Chapter 25: New Edition of Goose Fantasy
The seventh day of the second lunar month, 3:15 am.
The Juntou Division welcomed a cold morning. Mr. Bao sat behind his desk and listened to Xu Chong's routine report. The hope brought by Shen Kuo's copy of the fire dog's footprints in the snow yesterday was once again in a haze. First, the hat monster reappeared and was still impeccable, and second, Yang Wei De's speculation with his mysterious method came true. In other words, the case was very dark. He had heard from Shi Quanbin that the government was going to send Taoist Li Cheng'an of the Tianshi Dao to join the secret investigation team, which was really frustrating.
"Xu Chong, has the prophecy of a ghost hero and a leader of monsters come true ?" Bao Longtu asked dejectedly.
"From my humble opinion, it has not been verified yet. The talk on the street this morning also thought it was strange. The ghost hero is complete, but I don't know what the monsters and the generals mean."
"I think so too. A Yuanrong can be called a commander, a chariot, or a powerful crossbow. None of these three have appeared yet. It's just that the hat monster appeared in the inner city and a puppet shed was stolen nearby. The connection between them is not very obvious."
"Sir, maybe they made some mistakes too." Xu Chong said at the right time.
"did you mean?"
"In the past, whenever the hat monster or other strange things appeared, a prophecy would be fulfilled. However, the seventh sentence, 'cause troubles will arise, and the officials will fight for the throne', is ambiguous, as if it implies that there is a change in the palace or that the ministers are plotting something bad, which has aroused people's imagination but is difficult to speculate. The reappearance of the hat monster is clearly leading to the eighth sentence: 'ghost heroes will appear and the demons will lead the army', but it is not completely fulfilled. It can be seen that the opponent is also wrong."
"That makes some sense. By the way, where did Shen Kuo say he was going after he took his leave?"
"I went to see the master at Xiangguo Temple. As for the incident of the Yongqiu altar shaking, Master Huailiang was indeed involved in it. We should indeed ask him about it."
"I'm just worried that asking too many questions might leak confidential information."
"Sir, Master Shen has also served as a chief clerk in the government, so he will know his limits."
Lao Bao was speechless and continued to look through the files.
Shen Kuo returned to Yang's house. Yang Wei De had already returned from the Prince Consort's house across the street and was busy calculating. It seemed that he did not plan to report to Lao Bao of the Military Headquarters today. Shen Kuo asked about the Prince Consort's situation. Originally, he wanted to ask about the geography of the huge Prince Consort's house, but Lao Yang was also a person who loved to talk about gossip, and he also told a lot of stories that he heard from who knows where, which might not be true.
It turns out that the prince consort has been having a hard time lately. Other things are secondary. The main reason is that Princess Fukang seems to dislike him more and more. The prince consort is a little anxious and doesn't know how to please the princess. He also wants to get a way to deal with the villain around the princess. The so-called villain is a eunuch around the princess. It is said that he grew up with the princess and they can be said to be childhood sweethearts. It is said that this person has been telling the princess some disparaging words about the prince consort. Of course, there is no evidence, but it is just said that the prince consort can feel it by intuition.
Shen Kuo didn't know much about Feng Shui, but Yang Wei De seemed to have noticed a lot of problems. It was mainly caused by the siltation of the rocks in the garden and the upper reaches of the pond, which could neither hide the wind nor collect water. The beam of the left wing room in the second courtyard was too low, which was also the root cause of the troubles of the villains nearby. This wing room must be demolished and rebuilt. In addition, the six wells in the mansion were covered and locked with iron plates at some point, and the iron locks were rusted. This also damaged the aura and blocked the circulation of water vapor in the sky. He also suggested demolishing it.
Shen Kuo asked an inappropriate question: If the Shu ruler Meng Chang and Lady Huarui had modified the layout of the mansion when they lived here, would they have had a good ending?
This intriguing question made Yang Wei De ponder for a while. As a master of metaphysics who had experienced two dynasties, he was not without doubts. In the dead of night, he often thought about the basis of the theories he had learned. For example, the northern barbarians and the western barbarians did not know how to deploy strange formations, and rarely looked at the stars to calculate auspicious times when sending troops, but they won repeatedly on the battlefield.
Old Yang was speechless in response to Shen Kuo's ultimate question. He knew in his heart that Feng Shui might not be able to control the life and death of Meng Chang and his wife, because that involved a more mysterious and profound topic - politics.
Of course, Yang Wei De soon found a new and exciting topic. He told Shen Kuo that soon Zhang Zhenren would send his capable disciple, Taoist Li Cheng'an, to help. This matter had been approved by the government, so it was useless for Lao Bao to object.
Shen Kuo returned to his bedroom feeling sleepy. He had only slept for more than an hour since last night. Now he could not hold on any longer and finally fell asleep.
February 8th, at chen time.
When Shen Kuo woke up, it was already dawn, so he hurried out to Daxiangguo Temple.
