Competing in the morning and evening

As soon as he said this, all the people suddenly stopped the movements in their hands, and cast their eyes on Yuan Xizheng in unison.

Chu Yin's expression changed, and he pointed anxiously at Yuan Xizheng, then at Li Yan, but couldn't think of a word.Yuan Xizheng and Li Yan looked at each other, never expecting that he would suddenly attack and frame her in public. Li Yan put the wine to his lips with a smile, and then drank it down.

"Is there such a thing?" Nanchang Emperor Chu Wei said in a deep voice.

Yuan Xizheng took a deep breath and said with a smile, "It's true!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he stood up from a corner—a thin man with a horn beard stood up and shouted: "You scholar is so courageous, how dare you insult a dog casually... Oh no, insult the second prince."

He didn't scare Yuan Xizheng, but he seemed to startle Chu Wei a lot. He frowned unnaturally and said, "So it's Gu Chongen, aren't you editing the Siku in the Imperial Academy..."

Gu Chongen twitched his horned beard, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites did not plan to invite the minister to dinner, but Xu Lin, the imperial historian, was ill. I couldn't bear to let him travel around with illness, so I decided to come for him without authorization!"

It turned out to be the owner of this messy meal, Yuan Xizheng secretly laughed in his heart, Chu Wei seemed unwilling to entangle with this humble minister, turned his head and said: "Who gave you this right, how dare you insult the distinguished guest?"

Yuan Xizheng raised her head and said calmly, "Your Majesty, this minister is complimenting His Highness the Second Highness."

Not only Chu Wei's eyebrows trembled slightly, Li Yan also raised his eyes and took a deep look at Yuan Xizheng.

Yuan Xizheng said calmly: "From ancient times to the present, there is no greater sage than Confucius. Some people called him a bereaved dog, but he said happily: "The shape is the end.And it is said to be like a bereaved dog, yes! "Laozi is even more "the world is not benevolent, and everything is a humble dog." "The conclusion of the dog. The ancient sages, talented scholars and scholars all like to compare themselves to dogs. The poet Du Fu once said: "It's really a poor dog, or like a homeless dog. "The wonderful self-comparison, Su Shi, a poet of the Song Dynasty, also had a few words such as: "The description is like a bereaved dog, and he is not willing to give up his ears. "... The sage loves to compare himself to a dog, not because he is self-deprecating, but a kind of open-mindedness, a kind of way. The so-called "Tao is not Tao, very Tao, name is not name, very name."The nameless beginning of heaven and earth, the nameless mother of all things. "(Note 9) Yuan Xizheng made a long bow to Li Yan, and said: "I saw that the second prince described him as unrestrained and unrestrained as a celebrity, but also humble and humble, so he described it as a dog." "

Li Yan held the wine glass and looked at the downcast people in front of him. Even Confucius was so happy that he wanted to run to be a dog, so he couldn't get angry.

The military generals in the hall were all stunned by Yuan Xizheng, and the civil servants secretly laughed, this Li Yan was also from the Chinese lineage, Yuan Xizheng sacrificed the banners of Confucius and Mencius, so he had no choice but to eat soft-shelled turtles.Seeing that Li Yan's expression was calm, Chu Wei was neither particularly happy nor annoyed, and was thinking about how to speak.

Gu Chongen had already clapped his hands and said: "Wonderful, Your Majesty, I think carefully, this world began with no name, and when Pangu opened up the world, everyone and Gouyuan are the same..."

Seeing Gu Chongen looking at him seriously, Chu Wei couldn't help but twitched, and could only smile casually: "It turns out that this dog is meant to praise the sages."

As soon as he opened his mouth, the people below all nodded, saying: "After all, the sages see far..."

Gu Chongen took a step forward, kowtowed and said, "I have a merciless request."

Chu Wei wanted to clear up the storm as soon as possible, but this stupid man still had something to say, so he said, "What do you want to say, Aiqing?"

