When spring turns to summer solstice, and the weather gets warmer in April, the busy farming season begins outside Jiangning City. If you are there, the whole world feels full of vitality. For people of this age, summer and autumn are
Season is probably the best time to live, there is no softness of spring, no coldness of winter, the sun is shining, white clouds are like catkins, everything is so bright that it makes people feel relaxed and happy.
The Su family is also busy. The first batch of spring silk has already been released. This silk is the heaviest batch of the year. The Su family's small workshops scattered around are already in full swing. Although ordinary people are not very particular.
, but things like new goods being put on the shelves and old goods being diverted still need to be done. Su Tan'er continues to be busy since the beginning of spring, often working until very late at night. Every few nights, she feels a little freer and sees Ning Yi opposite.
Upstairs on the second floor, she quietly went there to chat and eat some fruit snacks - she usually didn't eat these - sometimes she wanted to say something, but Ning Yi was not there, and she felt a little disappointed.
As the new year comes, she also notices some things. Sometimes she will be busy thinking about the next step based on the news from various places, or sorting out some accounts, and dealing with problems from some places. Myolie will
I came in to give her a cup of tea. Chan'er Juan'er played backgammon outside and sometimes took a nap. But even though it was very late, the lights in her bedroom and living room were on, and there was a window in the small building opposite.
The light was always on, and Li Heng would read and write there. If she left and Xiao Chan went to sleep, the light would be turned off quietly.
At first she thought it was a coincidence, but later she paid special attention to confirm the matter. Some days she finished her work and stayed late on purpose, then blew out the lamp. Soon after, the figure over there was also printed on the window.
Before, blow out the oil lamp.
She realized that she did not say it out loud, nor did she think about why the other party did this. Some things did not need to be said or asked. From then on, every time when she was about to sleep, she used to look at the opposite side. In the dark, she could see the light on the opposite side.
After putting it out, I went to bed to rest. I felt warm.
For Ning Yi, it may be just a casual thing. He no longer intends to get involved in many troubles, and he has no ambitions - of course, except for becoming the number one master in martial arts - but with his temperament, everyone
Since they lived together in the same courtyard, he was allowed to watch a girl who had a shadow of his past working late into the night every night while he slept peacefully at will. After all, he still felt a little helpless. He watched the lights across the street go out before he fell asleep.
, it was just a random act directed at him. As for what happened to Su Tan'er, that was her business, and he had no intention of dissuading her.
Summer is coming, and Mr. Qin has also begun to set up a chess stall. Sometimes he plays chess with this kind of people. They are all older than Ning Yi, who is 21 this year. There are several famous people.
Of course, there are more ordinary chess lovers who are not as famous. Ning Yi had already met several of them last year. This year, I came over and asked him if he was the talented person who wrote about Shui Diao Ge Tou and the Sapphire Case. Ning Yi only smiled and nodded.
The relationship with Li Pin has become a lot closer. After class at noon, we will occasionally go to a restaurant to have something to eat. The main reason is because after all, I still owe him a favor regarding the preserved eggs - even though there was the Gu Yanzhen incident later.
, but it’s not his fault after all.
Li Pin is a very sensible person. Over the past few months, Ning Yi has generally understood this person's character and experience. In the early years, he also went to Beijing to take the exam and won the Jinshi. However, because his policy was too radical, he offended a certain person.
A senior member of the staff could not make up for the real vacancy, so he returned to Jiangning. Although he looked modest, he would probably still be an angry young man a thousand years later. He would not talk about it when chatting, but when it came to learning, some thoughts could not be concealed.
, clear at a glance.
To put it simply, this guy comes from a well-off family, is proficient in Confucianism, arithmetic, and is somewhat proficient in the art of archery. He is a gentleman and knows all six arts. He is already very good in this era. He treats people well and responds appropriately. But because he thinks too much, he basically
People who hate rotten Confucianism and like to work hard but do not deviate from the Dao. They want to establish a life for the world and the people. They want to be a saint and carry on the unique knowledge to create peace for all generations. However, the path is cut off for a while. An ordinary Confucian scholar offends a high-ranking official and may have to live with him for the rest of his life if he is not promoted.
Depressed, he had been depressed for a while, but now he cheered up, thinking about Confucianism, the Wu Dynasty, and the road ahead. He was considered a person who could afford to take things and let go. After all, he was still young.
