Chapter 134 Chapter 134 is the only genuine version...
The lady came back gracefully, with light lotus steps and full of charm.
After she bowed, she sat down on a round stool, her peach blossom eyes full of affection, as if shrouded in a thin mist.
If Gu Zhizhuo had not seen her burned face under the veil, just her eyebrows and eyes would have made her a stunning beauty.
Xie Danling took a sip of tea and asked, "What can you do?"
After Gui Niang casually plucked the pipa strings a few times with her slender fingers, she asked softly, "I know everything that's popular in the capital." Her voice was clear and her every move was gentle and charming.
Xie Danling pursed her lips, thought seriously for a moment, then clapped her hands and smiled, "Can you sing that new storybook? I forgot what it was called, but it's about a scholar who fell in love with a wealthy merchant's daughter at first sight. The girl married him without hesitation. The scholar's family had only a blind widowed mother who begged to support his education."
Gu Zhizhuo's forehead twitched as he listened, and he asked without much hope, "After the marriage, will the rich merchant girl go begging with his widowed mother? Will she continue to support his education?"
Xie Danling nodded happily: "The back one is different, it looks really good."
Gu Zhizhuo's eyes were dull: "You say."
Xie Danling went on excitedly, "After ten years of studying, the scholar finally passed the imperial examination and was named the top scholar. A noble lady appeared on the list and asked for a husband. The top scholar righteously said that he already had a virtuous wife at home and could not let her down, so he refused..."
"Don't listen."
This plot sounds overwhelming.
Gu Zhizhuo pushed down her raised hand, took out a round fan and stuffed it into her hand, saying seriously, "Read less of this kind of book in the future."
"Why?"
"If you watch too much, your brain will be damaged."
"What? This is the best-selling storybook in Beijing recently. When I lived in your house, my third cousin brought it to me to read together. It's not even available for purchase." Xie Danling peeled a longan and fed her one, then gave another to herself.
"Besides, the top scholar didn't abandon his wife."
"My mother and daughter-in-law are begging outside. This shows that life is hard and they can't survive happily. But they don't make a living and just focus on studying. This is either stupid or bad. Regardless of whether it is stupid or bad, it is not a good thing."
"You used to like watching it too."
"So, my brain is broken." In the previous life.
Xie Danling leaned on her shoulder and giggled: "I'm going to tell cousin Chen."
Lady Gui's beautiful eyes were filled with smiles as she watched the two of them playing and frolicking. Her long eyelashes trembled as she said softly, "There's a new song called 'Returning with the Phoenix.' Would you like to listen to it, young lady?"
Xie Danling looked at her: "What are you talking about?"
Gu Zhizhuo waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's sing this."
“I don’t know what it’s about yet.”
"I don't know if it would be interesting to listen to it."
That makes a lot of sense. Xie Danling agreed with a smile and leaned back in her chair comfortably.
Lady Gui first tested the tone, and then the music suddenly became passionate, like thousands of troops approaching.
This is a story that is somewhat similar to the last one, "Yuanyang Pei". Lady Gui still remembers the story of her not loving the talented man and the beautiful woman, so she chose this one on purpose.
Xie Danling was a little nonchalant at first, but after hearing this, she patted the pine nut crumbs on her hands and became serious.
Xie Danling is not good at playing the piano, but she is good at distinguishing notes and loves listening to music.
After the initial excitement, the music gradually became softer and more lingering. Lady Gui opened her red lips and sang softly along with the sound of the pipa, her voice as clear as a pond.
The copper bell hanging on the door of the private room rang softly, and a young waiter pushed the door open and came in.
Gu Zhizhuo just thought he was here to serve the food and didn't take it seriously.
The waiter quietly walked over to their table and said with a humble look, "Ladies, could you please change the musicians?"
He smiled flatteringly and said, "The shop will cover all the girls' expenses today."
Xie Danling glared and was about to slam the table, but just as she raised her hand, she didn't want to disturb the music, so she put it down gently instead.
