Chapter 2 The Young Man Selling Strange Stones ()

The north wind is howling, the ground is covered with frost, and it is time for heavy snow to block the mountains again.

At this time of year, the tribes of the Ardes Mountains, which are nearly a thousand miles long, will walk out of the mountains and come to Qingyun City, which is closest to the mountains to exchange items, bring out the hares, mountain deer, some wild beasts and pickled special bacon captured in the mountains in exchange for some essential supplies and scattered silver for living in the mountains. Since the tribes and alliance countries were truce three hundred years ago, this custom has continued and is called "opening the market" by tribes.

However, the opening of the market only exists in Qingyun City, mainly because Qingyun City is located at the northernmost end of Yan Kingdom, less than 30 miles away from the endless Ardes Mountains. Another reason is that the nomadic peoples living on the grasslands north of Qingyun City, they pay tribute to Yan Kingdom every year, and then buy silk, grain, noodle cakes and other daily necessities from Qingyun City. The cattle, sheep and leather clothing sold by the nomadic people in Qingyun City is a necessity for the tribes in the mountains to keep warm during the winter. In this way, although Qingyun City is a border fortress, it also has an economical existence that cannot be ignored.

"Master, you look rich and noble at first glance. This is the snow lotus on the snow mountain. There are no ordinary medicine shops to sell. There are many medicinal materials in the mountains here. Look?"

"Oh, this lady, you see, I'm at the age of knowing destiny, but I can still deceive you. The marten is bright and gorgeous, just enough to make a shawl, and the rest can also make a pair of gloves. If you give the price a higher price, it's not in vain. I'll run out of the mountains, right?"

At this moment, people were surging inside and outside the city, and various hawking sounds were coming one after another, and there were faint whimpers of wild beasts. Compared to those tribes who had made money and were preparing to go to the city to exchange for some wine or buy some rouge for their women, not far from the city gate, a young man in a thick tiger skin robe looked a little frowning, and there were some stones of different shapes in front of him, the big one was as tall as a bucket.

Looking up at the sun shining in the sky, the young man sighed inwardly. Although there were people coming and going on the official road ahead, few people stopped in front of the young man. To be precise, there was no one, because these stones that were commonly seen in the mountains were ugly and could not be eaten or used. Many people would look at the young man when they saw the stones. They thought to themselves that some tribes of the tribe were really barbaric and it was terrible to have no culture. Otherwise, how could they bring stones to the market to sell and bully the people in the city with low IQ?

"Su Qin, if you ask me to say you, give up. When you see me, be obedient, and then take me to the Zuixianlou in the city for a meal. Maybe I will be happy to waive the bet we made one or two silver dollars." The person who said this was a young man wearing a long robe sewn with a bobcat leather, less than five steps away from Su Qin's position. Everyone in the tribe knew this face. The prince of the Yue Luo tribe, Hou Ta, was not as tall as Su Qin, but the young man had a beard.

"Monkey." Su Qin turned his head and looked at Hou Ta, "You can pay a deposit of one or two silver dollars when you book a seat at Zuixianlou. You are really worth it. OK, I will give you a chance to take me to Zuixianlou if I win."

"You just have to be stubborn. How many times have you told me? Don't call me a monkey, or don't blame me for going to Mu Henyu to sue you." Hou Ta said this, and when he saw someone coming forward to ask about the medicinal materials, he stopped talking, busy bargaining and never paid attention to Su Qin.

Su Qin continued to look at the broken stones in front of him, and the more he looked, the bigger the hell he was. The reason why he brought these stones to Qingyun City was because of a bet with Hou Ta before. The bet was ten taels of silver. As for the reason, it was nothing more than the competitive competition among the princes of these tribes. The twenty-four tribes of the tribe, these princes always like to gather together to bet to compete to make the first place in the competition. On the first day of the opening of the market, Hou Ta found the third prince of the Xi barbarian clan, Su Qin, and said let's see who earned more money today? Those who lost will give the other party ten taels of silver.

When other princes saw this, they started to cheer and say that the treasures in the mountains were nothing more than medicinal materials and animal skins, and that these were more lucky than luck. Who would be able to sell the most common things in the mountains at a price?

