Chapter Eighteen The Superior Man

  A beauty came to find her husband, the elder sister would be furious. If she came to find her younger brother, that would be even better. Hurriedly getting up and walking to the door: "Yes, you are......" The elder sister hesitated again.

  She is a beauty, cannot use the perspective of later generations to look at the Song Dynasty, and even more so cannot use the perspective of later generations to look at the early Song. The most open-minded era in terms of clothing was the Tang Dynasty, if there were women wearing revealing clothes, don't be surprised. The Song Dynasty was slightly more restrained, but during the summer, light silk and thin gauze were still mainstream in the early Song.

  Two little girls were both very beautiful, Xiaoying wore a double buns hairstyle, wearing a lotus green gauze skirt, with a dark white undergarment inside, and a small round face, extremely lovely. The other girl dressed by the hostess was wearing a purple flower embroidered skirt, her body slender and elegant, with some lotus flower edges on the silk sleeves, an oval face, goose eyebrows and big eyes, very classical and elegant.

  However, the elder sister was a seasoned drinker and had seen much of the world. Although the two young girls were dressed very properly, she still detected an unusual aura about them.

  The girl in a purple skirt curtsied and said softly: "I've seen you before, mistress. I'm Xiaoping."

  After Lin Jiangxian came out, many people were curious about the little Ping written in the lyrics. No one thought that she was a person who didn't exist at all, including Zhao Kuangyi brothers, thinking it's normal for a 19-year-old young man to have sex with prostitutes once or twice, what's the big deal?

  But the elder sister never believed that my younger brother was very honest. There were also prostitutes in her store, and she always had a sympathetic attitude towards them. If life could be made to go on, who would want to eat this meal?

  That was a woman in her shop, a lower-class prostitute, who could be dismissed for tens or hundreds of copper coins. But this little Ping's appearance, dress and makeup, even if Song Jiu sold the house his father had built, it would not be enough to squander on her for three or two months.

  Her face suddenly clouded over, Song Jiu had walked over, without looking at the purple-robed woman, but instead looked at Xiaoyan and said: "How did you come again?"

  "I've met Song Jiulang before, he's a friend of our family," said the little maid with a curtsy.

  "Are you Beiwa's little Ping?" Song Jiu asked.

  The older sister's face relaxed, it turned out that they didn't know each other. The river was in the outskirts of the capital city, where many lower-class citizens lived. When two pretty girls arrived, the neighbors gathered around to take a look. They couldn't let them stay at the door anymore, so the older sister said: "Two ladies, come in and talk."

  Xiao Ping lifted her skirt and entered the house. First, she quickly scanned the couplets on the wall and the rules of the teacher, then looked at her older sister and asked: "May I ask who you are..."

  I am Xiaojiao's older sister.

  "I pay respects to elder sister."

  Big sister thought to herself, "I'm not your big sister," but she said out loud, "Don't dare, don't dare."

  Politeness still exists, and a cup of tea was poured for Xiao Ping.

  Xiao Ping felt a bit downhearted, and with Song Jiu's sister around, it wasn't easy to say much. She took a sip of tea and said in a crisp voice to the elder sister: "Thanks, Elder Sister."

  Song Jiudiao looked at them locally, not feeling cold or hot, and had no idea of developing anything in his heart. Whether this little Ping was a clear or turbid person, there was a saying that actors were ruthless, and the wordless one behind, Du Shiniang, why didn't she like a poor scholar, but instead liked the rich young master Li Jia? Loving wealth first, being abandoned later, what's pitiful about it?

  It doesn't matter, Xiao Ting has arrived, take a look, it's a feast for the eyes. A beauty is indeed a scenic line, where can you see such a beautiful girl in the river? Except for that little girl, Xiaoting is actually very pretty, but not to the point of making Song Jiu lose his composure. Unfortunately, that little girl flashed by and was never seen again. It seems that Zhao Kuangyi knows, but he won't say it, what can he do with this Taizong Emperor? Moreover, he tells himself not to have extravagant hopes, after all, which family is that little girl from?

