Spring comes and summer comes, and the days are longer than the nights. The pomegranate flowers in the corner of Zhixingyuan fade and bear small fruits like lamps. The butterflies in early summer flap their wings, fly past the window edges, and lie quietly on the desk.
The desk is empty, the sweetheart is not there, but the faint fragrance is still there. Ding Wenruo has returned to his hometown with his father's coffin, and Han Chanjuan has also disappeared for many days.
He An sighed secretly, regretting his attitude towards Han Chanjuan that day. A girl leaves her hometown to study abroad. In this world, apart from her family, she may be the only person close to her.
I opened the book in a daze, and a folded paper crane slipped out from the pages. On it were two lines of beautiful small words: "There are thousands of knots in my heart, and no one but you can untie them. I am afraid of being like duckweeds, missing each other and remembering each other painfully!"
The calligraphy was written by Han Chanjuan. He Funuo was playing with the paper crane, feeling lost.
"Xiao An... Why am I hungry before noon? This time I go to Daguanlou and I can open my belly and have a good meal!"
Fan Dazhi lay on the table, woke up drowsily from his sleep, rubbed his eyes, looked at the sky outside, and said to He An carelessly.
Zhixingyuan does not have many courses recently. Classes are taught in the morning and students study on their own in the afternoon. Affected by the war on the front line, the imperial court has cut part of the supply funds, making the meals in the dining room that were not rich in the first place become even more watery.
Many teachers have a meager income and usually do other things to make a living outside. It is not easy to live in the capital. Although the scholars are proud, they still have to support their families, and they end up losing their backs for five buckets of rice...
People were coming and going on Zhuque Street, and it was as lively as ever. Amidst the sound of camel bells, Uighurs wearing loose robes and wearing headscarves walked past with their camels, sellers were carrying burdens and shouting hard, and there were many shops on the street. , a dazzling array of goods piled up like a mountain, hawking sounds kept coming and going, and there was a commotion...
The sun shines warmly on the ground and also shines on the little monk's face.
The travel-worn young monk carried the package on his back and wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead with his sleeves. Along the way, he had to eat and sleep in the open air, walk through mountains and water, and finally arrived at Luoyang, the capital of the Chen Empire.
This capital city is fragrant with peonies and is magnificent. As you walk on the streets, you can see thousands of houses laid out like chess pieces, twelve streets like vegetable beds, palaces closed by nine heavens, and all nations wearing robes and hats.
The imperial capital Luoyang, the capital of a great country, is indeed full of spectacle.
He comes from the bitter cold land in the far west. He has never seen such prosperity and wealth before. He couldn't help but be surprised at everything. The young monk soon discovered that the people here were very friendly to him. They were so friendly that he took out his alms bowl and didn't even have time to speak. While fasting, someone threw a copper coin into his alms bowl.
Unlike the former Daliang Dynasty, which only respected Taoism, the Chen Empire held an accepting and tolerant attitude towards Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and even various sects in the world. There are also many temples and Taoist temples in Luoyang, the imperial capital, and they are very popular.
A carriage drove through the middle of the street. A lady in beautiful clothes opened the window, covered her face with a fan, threw two big coins, and floated away.
One coin fell into the copper bowl, making a clanging sound, and another coin bounced up and hit the young monk on the head.
The monk covered his aching head. The wound on his head from the horse thief had just healed, and he was a little dazed after being hit.
The copper plate fell to the ground, making a crisp sound and rolling forward. The little monk leaned down and chased among the crowd.
The coins rolled in front, and the little monk chased after him. He lowered his head and walked through the crowd. He was about to catch the copper plate with one hand, but suddenly a black shoe stepped out and trampled the copper plate under his feet.
The little monk raised his head and saw a fat man about his age looking at him with a smile on his face.
"Oh my! Monks believe that the four elements are empty and regard money as dirt. Why is the master so obsessed with a copper plate?"
After the fat man finished speaking with a smile, he bent down and picked up the copper plate, wiped it with his sleeve, and held it in his hand.
"You and I……"
The little monk was speechless for a moment, his face turned red and he said, "This was given to me by a female donor!"
"Master is in trouble!"
The fat man shook his head, looked at the little monk and sighed with regret: "Seeing that the world is vast, don't be greedy for fame, don't be greedy for profit, only by being sincere and pure can you realize true Zen. Master, your practice... is still not good enough!"
Although the fat man looked carefree, the young monk who listened to the words was shocked and couldn't help but secretly thought: Luoyang, Kyoto, is indeed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon!
He lowered his eyebrows and lowered his eyes, bowed and clasped his hands together and said, "That's what the almsgiver taught me! It's indeed the little monk who has become a monk!"
Seeing the little monk admitting his mistake frankly, the fat man's face was instantly filled with a smile, smiling as if Maitreya had come to the world. He said in a very gentle tone: "Well... Master can suddenly wake up. It seems that he is still very wise. Money is the most important thing. Evil, look at how many people in this world will do whatever it takes to fight for it, and how many people will waste their whole day working hard for it!"
"The donor is absolutely right!"
The young monk looked solemn and nodded respectfully.
The fat man smiled from ear to ear when he saw this, and his tone became gentler: "I am kind-hearted by nature, and I can't bear to see the suffering of the world, and I can't bear the master to be harmed by this evil thing. Why don't you... give me all this money? I will bear all these sins!"
"That's it... that's fine, then I'll give it to you!"
The young monk burst into tears of gratitude when he heard what he said sincerely. Without hesitation, he grabbed a handful of coins in the alms bowl and handed it over.
