One of the passers-by

Pingkangfang, also known as "Beili", is located in the north of Chang'an City, adjacent to Dongshi in the east, Chongrenfang in the north, and diagonally across from the imperial city.Its function is roughly the same as the red light district of later generations.Because of the very cheap location, many courtiers and scholars who come to Chang'an to study like to relax here after school.

So when Xue Yan and others took advantage of Muxiu's day to come to "gain knowledge", they thought they could see many familiar faces.Jiang Qilang of the Duke of Lu's family often whispered in Xue Yan's ear, "Who in the Imperial College looks dignified, but in fact likes to hang out in these wine shops and Chu halls the most" "Who's so and so is with so and so for the sake of peace." A certain person in Kangfang was jealous and fought so hard that his head was broken. He took several days off at home and didn’t come back to school until he had recuperated.”…

Xue Yan listened to Jiang Qilang's gossip about his classmates, and while he had a certain understanding of the life in the Imperial College, he also became very interested in Pingkangfang.So waited until this day to take a rest, and immediately accepted everyone's invitation.He still didn't dare to tell Princess Pingyang and Duke Wei that he was going to visit the "Red Light District". Xue Yan said so, and immediately agreed, and called the family and Xue Yan's boys to instruct him carefully, and then prepared enough money for Xue Yan, and told Xue Yan to "have fun and make more friends." Good friends, don’t worry about your family.”

Seeing Princess Pingyang's enthusiasm, Xue Yan subtly felt ashamed, and wanted to explain the whole story to Princess Pingyang, but it was hard to say.I had no choice but to take the boys away in a sly manner, to join Jiang Qilang and others.

Xue Yan originally thought that it was early enough for him to go out, but he did not expect that when he arrived at the gate of Pingkangfang, Jiang Qilang, Fang Wulang, Wei Silang and Xu Liulang were already waiting at the wine shop next to the gate.Only one servant was sent to wait at the door, and when he saw Xue Yan coming, he led him into the wine shop.

Seeing Xue Yan's late arrival, Jiang Qilang, who was always talkative, said dissatisfied: "Why did you come at this time, we have been waiting for a long time!"

Xue Yan smiled when he heard the words, looked up at the sky, because he said: "I didn't think I came out very late, you guys came too early, right? Besides, the time was set at this time, don't you? Did you come out as soon as the door opened at dawn?"

Xue Yan was just casually joking, but Jiang Qilang and the others nodded solemnly.Xue Yan was dumbfounded, and then heard Jiang Qilang say: "We all came out on the pretext of reuniting with our friends to study together. Since we want to study, of course we can't leave the house until we spend a lot of time every day, so as not to arouse suspicion, so we should come out earlier. Where did you think that you are so real, you come whenever you say?"

It was only then that Xue Yan realized that Princess Pingyang and Duke Wei's indulgence towards him was extraordinary, and no one else's parents could compare to it.Yin laughed and said, "So, it's actually my fault today. I'll take three glasses of thin wine as an apology."

Before he could finish his sentence, Jiang Qilang impatiently knocked down the wine bottle in Xue Yan's hand, and said with a smile: "Where is the time to watch you make amends and eat wine. We have waited for so long, and we can't wait any longer. Alright, let’s go to Pingkang Square.”

As he said that, he called the doctor who was serving in the restaurant, checked out and went out.

The servants brought by everyone had long followed the stables at the back of the restaurant and brought everyone's horses. They filed out of the restaurant, saddled their horses, and strolled into Pingkang Fang.

It was Xue Yan's first time to come to this place, and he felt very curious, looking around.But there are red pillars with black eaves and low walls rammed with loess on both sides of the street.There are willows, pines and cypresses planted under the two walls, but you can see the tender heart of the willows, the green pines and jade cypresses, there are peddlers carrying loads or standing in front of the stalls to sell, rouge gouache, gold chain hairpin rings, pasta wonton stalls, there is a dazzling array of beautiful things. All in one.There are still high-nosed and deep-eyed barbarians standing in front of the bakery, making dough and making cakes, and the hot sesame-flavored aroma is coming out of the oven next to it, mixed with the smell of roasted lamb legs coming out of the nearby restaurant. The aroma makes people swallow even after breakfast.

