And said you're not a fairy

Chapter 124 Jade Story

Although everyone likes to stay in their own small room.

After a long time, I can't bear it anymore. The boredom of staying in the room will come out to the bow to breathe.

Not long after, everyone on board this cargo ship basically knew each other.

Through chatting, Chen Yuan learned that the old man who didn't look like a Dayong was indeed not a Dayong, but from a small country called Zhongshan in the northwest of Dayong.

This is a country that Chen Yuan has never heard of. According to the old man, Zhongshan is a small country, and the people in the country live in the form of nomadic tribes.

The old man's name was A Muren.

Different from ordinary herdsmen in Zhongshan Kingdom, A Zuren was born as an aristocrat in Zhongshan Kingdom, but after coming to Dayong by chance, he fell in love with Dayong's folk art.

He no longer returned to China, but went around to learn from teachers, and finally became a folk artist walking around Dayong.

The reason why A Muren took a fancy to Xue Niang beside Chen Yuan was because his skill was related to rats, but he didn't say what specific skill it was.

And the three scholars who traveled together were all scholars who went to Jianghuai City, Chuzhou Prefecture, to take the imperial examination.

As they said, they are all from Micang County.

It's just that the two wearing luxurious clothes and wearing jade around their waists are from the rich noble families in Micang County.

Later, he came forward to help out. The plainly dressed scholar was from a poor family in the local area. His family both studied and farmed. Like Chen Yuan before, he was also a farming and studying family.

Although he could barely afford to read, there was a huge gap between his family background and that of the children of gentry and wealthy families.

Because of his good grades in school and his reputation in the local area, he became friends with the other two. The three of them traveled together and went to Jianghuai City to participate in Dayong's Qiu Wei.

Dayong's imperial examination, the examination of talents for children, is held once a year.

The scholar's examination for juren is held once every three years, and this time the examination is also called Qiuwei.

The time for juren to take the gongshi exam is in the spring of the next year after the juren exam is completed. This exam is also called Chunwei.

Now it is mid-June, and the Great Yongqiu is usually held in August.

Candidates who take the exam will leave early to avoid accidents on the road and delay the exam.

In addition, after arriving in the city where the exam took place ahead of schedule, they would find a place to live and study the scrolls.

The names of these three scholars are Luan Ruiyu, Shang Xinhe, and Sun Dan.

These news were all from Sun Dan chatting with other people on the boat and Chen Yuan when he was breathing in the bow, and was asked by Chen Yuan intentionally or unintentionally.

In the end, the mother and daughter did not speak much.

Even if they come out to breathe, the mother and daughter are together. The mother and daughter are rarely separated. Most of the time they stand on the bow of the boat, acting as a listener, and there is no sense of presence.

In the end, no one even knew the names of the mother and daughter.

But according to Chen Yuan's observation, he found that the mother and daughter were well taken care of by the boss of the boat, the salamander.

The mother and daughter also trust the boat boss very much.

Chen Yuan speculated that the big salamander, the boss of the boat, was not a fellow villager of the mother and daughter, so he had a relative relationship with the mother and daughter.

Otherwise, Chen Yuan really couldn't think of any reason why the ship's boss, Dafeng Salamander, would be willing to break the rule that cargo ships do not carry women, and even be willing to offend the two scholars who are famous scholars for this.

Looking at it now, the reason why the ship's boss, the salamander, was willing to help Chen Yuan and the mother and daughter to come forward to rescue them, and offend those two scholars with a reputation as a scholar, was probably not because of Chen Yuan, but because of the mother and daughter.

During this period, the cargo ship did not dock at the shore, but sailed all the way down the river.

Chen Yuan asked the boss of the ship, the salamander, and according to him, the speed of the ship was slightly slower than that of the passenger ship because of the cargo, and it could only sail about 250 miles a day.

The journey of [-] miles will take about six days.

For passenger ships, because of their light weight, the speed will be much faster, and can reach three to four hundred miles.

If you take a passenger ship, you can reach the Jianghuai border in about four days.

time flies.

Two days and one night passed in the blink of an eye.

Dusk the next day.

There had just been a heavy rain on the river, and even the air in the cabin leaked a breath of freshness after the rain, and the stuffiness inside the boat also dropped down.

Chen Yuan stayed in the room for a long time, got out of bed and stepped over Xue Niang and the little yellow dog who were lying in the corner of the small room, sleeping next to each other, and came to the bow of the boat to relax and enjoy the scenery on the shore.

I saw the meandering Lujiang River passing through the mountains like a long dragon.

On the sunny day after the rain, the sun reappeared on the top of the western mountains, turning the clouds in front of us into blood, emitting a faint afterglow of the setting sun, dispelling the mist that had not yet fully condensed in the depressions of the mountains.

