"Green ants' new fermented wine, small red clay stove.
It's snowing tonight, can you have a drink?"
It was late winter, and Siming Mountain was covered with snow.
And at the foot of the mountain, in a small wine shop next to the official road, an old man in sackcloth was sitting in front of the fire in the courtyard, shaking his head and reciting poetry.
There were several young scribes with him, and they gathered around a fire made of wood.
The flames were blazing and making a crackling sound. There was a pitch black jar with boiling water inside, and a large pot of shochu was being warmed.
"Old man Hua, you are using other people's poems to make up for your mistakes. You have read books all your life, but you have never been able to write a decent poem yourself. Are you ashamed of yourself?" One of the young scholars said with a sneer.
As soon as this statement came out, everyone agreed. Old Man Hua's face turned red, but he refused to accept it and said:
"You brat, what do you know? What I call appreciating literary talents, how many young talents are eager to be appreciated by me! But they say that Zhang Xiucai from the village, if I hadn't tried my best to guarantee him, how could he have passed the provincial examination? How could he have achieved fame now?
,Returning home in fine clothes?"
"Old poor man, you can handle it!"
Another young scribe said: "How many years have you been telling you about this bad thing in your life? A few years ago, Master Zhang rewarded you with a table of delicacies, and said that from then on, all the past kindnesses were gone.
Pay it off so that you can stop talking nonsense?"
Old Man Hua was aroused by his words, and his face was quite angry. He wanted to say something more, but suddenly he saw a white light flashing in the distance.
The white stream of light passed through the air, flying towards the wine shop from far to near. Only when it was not far away did it become clear that there was actually a whisk in the white light, and there were two people standing on the whisk.
Old Man Hua's pupils were dilated, with an incredible look on his face, and he shouted: "Look, there is someone flying in the sky!"
Everyone was sitting around the fire, but when they heard Old Man Hua yelling, they all turned their heads and looked back.
I could see heavy snowfall in the air, but there was no trace of a human figure. There were two people on the path, wearing coir raincoats and bamboo hats, one behind the other, walking in the snow, meandering towards the wine shop.
"Old poor man, you are old and your eyesight is not good enough?" a young scribe laughed.
"That's right! A visitor from outside the world? Have you seen me, Zi Qi Dong Lai?"
Everyone laughed together, but Old Man Hua rubbed his eyes and looked towards the path again.
"It's strange. I just saw a whisk in the sky, and suddenly there was a gust of wind, which blinded my eyes. When I looked at it again, it was gone. Could it be that my eyes are really dim and I'm hallucinating?" Old Man Hua thought to himself.
However, before he could think about it, a young scholar next to him took his arm and said:
"Stop, stop, it's rare to get together outside to drink today, old slick guy, you have to give us a good talk!"
Old Man Hua retracted his gaze, glanced at the person in front of him, seemed to be interested again, smiled slightly and said:
"Okay! Let's start today with the last emperor of the previous dynasty, Emperor Xian. It is said that although Emperor Xian was incompetent in governing the country, his character and literary talent were outstanding. He liked to play games, recite poems and write poems, and even supported the skilled craftsmen of the time to create world-famous works.
Twelve copper coins, known as 'Tianbao Copper Coins' in history."
Just as spittle flew from his mouth, the two men in raincoats in the distance had already arrived in front of the restaurant. The two people passed by the courtyard and without stopping, opened the door and walked directly into the restaurant.
There was little business in the wine shop, and no one was drinking here at this time. When the shopkeeper saw a customer coming, he immediately ran over with a smile on his face.
"Two distinguished guests, do you want to stay at the hotel or at the hotel?"
"Bring two pots of soju to warm your stomach!" one of them said.
"Okay! Here are two pots of fine soju!"
The shopkeeper shouted loudly into the inner hall, wiped a table and chairs in the middle of the hall clean, and led the two of them to sit down here.
The two men took off their raincoats, took off their bamboo hats and put them aside. Only then did they reveal their appearance. They turned out to be an old man and a young man.
