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  79 Web Reminder: You can quickly find us on "79 Free" or "79 Web". Chapter 69 Baohui stood on the main street of Xishi, took a deep breath. She noticed that although the layout of Xishi and Dongshi were similar, with four main streets dividing them into nine major areas, the Municipal Office, Pingzhun Office, and Changping Warehouse occupied the same positions, but there were great differences between them.

  Before, the Western City was more prosperous and lively because of its proximity to the Silk Road's opening gate. It was also more internationalized. Here, there were many more shops run by foreigners than in the Eastern City, including Persian inns, jewelry stores, spice shops, pharmacies, warehouses, and wine shops. Peony saw people dressed differently and speaking different dialects, coming from Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, as well as Goryeo, Ji, Xinluo, and Fusang. Among them, the "Hu merchants" from Persia and the Great Food were the most numerous, and on the streets and alleys, one could always see their camels strolling by leisurely.

  Secondly, since Xishi is located in the inner city, most of the surrounding residents are ordinary people and foreigners. Therefore, the types of goods sold here are also very different from those in Dongshi. While Dongshi loves to sell luxury goods, the merchants here tend to cater more to the common people, selling daily necessities such as clothing, candles, pastries, and medicine. As a result, there are many more people gathered here than in Dongshi, making it much more lively and bustling. Even the foreign women here are bolder than those in Dongshi, wearing colorful silk dresses and standing by the wine shops with wine in hand, smiling and beckoning passersby to come and taste their wine. They would even grab customers' hands and pour the wine into their mouths, laughing loudly without worrying about offending anyone.

  Peony closely followed behind He Zhizhong and others, feeling that no matter how she looked, it was not enough. Li Wei somehow appeared beside her and walked alongside her, saying in a low voice: "You have never been to Yangzhou, there are many merchants and foreigners in Yangzhou too. If you have the chance to go, you will see and hear many unexpected things."

  "Peony nodded: 'If there's a chance, I really want to go out and take a look around, broaden my horizons. I've heard that Jiangnan has winter peonies, and I'd love to see them.'"

  Li Wei smiled lightly, just about to say something, when suddenly he heard He Zhizhong's deep voice saying: "We're almost there. Follow us closely later on, don't move your hands while talking, just listen with your ears."

  Peony and others saw him and Dalang's serious expression, so they also solemnly responded. After a while, the donkeys, horses, and carts parked on the street gradually increased, and the crowd turned over to a curved alley, where they saw a humble shop surrounded by many people, pointing and whispering, saying that this time there was an extraordinary treasure appeared, but no one could say what it was.

  The shop, however, was tightly closed, with only a two-foot-wide opening left for people to enter and exit. Two stout and tall men, wearing round-necked and sleeveless robes, with black turbans on their heads and Persian beards, stood guard firmly, not allowing anyone to enter or exit at will.

  He Zhizhong counted the eight people in a row from his own family, stepped forward and saluted the two Persians, smiling: "These are all our own nephews and relatives, I think they came to open their eyes." The two men seemed familiar with him, smiled back at him and let the few people go in without asking any questions.

  "Ah, now's the chance," said Da Lang to the crowd, "to explain the rules of this Treasure Convention: 'This convention is held once a year, where merchants bring their treasures to compare with one another, to see who has the most and the best. The winner gets to wear a hat and sit in the first seat, while others are seated on either side according to the value of their treasures. Once the seating arrangement is settled, they can freely buy and sell. For people like us, we don't have anything comparable to theirs, so we're just here to broaden our horizons and buy some jewelry. We can only be spectators, as there's limited space for that, and these treasures are precious and valuable, not just anyone can come in. If it weren't for Father's decades-long business relationship with them, earning their deep trust, he wouldn't have been able to bring so many people in.'"

  Inside, through a small courtyard, around a row of narrow houses, a green suddenly bursts into the eyes, behind the green trees a large hall suddenly appears in front of everyone. Before approaching, the joyful voices and laughter came out from inside, all speaking Persian, Peony only knew they were very happy, but had no idea what they were saying.

  A dark-skinned Kunlun slave wearing a snow-white round-necked and narrow-sleeved robe came out, smiling and saluting He Zhizhong and Dalang. In fluent Beijing dialect, he said: "Today, an unexpected noble guest has arrived, and the people he brought are also quite numerous. The location is limited, and later on, I'm afraid a few of you will have to squeeze in."

  He Zhizhong's eyes sank, looking at Li Yin, the latter smiled self-satisfied. He Zhizhong withdrew his gaze and said to the Kunlun slave: "Aub, don't worry about it, this is nothing, when I was on a sea boat, dozens of people squeezed in a cabin, I also squeezed through."

  He flashed a brilliant smile, revealing a set of pearly white teeth. The snow-white teeth and robes contrasted with his dark, glossy skin, creating a striking visual effect that was impossible to ignore. He Zhitong and Mudan were taken aback, but He Ru and the others were deeply entranced, staring at him in rapt attention.

