"What does the guest want to do?" Xi Heng really didn't know much about this.
The old man paused here, as if he couldn't come up with any specific answer for a while.
After a moment, seeing Xi Heng's suspicious gaze, he finally said:
"Mostly they are talents recruited by the major families to give advice on family affairs or to help with chores..." He hesitated and spoke with an uncertain tone: "If warriors are used as guest officials, they are mostly used to whitewash the family and deter villains."
"Is it just for show?"
This sounds like an easy, idle job.
"If there is anything important, you still need to take action." The other party added.
"How much is the monthly salary?"
"The monthly payment our Yan family pays to the masters of Ming Jin is generally two hundred taels." Since the other party had the Yan family's token in his hand, Butler Lou didn't say any more empty words.
"A lot." Xi Heng blinked. She had lived in the Hongxian Sword Academy for two years and had spent less than two hundred taels during that time.
Now that his martial arts skills have reached the level of Ming Jin, he can come to the capital and find a job to earn two hundred taels a month.
But it could also be because the Yan family is already quite wealthy, so the price is very high...
Xi Heng looked around the surroundings. Such a big restaurant was not something that an ordinary family could afford to open.
She is worthy of being her junior sister.
However, although the other party offered a very high price, Xi Heng was not in a hurry to agree.
"Well... let me rest here for a few days first, and then I'll decide whether to be your guest or not." The girl waved her hand.
Her journey to the capital was quite arduous, and now she finally found a place to stay. No matter what she was going to do next, she had to have a good rest today.
"I'll listen to you, sir." The housekeeper was reasonable and said, "I'll leave first. If you have anything to say, you can ask the maid in the corridor."
"Okay." Xi Heng yawned and said indifferently, "Please serve some simple meals now."
The old man nodded and bowed, then left.
Not long after, several plates of delicious fried dishes and snacks were brought into the room by three or four maids.
Several maids even asked Xi Heng if she needed singing, dancing or music to entertain them, which reminded her of the palace singing and dancing she had seen in the Sijia Palace in the imperial palace before her death in her previous life. She immediately waved her hand to refuse.
After they left, Xi Heng sat on the spacious balcony, quietly looking at the prosperous Qinxie Changxiang in Beijing downstairs, and slowly savoring the delicious meal.
One day passed.
After adequate rest.
Xi Heng gave the dusty warrior clothes he brought to the maid to wash, and then changed into a bright red silk dress, a dark cloak with golden flying butterflies on the cuffs, and tied up his hair with a silver hairpin.
When she came to look at herself in front of the mirror, she changed from a seasoned and carefree warrior woman to a rich lady in the capital.
Xi Heng suddenly felt like changing her clothes and dressing up. As she was slowly putting on her makeup in front of the dressing table, she heard several gongs banging downstairs, continuously.
Amidst the fierce quarrel, there were also a few rough voices shouting, most of which were swear words that were unbearable to the ears.
Xi Heng upstairs frowned and waited for a while, but the noise continued for a long time.
She slowly put down the comb in her hand, went to the balcony and looked down.
Then, groups of young and strong men in dark brown clothes stood in front of Huamanlou, shouting and clapping loudly towards the building.
It seemed like he came here deliberately to cause trouble.
……
Chapter 33: Royal Family
The Yan family’s property is full of flowers in front of the building.
Groups of neatly dressed, seemingly organized and disciplined people in brown clothes gathered in front of the huge building, beating gongs and drums, and shouting towards the Huaman Building, adding a bit of filth and chaos to the prosperous and beautiful Qinxie Changxiang.
The two guards in front of the building tried to shout at them to disperse, but it was clear that this group of people would not back down.
Even if the guards stepped forward, they would be surrounded by scoundrels. The difference in numbers made the guards of Hua Manlou dare not take action, so they had to notify the housekeeper in the building first.
A moment later, the building manager also rushed over because of the noise, but he didn't have a few strong men with him, so he couldn't drive away these scoundrels. He had to question them in the most gentle way why they were making trouble.
Most people in Beijing are reasonable. Even if they come to deliberately disrupt business, they have to find an excuse first, and they cannot make empty-handed excuses.
Even this group of scoundrels did the same, and their reason was: a gambler who owed money had taken refuge in Hua Man Lou, and they had to make a lot of noise here to force him out.
