Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Soul of the Drama

In the evening, Wang Shao resigned from his father, and Director Wang learned that his son was going to Jingzhou, and instructed: "Jingzhou is now based on Yu Liang, this person is arbitrary, and I have many political differences. You must be careful when you go. Wang Shao nodded to note it.

If you go to Chudi, you must pass through Jingzhou.

Jingzhou, where the capital of Chu is located. Yu to control the floods, cut the cloth, and divide Kyushu, there was Jingzhou (the remaining eight states are Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou, Yongzhou), named after Jingshan in the territory. The trench of the Yangtze River, according to the meeting of the rivers and lakes, the danger of the town of Bashu has been fought for by soldiers since ancient times. Zhuge Kongming's masterpiece "Longzhong Pair" is broken in one sentence: "Jingzhou is based on the Han Dynasty in the north, making the best use of the South China Sea, connecting Wuhui in the east, and Bashu in the west, which is a country of martial arts." Not to mention the distance of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period of Qin and Han, Shan Wei, Shu and Wu led to many allusions to the struggle for Jingzhou: "Liu Bei Xuande borrowed Jingzhou", "Lu Suzi respected Jingzhou", "Zhou Yu Gongjin sought Jingzhou", "Guan Yuyun lost Jingzhou".

Hair five rampant

Stepping into Jingzhou City, the uncle sighed: "Looking at Wuchang in the east, the clouds are in the east, and the Wuxia is in the west. What an iron wall copper pass Jingzhou City. "The city wall of Jingzhou is high, the gatehouse is majestic, and it is built for Guan Yuyun Changmeng Nine Fairies to defend the city.

The three of them passed through the urn city, the enemy tower, the war house, and the city gate before entering the city. The city is very lively, and there is an endless stream of merchants, because it connects the traffic arteries of the southwest and east, and it is the only way to cross the river in the north, and the people here also come from all over the world, and all kinds of dialects are endless, and Zhang Xiao looks forward to it left and right. The three of them chose a tall inn with a central street foyer and asked for three upper rooms facing the street.

Zhang Xiao stood by the window of the room and looked down at the excitement, and suddenly shouted: "Look at it!" The uncle said, "Don't make a fuss all the time, okay." "It's Brother Zhang! They're here too!" Hearing the words Big Brother Zhang, Luo Zi raised his head, and his uncle ran over. Sure enough, a group of people walked on the street downstairs, led by the deputy general Zhangli, followed by Zhangjia.

"Sure enough, it's them. Why did they come to Jingzhou too?" the uncle said to Luozi.

"It's lively. Do you want me to go down and say hello? Zhang Xiao teased him.

"You dare!" the uncle snapped to stop. Zhang Xiao stuck out his tongue. Fortunately, these people just walked by and did not stay in the same inn as them.

In order to live in seclusion, the three ordered the bartender to bring the food into the house. Zhang Xiao asked while eating: "What are they doing in Jingzhou? Won't they come to me for my taste?" Zhang Xiao hurriedly shut up.

The dishes were removed, the old tea was rinsed again, and the bartender re-brewed a pot of fine hairy tips. The three of them sat around the table and continued the conversation they had just talked about.

The uncle asked, "When we first arrived in Jingzhou, where should we start?"

Lhotse said, "There is a Mr. Xi Yanwei, do you know?"

"Have you heard of Mr. Xi? I have heard of it, but I can't see it, and it is said that he is a great historian. ”

"It's this person. Born in a wealthy family in Jingzhou, this person is also well-versed in the past and the present, and has been friends with my uncle. Maybe it will help us. Lhotse said.

"Great, it's just a good time to get to know this guy. But are we going to see him like this this time?" said the uncle, do you use your real name this time?

Lhotse nodded and said, "When it's true, it's true." ”

Zhang Xiao was also very happy when he heard that he was going to meet new friends again, and he said, "Then should we prepare a meeting gift?" The uncle glanced at him and said, "People don't ride horses." Luo Ziyan said: "The proposal is reasonable. Running all the way, who would have thought of bringing gifts, the three of them agreed to go to the street in the afternoon to look for them.

Buying gifts naturally requires money, Zhang Xiao first found the largest money bank in the city, showed a gold medal, and immediately greeted the shopkeeper of the village with a smile and invited them to the back hall. Zhang Xiao said that he couldn't wait here. The shopkeeper asked how much. Zhang Xiao looked at his uncle, what does it mean to redeem how much? Uncle said to exchange 1,000 taels first. Zhang Xiao handed the silver ticket and more than 100 taels of broken silver to his uncle. The uncle glanced at him, meaning that I would not be able to become a follower, but he still took the money.

The three of them searched around, but they didn't think of what to send. It is said that Mr. Xi believes in Buddhism, and in the end, the three of them reached an agreement and chose an ivory Buddha statue with a string of one hundred and eight beads. Although it is not a rare thing, it is indeed rare in condition. After paying the money, Zhang Xiao suggested that it would be better to walk around the city in the evening and then go back. So the uncle wrote the address and asked the shopkeeper to send the things back to the inn.

