Chapter 393: The Hook Is Straight and the Bait Is Salty

"Dad, dad, dad..."

"Dad, father, big brother..."

A burst of noise came from the stalls far away, which confused Li Xuan and others who had just arrived at the West Market.

"Didn't Xiao Cui say that someone was looking for calligraphy and paintings?" Yu'er asked puzzled.

"Why has it become a large-scale recognition of relatives?" Princess Ankang was also puzzled.

Not to mention the two girls, Li Xuan and Shang Zongguan, who thought they were knowledgeable, were also confused about the situation.

"Ah Xuan, is the news wrong?" Shang Zongguan confirmed.

Li Xuan thought about it and felt that it shouldn't be.

Although Xiao Cui couldn't read, she wouldn't confuse asking for a child with asking for a painting.

Just come and take a look, you should be able to know what is being asked for here.

But no matter what is being asked for here, Li Xuan was extremely curious.

"Does Daxing also have the routine of paying a large sum of money to pray for a child?"

"And the person sitting on the stall is not a young woman who married a rich businessman, but a bearded Western Region strong man."

"How to pray for this?"

Although Li Xuan felt a little confused, he was relieved when he saw the people surrounding the stall, vying to shout "Dad, Dad" and asking for money.

"Is this the nature of the human race?"

Li Xuan rolled his eyes.

They did not immediately squeeze to the side of the stall, but watched from the side.

After watching for a while, they finally understood what was going on.

It turned out that the banner on the stall was written wrongly. It was not praying for a child, but really praying for a painting.

And the figure hanging next to the banner was the initiator.

It's funny to say that this Hu merchant didn't know the words and language of Daxing, so he paid someone to write a banner.

As a result, the other party saw that he was an illiterate Hu merchant, so he wanted to tease him and deliberately wrote it wrong.

But although Hu Shang was illiterate, he was very tough.

After being asked several times where his wife was and being called "Dad" several times, Hu Shang immediately figured out what was going on. He immediately hung up the writer and hired a Westerner who was well-known in Daxing West Market to help.

The new Westerner could speak Mandarin, but his handwriting was not good.

Hu Shang simply did not change it and asked the hired helper to explain in person, which could attract more people to watch the fun.

Within a day, the news that he was asking for a painting for a large sum of money spread throughout the West Market.

However, many people had been taken advantage of by this Hu Shang before, but seeing that Hu Shang was tough, they didn't care about him, so they coaxed their relatives and friends to come here and call him "Dad" a few times, which led to those people before.

After people figured out what was going on, they couldn't help but curse him for bad luck.

Some people relied on their strong bodies and wanted Hu Shang to pay for their mental damages, but without exception, they were beaten badly.

Li Xuan and the chief monk took a look at Hu Shang's attack and immediately realized that he was a master who had practiced true qi.

As for the exact rank, it was not clear. After all, they were just dealing with the ruffians in the West Market, and they could not use any tricks.

Li Xuan and the chief monk detected the true qi in the other party through the fluctuation of his breath.

"It is not common to see Hu Shang traveling alone."

Chief monk said meaningfully.

Li Xuan also understood what Chief monk meant.

There are many Hu merchants in the West Market.

But most of them travel together. After all, they are outsiders here, and many of them are not good at speaking Mandarin. To some extent, they are also a vulnerable group, and they have a lot of property.

Therefore, partnering is the safest way.

It is said that it is not easy to come to Daxing from the Western Regions. There are many green forest heroes who want to warmly entertain the passing merchants along the way.

Those who dare to come alone must be a tough guy.

In the stalls set up by the Hu merchant, besides those who call him dad, there are also those who come to offer paintings seriously.

The Hu merchant carefully distinguishes each painting and then gives a price. Judging from the reactions of the crowd, the price given by this guy is quite generous, and most of them are successfully sold.

As for those who want to fish in troubled waters and take some rotten things to cheat money, they are also driven back by the Hu merchant.

Li Xuan and others watched for a while and found that although this Hu merchant could not speak Mandarin and did not recognize the Daxing characters, he had a pair of good eyes. At least he could distinguish the good from the bad of these paintings.

"Didn't they say that this Hu merchant was asking for a large sum of money for his lost paintings?"

"Why do you look at this posture, but he is here to purchase goods?"

Shang Zongguan joked with a smile.

The three little ones also agreed deeply.

Hu Shang sat in the seat behind the stall, looked at one, and then quoted a price. If it worked, it worked. If it didn't, it was fine.

