If I add money to become a layman, I can cultivate immortality

Chapter 120 A Chinese Ghost Story
Baihua Palace's counterattack finally began.

In order to minimize casualties, the Master of Baihua Palace adopted Ding Xiu's opinion, that is, not to confront the opponent head-on, but to carefully select some disciples and divide them into three groups.

Ding Xiu led a group, Zhu Xiaolian and Meng Longtan led a group, and the Master of Baihua Palace personally led a group. They used sneak attacks, roaming battles, and encirclement and suppression methods to first eliminate the birdmen who enslaved the people in the eastern region.

Those bird people have been comfortable for too long.

This is also because Baihua Palace has been swallowing its anger and endured it again and again in order to avoid the loss of its disciples, which made these birdmen become more arrogant and domineering, and ran rampant.

But they never expected that Baihua Palace would suddenly launch a large-scale counterattack, which immediately stunned these guys.

When they came to their senses and organized a counterattack, Ding Xiu and others disappeared without a trace. When the birdmen relaxed a little, they attacked from behind again.

In the end, these birdmen went completely berserk and no longer passively endured beatings. Instead, they gathered a large team and rushed towards the Palace of Flowers with murderous intent.

Unexpectedly, he fell into the trap.

Last time, Ding Xiu had already tasted the benefits of the Nine-Tune Formation, and naturally he would not miss it this time. He set up the Nine-Tune Formation in advance in the valley outside Baihua Palace.

Moreover, this time because of the large number of people, its scale and power were greater.

At this time, almost half of the birdmen were killed, and the rest were no longer fearful. After several rounds of chasing and killing, those birdmen were dead and able to escape.

The world has finally become clean again.

The disciples of Baihua Palace can play outside, collect herbs, or teach the people to farm and weave as they like before...

Without the enslavement of the birdmen, the people began to rebuild their homes, live and work in peace and contentment, and flourish.

into the night.

The moon is bright.

Ding Xiu sat cross-legged alone on the top of the mountain above the Baihua Palace Waterfall, meditating and adjusting his breath.

I don't know how long it took, but I suddenly opened my eyes, turned my head and smiled: "Miss Shaoyao, why didn't you say hello when you came?"

Shaoyao lowered her head. She didn't know whether it was because of shyness or for some other reason, but she whispered: "I saw you were adjusting your breath, so I was afraid of disturbing you."

"As long as it's not a retreat, it doesn't matter."

"Oh……"

Shaoyao snorted, then fell silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, "Thank you very much this time..."

"Thank me for what?" Ding Xiu asked knowingly.

"Thank you for saving Baihua Palace."

"Haha, blah blah blah..." Ding Xiu smiled with a "modest" look on his face: "Actually, this is everyone's credit. I just helped run a little bit."

After hearing this, Shaoyao looked at Ding Xiu with even more affectionate eyes, like a pool of wrinkled spring water.

However, it was only for a short moment, and then he lowered his head hurriedly, not daring to look at Ding Xiu.

Normally, she is a conceited, aloof, and aloof woman, but suddenly she reveals her little daughter's coquettish demeanor, and she has a different charm.

"Peony..."

Ding Xiu couldn't help but step forward and gently hold Shaoyao in his arms.

There is a faint floral fragrance on her body, which is innate to every disciple of Baihua Palace, just like the fragrance of flowers.

In fact, the two of them didn't really know each other that well before. Although they had worked together to deal with the Birdman, they had only killed enemies together and had some small talk.

However, looks cannot deceive.

Ding Xiu had long seen Shaoyao's thoughts from her eyes.

On the surface, she is aloof and aloof, but she is also a woman, she also has feelings, and she can also be emotional.

I made a special trip here to see him tonight. Doesn't he still understand what Shaoyao is thinking?

Do we have to wait for Shaoyao to say it himself?That's not his character.

"what……"

Shaoyao may not have expected that Ding Xiu would suddenly hug her, so she was startled, her face became even hotter, and she subconsciously wanted to break away.

"Shaoyao, how long are you going to run away?" Ding Xiu asked softly.

"I……"

Shaoyao stopped struggling. Her heart was a little confused. She didn't know why she came to Ding Xiu. Was it just to say thank you?
Maybe she had already made a decision in her heart, but she just didn't dare to face it.

The breeze is coming, and the night insects are whispering.

A month later, Ding Xiu woke up and found himself still standing in the backyard of the temple in front of the mural.

Looking sideways, Meng Longtan and Zhu Xiaolian were also standing in front of the mural, looking confused.

"How is this going?"

"No way..."

"How could this be?"

Just when Meng Longtan and Meng Longtan were surprised, the mural seemed to be weathered, and the color faded at a speed visible to the naked eye. Before Meng Longtan and Meng Longtan could recover, the mural had completely disappeared.

