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Chapter 77 Kung Fu, breakthrough!
Leaving behind the stunned Zhao Dabing and Qing'er, Li Guanyi took Xue Shuangtao and rode away on horseback. These two horses were used to pull carts. They had no saddles or reins and were actually very unsafe. However, they became very obedient after sensing the White Tiger's presence.

Both obedient and timid.

They ran out of the main road and gradually came to a place that was not so wide. Li Guanyi put two fingers in front of his lips and blew a whistle. The two horses stopped and Li Guanyi jumped off the horse quickly and neatly.

The horse that the eldest lady was riding also stopped.

Because there was no saddle or reins, the eldest lady nervously grabbed the horse's mane with both hands.

The little face turned pale.

The horse wanted to struggle.

But in the creature's perception, behind the young man in front of it with a warm smile, there seemed to be a terrifying existence that the creature could not disobey, which was more terrifying than any tiger it had ever seen. So it had no choice but to be obedient. Li Guanyi stretched out his hand and let Xue Shuangtao put her hand on his wrist, giving Xue Shuangtao leverage to help her get off the horse.

"I heard from Brother Zhao that the horses of the Xue family all know how to get back to the Xue family."

"People like Brother Zhao can easily find these two horses. Let's release them. Otherwise, they will definitely be found."

Li Guanyi let go of the horses and let them run freely. Xue Shuangtao took a long time to calm down. He looked around and saw that the streets he saw were different from the streets he walked on in the past. They were not as wide as before.

Xue Shuangtao looked at the time, still a little nervous and worried, and said softly:

"No, I can't mess around with you anymore. I still have to go back."

Li Guanyi tapped her wrist, raised his eyebrows and smiled: "No."

"You were robbed by me."

"Don't worry, if the old man is angry, I have a way to make him happy."

Xue Shuangtao was puzzled, but Li Guanyi had already pulled her towards them and said, "But you need to change your clothes. This set of clothes is too luxurious. This set is more suitable for the environment of children from aristocratic families. Change into something else."

Xue Shuangtao whispered, "I only brought more than ten taels of silver."

"I'm afraid it's not enough."

Li Guanyi laughed: "That's enough!"

"You come!"

Li Guanyi took her to the cloth shop and bought some ordinary clothes and cloth. He put on a set here and a set there, and took off the girl's complicated and gorgeous dress and changed it into a dark gray dress and simple but comfortable shoes.

Her hair was like clouds, and she was holding a three-cent wooden hairpin.

Li Guanyi put all the clothes and jewelry into a backpack, changed into ordinary clothes, stretched his waist comfortably, and then went to bargain with the cloth shop owner. The cloth shop owner who thought he could make a lot of money doubted his life and sighed:
"Brother, you are such a ruthless guy."

"To be honest, if I cut it down like this, I won't make any money."

"Nonsense, then why don't I just not buy it?"

The cloth shop owner felt that he had met an experienced opponent.

The young man smiled with his eyes slightly narrowed. When he heard footsteps, he turned around and looked at Xue Shuangtao again. She was the descendant of a duke five hundred years ago and the eldest daughter of one of the top three wealthy merchants in the world today. She looked like an unadorned beauty. But when she raised her eyebrows, she was still a beautiful girl.

Li Guanyi put the clothes and decorations in a package, put it on his back, and walked out with Xue Shuangtao.

When they came out of the cloth shop, they were just two ordinary boys and girls.

At this time, Xue Shuangtao was like the first private school student who skipped class. The nervousness and the excitement brought by refusing to do something she didn't want to do made the girl's eyes light up slightly. Li Guanyi led her forward, walked through several alleys, slightly turned sideways, and in front of them were the alleys, willow banks, and stone bridges.

A stream flows past here, and there are young women washing clothes.

Place the clothes on the uneven washboard and hit them with a wooden stick in your other hand.

There were children younger than them running around and playing here, laughing cheerfully.

Warm and brilliant.

Li Guan turned sideways and looked at the girl with wide eyes, smiling slightly:
"This is also Guanyi City, far away from those places you have to deal with, a more comfortable Guanyi City."

