Pawn Crossing the River

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu finally arrived at Shangqing Mansion.

Fortunately, the journey from Huzhou to Wuzhou went smoothly without any accidents. This is also reasonable, accidents cannot always happen. If it is so difficult for the two of them to travel, then ordinary people will not be able to go out.

There is a saying in the official circles: "Three lives of misfortune, the county magistrate will be attached to Guo; three lives of evildoers, he will be attached to Guozhou City; full of evil, he will be attached to Guo Jingcheng."

The so-called "magistrate is attached to Guo" means that the magistrate and the magistrate are in the same city. In this way, his every move will be restrained and he will be exhausted and completely lose the prestige of his parents. "Attached to Guozhou City" means that the county magistrate, magistrate, governor or governor are all in one city. Needless to say, attached to Guo Jingcheng.

Therefore, some county towns are both prefecture towns and state towns.

However, this is not the case in Shangqing Prefecture. Although Shangqing County and Shangqing Prefecture have the same name, the county seat of Shangqing County is not the capital of Shangqing Prefecture. The two are independent of each other. The county seat of Shangqing County is located at the foot of Yunjin Mountain, while the capital of Shangqing Prefecture is still some distance away from Yunjin Mountain.

Therefore, after Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu arrived at the city of Shangqing Mansion, they did not reach their doorstep. Zhang Yuelu planned to stay here for a few days. The apparent reason was to reminisce about her childhood. When she was young, her parents often took her here to play. This is especially true during New Year's Day. The fundamental reason is that Zhang Yuelu intends to delay for a while.

Qi Xuansu was quite envious. When Zhang Yuelu was a child, he could go to the city to play, but when he was a child, he could only watch the outside world from the high walls of the Wanxiang Taoist Palace.

Although the Wanxiang Dao Palace is very large, comparable to the Purple Mansion in Yujing and the Imperial Palace in Dijing, there are many forbidden areas in the Wanxiang Dao Palace that they cannot set foot in at will. For example, the Shang Palace that Zhang Yuelu visited is one of the forbidden areas for Taoist boys. , they cannot enter the area where the instructors live at will. Qi Xuansu remembers that there is a large lake in the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, which seems to be called "Xingye Lake", but only the instructors can go there, and occasionally there are some elderly big shots. When drinking tea and playing chess by the lake, or boating on the lake, they can only watch from a distance, so their range of activities is quite limited.

But having said that, after leaving the Wanxiang Dao Palace, you are not allowed to take another step, unless you are taking up a teaching position in the Tao Palace or going to the Shang Palace for further study, so Qi Xuansu sometimes misses the Wanxiang Dao Palace.

The two of them were walking on the street. Because it was approaching the New Year's Eve, it was very lively. People were buying new year's goods, doing business, and returning home. There were people coming and going, and there was a lot of traffic. It was very lively.

Qi Xuansu asked: "Should we find an inn to settle down first, or should we talk about it later?"

Zhang Yuelu said: "How is the courtyard?"

"What?" Qi Xuansu heard it clearly, but suspected that he heard it wrong.

Zhang Yuelu repeated: "What do you think of the courtyard?"

Qi Xuansu finally confirmed that he heard it correctly. He clearly understood every word and the whole sentence, but it was very confusing when it came out of Zhang Yuelu's mouth.

An unmarried young woman led a similarly unmarried young man to visit the courtyard under the guise of going home to meet her parents?

In these days, having sex with prostitutes is considered a relatively normal thing. Confucian disciples are particularly fond of it. They claim to be romantic, almost openly, and even write poems and lyrics about this kind of thing, which is passed down to later generations, scholars and oirans. There are also many stories.

Buddhist disciples must abide by the precepts of lewdness and not be close to women, even if they get married and have children, let alone such things. They are at the opposite extremes from Confucian disciples.

Taoist disciples are special and can be divided into three categories.

Quanzhen Taoist disciples, especially those who abandon their real names and use Taoist names, are similar to Buddhist disciples. They must abide by the precepts, eat vegetarian food, and never marry. Most of the old Taoists who are hundreds of years old but are still boys are born in Quanzhen. True Tao, so this kind of thing must be completely eliminated.

Zhengyi disciples can start a family and get married normally, but this kind of thing is not encouraged. Even if someone wants to have fun, they have to do it secretly.

The disciples of Taiping Dao advocate Fangzhongshu and advocate the dual cultivation of yin and yang. It doesn't matter the most, and this kind of thing is most common.

Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu are both disciples of Zhengtao. It is very normal for them to form a Taoist couple when they are old enough. No one will blame them. But if you go to visit the courtyard, you have to bear the moral pressure. Although it won't lead to a demerit or demotion, it is still not a glorious thing and will harm your reputation.

The reason why it is so different is that it is like the children of the same aristocratic family are fighting and making trouble. If this person comes from a family of generals, the world will not think so, and even thinks that it should be so. But if this person comes from a family of scholars, they will be regarded as treasonous and disgraceful. .

Gein erected a moral arch. While enjoying the benefits brought by the moral arch, one must also be bound by the moral arch. Therefore, it is not without reason that the reputation of Quanzhen Dao disciples is the best and that of Taiping Dao disciples is the worst.

Qi Xuansu brushed off the dust on his clothes and said, "I don't want to be accused of misbehavior as a boy. I don't get any benefits and end up in a mess. Isn't it unfair?"

