Of course, Ning Que was very happy to draw the first talisman in his life. Then he calmed down and sighed with emotion. But he was not as ecstatic as he was when he embarked on the road of cultivation last year. Cultivation had tortured him for more than ten years. He had been desperate but suddenly succeeded. But Talisman Taoism was a matter of course. He knew that he could understand it, but he did not know when he could.
Of course, it was impossible for him to announce it to the whole world. He only told the people closest to him. Then, he was surprised to find that the reaction of these people was even stronger than his. For a moment, he couldn't help but wonder who wrote the water talisman on the snow-white paper on the desk.
Sangsang went to the Victory House to invite a chef to make the table noodles. Senior Brothers and Sisters in the Back Mountain of the Academy spread the news. They thought that their Youngest Brother would be obsessed with Talisman Taoism and would not practice the flying sword anymore. So their heads and the butt of the big white goose would be much safer. So they danced with their hands and feet, played the flute and played the zither. After Master Yan Se knew the news, he sat in the Southern Gate Temple for a while and then went to the House of Red Sleeves to indulge in drinking. When he was drunk, two lines of tears flowed down his old face.
On the third day after the summer rain, the highly respected Old Chancellor of the Tang Empire held a banquet in his mansion with a random excuse. Dozens of officials were invited to the banquet. They drank and made merry under the rain-shielding veranda in the courtyard. Everyone was confused, but it was not appropriate for them to ask.
Naturally, the important figures of the imperial court would not sit in the courtyard with these middle-level officials. Instead, they were chatting with the old Chancellor in the main room. As they listened to the Chancellor's hearty laughter, the doubts in their hearts were even stronger than those of the officials outside. They were all guessing what kind of joyous event had happened that could actually make the stern old Chancellor, who led the literary world with his scholarly articles, so happy. Could it be that the border army had conquered a large piece of territory for the empire, or that the old Chancellor's granddaughter was about to get married?
On such an occasion, no matter what happened, everyone should have fun. But looking at the white-haired Old Chancellor sitting on the left side of the Old Chancellor, even the Minister of the Ministry of Rites could not say much.
That person was Wang Shichen, the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Library. Throughout the entire imperial court, apart from the Prime Minister and a few others, only this Grand Secretary would dare to disrespect the Old Chancellor. Moreover, everyone knew that these two elders had never gotten along.
The Chancellor and the Grand Scholar hadn't been on good terms with each other for a long time, but it had nothing to do with the political opinions or the internal strife. The Great Tang placed great importance on the law, and even the nobles did not dare to violate it. The various departments acted according to the law, and although there were no harsh punishments, it was extremely difficult to brush past the edges of the law. As a result, no minister dared to form a clique for personal gain.
The few ministers and ministers in the main room knew clearly that the hatred between the two Old Chancellors stemmed from a love affair decades ago. At that time, both of them were students of the Academy. They shared the same room and shared a deep friendship. It was a pity that they shared the same room with a young girl, and the girl was the Prime Minister's daughter. Her temperament was unbelievably good, and the most unfortunate thing was that the Prime Minister only had one daughter, so …
Wang Shichen, the Grand Secretary, sneered and stroked his white beard. He looked at the Old Chancellor and said, "I heard that you often sent stewards to Lin 47th Street recently, and even bought a few sections from others?"
"That's right. Are you jealous?" The Old Chancellor smiled and looked at him, saying, "Don't talk about losing the face of the imperial court. Ning Que is a student of the Academy, and we are old acquaintances. Moreover, he has entered the Second floor. What's more, I have to show him respect even though I'm much older. I heard that your steward often goes to the Old Brush Pen Shop these days. Why do you have to talk about me? "
"Look, if you didn't have a guilty conscience, why would you answer so many questions with just a few questions?" Grand Secretary Wang sneered and said sarcastically, "Ning Que's calligraphy is really good. His Majesty likes it, and so do I. What's wrong with me sending someone to the Old Brush Pen Shop? I just sympathize with you. You have been searching everywhere, and I don't know if you have found any authentic works. "
Before the Old Chancellor answered, Grand Secretary Wang laughed and looked at his colleagues around the table. He said, "I think you all know that Sir Ning's Chicken Soup Calligraphy is now in my mansion. I have a look at it when I have time for official business. It's really a good feeling."
