Peach Blossom Land On Longyin Island Chapter 51
bySpring returns to the earth
The winter snow melts and spring returns to the earth.The city of Wujiang is full of red flowers and green willows, and the orioles are singing and the swallows are dancing.At Wujiang Wharf, ships of all sizes were moored on the shore. With the sound of shouts, workers carrying sacks were going up and down, very busy.
In Wushui Alley in Wujiang City, a lantern shop is holding a grand opening event. The shop is decorated with lanterns, gongs and drums are playing in front of the door, and the door is crowded with people, making it very lively.
The five characters “An Ran Lantern Shop” on the plaque on the door of the lantern shop are particularly eye-catching.
“If we want to talk about the strange things that happened in our Kingdom of Jin last year, then the ‘An Ran Lantern Shop’ must be one of them. The owner of this lantern shop is a mysterious figure. The ‘An Ran Lantern Shop’ was born out of the sky. Within a year, it opened all over the two capitals and thirteen states of the Kingdom of Jin. Even our little Wujiang City, which has only 350,000 people, only has a dozen or so. Streets, alleys, busy suburbs, no matter youWherever you go, An Ran Lantern Shop follows you everywhere, and you can’t even hide away.This is strange. Businessmen open shops to make money, and they open branches only when the shop makes money. However, this ‘An Ran Lantern Shop’ is obviously not profitable, but it opens one after another. It is said to be a lantern shop, but it only sells one style of lanterns. I don’t know what the boss is trying to do…”
In a two-story teahouse opposite the newly opened An Ran Lantern Shop in Wuyi Lane, the storyteller was spitting and speaking passionately.Near the window of the tea house facing the street, a fair and beautiful young man in a coarse robe sat by the window. As the corners of his mouth raised, the tear marks at the end of his eyes also rose slightly, and he looked at the grand opening event downstairs with a smile.
“Hey,” there was also a young man sitting opposite the young man. He looked about eighteen or nineteen years old. He was dressed in red brocade clothes, with a white jade hairpin in his hair. He was wearing gold and silver. He had fair skin. He looked like he was from a wealthy family.The man put his head towards the beautiful young man opposite and said “Hey”. When he saw the beautiful young man retracting his gaze, he said with a gossipy face: “Isn’t this lantern shop your property? Your name is An Ran, and this shop is also called An Ran. How come it’s such a coincidence?”
An Ran took a sip of tea and said with a smile: “Brother Song is joking, how can I have the money to open so many shops? It’s just a coincidence.”
“It’s not easy to make money.” The young man called Brother Song spoke again, lowering his voice, “You should think carefully about it. As long as you continue to provide goods, we can make a lot of money. This is a good opportunity.”
An Ran put down the tea cup and said with a smile: “I heard that the court recently issued a new policy prohibiting private private salt industry. We don’t want to get into trouble. This is our last transaction.”
“That’s what they say, but it’s not forbidden when they say it’s forbidden. Moreover, our Wujiang City is far away from the sky, and those people can’t control us. An Ran, don’t worry, you just need to deliver the goods, and we will do the selling. Moreover, the reward will be doubled.” The young man whispered again.
An Ran shook his head and said with a smile: “We don’t do anything illegal.”
“Hey.” Hearing this, the young man looked anxious and glanced at the middle-aged man in rich attire next to him for help. The man then answered with a smile on his face: “Little nephew An Ran, I see that you and Quan Zi are about the same age, so I take the liberty of calling you nephew.”
An Ran said: “Master Song, please excuse me.”
“Nephew An Ran,” the man whom An Ran called Mr. Song continued, “I understand your concerns. In order to replenish the national treasury, the imperial court made the salt industry a national industry and banned private salt industry. If you are caught, you will inevitably be punished. But you don’t have to worry, we naturally have a trump card if we dare to commit crimes against the wind. Even if the incident comes to light, you will never be implicated in this matter.”
An Ran remained unmoved.Last year, he came to Wujiang City after coming out of Longyin Village, and accidentally met Song Jin, the young man across from him. The Song family was a large local family and ran many businesses, one of which was the salt industry.At that time, in order to make money to buy supplies and bring them back to Longyin Village, he thought of trading with salt.Unexpectedly, less than a year later, the imperial court promulgated a new law to state-owned the salt industry and prohibited the private sale of salt.He didn’t know when he came this time, so he still brought salt to trade, but now that he knows, he can’t continue.
Seeing that An Ran didn’t respond, Mr. Song made eye contact with Song Jin. Song Jin lowered his voice and said, “In addition to the due remuneration, my father can also help you solve the household registration problem.”
Hearing this, An Ran’s eyes flashed.
Seeing that there was something going on, Song Jin quickly added fuel to the fire and said: “Our place is remote and it is a small town. The inspections in and out of the city are not strict. But if you want to go somewhere else, it will be difficult to go without the talisman.”
