the enlightener says

Most of the people in this Jiuxianju are the children of middle-level officials and eunuchs. The so-called talent and fame of these people, after all, is just relying on the reputation of their parents, so that some people are willing to praise them.

Given the environment in which they grew up with golden keys, how many of them can calm down and study?Poor scholars can study hard for ten years, day and night, but if it is them, I am afraid that they will be yawning in a short time.

In comparison, Qin Ke was taught by Zhuge Wolong when he was young, and then studied in the Taixue after he went to Jingwu. Even though his knowledge may not be comparable to those real talents in the world, but in comparison, this Jiuxianju Most of the so-called "talented scholars" in the book are nothing more than empty bags of fame.

After a few glasses of wine, Mr. Chen has already answered 28 questions. Several scholars who have been calm have also started to answer the questions. The atmosphere in the whole Jiuxianju is becoming more and more heated. It seems that everyone is competing for something. Maybe it's the jar of wine that won the top spot, or the name that can stand out?

At least from this point, it can be seen that Jiuxianju is able to grasp the psychology of these people, and attracts these people here with the gimmick of guessing riddles. This created a scene full of guests.

I don't know who the boss of Jiuxianju is, and he is so smart.

When almost all the lanterns were picked, the little girls in Jiuxianju finally had a new move. They started to hang lanterns of different colors in the building one by one again, but this time the above puzzles were more complex than the original ones. But it was much more difficult, not only the always unstoppable Mr. Chen, but also some scholars who gradually showed their prominence in the follow-up guessing puzzles also frowned rarely, and all of them were thinking hard.

"A gentleman uses his mouth but not his hands? Type a word?" Qin Ke smiled bitterly. Most of the riddles before were spelling, and even he could answer a lot, but now the difficulty of this lantern riddle has suddenly increased so much that he also I feel unable to answer.

But at this moment, a clear voice came from upstairs: "A gentleman uses his mouth but does not move his hands. The answer to the riddle is 'knowledge' characters, and the solution is 'only words'."

Xiao Er's expression remained unchanged, but he drew the first line after the name that had never been answered before, and then said loudly: "Mr. Cai Yan, Mr. Cai, solve a riddle!"

Qin Ke was stunned. He didn't expect that the puzzle he was looking at would be solved in an instant, and the person who solved it seemed to be the same as himself. He could only smile bitterly, thinking that there is always a lot of knowledge in this world. Talented.

However, he wasn't trying to gain the upper hand, he just wanted to stall for a while, and participated in it when he was idle and bored, so he didn't care much, his eyes turned slightly, and continued to look at the next one.

"From early winter to the front, play a solar term." Qin Ke frowned. Compared with the previous word guessing, this solar term guessing made him even more confused.

However, the clear voice from upstairs sounded again. The voice was full of confidence, and it could be said that it was confident: "From the beginning of winter to the front, it is naturally the summer solstice."

The voice answered very quickly, even without thinking. Most of the people downstairs were still thinking hard, but the voice kept answering the riddles. It was just Qin Ke's effort to drink a glass of wine. The name of Cai Yan It has already appeared five times in Xiao Er's mouth, and at this time, the total number of others is only two.

Although lantern riddles are far different from poetry and prose, the ability to easily answer these difficult questions also shows that this Cai Yan has real talent and learning. There is such a master in Jiuxianju, which makes everyone talk about it.

I don't know which family this scholar is a great talent, or is he a scholar from a poor family like Qin Ke?

Compared with Jing Wu, the court of Tang State is actually clearer. After all, although Tang State is full of gentry, the government has always been controlled by the Li family. Students from poor families are willing to study hard in the cold window. After all, as long as they can be an official, it is always a matter of glory.

"Brother Chen, you have seen a lot of people, so I wonder if you can hear something from this voice?" Someone whispered to each other, "There are not many wealthy families named Cai in Ding'an City, and the one who bears the brunt of it is Cai Zhuguo..."

The scholar surnamed Chen Mingming changed his face, and immediately said: "Impossible. There are only two males in Cai Zhu's country. Have you ever heard of a son named 'Cai Yan'?"

"That's strange. Could it be that he is a poor scholar?"

"I don't know." Chen Yi looked at the stairs, but he wanted to go up and see for himself, but he felt that he couldn't bear this face. If he went to see it out of curiosity, wouldn't it prove that he was not as talented as others?

Although it is not shameful to go to a temple to burn incense and worship the mountain gate, and it is not necessarily a bad thing to be able to make a friend who knows people, but this is not a liberal arts college. Normally, he would toast a glass of wine, and maybe the two of them could have a good time.

