Chapter 845 A Dream of Youth in the Deep of Night [One and a half days left for the monthly ticket lottery]
"What do you mean by 'old friend'? Could you please give me a hint, Madam?"
Inside the painted boat on the riverbank, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Ouyang Rong searched his memory but couldn't recall anything, so he politely asked.
Luo Niang held a pipa, her face half-hidden, her smile tinged with bitterness:
"It's normal that you didn't recognize me back then, since you didn't even look at me. Now that I think about it, I was indeed insignificant that day, just a little ridiculously arrogant, not worthy of your attention."
Ouyang Rong stared in slight surprise at the self-deprecating pipa player.
He scrutinized the half of her face that was visible, as if she were trying hard to remember.
Luo Niang lowered her head, plucked the pipa, and slowly began to speak:
"It was late summer of the first year of the Jiushi era. At a banquet for scholars, the young master was in Luoyang preparing for the autumn examinations. He was invited by his classmates to attend the banquet at Qingyin Pavilion. I remember that the young master was also dressed in a scholar's robe at that time, but he was still a commoner and had not yet put on his official robes..."
Ouyang Rong felt slightly dazed and murmured:
"The first year of Jiushi? That was the year you passed the imperial examination. It was indeed a long time ago, three or four years ago. You are an old friend from Chang'an."
Luo Niang laughed:
"Young master, do you remember that the atmosphere at the banquet that day was not very friendly to you? And I was the singer who was sent here specifically to accompany you with drinks."
Ouyang Rong thought for a moment, then said softly:
"At that time, the scholars in Luoyang who participated in the autumn examinations came from all over the country, from different academies and regions. They spontaneously formed small cliques, especially the northern scholars who liked to bully the southern scholars because there were fewer southerners."
Luo Niang's smile grew even brighter:
"So even a little adult knows. Seeing you staring straight ahead and not moving that day, I thought you were a block of wood back then."
Ouyang Rong sighed:
"Of course I could sense it a little. Although my mind was on my books, I wasn't that oblivious. I didn't attend many banquets back then, just one or two. I was dragged there by a friend from Bailudong Academy, who said that there was a learned and talented female scholar at Qingyin Pavilion who could help me improve my studies. But who knew..."
Everyone shook their heads after seeing the young man in the scholar's robe finish speaking calmly.
Ye Weilai and Pei Shisan Niang listened with great interest and said in unison:
"How would you know?"
Before Ouyang Rong could speak, Luo Niang said directly:
"Who knew it was all just singing, dancing, fine clothes, horses, and sensual pleasures, unrelated to the learning of scholars, just seeking pleasure? The so-called talented women and singing girls are just adding to the pleasure of men, aren't they?"
Ouyang Rong took a sip of wine and smiled without saying a word.
Luo Niang smiled and looked directly at him, asking:
"Does the young master know what the guests found most interesting at the banquet that day and night?"
Ouyang Rong sighed helplessly, "It sounds like... myself."
"That's right, the young master is the main character, but he's just the main character for the amusement that those scholars want to see."
Ouyang Rong's eyes showed reminiscence, and a hint of regret: "I remember I didn't provoke them."
"No, the young master's upright and incorruptible nature is the biggest source of trouble. Back then, the scholars of Luoyang all knew that you never went to brothels or dance halls, nor did you ever seek connections at the residences of important figures. This was clearly an unwritten rule for the autumn examination candidates, yet the young master advised his friends to prepare for the autumn examination in a down-to-earth manner."
Luo Niang laughed and said:
"This is completely out of place in Luoyang, where certain evil practices are rampant. Even I have heard about it in the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment district in Luoyang)."
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but laugh at himself: "Am I really that conspicuous?"
"Hmm. Not going along with the crowd makes you stand out. Many scholars in Luoyang say in private that you are a hypocrite, and some even mock you for being a phony, pretending to be innocent to cultivate a good reputation. There are even rumors that you may have abandoned your wife and children and been a heartless man in your hometown, which have started to spread in a very convincing way."
Ouyang Rong remained silent upon hearing this.
Upon closer examination, he did not abandon his child, but he did abandon his wife, even though he did not do it himself.
