In the fourth year of Tianbao, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Shangyuan Festival.
The emperor ordered that officials of the fifth rank and above, civil and military officials of the third rank and above, as well as scholars, etc., come from the Fanglin Gate and gather in the Liyuan to watch the opera together, which is called Romance of the West Chamber.
At the end of the day, the palace in Jinyuan Liyuan was filled with civil and military officials and Hanlin scholars.
It coincides with the Lantern Festival, and all the officials in the palace are celebrating the festival, and the palace is full of joy.
A quarter of an hour later, a song was sung from the main palace of the palace, and all the officials heard it, but it was the current emperor who came to the pear garden with his family members from the palace.
I saw the majestic king wearing a red and yellow trousers, a nine-ring belt, and Liuhe boots, walking slowly into the palace gate.
The officials are separated, and when they see each other, they pay homage to the Holy One.
Behind the Emperor of Tang, there were several concubines, princesses and eunuchs and slaves.
Among them, the two beauties in palace costumes who were walking and laughing were the most eye-catching.
A woman, twenty-eight years old, with a crystal-clear complexion, skin that is as radiant as snow, and a face that is extremely beautiful, is Princess Wanchun.
The other woman, who is still in her prime, but has a dazzling appearance, beautiful eyes, charming the country, and boundless spring breeze, is Yang Yuhuan, the newly entered imperial concubine.
After the Holy One and his family members were seated, the music camp leader in the Liyuan introduced the play and invited the horn cards.
Tang Emperor Li Longji signed the horn card, and The West Chamber officially began to be staged.
Different from the play once performed by Pingkangfang, the script, casting, props, and music of The Romance of the West Chamber in Jinyuan Liyuan were all made by top-notch musicians and musicians in the palace, so the performance was naturally better.
All the officials in the palace were mesmerized by the performance, and some even forgot they were in the Forbidden Garden and clapped their hands when the performance was so exciting.
Princess Wanchun, who was twenty-eight years old, smiled and said to Yang Yuhuan: "What does Madam Yuhuan think of this Romance of the West Chamber?"
Yang Yuhuan was so engrossed in the play that he had no time to talk to her. He just said: "Don't make trouble, let's watch the play first."
Princess Wanchun curled her lips and said nothing.
After finally waiting for the performance of Romance of the West Chamber to end, Princess Wanchun couldn't wait to ask Yang Yuhuan: "Can you catch the lady's eye?"
Yang Yuhuan sighed and said softly: "This play, this story, and this singing are all excellent. Why didn't I think that the play could be performed like this before?"
Seeing Princess Wanchun's proud face, Yang Yuhuan asked with a smile: "Are you really the main writer of The West Chamber?"
Princess Wanchun quickly sat up straight and replied: "It's true!"
Yang Yuhuan: "Then on the title page of the storybook of The West Chamber, in addition to the six main writers, there is one person named Kan Lu?"
Hearing this, Princess Wanchun was stunned, nodded and said, "This matter cannot be hidden from my wife. The scenes and stories of The West Chamber are all from the mouth of Kan Lu. The six main writers are only responsible for writing the text."
When Yang Yuhuan heard this, he was surprised and asked, "How did Kan Lu come up with this? Why didn't he be the main writer himself and give this opportunity to become famous to the six of you?"
Speaking of this, Princess Wanchun gritted her teeth and said, "Kan Lu is a lazy idiot. He only heard about the dramas and stories of The West Chamber. I asked him in detail where the story came from, but he couldn't explain it clearly. He just talked about him."
Yang Yuhuan sounded interesting and just smiled and said: "Sounds like a wonderful person."
The actors received their rewards, thanked them again, and left one after another.
After receiving the order from the Holy Emperor, the chamberlain began to serve meals to all the officials in the palace and held a grand banquet.
Li Longji received the blessings from the important ministers and spoke with several bachelors. When he saw Yang Yuhuan and Princess Wanchun chatting lively, he walked over.
When Yang Yuhuan saw Li Longji coming, he stood up, performed the Wanfu ritual, and called Sanlang.
Princess Wanchun also turned around and called Li Longji "father".
Li Longji is nearly sixty years old, but he does not look senile at all. He walks with a vigorous step and is full of energy when talking.
He first walked up to Princess Wanchun and said: "Come to the palace more often on weekdays to accompany Yuhuan. Don't always use the nickname Yin Yu and disguise yourself as a woman and go out to cause trouble. The censor came to me again and again to complain.
I talked a lot about your ridiculous actions."
Yin Yu pouted and responded.
Seeing that she was aggrieved, Yang Yuhuan changed the subject and said to Li Longji: "Sanlang, we are talking about The West Chamber. I just think it is a rare and good play."
Li Longji smiled and sat next to Yang Yuhuan and said: "Min Hanlin just told me that this West Chamber novel is based on the virtues of Rixin, creativity and speech, and they are not the same as those of others."
When Yin Yu heard this, her face became a little more happy.
