Chapter 19: CH 19

Editor: Czarina

The capital was far from Wuyue Island, and it would take about half a month to speed up the horse. Not to mention the carriage, which would stop traveling for a while and then soon stop for a rest. At the beginning of June, the carriage stopped at Fengcheng.

After a long time of driving, the coachman was very tired. With a slight lack of strength, he wiped the sweat from his brow with a cloth towel and said, “Young master, ahead of Fengcheng is the Shenxian River. There is only one ferry crossing which you can pass through the Shenxian River over there. The vessel sets sail every three days. I just asked for you. The vessel just left this morning. I’m afraid you will have to stay in Fengcheng for three days.”

Wen Chan thanked the coachman and started looking for a place to stay. He found five inns in a row. All of which said that they were full and there were no available rooms.

Just as Wen Chan and others were planning to find the sixth house, a beggar on the street stopped them, saying, “This young master, don’t waste your time. Even if you ask all the inns here, there will be no room available. Go to the north of the city to find it.”

Wen Chan was about to find someone to ask about the situation, and the beggar bumped into him. He walked over, took out a piece of broken silver, and put it in the broken bowl in front of the beggar. Then, in a half-complaining, half-wondering tone, he inquired, “What’s the matter with this place? Every inn is full. Are there fewer people in the north of the city? ”

The beggar immediately put the broken silver into his bosom with joy and said, “Young master doesn’t know anything. All of this is related to the ‘young master Qianmian’. Those people who live in the inn are all here to see young master Qianmian.”

“Young master Qianmian1? Who is he? What is his relationship with the Dark Sleeved Yama?” Wen Chan felt that these people of Jianghu were quite particular about their names, and they felt very powerful when you hear it.

The beggar’s face was covered with surprise, “You don’t know the young master Qianmian?”

After seeing Wen Chan’s serious face, which didn’t look like he was pretending, he said, “There is a limerick circulating in Jianghu. I wonder if the young master has heard of it.”

The beggar cleared his throat, “Gu Shan from heaven deserves all the praises. It has a thousand coverings for picking up flowers among its endless forms. The white and tender hands handing medicine curing people. None of the masters can beat him for the needles hidden in his dark sleeve. The first two words of these four sentences represent the well-known figures in Jianghu, namely the immortal Gu Shan, the young master Qianmian, the highly skilled doctor Su Shou, and the Dark Sleeved Yama.”

“Let’s not talk about the other three, for the time being, I will speak with the young master about this young master, Qianmian, today.” The beggar at this time resembled a person who tells folklore. With an excellent voice and expression, he said, “Some people say that this young master Qianmian is as handsome as a celestial fairy. And some people say that he is as ugly as a toad in a quagmire. But no one has ever seen his true appearance. The young master Qianmian’s method for changing appearance is a superb artistic achievement. Men and women, the elderly and children, there is nothing he can’t change his appearance into. When you look for the young master Qianmian all over the street, he may easily change his appearance to an extremely inconspicuous person and pass by your side. But no one will be able to see through his appearance-changing technique.”

“Then, according to what you said, isn’t it, that Shengui doesn’t know the whereabouts of young master Qiangmian? Why do they still come here to meet young master Qiangmian?”, Wen Chan asked, feeling strange.

“This young master, Qianmian, is fond of beauties. He especially likes beauties with plump bodies. If he has a crush on any girl, he will definitely send a flower to the girl’s chamber first, and then sneak into the girl’s room in the middle of the night to enjoy a spring night2. Therefore, the young master Qianmian is also called the ‘Qianmian flower picker’3. ” While the beggar was speaking, he turned around and pointed his finger to a brothel across the street, saying, “Look there. A beauty from there received a flower in her room yesterday, and she yelled on the street more than a dozen times. Fengcheng is the only entrance to Wuyue Island. The convening of the Meeting of the Heroes of the World attracted many Jianghu people. After hearing the trails of the young master Qianmian, which one will not look forward to his showing up?”

“So young master, it is impossible for you to find a vacant room here.”, The beggar concluded.

After Wen Chan understood the reason for the trouble, he thanked the beggar and led the three subordinates to the north of the city.

After walking away, Ah Fu couldn’t help asking, “That young master Qianmian is clearly a flower thief4. Why is anyone honored to receive his flowers?”

“In the Jianghu, there is no such thing as right and wrong. Anyways, whoever is powerful is right.” Qin Qi expressed his disappointment.

