Chapter 104 The Magic Pen Disappears
June 15th, noon
Shen Kuo said goodbye to Yong'er and returned to the city, and went to the Meng Siweng Tavern where he had made an appointment with Xu Chong. Xu Chong was already drinking alone there, and when he saw Shen Kuo coming, he quickly asked him to sit down and asked the boy to pour some wine.
Shen Kuo was just about to ask him what had happened in Tokyo during the days he was away.
Xu Chong, however, just sighed and drank one glass after another. He could drink quite a bit, so he didn't get drunk.
He was already drunk, and when he asked the waiter to order another two yuan of wine, he heard the shop getting noisy and people cheering. When they looked outside, they saw someone lighting a string of firecrackers at the door of a medicine shop in the distance.
After the firecrackers stopped, Xu Chong pulled the kid over and asked, "Why are you setting off firecrackers in this hot summer, and it's not a festival? It's so noisy. Which ignorant neighbor is this? How about I go and discipline them for you?"
Seeing that he was a little drunk and looked like he was looking for an excuse to cause trouble, the child quickly explained, "The customer doesn't know, it's Sun Diancheng who sells herbal medicines across the street. He is a kind and good person, and is definitely not an ignorant villager."
"But it's newly opened?" Xu Chong stood up unsteadily and looked outside.
“Hey, it’s been open for seven or eight years.”
"It's been open for seven or eight years? The neighbors already know this bird shop is here, why are they still setting off firecrackers? It will definitely scare the neighbors!"
"Sir, you don't know. It's not the firecrackers that are set off for the opening of the business."
"That's because his wife gave birth to a boy?" Xu Chong was talking nonsense without thinking.
"How can the boss's wife give birth to a child when she is over fifty? No, it's because the shopkeeper invited the most famous Prince Consort Li in the city to come, and he wanted to honor her, so he set off firecrackers."
"Please ask the prince consort to come?" Xu Chong's heart tightened, and he immediately regained some consciousness. "Is it the work of Mr. Pei of the Painting Pavilion again?"
"It's the prince consort who came with his brush to write a few words for the boss."
"I only thought that the imperial concubine could paint a few strokes, but now he wants to write an inscription? Is there any reward for writing?"
"That's true. Nowadays, a fortune is easy to come by, but a single word is hard to come by. Little do people know that the city is saying that this magic brush left by Sengyou can drive away evil spirits and ward off disasters. A few months ago, the prince consort himself was trapped in a fire, and his study burned to the ground, but he was fine with this brush. Don't you think it's magical? Now that the guest star has risen in the east, everyone in the city is in danger, and they all ask the prince consort to write a few words. The wealthy are avoiding disasters, and the shops are seeking profits, all wanting to get a touch of the magic brush's good fortune."
As the waiter was speaking, he saw another customer coming in and quickly bowed and left. He was also afraid that Xu Chong would grab him and ask him endless .
Shen Kuo felt strange when listening to this. This kind of rumor made him feel familiar. How could a blunt pen be so magical? When the fire broke out at the Prince Consort's house, he and Xu Chong were both witnesses. The house was not burned to the ground, only a few screens in the study were burned. Moreover, he and Xu Chong took out the pen and gave it to the Prince Consort. There was nothing special about it. It was obviously unreasonable to say that it was to avoid the fire.
"Is it that Manager Pei who is behind this again?" Shen Kuo said.
"Of course it's that villain who takes advantage of his wealth to bully others." Xu Chong said hatefully. He couldn't bear to hear the name of Shopkeeper Pei now.
As he was talking, he saw a group of people coming. The one riding on the leading horse was the prince consort. Although the prince consort himself was not very tall, he still stood out from the crowd and looked down on everyone when riding on this six-foot horse. He was pouting with a bit of pride. There were several followers behind him, each holding the four treasures of the study, one of which was a long box wrapped in brocade, and inside it was the vermilion blunt pen.
Looking further back, I saw that Manager Pei was indeed following behind, sitting in a sedan chair carried by two people.
Behind Shopkeeper Pei, there were several maids following, each holding wine, food and flowers. Xu Chong saw Jin'er following at the end, holding a bouquet of flowers. How could she be a concubine at home? She was clearly dressed the same as the other maids. It was obvious that Shopkeeper Pei spent a lot of money to buy her, but he only wanted to use her as a servant.
Xu Chong saw the fire rising up. Jin'er over there was also a clever person. When she saw Xu Chong, her expression suddenly became sad. When she turned back, tears were already streaming down her face.
Xu Chong grabbed the knife at his waist and was about to leave, but Shen Kuo hurriedly stopped him.
"Brother, are you going crazy? There are so many people on the street. How can you do something rude?"
"Today I am going to be a rude person."
"You must know that there are laws in the capital as well." Shen Kuo hugged him around the waist.
Xu Chong suppressed his anger and sat down again. People around him didn't dare to speak to him, and the customers who were about to enter the store were scared and retreated. The waiter cast a resentful glance at him from a distance.
Shen Kuo realized that it would be unpopular if he stayed here any longer, so he went to pay the bill and dragged Xu Chong out, without having a good lunch. He did not want to see how the consort made money by writing inscriptions with the pen given by the government , for he was afraid that Xu Chong would get angry again if he went.
Shen Kuo wanted to go to another hotel with Xu Chong, but Xu Chong was in a bad mood and said that he had to go to the palace for duty at night and had to catch up on sleep in the afternoon, so he went back to the barracks. This meal was really disappointing. Shen Kuo went out of the city alone and returned to Yang Wei De's house. Yang Wei De hadn't seen his student for many days and was very excited to see him. He asked Mrs. Yang to cook and asked the servants to get some wine.
