Joy of Life: I, a man, became the Queen of Northern Qi?

Chapter 181: Enjoy life to the fullest when you are happy.

"Yun Rui, don't be rude in front of the palace." Emperor Qing put down the gold-inlaid wooden chopsticks in his hand and spoke with authority, making it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

Hearing this, Li Yunrui stood up and bowed slightly. Seeing that Emperor Qing and Zhuang Mohan did not blame him any further, he turned around and sat down.

Every move is full of elegance.

What the princess said was indeed inappropriate, especially at a state banquet like this. Not only was she disrespectful to Zhuang Mohan, the literary sage, she also failed to take the literary reputation of Queen An of Northern Qi seriously.

Undoubtedly, this also put Fan Xian on the fire.

wrong!

How could she say such words that would not benefit Li Yunrui but would offend others?

There must be some conspiracy behind this!

Fan Xian became alert. He looked around to check everyone's reactions. Apart from Chen Pingping who looked back at him meaningfully, only the Iron Judge was looking at him with a smile - it was like looking at an animal in a zoo, or an interesting plot in a TV drama, which was thought-provoking.

Emperor Qing frowned slightly. Although Li Yunrui was his sister, she was also the eldest princess of Qing Kingdom. Such a disrespectful behavior made him lose face. Even the joy of suppressing the arrogance of Northern Qi was dissipated a lot.

Looking at Fan Xian, seeing that the latter also gave him an apologetic look, he then turned his gaze to Zhuang Mohan, waiting for his response.

Zhuang Mohan slowly put down the wine glass, stroked his white beard and coughed twice, then slowly stood up with the help of the eunuch behind him. Then, he took the scroll that had been placed beside him, and said to Fan Xian calmly: "It's really good to be a guest in the sad autumn of thousands of miles! Even though I live in a foreign country, I often recite and read it."

For some reason, Fan Xian saw a hint of reluctance, a hint of determination, a hint of pity and a hint of determination in the eyes of this great literary master!

Human emotions are so complicated.

As the eyes are the windows to the human soul, they can reveal so many emotions. Fan Xian was not surprised. He just wondered why Zhuang Mohan showed these emotions to him.
Was it because they were both scholars who sympathized with each other? Inexplicably, a huge sense of crisis rose in Fan Xian's heart. He could not move his eyes away from the scroll, knowing that the danger was caused by it.

Noticing someone behind him staring at him with a smirk, he turned around suddenly and saw Guo Baokun with a provocative look on his face.
Haha, things are getting interesting!
At this time, Zhuang Mohan coughed twice again. After his body calmed down, he turned around and bowed to Emperor Qing apologetically, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, although I am the leader of the world's literary world, I also represent the Great Qi Kingdom. I don't want to hurt the friendship between the two countries, but since it concerns my master, there are some things I have to say!"

"Oh?"

The emperor's cheeks swelled up as he chewed the food. After he swallowed the food, he calmly said, "Mr. Zhuang, please feel free to speak."

Not counting the people in the hall, only the Crown Prince and the Second Prince had a changed expression. They stared at Zhuang Mohan standing in the middle of the field, wondering in their hearts, how did this involve Zhuang Mohan's master?

"The wind is strong and the sky is high, the monkeys are howling sadly, the sand is clear and the birds are flying back. The endless fallen leaves are rustling down, the endless river is rolling in. I am often a guest in the sad autumn thousands of miles away, and I am alone on the stage due to a hundred years of illness. My hair is covered with frost due to hardships and bitterness, and I have just put down my cup of muddy wine." Zhuang Mohan shook his head and chanted softly, his face flushed, as if he was immersed in it.

After a long while, he came back to his senses and sighed, "This is really a good poem! I have wasted most of my life and have never written a poem that can be compared with this one!"

The princess smiled slightly, looking more and more contented. She raised her head and said softly, "So, Mr. Zhuang is willing to admit defeat?"

"The first four lines of this poem are excellent."

Zhuang Mohan nodded, not knowing what he was agreeing with.

But what surprised everyone was this. People say that the exquisiteness of this poem "Climbing the High Tower" lies in the last four lines.

Suddenly, Zhuang Mohan continued coldly: "It's a pity that the last four sentences, which are the finishing touch, were not written by Master Fan."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole hall was in an uproar!

The noisy sound only lasted for a moment, and then turned into deathly silence under the gaze of Emperor Qing!

Fan Xian was not stunned, but just watched everything calmly, ignoring the inquiring eyes around him. In an instant, he understood a lot of things. It seemed that Zhuang Mohan was in collusion with the eldest princess!

