Chapter 260: Parrot's Gift
From Tian Feng's perspective, Guo Jia was only holding three or two rolls of paper in his hands at this time. He did not seem to be here to handle official business, but more like he came to Hongwenguan to chat with Xun Yu. After all, it would be more difficult to find Xun Yu when he was working in the Shangshutai than in the Hongwenguan.
But his casual words "your son" almost scared Tian Feng crazy.
son? Whose son?
How dare he treat Lord Ming’s son as his own son!
But his moment of shock apparently made Guo Jia mistakenly think that he had guessed correctly.
"You are being disrespectful," Guo Jia shook his head and said, "I heard you say before that you worked hard after coming to Bingzhou, just to let your family live a good life. It should not be difficult for you to do this with your current monthly salary."
Tian Feng had already constructed his family background countless times in his mind, so even though he was worried that Yuan Xi would be recognized, he subconsciously said, "Chang'an is the imperial capital after all, and there have been many people pouring in recently. If the cost of living increases, it will still be a bit difficult. Even the place I live now is because of the Hongwen Academy. I have already been taken care of by you, so why should I bother others more?"
As he was talking, he was thinking about how to get Yuan Xi out of this situation. Then he heard Guo Jia reply, "You are wrong. Your Excellency actually hopes that we can let her take care of us a little more, so that we can be more carefree and dedicated when we work for her."
"This kind of mutual support, where the upper level pays and the lower level contributes, is also a healthy development, don't you think, Master Yuan?"
When Yuan Xi heard people address him, most of the time he was either called Second Young Master Yuan, Young Master Yuan, or Second Young Master. So when he heard Guo Jia suddenly ask him a question, he didn't realize the difference between "Yuan" and "Yuan" and instinctively replied, "That's right."
Guo Jia clapped his hands and smiled: "See, your son has the same idea as you."
Tian Feng: ...
This sudden and final conclusion might have exposed him directly if it had happened when he had just arrived here as an undercover spy.
Fortunately, he had been tempered by these promotions and was able to remain calm at this moment.
In that split second, he also clearly realized that if he denied Yuan Xi's identity at this moment and made any move to change his words, his identity would be exposed to Guo Jia.
It would be better to continue with this statement.
He silently apologized to Yuan Shao in his heart, and tried to adapt to the fact that he had another son. Then he replied to Guo Jia: "That being said, they are still not used to Chang'an... Even I am still learning from my teacher, so..."
So it makes sense not to bring the family members over.
But he soon saw Guo Jia's eyes set on Yuan Xi, looking at the clothes on Yuan Xi.
Tian Feng felt a sense of nervousness in his heart.
After seeing that the clothes Yuan Xi wore were not expensive and that Yuan Xi's appearance was not as obvious as that of Yuan Shao's other two sons, he calmed down a little.
But the next moment he saw Guo Jia narrow his eyes, tightening his originally relaxed mood, "I don't think so?"
Tian Feng's heart was in his throat, fearing that he would hear Guo Jia say something like "there is something wrong with you".
He even felt that if Guo Jia had not spoken in a relatively low voice, the people talking around him might have noticed what was happening here.
Guo Jia seemed to be completely unaware of Tian Feng's tense attitude, and whispered in a playful tone: "I understand you, aren't you just afraid that your son will also be lured here to work? If the father and son are placed in similar positions, it would be embarrassing if the son is promoted faster than the father."
Tian Feng listened to Guo Jia's words in amazement, finding it difficult to understand how he came to this conclusion.
Guo Jia, however, seemed to feel that the logic was self-consistent, and continued: "Look, isn't this the case with Jia Wenhe? At that time, he and his eldest son Jia Mu were both acting assistants under the command of the prince. Compared to Jia Wenhe, his son's position was even more important. This is why, not long after he was abducted to Chang'an by Yan Yanming, he turned to the command of the old villain Dong Zhuo because of his accumulated dissatisfaction with the treatment, and even gave him advice."
"Zi Gu, you can't do this."
When Tian Feng became Chen Ji's apprentice as Yuanfeng, he was given a courtesy name by Chen Ji. Although he was still a little uncomfortable with this courtesy name, at least he would not be in a situation where he would not respond when someone called him.
Guo Jia continued, "If you ask me, it's better to look at the situation of your teacher and Changwen. The father worked hard to get promoted and set an example for his son to strive for. There is no way he would be surpassed by the younger generation. Instead, there is a good story of two generations building Chang'an together. There is no need to be shy about it."
