Chapter XV - Chaos (III)

  Pan Rong glared at Jiang Changyang and said, "If I didn't do it for you, why would I do this shameless thing? If I didn't do it for you, why would I do such a shameless thing? I went to beg with a thick face and got sprayed with spit in return!"   So it was to curry favor with Jiang Changyang? Peony sniffed and carefully looked at Jiang Changyang. She saw that he was dressed in a green colored robe with no flowery details, and on his feet was a pair of ordinary boots with six seams. Waist also did not like the other male guests at the table that way, what scented pouch jade pendant and so on Linlin total hanging on a pile, only hanging a two-foot-long horizontal knife, the hilt of the knife has not been any decoration, that the sheath is black, plain and ordinary so that people look at the first glance will not want to look at the second glance. As for his looks, although he was said to be very manly, his expression was too stiff and mute, and it seemed that his eyes and eyebrows did not move, and they were not vivid at all.   Jiang Changyang saw Peony sizing himself up, slightly embarrassed, smiled faintly towards her, revealing a row of snow-white, neat teeth, looked back at Pan Rong and said: ''I don't want it! The original bet doesn't count anymore."   Pan Rong stared and said, "If you say it doesn't count, then it doesn't count? Jiang Dalang, why is it that since I was a child, you have always told me to do whatever you want? Today, I'm going to honor my promise! What do you say, sister-in-law, are you going to sell or not? I've already made it clear to you, so think about it!"   Li Nympho sneered, "You just said you wouldn't bully others, but now you're bullying a weak woman?"   Pan Rong got cross and glared at Li Nympho: "I'm bullying you, what do you want? It's just two flowers, I didn't embarrass her, so why should she embarrass me? Isn't she asking for trouble herself?"   What kind of world is this? What kind of people are these! Anyone can come and step on her? Peony was provoked into a wave of anger and couldn't help but sneer, "It turns out that my refusal to sell my dowry is actually making things difficult for Master Shizi! Today, I'm not going to sell it! Since it's a scourge to keep it, I'm going to cut it down in public today! If I cut down the tree, the crows won't crow!" After saying this, he pushed away Lin's mom and bent down to pull Li Nympho's knife from his waist, so he could do whatever he wanted to do, and the barefoot ones were still afraid of the ones who wore shoes!   Huh! This soft-footed shrimp even dared to sing against himself! Is it because he looks too good to be bullied? Pan Rong pressed down on the knife and said angrily, ''You dare! How dare you call me a crow!"   Peony glared at him and sneered, "What makes me not dare! I'm in my own home, chopping my own flowers, what's that got to do with Master Shizi! Even if I were to make a scene under the Emperor's throne, I would still be the one with the right to do so! I didn't name any crows, I didn't say who they were, whoever they wanted to go to."   Jiang Changyang looked at Pan Rong tone serious: "If you really take me as a friend, do not make things difficult for people without reason. Like this, if I got these two pots of flowers, I would be ashamed to meet people!"   Pan Rong hated, "Jiang Dalang! You don't know what's good for you!"   Jiang Changyang swept him a glance, bowed to Peony, and said earnestly and seriously, "My mother loves flowers, and I once made a bet with Master Shizi, stating that the loser would have to do one thing for the other. If you lose, you have to find two good peony flowers for me, otherwise you are not keeping your word. Therefore, today is all my fault, please don't blame your son, ma'am. Madam, you don't have to cut the flowers. If Master Shizi wants to buy them, you can sell them to him, and after you receive the money, I will return them to him immediately. You can make a million dollars."   Peony had not yet spoken, Pan Rong had already pointed at Jiang Changyang and said through clenched teeth, "Jiang Dalang! You are so poisonous!"   Li Nympho let out a "pfft" laugh, snatched her sword from their hands, and said, "I'll be the middleman, since Master Shizi has already opened his mouth, Daniang, you shouldn't be so inconsiderate. Let's put it this way, this fall you pick out a few good varieties and pick up a few peonies to give to Master Shizi and Duke Jiang. What do you think?"   Peony was just relying on a breath of air earlier, but now that there was a step down, she naturally had to go along with it, so she smiled and said, "But at cousin's command."   Jiang Changyang politely said, "Trouble for you ma'am. When the time comes, I will come at the market price, so it's not good to ask you to work for nothing."   