It was a young student, holding a zither in his arms, probably at the age of the crown, and he looked the same age as the two Jianwen Junchen who were drinking in the room. The tall and thin man had an extremely beautiful face, as beautiful as a fairy, and the two of them were dumbfounded, and they didn't know whether it was a man or a woman in front of them for a while. Shen Ruoyu only felt a high beat in his heart; He seemed to have seen this stunning beautiful man somewhere, but he couldn't remember.

It stands to reason that he should never forget such a face once he has seen it.

Seeing that the two of them did not speak, there was no expression on their faces, and they still asked repeatedly:

"Do you want to listen to singing?"

Shen Ruoyu woke up and couldn't help asking, "What's your name?" ”

The man bowed down, but without the slightest hint of groveling, and replied clearly:

"The villain's name is Gu Shenyu."

"Sinking fish and geese?" Zhu Yunwen asked.

"It's those two words. A valley of abundant grains. ”

"Who gave you the name? It's like a kata-maiko. ”

Gu Shenyu said calmly: "The villain is a kakuchi maiko. ”

Shen Ruoyu asked, "Where are you from?" How old is it? ”

Gu Shenyu is still neither humble nor arrogant: "The villain grew up in this capital, and he just turned twenty years old this year. ”

"It turned out to be from the capital, no wonder there is still a proud backbone." Shen Ruoyu smiled slightly. He said, "Whatever you can sing, just sing two songs." ”

The Gu Shenyu didn't twist, and immediately responded: "The villain will sing the signature song of this store first." Then he sat down on the ground, put the zither flat on his lap, plucked two strong and desolate attacks, and sang with the strings of the zither:

"The wind blows the willow flowers all over the store, and Wu Ji presses the wine to persuade the guests to taste it.

"The children of Jinling came to see each other off, and they did their best if they wanted to do it or not.

"Please ask Dongliushui, don't you want to be short or long with anyone?"

The eyes of the guests on the floor widened in surprise. The voice of this singing boy is deep and high-pitched, full of sad tones, as if the autumn wind swept the leaves, and the cool air was sluggish. Shen Ruoyu has never felt that Li Bai's "Farewell to Jinling Wine Shop" can have such an endless awe-inspiring flavor.

A song is over. Zhu Yunwen was silent for a moment and sighed:

"For a long time, I only look at this Yuefu is the traditional pen of Taibai, although it is written about parting, it is also full of youthful longing and pride. You sing, but it's a completely different mood. In this way, I don't know how to interpret the original poem. ”

Shen Ruoyu sighed softly: "No wonder it is a signature song." Everyone knows that Wu Ji's signboard borrows allusions from Taibai's poems, but they never thought that the store could interpret their own signboard so well. ”

He got up and poured a full glass of wine, sent it to Gu Shenyu, and said:

"Wu Ji's wine is fragrant, and Mr.'s song is a must in Jinling. Please take the hard work, drink this wine, and sing again. ”

Gu Shenyu was slightly stunned, looked at the wine glass in front of him, raised his head and looked directly at Shen Ruoyu, and asked:

"Dare to ask Your Excellency your surname?"

Shen Ruoyu said: "I am a nameless and talentless person, so Mr. doesn't know." ”

Gu Shenyu glanced at the autumn wind he was standing on the table, did not speak, took the wine glass, and drank it all. Then, he plucked the strings of the zither and sang again; This time, it completely changed the style just now, it is the tactful and delicate Kun dialect, sad and quiet, beautiful and moving:

"When will Nong return?

Nong patted the fan.

"The general road is too busy for a long time,

"Let's wait for the next year.

"If a colt is good,

"The slave guards the moss at home.

"Resentment slave sex, partiality asks you,

"Go out but go to the West Lane?

"The fifth watch deceived me from the beginning.

"Full of nonsense,

"I hid a towel bag around my waist.

"I have been a woman to this day,

"Ten crested hairpins.

"The royal mother has not welcomed me for three years,

"Who is the phoenix hairpin stuck on?"

male and female tones, but at the moment it is just right; In the tone of the resentful woman, the arrogance of the princess, who was still overwhelmed, was vivid. Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but be amazed, and couldn't stop admiring:

"Wonderful, singing so well."

