Qingming, the Qi is clear, the scenery is bright, and everything appears.
Jixia Palace had a ten-day break in order to allow the students to go home and pay homage to their ancestors.
Mengdu was thousands of miles away, so it was impossible for Lu Anran to go back to worship his ancestors. He had some free time in the past few days and picked up the "Qianjin Pharmacopoeia" that he had not read for a long time, reading it and making comments.
Although it is further and further away from medicine, a lot of knowledge in it can also be used in autopsies.
It's late spring, and the weather is soft and pleasant.
Spring sleepiness hit me, and the ink on my pen smeared on the white paper. I simply put down the book and planned to get up and take a nap.
Suddenly a ball of something hit her hand. She picked it up and saw that it was a loquat. She turned to face the visitor and subconsciously blurted out: "Is there a new case?"
Yun Qi smiled and said angrily: "Does this prince have the word "murder" written on his face?"
Lu Anran peeled off the skin of the loquat. It was juicy, sweet and refreshing, and he still had more to eat. He wiped his hands and said, "Other than that, I really can't imagine what the prince wants to do with me."
More than half a month has passed since the last case was concluded. This is the first time the two of them have met since they parted ways at the Tomb of Heroes that day.
During this period, Lu Anran finally realized the geographical advantages of the south.
Around the time of Qingming Festival, the weather suddenly turns warm, so I take off my thick winter clothes and switch to light clothes and gauze.
The green willows reflect the pink, and the mood of spring is strong.
Yun Qi sat down, opened the jade bone fan and waved it gracefully a few times, and said with a smile with peach blossom eyes: "I, in my busy life, would like to take some time off to learn from the Confucian scholars from the south and have an outing in the garden. I sincerely invite you to go, how about it?"
Lu Anran crumpled up the paper stained with ink and threw it away, "I won't go."
"Well, that's a good question. I asked about a good place." Yun Qi seemed not to have heard her answer and said to himself, "I heard that the peach blossoms are blooming very well in Yi County, so I went to enjoy them."
Lu Anran rubbed the ball of paper and was stunned. This time he was not in a hurry to refute, and just looked at Yun Qi with doubtful eyes.
They had been together for a long time, and she didn't think she knew Yun Qi at least somewhat. Despite his careless appearance, he actually had his intentions at every step.
Therefore, Lu Anran felt strange when Yun Qi suddenly mentioned Yixian.
First of all, Yi County is remote. Although it is included in the territory of the royal capital, the soil quality there is not good, the crops are not harvested well, and the entire county is notoriously poor.
Later, the county magistrate changed, and he had some experience in flowers, trees and fruit trees, so he called on the people to cultivate and plant trees. This spread spread, and gradually it became known as the land of fruits and trees.
Secondly, there is a large peach grove outside the royal capital. If you want to enjoy the flowers, there is really no need to travel so far.
Yun Qi slapped her forehead with a folding fan and chuckled, "If you don't want to admire the flowers, I will take you to worship the Fox Fairy."
—
Early the next morning, Chunmiao packed two pieces of clothes for Lu Anran, put a lot of food in the bag, and said goodbye with tears in her eyes.
Lu Anran said helplessly: "It only takes two days to go back and forth, why are you crying?"
Chunmiao pursed her lips and said a little aggrievedly: "I don't feel at ease when I'm not with you."
"Look after your home and make some pear blossom cakes tomorrow when I come back." Lu Anran simply arranged things for her.
Chun Miao pulled Mo Yan again, "You have to take good care of the young lady. Don't let her get hungry, tired, tired, or cold..."
The corner of Mo Yan's mouth twitched and his eyes widened, "My special wife is a carriage driver, not a maid who serves people personally!"
Guanyue Suiyunqi came over and happened to hear this sentence, and joked: "Mo Yan, you have adapted well to your new identity."
Mo Yan's face turned dark again.
On the carriage, Yun Qi explained to Lu Anran the reason for going to Yi County this time.
"Yesterday the magistrate of Yi County, Cheng Jiuwan, sent someone to deliver a letter." Yun Qi slightly bent his foot, placed his hand on it and tapped it rhythmically, looked outside, and said with a relaxed posture: "It was mentioned above. A fox fairy came out of Tianyi County and entrusted dreams to the people at night. For half a month before and after Qingming Festival, he needed a woman every day to prepare them."
Ghosts, ghosts and fairies are often heard in folk painting books to satisfy people's curiosity for the unknown and novelty. They usually compose an earth-shattering love story between humans and gods, humans and monsters, or simply the relationship between humans and ghosts.
"Several people swore that they were being entrusted with dreams. Some people felt that something was fishy and went to the county magistrate's office to report it. However, Cheng Wanli didn't take it to heart at first. At most, he would have arrested the person directly when the rumors confused the public."
Lu Anran knew that there was still a chance, otherwise Yunqi wouldn't have to go to Yi County so much.
"Unexpectedly, after asking around, no one knew what the Fox Fairy looked like or how old she was, and this day happened to be the Qingming Festival, and a woman really disappeared in the Luoxi River that night."
Lu Anran was deeply surprised, "Since there was suspicion, Magistrate Cheng didn't stop it?"
Yun Qi stopped tapping with his fingers, turned around and said, "The blame lies here. The woman sneaked away on her own, as if she was bewitched by the fox fairy."
Lu Anran frowned and thought. She didn't believe in legends about gods and ghosts, but a missing woman would never seek death on her own.