An Ran showed hesitation. He really needed to solve the ID card problem as soon as possible. He was able to enter Wujiang City, as Song Jin said, on the one hand, Wujiang City’s investigation was not strict, and on the other hand, it was because of the Song family’s relationship.
But if he wants to go somewhere else, his ID card, which is a pass known as a “talisman” in ancient times, is an unavoidable problem.
While thinking about it, a sudden voice sounded in the hall. An Ran subconsciously looked at the storyteller, and saw that the storyteller took a sip of tea, his face was rosy with excitement, and said: “The second strange thing about our Kingdom of Jin is even more interesting. There is a lot of commotion in the Kingdom of Jin. At the beginning of last year, the prince who fell into the sea and died for half a year suddenly appeared at the ceremony for the appointment of the third prince…”
After falling into the sea for half a year, he appeared at the beginning of the year… The time when An Xiaoyu arrived and left Longyin Village was almost the same. What a coincidence?An Ran frowned and asked the two people opposite him, “Have you heard about this?”
“What?” Song Jin asked.
An Ran raised his chin at the storyteller and said, “The prince fell into the sea and disappeared.”
Song Jin was so excited that he slapped the table and said, “Of course! Is there anyone who doesn’t know this? Hey, An Ran, let me tell you, this matter is exciting, tsk tsk tsk. It was almost, almost, the prince was going to be replaced. It is said that the imperial decree to establish the crown prince has been issued, but the canonization ceremony has not been completed.”
An Ran asked: “Who is the prince?”
“The eldest prince,” Song Jin said, “The eldest prince is the eldest son of the late empress. He is a man appointed by heaven. Before your majesty came to the throne, the eldest prince was established as the grandson of the emperor. The second day of your majesty’s accession to the throne will be the crown prince’s crown prince ceremony…”
“Then who is the prince now?”
“Of course it’s the eldest prince! If the prince hadn’t fallen into the sea and died when he went to fight the Japanese pirates, oh, no, he was missing, how would the third prince have the chance to be made the prince? Although the imperial edict was issued to establish the third prince as the crown prince, the imperial decree to abolish the prince was not issued. The eldest prince is still the prince. Now that the prince is back alive, the position of prince will naturally still belong to the eldest prince.”
An Ran was confused: “But wasn’t the imperial edict issued by the third prince to establish the crown prince? Can the imperial edict be withdrawn?”
“It was quite embarrassing…”
“During the ceremony of establishing the crown prince, the third prince took the initiative to plead with the Holy Emperor to withdraw the imperial edict and return the throne to the crown prince.” Mr. Song interrupted Song Jin’s words and said with a smile, “The Holy Emperor recognized the general nature of the third prince and made the third prince a prince. Although the third prince is not a prince, he is highly valued by the Holy See.”
“Well…” An Ran nodded slightly thoughtfully.
“Nephew An Ran…” Mr. Song just called out, but was interrupted by An Ran who suddenly spoke up: “What’s the prince’s name?”
“Uh,” Mr. Song was slightly surprised, then smiled again and said, “Lu Qian.”
“Lu Qian… Lu Qian…” Anle murmured a few times, and suddenly laughed, “Qian, Qian, it doesn’t suit him at all.”
“What? Do you know him?” Song Jin Bagua asked.
Anle came back to his senses, shook his head, and said with a smile: “I don’t know him. I’m just a villager in a remote fishing village. How could I know such a famous person?”
“Well, that’s true.” Song Jin said, “But luckily even if the prince comes back, otherwise there would have been a natural disaster last year…”
Hearing this, An Ran was confused and asked, “What does this mean?”
“Ah? An Ran, you don’t know yet?” Song Jin also looked very surprised, “Haven’t you heard the rumors about the prince?”
An Ran was confused: “What rumors?”
Song Jin’s eyes suddenly lit up with the light of gossip, and he put his head over his head and whispered: “I heard Si Tianjian say that the prince has the destiny of heaven, he is the true dragon emperor, the man of destiny, and the destiny of the Jin Kingdom…”
“…” Feudal superstition is a must. Nine out of ten emperors in history claimed that they were real dragons descending to earth.An Ran didn’t say anything, but the look on his face clearly showed his disdain.
“Hey, don’t believe it!” Song Jin was suddenly very excited and spoke eloquently: “Since the prince was born, the Kingdom of Jin has been in good weather every year, but for just half a year before the prince disappeared, guess what, after the prince disappeared, many places in the Kingdom of Jin did not rain in the autumn and did not snow in the winter. It seems that there will be a locust plague next year. But at the end of the year, it suddenly snowed heavily. Guess which day it happened? It happened to be the day when the prince came back…”
“…” The more he spoke, the more fantastic it became. An Ran was speechless and helpless.
“I heard that nephew An Ran is married?” Mr. Song suddenly interrupted.
An Ran nodded: “Yes.”
Mr. Song said: “Didn’t your wife come with you?”
“No.” An Ran said lightly.
