Chapter 15 Plum Manor
"Sir, please walk along this road. When you see the pine trees, turn left. In about a quarter of an hour, you will reach Plum Manor."

The driver pulled the reins, jumped off the carriage, pointed to a road, and said with a silly smile.

Ou Zanghua took out a ten-liang silver note and handed it to the driver, then thanked him with a smile.

Qu Feiyan glared at the driver and said fiercely: "If we find out that you cheated us, I will reward you with 100 taels of silver!"

The driver was just happy, but after hearing what Qu Feiyan said, he immediately bowed and said, "Oh, please don't scare me, my dear! How dare I deceive you? If you find anything wrong, please come to Wulinmen Wharf to find me."

"Fei Yan, hurry up and catch up." Qu Yang, who had already walked ahead, turned back and urged.

"Good!"

Qu Feiyan responded and made a face at the driver to scare him before following him with a smile.

Ou Zanghua was walking in the front and suddenly asked curiously, "How did Qu Bo know my master?"

"this."

Qu Yang smiled awkwardly, and then said, "There was a period of time before, I was like a demon, extremely fascinated by Guangling San, and always wanted to find out the truth."

"When I was searching for clues, I met the chivalrous brother Liu Xian. It can be said that we are strangers to each other!"

Ou Zanghua couldn't help but look back at Qu Yang. Under his half-smile, Qu Yang lowered his head in embarrassment.

Is this the champion?

He saw through everything I said after careful consideration.

Brother Liu, you have truly accepted an incredible disciple!
"Qu Bo,"

"exist."

"You must change your ways from now on!"

"Yes"

"Speaking of which, the person I want to meet this time is called Huang Zhonggong, the leader of the Four Friends of Plum Manor, and he is fond of playing the zither. Does Qu Bo know him?"

Qu Yang was stunned and asked in surprise: "Mr. Huang Zhong lives in Meizhuang?!"

"Does Qu Bo know this person?" Ou Zanghua asked curiously.

"I dare not disgrace you, sir. If Mr. Huang Zhong is the person I know, he should be proficient in music and an elegant person."

"Why do you say that?"

Qu Yang explained: "As far as I know, his real name is Huang Ziqi. Because he loves music, he once mentioned that he wanted to change his name to Zhong Gong."

"But for some unknown reason many years ago, Huang Ziqi stopped showing up and later on he disappeared. I thought he met with an accident and felt sorry for him."

"But I didn't expect that he actually lived in seclusion by the West Lake."

As he spoke, Qu Yang couldn't help but look at Ou Zanghua.

Although he didn't have much to do with the Sun Moon Sect, all the news, big or small, in the martial arts world would more or less reach his ears.

Even he didn't know where Huang Zhonggong was or whether he was dead or alive.

Why would Ou Zanghua, who spends all day studying in the academy, know this?
Ou Zanghua, however, remained calm and didn't care about Qu Yang's puzzled look at all.

They turned left when they saw the pine tree. After walking for nearly half an hour, they saw mirror-like blue water in front of them, with weeping willows swaying in the water. The beauty of the scenery was like a fairyland.

It is leaning against a hill and separated from the lake outside by a long embankment, making it even more quiet.

The three of them walked up the stone steps on the side of the mountain and turned a few corners. They came to a plum forest with old trunks slanting horizontally and dense branches and leaves. They imagined the day when the plum blossoms were in full bloom in early spring, with fragrant snow like the sea, which would surely be endless to admire.

We passed through a large plum grove, walked along a bluestone road, and arrived at a large manor with red doors and white walls.

When I got closer, I saw the two big words "Mei Zhuang" written outside the gate, and "Written by Yu Yunwen" next to it.

"Sir, who is Yu Yunwen?" Qu Feiyan asked curiously. Ou Zanghua looked at the few elegant and heroic words and said gently, "A famous minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, the commander of the Caishi victory, a genius who is both civil and military."

Then he walked forward, grabbed the large copper ring on the door that was polished to a bright shine, and knocked a few times.

After a while, the door slowly opened and two old men dressed in family attire walked out side by side.

The man on the left bowed and asked, "What brings you three to my humble abode? What brings you here?"

