I come to see Bai Yujing today

Chapter 83: Stormy

Jiang Taiping had invited him to dinner at Lanyueju before, and today, he had the chance, so he called Jiang Taiping over again.

Jiang Taiping carefully looked at the poem that had been hung near the high glass lamp, and suddenly asked, "The guest hasn't been here for a long time in this poem... is it about me?"

Chen Zhian nodded, also feeling that it was quite a coincidence.

Jiang Taiping was somewhat happy and satisfied. "I, Jiang Taiping, have left my name in history. Many people in this building today saw you waiting for me. If someone asks who this guest is, one or two people will probably mention my name, Jiang Taiping."

Even though he was just drinking rice wine, Li Xushi was a little drunk. His eyes were blurry and his face was flushed. He looked at Chen Zhian with a smile and said, "Brother, look, almost everyone is secretly looking at you. Are the poems you write really that good?"

Chen Zhian picked up some food for him.

Jiang Taiping secretly glanced at the ignorant young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old beside him. He felt that the young man was really strange. A trace of true energy occasionally flowed through his body, but that true energy was quite mysterious and he could not see through it at all.

"Brother Taiping, why did you choose such a name?"

Chen Zhian also drank a lot of wine and vented the bad temper in his heart. He felt that rice wine was quite intoxicating.

Jiang Taiping said, "It's quite simple. I was born a fisherman. My father has been fishing on the Osmanthus River for thirty years. Every day when I open my eyes, my biggest wish is that the Osmanthus River is peaceful and there are no big waves. Otherwise, we can't fish and the whole family will go hungry."

When Chen Zhian heard this, he couldn't help but sigh: "Jiang Taiping, Jiang Taiping, what a good name."

"I see that Brother Taiping's injuries have improved a lot... In fact, his spirit is even stronger than before in Sunan Prefecture. Has he used his acquired energy?"

"I used it." Jiang Taiping did not shy away from saying it, with a smile on his face: "I am not far from the Xiantian realm. When I break into the Xiantian realm, I will take revenge."

The three continued drinking for quite a while.

Chen Zhian was even a little drunk. He felt dizzy but was quite happy in his heart.

The three of them came in the afternoon, but returned at night.

The three of them walked along the bank of the Huanglong River, and saw lanterns slowly floating down the river and many pleasure boats leisurely passing by.

The breeze on the river blew away the summer heat, making the three of them quite happy tonight.

Even in the years that followed, the young sword master on Old Sword Mountain still remembered this night.

The three of them walked away arm in arm.

In Yinhe Tower, two pairs of eyes fell on them and watched them go away.

"This Chen Zhian can really write poetry." The woman dressed as a man and wearing a scholar's long gown stood up and walked out of the restaurant.

A sedan chair was already waiting at the restaurant entrance.

The sedan chair then went unimpeded from the banks of the Huanglong River into the imperial city, then into the imperial palace, and finally arrived at the Yufu Palace.

As soon as the woman dressed as a man got off the sedan chair, someone immediately tidied up her clothes and makeup.

Remove the thin leather mask from her face.

"Tell Mr. Hua that the mask he made this time is too feminine. Next time he makes a mask, he should just make one with a man's face."

Princess Linglong gave the order casually.

The senior palace maid from the Yufu Palace who was serving beside her responded respectfully with a smile on her face.

Even before she got married, her princess always liked to dress up as a man and go to the major restaurants in the capital to drink tea and wine, and then see if there was anyone in these restaurants who could paint a good picture, play a good piece of music, or compose a good poem.

But later, after the princess got married, she became increasingly depressed and stopped going there.

Until a dozen days ago, she got that incomplete poem. After writing it carefully on paper thousands of times, her mood seemed to calm down a lot.

He even picked up his old hobbies again. For two consecutive days, he dressed up a little and went to the Yinhe Tower on the bank of the Huanglong River to watch the thousands of sails passing by on the river and the literati in the tower writing poetry.

Today, the princess seemed to be in a particularly good mood, and she didn't even bother with the drunken scholar who had exposed her disguise as a man.

At this moment, there was still a charming smile on his face.

"This Chen Zhian is really interesting." Princess Linglong thought of this drunken boy of seventeen or eighteen years old, who staggered and wrote a poem that would shake Xuantianjing and even Dayu. Her interest in Chen Zhian had reached its peak.

"However, I'm afraid there will be more troubles in the residence of the Minister of Revenue." There was a rare bit of cunning in her eyes, and she seemed to be happy to see it happen.

Just as Princess Linglong guessed, a verse and a poem in Yinhe Tower caused an uproar.

