Chapter 78 Qinhuai Love
Zhao Xiaofei accompanied Li Sihong on a leisurely cruise along the Qinhuai River. The area lacked the commercial atmosphere of their last visit with Qin Baobao. There weren't as many buildings around, let alone those so-called pleasure boats. These were much larger than the Qinhuai pleasure boats of modern Nanjing, and they lacked the rouge-faced, powdered women in TV dramas, greeting people with flowery handkerchiefs, "Sir! Come in and have a seat!"
It's a very quiet place. When I occasionally encounter girls from the pleasure boats, I think they dress like ladies from wealthy families. Their makeup is subtle and their clothing is mostly simple. Li Sihong, on the other hand, says that the women from wealthy families are often more flamboyant, pursuing a more fashionable style in both makeup and clothing.
Sitting on the boat, Li Sihong played her signature guzheng. She was fascinated by Dream of the Red Chamber, especially the song "In vain I gaze upon my brows." Whenever she was bored, she'd listen to the song on the solar-powered speaker Zhao Xiaofei had bought her. She'd practiced whenever she had time, and now she was so good at it that it was almost indistinguishable from the original.
Unfortunately, she sang in Mandarin. Few Nanjing residents could understand her; here, people prefer to listen to the soft Wu dialect or Nanjing Mandarin. Zhao Xiaofei was mesmerized. Sitting on a boat on the Qinhuai River, chatting with the woman he loved, listening to her play music and sing for him, he felt that even modern society couldn't offer him such a comfortable life.
Zhao Xiaofei applauded after listening and said, "My lady, your singing is so good! I finally understand what it means to have a song lingering in my ears for three days!"
Li Sihong smiled brightly, happy to be able to sing for the man she loved. At this moment, a discordant voice came from another boat.
A man said loudly: "Is this considered good? Not using Nanjing Mandarin or the soft Wu dialect, it's simply a waste of Cao's "Dream of the Red Chamber." After saying that, he walked out of the cabin.
The man was a graceful man, probably in his forties, with a pale face and a beard, dressed in white casual clothes, and had a somewhat immortal look.
Zhao Xiaofei wasn't angry. He thought to himself, "I've met a handsome old man!" He stood up, bowed, and said, "May I know the name of this gentleman? Would you like to come to my boat and chat?"
"Is this young man from the north?" the man asked.
"I'm from the capital! May I ask your name, sir?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"This is Mr. Zhu, the Grand Canal Admiral!" Another man in his fifties emerged from the cabin and introduced himself. He was also dressed like a scholar. He had a beautiful beard and was elegant, refined, and graceful.
Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself, "What? Lord Zhu? The Grand Canal Admiral at that time was none other than Zhu Guobi. The guy who surrendered to the Jianlu with Zhao Zhilong! Finally, I've seen a living traitor. You surrendered 200,000 men." But outwardly, he saluted respectfully and said, "I greet Lord Zhu!" Then he turned to the man in his 50s and asked, "What's your name, sir?"
"My name is Ruan Jizhi!" the man replied.
Zhao Xiaofei was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered that this was Ruan Dacheng, who first joined the Donglin Party, then Wei Zhongxian, and finally surrendered to the Jianlu! Did I forget to check the almanac before going out today? I ran into both of these traitors. Back in modern society, I have to buy a lottery ticket to ward off bad luck.
Zhao Xiaofei saluted and said, "Mr. Jizhi, Mr. Zhu. I, Cao Zan, greet you both!"
The two were stunned when they heard the name Zhao Xiaofei reported. Ruan Dacheng asked, "Are you Cao Xueqin, who wrote Dream of the Red Chamber?"
"It's me!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"Did you also write The Legend of the Condor Heroes?" Ruan Dacheng asked again.
"Exactly!" Zhao Xiaofei
"I never expected it! I never expected it! The Mr. Cao I mentioned turned out to be such a young man," Zhu Guobi said. He probably wondered why he was such a young boy.
"Excuse me, my dear!" Ruan Dacheng's face immediately changed and he put on a smiling face.
Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself, "You two change your expressions so quickly. Otherwise, you two would be traitors." "Thank you for your compliments! I just traveled a lot and saw all the right and wrong in the world, so I wrote the book "Dream of Red Mansions". There are too many problems in it, and I may need to revise them. I would like to ask you two gentlemen to correct me."
"No need to change it! It's already very well written! I'm interested in studying with Brother Cao how to adapt it into an opera." Ruan Dacheng said with a smile.
"Did you plagiarize the poem "Song of Burying Flowers" from the current Princess Kunxing's husband?" Zhu Guobi asked with a stern face.
"The prince consort agreed for me to write this poem in the book!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"What is your relationship with the current prince consort?" Zhu Guobi asked.
"The current prince consort is my good friend. We often recite poems and write couplets together and discuss calligraphy, painting and antiques!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
Zhu Guobi immediately put on a smiling face. He knew that the current Princess Kunxing's husband was very favored by Emperor Chongzhen. Even when he secretly left the capital to Tianjin to send his concubine away, he was said to have not been punished. This shows the status of this husband in the emperor's heart.
"It seems that Brother Cao is really talented! Do you have any achievements?" Zhu Guobi asked with a smile.
"I'm stupid, I only have the talent of a scholar!" Zhao Xiaofei made up a story. He thought, your expression changed as soon as you heard I was a friend of the prince consort. What a sycophant. If I were an ordinary civilian, you would probably turn around and leave.
"Brother Cao, don't worry. You are still young and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future! I wonder who was playing the piano on the boat just now?" Zhu Guobi said.
"It was my wife who played the piano just now! This song was played and sung according to my ideas! It may be different from your aesthetic tastes, so I would appreciate your advice!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"Are you the legendary Master Cao?" At this time, a beautiful girl came out of the cabin holding a pipa.
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