In the south of Jiangling City, thousands of miles of rivers are vast and rushing, Heifu stands on the beach by the river, listening to the sound of the tide beating on the embankment, the turquoise water, the curved sandbar, and the Bashu sailing boats slowly sailing from west to east, forming an intertwined painting.

Of course, there are no less people in this painting, and there are young men and women standing on the left and right of Heifu, who are dressed in freshly made spring clothes, the noble wearing silk silk, and the poor wearing linen. According to the clothes and grades they wear, they stand by different waters, but they all look at the river, and their faces are full of expectation.

Today is the first day of March, which is a very important festival, and Heifu was able to rest, and together with his colleague Feng Jing, he came to the riverside to watch the excitement.

"Those who are in the twilight of spring, the spring clothes are completed, there are five or six crowns, six or seven children, bathing, dancing in the wind, and returning ......"

Heifu said secretly: "If Feng Jing hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known, this text is about the Shangsi Festival, where Confucius took his disciples to the waterside for a spring outing and bathing. ”

The theme of the Shangsi Festival is to travel in spring, and the people of the city pour out of the city, and go to the riverside pond to bathe or wash with herbs, and drink the water for the flowing cup.

Feng Jing looked around very curiously, and said softly: "This custom is also found in the Central Plains and Guanzhong, but I heard that Zhengdi and Jingchu Jiangling are the places where this custom is most prevalent, but I don't know what the difference is......"

They were chatting in a low voice, only to hear the sound of a chime, but they saw a building ship sailing downstream from the Gangneung wharf, and when it sailed to the shore, it stopped at anchor, but they saw that on the deck of the building ship, an altar decorated with flowers and herbs had been built, and on it there was a sorcerer wearing a sacrificial robe, a lotus robe, a ribbon, a blue crown, and a five-colored sorcerer painted on his face.

Although Ye Teng, the county guard, governed the local "obscenity" and destroyed many obscene shrines in Nanjun, there are also officially recognized witch blessings, and the one in front of him is one of them. But I saw her and a group of dancers banging the copper chime along the boat and dancing as a sacrifice, and everyone on the shore also responded one after another, or joined in the dance, or knelt by the river and closed their eyes, and sacrificed themselves.

"What are they talking about?"

When Feng Jing first came to Nanjun, he couldn't understand the words of the sorcerer and the people on the shore who spoke in a strong voice, so Heifu explained on his behalf: "I am praying for the gods to bless the earth, may the five grains be abundant, the orchid will be full of gardens, drive away evil spirits, and the offspring will multiply." ”

"When Xianyang Weishui sacrificed, the words were almost like this."

Feng Jing smiled, at this time, after the wizard danced and sacrificed, with the sound of a chime, many young men and women who were also dressed as witches ran over from the shore and distributed the bluegrass that the wizard had prayed to the gods to bless to everyone, basically one in each person's hand.

"Hu Jiangli and Pi Zhixi, Su Qiulan thinks it is admired", like Qu Yuan, the people of Chu all love Lan, and in this activity, Lancao has always been used as a spiritual object.

After getting the bluegrass, everyone on the shore let out a burst of laughter as if they had received an order, and all men and women untied their clothes and walked into the river......

This is the main activity of the festival, "祓禊" (xì), which is to take a bath near the water, which is said to wash away bad luck from the body.

Of course, it's not all stripped naked and thrown into the river, which would be a joke. Don't expect a large mixed bath for men and women, everyone is honest, it is said that this was really the case during the reign of Chu State, but since Ye Teng came to Nanjun, this kind of atmosphere has been banned as "obscene".

Heifu and Feng Jing and other men just took off their shirts and scooped up the river water to wash their upper bodies. A group of women dozens of steps away from them untied their hair and washed their hair with aromatherapy orchids, although they were separated by a little distance, they could still see the lotus root-like arms of the girls.

On the other side, there were also many women who secretly looked out, and when they saw Kuro's sturdy and sturdy martial body, a few girls blushed and whispered and laughed with their female companions.

Spring has arrived, and the air by the Yangtze River is filled with an ambiguous atmosphere......

That's right, this is the second function of the Shangsi Festival: get rid of the single!

In the world of the Warring States Period, the folk customs were simple and open, especially in Chudi. Large groups of open-air mixed bathing are naturally indispensable for men and women to hook up, and it is easy to breed free love, that is, elopement.

