Chapter 136 'Calling a Deer a Horse'
Li Nuo admitted that he underestimated his wife.
I thought she was an uneducated, simple-minded naive person.
But she is not stupid at all when it comes to some things.
After going through the process of attacking and defending and changing his form again and again, he had no choice but to sit down and paint.
It wasn't a bad thing that her paintings were stolen.
When drawing for the second time, Li Nuo was not only able to correct some of the poor aspects of his previous drawing, but also add some details.
Paintings in the past were never paired with poems.
He added poems to each of these paintings.
The beauty hides the present and the past, and the lotus is ashamed of its jade-like face.
The beauty met for a thousand years.
The lotus emerges from clear water, naturally without any embellishment.
A glance at the crowd makes the world look like dust.
As graceful as a startled swan, as graceful as a swimming dragon...
…
Li Nuo did not write the whole poem, because even if he had written it, his wife would not have understood it.
It’s better to write something she can understand.
In the next few days, she did not mention the matter of "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix" again.
And every time she went out, she would arrange for a maid to watch over the courtyard to prevent the previous two incidents from happening again.
There were two thefts in succession at the mansion, so the Song Mansion also increased its security force.
In fact, a big family like this, located near the imperial city, does not need to hire powerful guards.
The original guards of the Song Mansion were fully capable of dealing with warriors of the fourth realm head-on, but they could not prevent the latter from sneaking in and stealing.
There are many thieves who can do this.
For the following period of time, there were no more thefts in the Song Mansion.
Apart from occasionally visiting the Ministry of Justice and taking a walk with his wife, Li Nuo stayed at home most of the time, and the end of the month came in the blink of an eye.
Li Nuo had a very ordinary life in the past half month.
However, the major brothels, music halls, and dance halls in Chang'an experienced considerable turmoil and underwent a major reshuffle in just half a month.
Every year during the Oiran Contest, Chang'an's top entertainment venues undergo a reshuffle.
Yuyin Pavilion has been gaining popularity over the past half month. Even though the most famous Phoenix girl did not participate in the selection, there were still two girls selected as among the top twenty courtesans.
There are countless brothels throughout Chang'an, but only twenty courtesans are selected every year.
These courtesans must be women of both talent and beauty, under the age of 25, and must be prostitutes.
At the beginning of the selection process, talented people must first create momentum by writing poems tailor-made for them.
After passing the preliminary selection, there will be a talent show.
An oiran must not only be beautiful and have a good figure, but also be proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and must be proficient in at least one of them.
These conditions may seem harsh, but those who can become the mainstays of brothels and music halls have all learned female talents since childhood, and there are a lot of people who meet these conditions.
In this case, whether or not one can be selected as one of the top 20 courtesans depends more on hype and luck.
The son of the Dali Temple Minister personally wrote ten poems tailored for the girls of Yuyin Pavilion, and each of them was a masterpiece of romantic poetry, surpassing all the so-called talented people in Chang'an.
An article titled "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix" made the head of Yuyin Pavilion famous in Chang'an.
This fu is certainly well-written, but Miss Fenghuang herself is indeed worthy of this famous article.
The poems written by other women are mostly erotic and vulgar, and are not even worthy of being presented on the public.
However, this article "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix" is also highly praised in the literary circle.
If we regard it as a general love poem, the fu is elegant and graceful, profound in meaning, and enough to give people a high aesthetic enjoyment.
If we analyze it in depth, this fu can also be seen as a work of expressing one's feelings. It seems to be a longing for a beautiful woman, but in fact it is a longing for a wise ruler, which resonated with many knowledgeable people.
Different people see different things from this fu.
This is the subtlety of this article "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix".
Although the author of the fu did not admit it, everyone knows that it was written by Li Nuo, the son of the Dali Temple Minister, to Fenghuang, the master of Yuyin Pavilion.
A good father will have a good son. Li Xuanjing won the top spot in six subjects in his lifetime. His son also has such talent, surpassing his father.
Of course, it is even more shocking that he had the audacity to criticize His Majesty.
Engaging in literary terror is also one of Li Xuanjing’s major crimes.
Over the years, Mingjingsi has invited many court officials to have tea for this reason.
After drinking this, he never came out again.
The current court officials are very cautious and dare not publish any poems or articles publicly.
But this time it's his son's turn. I wonder how Lord Li will deal with it?
Today is the end of October, and also the last day of Prince Rui’s regent.
At the court meeting, the two groups argued fiercely.
Lantian Hou held a letter in his hand and said in a sarcastic tone: "The phoenix is flying high, and the four seas are seeking the phoenix. Unfortunately, the beauty is not behind the east wall... On the surface, he is talking about the beauty, but in fact, he is alluding to Your Majesty. This person is really bold, and he must be investigated strictly!"
An imperial censor stood up and said righteously, "Innuendo, does your majesty need innuendo? As the ruler of a country, you have not attended court for ten years and have been pursuing that ridiculous immortality all day long. Your majesty can do it, but others can't say it."
"How dare you criticize His Majesty!"