But today this place is not a big temple for scholars, but a Shura field where they compete with each other.He is still being watched by a group of official ladies, and he is not surrounded by ordinary people's children. If he is subdued at this time, what face will he have?

Most of the other scholars had the same plan with him. Hearing that Cai Yan had already answered two more lantern riddles, they all became anxious, looking at the lantern above their heads one by one, frowning in thought.

But Qin Ke doesn't have the kind of face that he can't let go of. He didn't come here to win the top spot, and he didn't plan to show off in front of these women. people's reactions.

He also drank two jugs of wine right now, but considering his physique as a practitioner, the two jugs of wine could not even make him a little drowsy, but the wine permeated into the blood and traveled around the whole body, eventually turning into heat and radiating out, making Qin Ke feel his body Warm.

The pickled radish and chicken feet had already been eaten, so he simply stood up and walked upstairs under the watchful eyes of everyone.

Anyway, he came out for fun, and he happened to be a little curious about how handsome this "Cai Yan" son is, so he might as well take a look.

Just when he was halfway up the stairs, a woman came down the stairs and bumped into him. In a panic, Qin Ke used a little force to support his body with one step, so he didn't roll down the stairs with the woman on the spot. .

He vigorously helped the woman up, and recognized that she was the woman called Sister Yu, but looking at her face full of peach blossoms, she didn't seem to be drunk.

"Are you okay?" Qin Ke rarely looked at women like this, but fortunately, the smell of alcohol on his face covered his blushing.

"Thank you, sir." Sister Yu didn't seem to be thinking about Qin Ke at all, and ran down the stairs regardless. Qin Ke tilted his head slightly, and saw a table of women waiting for Sister Yu, the "spy", to come down. Can't wait.

And Sister Yu's eyes fluttered, with a bit of charm, and she said happily: "Yingying, you are wrong this time, this Mr. Cai Yan is not a child from a poor family. Judging by the quality of his clothes, it is only I'm afraid it's the fabric of Wutong Cloth, which costs a hundred taels of silver per piece. How can those poor literati afford to wear it? By the way, the jade pendant around his waist, in terms of quality alone, is probably even my father often plays with it. Yu Ruyi can't even compare to it."

All the girls laughed together, and Yingying said a little unconvinced: "How is this possible? Of the Cai family in Ding'an City, only Cai Zhuguo is still powerful. Where did this Cai Yan come from? "

Chapter 229 Two Gold Bars

The girls were laughing and laughing for a while, and Sister Yu continued to laugh and said, "Anyway, this Mr. Cai Yan... is not only rich, but also judging from his appearance, he can be said to have red lips and white teeth, and a face like a crown of jade. He is a rare handsome man. Look at him The appearance of leaning on the railing to drink and guess riddles is in line with what Yingying thinks in your heart, unrestrained and uninhibited, even Sister Yu and I were almost fascinated..."

Yingying's eyes lit up: "Really?"

The girls were all in high spirits, and followed Sister Yu up the stairs one after another. Amidst the singing of Yingying and Yanyan, the few people seemed to be moving delicate flowers.This kind of scene undoubtedly slapped the scholars downstairs severely, and the expressions on their faces became a little dark at this moment.

At this time, Qin Ke had already gone up to the fourth floor, and was a little dazed for a while.

The lanterns on the roof were shining brightly, and the lanterns of various colors illuminated people's faces and painted their bodies with a thick layer of color, but compared to the crowded downstairs, the upstairs was another empty scene.

Or to put it another way... a scene where crowds and emptiness coexist.

With a sound of "Ding Dong", a wine glass drew a trajectory in the air, after all, it still didn't grow wings, and could only fall to the ground with a tragic scream, and his body shattered into countless debris , splashing in all directions.

There were already several broken cups on the ground, all of which seemed to be falling apart, and Qin Ke looked forward, and the crowd standing in rows on both sides seemed to be forced to stand on both sides in order to avoid these cups, There was a bit of dissatisfaction in both eyes——if we didn't know the details of you guy, wouldn't we have knocked you down from this upstairs a long time ago?

The edge of the fourth floor of Jiuxianju is a railing that is no higher than half a person's body, and a long seat is placed on the side of the railing. Through the railing, you can see the lights of the flower boats on the Ding'an River in the distance. Slowly moving and flowing in the water, the singing of singers and the pipa of geisha seem to be able to reach here from afar. Although it is hazy, there is an inexplicable sense of beauty.

The person who threw the cup...was not sitting on the table or chair at all, he was actually sitting on the railing, holding the railing in one hand, and holding the wine jug in the other, laughing haha, and the clear voice spread far away. As he drove away, the wind blew his elegant Confucian robe, and the jade pendant on it made a clear and pleasant sound.

