Spring River Flower Moon Night: Set of 2 Volumes

Chapter 39 Spring Banquet (2)
three

Hey, what happened today, to be so frivolous?
In a blink of an eye, the setting sun shines in the west, and the sky is full of sunset clouds.The prince went back to the inn, thinking of what happened during the day, he couldn't help being at a loss.

Although he is greedy for the beauty in the world, he has always been self-respecting, and even to those women who sing in brothels, he rarely shows any disrespect.

How come today, just a slightly pretty Xiaojiabiyu, let herself say a lot of stupid things?
And what's worse, now that he holds the dinner in his hands and looks up at the sky, he can't remember what the girl looks like no matter what.On the contrary, the terribly powerful little maid beside her, her delicate and lively appearance was imprinted in his heart, even if he closed his eyes, he could still see her big round eyes rolling around in front of his eyes.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became, and he couldn't figure out how he felt.

It seemed that everything that happened in that small grocery store during the day was a dream, ethereal and with a strong sense of unreality.

It would be great if Fei Xiao was by his side, he always liked to sneer at himself, maybe just a few harsh words could dispel the wishful thinking in his heart.

But at this time, Fei Xiao was not there.

That night the moon was fading and the night wind was blowing gently. Wang Zijin sat with a book under the lamp and studied hard.

After an unknown amount of time, seeing that it was midnight when the moon was shining in the sky, he closed the book, looked at the closed door, and sighed long.

Thinking that Fei Xiao must be drinking to his heart's content somewhere, drinking and eating chicken, and he himself can only face Qing Ye alone, and the shadows form a pair, this gap is like heaven and earth.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help feeling sad, but his purse was dry, so he shook his head while sighing, and went to bed devastated.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he closed his eyes, a lonely street scene appeared in his mind, with old trees and branches on the small street, hidden by broken walls, it was so real that it hardly seemed in a dream.

Wang Zijin stood in the middle of the street in bewilderment, looking at the pedestrians passing by.

Looking at the clothes of passers-by, he seemed to be still in Yangzhou City, but he had never been to this place, how could he dream of such a clear scene?

Seeing that there were fewer and fewer pedestrians and the sky was getting dark, he still showed no sign of waking up.

Wang Zijin simply strolled along this small street, and saw that most of the houses along the street were old and dilapidated, with moss growing on the front steps, which were obviously the settlements of ordinary people in Yangzhou City.

He had always been careless and fearless, but he leisurely enjoyed the surrounding scenery in his dreams.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the sky was getting dark, and a hand was stretched out from behind a door not far away.

It was clearly a woman's hand, with long and slender fingers, as white as snow, which looked particularly dazzling against the background of the hazy night.

The prince was taken aback when he saw it, and couldn't help but stop.

It didn't matter if he stopped, but the hand waved lightly, as if hinting him to go over.

He hesitated for a while, and finally stepped forward bravely. In the dark sky, he saw a narrow alley behind the door. A slim woman was walking quickly to the depths of the alley. gone.

The woman was dressed in common clothes, walking lightly, she seemed to be a young girl.

Wang Zijin came according to the guidance, but he only saw a figure from the back. He couldn't help being unwilling, and hurried forward to chase after him.It wasn't until I ran to the end of the alley that I realized that there was a dilapidated wooden door next to me.

Inside the door is a small courtyard, overgrown with weeds, broken doors and windows, it seems that no one has lived in it for a long time.

"Excuse me, is anyone at home?" During this year, he and Fei Xiao traveled all over the country, and he was much more courageous than before. After taking a few deep breaths, he opened the door and walked in.

Passing through the small courtyard is a small tile-roofed house, the door is still unlocked, revealing a black gap in the dark night, as if the host is deliberately welcoming the arrival of guests.

This time he already knew that most of the people in the door were the woman who just waved at him.Since he came, he was at peace, he simply walked a few steps, pushed the door and broke into the inner room.

However, I never expected that the structure of this family was very strange. When I opened the door, I saw a desk.

