The drizzle came to Kaifeng City silently.

No one can say exactly when this drizzle began. When the sky was a little bright in the early morning, the rain was already shrouded in the sky over Panlou Street. The soft drizzle fell on the early pedestrians, only slightly cool.

Most of the calligraphy and painting houses on Panlou Street are lit up, and some have opened their doors. The early risers and stewards were all dressed neatly, and each of them came out of the shop with a hat that was usually worn only by women. Seeing that it was raining lightly outside, some went back to get umbrellas, while others simply put on their hats and left.

All of them were heading east, and their destination was not far away, at the East Crossroads at the east end of Panlou Street, which was the ghost market.

The so-called "ghost market" is actually some tea shops that open at the intersection of East Crossroads. These tea shops are all opened by experts in calligraphy, painting and cultural toys, and people who usually gather here to drink tea inquire about each other's news, and most of them are collectors of calligraphy, painting, and cultural toys or official and private dealers. Over time, it has become a circle attached to the calligraphy, painting and literature play on Panlou Street.

I don't know when collectors and merchants of calligraphy, painting, and literature began to trade privately at the East Crossroads in the early morning hours before dawn. Later, some tomb robbers and grave diggers also knew about such a location, so they also came to East Cross Street to sell the good things they dug out of the ground. As a result, the ghost market on East Cross Street became more and more prosperous, and it became a place frequented by people who did calligraphy, painting, literature and entertainment in Kaifeng Mansion.

Every morning when the sky is bright, there are always many big connoisseurs on Panlou Street to go to the morning shift.

Before the Wu family suffered, Wu Haogu often went to the ghost market on East Cross Street with his father to "Taobao", and it was also the place where he practiced his eyesight.

On March 15, Wu Haogu was also heading to the East Crossroads, but he was not dressed as usual as a young owner, but dressed as a child servant, holding a hat that could cover his head and face in one hand, and a paper umbrella in the other. However, the umbrella cover is not on his head, but on Guo Jing, who is swaggering forward.

Monk Fu is also dressed exactly the same as Wu Haogu, but with an extra wig, and he also holds an umbrella for Liu Wuji, who is walking in front.

Guo and Liu are the protagonists of today, and of course they are not common. Guo Banxian, who told fortunes, put on the cyan brocade shirt often worn by officials, wrapped a green scarf on his head, but carried a wide and long sword with a slightly narrow top, a round handguard, and a ribbon wrapped around the handle.

"Xia Ren Sword" is a military weapon produced in Western Xia, extremely sharp, more sophisticated than the sword provided to the military generals by the Song Dynasty, so it is deeply loved by the Western Army generals. All the generals and colonels of the Western Army who often fight with Western thieves, almost everyone has a "Xia Ren Sword" to defend themselves.

Although Guo Jing's household registration fell in Kaifeng Mansion, his ancestral home was in Yanzhou (Yan'an), and his father was a junior general of the Western Army of the Great Song Dynasty, and was later transferred to the Kaifeng Forbidden Army as the head of the horse army. That's why he has the ancestral Xia Ren Sword, and his kung fu is passable.

Walking side by side with Guo Jing is Si Swenwen's little white-faced Liu Wuji, although he is a fake Taoist, but he has gone to school. So there is a little ink in his stomach, and he looks like a scribe, and now he wears a Confucian robe, wears a scholar's scarf, carries a large bundle of paintings on his shoulder, and holds an unfolded folding fan in one hand, fanning himself while walking.

The four members of the group have a new identity, and Wu Dalang and Monk Fu don't need to say which family's servants.

Guo Jing pretended to be a general of the Western Army, calling him "a certain general" - the general was sent in the army, which appeared after the implementation of the "Art of War" and was under the "main general" and "deputy general".

Liu Wuji pretended to be a staff officer, saying "a certain opportunity". Jiyi is to write Jiyi words, which is a shogunate, and many yamen have this kind of shogunate.

And behind "a certain general" and "a certain opportunity", there is also a non-existent "certain Yanei" and "a certain Yanei" and his father's "certain observation" who went to Beijing to study-Yanai means the second generation of officials. The observation envoy is a military rank official, and he is a five-rank official, which is a very big official in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, the official of the "observation envoy" is also divided into two situations, one is the main office, and the other is the remote county.