But if they were asked to say the gambler's specific name and appearance, the description became extremely vague and inconsistent. First, they said he was a thin scholar dressed in white and liked to drink. Later, they said he was a warrior dressed in tight clothes, with thin eyebrows and eyes, who often used a sword. It was impossible to make sense of the whole thing.
The person in front who was leading the gong-beating said confidently: If Hua Manlou doesn't hand over the person today and insists on protecting the debtor dog, they will not leave.
But how could they possibly find such an obscure person? The situation came to a standstill.
The sounds of gongs and drums continued to ring out in front of the attic, and the business in the building was also affected. The living room on the first floor, which was usually bustling with people every day, now had only a few people at dinner time, and most of the seats were empty.
Xi Heng watched from upstairs for a long time and just felt annoyed.
She thought that the Yan family should have a bunch of thugs like other big families, who would be able to come and deal with the trouble in no time.
But after waiting for so long, no one helped.
"Is it because the Yan family is too far away from here, and the family's thugs have to take a long time to travel? Or are they so poor that they can't even afford to support thugs..." Xi Heng turned around and went back to the room.
He picked up his sheathed sword, which was full of wear and tear and scars, and walked down the stairs to solve the problem himself.
The group of scoundrels below affected her mood for dressing up today. In the past two months, all the gangsters who affected her mood were dead.
However, being in the capital city where there is some order, Xi Heng intends to restrain her murderous intent... She does not want to be targeted by the government in the capital city again.
"I can also help Yan Hongji solve the problems with her family's business." Xi Heng muttered to himself as he went downstairs.
The maids in the pavilion seemed to be accustomed to today's events and were still working quietly in their respective positions.
When Xi Heng passed by a long corridor, he asked one of the older maids:
"Is this a common thing out there?"
"Sir, you asked... Well, there was no such thing in the past few years, but in the past few months, these bastards come here every few days to make a fuss." The other party showed a clear helpless expression:
"Even if the young lady finds someone to drive them away, they will come out from all directions again after a while."
"No one reported it to the police?"
The other party shook his head: "Which big family behind them gave money to the government? Since there is no murder case, why would the government care about this matter? Even if they send people, it's just for show..."
"Is it okay as long as no one is killed?" Xi Heng seemed to be thinking about something.
After simply walking up a few redwood steps and passing through a long corridor, they arrived at the entrance of Huamanlou and saw the group of brown-clad scoundrels clearly.
The old building manager saw Xi Heng walking out and a hint of embarrassment flashed in his eyes.
Xi Heng looked at the group of troublemakers. They were arranged in an orderly manner, banging gongs and shouting at the same time. It was obvious that they were quite experienced in this kind of thing.
The girl coughed lightly and was about to say something harsh, but amid the clanging noises around her, the faint cough was obviously not audible.
So Xi Heng didn't try to say anything more, he just stepped forward, quickly crossed a distance of more than ten meters in a breath, and in a flash he stood in front of the man who was beating the gong.
The scabbard was lifted and pushed, and the tail end hit the opponent's waist and abdomen directly.
After a cry of pain came out from the beating, the noise of the gong finally stopped. The other scoundrels nearby also stopped shouting and were stunned when they saw their leader being beaten.
"Are you annoying?" Xi Heng heard the people beside him finally calm down, and said to these scoundrels, "I'll count to three, and if you don't get out of here, get down on your stomach."
"Little girl, what are you doing here--" The leader who was beating the gong recovered from the pain and glared angrily with gritted teeth.
Xi Heng didn't wait for him to finish speaking, he raised his foot and kicked the other person in the chest.
"three."
This time, he used a little force to kick the enemy seven or eight meters away, and he rolled over before falling to the ground.
The other scoundrels on the side didn't dare to say anything, and seemed to be planning to retreat.
But Xi Heng had already counted to three, and seeing that the enemy was just standing there, he stepped right in.
The red-clothed figure moved as fast as lightning, and before the nearest scoundrel could react, he turned around and was kicked in the chest again.
The man groaned, and then flew backwards as if he was hit by a violent bear. Even the men behind him who wanted to hold him back were unable to resist this huge force. In the end, they were all knocked to the ground like a bowling ball.
Xi Heng continued to rush towards the guys who were still standing. These middle-aged men only reacted at this moment and took defensive actions when she approached.