There is a piece of dark yellow rice paper on the desk, and a brush dipped in ink, as if the master is writing and writing, and has just left.

There were no candles in the room, and not a single kerosene lamp was lit.Wang Zijin was originally a scholar, and when he saw the Four Treasures of the Study, he was naturally very kind, and wanted to see what was written on the paper.

However, seeing this made him dumbfounded.

Because on the rough paper, the ink and pen were tangled and intertwined, and there was not a word he knew.

How is this going?Why are these characters more difficult to understand than the ghost symbols painted by Fei Xiao?Who is it that lives in this shabby room?

"Who is here?" Just when he was puzzled, a delicate and clear voice suddenly sounded from the room, which seemed to be a young girl.

The prince broke into a private house by mistake, and was suddenly broken into. He was in distress, but saw a wooden door behind the desk being opened, and a thin girl came out.

The girl's long hair was draped over her shoulders and was not combed up in a bun, exuding a dull and lifeless look.

When Wang Zijin saw her, he backed away in shock, because this was the girl he saw at the rouge shop during the day.

"Is Uncle back?" She asked softly with her big dark eyes open.

"Girl, please forgive me for being rude. I just came here to visit acquaintances. I didn't expect to stumble into the girl's house by mistake. I will leave quickly." Wang Zijin's face turned red and purple with shame, and at the same time he secretly thanked the sky. It was already dark, and the girl couldn't see her face clearly.

"My lord, please stop..." the girl said in embarrassment, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Please tell me what you want Xiaosheng to do." Although he has been taught many times, Wang Zijin's nosy nature has not changed at all.

"There are some things in this room..." She groped into the inner room, pointed to the room, and said faintly, "I have bad eyesight, and I can't always place them properly. Can you please help me? Clean it up? Otherwise, I will be disturbed day and night by them."

Upon hearing that it was just tidying things up, Wang Zijin rolled up his wide sleeves without saying a word, opened the wooden door, and walked into the narrow room.

The room was dark, with only faint moonlight pouring down from the window, and he couldn't find a candle for lighting after searching for a long time.Later, he simply walked towards a wooden table in front of the wall. Under the dim moonlight, he could vaguely see that there were indeed some crumbling objects on it.

"It's them, the things on the table, please help me tidy up..." the girl said quietly, and also groped her way to Prince Jin.

"It's not easy to tidy up?" Wang Zijin grinned, and stood up the dumped thing. His tentacles were warm and firm, like some kind of wooden sign.

"Not only should it be straightened, but also the order must be paid attention to. If the position is disturbed, they will be angry."

"Hey hey hey, I haven't heard of any wooden signs that need to pay attention to the order..." Wang Zijin laughed dryly, and suddenly the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, and even a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

He pretended to be casual, grabbed a wooden sign, and looked at it carefully under the hazy moonlight.I saw a few big characters written in flamboyant and phoenix dances on it: the gods of Zhao Mu Kao concubine, the family members of the past dynasties in Zhutang.

He trembled in fright, and the wooden sign slammed on the wooden table with a bang.

"Cough——" At the same time, in the small room, a light cough suddenly sounded, and the voice clearly sounded like an elderly man.

But there are only him and the weak girl in this room, and where did this old man come from?

four

"Hehehe, young man, you have to be gentle, it hurts me so much..." The old man's voice became clearer and clearer, drifting along the night wind.

Wang Zijin couldn't bear it any longer, looked back in fear, and saw that the narrow and simple room was full of people.

These people include men and women, all with gray hair and stooped backs. Without exception, they are all elderly people over the age of sixty.Their eyes were distracted, as if they were alive, they were closely following behind the girl.

"This, this girl..." Wang Zijin was sweating profusely, but still forced himself to be calm, and said with a smile on his face, "I, I may not be able to help you organize these things."

"Why?" The girl panicked, "If you don't help me, who else will?"

