Competing in the morning and evening

As soon as his words fell, he heard a clear and clear female voice in the forest scolding: "Who is outside the forest? He is sneaking and eavesdropping here!"

Li Yan raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "One side of the road is open to the sky, and the sound of the piano is in your ears. How can you say that I am waiting here to eavesdrop?"

Chu Yin stepped forward, bowed and said with a smile, "Listening to your song is like listening to fairy music. I hope you will forgive me if I disturb the master!"

The voice in the forest came again, saying: "This person still knows some etiquette..."

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard another woman's voice reprimanded softly: "Don't be rude..." The woman's voice was not high, but quite majestic, obviously the owner of the previous voice.

Li Yan was a little surprised. Hearing the sonorous sound of the zither, he didn't expect the master's voice to be very soft, so he laughed and said, "This master also knows some etiquette!" He was very curious, and smiled, "I don't know." Is the host's house hospitable, would you like to give me some tea or two?"

Although Chu Yin also wanted to see the real face of the beautiful woman, but he read poetry and books when he was young, and the etiquette between men and women is quite ingrained, so although he thought about it in his heart, he didn't say it out of his mouth.

The previous voice in the forest came again, and said with a cold snort: "Men and women have been different since ancient times, my young lady is not married to Yunying, I'm afraid it's inconvenient to meet you, please don't blame me!"

After hearing this, Li Yan twitched the corner of his mouth, and said with some disdain: "Just now when I heard you playing the piano, I thought you were such a strange woman in this world, but it turned out to be nothing more than mediocre."

Although Chu Yin was looking forward to meeting the woman who played the piano, but if the woman casually met with a strange man for tea, he felt that it was inappropriate. Now the woman declined gently, so she advised Li Yan in a low voice: Women are so reserved, if you insist on not seeing her, the second prince might as well just let it go."

Before Li Yan answered, the woman's voice said with a smile: "That's your praise, sir. In fact, the little girl's piano sound is not good, so I chose a quiet place to practice the piano, just to avoid being an expert." It only disturbs people's leisure." This voice is gentle and sweet, but it is completely different from the style of the piano sound.

Li Yan's temperament is quite stubborn, the more this woman refuses to see each other, the more he wants to see her, and he doesn't care about Chu Yin's persuasion, so he raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Oh, then I want to see her." Who is such a humble master!"

As he spoke, he strode into the dense forest, and Chu Yin repeatedly said, "It's absolutely impossible!"

The two stepped into the dense forest one after the other, and saw a woman in white clothes sitting in the forest with a veil covered. Although it was the middle of winter, the dense bamboos were quite lush and green, and the light in the forest was not strong. There is also the morning mist, and the woman in white is playing the piano, the sound of the piano is as sharp as a sword, and the bamboo leaves are falling, crushed into dust in the woman's faint eyes.Those eyes seemed to be smiling towards the sea, but also seemed to be cold towards the common people. Not only Chu Yin, but even Li Yan, at that moment, felt a sense of smallness and inferiority.

The white-clothed woman didn't speak, but the masked green-clothed woman standing next to her said angrily, "You little thief, how rude you are."

But Li Yan let out a long laugh, and said: "Miss, please take off the veil, and I will not waste my life!"

The woman in green said angrily, "How dare you humiliate my young lady, you madman?"

Li Yan said lightly: "Because I will make her life worthwhile!"

The woman in white just smiled coldly and said: "Before you were just reckless, but now it seems not only reckless, but also arrogant!" She turned her head and said, "Let's go!"

At this time, Chu Yin's entourage had arrived, and the woman was about to take a few steps. Li Yan had already stopped her, and said with a smile, "You can't go!"

Chu Yin was shocked and shouted: "Brother Li, don't make mistakes!"

The woman was not wary of being grabbed by his wrist, and her black and white eyes, like scissors, did not panic at all. Instead, there was a hint of ridicule, which shocked Li Yan.Before he recovered his senses, he heard a crash and was hung upside down in the air. The woman in green next to him patted the dust on her hands and smiled, "Miss, you are right, we really need to take precautions before they happen. , the disciples these days are really shameless one by one."

