The carriage went out of Donghua Gate and headed straight north.

  Under Chen Ke's inquiry, Zhao Zongji said with a mysterious face: "The place we are going to now is the 'Tianyin Water Pavilion' that all men in Bianliang want to go to. Not only is the environment exceptionally beautiful, but more importantly, its hostess Du Qingfeng has a beauty that can shut down the moon and flowers, and her singing voice is like heavenly music." After a pause, he said: "Actually, her residence was originally called 'Mingxiang Water Pavilion', but later it was renamed 'Tianyin Water Pavilion' by some busybodies, and everyone says it's a good name."

  All men in the world are the same, as soon as they mention Du Dajie, Zhao Zongji suddenly loses his composure and reveals a three-pointed humble expression: "Recently, I've been making you anxious, it's my fault. Today, I invite you to listen to Du Dajie sing, consider it my apology."

  "Where's everyone?" Chen Ke's expression was somewhat strange as he said, "You've even been moved out?"

  "Me..." Zhao Zongji was taken aback and lost his smile: "How could you think that?"

  "Hey......" Chen Ke couldn't help but feel embarrassed, and self-deprecatingly said: "I'm just overthinking things, right?"

  "So you're saying you still have a relationship with Du?"

  "No."

  "I'm sure you don't know, you've only just arrived in the capital. Zhao Zongji nodded in agreement: "Let me tell you, Du Dajia is famous among the top ten brothels in the capital for being a solitary flower that admires itself. Many wealthy patrons have spent a fortune trying to get into her Tianyin Shui Ge pavilion, but even we young masters are rarely received at her home. There's only one exception: when she tries out new songs, she'll invite a group of connoisseurs to come and appreciate them..."

  "It can't be seen," Chen Qian said with a smile: "You are still the bosom friend of the Song Immortal."

  "Me..." Zhao Zongji smiled self-deprecatingly: "I'm at most just a fan, it's my sister Xiang'er who is good friends with Du Dajia."

  "Ah..." Chen Ke nodded, thinking to himself: 'The young lady and the geisha have actually become good friends, what a strange era this is...'

  "Also," Zhao Zongji said with some embarrassment, "some people have been wanting to see you for a long time. If they are too enthusiastic or speak out of turn, please bear with them."

  "May I get off?"

  "No."

  "What's the point of even saying that?"

  As he spoke, the carriage stopped, the attendants raised the umbrella and opened the curtains.

  As soon as Zhao Zongji and Chen Ke got off the car, they saw a small lake appearing in front of them through the misty rain. In the center of the lake was a small islet connected to the shore by a stone arch bridge. Walking along the small bridge, they saw bamboo groves surrounding the windows, fragrant forests surrounding the steps, and a elegant waterside pavilion hidden among them, like a blessed place where gods and immortals dwell.

  Chen Ke couldn't help but secretly whistle, this Du Dajia was indeed a big shot, in this inch of gold land of Bianjing City, he could actually afford such a rare waterfront mansion...

  Zhao Zongji also nodded in admiration and said: "Observe the residence to know the person, from this we can infer that the female host is extraordinary and unconventional..."

  "Are those who live in luxurious houses necessarily good people?" Chen Xiao pouted.

  "These words... " Zhao Zongji shook his head and sighed.

  The guests were not just the two of them, on the stone path by the bridge, there were also more than a dozen large and small horse-drawn carriages... On each carriage, there were sturdy drivers sitting under the carriage canopy to avoid the rain. When they saw Zhao Zongji, they all got up quickly to pay their respects.

  Although Little King Wang was born and raised in Beijing, he wasn't just any ordinary family's coachman that you could get to know.

  Zhao Zongji ignored them and took Chen Ke directly onto the stone bridge, where they saw a small island in the middle of the lake with lush flowers and trees, surrounded by a circle of green tiles and white walls, simple and elegant. After crossing the stone bridge was a flying eave and gray tile rain shelter pavilion.

  A young maid came out of the pavilion, holding a flower umbrella and smiling at Zhao Zongji: "The young master has just arrived, Du Dajia has already sung two songs." She also saw Chen Ke, but her face suddenly changed.

  Chen Ke also recognized her, wasn't this the little maid who was kidnapped by him back then? Tsk tsk, she's grown up so much...

  "What a pity." Holding an umbrella, it was hard to see other people's expressions. Zhao Zongji said to himself, "Let's hurry in."

  "Yes." The little maid glared at Chen Ke for a moment before turning around and leading the way.

  "Heh heh......" Chen Ke smiled secretly in his heart, still quite vengeful.

  "My family is inside," Zhao Zongji said, gesturing for him to go in together.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  As they entered the Weeping Flower Gate, they stepped into the Water Pavilion. All that could be seen was a clump of bamboo blocking the view inside. The two followed the maid up several flights of stone steps and turned around to see another heavenly scene.

  But see the water pavilion in front of the hall, presenting a circular shape, with a corridor around it, five steps to a pavilion and ten steps to a building. Guests sit in these halls and look at a piano platform in the center. Whether it's a corridor or a piano platform, they are all located on the water surface, with green lotus and white lotus in the water, and fish swimming like in a painting.

  The maid led two people through the corridor and stopped in front of a pavilion, reporting softly: "Young Master, the young master has arrived."

  The curtain was lifted from inside, and another beautiful maid came out and said: "Young Master."

  Chen Ke followed Zhao Zongji in, and saw that in this not-so-large water pavilion, there were two men and two women sitting. The men are not worth mentioning, let's just talk about the two women. One was a stately and elegant young woman with a radiant complexion, and the other was a girl with skin as white as jade and a heavenly fragrance.

  When he saw them coming in, all four of them stood up and greeted them.

