Rise From the Humble

The next morning, the wind and snow were still there.

Zhu Pingan got up early and practiced calligraphy on the table by the window with a black wooden board hanging on his wrists. After everyone else in the inn gradually got up, Zhu Pingan put away the black wooden board, put the brushes and other things in the school bag one by one, and put the bed on the bed. He packed up his things and went downstairs with two pancakes made by Mrs. Chen.

In the lobby of the inn, Zhu Pingan ordered a bowl of mutton soup like last night, and ate it with oil cakes.

"The store is in trouble. May I ask which direction is the official road going north?"

Zhu Pingan had breakfast and asked the shopkeeper for directions when paying the bill.

"Don't dare, don't dare. There are two official roads to the north in this town. Where are the guests going?" the shopkeeper said in a friendly tone.

"Go to the capital." Zhu Pingan replied.

"For the capital, then go in this direction. After passing Peacock Terrace, there is an official road leading directly to Luzhou Mansion, and there will be more roads to the capital." The shopkeeper led Zhu Pingan to the door and pointed in one direction Give Zhu Pingan the route.

Luzhou Prefecture is the modern Hefei. Since ancient times, Hefei has been a battleground for military strategists. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Wei and Soochow fought in Hefei for decades. In the Song Dynasty, this place was called Luzhou. In the Southern Song Dynasty, this place was the frontier of the anti-Jin Dynasty. It’s not a bad idea to pass through Hefei and then head to the capital, just in time to see what this battleground for military strategists was like in ancient times.

"Thank you so much, shopkeeper." Zhu Ping'an cupped his hands and thanked the shopkeeper.

After asking the way, Zhu Pingan notified the store clerk to check out, packed up the things, and the store clerk helped them take the things to the backyard and put them on the back of the well-fed Shamat black horse. He took out a rabbit fur cloak with a long collar and put it on.

This cloak was specially made by his mother, Chen, to protect him from the cold and wind on the road, and the rabbit fur was made of the rabbit skin that his elder brother Zhu Pingchuan put on on the mountain.

"It's snowing today. You might as well stay a while and wait until the snow stops before leaving." At the door, a kind-hearted shopkeeper advised me.

"Thank you, shopkeeper. It's snowing but not cold, so it's a good time to go on the road." Zhu Pingan got on his horse and thanked the shopkeeper with a slight cup of his hand. Then he drove his horse along the route pointed out by the shopkeeper just now.

The town is not big, and after riding on horseback for about ten minutes, we saw what the shopkeeper called the Peacock Terrace.

This small town is so small, Zhu Pingan thought that the Peacock Terrace mentioned by the shopkeeper was just the name of a small hill, but he did not expect that the Peacock Terrace in front of him was a group of antique buildings. The Peacock Terrace occupies a quite large area, with two floors, and there are corridors and several stone monuments around it. The architecture of Peacock Terrace is grand and exquisite. The upper floor is a platform and a palace-style roof, and the gorgeous corridor extends to the lower floor.

"The peacock flies southeast and lingers for five miles."

Engraved on the stone wall window in the corridor in front of the Peacock Stage is the poem "The Peacock Flies Southeast". It is written in good handwriting and full of pathos.

Uh, I remembered it.

In the small town of Huaining County, the peacock flies southeast, yes. This is the birthplace of "The Peacock Flying Southeast", which is collectively called the "Shuangbi of Yuefu" together with the "Mulan Poetry" of the Northern Dynasties, and it is also the place where Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi were buried together.

I have been in Huaining County for so long, and I forgot about such a place. Fortunately, I passed by here in the exam, otherwise I would have missed a sad historic site. It is really better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books.

The Peacock Flies to the Southeast is an article that modern school education pays more attention to. It tells the touching love story of Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi during the Jian'an annual inspection in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Jiao Zhongqing is a grassroots civil servant who is quite capable. Liu Lanzhi is beautiful and talented. However, Jiao Zhongqing's mother was very dissatisfied with Liu Lanzhi, and tried every means to make things difficult for Liu Lanzhi with various unreasonable reasons and excuses, and finally drove Liu Lanzhi back to her natal home.

Liu Lanzhi was beautiful and talented. After she returned to her natal family, many wealthy people and dignitaries came to propose marriage. One of the most important proposers was the prefect. However, Liu Lanzhi loved Jiao Zhongqing deeply and rejected all these. Liu Lanzhi's brother often scolded her for being ignorant. Under the persecution of her elder brother, Liu Lanzhi had to accept the marriage of the prefect's family. Jiao Zhongqing also loved Liu Lanzhi deeply, and after knowing it, she came to look for Liu Lanzhi. Unable to resist the cruel reality, the two went to Huangquan together.

The tragic love story of the two has also been handed down.

For this, Zhu Pingan regretted and sighed, if he were himself, he would never let this tragedy happen.

I paid my respects at the Peacock Terrace for a long time. Zhu Pingan sighed, then drove his horse away from Peacock Terrace, and headed north along the official road.

The official road that has snowed is much easier than the official road that has been rained. The dark horse of Shama Te seems to ignore the wind and cold, and walks happily all the way with its head held high in the snow. Maybe this guy feels that the official road is better than the mountain road. Just leave.

Walking north along the official road, you can see the shadows of villages on both sides of the official road from time to time, unlike yesterday when you walked for a long time without seeing a single family.

It was almost noon when Zhu Ping'an vaguely saw a small village. After walking for a while, Zhu Ping'an got off the official road and went to this small village near the official road.

Because the terrain of the small village is located at the mouth of the valley, the originally tight wind became more intense under the action of the terrain. The strong north wind swept the snow from the ground, like a white tornado, covering the sky and blurring the vision.

Zhu Ping'an led the black horse, one foot deep and one foot shallow, towards the village in the white snow. The snow at the entrance of the village was already up to his ankles, and the snow under the wall was almost half a meter high.

Although the snow is heavy, the village is full of life. A group of chickens in the village, led by a few roosters, gathered under a firewood and straw pile, slowly looking for food. A few bored roosters flapped their wings and pecked each other for the right to own a certain little hen, causing the snow to fly around.

On a flat ground at the entrance of the village, there were a few urchins who set up a basket on the snow, scattered some grains under it, and lay on the side with their buttocks stuck out, waiting to catch the sparrows.

Seeing Zhu Pingan coming on horseback, the sparrows flew away in fright, causing several urchins to sniffle and look at Zhu Pingan with unkind expressions.

"I opened this mountain and planted this tree. If you want to go this way, leave money to buy the road."

A little kid with a snot-filled nose stood in front of Zhu Ping'an's horse, his head raised and he was coaxing. Then several other brats stood behind the brat who stood out as backup, and they all looked at Zhu Ping'an with unkind expressions.

Looking at the naughty children with snot bubbles hanging from their noses, Zhu Pingan raised the corners of his lips slightly.

"I am a bird demon under the Snow Demon. I have great abilities. I heard that you were plotting to kill my men here, so I turned into a human and came here to find out. I didn't expect that I would see you. Tsk, tsk, I heard that children's meat is the best. have eaten."

Zhu Pingan rode on the horse, took a deep breath in the direction of the children, and then licked his tongue as if he was intoxicated.

"Monster."

When the naughty kids heard this, they looked at Zhu Ping'an and looked like he wanted to eat meat. They squealed and ran away.

"Well, I was just kidding you."

Seeing these naughty children running away, Zhu Ping'an felt a little dumbfounded. These naughty children were too innocent.

"I won't be fooled by you!"

"Don't come after us, we have child urine."

After hearing this, several naughty children made faces at Zhu Pingan, ran more happily, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.