Chapter 405 Qingdu Yunlu City [Two in One]

"Everyone says that the south of the Yangtze River is beautiful, but tourists should only grow old in the south of the Yangtze River..." said an old man in a white robe leisurely.

"The osmanthus water chestnuts are fresh, and the taro rice cakes are sticky." The little fat boy holding two oil-paper bags continued with a smile.

On the bustling streets of Yunlu City, three people were walking leisurely.

They were the Crown Prince Jiang Xun from Longyuan City, the protector Hu Delu, and the third-rank immortal official Liang Yue.

Just the day before yesterday, after a royal flying kick in front of Liang Yue Palace, he took the opportunity to ask Emperor Mu Beidi to investigate the Zhao Faxian case and prove Liang Fuguo's innocence.

In fact, this kind of request is a bit difficult to handle. If you agree directly, it will damage the dignity of the royal family; if you refuse, it seems to hurt the heart of the meritorious official. However, Emperor Mu Bei did not think twice and immediately proposed that the prince be the imperial envoy to investigate the case, and Liang Yue would accompany him to assist.

In this way, the prince is the leader on the surface, and Liang Yue can be a companion. In fact, everyone can understand that even the prince is here to investigate the case. Can he understand it?

After all, it was Liang Yue who did the job.

However, the Crown Prince and Hu Delu can act as supervisors here, making it impossible for Liang Yue to do anything deceptive to exonerate Liang Fuguo.

This arrangement satisfied everyone, including the prince himself.

Since being appointed as the crown prince, the little fat boy has not left Longyuan City for a long time. Especially after the previous disappearance of the prince, Emperor Mu Bei never sent the prince out of Shendu to do business again.

The prince himself had long been feeling extremely bored, and he was very happy to have the opportunity to visit Nanzhou.

Just looking at his study partner beside him, he couldn't help but frown again, "Liang Yue, do you really only have two months to live?"

"My master has already returned to Dan Ding Sect to ask for help. They are stepping up their efforts to find an antidote. It is still unknown whether they can find a way to save me." Liang Yue replied calmly: "But with the strength of Dan Ding Sect, I think this is very hopeful."

"Yes!" The prince nodded heavily, then looked at the paper bag in his hand and handed over the bag of taro rice cakes, "Try this, there is no such thing in Longyuan City."

Liang Yue took it and said with a smile: "In fact, snacks from all over the world, as long as they taste good, are sold in Longyuan City. Maybe you haven't tried them, Prince."

"Ah?" The little fat boy was a little surprised.

Hu Delu also said: "This kind of food is only sold in the streets and alleys of the market. Even if you are in Longyuan City, you don't go out and hang out very often, so you naturally haven't seen it."

"Oh," the little fat man sighed, "There are so many delicious foods in the world, but I have seen so little of them. It's really a pity."

But he didn't need anyone to comfort him, he quickly changed his expression, smiled and said: "My decision to come here incognito this time was indeed the right one!"

Originally, the prince left Shendu to investigate a case, so he must have been accompanied by a large group of imperial guards.

However, he proposed to fly to Yunlu City with Hu Delu and Liang Yue first. It would take several days for a large group of people to arrive on horseback. As for the safety of the prince, there was no need to worry. This time, in addition to Hu Delu in the open, there was another first-class imperial city priest Zhao Mengyu in secret. The two grandmaster priests guaranteed to take good care of him.

The prince said that he wanted to experience the true conditions of the people in Nanzhou, but after arriving in Yunlu City, he went straight to the snack alley, strolled around and ate.

"As the saying goes, 'food is the first necessity of the people'. Just look at what the people of Qingdu eat and you can see the living conditions here." The little fat man said to himself with his mouth full, "It seems that the people in Yunlu City are living a rich life now, and the prosperity is almost as good as Longyuan City. It seems that the governance here is still good."

"Yunlu City official Xu Shunmin and garrison general Bai Wufeng are both people that Your Majesty trusts very much. Naturally, this place will not be in bad condition," said Hu Delu.

Although he was only a priest, he had been in the imperial city for many years and had a good understanding of the affairs of the court.

Liang Yue asked again: "Your Highness, now that you have visited the snack alley, where else do you want to visit next?"

He spoke seriously about the investigation, saying he only had two months left to live and wanted to clear Zuo Xiang's name quickly, but in reality he was not in that hurry.

Regardless of whether the Jiyuan Pill was true or not, there were still two months left. The situation in Yunlu City was complicated, and they lacked understanding. It would be helpful to see and hear it first before investigating the case.

After accompanying the prince on a tour today, he planned to look for the spies arranged by the Zhuxie Division first. Chen Ju seemed to be in Yunlu City as well, so he could go and see him when he had time.

Once the large group of imperial guards arrives, there will still be enough time to formally investigate Zhao Faxian's case.