Ouyang Rong was not angry. He calmly observed the pipa player for a while, then said apologetically:
"I'm sorry, madam, I really don't remember you. It was my oversight."
"No."
Luo Niang suddenly shook her head, sniffed, and asked, word by word:
"Does the young master know why I was drinking with you that day?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head.
Luo Niang choked up even more, but still managed to say with a smile:
"I am one of those who want to see this little adult make a fool of himself and ruin his reputation!"
Her words were precious, and her voice was more powerful and resonant than the sound of a pipa.
"That night at the banquet, someone paid me to flirt with you. Not only did I tarnish your reputation at the banquet, but I also wanted to bewitch you. After the banquet, I wanted to continue to be affectionate with you and stage a scene of a talented scholar and a beautiful woman redeeming each other and eloping. In the end, I would turn around and accuse you, or simply abandon you and corrupt your mind."
Everyone was surprised to hear this.
Ye Weilai and Pei Shisan Niang showed angry expressions.
Ouyang Rong looked at Luo Niang, somewhat speechless:
"Will this happen again...?"
Back then, he was completely unaware.
There was no shortage of cutthroat competition and intrigue in Luoyang, that arena of fame and fortune.
After Luo Niang finished speaking, she seemed to deflate like a balloon, her shoulders slumping slightly.
She stared intently at Ouyang Rong and asked:
"Is that so? Young adult, you are also surprised. Who have you offended? Why would someone have such a despicable mind?"
Luo Niang muttered to herself:
"Young master has not actually offended anyone. He may not even know the person who paid him to do it, and he has no recollection of them. In fact, I don't know them either. They were bribed by someone."
"But that's just human nature; people can't stand seeing others do better than themselves, and they all like to spy on others in secret."
"Even if there is no enmity, no interaction, and it is harmful to others without benefiting oneself, if there is even the slightest opportunity to step on someone, they will do it without hesitation and then pretend that nothing happened. Such things are common in the world of fame and fortune in Luoyang."
After Luo Niang finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.
After a moment of silence, seeing the heavy atmosphere, Ouyang Rong took the initiative to joke:
"That's all in the past. If Madam wasn't in Luoyang, why did she travel all this way here?"
Luo Niang stared straight at Ouyang Rong, realizing that he truly didn't care at all, and her eyes grew increasingly guilty and sad.
"Why have you come here...?"
The woman playing the pipa suddenly put down the plectrum and stopped playing.
She put the pipa aside, straightened her clothes, composed herself, and revealed a serious expression.
It was a round face streaked with tears, her brows weary, bearing the marks of a long life.
If you remove the wrinkles around her eyes and eyebrows, you can vaguely see the charm of a beautiful woman. She must have been a courtesan in the Luoyang brothel back in the day.
Luo Niang pointed to herself and said:
"Back then, when I was serving drinks to the young master, I was curious whether he could remain unmoved by my presence. In the end, he kept his eyes straight ahead the whole time, and nothing happened afterwards."
"I don't admire you at all. On the contrary, I look down on you even more. The more I think about it afterward, the more I find you repulsive and hypocritical. Even after you passed the imperial examination, I still harbored resentment towards you. Now that I think about it, it's really laughable."
Ouyang Rong was about to speak when Luo Niang leaned forward to pour him wine, interrupting him with a smile:
"Young master, there's no need to comfort me. I'm in a place of pleasure, just one of those ordinary people. How can I be detached from worldly affairs?"
"Young master, do you know that later, you wrote a memorial to the emperor, criticizing Princess Chang Le and advising the emperor, and were eventually thrown into prison. It was only through the connections of your teachers that you were able to get out in a sorry state and be demoted and exiled to a small county in Jiangnan? When I first heard about this, what were my thoughts?"
Ouyang Rong did not answer.
Ye Weilai spoke first, looking at the forlorn woman with a cold smile:
"Of course I'm secretly pleased, thinking my husband deserves what he got."
Luo Niang turned and gazed at Ye Weilai for a moment, seemingly attracted by her silver-haired Hu woman face. After a short while, the woman nodded slightly and said:
"Young lady, you are indeed a woman yourself, and you understand my thoughts perfectly. What you say is true."