I just don't know what kind of benefits Li Yunrui promised to the other party that would make such a world-renowned literary master risk ruining his reputation to treat me like this.

Even if it was really the instruction of the fellow villager opposite, Zhuang Mohan didn't have to bring up his own master, right?

Could it be that this person is not the same kind as that fellow villager?

The princess leaned forward slightly and sat upright, and asked anxiously, "So, that poem was plagiarized by Fan Xian?"

Under the gaze of countless ministers and the gloomy look of Emperor Qing, Zhuang Mohan nodded slowly but heavily and said, "Not bad!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Qing's pupils shrank slightly, and then he closed his eyes to hide the meaning behind it and said loudly: "I also find it strange. Fan Xian is so young, where does he get such great poetic talent?"

The scene paused as the eldest princess narrowed her eyes slightly and Emperor Qing frowned.

After a moment, the second prince felt that the time had come, and with a solemn face, he came to the center, bowed and said, "Words are not enough!"

"Your Majesty, Master Zhuang is a master of literature who has mastered all the ancient and modern times. I have always admired him! But I cannot agree with what he said just now against Fan Xian!"

"Although I am not very knowledgeable, I dare not speak nonsense."

He said loudly, "That day in Prince Jing's mansion, many people witnessed Fan Xian composing this poem. Not only can I, your son, testify to this, but the palace editor Guo Baokun was also present at the scene, and they can all serve as witnesses!"

Li Chengze had indeed seen the poem written by Fan Xian in Prince Jing's mansion, and the handwriting that looked like a dog paddling was still unforgettable. If he did not stand up and explain it at this time, no matter how the matter ended, it was inevitable that someone would criticize it, and more importantly, it would make His Majesty displeased!
And what about the crown prince? Everyone knew that it was the crown prince who recommended Fan Xian to His Majesty as the deputy envoy for the peace talks, and everyone thought that Fan Xian had become the crown prince's man. However, in such an embarrassing situation, the crown prince was indifferent.

Comparing the two, which one is better?

Seeing the Second Prince come out and hold up the stairs, Emperor Qing seemed to feel a little relieved and became a little interested. After searching among the ministers in the hall, he asked loudly, "Is Guo Baokun here?"

"The minister is here."

Guo Baokun was named by Emperor Qing, and he hurriedly walked from the back to the center of the venue and knelt down to kowtow. Beside him, his father, the Minister of Rites Guo Youzhi, had a worried look on his face.

"Tell the truth, was this poem written by Fan Xian?"

With Zhuang Mohan speaking first and the Second Prince endorsing him later, Guo Baokun, although he hated Fan Xian, still struggled and whispered, "Yes."

"So, Mr. Zhuang deliberately framed me?" The eldest princess stared at the second prince with some annoyance, her tone somewhat unfriendly.

However, Li Chengze seemed not to have heard anything and spoke first: "With the reputation of Mr. Zhuang, naturally no one in the world would dare to question the truth of your words. But as for the plagiarism, maybe you were deceived by a villain, right?"

It is obvious who this villain is referring to.

This is also where Li Chengze is smart. At least on the surface, there is a gap between him and the eldest princess.

Zhuang Mohan listened to all of this, raised his head with a complicated look in his eyes, and said firmly: "It's a coincidence that the last four lines of this poem were written by my master when he visited Tingzhou. It's a good thing that this lost pearl can be reappeared in the world, but Master Fan shouldn't use it to seek fame and claim it as his own. This is very inappropriate!"

Fan Xian was almost so angry that he laughed. After all, if you live long enough, you will meet all kinds of people, right?
From this point of view, Zhuang Mohan is no different from the officials in the Qing Dynasty. The only difference is that one is a scholar and the other is a government official.
Zhuang Mohan's words were not interrupted yet: "A scholar should cultivate his moral character and mind first, while writing articles and poems are of the lowest order. I didn't want to point this out easily before, but seeing what Master Fan has done now, he doesn't have the slightest remorse, which is something I don't accept."

"Mr. Fan is still so young. Think about it carefully. I am telling you the truth at this time. It is also a way to break something before you build it. Helping Mr. Fan to turn back from his wrong path and cultivate his moral character can be regarded as my love for talent!"

Zhuang Mohan knew the power of his words, and with the blessing of his own reputation, as long as Fan Xian was convicted of plagiarism, not to mention the future of the literary world, even his political career would be difficult. Moreover, it was not only Fan Xian who was embarrassed, but also the face of the Qing Dynasty court!
No one would question whether a scholar should cultivate his moral character first. The officials had already determined that Fan Xian had plagiarized, and the way they looked at him became a little strange. But this matter involved the face of the court after all. After being looked at coldly by Emperor Qing, Shu Wu, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, stood up with some embarrassment and said to Zhuang Mohan, "Hello, teacher."