He couldn't help but fill his wine glass, got up and sent it to Gu Shenyu.

"How skillful is the gentleman! This glass of wine really has to be respected. ”

Gu Shenyu looked at Zhu Yunwen in front of him, he was not polite, took the wine glass and drank it all. Then he stood up, bowed, and said:

"It's over. The two masters drank slowly, and the villain retired. ”

Zhu Yunwen hurriedly said, "What's the matter, you're leaving?" Let's sing two more songs. We haven't heard enough yet. ”

"No, since Lord Shen has heard enough, the villain will no longer cause trouble. I can't afford to offend adults. ”

After Gu Shenyu finished speaking indifferently, he turned around and walked out of the room, and quickly went downstairs.

Zhu Yunwen turned his head and looked at Shen Ruoyu in disappointment, a little surprised.

"You know him?"

Shen Ruoyu glanced at him and shook his head.

"Such a great beauty, how could I have met him. He probably guessed it. ”

He craned his neck, and the glass in his hand immediately bottomed out.

Only then did Zhu Yunwen realize that a jar of wine had bottomed out.

I said...... Brother Wu, don't you don't drink? Why is this altar gone? ”

Shen Ruoyu frowned, and the corners of his mouth twitched sarcastically. "What's the matter, Brother Wen, it's obvious that you just poured the last glass and poured wine for that beauty."

Zhu Yunwen sighed. "I didn't pay attention. But—that's not right, I remember there's a lot left, why is it empty in a blink of an eye? ”

Shen Ruoyu didn't answer, finished eating the side dishes without a sound, wiped his mouth, raised his head to look at him, and said:

"How is it, Brother Wen, do you want anything more? Or, go somewhere else? ”

Zhu Yunwen looked at him from the side, was silent for a long time, and asked softly, "Are you okay?" ”

Shen Ruoxiao smiled lightly: "What's the matter with me?" I'm still waiting to carry you back. ”

Zhu Yunwen looked at him suspiciously: "You lied to me." You say you can't drink, but you're actually much bigger than I am. You're really fit to lead the troops. ”

"Who said that? The most taboo thing about leading troops to fight is to be greedy for alcohol. - Shop, checkout! ”

After paying the bill, the two of them walked out into the cold street. It's dark at night. There are also a lot fewer people on the streets. Zhu Yunwen felt a little drunk, so he had to hold Shen Ruoliao's arm and walk top-heavy step by step.

"Brother Wu, you have something on your mind," he smiled weakly, "I can see it." You drank that jar of wine alone, and you still want to lie to me. No matter how drunk I am, I'm not stupid. What the hell is wrong with you? ”

Shen Ruoyu sighed. "That Gu Shenyu - do you remember the second song he sang?"

"The princess scolded his bad colt? - He sings so well, I have never heard him better in the palace. ”

"His origin is not ordinary," Shen Ruoyu said, "that tune, he sang to me specifically." ”

"Give...... Here you go? ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "Yes." I'm afraid, he guessed who I was from the moment he came in. So deliberately sang this tune to scold me. ”

"Scolding...... Scolding you? ”

Shen Ruoyu was silent for a moment.

"Forget it, you didn't understand it anyway. Shall we go back? ”

Zhu Yunwen said: "Go back? Aren't you going to take me to the Yuchun Tower? ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled and said, "Brother Wen, you really drank too much. You go to Yuchun Tower now, do you want to go to the morning tomorrow morning? ”

Zhu Yunwen said: "I'm a little dizzy. Go back now, Zhonggong will definitely worry about it. Why don't you stay outside a little longer, and when she falls asleep, we'll go back. ”

Shen Ruoyu thought that Nangong Qiu must have been waiting for him at home with the lights on, maybe he was so aggrieved that he cried again. He sighed:

"The result of your family is that I can't take care of my family. When you go to Yuchun Tower, aren't you afraid that your sister-in-law will be more sad when she finds out? ”

"If you don't say it, who will know. I don't have to go there, either. As long as you don't go back to the palace, you can go anywhere. It's up to you. ”

"It's so late, and the drama in Chunfeng Lou has ended. Now there is nowhere else to go but the green building. Let's go back. ”

He pulled Zhu Yunwen and walked along the river towards Jubaomen. After walking a few steps out, he found that it was not possible. The emperor was already weak, and he drank a few more glasses, and he couldn't go to the Treasure Gate anyway. If he had known, he should have asked Zhong Kexi to wait at the corner of the street.

