On the evening of September 26, as soon as the sun went down, the painting boats on the banks of the Qinhuai River were lit up (Ghost Lingzi). Red and pink lanterns hang from the flagpole at the stern of the ship, fluttering in the wind. On the bow of the boat, the soft and colorful girls are either stroking the piano or playing the lute. The rich aroma of fat powder also wafted with the opening of the painting boat.

The cargo ships that came and went during the day were now rested, and were replaced by this one-only painted boat. The entire Qinhuai River seems to have changed its appearance. If the Qinhuai River in the day is like a secular businessman running for a living, then when it is late, it will become a twenty-eight girl with flowers and branches, which looks extremely charming.

The lanterns reflect the water, and the painting boat Lingbo is a good time to drink and have fun.

"Brother Cong, Brother Hou, Brother Kong, please!"

"Xiaolang, please!"

Amid mutual humility, several young men dressed as scholars stepped onto a medium-sized painting boat. Headed by Song Zheng, the leader of the Shandong Road Touming Wenju, the champion of the Great Qi Wu, and the commander of the Forbidden Army's Zhenzi Team. Accompanied by a few of them are several lifters from Shandong Road. One is Hou Zhonglian, one of the three major sons of Licheng, one is Cong Ge, and one is surnamed Kong, whose name is Kong Fan, from the Confucian family in Yanzhou (Qufu belongs to Yanzhou, Shandong Road).

These three all came to Jiangning to take the Jinshi exam the year before last, because the difficulty of the Jinshi subject is not comparable to that of the Jinshi (the latest chapter of the Xian Song). In addition, Shandong Lu Wenju released the list after the release, and it was already early October. Then I went to Jiangning to participate in Jinshike, and the time was too rushed. Therefore, after many people are lifted in the examination, they will study for two years with peace of mind and study the questions of the Jinshi exam. Two years later, he took the Jinshi exam again.

The lifters of Shandong Road entered Beijing, and they were all proud to visit Song Jue. Song Jue is now famous all over the world, he is a Confucian master, and he is also the deputy chief teacher of the Jiangning Academy of Literature.

Since it is mixed with officialdom, connections are extremely important, and in the past six months or so, Song Zheng has followed another great Confucian Wei Buzhou, and has also participated in several poetry meetings. As a junior student, Song Zheng is humble and studious, and he is good at writing, and has won a lot of poetry fame. Although he has the aura of Wu Zhuangyuan, the literati have been high since ancient times. The so-called "everything is inferior, only reading is high", Song Zheng also tried his best to integrate into it, and sang and sang with the literati of Jiangning City.

The sedan chair was carried by everyone, and he was the son of the great Confucian Song Jue, and the literati and scholars slowly accepted Song Zheng. Now, Song Zheng's fame is not small, and he has become one of the most famous young talents in Jiangning City.

In later generations, there are five senses and five does, namely: small officials do big things, cold officials do hot things, vulgar officials do elegant things, idle officials are busy doing things, and male officials and women do things. And Song Zheng added an item: military attache Wen do.

Today, Song Zheng took the initiative to invite Hou Zhonglian and others, which is also a means of cultivating contacts. These people are Song Zheng's classmates, and they are all from Shandong Road, Song Zheng, as a "landlord", naturally wants to do his best to be a landlord. The venue of the banquet is this Lianjia painting boat.

The head of the Lianjia painting boat, named Lian Shui'er, although on the huge Qinhuai River, is not the most famous, but it is better in taste. As his name suggests, Lian Shui'er is a slender figure, tender like water, with a pair of big eyes with tears and tears, looking forward to life, but there is a dusty atmosphere, not like other kabuki clothes. Lian Shui'er, qin, chess, calligraphy and painting are omniscient, which is very attractive to some pretentious literati.

There is a way to invite guests to dinner, if you are to invite a big businessman, you naturally have to go to that kind of gorgeous place, and the more gorgeous and coquettish the woman you accompany, the better. As for the banquet of literati, it is best to choose the Lianjia painting boat. Song Zheng had accompanied Wei Buzhou to drink on this painting boat, and he also took a fancy to the atmosphere here.

"Song Gongzi, all the sons, the old slave is polite (the latest chapter of Chinese memory)." As soon as he boarded the boat, the boatman in his fifties came to greet him.

Song Zheng nodded, "Boat family, is the girl Shui'er ready?" ”

"Miss Shui'er is in the back cabin, waiting for the son to come, and the son is invited to sit down."

