Bang!
The storyteller's gavel fell, and the final word was spoken.
Cheers rang out in Xuji Teahouse.
The case is full of twists and turns that make people addicted to it.
Instead, there was a table in the corner by the railing, where a guest was sitting alone. It seemed out of place and quiet compared to the noisy environment.
The man was wearing a plain white long gown and a dark green brocade belt around his waist. He had fair skin and tender flesh, and his blood was rosy, making him look like a young man from a wealthy family.
He has short hair, like a monk.
He was neither a monk nor a scholar. He sipped the Mingqian tea in his hand while listening attentively to the storytelling.
The waiter in the teahouse came up to the young master with a pot of tea and said enviously, "Young Master Jin'an, you are the storyteller today."
Jin An's forehead was furrowed with black lines. "He's eight feet tall, eight feet wide, and has a majestic figure. That's a square, eight-edged copper hammer with blood still stained in the hands of a gangster."
"I'm a human, not Fang Zheng!"
The god is eight feet tall and eight feet wide. Jin An finally had a deep understanding of the increasingly outrageous rumors among the people.
The servant continued to flatter him, "All this is because of your extraordinary bravery, Young Master Jin'an. Therefore, the people's stories about you are becoming more and more miraculous. This is also reasonable."
"You've become famous throughout Chang County this time."
"I've heard that many wealthy daughters and daughters of wealthy families are particularly fond of you, Young Master Jin'an. They've sent their servants to inquire about you, hoping to invite you to enjoy a glass of wine and enjoy the Qingming Temple Fair, the busiest event of the year in Chang County, on Qingming Festival in a month."
Jinan became interested after hearing this.
Of course, he was not interested in the fair-skinned, beautiful and elegant daughters of wealthy families or young ladies from official families, and he was not interested in coveting their bodies.
Instead, I was interested in the most lively temple fair of the year in Nachang County.
This was the first ancient event he encountered after traveling through time.
I'm sure it will be very lively then.
No matter what, I have to see the grand occasion.
He had always been fond of traveling, scenery, and various places of interest, otherwise he would not have traveled all the way from the south to Kunlun Mountain for a self-driving tour alone.
Jinan asked the teahouse waiter, "Is this temple fair famous in Chang County?"
As the waiter at the teahouse refilled Jin'an's cup of cassia seed tea, he proudly said, "Speaking of our Chang County's temple fair, it's famous for a hundred miles around. Many young men, talented scholars, and young ladies from all over the country will come to participate in the temple fair."
I don’t know if it’s due to the unfamiliar climate or the change of seasons around Qingming Festival, but Jin’an has been feeling a bit irritated and inflamed recently, so I’ve taken to drinking cassia seed tea in teahouses.
Cassia seed tea has the effects of dispelling wind, clearing the liver and improving eyesight, and moistening the intestines and promoting bowel movements.
When the waiter at the teahouse talked about the Qingming Temple Fair, he continued to talk about it with pride: "Speaking of our Chang County, there is a thousand-year-old tree, it is a green willow."
"No one knows the exact age of this tree. It's older than my grandfather's great-grandfather's great-grandfather. Its trunk is thicker than five or six men can hug it. The county annals alone record it as a thousand years old. It's the sacred tree of Chang County."
"This thousand-year-old willow tree has lush branches and leaves, its green shade covering the sky like a precious umbrella. The tree is tall and straight, and its fruits are beautiful and uniquely shaped, like strings of copper coins. Therefore, it is also called the copper coin tree and the money tree, and it has gained great fame. The copper coin fruits hang on the tree from September to April before summer, swaying in the wind. The unique appearance makes it look like a sky full of glittering copper coins from a distance. This is why so many talented people and beautiful women come to Chang County specifically to participate in the Qingming Temple Fair."
"Because only during the Qingming Temple Fair will the Wenwu Temple be open to the public, allowing visitors to admire the sacred tree. Normally, it is closed to the public to protect the sacred tree."
After listening to the introduction of the teahouse waiter, Jin An immediately became very interested.
"Okay, thank you for the reminder."
"I will definitely go to see this magical money tree during the Qingming Temple Fair in a month."
Jin'an smiled and rewarded the servant with a few copper coins, which immediately made the servant smile from ear to ear.
After collecting the tip, the teahouse waiter became even more attentive. "Speaking of this thousand-year-old sacred willow tree, there's a legend that says some people who see the tree will have the God of Wealth come into their homes, bringing them wealth and treasure."
