Chapter 2: The First Snow (Grade 7)

  After sending off Mr. Feng with a smile, Zhu turned around and changed his expression. He beckoned Li to come over and scolded him in a drawn-out tone: "I'm telling you, brother, you've been working here for over ten years, how come your stubborn temper hasn't improved at all?! Last month, the Governor asked me who would be suitable to send to Luoyang as a high-ranking official. I seriously recommended you to the Governor. With your temperament, can I rest assured if you go?!"

  "Thank you, thank you for your support!" Li Gongzhang nodded and bowed repeatedly, his face filled with genuine gratitude. "I didn't come here today to intentionally disturb you. Indeed, that person's background is too impressive, so I wanted to inform you as soon as possible. If you can keep the thing in his hand and find an opportunity to present it to the Governor, who knows, he might be pleased and appoint you as the next Yangzhou Magistrate!"

  "Go, go away! I'm just a pawnshop clerk who hasn't even read many books properly. What's this nonsense about being the deputy governor of Yangzhou?" Zhu pushed Li Gong away, not believing his words at all. But deep down in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a surge of irrepressible longing. The Governor has always been very kind to his subordinates, and Yangzhou is an upper state, so it's unlikely that he would dare to privately confer the position of deputy governor on him. But for places like Luozhou or Guangzhou, which scholars consider to be places of exile, if he were to secure one or two positions for his subordinates, surely that wouldn't be too difficult for him?

  As he thought of this, Zhu's face gradually warmed up again, and he glanced at Li Gong with a hint of disdain, saying: "Speak up, what exactly is it that made you so flustered? If it's really something precious, today's mistake will be written off!"

  "Yes, yes......" Li Gong bowed four times and leaned his mouth towards Zhu's ear, "Giant Que Sword! The one that went missing with the Wu King's descendant all those years ago. My comrades don't know the origin of this sword, but you, sir, are knowledgeable and must have heard of it!"

  "What?" Zhu Zhang retreated half a step, almost not daring to believe his ears. The Giant Que Sword was made by Ouyezi in the Spring and Autumn period for Wu King Helü with a large sum of money. Later, when the State of Wu was destroyed by Yue, the sword also disappeared. The last time it appeared was at the end of the Sui dynasty, when it was obtained by Du Fuwei, a great hero of the Green Forest, in an ancient tomb that had been excavated to raise military funds. In the early years of the Wude era, Du Fuwei surrendered and presented the sword as a gift to Emperor Gaozu, indicating that he would never again speak of military affairs. As a result, the officials of the time were able to see its true appearance, and Yan Liben painted a colored picture to commemorate it. During the reign of Taizong, because of his love for Wu King Ke, he gave him this sword when he was crowned, encouraging him to work hard at martial arts, so that in the future he could help the great Tang dynasty subdue the four barbarians. In the Yongzheng era, Wu King Ke was implicated in the case of Fang Guai's rebellion and died unjustly, and his son was exiled to Lingnan. The Giant Que Sword then disappeared from people's sight again with the decline of the Wu king's family.

  During the Shenlong period, Zhongzong rehabilitated Wu Wang. The descendants of Wu Wang in Lingnan were pardoned and returned to Chang'an one after another. However, the Giant Que Sword did not appear with the return of Wu Wang's descendants. Instead, rumors about the sword kept emerging from the mouths of ordinary precious goods merchants, sometimes in Lingnan, sometimes in Sai Bei, appearing and disappearing without a trace.

  The sister of the imperial concubine, Yang Guozhong, was not fond of reading in his early years and spent his days socializing with local rascals. Now that he has become the Sword South Jiedushi and concurrently holds seventeen important positions including Taifu Qing, he naturally does not want people to think him coarse anymore and needs many elegant things to decorate his mansion. Therefore, various historical antiques and calligraphy paintings have become the focus of Zhu Ji's Nanhuo Pawnshop. Last time, a poor jinshi who had been drifting in the capital for many years happened to buy a genuine work by Wang Xizhi at a low price in the Ghost Market and sent it to the mansion of Jiedushi through someone. Not long after, he was appointed as the Governor of Yingzhou. If this time they can really get the Giant Que Sword for Jiedushi, perhaps a golden qilin will fly out of Zhu's family!

  When a person's heart is filled with desire, their mind will not be too clear. With a full heart of fantasy, Zhu the shopkeeper threw down Li Gong and rushed to the front hall in three steps. Entering the elegant room, his eyes glanced at the young man's arm, and his heart immediately started beating wildly. That was right, it was the Giant Void Sword, and Li Gong had indeed seen it correctly. Zhu the shopkeeper had seen this sword more than once in Yan Liben's painting copies, but he never thought that he would really encounter it so closely in this life.

  "Is it Master Yun?!" Without waiting for the shop assistant to introduce them, Zhu the shopkeeper took the initiative to greet him, "I am the shopkeeper of this store, my surname is Zhu, and I'm the seventh in line. You can just call me Zhu Qi. I don't know who sent you here or what brings you on this visit!"

  "Ah!" The elegant and refined Yun Gongzi slightly nodded his head, unintentionally moving the hilt of his sword closer to Zhu Palmaster, "You asked me. A friend of mine surnamed Yuwen entrusted me with a letter for you, sir!"

