At Peach Leaf Ferry in the south of Nanjing City, the Qinhuai River ripples along its banks. In early spring, there are faint buds among the dense shadows of trees.
It was still cold in spring at this time, but the second floor of an exquisite riverside pavilion on the bank was already as warm as late spring. The heaters in the four corners continued to release warmth. There was an urn in the middle of the room, which was steaming out.
Under the heat, the dried jasmine flowers prepared last year are boiling in the vat. After boiling, the aroma is overflowing, and the fragrance of jasmine flowers is floating everywhere.
The decoration in the room is simple and elegant. There are several pictures of bamboo orchids hanging on the wall. On the small nanmu table against the wall, there is a picture fan placed with ornaments. There are two orchids on it, and a butterfly is about to fall, which is as lively as life.
.There are small green vases on the flower stand by the window, with pruned red plums inserted in them. The plum branches have different twists and turns, but the shapes and proportions complement the vases, adding to the agility of the room.
Amidst the elegance, there is a medium-mouthed copper vase placed on the floor in the middle of the room, which is incompatible with the layout of the room.
With a whoosh, an arrow pierced the fragrant mist floating in the air, drew a beautiful parabola, and hit the mouth of the bottle with a crisp sound. The bottle shook twice, and the arrow fell to the ground with a clatter.
There were sounds of regret from women in the room, and a maid of fifteen or sixteen years old stamped her feet and snorted, looking very angry.
She turned around and sat on a bamboo chair by the window, "Don't throw it away, don't throw it away, you can't throw it in from the left or right."
"They are all impatient. How can they find a husband like this?"
Several maids laughed together. The one who spoke was a woman in her late teens. She was dressed differently from the other maids. She had cloud-like hair on her temples and a peach-colored face. Although she was wearing a wide robe and long sleeves, she still had a swaying look. At this time, from behind
Standing up, Luo Bu moved slightly to the pot, gently picked up a bamboo arrow, held it in front of him and aimed at the copper pot, and after a moment, he threw it steadily.
The bamboo arrow accurately entered the mouth of the bottle with a clang, and the arrow body rushed in, hit and swayed a few times, and finally stopped in the copper pot.
Several cheers sounded out, "Sister, I am indeed more accurate. It's just that I haven't thrown pot for a long time. Why do I need to prepare this toy today?"
The woman who threw the pot turned around, but didn't reply. She just walked to the window and leaned against it.
The short woman who was angry just now came over curiously and asked in a low voice, "Sister, what's going on?"
Another tall maid grabbed her and whispered, "Today's guest is a warrior, and he always wants to do some tricks to suit the occasion. Mother Li said that throwing a pot is a shooting ceremony, which suits the martial artist's mood."
The short maid stuck out her tongue and said, "Originally, it was said to be a banquet scheduled by Gu Gao. There were all talented people in the society, and they happened to catch my sister's eye. How could I have thought that the young master wanted to receive a warrior instead of receiving a martial artist? No wonder my sister
Not happy."
Four or five maids came over. The tall maid turned back to look at the woman's back, then turned back and whispered, "But that martial artist is a popular man in Jinling nowadays."
"How can a martial artist behave?"
"It's the Anqing garrison that Jiangnan Times reports every day..."
The short maid clapped her hands with surprise on her face, "My mother, she is General Pang, who can defeat a hundred thousand soldiers with one sword."
"One hundred thousand soldiers, the bandits are clearly two hundred thousand."
"It's more than 200,000. I saw it was listed as 500,000 in one issue of the Times."
"That's not right. I remember the headline on the front page of January 10th. General Pang fought a bloody battle at Wuli Bridge, and 800,000 bandits were defeated in one fell swoop. It's not true that there were 800,000 bandits."
"Eight hundred thousand bandits are more powerful than those five tiger generals. What do you think the garrison general looks like? Is it Changshan Zhao Zilong or Guan Erye?"
"Zhao Zilong is handsome, but he is a warrior who is unique among ten thousand. How can the current warriors be so handsome? He might be Meng Zhang Fei. He took a fancy to you today and snatched him away."
"Bah, when did Zhang Fei rob someone? It's not Li Kui."
Several maids were arguing fiercely, and the woman behind him sighed and said, "What do these girls know? Mother Li has already asked at the Southern War Department. It is that there are more than 100,000 bandits, and there are only a few thousand old ones among them. The rest are all threats." It’s just the same generation.”
The short maid scratched her head, "Could it be that what the newspaper said was false? It was probably the people from the Southern Military Department who said it nonsense. If they could explain clearly, why did the bandits attack Duijiang?"
The woman was stunned, then came over and grabbed the short maid, "You are the only one who has seen so much and you dare to talk back to me."
The short maid giggled and dodged away. The woman couldn't help but said in amusement, "How many times has Fang Mizhi been here? He told Jiangnan Times not eight but seven times. You haven't understood why. It's the money that Pang Shoubei paid. The people above are exaggerating about themselves, but you are the only one who takes it seriously."
The tall maid tilted her head and said, "Can the Times be fake? I think it's quite real. General Pang was extremely powerful at Wuli Bridge in Chuzhou. He used a spear to kill with the Yanyue Sword, and he used his double sword to kill with a spear." He cut them flat with both swords. Finally, he grabbed two thieves and danced like a whirlwind. He also smashed those thieves and killed thousands of them. With the last roar of a tiger, the intruders and thieves were frightened to death, and they were defeated one after another. Yeah, it’s exactly the same as the Three Kingdoms Liu Jingting talked about.”
