Four Masters' Tour: Exploring the Charm of Southern China ( Part 2 )

Mu Linfeng only saw the scholar in a white robe, who was handsome but a bit thin, with a hint of sadness in his demeanor. The waiter approached him and said, "I'm sorry, sir, we don't have Daughter Red here, but we have our Shandong specialty wines, such as Jingzhi, Kong Mansion, and Bao Tuo Spring. Which one would you like?"

The scholar looked up at the waiter and asked, "Can you introduce them to me?"

The waiter replied, "Sure, which one would you like?"

The scholar thought for a moment and said, "One bottle of each, please." He also ordered a few small dishes to go with the wine.

Mu Linfeng listened to the scholar's accent and recognized it as being from the Jiangnan and Huaiyin regions, which were near his hometown. He became interested in the scholar and looked at him a few more times.

Suddenly, the scholar looked in Mu Linfeng's direction, and their eyes met. Mu Linfeng smiled at him, but the scholar remained expressionless and then turned his gaze to Chen Yuanyuan. Mu Linfeng found the scholar's behavior strange and wondered about his identity.

Mu Linfeng asked Su Duxiu quietly, "Mr. Su, do you recognize this person?" Su Duxiu turned to look at the scholar for a long time before saying, "I don't know him, but if the host wants to know his identity, I can find out in half an hour."

Mu Linfeng was impressed with Su Duxiu and said, "Thank you, Mr. Su." After finishing their meal, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.

Chen Yuanyuan asked Mu Linfeng to accompany her for a walk on the street. Mu Linfeng thought it was a good idea since he hadn't really seen much since arriving in this era, other than running and hiding in the mountains.

As they walked down the stairs, they met the cold-faced scholar coming up. Chen Yuanyuan finally saw what the scholar looked like, and Mu Linfeng smiled at him. However, the scholar never looked at Mu Linfeng and only had eyes for Chen Yuanyuan. Mu Linfeng noticed that Chen Yuanyuan didn't even glance at the scholar.

That scholar's gaze at Chen Yuanyuan remained emotionless, unlike the usual reaction of people who immediately salivate at the sight of her beauty. Nor did it seem like he had any grudges with Chen Yuan from before.

Mu Lingfeng, noticing the scholar's strange behavior, felt cautious.

On the way, Mu Lingfeng and Chen Yuanyuan attracted a lot of attention as the epitome of a handsome man and a beautiful woman in modern terms, or a couple of outstanding talents in ancient terms. Many envied Mu Lingfeng's good fortune of having such a beautiful companion and the women envied Chen Yuanyuan for having such a desirable husband. They appeared like fairy-tale lovers, causing envy among others. However, Mu Lingfeng always felt like someone's gaze was fixed on him from the crowd, but he found nothing when he looked around.

Suddenly, Mu Lingfeng had an idea, "Could that scholar be Zheng Xiyu in disguise? She has excellent makeup skills and can even change her voice."

At the thought, he felt an indescribable feeling, hoping it was her, yet not hoping it was her. But he soon dismissed the idea, thinking it was unlikely. Although the scholar was not as tall as him, he was still a remarkable person in this era, much taller than Zheng Xiyu. She couldn't disguise her height too, could she?

Chen Yuanyuan noticed Mu Lingfeng's absent-mindedness and asked, "Do you have something on your mind, Mu Lang?"

Mu Lingfeng snapped out of his thoughts and quickly replied, "How could I have anything on my mind? I was just thinking about what gift to surprise you with."

Chen Yuanyuan spats back, "Mu Lang, you're just trying to flatter me. If you truly had something in mind, you wouldn't have mentioned it."

Feeling embarrassed, Mu Lingfeng stopped talking, secretly vowing to give her a real surprise next time.

Chen Yuanyuan suggested, "Since you have something in mind, let's head back to the inn."

Mu Linfeng knew that Chen Yuanyuan's words and actions were inconsistent, but he himself was not in the mood for shopping at the moment. Besides, even in the 21st century, he never went shopping with women when trying to date them. He would just give them money and let them buy whatever they wanted. But in ancient times, everything had changed. Thinking of this, Mu Linfeng couldn't help but sigh.

After the two returned to the inn, Mu Linfeng escorted Chen Yuanyuan to her room and immediately went to the room of Su Duxiu and the other four families. The four of them were sitting at the table, and when they saw Mu Linfeng approaching, they stood up and greeted him with clasped hands, "Master."

Mu Linfeng quickly gestured for them to sit down and asked Su Duxiu, "Mr. Su, what did you find out for me?"

Before Mu Linfeng could finish speaking, Su Duxiu said, "I have found out. His surname is Mao, his name is Xiang, and his style name is Bijing."

Mu Linfeng was surprised, "What? He's Mao Bijing?"

Su Duxiu asked in amazement, "What? Does the master know this person?"

