Chapter 263 Departure
A thin ray of light penetrated the clouds, shedding the first rays of light.

The sunshine in the early morning should be the gentlest in the day. It just rained last night, and there is mist floating in the wind. You can also smell the fresh scent of earth.

A horse-drawn carriage was driving on the cobblestone road in Hangzhou, and the rolling sound echoed in the air.

After passing through a large plum forest, we arrived at a large manor with red doors and white walls.

Two servants were sweeping up the fallen leaves that were knocked down by the rain last night. When they saw the carriage approaching, they looked at each other and showed helpless expressions.

After the carriage stopped, the nanny came forward and raised one arm. Cheng Zhirou, wearing a veil, walked down from the carriage holding the nanny's arm.

"Miss Cheng." Ding Jian, the One-Word Electric Sword, and Shi Lingwei, the Five-Directions God, bowed their heads and bowed to greet her.

"You two, is Mr. Huang free to see me today?" Cheng Zhirou asked softly after returning the greeting.

Ding Jian sighed and said, "Miss Cheng, my master won't sell it."

Shi Lingwei on the side added: "I won't sell it no matter how much money you offer."

This story started two years ago. After Ou Zanghua came to Hangzhou and left behind the eternal love poem "The Legend of White Snake", he was deeply loved by the people of Hangzhou and surrounding cities.

This love reached its peak with Tang Yin's poem, but what really made it deeply rooted in the hearts of Hangzhou people was the imperial edict of Emperor Zhengde.

The plot written by Ou Zanghua in his tanci, "Leifeng Pagoda collapses, the water of West Lake dries up, and then husband and wife can meet each other," is happening in reality.

On that day, the whole city of Hangzhou was excited. All the people went out and followed the team that issued the imperial edict. They first went to Yue Fei's tomb to pay homage, then went to Leifeng Pagoda, and finally returned to the West Lake.

Dan Qingsheng, who had accompanied the entire journey, drank a lot of wine. For a moment, he couldn't control his mouth and said that his elder brother had an authentic work of Ou Zanghua, which immediately attracted the attention of a large number of scholars.

Fortunately, Danqing was smart and used his lightness skills to shake off these scholars.

What he didn't expect was that there were many masters in Hangzhou City. The next day after he returned to Meizhuang, various invitations were delivered to his door. Some hoped to appreciate Ou Zanghua's original works, while others hoped to buy them.

Huang Zhonggong was furious and asked Tu Biweng to write the words "Closed to visitors" at the gate, and the door was not opened to anyone who came.

After a while, most people gave up, but Cheng Zhirou from the West Lake Teahouse persisted. She would come to the store to buy goods every seven days, and this had been going on for more than a year.

This time, Huang Zhonggong did meet Cheng Zhirou. When the girl offered him 100 taels of gold, the old man still refused: "Miss Cheng is also a person who loves talents. Why do you want to take away someone else's favorite?"

After hearing this, Cheng Zhirou could only sigh and said softly, "If the old gentleman is willing to give up, I will naturally tell him the reason."

"Forget it then," Huang Zhonggong shook his head decisively and said, "I have lived for so long, and the secret to longevity I have concluded is to mind your own business."

"The old gentleman is indeed very insightful. No wonder Mr. Ou gave you a piece of calligraphy." Cheng Zhirou looked at the calligraphy behind Huang Zhonggong, feeling very disappointed.

She continued, "Yesterday I received a letter from Master Ou, inviting me to the capital for a chat. I happen to have a fleet, would you be willing to go with me, old gentleman?"

"oh?!"

Huang Zhonggong thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "The capital is too far, so I won't go there. Please ask Miss to say hello to my friend Ou on my behalf. The new tea from Meizhuang is good this year, so please bring some for my friend Ou to taste."

Two months ago, two people came to Meizhuang. One was named Tong Huajin, the uncle of Zuo Lengchan from Songshan Sect. The other was named Feng Erzhong, the uncle of Yue Buqun from Huashan Sect and the only successor of Feng Qingyang's unique swordsmanship from Huashan Sect.

