Chapter 38: High-rise maze
February 11th
Shen Kuo and Xu Chong said goodbye and went downstairs. As they went down the stairs, Shen Kuo felt a little relieved. He thought he would not be able to see Xiaoping today, but unexpectedly, by chance, he had to go to Fanlou on business, and the person he met was Xiaoping.
When the two men walked onto the street, Shen Kuo realized that Xu Chong was silent and seemed to be also fascinated.
"Xu Jieji, what are you thinking about?"
"I was thinking, the cool red-dressed lady I met when I went downstairs just now turned out to be from Fanlou. It seems we may meet again. Brother Shen, you said you are somewhat familiar with her, can you introduce her to me?"
"Don't worry, I will introduce you to each other."
The two of them, each with their own thoughts, went to the alum building together.
Fanlou is the most prosperous restaurant in the capital. It is composed of five three-story buildings in the east, south, west, north and center. The eaves of the buildings are stacked one after another, and there are pavilions everywhere. If you enter the building from the entrance of the Imperial Street, you can go inside, pass by various restaurants, tiles, and shops, and then go downstairs or you will be in the back street. If you have spare time and money, you can spend a whole day in this Fanlou.
When he arrived at the Imperial Street, Xu Chong looked up and saw the huge colorful gate. However, this was not the only entrance to the Fan Tower. There were four entrances of this size in the east, west, south and north.
Look at the Baifan Building. There are five floors in parallel, surrounded by four floors on each side, with the middle building being the highest. Each building is not independent, but connected by terraces, corridors, and rainbow bridges. At the intersection of beams and columns between the buildings, the eaves of the brackets extend outwards, and the eaves of the adjacent buildings overlap on the left, right, front, and back. It is really complicated and exquisite, and even more magnificent than the Pan Building on Pan Street that I visited a few days ago.
I don't know where to find the venue set up by the Jicui Mi Society. It seems that there are quite a few prostitutes who sell smiles, singing and drinking. It is said that there are dozens of them. Shen Kuo has been here but only went to the back street. Xiaoping clearly went up from there. Maybe she and her aunt's group are here?
The two men stopped their horses and headed for the back street, where there was a pavilion for listening to music. It was daytime and not many people were around, so there was no way to ask around and they had no way of getting in. You must know that there were countless prostitutes in brothels during this period, so they didn't know where Xiaoping was, singing and selling wine.
He was regretting that he had not asked Manager Pei for the location when he left, so he hurried here. While he was hesitating, he heard the elegant sound of a piano.
It was about 3 p.m., and restaurants and hotels had not yet opened for the night market. Although there were some hawkers on the street and waiters in the shops were preparing their meals, it was not too noisy. Shen Kuo carefully distinguished that this was clearly the song he heard Xiao Ping playing on the boat that day.
He looked up and saw a woman in green playing the piano in the small hall under the double eaves on the fourth floor. It seemed that there was no place to find a soulmate, and a wonderful piece of music came to him.
"Brother Xu, come with me. If Jin'er is here, I will introduce her to you." Shen Kuo said excitedly.
The four buildings in the north and south of the Fan Tower are actually only three stories high. However, a small hall is set up on the third floor, which is actually a small attic under the eaves of the fourth floor. The attic is solitary and high, and it is ventilated on all sides, just like a viewing pavilion overlooking the downtown. It has a kind of elegance of quietness in the hustle and bustle, and it also has a high-rise building. It is not open to the public at ordinary times. First, people who come to eat think that the building is too high and they can't walk. Second, this place is higher than the imperial city. If someone wants to spy on the palace from here, the forbidden palace can be seen all the way to the Daqing Gate. The Imperial City Department has long intended to close the highest point of the Fan Tower, but the current official is a kind-hearted person and does not use the imperial power to hinder the prosperity of the downtown outside. The owner of the Fan Tower is also somewhat self-aware. If it is not a prominent person who wants to hold a banquet at this high place, he will not open this attic that is suspected of exceeding the rules.
Only the nobles and celebrities in the capital who want to have a quiet gathering in the midst of noise, or who want to have an experience different from that of the common people, would pay a huge price to open this attic. It may not be open once a month, and of course the price is not cheap.
The riddle party that the Jicui Riddle Society is going to hold here today is for those officials who are wealthy and pretentious and are the victims of their tricks. Ordinary people and idle people are naturally only concerned with eating and drinking and have no interest in guessing riddles.
The two of them went to the third floor and found that there was a waiter guarding the stairs. It turned out that an invitation from the Ji Cui Mystery Society was needed to go up. Xu Chong waved his Huangchengsi brand, but it didn't work. The waiter here has seen a lot of business, and has seen many people with real and fake Huangchengsi brands for many years, especially Xu Chong, who has a non-local accent. The waiter just said that Miss Xiaoping is still tuning the piano upstairs, and no outsiders are allowed to go up.
When Xu Chong heard that he was compared to an outsider, he became angry and was about to grab the waiter to argue with him, but the waiter refused to give in, so the two sides started fighting.