Yang Yuhuan said: "I have heard that the scenes and stories of The West Chamber were all written by one Kan Lu, and then six main writers jointly wrote the text?"
Li Longji nodded and said: "If I remember correctly, the name of Kan Lu is Zhou Jun, with the courtesy name Hengcai."
Yang Yuhuan: "Is this person a master of drama?"
Li Longji: "No, he is just a slave tooth man."
Yang Yuhuan opened his eyes wide: "Is Sanlang joking?"
Li Longji shook his head: "This man's ancestors are from the Nuya family. Maybe he heard this play from somewhere when he was working as a slave."
Yang Yuhuan nodded upon hearing this, this guess was more in line with common sense.
Yin Yu on the side retorted: "I don't think so."
Li Longji looked at Yin Yu and asked with a smile: "Any advice?"
Yin Yu: "I have seen that man. He is talented and knowledgeable. He is not like a slave-toothed man."
Li Longji was about to speak when he saw the chamberlain Gao Lishi walking over in a hurry.
Gao Lishi came to Li Longji and first greeted the latter and Yang Yuhuan. Yin Yu greeted him, and then showed hesitation on his face, as if he had something to hide.
Li Longji glanced at Gao Lishi and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it."
Gao Lishi leaned down and whispered: "Two letters from Shuofang."
Li Longji paused and asked again: "Who?"
Gao Lishi: "Fan Jinian, the military envoy, and Wang Zhongsi, the military envoy."
Li Longji looked calm, but he tapped his fingers on the desk and said, "Get it."
Gao Lishi: "Yes."
After a while, Li Longji took the two letters. After balancing them, he opened Wang Zhongsi's letter first.
After reading through it, the expression on Li Longji's face changed several times, which made Yang Yuhuan and Yin Yu secretly shocked.
Yang Yuhuan came closer and said, "Sanlang, if it's military affairs, why not...?"
Li Longji put down Wang Zhongsi's letter and said to Yang Yuhuan with a smile: "It doesn't matter."
Then, he took another deep look at Yin Yu, who felt a little confused when he saw this look.
Li Longji opened Fan Jinian's letter again, read it carefully, and finally took a deep breath and put down the letter.
Seeing the two girls looking over, Li Longji smiled and said to Yin Yu, "My Princess Wanchun has a really unique eye for seeing people."
When Yin Yu heard this meaningless sentence, doubts were written all over her face.
Li Longji patted the two letters on the desk and said, "One is the commander-in-chief and the other is the supervisor. Both of them mentioned one person in their letters. It is Zhou Jun and Zhou Hengcai who are from Kan Lu in The West Chamber."
Yin Yu was startled at first, then swayed, and quickly asked Li Longji: "Ah, what did the letter say?!"
When Li Longji saw this, he had no intention of betraying him. He just said: "When the Supervisory Army Mission entered Suizhou, they rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and sent soldiers to assassinate them, hoping to put the blame on the Turks."
"The mission was ambushed and suffered heavy casualties, threatening to cause a catastrophe."
"Fortunately, Shi Zhoujun, the official secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, was not afraid in the face of danger. He urgently requested the general's power and used chariot formations to defend against the enemy and turn the tide."
When Yin Yu heard this, his eyebrows were filled with joy, and he couldn't help but said happily: "How is it? How is it?! I have already spoken. That Zhou Hengcai is talented and learned, but he is used to being lazy. If something happens to him, he is very capable.
people!"
Yang Yuhuan pulled Yin Yu and said to her with a smile: "I know you are good at understanding people. If you keep your voice low, others will look over."
Li Longji smiled and said, "I haven't finished speaking yet."
When Yang Yuhuan and Yin Yu heard this, they looked at Li Longji again with confusion on their faces.
Li Longji: "The Supervisory Army Mission entered Qikou, and Zhou Jun was ordered to do so at the critical moment. He first exposed the Bashimi tribe's plan to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, and then sent an envoy to Huihe. He killed the Bashimi envoy on the spot. Later, he persuaded the nine surnames to attack the Bashimi tribe together.
Secretly, we protected Shuofang's army in its northern expedition against the Turks."
After hearing what Li Longji said, Yang Yuhuan and Yin Yu sat dumbly on the spot together.
Yang Yuhuan came to his senses first and asked Li Longji: "Is this serious?"
Li Longji: "Of course it is true that both Zhongsi and Ji Nian practiced Shu Yan Dao."
Yin Yu clenched his fists and muttered to himself bitterly: "What a good Zhou Hengcai! You usually pretend to be mediocre, but you are a cunning person with your tail between your legs! Let's see how I deal with you when I return to Chang'an this time!"
At this time, Zhou Jun, who was thousands of miles away, was following Shuofang's army to pursue the remaining troops of Apodagan.
A gust of cold wind blew by, and Zhou Jun, who was riding on the horse, sneezed several times in succession.
Sun Aying, who was waiting on the side, asked with concern: "Did Zhou Lingshi have a cold?"
Zhou Jun waved his hand and said, "No, maybe it's a relative or friend who is worried about someone."