Painter

Chapter 79: Chapter 79
When Gu Jiuniang opened the window, the shouts in Gantang Lane mixed with the faint morning light, washing away the lead dust of last night.She held down the window pole and scanned the alleyway, but she didn't see Neil.

After a while, she sat back at the table and put the copper nail pieces scattered on the table into her dowry. These are accessories usually used to play the pipa, but it is time for these old objects to rest.

She pulled out the small drawer at the bottom of the dowry, and took out a green cloud brocade purse.Put the things in the purse on your fingers piece by piece.She spread her five fingers towards the window, and the morning light shines through her nails, mixed with yellow and brown, warm and clear.

Last night, the head of the Hongxiu Zhao family gave this pair of pipa nails. Although the original copper pieces are easy to use, there will inevitably be noise when the strings are plucked.

Nie Kongkong watched Gu Jiuniang put on her nails, then turned his gaze to the wall.There is an old lute hanging on the wall. The vermilion strings have faded, and the varnish on the paulownia panel is also very old, but the whole is still well preserved.

She was born in Yanhualiu Lane, but she has never been interested in music and art, and even has contempt in her heart.At this time, I couldn't help but plucked the strings with my fingers, thinking, how could it not be me who was holding the pipa upright in the middle of the crowd.

"Don't move around." Gu Jiuniang frowned and gave Nie Kongkong a look, then opened the sheet music.

Even though he was qualified to participate in the Big Fish and Dragon Club last night, it would take a long time to practice a piece of music well.Even though Xue Jian's piano skills are as high as Xue Jian, in order to play the ancient song "Xiao Ting" well, he went to Longmen Jedi alone, facing the Baizhang Waterfall, and it took half a month to achieve great success.The difficulty of this nameless score is even worse than that of the ancient song "Xiao Ting". In just three days, I don't want to be able to play it perfectly, but I just want to be able to avoid making a fool of myself in front of others.

She drank some wine in the red sleeve move last night, although she only tasted it, but when she woke up after returning home, she felt like she had a hangover and her head was dizzy.Recalling the experience of last night is like a dream.

After waking up at this time, I knew that the piece of music played last night was only unsatisfactory.She couldn't help but feel uneasy, there are not a few people in Xuandu City who are good at pipa, based on her performance last night, can she really stand out in the fish and dragon meeting?If the person in charge of Hongxiu Zhao changes his mind and refuses to lend Xuanxiang again...

Gu Jiuniang was in a state of confusion, but Nie Kongkong couldn't think of so much, just hummed casually, and stopped moving the pipa.After a while, she smiled again: "It would be great if Dad was here last night, Mom, what did Dad do last night?"

"Who knows?" Gu Jiuniang looked down at the manual.

"Didn't you walk together last night?" Nie Kongkong asked.

"Maybe I went to drink flower wine with someone." Gu Jiuniang didn't raise her head.

"Oh! But he'll be able to watch it in a few days."

"What's so interesting." Gu Jiuniang said lightly, "What does he understand?"

Nie Kongkong could hear the faint resentment in Gu Jiuniang's mouth. Although he knew where the resentment came from, it sounded rather unpleasant.

At this moment, someone downstairs shouted: "Jiu Niang!"

Nie Kongkong stuck his head out of the window, and saw Li Chan waiting downstairs, his eyes lit up.After waving his hand and saying "Uncle", he took three steps in parallel and ran downstairs.

But when Gu Jiuniang saw Li Chan's gloomy expression by the window, her heart skipped a beat, she unconsciously grabbed a brocade handkerchief, and hurried downstairs.

Nie Kongkong didn't notice that Li Chan was different from usual, and asked Li Chan this and that as soon as he entered the door. Li Chan was perfunctory and prevaricated, and Gu Jiuniang asked, "Li Lang, what happened?"

Seeing Nie Kongkong's happy expression, Li Chan couldn't bear to tell the truth for a while.

