The woman reined in her horse and said in a cold voice, "I have grown up so big, although I haven't met many people, but I know . My grandfather, who I have only met a few times, was so good to me because he wanted me to revive the reputation of his Jade Sword Sect. My uncle, at such an old age, was willing to be humble to a girl like me because he wanted his son, who was not very talented, to be the leader of the Jade Sword Sect and was afraid that I would snatch him away. My master was naturally good to me. She taught me martial arts and even specially researched a set of sword techniques for me, but this was because she herself had not practiced to the sixth level of the Six Snow Mysterious Art. Rather than asking me to fulfill this wish for her, it would be better to say that she wanted me to experiment whether this mental method could be practiced to the extreme."
There was a hint of sadness and coldness in her voice. She looked blankly at the towering city wall in the distance under the setting sun, and then said, "My mother was kind to me, but she just wanted me to avenge her."
At this point, she turned sideways and looked back. Her eyes, which were originally extremely pitiful, suddenly changed to become sarcastic. She said, "Mr. Lin, you always say how good Lin Longqing is to you, but I don't believe that he didn't do it for a reason. When you were in Hangzhou for a few days, you were willing to help me practice martial arts. You were also very considerate to me along the way. Why was it for that?" Seeing the man on the horse opposite standing there in a daze, with indescribable sympathy and pity in his eyes, she was moved, but still answered to herself, "Yes, you want me to stop making things difficult for Lin Longqing. But there is only this point that I can't do."
The wind was strong in the evening, blowing her long hair constantly. The side of her sleeve that was facing the wind was also blown tightly to her body, revealing her extremely thin figure. Her thin shoulders seemed like they would break if they were squeezed. Seeing her standing proudly on the horse like a winter plum, Lin Jianlan's just-rising annoyance and anger subsided again, and he said, "I'm not doing this for anything. You should know that I don't need you to show any mercy to protect Uncle Qing now. You want revenge, and I want to repay my gratitude. Although we are closely connected, these have nothing to do with my kindness to you. I just hope you don't suffer so much."
Cao Yinyin shuddered slightly, bit her lip, and listened to Lin Jianlan say, "That year on the Yangtze River ship, I saw you crying secretly at the stern, but I didn't dare to go up to comfort you, because I was afraid that you would hate Uncle Qing and get angry with me. You and I haven't seen each other much in the past few years. You have never looked me in the eye, nor have you ever said anything to me, but no matter what, I can't just let you go crazy and feel like you've fallen into an iceberg and ignore you."
Speaking of what happened on the boat, Cao Yinyin's eyes widened slightly, and his expression was very uncomfortable. After a while, he turned his head away and said, "Practicing martial arts is inherently dangerous. You and I should be used to it. You asked the store owner to call Deputy Gang Leader Qin over. It only takes an incense stick of time. It's already a gesture of kindness. Why do you have to do it yourself to help me out?"
Lin Jianlan was silent for a long time before hesitatingly saying, "If you weren't bored waiting for me and practicing in the room, how could I..."
As they spoke of this, a strong wind blew in with sand, and the whole place was filled with yellow smoke. Pedestrians on the road hurriedly covered their faces with their sleeves to avoid the wind and sand. The two stood on their horses, and Cao Yinyin's white dress was still very clear . Lin Jianlan heard her sigh softly and whisper something, but he could not hear it clearly no matter what.
After a while, the wind and sand gradually passed, and Cao Yinyin returned to the calm again. He said, "Luoyang is just ahead. Let's go into the city quickly."
Lin Jianlan hesitated for a moment and said, "I won't go. I have to rush to Chang'an immediately. There is still some time before the Flower King Festival. I should be able to return on time by then."
Cao Yinyin said coldly: "Is it the girl from the South Sea faction who is waiting for you in Chang'an? No wonder you are so anxious."
Lin Jianlan said, "You are the leader of a gang now, and you never took the invitation seriously. The Taihu Grand Meeting is coming soon, and I don't know why you want to come to Luoyang instead. But the Flower Queen invitation is something that others cannot ask for. Since she has helped me, I can't let her wait in vain in Chang'an. This can be regarded as repaying a favor."
Cao Yinyin said: "Return your favor. I have no intention of interfering with you." After saying that, he urged his horse to gallop towards the city gate in front of him. Lin Jianlan smiled bitterly. He knew that there must be someone from the Kuangyi Gang in Luoyang City to pick up the gang leader, but the city was only a few steps away. It was not appropriate to leave Cao Yinyin alone outside the city, so he had to spur his horse forward again.