If a few more decades pass, maybe he will become like another Qin Siyuan. Ning Yi appreciates smart people and doesn't like hanging around with other literati, but he can still have some conversation with Li Pin. Of course.
, the way to make friends is to avoid talking shallowly and deeply. Li Pin also has a sense of propriety. Now the two of them are relatively close colleagues in the academy. It is still early to say that they are good friends or confidants.
Of course, in fact, they are the only two younger teachers in Yushan Academy now. And because Li Pin came here, although there was not much publicity, the academy actually admitted more than a dozen more students in the first half of this year...
…This is beside the point.
Time gradually passed, and it was already a year since Ning Yi arrived in Jiangning. If you think about it, he didn't experience much in this year. He just copied two poems and became famous.
I got to know some people, got to know each other well, and I have somewhat adapted to this era. Today's life is still leisurely. Occasionally I hear discussions about the friction between Jin and Liao in the north, and occasionally I hear some merchants and escorts talk about the unsafe roads in other places and the bandits occupying the mountains everywhere.
As the king, there are several relatively large groups of news that the imperial court is currently encircling and suppressing. The news of rebellion is not widely spread, and it sounds a little unrealistic in Jiangning, which is now prosperous.
By the end of April, when the seedlings were planted, the festive atmosphere quietly rose inside and outside Jiangning. It didn’t feel like a Chinese New Year, mainly because the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching. In addition to the Qinhuai Dragon Boat Race on the fifth day of May, there was also another continuing
The six-day event will be held during the Dragon Boat Festival. The brothels in Jiangning area will take advantage of this period to hold an event to compete to choose the oiran.
If Jiangning’s annual festival poetry festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Lantern Festival are generally carnivals for talented people, the oiran final election in early May should be a grand event for beauties. Of course, most of the ladies are already married.
The real "beauties" are often not very happy these days, which may be something worth pondering. But there is no need to criticize. In this era, the fashion is like this. There are stories involving scandals, and most of them will only be ignored by others.
Think of it as elegant, not dirty.
As one of the most elegant events every year, just like the carnival of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Lantern Festival, there is actually support from the government behind it. There is no distinction between poetry and talent. The smoke of gunfire among the talents is not strong, but more about literature.
There is no free will to be the first, so the government only needs to maintain basic order, but this time it is a real competition. To determine the top four leaders, and then to determine the oiran, a judge who is as fair as possible is needed.
This relatively fair judgment is actually carried out by the government to prevent cheating and a lot of nonsense.
The rules of the entire competition are actually quite simple. After all, oirans are out to make money, so long as they can attract people to spend money to support them. But if you talk about it in detail, there is a complicated side. In six days, the brothels in Jiangning were almost
You can welcome guests freely, cancel many drinks fees, or let the girls from your courtyard perform on the prepared terrace. If you like it, buy flowers and send them there. These flowers are proof of popularity.
During this period, there were actually many hype techniques, such as how to arouse the emotions of the spectators, how to set off the warm atmosphere of the oiran selection, how to add elements of elegance to improve the girls' worth, such as asking talented people to write poems to praise them.
And so on... In short, it all depends on the methods of each brothel.
Ten miles from Jiangning to Qinhuai, there are about 60 to 70 brothels of various sizes in the city. The first three days are actually just the beginning, heating up the atmosphere. At this time, each brothel will have a tacit understanding of continuous publicity, but the most popular one on the stage is
Those who do the hard work are actually those women who are not very famous in ordinary times. Some of them are just performing arts, and some are performing arts and selling themselves. Whether they have a foundation or not, they can always gain a lot of popularity by relying on their performances in the past few days.
She will also remember the customers who have supported her in the past few days. The people who patronize feel that they do not have much literary talent or money, and are unlikely to be favored by famous women, so they will naturally choose these women, such as the Su family
Although the cousins in the brothel think that they are talented and romantic all day long, and most of them talk about people like Lu Caicai and Yuan Jin'er, in fact, their lovers in the brothel are naturally less famous women. They have been hanging out in the past few days.
Su Tan'er was more diligent in extorting money, probably because she could come to support her in the past few days and show her face for the woman she liked.
Then the next three days will be the highlight. Although it will be the same as the first three days during the day, a large party will be held near Bailuzhou in the evening. The prefect and many celebrities will also be present to participate in this elegant event.