Gu Jiuniang observed the words and expressions, and tentatively asked softly: "The red sleeve recruits the master...won't you lend Xuanxiang?"

Li Chan asked in a low voice, "When did you and Nie Sanlang separate last night?"

Gu Jiuniang replied: "It was around the end of the century. He asked me to wait by the side of Yequan Dongqu, and then walked away alone. Before I could wait for him, the people from Hongxiu Zhao came over..."

"San Lang asked me to bring you something." Li Chan took out two pieces of jade tin from her pocket.

"I don't want to take anything by myself..." Gu Jiuniang complained in a tone, but when she saw that Yutian was broken, she was stunned again.

Nie Kongkong also saw that something was wrong, "What's wrong, Daddy?"

Li Chan said: "Nie Sanlang had an accident."

"Where is he now?" Gu Jiuniang's tone and expression were calm.She has experienced the chaos of monsters and demons who were starving and dying decades ago, and spent half her life floating in the bottom of the rivers and lakes in Xuandu. This calmness seems to be a matter of course for her.

Li Chan said: "At the foot of Zhixing Mountain, there is a forest of corpses."

Nie Kongkong opened his eyes wide, his body trembling.

Gu Jiuniang forced a smile and said, "Who can't afford to offend this guy, and be thrown to that kind of place?"

"Life and death are fate, the two of you are in mourning..."

"What's wrong with him!" Nie Kongkong grabbed Li Chan's arm, but Li Chan didn't know how to speak. He hadn't seen the whole truth of Nie Er's death yet, so how could the mother and daughter get involved.

Seeing that he was silent, Nie Kongkong was anxious, "Uncle! Tell me! What's wrong with him, tell me!"

Gu Jiuniang's lips trembled, but she didn't ask the cause of death, "What... when?"

Li Chan said in a low voice: "It's midnight, around the time of Chou."

Gu Jiuniang stayed for a while before trying to recall that it was probably last night, when she finished playing the piano in Hongxiu Zhao, she murmured: "I'm going to get something..."

After speaking, he hurriedly turned around and walked to the stairs, but suddenly felt dizzy.

She rubbed her forehead, and the inexplicable hangover feeling came back again. What Li Chan said just now seemed to have forgotten most of it, and it became a long-term memory.

The encounter in Hongxiu Zhao last night was like a dream, but it woke up the dream. She is still under the East Canal of Yequan, playing the pipa just for one person.

But with just a sway of her body, Gu Jiuniang went upstairs and sat down on the edge of the bed.Said to come up to get something, but just wanted to escape for a while.The sheet music was still spread out on the table, but she had no intention of reading it.It's as if the stage suddenly lost its pillars, and the young and talented young people on the stage, no matter how good they can sing, are only in the ruins, admiring themselves alone.

She put away the sheet music, and packed up the dowry. She didn't know what she was busy with, but she tidied up the place unconsciously.

Suddenly opened the medicine pot in the corner of the room, and saw the medicine residue that hadn't been poured out yesterday, tears welled up in my eyes.

She took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, hastily spread some lead powder to cover up the tears, and finally found a few pieces of blackened broken silver from the bottom of the bed.

Li Chan was waiting by the tea table. Nie Kongkong's eyes were red, and he grabbed her arm and shouted, "Mother, I'm going to call for a bullock cart, and we're going to Zhixing Mountain! Daddy, daddy..."

However, Gu Jiuniang went downstairs and said hoarsely: "If you do his job, you will inevitably cause trouble. Last winter, he was stripped naked and thrown into the river. He almost didn't freeze to death. He was sick for half a month before recovering. Accidents... sooner or later."

Nie Kongkong was taken aback for a moment, his face flushed red: "What kind of talk is this!"

Gu Jiuniang ignored Nie Kongkong, and handed the blackened pieces of silver to Li Chan, "Please, Li Lang, take Kong Konger, and use the money to buy a thin coffin, so that he can have a shelter after death. Tuolin... After all, it is a custom from outside the region, exposing corpses in the wilderness... is still too desolate."

