There is an independent flat-roofed house behind the Shule Paperweight Square pond. Dai Wang built a fence outside the house, dividing it into a courtyard several feet wide. The green morning glory vines hung on the fence.
Li Siye was followed by his maid Daorou, and they came to the fence gate.
A woman named Qiu'e was sitting on the white stone in the courtyard, sewing a robe for Dai Wang with a needle and thread in her hand.
Li Siye has never been able to figure out the identity of the woman next to Dai Wang. If she is his confidante, it would be touching that he would never leave her. But Dai Wang's attitude towards her is extremely strange. This is understandable. After all,
This Dai Wang is no longer the other Dai Wang. Is what she did to him a repayment of gratitude, or is it because of something else? Qiu'e's care for him in daily life has already exceeded that of an ordinary maid, and she should be able to be further upgraded to a maid.
couple.
Life is like a play, and fate is unpredictable.
He stood outside the fence and asked loudly: "Is he at home?"
"Yes," Qiu'e quickly put down her robe, stood up, turned around and shouted into the room: "Liu Lang, General Li is here."
Dai Wang held a wooden stick in his hand and pushed open the door and walked out, welcoming Li Siye into the courtyard. When the maid Daorou saw his scarred and terrifying face, she quickly lowered her head in horror. Dai Wang raised his wooden stick and crossed his hands towards Li Siye.
, only glanced sideways and said, "Let's go inside and talk."
Li Siye turned around and told Daorou: "Just stay outside and don't come in."
The two men entered the house and closed the door tightly, leaving only two women outside. Daorou stood motionless against the wall. Qiu'e looked up at her and continued to sew her clothes with her head down.
robe.
After a while, she raised her head and spoke to Dao Rou who was standing: "You can find a place to sit down and rest for a while."
"Thanks, I'm not tired."
…
The room was very clean, except for the water jugs and bamboo baskets, and all that was left was a bookshelf made of incomplete poplar wood, with some unbound volumes placed on it.
Dai Wang sat cross-legged on the straw mat, picked up a jar and poured a glass of wine for Li Siye, lowered his head and said: "Those are what I wrote randomly when I had nothing to do. You came to see me today. Do you have any questions for me?"
Can I help you clear up your doubts?"
Li Siye also sat opposite him, picked up the filled wine cup, tasted it slowly and then whispered: "I did encounter something, please allow me to explain it to you slowly..."
Li Siye brushed aside everything that happened in Chang'an, including the emperor's reward, the words of the prince's close minister Li Bi, except for the troubled affairs between him and Yang Yuyao.
After hearing this, Dai Wang analyzed it in detail: "As you can see, there are three forces entrenched in the court. One is Li Linfu, an old and cunning man who is at the height of his power. The other is the Yang family. The Yang family has gained honor and favor as a relative, but as the emperor treats the imperial concubine
The favor of the Yang family has deepened, and the power of the Yang family has also grown day by day. If a decent man can use this momentum to climb up, his power will surely surpass Li Linfu in the future. The third one is the prince. Because the prince is tabooed by the emperor, he is the most powerful among the three parties.
Although he is weak, his foundation is actually the strongest. As long as the position of crown prince is still there, many people are willing to leave a way for their descendants to fight for him. The three right-wing prime ministers and the princelings are incompatible with each other, and the Yang family can make ends meet and prosper.
"
Li Siye coughed and interrupted him: "What I want to talk to you about is my problem, how should I deal with it."
"Don't worry, we'll talk about you soon. It's wise for you to rely on the Yang family openly and support the prince secretly. But these are long-term considerations and cannot solve your current problems. Now you want to have a prosperous official career
There is no obstacle, you must gain the support of Li Linfu, at least let him regard you as a comrade and will not stumbling upon you or rejecting you."
"That's right," Li Siye said in agreement, "I am now in Qixi. Unless I am transferred elsewhere, I will not be able to get around Li Linfu in the entire Longyou Road no matter how I go."
Dai Wang thought silently for a moment, then slowly said: "If you want to gain Li Linfu's approval and make him not reject you, there are two ways. The first is to cut yourself off from the prince, cut off your own retreat, and stand firmly by Li Linfu's side.
.The second is to make him feel that there is no threat from your presence."
Li Siye shook his head decisively: "The first method is not feasible. Li Linfu is in opposition to the prince. It is because he made a mistake at the beginning and blindly favored Concubine Wu Hui and King Shou on the issue of establishing Zhuge Liang. As a result, the loyal king Li Heng came to power. This kind of mistake
It was irreversible, so he had no choice but to fight to the death with the prince."