There are also western-style dance music faintly coming from the wine shops on both sides of the street, which is really lively and lively.

Officials, ministers, nobles, literati, and scholars wandering on the street all come to call for friends. There are little ladies wearing veiled hats walking in twos and threes, or joking and playing, and the laughter like silver bells overflows from their mouths. Pingkangfang added a bit of spring color.

Because most of Xue Yan's people lived in Chongrenfang, they agreed to enter at the north gate of Pingkangfang.Enter the square and go east.Xue Yan still didn't understand, so Jiang Qilang explained to him in a low voice: "Most of the women in Pingkang Fang live in Zhongqu and Nanqu in the east of the Fang, and the rest of the prostitution kilns are mostly traffickers. The pawns are willing to go, it doesn't matter if you don't look at it."

Suddenly, Xue Yan followed the crowd all the way east to the end of the street, and then turned south into the alley, only to see that the more people went inside, the less crowded and quieter it was.The courtyard walls on both sides of the street are mostly whitewashed. Through the whitewashed courtyard walls, we can vaguely see the cornices of the corridor corners in the courtyard. A gust of spring breeze blows, and the bronze bells tied on the corners of the eaves jingle pleasantly, reflecting the more and more people behind us. The distant cries sounded more leisurely.

It made Xue Yan suddenly think of the leisurely artistic conception of those great hermits living in the city in later generations.

A group of people walked deeper and deeper into the alley, and finally stopped in front of a Wutou gate.Everyone laughed and laughed, Banan got off his horse and walked all the way into this brothel that didn't have a plaque on the door.A fake mother had already greeted her with a smile and led everyone into the lobby.

I saw that there were already guests sitting in twos and threes in the lobby.Seeing Xue Yan and the others entering, the guests in the hall subconsciously looked over.Before Xue Yan could see the scenery in the hall clearly, someone snorted coldly and said, "I am called by someone else. It turned out to be Jiang Qilang from Duke Lu's family. It's a pity that the Duke of Lu's mansion is one of them." The talent of a general, when he came to Qilang, he was unable to achieve military proficiency, which really ruined the family."

Jiang Qilang followed the prestige, and saw five or six young scholars wearing round collars and crotchless gowns sitting around the table in the middle of the hall.When Jiang Qilang saw these people, he immediately acted like an enemy who would be extremely jealous when meeting each other.He snorted twice from his nose, narrowed his eyes slightly, nodded his chin to everyone, and said with a very arrogant smile: "Who am I? How much money do you have to save from writing, drawing and painting, before you dare to support Mr. Sun? Are you really afraid that after enjoying it today, you will only be able to live on porridge and wild vegetables for the next few months?"

Before a word was finished, everyone in the hall had already burst out laughing.

The few scholars who were teased by Jiang Qilang's meanness immediately turned purple, pointed to Jiang Qilang and said: "You don't need to be complacent. It's just borrowing the glory of your ancestors to have a good background. If there is no Duke and Marquis behind you As a support, I am afraid that you are not as good as me."

Jiang Qilang was not annoyed when the scholar pointed his nose at him and scolded him as an idiot. He smiled and said, "Maybe I did all the good things in my previous life, so I will be reincarnated. How can I be like you? Not only did I live poorly, but I also envied the wealth of others." Power, look at your face. It really makes me hard to swallow."

The few scholars who were born in the imperial school heard the words, and they didn't agree with them, and shouted back.So the two groups quoted the scriptures and began to argue with each other.Among them were other spectators who couldn't hold back, and came forward to express their views or to stir up trouble.The entire hall was immediately like a university auditorium where a debate was held in later generations, noisy.