The woman in white approached Chu Yin, gave a blessing, and said, "Thank you for your words of help, young master."

Chu Yin saw the woman coming lightly, with black hair and white clothes, and a very quaint dragon hairpin was inserted on top of the thick cloud hair. Although the attire was very simple and she could move her hands and feet, she was full of beauty, hard to describe, and she couldn't help but breathe Unsmooth, like—for a moment, I froze there and forgot to speak. After a long time, I heard the woman in green smile, and then I came back to my senses and stammered slightly: "Miss, you are welcome, I am waiting to disturb your quietness." !"

The woman nodded slightly, hugged the piano and left.

Although Li Yan was hanging upside down in mid-air, he said behind her back: "Even if you are thousands of miles away from me, I can still take off your veil and see your true face." Seeing the woman turned slightly and raised her head, she looked at him with a hint of sarcasm in her eyes, full of jokes, and then drifted away.

Chu Yin had just realized that the guest was still on the tree, and repeatedly called for someone to cut the rope and let Li Yan down. Everyone couldn't help laughing when they thought about Li Yan's prestige on the battlefield, but now he was so embarrassed by the little girl.The Northern Qi Yu Wei was still there, and the emperor repeatedly ordered not to offend Li Yan, so although they thought it was funny, they all had to hold back their laughter.

Chu Yin said with guilt on his face: "Your countryman, you are frightened by the Second Prince!"

Li Yan smiled and said: "If such women are also called country people, I'm afraid I will be so happy." After finishing speaking, he led the horse out of the bamboo forest.

Chu Yin sighed slightly, and said, "This kind of woman is not something ordinary people can find..."

Then he said in a small voice: "My lord, what's so difficult about this, this woman must live not far from here, and this place is not far from the original village. I think the direction she walked just now was heading for the original village. I think it is only the original village." Such a woman can only be raised by a rich merchant family." Chu Yin was overjoyed when he heard this, and said, "If what you said is true, I will reward you ten taels of gold when I go back."

The servant was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, my lord, for the reward."

At this moment, Yuan Da had already led the Yuan family's men and women to wait in line outside to wait for Liang Wang Chuyin. He wandered around, but Yuan Xizheng was missing, so he turned his head and asked, "Where did Ziqing go?"

All the elders and children shook their heads in unison, Yuan Da suppressed the anger in his heart, and cursed in a low voice: "I really know what is good and what is bad!"

Yuan Da turned his head and cast a reproachful glance at Yuan Xizheng's Lao Tzu Yuan Yuan, took a deep breath, and reminded himself to calm down.

Yuan Yuan showed embarrassment, and couldn't help cursing Yuan Xizheng inwardly.In fact, the direct descendants of the original family have countless children, but they have been officials and businessmen for many years, and their families have the main wife in power, so after a long time, they have developed a habit of being quite afraid of the main wife.That's why they flirt with countless women, but there are very few women who can really enter the original family.

Yuan Xizheng's mother was an extremely beautiful woman when she was young, and Yuan Yuan was quite moved. In addition, she conceived her for ten months, and she also thought about raising her to be a concubine if she gave birth to a son, but it was a pity that she heard that night After what the monk holding the lamp said, he looked at the twins more and more disliked, put aside the matter of marrying the original mother, and then gradually became indifferent.

When Yuan Xizheng was nine years old, he was building an earth fort on the road at the entrance of the village. A famous emperor, Gongsun Yan, happened to pass by and persuaded him with a smile, "Little baby, how can your horses and chariots move when you build a fort here?"

Yuan Xizheng raised his head and said, "Naturally, we will take a detour!"

Gongsun Yan laughed and said, "You want the chariots and horses to go around your mound?"

Yuan Xizheng raised his eyebrows, and said proudly: "Sir, what you said is wrong, this is a city, not a mound of earth!"