The answer is naturally stone.

At that time, Su Qin said, could I not be able to sell stones? Some of the princes smiled and frowned. At this time, Hou Ta also expressed his opinion that Su Qin, if you can sell the stones at the price, what if I lose twice, I will give you twenty taels of silver? You Xi barbarians can be good at fighting and keep their word. Do you dare to gamble?

I said in my heart that I was afraid that you would be abandoned by the mountain god. Su Qin looked at Hou Ta and nodded and said that there was not a hunting time that was more prey than you caught? I was afraid of you. I said Hou Ta a little blushed and said, "Do you dare to gamble?"

Gambling! Why not bet? Su Qin agreed and rented a carriage first and pulled a cart from the foot of the mountain. However, the work was obviously thankless and no one was asked about it for a long time.

There was still one hour before the bet ended. Su Qin was thinking about how to sell these stones, and then he heard a few shouts from his ears, "Three Princes, Three Princes."

"Makino, how many times have you said? Call me a young master! Young master!" Su Qin frowned, then stared at the broken silver in Muye's hand, and finally felt better, "Have you sold out your game?"

Muye nodded, then handed over a broken silver to Su Qin. As Su Qin's personal bodyguard and playmate since childhood, Muye can be said to be Su Qin's confidant.

Take the broken silver from Muye, Su Qin picked up the largest piece and said that it will be kept for you to buy wine. Muye shook his head and said, "Third Prince, you are... Su Qin frowned and waited for Muye to have not spoken yet. Muye smiled and changed his words and said, "Young Master, just take it, I will blush when I drink."

Looking at Muye, who was taller than himself, Su Qin angrily scolded and said that if you let him take it, he would just take that nonsense, otherwise I won’t take you to Qingyun City later.

After saying ok, Makino took the silver, then carefully took out an embroidery bag from his chest, put the broken silver in, then tied a knot at the mouth of the embroidery bag with a rope, put the embroidery bag on his chest again, and finally patted the chest with his hand.

"The embroidery bag Qingqing gave you?" Su Qin smiled as he looked at Muye's solemn appearance.

"Yes." Muye scratched his head awkwardly, and laughed again when he thought of Qingqing's appearance. He thought that the silver that the third prince had just rewarded was enough to buy a box of good makeup powder from the largest rouge hot pot in Qingyun City. Maybe the rest could be bought with some more flowers.

"Don't be happy secretly, think about it..." Su Qin just spoke when he saw a scholar wearing a black square scarf and a black and white Zhu Zi's deep clothes and cloth shoes walking over, looking up and down at the stones in front of him, then looked at Su Qin again, and finally pointed to a striped feldstone and said how to sell this?

"This piece of quartz stone is the best." Su Qin opened his mouth and said nonsense. Seeing that the scholar did not look like a rich man, why did he think of buying these broken stones? Then he tried to tell the price.

"What? Three taels of silver!" Obviously, the price reported by Su Qin was beyond the expectations of the scholar. "I want to buy this stone as a tombstone. Can you be cheaper?"

He said insidiously that the first business of opening the door was too unlucky. Su Qin looked at the scholar up and down a few times. Su Qin, who had a little understanding of the customs of the Yan Kingdom, did not see that the scholar had a mourning cloth on his body, so he asked more. I wonder what happened to this brother?

Hearing Su Qin say this, the scholar's face suddenly showed a hint of sadness, and soon this sadness turned into sadness and anger. Then the corners of his mouth twitched a few times, and he started crying without regard for his decentness. The man did not shed tears easily. Whether it was the Yan Kingdom of the Alliance country or the tribes, they believed that men's tears were a manifestation of cowardice. The scholar's crying voice was desolate, and there was no trace of the gentle woman's gentleness and charm, which attracted countless spectators for a while.

A scholar who has no use in everything is a scholar. He has no power to tie a chicken, but his heart is hidden and he has a magical writing.

"Young master, why is this man like a child? Do I need me to drive him away?" Muye whispered to Su Qin as more and more onlookers.