"We can't pay the money?"
joke!
How could she, the Fifth Princess, be without money? Xie Danling felt her purse, which was flat.
Well, even if she didn't have it, her cousin definitely did! When her cousin was buying Taihu stones, she secretly looked at her purse and saw a lot of banknotes in it.
Xie Danling winked at Gu Zhizhuo, indicating that she should throw out a stack of banknotes to scare the tactless waiter to death.
Gu Zhizhuo stuffed the purse into her hand as she wished and said, "No need to change."
"My little cousin said she doesn't want to change it. Didn't you hear me? Get out of here." If you keep talking like that, I'll hit you to death with the banknotes!
"Miss," the waiter said with some embarrassment, bending down, "The King of Jin wants to see you. Could you please make some concessions?"
"Prince Jin's Mansion?" That's even worse.
Seeing that she did not object, the waiter thought she was hesitating, after all, the other party was King Jin.
He quickly added, "It's like this. The King of Jin is hosting a banquet at Guangsha Tower, not far away. The King of Jin has invited a Taoist master to the capital, and today's banquet is for him."
The sound of the pipa paused for a moment, but soon became as smooth as flowing water, becoming more and more exciting, and the subtle change in tone was almost imperceptible.
Lady Gui lowered her eyes, and her thick eyelashes obscured her gaze.
"Madam Gui's pipa playing is unique in the capital, and the King of Jin specifically asked for her to come over. You see..." The waiter nodded and bowed. If it weren't for the fact that the two girls were dressed in luxurious clothes and had extraordinary demeanor, and even their maids were adorned with gold and silver, he wouldn't have had to explain it like this.
If you mention the title of King Jin, who wouldn’t immediately agree?
"Shall I give you another trick?"
"Not good." Gu Zhizhuo waved his hand and asked him to leave.
Seeing the waiter still hesitant, Gu Zhizhuo became a little annoyed and said, "Go tell the people in Prince Jin's Mansion that the person is with me. My last name is Gu. If they want the person, they can come to me and don't make things difficult for a waiter like you. Go ahead."
"That……"
"Sun Tianshou, Sun Tianshou! Where are you?"
A burst of anxious footsteps was heard, and then the door of the private room was pushed open from the outside with a "bang", and a man with a big beard came in.
He was wearing a patched coarse cloth shirt, the sleeves of which were particularly worn. His skin was dark and his hands were covered with thick calluses. He looked like a laborer.
What kind of shop is this? Even a nice private room has strangers barging in. Xie Danling frowned unhappily and was about to ask Awu to kick everyone out when the bearded man shouted loudly, "Your sister is missing."
What! ?
The waiter's face turned pale with fear, and he blurted out, "Tianxi is missing? I told her not to come out when I went out."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel draped over his shoulder. His lips were blue and pale from anxiety. Xie Danling couldn't find any words to blame him. She consoled him, "Maybe he's just been away for a while and will be back soon."
"Forget it, just go and look for it."
The waiter expressed his gratitude repeatedly and ran out with a pale face without even having time to close the door.
He walked too fast, his foot slipped and he stepped on empty air, rolling down the stairs and falling directly from the second floor to the first floor.
Xie Danling was shocked.
"How old is his sister?" she asked the bearded man.
"Eight years old."
Xie Danling: "Are you still afraid of getting lost at the age of eight?"
As a little princess raised in the deep palace, Xie Danling was unaware of the sufferings of the common people. She thought to herself: Are the children of the common people raised so meticulously nowadays?
Gu Zhizhuo also asked, "Could it be that there is a beggar?"
A child is considered well-educated by the age of seven, and even in a noble mansion like theirs, they would let an eight-year-old child go without worry.
The bearded man barged into the private room, initially fearing the guests would blame him, but seeing they were so amiable, he breathed a sigh of relief and explained in a gruff voice, "Three children have gone missing from our alley in the past three days, all pretty girls. If they were kidnapped by a beggar and sold to a filthy place like that, they'd be doomed."