"Because, because this is an ancestral tablet, I'm an outsider, so it's not easy to clean it up." Wang Zijin quickly cupped his fists and made a bow to her, rubbed the soles of his feet with oil, and ran away.

"Big brother, don't leave me here alone, I'm so scared!" The girl hastily stretched out her hand to pull him, but the prince's ability to flee for his life had perfected, so she was able to pull him away.

Her body was weak, and she immediately fell to the ground, her hair was long and her shoulders shrugged, as if she was crying silently.

The prince ran into the overgrown yard, and finally heaved a sigh of relief. Seeing the woman lying on the ground crying bitterly, he suddenly couldn't bear it, and took a step hastily.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, from the half-closed door, a dozen old faces unexpectedly appeared.They wrapped around the young girl tightly like ghosts, and greedy gazes were revealed in their dim old eyes without exception.

Wang Zijin was so frightened that he didn't dare to take a step forward, so he ran out.

The long alley seemed endless, he staggered, rolled and crawled out of the narrow alley.But seeing a bright color flashing in the dark sky where the stars and the moon can't be seen, the bright color is getting bigger and bigger, more and more dazzling, just like the sun rising in the morning.

"God helped me too!" Seeing the bright light, he felt relieved, couldn't help shouting loudly, and sat up from the bed with a bang.

Unexpectedly, when he opened his eyes, he saw that the sky was bright outside the window, and there was a boy delivering hot water staring at him dumbfounded, as if he was very surprised by his behavior.

The prince escaped from the dead, so he couldn't care less about it, he couldn't help laughing loudly while sitting on the bed, after laughing, for some reason, there was an unspeakable sense of loneliness in his heart.

If Fei Xiao was there, he would definitely not let himself fall into such a nightmare.

But maybe it was just a nightmare, and there was no life-threatening danger. Fei Xiao didn't come back for a day, and Wang Zijin was alone for the first time since he left home.

Thinking of the drinking and talking with many friends during the exam rush, the impassionedness; the strange things and anecdotes encountered when traveling with Fei Xiao, so bizarre, it is inevitable that I feel a little lonely.

In his eyes, the comfortable and simple room in the inn also became extremely deserted.

Seeing that the sun was setting to the west, and it was almost dusk, he had nothing to do, so he put on his outer robe and went out.

The weather is getting warmer and warmer. Although the sun is setting, there are still many people lingering on the street.The slightly boozy spring breeze brings the soft singing voice of the singer on the canal.

Looking at the apricot blossoms like clouds, the green willows sprouting green, and listening to the beautiful and peaceful voice, he quickly forgot the nightmare of last night.Stepping on the bluestone road in Yangzhou City, unconsciously, I walked farther and farther, and came to the bustling street I visited yesterday.

When he regained consciousness, he raised his head, only to see a small grocery store selling rouge in front of him. Behind the counter stood a stout proprietress. The middle-aged woman looked at him with wide eyes as if she had seen a ghost.

"You nerd, you don't want to go to my store to study again, do you?" The proprietress squinted her eyes and shouted sharply, "Don't dream, if you dare to stay at the door for a while, I will drive you away with a broom." I will drive you away too."

Wang Zijin smiled awkwardly at the proprietress, just when he was about to say something, he suddenly felt his arm sink, as if someone was pulling his sleeve.

He turned his head to look, and saw a girl in a commoner dress and a red dress standing in the half-darkness of the sky.The young girl has a round face, big and round eyes, and she is looking at him with a smile, but it is the little maid who quarreled with him yesterday.

"Girl, it's said that men and women don't know each other. If you have something to say, why bother arguing in the street?" Wang Zijin frowned and pulled back his sleeve impatiently.

"Oh, big brother, I'm really sorry yesterday..." The maid stuck out her tongue mischievously and said with a smile, "But today I do have something urgent and I want to ask you for help."

"What's the matter?" Wang Zijin pretended to puff up his chest, "It depends on whether I have the time."

