Qinhuai Fox Girl

(1)

From Chang’an to Jinling, it was the first time for Chu Suiyun to travel so far. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the southerners went north to rule the world, and Chang’an was no longer the capital of the emperor, so he had to go to Jinling in the far south to participate in the Spring Festival. After leaving Hangu Pass, the road from Xianyang to Luoyang is lined with abrupt rocks and loess slopes. After passing Luoyang, there is a flat river, and the sky-high rapeseed flowers wave after wave. The number of tourists on the official road suddenly increased, and most of them were scholars with bags on their backs. Chu Suiyun followed them all the way south, and met a person who had the same accent as him and got along very well, so the two went together. But in an inn, he found that he suddenly disappeared, and at the same time, the fifty taels of coils on his body were also missing. Chu Suiyun was driven away by the waiter in the shop in the morning, who said: “You don’t have money to stay in any shop, get out!” Chu Suiyun was very angry but didn’t make any excuses, and continued to walk south in the morning sun go.

A month later, with ragged clothes and unkempt hair, he was lying in front of a restaurant in Zhuwa, a thousand-year-old city with carved railings. The doorkeeper gave him two steamed buns and sent him away. The red cloth on the plaque of the restaurant has not been lifted, and the bluestone floor is covered with fireworks and firecrackers, obviously ready to open. On the street in front of the restaurant, a large number of scholars who came to Beijing for the exam gathered. The boss offered a reward of fifty gold for a pair of couplets. Chu Suiyun hid in a corner and ate two steamed buns, and gradually gained some strength, and squeezed into the bustling crowd. The boss was dissatisfied with the couplets written by all the scholars on the stage, so he increased the reward, and shouted three times in a row: “Scholars who come to Beijing to rush for the exam, if they can write couplets for the small shop, the small shop will provide him with accommodation for free.” I offer one hundred taels of silver.”

The crowd exploded, the number of one hundred taels was too tempting, Chu Suiyun walked up penniless and said, “Xiaosheng is willing to give it a try.” Almost at the same time as him, another student wearing a scholar’s hat was about his age A scholar with a very handsome face also came forward. Two people each hold a stroke and one writes a couplet. The boss picked up their couplets, and saw that the characters written by one person were vigorous and powerful, like old trees and pine trees, and the characters written by the other were graceful and beautiful, like a trickle of water. The boss picked up the couplet and read it out: “

Confucius collected his pen and went to the Blue Tower to taste all the delicacies in the world

Guan Yunchang put a knife on the Accord and drank the best wine in the world drunk

Everyone in the audience applauded, and the applause continued, the boss said: “What a sage of literature and martial arts, the shop is full of splendor! This one hundred taels belongs to you two.

Chu Suiyun raised his hand to bow to him and said, “Chu Suiyun, do you dare to ask brother Gao’s name?”

The scholar in Tsing Yi clasped his fists in return and said, “Brother Jiang Nan Yu, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

It was the first time that Chu Suiyun came to Jinling and felt so hearty. He forgot about his dirty clothes and unkempt hair. He held Jiang Nanyu’s hand and said, “Brother Jiang and I hit it off right away. Today we will have a drink in this Cuiyun Tower.” If you don’t get drunk, you won’t return.

Jiang Nanyu’s hand was very soft, Chu Suiyun felt as if he was holding a ball of cotton, Jiang Nanyu blushed and wanted to break free, but Chu Suiyun didn’t pay attention to pulling him up to the restaurant.

When Chu Suiyun woke up again, he was alone in the restaurant. The light from the red candles in the lanterns dyed the restaurant red. Dissipated alcohol smell and a light fragrance. He felt as if he had a dream, a dream that was real but very unreal.

After the Chunwei Examination, Chu Suiyun waited in Jinling for the news of the announcement. The drunken Qinhuai River is full of songs every night, which makes him a little lost. With the one hundred taels of silver, he often goes to restaurants and tea houses, mixing with those half-drunk and half-sober drinkers, listening to the Qinhuai singers singing “Pipa Xing” “Song of Everlasting Regret”, look at their graceful and graceful figures, slightly parted red lips, and slender white and tender hands. Or go to the Zijin Mountain to recite poems and fus with the group of literati and inkmen, and flow the water. The life in the metropolis made him a little obsessed, and he seemed to forget his parents who were holding the door and watching him come back with his title on the gold list. In short, time drifted away like light smoke between these winds, flowers, snows and moons, and it was only in the half-drunk and half-awake state that he occasionally jumped out of Jiangnan Yu’s appearance, which surprised him.

