Su Xiaolou rode for another half a day before arriving at Anlu Prefecture in Huguang. It was already dark when he arrived, so he found an official post to stay first.
The most important thing in life is eating and drinking. The next day, Su Xiaolou slept until he woke up naturally. He found a restaurant with the best business and ordered a table of dishes. He planned to have a full meal. This restaurant in Huguang is not as good as the one in Nanjing. How is the color, smell and taste? Neither works, but it works.
A stage was set up in the middle of the restaurant, and a storyteller in a gray gown vividly told the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger. "Water Margin" was compiled at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, more than 150 years ago. Well, the story has long been told. The restaurant with the most customers in Anluzhou is still telling old jokes. The customers are naturally not satisfied and ask the storyteller to change the story.
The crowd was boiling, and the old gentleman was helpless. His face was as wrinkled as a bitter gourd, and all the jokes in his hand were broken. Anluzhou had always been peaceful and he had no new jokes, so he asked the guests to come up with some jokes.
A dark-faced man in his thirties put down his wine bowl and shouted loudly: "I have long disliked that butcher on East Street. Every time he weighs meat, he gives me the cow's butt. I want to hear how he fell into the pit last year." inner."
"Rude! How can you talk about such filthy things in a restaurant." A scholar holding a folding fan covered his nose with the fan. You said with disgust: "I think we should talk about the elegance of Boya and Ziqi meeting their close friends in the mountains and rivers. Things."
A shrewd woman screamed: "Who wants to hear about the affairs of two stinky men? I want to hear that Wang Wu, the bun seller in Lihua Lane, got together with his sister-in-law and was caught and raped by his brother in his own bed. matter."
"I've been talking about this for a month. My wife doesn't like me at home every day and won't let me go to bed. I can't talk about it anymore."
"That's right, otherwise my knees won't be able to bear it."
"Brothers, we are in the same boat! Come! Come! Let's go one by one." The two grown men raised their glasses and drank together. They cherished each other and met their close friends first.
"..."
This time the quarrel became more intense. As the saying goes, it is difficult to reconcile opinions, and the old gentleman also had difficulties. It was not right to say this, and it was not right to say that.
From the moment Su Xiaolou entered Anlu Prefecture, he discovered that although it was not as bustling as Nanjing City, the public security was good. There were almost no beggars on the streets, and there were no bullies running rampant. There were even pedestrians on the road. With their wallets exposed directly, even the people at the bottom who are engaged in low-level jobs can hardly see the hardship of running for life on their faces.
This place can be described as Haiyanheqing. It can be seen that King Xing has managed this place very well. This is a hardship for the storytellers here. There are no big and attractive cases happening, so the storytellers can only tell the stories from the past over and over again.
At this time, a young man dressed in royal robes came over and said, "I wonder if this old gentleman can tell the story about monkeys causing havoc on an overseas fairy island?"
Su Xiaolou spurted out a mouthful of tea. Could this be the joke he told Wang Yuyan in Wuyi Lane in Nanjing City? Did it all reach here?
"Monkey? What monkey?" The old gentleman looked confused. What is all this?
"It doesn't matter if you don't know how to speak. Prince Xing said that if the old gentleman can find the storyteller who talked about monkeys playing on the overseas fairy islands, he can go to Prince Xing's Mansion and receive a reward of thirty taels of silver. If all of you here can find the storyteller, You can also receive a reward of silver." Thirty taels is a huge sum of money for a storyteller, and it is also a reward from Xingwang Mansion. The old gentleman agreed one after another, and the eyes of everyone in the audience were shining with gold.
I never thought Prince Xing would be interested in "Journey to the West", and Su Xiaolou never thought that Shizong would show interest in seeking immortality at such a young age. Senior Wu Cheng'en, I'm sorry!
The next morning, Su Xiaolou changed into a royal guard uniform. After tidying up, he went to Prince Xing's Mansion to introduce himself and his intention. The servants in Prince Xing's Mansion were very kind, and after the announcement, they led Su Xiaolou into the mansion. .
