The capital city Jianye was still heavily guarded, and the markets on the street or in the alley would be cheerless at dusk. But it was at noon, so people as well as carriages and horses came and went on the street continually and it was still bustling.
There were many officials dressed in uniform and their carriages in the capital.
Yang Ning was riding a horse on the long street beside the Qinhuai River. It was fashionable to ride a horse in the capital. The young noblemen liked to have their horses decorated in an outstanding and unique way, and even the scholars liked to ride on the street. It was a fashion trend in this city.
The scholars and noblemen rode horses and passed by, with smiles on their faces, and they looked up automatically. They didn’t need to look aside or want to look down because the walkers would look up at them.
They just watched the beautiful buildings and the gorgeous women inside.
The talente
Yuan Rong helped Yang Ning up. Yang Ning felt his legs soft and almost couldn’t stand steadily. He was shocked and thought it might damage his body because he used the inner force in his anxiety and the meridians in his legs were injured. Would he become disabled?“Oh, dear. Look at this bloke. He is going to pee in his pants.” The guy who almost let his horse tread the child suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Yang Ning’s shaking legs. He laughed loud and seemed not to care that he almost killed a person.Yang Ning stared at that man and finally saw him clearly. The man was only 24 or 25 years old, dressed in light yellow brocade clothes. The bright-colored clothes were matched with the angry horse. He had a golden belt around his waist, with something around his head, a purple headcloth, not the white headcloth like the others.Apparently the headcloth was carefully made, with a red gemstone inlayed in the middle of the forehead and golde
Yang Ning looked at the voice source and found a group of servants wearing square caps and blue clothes rushing over, with twenty or thirty men. They all looked ferocious, and several in the front were dressed in grey clothes, with great momentum.The man in the front was strong and tall, with thick, powerful back and shoulders, grabbing the knife on his waist. Next to him, a young manservant in black pointed at the young man in yellow. “It’s him. This guy almost hurt Young Master.”“Whoosh!”The man put out the knife and waved it. “Bastard, how dare you? You are lawless. Surround them. Don’t let anyone escape.”The servants from the government rushed over like wolves and surrounded the young man in yellow and his followers in an instant. The attendants with white headcloths looked serious and had machetes in hands, guarding the young man.The strong man ran to the woman first. She held the child and saw the man coming
The bluestone road on the long street was not as hard as the rock, but the blade tip was inserted into the ground, and the martial skill was impressive. Many people had found that the knife was thrown from the crowd, so they looked at the direction, to see that some people made way on the street, and several men walked slowly out of the crowd.The man in the front wore black armor, about forty years old, and strode with momentum. Two soldiers with armor and knives followed him.Yang Ning was stunned to see the man in black armor and recognized him. He was the commander of the Tiger God Camp, Xue Lingfeng. Yang Ning had seen him at Qi Jing’s funeral.Xue Lingfeng looked cold and walked over slowly. Mr. Ximen frowned. The young man in yellow was standing beside the horse and hadn’t got on the horse’s back. He looked at that knife blankly and then raised his head to look at Xue Lingfeng before the latter walked to the knife penetrating the ground.
After King Shu’s heir and his people left, the crowd scattered gradually. Then Xue Lingfeng asked Yang Ning, “Your Excellency, don’t you know King Shu’s heir?”Yang Ning replied carefreely, “Why should I know him? Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another. Even if I know him, I won’t make friends with him.”Xue Lingfeng smiled. “Your Excellency, you and General are much alike in character.” Mentioning Qi Jing, Xue Lingfeng showed a gloomy expression in his eyes and continued before Yang Ning replied, “The city is heavily guarded recently. If you don’t have something important, please try not to go out.”Yang Ning was clear that Xue Lingfeng said that to do good for him and thought the Tiger God Camp was the resource left by the Marquis of Honor. He nodded. “Thanks for your concern, uncle. I will keep that in mind.”Xue Lingfeng looked relieved and didn’t say more. Then he led his men to leave.
It was not that Yang Ning had improper thoughts towards the girl. He just remembered that he had bumped into somebody when he chased the elder in grey robe. He was in such a hurry that he didn’t have time to stop and apologize. That person seemed to be dressed in such green clothes. He planned to ask her, but he couldn’t come up right away as he saw the girl lowering her head.Hearing the girl inquire, the old man hurriedly came over. “Lady, are you interested in this daffodil?” He showed a thumbs-up sign. “You have great insight. You are an expert. You can look for such flowers on the street and it is hard to find daffodil at this season. On this street, there are no more than three plants of this.”The girl raised her head and responded, “I have checked shops on the street and found that you have this flower, so I want to ask how much it is.”“Girl, it appears that you really like it.” The old man laughed. “Since you are an expert, you must k
The old man nodded. “Sir, you have great insight. The crape myrtle is the treasure of my shop and the most expensive.” He turned to Yang Ning, but the latter smiled at Xiaoyao before he spoke. Yang Ning asked, “Xiaoyao, which one do you think is the king of flowers?”Xiaoyao walked to a flowerpot and her eyes were soft. “I think this fragrans is top-grade.”“Oh?” The old man smiled. “Lady, why do you think so?”Yang Ning saw the fragrans with pure white petals, which were even crystal-clear. Compared with the crape myrtle, it was not dazzling, but it was simple and clean, elegant with charm.“The fragrans is spotless and pure. It’s not as noble as the crape myrtle.” Talking about the flowers, Xiaoyao displayed a serious expression on her pretty face. “But flowers are like people. A person’s moral quality has nothing to do with his family status. Only somebody who is innocent and experienced, without distaining his heart with selfis
The tree shadows in the courtyard in the mansion of the Marquis of Martial Arts were mottled, and there were a few big trees which could be surrounded by several people between the lawns. The winding path with bluestones led to a secluded quiet place. Compared with the mansion of the Marquis of Honor, this mansion was smaller evidently, but its style was much more luxurious. The furniture in the main hall was costly and elegant, and even several chairs were made of selected precious sandalwood. Every part in the hall was well-arranged. It showed that a lot of efforts had been made in the mansion of the Marquis of Martial Arts, both in the big structure and small pattern.But servants were not seen in and outside the main hall, which was unusual for a sumptuous mansion.Yang Ning was sitting in the main hall in the mansion of the Marquis of Martial Arts, and Yuan Rong sat next to him. After they entered the mansion, they didn’t see anybody except the servant
Yuan Rong’s expression changed first, and he looked at Yang Ning in shock.He didn’t expect that Su Zhen would suddenly say that the engagement would be called off, and he had never thought that Yang Ning came to cancel it. And what frightened him more were Yang Ning’s last words.Yang Ning and Su Zhen were two of the four marquises in Chu Country. The two families were on good terms in the past. The two old marquises were even friends until death.No matter in the officialdom or society, generally, people would only express their resentment in an indirect way and seldom spoke ruthlessly.Su Zhen was arrogant and criticized Yang Ning, which made Yuan Rong think he was not like a gentleman, but Yang Ning’s last words were harsher.Su Zhen mentioned the other party’s name and insulted Yang Ning, while Yang Ning’s words were not as straightforward as Su Zhen’s, but under the situation, what he said was extremely incisive.