"You are stupid. This bastard is so sad. Others think that we bullied him and drive him away, we can't do this business." Su Qin's explanation to Muye was not aimless. Yan Country has been emphasizing literature over military affairs in recent years. Although there are many scholars, they are still very respected in the civilian class of Yan Country.

Taking two steps forward, Su Qin looked at his first customer today, with a smile on his face and said, "Brother, what's going on?" Let's talk about it carefully. If you think the price is high, will I give it to you for nothing?"

Hearing Su Qin say this, the scholar obviously felt better. Although he stopped crying, he was still a little sad. After calming down, he said that it was not because of the price of stones, and then he told the whole story intermittently.

It turns out that the scholar was named Gu Luoshu. He was a scholar from Baiyun Academy in Qingyun City. He was from a poor family and had half-time work and half-study in the academy since he was a child. This year he had to go to Yanguoguo Lihuo City to participate in the examination. As a result, he had a few dreams last night and told a few friends who were studying. Some friends said that you should go to Maoshan Taoist priest to count it. It was not bad. If you don’t think about it, Gu Luoshu spent a tael of silver in vain, the result made Gu Luoshu unable to sleep or eat. It turned out that Maoshan Taoist priest said that you don’t have to participate in the examination this year, and find another way in the future. The road of official career is not suitable for you. Think about it, isn’t it in vain to dream of watering the roots of dead trees? Isn’t it unnecessary to dream of wearing a hat and holding an umbrella? And what’s the use of this? And if you dream of collecting gongs and drums on the stage, isn’t it obvious that there is no chance?

When Gu Luoshu heard this, he felt a little discouraged. He remembered the grievances he had suffered since childhood. He didn't know why he had thoughts of death. He came outside Qingyun City to find a mountain to jump directly. However, when he saw the stones sold by Su Qin, he remembered that a man had been preparing to die for a lifetime. Even if he couldn't be remembered for a lifetime, he would have to raise a tombstone standing for thousands of years. So he asked. It would be fine if he didn't ask. After Su Qin asked, he couldn't help but cry.

When the Gu Luoshu finished speaking, some of the onlookers felt sorry and some sighed, but no one said anything. Although the Yan Kingdom was prosperous in economy and culture, with the rise of Taoism in alliance countries, some religions that were originally called side-door in Buddhism began to be well-known and even worshipped. For example, Zhang Tianshi on Longhu Mountain was a Taoist priest, and now they are national teachers.

Looking at the Gu Luoshu with a little red and swollen eyes, Su Qinxin said that scholars really believe in the truth. After a change of thought, I had an idea and said, "Listen to me, there is a wizard in our mountains who can interpret dreams, and I happen to be his disciple. Look, isn't it a plea to water the dead tree? As for whether you are prepared for wearing a hat and holding an umbrella? And the collecting gongs and drums on the stage, does it mean that the good show is about to begin? Don't you feel at ease to take the exam, absolutely... How do you say that word? Yes, the title of the gold list!

Hearing Su Qin say this, Gu Luoshu thought about it carefully and said that you are telling the truth?

"I swear in the name of the God of Xiangshan Yala, every sentence is true." Su Qin said it straightforwardly.

Muye, who was beside him, frowned and said, "I didn't hear that the stinky old man in the tribe who taught Su Qin to read can even interpret dreams."

"Okay, everyone, nothing is wrong." Seeing Gu Luoshu's mood finally improved, Su Qin bowed to the spectators and said, but he felt a little regretful. He solved Gu Luoshu's doubts, and the broken stones in front of him... "Young man, what are the origins of these stones?"

Su Qin was about to talk to Gu Luoshu for a few more words. Even if Gu Luoshu didn't buy a tombstone stone, it would be fine. When he heard someone asking behind him, he turned around and saw the old man in brocade clothes holding a bird cage in his hand, and his starling was shouting happily inside.

"These are all strange stones." Su Qin hurriedly greeted him, pointed to a piece of marble next to him and said, "Sir, what do you think of this stone?"

What does it look like? Muye looked along Su Qin's hand and the stone was lying on the ground. The stone was half red and half gray in color, one with one end large and the other was small, and there were some concave points on the stone, "It looks a bit like a toad." Muye muttered in a low voice.
Chapter completed!