three watch drums

Regarding Viroxiang, Su Chan only read about it in Qingyuan Temple's collection of books. The book has been changed for generations, and it has been turned over long ago. It's not bad, but the picture is a bit crappy, Su Chan thought those threads were stains, but now it looks similar.

"These things are arranged by the Ministry of Rituals. It's not a big occasion, but I guess Pei Shangshu has been worried recently, so he should have supervised it himself... He is an old minister, and some practices are demanding and cumbersome. Personnel, seats, incense burners and even futons will be recorded. On the case, let Ah Heng take a look," Su Chan said, "Let's check with Eunuch Li and we'll know."

Li Ruhai was in the imperial study room just across the door. Su Chan had just mentioned this matter, so Li Ruhai naturally didn't dare to neglect it. He was still carrying the booklet with him, and it was still warm. It was taken out of the cabinet, but the source was not stated.

"My lord... Is there something wrong?" Su Chan only said that he wanted to see today's name, but he didn't give him a specific reason. Li Ruhai is not stupid, just by paying attention to his face, he can see a little dignified.

"It's nothing... It's just that this incense is rare, so I want to know its origin." Su Chan asked again, "Does Eunuch Li know when this incense was put into the Treasure Pavilion, and where did you pay the tribute?"

"This incense was delivered at the end of September...It wasn't long ago, I still remember a little bit," Li Ruhai thought for a while and then said, "About a small tribe in the north, called Lida, most of them believe in Buddhism, so the fragrance of Piluoxiang Excellent quality."

"Li Da..." Su Chan murmured twice, thanked him, "I'm sorry for the trouble, Eunuch."

The name Li Da is not unfamiliar to Taoist priests like Su Chan who wander around. It used to be a Buddhist country with a prosperous incense. After several generations of changes, there was an irreversible conflict between religion and imperial power. Decline, and finally collapsed decades ago, and gradually divided into several small tribes, among which Lida and Beilida are the most powerful.

If Su Chan remembers correctly, Li Da and Badu are next to each other, and they have almost a close relationship. Although no one is attached to the other, they are tacit understanding between each other—so this time, it may have something to do with Badu again. It is inextricably linked.

Su Chan's eyes were piercing, standing tall, standing in the middle of the courtyard in autumn and looking up at the sky, those spider threads were gradually fading away from the smoke of Vira incense, hiding in the darkness.

Yao Guang didn't know what the master was worrying about, just as he was about to run over to hug his thigh, Shen Yu grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him away, leaving Xie Changlin quietly by Su Chan's side.

When Chen Yu entered the palace, Yuheng had asked by name and surname, saying that it was a rare trip, not only would he have to steal a mountain of gold and silver to come back, but he would also have to take good care of Su Chan—how smart Chen Yu was, he directly put these two things together. Things combined into one, Xie Changlin is a golden mountain and silver mountain that can comfort others.

"What are you thinking about?" Xie Changlin suddenly spoke, but his voice was very soft, which did not hinder Su Chan's meditation - although his head was now empty, and he did not think about anything substantive.

"It's nothing..." Su Chan came back to his senses, the moonlight cast two shadows under his eyes, after a while of silence, he said again, "Tonight, I want to go to Pei Shangshu's residence, how about you?" ?”

I don't know what kind of mood he was in, Su Chan blurted out "What about you"... Then he stopped talking, seemed to feel a little embarrassed, smiled and just wanted to get back a bit, Xie Changlin followed suit and nodded , "Naturally go with you."

It seems to be an established result that does not need to be asked.

Originally, these words were like throwing a piece of lead into a three-foot-frozen cold river, which had no other purpose except to make Su Chan's ears turn red for a while, but now the situation is different... Before the cold river was frozen three feet, it was once a spring water.The tenderness and obedience that wrapped Su Chan peeled off completely, and inside were thorns. Strangers are not allowed to enter. The memory hidden in the bottom of his heart was forcibly pulled away. For a moment, he seemed to return to the wandering and helpless more than ten years ago——Xie Changlin He became a driftwood in the middle of the river, sea and lake, and suddenly supported him.

Su Chan's tense face finally relaxed, a faint smile appeared on his face, he turned his head to look at Xie Changlin and said, "There is no curfew in Dachu, maybe there are small stalls on the street to earn a living, please treat me to dumplings when it's cold .”

At midnight, the yin energy is at its strongest. According to Xie Changlin, this web-weaving thing is neither a complete demon nor a ghost. It's not good for you to do something, but it's best to simply follow the trail.

Su Chan and Xie Changlin left a little earlier, Chen Yu left him two dozen as cover, and made two extremely simple dummy, and stuffed them under the bed with cinnabar eyes, if there is any movement in the palace, at least he can calm down a little. Handle.

However, at the beginning of Haishi, the noise on the street had not yet subsided. Some vendors were packing up their things and preparing to go home, but one after another they set up some all-night stalls, selling a bowl of glutinous rice balls or noodles—there were also dumplings, but not many.

Su Chan doesn't know what's going on, he's been craving dumplings since morning, Chen Yu thinks it's troublesome, and he's not happy to do it himself, so he procrastinated until now to seize the opportunity.

Thinking about it this way, Piluoxiang, Lida and even the spider silk that filled the imperial city are all good enough to satisfy his appetite.

