"It's ridiculous. My young master is very talented in poetry, and his piano skills are as good as those in Qiling Dynasty. His appearance is even more outstanding. How could he end up a widower and a lonely man? You two fortune tellers have probably learned those three Yi techniques from others. In my belly, I still want to make money, which is really wishful thinking."
The Liu family was one of the largest aristocratic families in the east of Shang Qi. For three generations, they all held first-class official positions in the Shang Qi court. They also produced several concubines whose poetry, literature, and painting skills surpassed that of a generation in the literary world. The most outstanding one among them was a concubine, who had a reputation for being able to experience wind and rain in his hand, and to be astonished when he started writing. He once painted for the Holy Emperor without using pen and ink. He saw thousands of miles of Huayuan Mountain in one day, and then turned back in a daze, finishing the work in only three days. He painted a 12-foot-long eaves mountain landscape, which astonished everyone with his skills. He won the approval of the Holy Emperor Long Yan, who personally gave him a holy plaque with his own handwriting, making the entire Liu family known to the world.
Now, in the Liu family's mansion, there was a housekeeper who was very angry. He pointed at the noses of the two Taoist priests in front of him and cursed, without saving any face.
I couldn't blame the old housekeeper for being sulky, it was really the words of these two people that were too irritating. The middle-aged Taoist priest among the two had just entered the Liu Mansion and met the current eldest son Liu An. He pretended to do some calculations with his fingers, and then raised his hand to write the words "widow, widow, and lonely." This made the usually elegant and gentle eldest son Liu flutter his sleeves in anger. He went there without even having lunch and stayed in the room. From time to time, he heard the sound of his Chinese playbook being smashed on the ground.
The housekeeper saw that the Taoist's eyebrows were still calm and he did not say anything to contradict him. His anger faded a little and he sighed and said, "Taking a step back, even if you, a Taoist priest, did divine the young master's fate, you shouldn't act like this. Why would you say it to his face?" ? My young master is already weak in body, so if he acts like this, if he gets angry and becomes violent, I, the old butler, can’t afford to give birth to another three or two heads."
"What should we do?" After saying that, the butler shook his head dejectedly, but still took out a silver ingot from his bag, "Take this silver, you two. Although it is inappropriate, you can't lose my Liu family's money." For the sake of appearance, don’t mention this verdict to others, please go back.”
The young Taoist's face was a little tangled, but the middle-aged Taoist did not take the silver. Instead, he picked up the cloth flag and said calmly, "On it are written Yin and Yang and the five elements, ten hexagrams and nine spirits. One point of spirit and one point of silver. It’s really not just a poor boast, for example, if the young master just now is not going to be a widower and lonely in the future, I will only ruin the appearance by accepting this money.”
The butler's gray eyebrows wrinkled, "Seriously?"
The Taoist priest nodded, "At least the word "loneliness" has been taken up now. If I haven't guessed wrongly, the young master of your family has never married a wife, right?"
The butler nodded, but was still doubtful. It turns out that most people in this city knew that their young master had not married yet, and now they were recruiting people to come to their homes to tell their fortunes. He happened to meet these two people and invited them to his home. Although they were strangers, it was inevitable that they came from hearsay. , still doesn’t count.
But the Taoist priest immediately spoke again: "I have calculated that this young master is the best at painting beauties, and he has done so for several years. Not only that, he often invites painters to come to his house, and he still paints beauties."
This time, it was the old housekeeper's turn to be horrified. He hurriedly closed the door and told the servants to keep an eye on them. Then he hurriedly invited the two people in the courtyard into the house.
Young Master Liu An is good at painting beauties, but the two old stewards in the Liu Mansion and Palace Master Liu know this. For this reason, Palace Master Liu, who is now in the first rank of the court, has often lost his temper with Liu An, and once even took all the paintings in Master Liu's study. Jin moved it out and burned it clean in front of Mr. Liu.
Generations of the Liu family have been talented, but the art of painting beauties has always been regarded as a vulgar art by people in the literary world. It is difficult to express in an elegant manner, and if it is revealed, the reputation will be slandered. For those who will step into the court in the future, The eldest son of the Liu family in Tang Dynasty is facing various disadvantages. Therefore, Palace Master Liu was furious several times, but he was still in the imperial capital and could not control Young Master Liu who was far away in the east.
"I'm sorry for my poor eyesight, but the two of you are capable of divination. This matter was kept strictly confidential by the Liu Mansion and no leaks were leaked out. However, the Taoist Master was still able to make a rough calculation. He really has the ability to know the world, and he just contradicted it. Indeed, I'm so rude." The butler made a pot of good tea and apologized again and again.
The middle-aged Taoist priest had an ugly appearance, but he did have a calm demeanor. He smiled and shook his head, "Since we are trying to make a living, even if it is cheating, we have to use some low-level tricks. It cannot be called a skill. If you really want to understand There is no need to add more money to the words "widowless and lonely". Your Excellency only needs to ask Pindao to talk to Mr. Liu, and the heart ailment can be solved without any Taoist skills."
