Notes on Longevity

Chapter 53: Zheng and Tong Shuang exchanged poems, their mutual affection unable to last.

"Waking up at the foot of the mountain?" Zhang Wanyi looked at Ping An in confusion, finding it unbelievable. "Were the deer and the silver snake immortals?"

“No, Master said it must be a spirit from Kunlun Mountain,” Ping An explained.

"Elves? What are those?" Zhang Wanyi looked at Ping An curiously, like a child eager to read, and kept asking him questions.

Ping An thought for a moment and said, "Those creatures in the mountains, forests, rivers, lakes and seas that have gained sentience, understand human language and human nature are generally spirits."

Zhang Wanyi continued, "And what about the demon?"

"Demons are actually the same as spirits and creatures. It's just that demons have intelligence but no humanity, and they act strangely and disappear without a trace," Ping An explained patiently.

"Do you know about what happened ten years ago?" Zhang Wanyi's expression suddenly darkened.

“I’ve heard Master say that the great demon attained enlightenment and became human, but instead of striving for progress, it wreaked havoc on the human world,” Ping An explained earnestly, unaware of Zhang Wanyi’s worried face.

"Master Ping An, I've heard that you Taoists can perform divination and fortune telling. Do you know how?" Zhang Wanyi looked at Ping An with some sadness.

“I didn’t have time to learn from my master; I only heard him mention it,” Ping An said, a hint of worry and longing appearing on his face.

The two suddenly fell silent. They stood under the tree, feeling the night breeze and staring at the full moon in the sky. After a while, Ping An asked Zhang Wanyi, "Why were you crying just now, Miss Wanyi?"

"It's nothing. Maybe it's just the wind. It's getting late, Daoist Master, you should rest early." Zhang Wanyi originally wanted to say that, but after hearing Ping An's story, she suddenly felt that her own little matter was probably nothing at all, just a matter of personal feelings.

As Zhang Wanyi spoke, she bowed to Ping An, then turned and walked towards the backyard.

Perhaps it was really late, because Ping An also felt sleepy. He followed Zhang Wanyi back to the backyard and they went back to their rooms.

After returning to her room safely, Ping An first recited the Qingjing Sutra once before going to bed to sleep; but Zhang Wanyi couldn't fall asleep at all, tossing and turning in bed, and ultimately didn't sleep all night.

The next morning, Ping An got up at the sound. He opened the door wearing his inner shirt and saw Xie Xiaoshuang holding Yang Youan's arm, reading and reciting poems with him amidst the busy figures of others in the courtyard.

"At fifteen, the boy set his heart on learning. What did he learn?"

"The university is the way to cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, harmonize one's state, and bring peace to the world."

"At thirty, a man stands firm. What does it mean to stand firm?"

"To dwell in the broadest dwelling place under heaven, to stand in the most upright position under heaven, to walk the greatest path under heaven, and never retreat."

"Please ask about Zhizhi."

"The extension of knowledge lies in the investigation of things. If things are not investigated, then knowledge cannot be extended. If knowledge is not extended, then intentions are not sincere. If intentions are not sincere, then the mind is not upright. Therefore, for those who aspire to be gentlemen, there is nothing greater than the extension of knowledge."

"Peach blossoms at the summer solstice, snow at the winter solstice, withered leaves in autumn and no spring."

"Going west to Kunlun, east to the sea, but not north to Zhongnan Mountain."

Ping An looked at Xie Xiaoshuang and asked a question, and Yang Youan answered. They matched each other perfectly, and Ping An was extremely envious. If his master were here, he might also be chanting scriptures and exchanging verses with his master.

As spring was approaching and the earth was gradually warming up, the old troupe leader led his disciples to tidy up the front yard and set up the stage in preparation for the performance.