The servants of Prince Xing's Mansion led the way, and Su Xiaolou followed into the backyard. After turning around a rockery, Su Xiaolou unexpectedly caught a glimpse of a thin old man in a blue gown on the other side of the rockery, hiding from the wolf who was eating voraciously. Eating chicken drumsticks, this old man ate so deliciously that he felt like he hadn’t eaten chicken drumsticks in eight hundred years. It wasn’t a big deal at first. Su Xiaolou planned to walk over without seeing it, but the old man also saw Su Xiaolou. , and made a silent gesture to him with some embarrassment. Su Xiaolou, in a sign of rebellion, raised his hand to stop the servant in front of him and said: "Brother, there are servants in your house who are stealing food from the rockery."
The little brother turned around and looked around in confusion: "Where is it?"
"Where is...the person?" Su Xiaolou looked toward the other side of the mountain. Is this a rabbit? Sliding away so fast: "Run away."
…
The younger brother took Su Xiaolou to the private school in the backyard of the palace. He saw a young man taking morning classes inside. This should be Prince Xing. The young man from Jin Yiwei who was in the restaurant yesterday was accompanying him. The two of them looked ordinary. About fourteen or fifteen years old.
In ancient times, it was important to respect teachers and it was very rude to interrupt the teacher's speech. Su Xiaolou stood outside waiting very wisely, but the servants of the palace brought Su Xiaolou into the private school and found a seat for him to sit down. It must have been the prince's arrangement for him to follow him to study together. This was an opportunity that a child from a poor family could never ask for after decades of studying hard in a poor family. For Su Xiaolou, it was really like sitting on pins and needles.
Su Xiaolou listened for a while and felt that the old gentleman seemed to be talking about "Wenhua Great Training", which was a textbook specially compiled by Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, for Prince Zhu Youtang. It talked about self-cultivation, family order, country governance, and world peace. Said, Zhu Houcong swims in the ocean of knowledge without any influence from the outside world. From time to time, he will ask the old gentleman questions and express his own opinions and draw inferences. In comparison, Su Xiaolou is like the scumbag student who always ranks last in the class. To him, this kind of listening is the same as Tang Monk reciting the Tightening Curse to Sun Wukong, which gives him a headache! Torture! Stinging!
Su Xiaolou, who had nothing to do, secretly observed the two teenagers. Although Zhu Houcong was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and still had some childishness on his face, he spoke and behaved like an adult, majestic, calm, and thoughtful. He is agile and the guard next to him is tall and strong, which makes people feel upright, with a bit of stupidity on his face.
During the break between morning classes, Zhu Houcong turned to look at Su Xiaolou and said seriously: "I didn't expect that the person who told that story was the Jinyiwei of Nanjing City. Did you know that since yesterday afternoon, dozens of people have come to Prince Xing's Mansion and said that they are storytellers? ?”
Su Xiaolou had already expected that there would be many people who were jealous when they saw money. Moreover, Prince Xing was kind and generous, so even if it was found to be a fake, nothing would happen: "I've thought about it."
"Then how do you prove that you are the one who told that story?"
"I told this story to Miss Wang in Wuyi Lane. I didn't expect it to reach the ears of the Crown Prince. I can't prove that I am the storyteller, just like a tree can't prove which leaf on the ground it dropped. , I think since the prince is attracted by the story, he should care more about the story itself, rather than the person who tells the story."
Zhu Houcong looked at Su Xiaolou: "No, I am also very curious about what kind of person can come up with such a fantastic story."
"I am not the original author of the story, I just told it through my mouth." Su Xiaolou thought about how to explain this matter. never mind! When everything is not enough, metaphysics comes in: "I may not believe it, but an old gentleman named Wu told me a weird and bizarre story in my dream."
"Oh? Is this happening? There was an auspicious future when my son was born. Maybe there really is a fairy island overseas, but why didn't Zheng He find it during his seven voyages to the West?"
It’s over. Didn’t you just dig a hole and jump yourself? Su Xiaolou had an idea and said: “This may be because the fairy island is in the East China Sea. During the Qin Dynasty, Xu Fu went to sea to seek the elixir of immortality for the first emperor and went to Penglai Island. In myths and legends, Penglai Island and Ying All continents are in the East China Sea."
Zhu Houcong nodded repeatedly: "Yes! That makes sense!"
