Chapter 283: Fuxiang combs the cage and drives up prices!
When Taoist Zi Lian saw the village, black smoke began to spread.

"Hahaha, what can a few night watchmen and warriors do to me?"

However, before his laughter could even be heard, he noticed a formation of five-colored spiritual light rising up around the village.

The well-arranged houses in the village gradually became distorted, and then disappeared completely. There was no village here at all; it was clearly a trap!
Sure enough, all the black energy emitted by the Purple Lotus Yin Spirit was blocked by the formation, and it could not spread at all. Not to mention absorbing essence and reviving, this old man might have to die here.

After seeing the formation, Zi Lian instantly thought of who was waiting for the rabbit to come to her.

"Jinlian! You are such a coward! How dare you take advantage of my serious injury to plot against me!"

Behind the billowing black smoke, in the center of the five-colored formation, Taoist Master Jinlian was sitting cross-legged with a calm expression.

"My cultivation has been damaged, so I am not sure if I can fight you directly, but you are from my Earth Sect, and I cannot let you go out and do harm to the world."

The Yin Spirit of Zi Lian wanted to escape, but the formation of Jin Lian was slowly closing.

"Jinlian, if you were in your prime, I would still be afraid of you, but with your current level of cultivation, don't even think about keeping me here!"

The thick black smoke shrank rapidly, and powerful spiritual power burst out. Taoist Jinlian's face changed drastically. He didn't expect that Zi Lian had become so much stronger after being possessed by the devil.

His physical body was destroyed, and he was only in the state of Yin Spirit able to cast spells and fight against the Earth Sect's demon-suppressing formation.

The black smoke in the center of the formation condensed rapidly, and then there was a loud explosion, and then it turned into a black filament and shot towards the weak point of the formation.

"laugh!"

There was a slight sound of spiritual energy shattering, and the black thread shot out from the top of the formation, accompanied by a burst of excited laughter.

"Hahaha! Jinlian! The Taoist is gone!"

Taoist Jinlian almost fainted when he saw that his plan was about to fail. Now he could only put away the formation and fly into the air to chase after him.

However, at this moment, the black silk was suddenly covered by a sword light!
Dense green sword energy poured down from the air like a waterfall, breaking the black silk into pieces and almost completely dispersing it.

"Ah! Li Changan, you despicable warrior, you plotted against me!"

Li Changan saw Zi Lian entering the Golden Lotus formation from afar and thought that Zi Lian was doomed. However, he didn't expect that the possessed old Taoist had a backup plan and actually escaped at the last moment.

"Zilian, you shouldn't forget that Li is more than just a warrior."

The sword formation that exudes powerful spiritual pressure is clearly a powerful Taoist method, and of course it can deal with the Yin God.

Then, the green sword energy turned into green spiritual threads, interweaving into a large net with shining spiritual light, trapping the Purple Lotus Yin God firmly inside.

"Ah! It hurts me so much!"

Taoist Jinlian came to Li Changan with a warm smile and said, "Fortunately, Brother Li is here, otherwise this fellow would have escaped again today. It seems that I need to study my formation more carefully."

Li Changan thought to himself, if he could capture Zi Lian completely this time, he wouldn't have to try to steal Jin Lian's fragments of the Book of the Earth in the future.

"It seems that I have helped your Earth Sect clean up the door again."

Jinlian nodded and smiled, "This shows that I didn't choose the wrong person. Brother Li's method of transforming swords into silk is really brilliant. It is worthy of being a secret method of the Human Sect. I believe that your cultivation level in the Taoist sect will soon advance to the fourth level."

Li Changan circulated his spiritual power, and the green sword thread contracted rapidly. The Purple Lotus Yin God trapped in it immediately let out a series of heart-wrenching wails.

"Friend Li, Senior Brother Jinlian, please spare my life!"

Jinlian's face darkened and she said, "Asshole, now that you know how to recognize your brother, it's too late."

"Where is your cave?" Li Changan went straight to the point without any detours.

"If you don't hurry up, I can make your Yin Spirit want to live but cannot, want to die but cannot. You can't commit suicide now."

The torture of the Yin Spirit is no less than that of the physical body. One can only endure it silently without being able to offer any resistance. Moreover, this torture can continue day and night without end.

Afterwards, Zi Lian honestly revealed the location of the cave, and Li Changan found Zi Lian's background in it as he wished.

Three A-grade medicinal pills and several bottles of B-grade medicinal pills can all speed up the Taoist practice.

In the capital of Dafeng, only Lingbao Temple and Sitianjian can refine elixirs. No other forces have this ability.

Alchemy is not only a technical job, but also consumes a lot of resources. Even Zi Lian, the leader of the Earth Sect, has such a huge fortune.

In addition, several local sects' skills, a large amount of silver, and magical instruments were all destroyed in the fight just now.

