In late spring, in March, the weather has warmed up, making Chang'an even more beautiful.
In the market, Wuling boys rode horses and took the beautiful Silla maids out of the city for an outing; the women's clothes became more and more skimpy, showing off their delicate bodies wantonly.
The city was covered in red makeup, and willows and orioles were singing. A hearty laugh suddenly sounded outside the imperial city, frightening away the birds on the branches and shaming away the onlookers' girls.
"In person, Mr. Xue, I am Liu Changqing, named Wenfang. I have been looking forward to discussing our friendship with you in detail. Why don't we go to Pingkangfang to stay together?!"
The man who spoke was in his early twenties, tall and tall, with a free and easy manner. As he spoke, he turned to look at the slim figures with flying skirts, his eyes lit up, and he casually recited a few lines of poetry, which was very romantic.
"The pearls in the Qufang are merging with each other, and the deep alleys have orchestral tunes."
"In the late spring breeze, the fragrance of clothes is floating all over the road."
When a woman threw flowers here, the skirts of the six people standing on the street talking were suddenly covered with petals.
"Look, it's Chunwei Wuzi."
"How come there are six? Oh, a fat book boy with small eyes."
After the reexamination that day, Xue Bai and Du Wulang came to pick up Yuan Jie, Du Fu and Huangfu Ran, and they happened to meet the enthusiastic Liu Changqing.
A beautiful woman dressed luxuriously came forward and invited six people to her home. Although Liu Changqing wanted to go, Yuan Jie held her back and took refuge in Wubenfang, where it was quieter.
"Hahaha, it's okay if you don't go, I'll go and prostitute the most beautiful singer later!"
Du Wulang swept the petals on his body, troubled by these entanglements, and asked: "Brothers, how do you think about your reexamination?"
"Well, I've passed all the exams. I'm just waiting for the results to be released. Let's sit down in Nanqu first and then we can chat."
"Goro and I are still young, so we won't go?"
"Mr.
"Study, don't be entangled. If Mr. Xue can't handle it, how can he spend money to go whoring?"
After the retest, Yuan Jie relaxed and made a joke that made Liu Changqing laugh.
They had no choice but to agree to sit in a restaurant first, and then Yuan Jie, Liu Changqing, and Huangfu Ran went to Pingkangfang.
Du Fu didn't go either. His family was originally quite well-off, but after his father's death, his family fell into decline. In addition, it cost a lot to take the imperial examination in Chang'an, and he was completely reduced to a poor family. He didn't want to go to the gold-selling cave.
Everyone was seated. Chun Wei and his five sons still had some secret matters to discuss privately, so they worked together to persuade Liu Changqing.
After drinking for a while, Xue Bai's face turned red, and Liu Changqing became more enthusiastic, talking about past romantic events.
He said that when he was Xue Bai's age, he went to Songshan to study and fell in love with a female nun. He told the story of the forbidden teenage love in a touching and touching way. After saying this, he was half drunk and got excited. He asked the shopkeeper to borrow a piano and began to play and sing in public.
.
"After five years of observing the precepts and eating one meal, I still look as beautiful as a flower. I stand alone under the green lotus, and the branches of Zen grass surround the monastery..."
After the song, Liu Changqing put his arms around Xue Bai's shoulders and said with a smile: "I heard that you once proposed marriage to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion but was rejected. Let me give you an idea. If you let Mrs. Li be a female crown, we can be with you for a long time.
Come and go."
"Brother Wenfang is drunk." Xue Bai was actually a little drunk and said, "I have enmity with Brother Nu, how can I miss her?"
"Hahaha, Xue Lang is too cautious, who cares about this? If you act like this, can the saint accept Concubine Wu Hui first and then Concubine Yang?"
Liu Changqing's words sounded outrageous, and everyone else just laughed.
He also said that he had a friend named Du Wei, the legitimate son of the Du family in Jingzhao, who also loved the daughter of Ge Nu. It was his idea that led Du Wei to kidnap the Prime Minister's daughter and elope with him.
"Brother Du has a strong character, is natural and uninhibited, and is a real man! Hahaha..."
After hearing about this, Du Fu also struck chopsticks and praised him for his kindness.
Yuan Jie smiled and said: "In comparison, Xue Bai is indeed too rigid and has more precepts than a female nun."
"Hey, he just respects himself too much." Du Wulang said: "However, a gentleman should respect himself, which is what we should learn from."
"When a man is in this world, he should be romantic and open-minded. Such a mother-in-law and a mother-in-law have simply restrained the majesty of the Tang Dynasty and looked down upon all nations!"
