Wu Chengsi snorted and said, "The four great talents in Chang'an? Why haven't I heard of them?"
Li Zhiying covered her mouth and smiled: "Of course you don't know. This statement has only been mentioned recently. You are fighting in Liaodong, so you naturally don't know."
"Who are the four great talents?"
"They are Chen Zi'ang, Zong Chuke, Dai Liangshao and Wang Bo respectively."
Wu Chengsi secretly thought: "Zong Chuke is Wu Zetian's distant nephew, and he is very talented. Chen Zi'ang is born in Luoyang, not to mention Wang Bo, but who is Dai Liangshao? He can be as famous as them?"
Asked Li Zhiying, she replied: "Dai Liangshao is the son of Dai Zhide, and now he serves as an official in the East Palace of the Prince."
"Who rated this list? Is there any basis for it? Or is it enough as long as someone publicizes it among the people?" Wu Chengsi asked again.
Li Zhiying said with a smile: "I heard that after King Pei returned to Chang'an, he held a grand literary and wine party in the palace. The attendees were not only the princes and the Wu family, but also all the talented people in the capital."
Wu Chengsi nodded and said: "So, these four great talents were born in that literary and wine gathering?"
Li Zhiying hummed slightly and sighed: "During that grand event, Chen Ziang's "Preface to the Bamboo Repair" was recognized by everyone as the best work."
Wu Chengsi was not very interested in poetry, and he was not interested in showing other people's poetry to his eyes. He said, "What's so great about poetry? How about I take you rafting?"
Li Zhiying lowered her head and said softly: "It would be fun to take your cousin to Liyuan to watch a lion-tiger fight, but it would be boring to take me to watch a poem fight. That's right. I'm not as good as your cousin. Forget it, I'll still do it.
Let's go back."
When Wu Chengsi saw that she was jealous, he felt very happy and said with a smile: "That's not what I meant, whatever. If you want to go, just go. I will go with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, another group of people suddenly broke in outside the door. Judging from their attire, they were foreigners again.
They were carrying a man covered in blood, and one of the leaders shouted in Tang dialect: "Hurry! Come and save him, a doctor, hurry!"
Wu Chengsi took a look at the man who was being carried, and found that his chest seemed to have been hit by something heavy. Part of it was dented, blood was spitting out from his mouth, and his internal organs seemed to have been severely damaged.
"That man's wound is so weird." Li Zhiying propped up her chin, showing a curious expression.
"It was caused by being stepped on by a horse's hoof. It was probably an injury sustained while playing polo."
A voice sounded from behind the two of them. They turned around and saw Tang Anshi and Tang Ji walking over together. It was Tang Anshi who made the sound.
Li Zhiying nodded. The patients she treated were all poor people. They had never seen a polo match, let alone been injured in a polo match.
"Do these foreigners also play polo?" Wu Chengsi asked.
Just as Master Tang An was about to answer, a waiter in the distance who was communicating with foreigners suddenly said: "Shopkeeper, this man is seriously injured and needs immediate treatment."
A foreigner with a white cloth on his head shouted to Master Tang An: "Please cure my prince. We are willing to pay double the medical fee."
Master Tang An ignored the two men and respectfully explained to Wu Chengsi: "My lord, these foreigners like to fight in various ways when they come to Chang'an every year. The polo match in our court is one of their favorite ways.
"
Seeing that he was ignoring her, the man in white cloth in the distance was furious: "You medicine shop owner, my prince is about to die, why don't you hurry up and arrange for someone to treat him!"
Master Tang An then glanced at the injured man and said, "Sixth son, let Xiaosan treat him."
The waiter responded and took the patient to the second floor. Just as the foreign leader was about to follow, the waiter stopped him and said, "Only patients can enter inside. Just wait outside."
The foreigner wrapped in white cloth returned to the first floor and walked anxiously around the hall.
Wu Chengsi was wondering which country they were envoys when his sleeves were suddenly pulled, and he heard Li Zhiying whisper: "What's so interesting about those people? Let's go to Liyuan quickly."
Wu Chengsi nodded and was about to go out with her when he suddenly heard a foreigner say: "Captain, why do we want to play polo with the Uighurs? The princes were all injured. Didn't the Sixth Prince of the Tang Dynasty already agree?
Will you help us improve our ranking?"
Hearing the words "sixth prince", Wu Chengsi stopped again.
