Sword from the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 16: Pickled Vegetables and Tofu

Chapter 16: Pickled Vegetables and Tofu (Thanks to Senior Sister Ai Zong Shao Da Meng!)
The spring rain is as soft as butter, fine and fluffy, gently caressing the walls of Yongqiu City.

The east wind blows through the alleys, waving a wine flag and spreading it in the market.

There were many shops on both sides of the long streets in the main city, and the wealthy merchants were dressed in brocade clothes, and the clothes were very fancy, such as scarlet and purple.

In the past few years, these merchants were like pig butchers, and they could only use soap-colored silk cloth for their daily robes. Those who were presumptuous used dark patterns and cuts to show off their wealth, which was a kind of refinement in shackles.

Nowadays, there is no scruples anymore.

Dressed in red and green, it complements the spring scenery.

The gloomy sky and the drizzling rain cannot block this touch of color.

The sounds of hawking rang out one after another on the street, the inn waiters were working hard to attract customers, and some pedestrians wearing hemp shoes occasionally held swords in their arms.

They opened their hearts and spoke loudly to let people know that they were heroic and daring people.

There are many neighborhoods in the city.

Under the teahouse next to the stone bridge on the north side, an old woman with a basket of groceries was curled up under the eaves to avoid the rain.

A young girl holding a lilac oil-paper umbrella walked past the old woman and slowly entered the alley.

After a while, a dog barking suddenly came from the alley!
The old woman faintly heard a scream, and she went out from under the eaves to look into the alley, but saw no one.

There was only one fallen umbrella.
At the other end of the alley, three men in sackcloth clothes lowered their hats and grinned, revealing a few rotten yellow teeth.

The man in the middle was carrying a bulging sack.

A person at the back looked around, on guard against anyone following him.

The man in front was familiar with the place and only took small paths when walking through the streets and alleys. It was obvious that he was a local. With him leading the way, they naturally avoided those troublesome heroes.

I don’t know how long I walked around, but I arrived at the south of Yongqiu City, and further ahead was Gaoyangji.

There is an abandoned salt warehouse in the southern suburbs.

The three men in sackcloth clothes went into the salt warehouse and opened a small door. They found another world inside, which was actually a courtyard with several tiled wooden houses.

At this point, the man in the middle took off the sack.

He took a deep breath and said, "This little girl looks slim, but it's hard to walk with her on your back."

"What's so strange about that?" the guide said with a smile. "She's the daughter of the rice shopkeeper at the city gate. She must have been a picky eater since she was a child."

"No wonder she has such tender skin and flesh."

The man smiled evilly, opened the sack, pinched the young woman's face with his dirty hands, and then reached into her arms.

The woman's mouth was sealed with a cloth, tears were in her eyes, and her body was curled up and dodged backwards.

When the villain saw this scene, instead of showing any pity or sympathy, he laughed lewdly.

"Why are you crying? Grandpa wants to make you happy, but he doesn't have the courage."

"What's so good about this little Yongqiu City? No matter how fine the grains in your family are, can they compare to those in the imperial city? When you enjoy happiness in the future, don't forget the kindness of your grandfathers."

After saying this, he laughed again and carried the woman into the house.

Through the crack in the door, I could see six or seven women inside. The corners of their eyes were red, but they couldn't shed tears. It seemed that they had been crying for a long time.

This den of thieves is very noisy today, and someone is caught every one or two hours.

By the time it was getting dark, there were already more than a dozen people locked up in the two rooms.

"Yu~!"

There was the sound of a carriage outside, obviously ready to pick up someone.

It was getting dark, so no action was taken for the time being.

The spring rain was still falling, and several nimble men in black set up a thatched hut in the yard, put up a stove, and lit a charcoal fire.

Only when the water in the copper basin on the stove began to bubble did the two of them shake off the raindrops on their bodies and sit down around the stove.

Wu Guanlan of the Hunyuan School glanced at the room at the back where people were imprisoned, smiled and sprinkled a handful of pickles into the copper basin, which soon gave off an appetizing smell.

Next to him sat a man in black, his face as pale as a grain of millet, his cheeks sunken, and a sparse yellow beard on his chin.