After wandering halfway around the city, I finally found a dumpling stand in the shadows. I lit two candles and two oil lamps each. There were light and dark, some new and some old, and the preserved ones were different... It was as if I had borrowed a dumpling for temporary use. At night, at dawn, I have to return it.

The owner of the stall is about forty, with a square face, probably doing heavy work during the day, with shoulders high and low, with a mighty life, but his back is a bit hunched, and he is sitting on the ground with his head propped up and dozing off.The person in charge of soliciting business is a woman, who only calls out when she is too busy to ask her husband to come in and help fetch two bowls.

In an uneventful year, even if the watchman has knocked on the third watch, it is still as lively as daytime. Although there will not be crowds of people, this small dumpling stand will definitely be crowded.

But since what happened in July and a half, the unexpected hailstones and strong winds not only destroyed several palace walls, but also caused damage to different degrees in other parts of the imperial city, not to mention that day when bones were walking in the market, and ghosts were shuttled around—it was people who made the trouble. People are at risk.

In the past two or three months, even though the damaged parts can be repaired or even rebuilt, panic is like a plague, taking root in everyone's heart, and the excitement at the beginning of Haishi disappeared after half an hour... However, it is midnight to make a living Only people just woke up.

"You two gentlemen..." The proprietress leaned over attentively, seeing Su Chan and Xie Changlin wearing ironed postcards, described as noble, felt a little ashamed for a moment, wiped the cloth pockets with oily hands, then grinned awkwardly and said , "Do you want dumplings? What stuffing do you want?"

Boss Su Chan unceremoniously dragged a bench to sit down, and looked at the proprietress kindly, "Copy some stuffing for me... If there is a catchphrase, I will know it next time I pass by."

"Okay." The woman agreed with her mouth, but she was a little strange in her heart.

The way to eat this "hodgepodge" is generally known to the hard workers or the poor, because the prices of dumplings with different fillings are usually different, and when they are stewed together, the merchants set the price at a more reasonable point in order to attract business. , if the details are deducted, it can usually be cheaper by one or two copper plates.

These two masters don't look like people who want to save copper coins.

There are only a few people in the dumpling stand, and they are all living a down-to-earth life. They may still have work to do, so they can continue after eating the dumplings... Even if Su Chan and Xie Changlin are very eye-catching, at most they just look up After looking at it, I filled my stomach as if no one else was there.

Pass this dumpling stand, walk seventeen or eight steps along the street and turn a corner, and you will find Pei Shangshu's mansion. Since he was admitted to the second place, he hasn't changed his mansion for decades, so things around him have changed, and his family has become more and more The smaller you live, the more you have a sense of peace and happiness.

Although the seat Su Chan chose was a bit far away from the table, he could just see the door of Pei Shangshu’s house. He stared at it for a while, and there was no one talking in his ear, so he couldn’t help but open the door first. He said, "This restaurant makes soup dumplings... In fact, there is also a kind of dry dumplings without soup. Take them out, drain them, put them on a plate, and eat them with vinegar and spicy peppers. But there are very few in the Imperial City. When I was up north..."

Suddenly stopped without making a sound, Xie Changlin looked at him in confusion, Su Chan said with an embarrassed smile, "Although I have eaten it, but I ate it in a hurry, I just remember that the pepper rushing into the nasal cavity is quite uncomfortable, but the specific taste is unknown." Forget about seven or eight."

It was the first full meal he had been hungry for half a month. The girl who gave him this plate of dumplings was sixteen or seventeen years old, and she had double-bent eyes under the wind and snow—because of this meal, the girl’s family was ruined overnight. Su Chan couldn't find her body, so he built a clothes tomb.

At this time, a bowl of hot dumplings had just come out of the pot and was placed in two sea bowls. I don’t know how many years the sea bowls have been used. There were chopped green onions floating on it, and the billowing hot air rushed to his face, warming Su Chan's hands that were already prone to cold.

Xie Changlin heard him speak so loudly, but he still only looks at the food in this world from a distance.

He has lived for such a long time, so he should have some experience in everything, but unfortunately, when Xie Changlin hadn't learned how to fast, most people around were eating raw meat, and when the delicious food spread all over the world, he was so proud and self-confident that he didn't bother to talk to him.

Self-care ability is so poor that the chopsticks tremble when held.

"..." Xie Changlin stared at Su Chan eagerly, the person who had lowered his head and cared only about feasting was like a thorn in his back.

Su Chan was frightened of starvation many years ago, and he was rarely distracted when eating. Even if it was the sweet-scented osmanthus cake in Qingyuan Temple, if he couldn't eat it that day, it would be packed by Yuheng and distributed to the little disciples. wasted.

However, Xie Changlin was a huge monster, all the shadows under the candlelight fell into his bowl, and he couldn't see clearly the dumplings that were turned over in soup... So he could only sigh, raised his head and asked, "What's the matter?" ?”

One of the chopsticks in Xie Changlin's hand was broken, he was holding the bowl, he was a little at a loss, his brows were slightly frowned, and he looked at Su Chan helplessly, "I want to try it too."

"..." It is said that the master of the demon way turned his hands into clouds and his hands into rain, but one day he was trapped in front of a palm-sized dumpling stand, holding a chopstick and a half, looking at the soup and sighing.