Luoyang, which is close to the imperial capital Chang'an, is of course very lively. The city has a strong love for flowers, and it is the blooming season. Peonies are displayed in front of and inside shops of all sizes on both sides of the street, symbolizing "blooming flowers bring wealth."
The two entered Luoyang, but they had no time to enjoy the scenery. They asked several inns but they were all full, and the receptionist had not arrived yet. Cao Yinyin's face gradually showed displeasure, and her face was as cold as frost. Lin Jianlan was also anxious, not knowing how long he would have to wait. But he heard someone next to him say, "This pot is also very good." The voice was charming and beautiful. Lin Jianlan hurried over there, squeezed through the crowd, and saw a woman who happened to turn around, holding a pot of blooming yellow peonies in her hands. It was so beautiful, but compared with the woman's face, it was a little inferior. The woman was happy, and her face was full of smiles. She gently put the pot back on the shelf, and her every move was graceful. She turned around and said, "Brother."
Lu Man was about to go forward, but saw the cold girl who was at the door of the Kuang Yi Gang that day standing behind Lin Jianlan, so she stopped again. Lin Jianlan looked back and saw that two people were standing behind Cao Yinyin. They must be the leaders of this branch. One of them bowed and whispered something in Cao Yinyin's ear. Cao Yinyin's face changed and said, "Mr. Lin, thank you for your care along the way. We will say goodbye here. If you have time to come to the Luoyang branch, I will ask someone to thank you." After that, he turned around and walked away quickly with the two people.
Lin Jianlan looked at Cao Yinyin's figure disappearing in the crowd, feeling a little melancholy. After a moment, he realized that Lu Man was still beside him. He turned around and said, "Sister Man, why are you in Luoyang? I still need to go to Chang'an to find you!"
Lu Man said, "Brother, don't be anxious. Now is the best season for flowers in Luoyang, and there are many pedestrians and visitors. I'm afraid you haven't booked an inn yet? Why don't you come to my place and rest for a while, and let me explain it to you slowly."
Seeing the crowds on the street, and many young men who claimed to be romantic were circling around Lu Man, Lin Jianlan knew that this was not the place to talk, so he nodded and followed Lu Man out of the crowd, walked through several alleys, and finally arrived at an inn. There were a lot of guests in the inn. Lu Man went in and ignored the waiter's question. She went upstairs and looked around with her big eyes. After a moment, she smiled and ran to a place. It turned out to be a private room with a low bead curtain. Lu Man just opened the bead curtain and heard Bai Zongping inside: "Why are you back so late? The owner has urged several times. His business is good and he can't wait for me to leave and make room for him!"
Bai Zongping raised his eyes and was stunned to see Lin Jianlan clasping his fists. He returned the greeting vaguely and sat down again, saying, "I haven't ordered any food yet. If Junior Sister is hungry, I'll call the waiter in."
Lin Jianlan had no mood to eat, but it would be bad to ask for help instead of saying thank you for your hard work. He just stood by the window and looked down, not seeing anything. Seeing this, Lu Man walked to Lin Jianlan and said, "Brother, I know you are anxious. Actually, I didn't bring you here to say much. I'm afraid this trip to Chang'an is in vain."
Lin Jianlan turned around in surprise. Lu Man didn't look at him, but just stared outside. She said, "We went to the Beggars' Sect, but Elder Tang was not there. We asked other people but they didn't know where he was. They just said that he was different from other elders. Maybe he had his own family and property before coming to the Beggars' Sect, so he was often not in the sect for several days. Even when the old leader was there, he didn't interfere with him."
Lin Jianlan stood there for a while, thinking of Tang Zimu's claim that his parents had passed away and he had never married or had children, and that he had donated all his wealth to follow the old gang leader. However, in the case of Lei Kan, he quietly arranged a very secret house for him, and even had dealings with the son of Prime Minister Di. His identity was really unknown and his whereabouts were strange. He could only murmur, "Really? No wonder."
On the day Lin Jianlan returned to Hangzhou from Yangzhou, the shop owner came to meet him and said that Cao Yinyin often came here to wait. Lin Jianlan wandered outside the door for a long time before opening the door. He was shocked to see her slumped in the corner of the bed, wrapped in thick layers of mattresses, her teeth clenched, and her face seemed to be covered with a layer of severe frost. The house was also filled with cold air. The weather in late spring was like the cold winter. He knew that her internal skills must have gone wrong. Without thinking, he put his hands on Cao Yinyin's back and kept urging the Yangyan Qi in his body. Although he didn't know the details, the general method was not bad and it finally worked. After a little in-depth exploration, he realized that the mental method Cao Yinyin practiced was extremely difficult. When practicing, she released 10% of the cold air, but she had to bear the other 40%. Only after breaking through this disaster could she achieve great success. In his heart, he was both puzzled and angry about her practicing this mental method, but mostly he felt pity for her for suffering so much for her father's hatred.
