I'm just a dude

Chapter 6

After all this hustle and bustle, by the time Qi Yuan arrived at the archway of the temple fair, it was already early in the morning.

Spring Society was originally a lively day, but the former emperor was afraid that the Han people would make trouble, so he banned this thousand-year-old custom, even folk stove sacrifices.This custom was not continued until Taizu of this dynasty founded the country and reissued the code of law.

It's just that the customs are different in different places, and the excitement in Beijing is all at the temple fair.Qi Yuan and Hu Fu strolled and walked, and they were dazzled as soon as they entered - this temple fair is many times more prosperous than the market in Yangzhou.

There are all kinds of rare treasures on both sides of the market, emerald velvet, foreign satin and Shu brocade, forbidden items in the palace... rare and rare antiques, and literati ink paintings that are hard to come by are all piled up on the stalls as if they are worthless. Put out a piece.There are hawkers carrying all kinds of food, wine, tea and fruits to and fro.There were people everywhere in the streets and alleys, crowded in, Qi Yuan stepped on his feet and saw that it was dense.

He hadn't seen such excitement for a long time. Although he didn't have money to buy it, it didn't hinder his eyesight.So I ran over here to look at agate crystals, agarwood and ivory, and went over there to look at Jin calligraphy and Tang paintings, emerald fur and tiger skin.

Hufu couldn't be happier either, staring at the snack stalls by the side of the road.Qi Yuan gave her a string of copper coins from his purse, and asked her to play by herself, as long as they meet at the archway at noon.Hu Fu happily thanked him for the reward and ran away, Qi Yuan continued to wander around, wandering around, and actually saw a few blue-eyed Hu merchants, selling high-quality spices in their hands.

Although he is proficient in making incense, he has never bought the raw materials himself. The incense medicines in the Qi Mansion are bought from various places by caravans, and the market cannot be compared with the retail ones.What's more, the prices in Beijing are not cheap, just now he saw a stall, a piece of tortoise shell with a very good piebald pattern, and was taken away by a thousand people on the spot.The crystal beads from the Japanese kingdom are not very valuable, but a string here is worth fifty guan, not to mention the spring tea brocade from the south, which is more than twice as expensive as what Qi Yuan knew.

He originally thought that he could buy a lot, but now he was walking back and forth listening to other people's bargaining, only to realize that the broken silver in his pocket was far from enough.Qi Yuan was a little worried, thinking about buying some other spices, just to make some simple incense for spreading, but at the same time, it was a pity that there were a few pilgrims who had very good things, if they missed it this time, they would not know what to expect Can we still meet.

Qi Yuan hesitated, wandered around for a long time, then the careful incense vendor spotted him, called him to him and said, "Master, do you want to buy some spices?"

Qi Yuan didn't speak, just glanced at a piece of wood on the stall.

The incense vendor let out an "Ai Ya" and praised repeatedly: "Young master has good eyesight! This is the only piece of high-grade agarwood that the villain owns, and it only costs three pennies. Go get the silver!"

Qi Yuan was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help asking: "Aren't you afraid that the high official will buy it back and find out it's a fake and come back to you?"

The peddler said "Hey" and said with a half-smile: "Young master, you have not seen it! This agarwood, the one that can sink in water is the top grade, called water sinking, and the half-submerged one is the middle grade, called stack incense , the one that doesn’t sink is the low-grade Huangshuxiang. Ours sinks in water.” After finishing speaking, he took a large bowl from the side and put the wooden block in, and it really sank slowly to the bottom of the water.

People came to watch from behind, the peddler was very proud, took out the incense stick and put it aside again.

Qi Yuan curled his lips in disdain, and waited for the spectators behind him to leave before humming: "Are you trying to fool me? I can see this thing a lot." He pointed at the block, "You don't need to bother, just change the cold water. Put it in warm water and try it, the real one will turn blue when put in warm water, and the fragrance will become weaker, if you wipe it with a woolen cloth, it will return to its original state. If the fake one is put in warm water, your hands may be covered with oil when you wipe it."

