Chapter 353 Qingzhou, Green Willow Alley

Qingzhou, sandwiched between Yanzhou and Xuzhou, is a small state with a relatively remote location in the easternmost part of the entire Jiuzhou land.

Qingzhou, like Yuzhou, has only one city in the entire state, named Qingzhou City. However, the situation in Qingzhou is exactly the opposite of Yuzhou, with the secular world flourishing and the immortal path sparse.

The reason why Qingzhou is like this is that Qingzhou has a unique geographical location and does not have the ability to gather spirits at all, so there is not even a piece of spiritual stone vein in Qingzhou. On the contrary, the soil here is fertile, the weather is good, and it is similar to Yangzhou, so the grain production is extremely rich, becoming a paradise for mortals.

Qingzhou is the only place in the entire Jiuzhou with an emperor. The emperor of Qingzhou is called the Qingzhou Emperor, and it has been passed down from generation to generation for more than 3,000 years, and there has never been a major change.

Therefore, Qingzhou is a region dominated and governed by mortal emperors. This place does not respect immortals, but only emperors.

Of course, this does not mean that there are no cultivators in Qingzhou. However, those who came to Qingzhou were all monks who had given up the pursuit of the Great Dao, or felt that they could not make further progress in their cultivation in this life, or had fallen into depravity. Most of these monks coveted all kinds of pleasures in the mortal world, and wanted to spend the rest of their lives happily, so they sought jobs in the hands of mortals in Qingzhou City based on their abilities.

For example, the national teacher of Qingzhou, the guardian of the Qingzhou Emperor, and even the protection of some large merchants in Qingzhou, all of which might become the choices of those monks. Therefore, the monks who came to Qingzhou all served mortals, and the rewards they received were all mortal gold and silver, which could be used for them to spend in Qingzhou City.

Therefore, the cultivation level of the monks in Qingzhou City was not high, and because there was no sect of immortal cultivation, naturally there was no Taoist school of their own.

On this day, a new family moved into the Green Willow Alley on the South Street of Qingzhou City. There were only two people in this family, who seemed to be a young couple in their twenties, and the head of the family was surnamed Huan.

South Street in Qingzhou City is not where the rich and powerful live, but it is not poor. Everyone does small business or makes a living by crafts. Therefore, the neighbors are very friendly. When they see new people moving in, they come out to take a look. The enthusiastic ones will also help and talk about the rules and customs near Qingzhou.

The people who moved here to live are naturally Huan Yin and Ruan Shushu. Since the two of them chose to become mortals, they should completely integrate into the mundane world, experience and live. Therefore, Qingzhou became their best choice.

As for why they chose the green willow alley on South Street, it was because Huan Yin used to be a child of a wealthy family. The life he wanted to experience could not be too rich, otherwise there would be nothing for him to experience.

And he also thought that since he was a weapon master, he would be a craftsman in the mundane world and open his own sword-making shop to make swords for mortals. Wei Bing once said that he entered the Dao path by forging a sword with ordinary power and ordinary objects. Huan Yin admired this spirit very much, so he also wanted to do the same to further understand the beauty of sword forging.

As for Ruan Shushu, her embroidery skills are very good. I don’t know where she, a disciple of the immortal sect, learned it. However, Ruan Shushu’s skills can also be used as a livelihood.

Of course, Huan Yin also chose this Green Willow Alley for another reason, because there are many people doing business here. If you want to buy something like fine iron and bronze, you can go out and walk a few steps to get it, which is very convenient.

Huan Yin and his friends rented a small courtyard. In addition to a main house and three small houses, there is an open space in the courtyard.

They didn’t need much space to live, so they chose this small courtyard. The main house is used as a bedroom, and one of the three small houses is used as a kitchen. One is for Huan Yin to forge swords, and the other is for Ruan Shushu to weave cloth. That’s enough.

"Brother, what's your name?" At this time, Huan Yin and Ruan Shushu were busy preparing things for their new home, attracting the attention of the neighbors. An old lady walked up to Huan Yin with a smile, stopped him and asked.

Huan Yin bowed to the old lady and said, "Old lady, I am Huan Yin, and this is my teacher... my wife Ruan Shushu." Huan Yin opened his mouth, but almost called Ruan Shushu "Junior Sister".

Ruan Shushu blushed, and bowed to the old woman: "Old man, Shushu is polite."

The old woman saw that Huanyin and Ruan Shushu were extraordinary, one handsome, and the other beautiful like a person in a painting, but they were so polite to her, and smiled: "My name is Wang Po, my family sells watermelons, and I live diagonally opposite your house. Did you just move here?"

Huanyin said to Wang Po: "Well, my wife and I are from Yangzhou. Now we move here and plan to stay. Please take care of me in the future, Wang Po."

Wang Po smiled: "Okay, you guys go ahead and do your work. Come to my house to eat watermelon after you're done!"