From that day on, Lin Jianlan could no longer let go of Cao Yinyin's internal strength. After several persuasions and several polite talks with Qin Tianxiong, Cao Yinyin finally agreed to let Lin Jianlan guard her when she practiced internal strength every day. If she encountered key points occasionally, Lin Jianlan's help would help her achieve twice the result with half the effort.
During this time, Lin Jianlan accompanied Xie Zhongju to stay in Hangzhou for several days. Fortunately, nothing happened. Yuan Xingjian went to Taihu to settle the matter. After a few days, he rushed back to Hangzhou, but he brought back a very coincidental news. Since Cao Yinyin took over as the leader of the Kuangyi Gang, it has stopped supplying the Taihu Volunteer Army. There is no need to spread any false news. The people in Taihu are already worried. Lin Jianlan met with Cao Yinyin every day. Several times, he couldn't help asking her why she stopped supporting Taihu, but every time he swallowed the words back into his stomach.
After several days, Lin Jianlan could no longer wait for news from Lu Man and the others. Once Yuan Xingjian and Xie Zhongju left, the appointment in Hangzhou was over. Although the Kuangyi Gang no longer supported Taihu, it was still the "host" that benefited the most from the Taihu volunteers. The Taihu event was imminent, and Cao Yinyin would not miss it. Thinking of this, Lin Jianlan had no intention of staying for long, so he hurriedly said goodbye to Cao Yinyin.
But he never expected that it was Cao Yinyin who also took out an invitation from her sleeve, and in the end, it was Lin Jianlan who went with Cao Yinyin to Luoyang. He secretly cursed this Su Xinke tens of thousands of times in his heart: "It is said that this invitation is hard to come by, how come I have only seen it three times?" He originally wanted to try his luck and see if Lin Longqing would also accept the invitation. Now Cao Yinyin was also going, so he secretly prayed in his heart that Lin Longqing would not go.
Lu Man turned around and walked around to the curtain, opened the bead curtain to both sides, and hung it on the hook next to it. She ignored the amazed and admiring gazes of the many people outside, and just sighed and said, "It's really stuffy with this curtain blocking it." Fang turned around and sat down again, frowning slightly. Seeing that Lin Jianlan was just staring blankly at the window, she didn't know what he was thinking about. Just when she was about to speak to him, she pursed her cherry lips tightly and lowered her head.
Lin Jianlan stood by the window, looking at the red clouds in the distance, the pavilions and towers in the mist, the city was like a cloud and fog, occasionally a group of dusk birds flew by, and then disappeared, and the sound of dusk drums came from somewhere, heavy and a little sad. The tourists on the street below were still very crowded, most of them seemed to be encouraged by the flowers blooming all over the city, and were not infected by the late spring dusk at all. Instead, they showed joy and vigor, but he couldn't get excited no matter what.
Luoyang, finally came to Luoyang.
At this moment, Lin Jianlan seemed to have some understanding of what Tang Zimu said about having no achievements and gray hair. Although he had not yet reached the stage of gray hair, he had been busy for nothing, and in the end he still had no idea, and he had caused Lu Man to work hard in vain. When he heard that Lu Man was so unhappy without seeing Tang Zimu, how did she feel? Thinking of this, Fang Jianlan perked , turned around and sat next to Lu Man. Just as he reached into his lapel to take out the invitation, he heard a noisy sound outside.
At this time, the living room was already crowded with people. There were scholars chatting and laughing, and there were also heroes with rough and unrestrained spirit. The noise just now was made by a few people sitting next to them. They were all handsome and dressed like scholars, but they were also a bit extravagant. They whispered a few words and laughed again, "Brother Yizhi, this mouth is really unforgiving!"
The three of them looked outside and saw a black-clothed scholar in the middle. He had fair skin and a handsome face like a woman. He picked up the wine glass and took a sip of wine, then said with a smile, "Don't worry, everyone. I have more! Do you know how many grades of peony are there?" Someone said, "Green peony is very difficult to cultivate. Even the emperor's family can't find it. It must be the best grade. In addition, although Gejinzi and Yaohuang are inferior, they should also be top grade." The scholar in black clothes said, "No, I think peony should be divided according to 'qi'!" Someone next to him couldn't wait to ask, "Brother Yizhi must have another profound theory!" Someone else said, "What profound theory? I'm afraid it's a perverted theory?" Everyone laughed again.