Zhengren means that the military rank official is "so-and-so observer", while Yaojun is an official of a similar honorary nature, and the official military rank official is usually "so-and-so doctor". Before the military minister gets the "main appointment", he usually gets the "Yao County" first, and then "falls down", that is, he loses the original rank and turns the Yao County into the main office.

Therefore, the military attachés who are respected as "observations" also have two situations: "Zhengren" and "Yaojun", and there are a lot of "observations" in the Western Army.

"Jiyi," when the group walked to the East Crossroads, Guo Jing, who had already put on a hood, suddenly spoke in Kansai dialect, "The Sprinkle family sees that there are many tea shops here, where should I go?" ”

Liu Wuji shook his fan and said, "The biggest thing is to find the biggest." ”

Guo Jing lifted the veil of the hat, revealing a black face with a sticky beard, and when he looked around, he pointed to the teahouse called Su's shop and said, "That's it." ”

"Okay, let's go there."

Hearing Liu Wuji's order, Guo Jing took a big stride and walked quickly towards the Su family's shop.

The choice of the Su family shop to sell counterfeits was also well thought out. Because the Su family shop was newly opened, it turned out that there was another tea shop, and somehow it broke down a year ago (it is estimated that it was the same as the samurai painting house), and was forced to give the shop to the famous Su family old vinegar young owner Su Lida Su Dalang in Kaifeng Mansion, so it became the Su family shop.

And although that Sulida loves calligraphy, painting and writing, he is not an expert after all, and he has been working at the East Crossroads for a short time, so he naturally does not know many people.

When Wu Haogu and others went to him, it would not be easy to be recognized.

Now that the fifth watch has passed, the Su family shop, like other tea shops at the intersection of East Crossroads, is lit up, and it is dim and has a mysterious atmosphere.

Liu Wuji found a table in the corner, first put away the picture scrolls tied into a bundle on his back, and then sat down, Wu Haogu and Monk Fu could only stand. Guo Jing also sat down, untied a Xia Ren sword that was used to scare people and put it on the table, and then shouted.

"Shop, good wine and good food will be served to the Sprinkler family!"

His shouting did not attract food and drink, but it did lead to laughter. Su Lida, the proprietor of the Su family's shop, was greeting guests in the private seat on the second floor of the tea shop, and went downstairs when he heard the laughter, and Xiao Er had already told him that Su Dalang, who was born big and fat, and always had a smile on his face, hurriedly walked to the table where Liu Wuji and Guo Jing were, glanced at the "scary sword", and explained with a smile: "This guest officer, the small shop is a tea shop, and it is a ...... that does not sell wine and food."

"Then first serve a few bowls of thirsty water, and then dozens of steamed buns, and ask for mutton filling!"

"This ......" Su Erlang looked a little embarrassed.

"What? Are you afraid that the Sprinkle family will have no money to settle the bill? ”

"No, no, no, it's just ......" Su Erlang looked at the hats worn by the four of them, "The guest officer knows the rules of East Cross Street, right?" ”

"Yes." Liu Wuji took out a copper coin and threw it on the table, "Give my friend a few cooking cakes to feed the hunger, and bring two bowls of tea." ”

The tea shop on East Cross Street also had a unique charging method at the time of the ghost market, which was charged per table (private room), and a table was a penny, and the payment had to be paid first rather than after it was used up. Private rooms are charged three cents, which must also be paid in advance.

This or three taels of money is not tea and dim sum money, the tea and dim sum in the ghost market are free, but there is nothing good, just order tea and cooking cakes. This or three dollars is actually the rent of the stall.

Because I came to the tea shop at the entrance of the East Cross Street on the fifth watch, it was not for drinking tea and eating snacks, but for buying or selling things. If you want to buy, you naturally won't sit in the tea shop, but you have to go down from tea shop to tea shop, and the tea shop will ask them if they can collect money. If you want to sell it, you have to rent a table or rent a private room.

Those who come to the ghost market on East Cross Street are all big deals, often hundreds or thousands, even tens of thousands or tens of thousands of transactions are also very common, so naturally they will no longer care about this or three small money.

Su Dalang didn't say a word after taking the money, arched his hand and turned around and left. This is also the rule of the ghost market, the person who comes is already hiding his head and tail, wearing a hat to cover his face, what else is there to talk about?

Seeing Su Dalang leaving, Liu Wuji took out a scroll from the bundle of paintings and spread it out on the table, which was a copy of Wu Hao's ancient "Drunken Arhat".