The old man was wearing a soap robe, with a whisk hanging from his waist, and looked like a Taoist priest. The other man was a young man of sixteen or seventeen years old, with a handsome face, but his brows were dusty and he looked a little tired.
The two people sat down at the table. After a while, the shopkeeper brought a pot of shochu and filled it up for the two of them very diligently. The old man didn't say anything, raised the big bowl and took a sip, seeming to enjoy it very much.
The young man on the side frowned slightly when he saw that the old man closed his eyes and said nothing, just drinking. He could only pick up the big bowl and take a sip.
"Ahem!"
The soju was very spicy when it entered his throat, causing him to cough several times.
Almost at the same time, the door of the wine shop was pushed open again. The young man looked up and saw two people standing at the door.
Walking in front was a scholar in brocade robes. This man had a white face, no beard, and a slender figure. Although he was extremely handsome, his lips were slightly white, and his eyes revealed a sickly look, as if he had been suffering from a long-term illness.
Behind the scholar was a girl in blue. This girl had two pigtails, a face with oval seeds, red eyes, and a beauty mark under her left cheek. Although she was young, only sixteen or seventeen years old, she was still a beautiful woman.
She was carrying a huge bamboo basket behind her back at the moment, which was filled with various books and bamboo slips. She was also carrying a large wine jar in her right hand. She looked more like a scholar's book boy.
It's just that so many heavy objects were actually placed on such a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, which would make anyone feel distressed. But the scholar didn't take it seriously at all, as if he had long been accustomed to it.
After the scholar entered the door, he glanced at Lao Dao's table and paused briefly on the young man next to him, with a smile on his face.
He picked a table and sat down on his own, and the wine shop owner had already greeted him with a smile.
"Sir, what kind of wine would you like? Our soju is famous far and wide and is one of the best! In addition, we also have Ner Hong that has been collected for 18 years. It has a first-class taste. Don't miss it!"
"I only drink the wine I brought with me." The scholar was unmoved. He pointed at the wine jar in the girl's hand and said, "Just bring me two big bowls and some side dishes."
"okay!"
The shopkeeper responded and hurried to the inner hall to give orders.
"But he said that Emperor Xian, although he was talented in literature, was nothing but a loser in the way of governing the country!" At this time, in the courtyard outside the wine shop, Old Man Hua seemed to be talking about the topic, and his voice rose a little higher.
"He allowed treacherous ministers to rule and brought trouble to the government. Not only did he do nothing, but he prayed to immortals and worshiped Buddha every day, advocating the illusory way of immortality. In the end, he actually sent several of his princes and grandsons into the mountains and forests to worship those wandering people.
It is absolutely ridiculous to have a Taoist priest as a teacher!"
"Later, Zhao Gaozu led his troops to attack the capital. Emperor Xian was still drunk in the palace. Zhao Gaozu kicked over the dragon table and dragon chair, trampled it on the ground, and chopped off the head of this foolish emperor with a knife. So far, it has been a long time.
The 20-year Emperor Xian Rebellion has just come to an end, ushering in the glorious rule of Zhao Gaozu, the founding ancestor of the Zhao Kingdom. Let me tell you, this foolish king died well, he died... ah!"
Old Hua, the storyteller outside the door, suddenly screamed and couldn't utter a single word anymore, because there was a bamboo chopstick stuck in his throat and blood was pouring out.
"Killing people!"
Several scribes in the courtyard shouted in panic, and then fled in all directions.
The fire that was bustling just now was empty in the blink of an eye, leaving only a cold corpse and a pot of shochu warming on the fire.
"Once you practice Taoism and enter the immortal gate, you will be separated from the world from now on. The Tang Dynasty of the past no longer exists, and you are no longer a secular royal family, so why should you care about the jokes of these secular mortals? You think so, Yun
Kyoshi."
The person who spoke was the sickly scholar, and what he was looking at was the old man in soap robe at the other table.
Shockingly, there was only one chopstick left in front of the Taoist table, and the other one was missing.