Shu Wu is not young anymore, but he still treats Zhuang Mohan with respect as a teacher. This is a tribute to the literary master who is respected by the world.

"There is one thing I don't understand, and I hope the teacher can help me solve it: let's not talk about the controversial "Climbing the High Mountain", let's first talk about the "Short Song" in front of us, which is also wonderful and suitable for the situation. Mr. Fan has such talent and learning, so there is no need for him to plagiarize. If you insist on thinking this way, it is really hard for people to agree and believe it!"

"Could it be that Master Shu is suspecting that I am using the name of my master?" Seeing Shu Wu's face covered with sweat and he kept saying he dared not, Zhuang Mohan said coldly: "I have not denied Master Fan's talent, but the fact that he can write another masterpiece does not prove that he did not plagiarize the poem "Climbing the High Tower"."

Zhuang Mohan smiled and said frankly, "I have asked you all, given Mr. Fan's high-spirited and famous situation at a young age, how could he write the last four lines of 'I am often a guest in the sad autumn of thousands of miles away, and I am alone on the stage for a hundred years due to illness. I am suffering from hardships and hatred, and my hair is covered with frost. I have just stopped drinking muddy wine.'"

"Perhaps you have placed the hope of Qing's literary world on this Master Fan, hoping that he will one day become a great literary figure."

"But it's so boring to do this!"

Poetry is written by writers based on their own circumstances and situations. The last four lines are indeed difficult for Fan Xian to explain.

This could be considered as his negligence. When he first arrived at Prince Jing's Mansion, Fan Xian just thought of himself in his previous life who had been bedridden for three years due to muscular dystrophy. That was why he chose this seven-character quatrain to reflect his own state of mind. He did not expect that he would leave himself with such an indisputable flaw.

After hearing Zhuang Mohan's explanation, everyone began to believe that the last four sentences were indeed written by his master.

"The meaning of the last four sentences is indeed more inclined to the work of your master, but Fan Xian wrote this poem when he first arrived in Kyoto, and he did not have the opportunity to obtain your master's manuscript. Each party holds a different opinion, and both have some truth." Emperor Qing knew Fan Xian's true situation. The books he read and studied in Danzhou were all registered in the Supervisory Council. How could he have the opportunity to come into contact with any poems and essays of Master Zhuang Mohan?
He just looked at Zhuang Mohan coldly and said calmly: "Qing country attaches great importance to the law. If Mr. Zhuang wants to accuse someone of a crime, this is not enough. Do you have any other evidence to prove this?"

The ministers could all tell that His Majesty was completely furious.

"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense." Zhuang Mohan smiled slightly, and without waiting for others to ask, he spread out the scroll in his hand. The old voice sounded immediately: "This is what the master wrote in person. Your Majesty can send a Taoist master to look at it, and he can confirm its age."

"I don't know, can this be used as evidence?"

Everyone in the hall looked up at this moment, trying to see the contents of the scroll clearly. Some even stood up and were about to leave their seats. The eunuchs in charge of etiquette coughed from time to time around them, and the ministers finally calmed down a little.

Upon seeing this, Eunuch Hou immediately took the file from Zhuang Mohan's hand and waited for Emperor Qing to read it before passing it to the ministers for review.

Among the ministers of Qing Kingdom, there were also experts in distinguishing ancient artifacts. After reading the scroll, they all felt a sinking feeling in their hearts, thinking that Fan Xian might have a difficult time this time.

Seeing everyone talking about it, one end of the scale had already fallen heavily towards Zhuang Mohan. Although Emperor Qing still had a smile on his face, it was a sneer that could freeze people!

What about Fan Xian?
He didn't seem panicked at all, he just poured himself a bottle of wine, as if he was trying to numb himself and escape.

When Emperor Qing saw this, he became even more angry. Even at this time, he still didn't want to clear his name. Could it be that Fan Xian had discovered the flaw in the scroll, or did he have other tricks up his sleeve?

"His Majesty!"

At this moment, a shout suddenly rang out in the hall, and Guo Baokun began his performance: "Your Majesty, Fan Xian deceived the world and stole the reputation, which is extremely shameless! I hope Your Majesty will punish him severely for such behavior!"

clap clap clap!
Fan Xian, who had been drinking, suddenly stood up, clapped his hands and said with a drunken smile, "Mr. Guo is really a prophet. He knew long ago that Mr. Zhuang would discuss the truth with me in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. Ever since I entered the hall, he has been confident that he will sit back and watch me fall into disgrace. I really admire him!"

