As for the camp in Shandong, no one mentioned it again after this winter. Qin Siyuan might have known about it, but he didn't discuss it with Ning Yi. As for Wang Shanyue and Su Wenyu, they buried the inside story and influence of this matter in their hearts for a long time. When they mentioned it again, it was already many years later.
In this winter, Ning Yi lived a simple life step by step. Every morning, he participated in training with his cousins, and during the day, he would either stay at home or go out with Tan'Er, and occasionally visit Yunzhu and Jin'Er.
In the heavy winter snow, everything related to the big courtyard outside Bianliang City was still being carried out step by step. Ning Yi tried his best to provide ideas, supervised by several relatives of the Su family, and trained their practical execution ability. Although everything seemed to be done carelessly, in fact, for Ning Yi, it wasn't a big deal. All the ends of the threads actually gradually formed an order as he moved forward carelessly.
After a few small achievements and several rewards, the craftsmen in the courtyard gradually understood what the master wanted, and began to have a certain degree of subjective initiative. Although this group of people didn't necessarily have outstanding research ability, it was never one or two geniuses who could really support the operation of a big system. As long as the order could be formed, there would always be outstanding talents in the future.
What really troubled Ning Yi was, after all, emotional problems. For Yunzhu and Jin'Er, he hoped to have a perfect arrangement, but in fact, a perfect arrangement didn't exist. For people he didn't care about, he could arbitrarily manipulate human nature, and do all kinds of terrible things. But for women who were close to this level, their hearts were fragile, almost defenseless, and every step had to be done carefully. He had considered marrying Yunzhu and Jin'Er, but in fact, it would still hurt the four women around him, and marrying them might not really solve the problem.
Because of what happened to Yunzhu, he felt guilty towards Tan'Er and Xiaochan. Even with his temperament and cultivation, he could restrain his emotions at will, but he still felt guilty.
At this point, he had become an indecisive person. Sometimes, when he looked at the snow at home and thought about it, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. He hugged Ning Xi and said, "In the future, when you flirt with girls, don't be like this …"
As the end of the year approached, the capital was filled with a lively atmosphere. There were all kinds of poems, industry events, countless activities in the brothels, and the Courtesan Awards. The scholars who had gathered from all over the world and the courtesans got to know each other was another juicy piece of news. Although Ning Yi didn't participate much, Su Wending and the others naturally joined in on the fun. The various matters of the city were often the topic of conversation in the Ning Mansion at night or early in the morning.
Ning Yi made Tan'Er and Xiaochan dress up as men and sneaked to two poetry events, watching the gossip of the scholars and beauties. Although they didn't participate in the poems, the whole family had fun fooling around. After all, they were only in their early twenties. Ning Yi liked how Tan'Er wouldn't be able to vent her anger after being teased.
Li Shishi had been busy recently.
As one of the most famous courtesans in the capital, the so-called New Year was to attend all kinds of gatherings that couldn't be pushed back. In order to have a good performance at the gatherings during the New Year's Eve and other festivals, she had to take time to consider many performances. Even though everything was already a piece of cake for her, she would occasionally fantasize about celebrating the New Year's Eve in an ordinary family when she was tired. She would also imagine the scene of sitting by the fireplace with her parents and family. Of course, when she came back to her senses, it would be the scene of "the sound of the flute, the light from the jade pot, and a night of dancing fish and dragons".
For her, this year was the year of her peak. The reason was because of the gathering before the Dragon Boat Festival. The volume of poems given to her by Yao Zunian was too powerful. After the poems such as "Sunset at Chang Ji Xi Ting" and "Ode to the Gallant" were released, her fame reached its peak in the first period of time.
Although there were inevitably doubts about whether these poems with different styles were written by the same person. But at that time, Ning Yi was no longer in the capital, and Yao Zunian had personally vouched for her. This kind of discussion only served to further accentuate Li Shishi's reputation, causing her to undoubtedly become the number one courtesan in the capital.
But as the New Year approached, a new problem was placed in front of her — at least in the eyes of others — the high peak made it difficult for her to surpass the glory of the middle of the year, unless she could find Zhou Bangyan or Ning Yi, who were not in the capital, to write some masterpieces for her. Fortunately, her mother Li Yun didn't force her in this regard.
"I'm already famous enough." After asking Shishi if she could visit Ning Yi again, she said, "But before the New Year, you have to find someone as usual and thank him. The rest is up to you."
Because Ning Yi's last visit was a little hasty, Shishi didn't know where he lived now, and thought that it was a little rude. She actually had some thoughts. Originally, she thought that if she could accidentally bump into Ning Yi in a social occasion, the two of them would be more natural. If she deliberately paid a visit, it would seem deliberate, and she was afraid that their friendship would deteriorate.