"After visiting the snack bar, of course we should visit the big restaurant." The prince laughed, "See what the rich people in Yunlu City eat, whether their lives are extravagant, and whether the aristocratic families are detached from the people..."

"Ahem." Hu Delu coughed lightly, "Your Highness, we are here to do serious business after all."

"Mr. Hu." The prince looked up at him, his eyes suddenly a little aggrieved, "You know, I lost my mother when I was very young. The imperial city is strictly controlled, and I can't have any other fun. I just want to eat something delicious..."

"Eat." Hu Delu could no longer stop him and said one word concisely.

The prince was not just trying to be pitiful. For a long time before that, his teacher was Xu Zhan'ao, who was very strict. In addition, the court officials bribed by the Sixth Prince were watching him, and any mistakes he made would be severely criticized.

Therefore, the prince lived a very hard life. He did not dare to indulge in wine, sex, money or anger, and he had no chance to eat, drink and have fun.

This was a rare opportunity for him to come out and indulge himself, so he couldn't bear to care too much.

"I heard that there are ten big restaurants along the river in Yunlu City. They are all famous restaurants throughout the country. Let's try them one by one..." The prince was walking forward, and suddenly his nose moved and he smelled a strong fragrance in front of him.

He leaned over to take a look, and saw a large group of people running quickly in that direction, with happy and anxious expressions on their faces.

"Countrymen, what are you doing?" he asked, grabbing one of them.

The man was rushing forward when he was suddenly stopped. He was about to get angry, but when he turned around, he saw three people in gorgeous clothes. The young man and the old man in white robes behind the fat man didn't look easy to mess with, so he immediately softened his expression and replied, "The young lady of the Wei family is getting married today, and they are setting up a three-day and three-night banquet in the courtyard. Anyone who comes can have a seat. As long as you say something auspicious, you can sit at the table and have a feast. Everyone is eager to get a free meal."

Hearing this, the prince's eyes lit up: "Eat a feast?"

……

During the first five hundred years of the Yin Kingdom’s founding, Yunlu City had always been the capital. Although Zhongzhou was the birthplace of the Jiang family, there were constant wars in the northwest Liangzhou, and the Nine Yang Cavalry often crossed the Tianxia Pass and headed south, and the edge of Zhongzhou was often harassed. It was not suitable to be the capital, so Yunlu City, the ancient capital of many dynasties, was used.

It was not until more than 400 years ago that Emperor Daxing moved the capital to Longyuan City in the north of Zhongzhou in order to fight against Jiuyang. At that time, a considerable part of Liangzhou was still in the hands of Jiuyang's tribes, and this move was tantamount to facing Jiuyang directly.

It was with this kind of determination that the land of Kyushu was restored.

After that, Yunlu City never regained its former glory. A large number of industries and people moved to Zhongzhou, and only a group of old people who still missed the past remained in Qingdu.

After several hundred years, Yunlu City was revitalized from a desolate old capital and became the center of the south today. In addition to showing determination, another important reason why Emperor Daxing moved the capital was that Yunlu City had been the capital for hundreds of years and had developed a large and stubborn family group.

Even if he wanted to carry out drastic reforms as an emperor, he would be hindered and obstructed by several major families and it would be difficult to accomplish anything.

That's why Emperor Daxing simply moved the capital, decisively abandoned the aristocratic families in Yunlu City, and returned to Zhongzhou where the Jiang family made their fortune. After recovering Jiuzhou, he freed up his hands and cleaned up the several major aristocratic families in Yunlu City one by one, leaving only three relatively honest ones.

That is, the three great families of Qingdu today, Qi, Zhou, and Wei.

In the political struggles at that time, they had always been biased towards the Great Xing Emperor or neutral, which was the reason why they could be passed down in Yunlu City for a long time. In terms of local status alone, the three great families in Qingdu were higher than the four great families in Shendu. After all, there was no royal family in Yunlu City now.

It is no exaggeration to say that they are the local tyrants here.

No wonder the Wei family held such a grand ceremony to marry off their daughter, with the whole city celebrating.

The prince, Hu Delu and Liang Yue, happily came to the Wei family compound. As soon as they entered the door, they knew why this place dared to announce that all the people in the city were invited to the banquet.

Entering from the side door, the Wei family's courtyard is as wide as a square. Now that it has been cleaned up, it is no problem to set up hundreds of banquets. The kitchen has also hired a large number of people temporarily to provide food all day long. It is not an exaggeration to set up three days and three nights.

The prince said a few words of blessing cheerfully, and the three of them mixed into the crowd at the banquet, sat down at the table, and saw that the dishes on the table were quite good.

"I said that even if it's on the tenth floor of the river, it may not be as delicious as this buffet." He looked around, "Look at this steamed sea bass, this big pork elbow, these four-happiness meatballs..."

