Chapter 5 Qingci
Mu Qi slept until dawn, then slowly got up and looked out the window. When the cockerel he kept at home crowed loudly until it shook the earth, he heaved a long sigh, ordered his personal servant to bring breakfast, and asked him again:
"How many Qingci poems do I have left?"
The servant replied honestly:
"I counted them one by one. There are only two discarded ones in the box. The rest have been used."
Mu Qi's face quickly turned ugly. The servant didn't dare to say anything more and quickly walked out of the room.
The so-called preparation of Qingci was another trick that the old Taoist priest came up with a few years ago. Perhaps Master Feixuan had been cultivating immortality for too long and felt lonely, so when he was not governing the country, he asked his ministers to "assist him in cultivation" and accompany him in leading the great way. Of course, ordinary mortals have rough roots and cannot reach the level of Master Feixuan, but they can always write some prayers to the gods in their spare time, reporting to the Emperor of Heaven his great merits, wisdom and benevolence, and help him to achieve enlightenment as soon as possible.
Therefore, starting from two years ago, officials above the fifth rank in the capital had to submit a eulogy in praise of the emperor every month for the Emperor to review. As for close ministers such as cabinet ministers, chancellors, and sons of nobles, the requirements were higher and the supervision was stricter. They had to submit a good eulogy every ten days, and the words had to be beautiful and of high quality.
The ministers and chancellors all emerged from the imperial examinations, so it is not a problem for them to compose a parallel prose of thousands of words; it only makes life difficult for the uneducated nobles and relatives of the emperor. Originally, they could have paid someone to ghostwrite for them, but the emperor was particularly serious about Qingci, so he sent people to investigate thoroughly and punished several ghostwriters for deceiving the emperor. So the young men from the noble families cried in despair, but they had no choice but to grit their teeth and carry on, racking their brains, and being driven to death by the scheduled deadline.
Qingci is a Taoist document used to worship gods, which requires certain rules of form, parallelism, and literary style; it is hundreds of times more difficult than Mu Qi's graduation thesis. If he hadn't used the system's cheats to get a backdoor and gotten a few Qingci every now and then to make up the numbers, he probably wouldn't have been able to even pass the novice mission.
But going through the back door also costs money. Thinking that he would be forced to bleed again, Mu Qi's face darkened again and he felt a dull pain in his heart.
When working in officialdom, it is not enough to just be able to write poems and lick the emperor's brows, one also has to take care of the relationships between superiors and subordinates. After breakfast, the prince ordered his trusted servant to go to the mansion to inquire about the topics selected by several ministers recently, so as to avoid the embarrassment of clashing with each other when submitting their manuscripts. Not long after, the servant reported back, looking very embarrassed:
"The housekeepers of the elders' houses have all replied, saying that the master has been feeling unwell these days and has been sick at home, and has not yet finished thinking of the manuscript."
Mu Qi was quite surprised: "Why are they all sick?"
The servant looked around and replied in a low voice:
"I heard that it happened after taking the golden elixir bestowed by the emperor..."
The elder's illness was quite secretive, but it could not be hidden from the ears of the Duke's Mansion. The personal servant found out everything clearly and learned that yesterday morning, Eunuch Li from the Imperial Household Department led people to bestow the elixir, and something went wrong in the afternoon when the elder was working. It was unknown whether it was because the elixir made by Master Fei Xuan was too powerful, or because the ministers were too old and had poor tolerance to heavy metals. Although the dosage taken by the ministers Xia, Xu, and Li was less than half of that taken by the minister Yan, they were caught in a cold wind when they went out to discuss matters, and the golden elixir immediately took effect. First, they became hot all over, and then they sweated profusely, and the heat was unbearable. The attendants urgently asked someone to bring them cold water to drink, but they did not expect that the cold and heat in their stomachs would attack each other, and the situation immediately became uncontrollable.
"According to several clerks, the elders took golden elixirs that were effective, called marrow cleansing, which cleans the marrow and removes the hair..."
Mu Qi didn't understand: "What?"
The servant gritted his teeth:
"It's just-it just escaped..."
Mu Qi:? ? ! ! !
What? !
"Escaped in public?" he asked in disbelief.
