Xiao Ningzi's mind was spinning very fast, and she suddenly came up with a suitable explanation, "That's it, although my father is not in the capital, he heard that Prince Guo's calligraphy is outstanding, like flowing clouds and flowing water, which is amazing, but it's a pity that he has never been able to do so.
You see, I went to the capital today to do some things, and thinking about what my father often talked about, I wanted to come to the prince to ask for a letter, but unfortunately the guards at the door refused to let me in."
"It's natural. The prince has a noble status and is busy with court affairs. A commoner like you can see him wherever he wants. If anyone can come and ask for the prince's name, then the threshold of the prince's palace has long been blocked.
It’s broken.”
"Yes, yes, brother is right." Xiao Ningzi responded repeatedly, and immediately rubbed her hands and said: "But if I go back like this, I really feel a little unwilling. Brother, if you work in Prince Guo's Mansion, you will be able to see the prince often.
, can you help me get a calligraphy?"
In fact, what Xiao Ningzi wanted was not the kind of calligraphy and painting with only a few words at all. He just said it deliberately so as not to arouse the other party's suspicion.
The man sneered and said: "I'm sorry you figured it out. How can the prince's words be so easy to ask for? Okay, okay, don't stop me from doing things. If you want to ask for words, you can think of a way on your own, but I kindly remind you,
This is basically impossible.”
Xiao Ningzi quickly grabbed him and said: "Brother, don't leave in a hurry. I'm really sincere. I can't ask for words. I can just write anything the prince writes. Please help me. My father is old. This time
This is the only wish I have in my life, please."
The man was a little tired of being pestered by Xiao Ningzi, so he pushed him away and said, "I've already said there's nothing I can do. Why are you talking so much? Come on, hurry up, or I'll call the guards to chase you away."
"Brother, please be merciful. I can pay as much as you want. It just so happens that I brought a lot of banknotes with me when I went to Beijing for business this time." Xiao Ningzi's words successfully made the man stop and look sideways.
He looked at Xiao Ningzi and said, "How much money can you give me?"
"Is fifty taels enough?" Xiao Ningzi asked tentatively. Seeing that he didn't speak, she gritted her teeth and said, "To be honest, brother, I brought a total of one hundred taels of silver this time, except for leaving a dozen taels for cooking.
Besides the travel expenses, the rest can be given to my brother, I just ask you to do me this favor."
"One hundred taels..." The man stroked his chin and was quite moved. That was a large sum of money for him. With this money, he would have much more money in the future.
Xiao Ningzi saw all this and couldn't help but said: "Brother, please, I'm really sincere."
The man confirmed: "Seriously, anything is fine, as long as it is written by the prince?"
Xiao Ningzi nodded repeatedly and said: "Of course it is true, anything will do. If there are no requirements, the more words the better, and it will look better."
The man gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, since you are so thoughtful, I will do this for you. I happen to be responsible for cleaning the prince's study. You can just come here tomorrow to get it."
"Tomorrow..." Xiao Ningzi said awkwardly: "I have made an appointment with someone to leave tonight. I came here to try my luck. Brother, please see if you can come earlier."
"It's really troublesome." Even so, the man was reluctant to part with the one hundred taels of silver, and said: "Okay, you wait here, I will go and take a look now. But you have to pay me fifty taels first, no matter what you can
If you can't get the prince's name, you can't take back these fifty taels."
Xiao Ningzi nodded, and when giving the banknote, she deliberately made a pained expression, and then said: "By the way, I don't know your name yet, brother."
"Just call me Wang Fu." After that, he put away the fifty taels of silver notes and returned to the palace.
After waiting for about an hour, Wang Fu appeared again. Xiao Ningzi hurriedly greeted him and said, "Brother Wang, how are you? Did you find the word Wang Ye?"
After Wang Fu made sure that there was no one around, he took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve and said, "I found these with great difficulty from the prince's study. Most of them were left by the prince from his usual calligraphy practice. But you are lucky, I found them."
A poem written by the prince."
"Hurry and show it to me." Xiao Ningzi quickly took the pieces of paper, and indeed there was a poem written on one of them, which was "Magpie Bridge Immortal" by Qin Guan.
"Okay! Okay!" Xiao Ningzi nodded repeatedly, immediately stuffed the pieces of paper into his sleeves, then handed the remaining fifty taels to Wang Fuhou and said: "Brother, as long as you know this, I know
It’s okay, but don’t tell others, otherwise I’ll be fine, but you might be in trouble.”
Wang Fu said: "Even if you don't say it, I know it. Come on, go away quickly, don't let anyone see it."
Xiao Ningzi agreed and left in a hurry. After some inquiries, he found a middle-aged man who made a living by setting up a stall and selling calligraphy. This man's name was Liu Yuan. There were not many such people in the capital, but according to what he inquired about
You know, this person is the best at copying ancient calligraphy and paintings, and can even make the fake ones look like the real ones. He has made a lot of money by doing this.
Xiao Ningzi found a quiet time and sat in front of Liu Yuan's stall, "Sir, how much does it cost to write a letter?"
"A letter costs five copper coins." Liu Yuan said with some wan interest. He had sold a copy of Mi Pei's calligraphy for three taels of silver just now. Naturally, he looked down upon such a letter worth five copper coins.
Xiao Ningzi smiled slightly and said, "Is that a letter that needs to be copied into someone else's handwriting?"
Liu Yuan exclaimed, looked at Xiao Ningzi and said, "What do you want to do? Who are you? I have been running a stall here for several years and I have never seen you before."
How could Xiao Ningzi reveal her identity to him and said, "What I do has nothing to do with you. I only ask you whether you want to do this business, and if so, how much does it cost to do it?"
Seeing that Xiao Ningzi refused to disclose anything, Liu Yuan murmured in his heart. Copying other people's handwriting is not a big or small matter. If it is something illegal, he will be in trouble with the Yamen. He just
He is a small person who just wants to live his life in peace and stability, but does not want to get into any official trouble.
Thinking of this, he said: "I'm sorry, I don't write this kind of letter. You'd better ask someone else to do it."
Xiao Ningzi frowned slightly and said, "But I've heard that in this area, you, Liu Yuan, are the best at copying. It's not easy to find someone better than you."
"I'm so sorry, there's really nothing I can do." Faced with Liu Yuan's rejection again, Xiao Ningzi stood up, but did not leave. Instead, she walked to the paintings Liu Yuan copied and said, "How much do these paintings cost each one?"
?”
Liu Yuan couldn't figure out his intention, so he could only say: "The better ones are three liang, and the cheaper ones are one liang."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I spent so much time copying a painting, but in the end I only sold it for three taels or even one tael. It's really pitiful. But the most pitiful thing is that Han Chuang studied hard for ten years, and in the end he could only sell it on the roadside.
Stand, helping others write letters costing five cents a piece is simply bringing shame to our ancestors!"