Chapter 83 Chapter 83 The story of the evil magic mirror of Liangshui Litchi Paste...
The entire backyard was silent for a while, but Duan Zhiwei noticed that the atmosphere was not right, so he forced a smile and said, "Such a strange case, no wonder Li Shaoqing was so anxious that he couldn't eat."
Seeing that everyone looked a little panicked, Yuan Shenji also interrupted and said, "Yes, Li Heng was so anxious that he went to the Imperial Observatory, hoping to use divination to catch the murderer. Unfortunately, the Imperial Observatory only predicted the word "bronze mirror", saying that the bronze mirror was the beginning of the disaster."
Everyone subconsciously looked at the bronze mirror on the dining table. The bronze mirror panicked: "You can't keep staring at me. During the reign of Emperor Wu, the Zhi Kingdom presented a lapis lazuli mirror that could reflect all kinds of demons and monsters. Also, there is a square mirror in the ancient rock caves of the Yongxi River that can reflect human internal organs. There are so many strange mirrors in the world."
After everyone thought about it, they felt that it made sense. After finishing their evening meal and talking for a while, they packed up and went back to their rooms to rest.
Pu Tao wanted to go back home to see her grandmother, but she was stopped by a rainstorm at dusk. She didn't dare to sleep alone, so she had to hug the bronze mirror and said, "Bronze mirror, bronze mirror, can you sleep with me today?"
Without waiting for the bronze mirror to answer, she stood up, forcibly held the bronze mirror in her arms and walked away.
Tongjing groaned in her arms: "Trouble, I really can't do anything with you kids..."
Despite the complaints, it sounds quite pleasant.
After everyone left, Duan Zhiwei took a rocking chair made by a carpenter and lay under the osmanthus tree to look at the stars. The night sky was like a soft black velvet carpet, with the brilliant Milky Way stretching across it like a silver band of light extending into the distance.
Yuan Shenji finished his shower in the room, and when he came out to dry his hair, he saw her lying comfortably on the chair. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "You are busy during the day, and it's rare for you to have some free time at night. You are actually here to look at the stars."
"The Chinese Valentine's Day is coming soon, and I'm thinking about launching some new food." Duan Zhiwei raised her hand and pulled him over.
Yuan Shenji picked a blooming rose by the wall and put it next to her hair: "This year the weather is warmer than in previous years, and the flowers are blooming better, which complements you."
The two of them lay down in the rocking chairs together, holding hands and talking. They talked about the red sun in the desert at dusk in Liangzhou, which was far more vast and distant than Chang'an. The Turkic and Tocharian merchants on the street shouted in their foreign languages to attract customers, and the air was filled with the rich fruity aroma of fine grape wine.
Yuan Shenji asked: "Do you want to go to Liangzhou again?"
Duan Zhiwei thought for a moment and said, "Liangzhou is not as prosperous as Chang'an, but the border town has clear skies and clear clouds, and Liangzhou City is high and majestic. I want to take you there for a stroll."
She turned around and looked at him with bright eyes: "There is a shop that specializes in selling roasted lamb with red willow leaves. It is delicious and the meat has no smell at all."
He stroked her face with his hand and held her in his arms. Duan Zhiwei felt the heat from his chest and couldn't help blushing: "It's late, let's go back to the room."
Yuan Shenji thought it made sense, so he stood up and used his arms to lift her up with one hand. Duan Zhiwei reached out and hit his shoulder, but it felt hard.
The man chuckled and said, "The Jinwu Guard will have a polo match in a while. Please restrain yourself and leave fewer teeth marks on me."
"Get lost," she scolded with a smile and without any politeness.
Here, the lovers were happily in love, while on the other side, a shop in the West Market heard a painful wail...
This antique shop is hidden in a busy market, next to which is a gathering place for Uighur moneylenders. As a result, that gathering place is very noisy and bustling every day, making this antique shop seem to be hidden in the dust, unremarkable and ignored.
Two years ago, the Uighur merchant Aisu followed his grandfather and traveled thousands of miles on camel to Chang'an. He worked as a moneylender with his relatives on this street. Every day, he waited for the extravagant noble children and heavily indebted merchants to come here and mortgage their land, slaves and antiques to him.
It must have been the temptation brought by the delicious grape wine and the fair-skinned and beautiful Lithuanian beauties. Aisu spent a day in the tavern and passed by the antique shop with its door closed, and she developed an inappropriate curiosity.
He pushed open the mottled wooden door. The lights were never on in this shop all year round. Only a little moonlight shone in through the window lattice. The air was filled with the stale musty smell, mixed with the rust of various bronze artifacts.
It makes the throat feel itchy.
Aisu's greedy green eyes swept over the faded calligraphy and paintings, broken porcelain bottles and some mottled music figurines.
They are all worthless stuff.
He felt bored and snorted heavily, turning to leave. His peripheral vision caught sight of a square bronze mirror hanging on the wall and he paused.
There was a clear pattern of warriors fighting beasts engraved on the back of the mirror.
As a Hu merchant with rich experience in receiving goods, he recognized that it must be a bronze mirror from the Warring States Period, worth at least a thousand gold coins.
"This gentleman has really good taste."
Aisu was startled by the sudden sound. He turned around and saw an old man in a black robe standing behind him, his aged face hidden in the shadows.
After all, Aisu had just drunk two large barrels of wine and was still in a drunken stupor, so he said rudely, "Old man, how much is this mirror worth? I want it."
The old man said, "It's not expensive. Just give me four strings of cash."
Aisu opened his eyes wide in shock. Such a bronze mirror from the Warring States Period only cost four strings of coins.
He collected his thoughts, put on an arrogant look again, and said to the old man with disdain: "You old man, you are making a fool of me! The corners of this mirror are worn out, and the mirror surface is even blackened. How dare you charge me four strings of coins?"
