The Drum Tower’s promised drum sounds arrive.

Today, there were an exceptional number of people outside the Ba Da Hutong. The noodle stalls and wonton stalls were all packed with people.

The guests sitting at the stalls ordered a bowl of wonton but didn’t eat, vigilantly sizing up the pedestrians coming and going, and sat there for two hours. The stall owners saw the daggers and axes hidden in the bosoms of these guests, and could only wonder in bewilderment that He and Fu Rui Xiang were unexpectedly sitting at the same table for the first time, and surprisingly, there was no trouble.

The stall owners could only swallow the urge to speak, and just begged these gang masters to finish their business quickly and leave.

Under the dusk light, over ten strong men walked out of Bai Shun Alley’s Bai Yu Yuan, escorting Du Qi Gong towards Li Sha Mao Hutong!

This group of strong men included one-eyed men and men with broken arms, each one bearing injuries and disabilities on their bodies!

It was still early at this moment, and the guests of Ba Da Hutong hadn’t started patronizing yet!

As they passed by each alley, bold women on the second floor threw down handkerchiefs, tenderly calling out: “Qi Gong, come and support my business!”

The strong men of San Shan Hui looked up angrily at them: “Get out of the way! Qi Gong is not someone you can provoke!”

The women were fearless, and laughed as they replied: “What about Qi Gong? Qi Gong is just an ordinary person too!”

With her shout, all the women on the street pushed open their windows, teasing the strong men: “Big dummies, why haven’t we ever seen you come here for fun? Is it just for looking, not for using?”

The strong men were about to get angry, but Qi Gong pulled his arm and said with a smile: “Never mind, never mind. Why should big men argue with them!”

The group of people arrived at Li Sha Mao Hutong and entered Yi Hong Yuan!

Yi Hong Yuan’s old procuress came out with a welcoming smile: “A rare guest! This is the first time this little woman has seen Qi Gong grace our Yi Hong Yuan with his presence!”

Qi Gong waved his hand, and the people behind him took down a string of Fo Men Tong Bao and handed it to the old procuress: “Let the girls rest today. Yi Hong Yuan will not be open tonight!”

The old procuress squinted her eyes with a smile and touched the exquisite patterns of the Fo Men Tong Bao, verifying its authenticity!

The strong men of San Shan Hui frowned and said: “What, you don’t even trust us San Shan Hui?”

The old procuress patted her chest: “Why would I… Thanks to San Shan Hui’s daily care, I’ll give San Shan Hui a heads-up! Tonight, not only my Yi Hong Yuan is booked, but the adjacent Chun Feng Yuan, Hong Mei Yuan, and An Le Lou are also all rented out! You know, usually Li Sha Mao Hutong rarely has such wealthy guests!”

Qi Gong furrowed his brows and asked: “Have the guests at those houses arrived yet?”

The old procuress smiled and replied: “The guest at An Le Lou arrived this afternoon. He’s just one person, drinking tea alone in the room, not allowing anyone to disturb him, very unfriendly!”

The old procuress continued: “The guests at Chun Feng Yuan arrived at You Shi. They not only booked the entire courtyard but also drove out the old procuress and the girls, giving each of them a gratuity of five taels of silver to stay out overnight! Moreover, they even brought their own stove, tea sets, and tea leaves, not using anything from the courtyard!”

“Oh.”

Qi Gong was slightly surprised: “So generous! How many people did they bring?”

The old procuress lowered her voice and said: “More than twenty, each one fierce and wicked!”

A strong man bent down and whispered in Qi Gong’s ear: “Qi Gong, could it be the boss behind Fu Rui Xiang?”

Qi Gong nodded: “Mm, very possible!”

The strong man asked again: “Do I need to go scout a bit?”

Qi Gong shook his head: “No need. To be able to bring so many people and be so extravagant, I can roughly guess who it is. Don’t go looking for trouble… Strange, who booked Hong Mei Yuan and An Le Lou?”

Just as he was speaking, a group of people came in from outside the alley, each wearing a bamboo hat and pressing the brim low to avoid others’ sight, and walked into Hong Mei Yuan!

A strong man softly said: “Qi Gong, that’s Chen Wen Ren, the young master of the Chen family’s second branch. I saw them at Bai Yu Yuan!”

Qi Gong thoughtfully said: “The Chen family’s second branch, huh. The force behind He has also arrived. Eh, who is the person in An Le Lou? And who else will come to join this excitement?”

At this moment, there was complete silence inside Chun Feng Yuan!

The youth who had previously watched wrestling with Chen Ji was leaning against the window, his arm resting on the windowsill, his fingers rhythmically tapping lightly!