From his appearance, he didn't look like he was looking for a specific painting, but rather like a calligraphy and painting dealer doing business.

"Maybe he's just doing business with the gimmick."

"But the person hanging there, is he okay?"

Princess Ankang looked at the place where the banner was hung with worry.

There was a thin middle-aged scholar with a rat-like beard and shifty eyes.

I don't know what this guy was thinking, but he provoked a tough guy like Hu Shang and got into trouble.

After hearing what Princess Ankang said, someone on the side said:

"Miss, please don't pity that mouse. This old guy not only cheated people out of ten taels of silver by writing a banner, but also deliberately made mistakes to tease the employer."

"He deserves to be punished after being discovered. The officials can't do anything about it. This is a matter of mutual consent."

Many people in the crowd recognized Princess Ankang.

The eldest lady who stood up for the grandfather and grandson who sold knots before beat the boss of the Jinqian Gang in the West Market to tears.

During this period, the Jinqian Gang was as obedient as grandchildren, and everyone thought it was Princess Ankang's credit.

Anyone who makes a living in the West Market has more or less respect for Princess Ankang in their hearts.

Unconsciously, Princess Ankang has gained some prestige in the West Market.

After all, she established her prestige by stepping on the Money Gang, and she can also make the Money Gang helpless.

"How can this be consensual?"

"No one would like to be hung like this, right?"

Yu'er was the first to disbelieve what people said.

In front of Manager Shang, Yu'er did not seem so restrained.

"You don't know this."

"The bearded Hu merchant found that he was teased by Kong Haozi, so he immediately caught him and frightened him, and gave Kong Haozi two choices."

"One is to beat him up and spit out the money."

"The other is..."

The passerby said, pointing to Kong Haozi, who was fluttering in the wind with the banner.

"To be honest, Kong Haozi is more interested in money than his life. He suffered so much for that little bit of silver."

"The commotion has caused the police to come and ask questions. After finding out the reason, they just said that no one should be killed."

"After all, one is willing to fight and the other is willing to be beaten."

After that, passers-by laughed and watched the excitement, not caring about the big deal.

After hearing the cause and effect, the three children couldn't help laughing. They didn't expect to see such fun in the West Market today.

At this time, Shang Zongguan suddenly asked:

"Ah Xuan, do you have any calligraphy and painting?"

"I'll go over and try this big beard."

Li Xuan's heart moved. With Shang Zongguan, an old man in the world, he was naturally better than the three children. He immediately checked his Dihong bone ring, but he couldn't find any calligraphy and painting after searching for a long time.

"Huh?"

Li Xuan felt a little strange. He remembered that he had stuffed calligraphy and painting into the Dihong bone ring before.

But he thought about it carefully and remembered it immediately.

Those were the goods lost by Ping An Commercial Bank. When they were found, Li Xuan did stuff them into his Dihong bone ring, but after returning to the palace, all the property was returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for disposal.

After all, Ping An Commercial Bank was most likely the property of Emperor Yongyuan, and it was not good to embezzle Emperor Yongyuan's property.

Seeing Li Xuan digging for a long time and finally shaking his head at himself, Shang Zongguan reluctantly took out a painting.

Shang Zongguan seemed to have taken it out from his sleeve, but who would carry this thing with them for no reason.

"I don't know what Shang Zongguan's space magic weapon looks like?"

Li Xuan thought curiously.

Then, Shang Zongguan took the three little ones to the stall together.

There were many people crowded in front of the stall, and after queuing for a while, it was their turn.

The bearded Hu Shang was originally leaning on the back of the chair, yawning boredly.

But when he saw the combination of Shang Zongguan and the three little ones, he immediately moved his butt, sat up straight, bowed awkwardly, and talked a lot.

The person in charge of translation was stunned for a moment, but immediately reacted and said to Shang Zongguan respectfully: "Respected elder, is there anything I can help with?"

At this time, Princess Ankang pointed at the translator and said: "Hey, aren't you the owner of that noodle stall?"

"Why do you come here to be a translator when you don't manage your noodle stall?"

The noodle stall owner Abu also recognized the three little ones and immediately greeted them with a smile:

"So it's you, I remember you came to my noodle shop with Lao Liutou and Xiao Cui before."

Abu showed his enthusiasm in his not-so-authentic Mandarin.

He said that he remembered the three little ones not out of politeness, but was really impressed.

After all, they were the first customers to order a bowl of noodles for a cat alone.

