The atmosphere of the banquet was a bit cold at this time. Yang Ke was far away and did not hear what Hu Shichang said, but he could also see that something was wrong with the following situation.
"What are you talking about?"
The chubby Meng Changxun took over the conversation at this time, but put it aside.
He first raised his hand to Yang Ke, and then turned to Yang Minzhi.
"Haha, this wine is indeed a rare wine. I like what is in this cup, but I have never drunk such a fine wine. If I can't drink it in the future, it will be extremely painful."
Yang Ke smiled.
"Then you have to drink more. Yang Siqing has not said anything yet. Even in the Wei Dynasty, this wine is only available in the palace and cannot be found in the market."
"So that's it. I've tasted a lot of Wei's delicacies and wines along the way, but I've never tasted such fine wines."
Taking this opportunity, Xu Liangqiu quickly winked at Hu Shichang and told him not to say any more.
Hu Shichang curled his lips with some dissatisfaction and stopped making any sound. He turned slightly sideways and winked at the other members of the Chu delegation sitting behind him.
Shen Xiyao has been very busy today. Especially she was appointed as the doctor of Guanglu Temple's catering department.
The most important thing of the dining department in the past few days is to be responsible for these two large banquets. After the morning, she first delivered the wine to the palace. Then she started running back and forth between the imperial dining room, Zichen Hall, and the harem to help coordinate Various matters.
Finally, the banquet started, and there were not so many things in the catering department. Shen Xiyao was a little worried.
According to etiquette, Shen Xiyao is a female family member and should go to the harem to attend banquets with the queen, concubines, and officials' families. Moreover, there are not only Shen Ling'er and Zhou family in the harem, but also Princess Zhu'an and Chu Qingying, whom Shen Xiyao is familiar with. You can feel more relaxed there.
But according to regulations, Shen Xiyao should go to the front hall, Zichen Hall. After all, Shen Xiyao is also a fifth-rank official and is qualified to dine in Zichen Hall.
Among the hundreds of civil and military officials in the Wei Dynasty, only Shen Xiyao had to face this choice. Shen Xiyao was the only female official with a high enough rank.
In order to have fewer things to do, Shen Xiyao finally decided to go to the harem to attend the dinner.
It's a pity that God did not fulfill people's wishes.
Shen Xiyao was almost reaching the harem when there was a burst of shouting behind her.
"Shen Changshi, please stay."
"Chang Shi Shen, please wait a moment."
Shen Xiyao turned around and watched a chamberlain running up to her.
"Chang Shi Shen, His Majesty has a decree for you to go to the front hall for a banquet."
Shen Xiyao sighed with a somewhat complicated expression and turned back towards the Zichen Palace.
Arriving at the Zichen Palace, Shen Xiyao entered the palace through the side door as little as possible. Under the guidance of the chamberlain, she found an empty seat and sat down.
On this day, Shen Xiyao only had a few bites at noon, and it had been more than half a day since she had eaten. She was already hungry. Now she didn't care much anymore, so she picked up her chopsticks and started eating. She waited until she was full. After gaining some grounding, I had time to take stock of the situation inside the palace.
At this time, the atmosphere in the palace was a bit uncomfortable.
The people in the three kingdoms' envoys were all a little drunk, and the people in Shu and Chu were complacent and dissolute.
The people of Qin looked like they had nothing to do with themselves and just drank and ate vegetables.
Among the officials of the Wei State, the young and low-level officials were thinking hard, while the senior officials of various ministries were glaring at the few people from the Chu State with livid faces.
Several generals in the military had their sleeves rolled up, and they seemed to be ready to take action.
Shen Xiyao leaned over to a neighboring official and asked in a low voice: "This is Brother, what happened?"
When the official saw it was Shen Xiyao, he saluted and said, "It turns out to be Shen Changshi. The envoy from Nanchu made a speech before, saying that such a grand event as the coming of the Three Kingdoms should be recorded in writing. Everyone readily agreed, and several countries sent people to do it. A piece of poetry. Through comparison, our poetry was rated first."
Shen Xiyao's heart moved.
"How could the Wei Dynasty win the first place if its literary style is not better than that of the Southern Chu Dynasty?"
"Chang Shi Shen has an opinion. This is Nan Chu's plan to lure us into the game. After that, Nan Chu said that drinking alone is not interesting. We should use literature to cheer up, and the four countries will take turns to compose poems. Those who can't do it or are beaten will be punished by drinking wine. A pot.
The envoy from the State of Qin stated that the State of Qin was not interested in establishing a civilized country and that poetry and poetry were no match, so they gave up. But as the masters, we cannot help but participate.
Moreover, because the envoys from several countries were all of the younger generation, Prime Minister Chu, Shangshu Cheng, etc., were overwhelmed by the envoys of Shu and could not take action. We could only let our young officials deal with it.
Several times the poems we composed were compared with each other. Later, people from Chu and Shu proposed to oppose our couplets, but several times we failed to get it right. Now we are asked to come up with the topic, and others will do it, but it is difficult. Don't live in other people's homes.
The bartender also knows what it's like. No, now we've all been drinking and lying down."
Shen Xiyao was a little helpless when she heard this. There were few scholars in Wei State, and even fewer Confucian scholars could become famous throughout the world.