This reminded Ping An, who was watching from below the stage, of a scene from winter when Xie Xiaoshuang, dressed in a bright red opera costume, and Yang Youan, dressed in plain clothes, sang a play for everyone in the snow. "Will my son pass the imperial examination with flying colors?" Xie Xiaoshuang sang in the snow, her face adorned with colorful makeup, looking at Yang Youan with a worried expression.

Yang Youan, also wearing oil-based makeup, looked at Xie Xiaoshuang with deep affection in his eyes: "It's good."

"I await your return here." After saying this, Xie Xiaoshuang spread her arms, circled around Yang Youan, and slowly walked away.

However, Ping An didn't understand it. Later, Zhang Wanyi told Ping An the story of the play: Once upon a time, in a theater in the capital, there was a young and beautiful actress who fell in love with a talented scholar who was going to the capital to take the imperial examination. The scholar said to the actress, "When I pass the imperial examination with flying colors, I will definitely come to marry you dressed in the red robes of a top scholar."

The actor asked him, "If you become the top scholar in the imperial examination, will you still be willing to marry me?"

The talented scholar replied, "I will marry him."

Later, the talented scholar achieved the highest score in the provincial examination and became a successful candidate in the imperial examination. He then entered the palace examination and, after ten years of hard work, achieved the highest score in the imperial examination. However, he did not return to the theater.

Later, the news of the talented scholar becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination spread throughout the capital, and the actress naturally heard about it as well. So, on that very day, she wore a bright red wedding dress and waited for his arrival.

However, she waited and waited, for an unknown amount of time, but the talented man never came. Instead, she heard from others that he had already married.

Upon hearing the news, she was devastated and fell into a coma. Later, she fell ill due to longing and unresolved thoughts, and soon passed away.

The talented scholar, having achieved the highest rank in the imperial examinations and possessing striking good looks, caught the eye of one of the emperor's princesses. She pleaded with the emperor to grant him marriage, and the emperor, who also favored him, agreed. However, the scholar's heart was set on the actress and he wanted to decline.

But the emperor said to him, "If you want to decline, it is not impossible to give the title of top scholar to someone else."

The talented scholar was speechless. His family was poor, and his parents had exhausted their savings to support his studies. Now that he had passed the imperial examination and had such an opportunity, how could he possibly give it up? So he hardened his heart and tried to forget the actor, but how could he possibly forget him?

After he married the princess, he received a reward from the emperor. One day, while traveling with the princess, they passed a theater, and he suggested to the princess that they go to see a play together, to which the princess agreed.

Throughout the day, he never saw the actress come on stage. As night fell and the theater closed, he secretly went to the actress's changing room to inquire about her, only to learn that she had died of illness, leaving behind a piece of paper with a poem written on it.

The inscription reads: "The courtesan in red awaits your return, but I hear of the talented scholar climbing the phoenix branch. In the end, I am not satisfied, for even a touch of my red lips has been tasted by ten thousand men."

After reading the poem, the scholar was filled with regret, but he had no choice in the matter. He put the poem away and, feigning sadness, returned to the palace.

But then he disappeared.

The princess and the emperor sent people to search everywhere, and finally found his body in a river outside the city.

"Master Ping An, we have guests. Please go back to the backyard to rest." Ping An pulled his thoughts back as he looked at the busy figures on the stage and the laughter of the audience entering the theater behind him.

He glanced at the old troupe leader standing beside him, who was extending his hand to protect him, and asked, "Can I watch the show?"

The old troupe leader was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "Of course. I'll arrange a seat for you."

Ping An nodded and, guided by the old troupe leader, sat in the middle seat.

After settling Ping An in, he sent someone to the backyard to call Yang You'an out so he could sit with Ping An. His main concern was that Ping An was still young, and with so many onlookers today, he was worried someone might accidentally hurt him while walking by.

As the audience took their seats, the drums began to beat, and at the same time, a melodious and graceful operatic voice rang out: "It is said that three immortals dwell in Penglai, namely Fu, Lu, and Shou."

(End of this chapter)