also want to roam the world with her."

  Logically, staying on the sandy island or following her father to Jinling would be more stable, but there are some things in life that one wants to do. Although she has been living a comfortable life for the past two years, she always feels like looking back and finding nothing, living like an ostrich, although it may seem happy, but the bitter taste of self-deception can only be savored alone. Perhaps everyone says that Yunzhong City is just a legendary illusion, but as someone who has lived through two lifetimes, she firmly believes that there is such a city in the world. Since heaven gave her the opportunity, she will make the most of it and live life to the fullest.

  There is already a golden house in the book, and scanning it will bring even greater surprises.

  Open WeChat immediately, scan the QR code or search for the public account "Starting Point"

  Add attention and take it down easily!