Since the previous dynasty, there have been more and more fakes of Chen Xiang. The so-called interlacing is like a mountain, and they are not soaked in it all day, so it is really difficult to distinguish.Qi Yuan just said the simplest solution, but the peddler changed his face.

He looked around, his expression became more serious, and he asked Qi Yuan, "What else do you know?"

Qi Yuan couldn't afford anything, and didn't want to show off, so he looked at it and turned to leave.

But the peddler hurriedly stopped him, and said straightly: "Young master, please take a step to speak."

Then he ordered others to look at the stall, and pulled Qi Yuan to the back.There was a cart behind it, with several wooden boxes stacked on top of it. The peddler dug out from the hidden compartment below for a long time, and finally took out a wooden box.

Qi Yuan didn't reach out to take it, and let him open it, but he was surprised when he looked inside.

What is in the wooden box is a piece of genuine agarwood.

This agarwood can be subdivided into six grades, the best one is inverted shelf, the second grade is water sinking, and the third grade is earth sinking, these three kinds are all ripe sinking, and the fragrance will escape without burning or roasting.However, the first and second grades are extremely rare, and most of them are tributes.The third-grade soil agarwood is also very rare, and it is not an exaggeration to ask for a piece of ten thousand gold.

The one in the box now, although not big in size, has a dark green color, a warm and mellow fragrance, and a very special wood texture. If you read it correctly, it should be a second-grade water agarwood.

There are a total of three pieces of this kind of agarwood in the Yangzhou Qi Mansion, all of which are hidden by Master Qi for fear of being known to outsiders.

Qi Yuan was startled, and unconsciously glanced at that person.

But the peddler said with a smile, "I've been watching the young master here all morning, and I just tested it a bit, and the young master is really a knowledgeable person." After he finished speaking, he closed the wooden box and sighed, "This piece of agarwood is from Hainan. The high-grade water Shen produced in Lidong is all I have. Although there are many dignitaries in Beijing, the fragrance is not easy to come by, so I want to find a buyer who is good for my eyes. The ones that were picked up were housekeeping items displayed by various houses, so I guessed that the young master should be a member of the Xiangdao."

Qi Yuan couldn't help being moved, raised his eyes and asked, "Then how much do you want?"

The peddler said: "I don't want to ask for more, just ten taels of silver. If you like it, you can take it."

This asking price is more than not high.Master Qi loves agarwood very much. He bought a piece of earth ash for 200 taels of silver and brought it back, which was less than half the size of this piece.Although that piece was a high price that was coaxed out by others, for his father, it was hard to buy a good heart, and he would be willing to pay more.

The more Qi Yuan looked at it, the more he liked it, and he really wanted to buy it back and give it to his father, but when he thought about his current wallet, he became entangled again.

He glanced at the peddler and said embarrassingly, "To tell you the truth, I am indeed here to buy spices, but I don't have enough money."

"You can't have ten taels of silver, right? It's the second-class Huang Shuxiang, which costs two taels of silver per catty." The peddler squinted at him and said with a smile, "If you don't have enough, you can put some things here. I'll keep it for you to go back to pick it up, or else I'll go back in a hurry, and this thing will be sold soon if it's not in order."

Qi Yuan looked at it dumbfounded, then touched the purse and took it out, there were two taels of silver in it.After hesitating for a long time, he couldn't think of any other way, so he sighed slightly, turned around and walked out.

Who would have thought that as soon as he took a step, he saw a few people blocking his eyes.The one with a slender monkey face, wearing a scarf and jade-colored embroidered clothes, looked at him with the others who were similarly dressed.

Qi Yuan looked at this group of people inexplicably.

The one at the head cupped his hands and said: "Brother Qi, you don't know me. I, Lu Qiu, had a relationship with Shixiong at Taifu Yang's residence six years ago."

