If you don't see a visitor from another state, I will go to Chang'an Road. Once you come back, you will feel old again.
——"Hengchui Song Ci·Chang'an Road" Bai Juyi
…
Tang Kui nodded and asked Bai Fu to wait in the study.
Not long after, Tang Kui walked out of the secret room, holding a red sandalwood box. The three words "Huangfu Zhen" were written in small regular script on the wooden box.
Opening the wooden box, there are several volumes of records inside:
"Huangfu Zhen, whose origin is unknown. He is young, handsome, and charming. He has recently become famous in Chang'an painting circles."
"Born from a humble background, he has superb painting skills and great talent. His famous work is the "Picture of Ghosts and Gods" on the south wall of Jingyu Temple in Xuanyangfang. Some people predict that within three years, this boy will lead the trend of the generation."
"The imperial painter Zhang Xuan asserted that it is just around the corner that Huangfu Zhen will replace Wu Daozi as the number one painter in Chang'an."
"Prince Ning, who loved the music of calligraphy and painting, intended to take Huangfu Zhen under his command and treat him as a disciple. Li Guinian, the "Song Sage" of the Liyuan Musician, once suggested to Prince Ning that he ask Wu Daozi and Huangfu Zhen to compete on the spot."
"Prince Ning asked Wu Daozi to evaluate Huangfu Zhen, and Wu Daozi said: 'This life reminds me of myself walking on the road from Luoyang to Chang'an many years ago.'"
"On July 15, the day before the Bon Festival, Huangfu Zhen was stabbed to death by a masked man in the street. The murderer is at large and his whereabouts are unknown."
…
Even the Tang Sect's intelligence center had very few records about Huangfu Zhen. Tang Kui shook his head apologetically.
Bai Fu didn't see it that way. Even these few strokes contained many clues.
Bai Fu asked Tang Kui to find several other files. These files seemed to have little to do with the Huangfu Zhen case, but Bai Fu found several doubts in them.
First of all, the first person to predict that Huangfu Zhen would lead the trend of his generation was none other than Wu Daozi himself.
Secondly, it was Wu Daozi himself who recommended Huangfu Zhen's mural painting to the abbot of Jingyu Temple in Xuanyangfang. The mural "Picture of Ghosts and Gods" completed by Huangfu Zhen in Jingyu Temple made him famous in one fell swoop. And the theme of "Picture of Ghosts and Gods" was Wu Daozi's.
It was painted at Tianwang Temple in Luoyang and is considered to be Wu Daozi's first masterpiece.
Is this a coincidence?
Why did Huangfu Zhen choose "Pictures of Ghosts and Gods"? Doesn't this mean a direct challenge to Wu Daozi's painting skills?
Thirdly, although the royal painters Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang never interacted with Wu Daozi on the surface, they were close friends in private. Li Guinian, the "Singing Saint" of Liyuan, was even a personal friend of Wu Daozi for many years.
He will not blatantly suppress Wu Yanghuangfu.
Finally, before Huangfu Zhen died, the last words he said to Wu Daozi were: "Why do you want to harm me?"
It was this sentence that made everyone in Chang'an think that Wu Daozi was jealous of talents and hired assassins to assassinate Huangfu Zhen in the street.
But the problem lies precisely in this sentence. If based on previous inferences, Huangfu Zhen's words to Wu Daozi before his death should be: "Why do you want to kill me?"
A difference of one word can make a difference. This "harm" can be the "harm" of "killing", or it can be the "harm" of "frame"!
In Bai Fu's view, if Wu Daozi was really jealous of talents and could not tolerate Huangfu Zhen, with his dominant position in the Chang'an painting circle, he could use various channels to stifle Huangfu Zhen's rise in fame in Chang'an without risking the disapproval of the world.
, committing murder in the street.
On the other hand, Wu Daozi, instead of killing Huangfu Zhen, continued to 'pursue' Huangfu Zhen and help him become famous in Chang'an.
"What is Wu Daozi's intention with this move? What kind of medicine is sold in this gourd?" Bai Fu kept asking himself questions.
Tang Kui said: "Brother Fu, why don't you ask the 'catcher'?"
