Chang'an: Qinglian Sword Song

Chapter 14 Preface
After noon, there was a sudden downpour of rain.

After more than ten days of scorching heat, the sudden torrential rain washed away the dust on the streets of Chang'an, and also caused bursts of cool breeze to blow in. For a while, the restless mind seemed to settle down.

Located in Qujiang Square on the west side of Chang'an, the flowing water is gurgling and the pavilions and pavilions are well arranged.After a fresh rain, even the sunlight seems to be much gentler, reflecting everything brightly.

Qujiangfang, known as Qushui Liushang, is itself a place where the style of writing flourishes. For a while, countless literati and inkmen who linger here wrote poems one after another.

On the cruise ship, the elegant man stroked his long beard. After pondering for a moment, he recited impassionedly: "After the first clearing of the moss, no one is dreaming about the green trees. Only Nanfeng, an old acquaintance, steals away. The portal is flipping through the book again!"

"Nice poem!"

There was a sound of admiration from the pavilions on both sides of the river, and the literati in the same boat shook their heads one after another: "The artistic conception is rare, it should be revealed!"

The elegant man looked complacent and waved his hands reservedly, but his eyes couldn't help but look towards a pavilion on the shore.

Seeing that there was no response after the curtain, he felt a little lost and tried to socialize.It didn't take long before another "unintentional" cruise ship came here with a loud chanting...

Behind the curtain, the sleeping Li Bai turned over impatiently, was woken up, and couldn't fall back asleep.

"Why are these people so annoying?"

At the edge of the table, the elegant scribe who buried his head in writing smiled slightly and asked: "The beautiful scenery is rare on a good day, why didn't Brother Taibai compose a poem to celebrate the good times?"

Li Bai sneered: "Forget it, everyone is eager to become famous, why should I come out to spoil the fun?"

"Oh?" The scribe paused slightly when he was writing, and when he looked up, he revealed a handsome and soft face, with a half-smile: "Didn't that poem just now caught Brother Taibai's eyes?"

"Poetry is good poetry, but it is not entrusted to people."

Li Bai chuckled and shook his head: "My eyes are full of pavilions and towers. Where did the green trees and moss come from? Now the east wind blows my hair all messy. Where did the south wind come from? Nonsense...

What's more, that dear friend was still there two days ago, chanting something solemnly, "Bitter bamboo shoots smoke green pegs, pomegranate trees hang small bottles", it is really a different person, if it is said that the gentleman has changed, it is too much. "

"Where did you buy it, probably?"

The writer shook his head and smiled: "Just by reading the last two sentences, you can tell that 'stealth opened the door and flipped through the book'. It was the poet who made fun of him. He still didn't know it, so he came to me to show off."

"you?"

Li Bai took off half of the book covering his face, scratched his head, looked at the scribe he had met by chance in front of him, and was dubious: "Brother Shangguan, are you some high-ranking official?"

"That's right." Shangguan Rong looked at him and said with a half-smile: "Recently, everyone has heard that I am a nobleman who can enter the palace at will. , it may not be impossible to listen to the sky."

"real or fake?"

Li Bai got up subconsciously, moved a little closer, full of curiosity, and the enthusiasm in those eyes that had always been calm and calm could not be concealed.

On the contrary, Shangguan Rong was slightly surprised.

"That's not sure." He asked curiously, "Why, brother Taibai, who is so idle and wild, also intends to become an official?"

"No, I mean the part where you can enter the palace at will!"

Li Bai asked curiously: "Is there anything to see in Weiyang Palace?"

Shangguan Rong's expression froze for a moment, he didn't expect his answer to be so unique, he was stunned for a long time, then coughed twice, and advised in a low voice: "It's a serious crime to spy on the prison, brother Taibai."

"Just inquire, why is it considered spying?"

Li Bai clicked his tongue, shook his head and said, "You see, everything in this world is born naturally, and the heaven and the earth are conceived and nurtured. If there is any good scenery, everyone should see it together. What's the matter with surrounding it with a wall? When the emperor That would be too stingy."

Shangguan Rong was not angry, but just shook his head, "It's better for me to pass on this sentence, and I will punish you for being disrespectful in a few days."

"You said that you can enter the palace, but you don't want to tell me what's in the palace. I think you are making fun of me."

Seeing that he was too lazy to say anything, Li Bai had no choice but to stretch out his hand and ask, "What about the good things?
"Please wait a moment."

Shangguan Rong bowed his head, pondered for a while, then picked up the pen, and the pen quickly wrote the last two lines of the poem on the table.

If there are other people here, they will be astonished. Whether it is the majestic long poem on paper or the rich and graceful calligraphy, they are all rare masterpieces in the world. It is really a good time to gather together at this moment The beauty is generally good fortune.

And after the Shangguan dried the ink, he carefully picked it up, like holding a thousand-gold treasure, put it in the box, and then put a small bag of lime to avoid moisture, and then handed over the box that was embedded with luxurious gold threads. come over.

