Chapter 23 1. Singing birds and fragrant flowers

Due to underestimating the ruggedness of the road, we arrived at Crane City an hour later than expected. Since I entered this city, a question has been hovering in my mind—what does this Crane City have to do with "Crane"? In fact, I didn't even see a crane! Usually in this kind of situation, Xiao Zuo has a place to use his skills.After some explanations from him, I finally understood that because the city is located in the north of the Danjiang River, backed by Jinfeng Mountain and facing Guishan Mountain, it is shaped like a flying crane, so it has the elegant name of "Guishan Crane City".

Although I still haven't been able to see where the shape of this city is similar to that of a crane, I have to admit that this small town embraced by four mountains and surrounded by green streams is indeed very attractive. So, when Xiao Zuo proposed to go out for a walk after we had dinner at the inn, I was the first to jump up from the chair and said happily: "Okay! Although it's getting late now, I can't see what you said." Longshan Xiaori', but it's also good to see 'Xiong'er Sunset'! Sister Xiansu, let's go!" "I..." Feng Xiansu stood up, but turned his gaze to Baili Chenfeng by the table.

Obviously, Baili Chenfeng had no intention of getting up, glanced at Xiao Zuo who was waiting at the door, and said in a deep voice, "I won't go." I was startled, what happened between him and Xiao Zuo?Since the quarrel last night, the two of them have been awkward all day long, and they refused to say a word... Just as he was wondering, Feng Xiansu suddenly said, "If that's the case, then I won't go either." gone." After finishing speaking, he sat back and smiled at Baili Chenfeng. This smile illuminated my heart like a mirror, and I winked at her immediately, and walked out of the inn gate with Xiao Zuo without saying anything.

The inn is located on a long and wide avenue, both sides of the avenue are full of merchants and shops, the street is crowded with people, and it is extremely lively. The sunset glow in the west is beautiful and illusory, dyeing the sky into a gorgeous color. Xiao Zuo and I walked in the crowd wearing the glow, like two small orange fishes at ease. I was feeling very comfortable, when suddenly I heard the hooves of the horses rushing behind me, before I turned back, Xiao Zuo pulled the person aside, when I raised my eyes again, I saw a person and a horse galloping past in front of me, and there was an immediate sound in front of me. There was an exclamation and cursing.

I felt disgusted in my heart, and I opened my mouth and said: "Riding so fast, you are not afraid of hurting people!" "Even if someone is injured, you can only admit that you are unlucky, what else can you do." Suddenly a strange voice came from beside me, I turned my head, and it turned out to be an old man setting up a stall in a corner by the roadside. I heard something strange in his words, so I asked, "If you hurt someone, you will have to sue the officials. What do you mean you can't do anything? Does this person have a lot of background?" The old man was surprised and said: "What the girl said is true. The man riding the horse is the only son of the parents and officials here. He is called 'Hecheng Yiba'. Don't say that he hurt people. Even if he killed someone, no one would dare to go there." Sue the officer."

I understood when he said the second sentence, and said with a sneer, "Tell him to hurt me..." Before he finished speaking, three more horses galloped past on the street, causing another commotion. Seeing this, the old man shook his head and said, "Oh, it's rare for the three big bosses of Wanwanzhuang to be dispatched together... It seems that the big shots in the whole city are rushing to the 'Zuiyanlou' right now." Seeing my puzzled face, he said again: "Miss, you just arrived in Crane City? No wonder you don't know——Miss Hua Ye, who is known as the head of the world's three famous concubines, suddenly arrived early this morning, and she will be in Zui Yan after an hour. The opening show..."

Just as he was talking, Xiao Zuo suddenly laughed and interjected: "I heard that the girl Hua Ye has always performed in big towns, but now she suddenly came to this small town in northern Shaanxi. No wonder the famous people in the city can't sit still." Well, it turns out that he also knows the so-called "the head of the three famous concubines". I gave Xiao Zuo a hard look, but I couldn't resist my curiosity, so I couldn't help asking: "Why can't you sit still?" He looked at me with a smile for a moment, and said leisurely: "Want to know? Then why don't you follow me to have a look?"