If it really became such a big deal, the whole capital would be in an uproar by now!
"That's not the case." The servant said hurriedly, "The ministers suddenly stopped talking in the middle of the meeting and hurriedly asked for toilet paper. They couldn't wait for the servants to carry the sedan chair and ran there. I heard that half of the officials in the cabinet were fumigated away on the spot..."
The most powerful thing has been said, and the servant no longer hides it. He himself had little education, and even the words "washing the marrow and removing the hair" were the original words taught by the clerks. Now that I think about it, I really don't know how to explain to the prince the embarrassing situation at that time in a tactful way. I can only explain it directly:
"Later, the assistant ministers who delivered the pants said that the stolen items didn't seem right..."
Mu Qi was stunned, with thousands of waves surging in his heart, which was truly beyond words. Sudden onset of gastrointestinal diarrhea is, of course, a typical symptom of acute heavy metal poisoning; but the medicine must be too strong if it gets to the point where even the things that come out are not right... According to historical records, an important official who served Lao Deng in refining the elixir once caused a tragedy in which "two bowls of blood were painfully discharged". Now it seems that the elixir is specialized in the lower three routes?
But how come Lao Deng has been taking the medicine for more than ten years and has never had a seizure? Could it be that Emperor Lao Deng really did come out?
Prince Mu was silent for a long time, then he let out a long sigh. Normally, I should have asked to see how the elder was doing since he was ill, but now that he is ill, I am afraid it is not appropriate to disturb him.
"...When you have time, go to his house and ask more." He said sadly, "I hope nothing serious has happened."
·
"Really?"
Yan Donglou, the young elder of Yan family, was stunned for a moment, then he was so overjoyed that he almost rolled over from the recliner. Even the burning pain in his chest was relieved a lot in an instant.
Compared to his son's frivolous and reckless behavior, Lord Yan himself was much more steady as he closed his eyes and listened carefully to the servant's explanation. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced at his son:
"What do you mean by 'la le'? When we are discussing serious matters, we should be careful about how we address each other. We should never say anything that is not conducive to unity..."
The young cabinet minister was reluctant and had to shrink back. Elder Yan said again:
"Then Xia, Xu, and Li, are you all okay?"
"I heard that Xia and Li both went to invite famous doctors, but they were quickly sent away." The family member whispered, "The door of the Xu Mansion is closed, so we can't see anything."
Elder Yan uttered an "oh", but couldn't help but reveal a meaningful smile:
"Xu Shaohu has lofty ambitions..."
It is common to seek medical treatment for acute gastrointestinal diseases. But when it comes to the golden elixir of Master Shang Feixuan, things become particularly delicate. There is absolutely no problem with your majesty's golden elixir, but after taking the elixir, the cabinet ministers became so sick that they had to be looked after by famous doctors. Is it because their constitutions are too weak to be able to receive your majesty's grace? How can an important official in charge of government affairs of the dynasty, who is so weak, handle confidential matters and assist in the practice of Taoism? It is inevitable that people below you will look down on you.
Perhaps it was because of this concern that Lord Xu gritted his teeth and did not alarm the doctor.
When he thought of this, Lord Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, and felt a little more fearful in his heart.
The young cabinet minister also understands this truth:
"Xia Yan is already in his seventies, he will retire sooner or later, and he doesn't care about this little reputation. But Li Jurong, who was born as the top scholar, is so willing to give in?" He snorted, "It seems that my father's opponent is only Xu Shaohu. Xu Shaohu is not even sixty years old, but he is just holding on with his physique. After all, he can't compare with my father!"
Hearing this, even though Yan Ge Lao was mature and prudent, he couldn't help but smile: although he was nearly seventy years old, he took two pills at once yesterday, and except for the hot and dry nose and bleeding, he was not seriously injured; compared with the ugly appearance of Xia Yan, Xu Shaohu and others, wasn't he a natural drug-testing saint?
What's this? This is what no one else has, this is what is unique. Such talents must of course be fully developed and actively strived for, so as to lay the foundation for victory in the cabinet's power struggle. Elder Yan thought for a moment and spoke slowly:
"Dongluo, the previous manuscripts cannot be used anymore. Go down and draft an outline for a Qingci, focusing on chanting the miraculous effect of the elixir, thanking His Majesty for the grace of giving the elixir, and using a few obscure allusions at the end to vaguely convey the meaning of asking His Majesty to give you more elixir... You must think carefully about this Qingci, and send it to me at dinner time."