The old man was calm and composed: "How much are you willing to pay, young man?"
Aisu secretly clenched his fist and said, "One tael of silver. This broken mirror is only worth one tael of silver. Don't be ungrateful, old man."
The Uighur gathering place nearby is Aisu's territory. If this ignorant old man doesn't agree, he will just call a group of people to snatch the mirror.
The old man was hidden in the darkness, revealing a faint smile: "Okay."
Aisu was very pleased as he had bought a genuine item from the Warring States Period with only one string of coins. He immediately ran back home to take out the string of coins and threw it on the counter of the antique shop. Then he took the mirror back to his residence and hung it in the most conspicuous place in the main hall.
Aisu invited all his relatives and friends to his home. A group of people ate roasted whole lamb and drank wine to congratulate him. Aisu was very proud to the extreme.
Not even a day had passed since the happy days began. One night, Aisu felt thirsty. When she was passing the main hall with an oil lamp in her hand, she suddenly felt something was wrong.
The mirror hanging upright on the wall seemed to be covered with a thick layer of mist.
Aisu held up the oil lamp and slowly moved closer. He raised his sleeve to wipe away the mist, but found that the mirror became blurrier the more he wiped.
The bean-sized core of the oil lamp in his hand suddenly turned into a cold blue and shot up to the ceiling.
Aisu was so scared that he dropped the oil lamp in his hand.
A thick layer of strange fog rose in the bronze mirror. The fog was a gray-green color like rust, like rotten moss on blue bricks.
The thick fog rolled violently in the mirror, and Aisu shuddered, and the biting chill spread from the top of her head to her whole body.
He wanted to run, but his legs seemed to be restrained by something. He wanted to shout, but his throat seemed to be blocked by a layer of cotton.
Finally, the thick fog began to dissipate, and a huge Yaksha appeared in the mirror, its skin also a corrupt gray-green color. Its eyes were dancing flames and it had curved horns on its head.
Aisu smelled the odor of decay.
He cried out in horror: "May the angel of light bless you, this is the devil appearing in the world!"
Yaksha moved closer to the mirror, and its voice was like the sharp sound of bronze rubbing against each other: "Ayisu...give me fresh human blood, give me a beating heart, as long as you kill a few old, middle-aged, young, and childish people for me according to the order of winter, autumn, summer, and spring, you and I will gain eternal life."
The devil threatened: "If you don't obey, you will fall into an endless nightmare and never wake up."
Aisu had no choice but to go to the antique shop to settle the account with the old man, but the shop was empty. He had no choice but to wander around Chang'an City all day, looking for a good target.
In the apricot garden beside Qujiang River, usually there is only a lonely old man tending the flowers and plants; there are many medical clinics in Guangxingfang, and many middle-aged people come here; many young men need to leave the city through Yanping Gate...
There is only one child left...where should I find him...
Early the next morning, Yuan Shenji received an order to patrol Chang'an City strictly, so he left without even having breakfast.
The summer was really hot. Duan Zhiwei went to bed late last night and listened to the noisy chirping of cicadas all night, so he couldn't help yawning several times.
The fruit shop brought a few jars of pickled black plums on a donkey cart, and Duan Zhiwei generously accepted all of them.
Black plum is a good thing. It is indispensable for the cooling black plum drink and the cooling lychee paste.
In addition to various cold drinks, black plums can also be chopped and added to fried rice, or made into black plum sweet and sour lotus root slices, black plum sweet and sour pork ribs, and black plum tea rice.
Last night, everyone was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard, and each person had a bowl of rice soaked in black plum tea. The greatest enjoyment is to listen to the cicadas singing, look at the starry sky, and eat a bowl of sweet tea rice with the aroma of black plum and rich tea on a quiet summer night.
But now Duan Zhiwei is preparing to boil a bowl of cold lychee paste before the diners arrive.
Although the name of this drink is litchi paste, it actually has nothing to do with litchi. It’s just that you can taste the litchi flavor when it is cooked.
Duan Zhiwei thought this was complete nonsense, she couldn't taste any lychee flavor.
Maybe lychees are scarce in Lingnan, so they just use this name to make them easier to sell.
Anyway, the people in Chang'an basically have no idea what lychees taste like.
Boil the black plums, cinnamon and amomum together in the fire room on low heat. Duan Zhiwei goes to the backyard to wash ginger and grind ginger juice, but sees Pu Tao coming out with a bronze mirror. He sits by the well and carefully wipes the mirror with a clean ramie towel. They look very loving and affectionate.
Duan Zhi smiled and said, "It's okay to sit by the well, but be careful not to fall."
The mirror also seemed to like being wiped carefully. In Pu Tao's arms, it told her some stories about the journey to the Western Regions in a cheerful tone, which made Pu Tao laugh.
Duan Zhiwei returned to the fire room, poured ginger juice into the black plum soup and continued to boil it over high heat, ground cinnamon into powder, added lactose, and waited for the lactose to dissolve.
The little wolf also woke up and went into the fire room to help. He opened the flour jar and secretly watched the interaction between the rambutan and the bronze mirror through the window, with an unhappy look on his face.
Duan Zhiwei rubbed his head and said, "Don't be unhappy. When you learn the language well, you can join them."
The little wolf uttered a muffled "hmm".
He could understand what others were saying, but because of his long life as a slave, the little wolf had never talked to anyone and was only beaten and scolded by merchants. As a result, he still couldn't speak complete sentences, and the most he said was "hmm".
Duan Zhiwei felt sorry for him when he saw him looking down and lost. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Ah Pan coming in with a bronze mirror in his arms, looking panicked: "Oh no, just now outside the restaurant, a carriage came and robbed Pu Tao and ran away.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