But in Xi Heng's eyes, these actions of the group were really not worth mentioning. They could be easily broken by just making one or two fake moves.
She hit the man in the abdomen with the tip of the sword handle, causing him to scream in pain and fall to the ground. Xi Heng turned around and saw that someone among this group of scoundrels actually had the courage to rush towards her, and she barely got a little interested.
She turned sideways to avoid the attack, and her right hand turned into a knife-hand gesture to strike the opponent's wrist, elbow and shoulder in succession.
The three hits took only a blink of an eye, and the man's arms suddenly became limp after the hits.
He tried to raise his arm and grab the hand, but the movement was so weak that even a child could easily dodge it.
Xi Heng took a false step and walked around, then used the force of his palm to push the opponent away, and then walked towards each enemy who tried to stand up.
As long as there was one of these guys standing, she would not stop.
It was not until more than twenty people fell to the ground screaming in pain that Xi Heng clapped his hands and the task was accomplished.
"Do you know I'm putting on my makeup? You guys are making so much noise that I can't even tie my hair properly." Xi Heng said, "Next time this happens, each of you will lose an arm."
After saying that, she turned around and went back to the pavilion.
Suddenly, there was a soft applause from the side.
Xi Heng turned his head and found that a purple-gold carriage with carved incense and jade and a dragon pattern had stopped beside the pavilion. The curtain of the carriage was slightly opened and two girls walked out.
Xi Heng didn't recognize one of them, but he always felt that the other person looked somewhat similar to himself - his facial features were delicate and flawless, his eyes were deep and his hair was long, and he was wearing a light purple dress that set off his figure and exuded nobility. His dark hair was half tied behind his head, and most of the hair hung naturally. Just standing there, he exuded the aura of a superior.
As for the other person who was clapping while getting off the car, he was someone I knew.
Her pink skirt fluttered, her long sleeves moved slightly in the wind, she looked around gracefully, her face was like a lotus, her eyebrows were like willows, and her bright eyes were captivating. After getting off the carriage, she looked towards Xi Heng, her lips slightly raised, and her eyes seemed to be full of affection.
"Hongji." Xi Heng raised his hand and greeted.
"I heard from my clan today that a female hero came to Hua Man Lou holding the clan's token. I thought it was you, so I rushed here as soon as possible. It turned out to be you, senior sister." Hong Ji looked elegant.
After not seeing each other for a year and a half, his temperament has changed a lot.
Hongji has changed from the soft and somewhat self-deprecating temperament she had before to the gentle, well-educated and well-educated daughter of a wealthy family.
This should not be a bad thing, but Xi Heng was familiar with Yan Hongji as an apprentice in the martial arts school. Seeing that the other party had become so different from before, his heart was inevitably shaken for a moment.
However, their relationship still exists.
Xi Heng explained why he came: "Jinshi City was besieged by the Tianliang Army, and the Hongxian Sword Academy has been closed. I have no relatives, so I came to find you a place to stay."
"I welcome you anytime, Senior Sister." Yan Hongji said, "You can stay as long as you want."
Xi Heng also returned the gift: "I won't stay here for nothing. If you need anything in the future, you can always come and say hello--"
Before she finished her words, another distinguished-looking young lady who got off the carriage with Hong Ji interrupted directly:
"Is this the senior sister you always talk about? Why does she look more and more familiar the more I look at her..."
She turned her gaze to Xi Heng: "Have we met before?"
There was an indescribable sense of arrogance in her every move and her tone sounded more like an order than a question.
Xi Heng naturally didn't have a good tone and said coldly:
"I haven't seen it. Who are you?"
The other party narrowed his eyes slightly and showed an interested expression towards Xi Heng:
"Not many people dare to speak to me like this."
"I?"
Hearing these two words, Xi Heng vaguely understood something.
The young lady who claimed to be the emperor's daughter pursed her lips and stopped talking, snorted softly and said no more.
She had to hide her name to go out of the palace for fun. If her identity was known to others and caused trouble, she might never be able to leave the palace again.
Seeing that the atmosphere was cold when they first met, Yan Hongji tried to smooth things over:
"Thank you, Senior Sister, for shocking these villains. Otherwise, I would have to spend a lot of time to deal with these disturbances when I brought this distinguished guest to Hua Man Lou."
"Sister, why don't you get to know this noble person beside me?"