There is a Chunxiang Tower in Yongcheng, Jiao County. This person is the shopkeeper Lai Changgen, who is also the younger brother of Lai Changming, the owner of Dongting incense.

Chunxianglou is naturally one of the brothels under the Baling Gang.

Lai Changgen pulled out a butcher knife from his waist, and with his other hand, which was missing the little finger, he held a piece of tofu, swung the knife to cut the tofu into pieces, and rolled them into the pickles.

The slight smell came over him, and Wu Guanlan suddenly felt drunk and poured two glasses of wine.

The two of them drank a cup happily and smiled at each other.

"No wonder my brother said that Elder Wu was very capable. I think he was absolutely right." Lai Changgen praised him generously. "Without Elder Wu's help, we wouldn't have been able to capture so many lovely young ladies in one day."

Wu Guanlan smiled and reminded again:
"The last batch of people taken away were daughters of poor farmers, and they have been handed over to Lai Xiangzhu to be sent away. This batch is mostly daughters of merchants, and there are also some daughters and concubines of wealthy families. Their relationships are complicated, so it is inconvenient for them to stay in Yongqiu for a long time."

"Don't worry, wait for the last few waves of people to come back and leave before it gets dark."

Wu Guanlan nodded after hearing this, and as he raised his glass to toast, he sighed and said, "I took a huge risk by doing this."

"Hahaha"

Lai Changgen smiled exaggeratedly:
"Don't worry, Elder Wu. I will definitely speak well of you to General Yuwen. Not to mention that your Hunyuan Sect is a dominant force in Yongqiu, but you also have the support of the Yuwen Clan, one of the four great clans. What is there to be afraid of?"

Wu Guanlan immediately smiled and asked in a low voice:

"I heard that your gang has always served the Emperor. Why didn't you send the captured slave directly to the Eastern Capital this time? Instead, why did you let General Yuwen take over first?"

"Brother Wu, why are you talking nonsense? Who can't see the current situation in the world?"

Lai Changgen narrowed his eyes and said, "How can you survive in the underworld if you don't know how to judge the situation?"

"That makes sense. Come on, let's have a drink!"

Wu Guanlan put on a fake smile and called the Baling Gang heroes, but in his heart he thought they were fence-sitters.

But now he himself is in the cesspool, stinking of feces, and has no right to criticize others.

After eating the tofu rolls with pickles and drinking a few glasses of wine, they started talking more.

Lai Changgen muttered:

"I am also a busy person. I rushed here from Jiao County without stopping. This group of slaves are of mixed quality. If the general does not choose them, I will bring them to Yongcheng to train them so that they can serve guests."

"Manager Lai is the leader of the gang, so it's only natural that he should be busy."

"Hahaha, brother, you really know how to talk. Now that we're done here, you must come to Yongcheng as a guest."

"sure!"

The two of them laughed and drank for about two cups of tea.

Lai Changgen looked at the sky with some confusion.

"Huo Yu and the others only went to the south of the city, why haven't they come back yet?"

He was still cautious and picked a smart one from among his men standing with their hands behind their backs: "Go and take a look."

"Yes."

The thin and capable man with the pockmarked face responded and left.

Strangely, the footsteps disappeared as soon as he left the warehouse.

Although Lai Changgen and Wu Guanlan had been drinking and their reactions were not as good as usual, the courtyard was not far from the entrance, and they both noticed something unusual almost at the same time.

One of them picked up a butcher knife and the other took out an axe.

Four eyes were grim, staring at the warehouse entrance!
Seeing this, eight or nine men around also picked up their weapons!
"Hoo~!"

A strong wind wrapped around something came crashing down.

The copper basin containing the tofu made a clanging sound!

The bean liquid scattered onto the stove, and black ash rose up with a crackling sound.

"what!?"

Lai Changgen cleared the sight with his bare hands.

Only then did I see clearly that there was a dead head in the basin!

The dead head opened its mouth and ate a piece of tofu from the bowl.

"Huo Yu!"

Lai Changgen shouted, this man was his right-hand man, how could he not recognize him.

At this time, I looked towards the roof of the wooden house and saw a person.