From the back, he is probably a young man. His figure is slender but not thin. His loose hair is obviously well-groomed, black and shiny. The jade crown binds the hair together. His pure white neck seems to be sinking in a black waterfall. The next one is jade.

"During the Double Ninth Festival at Guanghan Palace, Guanghan Palace is above the moon." He held up the jug, pointed to the moon which is not round but is extraordinarily bright tonight, and said with a smile, "Chongyang, that is double suns, double suns." Day is a word for Tian, ​​and the combination of Tian and moon is a word for stomach, Xiao Er! It’s fifteen! It’s time to give me the third jug of wine!”

"Xiaoer! Xiaoer!" Seemingly not seeing any response, he turned his head slightly and glanced at him suspiciously, and Xiaoer also leaned forward in a timely manner, "Guest officer, can I have a discussion?"

"What are you discussing?" The young man laughed, "Could it be that you run out of wine so soon? Jiuxianju holds lantern riddle guessing every year, and it turns out that even such a drink is not prepared? It's too disappointing." Bar?"

"No, of course there is no shortage of wine..." Xiaoer was stunned, and then rolled his eyes. If he met such a guest on weekdays, he would have rushed up with a broom, but today The figure and demeanor of this young man are obviously not ordinary people. In Ding'an City, if a brick is dropped from the sky, it can hit a high-ranking official's son if it is not even. dignitaries.

"You drink wine, why drop the porcelain in our store? If you drop the pottery bowls in those small wine shops, you will drop it, but the porcelain in Jiuxianju is produced by the official kiln of the Tang Dynasty, and each piece is very valuable. There are [-] puzzles to solve here, but two wine jugs and six wine glasses have been dropped in the shop, the shop is really..."

"Understood." The young man smiled, "You want money, right? What I gave you just now wasn't enough?" He touched his arms and muttered in his mouth: "I remember that elder brother should like to give you money. hide in……"

"That's right, it's here!" The young man's eyes lit up, he laughed, and when he raised his hand, amidst the golden light, he actually took out a gold bar from the inner pocket of his shirt!

Xiao Er's eyes were dazzled by the dazzling brilliance for a moment, even though the country of Tang is rich, this gold bar is not easy for ordinary people to use, this young master even took out one without blinking, and it was as straight as dung. Throwing it into his hands, he was a little speechless for a moment, wondering which family's son this master is, who made such a big move?

"No..." Xiaoer still had to say, "My lord... the ingot of silver you gave earlier is enough to compensate these porcelains, but..."

The young man was clearly drinking in the right mood, or rather drunk, and said loudly, "What? Not enough?" As soon as the words fell, Xiao Er actually had another gold bar in his hand.

"Hey..." Not only Xiaoer, but even the whole floor gasped. Originally, it was shocking enough for this young gentleman to take out a gold bar, but this is Ding'an City after all. , there are all kinds of nobles.

It's just that he pulled out the second one so suddenly, and he didn't seem to care about it at all, which really shocked everyone.

Qin Ke also looked a little silly, in fact, he also had a few gold bars in his arms, which were given to him by Zhuge Wanling. Although gold is expensive, it is not suitable for most occasions, but Compared with larger bags of silver, after all, it is much easier to carry. As long as you can find the silver house of the bank, you can still exchange it for silver.

But no matter what, he definitely couldn't take it out as easily as this young man. Perhaps in Ding'an City, there are official posts to ensure safety, so there will be no such thing as robbers, but such a gold bar can be thrown out like this , It is simply something that a lunatic can do.

Thinking of this, Qin Ke pursed his lips and smiled: "I think this is Cai Yan, it's quite interesting."

Xiaoer took two gold bars, but he didn't dare to leave for a while. The fool also knew the value of these two gold bars. In terms of the value of these two gold bars alone, it might be enough to sell his building.

And if he had no heart, he really stuffed these two gold bars into his pocket, and judging by the identity of this young master, even if he didn't care about it, someone would take the initiative to come to the door tomorrow and drag him into the yamen to beat him up.

Thinking of this, he trembled at the corner of his mouth and said, "My lord..."

Cai Yan squinted, and said impatiently: "Why? Not enough? I may not be able to give you any more." As he spoke, he muttered in a low voice, "Brother's private money hidden in his clothes is only two A gold bar, it seems that my sister-in-law is also very strict."

Xiao Er, however, was trembling all over. Naturally, he didn't hear the whispered words clearly, but nodded vigorously like a chicken pecking rice: "Enough is enough...too much."