But then Abu saw the bearded Hu merchant frowning, and immediately said seriously: "It's more profitable to be a translator, so I come here to make some extra money. It's tiring to run a noodle stall, so it's a good time to take a few days off."

Then, Abu coughed dryly and introduced the bearded Hu merchant sitting behind the stall:

"By the way, this is the big merchant from the Western Regions, Master Hadir."

"He is also my current employer."

After Abu finished his introduction, he stopped chatting with the three children and stood aside silently to continue his translation duties.

His chat just now had already displeased Hadir.

After all, Abu was paid to work, so he had to give his employer some face.

If it weren't for the generous remuneration given by Hadir, Abu would not have come to be the translator.

"Didn't he say he wanted to collect landscape paintings?"

"I have one here, let's see if it's the painting worth a thousand taels he said."

Manager Shang said, handing over the calligraphy and painting in his hand.

After Abu took it, he carefully unfolded it on the table in front of Hadir.

If it were someone else, there would definitely be no such treatment.

But Abu heard Hadir's greeting just now very clearly.

When others came, Hadir didn't even bother to raise his eyelids, and just identified the paintings and then made an offer.

Calling others "respected elders", it was the first time Abu saw Hadir treat others so politely.

Hadir carefully identified the paintings on the table, much more seriously than before.

Li Xuan and others also observed this bearded Hu merchant closely.

It was indeed a bit unusual for a Hu man to come to Beijing alone, set up a stall in the West Market to buy paintings, and offered a price of one thousand taels of silver.

It was not that no Hu merchants were engaged in antique calligraphy and painting business. On the contrary, this kind of business was very profitable, but it required a certain level of strength to participate.

If you want to buy valuable real things, go to those stores that specialize in selling these items, or go to auction houses.

Daxing has a special auction house for consignment items. In addition, there are similar activities in temples and Taoist temples. If you want to find good calligraphy and paintings, there are many ways.

However, Hadir's approach seemed a bit inefficient.

Therefore, Li Xuan and the chief monk could only think that this guy had ulterior motives.

However, it is still uncertain now.

After looking at the calligraphy and paintings on the table for a while, Hadir shook his head with regret, and then said something to Abu.

After listening to it, Abu immediately made his own translation.

"Master Hadir regrets to tell you that he cannot accept this painting."

Hearing this, Shang, the chief steward, asked in surprise:

"Oh, you don't like it?"

"Do you still think this painting is fake?"

Abu translated Shang's words, and Hadir immediately explained. Abu listened and said:

"Master Hadir said."

"This painting is very valuable, and he doesn't have enough money to buy it."

"He still has to keep the money to continue looking for his lost painting."

"Please forgive me, elder."

After listening to Abu's words, Li Xuan and others nodded.

It should be said that this bearded man looks very burly, but he is quite polite.

Li Xuan realized that this guy might have realized that Shang, the chief steward, had a complicated background.

After all, they had watched from the side for a while before, and Hadir had never been so polite to others.

But this made Li Xuan feel something was wrong.

Ordinary masters cannot detect the true strength of Shang Zongguan.

And Hadir's aura is far from being able to detect Shang Zongguan's strength.

This made Li Xuan a little puzzled, how did Hadir judge Shang Zongguan's depth.

"Is it just his eyesight from traveling all over the country?"

When Shang Zongguan heard that Hadir had no money to take his calligraphy and paintings, he didn't care too much.

After taking the scroll sent back by Abu, Shang Zongguan asked Hadir:

"Then tell me about the calligraphy and painting you want to find?"

"Maybe I can help you find it when I see it one day."

Hadir blinked his eyes, waiting for Abu's reaction. After understanding Shang Zongguan's meaning, he immediately stood up and bowed to thank Shang Zongguan for his kindness.

"Master Hadir said that the painting is actually very ordinary and of ordinary value, but it was passed down from his ancestors and has extraordinary commemorative significance."

"Master Hadir last saw it when he was a child. He only remembers that it was a landscape painting with few strokes but quite artistic conception."

"Another feature is that the painting uses special paper, which feels thicker."

Hearing these features, Li Xuan and the chief monk looked at each other calmly, then pretended nothing happened and left the stall.

After walking a little further away, Princess Ankang asked:

"Ah Xuan, how is it?"

"Did you get the answer you want?"

It was Li Xuan's idea to come to see the Hu merchant who collected paintings today, so Princess Ankang asked this question.

Li Xuan did not respond, and secretly wrote on the back of Princess Ankang's hand:

"This is not a place to talk, let's talk when we get back."