Song Zheng waved his hand to the boatman, and the boatman retreated. Song Zheng led Hou Zhonglian and the others through the dome and stepped into the cabin.

The table had already been set up in the cabin, and tea had been made. The curtains on both sides of the cabin had been lifted and the windows had been erected. Sitting at the table, you can just enjoy the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Qinhuai River.

Directly facing the hatch, there is a beaded curtain, and behind the curtain is a zither. However, Lian Shui'er did not sit by the zither. At this time, she was still in a separate room in the rear cabin. Famous actors naturally have the shelves of famous players, and they are not casual visitors.

"Brothers, let's listen to the music first, or drink first, or listen while drinking?"

Hou Zhonglian said with a smile, "This is Xiaolang's land, so naturally we listen to Xiaolang, and we are as good as the host." Cong Ge and Kong Fan also echoed.

"Okay, let's listen while drinking, and pair the wine with koji. Don't get drunk today. Three young brothers, please take a seat. ”

Don't look at it as a flower wine, the seats are also exquisite. If they all have official positions, they will naturally sit according to the size of their official positions. There are no official positions, and they are generally seated according to age and guest of honor. However, the current situation is relatively special, among the four people, only Song Zheng has an official position, but it is a military position. If you rank according to the official position of Lao Tzu in the family, Hou Zhonglian should be the first. If it is based on the reputation of the family, it is naturally headed by Kong Fan from the Kong family. And in terms of age alone, Cong Ge is the oldest.

Everyone gave in, and in the end, Hou Zhonglian sat first, Cong Ge and Kong Fan lined up on both sides, and Song Zhengjing accompanied the last seat.

After the four of them drank a cup of tea, the pretty maid who was waiting on the side brought the dishes up. Although it is served with koji, the boatman has already prepared the sake and food. According to Song Zheng's instructions in advance, the boatman ordered a table of dishes from Yuhualou, put them in a big food box, mentioned the boat, and accompanied by a few small dishes made by the boatman himself, which was quite hearty (arrogant and unlimited).

"Come, three young brothers, this is the best champion red, let's drink this cup full, first wish the three young brothers the title of the gold list."

"Champion Red? That's a good name! Hou Zhonglian said with a smile, "Borrow Xiaolang's auspicious words, come, drink this cup together." ”

The four of them drank the wine one after another, and the pretty maid filled it up again for everyone.

You come and go, and soon the three cups will be eaten, and Song Zheng instructed the pretty maid to invite the girl Shui'er.

The pretty maid went out in response, and after half a cup of tea, the sound of clogs sounded, and a figure appeared behind the bead curtain. Under the cover of the bead curtain, Lian Shui'er's face was not very real. I saw that she was wearing a plain pink neon feather coat, with a jade phoenix hairpin on her head, a towering cloud bun, and a faint pair of apricot kernel eyes, which came through from behind the bead curtain, which was quite seductive.

The woman cast a blessing behind the curtain, "Lian Shui'er has seen a few sons. ”

"Miss Shui'er, the last time Song and Mr. Buzhou came here, I listened to the girl play music and circled the beam for three days. Today, Song specially invited a few confidants and friends to come to listen to the music, and Miss Lao showed her skills again. ”

"But listen to Childe's orders." Lian Shui Yingying bent over, then retreated to the back of the guzheng and sat down. The slender jade finger stretched out and flicked it three times on the zither. The crisp sound immediately swept away a bit of impetuousness in the wine field.

After three clearing sounds, Lian Shui'er waited quietly for a moment before playing. The first song, called "Fishing Boat Singing Evening", has a melodious tune and a soothing sound, which is quite calming.

At the end of the song, Lian Shui'er retreated from behind the curtain and rested for a while. Song Zheng and the others commented, and then drank.

By this time, the boat had rowed to the center of the river and was drifting down the river. Generally speaking, there is a fixed section of the painting on the Qinhuai River. For example, the Lianjia painting boat is from Dingzhou Bridge to Bingzhou Bridge, and the cycle repeats until late at night. This section of the river is also the section with many painted boats, and dozens of singing boats are floating.

Since the windows were open, it was easy for Song Zheng and the others to see the staggered ships (the latest chapter of the Immortal Reaper). However, these ships are very careful to avoid them, and they are generally far apart, so they take the initiative to spread out to both sides, staggered and pass by, and the closest ones are also seven or eight feet. One is for safety, and the other is for the purity of the guests on board, and no one wants to hear so much noise during pleasure.

