"Let go of me! Let go of me!!"
Yao Xiaoxiao's face was full of fear, her delicate body trembling as she hastily shook her hand.
"Lin Jianfeng" suddenly began to breathe heavily, then leaned his body against that tall figure.
He was strong, and quickly pressed against her.
Yao Xiaoxiao struggled desperately, her water-green dress becoming wrinkled, the wooden hairpin on her high bun crooked, her cloud-like hair in disarray.
"Let go of me!"
"Lin Jianfeng" refused to let go, clinging tightly to the heroine's waist, pressing haphazardly while saying deeply: "Sister-in-law, I'm my brother, I'm my brother, why don't you believe me? My brother doing those things with you is alright, isn't it? Isn't it alright... I saw you two do it."
Yao Xiaoxiao's face turned pale, and she said sternly: "Lin Jieniu, if you don't let go, I'll die right here for you to see!"
Lin Jieniu, precisely Lin Jianfeng's twin brother, the two had extremely similar appearances.
At this time, Lin Jieniu heard these words, and suddenly let go.
Yao Xiaoxiao fell to the ground, got up hastily, and left as if fleeing.
Lin Jieniu raised his hand, smelled the fragrance on it, then suddenly clenched his fist and said: "Sister-in-law, sooner or later, I'll make you believe, I am my brother."
After Yao Xiaoxiao left, although her hair was disheveled, strangely, the surrounding servants and maids, even the guards of Yanzi Dock, all seemed as if they hadn't seen anything.
What's even stranger is, after being humiliated by her brother-in-law, Yao Xiaoxiao didn't go to find an elder to seek justice, but fearfully tidied her dress, and then started looking for her real husband.
...
...
In the bright sunlight, both sides of Yanzi Dock were filled with blooming flowers, with peach blossoms being the most vibrant.
The road gradually narrowed, leading to an entrance resembling a manor, where a jade screen wall blocked the view.
The carriage stopped outside, Zuo Hong leapt down, and tossed the reins to a Qing River transport guild disciple who had come to greet them.
The disciple respectfully said: "Dock Master Zuo."
Zuo Hong's attention was fully focused inside the carriage, she slightly lifted a corner of the curtain, smiling: "Young Master Li, we've arrived."
Li Xuan came out with his second brother, Wei Yao followed closely behind.
Once standing on the ground, he took a deep breath with his hand outstretched, feeling the air so fresh, as it carried the scent of clear water mixed with blooming flowers, thus praised: "In the world, April is when the flowers wither, but here the peach blossoms begin to bloom. I lament that spring returns but is hard to find, not knowing it has turned into this place."
Zuo Hong: ⊙▽⊙!...
Wei Yao: ⊙▽⊙!...
Second brother: ⊙▽⊙!...
After reciting this poem, Li Xuan slightly raised his face, with his left hand resting on the ancient and simple sword hilt of the "Sparrow Feather Sword," he stepped towards the front door.
In the golden sunlight, the youth seemed graceful and elegant, showcasing the demeanor of a talented and modest gentleman, even his every strand of hair appeared to be shining.
When he moved, Wei Yao followed, shadow-like.
Zuo Hong finally reacted, unlike ordinary rough wanderers, she understood a bit about music, chess, painting, and calligraphy, often accompanying officials and refined scholars in the past, so she immediately discerned the intricacy of the poem, feeling the profound yet playful sentiment. Upon seeing Li Xuan's demeanor, she sighed more and thought to herself: Such a handsome young man, not knowing how many young girls he'll charm, if I were a few years younger, I might have been smitten at first sight as well.
Suddenly, she remembered something, hurriedly stepped forward, and said softly: "Young Master, there's one thing to ignore at Yanzi Dock."
Li Xuan slowed his pace, curiously asking: "Sister Zuo, what thing?"
Zuo Hong replied: "If you see Lin Jianfeng acting strangely, don't bother him, or get involved."
Li Xuan asked curiously: "Why is that?"
