Guanqingzhai

Trapped by love, now at a loss, between erroneous circumstances, I tasted a walnut for the rest.

Just after the Qingming Festival, there are still some ashes of paper on the barren mounds and rice paddies in the suburbs, and occasionally some offerings that have turned black can be seen for food.Although the spring scenery is already in full bloom, as long as you see these things, no matter how beautiful the spring scenery is, it can't hide the final loneliness.In the final analysis, a prosperity is always an empty space.

"A jug of wine in the field, I don't know who to sacrifice to. The rice paddies are dry and ashes, and everything is empty after the rain."

Hu Yue held the wine jug that he carried with him, and rode a rented donkey slowly along the green willow path to the outside of the city.His face was flushed from drinking, and his eyes became more frivolous and confused. Then he pulled a wicker from the willow tree beside him, held it in his hand and hummed a tune while drinking the wine.

Even passers-by thought that this scholarly and handsome man was too slovenly, wasting such a good appearance for nothing, but he himself didn't care about other people's strange eyes, on the contrary, the more drunk he became, the more drunk he became He almost fell off the donkey's back, causing the little lady who came back from the outing nearby to laugh for a while.

Hu Yue hiccupped and swallowed the last drop of wine: "It's empty, it's all empty, but the jug can't be empty..." He muttered a few words in a daze, put the jug away, and then Ken is on his way.

Just passing by Jingyangmen's Shanli Academy, where many scholars gathered instead of the deserted ones in previous years.Hu Yue's eyes were also attracted by the crowded and noisy crowd.

He led the donkey and moved into the crowd. He asked a nearby scholar, "What happened here? Why are so many people gathered here?"

A small scholar with his neck up and his feet on tiptoes looked back at him, felt the smell of alcohol all over his body, frowned and said: "Seeing that you are also a scholar, but you don't know the master here, that person has a skill, That is, as long as you write an article for him to read, he can test whether you can pass the imperial examination. Many people have already been guessed, and the score is not bad. It is even more accurate than Bai Kuixing. Said that he is the teacher of today's chief examiner."

Hu Yue hiccupped, the little scholar waved his hands bluntly, and ignored Hu Yue, but Hu Yue touched his neck, and asked like a little man, when suddenly he was in the crowd Seeing a familiar figure, he stood quietly at the edge of the woods farther away from the crowd, holding a wine jug in his hand like him, drinking wine calmly and looking at the crowd, but the handsome eyebrows were full of excitement. As if thinking about something.

This person is Chu Jue.

Hu Yue's eyes lit up, and she rolled up her sleeves and squeezed towards Chu Jue. It took a lot of effort to squeeze to his side. Just when Hu Yue was about to call Chu Jue to stop, she heard Chu Jue's side Someone shouted: "Everyone is ready to line up! The old rule is to only test the first five people, and please come back next time for the rest!"

With this shout, the crowd was even more commotion, and Hu Yue was squeezed abruptly. Hu Yue felt that his feet had been stepped on several times, and the square scarf tied on his head was also squeezed apart. Come, with his black hair loose behind him, a scholar beside Hu Yue was stunned when he saw Hu Yue's appearance, and forgot the purpose of coming here.Hu Yue didn't care so much, she squeezed to the side with all her life, and when she was about to fall to the ground, a pair of hands firmly stopped his waist, Hu Yue raised her head and Chu Jue was already standing around.

Chu Jue raised his eyebrows and said, "Why is my brother here?"

Hu Yue held him back, and then the two squeezed out of the crowd with all their strength, and Hu Yue let out a sigh of relief: "The most terrifying thing in the world today is the imperial examination. Look at these people, which one is not the evil spirit Rakshasa?" , if you pull me one step later, I will be trampled into a pulp by them."

Chu Jue tidied Hu Yue's hair with a smile, and Hu Yue asked with a face of not knowing why: "What are these people doing? Why are you here?"

Chu Jue said: "It is because of the Shanzhang here (Shanzhang is the name given to the lecturers of the Academy in the past dynasties, and the name was changed in the Qing Dynasty)."

Just when Chu Jue was about to elaborate, he suddenly heard a voice from the crowd: "It's bad! Master is gone! Come in and look for me!"