Standing on the bow of the boat and looking at the sunset and the mountains, you will feel open-minded and relaxed.

There are three or five egrets circling above the sails of the cargo ship.

The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the body, like the care of family members, which makes people feel a lot more relaxed in addition to being warm.

And at dusk after the rain had passed, Chen Yuan was not the only one on the bow.

The three scholars who had a reputation as scholars, A Muren, a folk artist from Zhongshan, and the mother and daughter were all on the bow deck at this time.

"Daoist Qing Ming also came out to breathe?"

Seeing Chen Yuan coming out of the cabin, the scholar named Sun Dan greeted Chen Yuan very warmly.

While talking, Chen Yuan intentionally or unintentionally snooped information about other guests on the ship, and at the same time, told other guests on the ship about his own information.

Chen Yuan only said his Taoist name, and that he was a Taoist priest from Fuhu Temple in Linjiang County. This time he went out to visit Jianghuai City, and he was respected by everyone on the boat.

Because Taoist priests with official status are not comparable to wild Taoist priests who have no background.

Formal Taoist priests enjoy the right to be exempted from corvee and taxation, and their privileges are no less than that of the Juren lord among scholars.

What's more, Fuhu Temple in Linjiang County can be regarded as a very famous grand temple in the surrounding counties.

There are a few people on board who have heard of the name Fuhuguan.

"Yes, the cabin is too stuffy!"

Chen Yuan nodded.

Beside Sun Dan, Luan Ruiyu, Shang Xin and these two scholars who had offended Chen Yuan before, when they heard that Chen Yuan was a Taoist priest who was born in Fuhu Temple in Linjiang County, they were always worried about Chen Yuan's expression.

Although he didn't come to Chen Yuan to formally apologize, but he never dared to argue with Chen Yuan again.

When Sun Dan was talking with Chen Yuan, they secretly looked at Chen Yuan, seeing that Chen Yuan didn't pay too much attention to them, they were relieved.

But no matter how beautiful the scenery is, there are times when we pass by. It didn't take long for the red sunset in the sky to completely set on the top of the mountain. It didn't take long for night to fall.

Perhaps it was because of the continuous rainstorm in the afternoon, everyone stayed in the small room of the cabin, feeling too stuffy, and seeing night fell, no one returned to the room.

In addition, on the bow deck, the crew members came out to get some wind, and for a while on the deck of the cargo ship, it gave people a feeling of being crowded.

"Guys, there is nothing wrong with you. The old man has a unique skill of "rat play". It is fate to be on the same boat with everyone today. I will make a fool of myself on the bow of the boat to make everyone laugh. If everyone thinks it looks good, just applaud and applaud it alone.

At this moment, Amu Renxingzhi, an old man from Zhongshan Kingdom, who had been looking at the scenery on the shore, turned around and bowed his hands to everyone on the deck of the cargo ship.

Hearing that this old man from Zhongshan country, who was dressed very differently from Dayong's clothes, wanted to perform a mouse show, Chen Yuan and his guests naturally agreed.

Anyway, it's a fun that doesn't cost money, so don't watch it for nothing.

Not to mention the crew on the ship, life on the ship was really boring, and they would stay for a long time. Hearing that the old man was going to perform a mouse show, he was very happy and surrounded him one after another.

Even the boss of the ship, the big salamander, who was not on the deck just now, and who was lying around, did not know how to know the news, and came to the deck of the cargo ship.

"Everyone wait a moment, the old man will come as soon as he goes."

While speaking, the old man named A Muren turned around and went back to his small room in the cabin.

Not long after, when Amoren came out of the room again, he was carrying a one-foot-high, bulging skin bag on his back, a "small wooden frame" hanging on his shoulders, shaped like a hunchback, and holding a drum board in his hand.

"The old man is not good at learning art, and today he performed it, and everyone laughed for Bo Jun. Everyone thinks that the tune sung by the old man is wrong, so don't take it to heart."

Before the official performance, the old man A Muren bowed solemnly to everyone.

Then he slapped the drumboard in his hand, and sang a miscellaneous drama mixed with foreign tones and some Dayong tones.

Every time the rhythm of the opera is sung, the old man will beat the drumboard in his hand, and with the beating of the drumboard, the skin bag on the old man's back will be opened, and mice in costumes and masks will run out of the bag, climb up the theater tower along the old man's back, hold the equipment like a human, stand and dance and roll.

From a distance, it is as lifelike as an actor in an opera.

Everyone was engrossed in watching it, addicted to it, unable to extricate themselves.

Especially Chen Yuan.

He has never seen it before, and this is the first time he has seen such a magical mouse show.

I saw the old man's voice sometimes tactful, sometimes rough, and the mice in different costumes played alternately in coordination with each other, completely interpreting the joys and sorrows of men and women.

