Shi Xuan has been asking around in Chuzhou City these days. In addition to knowing that there is a famous monk temple on Tongxuan Mountain, he only knows that there are many wild beasts in the mountains. He often hears that people get lost in the mountains and are eaten by wild beasts. Specifically,
The information about the wild animals is quite varied. Some say they are wolves, some say they are wild dogs, some say they are tigers, and some even say they are a monster with two heads and a mouth full of fangs.
At this time, Shi Xuan heard the scholar mention Tongxuan Mountain, and with the idea of "one is stronger than the other", he stood by and observed the scholar, and listened to the scholar's soliloquy.
Ding Mingde thought about it for a moment, and since he had already started to drool over the cold steamed buns, he said to the steamed buns: "We will have something to eat when we arrive at Tongxuan Mountain tomorrow. Let's eat half of it now. Well, leave half for the road tomorrow. Tomorrow.
There will be chicken, duck and fish meat, there will be chicken, duck and fish meat tomorrow, Ding Mingde, you have to hold on!"
Picked up the steamed bun, carefully divided it into two halves, picked up one piece, closed his eyes, slowly put it into his mouth, and murmured to himself: "This is chicken, this is chicken." After taking a bite, it felt so cold that it was hard.
Incredibly, he quickly changed his words and said: "This is pork ribs, this is pork ribs..."
Although the cold steamed buns were hard and unpalatable, Ding Mingde still finished them in two or three times. He looked at the remaining half of the steamed buns eagerly and was embarrassed for a while. Until he saw that the waiter had come back, he gritted his teeth and blinked.
He closed his eyes, quickly wrapped it in oil paper, and then shook his head and said: "When heaven is about to entrust this man with a great responsibility, he must first strain his mind, work his muscles and bones, starve his body, starve his body, starve his body...
…When we arrived at Tongpu later, we took a rest immediately.”
The waiter came over with a road guide and said: "Sir, your road guide, please follow me to Tongpu."
After thinking about it, Shi Xuan stepped forward and interjected: "Brother, judging from your clothes, it seems that you are also a scholar studying abroad. Do you know your surname?" Shi Xuan came to get some information, and he was afraid that this person would look a bit pedantic.
Some scholars did not like Taoist priests, so they pretended to be scholars traveling abroad to greet them. As for Taoist robes, because the emperor respected Taoism, many scholars and scholars liked to wear Taoist robes.
Ding Mingde saw that Shi Xuan was wearing a Taoist robe, but he was very handsome. He looked like a man who had read books. He felt good in his heart. Although he remembered what his cousin said not to talk to strangers, he still replied cautiously: "My surname is Ding."
"My name is Mingde, I haven't been to school, I don't have a cousin, I don't know my brother's surname, but he is a scholar on a study tour?" I planned to say goodbye and go to Tongpu after casual greetings. My cousin said it well, be careful when going out.
I suffered a lot.
"My surname is Shi, with the Chinese character Xuan and Zi'ang. I am a native of Yecheng. After being selected as a scholar, I came to study in this place in the south where literary style flourished. I just saw you, Brother Ding, are elegant and extraordinary. You look like you have read a lot of poems and books.
He is a talented person, so he couldn't help but come over to chat." Shi Xuan randomly mentioned a famous northern city and found an ancient person's name for himself. Anyway, he was not afraid of the scholar looking it up. After today, I'm afraid it won't be the same in the future.
There will be a chance to meet again.
Hearing that Shi Xuan was already a scholar at such a young age, Ding Mingde obviously showed a mixture of admiration and inferiority complex. Then Shi Xuan's compliments made him secretly happy and said: "I don't dare to be a scholar. I have been studying for more than ten years. Although I always think highly of myself."
High, but the last time I went to the Tongsheng Examination, I was still a little behind. Unlike Brother Shi, you were selected as a scholar at such a young age. You are the real talent."
After a few words of greeting, Shi Xuan invited Ding Mingde to have dinner with him. When Ding Mingde heard the word "dinner", he could only hear the growling sound in his stomach, and the words of refusal came to his lips several times.
They were all eaten up by the hungry stomach, and the idea of saying goodbye and returning to Tongpu after a few small talk was completely forgotten. As for the advice given by my cousin not to associate with strangers, I completely forgot about it.
Seeing that Ding Mingde had no intention of refusing, Shi Xuan asked the waiter to take the two of them to a free table in a secluded corner, and ordered a few large fish and meat dishes. He was about to chat with Ding Mingde to get information, but suddenly he felt that someone was using underhanded tactics.
Staring at himself with a fierce gaze, even martial arts masters would not be able to sense the simple gaze. However, the monk Shi Xuan's senses are far more sensitive than ordinary people imagine, so he immediately noticed the gaze coming from Ding Mingde.
Then a man wearing a hat came into the store.
Seeing someone looking here, Shi Xuan was wary, but on the surface he remained calm and casually chatted with Ding Mingde about academic matters. Shi Xuan was in an era of knowledge explosion in his previous life, and he still had knowledge about ancient times.
With a certain understanding, in this society similar to ancient China, it is not a problem to simply say a few words. Of course, in-depth conversations will definitely reveal the truth, so Shi Xuan skillfully guided the conversation, talking less and asking more, allowing Ding Mingde to talk freely.