He said helplessly: "Brother Wen, let's get on the boat, don't break your legs." ”

Wine in the stomach, how can it resist a cold on the water. As long as you rush to Jubaomen Wharf as soon as possible, the Son of Heaven will not catch a cold.

He called a small houseboat, helped the emperor to the boat, and while instructing the boatman to go to the treasure gate, he lowered the curtains on the four walls of the cabin, so that the cold wind on the water would not blow the Son of Heaven. The boatman pulled out a delicate stove from the corner of the cabin, lit the fire, and then walked back to the bow and propped the boat up to the shore.

Zhu Yunwen looked at the back of the boatman and asked strangely, "Isn't he cold?" ”

Shen Ruoliao said: "How is it possible; The wind is as strong as the bow of the ship. ”

"And he...... Why is he dressed so little? Still...... Don't light the stove yet. ”

"You're innocent and cute again, Brother Wen," Shen Ruoyu sneered gently: "He has to hold the boat, this is hard work, he wears too thick to make it hard, and he can get hot if he does too much." This stove is specially prepared for passengers. The money he earned from carrying passengers was not enough for the charcoal burned here, how could he be willing to give it up. In case the stove turns over and catches fire again, then he will not lose money. ”

"Does he have to pay five-eighths of the tax too?"

"He's going to be less. Although he is not a farmer, he is still a higher class than a trader. However, the hardship is no less than that of the street vendors. ”

But the boatman heard this. He laughed and said:

"Hard? We're so much better than them. At least I'm not so frightened, I'm still scared to set up a stall, and if I stand in the wrong place inexplicably, I'm going to break the king's law, get some big sticks to lift your stall, rob you of things, and lose a lot of filial piety silver, and I will arrest you and put you in prison, and my wife and children will starve to death on the street. ”

Zhu Yunwen blinked in confusion and asked, "What do you mean by that?" ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled: ""The Charcoal Seller". You're starving and setting up a stall on the street, hoping to earn two cents to buy a steamed bun. Suddenly, a group of officials came, copying big sticks, and they beat them up without saying anything, kicking your business to the bottom, and not only you can't get the good things, but also the buyers; It can't reach the hands of the common people, but it can only be destroyed in the mud and garbage heap, and it will be stepped on a few times by the boots of those officials. And that's not all; They want you to donate a lot of money to atone for your sins, and if you can't don't, they kidnap you and send you to jail. As for the crimes, there are many kinds of crimes, such as obstructing traffic, evading taxes and taxes, disturbing the market, and violating morals, and so on. ”

Zhu Yunwen trembled: "Is there really such a thing? This...... That's too much deception, isn't it......"

Shen Ruoyu said: "You think this is too much deception, you should really go to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to see for yourself." Brother Wen, do you know that the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River was originally rich in the world. 'Jiangsu and Zhejiang are ripe, and the world is full', this sentence should be often seen in history books. But now, in the thirty-first year of Emperor Gao's 'rest with the people', Jiangsu and Zhejiang have always been unique. Why? Just because it used to be Zhang Shicheng's territory. He was angry that he was honest and honest, so he took such cruel and selfish revenge on the people. This is simply the far-sighted, narrow-minded small-scale peasant mentality, which turned out to be the work of a founding emperor who has been watched for all ages. ”

Zhu Yunwen was frightened, pulled his sleeve, and begged, "Don't say that......"

