Beijing has always had the saying that "the east is rich and the west is expensive".

Famous families with status, dignitaries and nobles like to live in Beijing's Xicheng, while giant businessmen and wealthy families mostly live in the east corner, in contrast, only ordinary people and small merchants and hawkers live in the south of the city.

However, the liveliest place in Beijing is Tianqiao Street in the south of the city.

The overpass was originally a high bridge made of white stone, located outside the Zhengyang Gate. Since Emperor Zhu Di of Yongle established the capital of Beijing and expanded the outer city, this area has also been included in the city of Beijing. The flyover was originally a transportation hub, and all merchants entering the city from the south had to pass through here, and there was a large flow of people coming and going. As a result, some merchants began to set up stalls here to sell goods, and many foreign artists also made money by performing here, and over time, a street market was formed.

The liveliness of the flyover is not only because there are many shops here and there are complete places to eat, drink and have fun, but also because all the three religions and nine streams in Beijing, idlers and Lang customers, love to gather here.

The pedestrians on Tianqiao Street are not only the children of rich and noble families, but also many poor and idlers. Those young and strong men who worked hard by working for a short time took over the work early every morning, and at noon they earned more than a dozen copper plates, so they stopped working and wandered here, listening to the commentary, reading the style, playing horses, and drinking soju, until it was dark before they left. In addition to leaving a little copper plate for the family, the rest of their money will be spent on the wine shops and teahouses on the street, which is also the only fun for these Beijing gentlemen.

The flyover is a unique sight in the area. When tourists from other places arrive in the capital, they can not go to other places, but the overpass is definitely a visit.

On an ordinary day, Tianqiao Street is bustling with activity, and on the day of the Duanyang Festival on the fifth day of the fifth month of May, the number of people who come here is twice as many as in the past. The bluestone street, which is several feet wide, is crowded with people, and it is simply shoulder to shoulder, and it is crowded.

On both sides of the street, there are also lanterns and flags fluttering, which is a festive scene.

Hua Bushi stood on the east side of Tianqiao Street, in front of the Lingxiao Pavilion Restaurant. He was dressed in a light silk tuanhua robe and a melon skin hat on his head, still in the costume of a rich son, and the woman in a snow-white long skirt beside him, who was as angry as an orchid, was Sima Rulan.

One is a rich young master who wears gold and silver and is covered in copper stench, and the other is a beautiful and vulgar, icy and jade girl, the two of them stand together, and they really don't match at all. In comparison, Chu Yiyi and Meng Huan next to them are much more pleasing to the eye.

And with Hua Bushi, there is also Wu Yinghao.

Yesterday, I heard that Hua Bushi was invited by "Wanlitang" to participate in the Lion King Conference, and this Wu Zongbing jumped more than three feet high as if he had picked up a treasure, and immediately begged Hua Bushi to bring him with him.

If you want to watch the lion dance on Tianqiao Street, Wu Yinghao can come by himself, he has to walk with Hua Bushi, but he has his own reasons.

Wu Yinghao, who was born in the seventh rank of Wuyang City, although he knew some officials of the military department of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China, but after all, he had always held a humble position and did not have a deep foundation, especially after his "mentor" last year, Zhao Chengyi, the left attendant of the military department, was dismissed because of the unfavorable suppression of bandits, Wu Yinghao completely lost the backstage.

Petty officials of the sixth and seventh grades only need to make good friends with the prefects, governors and other local officials of the province, which is enough to sit in the official position and make money and make a fortune, but if the officials reach the fifth rank or above, if they do not have a foundation in the imperial court, it is very dangerous.

Now there are many parties in the Ming court, and the fight between all parties is life-and-death. The military attache of the five grades, whether it is big or small, has been able to grasp the military power of one party, and if no one in the court cares about it, he will be implied by others at any time. In today's chaotic situation, the emperor is suspicious and fickle, and if he can't do it well, dismissal and dismissal are the lightest, and it is common for him to be killed by his family.

Officialdom is like a battlefield, and the dangers in it are veritable.

Wu Yinghao is good at drilling camps, and he knows these ways of being officials very well. He urgently needs a backstage backer at the moment, but it is not so easy to find it.

This time he was ordered to go to Beijing to report on his work, it is a blessing or a curse for him, it is unpredictable, the door is right, and it is natural to be promoted to an official position and make a fortune, if one is not careful, it is possible to cause trouble. Before coming to Beijing, Wu Yinghao had inquired about the current parties, ministers, and various news in the court, and also set the goal of trying to take refuge, and in order to prepare the gold and silver treasures for some use, it can be said that he had exhausted his old capital as an official for many years.

However, these gifts should be given to the right person, and it is also a science to give them away. The shelves of Jingguan are not ordinarily large, especially those high-ranking and powerful officials who are enough to be Wu Yinghao's backer, not everyone can see them if they want to. Everyone wants to lean on the big tree to enjoy the shade, like Wu Yinghao, to find a relationship with the door, and try to worship those powerful ministers like a carp crossing the river, there are too many.

In the past few days after entering Beijing, Wu Yinghao has touched several nails, and he does not receive them when he visits people, just because he is a petty official of the five grades who is not in the eyes of others at all, and now the day of reporting to the military department is approaching, and he has not given out the two gifts of haode silver at all, and he can't help but feel at a loss.