However, they heard the melodious sound of a piano coming from above, so both sides stopped fighting so as not to disturb the music being played.
Xu Chong also felt that this badge was actually useless except for entering and leaving the palace. He was often away from home and did not know that although the Imperial City Bureau was the eyes and ears of the emperor, the ministers often used the old story of the eunuchs' monopoly of power in the late Tang Dynasty to warn the emperor. The emperor could not argue with these great scholars who specialized in morality and articles, so the actions of the Imperial City Bureau had always been extremely restricted.
Even though this place was only one street away from the imperial city, the sign was not well received. Some people used this sign to cheat in other places, but were caught and beaten to death by local officials. The officials could only accept the bad luck.
Xu Chong was feeling a little depressed when he heard someone walking down the stairs. The fiery Jin'er came down with an incense burner in her arms. When she saw Shen Kuo and Xu Chong holding the gold medal, she was stunned for a moment, then smiled brightly.
"My dear, you just remembered to return the donkey today? My elder sister has been scolding you for many days. Did you bring any flowers?"
"Miss Jin'er, I actually have a business trip today."
"Sir, aren't you helping out in the Prince Consort's mansion with feng shui? How come you have official business?" Jin'er pursed her lips, but saw a big man in black boots and a sword on his waist standing behind Shen Kuo, staring at her infatuatedly.
"Sister Jin'er, this man just said arrogantly that they were entrusted with an important matter by the Imperial City Bureau and wanted to go upstairs to interrogate him. He was so rude, but he only had a yellow gate badge and no official documents."
The guy next to him said angrily.
"So it's really official business?" Jin'er's face looked a little unhappy, but it disappeared in a moment.
"Sister Jin'er, this is not all official business. I also want to see you..."
"Hey, this is a good man that my eldest sister is familiar with. The Imperial City Division is also a frequent visitor upstairs. If you have anything to do, please go upstairs."
After Jin'er said this, the waiter naturally made way.
The two were about to go up, but were stopped by Jin'er.
"Mr. Shen, my elder sister is a little angry because she didn't receive a sum of money. If you come here empty-handed, I'm afraid she won't be happy with you. In the afternoon, I went to that damn profiteer to ask for the deposit, but I didn't get it, and I was scolded by my elder sister."
"What should I do then?"
"Come with me. There is Granny Li's embroidery shop on the third floor. It specializes in selling pearl and jade headwear, artificial flower collars, and seasonal flowers from the Zhangtai Garden outside the city. My eldest sister has a vase with withered wintersweets in it. Mr. Shen, you can buy a bunch of fresh flowers in season and you probably won't get any cold stares."
"Thank you, Jin'er." He turned around and saw Xu Chong getting anxious, and suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to promise him.
"Sister Jin'er, this tall man is my peer, Xu Chong, an infantry commander of the Imperial Guard."
"It turns out to be Xu Jieji. Congratulations."
"I dare not."
"From your accent, you seem to be from Luzhou?"
"Xiao Ke is indeed from Luzhou."
"Then he and I are half fellow villagers. My parents are both from Shangdang County in Hedong. It is fate that we can meet our fellow villagers in the capital."
"It is fate, fate." Xu Chong was flattered and felt a little at a loss for words.
"Please follow me, my two officers."
The two followed Jin'er to the corner of the third floor, and there was actually an old woman selling pearl flowers. After asking Jin'er, they learned that the third floor Qichu Pavilion was frequented by wealthy families. During the banquet, they would inevitably invite some singing girls and dancers to sing and dance to entertain. If they wanted to make friends with singing girls, they would have to buy some hairpins, perfumes, and flowers for decoration. It was too far to go downstairs. So the owner of the place opened a show shop upstairs. If the women in the brothel were not satisfied with the gifts they received, they could sell them at a low price in the shop. In this way, the two parties were convenient in the brothel, and the discount was earned by the owner. It was like killing three birds with one stone, and everyone was happy.
The shop is indeed full of girls’ stuff.
It was only mid-February and there were only a few flowers, newly blossomed peach blossoms, forsythia, and fading wintersweets.
Shen Kuo selected a bunch of camellia flowers mixed with red and white colors before going up.
Jin'er went up first to inform them, and the two of them waited downstairs. When the piano music stopped, Jin'er coughed a few times, and then they went upstairs together. When they were halfway up the stairs, they turned back up and heard the piano music again.
From afar, the curtains danced in the wind, and behind them was Xiao Ping in green, who was playing the piano with her head down. The two could only stand at the stairs, not daring to interrupt the music, and not knowing whether Jin Er had informed them.
But Jin Er was standing outside the curtain, winking at Shen Kuo. It was obvious that Xiao Ping knew who was coming, but she deliberately waited until he was halfway up and played another song, deliberately leaving Shen Kuo, who was holding the flowers, out in the open. It was hard to guess what this girl was thinking, maybe she was being petty.
