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People feel refreshed when happy events happen, but when they feel depressed, they feel more sad.
When Changsun Chong gritted his teeth and said that he would send 500 flower baskets, the atmosphere in the scene became a bit strange.
Yang Fan and the others ignored the whispers and drank and chatted happily, but everyone's eyes were looking back and forth between the tables of Chang Sun Chong and Yang Fan, as if they wanted to watch the show again.
The madam who announced the curtain was at a loss for a moment.
If they wanted to retaliate, they were afraid that the eldest grandson would blame them later. He was the prince-in-law, and his father was the prime minister of the dynasty.
Don't report it, because you're afraid that Uncle Zhongyi will have objections. These people are fools. They even dare to tear down the door of the Duke's Mansion. If you offend them, you must not immediately tear down the signboard of Piaoxiang Building.
"Ahem...can you listen to me?"
When the madam was in a dilemma, he coughed twice in a curtained seat on the second floor, which instantly attracted everyone's attention.
"I've seen Chu Qi live."
When the curtains were opened, these guys, who usually had their eyes above their heads, stood up quickly and bent down to salute.
The speaker is in his forties, not very tall, has a thin face, and a long beard under his chin that is neat and stylish. He looks handsome, distinguished, and well-educated.
Through Li Jinghuan's introduction, I found out that this person was Chu Suiliang. Yang Fan showed a hint of surprise on his face. This person was quite famous and he had studied it in history textbooks.
Chu Suiliang was born into a noble family. His father Chu Liang was an official in the Sui Dynasty and served as a regular attendant of Sanqi. He was friends with Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun and others.
In July of the 13th year of Daye (617), Xue Ju proclaimed himself emperor, Chu Liang was appointed as Huangmen Shilang, and Chu Suiliang became Xue Ju's general secretary, in charge of edicts and memorials.
Chu Suiliang had a smooth career in the officialdom for most of his life. After following Qin King Li Shimin, he was known as one of the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Dynasty at that time.
In the 10th year of Zhenguan, he served as a living minister, specializing in recording the emperor's words and deeds as well as court affairs, and later became the prime minister.
Although this guy is now a layman and does clerical work, he is the emperor's confidant.
He was erudite, proficient in literature and history, and left a great name in history. When he began to practice calligraphy, he received the guidance of his father's friends Yu Shinan and Ouyang Xun.
Four families.
Although he was in his prime at this time, his reputation among scholars was already extremely high, and he vaguely had the momentum to catch up with the great Confucian Kong Yingda.
The people in Piaoxiang Courtyard were either students of the Imperial Academy or young people who wanted to enter the officialdom. Most of them were scholars. Of course, they had to pay tribute to the famous people in front of the emperor and the great scholars among the scholars.
This is how society is, it has always been the case in ancient and modern times.
Xiao Shiyun waved to the madam, moved her lotus steps lightly, and saluted with a slight blessing: "My little lady, I would like to thank Mr. Chu for coming. It is our honor to take time out of your busy schedule to judge all the talented people."
Chu Suiliang stroked his beard and laughed and said: "I am very happy to be able to exchange poems and songs with all the talented people. Besides, Miss Shishi's pipa playing can be said to last for three days without stopping, and her dancing is rare in the world.
See, it’s me who’s bothering you.”
Xiao Shiyun smiled slightly and said humbly: "My lord, you are exaggerating. This little girl deserves to be ashamed. Now that the singing and dancing are over, I would like to ask a few adults to come and judge the poems of the students."
Chu Suiliang and others were not polite and led the madam to the round platform.
Piaoxianglou is familiar with procedures. When Chu Suiliang and Xiao Shiyun were talking, the stage had been re-arranged.
Pens, ink, paper, fine wine, tea, fruits and snacks are all available.
Perhaps seeing that the atmosphere on the court was still a little depressing, Chu Suiliang, who walked to the desk and sat down, stood up and said: "The next step is to show off your talents. Everyone is a talented person. Such an elegant moment cannot be swept aside.
I’m interested, I think you all are people who keep their word, so what happened just now has been revealed, so there is no need to mention it again.”
Chu Suiliang's words concluded the incident of Changsun Chong sending flower baskets to them just now.
Naturally, Yang Fan didn't say anything. Changsun Chong stood up, clasped his fists and replied with an air of self-sacrifice: "Changsun Chong has met several uncles. I should follow the teachings of uncles carefully. Anyway, I have to donate the money."
If you give it to the imperial court, think of it as my nephew's modest contribution to the imperial court."
When Chu Suiliang heard Chang Sun Chong's words, he couldn't help but frown, but he couldn't criticize him. After all, he and Chang Sun Wuji were both among the eighteen bachelors of the Prince of Qin's palace, so they still had some friendship.
As the son of Changsun Wuji, although Changsun Chong is not stupid, he is much worse than his father. Now that he has been tricked, why bother pretending to be generous and saying that he is making a contribution to the court?
It's all just jealousy for the sake of face. It's really a little petty.
Chu Sui felt a little displeased in his conscience, but he couldn't scold him, so he nodded slightly and sat down.
