Chapter 81

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Following the long street of Zhongqu and arriving at the plum blossom forest that he had visited before, Zhou Jun had already guessed who the person Xie Qin was talking about was.

Ruo'e was writing in the hall when she saw Jingqin and Zhou Jun walking together. After being stunned for a moment, she said, "Those who work hard always have to work hard. What happened this time?"

Xie Qin smiled and said: "What nonsense you say, but this time it is a good thing."

Ruo'e put down her pen: "Tell me and listen."

Xie Qin glanced at the messy desk, frowned and said, "Let's clean up this stall first, so as not to stain the script."

Ruo'e asked curiously: "Script?"

Xie Qin: "I know you like opera, so this book will make you amazed."

Ruo'e didn't believe it: "Let's talk big words."

After saying this, Ruo'e still called her maid and cleared the table.

Xie Qin took out "The Romance of the West Chamber" and placed it on the desk.

Ruo'e looked at it and asked: "Three volumes? Are they miscellaneous records? Or are they anecdotes?"

Xie Qin: "None of them, you will know after seeing it."

Ruo'e opened the first volume, flipped through two pages at random, and soon became addicted to it, unable to extricate herself.

Xie Qin simply came over and looked at it with Ruo'e, thinking it was a second brush.

The two girls were sitting at the desk, reading and discussing the plot and poems of The West Chamber, completely forgetting that there was another guest in the hall.

When Zhou Jun saw this, he was quite dumbfounded.

Seeing that the two girls were forgetful, Zhou Jun could only look around in the hall.

The hanging scrolls on the wall are all in Ruo'e's handwriting, including poems, paintings, and texts.

There is a poem that says:

I have seen young peaches miss the beauty of jade, and willows recognized by the wind.

When the pearl returns to the dragon's cave, you know who will see it; when the mirror is on the Luan Terrace, you will tell who you are talking to.

From then on, I dreamed of sad misty rainy nights, and could not bear to lament the lonely times.

The sun sets on the west mountain and the moon rises on the east mountain. I wish I had a date for no reason.

There is another painting, but what is painted is the stars and moon covering the clouds, the clouds spreading over the sky, the solitary raindrops flowing over the river, and the lights fading away.

Zhou Jun was amazed as he watched.

Although this Hanxiao layman was a prostitute in the city, in terms of talents, he was no less talented than those famous poets, calligraphers and painters in history.

Such a woman was unknown in Pingkangfang, but not even a single poem or painting of hers was preserved in later generations.

While Zhou Jun was thinking about it, Xie Qin and Ruo'e were watching Romance of the West Chamber in the hall and had doubts.

Just listen to Ruo'e say: "This Cui Yingying is the daughter of a wealthy family. When I first met Zhang Sheng, instead of making some insinuations, she seemed like an old acquaintance whom I hadn't seen for many years. Isn't it strange that we are so familiar with him?"

After hearing this, Xie Qin asked: "What do you think it should be?"

Ruo'e: "In my opinion, there should be an additional discount here. When Zhang Sheng met Cui Yingying, he first went to the temple to ask the abbot. Although Cui Yingying meant it, she should be reserved."

Xie Qin thought for a while, nodded and said, "That sounds reasonable."

Ruo'e directly took the chicken-slip pen and began to add notes in the blank space of the play, which shocked Xie Qin.

Before Jie Qin could dissuade her, Ruo'e pointed to the poem in the article and said, "It doesn't make sense. This poem looks like the beautiful clouds, but it looks more like it was written by a woman. How could it come from Cui Yingying?"

Zhou Jun stood aside and took a look. What Ruo'e said was indeed true. The poem that was originally used as a line was written by Nie Hongluan and was indeed written by a woman.

Ruo'e bit the tip of her pen and thought about it for no more than a few breaths, then suddenly smiled and said: "Yes."

Soon, a delicate and appropriate rhythmic poem was replaced.

Zhou Jun was surprised when he saw it.

However, in just ten seconds, Ruo'e composed a rhythmic poem that can be called a masterpiece. How much literary talent does it take to do this?

