Extra: Daily Life in Liucheng
1. Outing and the delicious porridge
There is always a lot of rain in the early summer in the south of the Yangtze River. The rain washes away the grey tiles and alleys clean, and moss grows in clumps in the corners of the walls.
Zhu Yanyin was holding an umbrella with a green bamboo pattern on it, walking backwards in the drizzle, and said with considerable experience: "Then we should leave early tomorrow, otherwise the streets will be crowded when all the motorcades come out. This place is still quite far from Qingfu River."
The Qingfu River is located in the mountains south of the city. It winds through the canyon in twists and turns. It is most interesting to see in the drizzle. It is said that the mountain is shrouded in white mist and is as beautiful as a fairyland, so it has attracted many literati to flock there.
Li Sui held his arm to prevent him from slipping on the moss: "Only scholars?"
Zhu Yanyin replied, Well, only literati.
As for why the people in the city were not interested in such a beautiful scenery, it was because they found it troublesome. There are so many beautiful scenery in the south of the Yangtze River. Ordinary people would not want to go into the mountains during the rainy season. It would be wet and slippery and difficult to walk. It would be better to stay at home and watch the rain hanging on the eaves.
The only ones who don't mind the trouble are the literati, because they are all bored... No, it's because they have read a lot of books, so their minds are naturally delicate, and they have a natural and persistent pursuit of all kinds of beautiful things in the world, such as beautiful women and beautiful scenery, so even if the road is difficult, it is worth it.
Li Sui nodded: "Okay, I'll call you tomorrow morning."
Zhu Yanyin: “Hmmmm.”
…
The next morning, Mr. Zhu II was wrapped in a soft and thin silk quilt, sleeping soundly. He was dreaming when suddenly someone pinched his nose and forcibly woke him up. He was too lazy to even open his eyes, and simply pulled the quilt up to wrap his head, trying to continue his beautiful dream again.
Li Sui leaned against him: "Didn't you say you wanted to go out early?"
"It's only now, and it's not even daybreak yet." Zhu Yanyin complained hoarsely, "I'll sleep a little longer."
Li Sui wrapped his fingers around a strand of soft hair on the pillow and bent down to kiss his face.
Zhu Yanyin slept soundly.
No one can wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep, not even the most ruthless villain.
Of course, the more important thing is that I am reluctant to call out.
So Li Sui stayed with him and continued to sleep for a while until dawn. When servants started to move around outside, Zhu Yanyin got up yawning and put on his clothes while bravely shirking responsibility. It was because of you that you wanted to sleep that we were late. Now we must be stuck outside the city.
Li Sui poked his waist with his finger.
Zhu Yanyin smiled and ran under the bed: "Stop making trouble, get up quickly!"
Literary men always go out in groups, perhaps to exchange ideas, or perhaps because the mountain roads are difficult to walk on, and having more people can help to provide some psychological balance. In short, everyone makes an appointment for the day early in the morning, and each brings wine and a pen, hoping to be drunk and write poetry by the river in the rain.
There were many people in the Zhu Mansion, and the young masters all went their own way. Zhu Yanyin, because he stayed in bed, was the last one to go. Zhu Zhong even chose the smallest carriage, but he was still stuck at the city gate and couldn't move forward for a long time.
Zhu Yanyin propped up his cheek with one hand: "Alas!"
Li Sui leaned leisurely on the soft cushion, flipping through a book at hand, and asked him casually, "Are you anxious?"
"It's nothing urgent." Zhu Yanyin leaned against the car window and looked out. "If I had known it would be so crowded, I would have asked Uncle Zhong to change to a bigger car, where I could lie down and do nothing for a while."
Li Sui closed the book and said, "If you are not afraid of getting wet in the rain, I will take you out for a horse ride."
Zhu Yanyin was overjoyed: "Okay, okay!"
So the readers who were stuck in traffic were taking a nap in the car, when suddenly they heard a small cry from outside.
Li Sui held Zhu Yanyin in one hand and jumped over the roofs of the carriages like a dragonfly skimming the water. His figure was so light that the people sitting in the carriages didn't even feel the bumps. They only had time to see a piece of snow-white clothing passing by the window, bringing up a thin swirling wind. When they looked closely again, the figure had already gone into the distance.
Ah, the world’s number one martial arts master.
There is also the horse of the supreme master of martial arts.