The Old Chancellor slightly raised his eyebrows. He knew that this sentence was directed at him.
Grand Secretary Wang slightly raised his eyebrows and continued to say intentionally or unintentionally, "There are many sections of Ning Que's calligraphy circulating outside. But except for this Chicken Soup Calligraphy with the hidden meaning of Divine Talisman, I don't think there is another one that can be compared with the Flower Blooming Calligraphy in the palace. It did take me some effort to get this Chicken Soup Calligraphy. If I didn't have some friendship with Master Yan Se, how could I get it? "
He turned to the Old Chancellor and said with a smile, "Old guy, I heard that your steward also went to the House of Red Sleeves to buy two rubbings of the Yan family of the Chicken Soup Calligraphy? Why do you do that? If you really want to see the authentic Chicken Soup Calligraphy, just tell me. Why do you specially invite me to have this meal? Why do you have to bother so many colleagues to accompany you? "
The Old Chancellor breathed heavily. He put his hands on the table and sneered, "If I want to see it, you will send it to my mansion?"
"Don't even think about it." Grand Secretary Wang smiled and said, "His Majesty knows that the Chicken Soup Calligraphy is in my mansion and has asked me for it three times. I didn't do it. The Chicken Soup Calligraphy will definitely not come back to the palace. If I send it to your mansion, you will definitely not give it back to me. How can I be fooled? His Majesty has been to my mansion twice this month. If you want to see it, just come to my mansion. "
"Big Head Wang! Don't bully me too much! "The Old Chancellor slammed the table and scolded harshly.
The Master of Moral Essay called Wang Shichen by his nickname in the Academy out of anger today. It was really unbearable. If it were in normal times, Wang Shichen would probably scold him. However, he had the absolute upper hand with the Chicken Soup Calligraphy today. He could show pity to the loser. He shook his head indifferently and said sympathetically, "You are too impolite. You are too impolite."
The Old Chancellor thought of the purpose of today's banquet. He forcibly suppressed his anger and sat down slowly. He sneered and said, "Today I have another purpose for this banquet. Just you? Do you think you have a big head and a big face? "
Grand Secretary Wang smiled slightly and did not care. (Finally, this sentence is used again.)
The two senior statesmen quarreled and mocked each other. The ministers and chancellors at the table did not dare to interrupt. They were used to this scene and knew that it was useless to persuade them. So they could only maintain an awkward silence.
Not long after, there was a slight sound in the courtyard. It seemed that a guest had arrived.
Grand Secretary Wang looked out of the threshold and frowned slightly.
The Old Chancellor smiled and looked at the young man who walked into the courtyard surrounded by several young men. He stroked his long beard with satisfaction and squinted at him. He said, "The authentic Chicken Soup Calligraphy? Let's take a look at the owner of the Chicken Soup Calligraphy first. "
At this time, these bigwigs of the imperial court had already guessed the identity of the young man. Although they more or less knew this person before, they could not help but sigh in their hearts when they found that he was so young.
Grand Secretary Wang's expression was very ugly.
In spring, the entire Chang 'an City was shocked by the appearance of the owner of the Flower-Blooming Calligraphy. Many high-ranking officials and nobles wanted to get close to this person in order to please the Emperor. Even Ning Que himself had sent a steward to invite this person to his mansion for a chat. However, no one expected that this person would turn a blind eye to all the invitations and continue to live peacefully in the shabby alley.
Usually, if a calligrapher showed this kind of attitude to the bigwigs of the empire, even if he was the second Master of Calligrapher, he would be instantly defeated until no one paid attention to him. However, this young calligrapher was quite favored by His Majesty and was also a student of the Second floor of the Academy. Even these high-ranking officials and nobles did not dare to do anything to him and could only let him be with love and hate.