(2)

The gold list was posted, and Chu Suiyun appeared at the end of the gold list, and was awarded “Equal Scholars” by the top three. This is not in vain for his ten years of hard study. On the day when the list was released, he went to visit the Qinhuai River with a group of people who were nominated for the gold list. It was the first light rain that day, and the Qinhuai River was still misty and misty, and the melodious songs of singers came from the boats on the river from time to time. From a distance, Chu Suiyun saw a girl leaning on the painting boat singing, her long hair fluttering like a waterfall, shining in the soft sunlight, her voice was so charming and beautiful, it made him a little lost . He found a secluded place and sat down by himself, listening to her singing seriously, a very strange feeling enveloped his heart along with her singing.

After that, he often went there, and the boat docked there every morning as if he had an agreement with him. He listened to the singer’s voice, holding the water in the Qinhuai River with his hands, and often listened to it all morning.

The candle was burning lonely at night, he recalled the appearance of the singing girl, and began to draw her portrait, long hair, plain clothes, slender waist, but he couldn’t finish the painting when he reached the eyes, because her eyes were so charming that he Unable to write. The clappers of the city guards who were watching the night outside the gate had already knocked on the third watch. Chu Suiyun couldn’t fall asleep and wrote a little poem: Chanting in a graceful voice, refreshing the ears and refreshing the heart. Such as wearing willows in March, fighting wine and listening to orioles. Then suddenly wrote the first letter home. The pear blossoms in my hometown have just bloomed. In my mind, the singing girl stands under the pear blossoms and blends into the clear blue sky. Then someone stood at the door and looked into the distance under the blue sky, it was my mother. The appearance of his mother finally imprinted in his luxurious city life.

When he went to the river again the next day, he stood on the bank and called for the painting boat not far away to dock. The water waves rising from the painting boats sparkle in the morning light. The girl didn’t come out from the boat, but a very handsome maid came out. He gave her the note he wrote last night and said, “Hey, this one is for your lady.” The servant girl pouted angrily and said with displeasure, “I’m not called Hey, I’m Xiaodie, cowards hang around here every day But she didn’t dare to board the boat.” After she finished speaking, she blinked at Chu Suiyun and smiled, as bright as a spring peach blossom, what else did Chu Suiyun want to ask, Die’er had already boarded the boat, but Not forgetting to turn around and make a face for him, the boat sailed slowly into the distance.

Chu Suiyun stood on the shore and watched the boat disappear into the faint clouds in the sky.

When the sun shone through the ground the next day, Chu Suiyun arrived at the shore early, and the boat did not pass by until the sun went down. Chu Suiyun thought to herself that she was rude yesterday! He felt very frustrated and was about to go back when he saw Xiaodie running over panting. The first time he saw Xiaodie, he felt deja vu but couldn’t remember where he had met him. Xiaodie handed him a note and said: “Miss entrusted me to give it to you. Miss’s house has a distinguished guest today and I can’t leave the house. Please let me tell you.” : “Qinhuai is warm and peach blossoms are blooming, and I have sung solo for you several times. If you ask where my concubine lives? In the east of Taoyuan among the mountains and flowers. Chu Suiyun looked at these small words and suddenly thought of the scholar who drank together in the restaurant that day and thought: Could it be he?

Seeing his silence, Xiaodie said mischievously: “Don’t worry, my lady still cares about you.” After speaking, she quickly disappeared into the sunset.

It began to rain slightly, and the rain in the south of the Yangtze River smelled of peach blossoms. Chu Suiyun revisited his old place again, staring blankly at the ripples splashed by the raindrops on the empty river surface, feeling a little lost for a while.

“My son, my son.”

Chu Suiyun looked around, Xiaodie’s slightly wet hair stuck to her cheeks in strands. He handed her a piece of letter paper, the words were still so familiar, the paper was stained with Xiaodie’s warm and soft jade breath, shining a little bit of light in the spring rain, the letter wrote: “I live in Taoxi in the south of the city, peach blossoms in spring Romantic, like a fairyland, Lord Yiri will meet you when you leave the south gate, please make an appointment with Xiaodie.”

Xiaodie suddenly looked at him quietly and said: “Tomorrow you go out of the south gate and go east. There is an old circle with a pleasant scenery. I will wait for you under an old locust tree there.”