"I would like to ask the Ministry of Industry to cast a gold medal for the word "dog" and present it to His Highness the Second Highness to show our respect. This word must be chosen in Huai Su's cursive style. You must know that the face is too graceful, the willow style is too wild, and the running script is not outstanding. Only Huai Su's cursive style can reflect the ever-changing, windy and rainy meaning of this character."

Gu Chongen was proud of what he said, but he couldn't help but hear a light snap. When he turned around, he saw that Li Yan had crushed the wine glass in his hand. a demon.Chu Wei couldn't help his complexion changing. He saw Li Yan standing up slowly. When he raised his hand, the personal guard behind him handed over a long sword. He didn't look back, but gently drew the sword away. come out.When he made such a move, all the people couldn't help but turn pale with fright. Seeing that Li Yan was about to kill people in front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, they all fell silent in fright.

Gu Chongen was so frightened that his legs trembled even more. He stood up and wanted to take a step back, but someone lifted his waist to support him, forcing him to stop his retreat.Yuan Xizheng took a step forward, walking side by side with Gu Chongen, staring at Li Yan who was slowly approaching.Li Yan looked at the two people in front of him coldly, and Yuan Xizheng looked at him with a smile.Li Yanjian put the sword on Gu Chongen's neck in a flash.Gu Chongen was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. If Yuan Xizheng hadn't insisted on supporting himself, he would have come up with a trick long ago and passed out with his eyes rolled over.

Li Yan saw that Yuan Xizheng was not afraid at all, and secretly praised Yuan Xizheng's courage in his heart. He said lightly: "Ziqing, I will let you guess a question, and the bet is this person's life."

"Then please ask your highness to ask a question."

Li Yan glanced at Gu Chongen, whose face was livid under the sword, his feet trembling, and his goatee trembling slightly, and said with a smile in his eyes: "Guess, what's on my mind? Ziqing... don't guess wrong, or you Don't kill Boren, but Boren can only die for you."

Everyone in the hall looked at each other, trying to guess what Li Yan was thinking, no matter what Yuan Xizheng said, Li Yan could casually say that Yuan Xizheng guessed wrong, and Gu Chongen's fate seemed to be ten or ten.

Gu Chongen desperately tilted his head back, trying to avoid the blade as much as possible, his eyes slanted, staring at Yuan Xizheng, meaning that my life depends on you.

Yuan Xizheng lowered her head slightly, then stretched out her fingers and slid across the sword, and said with a smile, "Your Highness, do you know that the sword has three uses?"

Li Yan's thin lips parted slightly, and he bent an arc and said, "Oh, let's hear it!"

Yuan Xizheng chuckled, and said: "The sword of a corporal is used to kill, the sword of a general is used to command, and the sword of a king is used to prestige, Your Highness... In fact, you have already made a decision in your heart whether to kill this person or not." ,Is not it?"

Li Yan stared at Yuan Xi for a while, then suddenly raised his head and laughed loudly, drew his sword back, and said with a smile, "I'm just kidding with Ziqing, so I didn't scare everyone."

Gu Chongen was dumbfounded, as if he was completely shocked, but Li Yan smiled lightly, and said to him: "Your idea is very good, the word "dog" must be bigger, because I came here in a hurry, and I didn't have time to prepare it for the Southern Emperor. A decent gift, now you have given me a good idea, why don't I borrow this word as a gift to the Buddha, and give it to the Southern Emperor to show my respect."

As he said that, he turned around and saluted Nan Di, who looked extremely ugly, but smiled and said: "Then I would like to thank the Second Highness for your kindness."

Yuan Xizheng closed his eyes for a moment, sighed softly in his heart, the wine after that was tasteless, but Gu Chongen was still sitting beside him, his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Yuan Xizheng sighed and said, "Old Gu, you should resign this official soon."

Gu Chong'en thought over and over again before he sighed: "Decades of ambition have all been in vain."