Liu Changqing wished he could stand on the table and taunt Xue Bai. He drank wine and started talking about the affair between Princess Gaoyang and Bian Ji. He talked about how normal it was for the daughter of a nobleman to become a monk and become a crown prince and associate with young talents.
He was eloquent and eloquent, and his words made Xue Bai feel in a trance that his thoughts were so backward and narrow that he was bound by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and Ming and Qing ethics.
Nowadays, being romantic does not affect your progress, but not being romantic will make people look down upon you.
The openness and tolerance of the Tang Dynasty in its heyday were indeed unprecedented in the more than a thousand years to come.
~~
That night, when Xue Bai returned home, Qing Lan was so busy that she insisted on making sobering soup. She sat by the couch and fed him spoonful by spoonful.
"Langjun, is it hot?"
Under the candlelight, the girl blew on the soup in the spoon, her pouty lips glowing with a beautiful moist luster.
Her little finger is upturned, small and tender, making people want to pinch it.
Even in the Du family, she is not a rough slave, she seems to be much more delicate recently.
"Langjun? What do you want me to do?" Qinglan asked in a low voice.
"Do you want to be my concubine?"
Although Xue Bai has experienced people for a long time, he has never asked such depraved words, especially to such a young girl. He paused several times in the middle of the words, and he did not have the free and bold demeanor of a man in the Tang Dynasty. At this time, he
He really looks like a teenager with tied hair.
Qinglan was stunned for a moment, then lowered her head and responded: "Mr. Lang misunderstood... I am a treasonous and lowly slave, so I cannot be a concubine."
After saying that, she quickly glanced at Xue Bai and ran back to the penthouse.
Holding her collar and hiding on the couch, Qing Lan poked her head out and took a look. She didn't see Xue Bai chasing after her. She was very annoyed with herself for a moment and simply pulled the quilt over her head.
It’s not that she is bound by etiquette, but she is naturally shy.
~~
In a blink of an eye, the day for the re-examination results came.
The Imperial City Province was still empty, and the prepared list of Jinshi was sent to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion.
When he saw the last two names, Li Linfu frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
"Back to the right prime minister, Pei Kuan forced Wang Zhongcheng to release the results directly. Cui Qiao, the examiner of the Ministry of Rites, did not dare to object."
"Old dog Pei thinks his life is too long."
The dignified imperial censor, one of the Three Dukes of the Han Dynasty, only gained two more places in the imperial examination, and his ranking did not even change. However, Li Linfu was aroused to the point of murderous intent.
He knew that his guess was correct. Pei Kuan and others were united to make an enemy of the Youxiang Mansion. He was jumping up and down in this matter, and it was Xue Bai who was the matchmaker.
"What is Xue Bai doing these days?"
"I still study every day. In addition, I went to Yuzhen Temple several times... and met the Seventeenth Mother."
Faced with such an answer, Li Linfu did not get angry. He cursed "What a courageous dog thief" and began to arrange a response.
It is nothing more than urging Pei Dun to report Pei Kuan, then searching Pei's house, finding evidence of Pei Kuan's conflict with the East Palace, and then involving Xue Bai and others... It is a very simple plan. The Right Prime Minister's Office only uses this trick to eliminate political opponents, and it has always worked.
.
Only little ants like Xue Bai have escaped twice, but they can only do three things.
"Alang, Eleventh Mother is here."
Li Linfu didn't have the patience to deal with family matters, but after frowning, he still asked his daughter to come over.
After a while, Li Shiniang brought her husband Yang Qixuan to the lobby. Before she could speak, she was scolded.
"You taught me a good lesson, let the sisters do whatever they want. It's good now. Fourteen was abducted, and Seventeen has been flirting with little beasts in the Taoist temple all day long."
"Grandpa, what's the big deal?" Li Shiyiniang was not afraid, but smiled and said: "Isn't it just that my daughter arranged for Seventeenth Niang to go to Yuzhen Temple to enlighten her? She said it loudly, she wanted to practice Taoism, she wanted to
Qingjing, being a female crown is not just for the freedom of interacting with men. When she comes back, she hooks Xue Bai and plays with her a few times. When she gets tired of it, that's it. From now on, there is nothing wrong with being as free as Princess Yuzhen."
Li Linfu heard these remarks and nodded.
He really wanted to kill Xue Bai, but at this time he also felt that if he didn't let his daughter play with the stick before killing him, it might make her regretful.
"This is a trivial matter." Li Linfu said, "What happened to Shi Shi? But you indulged her?"
"My daughter didn't tell the Fourteenth Mother that she could remarry Du Wei, she just said..."