Unfortunately, even though Ning Yi returned to Bianliang and did such a great thing as suppressing Liangshan, he was nowhere to be found in social occasions such as brothels, which made her a little regretful. Occasionally, he would think about what this strange childhood friend of his was doing in this bustling city filled with fireworks.
Sometimes she would hear bits and pieces about him at parties. When they talked about poetry, or talked about Liangshan, they said that Ning Liheng was a guest of the Right Minister's residence. And before the New Year, Shishi finally heard specific news about him.
The news came from an old musician named Nong Guyin.
This Nong Guyin was originally a top courtesan in a brothel twenty years ago, and her musical skills were outstanding. Later, she couldn't get married. When she was old, she removed her citizenship and lived in seclusion in Bianliang City. In her spare time, she only repaired musical instruments for a few women in the brothel. As the New Year approached, Shishi sent the musical instruments to her. Although the schedule was busy, the musical instruments had to match her own hands, so she inevitably stayed at her house.
Although Nong Guyin was old, she lived like a hermit cultivator, which Shishi always envied. She felt that if she was old, she could live like this. Nong Guyin, on the other hand, would advise her to find a man to spend the rest of her life with. Otherwise, she would become as miserable as herself.
"I told you to be Zhou Bangyan's concubine. I don't understand what you're thinking. Now that you're famous again, who are you going to marry? It's too high for you to be the legal wife of a famous family. It's a pity to be a concubine. It's even more impossible for you to marry someone who doesn't have an official background. "
The middle-aged woman shook her head. While playing with the guqin in her hand, she criticized Li Shishi, "But speaking of which, you seem to have a good relationship with that Ning Yi. I think this man is okay. Although he has a wife and concubine, you might as well be with him if you have the chance … "
Li Shishi held the teacup and smiled, "Sister Nong, you don't know him."
"Who said I don't know him? I saw him a few days ago. Look, the stove that boils water over there was made by him. It's very convenient. " Nong Guyin smiled, "Besides, don't always call me sister. I'm already very old. I live alone and have a strange temper …"
Shishi frowned and looked to the side. She blinked, "He … why did he come to find sister Nong?"
"His concubine is sick, so he accompanied her everywhere to relax. You know, I don't have many people here. Most people don't receive me. He came to ask several times because he heard that I'm good at guqin and wanted me to play a song for his concubine. I've long stopped performing with strangers. He made things difficult for me several times before I had to agree … He really put in a lot of effort … "
Nong Guyin shook her head. Shishi knew that although she was playing it down, the other party must have spent a lot of effort to move her.
"Later, I had to play a song for them. That kid doesn't know folk art at all. He was absent-minded. Later, I heard him say to his concubine, 'It's not good'. It almost made me lose my temper. But his concubine's zither skills are really good. Her name is Nie Yunzhu. Later, we visited each other a few times … "
When Nong Guyin said this, the maid had come to ask Shishi to leave. The topic was temporarily stopped. When Shishi came the next day, she asked about the whole matter clearly. Nie Yunzhu's illness, Ning Yi's various arrangements, and even came to ask Nong Guyin about the secrets of making a zither.
"… He's really messing around. To make a good zither, how can it be done without three to five years of effort? He spent a month to make a zither by himself. It's so crooked that it makes people's hair stand on end … But then again, after so many years in the brothel, it's not that there aren't any men who are clever and considerate of women all day long. But these kinds of people usually have the smell of rouge. But this Ning Yi seems to be a person who does great things, but he can do these kinds of things without being overbearing. It's very rare … "
"… Later, I met Nie Yunzhu alone two or three times. I heard that this person not only treats her like this, but also his other wives and concubines at home wholeheartedly. That Miss Nie said that she was a little worried. This Ning Yi has too many things on his shoulders. He always wants to shoulder all the people around him. She originally wanted to share his burden, but she didn't expect to become his burden because of her body. She felt very apologetic … I've been in the brothel for many years, and this kind of thing is really rare. Men often like the new and dislike the old. Women are just playthings. When they like them, they will naturally spoil them. When they don't like them, they will put them aside. If he feels that it's a responsibility to have someone by his side, Shishi, you might as well marry him … "
After saying this, Shishi also laughed, "Sister Nong, you've really misunderstood." She turned her head, but she was thinking about the relationship between Ning Yi and the women around him. She knew that Ning Yi had a first wife, and that Nie Yunzhu was most likely an extramarital wife. On the other hand, she also knew that Ning Yi was a person who did great things. He even overturned the entire Liangshan previously. If the whole thing was really like what Sister Nong said, then what kind of situation would the people around Ning Yi be in now …
No matter what, just thinking about it gave her a headache.
Not long after, she saw Ning Yi again. It was already the spring of the eleventh year of Jing Han. At that time, Ning Yi's seemingly ordinary home life had many things happening. Everything was unexpected when he returned to the capital and decided to do something …
*****
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