Beside him was a small red clay stove with an exquisite silver pot on it!

A burly strong man sat to the side, lifted the silver pot, poured tea into a blue and white porcelain cup, and pushed the teacup towards him: “Young Master, please have some tea!”

The youth picked up the teacup, raised it to his lips, and slowly blew on it, his gaze, however, was through the gap in the window, watching Li Sha Mao Hutong below!

The strong man reminded him: “Young Master, you have an appointment with Minister Wu from the Ministry of Rites tonight to go to Jiao Fang Si to listen to opera. If the censors find out you came to a place like Li Sha Mao Hutong, they will definitely impeach you!”

“Just don’t let them know!”

The youth said with a smile: “How can that kind of artificial opera like Bian Liang Si Meng compare to the excitement of real blades and guns? He and Fu Rui Xiang have gathered over six hundred people to come to Ba Da Hutong. That group of people probably won’t return tonight. If I don’t come and see, I won’t get to see them again! That group is also bold. More than thirty people just want to shake up two major gangs, they have courage! Zhou Kuang, you came out of the Wu Jun Ying. Do you think they have a chance of winning today?”

The strong man named Zhou Kuang thought for a moment: “No chance of winning. It would be lucky if one or two can escape!”

The youth drank the tea in his cup in one gulp: “Pity, I still quite appreciate that robed brother!”

The strong man sitting by the stove asked: “Young Master, why not save him?”

The youth smiled slightly: “After saving him, if I hand over the outer city business to him to manage, and then watch him be eroded by fame and fortune in ten years, becoming like Zhu Guan, that might not be a good sight. In the stories told by storytellers, they always like to talk about how righteous He’s old leader was, but they never mention how that old leader, after becoming famous for ten years, ruthlessly eliminated dissidents. A good man should leave the world earlier. There shouldn’t be living legends in the Jianghu, because as long as a legend is alive, there will eventually be a day of decline. It’s better to end early!”

The strong man remained silent!

The youth withdrew his gaze from the window and looked at the strong man, saying: “Zhou Kuang, if one day I also become like that, you can just take my life!”

The strong man named Zhou Kuang shook his head: “Young Master, that will implicate nine clans!”

The youth said disdainfully: “Coward!”

Zhou Kuang retorted: “Young Master, you can just end yourself!”

The youth laughed: “No way, I’m afraid of pain!”

Zhou Kuang lowered his head and quietly rolled his eyes!

The youth again cast his gaze towards the window outside, “I heard Minister Wu say that Bian Liang Si Meng tells the love-hate relationships between two pairs of high-ranking and poor men and women. Haha, I don’t know which poor scholar’s daydream that is. All day long, it’s about emotions and love, truly boring. If it were up to me to write, I would write about four men abandoning their studies to join the military, leading an army to the north, ending the thousand years of suffering of two dynasties, and giving the common people a peaceful life!”

The strong man pouring tea softly said: “You did indeed write under a pseudonym, but unfortunately it wasn’t popular. Even Wen Yuan Shu Ju didn’t accept it!”

The youth’s face stiffened: “That’s because Wen Yuan Shu Ju has no vision… Eh, what time is it? Why haven’t that group of people come yet?”

Watching several noble guests waiting in Li Sha Mao Hutong, and several hundred people ambushing outside Ba Da Hutong, that group of people still showed no sign of appearing!

The crowd waited from You Shi all the way until Zi Shi, watching the candles in the lanterns change again and again, red wax tears dripping into piles, still no movement!

Inside Yi Hong Yuan, Qi Gong, being old, couldn’t endure it anymore and started to doze off!

It wasn’t until the watchman’s clapper sound announcing Chou Shi that he was woken up: “Where are the people?”

The strong men in the room softly said: “Qi Gong, they won’t come tonight!”

Qi Gong said in a bad mood: “Are they also starting to talk about military strategy and tempering eagles?”

The strong men asked: “Will they never come again?”

Qi Gong was both angry and laughing: “If they really don’t come, then Qian Ping’s fingers were broken for nothing. How was business at home tonight?”

The strong men replied: “Bai Yu Yuan was full of guests tonight!”

Qi Gong looked surprised: “Full of guests?”

The strong men explained: “They said it was Zhang Zheng, the young master of Minister Zhang Zhuo’s family, who led a group of friends to our Bai Yu Yuan to listen to music. They booked several courtyards and played until Zi Shi before leaving!”

Qi Gong smacked his lips: “The father loves to play, and the son also loves to play. This Zhang family is quite interesting!”

Qi Gong shook his head: “Wait a bit longer, perhaps they will come at midnight. I must personally see that formation!”