  This Kunlun slave, I've long heard of it, and I've seen the noble families bringing it out on the street, but unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to observe it up close. Why is it so black? Can't they dye their clothes black? He Wen quietly stretched out her fingers from her sleeve, taking advantage of Aub's distraction, quickly wiping them against Aub's hand, then secretly brought them up to the light to examine, seeing that her own fingers were still clean and white, she couldn't believe it, took out a handkerchief, repeatedly wiped it several times, after confirming it hadn't turned black, she smiled knowingly at He Ruo and He Hong.

  The peony looked at him with a glance, although he thought that the young man was just curious and had no malice, but this behavior was really too rude. She glared at the young man fiercely. She had seen some Kunlun slaves before, all of whom were used by their masters as objects to show off their wealth. Most of them wore only a loincloth on their upper body, or wrapped a cloth around their waist, wearing short pants, unlike Aobu who was dressed neatly in the court attire of this dynasty. It could be seen that his master's family did not despise him. But what would happen if he behaved like this? Would it offend people?

  "You and I are not much different, young master." Aubrey turned around with a warm smile, stretched out his hand to let He Wen see, He Wen's face turned red with embarrassment, and quickly hid behind Li Yi. Aubrey didn't mind, and turned to lead the way. He Zhitong coldly said: "Neither insight nor courage, what a shame." He Wen's ears turned bright red, and she wished she could bury her head in her arms.

  The crowd entered the hall, and Peony looked around curiously. In the center of the hall, opposite the gate, was an empty couch, under which were two rows of mats filled with people sitting densely. They were either wearing foreign clothes and hats or local robes, engaged in lively and heated conversations. Around the room, there were some mats scattered about, on which sat local people who warmly greeted He Zhongzhong and Dalang when they saw them. There were not many women inside, but they were not absent either.

  "Peony thought to herself, this couch is probably the throne of the newly crowned Dou Bao Wang. And these local people, are they all here to gain experience and do business like our own family? But Li Yi had already whispered: "Dan Niang, Liu Chuan has also arrived."

  How come he's everywhere? Peony furrowed her brow and followed Dalang's gaze to see Liu Cheng, Pan Rong, and several men in luxurious attire, some of whom looked familiar, occupying the best viewing spot with good ventilation. They were all looking at Peony's group with different expressions. Liu Cheng was glaring viciously at Peony, or maybe it was Li Wei beside her. Pan Rong was raising an eyebrow and winking, while the other men had a look of watching a good show, waiting to see what would happen next. There was also a man wearing a moon-white round-collared robe with wide sleeves, who was thin as a rake, with a waxen complexion, sitting on the side with his eyes cast down, expressionless.

  Peony thought for a moment, it seemed that Liu Chuan's business also had jewelry, but the news heard by Yu He was that it didn't make much money, mainly to collect treasures. If so, he shouldn't be considered a big jeweler at all, and couldn't compare to someone like He Zhizhong who was relatively well-known in the merchant circle, how could he enter this place?

  She thought of what Ou Bo had said: "An unexpected noble guest" ... and couldn't help but wonder, was there some kind of relationship between the Chu State Marquis's estate and the host of this treasure gathering? Was that why Liu Can had taken advantage of Pan Rong's good fortune to sneak in here? What was Liu Can's true purpose for coming here? Did he want to interfere with the jewelry business and suppress the He family? Cut off the He family's livelihood? Peony thought of his ruthless ways and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, asking Li Mei in a low voice: "Do you know what he wants to do?"

  Li Wei smiled faintly and shook his head, saying in a very certain low voice: "Although he didn't tell me what he came to do, we all know that he must be here to cause trouble."

  Peony was slightly surprised by his answer, and looked up to see He Zhizhong and Dalang. However, she saw that He Zhizhong remained calm as usual, while Dalang had clenched his fists, looking like he would pounce on Liu Chuan at any moment and give him a good beating.

  Pan Rong saw Dalang's appearance and turned back to whisper a few words to Liu Cheng. Liu Cheng smiled disdainfully at the He family, then turned his face away from Peony and spoke respectfully to a thin, sallow-faced man, who was being very arrogant and dismissive.

  Li Man Niang swept a glance at Liu Chuan and others, then pulled the sleeve of Mu Dan quietly and asked in a low voice: "Is that the one you mentioned earlier?"

  The peony nodded slightly.

  Li Maniang curled her lip: "Just looking at him is like that old thing, not a good thing. Come on, let's go sit next to them."

  Another master who is worried that the world is not chaotic, no wonder he gave birth to those eight sons who are afraid of nothing in heaven and earth. Peony couldn't help but smile: "It's so spacious, why bother going with them? They all like thick incense, aren't you afraid of being smoked?"

  Li Man Niang said: "Who's bullying who is still uncertain. What are you afraid of?"

  He Zhizhong calmly looked around and said, "Indeed, it's the only place where our whole family can sit down. Dan Niang, don't be afraid, we'll attend the gathering with dignity and sit wherever we should. Besides, that seat has always been mine."

  Today there is an update, Xiaoyi's coding is very difficult, please support the genuine version, supporting the genuine version is the greatest encouragement and support for Xiaoyi. Thank you everyone.

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