  At the moment when I was indulging in wild fancies, elder sister suddenly said: "Yuniangzi is asking you something."

  "What's up?"

  Zhang Ping was extremely resentful, daring to personally visit and pay respects, but the other party wouldn't even listen. Was he still the same elegant young man who wrote "Lin Jiang Xian"? With a hint of resentment, she said: "Song Jiulang, I'd like to invite you to sit in my courtyard for a bit, would that be acceptable?"

  "Go sit in your courtyard, but I don't have money."

  This time, even his older sister was shocked by him.

  Yu Ping's little maid was so angry that she kept humming with rage.

  Song Jiu has his own ideas, this needs to be clarified. What if he went and drank tea, ate fruit, and then had to pay? If he didn't have enough money himself, he could owe others, even gamble debts, but this young lady would demand payment of the debt, and tomorrow the whole city of Beijing would laugh at him.

  Yu Ping angrily said: "I don't want your money!"

  Little Silver's teeth were all clenched.

  "When are we going?"

  "It's better to seize the day than wait for a good day, what does Jiulang think?"

  "Go."

  Elder sister was a bit anxious and really went, but didn't go. Song Jiu stood up, brushed off the dust on his body, and said: "Zhang's wife, let's go."

  Watching her younger brother leave, the older sister was worried, but Song Jiu was just curious. He wanted to see the world and experience new things. Normally, these young masters wouldn't dare enter such a place because it's too expensive and they can't afford it. But now that someone else is paying, why not take advantage of it? However, the older sister didn't think this way. She believed that her younger brother was 19 years old, grown up, and some people get married early and have children. So when he saw this beautiful young woman, he was smitten. There were also several good girls in their village, but just because she liked someone didn't mean they would like him back. And even if someone did like him, he might not like them back. From his perspective, the Liu family's daughter and this young woman were both out of his league.

  Song Jiu's sister was worried, but Song Jiu himself was extremely charming. The carriage wasn't very big to begin with, and the Song Dynasty lacked horses; even now they still lack good horses that can be used by ordinary people. With Yu Ping and Xiao Yuhuan sitting in the carriage, it wasn't too crowded, but his head was big, and when he sat down inside, they were all squeezed together. Fortunately, he consciously sat on the edge, or else they would have been embracing each other left and right.

  Actually, it's nothing. In later generations, dancing together and sitting together is normal. He sang loudly on the riverbank, that was because he liked that girl, if she responded to him, he wouldn't take any physical action. A gentleman loves wealth, but must obtain it in a proper way; a gentleman also loves beauty, but must obtain it in a proper way. Sitting upright in the carriage.

  Yu Ping's face turned red as she saw Song Jiu's clear and calm eyes, and thought to herself: "Could he be a gentleman?"

  It's not necessarily a good thing, and if it doesn't work out, it's useless. Unfortunately, she didn't take physiology class, but instead developed reverence in her heart. As a result, the atmosphere inside the car was completely opposite to what people outside thought... They arrived at Beiwazi. It's quite far away, located between the old Fuchengmen and new Fuchengmen, one of the four major commercial districts in Tokyo. To the south is Guangbei Bridge Night Market, followed by the largest tile market in Tokyo, Beiwazi.

  Wazi and Goulan are not brothels, they are places where folk artists perform, such as performing operas, puppet shows, shadow plays, acrobatics, storytelling, talking about history books, telling stories, discussing classics, learning local dialects, speaking in a humorous tone, dancing to the tune of Bianqu, singing to the tune of Zhongdiao, drumming Ci, singing and selling songs.

  There are some brothels located in the Beiwazi area, which is not as crowded as the inner city or Chengdong. Some of these brothels occupy larger areas than those in the inner city, allowing for more elaborate decorations and gardens, making them even more elegant and refined than their counterparts in the inner city. As a result, many famous courtesans flocked to this area, further increasing its reputation.

