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May 4th, the day before the Dragon Boat Festival. The streets and alleys of Bianliang City were already filled with the aroma of zongzi. Every household hung calamus and mugwort. Even the city gates were covered with them. The crowds coming and going were filled with the festive atmosphere of the approaching holiday. Search: Complete Book God Station to read high-quality literature for free.

The carriage drove out of the city gate and headed towards the Yellow River bank.

Cotton clouds floated in the sky. Once outside Bianliang City, the view was of a flat plain. Trees were planted along the official road, with occasional villages, fields, chickens, dogs, and pedestrians. Tributaries of the river flowed past the villages. After a while, the carriage arrived at its destination: a manor hidden in lush greenery, built along the nearby river. Several other manors of various sizes were nearby, clearly the villas of wealthy families.

Ning Yi came out of Bianliang City today to fulfill the invitation previously extended by Li Shishi. As the Dragon Boat Festival approached, this capital's courtesan was not idle. She had previously traveled to visit friends and seek teachers, and her return was delayed because she accompanied the birthday tribute fleet northward. With a major event like the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, she had been rehearsing the performances required for the festival in recent days, except for some unavoidable appointments. This manor was originally a property of Fan Lou. Today was the last day of rehearsals, so she told Mama Li Yun that she wanted to find some peace and quiet, came here to train, and invited a few friends over for a private gathering.

Since the meeting was primarily with women, and Xiao Chan was no longer his maid, Ning Yi did not bring anyone else this time. He only had the household servant Dong Zhu, who had accompanied him north, drive the carriage, and came alone. After announcing his name, a maid welcomed him in. Before reaching the inner courtyard, he could hear the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments, and a woman singing lyrics.

"...Sparse raindrops of yellow plum rain. Meeting the Double Fifth in a foreign land again. Glutinous rice wrapped in gold, calamus floating like jade, the customs still of Jingchu..."

"It's the mistress practicing the lyrics newly written by Zhou Bangyan, Master Zhou."

The maid introduced as she led the way, obviously knowing the impact of Zhou Bangyan's lyrics on ordinary literati.

Turning past the small door ahead, they arrived at a hall open on all sides, with curtains hanging around it, making it quite cool. Miss Shishi was dancing in the hall, her silk sleeves flowing, singing the newly written poetry with the accompaniment of a group of musicians. Two people were already seated in the best viewing area of the hall, one of whom was Yu Hezhong, and the other was in his early twenties but seemed more steady than Yu Hezhong. When Ning Yi came in, Miss Shishi in the hall happened to turn her head, and her eyes smiled at him. The smile was clear, containing the joy of meeting an old friend, and was nothing like the rumored coquettishness of the capital's courtesan. Almost even Ning Yi would be unconsciously infected.

In terms of effect, this kind of smile was even more captivating than the smiles Yun Zhu and Jin'er showed to others. Perhaps for Yun Zhu and Jin'er, that kind of life was a struggle to stay afloat in a turbulent sea, trying to find direction. For her, it was probably an effortless dance on the waves.

Smiling at Ning Yi as a greeting, Shishi did not stop. She sang the new lyrics, said to be written by Zhou Bangyan, while dancing slowly. She didn't dance fast, but her every move had a pleasing temperament, elegant and generous. Ning Yi walked around, nodded to Yu Hezhong and the other person as a greeting, and sat down, listening to the singing.

"...A dress embroidered with mugwort tigers. More hairpins with jade mandarin ducks and cinnabar talismans, arms wrapped with red threads. Powdered fragrant cotton, calling for a wind-decorated fan in the small window at noon. The Shen Xiang person has gone far away, advise you not to drink alcohol, lament the past..."

"...Slowly turning the oriole throat, lightly tapping the ivory clappers, better than reading the chapters and sentences of Li Sao. Lotus fragrance secretly wafts. Gradually entering into a drunken, blissful land. Lying and listening to the riverbank, the painted boats loudly beat drums..."

Ning Yi had been listening to Yun Zhu sing for so long that his appreciation for poetry and song, although not yet at the level of an expert, had already reached the level of an amateur. If one were to say so, Yun Zhu's zither music and singing had returned to simplicity. Especially when singing for Ning Yi and Jin'er, she rarely used flashy techniques. Pure sound could immerse people in it, as if cleansing the mind, and the head and even the entire body seemed to be enveloped by that gentle sound, as if being massaged. And even when Ning Yi mischievously made her sing some modern songs, she could always find the feeling Ning Yi wanted, whether it was cheerful, sad, or tender.

