"This horse prince ......" Zhao Zimai stared at the painting, only to see that the person in the painting was wearing a robe, sitting upright in front, although there was an extra eye on the head, his demeanor was leisurely, and his bearing was graceful and luxurious, "It is indeed a good painting, fine line outline, light ink slightly halo, fat ochre baking, bright and delicate color, radiant complexion, and the shape of Bi Xiao, which is a fusion of Jiangnan method and white drawing method." ”

After speaking, he doubled the rest of the stacks of paintings, picked out a few paintings, and said to Jiang Shan, "These paintings are good, and the level is far beyond the others, I'm afraid there are no experts to guide you?" ”

Jiang Shan straightened his chest, as if he had been insulted, "Childe said with a smile, all the paintings here are made by me alone, where is there any guidance from a master." It's just that sometimes when I paint, I need to borrow wine to help the fun, and they all say that Mrs. Li often has a stroke of genius after baijiu, and I must be the same, I can make excellent works when I drink high. ”

Zhao Zimai didn't refute him, and turned his head to Sang Dao, "You like these New Year's paintings, let's buy all these back." ”

Sang was noncommittal, and only "hummed" and said, "Your customs are really strange, the New Year is a time of reunion and joy, how can you also need the blessing of all kinds of gods?" ”

Zhao Zimai wished it to say a few more words, so he hurriedly followed it and said, "Actually, this 'New Year' also has allusions, do you want to listen?" ”

Sang didn't answer, only glanced at him, and Zhao Zimai continued, "A long time ago, the Chinese were not old, and 'Nian' is a fierce and abnormal monster, it lives deep at the bottom of the sea, and every Chinese New Year's Eve climbs ashore, devouring livestock and even harming human life. ”

"Go on." The pink eye flickered as it stared at him, listening.

"Because of the 'year', every Chinese New Year's Eve, the people in the village will help the old and the young and flee to the mountains to avoid its harm."

But on Chinese New Year's Eve that year, when the villagers were busy packing up their things and running away, a white-haired old man staggered to the east of the village, and he told a widowed old woman that as long as he stayed at her house for one night, he would be able to drive the beast away. Everyone didn't believe it, and the old woman persuaded him to go up the mountain to hide, but the old man insisted on staying, and he was very stubborn. When the people saw that he could not be persuaded to stop, they had no choice but to go into the mountains to hide. ”

"This year, the year beast still came to the village as usual, and among the huge waves, it crawled out of the sea, carrying the fishy smell of the sea, and its huge figure even obscured the starlight in the sky. However, when the beast was about to break into the village as in previous years, there was a sudden crackling sound of firecrackers at the entrance of the village, and the beast trembled, and did not dare to take a step forward. It turned out that it was most afraid of red, fire, and loud noises. ”

It looked at the mouth of the smoky village, and saw an old man in a red robe and white eyebrows and beard slowly walking out of the village, smiling at it. The young beast knew that something was wrong, so he was frightened and fled in panic. ”

The next day, when the people returned to the village from the mountains, they found the village safe and sound, but the old man was nowhere to be found. The villagers suddenly realized that the white-haired old man was the immortal who helped everyone expel the Nian Beast, but although the immortal left, he left behind the magic weapon to expel the Nian Beast - firecrackers. Since then, every year on Chinese New Year's Eve, every family will set off firecrackers, and every household will be brightly lit and wait for the year. This custom spread more and more, and it became the most solemn festival of the people - 'Nian'. And it is precisely because the original meaning of 'Nian' is a fierce beast that people make New Year's pictures of gods and pray for peace. ”

"Since the old fairy drove away the New Year Beast, why is there no New Year's picture of him? Or do these old immortals all look the same, and they are all fairy wind bones and cranes? After listening to the story, Sang smiled and flipped his fingers quickly on the New Year's painting.

The girl laughed, how could it be the same? It's just that legends are legends, and the stories that have been handed down are just true and false, so how can you know who that fairy is," Jiang Shan's eyes rolled, "But ah, it's always right to buy more New Year's paintings, and you'll be blessed in all aspects, and you won't go on a business trip." ”

"Since you want to buy it, it's better to buy one more," Mu Cripple squeezed in, his sweet potatoes had already been gnawed, and his sticky fingers flipped through the New Year's paintings, attracting Jiang Shan's sideways glances, "This one is good, Lord Stove, who manages the stove fires, we can eat and drink well in the coming year." ”

***

A few people wandered around the market unconsciously for more than an hour, and they came to a restaurant to drink wine and eat meat, so when they returned to the inn, it was already past the unitary hour.

As soon as he walked into the door of the inn, Zhao Zimai saw Imperial Doctor Hu and other people sitting in the hall waiting for him, and then he suddenly remembered that he didn't tell them when he went out, and he sighed to himself, and his steps slowed down.

Mu Cripple also saw a few people sitting around the largest table, and he snorted coldly in his nose, the corners of his mouth turned downward, and his eyeballs almost rolled to the top of his head.

Sang held the stack of New Year's paintings in one hand, and still didn't react to those people, so he only said to Zhao Zimai and Baotian, "Go back to the room" and walked towards the stairs on the other side. Zhao Zimai carried a heart, for fear that those few uninteresting people in the past would stop it and say something disrespectful to it.

He wasn't worried about it, he was afraid that the Zhao family would provoke people who shouldn't be provoked, and he wouldn't even understand how to die. But today, he found that he was a little worried, because several people, including Imperial Doctor Hu, not only did not question Sang, but stood up, everyone with a humble smile on their faces.

"Childe, come and see who we've met here."

Imperial Physician Hu glanced at Zhao Zimai, and raised his head towards the person sitting in the middle of the round table. After he reminded, Zhao Zimai found that there were a few more people sitting next to the table, the one headed by the one with thin eyebrows and thin eyes, long face and expanded ears, he was wearing a Xuanhu fur jacket, the façade was a stone blue horse coat, and on the gold and silver medals on his waist, there were dozens of small utensils hanging down, including silver ear diggers, tweezers, toothpicks, as well as ancient weapons such as halberds and guns, which were very exquisite.

Seeing Zhao Zimai, the man hurriedly stood up from the chair and saluted him, "I haven't seen you for a long time, the son has fallen even taller and clearer, it's really a tiger father without a dog." ”

The voice was sharper than the average person, so Zhao Zimai suddenly remembered who he was.

"Grandpa Zhang, these nine cold days, it's almost the New Year, why did you come here?" He bowed in return, but his mind turned around a few times, and he didn't understand how Zhang Yaozhong, who was in charge of the palace's internal affairs office, could come here.

"Hey," Zhang Yaozhong sighed, "Childe, don't you know, our Internal Affairs Office has to go to various places every year to buy some fresh folk gadgets for the Emperor Lafayette and all the ladies to enjoy, but now it has been out for a few days, and the things have not been bought yet." ”