In the south of Hongzhou, there is a river called "Ai River". The river originates from the snowy mountains in the south, flows through most of the south, and finally flows into the ice sea. Where the Ai River flows, the land is fertile, the climate is warm and suitable for habitation.
For hundreds of years, Aihe has been the main target of competition among the tribes in Hongzhou. The Ming clan, which once dominated Hongzhou for more than three hundred years, made their fortune from Aihe.
As one of the oldest tribes in Hongzhou, the culture of the Tata tribe mainly revolves around the Love River. When the Ming tribe fell apart in the past, the Tata tribe took advantage of the situation and occupied the entire Love River, because the Love River was very important to the Tata tribe.
It plays a vital role, so the Tata people call the Love River the "Mother River".
The middle reaches of the Ai River flow through Huangliang City, the capital of the Tata people, dividing the city into Henan and Hebei. Compared with the Leng and Mi people, the Tata people are much more civilized about the integration of ethnic groups. The Tata people are not opposed to people from other tribes.
After settling in Huangliang City, over time, a "cross-strait culture" was formed, with the folk customs of Henan being simple and hospitable, and the folk customs of Hebei being tough and enthusiastic.
In the middle of every year, the Tata people hold Aihe sacrifices. As early as a few decades ago, human sacrifices were always performed. In recent years, due to the development and integration of cultures, human sacrifices have been changed to animal sacrifices.
There is a bridge called "Tongxin" connecting the north and south banks of the Love River. The total length is about 800 meters, of which the main bridge is about 600 meters and the approach bridges on the north and south banks are 100 meters each. The bridge is a triple continuous bridge with 2 holes in each bridge, a total of 5
The pier has 6 holes, and the span of each bridge hole is about 80 meters excluding the bridge structure. Such a width is enough to allow the waterway of the Aihe River to flow unobstructed, and it also proves how far-sighted the people who designed and built this bridge were.
Ma Xiaoquan stood in the middle of the bridge, quietly watching the flow of people passing by on the north and south sides. He couldn't help but feel filled with emotion. If he were not here, he would even feel that he was in modern society, because such a bridge is so important in terms of design and construction.
In this day and age, everything is impossible.
Ma Xiaoquan asked an old man who was resting on the bridge for advice. The old man smiled and told him that it took nearly 40 years from design to construction of the bridge, and about 40,000 people died before the bridge was completely completed.
Ma Xiaoquan marveled for a while, and the old man smiled again, saying that although many people died, the complete opening up of Huangliang City, the capital of the Tata tribe, made the Tata tribe take another solid step towards cultural integration.
While Ma Xiaoquan was surprised by the old man's foresight, he noticed that he, like himself, wore different clothes from the Tata aborigines.
Seeing that Ma Xiaoquan was very interested, the old man said a few more words: "Actually, the Tata people don't like war. It's just that there are Leng people in the north of the Tata people and Mi people in the west. They had no choice but to force themselves to become stronger. Only
In this way, the Tata people can keep their love and their homes."
"I see~" Ma Xiaoquan nodded, wondering if the Shadow Clan came one day, would he agree with any of the old men's views?
"Young man, let me see how you are dressed. Are you from the north?"
Ma Xiaoquan nodded and politely offered his hand to the old man: "I am dismounting, Xiaohua. He fled from the north of Hongzhou. He also did some small business along the way to make ends meet. I heard that the Love River Sacrifice will be held in the next few days.
No, let’s take this opportunity to see what business we can do.”
Since the last time Ma Xiaoquan melted the Huang clan's city wall with the Blue Ming Holy Fire Fireball, he has been heading south. Because the Zhang Hongtao identity he used before may no longer be usable due to the war between the Shadow and Huang clans, Ma Xiaoquan changed it again.
A face, whose pseudonym is Ma Xiaohua, is a refugee merchant from the north.
The old man looked at Ma Xiaoquan carefully. After a while, the old man smiled and said: "Well, let me call you Xiaoma. It just so happens that I came here this time to see the Tata tribe's Love River Sacrifice, and I brought it with me.
Some small business is here, but I don’t know if you are interested?”
With the lessons learned from the last time, Ma Xiaoquan did not agree quickly. The old man in front of him seemed to be charitable, but who knew what he had in mind?
"Oh, thank you for your kindness, senior. I just want to do some small business to fool my tongue, and I don't dare to take advantage of senior's kindness." Ma Xiaoquan said politely.
The old man's eyes flickered slightly and he said with a smile: "Easy to say, we are also coming from out of town to do business, and we just need an errand boy. If you don't mind, Xiaoma, please join us and run errands for us.
"
"We?" Ma Xiaoquan looked at the old man.
"Oh, haha, I forgot to mention that my husband, Huang Yuhua, is also a businessman. He happened to come to the Tata tribe to do some business. My people are all resting at the Aihe Restaurant."
"Oh~" Ma Xiaoquan hummed, "Thank you very much, senior."
Huang Yuhua smiled and nodded, leading Ma Xiaoquan to the Love River Restaurant.
Love River Restaurant is located about fifty meters away from the south bank of Love River, with an elegant environment.