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"The Wei family's dishes are indeed very strong." Liang Yue nodded.

The prince added, "It's a pity to eat this garlic today. If we leave it overnight, the flavor will be strong, and then we can mix it with rice with the pork elbow juice. Oh, I can't imagine how delicious it will be."

"Mr. Jiang, you have such a lively life." Liang Yue praised.

In front of so many people, I naturally can't call him the prince anymore.

Hu Delu also pressed his brow helplessly and said, "My young master just likes to eat some Zheluo."

Liang Yue was not that interested in the banquet. After taking a few bites, he looked around boredly.

On the red sign in the courtyard were written the names of the bride and groom, "Wedding Ceremony of Wei Shili and Bai Shu".

When Liang Yue saw the name, he suddenly felt familiar with it. After thinking about it for a while, he remembered it.

This is what he mentioned when he was handling Zhou Xuanci's case.

Wei Shili from the eldest branch of the Wei family, Wei Kangnian from the side branch, and Zhou Xuanci who came home with his mother, these three are childhood friends.

Is it possible to see the other two here?
In the case of killing the princess, Chen Su let them go and let the evil consort take the blame. After the two men left, Liang Yue never heard of them again.

Before he could find his acquaintance, he heard a gong sound, and a large group of men in red shorts carrying dozens of large boxes rushed in through the door.

"The Yihuo Sect's Yuan Banner Master sends a gift to the Wei family's legitimate daughter and the garrison general's son for their wedding!"

This shout attracted everyone's attention.

Many Wei family guards were seen trying to stop them, but the group of big men still carried the gifts straight into the courtyard and put them down with a bang.

The leading man, with a red scarf wrapped around his head, frowned at the guards who were trying to stop them and said, "They say that you, the Wei family, can have a feast just by saying something auspicious. We came here with good intentions to give gifts, but you won't let us in. Why is that?"

The guards were unable to stop them and did not dare to say anything. Just as they were feeling a little awkward, a middle-aged man who looked like a butler walked out of the yard.

He maintained a calm aura and said in a clear voice, "The Wei family is very grateful for the gift from Banner Master Yuan, but my master has ordered that we will not accept any gifts today, but will only entertain guests. If you come to the banquet, we will naturally welcome you, but please take back these gifts."

"Hahaha." The man in the red scarf laughed and said, "You must be Wei Zhong, the steward of the Wei Mansion, right? We in the Yihuo Sect have no reason to eat your banquet for free. Since it's given to you, just accept it."

"I'm sorry." The butler named Wei Zhong remained calm and his attitude was obvious, he still wanted the group to return the gifts.

The man in the red scarf looked unhappy. "I saw a few noble families sent gifts just now, and you accepted them. But you didn't accept the gifts from our Yihuo Sect. Do you look down on us poor brothers?"

As soon as these words came out, the followers following him immediately started shouting and acting arrogantly.

"Those are all close friends of our master. As for the leader of the Yihuo Sect, Yuan, he is not familiar with our Wei family after all. How can we force him to accept gifts?" Wei Zhong shook his head. "Please take them back quickly. If you continue to make a fuss, it will inevitably disturb my young lady's wedding."

After saying that, he turned around and called softly, "Wei Xian."

Behind him walked out a strong man who looked somewhat like him, with a strong blood and vigorous energy. It seemed that he was a martial artist with strong cultivation. He should be the leader of the Wei family's security guards.

"Okay, it seems that you, the Wei family, really don't give face to our flag master." The man in the red scarf nodded, "Anyway, we have sent our heartfelt gifts. If you don't accept them, it's your business. The flag master can't blame us. So goodbye!"

He waved his hand, and a group of men carried the gifts back.

Liang Yue found it a bit strange. He had never heard of the name of the Yihuo Sect before. How come they dared to boss the Wei Family around in Yunlu City?
He then asked the people around him, "Brother, what is the origin of this Yihuo Sect? Why are they so presumptuous?"

"You are from the north, right?" The man next to him lowered his head and whispered, "The Yihuo Sect has only been around for a short time, but it is very powerful in the south and no one dares to mess with it."

"Don't even dare to offend the Wei family?" Liang Yue wondered.

“After all, the Wei family’s influence is only in Yunlu City, and at best they have weight in Nanzhou. The Yihuo Sect is very powerful in the three southern continents, with countless believers. I…” The man hadn’t finished his words when he heard a scream suddenly coming from the side, attracting his attention.

Liang Yue also turned his head and saw that a fire broke out in the house beside the courtyard. In just a moment, flames shot up into the sky!
People nearby fled in panic, shouting loudly.

Hu Delu noticed this earlier, but just sat next to the prince and did nothing.

Liang Yue's eyes fixed.

In this firelight...

There's something weird!
　Good morning.

　
(End of this chapter)