In this sense, both the skills of Li Shishi's musicians and the singing skills she showed while dancing were a bit different from Yun Zhu's. But what appeared on the other party was not a single extreme. The song, the eyes, and every move of the dance of the girl in front of him were like making perfect suggestions, all melting into a picture.

Although the dance was not fast, she almost showed countless styles in the singing. The joy of the Dragon Boat Festival, the tranquility when the rain fell, a girl, a woman, a woman living in a secluded boudoir gently shaking a fan, a son drinking alcohol, a scholar reading a book. These feelings flowed in her eyes, body, and singing voice, and the three-dimensional moments became blurred again, and then turned into a complex world.

The lyrics were originally written by Zhou Bangyan. At this time, writing Dragon Boat Festival lyrics, either simply described the customs and features of human feelings, or had to write about Qu Yuan, lamenting the times and feeling sad. Zhou Bangyan's lyrics also wrote about these two, but did not fall into the lower grade. His lyric style was originally euphemistic. The first part described the Dragon Boat Festival scene, which was his consistent strength, and he wrote it with gorgeous language. In the second part, he wrote about reminiscing about the past and writing about "Li Sao," but in the latter part of the second part, when he wrote "Gradually entering into a drunken, blissful land," he blurred all the things in the distant view, diluted everything he described, and left the world complicated.

When Li Shishi sang to this point, the voice and music gradually turned light, and when she concluded with "Lying and listening to the riverbank, the painted boats loudly beat drums," the sound gradually became almost inaudible, and the movements also gradually stopped. But surprisingly, the surrounding movements were magnified because of this. The sound of the wind blowing, the rustling of leaves, the entire hall seemed to be more three-dimensional. In the hall, the woman perfectly expanded the suggestion to the entire world.

She lowered her hands and stood there motionless, closing her eyes, letting the breeze blow through her hair. After a moment, she suddenly opened her eyes and opened her mouth wide, as if shouting "Ah—" but did not make a sound. After she blew a salute to the musicians next to her, she came over here and said casually, "How is it? How is it?"

"Good."

The three people honestly clapped and applauded. Li Shishi smiled and said, "Actually, I've rehearsed almost enough. I came here to be lazy, and I don't know if Mama will scold me..." Then, she introduced the three people. In addition to Yu Hezhong and Ning Yi, the other person was Chen Sifeng, who had been mentioned many times.

In the capital, encountering childhood partners was a drama that, frankly speaking, none of the three men present had much interest in. It would be fine if they were really childhood partners who had played together, but in reality, they were just three people who had lived on the same street but were not very familiar with each other. Perhaps the only one who was really enthusiastic about this was Li Shishi. But there was no friendship, and there was no hatred between them. Since they were gathered together, there was no harm in getting to know each other.

In the following time, the few people chatted with each other under the leadership of Li Shishi. Although Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng probably had a good impression of Li Shishi, they didn't deliberately treat Ning Yi or each other too much at this time. After all, it was just a gathering of friends. Yu Hezhong had met Ning Yi, and Chen Sifeng had heard Li Shishi mention him a few times before, knowing that he was a Son-in-Law, perhaps talented, but no longer able to participate in the imperial examination. In the following time, although they occasionally mentioned each other's families, they mostly talked about Zhou Bangyan's new lyrics, the current grand events in the capital, Shishi's performances, and so on, in harmony and joy.

Ning Yi had not been to the capital before, so he naturally did not know how popular Li Shishi was in the capital. Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng gave a detailed explanation, and Shishi either chuckled or supplemented, sincerely and skillfully responding. For her, being able to get along with a few of her "childhood friends" that she thought were like this was probably a kind of relaxation.

After that, the four people went to the river side of this manor, which was a tributary close to the Yellow River. The water flow was still considered clear. At the end of the manor, there were waterside pavilions extending onto the riverbed. The clouds in the sky covered the sunlight, and the pavilions were quite cool. Shishi ordered the servants to bring wine and pastries, and they ate some simple food while talking and laughing. There was also a small painted boat by the river, and the few people agreed to row to the river to play later.