Shen Ruoyu was indifferent and continued: "Now, he has finally achieved his goal. Thirty-one years later, what do the household officials say today? 'The lake is ripe, the world is full' - the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been squeezed out of their blood and sweat marrow. If God doesn't open his eyes, and it is a year of drought and flood, even the Gyeonggi area will be starving. You must know that as long as life can barely go on, the people will never rise up and rebel. But there is always a limit to patience. Therefore, nothing can be done too absolutely; Otherwise, the day he forced others to die, he would have dug his own grave and ruined his own country. ”

The boatman turned his head at this moment, looked at Shen Ruoliao, and said in surprise:

"This little brother, you are really bookish, aren't you afraid of losing your head? Even the court officials of the second grade don't dare to talk like this. ”

Shen Ruoyu twisted his sword eyebrows: "You support your boat, why are your ears so long?" ”

Zhu Yunwen sat up straight, looked at him tremblingly, and said softly:

"Brother Wu, you never leave me a little affection when you speak."

Shen Ruoyu lowered her voice, not wanting to be heard by the boatman again.

"Brother Wen, what you lack is not affection. You're surrounded by people who give you affection, and there's even a tendency to flood the country. ”

"What do you mean, everyone is hiding from me." Zhu Yunwen muttered, "But, Mr. Fang is so upright and selfless, will he hide it from me?" ”

"Mr. Fang," Shen Ruoyu smiled lightly, "his favorite things are the ancient texts and ancient books, the ancient path he pursues, and the Western Zhou Jingtian system. Brother Wen, now the Ming Dynasty, compared with the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the territory has expanded nearly tenfold, and the population has increased by dozens or hundreds of times. Can the Ida system still save the world? ”

Zhu Yunwen was silent for a long time, and sighed: "Maybe, I should really let Xian to Zhou Gong." ”

"Don't say that," Shen Ruoyu said sincerely, "You are different from his ideals, there must be a process of you competing for me." The strong win the world; Are you willing to give up? ”

The voice of the Son of Heaven was still very small and small, but it suddenly became extremely resolute: "Brother Wu, I want to reform and reduce the tax for Jiangsu and Zhejiang." ”

Shen Ruoyu didn't speak, just smiled faintly.

"Don't you believe it?" Zhu Yunwen looked at him. "You don't believe that I can break the system left by the imperial grandfather? I must do it for you, for the whole world. The Ming Dynasty should be a dynasty of generosity and benevolence. They are all my people, of course I must treat everyone equally, and I must not call Jianwen's era name in vain. ”

Shen Ruoyu comfortingly held his trembling slender shoulders and said softly:

"It's good if you have this heart. Even if I am offended by this, I will die without regrets. ”

"You are my most loyal courtier, the only one who dares to advise me in this way, and my most honest partner. Don't worry, I will only be grateful to you and will never be angry with you. ”

Shen Ruoyu blinked: "Well, if you weren't a master who was willing to listen to outspokenness, I wouldn't dare to kidnap you out of the palace and go on a night tour." ”

He lifted the curtain and glanced outside.

"Brother Wen, don't you want to see Yuchun Tower?" He turned his head to look at Zhu Yunwen and smiled maliciously. "Ah, that's it. Don't come and see it yet, you don't have a chance to miss it. ”

Zhu Yunwen smiled shyly: "Forget it, Brother Wu, I wasn't interested in that either, don't make fun of me." ”

Shen Ruoyu looked out intently and didn't look back. He suddenly saw a huge and ornate painting boat moored quietly on the shore, and the curtains around it were tightly covered, still unable to block the warm and bright lights inside.

He lowered the curtain and stood up.

"Boatman, find a tree on the shore and stop for a while."

Zhu Yunwen asked, "What are you doing?" ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "Brother Wen, you probably haven't heard of it, there is a number one beauty in Zhili in this Yuchun Building. According to my words, maybe it is still the most beautiful in the whole Ming Dynasty. People are as beautiful as fairies, and their conversation temperament is also extraordinary. Would you like to meet? ”

After saying that, he smiled slyly, and without waiting for an answer, he jumped out of the cabin, jumped off the boat, and left Jianwen Tianzi alone, and sat in the boat dumbfounded.