"Also, after foretelling it in advance through a dream, the night before the woman threw herself into the river, the Fox Fairy also specifically informed everyone about the family background of the woman he chose, her name, and her age. If she made a mistake, disaster would befall her. "
"The first time, the woman's family naturally refused and hid her tightly at home. As a result, the woman sneaked out on her own and jumped directly into the Luoxi River. She has since disappeared."
Lu Anran knew it was nonsense, but still couldn't help but said: "Didn't Magistrate Cheng send anyone to Luoxi River to check?"
"We went there and found nothing except that the tide was higher." Yun Qi said: "In addition, a divine fire suddenly fell that night and almost burned the woman's family to death."
Afterwards, the Fox Fairy entrusted the dream to other people. Now it is just a small punishment but a big warning. If there is such a disrespect for the Fox Fairy again, his life will be taken.
If everyone was a little curious at first, now they are in awe. God is so powerful that no one dares to offend him.
Yun Qi sighed softly: "After a few days, the people behind me will no longer dare to confront the Fox Fairy."
In other words, several women have disappeared!
"Mr. Cheng said that his abilities are limited and he has no way to deal with the Fox Immortal, so he had to appeal to the Criminal Division." Yun Qi spread his hands, "It's very difficult for me to handle this in my position."
Lu Anran had a look of disapproval and said: "The sage observes its mystery, uses it to move around, and calls it Tao."
"Well said." Yun Qi praised, "Isn't that why I asked you to come with us."
—
When he finally arrived in Yi County, Lu Anran was full of confusion.
I saw that most of the people passing by in the county were literati wearing Confucian hats, bowing and greeting each other, showing the demeanor of noble and elegant people.
"No need to be surprised, Yixian County has always been a training ground for literati, and it is also the hometown of saints. Talents have emerged in large numbers since ancient times." Yun Qi held a jade bone fan in his hand. He was personable and dignified with Tsinghua University. He had a more gentlemanly temperament than the scribes here. "But because A case in the previous dynasty affected Yi County, and it declined. It has been better in recent years, especially with the reopening of Jixia Palace, and the area has also prospered again. "
Lu Anran nodded, shook his head, and said without emotion: "I just didn't expect that the majority of ignorant people would worship the fox fairy and other strange and chaotic gods..."
Mo Yan carried a bag of loquats somewhere, peeled them while walking, threw one into his mouth, smashed it and said, "The emperor is still offering sacrifices to heaven and worshiping Buddha, so why don't you allow the students to worship the fox fairy?"
Lu Anran really didn't know how to explain to him that the emperor was not offering sacrifices to heaven, but to calm the people's hearts, and he was not worshiping Buddha, but faith.
However, Guanyue intervened and said: "The current saint does not believe in Buddhism and practices Taoism."
Buddhist temples were popular in the previous dynasty, but now as soon as he ascended the throne, he became obsessed with Taoism, especially Dongyue Zhenren, who believed in Sanyuan Palace and often asked him to enter the palace for divination.
Lu Anran also remembered that when he went to the palace to meet the emperor that day, he heard that Dongyue Zhenren's divination was at a critical moment, and the emperor couldn't leave, so he pushed her to Concubine Shu to summon her.
The four of them wandered around the county town and chose an inn to stay. The room was new but not old. The bedding was washed very clean and had a fresh scent after being exposed to the sun.
After putting down the salute and sitting in the lobby, it was not the time to eat, so there was only one table for them.
The waiter quickly cleaned the tables and chairs, and presented a pot of freshly brewed tea and two plates of local snacks.
After Mo Yan finished eating the loquats, Baba looked at the snacks on the plate and muttered: "I see this shop is not doing well." The waiter was too attentive.
Yun Qi took a sip of tea and found that it tasted pretty good. He asked the busy waiter next to him, "What kind of tea is this?"
The waiter put down his work, walked over with a smile and said: "This is Zhongshan Cloud Mist Tea. This kind of tree is very tall and usually grows in places shrouded in clouds and mist. When picking, you must choose the time when the clouds are the thickest and soak in the cup. It’s cloud-like, hence the name.”
Yunqi raised his eyebrows, not bad, it suited his taste.
I saw a group of four people dressed in unusual clothes, and they were naturally a little alienated from strangers. Now they started to talk. The waiter didn't find it difficult to get in touch with him, so he started chatting: "You guys are here to attend the April festival." Are you here for the Lanting gathering? You guys are here early."
What is the Lanting Gathering?
The waiter slapped his thigh and said, "Oh, I misunderstood. This young man has a different temperament than ordinary people. I thought he was just like those scholars who came here specially to attend the literati meeting."
After the waiter explained, everyone learned that there is a tradition here in Yi County. At this time every year, there is a grand gathering of scholars and talents from all over the world to meet friends through literature. It is called the Orchid Pavilion Gathering.
Yun Qi held the tea cup and said with a smile: "It is indeed an elegant holy place."
The waiter was only proud for a moment, and then said sadly: "It was quite lively at first, and the business of our inn has improved a lot." As he said this, he glanced at Lu Anran several times.
Although this woman's face was covered, her eyes were black and clear, as transparent as springs, and her features were delicate and graceful. Without even looking at her face, you could tell that she was as beautiful as her face.
The waiter couldn't help but glance over again, and this time he bumped into Yun Qi's eyes. Facing Yun Qi's smiling peach blossom eyes, he froze in embarrassment.
"Is there anything wrong?"
What surprised the waiter was that the person who asked the question was not the noble man in front of him, but the young lady who had never spoken before.
"No, no." A young boy who was the waiter in the shop asked the pretty lady to stare at her, blushed, and said, "Young lady is so pretty, so be careful at night."