The man wrapped in white cloth snorted: "Idiot, how can the Uighurs be so easy to deal with with the support of the Tang Dynasty prince? If the sixth prince hadn't come forward, we wouldn't even have a chance to compete!"
Li Zhiying saw that Wu Chengsi had stopped again and couldn't pull anymore, so she said, "What's the matter?"
Wu Chengsi's eyes flickered and he said, "Did you just say that Chen Zi'ang and Zong Chuke were fighting in Li Garden?"
Li Zhiying blinked and said, "Yes."
"Why are they fighting?"
"I don't know." Li Zhiying shook her head.
"I know."
Li Zhiying was surprised and asked: "Why?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "Before I answer you, I want to ask another question. Is Zong Chuke very close to the prince recently?"
Li Zhiying held her chin and thought for a moment, then sighed: "I'm afraid so."
"What do you mean I'm afraid? Are you not sure?"
Li Zhiying whispered: "I don't know much about Zong Chuke, but when my brother mentioned this person recently, he expressed his disgust for him. Anyone whom my brother hates is usually very close to the prince."
Wu Chengsi laughed and said: "Your judgment method is quite strange." He lowered his voice and said: "So, you also know that King Pei plans to compete for the crown prince's position?"
Li Zhiying shook her head and sighed: "With such a brother, I can't even think about it."
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, when you pass the door later, you don't have to worry anymore!"
Li Zhiying blushed and urged: "You haven't said why they are fighting?"
Wu Chengsi touched his chin, looked at the foreigners and said, "If I guessed correctly, it should be for those foreign envoys."
Li Zhiying thought for a moment, recalled what those foreigners had just said, her eyes lit up and she said: "I understand, those foreigners want to compete for the seats of the kings of the world, with the prince standing behind him on one side and King Pei on the other. And Chen Ziang and Zong Chuke
They represent the two His Highnesses respectively."
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "Yes, it seems that this competition should be very interesting. Let's go and take a look."
The two of them left the hall, Li Zhiying got on the carriage, and Wu Chengsi rode on horseback. Not long after, they crossed several streets and arrived outside Li Garden.
There were more people outside the door than when Wu Chengsi came last time. It was really crowded and crowded.
When he was about to go in through the front door, Li Zhiying quickly stopped him and said, "Let's go in through the side door!"
"Why?"
"There must be a lot of people who know us inside. Won't we be recognized by them as soon as we enter? There will definitely be people coming over to say hello, and there will be no time to watch the competition." Li Zhiying said with a very experienced expression.
Wu Chengsi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
The two entered the hall from the side door and asked a deacon about the competition. The deacon smiled and said: "Master Chen and Master Zong first played a polo match at the racecourse, and Master Zong won. Now they compete again in the hall."
Second session.”
Wu Chengsi glanced at the hall. Because there were too many people, he could not clearly see what was going on in the hall. He said to the deacon, "Please find us a private room with a good view."
The structure of Liyuan is like the Colosseum. There are wooden platforms on the second and third floors that can clearly see the hall. In addition, there are smaller private rooms, which can also clearly see the hall.
Under the leadership of the deacon, the two entered the private room, while the guards stayed outside the door waiting.
Wu Chengsi walked to the window and had an excellent view. The scene below was clear at a glance, and he saw people watching the show forming a circle around the outside.
Inside the ring, two groups of people faced each other.
The leader of one group of people was a young man wearing a yellow shirt, who was his cousin Zong Chuke who only existed in his memory.
Every year during the Chinese New Year, Zong Chuke would come to Beijing, so the original owner had met him several times. At that time, Zong Chuke had not yet won the Jinshi Scholarship, and had not been favored by Wu Mei, so the original owner was very cold towards him.
Behind Zong Chuke, Wu Chengsi saw several familiar faces. Several Piao people he met when entering the city yesterday were actually among them.
Except for the women wearing veils, all the Piao people stood very far back. Among the foreign envoys, several tall and powerful Hu men were closest to Zong Chuke.
Wu Chengsi secretly guessed that those big Hu men must be Uighurs.
Among the group of people confronting Zong Chuke, the leader was a famous young man in a white shirt. This man exuded amazing vigor. Even Wu Chengsi, who had seen many iron-blooded soldiers, couldn't help but take a second look at the young man.
You don't need to think about it to know that this person must be Chen Zi'ang who won the first prize in the literary and wine party held by King Pei.