Qi Yuan let out an "oh", and the thoughts in his heart turned a few times.Yuan was studying behind closed doors in the mansion and hadn't gone out for several years, so he must not be familiar with these people.When we meet by chance at this moment, ordinary people will definitely just say hello. If anyone comes up, they will block the way. It seems that the visitors are not kind.

But since this person has met in Yang Taifu's residence, he probably has some background.Now Uncle Zhongyuan's mansion is in a delicate situation, and he has to be careful in his actions, neither revealing his secrets nor causing trouble for the Peng family.

Thinking of this, Qi Yuan suppressed his annoyance, only bowed loosely, and said perfunctorily, "I haven't seen you for a few years, Brother Lu Shi's demeanor is getting better and better. It's just that I still have things to do, so I'm sorry."

After he finished speaking, he lifted his legs and left, but those people followed behind him reluctantly.

Lu Qiu smiled and said: "We have all heard of Brother Qi's name long ago, and we admire him very much. It's a rare encounter today. I want to invite Brother Qi to have a drink. Will Brother Qi look down on us and refuse? Appreciate it?"

Qi Yuan couldn't move around, so he became a little impatient, frowned and said, "Thank you all, I do have something else to do."

"Could it be that you look down on us?" A tall man in the crowd sneered, "I heard that Qi Dacai didn't even come out of the courtyard these years. It's not good for a great talent. Do you know what year and month it is?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Another person said: "Brother Hongyuan's words are wrong. Qi Dacai is the face of my Shuntian Mansion, and he entered the palace to face the saints back then."

The man said "Oh", but he sneered: "We have heard about Miansheng before. The three child prodigies of Miansheng, Shaoxing Wenchi literary talent, and Fujian Lu Xinghe Lu prodigy were all left on the spot. I became the prince's companion to study. Only we, the talented Qi from Shuntian Mansion, were reprimanded to go home, and were ordered not to take scientific examinations by the Holy Spirit. I don't know if they are too talented or too cowhide..."

Qi Yuan was not clear about the matter of facing the saint back then, the only thing he heard was from Hu Fu, and he only said that the emperor thought they were young and was afraid that they would lose their talent quickly, so they were only allowed to take the imperial examination after the age of 16.Yesterday Yun Lan also mentioned that Qi Yuan's personality changed a lot after the face saint, and he never got out of the house...

Looking at the expressions of these people again today, he suddenly understood another guess from the outside world - he was the only one who didn't have a sacred heart among the three talents who faced the saint back then. Could it be that the name of the talented person was blown out?

This idea just came up a little bit, but he was rejected by himself.Although he loves to play and play, but after all, he has followed several great scholars, and he has been influenced by his ears and eyes, and he knows how to appreciate them.There were quite a few of the original works in that dilapidated courtyard, and he read them when he was bored, and they were all full of literary talents and sharp meanings of poetry and prose.

At least he was better than the sour talents in front of him who deliberately found fault.

Gradually, a group of onlookers gathered around, watching what these talents were doing.

How could Qi Yuan dare to agree to the competition, he couldn't help being annoyed now, looked at the leader Lu Qiu coldly, and said in a deep voice: "Qi usually has no grievances with Brother Lu, why is this today, everyone insists on making me wrong? "

But Lu Qiu and the others are the ones who watch his words and demeanor, seeing him dodging, they are even more convinced that Qi Yuan has no talent, and they play a rogue, "It is I who have admired the talented Qi for a long time, it is rare to see him today, I really want to see the demeanor of the great talented That's all."

Qi Yuan sneered: "If you want to see me, I'll follow you. Can you treat yourself as the emperor?"

Lu Qiu said: "If the great talent really has something to do, then we can also make an appointment to compete again in another day."

That posture was obviously not enough for Qi Yuan, and he insisted on embarrassing him.