Through Feng Erzhong's oral narration, Huang Zhonggong learned that his good friend Ou had actually returned to his hometown to get married, and later fought bandits in Jiangxi and was promoted to the Minister of the Honglu Temple.

Although Huang Zhonggong knew that his friend was a genius, he was really surprised by the speed of his promotion. As they were talking, Dan Qingsheng came in and said excitedly, "Miss Cheng, are you going to Beijing to see Master Ou? I have a few barrels of good wine from the Western Regions. Please take them to Beijing and give them to Master Ou."

Cheng Zhirou looked at Dan Qingsheng with some doubt and asked, "Mr. Danqing should have no connection with Mr. Ou, right?"

"Although Mr. Ou and I have never met, we have known each other for a long time." Dan Qingsheng said with a smile: "I asked Ding Jian about what happened that day. After Mr. Ou entered the living room, he noticed my painting of drunkenness. But Mr. Ou was a gentleman and did not comment directly."

"Alas, not being able to communicate with Mr. Ou is such a great regret in my life!"

Seeing this, Cheng Zhirou could only smile awkwardly. She didn't know what Ou Zanghua had seen at that time.

After a few words, Tu Bi Weng also came. He held a scroll of calligraphy and handed it to Cheng Zhirou solemnly, saying, "This is the work I am most satisfied with in the past year. Miss Cheng, please give it to Master Ou on your behalf. Tu Bi Weng is in Hangzhou, waiting for Master Ou's guidance."

Compared to Dan Qingsheng, this guy seemed to be more deeply poisoned. He dared to call the other person "teacher" without even meeting him.

Cheng Zhirou still remembered that last time she also asked Tu Bi Weng why he called Ou Zanghua like that?
Tu Bi Weng only used four words to answer: "The wisest one is the teacher!"

What made Cheng Zhirou even more speechless was that this word came from "Collected Works of Ouyang Wenzhong", which refers to the dream mentor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu.

This kind of thing of pitting the next generation against the next generation is really rare.

Miss Cheng took the scroll helplessly. She was already a little regretful for coming to Meizhuang to try her luck today.

When she came out of Meizhuang, she took away three barrels of Western wine, a can of new Meizhuang tea, and a piece of calligraphy.

Nanny Li, who came with her, looked at the cart of things and asked in confusion, "If you want to buy more goods, just tell me to wait for the servants. Why do you have to come here in person?"

"Let's just purchase the goods and send them directly to the ship. We will set off early tomorrow morning." Cheng Zhirou shook her head and said nothing more.

On the other side, in Hengshan County, after receiving the message from Ou Zanghua, Liu Zhengfeng packed his luggage without saying a word and prepared to take his family to Beijing to find a son-in-law.

Before leaving, Madam Ouyang went to the Temple of Guanyin, the Goddess of Childbearing in the Nanyue Temple, and asked for a talisman for Liu Qing to have a child, which she carefully placed close to her body.

After everything was ready, Liu Zhengfeng said hello to Mo Da and left Hengshan County with a large group of people including Xiang Danian, Mi Weiyi, Liu Qin, Qu Yang, etc.

They had just left in the morning, and in the afternoon Lu Lianrong came to the house shyly. He was greeted by the old housekeeper of the Liu family.

Lu Lianrong said with some dissatisfaction: "I've already been in this state, and Junior Brother Liu still doesn't want to see me?!"

The old housekeeper smiled bitterly and explained, "Second Master Lu, it's not that my master doesn't want to see you, it's that he can't see you! My master just..."

Lu Lianrong angrily interrupted the old housekeeper and asked, "Am I some kind of ruthless villain? What is there to be ashamed of?"

"My master took his family to the capital this morning! He is not in Hengshan County anymore, so how can he meet you?"

"What is he doing in Beijing? I've never been there." Lu Lianrong was stunned and asked in confusion.

"It was my son-in-law who wrote to invite you to come to the capital."

"You can't just leave without saying anything, right? As his senior brother, I didn't even see him off." Lu Lianrong laughed dryly and asked, "When will Junior Brother Liu Mozi come back?"

"I can't say for sure!" The old butler laughed twice. He really didn't know.
(End of this chapter)