Zuo Hong said: "He has a twin brother named Lin Jieniu who often likes to impersonate him and wander around. The two brothers' appearances are very similar, making it difficult for others to distinguish."
Li Xuan nodded, not asking further.
The four of them entered the manor, and shortly after, saw the brilliant ripple of Qing River in the distance, with Yanzi Dock's water fortress standing elevated, where guild members could be seen patrolling faintly above, while other riverside locations were filled with pavilions and luxurious manors.
This area was very spacious, some houses were hundreds of meters apart, with blooming flowers in between, tranquil groves, almost like an isolated paradise away from the city's hustle and bustle.
At a downstream small pier, there were boats coming and going, docking.
Six or seven strong guild members were going up and down, carrying some jars of something.
Zuo Hong saw Li Xuan looking over and began to introduce: "That is this year's newly brewed Hundred Flowers brew.
Hundred Flowers Brew is a specialty top-grade wine produced by the Hundred Flowers Mansion, brewed with flowers of all four seasons, hence a jar of fine wine requires at least one year to be brewed.
In the prefectural city, it is priceless and scarce, even if occasionally encountered, mostly in limited quantities."
They chat and laugh, soon led by a guild disciple to a pavilion for rest.
Before long, guests began arriving one after another.
Most guests were young gentlemen and ladies.
Thanks to Li Xuan's visits over the past days and his widespread fame, many young gentlemen and ladies recognized him, came to greet him one by one, then some sat beside him, chatting.
However, not everyone liked him, some small cliques obviously had an attitude of indifference, staying aloof outside, completely ignoring him.
Li Xuan didn't mind.
Pride in youth is normal; being envied is normal.
Some were chatting among themselves within their own circle. This is also normal, after all, he might be a little famous, but not enough to engage everyone.
Zuo Hong saw everyone chatting, and brought out the peach blossom poem Li Xuan had just recited, drawing praise from the young gentlemen and ladies, some even exclaimed and praised him as "deservedly Master Li."
The second brother was overshadowed by his brother's dazzling aura like the sun, trembling, continuously eating candied fruits beside him.
While Wei Yao stood even further away, directly outside the pavilion, seemingly not even wanting to glance at Li Xuan, just quietly staring at the ripples of Qing River in a daze.
And at this moment, a girl's voice was heard from afar.
"Brother Xuan~~"
Wei Yao's breath suddenly paused, but soon regained its smoothness. She did not turn around; she continued to stare at the water, watching the reflections of green mountains and white clouds.
Li Xuan looked in the direction and saw it was the siblings Cao Wen and Cao Yi.
He smiled and called "Sister Yi," then stood up to greet them and quickly started chatting with Cao Wen like brothers.
Cao Yi sat directly opposite him, eating sunflower seeds while sneakily watching Li Xuan, her eyes glowing, like spring water.
The second brother was covered by this view and felt anxious, quickly bending down to start consuming candied fruit. He didn't even know what he was eating but just wanted to eat something.
Li Xuan glanced at his second brother, who he usually noticed was quite reserved, and casually said, "Why are you eating so much?"
The second brother replied, "Tasty, tasty."
The nearby young masters and ladies immediately turned their attention to the second brother, each praising with a smile, "Master Li, your younger brother is so adorable."
The second brother's face turned red instantly, forcing a smile, feeling uncomfortable, sweating profusely from his forehead.
Li Xuan hadn't noticed his second brother's "social anxiety" trait before; now it seemed it had awakened.
He decided to relieve his second brother, so he turned his head and glanced at Wei Yao, who was watching the water, saying, "Second Brother, don't just focus on eating, bring some to Miss Yaohua."
The second brother felt relieved, hurriedly got up, and ran away holding the plate of candied fruit.
Today, he decided to stick with Wei Yao and not go back to his big brother's side.
...
Li Xuan was chatting with everyone while learning about the affairs of the city, and soon he received an interesting piece of news: a giant leopard corpse was transported to Hundred Flowers Mansion during the winter.
The leopard corpse was covered in black cloth, making it completely unnoticeable from the outside, yet it still emitted some corpse odor.
