The day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve, so early this morning, Qin Fang asked Taozhi and Jin Zhi to go out to the market to buy new year's goods. Although in the palace, even if you want to eat bear paws and deer antlers, it is just a matter of saying something. If you want to drink whatever wine you want, as long as it is not Jiannan Shaochun, it will be served to you as expected, but living in the palace for a long time It is also an extremely boring thing, that is, there is no human touch, and the food cannot taste the smoke. At first, you may think that the delicacies of mountains and seas are simply delicacies in the world, but after getting used to this kind of life, it is difficult not to feel that they are nothing. As for His Royal Highness, who enjoys all the glory, what does he like to do most all day long? They were definitely not in the mood, so they ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare a large table of dishes, and then asked the palace maids to serve wine, and they drank all day long. What His Royal Highness the Prince likes to do most is to hug a lady from a certain family and go to an inconspicuous stall somewhere in the capital, looking for the kind of "street stall delicacies". According to his words, "restaurants in the world are all restaurants." If you want to eat real delicacies from the mountains and seas, just go into the alleys and alleys, that’s right.”
Regarding this matter, there is a story that happened many years ago.
One autumn, His Royal Highness was drinking wine and admiring chrysanthemums by the river. He accidentally saw a young lady with Jiangnan aura in her eyes admiring chrysanthemums. Thinking of the delicious taste of crabs in autumn, with thick and plump roe and sweet but not greasy taste, the prince invited the woman to eat crabs at a riverside restaurant. At the wine table, the woman said that she was from the south of the Yangtze River and had lived in Beijing for some time. The spring and autumn of her hometown were not obvious. This time she came to Beijing to see whether the autumn in the north was really like what the poem said, "the city is full of golden armor."
The news quickly spread throughout the capital, and the people in the capital thought that the prince was going to induce the ignorant woman to "cook the rice before it was raw", but in fact, everyone guessed wrong. Perhaps it was the woman's clear eyes full of Jiangnan spirit that impressed the prince. His Royal Highness, who could be said to have taken advantage of all the beautiful women with slightly bulging breasts in the capital, treated her to crabs, then said goodbye in the restaurant and made an appointment. I will take her around the real capital tomorrow.
The next day, the two met in front of the restaurant as scheduled. And for the next whole day, His Royal Highness took her through every alley in the capital. Fire-coated trousers, fire ladles, Shaomai, Hu cakes, camellia soup, and all kinds of snacks were all things this Jiangnan woman had never seen before. And she is different from those gentry women who have "folk cleanliness". She can let go of her body and will not care that the wet mud in the alley soils her skirt and embroidered shoes. She will not care that the brown sugar glutinous rice cake is made by a dark and skinny veteran. , although it was her first time to visit the alley, she was calm and generous.
Finally one day, the woman was going back to Jiangnan. When she was saying goodbye, His Highness the Crown Prince said to her: "There are many women who have walked in the alleys with me. They come from famous families like you, but they are not as generous and elegant as you. They just want to please you." I will suppress mysophobia and pretend to be happy after eating the snacks in the alley even though I clearly feel that the snacks in the alley are dirty. They are afraid that the splendid clothes from the Jiangnan Gold Thread Weaving Bureau will be dirty. The beautiful embroidered shoes on the feet are dripping with mud, just like the officials of the imperial court who are unwilling to serve in a desolate place. They think that the people in such places are uneducated, barbaric and vulgar, and they are afraid that over time, they will become like that."
The last words the prince said to the beautiful Jiangnan woman were: "Don't forget the real life just because you're used to it. Don't think highly of yourself and belittle yourself just because you've been promoted and favored." people."
This is just a short story about the prince.
Taozhi and Jin Zhi, one is the maid who is most favored by the prince and is proud of his favor, and the other is a vicious and scary maid. After more than ten years of serving their master day and night, the relationship between the two can be said to be very bad. It's only a little better than the relationship between Taozhi and Qingxue.
So after the two of them left the palace and walked for a while, they separated and went their separate ways.
On Taozhi's side, as the maid who is most favored by Gei Liu, she also knows everything about her master. Soon, she found a wine stall on the familiar road and said with a sweet smile: "Old uncle, I want two jars of glutinous rice."
The old man drank while drinking and said with a smile: "I remember that this time last year, the girl came with a young man. Why are you alone this year?"
A trace of sadness flashed across Taozhi's face, he took the glutinous rice, and complained angrily: "Old uncle, you are taking too much care! I will never buy wine from you again next time."
