The Romance of the West Chamber: The Bells are Ringing

"嘘嘚,嘘嘚", on a winding mountain road, the spring scenery is bright, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant. There was a slow sound of horse hooves in the distance.

A rickety young man was walking slowly, holding the reins of a white horse, and he was immediately carrying a young man on his back.

The man was dressed as a Confucian scholar, but he was a scholar. With fair skin and tender skin, a face like the full moon, and a look of wealth, the scholar sat astride a horse, shaking his head and reciting poems.

The young man holding the horse had a rather handsome face, with a slightly darker complexion and thin cheeks. If he weren't dressed in servant clothes, he would be more heroic than the scholar on the horse.

This young man was carrying a long piano bag on his back. He seemed to be a piano boy.

Listening to the scholar reciting poetry, the piano boy showed a hint of disdain on his face, but it disappeared in an instant.

The scholar chanted: "Once upon a time, the sea was too big for water, and it was too difficult for water... Well, how should I write next?"

Qintong listened to the scholar reciting a few lines and couldn't connect them. He was thinking hard and talking to himself, and then said: "Except for Wushan, it is not a cloud."

After hearing this, the scholar shook his head and scolded: "Oh! You dog slave, please hold your horse properly. Why are you picking up my poems randomly? I need to think more carefully. What a mess you picked up. What does it mean to remove it? How can it be wrong? Words cannot convey the meaning, words cannot convey the meaning!"

On one side, he couldn't help but raise his finger to make a pen, and started to make empty strokes in the air. After rowing a few times, he finally nodded slightly, with a proud look on his face, and laughed and said: "Hey, dog slave, look, you have been studying with me since you were a child. You can't compose poems but you can also recite them, right? You can do it in the future." Don't open your mouth and read this sentence! People will hear the joke and think that our Zhang family has no discipline for our servants!"

The piano boy frowned slightly and stopped. The white horse also stopped and lowered his head to nuzzle the piano boy.

Qintong took a long breath, endured it, and said, "Yes, Mr. Lang."

"Hmph! What kind of gentleman! My grandpa and grandma have both passed away, and now I am the master of the Zhang Mansion!" The scholar frowned and said, "How many times have I told you, from now on you will either call me master or Alang!"

"Yes, Alang!"

The scholar paused and then said: "Yes, but if you are in front of a beautiful young lady, you have to call me husband. Don't forget. If you call me Alang, the young lady will think that I am married."

"Yes, Alang! I have noted it down." Qintong said, leading the horse and starting to walk again.

"Hahaha, so, so, so! You are just a slave. You should call yourself a 'slave'! Do you understand?" The scholar raised his voice and laughed.

The piano boy stopped, turned around, and looked up at the scholar. His handsome face suddenly turned into a look of honesty and dullness.

The piano boy stared at the scholar's eyes, hesitated for a moment, lowered his head again, and muttered: "I am not a cheap slave. Although I am a slave now, I also have my own name, called 'Zongdan'. So do you, Alang." I have been called this since I was a child, why did I stop calling me when I grew up? If Alang calls me by my name, he will not insult the tutor of Shangshu Mansion."

"Hehe, that was when we were young, but things are different now. You are the piano boy that my grandfather bought for me when he was the Minister of Rites. Let me call you Qin Boy. If I didn't buy you, your family would have starved to death. , you have to know how to be grateful! We are called master and servant, but we are actually brothers. When I call you dog slave, it is a term of endearment, hahaha, don’t be so outspoken!"

Qin Tong shook his head slightly and said helplessly: "That's okay, but Qin Tong is a certain responsibility, so calling me Qin Tong is appropriate."

The mountain road is winding, with lush trees on both sides, and the sun shines dappled on the soil. The piano boy was holding the white horse, and Zhang Sheng, who was sitting immediately, lowered his head in thought and frowned slightly. Suddenly, a noise among the trees broke the tranquility.

"Haha, isn't this a rich man? Leave your gold and silver treasures and spare your life!" A tall masked man jumped out from behind the tree, holding a steel knife, with greedy light shining in his eyes.

The piano boy raised his head, showing no fear on his face, but calculating in his heart: "This situation is not trivial, and we must deal with it tactfully."

Zhang Sheng nervously tightened his grip on the horse's reins, thinking in his mind: "No, what can I do?"

Several other masked men also rushed out and surrounded Zhang Sheng and Qintong.

"How dare you brazenly commit robbery!" Qin Tong's voice was calm, but his heart was in turmoil as he thought, "Although I am a slave, I cannot show weakness."

"Hmph, we just openly committed robbery, so what?" A masked man mocked, raising his knife.

Zhang Sheng looked at this scene in horror and secretly prayed in his heart: "God bless me, I hope everything will be safe."

The leader of the masked men stretched out his hand: "Stop talking nonsense and hand over your property quickly!"

Qintong responded calmly: "We, master and servant, are traveling through the mountains and rivers. We are penniless. You want money in vain."