Qi Yuan's face turned red with anger.He only regrets that he doesn't have the ability of that talented Qi, otherwise he would have to slap these people in the face severely.Although he was illiterate, he didn't want to lose the reputation of the original genius in his own hands, at least he couldn't let these people step on him to become famous.

There were more and more people onlookers, Qi Yuan knew that he had to respond, he glanced around, and suddenly cursed loudly: "If you want to compare with me, how many of you are worthy? I, Qi Yuan, have studied hard at home for six years, and I have never been out of school. Go through the gate. However, reading is for reason, for standing, for loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, not for gaining false fame like you all!"

When this great truth was smashed, some spectators beside him began to clap their hands and applaud.

Lu Qiu and the others were scolded severely, and their expressions changed abruptly.

Qi Yuan went on to sneer again: "What's more, there is a golden house in the book, and there are thousands of bells in the book. You make fun of me studying hard behind closed doors, but you don't know that I can have all kinds of fun even in reading. If a few people If you have to compare, then why not try something else. Comparing poetry and calligraphy, I'm afraid it will stain my eyes!"

Lu Qiu's face was already blackened by his shock, and he asked: "You are a dull scholar, what can you compare to? Can't you compare to drinking?"

Qi Yuan secretly laughed in his heart, he knew all of the hundreds of wines from all over the world in the famous buildings in Yangzhou, and he was proficient in all of them, he was more eager than wine.

With a plain face, he sarcastically said: "I am a dumb scholar, but you are not even as good as a dumb scholar, not to mention drinking, playing cuju, playing chess, throwing pots and bolu, and I, Qi Yuan, are also inferior." Peter!"

The dozen or so people who found fault looked at each other in disbelief.

Someone secretly reminded: "This idiot must be trying to scare us on purpose. It's not like we don't know the situation in their house, maybe we don't know what wine tastes like?"

The more the people next to him thought about it, the more they realized this, and they immediately gained confidence, and noisily wanted to hug Qi Yuan and go to the Yuxian Tower next to them.

Yuxianlou is the biggest restaurant on Temple Fair Street, and they naturally thought that the more embarrassment Qi Yuan would lose this time, the better.

Qi Yuan stretched out his hand to stop him again, and deliberately said: "I have something urgent to do, but now I'm about to miss it. Let me ask you a question, if you lose the competition, what should you do?"

Those few people didn't think they would lose at all, and they all shouted: "If you lose, I will pay you!" After saying that, one of them took out a little gambling money, mixed it together, and entered the restaurant hugging each other.

Xiao Er warmly greeted them, took a few people to the private room on the second floor, and served a new pot of tea.

Lu Qiu was obviously a regular visitor here, so he sat down on his own and looked at Qi Yuan.

The last time he saw Qi Yuan was six years ago. At that time, this person's face was fair and tender, with picturesque eyebrows and eyes, but his temperament was very arrogant.

He met this great talent at the Grand Tutor's residence, and he went over to greet him full of joy, but Qi Yuan didn't even look at him.Because of this, Lu Qiu held a grudge for a long time, and later he heard that Qi Yuan Miansheng was reprimanded, and since then he has stayed behind closed doors, and was not treated by his elders in the uncle's mansion, so he felt happier.

When we met today, although this man was shabby and sloppy, his bearing was even stronger than before, like a young man raised in Jiaoliang Jinxiu.Lu Qiu hated him even more, and secretly made up his mind to humiliate him severely in a short while.

Thinking of this, he moved his eyes away from that face, and asked someone to open the door so that the guests who came and went could watch the excitement.

Qi Yuan wandered around for a long time, feeling extremely thirsty.At this moment, he poured a cup of tea to moisten his throat, took a sip slowly, opened his mouth and said in distaste: "This tea is not good, it is autumn tea."

Lu Qiu snorted coldly: "The spring tea is only picked, and even the palace may not be able to drink it, so what's the point?"