As time passed, the Chang 'an prefectures found that this person treated everyone like this and had never attended the banquet of the He family. They thought that cultivators had many different interests and gradually did not care about it. When it was time to buy the calligraphy, he still did not show any mercy. However, who would have thought that today, this person actually … appeared at the banquet of the Old Chancellor!
The Tang officials inside and outside the courtyard were all extremely smart people. It only took a moment for them to roughly guess why this calligrapher made an exception. Wang Shichen sneered and turned to look at the Old Chancellor. He said sarcastically, "Congratulations on having a good granddaughter."
The hidden meaning in this sentence was actually a little vicious. But just like Grand Secretary Wang's previous verbal attack on the Old Chancellor, only the winner was qualified to be forgiven. The Old Chancellor smiled and mocked, "Who told your granddaughter to be unable to enter the Academy?"
This sentence was the biggest regret of Grand Secretary Wang in the past three years. His expression slightly changed and his fingers slightly trembled. He pointed at the Old Chancellor's face and angrily scolded, "You old man, don't be so proud!"
The Old Chancellor sighed and said, "As the first old man in Chang 'an to invite Sir Ning to his mansion, it is hard not to be proud."
Grand Secretary Wang looked back at Ning Que who had walked out of the threshold and said angrily, "Do you need to look at an old hen to drink chicken soup?"
The Old Chancellor smiled generously and shook his head with a sigh. "You are so out of control."
…
…
There was a heavy rain in midsummer the day before yesterday. Ning Que wrote an ink talisman on the snow-white paper and then said that sentence to Sangsang. Then he began to go to the banquets of each family. The master and the handmaiden checked and found that they had actually collected more than a dozen invitations and name cards in just a month or two.
He was very clear that the reason why these bigwigs in Chang 'an treated him so courteously was all for the sake of His Majesty. Previously, he treated everyone equally and did not go to any family. Of course, he was not afraid because he was at the back of the mountain of the Academy. But once he started to go to the banquets, he must pay attention to the order. Otherwise, if he offended some bigwigs in the imperial court because of etiquette, even the Academy could not help him.
Yesterday at the lakeside of the Academy, he seriously consulted Situ Yilan and finally decided to put the invitation to the Old Chancellor's Mansion as the first one. The reason was very simple. Since the Old Chancellor was a noble and civil official, it was natural for him to meet him as a junior disciple. More importantly, it was because Jin Wucai was his classmate. This kind of relationship could not be found anywhere in the world.
Of course, the dishes in the Old Chancellor's Mansion were much better than those in the imperial palace. But they were too bland, and the conversation was really not very interesting. Ning Que honestly and humbly answered the questions in accordance with the unchangeable truth that these bigwigs gave him face, which was that he had to return the face back to them. He behaved very well.
After the banquet, the Old Chancellor naturally asked people to bring up the brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and asked Ning Que to leave a letter.
After leaving the letter, Jin Wucai and Situ Yilan saw him out of the mansion together. The three chatted for a while, and then Ning Que knew that Xie Chengyun had returned to the South Jin Kingdom when he was busy understanding Talisman Taoism. Ning Que noticed that when Situ Yilan mentioned Xie Chengyun, Jin Wucai's expression was still calm, but her eyes were a little sad. He could not help but sigh.
Since they had started to attend the banquet, it was impossible for them to just stay in one family. The next day, according to the meal schedule arranged by Situ Yilan, he was supposed to visit the minister of the Ministry of Rites. However, because he met Grand Secretary Wang at the Old Chancellor's Mansion last night, he had no choice but to go to the Grand Secretary Wang's Mansion for dinner. Before Ning Que agreed with him at the table, he had clearly felt that if he did not agree with the white-haired Grand Secretary Wang, the latter would really send someone to Lin 47th Street to smash his shop.
