Chapter 157 Haidong Hou [ask for monthly ticket! ]

Inside Longyuan City, the long street is bustling with people.

The streets seemed to be flooded with tourists from other places, with horses and carriages running side by side, children making noises, and the number of vendors setting up stalls and peddlers walking around was several times more than usual.

"It's so lively." Liang Yue couldn't help but say when he lifted the curtain of the car and saw this scene.

Their carriage was stuck in the traffic on the street and was moving very slowly.

"It's already mid-May, everyone should be here to attend the Colorful Clothes Festival." Wu Xiaoqi, who was driving outside the curtain, said with a smile, "On the last day of this year's Colorful Clothes Festival, there will be a ceremony for the triumphal return of General Ling's army. It will definitely be an unprecedented grand occasion."

"Oh, that's right." Liang Yue then remembered the Colorful Clothes Festival.

The Yin Dynasty had a unique festival, which was said to be a tradition left over from the war of recovery more than four hundred years ago.

At that time, almost all the young men in Kyushu participated in the war. Warriors served as soldiers, while ordinary people carried supplies. Every household had male members who participated in the war. After years of fierce fighting, more than half of them died.

When they finally won the battle and returned home, many years had passed and many people had died in battle without being notified. The women would wait outside the city day and night for their husbands to return home. They would wear colorful clothes during the day so that they could see their families when they returned, and at night they would carry lanterns to light the way home.

It is said that some people waited for several years with colorful clothes and lanterns, but their families never returned.

Later, this became a tradition. Every night in mid-May, the women of Yin would wear colorful clothes and hold lanterns, and walk the road from the city gate to their homes. Even if the person has passed away, they want the dead soul to return.

This tradition has evolved over hundreds of years and has gradually become the current Colorful Clothes Festival. On May 15th of each year, girls will wear their most beautiful colorful satin clothes, carry lanterns, and play in the streets.

There are many performances on the streets, including lion dance, acrobatics, yangko dance, bamboo horse show, iron flower making...

There is another activity, where every shop along the street will hang a "flying flower" at the door, that is, hang a bunch of flowers high up, and let the young men climb up to pick them. The more famous the restaurant or shop is, the more valuable and beautiful the flying flowers will be, and the more people will rush to pick them.

This item should remind people to remember the martial spirit and not forget the national humiliation.

Later, it evolved into that if young men liked a girl, they would pick a flying flower for her, give it to the girl, and invite her to go out with them.

Today, the Colorful Clothes Festival has become a festival for young people to find their soul mates, in addition to commemorating the heroes. Therefore, it has been passed down for a long time.

As the saying goes, "In May, the capital of gods is filled with colorful clouds, and white arms holding fire reflect flying flowers."

The most lively place for the Colorful Clothes Festival is naturally Longyuan City, so many people from nearby Zhongzhou and even idle people from other states will come here specifically to have fun and watch.

“But we, the people in the Zhuxie Yamen, can only watch from the rooftop.” Wen Yifan said with a hint of loneliness.

The moment when the whole country celebrates is the most tense moment for people in the government.

Everyone in Longyuan City is out and about, with millions of people on the streets. This is the happiest time, but it is also the time when theft, robbery, and molestation are most likely to occur. Therefore, at this time every year, all the departments of the court will be extremely vigilant and devote all their efforts to maintaining order.

Not to mention that the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Guards are on guard day and night and take turns, government offices like the Evil Punishment Office and the Drinking Horse Administration also have to keep a close eye on them.

"Then let's take a day off this year and go shopping and have fun." Liang Yue chuckled.

"Is it okay?" Wen Yifan asked in a low voice with bright eyes.

Liang Yue also lowered his voice and said, "Let's just say we're injured."

"Oh, that's right." Wen Yifan also chuckled, "I am indeed injured."

"That's right!"

The two of them were like two students in the back row of the classroom, with their heads put together and whispering to each other. Wu Xiaoqi in front was speechless for a while.

I say, brothers and sisters, there are only three people in the car, who are you protecting against by doing this?

Is the atmosphere like this or are they just treating me as an outsider?

The carriage moved forward slowly like this until it reached the north of the city, where it slowed down a bit, sped up, and returned to the Zhuxie Yamen.

As soon as he got back, Xie Wenxi hurried out to greet him.

"Oh my." He smiled and said, "Our two great heroes are back."

"Master Xie, please don't say that." Liang Yue quickly stopped him.

"I checked immediately after receiving your news. Yulijiang is indeed one of the twelve generals under the peak of Jiuyang Spy." Xie Wenxi held his hand. "You have joined the Zhuxie Division not long ago, and you have eliminated such a person. It is really amazing."

Although Liang Yue always amazed him, he was no longer so easily frightened.

But this time it was still unexpected.

Liang Yue said seriously: "It is only with Senior Sister Wen in charge that I have the opportunity to make a contribution. Senior Sister Wen has been cursed by that man, and we need to check on her condition quickly." "I have invited the priest from Wentian Tower, and you guys follow me." Xie Wenxi was also worried about Wen Yifan's situation, and he had already led the two of them into the main hall before he opened his mouth.

"I'm fine." Wen Yifan smiled, "Thank you, sir. You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine."

Xie Wenxi was also stunned when he saw her bright smile, then he quickly quickened his pace and murmured, "It looks like something is wrong, we need to get treatment as soon as possible!"

Wen Yifan: “…”

When Xie Wenxi saw her for the first time, he thought she was really fine. But seeing her smile like that was really too abnormal.