Qi Yuan smiled and said: "I'm right, you can't deny it like this. It doesn't matter about tasting tea, but tasting wine later, you have to accept the bet and admit defeat."

Lu Qiu said: "So many people are watching, don't worry, I will make an agreement with you!"

"I'm not afraid of your denial, I'm just afraid of you being slippery." Qi Yuan knocked on the table, "Since it's a wine competition, then you all choose the best drinker and let the store serve twelve pots of high-quality wine. To tell you the truth, I, Qi Yuan Although I don't go out, I have tasted that rough wine a few times, so if we compare it today, it is better than those fine wines that I have never tasted."

The thin and tall man laughed at him: "Excellent wine, none of us have eaten it a few times, don't you want to eat and drink!"

Qi Yuan shook his head: "Just tell me if you dare to compare!"

"Who dares to dare!" Lu Qiu sneered, immediately took out a silver ingot, and placed it on the table brightly. "Eat as much as you want!"

Everyone shut up now.

Satisfied, Lu Qiu turned his eyes to look at Qi Yuan.

There was no fluctuation in Qi Yuan's eyes, he just said: "After a while, the shop will serve the wine, you need to paste your name on it and paste it. After the competition, find another person to record and sort it out, and finally we can compare the answers..."

Lu Qiu waved his hand and asked someone to do it. He said impatiently, "Is there any more? It's so long-winded."

Qi Yuan smiled: "No more."

Soon, the twelve jugs of good wine were filled with names and brought up. The restaurant also presented many side dishes and pens and inks for these people to use.

Lu Qiu didn't wait for others to recommend, and sat down by himself.Qi Yuan sat across from him.The quarrel started, Xiao Er poured a cup for each of them, and the surrounding area fell silent.

Lu Qiu frowned slightly, thinking carefully.

Qi Yuan only sniffed it, then took a sip, and said loudly: "This wine has a light taste, like the dew of golden autumn, it is Chuzhou Jinpan dew."

Lu Qiu was taken aback, but then shook his head again and again, retorting him: "Jinpanlu is inferior in color and aroma, but this wine is golden in color and has a far-reaching fragrance. It must be Dongyang wine."

The scholar who was recording at the side wrote down the names of the wines that the two had judged respectively.Xiao Er continued to pour wine, and Lu Qiu said again: "Taste your wine well, don't talk nonsense to disturb people's thoughts."

Qi Yuan looked at him with a smile on his face: "I'll tell you my story first, in case you can't remember it, it's also convenient to copy mine. You won't suffer from being left or right."

Lu Qiu was so angry that his eyes widened, his long face flushed, and he looked like a thin eggplant.

Qi Yuan glanced at the second cup again, then shook his head: "Huai'an mung bean wine, if you don't like it, take it away."

On the third cup, take a sip and say with a smile, "Guangzhou Eighteen Immortals."

The fourth "Huzhou Bilantang"...

Lu Qiu has to savor carefully every time, before the second pot can be distinguished, the fourth pot has already been tasted over there.Of course, he has heard the names of the wines that Qi Yuan mentioned before, and they are all famous wine names in this dynasty. However, he doesn't drink much, and he only likes one or two on weekdays. Yuan's phrase "copy his" simply didn't use the same name, but changed it to another name.

The wine fight was in full swing here, and there was a commotion outside.After Lu Qiu fell behind, he felt upset and raised his head to scold the outside, but he saw the guys from Yuxianlou rushing to clear the way. Tang Ping and the rest of them are also descendants of important ministers.

Lu Qiu was taken aback for a moment, seeing Shi Shilang's grandson inside, who was fairly familiar with him, so he thought about taking the opportunity to go over and have a chat.Just thinking about it, I saw two people slowly coming up from the end of the stairs, the one on the left was wearing a royal blue satin gown, as beautiful as a crown jade, with an extraordinary appearance, and the one on the right was wearing a soap-colored brocade gown, which was also dignified. It was Xu Xuan, the son of Duke Cheng, and Ruan Hong, the second son of Ruan Ge.