Reciting poetry and couplets is a comparison of accumulation and quick wit. Most of the officials of the Wei Dynasty in the palace were selected through the Zhongzheng method. When it comes to reading and writing, the lower-level administrative experience can barely cope with it. It can be said that These poems and songs can drive the Wei Dynasty away for a few streets.
This banquet was hosted by the Wei State. The Wei State had no reason to refuse, so it had no choice but to bite the bullet. Even if the Wei State had a large number of people and was overwhelmingly powerful, it would have a bad reputation if they won and lost. The reputation of the Wei imperial court was trampled underfoot.
Shen Xiyao was also in a bit of a dilemma. She only knew how to read and write, and she mostly read military books and tactics, but she didn't dabble in other aspects at all. Faced with the situation in front of her, there was nothing she could do.
Shen Xiyao sighed slightly in her heart. This was the reason why she didn't want to come to Zichen Palace. Because she was afraid that there would be problems that could not be solved, or that Mu Jianming would appear actively or passively.
Shen Xiyao dipped her hands in water, wrote a few words on the table, and then closed her eyes.
Opening his eyes again, Mu Jianming looked around calmly before looking down at the table.
There are seven words written on the table: "Poetry couplet competition, win." I roughly understand what is going on.
Mu Jianming also sighed helplessly, poked at the official next to him and asked.
"What's going on now?"
"Now..., Chang Shi, didn't you hear what I said clearly just now?"
Mu Jianming said vaguely: "I want to ask what is the problem now?"
"Oh, that's it. Previously, the Chu State envoy proposed that since today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, they should compose a poem with the theme of the moon."
Write poetry!
Still with the theme of the month!
Isn’t this a coincidence?
In previous lives, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been based on the moon since ancient times. Who can compare with Su Zizhan's "Shui Tiao Song Tou"!
pity!
The ____ does not work.
What is the word called again?
Poetry.
But in this era, even poetry has not developed to that extent.
That can be developed to the point where it becomes redundant.
There are many other poems describing the moon.
It's just that in this era, although quatrains and verses existed, they were not mainstream.
Now the right one is Yuefu.
Among the few poems that Mu Jianming still remembers, there seems to be no such genre.
Zhang Ruoxu's single piece, "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night", which is the only one in the Tang Dynasty, seems to be Yuefu, but it is so long that I can't recite it all.
In the middle of the hall, Hu Shichang is now very arrogant. It seems that he was not the one who made a fool of himself before. At this time, he is running around in front of the hall with a wine bottle. The prince of Chu State, Chen Ruiyuan, once stepped forward to stop this fight. However, Xu Liangqiu and Wu Lijin were beaten by two
People sang and supported him back.
"What's wrong? If you ask a question, you, the Great Wei, can't do it? Even with so many people in the palace?"
Now, not to mention the senior officials of various ministries, Yang Ke's face was a little ugly. If he stepped forward to stop it, it would be equivalent to admitting defeat. The Wei Dynasty could not afford to lose this person.
"Why don't you let me try."
A sudden female voice sounded, and everyone in the hall looked over.
In an inconspicuous position in the main hall, a figure with a delicate face, delicate eyebrows, wearing a crimson court dress, a smile on his lips, but a heroic figure stood up.
Mu Jianming walked slowly towards the center of the hall with a glass of wine in his hand.
"Write a poem with the title of the moon, right? I happen to have one here. Please give me some advice."
Having said that, Mu Jianming raised his neck and drank the wine in the cup boldly. In fact, there was only the bottom of the wine left in the cup. Mu Jianming knew Shen Xiyao's body's adaptability to alcohol. Drinking too much
But you will get drunk.
Drinking the wine with your neck raised doesn't make you look bold, unrestrained and unrestrained.
"When I was young, I didn't know the moon, and it looked like a white jade plate. I also doubted the Yao mirror, flying in the blue clouds. The immortal lowered his legs, and the osmanthus trees were bunched together. The white rabbit made the medicine, and asked who he wanted to eat with."
Hu Shichang was stunned when he saw Mu Jianming staring at Shen Xiyao's skin. The scene of being humiliated in the street that day immediately emerged, and he stared at Mu Jianming with gritted teeth.
Although the previous robbery of a civilian girl was an act, the wound on the neck was real. Moreover, the earth-centered doctrine of the great scholars in the mission was also shattered by this person.
"good!"
"What a poem!"
The Wei officials in the palace had been suppressed for too long, and some young officials were pounding the table and cheering non-stop.
"Changshi Shen, you came at the right time."
Yang Ke also felt relieved and murmured.
Mu Jianming bowed and sighed secretly.
Not bad, not bad.
In my previous life, I learned this poem when I was tutoring my daughter in school. Although there was only half of the poem in my daughter’s textbook, I looked up the whole poem myself out of curiosity. This poem happened to be a Yuefu poem, and it was written by Shi Xian, so it was of a high standard.
Needless to say.
However, the last four lines of this poem are not suitable for the current scene, so I cut them out. The first few lines are enough.
Hu Shichang looked back at a group of Southern Chu officials and Confucian scholars behind him. They were all whispering among themselves and criticizing the poem.
After a while, someone stood up and said, "This poem is elegant and graceful. It is indeed an excellent poem. But why is it only half-full?"
Hu Shichang became very excited after hearing this.
"Why only half a poem? If there are only half a poem, it doesn't mean you are better than us."