(Actually, this chapter is only one of the three chapters I originally planned to write. The other two chapters are about the movements in Liao Province and the Battle of Liuzhou. However, I definitely can't finish it today. I'm only halfway through the second chapter. In order to keep updating, I have to upload it first.)
In the Western Capital of the Southern Dynasty, there was a mansion of a wealthy family whose threshold was so high that a child had to climb over it. The gate was as busy as a marketplace, and carriages and horses were like dragons.
The guests were all here to congratulate the old master of this house for becoming a centenarian. In the entire Western Capital, there were only a few people who had lived to this age, and there was no one else who had such a good reputation as the old master. Even the big shots in the Western Capital who had lived to the age of seventy didn't know the real name of this centenarian. They all called him Old Wang, and the younger ones could only call him Old Master Wang. The Wang Family was one of the big families of the Southern Dynasty. Although the descendants of the Wang Family who were two generations younger than Old Master Wang didn't amount to much, and they only had one assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites and two military town captains, and two of them were dead now, but fortunately, Old Master Wang's great-grandson was very capable. He climbed all the way from the bottom of the Beimang army and became one of the four Jinjo of the King's tent with real military achievements. Now that he married a noble from Longguan, the entire family's trend could be said to be thriving day by day.
Today's birthday celebration wasn't harmonious from the beginning to the end. As the local tyrant of Beimang's Southern Dynasty, the Longguan noble family's internal affairs were complicated. There were marriages and feuds. Some people didn't get along with the Wang Family, a big family from the Jia Family who became in-laws with the Wang Family. Today was Old Master Wang's 100th birthday, and he was also implicated. Someone openly sent a piece of calligraphy that only had the four words "Live a long life".
Even the guests who came to visit couldn't stand this kind of unscrupulous slap in the face. However, Old Master Wang actually took the calligraphy with a smile and didn't forget to ask the housekeeper to give the servant who sent the calligraphy a piece of silver for the celebration.
After all, Old Master Wang was a centenarian and couldn't entertain guests for too long. After greeting some important ministers and family friends of the Western Capital, he handed the task to his nephew who had been the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites for sixteen years to entertain the guests. The old man returned to the quiet courtyard to rest. The courtyard wasn't small, and there were dozens of extremely rare plum trees. Old Master Wang called himself Wild Plum Forest Elder.
In this noisy dusk, Old Master Wang asked the servants in the courtyard to move a rattan chair under the plum tree. With the careful support of a pretty maid, he lay down on the chair that was cushioned with a soft Sichuan brocade.
The maid didn't dare to leave. She sat on a small bench according to the old rules. She respected this unimaginably good-tempered old man very much. Since she entered the courtyard as a maid, she had never seen Old Master Wang angry. She clearly remembered that when she first came to the courtyard, one day she was sitting in the inner room and watching Old Master Wang take an afternoon nap. Someone outside the room accidentally broke a teacup, and the old man, who was a light sleeper, immediately woke up. She was scared to death. She didn't expect Old Master Wang to just smile and wave his hand at her after waking up, indicating that she should pretend that she didn't know anything. Later, she heard that someone in the courtyard had neglected their duty in the early years. One winter, several plum trees froze to death in the plum forest. The entire Wang family was furious and wanted to use the family law. One hundred lashes, and the person's life was naturally gone. It was Old Master Wang who spoke. He said that there were many valuable things in the world, but there was nothing more valuable than a person's life. If the trees were gone, then they were gone. It didn't matter. In any case, he wouldn't be able to see the new plum trees turn old in this lifetime. It was good to see the withered plum trees.
The old man lay quietly on the chair and looked at the plum trees that were not luxuriant. He slowly said, "Little girl Chaimi, summer is almost over. In my hometown, there is a period of time called the plum rain season. Because when it rains, it is when the plum trees in Jiangnan are yellow and yellow, so it is called plum rain. It is a very nice way of saying it, isn't it? If you aren't a scholar, you won't be able to think of such a name. When I was young, I often recited some proverbs that I heard from my elders. I didn't understand the reason, but it was easy to say. 'When the peach blossom water is exhausted, it must be the yellow plum tree in drought', 'When the rain hits the yellow plum tree's head, there will be no sun for forty-five days'. Now that I recite it, I feel that it is easy to say. "
The maid asked curiously in a soft voice, "Old Master, why do you like plum trees so much?"
The old man, who was too lazy to chat with others, took a deep breath and said with a smile, "In my hometown, there are all kinds of things to pay attention to. Some are interesting, some are boring. Not only are people divided into different classes, even the flowers are no exception. For example, crazy catkins, frivolous peach blossoms … and this plum blossom's strength of character."
The maid, who had been poor since childhood and was not very literate, whispered, "Strength of character?"
Old Master Wang smiled and said, "When a scholar writes poetry, his words are correct and he is in high spirits. That is why he is known as having strength of character. Then the strength of character of a scholar is probably what Sage Zhang of the Confucian School said, 'If you are poor, you should take care of yourself; if you are rich, you should help the world.' This is very difficult. I just want to do it well, but I can't. However, there is one thing that I can do better than many people. Some people don't have a backbone, so they can't bear to see others have strength of character. Not only do they not feel ashamed of their inferiority, but they also spit and even make trouble for others. As for me, at the very least, I still have the mind to emulate others. "
The little maid scratched her head quietly. She was in a daze and didn't quite understand.
Probably tired from talking, the old man began to close his eyes and rest.
At this moment, the sound of footsteps came from the courtyard. The maidservant hurriedly turned her head to look and was stunned. Not only was Master Wang, who had been the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites but had never been able to become the head of the Wang family, but when he entered the courtyard, he had been smiling slightly with his back bent. He was half a step behind the two unfamiliar men. When the maidservant raised her eyes to look, she couldn't move her eyes away. This was because the youngest girl among the three was simply too beautiful. When the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, Wang Xuanling, approached the rattan chair, he slightly quickened his pace and whispered to the old man who seemed to be asleep, "The Crown Prince is here."
The old man opened his eyes and was just about to get up with the help of Wang Xuanling and the maid, Chai Mi, when the tall man in the prime of his life hurriedly said with a smile, "Old Master Wang, you don't have to be so polite. Just lie down. Yelu Hongcai came empty-handed this time. He was in the wrong and rude. It is fortunate that Old Master doesn't blame him."
Although the trembling assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites had already received a signal from the Crown Prince of Beimang, he still couldn't dissuade the old man's insistence. After the latter stood up, he very laboriously but respectfully bowed. The Crown Prince, who was secretly visiting the Wang family mansion, said helplessly, "Old Master, you are making Yelu Hongcai feel ashamed. Sit, quickly sit."
The old man tried his best to sit upright on the rattan chair. Wang Xuanling and the maid in the small courtyard each brought over a yellow rosewood chair. When the assistant minister saw that the beautiful woman actually sat down almost at the same time as the Crown Prince, his eyelids suddenly twitched.
The Crown Prince of Beimang, who had rushed back to the West Capital from the battlefield of Hutou City, said pleasantly, "Old Master, you are famous for your essays. You are a pure gentleman that even His Majesty praises endlessly. This time, I suddenly heard that it was your 100th birthday and hurried over. At the moment, I couldn't come up with a suitable birthday gift, so I had to come empty-handed. I will definitely make up for it later. I hope Old Master will be magnanimous enough to forgive me."
The old man laughed heartily and said, "This Old Man is honored by Your Highness, honored by This Old Man."
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