Although Shi Xuan didn't have deep knowledge of ancient literature, he could tell that Ding Mingde was very good at reading books. No wonder he hadn't passed the scholar examination yet.
After chatting for a while, the waiter served the dishes one after another. Seeing Ding Mingde's eyes almost flying into the dishes, Shi Xuan smiled and invited him to enjoy.
Ding Mingde was still thinking about the image at first, taking only a little at a time and swallowing slowly. However, after eating a delicacy he had not enjoyed for a long time, he began to eat too much, and the corners of his mouth were full of grease.
Shi Xuan took this opportunity and asked as if he mentioned it casually: "I wonder why Brother Ding came to Chuzhou City?"
Ding Mingde reacted for a while before he realized that Shi Xuan was asking himself. While chewing the chicken leg, he answered vaguely: "Brother Zi'ang, you don't know, I was born in a small rural place on the border of Chuzhou and Mingzhou.
My family has been poor since I was a child, and both my parents passed away a few years ago. There are only a few acres of thin farmland left at home, which makes it difficult for me to pay for my education." After swallowing a few mouthfuls of meat, he continued, "In addition, I have never entered school, and I can't.
Free from corvee, life was very poor, and I often had to ask for help from relatives. Some time ago, after my cousin came back from Chuzhou City, he came to me overnight and said that a big landowner from a village on Tongxuan Mountain here wanted to give money to his daughters.
I asked a teacher to teach some basic knowledge. Because I was teaching women in the mountains, no scholar with a good reputation wanted to go. My cousin happened to know the chief steward of this family and recommended me. The chief steward said that as long as
I am not the kind of person with shallow knowledge, so I will definitely succeed."
Having said this, Ding Mingde put down his chopsticks and said happily: "The sage said, 'Teaching makes no difference', and it only teaches girls the basic principles of life. I still agree with this. And after becoming a teacher, except for every afternoon
Except for lectures, I can make my own arrangements the rest of the time. Haha, if I have food every day and free time to study, I will be very confident about the childbirth examination in a year and a half."
Shi Xuan nodded in agreement and said: "With a talent like Brother Ding, if he could stop working all day long and study with peace of mind, his achievements would be limitless. I don't know which village Brother Ding is going to. I happen to be going to Tongxuan tomorrow.
On a trip to the mountains, I can just go with Brother Ding on the way."
"I heard from my cousin that it's called 'Shuanghu Village'. The place is very remote and hard to find. But tomorrow the housekeeper will wait for me at Yuhua Pavilion not far from the mountain and take me there. If Brother Zi Ang has
We were visiting Yaxing, so we happened to go to this village together. It is said that it is a place with a very paradise style." After such a short period of interaction, Ding Mingde already regarded Shi Xuan as a close friend and called him by his cousin.
After so many days of inquiring, Shi Xuan had indeed never heard of Shuanghu Village, and he wanted to find traces of the Taoist sect. He couldn't let go of such a remote place in the famous mountains and rivers, so he happily said: "It's just what I want.
Brother Ding is really a close friend of mine, and he knows that I love visiting famous mountains the most, especially places like this paradise. I just wonder why your cousin doesn’t go with Brother Ding?”
"My cousin is a businessman and travels around all year round. We didn't come with him this time, but he said he would be finished soon and would come to Tongxuan Mountain to meet me." Ding Mingde looked very grateful to his cousin.
Shi Xuan said with a smile: "I just heard that this is Brother Ding's first time going out. I didn't expect that this is the first time I go out alone with a sword. It's very similar to scholars like us who travel thousands of miles with swords to study."
"No, no, this sword is just a decoration. It's actually made of wood. It's just used to scare the young people on the road." Speaking of this, Ding Mingde was very proud of his method. "But it's been a long journey.
, I now understand the difficulties of going out, but fortunately, all the dangers have turned into good fortunes."
Shi Xuan asked Ding Mingde in detail about the various dangers or difficulties he encountered along the way. According to Ding Mingde, this time it was really auspicious people who had their own destiny. For example, after encountering a black shop and being knocked unconscious, the shopkeeper and the waiter
There was actually internal strife, and everyone died together; for example, someone came up to talk and planned to steal his money, but he was inexplicably exposed and was caught quickly; for example, he encountered a bandit on the river, but the other party hit a rock and sank. All these, Ding Mingde has
We arrived at Chuzhou City without any danger.
Although Ding Mingde thinks that his lucky star is shining brightly, Shi Xuan doesn't think so. Once is a coincidence, two or three times is a problem. But now there is only one side of Ding Mingde's words, and Shi Xuan can't guess what the problem is, so he can only improve it secretly.
Be careful, don't be careless tomorrow when you go to Tongxuan Mountain with Ding Mingde.
Shi Xuan made a few more insinuations and found that Ding Mingde basically shook his head when asked about the news about Shuanghu Village, and he didn't know as much about Tongxuan Mountain as Shi Xuan did. Then he stopped talking and said to Ding Mingde: "Ding
Brother, we hit it off right away, so why don't you stay in my yard tonight, there are two vacant rooms there."
Ding Mingde had already regarded Shi Xuan as a good friend, and he smiled and said: "It is better to obey orders than to be respectful. I just have a candlelit night chat with Brother Ziang tonight. It will be very pleasant."