Shanglin Night Snow

The setting sun shines in the west, under the small garden pavilion, autumn chrysanthemums surround the fence.

"So, this case has to be concluded here?" The old man stroked his beard, asking himself and seeming to answer, "Xu Yuan is usually cautious, and he is still afraid of guilt, but he didn't want to end up slipping under this willow, which is really ironic."

The flower-appreciators outside the pavilion didn't take it seriously: "Xu Yuanming's heart is for Huayue, but he is afraid that the smoke and dust will drag his name down, so he looks forward and backward, shrinks back, and keeps breaking, which is the only way to invite this disaster. Besides, Fan Qi and Lu Bian did it." People are brave and foolhardy, I really don't know what use he is waiting for!"

The old man disagreed: "People are not sages, how can they have no shortcomings? The sages don't criticize and find small faults. Your Majesty should not be too demanding, but you should choose your ability and learn from your strengths to make up for your weaknesses."

Mu Yunqi didn't answer the words, he just raised his sleeve and brushed the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers halfway down.

Seemingly unaware, the old man poured two cups of green tea: "Your Majesty, sit down and drink a cup of tea."

Mu Yunqi turned around, his eyes revealing anxiety.

"But when it comes to this matter, Xu Yuan really has his own fault." The old man smiled, and then echoed, "He didn't intend to accept Yinzhu's entry, but he still let him have delusions. In the end, love gave birth to hatred. The good words practiced by Pleasing Yuezhi can be used to frame others, which can be regarded as karma. Fortunately, Sun Duan is also an indecisive person, and he did not kill Tu Yinzhu, otherwise there will be no proof, and if he wants to find out the truth, he will Difficult."

Mu Yunqi sneered: "Sun Duan is known to be lustful. Tu Yinzhu is Hu Rui's own apprentice. She is both talented in color and art. Sun Duan spent a lot of effort to get it. How could he have the heart to silence her? Let's talk about it." Well, Xu Yuan should be a good student and thank Hu Rui, without her, this case will never be clarified."

The old man nodded: "This is a warning to us not to lose sight of the small things in everything, let alone be indecisive, otherwise we will suffer chaos!"

Mu Yunqi was thoughtful, and after a while, he walked slowly into the pavilion, still unwilling to say: "It's a pity that I spent so much energy, and finally only won a mere Sun Duan."

"The future will be long, Your Majesty, don't be impatient." The old man offered tea, "Although Sun Duan is insignificant in Shao's faction, he is like a beast's minion, if one is pulled out, one will be lost. It is always beneficial and has no disadvantages."

Mu Yunqi took the teacup, took a sip, and calmed down a little.

The old man stroked his beards: "Shao Chenye and others have been aware of the change in the direction of the wind after this time. Your Majesty must be more cautious in acting." How is he?"

Mu Yunqi's eyes suddenly brightened: "As you said, he can be of use to me! After the incident of Tu Yinzhu, Shao Dangshang tried his best to excuse Sun Duan, but Zhang Zhongyue was uncharacteristically advocating the reduction of the crime, which aroused the approval of many people in the court. So I pushed the boat along the way and demoted Sun Duan under the pretext of 'not strict family management'."

The old man nodded: "Next step, what does Your Majesty want to do?"

Mu Yunqi is full of ambition: "I am taking advantage of the wind to win over Zhang Zhongyue further and make him attach wholeheartedly. But," Qian Lu is confused: "Fame, wealth and beauty, I don't know what can move him, so I come to ask Qing Ask policy."

The old man thought about it: "Zhang Zhongyue is an extremely human minister, with great fame and fortune, there is no room for further advancement. As for beauty, we have to learn from the past. If we don't need it, we will do what we like. The only thing we can do is to be kind to his family. Putting down the teacup: "Your Majesty, do you know that Zhang Zhongyue's nephew is Zhang Jimin?"

Mu Yunqi's expression froze: "That Zhang Jimin who scolded me for being lewd and extravagant, negligent in government and laboring the people, and immoral?"

The old man nodded: "Exactly! His human nature is straightforward. At the beginning of his admission to the imperial examination, he went to criticize the current malpractices and angered Empress Shao. Although Zhang Zhongyue was hindered by Zhang Zhongyue's sympathy to keep his fame, he was far away from the border. When he returned to Beijing last year, he was only awarded the seventh rank Yuan Wai Lang." That's all for now, but he sipped his tea.