According to the results of the first three days, basically each brothel will have one or two places. On the night of the third day of the Lunar New Year, a total of more than a hundred women performed here, and sixteen of them were selected. On the fourth night of the Lunar New Year, sixteen girls were selected.
The four heads of the line, the fifth night of the Lunar New Year, are the days when the oiran is born. Most of the people who can come to participate in the event during these three nights are wealthy people, and the oiran is naturally born with their support.
"...The selection of oiran is handled by the Jiangning government every year. The bouquets are also prepared by the government. The so-called sending flowers is just to make money. In the past few years, some people even gave away tens of thousands of flowers. Oh, how can there be ten thousand bouquets?
Give them to him... But these things are done beautifully. They can't do this just by relying on the brothels. They can only get lively through the government. The government levies 20% of the money spent to buy flowers, and the monthly profits and taxes are still calculated. These two
Success comes out of thin air, and this amount of money is a lot every year..."
On the banks of the Qinhuai River, Ning Yi and Li Pin were coming down from the restaurant at noon. Li Pin was also smiling and talking to Ning Yi about the oiran selection that has been a hot topic recently. Today is April 30th, the first day of the oiran competition.
It has already begun. Many brothels in Jiangning City are very grand. The sound of silk and bamboo can be heard in the distance. A painting boat is slowly sailing on the river, with colorful silk fluttering. A small boat is propped along the bank of the Qinhuai River. On the small boat, in addition to
The boatman unexpectedly saw a beautifully dressed woman who suddenly waved to this side and said, "Mr. Li, Mr. Li..." but she recognized Li Pin.
"It's hot at noon. If you two gentlemen have nothing to do, would you like to go to the boat to have a cup of tea and rest for a while?"
Ning Yi looked at Li Pin strangely. Li Pin looked at his expression, but smiled, and rejected the girl on the boat. After the girl said a few words, she finally stopped pushing. When they were farther away, Ning Yi
Yi smiled and said: "Haha, Brother Li has a wide circle of friends."
"I've been there before, so she remembered it." Li Pin smiled a little proudly, "If Liheng was interested just now, we would go up and sit down, and the other party would have to greet him respectfully. There is no need to spend money. If you can write
I wrote a poem praising a certain girl, and there was even a gift of a polished pen there. A more famous talent would be willing to recommend himself as a pillow..."
"With Brother Li's reputation, I guess there must be a lot of people recommending themselves, right?"
"It is true. But if Li Heng is willing to tell his name and enter the room, it is simple. Haha, I'm afraid not many women can refuse. Since the New Year's Eve, I have also had an affair with that girl Qilan.
We met several times, and she cared deeply about Li Heng. I think if Li Heng was willing to compose a poem for her, even a kiss would be possible, haha."
In the past, Li Pin and Ning Yi didn't often talk about this, but now they started talking and laughing. The poems of talented people are famous for beautiful women, and beautiful women can't do without talented people. The annual Oiran Convention is naturally indispensable.
With many poems, with Li Pin's status, if he writes a poem praising a woman, it will immediately increase her status. Last year's top four were Qilan, Lu Caicai, Yuan Jin'er and Cheng Huaoi.
Feng Xiaojing, it is said that Li Pin was one of the talented people who stood by Feng Xiaojing and cheered for her.
"Speaking of it, it's actually a battle of spirits." Li Pin shook his head and smiled, "On the New Year's Eve of the previous year, and the New Year's Day last year, the Zhishui Poetry Society and the Lichuan Poetry Society were indistinguishable, and the two sides got a little angry. At that time, Cao Guan
He made a big splash and became the leader of all the talents in Zhishui. He wrote two poems for Yuan Jin'er. The rest of Zhishui also sided with Yuan Jin'er, so...hehe, a bunch of people from Lichuan chose
Feng Xiaojing. At that time, the girl Qilan supported by the Wu family was actually the strongest, but the Wu family was a businessman and wanted to keep a low profile, so they did not spend money randomly. In the end, Xiaojing got the upper hand. This is really strange...
It won't be like this this year. The main reason is that Li Heng came out of nowhere. Now everyone's hearts are empty. I'm afraid there is no dispute. But it's hard to say. If Li Heng also has someone he likes, haha, maybe everyone will attack in groups.
Of……"
Ning Yi doesn't visit brothels on weekdays and doesn't socialize much. Li Pin also knows this clearly. After saying this, he smiled and said, "Does Li Heng have any plans these days?"