The leader didn't believe it and approached step by step: "Hmph, do you think we will believe your lies? Search!"

Two masked men came forward, ready to start a body search. Qintong's heart was like a mirror: "Such a murderer must use his wits."

Suddenly, a glimmer of light flashed in Qintong's eyes, and his voice was cold: "Do you know who my Alang is? If you hurt us by mistake, it will lead to endless disasters."

The leader hesitated slightly, thinking in his mind: "This person's words are extraordinary, does he really have a background?"

"Huh, why are you pretending to be a big-tailed wolf!" Another masked man said impatiently.

Qintong continued: "My Alang is Zhang Gong, the son of Zhang Shangshu of the former Ministry of Rites. If you dare to hurt me, you will be executed by the whole family."

Zhang Sheng was delighted: "The dog slave is really smart, these words are enough to make these bandits hesitate."

"Ah? Zhang Gong?" The leader and the others looked at each other with hesitation in their eyes and asked, "Where are you from?"

Qintong said proudly: "We are from Xiluo. You have always heard of Luoyang, right?"

"Then where are you going?" the leader asked again.

Qintong pointed to the distance and said: "Let's go to Puguan first. My Alang is going to visit his sworn brother, General Du Que, and then go to Chang'an to take the exam with the money given by General Du. If you want money, you might as well go with Let’s go get it from General Du!”

The leader was stunned, rolled his eyes, pondered for a moment, and finally made a decision: "Okay, I will spare your life today, but I will not spare your life lightly next time we meet again."

The masked man retreated, and Qin Tong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he remained calm on his face and said in a hateful voice: "In this prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty, there are actually thieves who are robbing the Tao! It's really abominable!"

Only then did Zhang Sheng let out a sigh of relief: "Great, I'm finally out of danger. Dog slave, look, you have to be like me and stay calm in times of trouble. No, if the bad guys see that I'm not afraid of danger, they will naturally run away in fear!"

As he spoke, he waved the folding fan in his hand in the air, as if he could hit those thieves with the folding fan as soon as they swarmed them.

The two of them set foot on the mountain road again and continued moving forward.

After walking for a long time, it was getting late. The scholar looked far away from his horse and saw a series of houses not far away, so he said: "It seems that we can't make it to Hezhong Mansion today, so let's go ahead here." Let’s find a hotel in Chuno Village to stay.”

"Yes, Alang!" Qin Tong turned around, with his back to the scholar. The honest and dull look on his face suddenly disappeared, and turned back to the handsome face before.

A master, a servant, and a horse slowly approached the house. From a glance, it turned out that it was indeed an inn. It's just that the village here is small and there are not many people.

The scholar couldn't help feeling unhappy when he saw the lifelessness here.

But Qintong inquired with the store owner and found out that there were still dozens of miles to Hezhong Prefecture.

Seeing that night has come, I can hear the distant sound of bells coming from somewhere in the distance. It is low and long, which makes people feel calm.

The scholar asked the doctor in the shop: "Where is this bell?"

The doctor smiled and said: "That is the evening bell of Pujiu Temple. It is far away from here. If you want to go and pay homage, you will have to wait until tomorrow." The scholar did not dare to walk at night, so he had to look for it in this shop. Stayed in a shop.

The piano boy placed the luggage in the room, finished cleaning, and invited the scholar to come in. The scholar covered his nose with his sleeves and looked at the door. His face darkened and he said, "What a shabby store. There are no other guests staying in the hotel. Why can't you come to the room clean?"

Qin Tong said: "Alang will stay here for one night. Tomorrow we will arrive at Fucheng in the middle of the river. During the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, there were many wine shops, flag pavilions, brothels, and goulan. You should recharge your batteries tonight, and you can show off your talents tomorrow night!"

The scholar laughed and said, "Well, you piano boy, it's not in vain that you grew up with me and studied with me again! We are called master and servant, but we are actually brothers. You know what I like very well!" "

"That's it, among Alang's dozens of red fragrant spring flowers, which one is not Alang's favorite!"

"You little little slave, you are teasing me, but you still think I am not angry enough! Hahahaha!" After hearing this, the scholar did not get angry. Instead, he said with a cheerful face and stepped into the room.

The piano boy led the horse to the stable and tied it up, asked the waiter to prepare the food, and waited for the scholar to finish eating. Then let the store boil hot water and let the scholar bathe and change clothes.

After finishing cleaning up, the scholar changed into clean clothes and sat down at the table.

The breeze blowing outside the window brought a little bit of coolness. At this moment, a knock on the door broke the peace of the study.

"Who is it?" Qintong's voice was alert.

There was no response from the door. Qintong hesitated for a moment, then finally walked to the door and slowly opened it.

Outside the door, a voluptuously dressed woman leaned against the doorframe, with her breasts half exposed and her exposed shoulders dazzlingly white. She smiled softly with a pair of captivating eyes: "Brother, can you let me in?"