Mu Yunqi thought to himself for a moment, then smiled: "Although what Zhang Jimin said to me is crazy, but I praise his bravery and straightness, and I will promote him, what do you think?"

The man smiled slightly: "Your Majesty is magnanimous, and I agree with you."

Mu Yunqi took a sip of tea, and turned the subject: "Speaking of which, I think that although Zhang Zhongyue has been wooed this time, I should also appease the Shao Party faction in an appropriate amount. I heard that Shao Chenye is still brooding over the abolition of Concubine Jing. , so why not take Concubine Jing back to the palace this time.”

The old man frowned: "Concubine Jing is mentally deficient after all, and the palace is not a place to take care of her. If she gets sick in the future, it will be difficult for His Majesty to send her out."

Mu Yunqi nodded: "I know this too. Firstly, this is the best policy to appease the Shao family. Secondly, Concubine Jing is also a poor person. At the beginning, Empress Shao knew that she was ill, but she insisted on doing her own thing. And I encouraged her to run into me again and again. At that time, I was very angry and rushed to say the words of abolishing the empress. Instead of dissuading her, Empress Shao was happy to promote it. Now that I think about it, I know that this move is to separate me from the Shao family. Concubine Jing is innocently affected, it's really pitiful, so I want to take this opportunity to let her leave Yuqing Temple and return to the palace, and let her be cured by the imperial doctor for a while, so that she can take care of herself, if it doesn't work, then wait for the matter to be determined here, and order her to live in Yaohua The palace, the place is clean, but it is not as cold and silent as the Taoist temple, where the basic necessities of life are all in the same palace, so I will forget about this matter.”

Seeing that he is swearing, and this is indeed a policy, the old man will not say more.

Drink another cup of tea.

Mu Yunqi got up: "I have to go, stop by to see how the compilation of the new issue of the tabloid is going." Turning around and looking back under the fence, he suddenly became envious: "These chrysanthemums in Qing's house are rare, can you send them to me?" pot?"

The old man was in a dilemma: "Your Majesty likes it, and I am willing to offer it to you. Can I just wait for two days? Therefore, the flowers have been cultivated for several years, and they are blooming for the first time this year. I have invited three or five old friends to drink and enjoy the flowers tomorrow. OK."

Mu Yun prayed for understanding, and raised his eyebrows: "Admiring the flowers? I think it's gambling on flowers?"

The old man sneered, but he didn't deny it: "The old minister has a lot of free time nowadays, and he always wants to find something to pass, so I occasionally get interested in it."

It's a pity that Mu Yunqi didn't try to be more sympathetic to this conscientious veteran who shared his worries: "However, I heard that when Qing was sitting in the middle school, he still didn't forget to take a break from the busy schedule, and he had to bet with his colleagues during the tea break. In a game, regardless of insect and bird chess, it can only be divided into winners and losers! Not to mention, when I was out of Xingzhou, when Yidi came to harass, soldiers approached the city, and the commander ordered the troops. If the command is determined, the battle is even more important. Playing chess with Jin Sui, for a whole day and night, Yi and Di retreated without a fight, while Qing won three hundred guan, and went down the tower to enjoy himself. I don’t know, is it true?”

The old man blushed: "How can you trust the rumors in the market?" His eyes were full of anger: "For a whole day and night, how could there be only three hundred strings?" He stretched out his hand and gestured: "This minister remembers clearly , but 410 six strings and eighty characters!"

Mu Yun asked with a smile: "So, is there something wrong?"

The old man waved his hand, and his words were vague: "The sage said, don't look for small flaws..." After a pause, he straightened up: "Let's say that my minister is good and never misses things, so it should not be considered a flaw?"

Mu Yun prayed and nodded seriously: "It's not counted!" His eyes settled on the eye-catching green chrysanthemum under the fence, and he looked serious again: "You think, what are the odds of us winning this bet?"

The old man made two hand gestures: "Sixty to seventy percent. We've done all the tricks and made arrangements as best we can. The rest depends on God's will."

It was dark, and Mu Yunqi arrived in front of Guo's house.Hearing that he was coming, Guo Kai went out to meet him himself.When he went inside, Mu Yun prayed that he didn't see Xun Miao, and asked casually, but he saw a bitter expression on his face.