When it comes to handling government affairs and dealing with superiors and subordinates, the important ministers in the cabinet are all experts, and he may not be able to defeat Xu Shaohu. But in terms of their determination to practice the profound arts and their sincerity in testing the medicines, who in the world can be a match for them, father and son?
Thinking of this, Yan Ge Lao and his son smiled at each other, and they both understood each other tacitly.
·
The grand secretaries probably stayed in the mansion for the entire afternoon and only opened the door to receive guests at dinner time. At 3:30 pm, the confidant sent to gather information brought back the topics for the Qing Ci. They were all common ideas, nothing surprising.
Mu Qi pondered over the title of the Qingci for a moment, waved away the servants, and opened the system panel.
The server of the Gobi system is as bad as ever. It takes more than half an hour to buffer after clicking on the homepage. Among all the accessories, probably only the function of communicating with friends is relatively stable. This function was originally designed by live broadcast websites for users who are performing tasks alone, so that they can communicate online and relieve loneliness; but soon someone discovered the business opportunity, such as exchanging information and sharing what they have in different eras.
Mu Qi opened the communication window. His only two friends were listed alone on it. The avatar of one of them was still gray, while the other account was beeping, indicating an average online time of five hours, breaking the record of the previous week.
Being able to spare so much time in between tasks to surf the Internet at any time, this person's life is really leisurely and relaxed.
Mu Qi let out a long breath, and a hint of jealousy flashed in his eyes.
To be honest, Mu Qi was exhausted both physically and mentally from struggling in this weird mission world. Of course, it was because he suffered a nervous breakdown from the torture by the old Taoist priest, but it was also mostly because of the stimulation from his companions. When he signed the contract under the instigation of the live broadcast website, he and the boy named Liu Li drew lots to choose the mission world. He chose this world that was highly recommended by the system, which seemed to be of noble origin and had a good start. Liu Li drew a gray lot - a century of chaos, with princes fighting for power and the world in turmoil. The dynasty that the time traveler ascended to the throne was weak and in danger of extinction. How to turn the tide depends on the protagonist's operation.
Such a tragic and terrifying mission, what else could it be but a tiankeng? When Liu Li took a glance at it, he almost cried out in public. Mu Qi repeatedly comforted him and promised that he would do his best to help. Their contact information was added at that time.
However, it was not until he actually started the mission that Mu Qi realized the real meaning of the bad fortune - the "one hundred years of chaos" and "warring states" were actually a parallel world developed based on the Three Kingdoms; and the extremely incompetent and precarious emperor that Liu Li traveled to actually had the big card of the middle-aged Prime Minister Zhuge Liang in his hand!
Looking at his own weird and human Lao Deng, and then looking at other people's fathers, Mu Qi's mentality collapsed instantly:
Oh my god, this is how you play with me, right?
During these years of time travel, he had witnessed with his own eyes a 180-degree turn in Liu Li's mentality; from the insane state at the beginning where he thought that the country was in danger and the world was falling apart and all nations were guilty, to his later transformation into a calm, elegant, tranquil and indifferent state, revealing from every pore his deep praise of "There is only one good father in the world".
Look at the updates this kid posts every day, such as [I was praised by my father-in-law again today, I’m so happy! ], [Urgent, does anyone know a recipe to treat sleep disorders and boost appetite? My husband-in-law has little food to eat and many other things to worry about. I am very worried! ], [Today I showed the new iron smelting and weaving technology to my father-in-law. He was very happy and praised me for the great progress. I am so unworthy of it~], [Have you seen my father-in-law? Don’t worry, my husband is not lost or in any way. I just want everyone to see how great my husband is! 】
Pooh! Can you send this kind of message every day? If this isn’t a daddy’s boy, then what is it? Disgusting, disgusting!
Mu Qi gritted his teeth and deliberately ignored the dynamic message: [Rereading "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital", tears welling up in eyes], and clicked on the dialog box.
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