Nineteen, investigate one by one and kill one by one

  On that day, Zhou Xuan bought "Cloud and Mist Clothing Store" and wrote the contract in Su Qing's name. When Su Qing saw that she had a property worth 2,000 taels of silver under her name, she was very excited and grasped Zhou Xuan's hand tightly.

  Leaving two housekeepers to watch the store, Zhou Xuan returned to the mansion with Zhenzhen and spent the whole night drawing out ten autumn outfits for women, all of which were long dress series. He also drew several pairs of women's leather boots, pointed heads, half-high heels, and asked Lai Fu to take the drawings to the shoemaker to try them out. As long as they were well-made, it would be fine to pay several times more wages, because Zhou Xuan found that Tang Guo's leather manufacturing level was not low. Last time, his pair of leather shoes broke when climbing Mount Lu, Lai Fu went to order two pairs of black six-stitch boots for him, which looked good on him, but the style was ugly.

  Madam Qin had some reservations about Zhou Xuan's decision to open a clothing store, saying that business was a lowly occupation and that as a member of the Qin family, which was an official's household, she shouldn't be competing with commoners for profit.

  Zhou Xuan said, "In the past, doctors were also considered inferior professions. Don't mention Er Ge, everyone is about the same. Must reading dead books be noble? I love doing those kinds of things."

  Zhou Xuan let Qin Que and Zhen Zhen go slowly persuade her as she couldn't get through to her mother-in-law.

  The task of Zhēn Zhēn was a daunting one, not only did she have to persuade her stepmother to agree to let her open a clothing store, but also had to convince Qín Què to yield to Zhōu Xuān. After tireless efforts, her stepmother agreed to let her open the store, and as for Qín Què, he blushed and bit his lip, saying: "Let's talk about it another day." Although he didn't immediately agree, his expression seemed quite promising.

  Another lonely night's sleep, August 18th. This day Zhou Xuan was relatively free, so he searched his mind in the study and recorded ten quatrains of verse, preparing to give them to female student Rui Chu when she came. These ten quatrains were mainly short lyrics, all being "Huan Xi Sha", "Qing Ping Yue", "Cai Sang Zi" and "Ta Sha Xing" and other concise tunes. Because long tunes only developed in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, if he carelessly recorded a long tune, Rui Chu wouldn't have seen this kind of tune before, and would ask how to sing it, which would be troublesome.

  The ten songs were written by Yan Zhu, Ouyang Xiu, Zhang Xian and Zhou Bangyan. The style of the lyrics is elegant and refined, with a relatively uniform tone. These excellent works are naturally born, and it's as if they were created by chance. Zhou Xuan simply brought these excellent works to light decades earlier. Who would have thought that decades later, when Yan Shu, Ouyang Xiu and others were flourishing in the world of lyrics, they would unintentionally discover that a great lyricist from Southern Tang, nicknamed "Zhou Qiuxian", had already written all these famous lines? It's likely that they could only lament like Cao Cao did about the ancients, saying that "Zhou Qiuxian" was secretly in harmony with them.

  This world is so unfair, original work becomes plagiarism, pirated versions become the real thing, haha, it's really interesting!

  Zhou Xuan thought with a sense of pride, letting Qin Que re-copy these words, because many traditional characters Zhou Xuan could recognize but not write, and that day he saw Que's calligraphy, which was learned from Liu Gongquan's regular script, written much better than his.

  In the afternoon, Rui Chu arrived and read Zhou Xuan's ten quatrains, delighted and praised them, and left with satisfaction.

  In the evening, Fu Xing rushed in and said: "Brother-in-law, tomorrow our 'Super Autumn Fighting Hall' will have a big battle between the 'Famous General Zhang Huo' and the mysterious monster 'Untouchable'. This matter has already spread throughout the city and is being discussed in all the wine houses and tea shops. Everyone is guessing which insect can win. They say that 'General Zhang Huo' is indeed fierce, but 'Untouchable' is not easy to mess with either. It's said that it easily defeated a high-quality yellow-backed insect before, so I estimate that there will be many people going to place bets tomorrow."