"Even the box as a gift for me?" Li Bai raised his eyebrows: "Then I took advantage of it."

"I'm willing to bet, Brother Taibai's poems are unique, I just transcribed one or two, even if I add a box now, what's the pity?"

Shangguan sighed: "The poem "Jiangjinjiu" is majestic and magnificent, which is rare in the world. On the contrary, my younger brother is not good at writing, so I can only transcribe it to such an extent.
I'm just wondering, these days it's almost spread all over the world, making Chang'an Zhigui a good poem, why brother Taibai doesn't want people to know that he wrote it? "

"It's enough to appreciate poetry, what else can I appreciate as a person?"

Li Bai put away the box happily: "Thanks to your good calligraphy, otherwise I've been so poor recently that I wouldn't even be able to afford birthday presents for my elders."

Shangguan shook his head: "It's more than that? Brother Taibai, as long as you say that the poem was made by yourself, you will be fine."

Li Bai was stunned for a moment, as if he had never thought about this question, but soon he shook his head seriously: "Beautiful things are for people to appreciate, not for selling money.

It would be nice if everyone knew poetry, but why should they know me? "

"Brother Taibai is not unknown. Now someone with good deeds has listed you among the top ten swordsmen in Chang'an."

"Really?" Li Bai couldn't believe it: "There are ten worthy challenges in Chang'an City?"

"..."

For a moment, Shangguan Rong didn't know whether to say that the other party had a clear mind, or that he thought too highly of himself.

He shook his head and didn't talk about it anymore, just asked: "In a few days, it will be time for the Lantern Poetry Festival in Qujiangfang. I don't know if Brother Taibai will participate at that time? So that I can enjoy it next time." Heavenly grace."

"I've been very busy recently." Li Bai scratched his head, feeling a little distressed: "Let's see when, next time will be sure."

Actually not necessarily.

Recently, Lu Daoxuan seems to be busy with some other organization, which made Xun Qing go out early and return late, but when he was too busy, he asked Li Bai to help.

Either cut wood around the stump or sit in front of the stove and watch the fire.

It's really annoying.

However... Duke Daoxuan gave too much money.

The left and right are just some chores, if you can pay off Di Renjie's debts as soon as possible.Otherwise, every time I see that dead face, I have to bow my head.

Before leaving, Shangguan asked curiously: "The elder you mentioned who celebrated his birthday recently, could it be Duke Daoxuan?"

Li Bai was stunned: "That's right, you want to go too?"

"I'll forget it." Shangguan shook his head and said solemnly: "Duke Daoxuan is famous all over Chang'an, and now he is at the top of the limelight... If you are his junior, you should persuade him to retreat as soon as possible, and don't get involved again In the quagmire."

"When people get old, they don't want to listen to others. How can I persuade them?" Li Bai shook his head, hearing the meaning behind his words, and said directly: "Besides, Duke Daoxuan is well-versed in the world. If it is his decision, I don't think it's okay. Inappropriate reasoning."

Shangguan didn't say anything more, and sent him all the way outside the door.

"Thank you for lending me a place to shelter from the rain today, and I will buy you a drink later."

Li Bai waved his hand, but after taking two steps, he couldn't help turning his head back: "You really can enter the palace at will?"

Shangguan nodded: "Sure enough."

"Then can you bring me some wine next time?" Li Bai said expectantly, "I heard that the wine the emperor drank was not soft enough to drink. Is it true?"

"..."

Shangguan was silent for a long time, looked at the literary friend in front of him with admiration, and sighed: "Stealing imperial property is also a capital crime, Brother Taibai!"

"Tsk, why are there so many capital crimes in the palace? Forget it."

Li Bai waved his hand regretfully: "Brother Shangguan, take care."

"Take care of yourself."

Shangguan stood at the door, watching Li Bai go away, until he met the boy waiting at the intersection, rubbed the blind boy's hair, stopped him from leaving, he sighed, turned and boarded a carriage.

The carriage drove away without a trace.

"how are you today?"

After Li Bai received Li Xiang who had been waiting for a long time, he glanced at the young man holding the pipa, and after confirming that there was no sign of being bullied, he nodded: "No one finds fault?"

"Mr. Li Bai, what are you talking about?" Li Xiang laughed and shook his head slightly: "No one bullies me about the job introduced by Mr. Shangguan."

"Then let's treat that guy to dinner next time. I wonder if he can bring his own wine."

Li Bai pinched his chin and thought for a long time before he suddenly realized: "Why do you always call me Mr.? It sounds so good."

"Huh? If you call me a teacher, shouldn't you be Mr.?"

Li Xiang asked suspiciously: "When brother Xun Qing enlightened me before, I also called him Mr."

"Where did I become a teacher, but that guy Xun Qing might burst into tears when he meets someone who doesn't call him a dog teacher?"

Li Bai shook his head, wanted to correct but couldn't, so he had to give up.

While the two were chatting, Li Xiang's footsteps paused slightly.