Lu Qiu suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly sat back.

The group went to the next door in a lively manner.Not long after, there was another noise outside, but the theater troupe came and got busy playing the piano and singing next door.

Lu Qiu withdrew his attention and continued tasting the wine, only to notice something different, but saw that Qi Yuan was suddenly stunned, listening to the theater troupe over there.

Uncle Zhongyuan’s mansion couldn’t invite this popular theater troupe. Lu Qiu couldn’t help but mocked at the side: “This is the famous Huajian troupe in Beijing. Ordinary people want to hear it, but they can’t invite it. The great talent knows that this is the troupe.” Which one will come out?"

Qi Yuan was in a daze and didn't answer.

Lu Qiu proudly said: "This is called "The Story of the Wrong Soul", and it will be lively at the end when the old soul-robber three gods are all destroyed!"

"Taste wine as long as you're told, what are you talking about!" Qi Yuan suddenly came back to his senses, his eyes sharpened sharply, "Could it be that you can't compare to me at all, and you can't do nothing if you want to!"

Lu Qiu was taken aback by his sudden expression: "Drink as you please, what are you in a hurry for?"

"What do you think?" Qi Yuan sneered, "Idiot!"

Lu Qiu was furious, and was about to stand up, but found that Qi Yuan had already tasted the nine pots.He was urged by his partner again, his face was flushed, so he had to sit down resentfully, and drank the last two in a hurry.

Qi Yuan kept a cold face, and without waiting for Xiao Er to make a move, he simply decided to make his own decisions.

He remembered that when the youth troupe who sang "The Wrong Soul" arrived in Yangzhou, they were invited by the Qi Mansion just because he loved to listen to operas since he was a child.He still remembered that when it rained in Yangzhou for the first time when he sang this play, Mrs. Qi hugged him. The grandfather and grandson were in the warm pavilion, each holding a stove in his hand. Fruit, thinking about what new tricks to ask the cook to do.

Drinking one after another, all kinds of memories in Yangzhou suddenly came to mind.Everything in front of him is frightening and helpless, he is the most unlucky one, yesterday the sable furs were exchanged for wine, the slaves summoned the servants, today the coarse clothes are made, the wind and the rain...even always worried about being found out, Ended up in the end of the wrong soul.

Qi Yuan felt depressed, so he drank a few more cups, and when he poured the last pot, he felt an all-too-familiar smell wafting into his nose and mouth.Qi Yuan was stunned for a moment, before raising his glass, he wet his eyes.

"Painting drums, clear flutes, and merchant boats, Zhugan and Cuiman restaurant buildings. The tall houses in the west of the city are like scales, and they are still the first state in Huainan." Qi Yuan paused every word, and after he finished reading, he was silent for a long time, and then said, "Yangzhou, Qionghua wine .”

The names of the twelve jugs were revealed one by one, and the private room became silent in an instant, except for Xiao Er's sudden congratulations, which shocked everyone back to their senses.

"Congratulations Mr. Qi, the names of the twelve wines are all correct!"

The author has something to say:

[1] There are many ways to classify agarwood grades. One is to classify agarwood into four grades according to the water-sinking property - agarwood, stacked incense, raw and ripe incense, and yellow cooked incense.

One is divided into six types according to the condition of incense - inverted frame, water sink, soil sink, ant sink, live sink, white wood.

There are also those classified according to the cause of formation, according to the color and texture, and according to the country of output, which will not be listed here.

[2] Painted drums, Qing Xiao, a dealer's boat, and a restaurant building with Zhugan and Cuiman.The tall houses in the west of the city are like scales, still the first state of Huainan

——Wu Shidao, a poet of the Yuan Dynasty, "Yangzhou"

(Here Qi Yuan recited it, not his own poem.)