Xue Shuangtao said: "But, there..."

Li Guan smiled and said, "Don't worry!"

"If that's the case, Brother Zhao will definitely know how to deal with it."

"Although he has been hiding, he must be a veteran!"

........................

Zhao Da Bing watched the young man and girl gallop away with his eyes wide open. Finally, Old Zhao felt that even the handful of salt-baked peanuts in his hand were no longer fragrant. Not only were they not fragrant, they were simply choking his throat. Qing'er, who was wearing a green dress, stomped her feet and said, "Li Guanyi, Li Guanyi!"

"You you you——"

"Why don't you just take me too, woooo!"

"This way I don't have to face those ladies."

Qing'er looked reluctant and bitter, Zhao Dabing grinned, so in this final matter, the iron pot still had to be kept by him? In fact, he also knew that the gathering of these young ladies from aristocratic families looked harmonious, but it was not as good as the fights between the young masters of aristocratic families.

Xue Shuangtao is the eldest daughter of the Xue family. Although her family background is prominent, she has never been involved in politics, but only in business. Therefore, the children of officials have complicated feelings towards the Xue family. On the one hand, they are in awe of their wealth, but on the other hand, they want to despise the Xue family and elevate themselves by claiming to be [in-laws] and [merchants].

Otherwise, he would not be able to maintain his noble and proud attitude in front of the Xue family.

Under such circumstances, Xue Shuangtao really didn't like these things, but he had to go.

When Zhao Da Bing found the two horses, his eyes widened, he clapped his hands and laughed:
"There is a way."

"Hahaha, Brother Li really does things flawlessly. Hahaha, Miss Qing'er, we two will have less trouble today."

Qing'er was puzzled.

Zhao Dabing repaired the carriage and drove to the poetry gathering of the young ladies from aristocratic families. He couldn't say that Xue Shuangtao was kidnapped, so the excuse he made was that she had another invitation and therefore regretfully could not come here.

This year's poetry gathering and outing started early because Xue Shuangtao was going to enter the palace. Without Xue Shuangtao, the young ladies would not be able to use their strength, so the words that had been secretly agreed upon before were naturally elegant and sarcastic.

Qing'er understood, but had no way to refute.

His face turned red with anger.

Just as he was about to say something, Zhao Dabing raised his hand to stop him and said in a friendly tone:
"The young lady also had no way to refuse the invitation over there, so she couldn't come here."

"Here are some apology gifts for you all."

The daughter of Guan Yicheng, the prime minister, said softly, "So, just let me wait here?"

"It's a noble man with noble affairs."

"But I don't know what kind of distinguished guest he is that Miss Xue cannot refuse?"

"If you tell us, we will understand. If you really can't leave, the sisters won't say anything. But if you deliberately don't come, Miss Xue is a little arrogant."

Someone whispered, "After all, he is just a merchant's son who doesn't read."

"Sister, please forgive her."

So these young ladies from noble families laughed.

Her smile is also graceful, like a butterfly fluttering among the flowers.

But it's breathtaking.

Some people objected and spoke for Xue Shuangtao, but they were unable to overshadow these people.

Qing'er opened her mouth but couldn't say anything about Li Guanyi taking Xue Shuangtao away.

Zhao Dabing smiled, took a step forward, raised his hands, and placed a gilded waist badge in his palms. It looked like a tiger swallowing a bell, like a command arrow. This was a military officer's waist badge that Li Guanyi had put on his horse. The words "Zhenwei" were written on the back. He said in a loud voice, "I am just going to tell you." "I am a seventh-rank official of Guan Yicheng."

"The current Grand Secretary of the Shangshutai, the Imperial Silver and Green Guanglu Doctor, and the direct disciple of Master Wang Tong."

"The current Grand Secretary of the Imperial Observatory, the Imperial Silver and Green Guanglu Doctor, the person mentioned by Master Zu Wenyuan."

"The emperor has decreed that soft armor be bestowed upon you!"