The old steward lowered his eyebrows in deep thought and did not dare to respond for a moment.
The little Taoist priest on the side didn't care too much and peeked outside the house. He saw the coral trees carved with jade and decorated with clam jade in the courtyard. There were even a few tassels hanging on the old trees around. They were elegant and rich, and they were in pairs. In contrast, there are indeed two artistic conceptions.
It wasn't until Shenshi that the two of them boarded Liu An's small bamboo wooden house. They kicked and stepped on the stairs. The stairs made of bamboo splinters creaked, but they were filled with fresh fragrance. It was cold in summer and warm in winter, which was quite comfortable.
"Qinglian Mountain Taoist Li Fufeng asks to see you, and is willing to relieve Mr. Liu's worries."
After a long while, a cold snort came from the wooden house, "No, I'm not short of money, and I don't have any serious illness. How can I relieve my worries?"
The Taoist was not in a hurry, he raised his hand and patted away a painting that the little Taoist priest behind him had picked up everywhere, and replied loudly, "Ten thousand taels of gold cannot be exchanged for the love of a beautiful woman, and a hand full of elixirs can never paint to relieve sorrow and suffering. Young Master, you can think of it." Well, if you miss this moment, there will be no time to unravel it. When a beautiful woman is old and pearly, it will be a shame to be young."
The bamboo door was wide open, and the elegant-looking Mr. Liu was still not very angry, but when he looked at the middle-aged Taoist, his eyes twinkled.
The Taoist brought the little Taoist priest into the door, but instead of sitting down, he looked at the forty or fifty paintings of women hanging on the surrounding walls. Their expressions varied, some were charming, some were looking forward, and some were looking down in deep thought, but the outline of the woman was... It seems to be the same person.
"Young master is a good painter, and the face of the woman he painted is quite fitting."
Turning around, the Taoist sat down on his own and asked with a smile, "May I ask which family's girl can make the young master fall in love with her so much, and why, with the family background of the Qi Liu family, she is not available."
Liu An originally didn't want to talk to this person, but he couldn't bear it. He came to visit him. He must have got the approval of the old steward. Moreover, he was depressed, but he couldn't bear it, so he had to speak hoarsely.
"That woman was my playmate when I was young. I often played with her when I was young. This was probably the root of my love. I don't know where my love started. But as I got older, my father didn't want me to go to the common people's home anymore. I was playing with a girl, saying that my marriage contract was not something I could decide on my own, but that I wanted to find another girl from a well-matched family. So for the past few years, I could only look not far away from this two-story bamboo building, although it was only a short distance away. We are separated by half a street, but we can never see each other."
"In the wooden house, my father burned hundreds of paintings, leaving three to two thousand portraits, probably due to lovesickness. I often feel that if I paint 100% of her charm, she can step out of the painting and be with me. After saying these two words, she felt that she was not a good painter, so she often looked for painters with superb skills to copy her appearance when she went out every day, thus adding thousands more pictures to her scroll."
At this point, the young master's eyebrows turned red and he forced a smile and said: "There is only a wall between us, but she and I can only look at each other every day. How sad. If you have a method, sir, please teach me how to do it." You can be at home."
The Taoist remained silent, and after a while he slowly said, "Master, do you think half a street is far away?"
Liu An was dejected, "It's far away."
"Then I dare to ask you, Master, if the imperial city is far away?"
Liu An still didn't know why, "Far."
"There is a saying that the sky is high and the saints are far away. I wonder if you know this?" The Taoist priest still had the same expression.
"Of course I know." Liu An seemed to be trying to figure it out.
"Palace Master Liu is far away in the imperial capital. Although his hands and eyes are as strong as the sky, he may not be able to catch the young master. Besides, if he can't break even this shackles, there will be a room full of paintings, so it's okay if he doesn't paint." The Taoist said seriously and picked up a picture. He rolled the scroll, carefully looked at the tear stains of the woman above, and said calmly, "One day of being in love is one day of earning. There are so many days in a row. Is it possible that the young master will endure these lovesicknesses every day until Palace Master Liu sends a message?" Paper engagement?"
"The imperial city is far away, and half a street is also far away. But the distance in our hearts can always be close or far away. Young Master, think twice."
At Youshi, Mr. Liu went downstairs, walked half a street, and stood in front of the door of a house he had cherished for many years. He slipped a painting through the crack in the door.
"Master, do you think they can make it?" The little Taoist priest asked curiously as he changed out of his Taoist robe and put on his charioteer shorts again.
The ugly scribe nodded, shook his head, sighed, and ordered his disciple to go on his way.
There are countless painters in the world, but they are all sad and unable to paint.
One day is a day, and the years are unspeakable.