"I don't care what you said, just go find it and get it back."
Li Shiniang is a cheerful person, and she actually retorted: "In my daughter's opinion, it would be good for Shi Shi to marry the Jingzhao Du family. I think it will do more good than harm to me, right?"
Li Linfu was silent for a long time and realized that this matter seemed to be beneficial.
It was just his narrow-mindedness that made him unwilling to endure this insult.
suddenly.
"Right Prime Minister, this is bad!"
This time it was Wang Fei who came in person to ask for an audience.
Li Linfu had no intention of taking care of the little things at home anymore, so he took Wang Zhi to Yanyue Hall to discuss it secretly.
"Right Prime Minister, old man Pei Kuan has made a big move!"
Li Linfu thought it was a matter of re-examination, so he said displeasedly: "I told you to get rid of him."
"Pei Dunfu has reported the case, and my censor is going to impeach him today, but Pei Kuan got the first step and handed over the memorial..."
"No, Taiwan Province has not received Pei Kuan's memorial!"
"The bad thing is here. The memorial will be delivered directly to the opera house."
Li Linfu turned his head suddenly, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
"How could it be so?"
"It must have been brought into the palace by Yang Sanyi and handed over to the noble concubine." Wang Xian said: "Pei Dunfu also donated five hundred gold to the Guo State Lady's Mansion, saying that Pei Kuan had wronged his subordinates. Yang Sanyi took the money and turned around to help. Pei Kuan lends a helping hand."
"What is the content of the memorial?"
Wang Fei did not answer, but both of them knew very well that Pei Kuan and Yang Sanyi had never been on good terms with each other. If Yang Sanyi suddenly showed such great favor, the memorial must be in support of the salt law.
"Right Prime Minister, we must not let them promote the salt debate together. Yang Zhi has Pei Kuan, just like Princess Taiping has Pei Tan."
Li Linfu immediately recruited people and said: "I want to see the saint!"
Once Yang Zheng takes real power, it will mean another option for many officials in the court to make bets.
This impact may not be immediately apparent, but it will cause the power of the right prime minister to begin to peel off until the foundation is shaken.
…
"Right Prime Minister, I just received news that Zhangchou Jianqiong, Yang Zhao and others have been recruited to the mansion by Yang Hao."
Before Miyagi's reply came, Li Linfu received such news first.
He and Wang Fei looked at each other and said nothing, but they both realized that Zhangchou Jianqiong and Yang Zhao did not send anyone to inform them.
These dogs have the sharpest noses.
"Right Minister, news from the palace, Yang Zhao is in court, Pei Kuan, Zhangchou Jianqiong, Yang Zhao and others are all here."
Li Linfu once again sent people to the palace to ask for an audience.
He frowned and pondered for a long time. He suddenly raised his head and shouted, "Where is Xue Bai? Is he in Yuzhen Temple?!"
"Alang, there is no news from Yuzhen Temple... I will release the results for the re-examination today. I must be reading the results."
~~
Outside the wall of the Ministry of Rites, a cry of tenderness suddenly sounded from the crowd.
"This reexamination is unfair. Why did Xue Bai fail?"
Many old men came to the list to catch their son-in-law. When the girls heard this, they searched the list carefully, but they did not see Xue Bai's name.
"Hey, it's true, Xue Lang didn't make the list. Didn't the slave family come here in vain?"
"Three of the five Chunwei sons are all married."
After hearing this, some good people immediately started making noises and shouted loudly: "The re-examination is unfair. Genu deliberately deposed the fifth son of Chunwei."
Liu Changqing squeezed to the front and looked at the list for a long time, but finally did not see his name.
He was disappointed in his heart. When he saw that Du Fu was the last one, he couldn't help but laugh to himself. He thought that even Du Zimei could only barely get the first place. No wonder he didn't win. He should go back to Songshan to study hard.
…
In a restaurant not far away, Xue Bai hired someone to copy a list.
"Congratulations to the three brothers."
Yuan Jie, Du Fu and Huangfu Ran looked at the rankings repeatedly. They were surprised and happy, and bowed deeply at the same time.
"Brothers, you don't have to be like this..."
"Yes, if you hadn't planned for us, we would have failed."
"In this way, Brother Zimei did say that he got very drunk after winning the lottery."
Du Fu smiled, but the wildness in his eyes was gone.
He knew very well that his name appeared at the bottom not because of his talent and learning. But after experiencing this in Chang'an, he was no longer happy about being ranked. The grief and anger in his heart had not disappeared, but he felt a lot more sad.