On the way in, Liang Yue took the time to ask, "Has Zheng Kan been handed over to the Ministry of Justice?"

"This..." Xie Wenxi frowned slightly, "The man was indeed sent to the Ministry of Justice, but the Left Prime Minister did not see him. He died in the prison of the Ministry of Justice that night!"

……

The waves on Wangyue River are gentle.

A red painted houseboat with gold dots passed slowly by, moving forward along the river bend. There were sounds of singing and dancing on the boat. It turned out that the musicians on the deck were playing music.

And in the magnificent cabin, there were only two people.

One was an old man in a yellow brocade robe, about fifty years old, with broad shoulders and thick back, sitting on a brocade cushion, and quite stout. He also had a broad face and narrow eyes, and his skin was rough and dark. Although his clothes and accessories looked expensive, he did not look noble at all.

Opposite him was a man in a black robe, who must have just sat down and removed his hood, revealing a tough face. He looked to be a middle-aged man in his thirties, with a bronze complexion, strong features, thick eyebrows and big eyes. His hair was tied into a braid at the back of his head, and there was a short beard under his chin.

"Brother Manhu, you have come here in such a short time. You must be exhausted after the long journey. I am afraid you are exhausted." The man in brocade robe opposite poured a glass of wine and raised the glass from a distance: "Drink this glass to cheer you up."

"Fortunately, martial artists are not afraid of fatigue." The man named Manhu answered expressionlessly, also filling his glass, and responded: "The shipment that the Khan urgently needs has already been delayed, and it has not yet arrived. I wonder what has happened to Haidong Hou?"

The man in brocade robe opposite him was actually the current Marquis of Haidong, Jiang Hao.

"Haha." Haidong Hou laughed twice and replied, "Something went wrong with our people in Liangjiang Prefecture. He committed a crime and was arrested by the Ministry of Justice. I paid a great price and used my only spy in the Ministry of Justice to get rid of him. I was worried that they would keep an eye on Liangjiang Prefecture, so I didn't dare to send anyone to take over the goods for the time being."

"Ministry of Justice?" Man Hu lowered his eyes, suspicious, "Is the Ministry of Justice of your Yin country controlled by the left prime minister Liang Fuguo? I heard that he is a very scary person."

"That's right." A flash of coldness flashed across Haidong Hou's eyes, which disappeared in an instant. "Liang Fuguo is a mad dog. Anyone bitten by him will either lose a piece of flesh or chop off his head with a knife! But I don't have the strength to chop off his head, so I can only cut off my own flesh. Brother Manhu, I killed my nephew whom I raised since he was a child. He is almost like my son."

"I understand. It should be like the Khan and me. Although he is not my biological father, he is better than a father. If you don't trust him very much, you won't let him run the business of Liangjiang Prefecture." Man Hu nodded slightly when he heard him say this.

In the land of Jiuyang, there are only nine people who can be called Khan, and they are the leaders of the nine tribes.

If Manhu is a nephew of Jiuyang Khan, then his status should not be low.

Haidong Hou sighed, "Ah, I'm glad you understand. As long as the goods are loaded in Liangjiang Prefecture, they will arrive at Jinyang Tribe smoothly. You can tell the Khan not to worry. But the loading time will definitely be a little later, I hope you don't worry."

"The Khan is in a hurry, otherwise he wouldn't have sent me here." Man Hu frowned and said, "The major cities in Jiuyang, especially the salt, copper coins and spices in Guxu City, have always been supplied by our Jinyang tribe. But recently, the Shuiyuan tribe got a large amount of goods from somewhere and sold them at a low price in Guxu City, grabbing our market. If we don't fight with them at this time, but cut off the supply of goods, then the market will be taken away by them. If we want to fight back then, it will take a lot of effort."

"Eh?" Haidong Hou was puzzled when he heard this. "I know exactly how much cargo passes between West Sea and Frost North City every year. It's impossible for another company to ship such a large amount of cargo, right?"

Jiuyang and Yinchao have been banned from trade in recent years, but just like the Tongbei Chamber of Commerce in the past, if the government does not allow it, there will be people in the private sector who will make up for it.

The "smuggling" behavior of transporting the fine goods from Yin State to Jiuyang and transporting the raw materials from Jiuyang back to Yin State has actually never been banned.

The usual method is to use storage instruments to carry a small amount of goods and go back and forth across the towering sky gorge. Although it is dangerous and life-threatening, the profits are considerable, so there have always been many people who take risks.

The biggest smuggler among them was Marquis Haidong, who had been managing the royal business for many years.

The ban applies to ordinary people. Officials like him have broad channels and connections, and can directly send ships through the West Sea to open the defenses of Frost North City. The resources he possesses and the amount of money he makes are not comparable to those of lone smugglers, and he himself has no risk at all.

In addition to the land route through Tianxia Pass, there are two other water routes for trade between Jiuyang and Yinchao.

One route is to leave Shuangbei City and go around the West Sea, connecting with Yinguo Xizhou; the other route is to go directly through the North Sea, which is very close to Yinguo Beizhou.

However, the former has been banned from navigation since Frost North City was locked down by Yin Chao. The latter requires crossing the Xuanming Sea where water monsters gather, which is even more dangerous and basically impossible.

Marquis Haidong was confident that he was the only one who could open up the road between the West Sea and Frost North City.

So where do the other bulk goods come from?

He was lost in thought for a moment.

(End of this chapter)