The ascetics in this world do not have a unique currency and also use silver. There are actually 30,000 taels of silver in the cave of Taoist Zi Lian.

These properties were not a small amount. After all, the tax silver that Xu Pingzhi had to transport later was only 150,000 taels.

"Brother Li, please don't pass these skills on to others..."

Although Taoist Jinlian came along, it was not easy for him to take anything from here, after all, the person was killed by Li Changan.

Besides, Li Changan is also a key target to be won over, so there is no need to worry too much about these things.

Li Changan was of course not polite at all. This was his first time killing a third-grade cultivator, and those elixirs happened to be of use recently.

"Take the technique, I don't need it."

If he practices the Di Zong's skills randomly, who knows when he might suddenly become possessed by the devil, and he might even be controlled by the Taoist leader. Li Changan will not practice this.

Jinlian gratefully withdrew her skills, and the two of them left.

Taoist Master Jinlian is running around everywhere, and his main task now is to clean up the house and sort out his own mess.

The next evening, the lights came on and the nightlife began.

The Jiaofangsi is very lively tonight, for tonight is the day when the new courtesan Fuxiang will perform.

The news of the death of the courtesan in the Jiaofangsi was suppressed by the Ministry of Rites. Moreover, all the flower thieves were dead now, and the business of the Jiaofangsi was in perfect order. The so-called "combing the cage" meant that the new courtesan would open up new land and dig a well.

Fuxiang is about to start receiving customers. Tonight is the first time and there are a lot of people coming.

Just two days ago, the Jiaofangsi had already preheated the event twice as usual, and many people had already seen Fuxiang's appearance.

There is a consumption threshold for the Jiaofangsi, and ordinary people are not allowed to patronize it. There are no hard and fast rules, but the minimum consumption of five taels of silver is not affordable for ordinary people.

And this is not the overnight fee, it is just the table opening fee.

Therefore, there are generally three types of guests at the Jiaofangsi: wealthy businessmen with bulging pockets, officials of all ranks who often attend social events, and energetic students.

If you are an official of the Ministry of Rites, you can get it for free, which is a privilege.

The girls in the Jiaofangsi might be the family members of convicted officials who were forced into prostitution, or they might be women captured in the war, or they might be professionals recruited by the Jiaofangsi.

Fuxiang, who was possessed by Yeji, was the relative of a convicted official. She died of a serious illness, and Yeji took advantage of her opportunity to reuse her.

The Meiying Pavilion in the Jiaofangsi is very lively today. The gate is open, bright red lanterns are hung high, and the plum trees in the courtyard are dotted with buds in full bloom.

The courtyard was filled with hundreds of guests of different ages. Among them were old men with white hair and beard and bright eyes, and young men with childish looks and rich wealth.

After all, men of any age have the same hobbies, that is, eighteen-year-old girls. This is a truth from ancient times to the present.

"Miss Fuxiang is the tenth courtesan in the Jiaofangsi, but she is the most beautiful!" "That's not true. I have been patronizing the Jiaofangsi for fifty years and have never seen such an outstanding woman."

"If my family hadn't suffered a disaster and a green lotus hadn't fallen into the mud, I would really like to marry her as my principal wife."

"You can do it now, too. Just redeem Miss Fuxiang after you comb the cage."

"That's not good. We shouldn't be too selfish..."

Li Changan walked into the courtyard without conspicuously showing off. Although his name was already well-known in the capital, only some night watchmen and students of Yunlu Academy had seen him.

Night watchmen are all crude warriors. It is very likely that they are not good at writing poems and songs, and their character and talent are not likely to come.

There were a few middle-aged men and young scholars who were obviously shocked when they saw Li Changan, but none of them came over to recognize him.

From their wandering gazes, it can be seen that these people know Li Changan.

The entry fee to comb the cage is one hundred taels of silver, so some people are screened out, otherwise there would be more people here.

As soon as Li Changan entered the door, he saw a little maid run into his arms and hand him a note.

"The comb cage is full of fancy words, young master, please don't waste your money. Come to Fuxiang after today, and Fuxiang will definitely reward you handsomely for saving my life."

It seems that Fuxiang is not very confident in Li Changan. Although Li Changan has the reputation of a great scholar and hero, he has never demonstrated any literary talent.

Li Changan thought to himself, it seems that Ye Ji is very interested in him.

Not long after, Fuxiang appeared on the platform on the second floor, looking at hundreds of guests with a smile.

Her face is full of spring, her eyes are bright, her posture is charming and her expression is natural. Her face is on the same level as Xu Lingyue, Chu Caiwei and Princess Lin'an.

She still cannot compare with Princess Huaiqing. Huaiqing's unique and beautiful temperament adds a lot of color to her already stunning appearance, making her unique and independent.