"Lily, Begonia..."

"Redbud, hibiscus..."

The two threw themselves in front of the wall, each calling their best friend's name.

But at this time, Ding Xiu stood still, his eyes a little surprised.

Because, he was surprised to find that the mural turned into a scroll and is now in his Zi Mansion.

The Purple Mansion of a cultivator is a special space, equivalent to a small universe in the human body. It is essentially different from the space of a storage bag. It cannot store foreign objects.

It can only be used to warm up magic weapons and some spiritual weapons.

Naturally, the scroll cannot be classified as a weapon. So, it has become my magic weapon?

Thinking together, Ding Xiu tried to use his spiritual consciousness to communicate with the scroll... As a result, there was actually a trace of feedback information.

That's right, this scroll has become his magic weapon, just like Empress Nuwa's Mountains and Rivers Map, it is a magic weapon with a world of independent space.

As a result, Ding Xiu was even more pleasantly surprised.

The harvest this time is too great.

As for Meng Longtan and Zhu Xiaolian... Ding Xiuke couldn't control that much. Anyway, the two of them also reaped huge benefits and have entered the ranks of immortal cultivators.

As for how far they can go in the future, it depends on their luck.

Not long after, Ding Xiu left "The World of Painted Walls" and came to the world of "A Chinese Ghost Story".

This is the same as the previous Jiu Shu world. It essentially belongs to the same series of worlds, but it is divided into independent small worlds one after another.

Of course, it is possible to merge several of them, after all, the backgrounds are similar.

Guobei County.

On the outskirts of the city, in a dilapidated thatched house, a man who looked like a scholar was reading aloud:

"Knowing that there is stillness can lead to concentration, concentration can lead to tranquility, tranquility can lead to tranquility, tranquility can lead to worry, and worry can lead to gain..."

"Things have their beginnings and ends, and things have their beginnings and ends. Knowing the sequence of events is the shortest way..."

This scholar is Ding Xiu.

Before, I was a scholar in the wall painting world, but I didn't expect that after coming to this world, I was just a scholar.

Although Ding Xiu doesn't care about fame, he is the emperor in the world of "Xiu Chun Dao".

As a result, when he arrived in Liaozhai during the Ming Dynasty, he became a little scholar.

In Jiangnan, a scholar really has no status, because Jiangnan is known as the hometown of talents, but scholars are too ordinary, and most of them are poor.

It would be okay if the family had a few acres of thin farmland, because they didn't have to pay grain taxes to the court and could hire people to farm, and at least they could make ends meet.

It is a pity that most scholars do not have any land.

Therefore, many scholars can only make a living by doing accounts for others, writing letters, setting up stalls to sell calligraphy and paintings, helping people name people, etc.

If your literary talent is good, some wealthy businessmen, squires, etc. may take a fancy to you, fully support you, and even marry their daughters to you.

On the surface, it is said to appreciate your literary talents, but in fact it is also a disguised form of investment.

Why is it called investment?
For example, why did those Shanxi merchants in the middle and late Ming Dynasty expand their business so much that they even issued national banknotes for deposit and redemption?
How dare they issue banknotes privately without the permission of the imperial court?
This is due to a special investment made by those Shanxi merchants: the imperial examination!

Yes, they dared to interfere in such a big matter as the imperial examination.

Of course, the way they intervened was different, not to influence the results of the imperial examination, but to invest in scholars.

"Hey, Zhang Xiucai, your literary talent is so good, why are you running a street stall when you have nothing to do? Isn't this a waste of time? Scholars should put reading first."

Zhang Xiucai (sighed): "I have no choice but to make ends meet..."

"Zhang Xiucai, I have always admired your literary talents, so I have decided to fully support your studies so that you can gain fame as soon as possible..."

"What's so funny about that?"

"Zhang Xiucai, please don't refuse. If you become the number one scholar in high school one day, you will also bring honor to our fellow countrymen..."

Even though Zhang Xiucai did not go to high school in the end, they still invested in Li Xiucai, Wang Xiucai, Zhao Xiucai...

There's always high school.

Of course, this is a long-term investment, especially for those Shanxi merchants. It is completely a family investment.

As time went by, from officials in the capital to local officials, there were people they had supported.Slowly, it became a huge interest group.

To a certain extent, their investment behavior was also undermining the fairness of the imperial examination for their own selfish interests.

Closer to home.

After Ding Xiu traveled through time, he certainly didn't have to worry about making ends meet.

After some inquiries, it turns out that there is indeed a Lanruo Temple in Guobei County, and there is a black mountain behind Lanruo Temple.