Kicking Snow Wuzhui was born and raised in the northwest. It was used to running wild in a vast land with few people. No one had ever taught it the etiquette of humility. Now that it saw that its master had gone out of the city, it was naturally restless. So it raised its neck and neighed, and jumped forward. The caravans along the way had never seen such a wild horse. It was wrapped in the rustling wind, frost and lightning. Wherever it passed, people and horses would fall to the ground. Everyone was so panicked that they tightened their reins to make way for it.
Li Sui whistled.
Kicking Snow Wuzhui leaped down from the low slope. When it landed, its four hard hooves were firmly nailed to the ground and its front legs were slightly bent. The whole horse presented a perfect streamlined posture as if it was about to grow wings and walk on the clouds. Its jet-black fur was soaked by the drizzle and was shiny, looking extremely majestic.
The convoy behind: “Wow!”
Therefore, on this day of viewing the scenery, an invincible black horse appeared in the poems and paintings of many literati.
The rain in the mountains is very light, even finer than cow hair, and more like mist sticking to the skin. The roads are also muddy.
On a muddy path like this, it is impossible for vehicles or horses to go up, and the only way is to climb up slowly on your own.
Li Sui pulled the reins of his horse and asked the man in his arms, "How did you get up there before?"
"Huh?" Zhu Yanyin pulled himself out of the thick cloak, revealing a pair of sleepy eyes, and it took him a long time to realize where he was.
Li Sui: "Are you asleep?"
Zhu Yanyin explained: "Because you wrapped me too tightly."
Even my head was wrapped in it, I couldn't see anything, I just felt warm and bumpy, and there was really nothing to do except sleep. He yawned and said, I also walked up by myself before, although it's a bit tiring, but it's not very steep, let's go.
Li Sui looked at his snow-white clothes and asked, "You want to leave by yourself?"
Zhu Yanyin replied, of course I don’t want to, I’m still sleepy, but there is no other way.
So Li Sui carried him up the mountain.
The others were still struggling to climb the path, panting more than the others, but Mr. Zhu II did not feel the hardship at all, because he did not need to walk a single step, he just had to comfortably hug the big devil's neck, and he could "whoosh" up the mountain, and when he arrived at the Qingfu River, even the soles of his shoes were clean.
Other literati: Is it amazing
Yes, yes, it is that remarkable.
afternoon.
Zhu Yanyin watched the rain for a while by the Qingfu River and wrote a few poems. He felt that it was boring, so he dragged Li Sui to a place with fewer people. There were many small farms in Nanshan. The door of one of the houses was open. A few aunts were sitting under the eaves, sewing shoe soles. They saw a handsome young man in white standing at the door and looking around. So they smiled and greeted him: "If you think the rain is getting heavy, come in and take shelter."
"Thank you." Zhu Yanyin turned around and called Li Sui, "Please walk faster!"
Palace Master Li came over from the small path, holding a large bunch of green, purple and red flowers and plants in his hand. He had just picked them from the cliff because Zhu Yanyin liked them when she saw them from afar. But after picking them, he didn't like them anymore and said, "Oh, why are they so big?"
When Li Sui heard this, he was about to throw it away.
Zhu Yanyin then said: "But the color is quite unique. We can find a nice bottle to keep it when we get back."
Li Sui said "hmm" coldly, then don't throw it away, picked up a flower and put it in his hair.
The aunts in the courtyard had never thought that they would take in a gentle young master who would also be accompanied by a dark and evil demon. They were all quite panicked. To be honest, most people would be frightened when they saw Palace Master Li, because he was so scary when he didn't smile.
Zhu Yanyin promptly took out a small piece of silver from his sleeve and said it was for tea.
Aunts who are thrifty and know how to live: be happy immediately!
When she was happy, she talked a lot. One of the aunts saw Zhu Yanyin fiddling with the flowers in her arms and said, "This is called Xiaoyun flower. Add it to the porridge and cook it together. After eating it, your mouth will have the fragrance of flowers for three or four days."
Zhu Yanyin was surprised: "You can still cook?"
"Yes, we all like to use it to cook porridge. The ones on the flat ground have been picked long ago. This bunch must be in a high and dangerous place, otherwise it wouldn't be here until now."
Zhu Yanyin bent down and smelled it. It was quite fragrant.
My aunt added, "If you two gentlemen want to eat, I will cook two bowls right away."
Zhu Yanyin humbly asked: "Is it difficult to cook porridge?"
My aunt replied, it’s not difficult, what’s hard about cooking porridge, it’s the simplest meal, anyone can make it.
Hearing that the threshold was so low, Zhu Yanyin immediately felt confident: "Can I borrow the kitchen for a while?"
Li Sui grabbed his hair and frowned: "What are you going to do?"