After waving his hands to signal everyone to sit down, he said: "There are only fine wines and beauties here, and famous poems and masterpieces. There are no adults. Shibo, I stole a half-day of free life, and shamelessly joined the poetry gathering of all the talented people. I just wanted to see the students of the Tang Dynasty."
Talent, by the way, I want to experience the passing years and get a taste of the youthful energy. You can relax for the time being and use it to your heart's content. We can just talk about friendship as equals. We don't have to stick to formalities."
Although Chu Suiliang said this, everyone is not a fool. Whoever dares to call him brother or brother is really a fool. In this era of strict etiquette and law, where is his official position, reputation, and seniority?
Everyone refused and said, "I don't dare." Only Changsun Chong was unhappy. This was obviously a reflection on himself.
Chu Suiliang's seemingly modest words were actually to clear his relationship with Changsun Chong, saying that he would make a fair judgment and would not be biased because Changsun Chong called him Shibo.
However, Changsun Chong was good at poetry, poetry, and poetry. Even among those children from aristocratic families, they were only among the best.
Thinking of this, Changsun Chong, who had regained his confidence, looked at Yang Fan and the others with disdain. He saw that a few of them were still drinking and chatting, and did not pay attention to Chu Suiliang. He secretly despised these idiots in his heart.
Chu Suiliang didn't care about the compliments from everyone. He just smiled and accepted them, just like a kind elder.
He turned to Xiao Shiyun who was sitting on one side and asked: "What is the title of tonight's poetry meeting? Is there a conclusion?"
Xiao Shiyun shook her head and said: "We haven't made a final decision yet, please ask a few seniors to discuss it together."
I saw Chu Suiliang and several judges side by side underestimating for a while, and then said:
"Since you have recommended us as judges, we are not being pretentious now. Since the theme of the poetry meeting has not yet been decided, after discussion, we decided to use the performance of the poetry girl tonight as the title. Everyone can express it freely and write excellent works.
Just submit it on paper and we will judge it fairly."
The scene suddenly became lively again.
The singers walked into the seats one by one, like butterflies flying through the flowers, with light steps.
Pieces of rice paper were spread around the table, and pens, ink, paper and inkstones were placed in front of everyone. As long as inspiration struck, they could compose a poem with ink at any time. After writing, a singer would present the masterpiece to Chu Suiliang and the others.
judge.
In fact, this kind of poetry meeting is also a stepping stone for many talented people to enter the officialdom. As long as they can write a poem well and become famous among the scholars, it will be much easier to enter the officialdom in the future.
Therefore, all the talented people here are gearing up and carefully recalling the poems they have written before to see if there are any that suit the subject matter.
After a while, some people were writing happily, some were scratching their heads and thinking hard, and some were frowning and helpless. There are all kinds of people, but a few people are particularly eye-catching.
Changsun Chong, Cui Pu, Lu Kangping and other talented students were pacing around their seats, muttering something in their mouths. Several people's eyes lit up one after another. It was obvious that they had drafts in their minds, and they laid down their plans at their desks.
Bo wrote it down with ink.
Changsun Chong finished writing the poem and read it silently twice. He felt very satisfied. He couldn't help but smile. He glanced at Yang Fan proudly and saw a few people still drinking and joking. He cursed secretly and then fell silent. These people were simply
Bang Chui, wouldn’t it be too difficult for them to recite poems and compose poems? They would just smile contemptuously and ignore it.
Fang Yiai obviously noticed Changsun Chong's gaze. She drank a glass of wine in a depressed tone and whispered, "It seems that I've let that kid take the limelight again."
Li Jinghuan and the others also nodded silently, with helpless expressions on their faces.
When it comes to fighting, they are not afraid of anything, but when it comes to reciting poems and writing poems, they don't even dare to flatter others, so of course they won't push themselves to get humiliated.
Cheng Chumo, on the other hand, said with some reluctance: "Brother Yishan, I heard that you wrote a masterpiece that will be handed down from generation to generation. How about you write another one?"
Fang Yiai and the others immediately became interested when they heard this, and looked at Yang Fan expectantly.
Although there are still some poems in his mind, Yang Fan really doesn't want to be too outstanding. As the saying goes, the wind will destroy the trees that are beautiful in the forest.
If you perform too well, it will be very dangerous in a hierarchical feudal society.
Take the Duke of Wei, Li Jing, for example. It can be said that he conquered more than half of the country in the Tang Dynasty, but was he reused?
the answer is negative.
In the later stages of his career, Li Jing could be said to have been imprisoned and died in depression precisely because he was too good.
Although Li Shimin is an eternal wise king, he is also a human being, and he is a man with evil intentions.
If a person has shortcomings, he will still dare to use you no matter how good you are. If a person is both good and has no shortcomings, and still acts like he has no desires or desires, the person in charge will of course consider whether he has other agendas.
It just so happened that Duke Li Jing of the Kingdom of Wei was such an outstanding person with almost no shortcomings. Call him stupid, but he was extremely smart. Call him smart, but you would think he was stupid, because his perfection was destined to end.
From his contact with Li Shimin, Yang Fan knew that Li Shimin admired him, but he could also faintly feel his inner fear. This is why Yang Fan sometimes gets into trouble like a stupid man.