(3)

That day, he went out of the south gate and walked eastward for a few miles. He saw an old locust tree that was more than a hundred years old. Chu Suiyun saw a red shadow standing under the tree waiting quietly. A closer look turned out to be Kocho. Xiaodie is dressed in red today, which complements the peach blossoms in the Taoyuan. Xiaodie led him along the stream in Taoyuan, and said as he walked, “Miss, parents and brothers are here, we will go after sunset.”

The two of them found a clean stone by the Taoyuan River and sat down, looked at each other faintly, smiled faintly, until the butterflies fluttered in the twilight.

The last rays of the setting sun fell into the deep twilight of the distant mountains, Xiaodie took his hand and walked about a mile to the east of Taoyuan. From a distance, I saw a tall courtyard with vermilion walls, carved railings and jade bricks, numerous attics, and a deep courtyard. A red light hangs high at the gate, and a stone lion guards the gate. Chu Suiyun thought to himself: It must be a prince or lady from a famous family.

He followed Xiaodie to turn left and right in the courtyard and entered a delicate hut. The room was burning ambergris, which is rare in the East China Sea, and the tall candles lit up the whole room with brilliance. On the delicate desk were her rouge powder and an ancient bronze mirror. Curtains made of the finest Suzhou silk separate the bedroom from the outside. A figure in the curtain is playing the guzheng softly, and the soft and lingering music blends with her sweet voice. Chu Suiyun immediately stood there, listening quietly. After a while the curtain was opened, the girl was dressed in white, the candlelight was on her face, and a bright jade hairpin was stuck in her hair. Chu Suiyun was fascinated by looking at her bewitching eyes, and the girl said: “You came to the wilderness so late, just to see me?” Her voice was as gentle as the sound of a piano, which made Chu Suiyun fascinated , He was stunned for a long time and said: “Maybe your singing makes me unforgettable!”

The girl in white wanted to ask something, Xiaodie jumped out naughty, holding two cups of jasmine tea with a faint fragrance in her hand and said: “Miss tea is here.”

Chu Suiyun drank the dry and refreshing jasmine tea and asked, “May I ask Miss’s name?”

The girl’s vermilion lips parted lightly, she put on the steaming tea cover, and answered in a voice like a warbling voice: “My family name is Xie, and my name is Luoshui. I originally lived in Wuyi Lane, Qinhuai, but my father was framed by a villain and moved here.”

Chu Suiyun watched the moonlight pass by Luoshui’s reddish cheeks and long eyelashes, and couldn’t help pulling her gently into his arms. Luo Shui stared at him with wide-eyed eyes, and the tip of his nose smelled the charming fragrance of her hair, which was so refreshing that he was fascinated and deeply drunk.

The bell struck the waning moon, and the rooster crowed three or two times outside the village, and Luoshui woke him up. He felt that he slept very soundly, deeply, and comfortably. The morning light shone on Luoshui’s face, and the light was bright, and he felt that the light shining on her body was more charming than yesterday. Chu Suiyun said goodbye to her, and she put on black clothes and said with tears in her eyes, “Please come back someday.”

Chu Suiyun lingered along the way, carefully looking back from time to time, and saw Xiaodie leaning on the door, the wind gently kissing the corner of her elegant clothes, and the peach blossoms falling from time to time drifted past the corners of her reddish eyes.

(4)

In a barren garden in the outskirts of the south gate, two women were having a conversation under peach blossoms.

Miss, he loves you deeply, why do you still treat him like this?

Xiaodie, I told you a long time ago that men are ruthless and ungrateful, and he is just greedy for my beauty. After finishing speaking, the sparrow fluttered its wings and fell from the branch, leaving only a pile of dry feathers.

(5)

Chu Suiyun went to the Qinhuai River again and watched the beautiful and ecstatic face of Luoshui reflected in the lake water in the river. He was infected with the yearning for the fluttering robes and the flowing singing, restless, and lost weight day by day. Only by looking at the gurgling water can he calm down a little. The banks of the Qinhuai River are full of brightly dressed women, but he feels that none of them can compare to the veil-like face he misses.

Under the willow tree by the river, I met a divination old man. When he passed by, the old man stared at him in a daze, and sighed: “Little brother, you are full of ghosts and ghosts.”

Chu Suiyun was a little horrified, thinking of the wilderness, and suddenly asked himself: “Is she really a ghost?” The old Taoist continued: “If you don’t believe me, little brother, please take off a willow leaf and paint it with the morning dew. Next time, if you meet that woman and put willow leaves in her eyes, you can see ghosts and ghosts.”