Gongsun Xu got out of the car and circled around the mound, and said with a smile, "Boy, do you want to use the leaves to blind your eyes and point to the mound as a city?"

Yuan Xi contended: "With me here, the mound is the golden soup!"

Gongsun Yan was not annoyed, instead, he changed his way to visit Yuanjia Village, and offered to take Yuan Xizheng as his apprentice along the way.

This is Yuan Yuan noticed the pair of twins again after many years, and did not expect Yuan Xizheng to give him such a big surprise.If Yuan Xizheng can learn from Gongsun Yan, even if he is not the prince's tutor, he must be the mentor of some prince in the future. This matter is no small matter, and it will make the whole Yuan family honor him.

Unexpectedly, when Yuan Xizheng was about to travel far away, he suddenly almost drowned in the pond by the village. Yuanyuan couldn't help but think of the prophecy that the monk holding the lamp said that the water is rich and golden, and the great prosperity and wealth are in front of him. , the murderous intent that had been suppressed in his chest for many years by the persuasion of Master Yixin finally came out.

He used the excuse of sending Yuan Nalan to Mount Hua to pray for his elder brother, but in essence he wanted to kill someone with a knife. A child, without the family's offerings, was left in a desolate nunnery by harsh old nuns with no food or clothing. , no one to take care of, how can survive?

It's just that Yuan Nalan went to Huashan smoothly, survived again, and often had letters from home.

He sent people to inquire several times, and found out that a girl from the Yuan family had indeed been to Mount Hua, but she died as soon as she arrived, as he had expected. some money.

Once the girl died, the nunnery was reluctant to even buy a coffin, so they just made a straw mat and buried it in a hurry. In the next year, a man came and said that the girl's brother had entrusted her to bring her body back. The nunnery collected the money, So someone came to dig up the bones.

Everyone is dead, where is there a letter from home, no need to ask, it is naturally written by Yuan Xizheng, this can't help but make the heart tremble with fear.

Time flies, and after a few years, Yuan Xizheng, who came back, was really outstanding, but at the same time, he was idle and didn't think about making progress at all. Now, because of a romantic lawsuit, he can't even keep a small official position in the Chess Academy.This made Yuan Yuan discouraged, but secretly heaved a sigh of relief in his heart, thinking that he could not complain that the famous emperor's teacher, Gongsun Zuan, seemed to have no intention of recommending him to the royal family at all. He was both grateful and annoyed. Complicated and ironic.

He turned around and recruited a servant, and said angrily: "Go and find Yuan Xizheng for me, remember, be careful when you come over later, don't disturb the tenth prince's driver."

The servant went away in response, but did not find Yuan Xizheng at the original mother's place, and only drove the original mother around in a hurry.

Yuan Xizheng stood in front of Zeng Chuyu in women's attire, Zeng Chuyu looked at the woman in front of her with a look of shock, stepped back half a step, and said hesitantly, "Nalan?"

Yuan Xizheng shook his head and said, "I'm Ziqing."

Zeng Chuyu seemed a little dazed, and said, "Brother Ziqing, what are you doing in women's clothing?"

Before Yuan Xizheng could speak, Luzhu laughed excitedly beside him: "Just now we played that Li Yan, the Second Highness of the Qi Kingdom, with Liang Wang Chuyin enough, the young master's ventriloquist is really good, I learned your voice really well." Like, you can shrink your bones to the same height as you, if you are there, you will be shocked, you must think that you are talking and doing things!"

Yuan Xizheng approached Zeng Chuyu, and said: "Chu Yu, I have always regarded you as my own sister, and I want you to feel happy and happy from the bottom of my heart...but this is the only thing I can give you." As he said, he twitched He dropped the gorgeous gold hairpin on Zeng Chuyu's head, then pulled out the wooden coiled dragon hairpin from his own head, and inserted it into Zeng Chuyu's hair.

