Brother Rong of Red Mansion

Chapter 42 White Eyebrow God

Seeing Gu Pan'er crying uncontrollably, everyone in the hall had different expressions. Some people are filled with emotion, some are pleased, some have kind words and advice, and some are full of envy.

Only Jia Rong saw through the essence of the matter.

Female champion!
  What Gu Pan'er was thinking about most was "telling herself" on such a thin piece of paper. In the final analysis, it is just a casual "game" played by noble men. But in Gu Pan'er's view, it was the guarantee for her survival in Taiping Tower.

"This world is really unfair."

Jia Rong sat alone and lonely at the bottom, out of tune with the bustle and excitement in the pavilion.

"But actually, I am also a person with vested interests. Why are you being pretentious?"

It's one thing to see through the essence, but it's another thing to be able to do it. At least for now, Jia Rong believes that she cannot escape the secular world and can only try her best to integrate into this world.

"Let's wait until later. When I have the strength, maybe I can change some things."

******
  After the flower list evaluation is over, the biggest highlight of tonight’s banquet is over.

All the noble men took their seats again, called the dancers, and started dancing again.

This is the fourth chapter of "Marriage Between Two Lives".

The misunderstanding between Wei Gao and Zhang Yanshang was resolved. Tang Zhongzong heard about this and personally decreed the marriage. Wei Gao married Zhang Yuxiao, and they became husband and wife.

However, at this time, all the gentlemen in the hall were not interested in enjoying the singing and dancing. He only cares about rubbing shoulders with the oirans, making fun and flirting.

The same is true for Jia Rong.

Because of her two good poems, Gu Pan'er became famous, so she worked extra hard to serve her. If it weren't for the fact that this place was still in the hall, Gu Pan'er might have turned into the master and sang "Niannujiao" with him.

Not long after, the fourth fold of "The Marriage of Two Lives" ended, and the entire process of a banquet ended.

All the nobles, including Jia Rong, stood up, bowed their hands and said goodbye to each other.

The party is over and it's time to rest.

After sending all the gentlemen away, Jia Rong didn't stay much. She was led by Gu Pan'er all the way out of the main pavilion and towards the boudoir where she lived on the second floor.

Finally, let’s get to the point.

Jia Rong was drunk, her face flushed, and she breathed out the fragrant smell of alcohol. She was really excited.

Not long after, Gu Paner led him into a room. The room is spacious, with a total of three halls, elegantly furnished, with flowers planted in the front and back, or strange stone basins facing each other on the left and right, with hanging curtains in the chapel, couches and canopies.

"My wife is home."

Entering the outer hall, a little girl in a green skirt with a girl's bun came up to her and shouted respectfully. Then he handed over three sticks of incense sticks.

Facing Jia Rong's surprised look, Gu Pan'er took the incense stick and walked to the shrine on the incense table in the outer hall. He knelt down and worshiped respectfully: "By the grace of the White Eyebrow God, my disciple Gu Pan'er welcomes guests today. I wish everything goes well. "

After that, he lit the incense and inserted it into the incense burner.

Jia Rong was amazed.

But seeing the "white eyebrow god", with long beard and beautiful appearance, riding a horse and holding a sword, he definitely looked like Guan Gong. But the eyebrows are white and the eyes are red. It is a statue worshiped by artists in the Ming and Qing Dynasties - the founder of the fireworks industry!
  There are different opinions on the origin of the White Eyebrow God.

Some people say it is the famous bandit Zhi in ancient times, while others think it is Ling Lun, a music official from the time of the Yellow Emperor.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many actors and actresses worshiped this god.

The younger ones also enshrine Lu Dongbin and Guan Zhong as their ancestors.

******
  After paying homage to the Patriarch, Gu Paner smiled cleverly and led Jia Rong inside. The small green sarong couch in the middle hall is for the maid to sleep. There is also a folding screen with a bathtub next to it for the Ji family to take a bath.

Walking further inside is Gu Pan'er's boudoir.

The furnishings are elegant and the air is filled with fragrant aroma, making you feel like you have entered a peach blossom garden. However, I saw brocade quilts for storing mattresses, painted tents and embroidered curtains, all of which were elegant and well-organized. There are natural tables, rattan beds, small couches, Zen chairs, pens, inkstones, colored paper, wine vessels, tea sets, flower bottles, mirror stands, makeup boxes, embroidery sets, musical instruments, flutes, chessboards and other items neatly displayed. What a boudoir in a red building!

When Jia Rong walked in, she couldn't help but smell the fragrant aroma, and a flame ignited in her body.

"Brother, drink tea first, and I'll go and wash up."

Gu Pan'er led Jia Rong into the boudoir, where the little girl in green skirt served tea. Gu Pan'er gave instructions and ordered the little girl in green skirt to unfold the folding screen, set up the bathtub, and asked the turtle slave outside the corridor to bring hot water and start taking a bath.