When I arrived at the gate of Xiangguo Temple, I saw Huailiang talking to Xiaoyi at the side of the shop from afar. The shop was open earlier today than yesterday, and he probably had something to tell Xiaoyi.
The sound of gongs rang in my ears. Then came the sound of the horse team galloping. People who went out in the cold morning all dodged, because Di Qing was returning home after attending the morning court. Shen Kuo also dodged quickly, but caught a glimpse of Master Huailiang staring fiercely at the sedan chair behind the ceremonial procession. Every time he looked at Di Qing, his eyes were filled with worldly resentment and hatred, which was not what a monk should have.
After Di Qing's sedan chair passed by, Shen Kuo went over to meet Huai Liang.
He originally thought Huailiang would give him some answers today, but it seemed that Huailiang was waiting for him to go out together.
"Master, where are we going? If we go to Yongqiu County, it's far away. We need to borrow another horse to get there."
"Why go to Yongqiu? Come, let's go to the tile house to watch the Seven Sacred Swords acrobatics."
"See the Seven Sacred Swords?"
Shen Kuo was confused for a moment.
"Yesterday I said you were obsessed with appearances. You fell for your opponent's method of using falsehood to show the truth. This method is to lure you in with falsehoods and make you fall into obsessions. The more you want to see the truth, the more obsessed you become. So you have to break the obsession first."
“How to break the obsession?”
"Of course, you should go down the old building and climb the new height, abandon the smooth road and open up a new path. Don't be obsessed with old ideas, then you can see another world. This matter cannot be explained in words. Just follow me. It's not far. Your horse is in the way, so give it to Xiaoyi. You can come and get it later."
"but……"
Shen Kuo wanted to ask more questions, but the monk grabbed him and walked away. Xiao Yi came over and took the horse.
They walked straight through the market in front of the temple and saw tall shops in front of them where many people were gathered. On the sign at the door, there was a horrifying name: "Yaksha Shed".
It used to be a circus, and now it was the first performance of the morning market, and there were not many people. There were several names written on the sign at the door. Even though Shen Kuo was not from the capital, he had heard of some of them, such as: Fairy Nie, Zhang Qisheng, Xue Tinghe, and Hong Funu.
"Master, is it possible that to break the obsession we just need to watch a magic trick?"
"This is the place to break the attachment and eliminate the appearance." Huailiang went straight in. People here knew him and bowed to him one after another, but no one asked for money. Shen Kuo hurried to catch up, but no one asked for money either.
“As the saying goes: Everyone can perform magic tricks, but each has his or her own unique way of doing it.”
"Master, what kind of magic trick shall we watch today?"
"It doesn't matter what the trick is. What matters is the flash of thought that leads to another way to see the cave again!"
"Oh, but I see there are few people in the morning. Will there be any experts to perform?"
"It's really too early. The master probably won't come. But there are some old fantasy plays. Do you know the one about offering peaches to the Jade Pool?"
“I don’t know.”
"It was Hong Fu's specialty, the magic show. It was a sensation back then, but unfortunately, the technique has been broken and was published in last year's "New Edition of Goose Magic"."
"'New Edition of Goose Fantasy'? What kind of book is this?" Shen Kuo vaguely remembered Xu Chong mentioning it.
"It is a small book published by an expert in the capital who dares not to be named, who tries to crack various magic tricks. It is named after an article in the previous collection of strange stories, "Continuation of Qixie Ji", in which a man from Yangxian named Xu Yan carried a goose cage as high as a mountain, and met a fox fairy scholar in the mountain who swallowed everything in his mouth. Therefore, the world also calls the advanced magic tricks "goose magic". A few years ago, there was a book called "Goose Magic Edition", which used text and pictures to explain the essence of magic tricks in ten ways . However, in recent years, those who perform magic tricks, magic tricks, and the Seven Sacred Swords in the capital have introduced new ones, and some old ones have not been seen through and are waiting to be cracked, so last year another book "Goose Magic New Edition" was published. If nothing unexpected happens, another "Goose Magic Continued New Edition" will be published this year or next year. By then, it will definitely be in great demand. It's a pity that I don't know who the expert behind the scenes is?"
" If we break the trick like this, wouldn't that cut off other people's financial resources and ruin their jobs?"
"That being said, writing this book can make a fortune. Isn't it true that people in this world are all self-centered and harm others to benefit themselves? If this weren't the case, how could there be karma and enmity that would never end?"
Shen Kuo was speechless for a moment. What the monk said was of course correct. However, this was also the first time Shen Kuo heard the monk talk about cause and effect and Buddhism.
There were few people in the morning, so they sat in the front row. There were not many audiences in the back either. However, there was a half-person-high fence in front of the stage, preventing the audience from getting close to the stage. It seemed that this illusion had some requirements on the distance of the audience.
“There aren’t many people in the morning session.”
"Since the publication of the book 'New Edition of Goose Fantasy', this scene of Yao Chi offering peaches has been included in it, so naturally the grand occasion is no longer there. It is not an exaggeration to say that the author is unscrupulous. However, this 'Hong Fu Girl' still has some old fans, and most of them don't come to watch the magic show, but just for her beauty."