The old man smiled and twirled his beard twice, "Girl can't do that. She is buying wine for her sweetheart. This wine, I drink, the more I drink, the better it tastes. The more I drink, the clearer my heart becomes. Love or not, how much love there is, let me After he drinks a bowl, he will ask again, and he will promise to tell you all he has in his heart."
Taozhi shook her head, "Uncle, you misunderstood, I'm just a little maid."
The old man laughed loudly, "Girl, whose maid is dressed like a noble? Girl, don't try to lie to me. I have lived my whole life and have never met anyone or anything? If you are really a maid, you are also from the royal family. Maid."
Taozhi laughed it off, paid the copper coins and left.
Thinking of what the old man said just now, she unconsciously glanced at the glutinous rice wine in her hand. There was once a man who quietly touched her bed after being drunk in the middle of the night. Although he did nothing, he hugged himself and talked a lot.
He said: "If a man shouts out a woman's name while drunk, and if he doesn't admit it afterwards, it is a drunken uttering of the truth. If he admits it afterwards under various coercion and inducement, it is drunken gibberish."
Taozhi suddenly felt a little annoyed. I have served him for more than ten years and have seen him drunk countless times, but I have never heard him call any woman's name.
Is it because he hides it too deeply in his heart, or is there no woman in his heart at all?
Taozhi raised his head and saw several young men and women holding hands in front of him. She curled her lips and lowered her head in despair.
Willows will be on the streets next year. When will the young master return this year? Return or not?
In another part of the capital, Jin Zhi walked towards him, ignoring the glances directed at him.
That day, she faced the eleventh member of the martial arts review alone. In order to give her master a chance to breathe, she did not hesitate to shorten her life by twenty years and severely injure Yao Tiao. In an instant, her hair turned gray, just like the autumn had just entered. reed.
She wanted to die but didn't succeed. After returning to the palace, she didn't want the man to feel guilty, so she wanted to dye her hair back to black, but Qin Fang refused. She still remembers what Qin Fang said.
"Why don't you let him feel guilty for you? Giving willingly without asking for anything in return is not infatuation, that is stupidity. Do you think you are a stupid girl? Taozhi does this very well. You do it for him Twenty years of life have been shortened, but how many twenty years of life can be squandered? He owes you, so you should cut a hole in his heart so that he will never dare to forget you for the rest of his life. "
"Are you asking for something in return..." Jin Zhi muttered to himself.
She was not in a hurry to buy new year's goods and looked around as if she was looking for something. Finally, she saw a high-hanging plaque with the four characters "Half a Catty of Red Makeup" written on it, and then crossed the threshold and entered the shop.
Without hesitation, Jin Zhi directly asked the store to bring out the most expensive rouge and gouache. In order not to waste time, Jin Zhi paid the money and went directly to the next place.
The old man wrapped in thick cotton clothes was lying on the rocking chair in the backyard and basking in the sun. When he heard footsteps in the front yard, he opened his eyes a little and saw clearly who was coming. He didn't care whether his legs and feet were in good condition, and stood up with a swish. Get up.
After waiting for a moment, he asked carefully: "His Royal Highness is not here?"
Jin Zhi shook her head. Facing this master of antiques, who was very respectful even to her own master, she said in a soft tone: "The empress asked me to ask your servant if you have a sky blue Ru porcelain tea set?"
When he heard that it was "coming with the emperor's order", the old man couldn't sit still and said quickly: "There is a set of azure Ru porcelain tea set, which was privately collected by the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty five hundred years ago. Since then, it has been the treasure of the royal family of all dynasties, but... .”
Just what? Just don’t want to sell?
The old man stopped talking and smiled awkwardly.
Jin Zhi was naturally familiar with the old man's thoughts and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I know that Mr. Xue doesn't like money. Not to mention ten thousand taels of gold, even the city and ten cities will not be able to catch your eye. So I want to use the black glazed pair of double enamels unearthed seven hundred years ago." I would like to exchange the jar for your sky-blue Ru porcelain tea set. I wonder what Mr. Xue would like?"
The old man smashed his mouth, but he still didn't want to change.
It's not that the sky blue Ru porcelain tea set in the old man's hands is more precious, but the old man likes its shape and color. "Its color is elegant, the wind has passed and the rain has passed, and the clouds have broken through the sky." "Its texture is as moist as ice, like jade, and as clear as piles of fat." Another emperor of Dafeng wrote a poem praising: "After the rain, the sky is clear and the clouds are clear." Broken place, the same color as the future." This shows the charm of azure Ru porcelain.
If blue and white porcelain is said to be "clouds think of clothes, flowers think of appearance", the blue Ru porcelain that day is "the sixth palace of pink and black has no color".