Zhu Yanyin answered and made porridge.
Li Sui let go of his hand and said, "Go ahead." At the same time, he mentally prepared himself to compensate the family with a new house.
Zhu Yanyin: How can I go alone? Shouldn't we all go together to do things like respect each other as equals
So he forcibly dragged the big devil into the kitchen.
"Can you make a fire?"
"meeting."
"What about cooking porridge?"
"Yes."
"Then you cook."
"And you?"
"I'll watch you cook."
Scholars are so confident.
Li Sui lit a fire and handed him a fan.
Zhu Yanyin sat on a small stool: "I'm not hot."
Li Sui: "Fan the fire."
Zhu Yanyin: "... I'm sorry, I thought you were afraid that I would be too hot."
He thought the black fan handle was dirty, and the fan blade was also dirty, so he pulled out his jade fan from his waist, opened it with a "swish", and started fanning the fire.
Yushan Benshan probably never thought that he would have such a close contact with firewood in his life. He was quite resistant in his heart, and the wind he sent out was weak. His stomach was rumbling, but the water was not boiled yet.
As a last resort, he had to change back to the bamboo fan, which he padded with three or four layers of handkerchiefs and held in his hand with a happy expression.
The flames finally started to rise. After Li Sui washed the rice, he put the pot on the stove and said, "It's done."
Zhu Yanyin felt distressed when looking at the blackened jade fan.
Li Sui bent down and kissed him: "I'll buy you a new one next time."
Zhu Yanyin ignored him and wanted to try to wipe it off with some water, but Li Sui had already taken the fan from his hand, pulled him into his arms, and began to kiss him intently. He felt that Zhu Yanyin was so pitiful and cute when he sat on the small stool with his legs crossed, staring at the fan with a frustrated look on his face, like a piece of soft and white candy that would itch if he didn't take a bite.
Mr. Zhu said with difficulty through the gap of the kiss: "We are in a farmer's house!"
Li followed and kissed him from his cheek to his chin, and then to his collarbone under his collar.
Zhu Yanyin: Don’t feel it all of a sudden!
Li Sui looked at him and smiled, the kind of evil smile that is most common in storybooks. Although the writing is a bit cliché, it is really seductive.
Zhu Yanyin leaned against the wall: "..."
Didn’t we agree to discover new happiness together on the wedding day? I feel like we’re still at least a year away from getting married!
Li Sui bit his earlobe and asked, "Do you think I'm so faithful to my promise?"
Zhu Yanyin thought, actually not, you look crazy and out of control. But he still tactfully chose to coax her, and answered in a sonorous and powerful voice, of course, a gentleman's word is worth a thousand gold, and the whole martial arts world combined is not as good as you!
Li Sui started pinching his butt again.
Zhu Yanyin: Help!
At least let me drink the porridge first!
2. Which part of memory is missing
Under Jiang Shenglin's careful care, Zhu Yanyin's brain disease recovered quickly. He has remembered most of the things from the past. The only important thing, which he could not remember, was the situation on the day of his amnesia. No matter how the doctor tried to induce it, he could not bring it back.
Zhu Yanhui asked carefully: "When did you sneak out of the house that day?"
Zhu Yanyin was lying on the bed reminiscing about how he had gone out early in the morning before daybreak.
As for why he had to go out in the dark and get rid of all his followers and guards, it was because he was reading a martial arts novel about revenge and good deeds at that time. As a result, he did not hide the book well and was discovered by his eldest brother, who scolded him in front of the whole family. So the second young master Zhu ran away from home in anger. What a promising young man.
Zhu Yanhui asked again: "Where are you planning to go?"
Zhu Yanyin replied: "The royal city."
The plan was very detailed. Not only did he mark the map carefully and bring enough silver, he also went to a blacksmith shop on the street and bought a sharp dagger, making himself look like a real hero.
As a result, he didn't even leave the jurisdiction of Liucheng. As soon as he entered the mountain, he encountered a group of bandits. He was defeated at the first step of his adventure in the world.
Zhu Yanhui said to Li Sui: "At that time, Xiaoyin was lying unconscious beside the mountain road. Fortunately, he was found by a passing caravan and sent back to the mansion. When he woke up, he had completely lost his memory."
Doctors were invited into the Zhu residence one after another, but they could only find that there was no blood clot in Zhu Yanyin's brain and no signs of impact on the outside - maybe he was simply frightened silly.
Li Sui asked, "Where are the bandits?"
Zhu Yanhui said: "After the incident, the government went to the mountains to clear out the gangs several times and arrested some gangsters, but none of them admitted that they hurt Xiaoyin. Until now, those people are still in jail."
