Chapter 39: The Madman of Chu's Song

  Ji Xian Fang, at the intersection of Cross Street, there are several tall Chinese scholar trees with twisted trunks and branches that stretch over ten zhang high.

  Under the tree, several men with bare chests and bellies were lounging around, chatting idly.

  A light carriage came to a stop and a young man in brocade clothes and a hat jumped down from it.

  The man sitting under the tree glanced at them, with a light carriage and a majestic horse, the beads on the carriage were low-hanging, it was unclear who was inside, but on the carriage shaft, there was a little girl, dressed as a maid, with an extremely pretty face.

  Several men took a glance and then withdrew their gaze, this kind of car was obviously from a wealthy family, the owner inside wouldn't have any dealings with them nor would they hire them to do anything.

  However, the handsome young man in brocade clothes and a feathered hat was walking towards them. The young man was very handsome, with a bright smile on his face, and two charming dimples appeared on his cheeks when he smiled lightly. A big man stared at his gorgeous robe and muttered to himself: "A big man like him smiles so beautifully, why not go to Wen Rou Fang to be a rabbit gentleman?"

  Under the tree, these people are a group of idle men, some city rascals. Sometimes they will extort food and other things from shopkeepers, not much, not a big crime, making shopkeepers feel dissatisfied in their hearts, but also helpless to do anything about it, because such crimes cannot be punished, once reported to the authorities, it would only bring more trouble to themselves.

  They are experts at walking on the edge of illegality and crime, very good at grasping the subtleties involved.

  Sometimes, they also do some things that really violate the criminal law, collecting money from people, helping people to get rid of troubles, fighting for others with their lives on the line, acting as a cheap thug. Although they are scoundrels in the eyes of many people, once they have taken on a job, no matter how unfavorable the situation may be, they will never back down or run away with their tails between their legs.

  A gentleman attaches great importance to his words, and these common people attach even more importance to their promises. For them, faithfulness and righteousness are the only values that make their lives worthwhile. If they lose "faithfulness and righteousness", they will truly have nothing left, and even the foundation of their existence will completely disappear.

  A handsome young man in a hat and brocade robe smiled brightly at them, asking loudly: "What's wrong with you guys? Don't you do business? When the master comes to your door, don't you greet him?"

  The big fellow sitting on the stone under the tree raised his head and looked at him for a moment.

  This big Han is undoubtedly the leader of these people. A group of people sitting there, you can easily see who is in charge. The leader may not be born with a different appearance, but he will always have some differences from ordinary people. At least from his behavior and others' attitude towards him, you can see some clues.

  These people are all street rascals and hoodlums, naturally not being anyone with great abilities, but those who can stand out from among them as leaders must have something extraordinary about them.

  He glanced at Yang Fan and lazily asked, "I wonder what your master wants to hire us for?"

  When he spoke, Yang Fan's gaze had already passed over the other several big men with aggressive eyes and focused on him. The big man in front of him was eight feet tall, with a dark and sturdy physique that looked like iron. This kind of person didn't have a famous teacher to instruct them, perhaps they didn't have any extraordinary skills, but just relying on this brute strength, this sturdy body, ordinary big men probably couldn't get close to his body.

  His two arms were as thick as a normal person's thighs, and the two rows of black characters seemed to be written on the gate pillars of a temple, like a couplet. It was a tattoo, with "Fear not the Prefect of Beijing when alive" on his left arm and "Fear not King Yama when dead" on his right arm.

  Next to several idle men, most of them also had tattoos, some with literary tattoos and some with martial tattoos. Whether it was a poem or a heroic remark, whether it was on the arm, shoulder, back, or chest, whether it was a flower, grass, tree, snake, insect, or beast, just because of that big man's unusually thick arms, they all looked dull and lost their luster.

  Yang Fan smiled and said: "As long as the price is right, you should do everything."

  The big Han slightly revealed a vigilant color in his eyes, and said: "Some of us brothers are just a group of hardworking laborers in the alley, earning some hard-earned money to support our families. We rely solely on our physical strength, dare not do evil or have the ability to do so. If you have any business to take care of, please speak directly. If it's a job we can accept, we won't refuse."

  He didn't ask the price first, a gentleman values his promise, and a street urchin values his promise even more, he wouldn't dare to make a casual promise.

  I dare not lightly promise, so I will solemnly promise.

  This man is commonly known as "Chu Da Chong".

  The big insect is actually the tiger, but the grandfather of Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was named Li Hu, so the character "hu" became a taboo. Even the famous Sui general Han Qihu, in the revised Book of Sui of the Tang Dynasty, had his name changed to Han Qi. It was from this era that tigers began to be called big insects.

  So he became the Big Bug of Chu, rather than the Old Tiger of Chu. However, his robust physique and majestic appearance were exactly like a fierce tiger, a tiger crouching on the stone under the pagoda tree.

  Yang Fan's eyes flashed with a hint of appreciation, and he smiled: "Don't worry, we won't ask you to kill people or set fires, nor will we ask you to be a tall ladder to climb up to the sky to pick the moon. My young master has come from the Western Regions and wants to stay in Luoyang for a while, so he wants to hire a few local servants. As long as you are familiar with the streets and alleys of Luoyang, know how to drink wine, hunt, ride horses, and play cuju, and can accompany my young master to relax and have fun, that's all."