"Have you reported it to the police?"
"It's reported, it's reported." The bearded man sighed, "Everyone with children has kept them indoors today and not allowed them to go out. I didn't expect another one to be lost."
"It's my fault for disturbing the guests' meal. Please don't complain to the shopkeeper."
The bearded man bowed repeatedly.
It's so hard to find a job in this world. I'm strong enough to do hard labor, but Sun Tianshou has a gambling father and a younger sister to support. If I don't have this job, life will be hard.
"I won't complain." Xie Danling agreed readily.
The bearded man expressed his gratitude a few more times before leaving.
Gu Zhizhuo winked at Qingmei, indicating that she should go over and take a look, and help them look for it if she could.
"If you need manpower, go to the mansion and get some guards."
"The young lady has a really good heart," Qingmei thought to herself. "She was sold by her own father. At the matchmaker's place, there were also some young girls from wealthy families who had been bought by beggars. The young girl was as scared as a frightened bird."
Qingmei was bought by Wushang and taken to the East Factory, and he never saw the little girl again.
She sighed, bowed in agreement, and followed him out.
As a musician, you cannot stop until the host calls for it, no matter what happens during the banquet.
The sound of the pipa is like beads rolling on a jade plate. Gui Niangzi has already sung to the point where the enemy army breaks into the city, and the newlyweds flee hand in hand, with life in front of them and pursuers behind them.
Xie Danling was so nervous that she didn't even bother to peel the pine nuts.
Gui Niangzi's pipa music accompanied by her voice, which was sometimes melodious and sometimes high-pitched, presented the story before them like a scroll.
Another waiter came over quietly and served the dishes, as well as iced fruit juice.
The song ended with a sigh like wind and water. The woman died at the hands of the enemy. In order to seek revenge, her husband joined the army. He stayed in the city where they met, got to know each other and fell in love, until they were old and gray.
Xie Danling sobbed softly, her eyes moist.
"It's really good," she praised generously, "better than that story about the number one scholar."
Lady Gui leaned forward while holding her pipa, and even when she glanced down unintentionally, she was full of charm.
Xie Danling was still not satisfied and said, "Sing one more song."
She gestured to Awu to give Gui Niangzi a glass of water: "It's okay to rest for a while before singing. Anyway, you are not allowed to go to Prince Jin." She pouted, and even when she was saying tough words, there was no sense of arrogance at all.
Gu Zhizhuo drank the fruit juice with a smile on his face. In this hot summer day, the icy cold fruit juice was the most enjoyable.
"Madam Gui, if you are in trouble, it's okay to go."
Xie Danling turned her head to look at her, as if asking: Why.
Prince Jin knew that it was them who kept the people here, so how dare he come and cause trouble?
Gu Zhizhuo raised his chin slightly, meaning that he didn't dare to cause trouble for them, but he might cause trouble for Gui Niangzi in the future.
All right. Xie Danling hung his head, feeling a little depressed.
"It was the young lady who first requested me to sing." Lady Gui said, strumming the strings of her pipa. "Of course I have to sing here."
"Okay, okay." Xie Danling's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands and said, "Then sing another song. Let me think..."
She tapped her finger on her lips, thinking hard.
"Let Madam Gui sing it herself." Gu Zhizhuo sighed exaggeratedly, "The story you chose is not interesting at all."
Xie Danling smiled and ate the longan she had peeled herself. She waved her hand and said, "You sing."
Gui Niangzi agreed with a smile, and another story began to unfold with the accompaniment of music.
Just when I was listening with great excitement, I heard screams from outside.
"I found it, I found it!"
"Hurry. Li Laifu, go and lend a hand."
What followed was the sound of hurried footsteps and chaotic noises, which almost drowned out the music.
This street is a bit noisy. It is of course nice to have a meal in a lively atmosphere, but when it comes to listening to music, Gu Zhizhuo prefers a quieter environment.