"The whale has not yet swallowed the sea, but the sword's energy is already sweeping across the sky." In just two days, the news had spread throughout Xuanjin Capital.

Chen Zhian, who was already somewhat famous, became a celebrity in Xuantianjing.

In the countless red-sleeved attics in Xuantianjing, the song has already begun: A bright moon is shining on my heart full of ice and snow.

Countless dignitaries in the court felt that this poem was indeed worthy of being hung together with Prime Minister Yang's poems.

Moreover, they were extremely surprised that the young man wrote poetry from Yang Heyin's perspective and wrote it so well.

Besides this, there is the second poem.

This song is about bidding farewell to the loved ones in the cradle, and the long years of loneliness also bring many troubles.

This poem could not be said to be very good, but it was easy to understand and it spread quickly within a day or two.

Even compared with the first verse, the second poem can touch the hearts of ordinary people more.

Separation of family members and difficulty in seeing each other again...naturally can arouse empathy among many people.

So for a while, everyone started speculating about Mr. Chen's background.

This kind of news spread faster and faster. In fact, there were quite a few people in Xuantianjing who knew Chen Zhian's identity.

In particular, the imperial court bestowed upon Chen Zhian the rank of Cheyi Lang, and the Inspectorate allowed Chen Zhian to enter the palace to paint for Princess Linglong, which were sufficient to prove that the Inspectorate had already investigated Chen Zhian's family background.

So on the first day everyone was still curious and confused.

On the second day, the news that Chen Zhi'an was the son of Chen Shuijun, the top scholar in the fourth year of Dazhi, and the son of Li Yinxi, the daughter of the current Minister of Revenue, and the grandson of Li Zhuqiu, spread throughout Xuantianjing immediately.

-

Li Zhuqiu had been on duty at the Ministry of Revenue for two consecutive days, dealing with the matter of selling South China Sea pearls to Liuli Country as ordered by the Saint, and only had some free time today.

He returned home early and ordered someone to brew a pot of "Hai Zhong Yun Hua". Then he sat in his own courtyard, closed his eyes and thought about the affairs of the court.

Half an hour later, Li Zhuqiu suddenly opened his eyes and asked, "Why haven't I seen Fushu these days? Has he finished his homework?"

A steward who was over fifty years old bowed and said softly, "Young Master Fushu has been studying and practicing in the academy these days. He is said to be at the time of breaking through to the Xiantian realm, so he has no time to return home."

Li Zhuqiu smiled and nodded, saying, "It's a good thing that your cultivation has improved. Tomorrow you can write to Fushu and tell me if he needs anything.

Moreover...to break through to the Xiantian stage, you will also need Xiantian Qi. You should write a letter to Bodu and ask him to prepare two pieces of Xiantian Qi of excellent quality. Don't delay Fushu's practice."

"When he reaches the Xiantian realm, we will arrange for him to enter the government."

Li Zhuqiu made these arrangements and took another sip of tea, feeling that his grandson had done well.

But suddenly, another name flashed through his mind.

His expression turned cold, and he asked the steward, "When you went to deliver the letter, did you see that... Chen Zhian? Did he deliver any letters after that?"

The steward replied, "Sir, the streets of the imperial city are heavily guarded. Mr. Chen...Mr. Chen doesn't seem to want to see me, and he hasn't sent any more letters."

Li Zhuqiu snorted coldly.

He even wrote a letter to Chen Zhian himself, but Chen Zhian had no response, which really made him angry.

"This Chen Zhian is just like his father, he has no idea what etiquette is." Li Zhuqiu shook his head slightly and said, "In that case, you can draft another letter and write it to the Minister of General Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, saying that I will invite him to go fishing in Yunxia Residence the day after tomorrow."

The steward bowed his head and agreed.

Li Zhuqiu nodded slightly and quickly put the name Chen Zhian out of his mind.

In his opinion, even if Chen Zhian managed to become a court painter in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he could not stay in Xuantianjing.

He wrote a letter to him personally, but he ignored it. Although Li Zhuqiu was angry at Chen Zhian's lack of etiquette, he did not think it was a problem.

A painter, even if he is a court painter, even if he has painted for Princess Linglong.

But if I don't want him to stay in Xuantianjing, there are naturally plenty of ways.

Wouldn't it be ridiculous if the current Shangshu, who is a second-rank official, could not quietly deal with a young man with a small reputation?

He thought so in his mind.

Just at this moment, Li Haiye, who ranked sixth in the Li family, suddenly came forward with some hesitation on his face and saluted Li Zhuqiu.

Li Zhuqiu asked Li Haiye to pour tea for him, and then he glanced at his sixth son and said, "Fushu is about to break into the Xiantian realm, but you still only know how to linger in the places of love and pleasure, and only know how to squander the food and money given to you by the mansion every month."

