Chapter 169: A Poor Dao Can Match People's Lifespan
To the left of Chen Ziang stood a mighty man wearing a felt robe, and to the right stood a young girl in black robe.
There was something hanging around the girl's neck. At first glance, it looked like a red necklace. However, upon closer inspection, the 'necklace' was slowly moving. It turned out to be a small snake.
Between the two groups of people below, there is a table with a large wooden box on it.
The wooden box is round in shape and has an opening at the top, making it look like a mini Colosseum.
Could it be that this time it was a fight with a small beast?
Just when Wu Chengsi was thinking this, Li Zhiying next to him let out a soft "Eh".
I saw one person walking out of two groups of people below, namely the veiled woman from Piao Kingdom and the woman with a small snake hanging around her neck.
Could it be that they were fighting each other? Could it be that they were dancing?
Just as he was secretly guessing, Wei Heng's voice suddenly came from outside the door: "My lord, there is a man named Du Shenyan who wants to see you."
Du Shenyan? Wu Chengsi's heart moved. Although this name was unfamiliar, he felt like he had heard it somewhere.
Suddenly, a flash occurred in his mind, isn't this Grandpa Du Fu?
"Let him in."
Li Zhiying quietly took a small step to the side, putting some distance between herself and Wu Chengsi.
A man in his twenties came in under the leadership of two personal guards. The scholar bowed to Wu Chengsi without looking away and said, "Student Du Shenyan has met Mr. Wu."
Wu Chengsi looked at Du Shenyan and smiled, "I wonder what Mr. Du wants from me?"
Du Shenyan said respectfully: "When Mr. Wu entered the building just now, the students happened to see him. Mr. Wu made immortal contributions to our court on the battlefield in Liaodong. The students admire him extremely and come here to pay their respects."
Wu Chengsi couldn't help but look at Li Zhiying, and found that she was also looking at him, as if saying: "Look, people will see you when you come in from the side door, but it would be better if you come in from the front door!"
Wu Chengsi smiled and was about to speak when suddenly there was another noise outside the door, followed by the voice of another guard: "Master, there are two young masters named Cui Rong and Zheng Qiao who want to see you."
Wu Chengsi touched his nose. It seemed that there were quite a few people who saw the two of them coming in. However, they didn't dare to ask to see them at first. After seeing Du Shenyan's success, they boldly came over to try their luck.
Wu Chengsi didn't answer, and after a while, it became quiet outside the door.
At this moment, Du Shenyan said slowly: "Master Wu, do you know that there have been many rumors among the people recently?"
"What rumors?" Wu Chengsi asked.
Du Shenyan said solemnly: "There are rumors everywhere among the people that His Royal Highness King Pei is wise, powerful, intelligent and wise, and is more suitable to be the crown prince than the current Crown Prince."
Wu Chengsi had long heard Wu Mei say that Li Xian did not hide his intention to fight for the throne, but he did not expect that he had already used public opinion to build momentum among the people.
"Aren't you afraid of being punished by me for making arrogant discussions about the dispute in front of me?" Wu Chengsi said deliberately with a straight face.
Du Shenyan said solemnly: "A student's humble life is of no consequence. I only hope that Duke Wu can come forward to stop this matter, so as to prevent our Tang disciples from increasing internal strife and giving the Koreans an opportunity to take advantage of it!"
Wu Chengsi was surprised. It turned out that this was why he came to see him?
In an instant, Wu Chengsi respected this man a little more, and no longer regarded him as just Grandpa Du Fu. He said: "Master Du's heart for the country and the people is known to me. However, this matter involves the crown prince and King Pei.
, it’s not something that can be solved by my intervention. But don’t worry, I will never give foreigners any chance to take advantage of it.”
Du Shenyan raised his head to look at Wu Chengsi, and saw his eyes were stern and majestic. He nodded slightly and said, "With these words from Mr. Wu, the students will feel at ease."
Li Zhiying suddenly said: "I heard that Mr. Du ranked second in the imperial examination last year. When I saw him today, he really lived up to his reputation."
"Thank you for your compliment, ma'am." Du Shenyan lowered his head and replied, his head almost parallel to the ground.
Wu Chengsi had a good impression of this man, so he was not in a hurry to drive him out. He looked down and saw the Piao woman talking to the girl with the snake wrapped around her, and asked: "Master Du, do you know what the competition is about next?
Something about?"
Du Shenyan replied: "Students have heard something from others. I heard that this fight started over the ranking of seats in the imperial court from all nations. The Tocharian envoy was dissatisfied with being ranked behind the Huihe Kingdom, so he approached His Highness King Pei.
.”
Tocharo Kingdom? Isn’t that the Yuezhi Kingdom? Could it be that the man who was injured in Shandetang just now is actually the prince of the Yuezhi Kingdom?
The Yuezhi Kingdom was a large country during the Han Dynasty. After being defeated by the Xiongnu, it moved westward and evolved into the current Tocharian Kingdom. It was sandwiched between the Tang Dynasty, the world's largest country, and the Arab Empire, the world's second largest country.
.
Du Shenyan continued: "Huihe Kingdom also approached His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. After some overt and covert fighting between the East Palace and Prince Pei's Palace, it finally evolved into a competition to determine the position."