Zeng Chuyu's lips trembled for a moment, but in the end he turned and left arrogantly.

Luzhu looked at her slender back, and argued to Yuan Xi: "Miss Chu Yu's face is obviously more beautiful than yours, but if she stands with you, she will look like a green bamboo."

Yuan Xi smiled, and said: "Don't talk nonsense, Chu Yu heard it, I will ignore you for three or four months!"

Lu Zhu stuck out her tongue and said: "I dare not, if she finds out, she might not talk to me for three or four years!"

Yuan Xizheng quickly took off his white clothes, put on a loose light yellow hemp robe, and simply pulled his long hair with a piece of handkerchief. With a burst of bones, he became a man again. A tall and handsome boy.

Yuan Xizheng casually threw the clothes to the green bamboo and said, "Bury it."

Lu Zhu took the clothes and asked, "If you were to choose, do you like the polite Tenth Prince Chu Yin, or the domineering and unreasonable Li Yan?"

Yuan Xi cast a sideways glance at her and said, "What do those two have to do with me?"

Luzhu said to himself: "If you want to say that you are likable, it is naturally the King of Liang. I didn't expect that he is a prince, and he is the son of the imperial concubine, but he has no airs at all. He is gentle and elegant. He will definitely be a good husband in the future. That Northern Kingdom Li I don't think so, I think he is vicious, and he might beat his wife in the future..." She was still talking with relish, but Yuan Xizheng knocked a chestnut on her head, and said with a smile: "If you don't leave, I'm afraid I'll wait Before tonight, my ass will suffer."

Luzhu felt his head and cried out for pain, and stuffed the white clothes into a big tree hole, still couldn't help but said: "But Li Yan has a really good appearance, his eyebrows are really black, and his nose is straight, don't you think so?" It is said that people from the northern country are dark, but I think he looks quite clean, wearing a bay red shirt, I didn't see the tenth prince when I stood there, but his temper was a little too big."

Yuan Xizheng recalled Li Yan's strange appearance when he was hanged upside down from the tree, and couldn't help but smile, but stopped talking, and hurried away with the green bamboo.

The two of them hadn't walked far, when they saw Yuan Mu running over panting, and said repeatedly: "Ziqing, where did you go with Luzhu, why don't you go to the village entrance to meet the tenth prince?"

Yuan Xi Zheng smiled and said: "Mother, the tenth prince is just an idle emperor, I don't need to go, let's give some opportunities to uncles and brothers!"

The original mother was furious, and said: "Nonsense, you useless child!" She said, entangled Yuan Xizheng's arms and hurried away.

At this moment, Yuan Da was watching the cavalry coming from afar. The one in the golden four-clawed dragon suit is naturally the current Tenth Prince Liang Wang Chuyin, and the handsome man next to him in the maroon tight-fitting arrow suit must be The second prince of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Li Yan.He immediately led a group of people to greet him devoutly and knelt down to pick up the Tenth Prince Chu Yin.

Seeing him kneeling, Chu Yin hurriedly got off his horse to help him, and said: "Uncle Yuan must not do this, the Yuan family once had a concubine, so Uncle Yuan can be regarded as Chu Yin's elder, such customary etiquette is exempted." Bar."

He spoke politely, but Yuan Da knew that the daughter of the Yuan clan had only become a beauty, and fell out of favor within a few months, so she couldn't even talk about the title of empress.But when Chu Yin said this, he imperceptibly raised the dignity of the Yuan family. Although Yuan Da didn't know why the King of Liang praised the Yuan family so much, he was grateful to Chu Yin for this and repeatedly invited them into the house.

But Chu Yin said with a smile: "I'm only here to accompany the second prince of the Northern Qi Dynasty to go sightseeing. The second prince likes folk customs. Hearing that the original village has a history of 500 years, he yearns for it, so we don't sit in the house anymore. How about Walk around!"

He said that there was no reason for Yuan Da to walk around. Naturally, a large crowd of cheering people followed and led them forward.