  "These two are my elder brother Zong Jin and younger brother Zong Jing." Zhao Zongji introduced Chen Ke, he had a total of four brothers, and there was also a little one who was only ten years old and hadn't reached the age to be interested in De Yi Shuang Xin's female artists, so naturally didn't come along.

  "This is my wife, and this is my sister-in-law; you have met them before." Zhao Zongji introduced again.

  "Have seen uncle." The young woman bowed slightly.

  The little princess who had seen San Ge also nodded and blushed slightly.

  Chen Ke didn't dare to be slow, and he greeted each of them one by one. After they sat down, Zhao Zongji's older brother, Zong Yun, warmly grasped Chen Ke's shoulder and said: "Your great name has been heard like thunder in my ears, today I finally see you."

  Zhao Zongjing, a sixteen or seventeen year old young man, also smiled and said to Chen Ke: "In the capital, there is now a saying 'three difficulties in inviting', namely one old man, one prostitute, and one scholar."

  "What does it mean?"

  "One old man is called Drunken Old Man, one courtesan is called Exiled Immortal," Zhao Zongjing stuck out his tongue and said: "One scholar is called Dictionary Gentleman..." The maids heard this and burst into laughter.

  "Don't get me wrong, putting that banished immortal and your master-disciple relationship on the same level doesn't mean to belittle it in any way." Zhao Zongji hurriedly explained, fearing Chen Ke wouldn't be pleased.

  Chen Ke had already become accustomed to the Song Dynasty people's crazy pursuit of famous courtesans, and smiled wryly: "I'm very honored." The young people who studied at Taixue mostly chatted idly about romantic affairs. Therefore, although he had only just arrived, Chen Ke was already well-informed about the romantic affairs in the capital.

  For example, in the capital every year there is a "Flower Ranking" event where various famous flowers are used to evaluate and compare the reputation of courtesans, selecting several "Flower Queens". In years with major events, there will also be "Powder Country Spring Examinations", imitating the imperial examination system's honorific titles to rank the courtesans' grades, also divided into first, second, and third classes. Those who win the top three honors will naturally become legendary in the flower queen world, even leaving their names in history.

  And that so-called 'Exiled Immortal', was the most renowned courtesan, named Qin Xiangjun, also known as 'Peony Fairy'...

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "On the turf of ' Narcissus', you are discussing 'Peony Fairy', isn't that too impolite?" Zhao Zongji's wife, Zhang Shi, said with a covered mouth and a smile.

  "No, I won't say any more." Zong Jing said with a smile: "You guys came too late, Du has already sung two songs; but it's okay, there is still one more to listen to later."

  Just as they were speaking, a 'ding dong' sound of the guqin rang out. Although it wasn't loud, the pavilion immediately fell silent. Everyone looked outside and saw that on the guqin platform in the middle of the pool of emerald water, there was an additional woman with a fallen horse's hoof bun, wearing a white silk skirt. The gentle breeze blew by, and the fine rain blurred her figure, making it somewhat indistinct, as if she were a fairy floating about.

  She lightly waved her jade finger to strum the pipa, and the sound was like a mountain autumn nightingale, with the moon high above the forest, making one's worries suddenly disappear. Along with the soft and gentle sound of the strings, like twisting pearls, the jade-like person opened her mouth and sang:

  "Life would be but a fleeting glance, what sorrow is there in autumn's breeze and painted fans."

  "Although the heart of an old friend has changed, it is said that the heart of an old friend is easily changeable..."

  The song is like a hundred birds flying into the forest, flying springs splashing jade, and in its leisurely pace, it's like a flute on a spring river under the moonlight. The pearl-like throat sings with a sobbing tone... Listening to this song makes one's eyes brim with tears...

  Chen Ke was also enchanted, this being his second time listening to Du Xing sing. Last time in the noisy hotel, with a seven-tenths drunkenness, he only felt it sounded good and didn't have any special feelings. But this time, coming specifically to listen to her performance, the feeling was naturally different... This is a woman who sings with her soul!

  He couldn't help but feel a little guilty for his recklessness at first...

  The song ended, and the woman had already retreated behind the curtain with her head bowed. The crowd was still entranced and couldn't help themselves. After a long time, a cloud plate sounded, and her female disciples came on stage to sing, only then did they bring the audience back.

  "This 'Yulou Spring' is sung well and the lyrics are also good, isn't it a leftover work of Liu Qi?" Zhao Zongji finally came back to his senses and said.

  "No," said the young lady, shaking her head: "The style of the lyrics is not like Liu Sanbian's, nor does it resemble that of any other poet of this generation."

  "Words that change yet remain in the heart of an old friend, but it's said that the heart of an old friend is easily changed..." Zhang wiped away tears and said: "Such words that rip people's hearts apart, I don't know what kind of foolish person wrote them."

  "Hmm, it can be said that after Liu's three changes, our Song Dynasty has another romantic saint." Zhao Zongyi concluded.

  Chen Ke felt a sense of unease and guilt after hearing the news, as if he had stolen someone's property. His face flushed with heat, but he just kept his head down and continued drinking.

  "Did you think it sounded bad?"

  "Sounds good, sounds good." Chen Ke hastily nodded and said; "Too good to hear." He dryly laughed and said: "But I'm not very good at appreciating..." Then he raised his wine cup and said: "Come on, let's drink, let's drink..."

  Seeing his guilty face, the crowd grew suspicious, and that young lady secretly said: 'How did this Ya bandit become a different person?' He clearly understood the tune, but didn't admit it; His face was thick-skinned, yet he twisted and turned, looking like there must be a ghost in this...

  Just then, the maid reported: "Young Mistress, Madam Du has arrived."

  Divider line

  I'm going crazy, no fever, no headache, just non-stop sneezing for six or seven days in a row. I've gone through three boxes of tissues and my nose is all scratched up... please help me find a solution...