Someone saw "Lin Daiyu" that day.

In the spring of 243 years after the snow stopped, the golden yellow of the spring flowers painted on the riverbank, and my boat was moored in Guazhou Gudu. I want to find the descendants of the Shen family, people say that they are in Zhenjiang City. The vast Zhenjiang River, the sea of people, where to look? It is also interesting to meet the descendants of the people who are drunk with Cao Xueqin and have a drink with him. But I couldn't. What I saw was Guazhou, who had comforted Cao Xueqin, or good. At this moment, the spring flowers are blooming warmly.

　　Guazhou, originally there was none. The Yangtze River is mighty day and night, what flies away is the waves, what takes root is the golden sand, and in the Jin Dynasty, a land continent was formed, which was like a melon, so there was a melon continent in the world. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, Guazhou had become a ferry port and a hub on the water.

　　When the Guazhou Zhenzhi wrote in 1760 (the 24th year of Qianlong), it said: "In winter, Cao Xueqin Road passed through Guazhou, and the snow sealed the river, leaving the Shen family at the mouth of the river."

　　It was an unusually cold winter, and the snow even in Jiangnan was frozen into a melancholy white, and Cao Xueqin's boat could not enter the Yangtze River, because the river surface had been frozen. He sighed and took his newlywed wife ashore. The wife is very sick and thin, nearly middle-aged, but has amazing beauty. More than ten years ago, I saw a small article in the Xinmin Evening News, saying that Cao's wife was related to Lin Daiyu's prototype. Based on what? Perhaps it is the reputation of the Shen family that has been passed down through the generations. Zhou Ruchang said in an article, "On the north bank of the river, Guazhou Gudutou, suddenly someone found the figure of Xueqin. "The one who found Cao Xueqin was the old man of the Shen family." The old man saw that Cao Xueqin was full of worry, so he invited him to rest at home. Such weather, such a state of mind, meet the old man, Cao Xueqin as if encountering the old. Although the 35-year-old artist has experienced the disaster of destruction, he has not shrunk, but he is still dashing and begging for wine.

　　"Wan Yan with the cup", the temper of the fire, a mouthful, the frozen blood was instantly ignited, how many sleeping old dreams opened their eyes in the light of the fire, the gold powder love affairs that had passed, and those strange women ,——— emerged. The snow outside the window stopped, the plum branches trembled a few times, the petals fell, and the sound was like hidden thunder in the distance.

The old man of the Shen family accompanied him for three days in a row. How many jars of wine did they drink? How many baskets of words were spoken? There is not much record in the town chronicle. According to Cao Xueqin's temperament, he must be drunk, and he must speak vividly and happily. Although the old man kept waving his hands and even freaking out, he just blindly opened his mouth. From 1663, when Cao Xi went to Nanjing to take up his post, the Cao family lived in Jiangnan for nearly a hundred years, during which time there were also a batch of Jia Baoyu-like cream students, but when they came to Cao Xueqin, they actually returned to their ancestors, returning to the image of the Kanto tough guys of his distant ancestor Cao Zhenyan. I don't care how many words I say to kill the head, although the pain of raiding the family is still there, although the fierce threat of the literal prison still exists. He must talk about his own encounters, and he must talk about the relationship between his encounters and Yongzheng's succession. He also wanted to talk about his "Dream of the Red Chamber", how he broke the mirror with the sick beauty in front of him, and the life and death love between them.

The small hut was full of scolding, crying, and the sound of the sigh of beating the knot. When he arrived, he said that he had gone south at the invitation of Yin Jishan, the governor of Liangjiang and a son and daughter of Qianlong (whose daughter was married to Yongxuan, the Eighth Prince of Qianlong), to go to the Yin mansion to serve as the Shogunate of Xibin.

　　Three days later, the warm wind blew the river ice into running water, and Cao Xueqin's sails were full. Before leaving, the old man of the Shen family clings to it. Cao Xueqin asked, is there a pen and ink? The old man turned around and took the pen and ink, and Cao Xueqin was full of thick juice, and he splashed out a "Heavenly Official Blessing Map" with his pen. The old man was insightful, saw this improvisational work, and even called "genius" and "genius". Cao Xueqin smiled and said, "Thank you very much, Paint Heavenly Official, please bless you." "Say a hand, and take your wife to find Qin Huai's old dream."

"Dream of the Red Chamber" was flooded with smoke and rain in Jiangnan because of Cao Xueqin's trip. All the cynicism and deviance are subtly concealed by a variety of charms. So later, Qianlong found "Dream of the Red Chamber" in Prince Yi's mansion, And Long Yan was displeased, and Yongxuan easily prevaricated the past. Otherwise it would be another catastrophe.

　　Without speculating on the shallow, I think that the Qing Dynasty made two outstanding contributions to the Chinese nation, one was to create the prosperous world of Kangqian, and the other was to geniusly produce the literary masterpiece "Dream of the Red Chamber". The Manchus were so clever and studious that they learned the profound Chinese culture. It is said that the Kangxi Emperor almost became a master of sinology. His nursing mother's great-grandson was Cao Xueqin, and later, he became a master of sinology. Cao Xi's appointment to Jiangning weaving is equivalent to entering the ranks of the nobility. However, it is admirable that the Cao family did not blindly covet glory and wealth, they were infatuated with people in Jiangnan and indulged in poetry all day long. The second weaving Cao Yin became a poet who shook the southern country. He is the author of "Neem Pavilion Poetry Copy", "Word Copy", "Continuation Pipa Record", and also compiled the "Quan Tang Poems" that we still use today. The Cao family has produced a Cao Xueqin, which is the time of day, the location, and the fixed number.

The rich and noble do not forget the nobility, and the Cao family wasted no time in occupying the cultural commanding heights of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and after the decline, there was still the charming style and outstanding performance of the spiritual nobility.

Guazhou had the honor of accepting Cao Xueqin on a snowy night. The aspirant had the heart, listened to the narration of the old man of the Shen family, and wrote down this grand event. The Shen family seems to be a family friend of the Cao family, and once read an article called "Shen Qiwu Dreamed of Breaking the Door of the Great Mansion". It is said that the collector Shen Qiwu hid a pair of porcelain unions from Cao Xueqin, and Mr. Shen said that his ancestors had opened a very famous silk line in Suzhou, which was once dedicated to the Jiangning Weaving House, and the two families of Cao Shen were once friends. Shen Qiwu's ancestors once told him that Cao Xueqin returned to the south once in the winter of the 24th year of Qianlong, lived in the Shen family in Guazhou for three days, and painted the "Blessing Map of Heavenly Officials" to commemorate the old man of the Shen family. Later, I went to the Shen family in Suzhou for the Spring Festival. The Shen family in Guazhou and the Shen family in Suzhou were originally one. Cao Xueqin drank so much in Guazhou, it seems that she really met the world. He was in Suzhou during the Shen family's Spring Festival. According to reports, Cao Xueqin's "Heavenly Official Blessing Map" painted to the old man of the Shen family in Guazhou has been kept for a long time, but unfortunately it cannot be found now.

　　Four years after the story of the snowy night in Guazhou, that is, in the twenty-eighth year of Qianlong Chinese New Year's Eve, Cao Xueqin died of illness in Xishan, Beijing.

　　Returning from Guazhou, just passing through Beijing. After work, I came to the foot of the West Mountain. After walking back and forth a few times, the wind picked up and shook out a soft green on the ground. Mr. Meng Nguyen, who has a good dream who does not know where to sleep, asks: Do you dream of Guazhou?