Everyone in the female audience didn't believe him, and they held their backs and looked angry.
The short maid said, "No matter how majestic he is, he still has to come to our Meilou. If he wants to see our sister Mei, he has to ask Fang Mizhi to rob Gu Gao of his banquet." After all, our sister Mei is more powerful."
Gu Mei smiled and pointed at the short maid, "You are the only one who can talk with your mouth. You have received so many beatings for nothing."
The short maid came over with a smile and hugged Gu Mei's arm, "Sister doesn't like that the garrison general took away Mr. Gu's banquet, but today is the banquet hosted by Fang Mi, and there are still many talented people in Fushe. It's hard to say that it's as good as the girl wants. of?"
Gu Mei sighed after hearing this, tapped her eyebrows, pulled out her arm and returned to the window. There were sparse shadows outside the window, and several plum blossoms were in full bloom, dotted between the Qinhuai River. After looking at it for a while, Gu Mei said He said softly, "The plum blossoms have faded and the peach blossoms have bloomed, and the peach leaves have bloomed for another year."
Several maids shrank their heads, knowing that they could not provoke the young lady at this time.
After all, the short maid was more courageous. After a while, she came closer and said, "That Mr. Fang is also a member of the society. In the past, he was mostly a young and knowledgeable man. Don't you like it, sister?"
The taller maid next to her said, "Although Fang Mizhi is from the Fushe Society, he is also from the Guomen Guangye Society. There are many people who have failed in many trials. When it comes to the future, the serious Fushe Society will have a better future. My sister is waiting for the red note."
"Look at the Jiangnan Times, which said that General Pang was a graduate of the Imperial College who joined the army. That does not mean he was both civil and military."
Gu Mei couldn't help but laugh again and said, "A prison student just wants to trick the peddlers and lackeys in the market. Do you know what kind of prisoner he is?"
The tall maid shook her head and said, "I don't know."
"I heard from their people that he is a handsome young man among the people."
The tall maid groaned, "It turns out she's a non-student."
The short maid said with a flat mouth, "What if you don't study? When the bandits want to cross the river, the people who put up the wall and guard the city are all non-educators. The masters who study just run out of the city, and the people hired to pull the luggage also don't study.
of."
Gu Mei turned back and glared at her. The short maid quickly took two steps back. Just as someone shouted from below, she immediately said, "The gouache delivery guy is here. I will go downstairs to get it."
Seeing this, several maids agreed one after another and fled downstairs, crossing the garden to the front door. Sure enough, a handsome young man just came in carrying a bamboo basket for laying flowers.
The young man is dressed in white, his exposed arms are slender and fair, his head is tied in a women's back bun, his face is smeared with pearl powder made of purple jasmine stamens, which is both fair and floral, and his mouth is painted with red lipstick
, the tips of her outstretched hands were still painted with nail polish, which was more gorgeous than those of several maids.
The maids swarmed up and surrounded the young man. Of course, the prostitute's maids were not shy and they all pressed against the young man. The short maid even hugged the young man's hand. The young man was not embarrassed at all, and his sister called her affectionately.
.
"What kind of fresh goods are coming today? If they are not good ones, my sister won't want them."
The young man said with a smile, "If you don't want it, it doesn't matter. I can see a few sisters and this trip is not in vain."
Several maids laughed again, and then the young man reached out and opened the silk cloth on the bamboo basket, "Who would dare to come to Meilou if there are no good goods? I made a special trip here today to find the Tumilu that the girl wanted last time."
, finally a ship arrived, and there was also new Yuhua powder, which was better than before. My brother was afraid that other stores would snatch him up first, so he asked for the goods from the shopkeeper, and he had to choose it for Sister Mei first.
"
"Of course you need tea dew. Then you remember what Sister Mei used. Do you remember the impatiens, light pink, red pink, and thrush we used?"
The young man leaned close to the short maid, "These are also sisters, how can we forget."
He raised the bamboo basket higher and brought it to the eyes of the maids. As expected, there were all kinds of cosmetics inside, and the maids each found what they needed.
"Sister, don't worry, these bottles of face cream are all for my sisters."
The maid was so happy that she took the bamboo basket and went upstairs. After Gu Mei chose, she basically stayed behind. The steward downstairs went to settle the bill with the young man, and the short maid followed all the way until he sent the young man out the door.
The young man stopped at the door and said to the short maid, "Sister, stay here."
The maid held his arm and said, "You have made a lot of money. When will you come over next time?"
"When there are good goods, they will come naturally." The young man came over and said, "I made more money to buy some good things for my sister."
"I don't want the agate hairpin anymore."
"Of course agate is not good enough for my sister. She must be a golden crow or a coral."
The maid smiled before letting him go. The boy waved and left. The maid leaned in front of the door and looked at the face mask in her hand. She opened the bottle cap and smelled it. The strong jasmine scent made her face white and fragrant.
, couldn’t help but laugh to himself.
At this time, there were footsteps outside, and the maid looked up and saw another young man wearing a long blue coat who had just arrived in front of the door. He was also a handsome young man.
The maid leaned up and hugged his arm, and asked with a smile, "You are also here to sell gouache, why didn't you bring a bamboo basket?"
The young man looked down at her strangely, then looked away and looked around, "I sell other things. The location is good. Let's see where the advertisement is hung first."