"Then guest officer, I'll prepare drinks for you first." After being pushed back like this, Xiao Er didn't dare to talk about money anymore, and just wanted to quickly take the two gold bars to the shopkeeper and let him make a decision.

When the sky falls, there must be someone taller to support it.

Cai Yan nodded, expressed her satisfaction slightly, and said, "Go quickly, it's boring without wine." Having said this, he thought about it again, and said, "It seems that not only is it boring without wine, but it's also boring to play with. It's boring."

As he spoke, he looked around for a while, and the people he saw took a step back, as if they were afraid of something, but the group of women had already been attracted by the unrestrained and unrestrained Mr. Cai Yan. Come on, everyone's eyes are rolling, wishing to show their most delicate side, even if they can't get married with this young man in the end, it would be nice to sit opposite each other and watch the lanterns.

It's just that although Cai Yan's eyes were a little erratic, there was no fluctuation in his eyes when he looked at the women. It seemed that in his eyes, these women were just invisible breaths. He hiccupped inexplicably, and his gaze Finally landed on Qin Ke, the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile: "Brother, how about having a drink together?"

Chapter 2 Thirty

Qin Ke was startled, not knowing why he chose himself inexplicably, subconsciously said: "Why?"

Cai Yan grinned and showed her white teeth. At this moment, his smile was so soft and soft. Originally, this person was extremely white like a woman, but such a smile was even more beautiful: "Look at them..." He pointed, and finally Pointing at Qin Ke, "It seems that only Xiongtai is the only person who comes here for fun, isn't it?"

Hearing what he said, Qin Ke couldn't help laughing: "I guess so?" After all, his purpose was different from that of everyone in the field, and he was half right to say it was for fun.

"In that case, I'll only drink with you, brother." Xiaoer came up with the jug in his hand. He took the jug and the glass, poured a full glass very briskly, and raised his hand, revealing a white and tender face. Wrist, "Come here, is it possible that Xiongtai doesn't like me?"

"How come?" Qin Ke shook his head. It was hard for him to refuse when he said that, but looking at his white wrist and his soft and beautiful face like a woman, Qin Ke felt that if this person If it's really a woman, I'm afraid she won't look worse than Zhang Fu, right?

Of course, even for a man, he can be called very handsome.

Qin Ke walked over and took the wine in his hand. At this time, the shopkeeper ran up sweating profusely, and asked Xiao Er to take the guests downstairs to the private room reserved for the dignitaries. Few customers walked downstairs with complaints, and some even went out of Jiuxianju directly along the stairs, and the shopkeeper had no choice but to apologize repeatedly.

Soon, the originally crowded fourth floor became sparse. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it would be hard to believe that almost none of the scholars on the fourth floor remained.

Those girls didn't leave, but found a seat and sat down, their eyes aimed at Cai Yan intentionally or unintentionally.

After seeing off the guests, the shopkeeper respectfully brought back the gold bars, saying: "I don't know the importance of this gold bar, the young master has the right to keep it, and that ingot of silver is enough to exchange these porcelains, there is no need to give any more money. "

Cai Yan didn't care, just nodded, took the gold bar, stuffed it into her arms indiscriminately, then continued to sit on the railing, facing the outside, looking at the light of the distant flower boat, holding the wine pot in her hand, smiling Non-smile.

Qin Ke looked at the people coming out of Jiuxianju, and asked, "Why don't you say something?"

"What did you say?" Cai Yan took a sip of wine, "You think I forced them away?"

Qin Ke frowned, thinking, isn't it?

Cai Yan smiled and said: "In the final analysis, none of them came here today with pure motives. They just hoped to show off their talents and learn in front of the ladies of each family, so as to win some favors. However, they What can you show off with the knowledge of half a bucket of water? Isn’t it just a swollen face and pretending to be a fat man?”

He supported the railing with his hands, his legs were hanging in the air, and he was three feet away from the bottom of the building. If he fell from here, even a practitioner like Qin Ke would suffer a little injury, but he was not afraid at all, and swayed with a smile. Legs, "But, a group of stupid pigs are together, it's not too shameful to fight over who is fatter, but since I'm here, what can they fight for? Naturally, they take advantage of this step to take advantage of the trend, so there is no need to lose weight." It's embarrassing here, isn't it?"

His voice was not very loud, but when he said it, there was a strong sense of self-confidence in it. Qin Ke smiled bitterly, thinking that this was a guest who was driven away by your behavior, why did you say it in a few words? Did he just run away?

But maybe, what he said had some truth to it.

Qin Ke looked at the chattering women, and Cai Yan's voice came from his ears: "Speaking of which, don't you know your brother's name?"