"At that time, I was secretly pleased with myself, thinking that Ouyang Lianghan had been pretending to be a gentleman all along, but he finally ran into someone he shouldn't have messed with, and now he's got what he deserves."
"As for the crimes you criticized Princess Chang Le and other powerful figures for, I don't really care. The powerful are naturally above the common people. That's reality, isn't it? So I secretly resent your upholding of justice. I think it's wrong of you to anger the big shots. Instead, you tend to take your anger out on everyone else. I think you're too naive."
Ouyang Rong remained silent, simply drinking his wine in quiet composure.
Pei Shisan Niang gave Luo Niang a deep look, then turned around, picked up the wine pot, and poured wine into Ouyang Rong's empty wine cup.
The young master drank rather quickly by himself.
Khufu suddenly said:
"It's not your fault. Let alone you courtesans, many ordinary people probably think the same way you do: they fear the exploitation of the powerful and wealthy, but they have a different feeling towards those who criticize the powerful and wealthy. They might even think that the powerful and wealthy are meddling in other people's business... I've seen too many people like that in the palace."
Ouyang Rong put down his wine glass, stared at the remaining liquid, and slowly spoke:
"At that time, I didn't think too much. I just wanted to prove myself, so I prepared a coffin and wrote a letter."
For some reason, Luo Niang suddenly became excited and said:
"I know! I found out everything later."
She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and said:
“But I did not come to this understanding through self-reflection; rather, it was a punishment from fate that fell upon me, leaving me no choice but to realize it.”
Amidst everyone's confusion, Luo Niang forced a smile and said:
"Actually, when I met you, young master, I was already quite old. In my youth, I was the top singing girl in the brothel, and my pipa skills were superb, making me one of the best in Luoyang."
"Back then, countless sons of powerful and wealthy men pursued me, vying to spend a fortune just to buy me for one night. Looking back now, those days passed by so quickly. In the blink of an eye, it's time to redeem myself, but I'm too proud to find a suitable place."
"That's why some people who are jealous of you contacted me to flirt with you. Actually, I had some improper thoughts at the time, thinking that it wouldn't be wrong to turn the charade into a real relationship. But as you know, you didn't even glance at me the whole time, and we didn't even have a chance to make eye contact."
"As soon as the banquet ended, the young master was the first to get up and leave. Now it seems that he really didn't steal a glance at my face and has no recollection of it at all."
"So when I learned that the young master had been imprisoned and demoted, in addition to what this young lady had said, I also secretly fantasized late at night about whether the young master would change his mind, regret rejecting me, and instead relentlessly pursue me back. That kind of fantasy was truly intoxicating."
She gave a mocking smile and pointed to herself:
"I even had the wild idea that it wouldn't be a bad idea to agree then... Now it seems so ridiculous and pathetic."
Everyone fell silent, looking at the haggard and pitiful songstress before them.
Luo Niang and Ouyang Rong maintained eye contact, and Luo Niang continued:
"After you were demoted, coincidentally, Princess Changle's residence continued to recruit singing girls and opera troupes. At that time, I thought it was a good place to go. In addition, I had sympathized with Princess Changle back then, and I couldn't help but feel a little close to her, so I went. As a result..."
She gave a mocking smile:
"I have finally gotten my comeuppance. Princess Chang Le is capricious and grew tired of the pipa music after listening to it too much. No matter how much I tried to please her, it was no use. She disliked that I was old and unattractive and sent me away. But the original music and dance halls no longer accept older singers like me."
"Only now do I realize how tragic it is for a beautiful woman to die. Because I was proud and arrogant when I was young, I looked down on those down-on-their-luck sisters. Now, in the end, I have no close sisters to help me in Luoyang."
"Furthermore, having been far from virtuous gentlemen like you in the past, I was utterly alone... Later, in despair, I married a greedy merchant. Life was passable, but only I knew the true extent of my loneliness. Later, I left Luoyang and wandered all the way to Jiangnan..."
“During this time, I often wake up in the middle of the night, thinking that I am still in the magnificent red building of my youth, wearing a blood-red silk dress that attracts everyone's attention, playing the pipa that talented men vie to sing praises of… But when I wake up and look around, the room is dark and silent.”