The young masters and ladies here were well-informed, perhaps having learned a bit from some elder, now using it as boasting material. Apparently, this matter needed to be kept secret, but most of the upper-class elites knew of it.
Li Xuan curiously pursued the question, "The leopard corpse was transported from our county, but I don't know what it can be used for?"
The young master speaking laughed and said, "It's Mr. Su's request."
Li Xuan asked curiously, "Who is this Mr. Su, and what powers does he hold?"
Before the young master could respond, another lady said, "Young Master Li can ask Lord Prefect; we only know Mr. Su possesses great divine abilities, even capable of subduing demons and monsters, but other than that, we're not sure."
As everyone was chatting, a pair of beautiful people appeared in the distance.
The man had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, with an elegant demeanor; the woman had her hair styled in a high bun, exuding an aura of grace.
It was indeed Lin Jianfeng and Yao Xiaoxiao, the couple.
Yao Xiaoxiao was accompanied by a maid.
At the moment they appeared, Wei Yao suddenly furrowed her willow-like eyebrows, quickly pulling Li Xuan's second brother back to Li Xuan's side.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Lin Jianfeng said hurriedly, greeting everyone.
He looked at Cao Wen and Cao Yi, cupped his hands, and smiled, "Brother Cao, Miss Cao."
But when he looked at Li Xuan, he was clearly a bit stunned, then quickly cupped his hands and said, "Hello."
Cao Yi didn't care; she, as the prefect's daughter, was quite dominant at Hundred Flowers Mansion, directly shouting, "Xiaolin, this is my Brother Li, why aren't you calling him?"
Lin Jianfeng was stunned again.
Li Xuan waved his hand, smiling and returning the gesture, "No worries, no worries, Li Xuan greets Young Master Lin."
Lin Jianfeng's face suddenly darkened, but only for an instant before recovering as normal.
And at this moment, Yao Xiaoxiao seemed to sense something, her body trembled, she slowly turned her head, her eyes rotated, looking at her husband beside her, suddenly becoming rigid, fear condensed in between.
Lin Jianfeng, however, hooked his arm around her waist and then smiled, "Everyone, please come to the Peach Blossom Pavilion. Our Qing River Shipping Guild has long prepared delicious food and exquisite scrolls."
He then smilingly looked at Cao Wen, saying, "Brother Cao, this time I have fetched the 'Hundred Horses in the Clouds Map,' you can evaluate later if it's authentic."
Cao Wen laughed heartily, "Great, great."
Everyone left the pavilion together.
Soon they arrived at the Peach Blossom Pavilion.
By the water, peach trees swayed in the wind, red petals drifting down.
The pavilion and corridors were covered with literary paintings, and young masters and ladies gathered in groups, discussing and evaluating.
At some point, Yao Xiaoxiao suddenly disappeared, along with her close maid.
After a stick of incense's time, serving maids from the shipping guild began delivering Hundred Flowers Brew and some exquisite dishes. In the falling daylight, each table was arranged outside by the pavilion.
Everyone took their seats.
Lin Jianfeng looked left and right, his face extremely gloomy.
At this moment, a maid carrying dishes unexpectedly stepped on a fist-sized stone, slightly stumbling, losing her balance.
She hurriedly stood firm, but even so, the dish on the tray spilled a little to the side.
The maid just steadied herself, not yet breathing a sigh of relief, but heard a sudden angry shout erupting from the front of the banquet.
"These are my guests, how dare you be sloppy, how dare you be careless! How dare a mere maid be impudent?"
This abrupt shout from Lin Jianfeng silenced the whole hall.
And it wasn't over yet. In the next instant, Lin Jianfeng suddenly untied his belt, shaking it, producing an ear-piercing metallic sound.
The belt was actually made of metal chains, and at the end of the chain was a strange hook, originally folded and indistinct, now clearly visible as it unfolded.
The maid was stunned for a moment, seemingly recalling something; her face displayed fear, lips moving as if to plead, but not uttering a word, instead breaking down and turning to flee.