Mu Linfeng shook his head and thought to himself, "I can say I know him, or I can say I don't know him." He continued to think, "So this person is Mao Bijing, one of the four gentlemen of the Ming Dynasty along with Fang Yizhi, Hou Fangyu, and Chen Zhenhui. I've seen him portrayed as a scholar on television before, but it seems he's not that simple. He's holding a sword and should be a martial artist, and the historical records say he was a carefree and talented person."

Mu Linfeng began to feel confused. If this person was really Mao Bijing, he would like to be friends with him. However, the man looked arrogant and unfriendly, and Mu Linfeng didn't understand why he kept staring at Chen Yuanyuan.

Moreover, according to Mu Linfeng's knowledge of history, Mao Bijing had some connection with Dong Xiaowan, one of the Eight Beauties of the Qinhuai River. It didn't make sense for him to be interested in Chen Yuanyuan.

Mu Linfeng wanted to ask Su Duxiu if he knew anything else about Mao Bijing, but Su Duxiu shook his head and said, "At present, this is all I know. His Mao family swordsmanship is also quite exquisite, but we don't know how he uses it because no one has seen him use it yet."

Mu Linfeng was confused. According to history, Mao Bijing was just a scholar. How could he have the Mao family swordsmanship? It occurred to Mu Linfeng that history had already undergone significant changes without his knowledge, and he could only take one step at a time.

Mu Linfeng was restless in his heart, feeling that something was about to happen. The look in the eyes of Mao Bijiang as he watched Chen Yuanyuan kept flashing through his mind. After thinking it over, Mu Linfeng decided to set off with the cavalry at night and meet with Wu Xing no matter what. At midnight, the four leaders and their men quietly left the inn and got on the carriage. Mu Linfeng carried the sleeping Chen Yuanyuan on board as well. They rode south through the night, and it wasn't until the carriage was far away from Jinan Prefecture that Mu Linfeng finally relaxed.

The group travelled through the night and arrived in the Chongzhou area. They set up camp there, and along the way, Chen Yuanyuan kept asking Mu Linfeng why he was in such a hurry. Mu Linfeng only said that he wanted to get to Jiangnan as soon as possible and didn't say anything else.

As they travelled, Mu Linfeng didn't notice any suspicious activity, and he thought he might have been overly cautious.

Mu Linfeng asked Su Duxiu how long it would take to reach Nanjing. Su Duxiu replied, "We will reach Chongzhou City soon, and from there, we can enter Jiangsu Province. We can pass through Fengyang from Xuzhou and then pass through Yangzhou, after which we can go straight to Nanjing."

Mu Linfeng calculated that it would take at least half a month to a month to make the journey. He quickly asked Su Duxiu if there was a shortcut.

Su Duxiu said, "There is a shortcut, which is to travel by water and land. We can rent two boats from the Grand Canal on the west side of Chongzhou, which will take us directly to the Huai River Basin. It won't save much time, but it will save you from the jolting of carriages and horses, which will be better for Madam."

Mu Linfeng knew that when Su Duxiu said "Madam," he meant Chen Yuanyuan. He thought, "That's good. Yuanyuan hasn't had a good night's sleep all the way here. If we travel by water, it should be better for her." He nodded and said, "Then we'll travel by boat."

The group arrived in Chongzhou at noon, already exhausted. They rested at an inn, had some food and drinks, and then continued on their journey as planned towards the west of Chongzhou. Along the way, many people were hungry and Mu Linfeng sometimes showed some goodwill, but when he saved one person, many more people would follow, so he had to give up.

Everyone looked at the beggars, seemingly numb. At first, Mu Lingfeng was a little upset, but after doing it two or three times, he understood how things worked.

By now, Li Zicheng in Shanxi province must have already started a rebellion, although Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan province was defeated by Zuo Liangyu this year, it was a costly battle. In the northeast, there was another outbreak of war not long ago. In order to increase tax revenue, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty kept adding all sorts of inexplicable taxes, and coupled with the drought, there were corpses along the way. Mu Lingfeng just looked on and did some humanitarian work. As a result, the journey was delayed by quite a bit.

In some villages that they passed by, there were hardly ten households left. Instead, there were some elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people. Originally, those people either went to join the army or fled. Everyone felt pity in their hearts. Mu Lingfeng saw how impoverished the Ming Dynasty was and although they still talked and laughed along the way, there was a hint of sadness.

After another two days of traveling, they finally arrived at the Grand Canal at noon on the third day. Mu Lingfeng got off the carriage and saw that the canal bank was bustling with activity. There were many pedestrians and vehicles, and it was much better than where they had come from. However, there were still many starving people. Some young and strong people were waiting to be hired, and even some children were waiting for someone to notice them, although they stood far away, and few people paid attention to them. However, when the group of Mu Lingfeng arrived, no one came forward to approach them.

Mu Lingfeng wanted to help, but they had already distributed a lot of money along the way, and they were running out of resources. It seemed that if he wanted to do good, he had to earn more money. Mu Lingfeng thought about it and saw some official soldiers patrolling on the bank.

He ordered the group to park the carriage by the bank and asked Su Duxiu and Fang Zihao to go and find a boat heading south, while the rest waited on the bank.