Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Li Sheng from Jiaxiang County is proficient in piano art.Occasionally passing by the eastern suburbs, it happened that a group of workers here were digging the soil and dug out a guqin.Li Sheng was delighted to see it and bought it at a low price.After returning home, wipe it clean, and the guqin blooms with a different light, illuminating the whole room.Tune the strings and play, the sound of the piano is clear and strong, you can't help but feel happy, like a treasure.Put the guqin in a kit bag, hide it in a secret room, and refuse to show it to others.

The Cheng family, the county magistrate, loved Qin and became crazy. At that time, the new official took office, so he prepared a post to visit Li's mansion.Li Shengsu loves to be clean and rarely socializes. It is rare for the county magistrate to come to the door on his own initiative, to appreciate his kindness, and to make friends with him.Feasting each other, discussing friends in poetry and wine, you come and go, gradually getting acquainted.

Mrs. Cheng is elegant and elegant, and her conversation is chic. Li Sheng loves her literary talent and visits her frequently.Such a banquet day and night, I don't realize that time flies, and a year has passed.

On this day, Mrs. Cheng set up wine at home to entertain Li Sheng.There is a xylophone on the wooden table in the living room. Li Sheng was delighted to see Lie Xin, and he played it carefully, and couldn't put it down.Cheng asked: "Is it possible that brother Li is also a master of the qin?" Li Sheng said with a smile: "One of the qin is my favorite in my life."

Cheng said: "That's how it is. You and I have known each other for hundreds of years, but we have never seen Brother Li playing the piano. Can you play a piece for me?" While speaking, he burned incense and tuned the strings, and strongly invited him.Li Sheng readily agreed, and immediately concentrated on performing piano skills.Mrs. Cheng listened attentively, and praised: "Great master! Such piano skill is a must. I want to play the next one if I want to play the next one. If there are mistakes, please don't laugh at me." While talking and laughing, he played the piano, and played It is a song "Royal Wind Song", the sound of the piano is clear and clear, and it has the meaning of being peerless.

Li Sheng was overwhelmed by it, and praised him sincerely: "You are a great talent! Please forgive me for taking the liberty, and begging you to accept me as an apprentice and teach me piano skills. I am grateful." Don't mention the theory of accepting apprentices. As for piano skills, we can learn from each other and study together."

Since then, the two have talked about each other with the piano, and their friendship has grown deeper.

In the blink of an eye, another year passed, and Li Sheng got all the true biography of the Cheng family.However, every time the Cheng family visited, Li Sheng only treated each other with an ordinary Yaoqin, and never took out the Guqin from his own collection.This evening, the two had a chat after drinking, Cheng said: "I recently composed a new piece of music, I wonder if Brother Li is interested in listening to it?" cry.

Li Sheng was mesmerized, and he praised him.

Cheng sighed: "Although the tune is good, I hate bad qin. If there is a good guqin, this song "Xiangfei Diao" can be played even better." Li Sheng didn't know what it was, and smiled happily: "It just so happens Very well, I happen to have a guqin next to me, and now I meet a bosom friend, how dare I keep it a secret?" After speaking, he went into the bedroom, took out the guqin, and placed it on the table.

The guqin was wrapped in a kit, with a restrained air and no light.Cheng stretched out his hand to untie the kit, took out the guqin, and carefully dusted it off. After playing a few times, the sound of the qin was graceful, firm yet soft, beautiful beyond words.

Li Sheng listened attentively, and his gestures were in harmony with each other, his expression intoxicated.

Cheng said: "The technique is poor, and there is a good qin. To tell you the truth, Brother Li, Zhuo Jing is also a good player in the qin. If you can play it with your wife, you will be called perfect."

Surprised and delighted, Li Sheng asked, "Could it be that Mrs. Sister-in-law can also play the piano?"

Cheng said: "It's not just knowing, it's proficient. That piece of music just now was taught by Zhuo Jing."

Li Sheng sighed: "It's a pity that men and women are different, and Xiaosheng has no chance to visit."

Cheng said: "You and I are inseparable. You don't have to stick to the details. If you really want to listen to the qin, you can bring the guqin to visit tomorrow. I will try to ask Zhuo Jing to let her play a piece through the curtain." Li Sheng nodded repeatedly.

The next day, Li Sheng came to the door with his piano in his arms, and Mrs. Cheng fixed the banquet and drank happily with each other.

During the banquet, Li Sheng presented Guqin and begged to listen to the music.Cheng entered with the violin and went out immediately.Only the sound of footsteps could be heard, and a beautiful woman walked out in a graceful manner, in her twenties.Salute across the curtain, the aroma is tangy.

Within a few moments, the melodious sound of the piano inside the curtain, I don't know what song it is, but after savoring it carefully, I feel that it is heart-stirring and charming, which makes people's soul fly.At the end of the song, Mrs. Cheng raised his glass to persuade him to drink, and the sound of the qin played again inside the curtain. Knowing that if he stayed any longer, he would lose his composure, so he thought of this, got up to leave, and asked for the Guqin.

Cheng said: "Brother Li is drunk now, and holding the qin after drinking, it is inevitable that there will be losses. It is better to store the guqin here temporarily, and come back tomorrow to get it back. At that time, I will let Zhuo Jing show his strengths and play it with all his strength, how about it?" Li Sheng had no doubt about it, and nodded in agreement.

The next day, Li Sheng arrived as scheduled. As far as he could see, the gate of the courtyard was closed, the courtyard was silent, and there was no sign of Mrs. Cheng.Asked the old clerk at the gate, and replied: "About the fifth watch, my lord took his family and left in a hurry. He didn't know where he was going. He said he would come back in three days."

Three days later, Li Sheng visited again, but there was still no trace of Mrs. Cheng. Everyone in the mansion became suspicious. They went to check Mrs. Cheng's residence. There were only beds, antique calligraphy and paintings, gold and silver, all of which were missing. They reported the matter to the county magistrate. The county magistrate also looked bewildered, and really didn't know why his subordinates left without saying goodbye.

Li Sheng lost his qin for no reason, and spent all his sleep and food.I remember that Mrs. Cheng said before that he was from Jingchu, so he traveled thousands of miles to Chu to find out Mrs. Cheng's whereabouts.The local people all said: "There is no one surnamed Cheng here, but there was a Taoist priest who lived three years ago, who was good at alchemy, and then disappeared for no reason. It seems that he bought an official with money and became the magistrate of Jiaxiang County."

Li Sheng was stunned when he heard this: Needless to say, the Taoist priest is the Cheng family. The reason why he bought the official was all for his Guqin, and he endured it for three years and dealt with himself perfunctorily. It is really abominable.