Zhu Yanyin tried hard to recall the appearance of the bandit, but failed, and kept complaining of a headache.
Zhu Yanhui quickly comforted him and told him not to think about it anymore, it was not a big deal anyway.
Li Sui went to the government prison alone in the afternoon.
Liucheng is rich and prosperous, and the government management is very strict. It is not as plagued by bandits as in remote areas. Therefore, there are only three groups of bandits in the mountains, and it is obvious that they are not very smart.
One group consisted of two skinny guys, as thin as bamboo poles, named Ma Yi and Ma Er.
One group consisted of two fat guys who looked like gourds. Their names were Song Dahu and Song Xiaohu.
There is another group consisting of two pockmarked men who are more professional than the first four. They have nicknames in the underworld, namely Wu Kuishou and Liuliuliu.
Generally, if these names appear at the same time in a Jianghu storybook, you can guess who the real murderer is without reading any more, after all, nicknames are equal to roles. But Li Sui still interrogated him briefly - really "slightly", and he didn't even take the prisoner out of the prison, but just stood outside and looked around coldly.
The six people in the prison suddenly felt the urge to urinate.
They put down the steamed buns and pickles in their hands and slowly raised their heads.
Li Sui's eyes were cold, with a sinister murderous intent in them.
Ma Yi and Ma Er fainted on the spot.
Song Dahu and Song Xiaohu were a little slow and didn't have time to faint. When they reacted and wanted to fall to the ground and pretend to be dead, Li Sui's eyes had already swept over them: "Do you know what I want to ask?"
Song Xiaohu answered tremblingly, I know, I know.
During this year and more, we have interrogated him dozens of times at least, but we really have never hurt Mr. Zhu. Who would be so brave
So they could only shout at the top of their lungs: “We really don’t know anything.”
Li Sui looked at the other two people again.
The five leaders said firmly: "We two brothers don't know either."
Li Sui said coldly: "Then I will skin you alive."
Song Xiaohu also fainted when he heard this.
Song Dahu quickly lay down beside him.
Li Sui raised his hand and blew a palm wind.
Before the fifth leader could react to what was happening, he spat out blood.
Liuliuliu: "Big brother!"
Li Sui said: "Speak."
The Fifth Leader: "No, it wasn't me!"
"Who is that?"
"have no idea."
Li Sui slapped him again.
Wu Kuishou felt like he had turned into a red spray can.
Liuliuliu: "He did it! He did it!"
The Five Leaders: “Not us!”
Liuliuliu: “Yes, you did it alone!”
The five leaders: “?”
Liu Liuliu rushed towards Li Sui: "I confess everything!"
The four people lying on the ground became furious and got up one after another. Damn it, it turns out it was really you
You’ve caused us to spend so much time in jail, so give him a beating first!
Wu Kuishou and Liuliuliu were finally rescued by the jailers who rushed to the scene after hearing the news. They had been basically beaten into pig heads.
Wu Kui Shou: "I, Wu, don't have an ungrateful brother like you!"
Liuliuliu: "I don't have any either!"
Jailer: We are professionally trained and generally don’t laugh unless something is really funny.
So even on the way to the court, the criminal was still making "puff" sounds from time to time.
Liuliuliu blamed everything on Wu Kuishou, saying that he went out that day saying he wanted to rob some money, but he returned with a full bag of silver at noon. He also said that the owner was a young man in white. Could this be Young Master Zhu
The fifth leader cursed angrily, "You're talking nonsense. I clearly slept in the village the whole day that day!"
The local official glanced at Li Sui, and seeing that he didn't seem to be planning to speak, he continued to interrogate him, "So how much silver was stolen in total?"
Liu Liuliu said, "There are more than fifty taels of silver, and a thick stack of banknotes. Adding up, it's at least two hundred taels!"
Li Sui looked at him coldly: "Say it again, how much silver?"
Liuliuliu: "… Two, two hundred taels."
The local official reminded him: "The loss reported by the Zhu Mansion is more than 100,000 taels, and there are also some gems."
Liu Liuliu took a breath and was stunned on the spot.
What kind of family background does this person have to have to go out with 100,000 taels of silver
The two hundred taels of silver notes and fifty taels of change were the most lavish outfit he could imagine for a young master from a wealthy family.
Li Sui said: "I'll give you one last chance."
Liu Liuliu was still immersed in the unreal world of 100,000 taels. He cried and confessed: "We really didn't rob Master Zhu. I just made it up. I'm afraid I will be beaten to death."