Shouting, crying, running, all kinds of sounds mixed together, so noisy that even Gui Niangzi's singing was almost inaudible. Awu walked over to close the window and suddenly shouted with a sobbing voice: "Don't scare me. Sister, sister!"
"Let's go find a doctor!"
"Don't die, Tianxi."
"Ms.... Miss." Ah Wu struggled to change the address and called out, "It's the waiter from earlier. He's holding a child in his arms, and the child looks like he's dying."
Gu Zhizhuo suddenly stood up and walked quickly to the window.
It was indeed the waiter named Sun Tianshou, holding a little girl about seven or eight years old. He was still wearing the same shorts, but the sweat towel on his shoulder was gone.
He was only about ten years old. He ran for a long time carrying the child and was almost exhausted. He cried so much that his legs went weak and he fell down.
The little girl also rolled out of his arms.
Xie Danling also came over to see: "Hey, her neck seems to be bleeding, is she injured?"
Pop.
The strings of the pipa suddenly broke, and the broken strings passed through Gui Niangzi's fingers.
The piano music and the singing stopped at the same time.
Gu Zhizhuo turned around and said, "Rest for a while."
"Yes." Lady Gui's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she said nonchalantly, "I'll change a new string."
"I'll go down and take a look. Cousin Danling, please don't wander around."
Gu Zhizhuo left after saying this.
There were already quite a few people on the street. Some ran to the clinic a street away to call a doctor, while others lent a hand to help Sun Tianshou. The bearded man picked up the little girl again.
"Big girl."
Seeing her coming down, Qingmei immediately came over and said, "I found him in a dilapidated Taoist temple near his home. When I found him, there was a small hole in his neck and he was bleeding. He was almost dead. I thought you were here, so I asked them to come over."
Gu Zhizhuo nodded.
Qingmei pushed through the crowd for her, and Gu Zhizhuo stepped forward and said, "Put the person down, I'll take a look."
Someone asked in surprise: "Miss, are you a doctor?"
"I guess so." Gu Zhizhuo didn't have time to explain too much. "There's no clinic on this street. It'll take at least an incense stick for the doctor to come. She won't last. Hurry up."
Sun Tianshou was so frightened by the words "can't hold on" that he trembled, and the bearded man quickly put the man on the ground.
The girl's face was pale, almost devoid of any color, even her lips were white. Gu Zhizhuo untied the blood-stained handkerchief tied around her neck. Just as Qingmei had described, there was a round hole on her neck, the size of a chopstick, from which blood was constantly seeping, staining most of the handkerchief red and even staining Gu Zhizhuo's hands.
"I'll stop the bleeding first."
Gu Zhizhuo took out the silver needles and gave acupuncture treatment continuously.
The blood flowing out of the small hole became visibly less, and after a while, the bleeding stopped.
Sun Tianshou's originally nervous heart relaxed after seeing this, and his body seemed to have been drained of all its strength and collapsed.
There were rustling sounds all around:
“It’s amazing.”
"The bleeding has stopped."
"This girl must be a living fairy."
“…”
Only Qingmei noticed that Gu Zhizhuo's expression did not improve at all, while Yingmei frowned even tighter.
"Clear Eyebrows."
Gu Zhizhuo's hand grasped her pulse, and with a thought, he asked, "Was there any blood around her when you found her?"
The little girl's body was extremely cold, and her skin was almost temperatureless.
But she was still breathing, which meant that the other party was deliberately bleeding her while she was alive.
"No." Qingmei confirmed, "There's only blood on her neck, but not too much."
"Miss." Sun Tianshou crawled over and asked nervously, "Is my sister okay?"
"That's a lot of blood loss."
Gu Zhizhuo spoke frankly, "Even if I stop now, I'm afraid it will be difficult to survive."
Sun Tianshou was so excited and surprised that he almost fell over. He said with a breath, "I have blood. Give it to her."
"Please, girl, please save her."
He knelt on the ground and kowtowed desperately.
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