  Zhou Xuan applauded and said: "Good, Liao Yinda did a good job, there will be a great show tomorrow."

  After finishing dinner, Zhou Xuan ran to the small pool under the Shawan Pavilion in the back garden for a swim. The water was from the Xiao Yangtze River and was very clean. Qin Que and Zhen Zhen stood by the railing of the pavilion, watching him swim and urging him to come up quickly so as not to catch cold.

  Zhou Xuan thought that when he could let his two little wives wear swimsuits and swim with him, it would be great, but it was a long way off.

  Last night didn't go to the Governor's Mansion to learn from Jingyi Xianzi the "Nine Difficulties" of tea ceremony, tonight must have gone, just preparing to leave, the gatekeeper Tian Dazhuang came to report that Dong Jiangjun from the Governor's Mansion had come to pick up the young master.

  Zhou Xuan bowed and cupped his hands: "General Dong, thank you for your trouble."

  In the twilight, the horse carriage left Zhuque Lane and was about to arrive at Chaoyang Lane when Old Dong suddenly pulled hard on the reins. The carriage came to a sudden stop, throwing Zhou Xuan's head against the side panel of the carriage.

  "What's going on? The horse carriage hit someone? There was a car accident?"

  Zhou Xuan stuck his head out of the car window and took a look. There was someone standing in front of the horse carriage, but it was too dark to see clearly, so they probably hadn't hit him.

  "What's wrong, General Dong?"

  Zhou Xuan spoke up, and the dark figure instantly appeared in front of the car window. Suddenly, Old Dong shouted angrily, his right hand hooking out with a burst of energy to grab at the person.

  That person didn't see how to dodge, and Lao Dong grasped at nothing.

  This time they were closer, Zhou Xuan saw clearly and hastily said: "Old Dong, don't take action."

  Lao Dong stopped attacking and grasped the dagger at his waist, slowly pulling it out.

  That man didn't care about Lao Dong drawing his sword and bowed deeply towards Zhou Xuan in the carriage: "Master, the Sword Slave has arrived."

  Zhou Xuan jumped off the carriage and grasped San Chi's hand, saying kindly: "You've come, that's good, you've come... Old Dong, put your knife away."

  Three foolish men wearing wide-brimmed hats and hemp shoes, looking like they're traveling a long distance, no longer riding horses, becoming ascetic monks?

  "Where did the three foolish old brothers come from?"

  "As for Master's words, Jian Nu came from Yan Dang Mountain."

  Yandang Mountain in Zhejiang is over a thousand miles away from Jiangzhou, and San Chou has walked all the way here, he's really willing to suffer.

  Zhou Xuan wanted to take Jian Nu back to the manor, but Old Dong said stiffly: "Young Master Zhou, Eldest Miss has invited you."

  Zhou Xuan thought to himself, San Chi wanting to be his sword slave was something that had to be made known to Lin Du Hu, and he needed to get Lin's consent first. Otherwise, San Chi would bring him big trouble.

  Zhou Xuan said: "General Dong, take me to see the Protector General."

  Lao Dong didn't say anything and drove slowly forward.

  Zhou Xuan then walked with San Chi, and San Chi obviously heard that Zhou Xuan was going to see Lin Dai, but he didn't react at all, nor did he fear being caught and beheaded. He just quietly followed behind Zhou Xuan.

  At the gate of Chaoyang Fang, Old Dong said coldly: "Zhou Gongzi, this person cannot enter the Fang for the time being. Wait until I report to Du Hu and then decide."

  Zhou Xuan said he understood, no matter how tame San Chou is now, after all, ten days ago, the whole city of Jiangzhou was shocked, and tens of thousands of people were disturbed day and night by him. Anyone would have lingering fears and wouldn't trust him.

  Lao Dong drove in, and soon Lin Hanyin came out. Lin Hanyin was waiting for Zhou Xuan at the west gate, thinking that Zhou Xuan was in the car, and was about to question him angrily about why he didn't come last night. Lao Dong said: "The three thieves are outside the city gate." He jumped down from the carriage and went into the mansion to report to the Lord Protector.