  "This is quite unexpected!"

  Chu Daxiu looked at him deeply and smiled on his face.

  He slowly stood up, patted the dust off his buttocks and smiled: "If it's other skills, I and these brothers really can't show our hands, but if we talk about fighting cocks and drinking games, then there's no one more skilled than us."

  He clasped his fists and bowed, saying in a loud voice: "My surname is Chu, my name is Kuang Ge, please take me to meet the master with the other brothers!"

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  Yang Fan said with a smile, "A luxurious mansion, expensive cars, male and female servants, even the dragon-shaped incense burner has been prepared, isn't this enough?"

  Tian Ai Nu said faintly: "Not enough! How can such a shabby appearance pretend to be a great Western noble?"

  Under the big locust tree, the branches cast a shadow, and the sunlight sprinkles down, sprinkling on the girl's face and shoulders, as white as jade, pure and flawless. The fragrance of osmanthus wafts from afar, infusing the beauty and fragrance into people's hearts.

  This beauty has a big tone, and her move is so generous. Yang Fan became more and more curious about her identity.

  At this moment, Tian Ai Nu's tone of speech has taken on a Western flavor, and Yang Fan really doesn't know that she actually understands a good mouth technique, extremely wonderful mouth technique. She not only made her own voice take on the stiff taste of Westerners speaking Chinese, but also proudly showed Yang Fan her even more magical mouth techniques: the sound of an old man's voice, the sound of a child's voice, the sound of insects and birds, the sound of wind, rain, thunder and lightning...

  Yang Fan actually understood ventriloquism, but it was far inferior to Tian Ai Nu's skill. He could only change his voice into a few simple types of men's voices, such as old and rough ones, while Tian Ai Nu seemed to be able to imitate anything, leaving Yang Fan wondering what in the world she couldn't do.

  After hearing Tian Ai Nu's answer, Yang Fan couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Isn't this enough? What else are we lacking?"

  Tian Ai Nu said: "One more pet is missing. A young lady from a wealthy family in the Western Regions, how can she not have a pet by her side?"

  The youth in blue clothes and small hat, Yang Fan, rolled his eyes and said: "Pet? Am I not pretending to be one now?"

  Tian Ai Nu let out a "heh" and laughed, then seemed to think of something, and two red blushes spread from her cheeks all the way to her eyebrows, leaving Yang Fan staring at her in a daze.

  Tian Ai Nu's face turned stern, and she scolded: "You... get back to work!"

  As she watched Yang Fan walk towards the back of Chu Kuang's group, Tian Ai Nu's eyes curved slightly, like a new moon, and a touch of moving spirit rippled out from her watery gaze.

  Tian Ai Nu said that they still lacked a pet, so they went to buy one. It was fashionable for the aristocrats of the Tang Dynasty to raise pets, so there were specialized places in the capital that sold them.

  Yang Fan and Chu Kuangge walked behind the carriage, chatting as they went. In the course of their conversation, Yang Fan learned that Chu Kuangge was originally a low-ranking general in the Imperial Guard who had offended his superior, been flogged, and then expelled from the army. Chu Kuangge didn't want to talk about his unhappy past with someone he wasn't familiar with, so Yang Fan tactfully didn't ask any more questions.

  After exchanging a few words, Chu Tiange unexpectedly got to the bottom of their affairs.

  "My family's maiden name is Xiahou, with a single character surname of 'Ying'. My ancestors were once the Duwei of Jiuquan Prefecture during the Han Dynasty. Later on, they settled in Dunhuang and changed their profession to merchants. After several hundred years, they have become one of the prominent families in Dunhuang."

  "Oh! So... why did you bring only Yang brothers with you to Luoyang?"

  Yang Fan smiled and said, "No, my husband Alang and Dalang Jun (Alang - old master, Lang Jun - young master) came together, but they went to Yangzhou. At that time, the miss was suffering from wind and cold, so she didn't go with them. Now Miss is alone in Luoyang, living a dull life, so I thought of going out for a walk and clearing my mind."

  Yang Fan explained the origin of "his own daughter" to Chu Tian Ge while secretly praising Tian Ai Nu's meticulous thinking. Nowadays, in any family with a slightly better-off household, they all like to use Kunlun slaves or Goryeo maids, and these two types of slaves cannot be hired without going through a matchmaker.

  Ke Tian'ai designed his own identity as a Dunhuang aristocrat, which easily solved this problem. The wealthy families of Dunhuang lived in the western regions and had not yet developed the habit of using Kunlun slaves or Goryeo maidservants, but instead often used some strong and rough big men as attendants, so it was easy to hire people to pretend to be servants without going through a matchmaker.

  This girl is not simple!

  He didn't notice that Chu Tian Ge's eyes, which were slightly tilted as she gazed at the light carriage, also had a hint of deep thought.

  This young man from a humble background is not simple at all!

  Dear book friends, during the new book period and Sanjiang period, sincerely seeking recommendation votes and Sanjiang votes!