If Jin'er hadn't been there, Xu Chong would have gone over, opened the curtain, knocked on the table and asked questions. He didn't want to appear too rude at this moment.
He looked around and saw the shadow lamp right next to Xiao Ping. It seemed that there was no need to rush. Unless a thief climbed up from the eaves, no one could steal it.
Outside the curtains, there was a screen with no calligraphy or painting on it. It seemed that it was used to display the magical revolving lantern at night. Looking around, the hall was already filled with tables and chairs. There were not many, but they could seat about a dozen guests. Looking up, the paper with the riddle was hanging under the colored lights. It seemed that everything was ready, just waiting for the night.
After playing for a while, Xiaoping began to sing along with the music. The song she sang was "Spring River Moon Night".
Shen Kuo closed his eyes and listened, while Xu Chong found a chair nearby and sat down. Seeing tea on the table beside him, he poured himself a cup and drank it all.
After the song was over, Shen Kuoru woke up from the clouds. He straightened his clothes and wanted to go forward to talk, but unexpectedly another song started playing on the other side, which was "High Mountains and Flowing Water".
After all, Xu Chong couldn't bear it any longer, and put the teacup in his hand on the table. It seemed that his hand was a little heavy, and the piano music stopped immediately.
"Jin'er, there are guests coming? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Xiao Ping asked blankly. She didn't even raise her head while playing.
"Sister, it's Mr. Shen who's here. He said he has some business."
Jin'er deliberately spoke loudly and stuck out her tongue at Shen Kuo, probably indicating that she couldn't take the blame?
"Which Mr. Shen?"
"It was Master Shen who came with you on the third day of the second lunar month. Weren't you crying and saying you wanted to repay me? It's only been a few days."
"Oh, is it my benefactor?" Xiaoping said with a blank look at Jin'er.
Shen Kuo immediately stepped forward, holding a bunch of camellia in his hand. When he reached the curtain, he took a special look at the revolving lantern beside him. It looked just a little more delicate, but there was nothing special about it.
"Sir, please stop." Xiao Ping said in a cold voice.
"Shen Kuo could only stop and bow deeply to Xiao Ping through the curtain."
"Today I am in charge of something. This place was arranged by the boss's mystery club, and they said there can be no mistakes. Shopkeeper Pei told me that no outsiders are allowed to come in before midnight to disrupt their maze."
"Maze?" Shen Kuo asked puzzledly.
"I don't understand it either, but the mystery society has always had some strange rules over the years. If they break them, it will cause trouble. This year they brought this funeral lantern again. I have seen the same lantern in the Prince Consort's mansion. At midnight, I was playing in the pavilion and heard the Prince Consort screaming. Later I learned that the lantern was unlucky and that Madam Huarui came out of the lantern. She is now very scared. Please don't get close to this lantern, Mr. Shen."
Shen Kuo noticed that Xiao Ping had a white silk handkerchief tied on her slender hand. When he was investigating at the Prince Consort's residence that day, the Prince Consort seemed confused when he recounted the whole incident. He was probably frightened and stunned. He said that before the incident, he wanted to get close to Xiao Ping under the influence of alcohol, so he grabbed her wrist, but she struggled and escaped. It seems that what the Prince Consort said was true, and her hand injury has not healed yet.
"Don't worry, big sister. We have promised the owner Pei of the Ji Cui Mystery Society that we will just wait until the mystery society is over before approaching this palace lantern."
"That's good, please find a seat and wait."
Shen Kuo stole a glance at Xiao Ping, who was just lowering her head to play the zither without looking at him. He remembered the first time he saw Xiao Ping, she was wearing a veiled hat, and she was also separated by a layer of gauze, just like now, she was separated by a curtain, and she looked just as vague and elegant, but she was still a little charming at that time, but now she was just cold.
So Shen Kuo found a nearby seat and sat down. Anyway, this was something they had discussed with Mr. Pei, the boss of the mystery society. As long as the lamp was not lost in the next few hours, they could move it back and study it in detail.
As for why Xiaoping didn't let them get close to the lamp, it was probably because the atmosphere of the venue was designed around this lamp, and they were afraid that someone would bump into the screen or the carousel, which would ruin the mysterious atmosphere.
"Mr. Shen, do you have flowers in your hand?" Xiao Ping asked.
"That's right..." He saw Jin'er winking at him, "It's the camellia flowers I brought from outside the city. I wanted to bring them to decorate the spring."
On the other side, Jin'er nodded, probably approving that Shen Kuo was not so dull.
"Since we want to decorate the spring scenery, why not bring some peach blossoms? Since you have brought them, Jin'er, help me put them in the vase."
Jin'er came over with a wry smile, took the camellia, walked past the curtain, and put it in a vase in the small hall of the porch.
Shen Kuo sighed to himself, he should have bought a bunch of peach blossoms just now.
After a while, Xiao Ping sent Jin Er to the street to buy some fruit to entertain the two guests. After Jin Er left, she played another song, then stood up, opened the curtain, and left on her own, probably to go to her dressing room.