Tian Feng really wanted to argue that he had not thought so much about it at all. He had not even thought that he had replaced Ming Gong as Yuan Xi's "father".
But this time Guo Jia did not give him a chance to refute, and continued: "Look at our Bingzhou Pingbei Zhonglang Jiang, his daughter is still studying in Leping Academy, she has already made bold statements, and she must compete with her father in military exploits. This is the way to inspire the younger generation."
"Or...Wen Ruo and Gong Da should also be considered two generations?"
"Guo Fengxiao." Xun Yu's voice sounded from behind him, causing Guo Jia to quickly turn around and bow. "It was just a joke, Wen Ruo, please don't take it seriously. I was just advising Zi Gu on how to motivate the younger generation."
Guo Jia turned back to look at Tian Feng again: "Last time, you were too shy to do the thing of publishing the news in the newspaper, but I pushed it. I have always wanted to apologize to you. Now that your son has come to Chang'an and I happened to meet him, why not do this apology and welcome him at the same time, what do you think?"
Tian Feng didn't think it was very good.
You should know that the huge grain loan that Yuan Shao owed at that time was signed by Guo Jia who went to Yuan Shao's camp.
Even though Qiao Yan did not explicitly say who was behind this explosively growing interest rate regulation, Tian Feng felt that it was Guo Jia's doing.
This made him extremely wary of Guo Jia.
Even though the young man said nonchalantly that the alcohol restriction had not been issued yet, and even if his drinking restrictions had not been lifted, he would have to take this legitimate reason to secretly drink a few sips, it still did not reduce Tian Feng's vigilance much.
But at this moment he had no suitable reason to refuse, so he could only be dragged away by Guo Jia.
What made him particularly alert was that Guo Jia seemed to be following his previous logic. Halfway through the welcoming banquet, he mentioned that he wanted to take Yuan Xi for a walk around Chang'an City.
"The wine party is coming soon. Not to mention how many famous people are coming, all departments in Chang'an are busy. It's a good opportunity for your son to see where he is suitable for work."
Seeing the resistance on Tian Feng's face, Guo Jia smiled and said, "I know it's not easy to change your mind, but it's good to just broaden your horizons here. When you go back, you can talk to others about it, so it won't be a wasted trip to Chang'an."
After being kidnapped by Guo Jia, when Yuan Xi and Tian Feng arrived at their destination, they looked at each other in confusion for a long time.
"Mr. Yuan Hao, now..."
What should I do now?
Yuan Xi had never expected that he would face such a difficult situation just as he emerged from darkness into light in the city of Chang'an.
When Tian Feng asked why he was the one who came to Chang'an, he did not dare to tell Tian Feng. This was because his father was wary of his subordinates, and was also wary of the strength of Chang'an. He was worried that others who came to take charge of this "important task" would also be instigated to rebel. He only said that Yuan Shao was really worried about Tian Feng's safety.
Hearing this, Tian Feng sighed heavily.
He really shouldn't have felt any resentment towards Yuan Shao for his slow response.
Even more so, he should not have felt any sympathy for Qiao Yan when she broke with the Qiao family of Yanzhou and stated in front of Liu Yan that she wanted to set up her own family.
"Let's take it one step at a time. I will get you out of Chang'an as soon as possible."
Tian Feng's main range of activities does not overlap much with Guo Jia's, which will inevitably make the relationship between Yuan Xi and Guo Jia an area that is difficult for him to intervene in.
A shrewd man like Guo Jia, who could be the second-in-command in Qiao Yan's Grand Marshal's Mansion in both name and reality, was definitely not someone Yuan Xi could handle.
If Guo Jia could trick us into revealing anything, all our efforts would be wasted.
To this end, Tian Feng built up Yuan Xi's complete life framework bit by bit around the pseudonym "Yuan Xi" he gave him, and watched him complete the recitation at night.
Yuan Xi felt dizzy after hearing this, but he also knew that this was indeed the most appropriate way to deal with the situation at the moment. He tried his best to blur the behavior habits of the second son of the Yuan family and make full preparations for the fight with Guo Jia the next day.
But what he didn't expect was that Guo Jia sent someone to bring news the next day, saying that the tour he had originally planned for today would be postponed for two days.
The prince has an important matter to entrust to him, so he needs to leave Chang'an for two days.
Yuan Xi's original state of being unable to eat suddenly changed when he thought that he could fight Guo Jia later.
"Is this the essence of the cat catching mouse game?" Qiao Yan was almost amused by Guo Jia's tightening and loosening technique.
She herself was an expert at psychological warfare, but her advisers were no less capable.