Xue Yan came from later generations, he may be a bit smart, but he has really mastered six senses in these Confucian classics - there is still one knowledge that he has not mastered.He couldn't understand what the people around him said at all, and occasionally he could understand one or two allusions, but he hadn't figured it out, and others had already extended several words about this story.

After listening for a while, Xue Yan only felt a headache.Just as he was about to try to persuade him, he heard a young woman yelling "Master Sun" has arrived.I saw the scholars and literati in the hall immediately stopped talking and arguing, or straightened their clothes, or sat down straight, and there was no more noise like a vegetable market just now.

Seeing this scene, Xue Yan was speechless.The whole person had already been dragged down by Jiang Qilang.There was only a jingle of rings, and the fragrant wind passed by. A well-dressed lady was surrounded by several maids with double maids and entered the main hall.Greetings such as "How is everyone Sun doing these days", "I haven't seen you for a few days, everyone Sun is still handsome" and so on were heard in the hall.

Xue Yan looked at it intently, but saw that Master Sun, who was sought after by many literati, was wearing the most popular hairpin nowadays, with a five-phoenix hanging pearl hairpin on his head, and several exquisitely crafted and small hairpins stuck to each other behind his temples. The peonies inlaid with gold and treasures are in full bloom, and the flowers are pasted between the eyebrows, with a beautiful complexion and a noble bearing.No wonder it is so popular.

The grand master walked slowly into the hall, passed all the scholars and elegant guests, and sat down at the front.Lightly parting her vermilion lips, she smiled and said some polite words.Xue Yan listened to the voice of Master Sun, it was like big pearls and small pearls falling on a jade plate, crisp and melodious, even if it was whispering slowly, it was like singing softly, really nice.

However, the reason why the scholars and literati spent a lot of money to come to support Mr. Sun was not to listen to Mr. Sun sitting there and chatting politely—or it was not just that.So soon, amidst the booing of the crowd, Mrs. Sun greeted politely for a while, then smiled and took out dice, wine bottles, small flags, counting chips and other playthings, and began to drink with everyone——

Again, Xue Yan knows nothing about these poems, books and scriptures.So before Mr. Sun explained the rules, he smiled and said that he would follow everyone's convenience, and he would not get involved.Xue Yan is the only son of Princess Pingyang and Duke Wei, so his status is naturally noble.Besides, he was deeply favored by His Majesty, and Emperor Yong'an also knew that he had "wandered" outside since he was a child and didn't know much about these poems and books, so he was allowed to go when everyone was playing on weekdays, and he never forced him.

Everyone Sun was quite curious when they heard this - Gein, these literati who came to Pingkang Fang, regardless of their own talents and learning, the arrogance of the proud sons of heaven is real.Even if he was really inferior, he would not admit to being so generous.Now that they suddenly saw Xue Yan who was so unabashed and self-confessed, everyone Sun naturally found it novel.

Originally, this novelty was fine.It's a pity that there are a few students from the Taixue at the banquet today - just now, I was being ridiculed by Jiang Qilang and others, and I felt really uncomfortable.At this time, I heard Xue Yanqian say that he didn't understand these poems, so he didn't want to participate in the drinking order.This inexplicable trick attracted everyone's attention.The Taixue student who had just started arguing with Jiang Qilang was jealous and jealous, and immediately caught a good handle, without asking who Xue Yan was, let alone waiting for others to open his mouth, he sneered and said: "The Imperial College is my eldest brother. The highest institution, I originally thought that students who could enter the Imperial Academy, even if they were not well-educated in poetry and books, should still be smart and intelligent. Why has your Imperial Academy become worse and worse in the past two years? Previously, you accepted Jiang Qilang, who was born as a general. It’s okay for a reckless man to go to school. Anyway, Jiang Qilang is blunt by nature, but he has memorized the Four Books and Five Classics by rote, but he can barely handle it. Why are you even willing to accept the idiots who don’t understand literature, ink and poetry? Is it true that your Guozi School accepts people? Do you only look at the quality of the family background and ignore the aptitude of the students? If so, your Guozixue has really tarnished the name of the Guozijian!"