Bai Fu smiled and said: "When I think of the answer, I will go to Mr. Fang to verify it. I don't want to rely too much on Mr. Fang, otherwise once Mr. Fang retires to Zhongnan, we will be helpless when something happens."
Tang Kui secretly praised him and thought: "No wonder Bai Fu can stand out among the young men in Bashu. You can see the clues from this little thing.
Although this person is young, he has a high ambition and extraordinary wisdom. He is definitely not a thing in the pool. I have to help him with my heart."
…
Knowing that Huangfu Zhen was a key figure that could not be avoided, Bai Fu came to Jingyu Temple in Xuanyangfang and found the mural "Pictures of Ghosts and Gods" painted by Huangfu Zhen.
I have to say that this mural has a unique charm. Although it depicts ghosts and gods, the ghosts and gods in the painting seem to be off the wall, vivid, elegant and unrestrained.
Bai Fu came to Pingkangfang Bodhi Temple again, where there is a mural "Pure Land Transformation" by Huangfu Zhen who famously moved Chang'an.
This "Pure Land Transformation" once caused a huge sensation and was considered the best mural among the temples in Chang'an that year. On the day the mural was completed, Pingkangfang music studios closed down one after another, and many Kabuki dancers flocked to Bodhi Temple to see it.
The style of Mr. Huangfu.
This "Pure Land Transformation" was also Huangfu Zhen's last mural. Not long after the painting was completed, Huangfu Zhen was assassinated.
When Bai Fu came this time, he noticed that next to Huangfu Zhen's mural "Pure Land Transformation" was Wu Daozi's "Eighty-Seven Immortals Scroll".
Is this another coincidence?
Bai Fu learned from the temple abbot that Wu Daozi's "Eighty-seven Immortals" was painted after Huangfu Zhen's "Pure Land Transformation".
Huangfu Zhen was dead at this time, so why did Wu Daozi paint in vain and compete with him?
…
Bai Fu carefully studied "Pure Land Transformation" and discovered that there were actually eighty-eight Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, etc. in this picture, which was only one more character than Wu Daozi's "Eighty-Seven Immortals Scroll".
What does this mean? The answers are getting more and more interesting.
…
Bai Fu sat in meditation in front of these two murals in Bodhi Temple. He didn't eat, drink or sleep. He thought about it all day and night. Combining many circumstantial evidence, a bold guess slowly emerged:
If An Lushan wanted to find someone to use paintings to hide clues, the person must be highly skilled in painting. So An Lushan found Wu Daozi and tested Wu Daozi's tone.
It is a secret known to almost everyone in Chang'an that An Lushan harbors evil intentions, except of course Xuanzong.
Although Wu Daozi didn't know what An Lushan wanted him to do, he instinctively wanted to turn down the job out of intuition and caution.
But An Lushan was Xuanzong's most popular person at that time. If he offended An Lushan, there might be future troubles.
Therefore, Wu Daozi thought of a way to steal a beam and replace it with a pillar.
He first praised Huangfu Zhen, a newcomer in the painting world, on various occasions, and then recommended Huangfu Zhen's mural paintings to the abbot of Jingyu Temple in Xuanyangfang.
After Huangfu Zhen got this job, Wu Daozi gave his manuscript of the mural "Pictures of Ghosts and Gods" of Tianwang Temple in Luoyang to Huangfu Zhen for reference.
Wu Daozi privately persuaded the royal painter Zhang Xuan and the Liyuan musician "singer" Li Guinian to "repress Wu Yang Huangfu" in public, creating an atmosphere of public opinion that Huangfu Zhen's painting skills surpassed his own.
Sure enough, through this operation, 'disaster was diverted to the east'. An Lushan gave up Wu Daozi and chose Huangfu Zhen, who was not deeply involved in the world and had no interest in the royal family.
Later, Huangfu Zhen painted "Pure Land Transformation" at Wu Daozi's site, Pingkangfang Bodhi Temple, which caused a huge sensation.
Just as Wu Daozi expected, Huangfu Zhen was silenced on the day he completed "Pure Land Change". However, what Wu Daozi did not expect was that the assassin sent by An Lushan to silence him was actually Gongsun Jiao!