Li Chan was a little surprised and asked, "Won't Jiu Niang go to see San Lang?"

Gu Jiuniang said in a low voice: "When I was alive, I didn't have much to see, and when I died, there was nothing to see. There are only a few days left, and I will practice that song again."

Nie Kongkong was stunned for a long time when he heard the words, and when he turned around, his eyes lit up, and he rushed upstairs with a few steps, picked up the old pipa, and threw it down hard.

When the pipa touched the ground, the belly of the qin cracked at the sound.

Gu Jiuniang just turned pale, holding the two pieces of jade tin tightly, and didn't speak.

"Practice!" Nie Kongkong's eyes were red, and she stepped on the head of the piano, the vermilion strings collapsed, and she stomped on the piano board hard.

"You practice the piano! Practice the piano! Practice the piano!"

"Practice again! Practice!!"

"The whore is ruthless, the actor is ruthless! You! You have both!"

She kicked away the remnant of the pipa and rushed out the door.

Gu Jiuniang stared blankly at her back, Li Chan sighed, "I'll go and persuade her."

Gu Jiuniang watched Li Chan leave and was silent for a moment.

She walked behind the screen, pulled aside the red silk, and took out the statue in the shrine.

Miaoyin's bird has a human face and a bird's body, eager to sing.

……

Li Chan caught up with Nie Kongkong at the entrance of Gantang Alley. The girl's eyes were red and she kicked gravel at the entrance of the alley, but she calmed down a lot.He went up and patted her on the shoulder, and said softly, "The dead are gone, and the living are safe. Jiu Niang is someone who has seen troubled times, and she is not cold-hearted...".

Nie Kongkong kicked a piece of gravel away forcefully, "Just pretend I don't have this mother!"

Not far away, there was a faint singing voice: "Miaoyin, Miaoyin, alas, my life—"

It seemed to be sung by a woman, but it was low and hoarse.

Nie Kongkong recognized Gu Jiuniang's voice, and said with a sneer, "I'm still in the mood to sing at this time, so hard-hearted, but it's a pity that I have a rotten voice that's not as good as a broken gong."

Li Chan frowned.

The singing continued, at first it was low and hoarse, but after half a sentence, it became much more mellow and melodious.

He was in a bad mood, and he turned around and left regardless of whether Nie Kongkong followed.

The closer the singing became, the clearer it became. Li Chan went downstairs and opened the door, but the door was locked from the inside.He thrust his sword into the crack of the door, and slashed open the latch like cutting tofu.

The wooden door opened in response, and beside the bamboo screen, Gu Jiuniang held up the Miaoyinniao.The sharp long beak pierced her throat, and hot blood flowed down, staining the entire statue and her skirt red.

Li Chan hurriedly stepped onto the threshold, just half a foot in, she was stunned for a moment, then stopped,

"Mother!" Nie Kongkong screamed heartbreakingly, and rushed to Gu Jiuniang's side, trying to take down the statue, but Gu Jiuniang's hand was holding it extremely tightly.She was in a hurry and got covered in blood instead, she turned her head and called out anxiously: "Uncle, Uncle!"

Li Chan saw Gu Jiuniang's throat pierced and shook her head at her.

Nie Kongkong's face was pale, and he reached out his hand to feel the pulse in the mute's throat, and when he tried it, his body trembled.

The woman's body was breathless, but the blood-stained statue became more and more strange.

Between the beams, the singing could not go away.

"Wonderful sound, wonderful sound, sorry for my fate. I have worked hard for this life, and my body and mind are sick."

"Wonderful sound, wonderful sound, I am sorry for my love. I have been humiliated in this life, and the matchmaker has no name."

"Wonderful sound, wonderful sound, I am sorry to sing. I am lonely in this life, who will listen to it."

(End of this chapter)