  Generally speaking, the entire Song Dynasty was in a state of disrepair and awaiting restoration, including architecture, which lagged far behind later generations, even further behind the Southern Tang.

  Song Ji entered Yu Ping's small courtyard, looking around, unlike Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden, he was making comparisons. He wasn't a designer, but he was a donkey friend, and things happened because he was too donkey-like, having an accident on the mountain, then coming to the Song Dynasty. Therefore, he had been to many regions, including some gardens in Suzhou, the Forbidden City, etc.

  "Jiulang, this humble abode of mine may be too crude and unrefined for your discerning eyes."

  "It's much better than my humble abode." Song Jiu said, it was a genuine truth, compared to his home, this place was definitely more luxurious and grandly decorated. But it didn't quite enter his line of sight. Is this really the courtyard house of the highest-end brothel in the capital? Some vague thoughts flashed through his mind.

  Entering the main hall, the main hall is very simple and elegant. On the walls are hung some poems, lyrics and paintings left by scholars and artists. In the center of the room is a guest table, next to which is a low table with an ancient zither on it. Next to the zither is a vase with a bouquet of jasmine, a peony, and several leaves of golden money grass.

  Xiaoyuan took out the fruit plate and went back in to prepare boiling water for tea.

  Yu Ping asked: "Please tell me, Jiulang, how did you solve those three questions?"

  Song Jiulü was slightly surprised: "Yuniangzi, you've also heard?"

  Jade lotus covering mouth and smiling.

  "A bit difficult, if you want to solve them, you must grasp some formulas."

  "Please enlighten me."

  "Is one plus three equal to three plus one?"

  "Is that all?"

  "Bring me a pen."

  Yu Ping took out a pen, and Song Jiu wrote down the equation, saying: "If I use A to replace 1, B to replace 2, is A plus B equal to B plus A? Furthermore, three plus one equals four. If C replaces four, is A equal to C minus B, or is B equal to C minus A?"

  Suddenly, the little girl nodded her head, really understanding or pretending to understand? Song Jiu was somewhat puzzled: "Is the distance traveled by the car equal to the time used multiplied by the speed?"

  Yes.

  "Rickshaw and ox cart, horse cart start at the same time, but not together, ox cart in the middle, both sides distance equal, I use X to represent. Rickshaw speed is A, ox cart speed is B, horse cart speed is C, required time is Y, you see..."

  This question is somewhat suspicious of being a shortcut, it's a multivariate linear equation, which shouldn't be difficult in theory, but no matter how many variables there are, one variable only needs one equation to solve, two variables must provide two equations, and if it's five variables, you need to provide five different equations to get the answer. But this question can only come up with three conditional equations no matter how you arrange them. However, it has a clever point, which is that the previous time is twice that of the latter, letting ABC exchange together, and the answer obtained is 15 tea times.

  Because someone cracked it, Song Jiu wrote out how to solve this problem one by one.

  He was also puzzled in his heart, using equations to solve the problem, this question still had some confusing points, and he didn't know what method those people used to crack the answer.

  "What about the other two questions?"

  Song Ji rubbed his head and said: "That's a bit complicated, I still have fourteen days, I will write out the relevant answers and formulas one by one and hang them on the door."

  Yahuan poured tea, and Song Jiuyi bowed his hands: "Thank you, madam."

  Yu Ping covered her mouth and laughed, saying: "Jiu Lang, that song you sang the other day was wrong."

  "What should I sing?"

  "Guān jū is fine, and also jiān jiāo. The young lady from that family, if you compare her to us, she will surely get angry."

  "Huh, did you know she's from that small family?" Song Jiuxi said.

  But that's not right, the elegant lady, a gentleman is fond of her, but it hasn't reached the rigid Ming Dynasty yet. Song Jiuxiao's mentality isn't ugly, but she can't show it in front of someone else's daughter. She's still a very beautiful woman, facing Yubi, like a dignified and elegant gentleman. As soon as she mentions that little girl from her family, she immediately becomes ecstatic. What will Yubi think?