"What's wrong?" Li Bai asked.

"Front……"

The boy raised his empty eyes and looked behind the crowd: "There are a lot of people fighting."

Now, the faint noise and anger came.

In the middle of the street, two gangs of knight-errants from nowhere were making a fuss, completely blocking the road.The people around were also surprised, and stood far away to watch the excitement.

"Tsk, bad luck."

Li Bai shook his head, led Li Xiang to turn around: "Let's go back the other way."

These days, the struggles in Chang'an City have seen more and more.

Just like an oil barrel, a little more sparks will immediately burn up, and there is a sense of anxiety floating in the air. Many people will make troubles because of little things, and there are guys who want to eat for free. All the hot and spicy soup stalls at the door were overturned, which made Li Bai extremely unhappy.

After beating those scoundrels several times, he finally vented his anger on the uncle of the stall owner.

The fundamental reason is that a new market is about to be born.

In particular, according to Yu Hengsi's calculation, what will be born this time will be a large-scale living square city - a place that can accommodate 10,000+ people to live and live.

In Chang'an, where every inch of land is expensive, nothing can represent interests more than this.

The resulting struggles are endless.

It is said that Xuan Gong is also busy with this matter these days, and Xun Qing is also helping without hesitation, and he doesn't even care about cleaning up his own workshop.

For the survivors of the great collapse who survived in the cracks and were homeless, there is nothing more precious than the existence of "home".

Drinking water, food, sun and houses.

One day without official Fangshi household registration, they have no shelter for one day. They can only stay in dark shacks like street mice, working hard to earn money and paying high taxes.

Now that an opportunity is in front of them, no one will be indifferent.

Even an outsider like Li Bai was infected by their enthusiasm and couldn't help but want to help.

But he still has things to do after all.

"Did you run for nothing today?" Sensing Li Bai's gloomy mood, Li Xiang asked with concern.

Mentioning this, Li Bai couldn't help sighing, feeling a headache.

Before he took shelter from the rain at Shangguan, he had been looking for someone in Guangdefang.

In Chang'an's living quarters and cities, all kinds of people are active, and they live in different quarters and cities according to their race and origin.

For example, Huaiyuanfang is where the mixed blood demons gather. I heard that the little guy next to Di Renjie, the one named Yuan Fang, also lives there.

And the most people in Guangdefang... are people in the cloud like Li Bai.

As foreign travelers, if they want to live for a long time, most of them will go to the square city where their own clansmen live. After meeting the square owner, they will settle down or get a temporary resting place.

Although Li Bai can eat and drink at his friend's house for the time being, but with the help of the caravan from the cloud, his predicament may be resolved quickly.But Li Bai did not expect that the process of finding the owner of Guangdefang, who is honored as the "Great Elder" by the Yun people here, would be so difficult—every time he went to visit, the Great Elder was not at home.He wondered if the old man was deliberately avoiding him.The problem is that I didn't do anything. Is it because I have both swords and swords, which made the old man jealous?

possible……

Just as he was thinking wildly, his footsteps suddenly stopped, he stopped Li Xiang, and did not go any further.

"what happened?"

Li Xiang asked.

"It's nothing, someone fell into the river ahead." Li Bai said calmly.

"Oh."

Li Xiang nodded, held Li Bai's sleeve, and followed him around the crowd.

But when passing by, Li Bai couldn't help but take a look inside.

The gangster with blood on his face and a long knife in his hand was still roaring around.

But under the siege of Honglu Temple officials, the guy who dared to rob the gold shop had nowhere to escape.It didn't take long before he was overwhelmed by several police officers and put on shackles.

He also had a few accomplices who wanted to hold civilians hostage, but were shot dead on the spot by the Honglu Temple police officers who had suffered a lot.

This happens every time the owner of the workshop is elected. Those rangers and villains who roam the streets wielding swords and knives seem to be bitten into a ball like a mad dog being driven.

And other people will not live in peace.

"On a day like this, when will you be tall?" Li Bai heard someone sigh softly.

Ahead, there was a louder and louder shouting.

He frowned, and pulled Li Xiang to avoid him, but after a glance, he couldn't move his feet.

"Huh? Is someone fighting?" Li Xiang asked curiously.

"Yes." Li Bai nodded.

"Want to see it?" Li Xiang asked.

"I want to see."

Li Bai raised his eyes and looked deep into the crowd.

The middle-aged man who was stopped by the side of the road.

Wearing a sword and wearing a bright red dress, he swaggered through the streets, but he was unshaven and unkempt.With one arm exposed, most of his chest was exposed, while the other hand was held in his bosom.

Drunk and awake, like a wanderer in the flower street,
The smell of powder can be smelled from the wind even from a long distance away.

In Chang'an City, there are many people who wander in brothels on Flower Street like to dress like this, but they are all imitating the same person.

The most famous swordsman in Chang'an City, the undefeated "Sword of the Common People", is known as the man who is number one in Chang'an.

——Ji Xianke!

(End of this chapter)