"The emperor has decreed that I shall be included as one of the 72 seventh-rank military officers accompanying the great sacrifice of the State of Chen."

"The emperor bestowed upon me a third-grade rhinoceros horn belt."

"A seventh-rank military officer of Guanyi City, and a lieutenant of Zhenwei of the Great Chen State."

"Master Li Guanyi."

The names came down one by one, and this kind of address was familiar yet carried a strange majesty.

Qing'er saw the smiles on the faces of those elegant ladies slowly disappear, saw astonishment on their beautiful faces, and then even a hint of jealousy emerged, and the hand holding the handkerchief subconsciously exerted force.

In the sunlight, these butterflies suddenly became transparent.

The air became refreshing.

Qing'er suddenly felt dazed. She realized that the young man who smiled with high spirits, complacency and sweet words seemed to be a remarkable figure among his peers. He could carry a spear and a sword so heroically and go out of the city to kill the enemy. He could also dismount and write poems that would make people praise him.

She noticed that the expressions on the faces of the young ladies from the aristocratic families had changed a little.

From bullying Xue Shuangtao to jealousy in his eyes, Qing'er couldn't help but feel happy.

"That's right."

She smiled and said, "It's Mr. Li Guan, who invited me so kindly that I can't refuse."

"The Xue family will make amends."

When the matter was over, Qing'er found a place where no one was around, and laughed heartily while holding her stomach. Zhao Dabing was sitting in the carriage eating peanuts. Qing'er laughed so hard that her stomach hurt. She raised her fingers to wipe away the tears from her laughter and said, "But, Uncle Dabing, how did you know to use this?"

Zhao Da Bing said, "Brother Li stuffed this thing into the horse's saddlebag and then let the horse go. He knew that I had taken care of these two horses since they were young. If I let them go, they would definitely come to me. Although he acted recklessly, he still knew his limits."

Qing'er nodded, feeling that she, the eldest daughter, always treated the children of aristocratic families and officials gently.

Only then did he let out a sigh of relief, and said, "I wonder where they went to play."

Zhao Da Bing said, "Maybe he went out of the city to visit some famous place outside the city?"

"But I think it's going to rain."

“I don’t know if they can get back in time.”

………………

Didn't go out of town.

Li Guanyi took Xue Shuangtao for a walk in the alley, looking at the spring scenery, watching the stream flowing through the street, and the children who were slightly younger than them jumping rope, hopscotch, and catwalk. There were not so many restraints, and Xue Shuangtao gradually let go.

Anyway, it's destined to be missed there.

Let's just have fun here.

Otherwise both sides will miss out.

They played the game with Guan Yi, a boy of the same age. Li Guanyi saw that the young lady also lifted her skirt and danced lightly. It was a childish game, but it was fun to play when no one who knew their identities was around.

They knocked the fruits off the trees, wiped them and ate them.

Rolling up her trouser legs and stepping on the stream, doing things a young lady from aristocratic family shouldn't do, Li Guanyi went for the big spinning top and easily won the round stones and straight wooden sticks in the children's hands.

A martial artist who had just arrived was practicing the Jade Arm Divine Bow Technique, which had top-notch explosive power. With just a raise of his hand, the gyroscope began to spin rapidly, causing the surrounding children to exclaim in amazement.

Xue Shuangtao held a string in his hand and watched the kite floating in the sky. This kite was not made of silk, but just a piece of paper with some things drawn on it. Since he was young, Xue Shuangtao had only practiced bow and piano, and seldom ran around and played like this.

She watched the kite flying higher and higher in the sky, and seemed to see her past, but suddenly it tilted.

The rain was beating down, and the paper kite couldn't hold out for that long. It got wet and started spinning and falling from the sky. Li Guanyi returned the round stones he had won to the children, took five cents, and bought the spinning top and the kite.

"size……"

Xue Shuangtao glared at her with his eyes wide open.

Li Guanyi grinned and said, "Then let's go and avoid the rain."

Xue Shuangtao asked: "Where can we hide?"