Chu Suiyun was dubious, but the willow leaf in the old Taoist’s hand thanked the old Taoist and left. He couldn’t believe what the old man said, there were the girl’s tears on his arms, and her fragrance still remained in his arms. How could such a weak girl be a female ghost? In his trance, he seemed to see Xiaodie’s melancholy when she leaned against the door and looked at him. He couldn’t help thinking: “Xiaodie was so sad that day!”

Chu Suiyun left the south gate and searched according to the previous memory. The peach blossoms are still in full bloom and are connected with the lush willows. He met a gardener in Taoyuan, and he asked, “Do you know how to get to Xie’s Mansion ahead?”

The gardener shook his head, and he told Chu Suiyun, “There is a wilderness ahead, and there is a large cemetery in front, and few people come.”

Chu Suiyun walked until he reached the big locust tree at the south gate. Sitting dimly under the shade of a tree was a farmer in farm clothes. He asked Tian Sheweng about the direction of Xie’s mansion, the mansion in the wilderness. In the setting sun, the farmer put down the plow in his hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand like the bark of a thousand years, and said, “You have met a female ghost.” He seemed to be very scared, his lips were murmured, and he retreated . The old man said: “You have been bewitched. Seeing your infatuation reminds me of many things.” Chu Suiyun sat down beside Tian She with a pale face. It seems to have fallen into a long memory and said in an old voice for a long time: “There is a tomb to the east from here. According to legend, it is the tomb of the daughter of Xie Qian, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty. There used to be a big village here, not as dilapidated as it is now. Later, a beautiful woman appeared in the Taoyuan of the village, and all the men in the village were bewitched by him, and they all turned into mummified corpses.” As he spoke, fear appeared in the old man’s eyes, and his voice came from the Nine Nether Hell. Get into Chu Suiyun’s ear.

Then another strange thing happened here: an old farmer was plowing the field, and the plow broke the ancient mound on the stem of the field. I saw a red fox lying on a rotten coffin board, spitting out a ball with the brilliance of the sun and the moon in its mouth. The cultivator picked up the hoe and beat the red fox, and the cultivator wanted to peel back the skin of the red fox. When a gust of wind blew the red fox suddenly disappeared for no reason.

When the old man paused, Chu Suiyun asked, “Then what happened to that female ghost later?”

“Later, an old Taoist came and covered the peach orchard with restrictions. The female ghost’s mournful howling could be heard day and night for tens of miles around. Tian Sheweng looked at his pale face and stroked his shoulder and continued: “I’m ninety-five years old this year, and I didn’t expect that female ghost to break the restriction and come out to make trouble again. She confuses you to take possession of your essence and increase her mana. But don’t worry, as long as you find that veteran, there may be hope. “

Tian Sheweng disappeared into the sunset with a hoe on his shoulder. Chu Suiyun was left alone sitting on the land full of grass and flowers.

(6)

The last rays of the sun fell into the western hills. Xiaodie came suddenly, with a little blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. She fell into Chu Suiyun’s arms all of a sudden. Her black hair hit his face, Chu Suiyun smelled the scent of peach blossoms and blood on her body, she shivered from the cold, curled up against his chest.

“Young Master, Young Master, hurry up and go!” Xiaodie’s voice was a little hoarse: “She’s coming soon!”

“Who? Luoshui?”

He hugged Xiaodie tightly, holding Xiaodie’s hands that were getting cold, and she seemed to think of the moment when Cuiyunlou held Jiangnan Yu’s hand: “Xiaodie, are you Jiangnan Yu?”

Xiaodie lay on his broad shoulders, and the blood spilled from the corner of her mouth stained a piece of her shoulder: “Young master, do you know? I am not a human, I am a red fox, Qinhuai fox girl. When I absorbed the essence of the sun and the moon a few years ago I was injured by a tiller with a hoe, and later rescued by the young lady, and became her maid, I was the one who was in Cuiyun Tower that day, I was really happy to meet you.”

Xiaodie panted while talking, blood flowed out intermittently, Chu Suiyun hugged her tightly and said, “Stop talking, Xiaodie, I will take you to see a doctor.”

Xiaodie shook her head and said: “I know, I’m about to die. This is the solution to the enchantment spell cast on you by the young lady, and it will be solved automatically after you read it once. It was I who harmed you. I saw you when I went to listen to music by the Qinhuai River. I found that you were reluctant to part with Miss, and your love was deeply rooted. I thought she would be moved to be with you and kept matching you secretly. But I was wrong. Xiaodie’s tears flowed come out.

