Chapter 349: The Qilin Subdues the White-haired Twins
Sun Shaozong was sitting in the shade with Xue Pan, holding a cup of iced sour plum soup they brought from home and complaining about the early scorching heat, when they saw Taoist Zhang coming out and calling the young Taoists to pass it around.
Xue Pan couldn't help being curious, so he left his sour plum soup behind and went over to join in the fun. However, after taking a look, he was disappointed. He turned back cursing and complained to Sun Shaozong, "I thought it was some great treasure, but it turns out that he is showing off Brother Bao's spiritual jade!"
Sun Shaozong had also played with the jade several times, and apart from the halo that it was 'born with', he couldn't see anything special about it.
Therefore, after listening to Xue Pan's explanation, he was too lazy to join in the fun.
Unexpectedly, he didn't join in the fun. Taoist Zhang went around and showed his disciples and grandchildren the way, and then he came straight over here.
Sun Shaozong hurriedly pulled Xue Pan to stand up and greet them, and heard the old Taoist priest say cheerfully: "These monkey cubs have taken a look at the 'Paranormal Jade' and are so generous that they have offered so many instruments for preaching as a gift of congratulations."
"I heard that Lord Sun recently got a son. Why not pick a few things to make toys for the child? It can be regarded as an old Taoist offering flowers to Buddha."
Xue Pan, who was listening nearby, burst out laughing and said while holding his stomach, "You old Taoist priest with a big nose, you are talking about borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha. It's really new!"
Sun Shaozong glared at him, but Taoist Zhang didn't care. He held the plate and laughed, "Red lotus and white lotus root are from the same family. Since all Buddhist disciples are devoted to the 'Great Way', what's wrong with me saying 'Buddha' casually?"
This old Taoist priest is really interesting!
Seeing that he could not refuse the kind invitation, Sun Shaozong lowered his head to check the items in the tray. He saw that there were gold pendants and jade rings, with words like "May everything go well" and "Peace every year". They were all made of pearls, precious stones, jade and gold. There were probably more than thirty or fifty items in total.
He couldn't choose carefully, so he picked up two golden ones at random and said, "Since the old immortal said so, I have to choose two affordable ones!"
When Taoist Zhang saw that Sun Shaozong had only chosen two pieces, he tried to persuade him a few more times, but Sun Shaozong refused to take any more. The Taoist had no choice but to put all of them in.
Soon word came down that the women had all gone upstairs, waiting for the master and his brothers to arrive so that they could draw lots in front of the shrine and start the show.
To be honest, Sun Shaozong was also very puzzled. Instead of burning incense and fulfilling a vow, why did they have to perform operas in the Taoist temple, and the performances lasted for three days?
Aren’t Taoists most fond of tranquility and inaction?
But when Jia Rong, Jia Qiang and others entered, they saw that the banquet had been spread out like a fan in front of the stage. The others had their own places, while Sun Shaozong and Xue Pan sat in the main seats with Jia Zhen and Jia Lian.
For some reason today, Jia Lian looked a little strange. Xue Pan asked him a few questions out of curiosity, but he was hesitant and refused to say anything, as if he was hiding something shameful.
In addition to the seats in front of the stage, there are two small buildings on the east and west sides, facing the stage at a 45-degree angle, separated only by a corridor about ten feet wide.
At this time, the group of young ladies upstairs were laughing and making noises, especially the actors kept by the Jia and Sun families. They were apparently talking about opera, but in fact they were competing with each other.
On one side were those carefully selected by the Duke's Mansion, and on the other side were those personally trained by Jiang Yuhan. Neither of them was convinced and resentful of the other, so before the opera started on the stage, a vocal duel had already begun upstairs.
In the end, it was only after Wang Xifeng and Ruan Rong scolded them that they finally calmed down.
At this time, Jia Zhen stepped forward, burned incense and prayed in front of the incense table, and then drew lots to choose the three-act play to be sung that day.
The first one is "The Story of the White Snake", which tells the story of Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty beheading a white snake and starting an uprising; the second one is "A Bed Full of Tablets", which tells the story of when Fenyang King Guo Ziyi celebrated his 60th birthday, his seven sons and eight sons-in-law were all high-ranking officials in the court, and when they paid their respects, they placed tablets all over the bed; the third one is "The Dream of the Southern Branch", which naturally tells the story that wealth and glory are just a dream in the end.