The banquet in the Grand Secretary Wang's Mansion was more exaggerated than that in the Old Chancellor's Mansion. It was obvious that the old man did not treat Ning Que as an old hen who would simply feed him some rice. Instead, he invited all the capable officials of the six ministries and three academies to the mansion. If one counted carefully, he would find that more than half of the officials who were qualified to attend the court meeting were standing in the courtyard!
Looking at the dense crowd of officials in the courtyard and the various official uniforms, Ning Que was so shocked that he was completely speechless. He thought to himself, "What did this lad do? He was just a bad calligrapher. How could he deserve such a grand ceremony?"
However, Grand Secretary Wang thought that he deserved it. He even took Ning Que's hand and stood in front of the steps, making a very grand introduction.
For the Academy and the Headmaster, for the imperial palace and His Majesty, for the Southern Gate Temple and Yan Se, Grand Secretary Wang did not mind giving face. Of course, he also vaguely wanted to put on airs. On the one hand, he wanted to use these officials to announce to the whole empire that Ning Que had come for dinner. On the other hand, he wanted to use these officials to announce to Ning Que that he treated him more attentively than the old Old Chancellor. In the future, if Ning Que had any calligraphy, he should show it to me first. If His Majesty had any instructions, he should let me know first …
Before the banquet was over, Grand Secretary Wang took out the treasured Chicken Soup Calligraphy and asked the officials to appreciate it. Finally, he asked Ning Que to take out his private seal and solemnly stamp his own seal on the memo paper that had been repaired but was still wrinkled.
Ning Que lifted his finger slightly, and the seal left the surface of the Chicken Soup Calligraphy, leaving a dazzling bright red. There was jubilation in the Grand Secretary's Mansion. The officials cheered and applauded. The steward of the mansion was proud and moved, and the servants and servants whispered. Old Cang, who had followed the Grand Secretary all the way from his hometown to Chang 'an and had served the Grand Secretary for nearly seventy years, was moved to tears. He held his walking stick and looked at the brightly lit courtyard. He said in a trembling voice, "Old master, young master has finally won against the old Jin. The hatred of stealing his wife has finally been somewhat avenged …"
After doing this, Ning Que heaved a sigh of relief. He thought that this was probably the case. However, he did not expect that Grand Secretary Wang did not intend to let him leave. Instead, he ordered people to set up the writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, just like the Old Chancellor had done last night. Looking at the speed of the stewards setting up the brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, no one in the hall would believe that they did not carry out emergency overtime training.
Ning Que stared blankly at the ridiculously large Huangzhou sprout paper in front of him. He wanted to cry but had no tears. He thought to himself that the Old Chancellor had only taken an ordinary scroll last night. Did he … want him to write a Grand Central Hall? Isn't this a little too cruel?
After leaving the Grand Secretary's Mansion, he said to Sangsang sadly, "Don't ever attend such banquets again."
Sangsang asked confusedly, "Young master, you said a few days ago that if you want to achieve great things, you can't just rely on one skill. Although you are determined to cultivate, you also need to build a good relationship with the bigwigs in the secular world. Why do you say not to attend such banquets again now?"
"I'm still good at eating, chatting, praising the sage, and flattering people because I'm a thick-skinned person."
Ning Que shook his head and said with emotion, "However, I have to leave a piece of calligraphy after eating. Yesterday it was an ordinary scroll, and today it has become a Grand Central Hall. What should I write when the Marquess invites me to dinner tomorrow? Should I fill the white wall that the Marquess just painted with calligraphy? "
"These bigwigs are not inviting me to dinner. They are completely robbing me of my money!"
…
…
(I'm really happy when I write about Old Cang. In fact, I'm still tired from writing, and I'm not in good spirits. That's why I've stayed up until now. It's past midnight, and I don't have to send out individual chapters to solicit recommendation votes. I'm sincerely inviting you here. The recommendation votes on Monday are very important, and I hope everyone can support me. Please come to my appointment to solicit votes. We eat rice, but what flows out must be votes …) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to cast a recommendation vote or a monthly vote. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