  Lin Han Yun was startled, and a small maid followed her, nervously coming out to take a look. Zhou Xuan stood there calmly, while the three fools stood with their hands hanging down in respect, haha, it seems that San Chou really did come to be a sword slave.

  Lin Han Yun's eyes widened as she walked over and said: "Zhou Xuan, how did he get here?"

  Zhou Xuan smiled and said: "Come and take you to Mount Lu."

  Lin Han Yun gazed intently at San Chi, seeing him stiffen and move, only then did she relax, saying to Zhou Xuan: "He's here to catch you."

  Zhou Xuan suddenly turned pale, pulled Lin Hanyu to one side and whispered: "Remember, don't tell anyone he's You Xia San Chi, just call him Jian Nu, did you hear?"

  Lin Han Yun raised an eyebrow: "What's there to be afraid of? You've subdued a famous assassin and made him your sword slave, isn't that something to be proud of? Let everyone know about it, and in the future, take him out on the streets with you, others will be intimidated just by looking at him."

  "I'm telling you, San Ci's got a screw loose. He's now acknowledged himself as my sword slave and forgotten he was once the ruthless assassin San Ci. So he's quite tame now, but if you call him 'San Ci', he'll snap out of it and go on a rampage, killing you first, then me."

  "Ah, why did you kill me first?" Lin Hanyin exclaimed in surprise.

  Zhou Xuan said: "Whoever calls him 'three foolish' will be killed by him. Don't believe it? You can try and see."

  "I won't try, you try."

  "Considering you're my little sister's friend, I'll remind you one more time: don't even dare to call him 'three idiots' behind his back. If you tell someone he's 'three idiots', that person will definitely tell others, and eventually it'll reach his ears. He'll investigate one by one, killing each person who knows he's 'three idiots'. In the end, he'll kill you at the 'Nine Hardships Mountain House' by the Shuishi Spring."

  Zhou Xuan said in a gloomy tone, his voice seemed like Lin Huan's corpse was floating up and down on the Shishi Spring.

  Lin Han Yun was so frightened that she jumped up, Shui Shi Quan was too familiar to her, Zhou Xuan was too despicable, actually using such a specific location to scare him, this made her dare not go to Shui Shi Quan again!

  Lin Han's small face turned pale, her fingers tightly pinching Zhou Xuan's arm, and she said hatefully: "I won't say it, one day you'll accidentally say it yourself, and then he'll kill you on the Mengfeng Pavilion."

  Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Let's see about that."

  Lao Dong came out, followed by a team of government soldiers, fully armed and with their hands on the hilts of their swords.

  "Zhou Gongzi, Da Hu is letting you take him in."

  Zhou Xuan, San Chi followed Lao Dong, in a group of Fu Bing's siege to see Du Hu Lin Dai. When they arrived at the front of the Jing Jie Hall, San Chi was stopped again by several Ya and Yu Hou, only Zhou Xuan went up to the hall alone.

  "Descendant, sit."

  Lin Du Hu smiled and greeted him, without showing a trace of hostility, although the outside had already been arranged like an iron bucket.

  After paying his respects and sitting down, Zhou Xuan said: "Uncle, you say whether I should take in these three fools or not. Looking at their attitude, even if I wanted to drive them away, they wouldn't leave."

  Lin Du Hu smiled and said, "Since you've come, I'll take him in. However, you must be extremely careful not to let others know that he is San Chou. I have already given strict orders here; anyone who dares to reveal San Chou's identity will be beheaded immediately, even if it's from Han Yun's side."

  Zhou Xuan smiled and said: "Hanyun's side is fine, I scared her a bit earlier, now she doesn't even dare to mention San Ci's name."

  Lin Dai stroked his mustache and smiled: "Alright, Uncle will send an expert to keep an eye on this San Chi. If he finds out that San Chi has any ill intentions, he'll find a way to capture and kill him. Even if San Chi is very powerful, in Jiangzhou City, he's just a dead man walking——alright, you go learn the art of tea from Dao Yun, let San Chi wait outside the mansion gate. This evil spirit can't be allowed to stay in the mansion."

  Zhou Xuan felt it wasn't quite right to send someone to spy on San Chou, but he also didn't think it was good to say more, so he bowed and withdrew.