The gambling god's wife in the Duke's Mansion is getting divorced again

Pee!

As night falls, the white snow glows faintly in the moonlight.

Two cricket sounds were heard from the side door in the west corner of the palace. Sang Wan, wrapped in a fox fur cloak, jumped easily and jumped over the wall.

Baili Xi wanted to reach out and catch her outside the wall, but he didn't expect that he was of no use at all.

He rubbed his hands in frustration: "Your Qinggong is getting better and better."

"Where are you going tonight?"

Sang Wan rubbed her hands, stamped her feet, exhaled a white mist, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly, like a moth flying into Baili Xi's heart.

"Didn't you say a few days ago that you wanted to go to the ghost market? Today is the fifteenth day of the lunar month, and the ghost market is open. Do you want to go?"

Baili Xi reached out and brushed the snow off her hair, then put her hat back on: "Don't catch a cold."

"I'm fine. Let's go quickly. If it's too late and my brother finds us, he'll arrest us again."

Sang Wan grabbed his wrist and ran out.

Baili Xi grabbed it back with his backhand: "Get on the horse."

"Okay, night run?" Sang Wan smiled with a curved brow. "Riding a horse in the street, especially at night, are you afraid that my brother won't know I'm sneaking out to play?"

"Hey. If others are not allowed to ride horses, who am I?" Baili Xi patted his chest and grinned, revealing his white teeth. "I am the commander of the Imperial Guards, specially authorized by His Majesty to ride horses on the Imperial Street."

Pang Xuanxuan, the former commander of the Palace Front Division, returned home, and this position naturally fell on him.

Of course, we have to thank Zheng Jinzhi for the painting "Plum Blossoms Falling on a Thousand Mountains". The emperor loved it so much that he not only did not care about his incompetence in handling the imperial edict, but also directly promoted him.

However, he knew that Sang Wan didn't want to hear Zheng Jinzhi's name, so he simply didn't mention it.

"Oh, a promotion?!" Sang Wan was surprised. "Then I won't be polite tonight."

Baili Xi stretched out his big hand and grabbed her, then leaped onto the horse's back. He grabbed the reins and spurred her on, "Whatever you like, I'll buy it for you."

"Thank you, my third cousin Baili." Sang Wan laughed.

"Shut up! If you call me cousin again, I'll throw you off my horse."

Baili Xi deliberately lifted the clothes around her neck.

"Your mother is my aunt, so our relationship is quite clear."

Duke Yongning Bailiyi married the Princess Xinyang, the elder sister of the late emperor, the current emperor, and the King of Nannan. They were indeed cousins ​​who could not be closer.

Sang Wan ran with him in the night, a smile on her lips.

She knew Baili Xi's thoughts and never concealed her rejection of him. Now her kinship was the best shield and the best lubricant.

Putting aside Baili Xi's feelings for her, he was an extremely interesting person.

He has a realistic and rational side, but has not completely lost his romantic innocence; he values ​​practical interests, but is also extremely attached to old love.

Playing with him was lively and joyful. It was he who took her to explore every corner of the capital, to feel the chaotic prosperity, and to understand this new world.

"I'm in a good mood today. Can you please not mention the word 'relatives' and upset me, ancestor?" Baili Xi cracked his whip. "You keep stabbing me in the heart, you heartless thing."

Sang Wan laughed, "Okay, for the sake of your wallet, I'll shut up."

"Tell me, am I wronged? It's ok that you didn't give me a gift when I got promoted, but I still have to spend money on you." Baili Xi sneered.

"Why, Master Baili, who is so rich, is reluctant to spend money?"

Baili Xi put his head on her neck, leaned close to her ear, and said with a smile:

"Money is just a thing outside of our body. I say, can you give me something too?"

Sang Wan reached out her hand, pressed his lips, and pushed his head back: "Send it, you must."

"Really?!" Baili Xi was overjoyed. "Then I'll be waiting for you. You keep your word."

"Look at you, just wait patiently. I'll have someone send it over in two days."

It just so happened that she had received a lot of gifts during the past two days when she returned to her roots. Sang Wan thought about going back to look through the warehouse and picking out a big and expensive gift for him.

The two of them sped away under the moonlight.

In the study of Prince Nan'an's Mansion, Uncle Li was reporting that Sang Wan had climbed over the wall and sneaked out to play again.

Xiao Ji turned the page and said, "I see. Is Xiao Shun following?"

"I followed him. Shun Ke was very honest and didn't dare to fall behind even for a step. I also didn't dare to let the princess know."

"This girl is fun. Even though Baili Xi indulges her, he knows his limits. It's okay. You can rest assured."

Seeing that Uncle Li looked nervous, Xiao Ji tried to comfort him instead.

Uncle Li wiped the sweat from his forehead, his back was already soaked with sweat.

"The servants also want to keep an eye on the princess, but the princess is so skilled in Qinggong that it's really... really hard to keep an eye on her."

Xiao Ji smiled and said, "With your limited skills, you can't keep an eye on her. Don't even mention you. Look at her studying medicine during the day. She keeps running up the tree and doesn't make Bai Shi faint. She's still just a child, always wanting to play."

"It's the new year, and I'm worried about the chaos outside. I heard recently that a young woman disappeared without a trace. The princess is so beautiful, and I'm really worried. Otherwise, my lord, how about we hire a martial arts master for the princess and teach her some life-saving skills?"