Master Song stroked his beard and sighed, “That’s a pity. There are a lot of rouge jewelry in the city, and Madam Ling will definitely like it.”
“He doesn’t like these.” An Ran said, not wanting to continue this topic. He glanced at the setting sun and said, “It’s time for me to go back. Are you ready with everything I want?”
Song Jin said: “It has been loaded at the dock.”
An Ran nodded, stood up and said, “Then I’ll leave first.”
“Wait a minute.” Mr. Song suddenly called out in a deep voice. An Ran turned her head in confusion and said, “Mr. Song, is there anything else?”
Looking back, Song Jin regained his smile and said, “Nephew An Ran hasn’t replied to my proposal yet. As long as you are willing to continue supplying goods, I can help you solve the household registration problem.”
“No need,” An Ran said lightly, “I won’t come again in the short term. An Xiaojin, let’s go.”
Song Jin seemed to be about to say something again, but at this moment, a gray-yellow wolf with a collar in its mouth ran majestically over and stopped next to An Ran, wagging its tail and looking at An Ran.
Song Jin sighed: “An Ran, you are such a majestic dog. I have never seen this breed before. It doesn’t look like a dog, but more like a wolf. Where did you get it? Can you get one for me too?”
An Ran took the rope from An Xiaojin’s mouth and said with a smile: “It’s a wolf dog, I picked it up by accident.” After saying that, An Ran bowed to Song Jin and Mr. Song and said: “Mr. Song, Brother Song, it’s getting late, I’ll leave first. See you later.”
As night fell, An Ran held An Xiaojin in one hand and a rabbit lantern in the other, walking slowly towards the pier.It was still some time before the time agreed upon with An Linmian and others to return to the village, but the thought that An Xiaoyu was Lu Qian couldn’t get away from his mind. An Ran was no longer in the mood to have fun, so he took An Xiaojin back to the dock first.
“Xiao Jin~” An Ran squatted on the ground, touched the wolf’s head, and said with dim eyes: “The mermaid has become a prince. No wonder he is so anxious to go back. It turns out that he has a throne to inherit… Sigh -”
An Ran let out a long sigh, and the shadow of the lantern swayed on the ground.
“Forget it, let’s not disturb him.” An Ran murmured, got up and walked towards the fishing boat docked at the pier.
On the shore of the pier, a few strong young people set up a table and were drinking and chatting. When one of them saw An Ran getting on the boat, he raised his head and said, “You’re back? Where’s Su Su?”
“Brother Xiaotong,” An Ran said hello to that person and replied, “Lin Mian, Maizi, and Tutu took her shopping. It will probably take a while. They always come out before the city gate closes. Are all the goods available?”
“It’s all there.” Anton, the man next to An Tong, answered, and at the same time picked up a long note from the table and said, “I just checked it.”
An Ran nodded again, sat on an empty chair and said: “The Kingdom of Jin prohibits private salt industry. We won’t be here for a long time. Do you want to buy anything to take back?”
An Tong smiled and asked, “Have you had enough fun?”
Anton also laughed: “Lele runs out to play every month. She should be tired of playing.”
An Ran smiled and shrugged without replying, looking at the cargo list by the light of the lantern.
Suddenly, An Xiaojin, who was lying on An Ran’s footsteps, stood up, his ears raised high and his eyes sharply staring ahead.This is what An Xiaojin does when he senses danger.
“What’s wrong, Xiao Jin?” An Ran stood up and looked at the dim dock with a solemn expression.The night was getting dark, and there were not many people at the pier. There were only a lot of goods piled up on the pier. An Ran glanced around and found nothing unusual.
But An Xiaojin never made a mistake, and An Ran didn’t dare to take it lightly.Suddenly, a group of knife-wielding officers broke into the dock.An Ran could faintly see a person pointing at them and moving his lips, saying something to the leading official.
Is it selling salt?An Ran thought of this for the first time and felt bad. He quickly said to An Tong and the others: “Brother Xiaotong, something may have happened. You should sail away now and go ashore from another dock to find Lin Mian and the others. If I am caught, you should return to Longyin Village immediately. Lin Mian will take you through the thick fog.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Anton immediately objected: “How can I leave you here? You go find Lin Mian and the others, and we will deal with them.”
An Ran said: “If it’s really because of selling salt, they must know me. You leave quickly, I won’t be able to leave later.”
“We can’t leave anymore,” An Tong continued solemnly, “There are also officers and soldiers on the water.”
An Ran was startled and turned to look at the sea. Sure enough, he saw several official ships approaching.The officers on the pier were no longer fifty steps away. Anle heard the man who pointed at him say: “They are the ones selling salt.”
Sure enough, he couldn’t leave. In just a moment, An Ran made a quick decision.
There are also pens and inks used by Anton and others to check the goods on the table.An Le wrote a few words quickly on the back of the list with a pen, stuffed it into An Xiaojin’s mouth, untied An Xiaojin’s rope, and gave a brief order: “Su Su. Go quickly!”