There are obviously a lot more people on the streets in the afternoon than in the morning, and there are more and more people. There are also more stalls on the street, and Zhang Xiao wants to buy strange things when he sees them, but his uncle just won't buy them. The reason is very simple, this is to do business, and to do something with these useless things. Zhang Xiao had no choice but to give up, thinking in his heart that I would definitely come to Jingzhou again in the future to buy enough! Along the way, I saw many stalls with all kinds of masks, and Luozi stopped in front of a stall, pointed to the masks and asked, "This is... "Noodles. When the stall owner saw that the visitor was speaking official language, he also replied in a half-official and half-dialect tone.

"What is the noodle?" Zhang Xiao asked the uncle next to him.

"The mask I wore during the ceremony. The uncle replied.

"And what is this ritual?"

"The dance danced during the sacrifice, the exorcism of ghosts, and the prayer for good weather. Boss, why are you selling this today?" asked the uncle as he looked around at the other stalls.

"Today's winter sprinkles, there is a show to watch. Why don't you have one to play? The stall owner explained. It turned out that it was the winter solstice, and I didn't feel so fast.

"Yes. Lhotse said.

As soon as he saw that he could buy something, Zhang Xiao immediately became excited. He picked up the two masks and said, "Uncle, you wear this, and Lhotse comes here." When the stall owner saw that there was business coming to the door, he immediately smiled and introduced: "The guest officer has good eyesight." This one is called Qin Tong, and that one is called Qin Tong Niangzi. What about a good couple. The uncle glanced at Zhang Xiao, and chose another mask with a white face and asked, "What is this called?" The stall owner said, "This is Gan Sheng Hachiro." "Okay, I want this. ”

Lhotse picked up a mask with a flowery face, and the stall owner said, "This is a judge of the book of hooks, and he is very good at dispelling evil spirits." Lhotse nodded and said he wanted this. Zhang Xiao picked and chosen, and couldn't make up his mind, so his uncle urged him, so he asked the stall owner to recommend him a mighty one, at least not to lose to the judge. The stall owner also gave him a flower-faced one, saying that this is called the general of the open road, who specializes in cutting down the demons of the five directions. Zhang Xiao said this is good.

After paying the money, the three of them put on masks, looked at each other, and couldn't help but laugh, it was really "taking off the noodles is a person, and putting on the noodles is a god". At this time, many people on the street had also worn masks, and Zhang Xiao suggested that in order to avoid separation, it was better to tie colored ropes around each person's wrist. The uncle said that he was bored, but he didn't expect Zhang Xiao to really ask for a few colored ropes and bells, and pulled them to tie them. The uncle had no choice but to pay a few more dollars of silver to the stall owner.

The street lights have been lit up one after another, and the entire Jingzhou city is red, which is very beautiful. One after another, the stalls of the opera circled the scene, beat the drums, attracted passers-by, and signaled that the show had started. The three of them walked around and took a look, and walked all the way, and they actually walked face to face with Zhangli and others. Zhang Xiao was stunned for a moment, and was tightly pulled by his uncle's sleeves, realizing that he couldn't greet him, and immediately turned his head away. Luo Zi was also a little nervous, and thought about wearing a mask, but he still unconsciously lowered his head slightly, and rubbed sideways past the palm hat. Palm Kasa walked in the stream of people, and he also watched around curiously. Suddenly, I felt the sound of a jingling bell in my ears, and my heart moved, and when I looked around, I saw a few people wearing masks walking by, and I didn't see any familiar people. I couldn't help but laugh.

Walking to a puppet stall, Lhotse stopped. The opera is divided into two plays: the one that entertains people is the yang play, which is festive and peaceful, and the one that rewards the gods with exorcism is the yin play, and the ghosts and gods are worshiped and sacrificed to the ancestors. This puppet show is a yin play. I saw four or five people dressed in black clothes and black cloth masked people fall to the ground one after another, and a person with a white mask and a person with a red mask hugged each other, seemingly reluctant. Eventually, the white-faced man also fell to the ground. The red-faced man first hugged the white-faced man and trembled, as if he was heartbroken. Then he raised his hands to the sky and jumped from side to side, as if he was frantically praying for something. At this time, a gong sounded, and a puff of smoke rose in the field, and a person appeared in the smoke, wearing a huge golden mask and a golden robe, and the onlookers cheered, it seemed that this was a god. Then the red-faced man knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the golden-faced man, and the gongs and drums intensified. The man's head and the beat of the drum were like pounding garlic, and the crowd cheered. Suddenly, the drum beat stopped, and the golden-faced man threw something down, and the red-faced man caught it, and in ecstasy, he picked up the white-faced man and put it on him, and the white-faced man got up, and the two thanked him. Then the golden-faced man waved his hand again, and a few pieces of golden light fell, and the black-clothed man lying on the ground also jumped up one after another. At this time, the music started again, and everyone jumped around the golden-faced man. It's the end of the play.

But the onlookers did not disperse, but waited. After a while, a few people who were acting took out some gold films, and everyone paid for them. Zhang Xiao didn't know when he went up to ask for one, and showed it to the two of them, it was an ingot-shaped charm made of gold paper, with strange symbols painted on it. It turned out to be a bird and insect seal! The uncle immediately squeezed into the crowd and bought a few back. Luo Zi asked a squire-looking person next to him what kind of play this was. The man also replied in a semi-official dialect: "The golden crow gives the soul." Ask for a few more charms to go back, and you can keep your family healthy for a year. ”

Soul-giving? There is indeed a doorway in this Chu land.

Seeing that there was something to be gained, Lhotse said loudly: "Eat supper!"