With a stride, Chu Jue directly pulled Hu Yue away from the crowd, and everyone rushed into the door of the academy like crazy. Unfortunately, some students tripped over the threshold, and the people behind stepped on it, wailing.When Hu Yue saw the little scholar who disliked his alcoholic smell, he was trampled several times, and he couldn't move anymore.

He rushed up quickly, grabbed the little man by the collar, and dragged him out of the chaotic crowd.Seeing that the kid had clenched his teeth, his face was livid, and he looked like he had been trampled hard, Hu Yue stretched out his hand towards Chu Jue and said, "Brother Chu, borrow your wine."

Chu Jue handed over the jug, but the little man couldn't drink directly. Hu Yue was about to talk to each other after taking a sip. Chu Jue grabbed him and said, "What are you doing?"

With wine in his mouth, Hu Yue puffed out his cheeks and stared to show that he wanted to save someone.The corners of Chu Jue's eyes kept twitching. He took out a pill from his waist and stuffed it into the little man's mouth.Soon the boy's face turned from a disastrous defeat to blood-red, and he began to breathe heavily, screaming for pain.

Hu Yue swallowed the wine in one gulp, Chu Jue gave him a blank look, the little man opened his eyes and looked at the two of them, then looked at Hu Yue holding his hand and said, "Thank you, my lord, for your help!"

Hu Yue smiled and said, "I am not the one who saved you, but this young master."

Seeing Chu Jue straighten his clothes immediately, the little man bowed deeply, "I'm being polite!"

Hu Yue asked, "What is your purpose here?"

Chu Jue said: "I have a good relationship with the mountain chief here. He sent me a message a few days ago, saying that he wanted to show me something. I was guarding the door but no one came to greet me, so I just waited at the door." a while."

The little scholar's name is Wannian, which is a good name, but the problem is that his rank is only a scholar, so when combined, he is a Wannian scholar.From then on, Sun Shan lost his name in the scientific examination all the way, as if he could only win the exam after ten thousand years.Tears came out of the corners of his eyes as he talked, and I don't know where he got the ability to cry when he said it.

Hu Yue said indifferently: "What's the matter? If you fail the exam, you will fail the exam. Go home and live like farming."

Wannian gave Hu Yue a blank look, because he looked at Chu Jue's face, but he still said sourly: "I am not talented. Although I have been Sun Shan many times, it does not mean that I will give up. The words of the sages are not good. Dare to forget for a moment. When the sky falls on you, you must suffer from your heart, but you don’t know that you look like a scholar, but you don’t have the integrity of a scholar. Confucius said: Gentle and gentle, then a gentleman. It would be too insulting to look at you. .”

Just when Hu Yue was grinning and wanted to continue to hurt this ten-thousand-year talent.

At this moment, a strange wind suddenly blew up in the sycamore trees beside the academy, and there was no movement in other places, but the branches in the forest trembled violently, and a very faint sound came from the depths.

The three of them had been staring at the depths of the woods, and suddenly they turned their heads and found a child standing at the entrance of the woods. When I saw it for the first time, I was so scared that I almost fainted again.

He yelled strangely: "Ghost!"

The child looked at Hu Yue with an indescribable expression in his mechanical eyes.Suddenly he jumped into the woods.

Hu Yue wanted to chase after him, but Wan Nian grabbed him and said, "Are you dying? He's a ghost."

Hu Yue tilted his head and grinned: "Young Master Wan, Kong Sheng said: "Your speechless words are strange and confusing."

Wannian saw his face like this, but he couldn't find an explanation for a while, so he stretched his face longer, and said nervously: "Your Excellency doesn't know, I saw the portrait of this child in the west hall of the academy, and it is rumored that he has a lot of background. , but I don’t know where it is sacred. It is said that it is a rare prodigy in a hundred years. This portrait has a history of 200 years on the wall. You said that I saw a child who looked exactly like a person more than 100 years ago. , can I think he is still a human? And this child's face is as white as lime, can he be a human? It's weird, can it be that this world... is really a monster?"

Hu Yue pulled out the fan at his waist, tapped his arm and said: "The child appeared here more than 100 years ago, does this have something to do with the master who can predict the fame?"

Wan Nian said: "I remember that at the Shangsi Banquet some time ago, the steward of the academy did say that there were people breaking into the academy at night recently, and the steward said that someone might come to steal the books, but they couldn't catch anyone. "

Hu Yue's eyes lit up, he let out an oh, he tapped his head, and suddenly asked Wannian: "By the way, who is the master you mentioned who can predict the imperial examinations?"