Yuan Xizheng smiled and said: "This is full of civil and military affairs, the merchants and nobles in the capital, is it possible that Lao Gu, who else has not caught up with you?"

Gu Chongen pointed at Yuan Xizheng with his finger, and said, "Zhuzi, you don't know what old Gu meant, I traveled all over the capital to find talents for the Southern Dynasty..."

Yuan Xizheng smiled and said, "Did you find it?"

Gu Chongen bent his fingers and said, "One and a half."

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Whoever can catch Lao Gu's eyes, introduce to me next time."

Gu Chongen sighed, "No need."

"Why?"

Gu Chongen sighed again, and said: "Because they are all here, one is you, half is me."

No matter how hard Yuan Xizheng couldn't bear the smile, he couldn't help but snort, Chu Yin and Li Yan had been looking at them all the time, Yuan Xizheng smiled, and the hearts of both of them were beating wildly. They just felt that this smile was deserved. Improvement is like spring flowers.

Li Yan's eyes always seemed to be a smile but not a smile, seemingly light, but if one looked deeply, one could see that his eyes were like a deep pool, the depth of which was unreachable, and one could not help but feel lost.Yuan Xizheng met his gaze, raised his eyebrows slightly, as if slightly provocative, Li Yan suddenly grinned when he saw it, as if he was extremely happy.

Chu Yin felt that even though his eyes rarely left Yuan Xizheng, but Yuan Xizheng only looked at Li Yan after all. Although the two seemed to be facing each other, they seemed to have a tacit understanding of meeting opponents. This tacit understanding made Chu Yin Feeling that among the three of them, he and Yuan Xizheng were far less intimate than Li Yan and Yuan Xizheng, Chu Yin slowly drank the wine in his glass and rolled his eyes.

Li Yan turned his head and said to the Southern Emperor with a smile: "Your Majesty, I heard that Yuan's Ziqing has a lot of insight into the customs of the Southern Dynasties. Why don't you lend me a few days so that I can have a good guide?"

Nanchang Emperor Chu Wei, as long as Li Yan is no longer angry, everything will be fine. After hearing this, he immediately ordered: "What's so difficult about this? Yuan Xizheng, you can accompany the second prince to visit for a few days. Remember to make the second prince The prince feels at home!"

Yuan Xizheng was troubled, but he had no choice but to be entangled in the capital like this by Li Yan. When he left the palace, he ordered the groom to go back first. He only said that the matter was done and he had other important tasks, and he could return home in a few days.

Gu Chongen was busy resigning from the palace, so he naturally had no time to argue with Yuan Xi, but after walking a few steps, he couldn't help but turned around and whispered: "Ziqing, I think Li Yan doesn't care about drinking for you?"

Yuan Xizheng frowned and said, "Old Gu, I'm clean and poor, so what should I worry about as the second prince of Northern Qi."

Gu Chongen raised his mustache and said, "Do you know what it means to be beautiful in the world?"

"The most colorful and the latecomers."

Gu Chongen shook his head snortingly, and said, "Superficial, how can this be expressed literally?"

Yuan Xizheng had no choice but to say: "I would like to listen to high-level opinions."

"It's the painter who was eager to find a brush to expand the person in front of him, but found that he couldn't find a color to match the demeanor of this person, so he had to shout that there is no such color..."

Yuan Xi insisted again and again, and said with a smile: "Ziqing has been educated, and it is true that people often say that talking with Lao Gu is better than studying for ten years."

Old Gu said disdainfully: "How can this kind of layman understand me, Ziqing, how many people can there be in this world with a demeanor that can't be described by any color?"

Yuan Xizheng smiled and said, "I won't see you."

Old Gu patted Yuan Xizheng on the shoulder and said, "Take care of the environment." After saying that, he shook and sighed and left.

Yuan Xi smiled, and before he started, he heard someone shout, "Ziqing, where are you going now?"