At dinner time, they talked about the son-in-law again. Shen Kuo was away these days. However, Yang Wei De did visit the son-in-law's house across the street several times, just to talk about some things. It turned out that Boss Pei had played the role of a go-between and made this happen. Just because the guest star appeared in the east, although the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had reported several times that it was a good omen, the people did not appreciate it. Especially after the palace had the hell transformation map, there were all kinds of distorted interpretations in the streets and alleys, saying that the guest star was actually a nemesis, which was definitely not a good omen. It was also said that the Imperial Astronomical Bureau was full of good-for-nothings who were just trying to fool the officials. I don't know why Yang Wei De didn't show any anger when he spread these words, which shows that he believed that the Imperial Astronomical Bureau was just trying to fool the officials.
Although it was unknown whether it was the nemesis of the Song Dynasty or the people, the people in the city were in a panic and wanted a treasure that could protect their homes. Boss Pei was indeed very intelligent and immediately thought of a way to make money. First, he spread the word that the magic pen of the prince consort could avoid fire, and then he said that avoiding fire is homophonic to avoiding disaster. He spent a lot of money and asked the prince consort to write a few words and draw a few pictures, which sold for a high price.
The reputation spread, and the value of the magic pen and the prince consort also increased, so the two began to sell calligraphy everywhere. As for how they hooked up and how they divided the profits, Yang Wei De didn't know. But Shen Kuo knew some of the previous events. The prince consort bought a fake painting from Shopkeeper Pei and made a fool of himself in front of the princess, but they still couldn't make a deal without a fight. Later, Shopkeeper Pei used Huai Liang's favor to repair his relationship with the prince consort. At that time, Shopkeeper Pei flattered in every way and wanted to see the pen. When this happened, Shen Kuo was still nearby.
Now that I think about it, Shopkeeper Pei was actually planning his business plan by currying favor with her. But what puzzled Shen Kuo was that the son-in-law was, after all, a scholar and the nephew of an official, and he had no worries about food and drink, so why would he be willing to show up like this just to make such shabby money. But Yang Weide added another piece of gossip, saying that the son-in-law had a grudge against Empress Cao, and felt that the princess and himself were not on good terms, and it was instigated by the people around the queen. The queen wanted to borrow his pen several times, but the son-in-law refused. So the son-in-law deliberately showed off everywhere, also to show off this magic pen and irritate Empress Cao. Madam Yang couldn't bear to hear that Old Yang would spread these hearsays like the women on the street, so she quickly invited everyone to dinner.
After dinner, Shen Kuo would go to sleep in his own room. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since returning to Tokyo, so he fell asleep as soon as he touched the pillow. However, trivial dreams haunted him. In his dream, he saw dense red ropes on the huge osmanthus tree in Songzhou Yue Lao Temple. There was a . It was Xiao Ping, who seemed to be dead. He wanted to save her and ran desperately towards the tree, but the tree grew taller and taller, and he couldn't reach her at all.
He was awakened by this nightmare, sat up suddenly, took a few breaths, and began to wonder whether this dream was a good or bad one. However, he felt that it was ridiculous to dwell on the good or bad of a dream. Just as he was about to fall asleep again, he heard shouting outside.
"Hat monster, hat monster, there's a thief, someone come quickly."
Judging from the cracked voice, it was clearly the prince consort.
Shen Kuo quickly got out of bed, without even having time to put on his clothes, and rushed out wearing only his pants.
He was not like the other neighbors who were fast asleep, so he arrived the earliest. When he rushed to the door of the Prince Consort's house, he was the only one there. He was also surprised that this scene appeared again as if in another world. Why was he always the first one to arrive every time something happened at the Prince Consort's house?
Just as he was about to go forward, he saw a cloud of smoke rolling on the wall, and flew away close to the eaves. It looked like the hat demon. Today was the 15th day of the sixth lunar month, when the moon was full in the sky. The hat demon always hid on such a bright moonlit day, which gave Shen Kuo a golden opportunity. He looked carefully. He saw that there seemed to be a few straight silk threads in front of the white smoke, but it seemed that there were no silk threads. When he wanted to take a closer look, the hat demon flew over the roof and disappeared.
"What a pity, it was just a little bit short." He slapped his thigh.
The door of the mansion creaked open. Servants carrying toilets, foot basins, and brooms rushed out. They looked around and didn't see the hat monster. Everyone seemed to be relieved.
"What is this for?" Shen Kuo asked in horror.
The housekeeper and the servants over there looked closely and recognized that it was Shen Kuo who lived next door.
"Sir, have you seen that monster?"
"I saw him. Where did he go?" Shen Kuo pointed. "But he walked very fast. I'm afraid I can't catch up with him."
Everyone stopped together, and actually didn't want to really chase.
"Everyone, why are you holding these things?" Shen Kuo asked.
"Hey, young master, you don't know. People in the city say that the hat monster is a demon. All these evil spirits are most afraid of dirty things. Nowadays, every family has these objects for washing feet."
"What's the use of this?"
"Didn't you drive away the evil creature?"
Shen Kuo was stunned. He probably guessed that the hat monster always ran away after a flash because the fog did not last long. So the effect would be the same whether these dirty things were used or not.
Just as he was about to answer, the prince consort's hoarse scream was heard again from the yard. This time it was even louder than before, and he was almost hoarse.
"Magic pen, my magic pen..."
Everyone rushed in, and Shen Kuo followed them in. He followed everyone to the Prince Consort's bedroom. He saw the Prince Consort standing in the courtyard with his bare chest, looking panicked and dumbfounded.
"What happened to my son?"
The old lady arrived over there.
"The divine...divine...pen...given to me by the government...is gone."
"What?"