"It's about my wife..." She pouted and said sadly, "My name is Zhu Yu, and my wife is the girl who came to buy rouge yesterday."

"Oh..." Wang Zijin recalled yesterday's scene again, but he only remembered the amazing feeling that the thin girl brought him, but he still couldn't remember her appearance.

"My lord should be able to see that she has few days left to live..." Zhu Yu sighed, "She has been plagued by illness since she was a child, and her end may be in these few days. We are a small family, poor and have no money Go ask the monk to do something for her, can you ask the young master to come with me?"

"Ah?" Wang Zijin asked in surprise, "I'm not a monk, how can I save her? What's the use of going away?"

"I think the young master is a person who can read and write. I want to ask the young master to copy the scriptures for three days at home. After the girl ascends to heaven, I can burn the scriptures for her, so that she will not be so lonely when she leaves," Zhu Yu said. As he spoke, tears filled his eyelashes, as if touching the true feelings.

"Hey..." Wang Zijin was kind-hearted by nature, and immediately nodded his head with soreness in his heart.

"So you agreed?" Zhu Yu immediately smiled through tears, and clapped his hands, "Then please come with me quickly, we will start tonight."

"Why are you in such a hurry? It's getting late now, can't we wait until tomorrow?"

"Time waits for no one. I'm afraid the girl won't be able to persist for three days. Let's go quickly." Zhu Yu said, and hurriedly led Wang Zijin down the long street.

The tiny figures of the two were quickly swallowed up by the crowd.

"Alas... Every year, every month, there are always people who are fascinated by monsters..." Only the proprietress who sells rouge is left, watching Wang Zijin's back in the bloody sunset, and sighing.

Wang Zijin followed Zhu Yu, gradually deviated from the main road, turned left and right, and came to a remote small street.In the dim sky, we can see that the buildings on the street are old and the doors and windows are dilapidated, which is very similar to what I saw in my dream last night.

Looking at this familiar street scene, his originally calm mood became uneasy again.

"My lord, this way, our house is further inward..." Zhu Yu smiled slightly, and led him to a narrow dark alley.

"This, here..." This scary alley also seemed familiar. He stood hesitantly at the entrance of the alley, with a look of embarrassment on his face, not knowing whether he should go forward or not.

"My lord, please come with me, there is nothing to be afraid of." Zhu Yu said softly, "If you are really afraid, you can see the situation and leave. We will not force others to make things difficult for us."

Wang Zijin gritted his teeth, stomped his feet, and followed her into the dark alley.

五

The two walked to the end of the alley, and there was a dilapidated wooden door. Zhu Yu pushed open the door and politely let the prince in first.

The prince stood at the door and carefully looked at the small courtyard.

The courtyard was still small and cramped, the only difference was that it was clean and tidy inside, without desolate withered grass, and even the dilapidated tile-roofed houses were stained with a layer of warm light brown by the setting sun in early spring.

Smoke billows from the house next door, and the aroma of the food fills the air. This vivid human fireworks is completely different from the cold and strange dream in last night.

He was relieved a little, and followed Zhu Yu into the room.

In the living room, there was a wooden table upright, with an inkstone and pens and ink on the table, and a round cushion on the rough floor.

"My lord, please..." Zhu Yu gestured towards Wang Zijin, signaling him to come over.

"Are you really going to start now?" Wang Zijin scratched his head in embarrassment, "Can I copy it again tomorrow?"

"My lord doesn't know something. Our family is poor and we can't afford oil lamps at all, so I want you to take advantage of today's sunset to write a single word. When the sun goes down, I will send you out." Zhu Yu As he spoke, his eyes were slightly red, and he seemed very sad.

Wang Zijin has always been soft-hearted, seeing her say this, he couldn't refuse, so he just sat on the ground and began to copy Buddhist scriptures.

Zhu Yu took out a book from under the table and spread it out respectfully in front of him. On the yellowed pages, the opening chapter read "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, who walks deep in Prajna Paramita for a long time".

(End of this chapter)