"I sincerely write this book... Even if I am killed thousands of times, I will not regret it!" [Report to Ren An]
I don’t know how long the cicadas have been chirping outside the window. They crawled out of the ground together as if they had made an appointment, and completed their transformation on the trees overnight. They sang long tunes happily, tormenting people all day long. The sunlight filtered through the sparse The bamboo sheets were sprinkled into the room, dispersing the cold air in the room.
This is the prison with the best environment in Tingwei Prison. Two people are sitting on straw mats. One of them is in his thirties, with neatly trimmed hair and beard, a slender body, and an unattractive appearance, but he has a pair of wise and profound eyes.
Opposite him was a sixty-year-old man with a haggard face but very bright eyes, talking to him.
This old man is Cai Yong who is imprisoned here. Opposite him is Xun You, the Huangmen minister who came to prison half a year earlier because of his attempted assassination of Dong Zhuo.
Everyone must know Xun You's name. He once planned to assassinate Dong with Yilang He Yong and others. Later, the matter was exposed. Dong Zhuo imprisoned the two of them. He Yong was afraid of committing suicide in prison. Life and death are unexpected.
Since Xun You and others were only in the stage of plotting to assassinate Dong and had not yet put it into practice, Dong Zhuo could not obtain evidence. Due to the reputation of the Xun family in Yingchuan, he did not dare to persecute, so he had to remain in prison.
Knowing that Dong Zhuo was dead, Wang Yun issued an edict of pardon, in which he pardoned those loyal and upright ministers who had been persecuted and imprisoned by Dong Zhuo.
In fact, Xun You could have been released from prison a long time ago, but when he saw that the great scholar Cai Yong, whom he had always admired, was imprisoned, he stayed in Cai Yong's cell and asked him for advice. Cai Yong knew that he did not have much time, so he did not want to What they learned was lost, so they were willing to teach each other. Xun You was smart and Cai Yong was knowledgeable. They had a great conversation in prison. The jailer and relatives and friends outside urged him several times, but Xun You didn't want to leave.
That day, the two of them talked about Confucian classics, and the topic began to turn to the direction of music. Xun You talked about Cai Yong getting good wood in the fire and cutting it into a qin.
Listening to Xun You talking about the harp, the sound of cicadas outside the window reminded Cai Yong of an interesting story, which he told Xun You: "I used to live in Chenliu. One day, my neighbor invited me to a banquet with wine. I left late for some reason. When I arrived, The banquet has already started at his house. There are guests playing the piano in the room, so I don’t want to open the door to disturb them, so I stand outside the door and listen quietly."
Xun You didn't know about this past incident, so he asked curiously: "What happened next?"
"Then I heard murderous intent from the piano music. I thought at that time that maybe an enemy came to set up a trap to harm me. So I came quietly and left quietly." Cai Yong stroked his chin with a smile. He lowered his white beard and fell into memories; "Unexpectedly, as soon as I left the house, a servant told the neighbor that I had left just a short time ago. The owner of the house caught up with me and asked me about the reason in detail. I will tell you the truth about the reason for my departure. What did the harp player say?"
"There is definitely no intention to harm Mr. Cai, but how do you say this murderous intention?"
"Yes, he said that when he was playing the piano just now, he saw a praying mantis approaching a singing cicada. The cicada was about to fly but had not yet flown away. The mantis moved forward and retreated following the movements of the cicada. He was worried that the mantis would miss the cicada, so he inadvertently caught the cicada. During this time, I put my murderous intention on the sound of the piano."
Xun You held up his palm and praised: "Wonderful, this person's skill in playing the piano is really superb, and Cai Gong's ability to distinguish sounds and colors is also extraordinary."
Cai Yong seemed very proud of this ups and downs story, twirling his beard and laughing.
The two laughed for a moment, and the atmosphere began to calm down. Xun You said to Cai Yong solemnly: "Cai Gong has been wronged, and I really feel unfair for you."
"I have encountered many unfair things in my life. Fortunately, I have been helped by noble people, and I have escaped many times. But I can escape the first time, but I cannot escape the second time. I have become obedient in my years. I will know the fate of destiny. If I die, I will die.
No more words." Cai Yong no longer used his smile to cover up his inner sorrow, but looked resigned to his fate.
Xun You was shocked when he saw that Cai Yong was determined to die. He was about to give some words of advice when he heard a voice coming from outside the door: "Are you really willing to die unjustly without realizing your ambition?"
I saw an old man, tall and tall, walking in from the door. He had a resolute face and looked at Cai Yong with a hatred of steel.
Xun You recognized the person who came and quickly stood up and saluted: "You have seen the Taiwei."
The visitor was none other than the great Confucian scholar from Kansai, Taiwei Ma Rixi. He had compiled "Han Ji" with Cai Yong, Lu Zhi, Yang Biao and others in Dongguan, Luoyang. During this period, they exchanged talents and knowledge with each other, commented on current affairs, and formed a profound relationship.
Friendship. This time I came here to try to rescue my friend from death.
Ma Rixi heard about Xun You's deeds and insisted on staying with Cai Yong in prison, and was deeply moved. He also knew that Xun You dared to take risks to assassinate Dong, and he admired Xun You's courage very much.
For such a caring and outstanding talent, Ma Rixi glanced at him approvingly and gave him a salute to express his gratitude. He just praised Xun You for later. The most urgent task at the moment was to dispel the death concerns in Cai Yong's heart.
meaning.
"It's a shame that I once praised you as a learned man. Did you read Taishi Gongqian's "Report on Ren An" in vain?" Ma Rixi said sternly, and recited a few more sentences to encourage Cai Yong;
"Book of Changes"; Zhongniee wrote "Spring and Autumn"; Qu Yuan was exiled and wrote "Li Sao"; Zuoqiu was blind and wrote "Guoyu"..."
When Ma Rixi carried someone on his back, Cai Yong's dull and cloudy eyes became brighter, as if a fire was rekindled in the old man's body.
"Stop talking!" Cai Yong interrupted with a wave of his hand. He solemnly saluted Ma Rixi, "Uncle Weng knows me!"
After finishing speaking, Cai Yong fell to the ground and cried bitterly, his voice was sad and moving.
Ma Rihui avoided it and said: "Now that you understand, why don't you confess your guilt. We are willing to contact the ministers on your behalf and reduce the death penalty. We only want to complete the "Han Ji" to comfort the spirits of the predecessors."
When Xun You saw this, he also responded and expressed his shame for deliberately delaying in prison for the past few days in order to listen to knowledge. If he wanted to stay under Cai Yong's family for a long time, he should immediately come out of prison to work for him instead of coveting this moment.
After confessing his crime to Cai Yong, Xun You made a promise that he would be released from prison immediately and work with Ma Rixi to fight for Cai Yong. He must leave a complete historian's song for future generations and not let future generations regret.
This is no longer a dispute over positions and interests, but for the continuation of Confucianism. You must know that among the great Confucian scholars in the world, the only ones who can rival Cai Yong are Lu Zhi, Zheng Xuan and others. But after Cai Yong died, even Zheng Xuan sighed and regretted it.
From now on, no one can write the history of the Han Dynasty: "Who can correct the affairs of the Han Dynasty?"
Encouraged by the support of these people, Cai Yong immediately wrote a statement in prison and asked Ma Rixi to deliver it to Wang Yun, expressing his willingness to submit and not asking for innocence. He only asked that the sentence be changed to tattooing the head and cutting off the feet and sparing his life.
, leaving a broken body to complete the great cause of compiling history that dozens of great Confucian scholars failed to complete over the past hundred years.