Chapter 45: The Overbearing Young Lady (Third Watch, Seeking Bookmarks)

  This time Li Dongyang dressed up to meet Jiang Xia just to test him, after getting the answer Li Dongyang stretched out his hand to Jiang Xia and said: "I have finished asking your questions, I have also answered one by one the questions you asked me. This divination fee is a total of twenty cents, what do you think?"

  Jiang Xia stared blankly for a moment, then said seriously: "Sir, I told you that if you can't calculate it accurately, I won't give you the silver."

  "Just now you said I'm 'awesome', that proves I'm right."

  "Yes, unfortunately you didn't count on me not having any silver on me today."

  After finishing speaking, Jiang Xia waved his hand at Li Dongyang and said "see you later", then left.

  Watching Jiang Xia's departing back, Li Dongyang didn't say much. He gently stroked his beard and muttered to himself: "Extremely intelligent, good at breaking through, with a heart that has the air of killing and fighting, yet wanting to tightly bind great righteousness to oneself. Unbelievable, unbelievable, if young people these days are all like this, then what's the point of us old guys?"

  Li Dongyang was about to leave after finishing speaking, but at the moment he turned around, he suddenly smiled and said to Jiang Xia's back which was almost disappearing: "Everything is fine, it's just a bit too stingy."

  "That old man is really something." Jiang Xia muttered to himself. He stuck his head out from around the corner and took a peek, seeing that the fortune-telling old man wasn't chasing after him with a brick to demand money for telling his fortune, he let out a slight sigh of relief.

  He said a few words to that old man, which also delayed for some time. Then Jiang Xia accelerated the speed under his feet.

  Chaoyangmen area is very prosperous, as it gathers many famous and wealthy families, and can be considered a rich district in the capital. Therefore, there are many well-known silk shops, cosmetics stores, silverware and jade shops here.

  Jiang Xia came straight to a shop called "Feng Bao Zhai" on this side of the street.

  This is a store that sells gold and silver jewelry, jade ornaments, as well as antique paintings and calligraphy. It's quite famous throughout the capital. Jiang Xia had come here twice before, but each time he just browsed without making a purchase. However, the quality of the goods here was very satisfactory to Jiang Xia, so this time he came directly.

  Feng Bao Zhai has always been known for its high-quality goods, so their service is just average. When Jiang Xia walked into the store, no one paid attention to him, possibly because it was noon and there were only a few people in the large store.

  The shop assistant didn't greet him, and Jiang Xia didn't mind either. He wandered around the store for a while, originally wanting to buy a beautiful jade or gold and silver jewelry for Cui Nian Nu, but was suddenly attracted by something.

  This is an ancient guqin, which seems to have nothing special on the surface, but its tail is particularly charred, as if it had been burned by fire. If ordinary people see this guqin, they will definitely think that it is not a perfect product, but a damaged product that has been burned.

  But Jiang Xia didn't think so, and it was precisely the place that had been burned that reminded him of a historical allusion.

  According to legend, the Eastern Han Dynasty's literary and calligrapher Cai Yong was well-versed in music and particularly fond of playing the zither. One day, as he passed by a farmer's gate, he heard the sound of fire crackling and, based solely on that sound, Cai Yong could affirm that the farmer was burning tung wood, which, judging from the sound, must be good material for making zithers.

  Cai Yong hastily rushed into the farmer's home, extinguished the fire and paid for the half-burned paulownia wood. After returning home, Cai Yong made it into a guqin, which produced a clear and pleasant sound, making it one of the best in the world. This guqin eventually became one of the top ten famous guqins, known as Jiao Wei (焦尾). It was named so because its tail had been burned by fire, appearing particularly charred.

  It's not right that such a treasure should be casually placed outside the store, he looked around and gently stroked the strings with his hand, and the pleasant sound of the piano immediately came out. Jiang Xia's eyes lit up, he picked up the guqin and took a closer look at the foot, and the small seal carved on it further confirmed his speculation in his heart. Jiang Xia was 100% sure that this was the legendary famous qin "Jiao Wei".

  Jiang Xia took a slight breath in, he turned around and beckoned to one of his assistants: "Assistant, please come over for a moment, this zither..."

  "I'll take this qin."

  A melodious sound like a silver bell rang out, and a young woman of about eighteen or nineteen years old looked at the "Jiao Wei" in Jiang Xia's hand with a smile. It was undeniable that the woman was very sweet, with a pair of crystal-clear eyes full of spirit. However, her tone was firm, as if she had to get that ancient zither no matter what, without considering Jiang Xia's opinion who already held the zither in his hands. Behind the woman stood two sturdy men, both around thirty years old, and when Jiang Xia saw them, two words rose up in his mind.

  Expert, soldier.

  Indeed. The two sturdy men had a very stable lower body, with long and slow breathing, obviously an internal martial arts master. At the same time, the two men stood casually upright, their bodies full of murderous aura, and Jiang Xia's eyes could naturally see that they should be from the military.

  It seems that this woman's identity is not simple, but no matter how complicated it is, it has nothing to do with Jiang Xia. What Jiang Xia dislikes the most is this kind of person who uses their power to oppress others, so he didn't pay attention to the woman at all and instead asked his partner: "How much silver for this zither? I'll buy it."

  "Fifty taels." The shop assistant quoted a price.

  Jiang Xia nodded and said again: "I want it."

  "Sixty taels, I must have this zither." The woman spoke again.