Just go, hum, don't let him see you as a cheapskate! At that moment, we asked the old man where Zuiyanlou was, and we left. After walking for less than a cup of tea, we arrived at Zuiyan Building.To my surprise, this building is not as kitschy as the fireworks venue I imagined. It is not only elegantly decorated, but also very poetic. In the huge flower hall, twenty-four giant lanterns decorated with pale pink tassels are surrounded by pale pink curtains in the center. The lights pass through the translucent curtains, softly projecting blurred light, and the huge space suddenly presents a beautiful scenery. .

Most of the guests sitting around the curtain are men, and they all showed excited and curious expressions... To be honest, this arrangement is indeed very provocative, let alone these men, even I can't help but speculate What mystery is hidden in the curtain. Turning my mind, I quietly turned my eyes and glanced at Xiao Zuo—fortunately, he didn't show any abnormal expression, he still looked leisurely, and his eyes were also casual. I was secretly happy in my heart, when suddenly my eyes dimmed, it turned out that someone had extinguished hundreds of candles around, and the whole flower hall was only illuminated by those lanterns in the middle.

There was a commotion among the crowd, they thought that the performance was about to start, but unexpectedly there was no movement for a long time... This flowery night really knows how to whet the appetite. Waiting for another half an hour, when the expressions of impatience appeared on everyone's faces, they suddenly heard the sound of "Keng--", the lingering sound of the piano was lingering, and the pink curtain was slowly opened. As the candlelight flickered, a woman was faintly visible in the center of the stage. Qingyue's passionate piano sound didn't suddenly become depressed until the pale pink curtain was completely drawn back.

