Walking down the embankment, I saw Chai Xin getting off a small boat by the river, followed by a middle-aged woman, a young girl in her early tens.

In front of Du Zhongxiao, Chai Xincha sang a promise: "Official, the one who plays the piano is the little mustache on this boat." ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at the woman, about forty years old, very well maintained, although the clothes and ornaments were not luxurious, but very decent. The little girl behind her was only about ten years old, a little thin, extremely delicate, and looked a little cringe.

The woman stepped forward and saluted, "In the dead of night, I disturbed the officials and looked at Haihan." ”

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly said: "What did Madam say!" The sound of the piano is like a heavenly sound, and it is this song that should only be heard in the sky, and how many times can it be heard in the world. Forgive me for being lonely and unheard, not understanding the rhythm of music, and not knowing what kind of music I play? ”

The woman said: "Back to the official, I don't know the name of this concubine." It was taught by a Taoist priest when he was in Yangzhou before, and the words were ancient songs, and I don't know where he learned them. Because it sounded good, I wrote it down. Tonight, the boat is anchored here, and on a whim, I teach my daughter to play. ”

Du Zhongxiao was taken aback, looked at the weak little girl, and said, "It turns out that this song was not played by Mrs.?" Seeing that your daughter is young, she doesn't want to be able to play such a beautiful tune! It's really unexpected. ”

The woman said: "The cheap concubine Qu Wuniang was originally singing in Yangzhou. Five years ago, this girl's parents died, I saw her as pitiful, adopted as a daughter to raise by her side, now eleven years old, named Xiaoqing. Xiaoqing is extremely talented in music theory, no matter what kind of song, he can teach it. A few months ago, I offended a big official in Yangzhou City, and I couldn't stay there. I heard that the city of Tokyo was the most prosperous place in the world, so I hired a ship to go in search of food and clothing. When I got here, the water was shallow, and I couldn't travel, so I had to slowly find someone to pull the fiber. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, he saw that Qu Wuniang was not a big family, it turned out to be a singer. With Xiaoqing's piano skills, food and clothing are indispensable everywhere. However, it is not easy to make a living in Goolan Tiles, all kinds of cows, ghosts, snakes and gods, accidentally offend people. They are two women, one old and one young, and as long as they have something to do, they can't stay any longer.

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao said: "I am a magistrate in Benzhou, and I live in the inspection village over there because I supervise the water transportation of the Bianhe River. You have worked the ship, and there are many inconveniences, so you might as well stay with me for a few days. Play the piano at leisure, and I'll give you the money as soon as I get it. ”

Seeing that several entourages around Du Zhongxiao were wearing official uniforms, Qu Wuniang also knew that there was a patrol village, so she hurriedly thanked her: "Disturb the officials." ”

Seeing that it was not early, Du Zhongxiao asked Chai Xin to help Qu Wuniang take the salute, and after the instructions of the boatman, they went ashore together.

After returning to the inspection village, because it was getting late, Du Zhongxiao said: "It is difficult to find a suitable place to live at night, so it is better to come to me and live in the guest room." ”

Qu Wuniang was born in the rivers and lakes to sing, and she had nothing to say, so she followed her all the way to Du Zhongxiao's residence.

Because Tan Erniang's appearance during the day was too scary, Han Yueniang knew her husband's temper, and she was afraid that he would not be able to let go of his heart, so she still did not fall asleep. Hearing the movement, he hurriedly walked out of the room and said, "Da Lang, are you back?" ”

Du Zhongxiao agreed, led Qu Wuniang and Xiaoqing forward, and said to Han Yueniang: "When I went to the bank of the Bianhe River, I happened to hear them playing the piano, which is very good. Because of the cramped ship, it would be good for their mother and daughter to stay with us for a few days and listen to some music. ”

Qu Wuniang was clever, hurriedly took Xiaoqing's hand, and saluted in front of Han Yueniang: "Disturb Madame." This is the concubine's daughter Xiaoqing, who plays the piano very well. I played a song just now, and I didn't want the officials to listen to it. ”

Han Yueniang saw that Xiaoqing was well-behaved, and when she heard that she could play the piano well, she stepped forward and held her hand and said, "Such a young child can play the piano well, how can it be so rare!" As he spoke, he casually took off a hairpin and inserted it into Xiaoqing's head.