Ning Yi did not forget his business acumen and indirectly asked the few people for their opinions on why restaurants and brothels made money. Not long after, Shishi called the musicians again and rehearsed again on the grass by the pavilion, which was actually just a performance for the three of them to watch. At this time, they were considered to be slightly familiar with each other. During the chat, they also walked around. Ning Yi saw that many four-petaled small flowers folded from paper were hung in a room of an embroidered building nearby. There seemed to be writing on them. After looking at them, he asked what they were.

In this era, paper was still a relatively valuable item, especially the paper folded into flowers, which looked quite beautiful and was much more resilient than ordinary paper. It was nothing in later generations, but now, I am afraid that each piece of paper had to go through many processes to achieve such an effect. Hearing him ask, Shishi smiled and explained that these papers were indeed more expensive, but many places in the city, especially brothels, sold them. Many literati and talents would buy them, write their poems on them, and then fold them into flowers and give them to the women they liked. Although most of them were sent to the hands of courtesans, many marriages were made because of this, so this paper was also called marriage paper.

"Actually, many times, marriage is like paper..."

Speaking of this, Shishi sighed, and then smiled again, telling Ning Yi some interesting stories about men and women in brothels. At this time, Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng seemed to have something to do on the side, or they had something to say to each other, and left for a while. During Li Shishi's explanation, Ning Yi frowned and thought of something, and then recalled the Yuan Jin'er matter that he was troubled by. Because of Jin'er, Yun Zhu and Xiao Chan might not have some emotions. Since girls like to give gifts, it would be good to write them a love letter and give it to them for the Dragon Boat Festival. Xiao Chan likes poetry the most, and Yun Zhu may be more indifferent, but she will definitely like it too.

Thinking of this, he asked Li Shishi how to make the flowers. The other party became curious, and Ning Yi told the truth, that he could give flowers to the women in his family. He had already married, and it was not necessary to hide the fact that he had a wife, concubines, and children. He told Li Shishi that he had not given gifts to his family for a long time. Li Shishi's expression also became gentle, and she found paper and taught Ning Yi how to fold flowers.

"However... I teach Ning Dage to fold flowers, can you let Shishi take a look at the poems that Ning Dage writes inside?"

"Ah..." Ning Yi was slightly stunned.

"Shishi guarantees not to sing it out." She raised her finger and made a serious guarantee. In fact, what Ning Yi was slightly surprised by was that her request was too small, and not singing it out, what was the meaning to her? He smiled and nodded in agreement.

Also in the time of folding paper, on the side of the vision, in the villa adjacent to here, it suddenly became lively, and the servants were running around, as if arranging a party. The grass on the river side was connected. Ning Yi looked over and asked, "Who are those people over there?"

Shishi turned her head and glanced, then lowered her head to fold paper as if nothing had happened: "Over there, it's a viscount's villa, which hasn't been used for a long time. There may be some party... We can't afford to offend them."

I don't know why she had to say the question of whether she could afford to offend at this time, but at the same time, a voice was also heard in the next yard: "Everyone, don't be like this, I asked clearly, Miss Shishi is coming over there today... I can't afford to offend her."

"It's just a courtesan, what can't you afford to offend? Besides, we're not targeting Li Shishi to do anything. Borrow your place to use, and still nagging... "

"It's not like that, everyone... You are obviously here to find fault. Miss Shishi is entertaining a few friends over there, don't be so jealous. If you offend Miss Shishi, how can I have the face to go to Fan Lou in the future, how can I mix in the Bianliang romance scene, hey, everything is negotiable... "

"What is there to discuss, we just borrow your place to hold a poetry meeting, we won't do anything, you think too much. We are all scholars, don't be so stingy."

"What scholars, isn't it just that Miss Shishi came back this time and hasn't seen you yet, but saw others first, and you still say you're not targeting Li Shishi. This kind of thing is not the first time, it's just jealousy, hey, have you found out who's next door before you come, don't try to pinch soft persimmons and run into a stone, it's not the first time, this kind of thing doesn't look good, especially in my place... "

In the viscount's helpless wailing, the people around him went in one after another, sweeping the courtyard, cleaning the dust, placing items, and starting to arrange the party venue with a bang...

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