At the same time as the sound of the piano became quieter, a hundred candle lamps suddenly lit up, instantly illuminating the proud and graceful figure of the woman in the center of the stage like a peacock, and also lighting up the eyes of hundreds of guests present. The woman's face was half-hidden in the light pink tulle, only the upper part of her face was exposed, but her skin was already snow-covered, her eyebrows were long, and her eyes were full of intoxicating poetry. Coquettish, coupled with the extraordinary texture of the dance dress, it has already held its breath amazingly. It was a gorgeous and magnificent dance dress of an unusual color. When I looked carefully, I realized that it was actually woven from the feathers of a hundred birds. Therefore, when people leaned over, they saw it as one color, and when they stood up, they looked at it. It is another color; there is one color under the light, and another color in the shadows. Cooperating with the movements of the dancers, in the beautiful dance posture and the mesmerizing sound of the piano, it is full of nobility and elegance. When the dance reached its climax, the sound of the piano became even more weeping. Countless pale pink velvet flowers floated in the sky. The woman shuttled among the pale pink velvet flowers and curtains, and every move of her hand and every throw of her foot brought the color of the dance dress to life. Constantly changing, lifelike beauty of birds seems to be shining everywhere around, making people dazzled and dizzying. At the end of the song, the lights dimmed suddenly, the curtains were closed again, and the audience fell into a dead silence. A moment later, a jade hand as thick as mutton fat gracefully stretched out from the layers of curtains, gently brushing away the pale pink. The stunning woman with a hundred feathers appeared again. "The name of this dance is 'Birds Singing and Flowers Fragrance'. I hope you like it..." Her voice was as melodious as a yellow warbler coming out of the valley. She opened her wide sleeves and prostrated herself with all the birds. "The flower night is showing its ugly face." Only then did all the guests burst into applause as if they had just woken up from a dream. I couldn't help admiring again and again, and secretly made a decision in my heart - next year's Zhenzhan, I must invite this flower night to be the guest of honor of my palace family. "What a 'Niaoyuhuaxiang', Huaye girl really lives up to her reputation!" Suddenly there was a very familiar male voice in my ears, and it was very close... I turned my head to look, but it wasn't Xiao Zuo who it was! He... what is he going to do? I stared at him suspiciously, but he didn't even look at me, and smiled at the people on the stage: "If the girl is using this dance to compare herself with 'flowers', then I'm afraid the world's A man wishes he could turn into a 'bird' and surround the girl all day long... As the saying goes, to die under a peony flower is to be a ghost." Merry?I think he's downright obscene! Look at his frivolous and glib face, if he is not a dude who often goes to brothels, singing halls and other places with fireworks, I wouldn't believe it if he was killed. Okay, Xiao Zuo, hello! Everyone saw me coming with you, and you're flirting with a dancing girl in front of me? Where have you put me! ? At this moment, I just felt that I had never been so ashamed in my life. The feeling was so strong that I couldn't feel any sadness. I was furious in my heart, and suddenly I heard a woman's voice in my ear: "This This young man is really eloquent..." The voice is delicate and soft, so you don't need to think about it to know that it's Hua Ye. I raised my eyes to look at the stage, but I saw her staring at Xiao Zuo with those eyes that seemed to be dripping water, and asked softly: "But I don't know how to call you?" "My Xia Meng Fei is also known as 'Breeze Swordsman'!" Cough cough, what what?He actually claimed to be Meng Fei, the number one swordsman born in the Huashan School? I turned my head away in astonishment, but saw that Xiao Zuo was proudly looking around at the people, and deliberately put his tone indifferently, "I became famous when I was young, I believe that as long as you have traveled the rivers and lakes, most of you here have heard of this name. " Although none of the guests sitting around the stage answered, it was not difficult to see from their expressions that they had all heard of the name Qingfeng Swordsman.Especially the few men who were full of resentment that he took the limelight from him before, all quietly lowered their heads at this moment, not daring to cast a provocative look at him anymore. When Xiao Zuo saw it, he immediately smiled even more proudly, he really thought of himself as Meng Fei. Look at his peace of mind!I stared at him in disbelief: Oh my god, there really are such people who lie and don't blush in the world... Well, but in terms of fame, the two titles of "Qingfeng Swordsman" and "The World's No. 1 Prodigal" It's really hard to tell them apart. This thought almost made me laugh out loud, but I couldn't hold it back when I heard Hua Ye startled and said: "So it's Meng Shaoxia!" I saw her beautiful eyes raised, and the expression on her face seemed to be greatly surprised: "Hua Ye has heard the name of Qingfeng Swordsman for a long time, and I don't want to be able to meet him today..." She lowered her pink neck while she was about to say something, her pretty face was flushed, like a little girl who could only see the innocence of the hero in her heart, and it took a while to say softly: "Although Hua Ye is a firework woman, she also loves the girl who is willing to love and hate. The world is full of longing, I don't know... can Meng Shaoxia move to another garden, and spend the whole night talking with Hua Ye in detail about the world?" As soon as these words came out, all the guests couldn't help but showed very disappointed expressions, and some even let out a long sigh, and immediately checked out and left. On the way to Zuiyan Tower, Xiao Zuo told me that Hua Ye, as the head of the three most famous concubines in the world, not only rarely appeared in performances, but also only one lucky person could be her guest of honor after each performance. From this point of view, the reason why these people gather together tonight is certainly to appreciate the dance performances, but the main purpose is probably to stand out from the crowd and become the lucky one in one percent. ——However, the lucky one tonight is obviously not them. "To get Miss Huaye's favor, Meng is really lucky..." Xiao Zuo's face was full of smiles, but there seemed to be a faint sharpness in his eyes, and he said lightly, "It's just that I just have a false name, I may Teach the girl to be disappointed." Not bad, isn't he "in vain"?Secretly, I almost laughed my stomach out - if this Huaye found out that his one-in-a-million guest was not Qingfeng Swordsman at all, but the number one prodigal son in the world, it would be no wonder if he was not disappointed and smashed his head to death! However, judging from Xiao Zuo's expression, it seems that it is not as simple as just playing a prank on purpose. What kind of tricks is he trying to play? At this time, I heard Hua Ye laughing again: "Meng Shaoxia is too modest..." While talking, he raised his wrist, revealing half of the lotus root arm under the light pink sleeve, pointed to the background and whispered: "Please——" The general situation is gone, many guests sighed in frustration, Xiao Zuo suddenly lowered his head, and whispered to me: "Go back to the inn first." His tone was extremely serious, I nodded involuntarily, he smiled at me again, and then turned away. Looking at his back, I felt a very, very ominous premonition in my heart, as if something big was about to happen.