For a while, Jia Rong waited quietly without making any suggestions for a mandarin duck bath.

You know, the brothel and Chu Palace are not a home. Before being escorted by a female prostitute, she usually needs to wash her lower body, usually adding some sandalwood and alum to the water. Sandalwood acts as incense, while alum has antiseptic properties.

Listening to the sound of water rushing on the screen, Jia Rong sat on the Zen chair, feeling a little distracted. There was a jumping flame rising in his lower abdomen.

Ok?
  Jia Rong was surprised: Is my self-control so poor? Will the reaction be too great?

Suddenly, Jia Rong remembered that when the girl in the green skirt came in to serve tea, she fiddled with the incense burner and burned a broken star (unit of weight, small piece) inside.
  He thought it was agarwood or sandalwood, but now that he thought about it, could it be some aphrodisiac incense?

Subconsciously, Jia Rong walked over, faced the curl of incense rising from the incense burner, and sniffed gently.

Sure enough, the fragrant fragrance rushed into the nostrils and went straight to the cerebral cortex, and then I felt my body was hot, and a flame ignited in my lower abdomen.

"It's indeed an aphrodisiac!"

Jia Rong is not opposed to burning aphrodisiac incense in the boudoir, but it is just a fun thing, not worth anything. It's just that Jia Rong is young, strong and vigorous, not an old man with kidney deficiency and qi damage. Even if there is no aphrodisiac incense, he can stand up to the sky. Now that there was no woman around him and he had to smell the aphrodisiac fragrance, he felt really uncomfortable. So I got up and walked to the window, opened it gently, and let the cold air outside the window come in and disperse the smell.

However, Jia Rong opened the window pane, and in the dark night, a piece of white and crystal-clear hexagonal snowflakes suddenly floated in from the window. It's snowing!

Jia Rong was stunned for a moment.

Looking out the window at the snowflakes flying in the dark night.

"It's only June, right? The legendary June Snow? Who has a grievance?"

Jia Rong was surprised.

Immediately, he realized something.

This year is the seventh year of Long'an, the twenty-seventh year of Yongli in history (the twelfth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, 1673 AD). The Little Ice Age in the Ming and Qing Dynasties has not yet passed, but will enter the coldest stage. In the memory of the predecessor, since the heyday of the Yongxing Dynasty, the weather in the Great Zhou Dynasty has changed dramatically, and it has become colder year by year. Floods, droughts, hailstorms, locust plagues, earthquakes, winds, storms, and plagues are becoming more severe every year.

Local governments, provinces, prefectures, counties, and counties, the annual disaster reports are like snowflakes, almost flooding the desks of all cabinet ministers.

And this was also the result of the Yongxing prosperous age, when the people began to complain and began to complain that the Supreme Emperor was extravagant and lustful, causing the prosperous age to turn into a disaster year.

Local farmland failed to harvest, people sold their sons and daughters, and land annexation was serious. The people who couldn't survive even robbed their homes and started doing business without capital. Bandits are rampant and water pirates are raging. The place is getting more and more chaotic. There were even people from the White Lotus religion who burned incense and formed a society, trying to rebel and overthrow the rule of the Zhou Dynasty!
  This is also the premise of the Yongxing Change!

From top to bottom, the Great Zhou Dynasty had great resentment towards the imperial power of the Supreme Emperor.

In the end, the Supreme Emperor indeed abdicated and gave up the throne to Jin Shang. However, local natural and man-made disasters have not stopped. Instead, it got worse and worse. If not for the great martial virtue of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the remaining power would still exist. I am afraid that the "Anshi Rebellion" of the former Tang Dynasty will be repeated, and the prosperous age will be prematurely destroyed.

Jia Rong stood in front of the window pane, looking at the dark night and the dancing crystal snowflakes, with clear and focused eyes, thinking about the future direction of the Zhou Dynasty.

At this moment, Gu Pan'er, who was taking a bath in the middle hall, suddenly walked into the boudoir wearing a plain veil and gold shoes. But his whole body trembled, and a cold wind suddenly blew. Seeing Jia Rong open the window pane, he quickly said: "Close the window quickly! It's freezing to death."

When Jia Rong heard this, she woke up and saw Gu Pan'er wearing plain gauze. The little girl in a green skirt quickly put a coat on her. She quickly smiled apologetically and raised her hand to close the window pane.

"Brother, what a joke!"

At this moment, Gu Pan'er came over and complained: "As the saying goes: The wind in the middle of the night is like a knife that scrapes bones! How can you open the window at night? I am such a noble person. I am not afraid of the cold wind filling my stomach and causing the cold. , gave this life away in vain?”

Jia Rong, who was about to come over to apologize, suddenly stopped and was stunned.

Cool breeze filling your stomach? Infected with cold?
  (End of this chapter)