The idiom of "gossip in alleys" referred to the discussions of the people in the streets and alleys. This idiom could be used as subject, object, or attribute, and it mostly referred to public opinion. Its source was Song Zeng Minxing's "Solitary Awakening Miscellany.":"From the laws of the imperial court to the miscellaneous families in the barnyard, there is nothing that is not recorded." It was a street talk.