  Jiang Xia smiled faintly and said to his partner: "One hundred taels."

  "Two hundred taels." The woman had a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, and in her opinion, she had already added "one hundred taels" with one move, which was enough to knock down this despicable guy.

  Honestly speaking, Jiang Xia is absolutely a handsome man. However, for women, who are born to be unreasonable, if she likes you, even if you commit murder or arson, it's considered charming. But when she dislikes you, even if you're saving the world, it's just considered being annoying and looking for trouble.

  The woman saw Jiang Xia being so tactless, so she immediately labeled him as "despicable".

  Jiang Xia finally looked up at the woman, who thought Jiang Xia was afraid, so she raised her chin triumphantly. Jiang Xia said calmly: "One thousand two."

  "Whoa......" The shop assistant took a deep breath, he didn't expect the man in front of him to be so generous, and with one breath, he actually called out "one thousand two". Now that things have gone this far, it's no longer something that this shop assistant can take charge of, he turned his head to look at the boss standing behind the counter.

  The shopkeeper had already noticed something was off on this side, and upon receiving the assistant's pleading gaze, he walked over. The assistant whispered a few words into the shopkeeper's ear, and after sizing up Jiang Xia and the woman, his eyes lit up slightly as he said: "You two guests truly have good taste, this guqin is indeed an ancient instrument from a thousand years ago, although it has some minor flaws, its sound remains pleasant to the ears. As a businessman, I'm looking for wealth, so you two can name your price, and whoever offers the highest price will get this ancient guqin."

  Jiang Xia glanced at the shopkeeper and didn't expect him to come over and stir up trouble. Jiang Xia smiled and said, "I've already bid 1,000 taels, but this young lady hasn't made an offer yet. In these times, 1,000 taels is neither too much nor too little. To prove that I'm not bluffing, I'll take out the silver to show you, shopkeeper."

  As he spoke, Jiang Xia pulled out a large stack of treasure notes from his bosom and casually waved them in front of the shopkeeper, who immediately understood that this stack of treasure notes was worth at least 10,000 taels of silver.

  With such a large sum of money on hand, this must be the young master of some wealthy family. For a moment, the shopkeeper's eyes were filled with fervor as he looked at Jiang Xia.

  The woman frowned, and indeed she couldn't produce a thousand taels of silver. She narrowed her eyes slightly, gave a cold laugh, and said: "Well done, you're the first to dare rob me, Yang Jingjing. Ah Da, Ah Er..."

  As she spoke, the woman raised her chin slightly towards Jiang Xia, the implication clear - she was telling the two guards behind her to teach Jiang Xia a lesson. The two guards immediately stepped out from behind the woman and coldly looked at Jiang Xia, saying: "Young man, if you know what's good for you, put down that ancient zither and leave; otherwise..."

  "Otherwise, how do you want it?"

  The voice came from behind Ah Da and Ah Er, the two turned around to see a man walking into the store with a long sword in his arms. His eyes met Ah Da and Ah Er's, with an inexplicable chill in his gaze.

  The man said coldly: "If you want to move him, ask this sword in my hand."

  After he finished speaking, the man hadn't even made a move before his long sword was already out of its scabbard, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

  "Wood, you're too handsome! When I get back, I'll introduce Spring Flower to you, she's still a maiden!" Jiang Xia exclaimed excitedly, waving his hand.

  The "wood" in Jiang Xia's mouth is the one responsible for protecting him closely, Zhong Bin. As soon as he said that, even with Zhong Bin's personality, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

  Chun Hua was known to be the girl in charge of mending clothes at Xiang Yang Mountain Villa, with exceptional embroidery skills. It's said that she was a maiden who could withstand Chun Hua's nearly 200-pound weight.

  A'Da and A'er exchanged a glance, then A'er walked up to Zhong Bin. He discreetly revealed a waist card and said in a low voice, "We're from the Governor's mansion. Would you do us a favor and persuade your master to give that qin to our young mistress?"

  Zhong Bin glanced at A Er and smiled faintly, his voice also very low: "Are the people from the Governor's Mansion really that impressive?"

  As he spoke, Zhong Bin showed his waist card to Er Two from an angle that Jiang Xia couldn't see. Er Two took one look and was immediately stunned, almost shouting out: "Brocade..."

  Zhong Bin's eyes flashed with a hint of murderous intent, and Er Gou's words were left unspoken. He turned his head to glance at Da Ge, then looked again at Jiang Xia, who was eagerly anticipating a fight between Zhong Bin and the two brothers.

  A'Er didn't dare to imagine what kind of status someone who could use Jin Yiwei Deputy Commander as a personal bodyguard would have, but no matter what the status was, the people from the Governor's residence were definitely not to be trifled with.

  Ps: Regarding the previous chapter's diaszjj big question, it's actually simple. Li Dongyang had sent Jun Yang to assassinate Jiang Xia, and Jun Yang was able to recognize Jiang Xia at a glance, which proves that Li Dongyang had sent someone to investigate Jiang Xia and had Jiang Xia's portrait. As for why Li Dongyang wanted to stop Jiang Xia, it was mentioned earlier that it was a change in Li Dongyang's attitude, and also a plot thread in this book.

  Thank you for the monthly vote from Nanfeng Yuzi, I hope to have four updates today. Originally, it was said that if the helm master appears, there would be five updates, but depending on the situation, the fifth update may be supplemented tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.