Zhao Yude left Jiangnan and set out for Luoyang.
Leaving home for the first time, Zhao Yude was full of high spirits and hope for the future. He swore to become a man like the Zhao ancestors and carve out a realm for the Zhao Household. He could never have imagined that carving out a realm truly meant fighting for the realm.
The handsome young man drew countless wealthy young ladies' admiring glances and secret sidelong looks along the way. Even lovely courtesans from brothels offered themselves to his bed.
Traveling with servants and guards, he passed by a hillside.
There was a tea stall on the hill for travelers to quench their thirst and rest their feet. A huge bowl of tea cost only two copper coins. Rough tea leaves brewed with spring water from the mountain streams had a flavor all their own. A bowl of tea could ease a traveler's thirst, and after drinking it, one felt refreshed from head to toe.
Zhao Yude, who had been traveling, also stopped at the tea stall to drink tea and rest. His guards were all seasoned Jianghu veterans; after checking the place, they confirmed that it was merely an ordinary tea stall, not a black shop.
Suddenly, a swath of dark clouds spread over from afar.
A drizzling rain began to fall. Travelers had no choice but to remain at the tea stall and wait for it to stop. When away from home, catching a chill from getting soaked in the rain could mean dying in a foreign land. Every year, countless people died of such illnesses.
"Young Master, this rain is awfully strange. Who knows when it'll stop," the Zhao Manor servant grumbled.
"Mountain rain is hard to predict. Just wait. We're not in any hurry, anyway. Use