Qu Wuniang hurriedly pulled Xiaoqing to thank her.

Han Yueniang said: "What is this worth!" I'm bored living here alone, and with you playing a tune and talking to me, it's like having nothing to do alone. Even though you live here, tell me what you want. ”

The two of them thanked each other, and Han Yueniang's female envoy led them to the guest room to settle down.

When the two left, Han Yueniang said to Du Zhongxiao: "I have never heard that Da Lang likes to listen to tunes, why did he change his temperament today?" ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "I don't know why, when I heard this song by the river, I was so absorbed that I forgot about myself for a while." No matter what music I listened to before, I never felt this way. Because it was unusual, they brought their mother and daughter to listen to it in their spare time. ”

Han Yueniang also felt happy: "This is a good thing. Da Lang is usually busy with official business, so he can listen to a tune and relax, as if he was bored there alone. That's because they play well, and if they are good at learning, I will learn too. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head with a smile, and walked towards the room without saying anything. Because she was born in a small family, Han Yueniang only recognized a few words since she was a child, and she couldn't recognize all the words in one or two enlightenment books. In addition to being a good female celebrity, she can't practice words, she can't write sentences when she learns poetry, and what can she learn when she learns the piano.

When she got to the bed and hid, Han Yueniang fell asleep, and Du Zhongxiao was thinking about her mind alone. The song that Xiaoqing played just now seemed to have been echoing in his ears, lingering endlessly. This was something that had never happened before, and Du Zhongxiao was extremely surprised.

Just now, Xiaoqing played to the end, and Du Zhongxiao naturally recited a few sentences from "The Book of Songs, Huang Li", which was an experience he had never had. After reading the book for so long, I now know that the classics can be learned in this way. Poems can be sung, but how to sing them, the tune of ancient poems has long been lost, and only a small number of Tang poems have tunes circulating in this era, such as "Yulou Chun" and other word cards, which are actually part of the singing method of poetry.

The ancients may have sung poetry in this way, rather than reading aloud there with their heads shaken their heads. Thinking of some shows in my previous life, showing traditional culture, and getting a bunch of children to put on ancient costumes and recite them with their heads shaken their heads, it makes people feel embarrassed. As long as you know that poetry is originally a kind of song, you will know that the poetry of the ancients must not be that way of reading. According to Du Zhongxiao's feeling just now, ancient poems may be somewhat similar to religious singing, with their own artistic conception and rhythm, which is a special kind of song. Even in a special environment, listening to special music, these classics will be naturally sung.

The six arts of Confucianism, poetry, calligraphy, rituals, music, Yi, Spring and Autumn, the music here is only afraid that it is different from the songs of later generations, and it is also different from the simple performance of musical instruments, but is closely related to poetry and books. Poetry and music are combined to achieve a kind of soul communication.

In this era, music is still closely related to etiquette, and even combined with weights and measures. For example, a bell is a musical instrument and a measuring instrument.

With this special feeling, Du Zhongxiao's mind suddenly brightened. He has always had a problem about how to combine the knowledge of his previous life with this era. The knowledge of the previous life is like oil, and the realistic cultural environment of this era is like water, and water and oil cannot be blended, which makes Du Zhongxiao's thoughts very confused. With the combination of poetry and music, everything is blended together, and many ideas are cross-fused together.

If the society in the eyes of the previous life doctrine was black and white, black and white, or gray, then after the combination of ancient and modern, it is color. It's like many musical instruments intertwined to form a beautiful song. Politics is to compose music for heaven and earth in the social practice of people.