Uncle Li thought deeply. Since he couldn't stop her, he might as well teach her the art of self-defense so that she would have more protection in case of trouble.

"You're right. Who should we ask to teach us?"

Xiao Ji agreed with this and started thinking about whether there was anyone in the capital with great martial arts skills who was worthy of teaching his sister.

*

The two people on this side have arrived at the ghost market.

Baili Xi tied up the horse and put away the whip. Sang Wan was a little surprised and said:

"I thought the ghost market was in the suburbs, but I didn't expect it to be in the bustling Hachijojing. But this area is just a busy street, where is the ghost market?"

"You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, sister."

Baili Xi pulled her and walked straight for three or four hundred meters before knocking on a door.

The wooden door creaked open, and a ghost face mask appeared in front of her, which scared Sang Wan.

"We have many distinguished guests, please come in."

The masked man handed Bailixi two masks. Bailixi put on one, which was a pig face, and the other hand had a rabbit face.

He put it on Sang Wan and said, "This is good. It suits you. In the ghost market, everyone covers their face and does not show their true appearance. In the ghost market, there is no status or wealth, only buying and selling. The market opens at the first watch and closes at cockcrow. There are many rules here. You must follow me."

Sang Wan was a little excited and tugged at his clothes tightly: "What can we buy?"

Baili Xi enjoyed the happiness of being depended on, even though he knew that her mind was pure and innocent. But at this moment, the intimacy between the two of them was unmatched by others, and he liked this uniqueness.

"Flying, running, two-legged, four-legged; anything imaginable and unimaginable—you can find it all in the ghost market. I heard someone even found a guqin last year. The sound was so eerie, it seemed like a fairy danced to the music. It was truly bizarre."

"Is this true?" Sang Wan smacked her lips. "Are there really gods in this world?"

"Someone once bought a grape-glazed, crabapple-shaped jade animal mirror. The front side reflected a withered skeleton, while the back side depicted a celestial palace of joy. Someone who looked at the back side had their soul enter this celestial realm, where they never wanted to return. Their relatives in the mortal world, pitiful, could only feed a walking corpse with daily medicine."

Sang Wan couldn't help but tighten her grip on his wrist: "You're getting more and more bizarre."

Baili Xi straightened his body proudly and took her hand in his palm: "My young master is here, don't be afraid."

"I'm not scared." Sang Wan shook off his hand, "It's just eerie."

After the two masked men passed through the second gate, the ghost-faced man led them to a dry well and clapped his hands, "Please go down the rope ladder. There are people waiting for you below."

Sang Wan's heart shuddered as she looked at the empty yard, feeling a bit creepy: "Ghost Market, at the bottom of the well?"

"Don't panic. I'll go down first, and you follow me." Baili Xi held her hand again.

His heart was trembling violently, but he maintained his composure on his face, fearing that if he got too proud, the girl would come to her senses and pull her hand back.

The two of them went down the rope ladder one after the other to the bottom of the well. Suddenly, the bottom was bright and it was a bustling and prosperous urban paradise.

I don’t know which strange man built this underground world. The roads are winding and disorderly. There are many narrow paths along the loess wall. There are caves on the wall every now and then, and it seems that people live in them.

Above his head was not the sky, but rather yellow, twisted earth. In the middle of the underground city stood two broad roads, one running vertically and one horizontally. The ground to the top was about two feet high, so even someone as tall as Baili Xi didn't feel oppressed walking on the road.

The ghost market was set up on both sides of these two roads. Various vendors set up stalls, selling antiques, embroidered textiles, snacks, and other goods. The market was bustling with activity and bustling with activity.

"This is really interesting." Sang Wan stared blankly, "But I see some of these things can be bought in the market, why are they being sold in this ghost market?"

"You don't know this. The so-called ghost market is actually a huge underground city. It's a place beyond the reach of the government. Many refugees have no identity and can only live underground. The ghost market was originally a place where they could exchange daily necessities to survive underground. Later, as life above ground became increasingly difficult, more and more people came to live underground, and the ghost market became more and more prosperous."

He pointed to the cultural relics stall on the side and said:

"Look at that old man, with his hands folded in his arms and his eyes half-closed, as if he's dozing off. Actually, he's waiting for discerning buyers. Look at those old things on his stall. Do they smell like rotting earth? They were all dug out of graves."

"Funerary objects? Isn't this going to lead to beheading?" Sang Wan lowered his voice.

"Selling above ground is certainly punishable by death, but who can stop them underground? By the time the soldiers arrived at the well, the people below had already scattered like birds and beasts. Look at this underground city, with its many twists and turns and exits everywhere. Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, but they have more than seventy-two. How can we catch them?"

Baili Xi shook his head, sighing, "We're all trying to make a living. If we weren't forced into a desperate situation, who would be willing to live in this dark underground?"

Sang Wan raised her head and looked at him through the mask: "Baili Xi, I feel like today is the day I finally get to know you."

"Are you in love with me?"

Baili Xi's eyes were fiery, half serious and half joking.

The emotion that had just overflowed was instantly cut short, and Sang Wan said, "How shameless!"

Baili Xi said seriously: "Except for the face, everything else is big too."