Ou Zanghua smiled, pointed at Qu Yang standing aside and said, "Please inform Mr. Huang Zhong that the Divine Religion elder and old friend Qu Yang is here to visit us and would like to have a chat."

Qu Yang on the side was stunned. When was he going to come to visit his old friend?

When these words were spoken, Ding Jian, the Electric Sword Master, and Shi Lingwei, the Five-Directions Divine Master, were stunned.

They originally wanted to do as they did in the past, just say "My master doesn't want to see guests" and then close the door and be done with it.

But I didn't expect that this person didn't play by the rules. He called me an elder of the Divine Religion the first time he spoke, and called me an old friend who came to visit when he closed his mouth.

How to pick up this?
Seeing the two hesitate, Qu Feiyan jumped out decisively and accused them: "What are you two still standing there for? My grandfather came all the way from Blackwood Cliff to meet an old friend, can't he even enter the yard? It's a pity that my grandfather said that Huang Zhonggong was an elegant person, but he is nothing more than this!"

"Fei Yan," Qu Yang sighed secretly, and had to bite the bullet and said, "Mr. Huang Zhong is my good friend and also your elder, so you must not be rude to him."

Ou Zanghua put one hand behind his back and secretly gave Qu Feiyan a thumbs up.

The little girl lowered her head, appearing to be apologizing, but in reality she could hardly suppress the smile on her face.

Ding Jian, the One-Word Lightning Sword, and Shi Lingwei, the Five-Way God, looked at each other and said, "Please go into the hall and have some tea. I will go down and report to the emperor. It is hard to say whether I have seen you or not."

Qu Feiyan immediately raised her head and said proudly, "If Mr. Huang Zhong didn't see it, then he was rude, so it's not your fault."

"Not smoke!"

This time, Qu Yang emphasized his tone, and it was obvious that he was dissatisfied with his granddaughter's disrespectful behavior.

Qu Feiyan immediately hid behind Ou Zanghua, stuck out her tongue at her grandfather, and gave a playful smile.

Qu Yang couldn't help but sigh. How come this girl became so naughty after following Jie Yuan? Shouldn't she be elegant and refined?

Ding Jian looked distressed and stepped aside.

Ou Zanghua and the other two immediately stepped inside and passed through a large patio. There were old plum trees planted on each side of the patio. Their branches were as hard as iron and looked extremely vigorous.

When they arrived at the hall, Shi Lingwei asked the two to take a seat and he stood to accompany them while Ding Jian went inside to report.

After the three of them sat down, they began to look at the layout of the hall. Ou Zanghua immediately saw Dan Qingsheng's "most proud work of his life" mentioned in the original book, a painting that was rumored to contain a set of extremely advanced swordsmanship.

With Ou Zanghua's eyesight, he felt that the eight characters "Danqingsheng splashed ink after getting drunk" were written in a vigorous and powerful manner, with each stroke like the stabbing of a long sword, and his wrist strength was extraordinary.

After looking for a few times, he had to look away. He realized that he was not a sword genius.

He knew there was a treasure chest in this place, but he couldn't figure it out. What a disappointing talent.

But it doesn’t matter, because he came here for Huang Zhonggong in the first place.

Among the Four Friends of Meizhuang, only Huang Zhonggong and his self-created Seven-String Invisible Sword could arouse Ou Zanghua's interest.

On the other side, Ding Jian walked through a corridor and came to a moon cave door.

The words "Qin Xin" are inscribed on the lintel of the moon-shaped gate, made of blue glazed tiles with vigorous strokes.

After passing the Moon Cave Gate, there is a quiet flower path with tall bamboos on both sides. The pebbles on the path are covered with moss, indicating that few people usually walk on it. The path leads to three stone houses.

There are seven or eight tall and straight pine trees in front of and behind the house, casting a gloomy shadow on the surrounding area.

This was the residence of Huang Zhonggong. Ding Jian stood outside the door and waited until an old voice came from inside the house and asked, "What's the matter?"

Ding Jian bowed and said slowly, "Master, I am the elder of the Divine Religion, Qu Yang, and I am here to visit you."

(End of this chapter)