“I didn’t expect that there would be so many ways of doing things and ways of thinking in the Jianghu that are much more interesting than in the palace.” Ah Fu grew up in the palace since he was a child. It was the first time he had gone to a distant place. As soon as he heard about Jianghu along the way, he was very excited.

“What’s going on in Jianghu has nothing to do with us. We are here to do business this time.” Wen Chan walked in the front and said calmly, “You quickly go find an inn for us to stay in. I can hardly stand anymore.”

After nearly a month of traveling, Wen Chan’s small body couldn’t stand it at all. Although he was also very curious about the young master, Qianmian, his physical exhaustion urged him to lie down and rest again.

Shu Hua let Qin Qi and Ah Fu stay and follow Wen Chan. While he used his light footwork to find an inn in the north of the city. After booking two rooms, he turned back and led Wen Chan to the inn.

The inn seemed to have been newly opened not long ago. Everything in the rooms was brand new. The top-grade rooms have built-in beds and couches, with sheets on the beds. They looked clean and tidy. As soon as she saw Wen Chan’s extraordinary temperament and luxurious clothes, her hospitality became extremely warm.

After all, he was not in the capital. So, in order to ensure Wen Chan’s safety, both Shu Hua and Ah Fu said that it was more appropriate to open one room. But Wen Chan refused, saying, “It would be too crowded for several people to stay in one room.”

So there were two separate rooms. Shu Hua and Wen Chan stayed in one room, while Ah Fu and Qin Qi stayed next door.

Both Qin Qi and Shu Hua practiced martial arts, so they were of strong physical fitness and didn’t feel tired. On the contrary, Wen Chan and Ah Fu fell asleep as soon as they touched the pillows. No matter whether it was day or night, both Qin Qi and Shu Hua did not dare leave, and they took a nap in their room.

The bad thing about sleeping during the day is that you wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. Wen Chan slept until it was dark, and when he opened his eyes, the lights were already waning outside.

There is no night prohibition in the capital of Xi Liang. So once the sky gets dark, the common people who have been working all day come out and wander around.

Fengcheng these days is a bit different. Because of the Meeting of the Heroes of the World, numerous people from Jianghu are gathering in Fengcheng. The common people are afraid of those holding large swords and axes5. So they did not dare roam the streets at night. And most of them are from Jianghu. Most of the people who still walk outside at night are from Jianghu.

Lanterns hung high and shrouded the entire street. Wen Chan rubbed his drowsy eyes from sleeping, opened the window, and stretched out to look outside. The street was bustling with activity and looked extremely lively.

After sleeping in such a dark place, Wen Chan felt hungry as soon as he woke up. He drank two cups of herbal tea. Then he took Shu Hua and planned to go for a stroll on the street, while Qin Qi stayed in the inn to guard Ah Fu, who was still asleep.

There were no Shaobing, steamed stuffed buns, or steamed buns at night. Wen Chan bought a few cakes that were not too sweet and went to the south of the city in a horse-drawn cart.

He had also been thinking about the young master Qianmian in his heart. Therefore, he wanted to have a look. But as soon as he got out of the car, he was shocked by the grand occasion in front of him.

The whole street was filled with people, and it looked crowded from a distance. Not to mention those who have come to see young master Qianmian. Nowadays, the streets are so crowded that even if you think of walking through them, it is an inconvenient thing to do so.

He stood in a distant place with comparatively fewer people. He threw the cakes into his mouth while sighing vaguely, “It’s hard for me to imagine how attractive this young master Qianmian is. I don’t have an opportunity to see him this time. I don’t know if he is tall or short. I don’t know if he is fat or lean.”

He originally thought that someone would hear this and come to have a few words with him, but he didn’t expect that no one would talk to him. He turned his head to look and suddenly found that the three tall men standing beside him were all looking at him.

All three of them were not the same height. But they were all taller than Wen Chan. With flat eyebrows and thin eyes, their appearance didn’t look outstanding. When standing side by side, two of them even stretched out their heads and stared at Wen Chan.

Wen Chen was taken aback by these three people’s stares, and he asked, perplexed, “Have the three brothers6 seen me before?”

The person next to him, after hearing him say this, didn’t answer him, but instead turned his head to look at the man next to him. The two faced each other, and maybe after some whispering, the other shorter man suddenly moved and came towards Wen Chan.

Shu Hua immediately became alert. He seamlessly went closer to Wen Chan while his fingers touched the long sword at his waist.

