allonlinenovel Chapter 227 But Shennong?
Chapter 227 But Shennong?
Of course, giving away Eucommia tea for free is not something you can just serve up. After all, Eucommia bark is a medicinal ingredient, and its bitter taste is much stronger than tea leaves, and the taste may not be quickly accepted by everyone.
This is when our ability to deceive comes into play.
Shen Zhiqiu was seen wearing the long robe he wore before fleeing the famine. Shen Youyou and Li Jingshu both felt that he really had the demeanor of a cultured man.
In the front hall of the inn, the original storyteller ended the show with a bang of the wooden stick. The story he was telling was a story he had heard from some refugees fleeing famine.
There is no way around it. This is a political task now. The officials in charge asked the storytellers to talk about how difficult it was to escape famine.
It will also let the local people know how lucky they are to live here. As I said before, we must stand on the same front with the court and protect our northern cities together.
Otherwise, you may be worse than those who flee from famine, because they can still come to us and we will take them in, but if we are defeated, who can take you in?
Shen Zhiqiu walked to the square table prepared for the storyteller, shook his gown, and sat down calmly.
This sitting attracted everyone's attention.
Seeing that he was young, a rude pilgrim laughed at him and said, "Hey! Why did you change the person? Is Zhang Kuaizui your apprentice? Look at his face, he doesn't have a single hair. Why is he learning storytelling? He should learn opera singing. Hahaha!"
This caused countless people around to laugh.
But Shen Zhiqiu didn't care. He raised the corners of his mouth wickedly, looked directly at the man and smiled: "My brother, I will take it as you praising my handsome appearance."
After saying that, there was a "pop" sound, and the wake-up stick was slapped.
The crowd fell silent and everyone's eyes were focused on him. This man didn't look like a storyteller but more like an official. Why did he have such an intimidating aura?
Indeed, Shen Youyou also felt that his father sitting there did not seem to be telling a story, but rather like he was attending a court session.
The momentum he had when negotiating with others in his previous life came out unconsciously.
Shen Zhiqiu waved his folding fan, exhaled and spoke aloud, every word pleasing to his ears.
"The word 'teaching' is combined with the word 'filial piety', and the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars have a profound connotation. They are moving and passed down through the ages, and they are timeless and educate future generations."
After reciting the opening poem, he glanced around and said in a clear voice: "Today, we men will not talk about the rivers and lakes, nor the government!"
Someone with good intentions chimed in: "What are you talking about?"
"Tell me about a fairy you met in the mountains!"
"immortal?"
"The opening is about filial piety, right?"
Shen Zhiqiu opened his folding fan, took a sip of tea, waited for everyone to talk for a few seconds, then suddenly closed the fan, and the audience's attention was immediately drawn back.
“Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a small village at the foot of Mount Hua, where a mother and a daughter lived.
The son was named Li Houxiao. He was a loyal and honest man. His mother was ill and bedridden for years. Li Houxiao often asked doctors to treat his mother. His mother took a lot of medicine, but her condition did not improve.
The villagers were talking about it, saying that his mother had a strange disease that could not be cured!
Yang Shu frowned, pretending to be very sad, closed his folding fan, and asked:
"What do you think we should do?"
"The doctor who treats the disease may be a quack. Take me and my mother to a bigger place for a checkup!"
The person who shouted this must be a filial person.
Some people have listened to storytelling many times and know the storyteller's nature, so they urge him, "Hey! Young man, why are you still keeping me in suspense? Tell me now, tell me now!"
There was one person urging him, and the rest of the people were just thinking, what are you guessing? Just ask directly, so they all urged him.
Shen Zhiqiu had no intention of keeping the secret. He had no intention of making a living as a storyteller. Today's performance was just to sell the bark of the Eucommia ulmoides tree.
He spoke calmly, "Li Houxiao was extremely anxious. At this time, a wandering Taoist priest came to ask for water. Seeing his paralyzed mother in bed, he told him that only the bark of the immortal tree in the land where Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs could cure his mother's illness."
Li Houxiao entrusted his mother to a kind neighbor, packed his bag, carried a medicine basket, picked up a medicine hoe, and walked thousands of miles to Shennongjia.
He walked along the cliffs, regardless of the danger.
But it was deep in the mountains and forests. Not to mention how difficult it was to walk along the way, there were also snakes, insects, rats, ants, wolves, tigers and leopards everywhere.
The most terrifying thing is that there is a kind of wild man there, named "Xiaoyang". "Xiaoyang is a man with a human face, long lips, a black body with hair, and reverse pupils. He smiles when he sees people smile."
Emma! As Shen Zhiqiu's voice became more mysterious and strange, everyone present was worried about the person Li Houxiao was looking for.
Shen Zhiqiu continued: "After going through many hardships, Li Houxiao finally arrived at Shennongjia and searched everywhere for the Immortal Tree. Unexpectedly, one night, he finally met the legendary Xiaoyang.
It is tall and sturdy, looks like a human and a monkey, has brown or gray hair all over its body, walks on two legs, moves quickly, behaves alertly, and makes all kinds of strange noises. The most terrifying thing is that it has the habit of eating humans. "
"Oh my, what should we do? His parents are waiting for him at home."
"What can I do? Just run. Why not run from such a scary monster?"
"That's a monster, can it run away?"
For a while, all kinds of discussions were going on in the hall. Listening to the book was like listening to a real story.
Shen Youyou poured full cups of Eucommia tea for the old men from her family who had also come out to listen to the story, as well as the innkeeper.
I couldn't help but sigh in my heart that if his father really couldn't make it, he might as well become a storyteller.
Shen Zhiqiu clapped his hands on the wake-up stick: "Pa!"
Once again attracting everyone's attention.
"That's right. Of the thirty-six strategies, running away is the best one. Li Houxiao also turned around and ran. He was really running for his life. Even his straw sandals were sparking.
But it was pitch black at night and we were deep in the mountains and forests. I couldn't see the road conditions clearly while running, and I missed a step and fell off the cliff.
When he woke up the next day, he found that his legs were broken and he had fallen into an unknown valley. There was no one around him and he cried out to the heavens and the earth for help but to no avail. For a moment, he was disheartened.
But there is also a good thing, which is that we finally get rid of the terrible monster.
But thinking of his bedridden mother, he had to cheer himself up and endure the severe pain to set his bones and bandage them.
But even after being bandaged, I still can't walk. As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone.
He couldn't go anywhere, and there was no food here. He couldn't just wait to die.
In order to survive, Li Houxiao drank the dew he collected in the morning when he was thirsty and cut tree bark to eat when he was hungry.
As a result, within a month, he recovered. Looking at the trees whose bark he had cut and eaten, there was no sign of death, and the leaves were still green. His heart was pounding. Could this be the immortal tree he was looking for? "
The audience also exclaimed at this time, this must be the immortal tree, it must be!
Shen Zhiqiu waved his hand, and the shopkeeper quickly asked the waiter to serve Eucommia tea.
But at that time everyone was attracted by the story and had no time to drink tea, so no one took a second look.
Shen Zhiqiu was not disappointed and continued to tap the wake-up stick: "As the saying goes, people need face and trees need bark! If a tree doesn't have bark, it will surely die. This is indeed the immortal tree he found by accident.
But he was not sure. Just when he was at a loss, smoke suddenly filled the forest and an old man with a youthful face and white hair walked out of the smoke.
The old man looked more like a younger Taoist priest. Li Houxiao suddenly realized that his prayers to the heavens had been answered and the old immortal had come down to earth to give him guidance.
Thinking of where he was now, he knelt down and asked the old man: "Is it Shennong?"