Hearing this, Shen Kuo felt a little disappointed. Although he had not yet seen this fantasy play, since it could be seen through, he guessed that it was not something very sophisticated.
But then they heard the sound of a small drum, and a moment later, a graceful woman holding a wooden box descended from the sky. She must be the actress named "Hong Fu Nu". At the same time, the waiters at the sidelines also held baskets and walked towards the audience in groups of three or four. Huai Liang took out a few coins and threw them into the basket, and Shen Kuo also took out a few coins and put them in. Finally, they didn't have to be shabby today.
The woman sang a few words in the air. Shen Kuo carefully looked at the faintly visible thin wire on her back, but he saw that the back of the stage was painted black and blocked on all sides to prevent light leakage, so the blackened steel wire almost disappeared into the background. If you were not sitting in the first row, you might not be able to see it.
Shen Kuo suddenly realized that the monk had brought him here not to play dumb, but to argue with him. There must be a purpose behind this. So he stared with wide eyes, just like the other lustful people on the side and in the back row.
Looking at the heavily made-up woman with her long hair and ribbons dancing around, she really looks like a fairy.
"Can you see the skirt and the ribbons moving?" the monk whispered.
"yes."
"The New Edition of Goose Fantasy classifies this chapter as one of the ten magic arts, the colorful hair chapter, and it is also in the chapter of teleportation. The so-called colorful hair refers to mechanical arts. Look at the collar of the salesperson and the clerk in front."
Shen Kuo looked at the fruit seller who was leaning against the fence in front of him with a box slung across his chest, and saw that the corner of his clothes was also fluttering slightly.
"Is there wind?"
"Yes, there is a blower fan in the backstage. It needs to be driven by manpower, but it is hidden in the back and cannot be seen."
"But the exhaust fan must make noise?"
"So it moves every time the sound of the flute is played."
"That's why the fence in front doesn't let us get close."
"In fact, we have never taken such precautions before. Since the publication of Goose Fantasy, we know that there are enemies among the crowd who specialize in cracking the code, so we have become more careful."
The woman sang in the air for a long time, the general meaning of which was that she was going from the Heavenly Palace to the Yaochi Lake to get the Queen Mother's fairy peaches, but unexpectedly the fairy peaches disappeared on the way.
She landed on the stage and showed the wooden box in her hand to the sparse audience. She opened the front and found it was empty. She then opened the back of the box and found that there was no secret compartment and it was also empty. Then she covered the two sides of the box.
Shen Kuo thought, is she going to conjure up a fairy peach?
Hong Fu placed the wooden box on a platform and began to dance again, obviously trying to distract the audience, but Shen Kuo stared at the box. He had never read any books on debunking illusions, and he wanted to see through the trick on his own.
The woman muttered something, and when she opened the box, she saw mist gushing out. When the mist dissipated, a huge fairy peach was inside.
Obviously, all the key points were under the table where the wooden box was placed. How to get the hidden peaches into the wooden box was no longer important, because just a moment ago, Shen Kuo saw the mist gushing out of the wooden box, and suddenly realized that this was the key point that the monk wanted to point out to him.
He couldn't help but jump forward and took a deep breath. Indeed, he didn't smell the choking smell of smoke. This was clearly a thick fog formed by ordinary water vapor.
"Master, how did you do this?"
"There is a flap on the table that is connected to the flap at the bottom of the box, and the peach made of flour is hidden underneath. Just move the mechanism and the peach will move to another place."
"I'm not asking about Taozi, it's about this mist."
"Haha, this is the technique of creating fog on the ground," the monk knew that Shen Kuo had comprehended the key point, "this fog is auxiliary in the magic trick, used to simulate the fairyland, it is by no means an important technique." However, he continued to pretend to be confused.
"Although it is just an auxiliary, it is very important to me." Shen Kuo's voice trembled a little.
"You need a large colander, place crushed ice on it and sprinkle a layer of flour on it, and place a pot of boiling water underneath to create a thick fog."
"But the boiling water and the crushed ice are still too heavy to be lifted off the ground together?"
His thoughts were no longer on the magic in front of him, but on how the Hat Monster flew through the clouds.
"Well... you have to find the 'Tao' in this."
While the audience was cheering, the two people in the first row had already turned a deaf ear and started discussing. This made Hong Funu on the stage look ugly. The audience was originally chatting, but there were two people in the front row who were talking to themselves. Since "The New Edition of Goose Fantasy" broke her trick, she was most worried that her appearance would no longer attract male audiences. However, when the guy holding the gong to ask for money walked in front of Shen Kuo, he took out a handful of money from his pocket and put it on the back of the gong, and continued to argue with the monk. Hong Funu on the stage blushed and looked at Shen Kuo affectionately. Unfortunately, the young man seemed to be still entangled in his own affairs and never looked at Hong Funu. He was seen arguing with the shabby monk and left.