It turned out that Mrs. He heard that Xun Miao had to stay at home for a period of time, and knew that he was a scholar full of knowledge, so she suddenly fell in love with her and placed her in the wing room of the north courtyard where Guo Kai lived.The kindness is hard to give up, although the two of them are embarrassing, they have to accept it, living next to each other like this, seeing each other every day, the eldest lady still thinks it is not enough, and often prepares banquets for the two to eat at the same table, this kind of suffering , Yu Guokai couldn't bear it, because he was eager to fulfill his promise, and he had a few girls with him in half a month, but unfortunately they didn't agree with him, and the good thing didn't work out, but he aroused hatred: he thought he was perfunctory, and that person had been pedantic for a while, and it had been many days Refuse customers behind closed doors!

In the words, Guo Kai had led Mu Yunqi into the backyard, but he saw that the door of the man's house was closed tightly, but the light was on inside.Guo Kai knocked on the door several times but heard no answer. After a long while, he heard a sound from the window, and something seemed to fly out and fall to the ground.Guo Kai took it for granted, went to pick it up, and Mu Yunqi realized that it was Zhang Jiao's crumpled paper.

Back under the lamp and unfolded, there was actually a painting: two monkeys, the fat monkey was full of fat, the skinny monkey was as thin as a stick, with a pile of crooked or cracked melons in between, the skinny monkey was carrying a basket, dejected, and the fat monkey stood in front of him with one hand. Pointing, mouth open and eyes wide open, three words floated in his mind: melons are good!

Seeing that Mu Yunqi was puzzled, Guo Kai said in embarrassment, "This means that I broke my own words and forced some remnants of flowers and willows to him."

Mu Yunqi suddenly realized: "I understand, the fat monkey standing on the stone is condescending, and it means you boss him around!"

"It would be great if it was a stone." Guo Kai smiled wryly, "Where are there so many flies on the stone..."

Mu Yunqi was puzzled: "That's..."

"Cow dung..." the man whispered.

Mu Yunqi was stunned, and suddenly became indignant: "A literati, a well-learned person, really feels angry, and he doesn't want to discuss it face to face, but he might as well use poetry to express his heart. Doesn't it mean that you lose your tolerance when you speak insulting words?"

"Poetry..." Guo Kai held his forehead, "He wrote it backwards. In the first two days, lotus, chrysanthemum, osmanthus, and willows chanted all the remaining flowers in turn, but I didn't respond. On the third day, I changed my painting. The first one is Donkeys chewing on poems..."

Mu Yunqi stared blankly for a long time, and finally revealed his shame: "It seems that I ordered you to take him in, but it was taken lightly..." Since this is the case, the person who tied the bell has to be untied: "Let me go and persuade him."

When the emperor arrived, Xun Miao was respectful and answered Mu Yunqi's questions about tabloids one by one. He had unique ideas and articulate words. It seemed that he could hardly be confused with the sour scholar who made acid poems and satires behind closed doors!This also made Mu Yunqi feel a little more at ease. After talking about the tabloid, he turned to comfort him. Due to the favor of the emperor, the man restrained himself for a while. After listening to the hadith, he readily admitted that he wrote poems and painted pictures to mock Guo Kai. , but when it comes to the reason, he is not angry.

"Your Majesty doesn't know, General Guo is really eager to match me because he dislikes me and doesn't want me to stay here for a long time. Half a month ago, he said to get married with three daughters, but they all..." Frowning: "It's hard to say! That daughter of the Xu family, young I have been waiting in the boudoir for twenty years, because of the name of Kefu! The young daughter of the Ke family is originally talented and beautiful, but she is weak and weak, and has been sick for many years. She is not a person who has a long life. Wife? As for the third daughter, she is physically strong, but Kong Wu is still better than a man!" The fire in his eyes flashed up, but he sneered: "If you say that she has a thick mustache, you can know that a woman is not inferior to a man. It is well-founded!"

Mu Yunqi didn't want him to hide such grievances in his heart, so he was speechless for a while, after thinking for a while, he could only say: "Guo Xie is straightforward, but he is not as weak as you think, but he just doesn't understand what you mean, why don't you tell me what you just said?" If you spit out what you said, or can you explain it?"

The man pondered for a moment, doubtful: "Your Majesty, do you really think that Guo Xie is not weak?..." However, after that night, what he said and did seemed to be a burden to him, and he only wanted to Want to get rid of it?As soon as I thought of this, I was shocked: This is not what he should care about? ...