The fat man smiled brightly and was about to reach out to pick it up. A young man came over in a hurry, grabbed him and said, "Dazhi, stop fooling around. Brother Gu is still waiting for us at the Grand View Tower. Let's go!"
The fat man had no choice but to be dragged away by the young man. Before leaving, he reluctantly turned around and said with a smile: "Hey! Master, I had a very interesting chat with you today. When I come back, I will treat you to dinner!"
The young monk bowed his head in shame and said, "Don't call the donor Master Monk. The monk's name is Yang Duo!"
…………
The midday sun was blazing, and the large gilded characters on the plaque of Daguan Tower were particularly dazzling. The hall on the first floor was crowded with diners and bustling with people.
He An and Fan Dazhi walked to the second floor with ease and opened an elegant private room. Gu Qingzhou, Zhuge Guagua, Xu Zhen, Feng Chun and others stood up to greet them.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Gu Qingzhou ordered the waiter to serve the dishes. After a while, the table was filled with a variety of delicacies, including land and water.
Everyone here is a classmate and has been getting along very harmoniously for more than a year. After three rounds of drinking, Zhuge Guagua and Xu Zhen started punching each other while shouting, while Fan Dazhi was not distracted, holding up his chopsticks and pointing at the delicious food in front of him. Eat and drink like crazy.
Gu Qingzhou leaned forward and whispered to He An: "Bi Yunfei has withdrawn from Zhixing Academy. Because he has practiced for less than three years, his academic status has been revoked by the academy."
He An couldn't help being surprised when he heard this: "This is actually happening... Could it be that he has some difficulties?"
Gu Qingzhou shook his head and said with a displeased expression: "Yunfei has a deep personality and has always been very decisive in doing things. Since he decided to drop out of school, he must have thought carefully...but he is only one of the few friends we can talk to. It’s a bit puzzling that no one was informed!”
He let out a long sigh and continued: "Wen Ruo is gone, Bi Yunfei is gone, they are all gone... It doesn't matter! There is no banquet in this world that never ends..."
After speaking, he picked up the wine glass in front of him and drank it down in one gulp.
"Although Wen Ruo has left, he will come back one day. Brother Gu is so infatuated. I think Wen Ruo will eventually understand that lovers will eventually get married!"
He An picked up the wine glass and persuaded, but unexpectedly thought of Han Chanjuan in his heart, his expression dimmed, and he drank it down.
"Okay, have a great time! Brother He An, have a few drinks with me today, and get drunk to relieve all your worries!"
Gu Qingzhou laughed, filled another glass of wine, stood up and said: "As you all know, I, Gu Qingzhou, entered Zhixingyuan just for Wen Ruo. Now that Wenruo is gone, I have no interest in Zhixingyuan anymore... Brothers, I will be leaving soon, so let’s get drunk today!”
Everyone responded loudly, but the sadness of parting made the atmosphere inexplicably dull...
Gu Qingzhou saw He An bowing his head in silence and just drinking, looking worried, and asked with concern: "Brother He An, why are you so depressed? Is there any difficulty? Although... In Luoyang City, Gu Qingzhou can't do anything without me. Something you can’t do!”
He An put aside the chaos in his mind and said with a smile: "Thank you, Brother Gu. I was just thinking about going to the front line in Lanzhou with Teacher Fang Yizhi, so I was distracted..."
Gu Qingzhou raised his eyebrows: "You want to join the army? Follow Fang Yizhi to the front line?"
Gu Qingzhou's handsome cheeks were a little red due to the stimulation of alcohol. He narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, and applauded: "That's fine! I'm tired of seeing the colorful flowers and willows in the imperial capital. Why don't I go with you? Take a look at the solitary smoke in the desert. Straight, the scenery outside the Great Wall with the sun setting over the long river, kill the Xiliang jackals that invade our rivers and mountains!"
Gu Qingzhou was already three-thirds drunk, and when he spoke at the end, his voice was extremely loud, and everyone cheered loudly. Fan Dazhi just kept his head down and ate happily, thinking to himself: Being a soldier, suffering hardships, fighting and killing, maybe your life is in danger, how can you be happy in the imperial capital? ?
Everyone continued to drink, and suddenly Feng Chun stood up and said, "Xiao An, can I go with you?"
Feng Chun was unknown in Zhixing Academy. He always followed the rules and never did anything out of the ordinary. He only became known to everyone when he competed with Longmen Academy.
Seeing everyone looking at him with some confusion, Feng Chun licked his lips and said: "I was born in an ordinary farm family in Yongzhou. My father suffered from Japanese disease and was disabled since childhood, and my mother was sick. I have been looked down upon by the villagers since I was a child... ...From the day I entered Zhixingyuan, I wanted to live a decent life, but my parents are already old and they may not be able to wait until the day when I can truly make a difference, so...I also want to join the army, earn military merit, and shine on my family!"
He said it seriously, and everyone was filled with emotion when they heard it. They all stood up to toast Feng Chunjiu. Gradually, everyone became drunk.
Zhuge Guagua said with a big tongue: "Brothers, I'm sorry, I won't go with you. My family is in Dangtu Kaifa... The day I was admitted to Zhixingyuan... My father held a banquet for three days and said that there was smoke coming from the ancestral graves. ...He hopes that I will join the court as an official...but...the imperial court officials are required to have good appearance and dignified manners..."
When he said this, he said angrily: "They actually think I'm cross-eyed...I'll fuck my grandma's legs!"