Yuan Xizheng heard that voice, so she had to take a deep breath and turned around and said, "Your Highness, it's getting late at this time, if you want to visit, why not change it to tomorrow morning."

After such a short period of time, Li Yan had already changed into a suit of clothes and came out. He put on a Southern Dynasty scholar's uniform with wide sleeves and high collar, and a crimson Doroni fox fur jacket, which looked like a The son of a wealthy family, romantic and suave.

Behind him was a young man with an ordinary face. Yuan Xizheng naturally recognized this man. It was the first time that he pretended to be Li Yan and came to ask questions.

Li Yan smiled and said: "Ziqing's words are wrong. You must know that there are scenery during the day and scenery at night. How can the two be the same."

Yuan Xizheng could only smile and said, "I wonder if Your Highness wants to go somewhere?"

Li Yan smiled and said, "Those who know me are Ziqing too. I have a place I want to go to, so I ask Ziqing to accompany me."

"where?"

As soon as Yuan Xizheng's words came out, someone laughed and said, "Second Highness, Ziqing, do you want to go out to play?"

Chu Yin appeared with a smile. He also changed his attire. He wore a white fox-fur robe and his hair was tied up. He would lose to Li Yan in terms of romanticism, but Li Yan would be inferior to him in terms of handsomeness. .

Li Yan said with a smile: "Could it be that the king of Liang is also going together?"

Chu Yin said with a smile: "If the Second Highness doesn't mind, I naturally want to join in the fun."

Seeing Chu Yin appear, Yuan Xi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Welcome." Li Yan smiled, and then led the way.

Yuan Xizheng and Chu Yin exchanged glances, and quickly followed.

Li Yan led them all the way to the Qinhuai River. At this time, the night was dark, but seeing the lights of the Qinhuai River as wild as the wild, the cruise boats and boats swung past occasionally, leaving behind a lake of broken gold to echo the light and crisp. The sound of pipa, Su Wu's soft language.

Yuan Xizheng was a bit unnatural, Chu Yin just smiled, but Li Yan turned around and said with a smile: "Ten miles of Qinhuai, the land of golden powder in the Six Dynasties, isn't it worth a visit?"

As soon as Li Yan stepped on the pier, a flower boat approached. Li Yan jumped on the boat lightly, and Chu Yin also stepped on it.Yuan Xizheng had no choice but to tap his toes, and landed on the boat steadily. The whole boat did not shake because of Yuan Xizheng's landing.

Li Yan smiled and said, "It's so easy!"

Before Yuan Xizheng opened his mouth, he heard someone smiling and said: "This is Li Gongyu?"

When everyone turned their heads, they saw a beautiful woman standing on the bow of the boat holding a piano. The woman's eyes were flowing, and she smiled before she spoke, which was very charming.

Li Yan smiled openly and said, "Could it be that this is Xu Sisi, who is famous all over the south of the Yangtze River?"

The woman stepped forward and gave a blessing, and said with a smile: "Don't dare, please sit inside, gentlemen."

The floor of the cabin was covered with snow fox fur, and the four corners were lit with heaters, and the chill on the three of them suddenly eased.

The woman even took off the thick cloak on her body, revealing the thin shirt inside, and the jade-like fingers just plucked the strings a few times when she sat down, it was love before the tune was formed.

Yuan Xizheng saw that woman's eyes sparkling like water, sweeping across everyone's faces, she seemed to be full of affection, just one glance, the soul of an ordinary man might be taken away.

Yuan Xizheng glanced at Li Yan and Chu Yin, and saw that they were staring at the woman intently, and couldn't help but smile secretly inwardly.

Xu Sisi opened his mouth and began to sing. Yuan Xizheng was originally an expert in temperament. Hearing that her tunes were gorgeous and not vulgar, she slightly changed those ordinary pornographic tunes, but they had a unique flavor. She nodded secretly in her heart, but After all, it can't arouse much interest.