Li Yan asked many questions along the way, and Yuan Da was surprised that the prince of the Northern Kingdom was extremely proficient in the culture of the Southern Dynasty. He really couldn't tell that he was a prince who grew up in the barracks.Li Yan walked all the way, and saw that although the original village was old, its exquisite buildings could still be seen, such as the embossed brick heads, the foundation stones of the pillars, and even the horse-bolt pillars and drum-holding stones in front of the gate (Note 6). They are all exquisitely carved stone carvings, vivid and vivid, just like crafts.

Li Yan stood in front of a drum-holding stone, carefully watching its appearance and stroking its texture.Although Chu Yinyuan Da did not understand why Li Yan liked to look at these ordinary buildings, he could only wait patiently.Unfortunately, they suddenly heard a series of ramblings, saying: "Ziqing, you have to behave better today, don't waste your father's painstaking efforts! Didn't you follow Mr. Gongsun to learn to be the prince's teacher?" How come the opportunity really came, but you refused to see the prince, if you can help the tenth prince become the prince, it would be a great contribution... It will not be in vain for the hard work of the mother for many years." She said the last four words like A little choked up.

Then I heard a person laughing helplessly and said: "Mother, these ten emperors and mothers are expensive but not powerful, and they are full of favors but not in the emperor's heart. It is better for him to be an idle prince. Why do you want to drag others into the water?" " The man's voice is so clear that it makes people feel crisp, but the words are tired, which makes up for the immaturity of that moment, and I only feel that this man's voice is very comfortable. Extremely cool but not hard, soft but not greasy.

Yuan Da's face almost turned green, and the two suddenly rushed in front of a group of people.I saw that Yuan Mu was still holding Yuan Xizheng with one hand, but her face was pale and full of confusion, it was unbearable to watch.

Yuan Da swallowed his breath and said in a deep voice, "Still not retreating!"

Li Yan turned his face to see Yuan Xizheng, and his pupils shrank involuntarily.Chu Yin also looked at Yuan Xizheng, and felt that the person in front of him had long hair and white clothes, and his eyes were flowing. Although he didn't say a word, he was full of flair, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but move slightly.Hearing Yuan Xizheng's comment on his situation in a dozen words just now was not as shocking as seeing Yuan Xizheng's first face.

Yuan Da is also an old Jianghu, he quickly suppressed the slight embarrassment just now, he said with a smile: "This is my nephew Yuan Xizheng, named Ziqing, who used to be with Mr. Gongsun Yan."

Chu Yin smiled and said, "Ziqing from the original family is famous all over the world, how could this king not know about it, and I have always regretted not having the chance to meet each other."

Chu Yin's words were actually very reserved. He had invited Yuan Xizheng to Yuan Xizheng in various names over and over again, but what was surprising was that as a young chess player, Yuan Xizheng's invitation to him, the prince He evaded again and again, saying that there was no chance, but that Yuan Xizheng had been unwilling to meet this Liang Wang face to face.

"It's just that I have a few vain names, and I'm very young and frivolous." Yuan Da said a few words modestly, then turned to call Yuan Xi and said, "Come here soon to pay homage to King Liang."

Yuan Xizheng had no choice but to come forward, just bent his legs, but was supported by Chu Yin, and said: "Sir, please get up! In the future, there will be many things to ask for advice from you. You must not be polite."

With such a support, Yuan Xizheng's delicate eyebrows couldn't help but frown slightly, and instinctively wanted to pull his arms out of his hands, and said in his mouth: "Etiquette cannot be dismissed, and I invite the prince to be accepted by the little people." Give me a salute." Yuan Xizheng pressed down hard, but Chu Yin's hand was very strong, and she only heard Chu Yin pleadingly: "Sir..."

Yuan Xi Zhenglue raised her head, but seeing Chu Yin's eyes pleading, she couldn't help feeling soft in her heart, and as soon as she let go of her strength, Chu Yin helped her up.

Li Yan watched this scene playfully, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, but didn't say a word.