  "Yuwen? Ah, Yuwen brothers! I remember now. Where's the letter? Trouble you, Young Master Yun!" Zhu said with a hint of surprise. The surname Yuwen was quite unique; apart from the Yuwen brothers, he couldn't recall knowing anyone else with that surname. However, considering the reputation of Giant Void Sword, he didn't plan to pry further. In the business of dealing in rare goods, there was an unspoken rule: one only looked at the authenticity of the item, not its origin. This way, princes who sold their family heirlooms wouldn't feel embarrassed, and those with something to hide wouldn't be questioned.

  "Look at this, sir!" Cloud Son handed the precious sword to his left hand and with his right hand pulled out a thick envelope from his bosom. In front of the shop assistants, he handed it over to Zhu the shopkeeper.

  Although the content of the letter was not worth a single coin compared to the giant sword in front of him, Zhu still carefully examined the seal on the envelope and then used a small knife to cut it open, pulling out the letter inside.

  At a glance, he was shocked and wanted to shout for someone to come in from outside. But looking at the calm and composed appearance of Yun's young master, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he smiled, suppressing the anger in his chest, asking: "I don't know where this letter came from, which Mr. Yuwen entrusted you to hand over to me?"

  "Could it be anyone else? The one who had a drink with Zhu the shopkeeper, of course!" Cloud Gentleman held the giant axe in one hand and tapped his other hand idly on the table, each tap leaving a small dent on the nanmu wood. "He gave me this letter a long time ago, saying that if he ever got into trouble, Shopkeeper Zhu would definitely lend a helping hand after seeing it. These past few days, I suddenly couldn't find him anywhere, so I thought, since he trusted Shopkeeper Zhu's character so much, I'd bring the letter to you from afar. Take another look, is anything missing inside?!"

  "Ah, ah, no, not less!" Zhu's face was instantly covered in a layer of cold sweat, and he instinctively retreated backward. However, he didn't dare to retreat too far, as the refined young man had already used his finger joints to create holes in the nanmu wood table. If he were to provoke him further, with just one casual tap on his own forehead, wouldn't his head turn into a colander?

  "Now that the letter has been sent, I should be on my way!" Yun Gongzi smiled and stood up from his chair. "Oh, right! Look at my memory. Afraid that I might get drunk and mess things up, Wuwen brothers also entrusted similar letters to several other people. Sigh, this person is sometimes too cautious."

  "You, you..." Zhu the shopkeeper had intended to stretch out his hand to detain Cloud Gongzi, but he hesitated and withdrew it halfway. There were still several letters left, and those with the surname Cloud couldn't resolve the current predicament at all. Once Yuwen Zhi was forced into a corner, it wouldn't be good if the next letter ended up directly in Li Linfu's hands. But to let Juque Sword and his master leave just like that, Zhu the shopkeeper felt extremely reluctant, so he chased after them for several steps, keeping a distance of over three feet from them, and asked loudly: "Cloud, Cloud Gongzi, can you tell me where you're staying? If I write a reply, how will it be delivered to your hands?"

  "I live in the Bodhi Temple, southeast of Pingkangli! It's just a wall away from Li Wei Gong's old residence! There's no need to reply, Zhu Zhanggui will invite me and that friend for drinks later." Yun-surnamed young master walked with steady steps, not showing any signs of being in a hurry to leave, smiled and said.

  Zhu the shopkeeper immediately retreated another half foot, fearing that the other party would suddenly attack and hurt him. After a while, he found that one of the other party's legs had already stepped out of the door frame, and he suddenly came to his senses, shouting loudly: "Yun Gongzi, Gongzi slow down. You several..."

  "What's wrong, is Zhu still busy with other things?" Yun Gongzi asked with a smile, retracting his leg that was about to step out.

  "No, no!" Under the gaze of the other party, Zhu's courage suddenly disappeared. He awkwardly smiled and responded in a low voice, "I just think it's not right for you to come all this way and not even have a cup of tea. What are you guys staring at? Quickly bring out a basket of Southeast Asian rock sugar to make tea for Cloud Master."

  "Ah, ah!" The shop assistants were so startled by Zhu's sudden and unpredictable behavior that they didn't know what to do. They repeatedly responded with "yes, yes", took out a basket of expensive rock sugar from the cabinet, carefully packed it in advance, and respectfully handed it over to Young Master Yun.

  "Since that's the case, Yun Mou will humbly obey!" Cloud Gongzi thanked Zhu Zhanggui very politely and took the rock sugar, smiling as he walked away. Only after he had completely disappeared from view did Zhu Zhanggui wipe the sweat from his brow, ignoring the curious gazes of the people in the shop, and shouted at his apprentices, "What are you still standing around for? Hurry up and get a few people to tail Cloud! If you can't find out where he's staying today, none of you will be allowed back here again! Go quickly, go quickly. We're closing up shop, we're closing up shop. The weather isn't very good today, so please settle your accounts and head home early, esteemed guests. Everything that's been looked at is 20% off."

  Note 1: The former residence of Li Weigong, i.e., the mansion of Li Linfu.

  Note 2: Rock sugar. Cane sugar was not a specialty of ancient China and usually had to be imported from Southeast Asia or India, so rock sugar was an extremely valuable gift.