After watching it for a while, Chen Yuan discovered that this was actually a story about a rich lady and a scholar, because of a piece of jade, they broke through the rules of etiquette and parents, and fell in love with each other.

The plot of the story is moving, and the words are beautiful and simple.

In addition, the old man's singing, in addition to Dayong's local singing, also added the exotic Zhongshan country dance, which made the rat show extremely enjoyable.

It is unknowingly immersed in it, and almost no one will play during the old man's performance, thinking that this is the mouse on the old man's shoulders acting.

The bustle on the bow deck woke up the little yellow dog and Xueniang who were sleeping in the room. The little yellow dog and Xueniang rushed over after hearing the sound, and also came to the deck of the cargo ship.

But when they squeezed through the gap from under the feet of the crowd to the front row, and saw the old man performing a mouse show in the middle of the crowd, they stayed there for a while.

Because if you don't see the mouse's hands and feet from the costume, you can't tell that this is a mouse performing a drama.

This performance lasted for a full two quarters of an hour, and the performance did not end until it was completely dark.

"Old man, what's the name of the zaju you're performing? Why haven't I heard it elsewhere before?"

After listening to it, everyone was still unsatisfied. After a long time, when they came back to their senses, the scholar Sun Dan asked the old man.

"This drama is called "The Jade Story", which was written by the old man himself, so you have never heard of it elsewhere."

After the performance, on the old man's shoulders, the mice in costumes, like a well-trained army, withdrew into the skin bag on his back one after another. The old man responded with a smile.

"It turned out to be called The Jade Story."

The scholar Sun Dan suddenly realized.

"Old man, your mouse show is very exciting, can you perform it for us again?"

Another scholar, Shang Xinhe, still had a lot to say. He asked the old man A Muren.

"As the saying goes, "The fate of gathering and separation is endless, and the fate of meeting is the past life." Just now, the old man sang this "rat show" because of his excitement. Don't be greedy for too many plays, one is enough."

The old man A Muren shook his head, but he refused.

"If you don't let you sing for nothing, we can give you money."

Another scholar Luan Ruiyu also said.

Although he didn't particularly like zaju, but it was the first time he watched the zaju in which mice replaced actors and sang so vividly.

"Both young masters, it's not that the old man doesn't want to sing, it's really because of the mouse show that the old man sang just now. The reason why it's so wonderful is because of the emotion."

"If you let the old man sing again, it will definitely not reach the level of excitement just now, and with the previous pearls and jade in front, you will only think that the old man is nothing more than that."

"That's why the old man has a rule never to sing a second "rat show" in one place."

The old man A Muren still refused.

When speaking, the old man had a resolute expression, and it seemed that he would not easily make an exception. The two scholars had no choice but to give up.

Seeing that the two talents hit a wall, everyone on the boat had no choice but to give up.

As for money, there is no need to mention it at all.

Thinking about yesterday's situation carefully, this old man is obviously not a man short of money.

When I first boarded the boat yesterday, I took out the money to buy Chen Yuan's white mouse, and everyone on the boat was not necessarily richer than him.

Instead, Chen Yuan was at the side, looking at the old man thoughtfully.

He felt that this foreign old man named "A Muren" had an open-minded and free-spirited personality, not like a folk artist, but more like a tall hermit walking in the world.

Under the insistence of the old man, everyone had no choice but to disperse.

The old man with the small theater building and skin on his back didn't leave. He saw "Xue Niang" who hadn't recovered from the wonderful mouse show just after watching the play next to him.

"It's a pity that such a top-grade rare mouse can't be obtained by the old man."

The old man looked at Xueniang fiercely, and said with regret.

Feeling the fiery gaze above her head, the mouse girl immediately seemed to come back to her senses, she raised her head and saw the old man, with that look of wishing to eat her, thinking that the old man wanted to buy herself from Chen Yuan yesterday, the good mood after watching the mouse show suddenly disappeared.

Immediately without looking back, he ran back to the small room in the cabin, for fear that the old man would continue to stare at him.

"Old man, the reason why you want to buy the white mouse of Pindao is to perform a mouse show, right?"

Chen Yuan looked at Xue Niang who fled in a panic, and while secretly smiling, he asked this old man named A Muren.

"How can such rare mice be used to perform mouse tricks? Isn't that a waste of money?"

Hearing what Chen Yuan said, the old man A Muren said with an angry look.

"The white mouse raised by the Taoist priest is a unique mouse king. If the old man can get this mouse king, he must raise it carefully. Over time, ordinary mice like the old man may become wiser after spending time with it."

Then the old man A Muren explained.

Chen Yuan glanced at the back of Xueniang who ran into the small room of the cabin.

Just her!

Return the rat king?
ps: It's a new week, please ask for a recommendation ticket.

(End of this chapter)