Another reason is to avoid suspicion. Many of the people who drank and had fun, slept in flowers and willows were high-ranking officials in Jiangning City, and these people were unwilling to let others see them, so many of the painting boats were closed with windows. There are a few people like Song Zheng and others who drink and listen to music while enjoying the scenery. Song Zheng kept the window open because Hou Zhonglian and others visited the Qinhuai River for the first time.

"Xiaolang, Qin Huaihe is really extraordinary. The warbler and the swallow are endless. Hou Zhonglian couldn't help but sigh.

"Brother Hou is moved?" Cong Ge smiled, "If you are tempted, you can go and fetch the curtain of the water girl." With a talent like Brother Cong, maybe he can be the guest of Miss Shui'er. ”

Picking up curtains is the rule on the Qinhuai River. If you take a fancy to the girl on the painting boat, and at the same time the girl is also selling herself, the guest can use the curtain, that is, the jade mallet hanging on the wall of the boat next to the curtain, to pick up the beaded curtain. If the girl can fall in love with you, she will invite you to the rear cabin for a drink alone, that is, agree to your prostitution. If you don't like you, the girl will thank you for your kindness and say that she is not feeling well.

A more elegant approach is for the kabuki to write a poem and ask the guests to compose a poem. If you can do it, you can naturally go to bed. If they can't do it, the guests will have to withdraw. As for the difficulty of the poem's title, it depends on the first look of Kabuki. If you are personable, young and handsome, Kabuki may only have a simple title such as "Autumn Moon" and "Clear Water"; If you have sharp-eared monkey gills and are old and obscene, I'm sorry, but the topic of Kabuki is tricky and difficult, maybe you can dig up rare words from ancient books to use as poetry titles, so that you will know the difficulty and retreat.

Of course, the kataka also have livelihood considerations, after all, a boatload of people points to the kaki for dinner. If you can afford to buy an entire ship, the Kabuki may be reluctant to obey you.

All in all, picking curtains is not a simple job. Many times, you pick up the curtain, and you can't get what you want.

Cong Ge's father, Cong Kui, originally served in the Jiangning City Guard, Cong Ge grew up in Jiangning since he was a child, and naturally knew the rules on the Qinhuai River (read the full text of Xuanqing Dao).

Hou Zhonglian smiled faintly, "Brother Cong laughed, Cong just sighed that the prosperity on the Qinhuai River is not the same as that of Licheng." Then, he turned to Song Zheng and said, "Xiaolang, can I order a tune on this painting boat?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that Song Zheng's brows were frowning slightly, and his eyes were looking out the window.

Following Song Zheng's gaze, a painting boat was staggered, only three or four feet apart. Hou Zhonglian was about to ask Song Zheng what he saw, but Song Zheng turned around, "Naturally, Brother Cong wants to listen to whatever tunes, just order it." ”

Hou Zhonglian glanced at the painting boat and didn't notice anything unusual. Then he continued, "I don't know if the water girl here can know the song of mountains and flowing water?" ”

Song Zheng smiled, "I don't know, I have to ask." ”

At this time, the pretty maid stepped forward and replied, "My girl plays such famous songs as mountains and flowing water very well." In the next song, my girl prepared the mountains and flowing water. ”

The allusion to the mountains and flowing water is about Yu Boya and Zhongzi period. And as a song, it means that each other is a bosom friend. Song Zheng invited his friends to a banquet, and the kabuki would also observe words and colors, and play music in a targeted manner.

"Okay, just ask the water girl to stroke a song of mountains and flowing water." As Song Zheng spoke, he took out an ingot of five taels of silver and handed it to the pretty maid. It's just a small amount of money for tipping. The painting boat is a gold cave, and a flower boat like the Lianjia painting boat costs fifty taels of silver a night. If you want to stay overnight, the cost of spending the night should be calculated separately, which may be as high as more than 100 taels. As for the green buildings like Yuxianglou and Shuiyuefang, each family has two or three large painting boats, and such painting boats cost two or three hundred taels of silver for one night.

"Thank you, Childe." The pretty maid was overjoyed, took the silver, and went to the back cabin to call people.

Song Zheng smiled and drank with Hou Zhonglian and the others again. However, his ears were pricked up. ~

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