"It's just to experience it, it's not like I'm actually going to do that kind of thing." Zhang Yuelu said. This was her long-standing wish, and the two old family members who were responsible for taking care of her daily life knew it.

Qi Xuansu didn't know, but he still disagreed: "Have you ever seen it in Baidi City, with flowers blooming in abundance, fire cooking oil, and an atmosphere of wealth and wealth?"

"It was an investigation that time. It was already dark, there were dead bodies and spiritual officials, what could we see?" Zhang Yuelu said, "We didn't go there openly, we went there secretly so that no one would notice."

Qi Xuansu just thought this was a bad idea: "It's okay to sneak in and not be discovered, but once discovered, it will really fall into your crotch."

Zhang Yuelu said: "Have you never even been to the academy for a veteran like you?"

Qi Xuansu was about to speak when he suddenly remembered that he had actually been there once, not in Baidi City, but in a courtyard in Jiangzhou when he killed Shen Yuxi.

Qi Xuansu smacked his lips and had to cover it up with another reason: "The courtyard is a bottomless pit where the prince goes in and the eunuch goes out. I don't have that much peace money to squander."

"That's right." When it came to money, Zhang Yuelu felt short of breath and couldn't help but sigh, "Peace money, peace money, it's never enough."

Qi Xuansu asked tentatively: "Then... we won't go to the courtyard."

Zhang Yuelu was a little hesitant. After all, this was not a very important matter. It was just an idea she had when she was young. The key was that she had already spent half of her savings on this trip home. She had no money in her pocket and no confidence.

At this moment, a group of scholars passed by the two of them and were talking loudly.

"You all must have heard that Miss Li is coming to our Shangqing Mansion."

"Which Miss Li?"

"Who else could it be? Of course it's Miss Li in "Youth Travel". The sword is like water, Wu Yan beats the snow, and the delicate hand breaks the new orange. The brocade is warm at first, and the scent of the beast is constant. They sit opposite each other and tune the sheng. Low He asked, "Who are you going to spend the night with? It's already three o'clock in the city, and the horses are slippery and frosty. It's better to leave. There are only a few people here."

"Is it really that Miss Li who is famous all over the Imperial Capital?"

"There will be no lies."

"Why did Miss Li suddenly come to our Shangqing Mansion?"

"It seems that my ancestral home is here, so I came back during the Chinese New Year to visit relatives and friends."

"Miaoji, Miaoji, how many of us can have a chance to meet each other?"

"Miss Li is just returning to her hometown to visit relatives this time, so she won't be able to entertain guests. Even if she does, she will meet some local big shots."

"This Miss Li is known as the number one courtesan in the Imperial Capital. It would be a pity if we couldn't meet her."

"By the way, how do our local oirans compare with this Miss Li?"

"I'm afraid it's not as good as it is, but this is reasonable. There are two capitals in the world, one is the Imperial Capital and the other is the Jade Capital. Fireworks women are strictly prohibited from setting foot in the Jade Capital. Naturally, the Imperial Capital is the most important, followed by the Jinling Mansion. Shili Qinhuai. We can’t be ranked here.”

"But I heard that there is going to be a poetry meeting organized in the courtyard, and Miss Li should make an appearance. Even though we can't have a long conversation alone, it can still be regarded as meeting Miss Li."

As they talked, they talked about some poetry, song and dance, which were all elegant things for scholars. The girls competed for beauty, and the scholars cheered and cheered for the girls.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu stood on the roadside, watching several scholars walking past them, and then looked at each other.

Zhang Yuelu sighed: "Miss Li."

Qi Xuansu asked: "Do you know him?"

"I don't know her, but I've heard that she is a popular girl from the Imperial Capital and is praised as the best courtesan in the world." Zhang Yuelu replied.

Qi Xuansu was shocked by the words "No. 1 in the world" and sighed: "What a great name."

Zhang Yuelu said: "Although it is a big name, don't be too surprised. Every few years, there will be a new person. It is a thing created by a group of Confucian disciples who live in romance all day long. But that's not why I am here. I have heard of this Miss Li, but it’s because this Miss Li has some relationship with the Li family of Taiping Road.”

Qi Xuansu was surprised: "The daughter of the Li family still does such a thing?"

"She is not the daughter of the Li family, not even an adopted daughter. She should be said to be a money tree for the Li family. After all, the Li family is a family that has been around for hundreds of years. It has produced big figures like Xuan Sheng, so it is not so shameless. "Zhang Yuelu said, "The Li family accepts adopted sons and adopted daughters. Some not-so-good livelihoods are left to these adopted sons and daughters to take care of. For example, the courtyard, the largest courtyard in the Imperial City, Wutong Courtyard, is managed by one. The adopted daughter of the Li family is in charge.”

"This Miss Li is not originally named Li. She was originally the daughter of an official. Although this dynasty has good governance and no longer demotes the family members of criminal officials to the Jiaofang Division, after her father was convicted, her family property was confiscated and she lost her livelihood. She was exposed on the street. The adopted daughter of the Li family who ran the villa saw that she was a beauty, so she adopted her and changed her name to Li Qingnu. She hired famous teachers to teach her music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and singing and dancing.

"This Miss Li Qingnu is really talented, and with the support and promotion of the Li family, she soon became famous in the imperial capital, and her beauty surpassed all other beauties. She was hailed as the 'No. 1 courtesan in the world' by those who do good things."