"This story has become increasingly mysterious over the past decade or so, with stories of people becoming rich overnight reported every year. I heard from the elders in my family that this thousand-year-old sacred Qingqianli tree wasn't so magical before; it was just an older tree. It was only ten years ago that the Qingqianli tree's bronze coin fruits turned into ancient copper coin fruits overnight, and the legend that the sacred tree can attract the God of Wealth and bring in wealth and treasure began to spread slowly in Chang County."
"So, every Qingming Festival temple fair over the past decade or so has attracted more and more visitors from outside the province, all of whom come with the dream of getting rich, especially wealthy businessmen."
"The temple fair only happens once a year, so Master Jin'an, don't miss the opportunity."
The waiter in the teahouse became more and more excited as he spoke. In his mouth, the folk temple fair became a strange and interesting story.
"Then you have become rich?" Jin An asked.
The waiter at the teahouse smiled awkwardly, "Not really."
Jin An smiled, he understood.
Folk rumors cannot escape the three laws of true fragrance:
It is said that...
I heard that...
like……
Looking at the back of the teahouse waiter as he turned and left with the teapot in his hand, Jin An's eyes showed deep interest.
A miraculous night?
The bronze coin fruit turned into an ancient bronze coin fruit overnight?
Does it mean that this thousand-year-old tree has undergone a genetic mutation?
People only know that animals can mutate genetically, and the most common examples are albinism, albino foxes, albino apes, albino cows, etc.
But plants also have life.
Plants, like humans, breathe in and out the air and have spirituality.
Plants feel pain too.
A thousand-year-old tree with genetic mutation?
Fruits hung with ancient copper coins?
Jinan became interested.
…
Today has been two days since we arrived in Chang County from Jinan.
That day, after burying the Taoist priest beneath the old pine tree and descending the mountain, he unexpectedly ran into the scholar and his old groom on the official road, who were on their way to Chang County. Because the road was muddy after the rain and difficult to drive on, they planned to stay overnight in a nearby village, but they happened to stumble upon a murder.
After he solved the case, he was favored by the Chang County Magistrate and was entertained with a banquet. At the banquet, he also asked the wealthy businessmen and gentry attending the banquet to raise three hundred taels of silver as a reward for him. Jin'an immediately realized that this County Magistrate Zhang was a kind official who did not eat the people's fat and blood, was fair and righteous, and would not accept kickbacks.
This world is cheap.
There is not much housing pressure, nor are there many refugees from war, and people have a lot of cash, so inflation is not serious.
A reward of three hundred taels of silver.
It’s probably a modern bonus of 200,000 or 300,000 yuan.
After experiencing the coffin temple, the trumpet urn, and the Taoist qi-reading technique, Jin An knew that this world was different from the ancient world he had imagined. So he immediately abandoned the extravagant and corrupt life of fine clothes and delicious food, a life of drunkenness and dreams, and having beauties and maids warming his bed every day.
He has been sitting in this teahouse for the past two days.
It is like listening to books, listening to strange stories from all over the world, and understanding the local customs and practices.
We also learned about the general geographical map of the world through traveling merchants.
Therefore, Jin'an, an old customer, had already become familiar with the owner and servants of this teahouse.
Jin'an initially thought he had returned to ancient times, but in the past two days he discovered that the local customs and cultural history here were inconsistent with any dynasty in history.
Kangding Kingdom, he had never heard of this ancient dynasty.
…
The sky gradually darkened.
Night falls.
The soldiers at the city gate began to prepare to close the gate and no longer let anyone in.
Tonight, the Chang County government office wasn't quiet; it was bustling with activity. A major case involving private gunpowder possession had broken out in Chang County, a case no longer under the jurisdiction of the small county. Today was the day the higher-ups had sent someone to personally question the authorities about the details of the private gunpowder hoard.
Just as Magistrate Zhang of Chang County, accompanied by the County Magistrate, the Chief Clerk, and a group of yamen runners and constables, were anxiously waiting in the county government office, and the servants had been asked to heat up the dishes for the banquet twice, but still no one showed up... the sound of hurried footsteps broke the night.
A yamen runner and two jailers hurried into the county government office. The two jailers had pale faces, as if they were frightened.
"My Lord, this is terrible! Someone's dead! Someone's dead!"
"That Li Dashan who hid the gunpowder is dead. His death is so strange and weird! You should go to the cell and take a look. The prisoners are clamoring to be moved. There's something strange going on in the cell!"