Entering the Love River Restaurant, Ma Xiaoquan's eyes lit up. Although the interior decoration and furnishings of this restaurant were luxurious, they were not extravagant at all. In the larger restaurants where Ma Xiaoquan had lived in the past, there were always some reliefs such as auspicious animals and dragons.
, but in this restaurant, such vulgar furnishings do not exist at all. On the contrary, there are several ink paintings placed at the door. The painting style is quiet and the brushstrokes are strong, which makes people feel a sense of tranquility.
Huang Yuhua saw Ma Xiaoquan stop at the door and look at the calligraphy and paintings, and said with a smile: "This Love River Restaurant is very good, I have done a lot of business here, and I have to book a room here every time. I can't help it, I just like this Love River restaurant."
The elegant style of the restaurant, haha~"
Ma Xiaoquan nodded and followed Huang Yuhua into the main hall of the restaurant.
The main hall is very large, with no other furnishings except for a few tables and chairs for resting. Occasionally, there are some echoes from people passing by and having conversations.
"Where have all the people in this restaurant gone?"
Huang Yuhua said with a smile: "As long as the guest rooms in the restaurant are full, they will no longer welcome guests. Naturally, there will be no one in the main hall. Everyone is in the wing rooms. From every wing room in the restaurant, you can see the scenery of the Love River in different directions.
So I simply stopped making so many adjustments in the main hall, it doesn’t make sense.”
With that said, Huang Yuhua took a key from a waiter and handed it to Ma Xiaoquan: "It happens that one of us has something to do at home, so we are going back first. You can stay in his wing. If you need anything, just call someone."
"
Ma Xiaoquan was a little embarrassed, and Huang Yuhua said: "Someone will look for you tomorrow. Today you can take a good rest and get familiar with it. By the way, you can read the books on the table. They are unique to Aihe Restaurant.
Characteristics." Huang Yuhua glanced at Ma Xiaoquan thoughtfully, then turned and left.
Ma Xiaoquan took the key and was led by a waiter to the door of the upper room. The waiter took the key, opened the door, and then made a gesture to Ma Xiaoquan to invite him in. Then the waiter left with a smile.
Ma Xiaoquan walked into the guest room. Out of caution, he carefully checked every corner of the room. Then he activated the gravity field and checked the entire room. After confirming that there was no problem, he noticed the table.
of several books.
"Hongzhou Strange News?" Ma Xiaoquan said to himself as he opened a book.
The contents introduced in the book are major events that have occurred in Hongzhou in recent years. There are many events that even Ma Xiao is unaware of.
"I didn't expect Ting to be so powerful?" Ma Xiaoquan looked at one of the event introductions and murmured: "The Shadow Clan controls the entire northern part of Hongzhou and is recuperating. After calculation, it is only five years away. In the past five years,
, the rebellion in northern Hongzhou has almost disappeared..."
"Well, the Mi tribe actually joined forces with the Wanshi Kingdom? It seems that the Mi tribe is the real first tribe in Hongzhou." Ma Xiaoquan frowned and continued to read down.
"The nobles of the Leng clan and the Tata clan are all infected with strange diseases of varying degrees, and there is no cure..." Ma Xiaoquan narrowed his eyes, thinking of what he saw when he came to Huangliang City two days ago.
A nobleman from the Tata tribe, although he was gorgeously dressed, looked depressed.
"There is a piano girl named Yue in the Wangchun Tower of the Leng clan. Her music is loved by everyone in the Leng clan. Some people even travel thousands of miles to listen to her music... There are even people from other clans who want to spend a lot of money to buy her.
Abducted, in response to this, Leng Jianguo, the leader of the Leng clan, ordered that the Qin girl named Yue be protected..."
"In a place called Wangyou Valley, the honey brewed by a woman named Qingniang has been classified as top-grade by various tribes... The supply exceeds demand."
"In the southern part of the Heiqing Kingdom, the King of Yue and Prince Ling fell out. The King of Yue was superior and defeated Prince Ling. However, thinking of the love between father and son, he just put Prince Ling under house arrest..." Ma Xiaoquan hummed, "That's it.
Come on, the southern part of the Heiqing Kingdom should have all fallen into the hands of the Yue King, but I don’t know how Yang Jie will deal with it..."
"The King of the United Kingdom, Zhao Wenyi, gave birth to a daughter two and a half years ago. Zhao Wenyi kept a low profile and waited until half a month ago to announce the incident. It is said that this daughter was born to Zhao Wenyi and the Goddess of Fire..." See
At this point, Ma Xiaoquan felt a heartache and pain. Even though Li Qinghan had severed all ties with him, he still thought of her from time to time.
"Perhaps this is the best destination for Qinghan~" Ma Xiaoquan sighed and shook his head with a wry smile.
...
The northern part of Hongzhou, the capital of the Huang Clan, has now become the capital of the Shadow Clan. After more than two years of repairs and renovations, it has become the largest and most prosperous city in northern Hongzhou.
Princess Ting stood on the tower, quietly looking into the distance.
Beside her, Min Xian'er stood on the city wall with bare feet, looking into the distance with a smile on her face.
Behind him, during the day, Ada and Haida stood respectfully.
After a long time, Princess Ting turned around and said: "Five years have passed..."