Exchange such a beautiful tea set for a dark, broken jar? No matter how valuable the jar is, the old man won't be happy!
Seeing that he was silent for a long time, Jin Zhi frowned slightly. You must know that the black-glazed double-series jars from seven hundred years ago are the most valuable antiques of the royal family. If this is not enough to please the old man, the set of sky-blue Ru porcelain jars You may not be able to take the tea set back with you.
"You are still stubborn even after your age." Jin Zhi cursed secretly, suddenly covering his face with his hands and sobbing softly.
The old man was a little panicked, "Girl, why is this?"
Jin Zhi cried harder and choked up: "To tell you the truth, before I came here this time, the Empress gave me a death order. If I can't bring the tea set back today, I will give you fifty strokes with the cane. I will Beaten to death..."
The old man's eyes widened, fifty times? ! Even a strong man can't withstand fifty blows, right? How could the always virtuous Queen do such a thing?
No matter how unwilling the old man is, human life is at stake, so he can't just ignore it, right?
Besides, that black-glazed double-series jar is indeed much rarer than my own azure Ru porcelain tea set. It can be exchanged for good things and save people's lives. It kills two birds with one stone. It seems that I have made a lot of money.
The old man could only comfort himself with this. Seeing the woman crying so hard, it made her heartache. He said in a hurry, "Girl, please stop crying, I will go to the house to get it for you." .”
Jin Zhi shook his head and cried: "I only have a cheap life. Living is meaningless. If I die, I will die. It's not worth saving me. Please stop. I'll leave now."
"Look at what bastard words you said!" The old man was angry and anxious, and felt extremely distressed. He kept stamping his feet on the spot and said angrily: "Fuck your life! In the face of human life, even if it means a hundred things, a thousand things. Ten thousand tea sets are bullshit!"
"Wait here. If you dare to leave, see how angry I am!"
With that said, the old man limped quickly into the house and came out after a while holding the sky blue Ru porcelain tea set.
"Who said your life is worthless? Did it come from Gui Xiaozi? Let's see how I teach him a lesson next time he comes! Why should I be afraid of him when others are afraid of him? Besides, what's more, living is meaningless. How old are you? Look at me, half of my body is buried in the loess, can't I still live leisurely and leisurely? People, you can't worry about yourself. How do you say that, if you have nothing to worry about, it is a good time in the world. From now on. Be optimistic and happy, you hear me? You can just carry this tea set with peace of mind. The Queen is willing to exchange it for a black-glazed double-stained jar. On the contrary, I have made a lot of money, so you don't have to worry about my feelings. Okay, okay, will the Queen be angry if you take too much time? Put away the tea set and go back quickly."
Jin Zhi raised her sleeves and wiped her tears, nodded heavily, and did not immediately take the azure Ru porcelain tea set. Instead, she faced the old man and gave him a sincere blessing.
"In a few days, the empress will send someone to deliver the black-glazed double-stained jar."
"Well, I know." The old man smiled.
Jin Zhi put away the tea set and walked out of the courtyard, came to a deserted corner, handed the sandalwood box containing the azure Ru porcelain tea set to a shadow, then shook his sleeves that were wet with tears, and complained: " You have to let me cry for you, right?"
With both things done, she went straight to the market.
Suddenly, when passing by a dumpling stall, her delicate body trembled, and then she became murderous.
The man in white sitting at the roadside stall was ranked tenth in the world in the new martial arts review.
There was also a delicate woman sitting next to him. She didn't look like a martial artist or a qigong practitioner.
Yao Tiao raised his head with understanding and saw her at a glance.
Jin Zhi narrowed his eyes, "You are very brave. This is the capital. Let alone you being the tenth in the world, even if you are the number one in the world, you have to think about whether you can go back alive."
"It's not illegal to eat a dumpling, right?" Yao Tiao said helplessly, with no intention of taking action.
Jin Zhi stood there in silence for a long time, and couldn't help but ask: "Is this your wife next to you?"
"How's it going? Does it look good?" Yao Tiao said proudly.
The woman also smiled shyly at Jin Zhi.
Yao Tiao suddenly asked: "Where is your young master? He hasn't come back from Fanke Mountain yet?"
"A dog takes a mouse!" Jin Zhi sneered and strode away.
In Jiaofang Hall, Qin Fang opened the sandalwood box, and what came into view was a neatly arranged set of azure Ru porcelain tea sets, which were "as green as the sky, with a face like jade, cicada wing patterns, and few stars."
How could Qin Fang be willing to exchange a national treasure for such a tea set?
Because the remaining fortune of the Sui Dynasty five hundred years ago lies in this.