Xue Bai had no time to think about this, he was focused on letting his power grow rapidly in the cracks between the boulders.
"Winning the ranking is only the first step. Once you are qualified to be awarded an official, the next step for the three brothers is to seek official positions."
"That's right. After the test, there is the selection process, which is even more difficult than passing the final exam."
The so-called waiting for the election is to wait for a vacancy in the court official position. Sometimes a suitable official can be found in three to five years, and sometimes it takes more than ten years. Even if there is a vacancy, there are still people who come in every year to recommend and queuing up.
The accumulation is waiting.
There are many people who have waited all their lives to become an official after becoming a Jinshi. Some people only waited for officials such as Lingnan County Captain, and then starved to death on the way.
When Yuan Jie said this, Du Fu's eyes became more and more gloomy as he listened.
"Brother Zimei?" Xue Bai asked, "What's wrong?"
Huangfu Ran said: "Brother Zimei has been walking to the outskirts of the city recently. The imperial court is recruiting soldiers in Longyou. I see many white-haired old men and newlyweds among them. I think I am a little touched."
Xue Bai nodded and said: "Speaking of the election, I have agreed with Pei Gong that today I will express my support for the salt... If the saint can appoint the uncle as the salt envoy, there will be a large number of people, and we will be the officials.
To seek a career, Xu is trying to eliminate the opportunities for accumulated disadvantages."
Yuan Jie's face became solemn, grateful and excited. He solemnly saluted Xue Bai and said: "Yuan Jie must live up to Xue Lang's hard work, seek his life and the country, and never forget the righteousness of today."
Du Fu was very touched.
For this imperial examination, he had already spent all his wealth, relying on Xue Bai's efforts to get the last place. If he wanted to find another official position, how much more would he have to do? Xue Bai didn't take the exam, but he worked hard for them to get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
It was the tax collectors who gave it to them. Even if they were not asked to repay... but a glimpse of the whole thing revealed the extent to which the officialdom had collapsed.
This was no longer the "to King Yao and Shun" he longed for, but now that he was penniless, he was not even qualified to refuse this favor.
He was a sensitive person, and all kinds of emotions filled his heart for a while, including gratitude, worry, shame, bitterness, and expectation... Du Fu finally stepped forward and hugged Xue Bai, patted the young man on the back, and sighed deeply.
Huangfu Ran didn't say anything, he just looked at Xue Bai and nodded knowingly.
~~
After all, the men of the Tang Dynasty had a free and easy temperament, and they soon put aside these childish attitudes and laughed heartily.
"Let's go to the Wild Goose Pagoda and sign in!"
"Brother Zimei can't drink wine today. I want to drink fine wine."
"Credit, credit." Du Fu laughed, regaining his former wildness, "Xue Lang only drinks one glass, good wine and bad wine, what's the difference?"
"..."
When he arrived at Daci'en Temple, Xue Bai looked up and saw the ancient and modern pagoda body came into view, and the feeling of vicissitudes of time shone into his heart.
"Xue Bai, what are you thinking about?"
"I was wondering if Master Xuanzang was escorted by a monkey when he returned from studying for Buddhist scriptures in the West."
This Da Ci'en Temple is where Xuanzang translated Buddhist scriptures, and he personally supervised the construction of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
"The new Jinshi is here!"
Du Fu shouted and led everyone to climb the tower.
The five people stood on the top of the tower, looking at the picturesque scenery of Chang'an, and drank from their wine bags.
"Brother Zimei, write a poem!"
"good!"
Du Fu raised his head and drank all the wine in his bag, then opened his mouth and spit out a long poem.
"The standard is high across the sky, and the strong wind never stops."
"Since I am not too ambitious, I am here to read all my worries..."
When he thought about what he saw and heard in Chang'an, grief and anger welled up in his heart again.
Yuan Cishan dared to scold the saint and Li Linfu, why wouldn't he, Du Zimei, dare not?
"The Qinshan Mountains are suddenly shattered, and Jingwei is no longer available."
"How can you tell the imperial state if you look down at it with just one breath?"
"Looking back, I call you Yu Shun. Cangwu Yun is worried."
"Drink at the Yao Pond and enjoy the sunshine at Kunlun Hill."
"The yellow swans go away without ceasing, and where do they go when they cry out?"
"Look at the Yangyan geese, everyone has their own plans!"
Xue Bai only took a sip of wine, but he seemed drunk. He suddenly laughed when he heard the sentence "Look back and call Yu Shun".
Du Fu, who won the imperial examination, did not write the first poem, but he still wrote this poem that loudly spoke out, lamented the current ills, and spoke freely.