But Fuxiang's biggest advantage is her figure and her dress. She wears very professional tulle, which other women dare not wear.

Her shoulders are half exposed, her neck is slender, and her bra is covered with a thin layer of pink gauze, revealing the cleavage.

It is a truth that if there is a ditch, it will become popular. If Li Changan did not interfere, Fuxiang would really become popular.

Her beautiful eyes swept over the men in the yard, and when she saw Li Changan, Fuxiang smiled faintly.

"Thank you all for coming to support Fuxiang. I will play a piece of music for you to show my appreciation."

Li Changan clearly saw that many people were already secretly swallowing their saliva, which showed that Fuxiang's beauty was also outstanding among the courtesans.

Afterwards, the sound of the piano was so faint that people felt as if they were in a fairyland, and the entire Meiying Pavilion suddenly became quiet.

After one stick of incense, the sound of the piano stopped and there was silence for a while.

Then there was a burst of applause in the courtyard, and applause and cheers came one after another.

"Everyone says that Miss Fuxiang is an expert at playing the zither and composing poems. I heard her play with my own ears today and it is indeed extraordinary!"

"Wonderful, very wonderful, much better than the one played by Miss Mingyue next door!"

"Miss Fuxiang, what are the rules for combing the cage today? I must get it today!"

"Young man, don't be too arrogant. If you don't have any knowledge, don't even think about winning today."

"Get away from me, old man! Don't you think about your body? Don't waste your money!"

……

Fuxiang played a song and the crowd immediately became excited. Before Fuxiang explained the rules, some people started to become jealous.

The rules of the tea parties in the Jiaofangsi were usually set by the courtesan, just like today's combing parties. And they were generally required to be elegant. After all, it was a high-end club, not a place where people could be straightforward.

Li Changan also nodded with satisfaction. Her piano skills were not inferior to Pei Nanwei and Sang Wen, and were above average in the courtesan world.

If it was Li Changan's previous life before reincarnation, with Fuxiang's beauty and talent, she would have been a big star at least.

Fu Xiang's sweet voice spread throughout the courtyard, "My dear guests, I don't deserve the reputation of being an expert in both poetry and music, but since the young master has said so, please compose a poem for me."

"Fuxiang will select the best ten songs and make them public, and then you can choose the one you like. When the time comes, please judge whether Fuxiang's selection is appropriate or not."

There are too many people today, and people have to be convinced, but the poetry of this era is not good.

Poetry is not often heard in the Jiaofangsi when people have tea together on weekdays, because there have been few outstanding poems in the past two hundred years. Scholars have become obsessed with the principles of heaven and human desires, and have no time to ponder poetry. Instead, couplets are more common.

Therefore, the practice of the Jiaofangsi is that the first ten songs are almost the same, and whoever pays the most money wins.

In a word, it is just driving up prices, and what they are actually doing is auctioning off virginity.

Afterwards, in the front corridor of the courtyard on the first floor, more than a dozen tables were lined up, with pens, inkstones, and paper on them.

The maid next to Fuxiang said, "Please leave your calligraphy and your name on the back."

Everything was arranged, and the men in the courtyard began to take action.

Li Changan glanced over and saw many people who were secretly delighted. They all knew that Fuxiang was famous for his talent in poetry and music, and most of them bought his poems at high prices.

Therefore, many people could not hold back and rushed to the front and started writing.

Li Changan's mind was racing. He had so many poems in reserve that he wondered whether he should write the poem he had written for Si Lili.

Speaking of it, today is just like that time.

Si Lili is a spy sent by the Northern Qi Kingdom to infiltrate the Southern Qing Kingdom, and Fuxiang is also a spy sent by the demon clan to infiltrate the capital of Dafeng.

Li Changan understood what Fuxiang meant by not wasting money. Today's combing ceremony was organized by the Jiaofangsi, and no matter who won first place, the Jiaofangsi would take the lion's share of the money.

Fuxiang didn't want Li Changan to pay this money in vain. It seemed that this woman was a considerate person.

Li Changan thought of a poem by Liu Sanbian, which was the poem that made the courtesan stay alone from then on.

There were hundreds of people in the courtyard, and not a single one was left out. Everyone wrote a poem.

Under Fuxiang's distant gaze, Li Changan also wrote a poem.

When he started writing, many people were attracted by Li Changan's handwriting.

Someone started to discuss quietly, "This is Slender Gold Script. Li Changan from Yunlu Academy is here!"

"This is Li Changan. Today I finally see him in person."

"It turns out that great scholars also like to come to the Jiaofangsi. It's really eye-opening!"

"Your handwriting is really good, how about the poetry?"

"I heard that he is good at military affairs, but his poetry and songs are probably not outstanding. It's a pity that today's competition is not about calligraphy."

(End of this chapter)