Hearing this, Emperor Qing cast a scrutinizing gaze over, while Guo Youzhi sighed and closed his eyes in despair.

The officials present could all understand the profound meaning of this statement.

It seems there is something else going on.

However, he knew it all but didn't say it out loud. The file was clearly before his eyes, so it all depended on how Fan Xian could break the impasse.

However, Fan Xian had no intention of breaking the situation from the scroll. He just staggered out with the wine jug in hand and laughed with a sarcastic and disdainful look in his eyes: "Mr. Zhuang has even lost his respect for our master today. Like Mr. Guo, he is truly admirable!"

He shook the wine jug and felt that the wine was empty, so he shouted loudly:

"Here comes the wine!"

Although Emperor Qing saw that Fan Xian looked crazy, he also knew that the counterattack might have already begun, so he waved his hand outside and stared at Fan Xian's mischief with curiosity.

Behind him, a female official came in with a jar of wine weighing several kilograms and brought it to Fan Xian.

"Thank you!" Fan Xian took the jar of wine and laughed, then took a gulp and burped. A rough calculation showed that he probably drank two or three taels of wine in this gulp. Seeing this scene, the ministers around him opened their eyes wide, and they felt their stomachs twitching slightly, and they felt nauseous.

"Mr. Zhuang, I hope you can stick to what you said later!"

"If you want to win fame in this life and after death, the poem "Short Song" is enough. Why bother to copy your teacher's fictitious poems? Could it be that your teacher's last name is also Du!?"

"I find it strange, why has your master never been heard of before I wrote poetry?"

At this point, Fan Xian seemed to have no scruples at all.

He has already confirmed that the fellow villager was not involved in this matter, otherwise why would Zhuang Mohan have to make up some old master's posthumous work? Wouldn't it be better to just say that it was written by Queen An of Northern Qi?
After asking several questions in a row, Zhuang Mohan tapped his fingers lightly on the scroll that was passed back to him. He just said that his master's surname was not Du, and then he said no more.

Fan Xian took another sip from the wine jar without any manners, staring coldly at Zhuang Mohan, not caring about the liquid that splashed out and wet his clothes. He was indeed drunk today, but he wanted to use this opportunity to vent the anger that had been pent up in his heart for a long time!
After a few more sips, Fan Xian was already very drunk:

"...Flowers are so lush that they dazzle the eyes, only shallow grass can hide horse hooves...It's going to snow in the evening, can I have a drink...I look at my sword by lamplight while drunk, and dream of blowing the horn in the camp..."

Without any warning or pause for preparation, those beautiful verses came to his mind.

The ministers pondered the matter in silence, and no one bothered to blame Fan Xian for any misconduct in front of the king. For a moment, they only heard the sound of war drums ringing in their ears, and they found themselves on the battlefield. Everywhere they saw was soldiers and horses, and chaos!
Suddenly, the scene in my eyes changed to drinking in the daytime... the surging river... drinking alone under the moon... calling friends to accompany me... expressing my feelings among the mountains and rivers...

At this point, no one questioned Fan Xian anymore, and no one cared whether the scroll was old or not.

These sentences were extremely beautiful and wonderful, and even Zhuang Mohan's eyes gradually changed when he saw Fan Xian. He listened to the poems slowly popping out in his ears, and kept muttering in his heart as he savored the wonderful world in the text. He was completely intoxicated and conquered by Fan Xian.

After the scene, Fan Ruoruo stared at her brother with shining eyes, her fists clenched tightly, and she was also memorizing the poems that Fan Xian recited when he was drunk before going out. The clever eunuch had already prepared paper and pen and was writing down everything.

However, just when everyone thought that today would be the day when Zhuang Mohan would be disgraced and there would be no more changes in the matter, the troublemaker finally slowly surfaced.

"Have you not seen that the water of the Yellow River comes from the sky, rushes to the sea and never comes back..." Fan Xian was a little unsteady at this time, but the words from his previous life that made him savor the fragrance in his mouth kept echoing in his mouth.

In surprise, a slightly neutral male voice took over the conversation: "Don't you see, the white hair in the mirror in the hall, which was black in the morning and turned into snow in the evening."

Seeing the ministers looking over, Fan Xian looked at the person who spoke with horror, as if he had just sobered up, with a look of shock on his face.

The Iron Judge raised the corners of his mouth and smiled silently, then said:

"If you are happy in life, you must have all the fun, and don't let the golden bottle stand empty against the moon..."

No, man!
Are you from my hometown too?

(End of this chapter)