Li Haiye gave a bitter smile but did not refute. He just took out a folded piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Li Zhuqiu.

"Father, something seems to have happened."

Li Zhuqiu frowned and took the paper casually: "What happened again?"

Li Haiye hesitated, and Li Zhuqiu frowned and scolded him, "As a man, even if there is something important, you should just tell me when I ask you. Why do you have to be so shy?"

"It's about the painter Chen Zhian from the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"Chen Zhian? What happened to him?"

"He wrote a verse and a poem in Yinhe Tower the day before yesterday."

At this time, Li Zhuqiu had already opened the paper.

The first thing that caught my eye was a poem.

He read it casually, but as he read on, his expression gradually became serious.

After reading half of the poem, he couldn't help but sit up straight and read the rest of the poem word by word.

"Awakening the bright moon one day, it shines on me full of ice and snow, and the mighty rivers flow."

"The whale has not yet swallowed the sea, but the sword's energy is already sweeping across the sky..."

"You said this poem was written by Chen Zhian?"

"How could he, at such a young age, living in the filthy alleys of Sunan Prefecture, write such a poem?"

"Even the number one scholar Chen Shuijun couldn't write such a poem. Where did you get this information?"

Li Zhuqiu asked three questions in a row, which made Li Haiye a little flustered.

He lowered his head, but never answered Li Zhuqiu's questions. Instead, he said, "Father, there is another five-character poem after this lyric."

Li Zhuqiu's mind was still attracted by the poem and he was unwilling to look away for a long time.

Li Haiye continued, "These past two days, this poem and lyrics have been everywhere in Xuantianjing. Some storytellers in restaurants have even compiled a storybook to talk about... why Chen Zhian wrote this poem."

Li Zhuqiu's mind was awakened, and he frowned and asked, "What's wrong with this poem?"

As his eyes moved down, they landed on the poem on the paper.

His expression changed again. He only read "I left my loved ones in my cradle, and the years of loneliness were long. The cold stars accompanied my lonely dreams, and the cold rain wet my sad heart." He was still able to endure it.

But when he read "The evil miasma blocked the way, the kind face was hidden in the fog. The cold frost separated the flesh and blood, and the long night made us anxious about returning home"...

Li Zhuqiu could no longer bear it, and his old face was filled with anger.

Evil miasma?

Frost?

Who is Chen Zhian writing about?

But after his rage, Li Zhuqiu suddenly began to breathe heavily.

"You mean, Chen Zhian went to Yinhe Tower, first wrote the lyrics just now, and then wrote this poem together?"

Li Haiye pursed his lips and nodded with difficulty.

Li Zhuqiu suddenly trembled and looked at Li Haiye.

Li Haiye has always been extremely afraid of his father, but at this moment he could only bite the bullet and answer: "The... life story of Chen Zhian has already spread.

From the aristocratic families in Xuantianjing to the common people in the streets, everyone already knows that Chen Zhian is the bloodline of our Li family.

My Li Mansion...is preventing their flesh and blood from seeing each other."

"Even...even..."

"Say it!"

"Some storytellers even adapted this poem to write stories... In these stories, my Li family is the clown."

Li Haiye couldn't continue talking after this.

Li Zhuqiu closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

He really couldn't understand how Chen Zhian, who had lived in Su Nan Prefecture since childhood and had probably never read the Four Books and Five Classics seriously, could write such lyrics.

What he couldn't understand even more was why Chen Zhian wrote such a poem after writing the lyrics.

He had been in the imperial court for many years, so he naturally knew how well the poem was written. He also knew that... if the poem and the poem were published together, the reputation of the Li family would be ruined.

Even if the aristocratic families agreed that he had broken up the couple, they could not help but talk about it and make the Li family the topic of their after-dinner conversation.

In the eyes of ordinary common people, the poor and the common people, their Li family became the "frost" and "evil miasma" in the poem!
But the word "fame" is mostly spread by the common people, commoners and poor families.

Li Zhuqiu knew that before long, the Li family would bear the infamy of the entire Dayu.

"This this……"

He sat down again weakly and closed his eyes.

He said to the steward beside him: "Don't write to the Minister of General Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"Since Chen Zhian wrote this poem, he has become powerful and cannot be driven away easily."

A few breaths of time passed.

Li Zhuqiu suddenly opened his eyes, snorted coldly, waved his sleeves, and threw the teapot on the table to the ground.

The delicate porcelain was smashed to pieces.

"It really pisses me off."

ps: There will be more updates in the evening.

(End of this chapter)