Seeing that she aroused the interest of these men as soon as she made her appearance, Xu Sisi was quite proud of herself. She was not the one who would catch eyes with someone who was waiting for nothing, but—how could she do it for a hundred taels of gold chartered boat? She is someone who is waiting for nothing, let alone the first time they met, they turned out to be three first-class young masters. This person who has experienced fireworks for a long time couldn't help but feel a wave of fantasies in her heart.

With such a turn of her gaze, she could naturally see that Yuan Xizheng was a little absent-minded, and she couldn't help being slightly frustrated.

Not only did Xu Sisi claim to be extremely beautiful, but he also played the pipa beautifully. The oirans on the banks of the Qinhuai River come out every year, and Xu Sisi has always been able to stand among them.Because of her proficient playing of the piano, she was sought after by literati and tycoons. She raised her social status, and literati love to exaggerate. Xu Sisi was gradually portrayed as a strange woman with both sex and art on the shore of Qinhuai River.

Xu Sisi has been praised a lot, so he can't help but gradually think highly of himself, but today he feels a little ashamed in front of the three young masters, especially in front of the commoner.

Yuan Xizheng's seemingly invisible gaze made her feel as if she was a little shorter out of thin air.

Li Yan saw her eyes cast on Yuan Xizheng frequently, and couldn't help showing a smile in his eyes. He clapped his hands and said, "It really is a wonderful song."

Xu Sisi raised his hand and motioned for the servant girl to bring the tea, and said with a smile, "This is just an ordinary welcome song, the young master praises it for its beauty, it is better to say it is a wonderful song to welcome a wonderful person."

Li Yan laughed and said: "Miss Xu has good eyesight. There is indeed a wonderful person among the three of us. This person's flute has the ability to turn decay into magic."

Xu Sisi's eyes lit up, and he said: "There are still people who are so proficient in melody in the world, please introduce them to Sisi."

Yuan Xizheng was secretly displeased, thinking that Li Yan was really capable of tossing around, and said indifferently: "That's Mr. Li's absurd praise, my sister's piano skills are superb."

Unexpectedly, Li Yan had already taken out a piccolo, twirled it in his hand, and said with a surprised smile: "Yuan Gongyu is overthinking, I just boasted."

Yuan Xi struggled for a while, and almost felt like spurting blood. Thinking that others didn't praise him at all, but he still wanted to clear it up lightly, his face flushed red.

Li Yan laughed loudly, pointed at Yuan Xi and asked Xu Sisi, "Is he more beautiful now?"

Xu Sisi looked at Yuan Xizheng carefully, and said with a smile, "This young master is much kinder now."

Chu Yin tilted his head slightly, and saw that Yuan Xizheng's face was flushed red, and he really didn't feel ashamed like the white lotus in the cloud before, so he smiled and said, "Ziqing is indeed much more kind."

Yuan Xizheng took the teapot, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank the tea to the full that night.

As expected, Li Yan played one piece after another with Xu Sisi. Although Li Yan's flute is not as magical as he boasted, his flute playing skills are no less than Xu Sisi's pipa. Most of his flute sounds are The classic Yangchun Baiyun, accompanied by Xu Sisi's song of fireworks, has a unique flavor and is very listenable.

After a few songs were played, the guests and the host had a good time together, and Xu Sisi looked at Li Yan with a little more enthusiasm. Yuan Xizheng only cared about drinking tea, and Chu Yin was a good listener all night. The applause is not out of courtesy.Seeing that the atmosphere was almost the same, Xu Sisi knew that the tune was just for flirting, and someone was here to discuss the tune, so she knew it was time to get down to business.

She smiled and clapped her hands, and after a while, three beautiful women came in through the door, she said with a smile: "These are all my sisters who care about themselves, I don't know if you can see them?"

Li Yan said with a smile, "Is it possible that Sisi is chasing away the guests?"

