"Do you know why I wanted to go to the Divine Capital?" Xu Fang suddenly asked.
Li Qingxian said nothing.
Xu Fang said slowly, "Because someone once said he would wear a red flower on his hat and drape himself in red silk, ride a tall, magnificent horse along the Divine Capital's flagstone streets, and take me home as his bride. Back then, I could hear the horse's hooves striking the stone in my ears. Clop, clop, clop..."
The hall was quiet. Xu Fang reached up to touch the rough jade pixiu hanging below her neck.
One corner of the jade pixiu was mottled, like an ordinary polished stone.
Li Qingxian glanced at the jade pixiu. Even without knowing anything about jade, he could tell it was a piece of scrap, the cheapest kind sold at roadside stalls.
The sun sank in the west.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Is Young Master Li here? Hu Ya, hall master of the Green Mountain Gang's Red Character Hall, requests your presence at the gang leader's family banquet on his orders." A strong, resonant voice rang out beyond the courtyard gate.
Yu Ping walked across the courtyard to open the gate.
Zheng Gaojue was still training at the Divine Bow Sect. Li Qingxian left the courtyard with Zhou Hen, Yu Ping, and Xu Fang.
Five carriages stood in a single line. Twenty riders on black horses, wearing green headscarves, led the procession, while thirty sturdy young men carrying long-handled sabers followed behind.
A man in his thirties stood at the gate. He was tall, with four muscular arms, and a fierce tiger was carved into the iron plaque on his belt.
The rank badges of the court's seventh-rank military officers were embroidered with that same fierce tiger.
"Greetings, Young Master Li." With a solemn expression,