On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Gyeonggi Province is also full of celebrations.
Of course Ji Yuan wouldn’t wear thin clothes on a cold day, at least he had to make himself look warm.
After Lao Long returned, Ji Yuan did not disturb Yin Zhaoxian’s plans, but instead went to visit the Xinpu Chess Hall out of habit.
Walking to the narrow street where the chess hall is located, I found that the restaurant was actually open on the first day of the new year. Although the door was closed to keep out the cold, a welcome sign was hung outside.
Ji Yuan went in and wandered around. There were only a few clerks guarding the store. There was no one playing chess in the chess hall, and the boss was not there either. There was only an acting shopkeeper.
After greeting each other a happy new year with the store clerk, Ji Yuan left and planned to go back to the attic where he had been staying recently to catch up on some sleep.
The wealthy family’s surname was Chu. Although their mansion was close to the imperial city, they did not seem to be officials of the imperial court.
The bookcase really seemed like a decoration. In the past few days, Ji Yuan had only seen servants come to clean it twice. No one from the Chu family came in. At most, they came to pick up books.
Of course, it may be that the library is too big and too cold. If you want to read and write, it is more comfortable in the front room.
This is actually advantageous for Ji Yuan. The third floor of the book pavilion is isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city. The environment is quiet and there are many books. In addition to resting and practicing, you can also read books in your spare time.
Although books are not too rare in this era, valuable books are still relatively rare. It is relatively difficult for ordinary people and even poor scholars to obtain knowledge.
This is also one of the reasons why those academies are so popular. Compared with individual students studying at home, academies not only have the teachings of old masters, but more importantly, they have many books. Those county examinations, government examinations and even sometimes state interpretation examinations test more basic skills. Sometimes, if someone asks someone to write down the contents of a classic, some scholars have never even read the book, so how can they write it?
Walking on Yongning Street, Ji Yuan breathed out the spiritual energy and watched the people along the street greeting each other. When he was about to turn in the direction of Chu Mansion, a familiar voice in the distance attracted his attention. force.
“A bowl of porridge, a side dish, and two meat buns. Don’t forget to get a basin of hot water. Thank you!”
“Okay, Mr. Wang, don’t worry, I’ll deliver it to you shortly. I just bought the buns early in the morning.”
One of the two people speaking was Wang Li, the former storyteller in the Jin Dynasty. He would never admit his mistake after hearing this Ji Yuan. The other had a clear voice, and he should be a child.
After thinking for a moment, Ji Yuan followed the location remembered by the voice, left Yongning Street to the left, and entered an old alley.
The alley is about the width of two carriages. There are walled houses on the left and right along the way. However, the walls are very short and cannot reach the shoulders. On the contrary, the courtyard gate is higher. Most of the houses in the courtyard are two or three. The houses are connected.
Every household has things like Spring Festival couplets with the characters “Fu” posted on them, and some people even hang red lanterns. However, there is no such thing as the Door God Kitchen God in this world, and naturally there are no such statues posted.
Ji Yuan came looking for the sound and stopped outside the courtyard of one of the houses. He could hear about four people moving inside. Three of them were talking and laughing in the two rooms on the right, and there was heat and aroma coming from the house. came out, and the other one was in the separate room on the left, it was the storyteller Wang Li.
This storyteller still aroused some interest in Ji Yuan last night, and now Ji Yuan believes in fate very much. Now that he has met him, he plans to go and have a look.
Pinching the blindfold, he jumped into the courtyard with a slight jump. Although the door was closed, he heard the sound of ink grinding and slightly excited murmurs inside, which made Ji Yuan convinced that this person was very excited and not at all. drowsiness.
‘This man talked ventriloquist and story-telling for most of the night last night. He was supposed to be the most tired person at the entire family banquet of Prince Jin’s Mansion. Even Master Yin was so sleepy that he went back to sleep. Why is this guy so energetic? ’
Of course Wang Li couldn’t sleep. A night of fatigue was nothing. It was nothing compared to the impact of what he saw last night.
This room is not big. There is another Four Immortals table that serves as a desk. It is placed next to the bed. Wang Li is sitting on the edge of the bed, polishing ink.
The ink was ground in the inkstone. Wang Li, who was hungry and cold, shivered. He used a paperweight to press the paper on the table. He picked up the brush and dipped it in ink and began to write on the paper, mumbling as he wrote. stop.
“On New Year’s Eve at the Jin Palace, Wang was invited to tell stories. He told stories about immortals and looked at the emperor’s home…”
Wang Li’s thinking is extremely clear, he writes very quickly, and his handwriting is rather sloppy.
“For a moment when the emperor was sitting next to him asking questions, the sweat was rising on his back. He had no way of talking about the ghosts and gods. He racked his brains and tried to answer… The hour had already arrived, and the servants of the royal family announced a quiet ceremony… Suddenly I heard an exclamation outside the hall. , the sound of joy is endless, the guests follow the emperor one after another, and there is auspiciousness in the atrium…”
Writing this, Wang Li didn’t know whether he was cold or excited. The pen in his hand trembled slightly, and he dipped in ink and wrote again.
“The trees in the garden are green in spring, the flowers in the garden are blooming in red, the emperor is calling for gods and men, and the white mist is turning and no one is responding…”
“Hoo…hiss…”
After writing this, the storyteller put down his pen for the moment, rubbed his hands and breathed, and simply pulled the quilt on the bed behind him and draped it over his body.
“Dong dong dong~”
“Mr. Wang, your food is ready, I brought it to you!”