Ruo'e read a few more lines and frowned again when she saw the matchmaker's singing line in the article.

After picking up a tune, Ruo'e sang the tune exactly as it was.

Perhaps feeling that it was not perfect enough, Ruo'e changed the tone four more times, interpreting the possibilities of that line to the fullest.

Finally, Ruo'e crossed out the original tune of the singing line with a pen and said: "It is more appropriate to select the tune here."

In this way, Xie Qin and Ruo'e read and revised at the same time.

More than an hour has passed, and the first volume of The West Chamber has not yet been revised.

Zhou Jun turned around and looked at the sun outside the door, and saw that the two women were busy and enjoying themselves. Although he couldn't bear to disturb him, he still reminded him: "It's getting late... How about changing the rest tomorrow?"

Ruo'e raised her head, glanced at Zhou Jun, and said: "One burst of momentum will weaken again, and three times it will be exhausted. The same goes for writing. Just wait."

Zhou Jun had no choice but to sit back. He didn't mean to feel discouraged, but Chang'an City would be under curfew in a while.

If this continues, he may be trapped in Beili Zhongqu tonight.

Seeing that Qin and Ruo'e had completely forgotten the time, Zhou Jun simply stopped reminding them and just sat down and waited quietly.

After more than half an hour, the sun was setting outside the door and the stars were beginning to appear.

A maid came in and asked, "When will dinner be available?"

Only then did Xie Qin react.

She raised her head and looked out the door. She couldn't help covering her mouth and exclaimed: "Is it so late?"

Looking at Zhou Jun again, Xie Qin opened her eyes wide and said, "Oh no!"

Zhou Jun knew that she finally realized it, so he just asked with a wry smile: "Is there an inn in Pingkangfang?"

Xie Qin shook his head and said: "There are patrols in Pingkangfang, who need to check the records at night. Zhou Lingshi is wearing an official robe, I'm afraid it will be inconvenient."

Zhou Jun had no choice but to look at Ruo'e with Xie Qin.

The latter was stunned for a moment and said coldly: "Look what I'm doing, men won't stay here."

Jie Qin thought about it, and finally bit his lip and said, "Zhou Lingshi, why don't you go to your old home? Let me talk to my fake mother and find a side room to live in."

Zhou Jun hesitated: "Would it bother me to understand Douzhi?"

Xie Qin shook his head and said, "No, Zhou Lingshi lives in the front yard, and I live in the backyard."

Zhou Jun thought for a moment and then agreed.

Following Xie Qin, Zhou Jun left Ruo'e's house and headed towards his former residence.

On the way, Zhou Jun asked: "Who is this fake mother who knows everything about her?"

Xie Qin: "Zhou Lingshi has seen it before, but I'm afraid he has forgotten it."

Zhou Jun: "See you?"

Xie Qin: "When the schedule manager first arrived with you, the woman he saw in the courtyard was my false mother."

Zhou Jun was stunned. He originally thought that the woman he saw that day was a servant, or someone like a concierge, but he didn't expect that she was actually the fake mother from her former residence.

Seeing the confusion on Zhou Jun's face, Xie Qin said: "The fake mother also raised a lot of girls back then. Over the past many years, more than half of them have left her."

"Now, I am the pillar in the hands of my fake mother. She just follows me every day, but she is afraid that I will fly away too."

Zhou Jun listened with emotion.

After hesitating for a long time, Zhou Jun finally asked her: "Don't you hate Jiedu Zhi...?"

Xie Qin stopped when he heard this, with a sad look on his face, and whispered: "Hate? I'm afraid it's hate."

"But I hate it too much, but I don't know how to deal with it."

"The human heart is inherently empty. If there is a little care, no matter how little, it always feels good."

The two of them were speechless all the way.

Entering the backyard of Gu Ran's residence, he played his qin and called his maid, and opened the middle door.

Zhou Jun went out from the middle door and reached the front yard, only to find that there were several small buildings outside, and there was a cave.

Inside the building there was the sound of harps and zithers, and the sound of men and women cheering.

Zhou Jun looked back again, but the middle door had been closed, and there was no trace of Jie Douzhi anymore.


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