"I often reflect on how absurd life is. It seems that a person only truly lives for a few short years, a time of joy and glory. The rest of the life is no different from being dead, a dull and lifeless existence. What is the meaning of living like this..."
The woman playing the pipa stopped speaking slowly, lowered her head, picked up her pipa again, and unconsciously began to strum the strings.
The pipa music had no specific melody, yet it was strangely mournful.
Ye Weilai, who had initially looked somewhat unfriendly, fell silent as she listened.
Pei Shisan Niang seemed to have guessed it long ago. She looked at the haggard and lonely pipa player playing alone and sighed softly.
Both being palace servants and in similar circumstances, Khufu and Miaozhen kept tilting their heads back and drinking, lost in thought.
Ouyang Rong suddenly raised his cup to Luo Niang and said:
"Judging from this, he is indeed an old friend."
Without waiting for her response, he tilted his head back and drank the wine, letting out a long sigh.
Upon seeing this, Luo Niang hurriedly raised her cup and drank the wine in one gulp.
Her eyes were filled with guilt and respect as she looked at Ouyang Rong.
Only then did everyone understand why she had been so excited when she saw Ouyang Lianghan earlier.
Ouyang Rong asked in a calm voice:
"Madam came to see me not just to talk about that past event, did she?"
Luo Niang nodded emphatically:
“When I came to Jiangzhou in Jiangnan with my husband’s family, you should still be in Longcheng. I only found out that you had been demoted here after I heard your name.”
"At first, I felt a sense of sympathy for you, but I was still a little afraid to meet you. However, later, I heard about the heroic deeds you did in Longcheng. You saved the poor people of Jiangzhou. I was deeply moved, as if struck by a thunderbolt."
"We are both down on our luck, yet you, young man, managed to survive against all odds. Even in the treacherous environment of remote mountains and rivers, you still managed to achieve great things. Although I am not a man, I can understand the heroism and hardship you endured, and I am deeply moved."
Luo Niang's eyes were blurry with tears, and the pipa fell to the ground.
She leaned forward and accidentally kicked her beloved pipa, but didn't even bother to look down to check it.
Staring intently at Ouyang Rong, his voice was filled with sorrow and grief:
"After a year of twists and turns, I finally had the opportunity to pass through Longcheng with my husband's family. I specially disembarked and entered the city to witness your heroic deeds and see the poor people you saved living in peace and prosperity. At that moment, I really wanted to cry."
"It's a pity that by then, you had already been promoted to Prefect of Jiangzhou and were no longer in Longcheng. However, several of your poems, such as 'On Chrysanthemums' and 'On Teachers,' were famous in Luoyang and were sung in the taverns and dance halls of Jiangnan. I read them and loved them so much that I stayed up for several nights to compose two pipa pieces for them."
"I don't know why, but on the night I left Longcheng, I walked along the Tanlang Ferry you built, and after silently playing two pipa pieces, I suddenly wanted to see you."
"Yes! I must see you. I want to play two more pipa pieces for you and offer you a cup of wine! This is both to apologize for my ill-intentioned behavior at the banquet back then and to fulfill my wish."
"So I waited patiently, and after many twists and turns, I finally had the opportunity to come to Xunyang. I also went to the pipa banquet that you nominally hosted, but unfortunately I did not see you then."
She wiped away her tears, and said through a bittersweet smile:
"Just as this gentleman said, I am now a merchant's wife and cannot go out at will to the governor's mansion in the city to find you. Besides, there are too many people in the world who want to see you. Who would not want to get to know a gentleman? I am just a lowly merchant's wife and am not even in the running."
"I can only wander along the Xunyang River by boat, playing the pipa. This is also a grotto and ferry crossing that you built yourself. If you happen to pass by, and I can hear your voice from afar, that would be a kind of fulfillment..."
"I have lingered here for quite some time, and am about to depart for another place. I thought that if I missed that pipa banquet, I would never see you again in this life. But I never expected that I would meet you, young master, boarding the ship tonight. I... I..."
At this point, Luo Niang broke down in tears, stammering, and involuntarily reached out to grasp Ouyang Rong's sleeve:
"I have no regrets in this life!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