Wan Nian said: "The origin of this person is also very mysterious. I only know that he came from the north, speaks with a northern accent, and never talks much on weekdays. It seems that he has also had contact with the head of the mountain. Afterwards, he was able to speculate on the future of this student, which is very powerful. But he lives in seclusion and only reads articles to five students a month, but every student he has instructed has made great progress in their studies, but he does not see anyone at all on weekdays .”

Hu Yue continued to ask: "He has never taught or written books here?"

Wannian nodded and said: "He didn't teach any of the Four Books and Five Classics, but the head of the mountain respected him very much." Wannian suddenly remembered something, he clapped his hands and said, "By the way, some people say that he was once good at strategizing. A proud student is great, but no one knows who that person is."

Chu Jue murmured: "Policy theory... the current emperor indeed advocates the policy of recruiting talents in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty by discussing the state and discussing the Tao."

Wan Nian's eyes lit up, and Hu Yue tapped his head and said, "What are you thinking about? Strategies are talking about the world. A single word is a skill to rejuvenate a country. Stereotypes can also rejuvenate a country. Different routes lead to the same goal. It just depends on how you use it. The words of the sage are also used by modern people, and the virtues of the sage are reserved for the common people. If it is not for the people, no matter how deep the knowledge is, it is just empty talk. If you apply what you have learned, you will not waste ten years of hard work. No matter which point you hold on to If you seek it with a mentality, you will embark on a different road. Just blindly pursuing fame and fame, that is just a ten-year cold window and losing your book bag. If you are seeking for the common people, even if you are just an insignificant scholar, you are still learning the way of sages. It’s not about how much you study, but what you study for.”

Wannian was shocked when he heard Hu Yue's remarks. He looked at the man with disheveled hair and charming eyes. He looked unmanly at all, but he said such a paragraph that even after ten years of reading, he might not be able to understand it. See through things.

Wannian bowed to Hu Yue solemnly, and he said with a serious face: "Students are taught."

Chu Jue took out the wine and took a sip. There was warmth in his eyes, but he was very concerned about the atmosphere around him. Although there were noisy people here, there was something strange about it.He didn't say anything, but squinted at the woods, and found that Hu Yue was also looking at him.Chu Jue passed the wine and said, "Why hasn't the head of the mountain appeared yet?"

Wannian scratched his hair and said, "So you don't know. It is said that the head of the mountain went back to his hometown to observe his filial piety, so don't wait any longer. I have to go back to study."

Chu Jue nodded with a slight smile and said, "So that's the case, then let's say goodbye to Mr. Wan."

Wan Nian hurriedly bowed to say goodbye, reluctantly looked at the middle gate of the academy (the gate of the academy was called the middle gate in the Song Dynasty, also known as the school gate), and left with a sigh.

Hu Yue narrowed her eyes after watching Wan Nian walk away, tapped the fan on Chu Jue's chest and said, "Brother Chu, you should tell the truth."

Chu Jue froze for a moment, then laughed loudly and said, "The one who knows me is also a good brother."

Hu Yue sneered and said: "It's not that I understand you, but if you are really waiting for someone, you will naturally stand at the door, but you are standing on the edge, but near the woods. If you want to find The person in the academy, or that person coming to you, this position is not suitable. With your personality, you must enter the hall to drink tea and wait for others, and dry it. It is not in line with your personality. So I guess you are not waiting for people in the academy , but the people in the woods, plus the child who appeared, his expression should be surprised, maybe he only wanted to see you, but there was me and Wannian. And if you and Shan Changnai It's an old acquaintance, why don't you know about such important events as his return to his hometown to observe his filial piety? It's not your style to be inconsistent, and you're just doing it for that stupid scholar."

Chu Jue raised his eyebrows and said, "My brother's coming here is beyond my expectation."

Hu Yue touched her neck and said, "I got a jug of good wine from my employer, drank it and left the city. I wanted to go to the Guanqiao behind Wuyue Temple to see pear blossoms."

He quietly approached Hu Yue, leaned into Hu Yue's ear and said, "What do you think when you see that boy?"

Hu Yue stroked her chin and thought about it: "There is a lot of resentment."

Chu Jue said: "Nothing else?" After finishing speaking, he took out half a walnut shell from his sleeve and said, "Everything starts with this half walnut shell."