Although Pan Rong was extremely reluctant, she was not in a good position to make any more waves, so she grunted heavily, "You have to give it to me in order to get rid of the anger in my heart!"   Peony said, "Consider it as a thank you gift for earlier when Shizi master relieved the little woman in front of the county princess." She adamantly refused to admit that she was wrong just now, and refused to make amends for it.   Li Nympho laughed, "In that case, let's go back?"   A few people turned back, and suddenly saw a green-clothed maidservant beside County Lord Qinghua hurriedly come, seeing the crowd, saluted and greeted them, and smiled, "My county lord invites Lady He to have a talk, it's not far ahead in the Crystal Pavilion."   Lin mama nervously tugged on Peony's sleeve, don't think there's some kind of conspiracy or trickery going on, right?   Even if she knew that County Lord Qinghua was unsettled, there was no way she could not go, much less refuse. But since Princess Qinghua dared to invite herself in front of all these people, she didn't think there would be any big moves, so she was just threatening herself? Or perhaps, there would be an unexpected gain. When Peony thought of this, and saw Li Nympho winking at her, she laughed and said, "I'd be honored to do so."   After Peony walked away, Li Nympho took Pan Rong's shoulder and whispered a few words in his ear, Pan Rong just shook his head. Li Nympho then stretched out a finger, Pan Rong hesitated for a moment and still shook his head. Li Nympho sneered, turned around and left, Pan Rong immediately pulled his sleeve, raised his hand and high-fived him: "Deal!"   The Liu family's so-called Crystal Pavilion was nothing more than a small wooden attic built in the middle of a lake. Because Liu Chengcai liked to cool off and read books here, he built a waterwheel to pump water up from the lake and trickle it down from the eaves of the attic to form a rain curtain. Living in it in summer, it is extra cool and more interesting. Whenever the sun rises, no matter from inside or outside, the rain curtain is as dazzling as crystal, so it is called Crystal Pavilion.   Walking to the entrance of the curved bridge, the servant girl stopped Lin mother and Yu He, smilingly said, "The county princess has a few private words to say to madam alone, please wait here with me."   Lin mother and Yu He looked at Peony uneasily, "Young Lady ......"   Peony raised her eyes and looked around, it was not yet the height of summer, the waterwheel had not yet been watered by the rain, the Crystal Pavilion looked sparse and ordinary, from the curved corridor to the circle of railings around it could be seen clearly, it seemed that it would not be a good place to engage in personal jeopardy. What's more, there is no one outside the Crystal Pavilion, and there is no other attendant of Princess Qing Hua. Then she said, "You guys wait here, I'll be right back."   Lin mom's eyes were slightly red, but she didn't dare to say anything out of the ordinary in front of that maidservant, she just looked at Peony and whispered, "Young lady, you have to be careful."   That green-clothed maidservant laughed: "There is no need to worry, our Sheriff Master has no ill intentions. When madam arrives in the outer room, if there is no one to answer the door, just go in by yourself."   Peony nodded and took the umbrella over her head herself, steadily walking towards the Crystal Pavilion. The sunlight shot on the water, the light reflected back was strong and intense, shaking Peony's eyes into a thin slit, looking at the nine curves of the green stone curved bridge in front of her, she had a feeling of vertigo.   The closer she walked, the louder the pipa sounds coming from the Crystal Pavilion became. When she walked to a place about one foot away, it was already resounding in her ears, and there was even a trace of the famous smoky Chinese incense made by soaking the Hainan Descending Zhen with the water of the Great Eclipse Roses that lingered in her nose. Peony paused in her steps and said aloud, "He's Weifang has been invited by the County Lord to come and have a talk."   Calling out three times in a row, the sound of the pipa continued to resonate, but no one ever answered. Peony thought of the green-clothed servant girl's reminder earlier, so she simply raised her steps forward.   When she got closer, the pipa sound stopped abruptly, and a delicate laugh mixed with a few ambiguous gasps floated out clearly from the half-covered window.   Peony raised her eyes and looked, but she saw that on a soft couch in the Crystal Pavilion, twelve silver pinto flower and bird screens were half-open and half-covered, and the green gauze tents on the tent frame fluttered with the wind, inside which a pair of half-naked men and women were entangled together with intense movements, hard to part with each other. Outside the tent a floor screen side, a green maid holding a pipa, hanging eyes immobile, as if the old monk into the general.