Jia Zhen, who always focused on sex rather than love, didn't notice anything wrong, but Sun Shaozong, who saw it from the side, felt that it was not a good sign - both the Rong and Ning mansions rose to power through military merit, and now they were quite powerful in the court, which was in line with the first two scenarios. As for this third scenario...
Tsk~
We are obviously atheists, so how can we believe in signs?
Besides, even if there really was someone in the Jia family with high stirrups but short stirrups, it would not involve the Sun family.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong put this idea behind him.
But Jia Zhen sent the opera script up, and soon Baoyu followed him down, holding many gold and jade ornaments in his hands, which were exactly the ones that Taoist Zhang had sent in before.
"Brother Sun."
When Baoyu came near, he spread the things on the table and said with a heroic smile: "I can't use all these things myself, so I'll just divide them with my nephew 50-50."
It turned out that he had just heard Taoist Zhang say that he gave two items to Sun Shaozong first. He thought about it and thought that he was poisoned last time and it was thanks to Sun Shaozong's help that he saved his life. Although these things were not worth much now, giving half of them to his nephew was a token of his gratitude.
These were things the Taoists gave to please him. Sun Shaozong selected two of them in advance just because he couldn't refuse. Why would he want these things again now?
Then he showed the two gold articles to Jia Baoyu and said, "These two are the only things I have a connection with. I cannot bear to see the others. Besides, this is also a kind gesture from others. You should keep them for yourself."
Baoyu tried to persuade him a few times, but seeing that Sun Shaozong was determined not to accept it, he had to go back to the second floor and wait with Jia Mu and the sisters to watch the show.
"how?"
Seeing him bring the thing back again, Lin Daiyu sneered, "You didn't give away these treasures? Or do you plan to keep them for yourself and give them as a betrothal gift to some girl in the future?"
Jia Baoyu knew that she was annoyed by the Taoist matchmaker's words, and that he himself had suffered an unprovoked disaster. He did not dare to refute anything, but smiled and changed the subject: "Sun Erge said that only those two things were destined for him, and he didn't care about the others."
Seeing that Lin Daiyu still had a tense face, he added, "But Brother Sun chose a golden Qilin with kingfisher feathers, which looks very good."
"A Qilin with red gold and green jade?"
Xue Baochai, who was standing beside her, suddenly said in surprise, "Sister Shi seems to have a golden unicorn with kingfisher feathers in it, which is said to be left by her mother. I wonder if it looks like the one Lord Sun has."
Baoyu was immediately interested when he heard this, and asked curiously, "She stays in our house every now and then, how come I have never seen her?"
Tanchun beside her said with a smile: "Sister Bao is thoughtful. She remembers everything."
Lin Daiyu, who was standing by, was already angry, and she regarded Xue Baochai as her number one rival in love, so she sneered and said, "She is limited in other aspects, but she is very careful about what others bring."
This is a naked mockery.
Fortunately, Xue Baochai was a tolerant person. She pretended not to hear and did not argue with her to disrupt the harmonious atmosphere.
But when Baoyu heard that Shi Xiangyun also had a unicorn, he scratched his head and couldn't calm down. Finally, he went downstairs again and begged Sun Shaozong to borrow the unicorn and gave it to Xue Baochai to identify it.
When Xue Baochai saw it, she became even more surprised: "This is exactly the same as Sister Xiangyun's, only a little bigger!"
Tanchun was quick to speak and blurted out, "Could it be a male and a female?"
Lin Daiyu also forgot about being jealous at this time. Her beautiful eyes wandered as she murmured, "If they are really a man and a woman, and Brother Sun said they are compatible, could it be that..."
Although she didn't say the whole thing, everyone knew that she was saying that Sun Shaozong and Shi Xiangyun were in a relationship.
"It may not necessarily be one male and one female."
Jia Baoyu forced a smile and said awkwardly, "Maybe they are brother and sister, or father and daughter."
No one else said anything, but Lin Daiyu looked at him and sneered.
Jia Baoyu felt guilty when she looked at him, so he could only laugh dryly: "I... I will return it to Brother Sun right away. No matter what the relationship is, it has nothing to do with me."
To be honest, he feels more affection for Shi Xiangyun than family affection.
I feel awkward now, just because I feel that the person I have been close to since childhood is suddenly involved with someone else, and may even be closer to him than to me, and it is a little difficult to accept for the time being.