Yuan Da said again: "This is His Highness the Second Highness of the Northern Kingdom, and I haven't come here to see the honored guest."

Li Yan and Yuan Xizheng's eyes met, and Yuan Xizheng saw that Li Yan's eyes seemed to be smiling but not smiling, holding his buttocks as if he was waiting for Yuan Xizheng's big gift.Unexpectedly, Yuan Xizheng smiled slightly, just clasped his fists together and said: "As a landlord, Ziqing naturally welcomes distinguished guests."

Yuan Da's complexion changed, and he said, "I don't understand etiquette, so I don't know how to kneel down to salute the Second Highness."

Yuan Xizheng said indifferently: "Uncle, this statement is wrong. Dare I ask where the second prince is from?"

Yuan Da saw that Chu Yin didn't have an attack, but instead smiled and said nothing, so he could only hold back his breath and said, "Didn't I make it very clear just now that he is the second prince of the Northern Kingdom, and he is the honored guest of the Holy Majesty!"

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Uncle, I don't understand very well. Since the Second Highness is a distinguished guest from another country, he has no friendship with me as a monarch and a minister. How can I behave like a monarch and a minister. Since he is a guest, I will naturally honor the friendship of a landlord. Good hospitality."

Yuan Jin knew very well that the current sage was afraid that the Northern Qi would go to war again, so he flattered Li Yan in every possible way, but he didn't expect that Yuan Xizheng would turn out to be a series of confrontations, which made his face turn green from fright, so he turned to Li Yan and said, "Young Master Ziqing, please Your Highness, please don't be offended!" Li Yan raised his hand, and said in a graceful manner: "Yuan Xizheng, don't you kneel only to the king?"

Yuan Xi contended: "Go back to Second Highness, Yuan Xi will kneel down to heaven and earth, and kneel down to your master and master."

"Okay!" Li Yan said with a smile: "Confucius said, three people must have my teacher! Among the three, you need to kneel."

Yuan Xizheng looked up and saw Li Yan's provocative eyes, and said with a smile: "Then it depends on whether someone can call me a teacher." Yuan Jin said repeatedly: "Arrogance, arrogance, everyone here It's your elders, and distinguished guests, which one can't give you advice?"

However, Li Yan raised his eyebrows a little, ignored Yuan Da, and just smiled: "Ziqing, where did the mythical beast on the drum-holding stone come from?"

Yuan Xizheng glanced at it indifferently, and said: "This is Pixiu, the dragon has nine sons, and one of them is Pixiu."

Li Yan laughed and said, "Why don't we ask and answer each other with Pixiu, and whoever loses will salute the other party. How about playing a game?"

Before Yuan Xizheng answered, Yuan Dan had already smiled and said: "Since the prince has the heart to play, Ziqing will naturally accompany him!"

Li Yan immediately said, "What is a pixiu and what is a pixiu?"

Yuan Xizheng had no choice but to answer, saying: "The male name is 'Pixiu' and the female name is 'Xiu'. May I ask the Second Prince what other names Pixiu has?"

Li Yan smiled and said: "It is recorded in the "Book of Han" that Wugeshan Liguo owns peaches, lions, and urine cattle. Deer, the one with two horns is called to ward off evil spirits. To ward off evil spirits is Pixiu, so Pixiu is also called to ward off evil spirits. I want to ask Ziqing, what does Pixiu look like?"

Yuan Xi contended: "Xu Ke's "Qing Barnyard Banknotes" records that Pixiu (Note 7) is shaped like a tiger, or like a bear, and its fur is gray and white."

"You're right!" Li Yan said with a smile, "It has physical characteristics, which is the important reason why it is squatting in front of everyone's door today!"

Note 5: Zishi and Chenshi belong to water, and Chenshi is Xiaolong.

Note 6: Baogushi is the stone pier of the ancient people's house, round, with a four-dimensional animal lying on it.

Note 7: Xu Ke is actually from the Qing Dynasty.