But on the contrary, the young master didn’t do anything. He simply approached Wen Chan’s side and opened his mouth to ask in a deep and heavy voice, “Did the little brother come here to see the young master Qianmian?”

“Yes.” Wen Chan replied. And then he asked rhetorically, “Aren’t you guys here for the same?”

“Of course not. What’s so beautiful about the young master Qianmian, though? The three of our brothers just happened to pass by and saw that there were so many people here. So we just came here to join in the excitement.” The short young master was very disdainful of the young master Qianmian, who is sought after by everyone.

“Unfortunately, there will not be a chance tonight. There are a lot of people here.” Wen Chan muttered while chewing the cake, without much regret on his face.

That short young master glanced at him and said, “Don’t worry, it’s not just you, everyone here won’t be able to see him tonight. ”

After listening to the certainty in his tone, Wen Chan asked suspiciously, “How so?”

“As you can see, there are too many people here, and young master Qianmian can’t do light footwork. So how could it be possible for him to squeeze into the street through so many people?” He said, “Besides, even if there were not many people here, he still wouldn’t come.”

Isn’t this different from what I have heard before? Wen Chan was a little puzzled, “Isn’t it rumored that he likes beauty, especially the beauties who are plump? So why won’t he come? ”

“The rumors can be a bit true or false.”, the short young master made a meaningful smile,”So the younger brother should not believe them all.”

Wen Chan became muddle-headed after chatting a few sentences. He could be regarded as having personally experienced the complexity of rumors in the Jianghu. There are thousands of mouths that talk, and the words of each mouth are different. So it is hard to distinguish real from fake.

Just like now, he didn’t understand what the young master Qianmian was like. Seeing that the people in the street were still waiting excitedly, Wen Chan suddenly lost his interest and wanted to leave. Before leaving, he politely asked the short young master’s full name, “Myself, Wen Chan. I don’t know the young master’s name. ”

“Myself, Dan Ke.” The short young master replied.

“Young master Dan, I’m leaving. I’m sure we’ll meet again someday.” Wen Chan said a few polite words, and Dan Ke also cupped his hand in response.

Before Wen Chan left, he glanced at the two men over there. But unexpectedly, he saw that the two of them were still looking at him. He felt a bit like ranting and raving in his heart, and he couldn’t help but speed up his steps with Shu Hua. He touched his face and said to himself, those two people didn’t take a fancy to my charm, right?

After leaving the lively place by horse-drawn carriage and returning to the inn, Wen Chan asked the shopkeeper for hot water to bathe and purify his body. After changing clothes, he dug a well in the backyard of the inn and beat the clothes7 with a wooden club.

The three sets of clothes brought from the palace were thrown away by Wen Chan as early as one month ago when he hastened on with his journey. Because the materials used to make the imperial clothes were different from those worn by the common folk, many of the fabrics were imported from other countries. They were rare and precious. And it was inevitable that they would be noticed by people when they went out. So, in order not to provoke unnecessary trouble, Wen Chan threw them all away and changed his outfit.

It’s just that the act of wearing one’s clothes and throwing them away is too extravagant. It was no better to spend a little less money outside than in the palace, where there were not so many people to serve. Therefore, the noble former emperor and current Prince Wen Chan had to wash his own clothes by himself.

Although Ah Fu, Qin Qi, and Shu Hua were all rushing to help him wash his clothes, Wen Chan was very guilty of bringing these three people along to bear hardships. How could they be allowed to do the trivial tasks of laundry for him? As a result, he flatly refused them.

It’s not that Wen Chan hadn’t washed his clothes by himself. In his previous life, when the Zhong family allied with the Shengui Sect and massacred everyone, he fled from the capital city in a difficult situation and started a wandering life with Liang Yanbei. Although he didn’t worry about food and clothing and didn’t lack people to serve, he also learned to wash his own clothes and do small things like the following.

Now that he thinks about it, although those days were the saddest in his heart, they were also the times when he was closest to Liang Yanbei. After the annihilation of the rebels and the ascension to the throne, Wen Chan’s distance from Liang Yanbei grew farther and farther, until later he had someone he loved, married a wife, had children, and never returned to the past.

After thinking about it, Wen Chan felt that his nose was a bit sour. Since leaving the capital, the number of times he had thought about Liang Yanbei had increased. And his thoughts have entered his heart and lungs, making them difficult to suppress.

Wen Chan inhaled deeply through his nose and seriously hammered his clothes with the wooden club.