"That should be just a fight between Tocharo and Uighur, but it seems that there are more than just envoys from the two countries down there." Li Zhiying said curiously.
Du Shenyan lowered his head and replied: "Because of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and King Pei, many small countries have also joined forces. The two women competing below are from Piao and Nanzhao."
Wu Chengsi's face darkened. The countries that supported the prince were all countries that wanted the Tang Dynasty to remain stable. Only when the Tang Dynasty maintained stability could they be protected, such as Piao and Uihe.
On the contrary, ambitious countries such as Nanzhao and Turks hoped that the Tang Dynasty would fall into turmoil and be unable to interfere in surrounding affairs.
While they were talking, the two women below each took out a small beast. The woman from Piao State took out a brown scorpion, and the girl from Nanzhao State took off the small snake from her neck.
Du Shenyan continued: "The two sides agreed to compete in three games. In the first round, the prince's side presented a question about polo, and the prince's side won. This is the second round, when the King of Pei's side presented a question, and the competition was about poison."
Wu Chengsi was slightly shocked, he thought it was a battle between beasts, but he didn't expect it was a battle against poison."
In the hall, the competition began. A Liyuan deacon took two glasses of water and placed them in a wooden box.
The veiled girl from Piao put the scorpion's tail in the water, and the girl from Nanzhao pressed the snake's head into the water. After about a cup of tea, the two girls each took back the poisonous beast and pushed the poisoned water to the other side.
Wu Chengsi understood clearly that they planned to drink the water that had been poisoned by the other party.
The two girls each took a pill in advance, and then drank the water in one gulp. After a while, the veiled girl from Piao fell to the ground, and the girl from Nanzhao stood still even though her face was pale and she was dangling around.
Prince Pei's Mansion won this game.
Both sides took each other's antidote and began the third battle.
Wu Chengsi glanced at Li Zhiying and saw that her face looked a little unhappy.
That's right. She originally wanted to watch a romantic poetry fight, but it turned out to be a dark and treacherous poison fight. She probably regretted it in her heart.
"Miss Zhiying, why don't we go back and I'll take you boating and fishing." Wu Chengsi tentatively said.
"What are you doing when you go back? It's very interesting for people to watch..." Li Zhiying said with a pale face, and she could tell that she was trying to show off her strength.
This girl was quite stubborn, so Wu Chengsi had no choice but to sacrifice his life to accompany the beauty.
When Du Shenyan saw that Wu Chengsi no longer asked him questions, he resigned knowingly.
At this moment, Li Zhiying suddenly covered her mouth with her left hand and exclaimed: "Ah, it's Taoist Priest Li Qingfeng!"
Wu Chengsi looked down and saw an old Taoist priest with immortal style and fluttering sleeves who came between the two parties at some point. Although Wu Chengsi had never seen this person before, from the memory of the original owner,
I still know that there is such a person.
This Taoist priest named Li Qingfeng was famous for his good fortune-telling. All the people he pointed out to be rich and powerful eventually came true, and he was revered as a living god by the world.
About ten years ago, he announced that he would no longer be a fortune teller and would continue to practice Taoism in Xuandu Temple for a long time. However, even so, he was still highly respected by the people of Chang'an.
Due to the appearance of Qingfeng Li, the place below suddenly became quiet.
I just heard the old Taoist twisting his beard and saying: "Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness King Pei both want the old Taoist to host this third competition, the old Taoist refuses to do so. This third competition will be about guessing objects."
As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of laughter suddenly rang out: "Qingfeng Li, you just read half a volume of the "Lingbao Sutra" and learned some superficial skills in identifying people, but you shamelessly let those stupid people call you a living god. When
It’s really ridiculous.”
Li Qingfeng's face changed drastically. He turned around and saw that the person who spoke was a middle-aged Taoist priest. He said sternly: "Who is your honor? Where did you hear the Lingbao Sutra?"
Wu Chengsi narrowed his eyes, and the middle-aged Taoist priest who spoke was clearly one of the four people from Piao Kingdom.
The onlookers saw that the middle-aged Taoist priest dared to look down on Li Qingfeng and called himself a fool, so they all attacked the middle-aged Taoist priest.
"Where did the foreign Taoist priest come from? How dare you look down on Taoist Li?"
"Don't think that you can talk nonsense just because His Highness the Crown Prince is backing you!"
"Who do you think is a fool? Your whole family is a fool!"
Ye Yeluo quietly moved away from Li Yunxian, and Sha Tuotuo hurriedly persuaded: "Daozhang Li, please stop talking nonsense and apologize to everyone!"
Even Zong Chuke frowned and said, "Prince Sha, please control the people you brought."
Sha Tuotuo responded hurriedly and anxiously persuaded Li Yunxian to apologize to everyone.
Li Yunxian smiled faintly and said: "The reason why Pindao dared to say that to Li Qingfeng is because Pindao has read an entire volume of the Lingbao Sutra. He can tell people's wealth, but Pindao can tell people's life span!"
Chen Ziang looked up to the sky and smiled, saying: "What a fortune teller, so why don't you come and tell me how much life I have left for you?"
Li Yunxian glanced at Chen Zi'ang and said, "Your Majesty is more than capable, but not humble enough. Although there are noble people to help you, you will not live to be fifty years old."