"Oh, what a beautiful sister!" A chubby kid on the street suddenly poked his head out, saw Ruan Shushu's face, and shouted immediately.

At this moment, there were many people standing on the street looking at Huanyin and his wife, but no one praised Ruan Shushu for being beautiful. However, these people were either women or had wives standing beside them, so they didn't dare to speak. It was just that the child's words just now really touched their hearts.

Ruan Shushu's beauty was really shocking, which was why there were so many people watching when Huan Yin and Ruan Shushu just arrived.

Huan Yin and Ruan Shushu had almost cleaned up the door, returned the greeting to everyone, closed the door and retreated into the house.

"Brother, what do you think we are still missing?" Ruan Shushu asked Huan Yin.

Huan Yin looked around and replied, "I don't think there's anything missing, but there's an extra senior brother."

Ruan Shushu was surprised: "What do you mean?"

Huan Yin asked back: "What should you call me?"

Ruan Shushu immediately reacted, blushing: "Husband... Husband."

Huan Yin was overjoyed, hugged Ruan Shushu tightly in his arms, and whispered: "My wife, we will live here for the next eighty years."

Ruan Shushu responded softly, but it was barely audible, like the buzz of a mosquito.

From the moment they entered Qingzhou, they collected all their spiritual power and completely turned into mortals. Naturally, they also used mortal power to do things.

So, their yard was just bought, and there were too many places to clean, and everything was newly bought and needed to be placed one by one, which took them most of the day.

Until the evening, Huan Yin and Ruan Shushu looked at their new home. Although they were tired, their faces were full of happy smiles.

"My dear, I'm going to buy some vegetables." Huan Yin said to Ruan Shushu as he watched the night fall.

"Buy some vegetables?" Ruan Shushu was a fairy, so she hadn't eaten for a long time, so how could she have the concept of having dinner?

Huan Yin smiled and said, "Since I'm a mortal, I have to eat."

Ruan Shushu nodded, but asked again, "I... I can't cook."

Huan Yin smiled and said, "I can!"

Under Ruan Shushu's surprised eyes, Huan Yin took a small basket of vegetables and went out.

Green Willow Alley is really very convenient. Generally, there are no vegetables for sale in other places at this time, but there are still some vegetable farmers shouting on the street. Although the small dishes at this moment are not very fresh, it is better than nothing. Huan Yin bought a lot before returning from the vegetable market leisurely, thinking that such a day is really something he has never experienced before.

On the way home, very close to Huan Yin's yard, a table was placed in front of a small shop, and an old man was writing by himself in the last rays of the setting sun.

The old man was so focused that he was not distracted even in the street full of shouting. Huan Yin admired him very much and went over to watch him write.

The old man's handwriting was sharp, strong and restrained, and had a great style. Huan Yin grew up in the Huan family since he was a child. He knew a little about calligraphy and couldn't help but praise: "Good handwriting."

The old man ignored him, but Huan Yin didn't care. He saw that every time the old man finished writing a piece of calligraphy, he would hang it up next to it, as if he was selling it, and there were many framed pieces of calligraphy, which were all written by him.

Huan Yin thought it would be nice to hang a few beautiful pieces of calligraphy at home, so he asked: "Old man, how much do you sell these calligraphy?"

The business came to the door, but the old man didn't raise his eyes and answered: "One tael of silver per piece."

One tael of silver per piece is naturally not expensive for a great calligrapher, but it is too expensive to sell it for one tael per piece in this small market. Huan Yin was born in a merchant family and knew how to bargain, so he asked, "Can it be cheaper?"

"Not a penny less." The old man said firmly, still not even looking at Huan Yin.

A man sitting outside and playing with a child saw him and said to Huan Yin, "You are the new brother Huan, right? This old man is called Lu Shu, a failed scholar, stinky and pedant, and doesn't like anyone. Don't bother with him."

The man's words had two meanings. One was that Lu Shu was not easy to approach. The other was that he didn't want any misunderstandings among the neighbors. After all, Huan Yin had just arrived and didn't know Lu Shu's temperament. This also indirectly showed that the neighbors had actually accepted Lu Shu's character a long time ago.

Huan Yin smiled at the man, then turned to Lu Shu and said, "Sir, I will pay you five taels of silver, how about you write a calligraphy for me?"

Lu Shu kept working and asked, "What do you want to write?"

Huan Yin smiled and said, "I have lived for eighty years in a hurry, and I only love the mortal world and not the immortal world."

When Lu Shu heard this, his hands trembled and he stopped. For the first time, he looked up at Huan Yin and asked, "Sir, your surname is Huan?"

Huan Yin replied, "My boy Huan Yin, please give me a calligraphy."

Lu Shu smiled slightly, which surprised the man next to him because he had never seen Lu Shu smile.

That day, the neighbors in Green Willow Lane on the south street of Qingzhou City all knew that a young couple named Huan had moved in. The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful, which added a lot of color to Green Willow Lane.