Qin Ke turned his head, smiled and said: "My surname is Qin, Qin Ke, I don't dare to be a real name."

"So it's Brother Qin." He grinned, "My name is Cai Yan."

I know your name is Cai Yan... Qin Ke thought silently, Xiao Er has called your name over and over again, and the discussions about you downstairs have been repeated one after another like endless waves. In this case, How could he not know?

Cai Yan looked into the distance and said, "Where is Brother Qin from? You're not from Tang, are you?"

Qin Ke nodded: "I was born in the realm of the Mohist family..." He only said half of it, and the rest of the half, he is not stupid enough to reveal his background to everyone he sees.

Gao Yishui said that the highest state of telling a lie is to be able to tell the truth as a lie.But at the same time, he also thinks that Qin Ke may not be able to do it in this life, and there are many difficulties along the way. If Qin Ke doesn't know how to cover up his identity, even if it may not lead to any major events, the small troubles that follow may also It made him burnt out.

Therefore, Gao Yishui's "education" to Qin Ke is: tell half of the truth, half of the lie, false and true, as long as it can confuse the public.

Qin Ke also tried to do it, but he still seemed clumsy, but this time he felt that he did a good job.He was indeed born in the realm of Mohism, but behind him now represents the Zhuge faction in the Jingwu court. If the people of Jingwu say that Zhuge Wanling is no different from half of Jingwu, and Gao Changgong is the other half. .

Since Gao Changgong is also a solid supporter of Zhuge Wanling, behind Qin Ke, it can be said that the entire Jingwu is standing.

Cai Yan snorted, but he didn't think too much about it. The two of them were chatting, so it's understandable to ask where they came from. He took a sip of his wine and said softly: "No wonder, listening to you, you seem a little rough from the north." Speaking of this, he became interested, turned his bright eyes, stared at Qin Ke curiously, and said, "What is the Mohist family like? Is it different from Tang State?"

"What's the difference?" Qin Ke scratched his head, "It doesn't seem to be different, it's just colder."

"Cold?" Cai Yan asked, "How cold is it?"

Qin Ke thought for a while and said: "It's usually fine. In winter, if there is no firewood at home, it's like an ice cellar. When I open the door, the snow is as thick as half a person's height. Once a hunter went up to the mountain to hunt and never came back. People from all over the village went up to search but couldn't find it, and it was not until the winter passed and the snow melted that half of his body was found, and the meat was eaten by wild wolves and foxes."

"That's it." Cai Yan nodded, but she showed a yearning expression that even surprised Qin Ke.

He swayed his legs, gently lifted the jug, pointed it at his raised mouth, and took a small sip. It seemed unintentional, but it made the eyes of the group of women shine, and they felt that Cai Yan's gestures They all have a bit of bohemian taste.

"It's a pity that it rarely snows in Ding'an City." After drinking the wine, Cai Yan wiped her thin and rosy lips, "I have seen snow five times since I was a child."

"Five times...is that very little?"

Cai Yan glanced at him and said, "That's because you don't know what the snow in Ding'an looks like. Basically...it's just a thin layer that melts in three or two days. I don't think it would be enough to build a snowman." …Sometimes I wish I could ride out of town all the way north…”

Qin Ke couldn't laugh or cry and said: "Just because you can't make a snowman?"

"Of course not." Cai Yan was a little annoyed, "I just think that if I can leave Ding'an City and go out for fun, it's better than staying in this poor place."

Qin Ke looked at the scene outside the building. The starlight in the sky could hardly cover the lights all over the street. The dragon dance team was still marching in various streets. There were adults and children laughing everywhere, and many lovers took advantage of it. Let's travel together today, hand in hand...

Such a scene, compared with the scene where Qin Ke faced the great famine back then, when the people ate grass roots and bark, and were as skinny as sticks, is like heaven and earth.

"This... is also called a broken place?" Qin Ke smiled wryly: "You haven't left Ding'an City, have you? After leaving here, everything outside is worse than this... even worse than this."

"I've never left Ding'an City." Cai Yan sat chattering in every possible way, "But I'm not so stupid that I really don't know what it looks like outside. I have never eaten pork and I have seen pigs running. I can tell by reading a book." But no matter how beautiful the birdcage is, even if it is made of pure gold, what good is it? Even if Ding’an City can be called the richest city in the world, you should get tired of seeing these things every day. I really want to see the one in the north. Grassland, I heard that the sky is flat and close to the sky, and you can ride a horse for a month without seeing the end. There is also Jingwu, they are leaning on the dome of the sea, each big boat is more than fifty feet high, and more than 1000 people can stand on it , no matter how big the wind and waves are, they can't shake..."

Chapter 231