"An Lushan used this method. In order to please the emperor and seek refuge with Li Linfu, he pretended to be stupid and entered the palace without paying homage to the prince. He also helped Li Linfu many times to curb the prince's power. He dared to do this because he was too crazy to be prepared.
Wait until the prince ascends the throne and becomes the emperor."
Dai Wang glanced at Li Siye in surprise. He didn't expect that he could deduce people's motives in this way. Could it be that he had a deep understanding of people's hearts? Most people would not dare to think like this.
"There is only the second method that can be used right now, to make him think that I will not threaten him. This is actually very difficult."
"Why do you say that?"
Li Siye raised his head and poured the wine into his throat: "Listen, let me tell you a rumor. It is said that Pei Mian, a member of Zhongshushe, drafted an edict for the saint. After writing it, he handed it over to the emperor. The saint read it and praised it greatly, saying that his
The writing has the bones of Zhang Shuo and the body of Zhang Jiuling, but Li Linfu was by his side at that time. As a result, three months later, Pei Mian was sent to Hedong as an official."
"This is what happened this year." Li Siye said with his hands on his knees: "I say this just to tell you that Li Linfu is sick. This is not a curse word, he is indeed mentally ill. He
The desire for power is inversely proportional to his own sense of security and satisfaction, which means that the higher he climbs, the more wary and fearful he becomes of the people around him, just like a resentful woman in a purdah who is afraid of losing power and favor.
, Logically speaking, a man shouldn’t behave like this, but this is where his pathology lies.”
"Although Li Linfu is not very talented in writing, no one can match him in terms of political regulations. But he is so unconfident. The slightest presence of a dazzling person around him seems to sting his eyes.
It is impossible to drive him out of the emperor's sight. So..."
Dai Wang took over Li Siye's words and said: "So it is not easy to portray yourself as a mediocre person. The emperor will never use it if you are too mediocre. If you appear too brilliant, you will be excluded by Li Linfu, so you have to behave appropriately mediocre.
You have strengths in one aspect, but your weaknesses prevent you from becoming a prime minister. If you can do this, you will not be jealous of others. Just like the Hu people, everyone thinks that they can only
Riding a horse and drawing a bow, using politics is nonsense."
"No, that's not right," Li Siye shook his head and said, "You can't hide this. When I was the prince, I gave advice to Li Ying, and before I became the envoy of Shule Town, I also presided over the construction of Qixi Station. These things
They are visible to all, so even a slightly stupider character cannot be maintained."
"Who told you to act stupid?"
"Are you going to be silly and sweet?"
Dai Wang's hideous scarred face twitched, he was laughing: "I can't understand the words you use. What is silly and sweet? However, there are also talented scholars among the Hu people. How is your rhetoric? Yours
What about calligraphy writing?”
Li Siye rubbed his hands: "To be honest, my calligraphy and calligraphy skills are terrible, but my calligraphy and writing... are passable."
"Then write a paragraph for me to read."
Dai Wang personally moved the desk, spread a piece of paper on the desk, put a paperweight and a pen and inkstone on it. After polishing the ink with his own hands, he handed the pen holder to Li Siye.
"Write it."
Li Siye raised his head and asked, "What to write?"
"Just write about your unique insights into Li Linfu just now."
Li Siye picked up the ink tube and first held the pen with five fingers together. However, seeing that Dai Wang's eyes were wrong, he quickly switched to using two fingers with a single hook to hold the pen. He lay on the paper like a child racking his brains facing a test paper, and finally wrote sixty or seventy.
He put down his pen and rubbed his hands and said, "Okay."
It was only recently that he fully understood the conversion between traditional and simplified Chinese characters. As for imitating running script fonts, he had practiced it to five or six points, and he also tried to simplify his words and sentences as much as possible.
Dai Wang held a corner of the paper and gently lifted it. He blew the cool air from his mouth to dry the ink. He held it with both hands and read it over before taking a breath: "What you wrote is vernacular."
Li Siye coughed: "Don't just read the sentences, how about you look at my words?"
After hearing this, Dai Wang read it carefully again, put down the paper and said, "The word 'man' is wrong. You should write it like this."
He picked up the pen himself and wrote the word "full" in the lower right corner of the paper.
"If your calligraphy is as good as it is now, I don't think you need to pretend to keep a low profile and just show your true side. Neither the saint nor Li Linfu will consider you to serve as prime minister."
Li Siye nodded sincerely. Although this matter hurt his self-esteem, being able to be known as unskilled was indeed a necessary means to avoid the limelight.