"Go to Bailuzhou to watch the performance on the evening of the third day of the third year of junior high school."
"Brother and sister, allow you to go? Then you have to plan carefully..." Li Pin said narrowly. In fact, he is now teaching at Yushan Academy. In a sense, he can almost be regarded as a guest of the Su family. The Su family also
He invited him to have dinner several times, and met both Mrs. Su and Su Tan'er. Su Tan'er occasionally went to the academy. He knew that Su Tan'er was not a bad woman. But sometimes, after all, women
It's a woman. The plan he was talking about at this time was to attend the banquet of a certain beauty after the performance. Generally speaking, for whichever woman you helped, there would naturally be a celebration banquet that night. The other party came out to thank her and gave an extra performance. Here
Many talented people were satisfied and wrote poems, which made them famous and made themselves famous.
After hearing what Li Pin said, Ning Yi smiled and shook his head: "I went with Tan'er."
Li Pin was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "That's right, everyone put in all their efforts in the performances in those few days, just to watch, it was quite good."
This time can be regarded as Jiang Ning's highest level of performance appreciation. A few days ago, when Ning Yi and Su Tan'er were chatting by the railing on the second floor, Su Tan'er said that she would make time to go and see Ning Yi. In fact, she also knew that,
Ning Yi also likes to join in this kind of excitement. It is a pity for Li Pin. He has wives and concubines at home, but he does not intend to take them there. The main reason is that the banquet afterwards is not just about getting close to beautiful women, but also making friends with some people.
Expanding contacts and gaining fame is his main purpose.
The two walked for a while and went in different directions at the intersection. Ning Yi had nothing to do and went home all the way. Su Tan'er and several maids had also come back. Chan'er Juan'er was chattering about the performances she saw on the road today and
After hearing about the things, I was looking forward to the spectacular performances on the third, fourth and fifth days of the lunar month. However, in the evening, a letter was delivered, and then two shopkeepers hurried into the house and stood in the yard next door.
After discussing it with Su Tan'er for a long time, when dinner was served, Su Tan'er apologized and said that she couldn't go to the show.
"Suddenly something urgent happened. I'm afraid I can't go with my husband. My husband and Xiao Chan should go together." Soon after, he smiled softly as if he were upstairs: "Wen Ding and Wen Fang also have dozens or even hundreds of taels.
, I gave my private money to Xiao Chan. If my husband sees a girl who performs well, just buy flowers and send them to her. If you send more, there will be a thank-you banquet in the evening... My husband has won the marriage of the girl's family.
After you have been married, you are not allowed to say that I am stingy..."
"Profiteer..." Sensing some of the other party's little schemes, Ning Yi sighed and laughed.
Su Tan'er smiled and wrinkled her nose: "Humph!"
She acted confident in front of Ning Yi, but there were some things that she couldn't help but think about. On the last night of April, when she returned to her room, Su Tan'er was actually a little melancholy. She looked at the bright light opposite
She stood in the lamp's room and thought quietly for a while. She still has the figure of a girl and the face of a girl. She has a unique maturity when thinking in daily life. When she frowns slightly, she often has an aura that she has cultivated over the years.
And steady. But this time is different. Although she is thinking and thinking, her expression is not that heavy. She is just like a girl, thinking about girlish things. Sometimes she sits at the table and holds her chin.
He stretched out his hand to flip through the pages of the book in boredom. In the light of the oil lamp, it was just a girl's troubles.
Then she called Xiao Chan in, smiled as usual and told her about watching the performance in the third grade of junior high school. She also took out some banknotes and put them outside. Regarding Juan'er and Xing'er not being able to go to the performance, the little girl seemed
I was a little frustrated, but of course I was happy to see it. After struggling for a long time, I finally said: "Miss, let me... let Juan'er go with my uncle instead. Sister Xing'er and I will accompany you to deal with the matters in the workshop... Juan'er wanted to
I’ve been watching it for a long time…”
"After finishing the matter on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, we can go and see it together on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year." Su Tan'er smiled, then reached out and touched Chan'er's cheek gently, looking at the little girl's pretty face, and then turned around
He turned his head and looked at the window on the other side of the yard. After thinking for a while, he took a deep breath and made a decision.
"Xiaochan, actually you like my uncle, right?"
There was no answer, and Xiaochan's body suddenly froze there. Then, her eyes turned in a panic and cute way, and her whole face turned red. For a moment, her whole body seemed to have shrunk...