This is also the reason why he was so happy when he heard that Hua Bushi was invited to participate in the Lion King Conference. After entering the city for so long, Wu Yinghao has certainly heard of the Lion King Conference of the Duanyang Festival, but the news he heard is different from Hua Bushi.

Hua Bushi and "Qianhuafang" inquired about what shili intervened at the conference, and what was the strength of the masters invited by the Shifang Sect, but what Wu Yinghao cared about was the many high-ranking officials of the six departments of the imperial court, several cabinet scholars, the leaders of the eunuch party in the palace, etc., almost all the ministers he originally wanted to take refuge in would appear at the Lion King Conference.

Wu Yinghao also made a special inquiry that on the day of Duanyang on the fifth day of the fifth month of May, before the lion king won the championship, many dignitaries and nobles who came to the conference would go to a restaurant called "Lingxiao Pavilion" to get together, which was undoubtedly a great opportunity to get acquainted with them.

On the day of Duanyang, it was not easy to enter Lingxiao Pavilion, and he had to hold the invitation sticker issued by the "Eight Gates of Yanjing", of course Wu Yinghao himself couldn't get it, it was he who entangled Hua Bushi, just to ask Hua Bushi to bring him here.

Dead skin, sharpen the head, and seize the opportunity, these three mantras are the only way for General Wu to be promoted and make a fortune over the years.

Lingxiao Pavilion is the largest restaurant on Tianqiao Street, the building is divided into three floors, there are ten zhang, not only built tall and majestic, but also blue bricks and yellow tiles, carved beams and painted columns, the decoration is extremely luxurious, it looks very magnificent.

The news that Wu Yinghao heard was roughly correct, before the Lion King Conference every year, the powerful people from all parties invited by the "Eight Gates of Yanjing", as well as the people in the official mansion representing the backstage Shili of their respective sects, would gather in the Lingxiao Pavilion and hold a big banquet.

The purpose of this feast is not to drink and eat to celebrate the festival, but to show the strength of the ten sects participating in the Lion King Conference and discuss the division of industrial sites in various parts of Beijing.

When it comes to the competition of interests, of course, there will not be a harmonious atmosphere at the banquet, quarrels and threats are not a problem, and when you can't talk, you can only talk with your fists and feet, and it is common for masters from all sides to fight. Therefore, this annual feast has another name on the rivers and lakes, called "Lingxiao Sword Meeting".

The inside story of these is not something that Wu Yinghao can find out.

Not long before Hua Bushi and his party came to the door of Lingxiao Pavilion, a person came out of the door, it was Dou Fei.

Three days ago, Hua Bushi informed Dou Fei that he agreed to accept the invitation of "Wanli Tang" to participate in the Lion King Conference, and Dou Fei was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to send a gift of 100,000 taels. And today, this Dou Shao proprietor is also smiling, obviously very happy that Hua Bushi has arrived as promised.

Without the help of the "Evil Dog Gate", it would be difficult for the "Wanli Tang" to keep a place in the "Yan Shuo Eight Gates", compared with the income of the sect in Beijing for a year, although 100,000 silver taels is a lot, it is still worth spending.

"This must be Miss Sima, right? It is rare for the 'Jade Fairy' to come here, it is really a blessing for this hall, Dou is so polite!" Dou Fei is also a shrewd and capable person, and he recognized Sima Rulan without waiting for Hua Bushi's introduction, and immediately hugged his fists and saluted.

The two masters under the "Evil Dog Gate" are famous in the rivers and lakes, Hua Bushi, the young master, does not know martial arts, if it is really time to compete, you have to rely on the help of this "Jade Fairy". Dou Fei knew this very well, so he was very thoughtful.

Sima Rulan just smiled politely and returned a blessing gift, without saying much.

Dou Fei and Hua Bushi and his entourage greeted each other, and they were also very polite to Chu Yiyi and Meng Huan, and when they only introduced Wu Yinghao, the young proprietor just arched his hand casually.

"Wanlitang" is also a sect with a background in the capital, that is, a Beijing official with three grades and four grades, Dou Fei often sees it on weekdays, and a five-grade petty official like Wu Yinghao who came to Beijing from other places will naturally not be put in his eyes.

"It's still early now, the banquet has not yet been prepared, Young Master Hua and Miss Sima will first invite you to the front hall of the restaurant to sit for a while, and when the time comes, Dou will take you to the table. ”

This banquet was originally set up by the "Eight Gates of Yanjing", and Dou Fei can also be regarded as the host, who is familiar with the road, and immediately led Hua Bushi and his party into the door of the restaurant.

The front hall of Lingxiao Pavilion is very spacious, and in the room with a radius of more than ten zhang, there are tea and fresh fruit snacks on the sandalwood table. When a few people entered the door, there were already dozens of guests who had arrived early, and they were sitting in the east and west corners of the lobby.

Hua Bushi immediately noticed that the guests sitting on the west side were dressed in different attire, monks, Taoists and laymen, most of them carried weapons, and they were obviously people from the Jianghu sect who were invited to come, while most of the twenty or thirty guests in the east were dressed in brocade clothes, polite and courteous, and they were all official figures at a glance.

Officialdom and rivers and lakes are two completely different shijie, but in this Lingxiao Pavilion, because of interests, these two kinds of people are in the same hall, but they sit in separate corners with a tacit understanding.