However, Yan Chixia is still serving as the chief catcher in Guanzhong, which means that the timeline of the plot has not yet reached.Ding Xiu didn't mean that he had to step on the timeline. The main point was, how could he defeat the thousand-year-old tree demon and the even more powerful Black Mountain old demon with his own strength?

I have nothing to do, so I'd better take the exam for fun first.

Fortunately, eight-part essays are not popular in this world. If Ding Xiu were really asked to write eight-part essays, he would probably give up the idea of ​​taking the exam.

He has always hated stereotyped writing.

The so-called eight-legged essay is a style of writing used in the imperial examinations in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The title is based on the "Four Books and Five Classics", and the content must be in the tone of the ancients, and free expression is not allowed.

The length of sentences, the complexity of characters, the pitch of tones, etc. must also be relatively written, and the number of words is also strictly limited.

The eight-part article refers to the eight parts of the article. The style has a fixed format: it consists of eight parts: breaking the topic, carrying the topic, starting the argument, entering the topic, starting the part, middle part, back part, and closing part.

The titles are all from the original texts of the Four Books and Five Classics.

Each of the last four parts has two strands of parallelism and parallelism, totaling eight strands in total. It must be spoken in the tone of Confucius or Mencius, and the four pairs of parallelism and oblique opposition... and other requirements.

Eight-part essay actually originated from the classics and meanings of the Song Dynasty, but the requirements at that time were not so strict, and there was still a lot of room for development.

By the Chenghua period, the eight-legged essay format was fixed.

The most bizarre thing is that the format is just fixed, and the candidates' opinions must be the same as those of the so-called "Zhu Zi".

Otherwise, if you don’t report that you failed the exam, someone might even find you guilty of being disrespectful.

In such an environment, what kind of talent can we expect?All became nerds.

No wonder some people in later generations will say that a person who is useless is a scholar.

In short, we can no longer find traditional Confucian disciples like Xin Qiji who "can bring peace to the world with his pen and use his horse to determine the world".

"Woooooooo..."

Suddenly, a gust of wind came and made the windows creak.

Ding Xiu remained silent, pretending to raise his hand to block the wind, and then continued to read while shaking his head:

"Guan Guan Jujiu, in the continent of the river, a fair lady, a gentleman..."

In fact, before traveling through time, Ding Xiu couldn't figure out why scholars in movies and TV dramas always like to read while shaking their heads.Aren't you dizzy?

Only later did I find out that it was not because they liked to shake their heads, but because many scholars often read at night, and reading at night would inevitably make them sleepy and dizzy.

Hence the story of "the head hangs from the beam and the cone stabs the buttocks".

However, not everyone will hang their heads or prick their buttocks. When they feel sleepy, they stand up and move their hands and feet, shake their heads, and shake their brains in order to keep themselves awake and drive away drowsiness.

As time went by, it gradually became a habit.

Some private school teachers also like to shake their heads while teaching students to read, and the students also follow the same pattern. Over time, it has formed a habit.

In short, reading with your head shaking seems to be more interesting.

"Squeak~"

The door was suddenly blown open.

Then, a woman about 27 or [-] years old came in wearing a plain dress.

Judging from her bun and attire, she was not an ordinary woman, and she was married.

The identity and rank of ancient people can be easily identified from their attire. The court had strict dress requirements for all classes, including scholars, farmers, industry and merchants.

This is true from hairstyles to clothes, to shoes and accessories.

For example, businessmen are prohibited from wearing silk and satin.

Of course, this also depends on whether the court at that time paid attention to it. If not, those businessmen would still quietly wear silk and satin and show off through the market.

The government will also turn a blind eye or close its eyes, pretending not to see it.

After all, they also received a lot of benefits.

Another example is that after a woman from Leji gets married, if she has not deregistered, her husband must wear a green headscarf and is only allowed to walk on the side of the street, not in the middle of the road.

In this way, everyone will know his identity at a glance.

When you meet some nice people, you might even go up and ask: "I wonder how pretty your wife is?"

In addition, unmarried women are not allowed to show their faces, so those unmarried girls are called yellow-haired girls.

After getting married, they will open their faces and put their hair in a bun, so that you can tell at a glance that you are a married woman.

"Huh?" Ding Xiu pretended to be surprised and stood up, "I wonder why the young lady broke into my home late at night?"

The woman covered her mouth and smiled sweetly: "It's quite interesting to listen to the young master reading. I also like reading, so I take the liberty to disturb you. Please don't blame me."

Ding Xiu still pretended to be vigilant and said: "How can a good woman walk outside in the middle of the night? Could it be that the young lady... is a ghost?"

The woman smiled and said: "If the slave family is a ghost, will the young master be afraid?"

Ding Xiu straightened his chest and said sternly: "I am a scholar, and I have righteousness in my chest. Why should I be afraid?"