Xiaodie handed him a silk silk with some mantras written on it, Chu Suiyun glanced at it and felt that the restless longing was gone. He looked at Xiaodie, kissed his hair and eyes full of tears, Xiaodie said in his ear weakly in a daze: “Master, I have liked you since the first time I saw him. “

Chu Suiyun carried Xiaodie on his back and was going to see the doctor. A gust of wind suddenly blew the door open, and Luo Shui stood quietly at the door. The moonlight shone on her long hair, and her face, through her crystal bare feet, was indescribably charming. She looked at Chu Suiyun and Xiaodie’s faces full of jealousy, and said darkly, “Do you think I will let you escape?”

Xiaodie suddenly opened her eyes, struggled on Chu Suiyun’s shoulder and said, “Miss, please let him go, I beg you.”

“Shut up!” Luo Shui waved his sleeve across the air, and there were five clear fingerprints on Xiao Die’s face: “I told you that there is no good thing in men in the world, and you betrayed me because of him.”

Chu Suiyun took out the willow leaves given by the old Taoist on the shore, and through the willow leaves, he saw Luoshui’s face became gloomy and gloomy, with a haggard deep purple skull and said, “Why do you hate men in the world so much? “

Why? Luo Shui’s nails were gently screwed into the candle wick on the table, and the lamp on the table was extinguished. Her skull gleamed in the darkness, and she said in a hoarse and desolate voice: “I am the daughter of the Xie family in Jinling. When I was 12 years old, I fell in love with a man who was as handsome as you. We settled down for life in the peach grove at the south gate. Later, my father lost power in the court and was imprisoned, and I was sold into a brothel. Then For a moment I really wanted to die, but I couldn’t die because I firmly believed that he would come back to marry me. I saw him through the window of the brothel that day, and I stopped him. There was a beautiful girl next to him, and he said he would marry me again Come to know me, my heart was completely broken at that moment, I had nothing to love in life, I jumped into the Qinhuai River that night and committed suicide.”

Then he looked at Chu Suiyun with extremely tender eyes and said, “You really look like him. The moment I saw you, I thought he was back again.”

After a while, she suddenly raised her voice and stared at Chu Suiyun with sharp eyes until he felt cold in his heart: “Do you think men in the world should be killed?”

Chu Suiyun also looked back at Xiaodie on his back and said, “You can kill me, but I hope you let Xiaodie go?”

Luo Shui smiled sadly, and Chu Suiyun closed his eyes with ghost claws mixed with Yin Qi. I only heard a scream from the female ghost, and the bones “cracked” all over her body emitting green smoke.

The old Taoist on the shore exuded holy brilliance under the moonlight and muttered in his mouth: “Monster, ninety years ago, the old Taoist thought of you and practiced hard to let you go. You still don’t know how to repent and come out to harm the world. No wonder the old Taoist now Ruthless.”

Luoshui’s deep purple skull showed ferocious teeth and said, “Ox-nosed, you’re here to sabotage my affairs again. I’ll kill this heartless scholar even if it’s wiped out today.” Then she looked at Chu Suiyun coldly: “You really It’s too similar. “

The ghostly aura on Luoshui’s body suddenly intensified, and the purple bones faded to reveal the eerie white bones, and they grabbed Chu Suiyun’s chest. At this time, Xiaodie on his back suddenly pushed him away, sharp bone spurs pierced through Xiaodie’s chest, and blood dripped down the bones from his fingers to the ground.

At the same time, the old Taoist also completed the last letter of the incantation. Luo Shui’s body suddenly exploded and drifted away like a dandelion in the wind, leaving only a pool of black water on the ground.

Chu Suiyun hugged Xiaodie with tears streaming down Xiaodie’s pale face, Xiaodie stretched out her hand to wipe away the tears for him and said silently: “Xiaodie has been hiding the son’s poem for Miss, I watched it I was very happy with the young master’s handwriting, so I copied a fake poem in my own handwriting and gave it to the young lady, and now let it be the last thing Xiaodie left for the young master.” After speaking, she lowered her hand slowly.

(7)

A few years later, the peach blossoms bloomed outside the south gate of Jinling again. Chu Suiyun walked along the stream full of peach blossoms, sat on the moss-covered stone, and read the poem Xiaodie gave her: Come and go to Cuiyun Tower alone, and join hands with you to enjoy the wine. However, the monsters have different paths, and weep every night to read you. --Jiangnan Yu

In a trance, he seemed to hear someone calling again: “Young Master, Young Master.”

Looking back, I saw a red fox quickly crossing into the peach blossom bushes.

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