“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!”
Wang Li quickly stood up from the bed and went to the door to help the children who came to deliver food get something.
When he opened the door, he was greeted by a gust of cold wind, which made Wang Li shrink even more. A boy of about twelve or thirteen years old was standing outside holding a tray with steaming rice porridge, side dishes and steamed buns.
The boy did not let Wang Li carry the tray. Seeing that the gentleman was shrinking and worried about hitting the tray, he took the initiative to carry it into the room and take out everything on the tray.
Ji Yuan also followed the boy into the house, and Wang Li quickly closed the door. Although it was inevitably dark when the door was closed, the light transmission from the oil paper on the doors and windows did not affect the indoor lighting.
“Mr. Wang, are you writing? Are you writing some story?”
Wang Li returned to the bedside, held up the red flower porridge bowl with both hands and warmed his cold hands for a while, then picked up the chopsticks and began to stir the rice porridge in the bowl, while blowing the wind to answer.
“Yes, I was invited to tell a story by a wealthy family last night. Secondly, the reward was high, and it was also a witness to an auspicious event. It was a worthwhile trip, hoo…hoo…”
“Zi Liu…ho ho…Zi Liu…”
He ate the rice porridge which was slightly scalding to his mouth. He felt warm after swallowing a few mouthfuls.
“Mr. Wang, your handwriting is not as good as those big gentlemen on Wenqu Street.”
The boy curiously looked at the scrawled writing on the paper. Ji Yuan looked at Wang Li’s aura and talked about what happened last night. He seemed to have a clear aura and was somewhat talented, although the writing was precise. Not great.
“Hey, those are orthodox scholars, how can I compare? Besides, I’m used to writing faster, so I just need to be able to understand them.”
Wang Li said this, picked up a bun, tore it open, and swiped it twice in the porridge bowl, as if the porridge was used as a dipping sauce, and put it in his mouth. It tasted delicious.
“Mr. Wang went to some wealthy family last night. If you have anything interesting, tell me about it!”
This older gentleman has been renting here for half a year, and the boy has long been familiar with him.
“I’m afraid you won’t believe me, but I was invited to the palace yesterday. Do you know about the palace?”
“The palace? Where does the emperor’s son live?”
“Yes, yes, that’s where the emperor’s son lives!”
Wang Ligang picked up a piece of pickle and put it in his mouth. He pointed his chopsticks towards the boy and repeatedly nodded to indicate he was correct.
“I even met the current emperor!”
The boy’s eyes immediately widened.
“What does the emperor look like? Is he very tall and strong? Is he really as scary as a tiger?”
Wang Li was startled by this question, and even Ji Yuan looked sideways at the boy with a smile.
“Well, he is very tall and strong. Sitting next to him, I dare not even breathe. But the more interesting things are later. After midnight, the ice and snow in the palace garden actually melted and hundreds of flowers bloomed. Many people were there. It’s said to be a blessing from heaven.”
The boy scratched his head. He couldn’t imagine the scene, but listening to the words the teacher said, he felt that it was very powerful.
As if realizing that the boy didn’t understand, Wang Li changed his words.
“It was just that a **** cast a spell last night, causing all the flowers, plants and trees in the palace garden to sprout. The flowers that only bloom in spring, summer and autumn all bloomed at that moment. It’s so beautiful!”
“Wow!”
Now the boy understood, and after exclaiming he was a little unbelieving.
“It’s true…Mr. Wang, you didn’t lie to me, my dad said you are a storyteller, the best at making up…”
Wang Li felt depressed for a while.
“Your father…huh…Xiaodong, the stories told by the storyteller are not groundless. Most of them are adapted from the prototypes. Some things are exaggerated but some are actually true. For example, the one I just told, sir, I haven’t yet It’s made into a story, so it’s a personal experience, it’s true!”
“Oh! By the way, I’m going to bring you hot water to soak your feet!”
The boy scratched his head and remembered that he still had something to deliver, so he hurriedly opened the door and went out. Ji Yuan happened to go out with him, leaving Wang Li alone in the room while eating and thinking about the details. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com
Before leaving, I looked back at the storyteller and then at the paper. This person should be more suitable than Master Yin.
Just a moment after the boy left, and halfway through the porridge, Wang Li accidentally caught a glimpse of the paper on the table and suddenly froze.
“Papa…”
The chopsticks fell to the ground.
Wang Li put down the porridge bowl and carefully approached the paper, only to see three unfamiliar words appearing on it.
Looking around nervously, there was no one else in the room except myself.
The calligraphy is full of energy and energy, and it looks like the work of a great calligrapher at first glance. The key is not how good the calligraphy is, but that it appears out of thin air.
“Bai Luyuan?”
Wang Li’s fingers were slightly entangled, and he subconsciously touched the paper. The moment his fingertips touched the paper, his mind went dark, and he fell into a trance on the bed and fell asleep.
Under the ability to convey the spirit through things, in a way that mortals can bear, Wang Li is having a strange dream…
There was another knock on the door. After waiting for a while but no response from Wang Li, the little boy opened the door and went in with hot water. He found that Wang Li had fallen asleep.
“This big gentleman… He hasn’t even finished his porridge yet, so he goes to sleep whenever he wants!”
Muttered, the boy approached quietly, picked up the chopsticks, wiped them on his clothes and put them back on the table. Then he helped Wang Li take off his shoes, covered him with a quilt, then tiptoed, picked up the hot water basin and went out carefully. Close the door.