Hearing this, the woman couldn't help but show a hint of admiration: "Young Master is really different, but if you look carefully, I see that the slave family is down-to-earth and has a presence."

According to folklore, ghosts have no shadows and their feet do not touch the ground when they walk.

Ding Xiu lowered his head and saw that it was indeed the case.

In fact, he could see the identity of this woman at a glance. She was indeed not a ghost, but a fox that had become a spirit. She was truly a vixen.

I have to say that vixens are indeed very charming, and they are born with a charming attitude that ordinary women cannot achieve.

"Hey, it's really..." Ding Xiu looked surprised.

However, this fox spirit was honest enough and took the initiative to confess: "To be honest with you, the slave is actually a fox girl named Xin Jiuniang."

"So that's it..." Ding Xiu looked stunned, and then he stepped forward and took Xin Jiuniang's little hand to sit at the table with an affectionate look.

As a Liaozhai scholar, how can I be so pretentious?
Scholars in Liaozhai have always been famous for their boldness and unrestrainedness. Sometimes they know that a female ghost has come to their house, but they are not afraid at all. On the contrary, they are very happy and kindly invite the other party to stay.

Xin Jiuniang was also generous and took the initiative to lean on Ding Xiu's shoulder and read the books on the table.

"Do you really like reading?" Ding Xiu asked.

"Master, don't you believe it? Then I will read it to you."

So, Xin Jiuniang began to read the contents of the book, her voice was soft and soft, and it sounded unique, which made Ding Xiu even more happy.

When Xin Jiuniang finished reading an article, Ding Xiu couldn't help but ask: "Your name is Xin Jiuniang because you are the ninth child in your family?"

"Yes!" Xin Jiuniang nodded: "The slave family has more sisters, fourteen in total."

"Fourteen? Then isn't your youngest sister the Fourteenth Mother Xin?"

Ding Xiu was deeply impressed by Xin Shisi Niang, a famous and strange woman in Liaozhai, so he made a special trip to ask about her.

Xin Jiuniang smiled: "Why, does the young master think that the slave family is too old and still misses the slave family's little sister?"

"Jiuniang's words are serious..."

……

The next morning.

Xin Jiuniang got up and freshened up, and then helped Ding Xiu comb his hair and wash his face like a little wife. After that, she said softly: "Is the young master hungry? Let me go and make some food for the young master."

"Ah."

Ding Xiu smiled and nodded.

Although he has reached the stage of living without grain, he still has to pretend.

As a result, Xin Jiuniang searched around the house and found only a little rice, no vegetables, and no oil, salt, sauce, or vinegar.

But this didn't bother her. She went out for a walk and came back carrying large and small bags.

Ding Xiu knew at a glance that it was the real thing and not something she had conjured up using magic.

Of course, it doesn't matter whether it was bought with money or not. Ding Xiu is not that pedantic.

Next, Xin Jiuniang was busy, washing rice, selecting vegetables, chopping vegetables... just like a gentle and virtuous wife.

Ding Xiu sat at the table and watched quietly.

It's no wonder that all the scholars in Liaozhai are looking forward to meeting a female ghost, a fox demon, or something like that.

Not only is she beautiful, but she is also virtuous and capable, and she doesn't dislike you for being poor, and you don't have to spend a penny as a betrothal gift. Such good things are hard to find even with a lantern.

The key is that with the addition of a woman in the family, it is no longer cold, but a little warmer and more cozy.

At noon, Xin Jiuniang cooked several exquisite and delicious dishes and put them on the table. She also took out a pot of wine and poured two glasses.

"Sir, how about you try my cooking?"

Xin Jiuniang smiled at Ding Xiu and said.

"Hmm..." Ding Xiu tasted it and then nodded sincerely: "Yes, I didn't expect that your cooking skills are so good. I'm afraid the dishes prepared by some restaurant chefs cannot reach this level."

Xin Jiuniang smiled brightly, but said modestly: "Young Master, I'm very grateful. I'll give you a drink first."

After that, Xin Jiuniang stayed, and the two lived like husband and wife.

During the day, Xin Jiuniang's red sleeves were fragrant, and she stayed by Ding Xiu's side. She also read when Ding Xiu read, and she sharpened ink when Ding Xiu wrote. Sometimes she would pick up a pen and write a small order when Ding Xiu got interested.

It can be seen that she has indeed read a lot of books, and her handwriting is beautiful and pleasing to the eye.

In the evening, the two of them often sit outside to admire the moonlight, drink wine and recite poems, which is quite elegant.

Xin Jiuniang was not only good at reciting poems and writing poems, but also had some accomplishments in chess, calligraphy and painting, which made Ding Xiu's life a lot more fun.

……

　Alas, this chapter was suddenly blocked, revised and released again. It seems that I will no longer be able to drive happily...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)