But elopement today will not be condemned.

"In the month of mid-spring, men and women will be ordered, so the time is also, and those who run can't help it." Probably in order to encourage childbearing, even the official is endorsing unmarried men and women to take off their singles.

This is also the reason why Heifu and Feng Jing were rushed to the riverside to participate in the activities by the county lieutenant Li You, because they were both unmarried.

"I thought Feng Jun was engaged in Xianyang." Heifu finished bathing and put on his shirt.

Feng Jing smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Don't mention it, I haven't met a suitable one."

The two of them also broke off the wicker at the willow tree on the shore and inserted it in their hair, "on March 3 and above, they collected wormwood and catkins", and it is said that the wicker has the effect of driving away evil spirits.

At this time, there were already many young men and women sitting on the lawn on the shore, and there were not a few single common men and women who looked hot when they bathed, and immediately went into the grove afterwards.

The children and daughters of nobles and officials are more reserved, and they will look for a partner who is good and pleasing to the eye in blind dates with similar status.

What they were going to was such a meeting place, a high platform by the river: Lantai.

……

"Lantai, I heard that it is the palace of the king of Chu by the river, and the king of Chu Qingxiang did not move east and often worked with Song Yu, and Jingcha made an endowment on this platform."

Looking up at this high-platform building near the water's edge, Heifu only felt ironic, the kings of Chu in the past dynasties built a lot of palaces by the Yangtze River, it is said that to the west to Wushan, but Wushan cloud rain, to the east to Yunmengze, Xiangshan red leaves. But most of the most magnificent Zhanghua, Yunmeng, Gaotang and other platforms were destroyed in the war, but only a few such as Lantai remained.

There are people guarding outside the palace to check the identity of the people who enter, and this is the highest blind date meeting in Gangneung, and those who are not children of officials and doctors are not allowed to enter.

Heifu obviously meets the criteria, and Feng Jing's father is a fifth doctor, and he has been established as a queen, and he can also enter.

The Lantai is seven or eight feet high, but the high platform is only open to the county guard and the county lieutenant, and they go to the flowing water pavilion under the stage.

While walking the black man, he said: "I still think that Feng Jun is good at this kind of occasion, so there is no need to pull me." I definitely don't know any of the people here, so it's inevitable that I will be embarrassed. ”

Indeed, although he arrived in the county town, Heifu's social circle has always been very narrow, and at most he gathers with the old robes. Those Cao officials with titles equivalent to him, the children of noble clans, have very little contact.

"Who is familiar with it the first time? Dealing with these people more is not harmful to Zuo Bing Cao Shi. ”

Feng Jing said with a smile: "When it comes to the status of Zuo Bing Cao Shi, such things are inevitable, not to mention, today is still the Shangsi Festival."

As they spoke, the two of them had arrived at the place. The reason why it is called the Flowing Water Pavilion is because the pavilion is built on top of a pool of living water, and with the railing, you can play the game "Feather Blossom with the Flow".

There were already more than twenty young men and women sitting here, the man sitting on the right with wicker in his bun, and the woman sitting on the left with her freshly washed hair wet. There are no restrictions on etiquette and religion in later generations, and everyone is also acquaintances, and they have been talking and laughing, so it is not lively.

Feng Jing is from Xianyang, the capital of the country, and there is a father like Feng Wuxue, there are many people in Jiangling City who want to befriend him, and in the rest of the month, he has eaten ten reception banquets, so he is already familiar with this circle, so he introduced it to Heifu in advance.

"Most of the people sitting inside are the children of officials, including the son of the county Cheng, the son of Gong Cao, and the daughter of the thief Cao Peng...... Most of them don't have their own titles, but they are in the shadow of their fathers' careers, learning the law in the school. ”

At this time, the children of the officials also saw Feng Jing, and immediately several people scrambled to stand up and attack him.

"It turns out that Feng Jun also came to cleanse today."

Although Feng Jing's identity is respectful, he has a decent number of courtesies and bows back to everyone.

There were even many women who looked at this jade-faced gentleman with fiery eyes, and it was not until Feng Jing sat down that they saw the black-faced young man next to him.

Although Heifu's skin is a little darker, he is not ugly, he is now seven feet seven inches tall, and his insistence on exercising makes his body strong, and after experiencing life and death in battle, he also has a somewhat unusual temperament. As for looks? When he looked at the bronze mirror, he always felt that he looked like Gu Tianle after it had turned black......