When Qiao Yan's focus was on bargaining for interests with various families, it was really stress-relieving for someone to perform such a good show for her.
Guo Jia sat opposite her. Seeing that Qiao Yan did not hold him responsible for secretly lifting the ban during the welcoming party, he sipped his tea comfortably. "In a couple of days, I will take the second young master Yuan to places like rivers and canals to lower his guard. I will also let him know the war situation in Yuzhou."
Yuan Xi and Ju Shou and others set out from Yecheng together. Ju Shou, Gao Shun and others launched a surprise attack on Runan very quickly, and it has not been long since then, so it was an unknown thing for Yuan Xi.
His father regained the initiative in the battle against Yuan Shu, which must have calmed Yuan Xi's panic.
If I don't do this, how can I make him jump into the pit safely?
Guo Jia felt regretful. He thought that he had left too deep an impression on Yuan last time. Otherwise, he could have avoided some trouble.
However, Yuan Xi obviously could not appreciate Guo Jia's good intentions in this restraint and release. He just felt that it was the best situation that could give him more time to familiarize himself with his new background.
When he received the invitation from Guo Jia two days later, he was able to directly immerse himself in the role of "Yuan Xi".
Even though Guo Jia asked him right away if he should have a brother named Yuandong since his name was Yuanxi, this naming method was really simple and crude, and he didn't show any strange expression, just said: "Maybe it's because father also knows that there will be a day when he will come from Jizhou West."
Guo Jia smiled and said, "You are better at talking than Zi Gu."
Before taking Yuan Xi out of the city to walk around the area, Guo Jia first took him to Chang'an Road.
He walked around the posted work again with his hands in his pockets, like an old man who came to the bulletin board to read the daily news.
However, when Guo Jia took a look at it, he actually saw a new work.
"You are so peaceful..."
Since Ni Heng said he wanted to compete with Wang Can, he actually completed his work.
He told Yang Xiu that he did not want to use the theory of communicating with spirits to write, and he indeed used the method of borrowing objects.
He wrote about the communication between a parrot from a foreign country and the local gray sparrow in Chang'an, and named it "Ode to the Parrot". 1
The parrots from foreign countries have "natural and extraordinary postures, bodies made of the exquisite qualities of gold, and the bright radiance of fire". They are also beautiful with "blue toes, red beak, green clothes and emerald collars, beautiful faces, and sweet voices". When they see the Chang'an gray sparrow perching on the roof, they feel it is rustic. 2
But the gray sparrows in Chang'an said that the parrot was only "looking up and down along the cage bars and peeking through the windows", so had it ever seen the scenery of Chang'an from a high place?
The gray tit is different, it has seen it.
In Ni Heng's writing, the Chang'an gray bird refers to the new road in Chang'an, or the people of Chang'an.
As for who that foreign parrot is, that depends on one's own opinion.
Guo Jia found it quite interesting.
Although Ni Heng had some complaints about Qiao Yan, he fairly described the magnificent scenery of Chang'an in his writing. Finally, he expressed his praise with the sentence "The river has dried up, the dawn has not yet risen, but I can still wander around." At least he was not stupid enough.
At most, he used a relatively plain and simple creature like the gray sparrow to refer to Chang'an, which was still very different from Wang Can's "goddess".
However, compared with the ugly but practical gray bird, his remark about the parrot's situation, "relying on past favors", is probably more offensive and worthy of his old habit of sharp words.
People who read this article will inevitably wonder, when the parrot said this, was it referring to those officials in Yecheng who could not understand their situation, or to the children of high-ranking families who were proud of their status?
Unfortunately, since Ni Heng was speaking through objects, he naturally did not state it explicitly.
Just let people guess for now.
But from Guo Jia's point of view, many people would probably be hit by his indirect criticism.
Not to mention others, Guo Jia turned around and saw Yuan Xi, who was traveling with him, looking at the Parrot Poem with a complicated expression.
After all, Yuan Xi was right on both of the most obvious guesses.
His experiences in Chang'an over the past few days naturally brought him into the parrot's perspective.
When he read the sentence "Looking at the broken six wings, even if it tried to fly, it would be of no use", he couldn't help feeling sad and confused. 3
It was not until Guo Jia coughed lightly that he came to his senses and realized that he should not have behaved like this.
Guo Jia looked at him for a long time, which made Yuan Xi feel frightened. Then he said, "You can recognize characters? Then you are a genius like your father!"
Ni Heng is not Wang Can. He likes to use uncommon characters when writing fu!
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