Li Sui: “…”
The local officials were also having a headache. When they heard the news just now, they really thought that there had been new progress in the case, but they didn't expect it to be such a fool.
As an official appointed by the court, he was not afraid of Li Sui, but he was wary of Zhu Mansion. So he took this opportunity to explain that the customs of the people in Liucheng have always been strict. Because there are many caravans coming and going, the officers and soldiers often go to patrol the mountains. There are few thieves within a radius of dozens of miles, let alone mountain bandits? The biggest ones are the ones in the prison. They are confused and disoriented. It is estimated that they have not made a single business deal from their debut to their capture.
After leaving the government office, Li Sui did not return to Zhu's house, but went to Suyun Gang, a large martial arts sect in Jiangnan. He borrowed hundreds of people from Zhu and went into the mountains to search overnight. He told others that it was a martial arts matter and the search lasted for three whole days.
On the fourth day, Zhu Yanyin was so curious that he wanted to go out of the city to join in the fun, but Li Sui came back with a black bag in his hand.
"I was just about to ask Xiaosui to prepare the carriage." Zhu Yanyin asked, "Why haven't you returned home for so long? What happened in the martial arts world?"
Li Sui said: "Nothing happened in the martial arts world. I went to the mountains to find some things."
"I heard that you borrowed all the people from the Suyun Gang." Zhu Yanyin poured tea for him. "Do you have enough manpower? If not, I will ask my eldest brother to allocate some more guards from the Zhu Mansion to you."
Li Sui put the things in his hand on the table: "These are yours, right?"
Zhu Yanyin handed him the teacup: "What?"
There were many colorful gems in the bundle, some of which had not been wiped clean of dirt, and some had been crushed by carriages and horses, but they were still crystal clear and had good water content.
Zhu Yanyin: “…”
"The banknotes are gone, but some of these gems were left after they rolled down the bushes in the mountains." Li Sui pinched his chin, "Why do I feel like you were robbed by bandits?"
Zhu Yanyin calmly reminded him that you had been digging in the mud in the mountains and had not washed your hands since you came back.
Li Sui cooperated very well. After washing his hands, he came over to continue kneading.
If Zhu Yanyin had held his head up obediently, then I might not have been robbed.
Li Sui looked at him.
Zhu Yanyin's eyes drifted to the left, then to the right.
Li Sui: “Tell the truth!”
Zhu Yanyin: “Yeah.”
Li Sui asked: "Hmm what?"
Zhu Yanyin: "I just wasn't robbed."
He had remembered it a month ago, but because it was too embarrassing, he didn't say anything and still pretended to be innocent, saying "I don't know why I lost my memory."
The specific situation was that the second son of the Zhu family had no experience of running away from home, so he carried all of his private money with him, including silver bills and many gems.
But the gem was really heavy, and it was not suitable for a weak scholar to carry for a long time. Not long after he entered the mountain, he was exhausted and his back ached. But he couldn't carry it back, so he wanted to dig a hole to bury the gem.
Zhu Yanyin said: "I want to find a high and dangerous place."
Li Sui's mouth stiffened unconsciously: "Yeah."
"What are you laughing at? I really climbed up. That place is really hidden." But it was too high and dangerous, so there was no way out. His foot slipped, and Mr. Zhu rolled down the mountain. In his panic, he thought, "Ah, am I going to die?" Maybe he hit his head somewhere, and he had lost his memory when he woke up.
As for the speculation about the bandits, it was actually because Zhu Yanyin heard people around him chatting while he was unconscious. I don’t know which relatives they were at home, but the conversation was basically like this -
"Are there bandits in the mountains? Otherwise, how could Xiaoyin be injured so badly?"
"Eighty percent of the time."
"Oh, how pitiful."
So Zhu Yanyin, who had a head injury, began to think in a daze, Oh, I met bandits, I am so pitiful.
Li Sui asked: "Since you remembered it, why didn't you say it?"
Zhu Yanyin replied: "Because it's embarrassing."
He ran away from home, with a heavy circle of gems around his waist. He went up the mountain to dig a hole and tried to bury it, but he stepped on empty space. It sounded completely useless.
The wit of "running away from home and then being beaten by bandits" - although the latter is not much better, but at least not stupid.
Li Sui asked again: "Can't you even tell me?"
Zhu Yanyin said: "The one I can't talk about the most is you."
Being in love is like this, you want everything to be perfect in the other person's eyes, you must not be stupid, you have to be ecstatic.
Li Suiren smiled: "Yeah."