So Heifu quickly attracted everyone's attention, and when they saw that it was a new face, they thought it was a friend brought by Feng Jing, so they asked him to introduce him on their behalf.

Feng Jing said with a smile: "This is the left soldier Cao Shi, who is an official doctor at a young age!" The rank is higher than that of my little pawn. ”

Everyone was surprised, this is the man of the year in Nanjun recently, far away, when the other Qin troops were defeated, this person had assisted the county lieutenant in the army, and returned triumphantly with the Nanjun soldiers. The recent deeds are his proposals, which made Jishan Tongguan make a water mill that does not require manpower and can automatically run the water mill, which is a strange story.

After attracting everyone's attention, Heifu had no choice but to introduce himself: "I am Heifu, and I have seen two or three sons."

As soon as they heard this name, many of the children of officials looked at each other, and the son of Gong Cao couldn't help laughing: "Heifu? Could it be that the left soldier Cao Shi took black as his clan? It's rare. ”

Heifu thought about it, but still said: "Heifu is just a name, I don't have a clan."

"None of them?"

This group of young men and women from aristocratic officials began to whisper, and the women who knew less about the outside world thought it was incredible.

The son of the county also shook his head and said: "When a man is born, he inherits his father's clan, how can he have no clan?" Unless it's ......"

Unless it is a low-status Qiantou commoner.

Everyone's eyes were focused on themselves, but Heifu was not ashamed to admit the facts: "Unfortunately, my ancestors have three generations, all of whom are unowned farmers."

The atmosphere was a little awkward now, and some people suddenly came to their senses, although they didn't dare to say it on the surface, but there was a trace of contempt in their hearts. Most of the people present have prominent family backgrounds, and their ancestors have not only been officials in the Qin State for generations, but also as far as the reign of the Chu State, and they are also noble doctors, and even Qing!

The son of Gong Cao was very sociable at a glance, and he said with concern: "Why didn't Zuo Bing Cao Shi give himself a clan?" You can change the test in your place of origin, and I see that among the meritorious officials, many small officials who have risen from counties and townships will do this. ”

But in their eyes, even so, it can't hide the original inferior status of Heifu's ancestors, just like his dark skin exposed to the wind and sun, which is not allowed in this small banquet, and their circle is not all the way.

Such a person is embarrassed to come to the gathering of Shangsi under a vulgar name? The dozen or so women present asked themselves if they would not choose a person without a clan.

Feng Jing was silent, and did not help Heifu, because he wanted to see how Heifu would react.

"A bunch of people who are not pragmatic and want to be famous."

Heifu sneered in his heart, he only felt that he was wasting time here, it was better to go to a party with the robe, if all the men and women in front of him were so shallow, then this family would not have to be together.

But at this time, if you leave in anger and anger, you will be laughed at, and you have to think of an idea to deal with it.

However, before Heifu could speak, a soft female voice sounded outside the pavilion.

"I heard my father say that the clan is not innate, the ancients were born with a surname, and the clan was destined for the soil. Everyone present has a clan, which can only show that our ancestors or princes and doctors have been left behind to this day. ”

"But the Qin State is no longer a country of relatives and respect, no longer looking at the origin of the ancestors, but the military merits are awarded, the meritorious ones are respected, and the meritorious deeds are rewarded, and the officials are awarded for their ability. Isn't it ridiculous that everyone present today is not ashamed of their lack of merit and title, but they feel that Cao Shi, the left soldier who won the title of official doctor by himself, should be ashamed of having no clan?"

When Heifu and everyone present heard this, they immediately looked back, but saw a girl wearing a blue skirt and stepping on clogs, standing outside the pavilion with her hair hanging down after bathing.

Her body had not yet fully grown, her shoulders were slightly thin, but her appearance was like finely carved white jade, and she looked surprisingly young, probably only fourteen or fifteen years old, making it hard to believe that Fang Cai's words came from her mouth.

"It turned out to be the daughter of the county guard!"

Everyone stood up and saluted, and the sons of Gong Cao and Jun Cheng were even more eager.

Seeing that everyone looked back, the girl bowed slightly, and bowed to them, and her eyes looked at Heifu, showing the polite smile of the first meeting.

"The concubine is still young, and if she has a superficial opinion, I hope that you will not blame ......"