Li Guanyi thought for a moment and said, "There are also small vendors here. When it rains, everyone will go to a teahouse off the beaten track. For one penny, you can have a pot of tea. We will set up stalls outside, selling candy figurines and candy water. People drink tea and chat inside, just like a temple fair."

Xue Shuangtao and the young man walked in. She saw that there were already many people inside, both men and women, old people, and a merchant in silk clothes. He shook the water off his clothes and asked the old shopkeeper to serve tea. He smiled and said that there were not many people today, so they could all take shelter from the rain together, and he would treat them to tea.

So the atmosphere became lively.

It was already afternoon when food vendors began to solicit business. People drank tea and chatted, eating delicious food worth a penny or two. Although they were strangers just now, they quickly became familiar with each other. They talked about the bad years, the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River, and how life would still be good if there was no war.

The child who had just flown a kite with me squatted at the door and watched the rain falling, dripping.

Look at the rain falling on the puddles, and flowers bursting into bloom one by one.

The merchant took out the Western Region figs that he was very proud of and sold them to everyone, as well as the Western Region huqin, but no one understood how to play it. Li Guanyi came over and suddenly laughed. He said, "Uncle, give me some fruits and I'll play the huqin for you, okay?"

The businessman looked at him and the girl next to him who looked pretty even in her ordinary clothes, and smiled.

He generously took out the fruit, threw it over, and said, "It's okay, young man, take it."

Li Guan wiped the fruit and handed it to Xue Shuangtao behind him, then sat down cross-legged without any hesitation, grabbed the huqin and plucked the strings. The merchant said, "This is a huqin from the Western Regions, which is different from the ones from the Central Plains. Young man, do you know how to play it?"

Li Guanyi gave a very unreliable answer and said with a smile: "As long as it has strings, you can always play it." He played a few notes, found the right tune, and then sat there cross-legged with his sleeves hanging down. When he played again, there was a very crisp sound.

In the spring, raindrops fall in the south of the Yangtze River, landing on the clay pots piled outside the teahouse, making a tinkling sound.

The young man sat on the hu chair, crossed one leg, let his sleeves hang down, and swayed slightly. The hoarse and rough sound of the huqin rose and swirled in this Jiangnan Road. People quieted down. The temperament of the young man's brows suddenly changed, and his mind flowed naturally.

He was as carefree and unrestrained as the wind, and even the girls who were taking shelter from the rain were dazed. The boy's piano music suddenly changed from the roughness of the Western Regions to elegance, and returned to the south of the Yangtze River. The wind in the south of the Yangtze River was gentle. The boy opened his mouth, and his voice was clear and melodious, singing:

"The southeast is a beautiful place, the capital of the Three Wus, and Guanyi has been prosperous since ancient times. There are willows and painted bridges, wind curtains and green curtains, and tens of thousands of houses. Clouds and trees surround the embankment, and the raging waves roll up frost and snow. The natural moat is endless."

"The market is lined with pearls, and the houses are filled with silk and satin, competing in luxury."

"The Qingjia Lake is overlapping with Qingjia. There are three autumn osmanthus and ten miles of lotus. Qiang pipes clear the sky, and the water chestnut song fills the night. They play and fish for old lotus babies. Thousands of horsemen and high-toothed horses ride drunkenly listening to flutes and drums, chanting and admiring the haze. A picture of the future. I will go back to Fengchi to praise the good scenery."

His voice was clear and his brows were bright and smiling. Xue Shuangtao stood there holding the fruit, looking at the young man in the world. A flower seller smiled and found a nice one in the basket and put it in the boy's temples.

The piano music was free and easy, and rain was falling outside.

His raised brows show that he is a knight from the south of the Yangtze River, with a bit of noble spirit and a refreshing breeze that can travel a thousand miles.

"The rain in Jiangnan is still so hazy."

The young man put down his erhu, his temperament was as free and easy as the wind, completely different from before.

Another day of mist and rain in Jiangnan.

Already reached the second floor.

Realm, breakthrough!
(End of this chapter)