Xu Si Si Wanfu took a moment, and said with a smile: "The night is long, and Si Si may only leave one guest to talk about it. The three young masters may wish to see if there is anyone you like here. These three sisters are all talented, playing piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. There is no one who is not good at it."

Li Yan said with a smile: "Brother Chu, is there anyone you like?"

Chu Yin waved his hands quickly, and said, "Brother Li, just have fun."

Li Yan saw that Yuan Xizheng didn't seem to listen to him at all, so he smiled slightly, turned to Xu Sisi and said with a smile: "Sisi, the three of us have taken a fancy to you, what should we do?"

Xu Sisi looked embarrassed, and said: "Then Sisi had to choose one of the three young masters to keep." Li Yan asked generously, Chu Yin just smiled.

Xu Sisi walked around among them, suddenly turned gracefully, and unexpectedly sat on Yuan Xizheng's lap.

Yuan Xizheng was caught off guard, with a look of panic on his face, and with a sudden push, he threw the delicate and beautiful girl to the other side of the boat, hit the side of the boat with a slap, and fell on all fours.All the women in the boat exclaimed, and hurried over to help Xu Sisi up, only to see that Xu Sisi was thrown into a coma, but he was not seriously injured.

Li Yan frowned, and said: "Yuan Xizheng, you throw such a beautiful girl into your arms, not only are you not full of enthusiasm, but you also strike so hard... Do you have a habit of breaking your sleeves?"

When Chu Yin heard about the addiction to broken sleeves, he couldn't help being shocked, and his face was cloudy.

Yuan Xizheng was extremely embarrassed, and her quick wits were not enough to deal with this matter, so she hurriedly said: "Sorry."

Then Yuan Xizheng pushed open the door of the boat and went away. When Li Yanchuyin chased him out, he saw the lake was completely quiet.

Chu Yin couldn't help frowning, and said, "Second Highness, Yuan's family education is quite strict, Ziqing may be too young, and this kind of thing is not acceptable for a while."

Li Yan said happily: "Yes, I think he is as good as Long Yang."

Chu Yin had an embarrassing look on his face. He forced a smile and said, "Miss Xu may not be in a good mood after suffering an innocent disaster. Should the Second Highness stay?"

Li Yan frowned, sighed, and said, "It's a pity... I let her surprise Wan Wan, let's go back now." He rolled his eyes, and smiled again: "My lord, I think you seem to be right about the house. The girls here are not interested either, could it be that you and Ziqing are friends?"

Chu Yin was taken aback, and stammered, "Is the Second Highness joking?"

Li Yan laughed and said: "I was just joking, didn't the prince hear it?"

Chu Yin smiled wryly, and said, "Second Highness, this kind of joke is not allowed."

Li Yan smiled contemptuously, and said: "This is such a big deal." After speaking, he walked away on his own.

After the boat calmed down, Chai Ping took out a bag of gold and put it in front of Xu Sisi, saying, "Miss, you have done a good job."

Xu Sisi covered his bandaged forehead, smiled wryly, and said, "I thought it was just a harmless joke, but I didn't expect that young master's reaction to be so great."

Chai Ping said: "Could it be that you think there is something wrong?"

Xu Sisi sighed, and said, "As soon as I approached him, he threw me out. How can I find anything wrong with it!"

Chai Ping nodded silently, thanked him and turned to leave.

After listening to Chai Ping's reply, Li Yan smiled and said, "It's not bad to be so shy."

Chai Ping also sighed, and said: "It's just a pity that she is not a woman, but such a woman can only exist in imagination, how can there be a real person?!"

Li Yan sighed slightly regretfully, but then smiled again, loosened his wristband, and said, "Even if he is really a man, so what? What I want... I will never miss it."

Note 9: Tao is not Tao, very Tao, name is not name, very name, nameless The beginning of heaven and earth, name The mother of all things comes from Laozi's "Tao Te Ching", originally Tao is not Tao, non-eternal Tao, name is not name, not constant name, meaning the world The laws and meanings of all things are in circulation, not static.