"So what if I am criticized? If killing me can alert Your Majesty, I will never regret it!"
…
Although the two had different opinions, they had the same understanding of the article "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix".
This is certainly not an ordinary love poem.
The characteristics of "fu" are its elaborate and ornate language, describing objects and expressing one's thoughts.
In this style of writing, description of scenery is for expressing emotions, and description of objects is for expressing one's aspirations.
Such a talented person did not write popular poems, but instead wrote an ancient fu. It was definitely not simply to express his love to a woman.
This is beyond doubt.
The literati in Chang'an generally believed that this fu was a veiled satire on Your Majesty.
There is a beautiful woman, I will never forget her once I see her.
When I haven't seen you for a day, I miss you like crazy.
These two sentences are satirizing His Majesty for not attending court for ten years. Not only did he not attend court, but the officials could not even see him.
The phoenix is flying high in the sky, and the four seas are looking for it.
Unfortunately, the beauty is not at the east wall.
These two sentences mean that he wanted to find a wise ruler, but he couldn't find one.
This is no longer just a mockery of Your Majesty, this is treason and a rebellion!
The Marquis of Lantian was too lazy to argue with these imperial censors, so he stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, this person used poetry to discuss state affairs and satirize Your Majesty. I suspect he has the intention of rebellion. I suggest that the woman be arrested, the person who wrote the poem be found out, and he be severely punished..."
The censor wanted to speak again, but the Marquis of Lantian snorted coldly and said, "Over the years, there have been many people with ulterior motives who have made false comments about Your Majesty and have been dealt with by the Mirror Bureau for this reason. Does censor Wang want to treat them differently this time?"
The censor was choked and speechless.
Although the Censorate could discuss state affairs at will and even reprimand the emperor, it had no real power.
When Li Xuanjing used this reason to deal with his political enemies before, they had also advised him against it, but it was of no use.
He often dismissed officials and confiscated their property just because of a poem.
Even if there is nothing wrong with the poems, they will be forcibly labeled by the Mingjing Bureau.
It’s all because Li Xuanjing has done so much evil.
If the same thing happened to his son, I wonder what he would do?
But even if they wanted to arrest his son, they would arrest Ming Jingsi. As long as he refused to admit it, he would definitely not torture his son like he did to others.
Lantian Hou obviously thought of this as well, and said, "It is said that the author of this fu is Lord Li's son. The Dali Temple and Mingjing Division should avoid suspicion. Please ask His Royal Highness Prince Rui to issue an order to let the Zongzheng Temple try this case!"
Prince Rui looked at Li Xuanjing and asked, "Lord Li, what do you think?"
The elegant man walked out of the court officials and said calmly, "Slandering His Majesty is a serious crime. If this is true, it should be thoroughly investigated."
As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly became quiet.
The Dali Temple Minister would actually say this... Could it be that in order to not leave any evidence, he was planning to kill his own relatives for the sake of justice?
Even King Rui thought so.
This matter involves insulting his father, so he wouldn't dare to stop it.
In the quiet hall, only the sound of footsteps was particularly clear.
Li Xuanjing walked up to the Marquis of Lantian, took the letter from him, and read in a low voice: "There is a beautiful woman, I never forget her when I see her. I miss her like crazy when I don't see her for a day... Isn't this just an ordinary love poem, expressing a man's strong admiration for a woman? How come I didn't see that this poem was meant to secretly mock Your Majesty?"
“…”
The hall continued to be silent.
But all the officials were cursing in their hearts.
You, Li Xuanjing, are the top scorer in six subjects. How could you not know that this fu has a deeper meaning?
There is no poem that only writes about love!
A few months ago, a secretary of the Secretariat was accused of criticizing His Majesty because he wrote a poem about appreciating flowers.
When it came to his own son's turn, he actually said that this was just a love poem despite such an obvious metaphor.
He is truly worthy of being called Li Xuanjing.
Marquis of Lantian was also stunned. He did not expect Li Xuanjing to be so shameless. The connotation of this fu was recognized by the literati and even the censors. How could Li Xuanjing still want to perfunctorily expose it?
With a gloomy face, he said, "Lord Li, everyone knows that this poem is alluding to His Majesty. You can't confuse right and wrong just to protect your son..."
"Everyone?" Li Xuanjing glanced at the ministers and said, "I think this is just an ordinary love poem. If anyone has a different opinion, please stand up and discuss it with me."
“…”
All the court officials in the hall stood quietly in their places.
If any of you have different opinions, please come forward and discuss with me...
This sentence is just a representation.
If any of you have different opinions, please stand up and I will send you off.
That's what he really meant.
The court officials were afraid of him, but the dignitaries were not. Upon hearing this, Lantian Hou and several dignitaries stood up immediately and said with their chests puffed out: "This duke believes that this poem is a subtle satire on Your Majesty in the name of showing love."
Li Xuanjing looked at them, shook his head and said, "The adults standing here are all Jinshi selected through the imperial examination. They have been familiar with poetry and books since childhood. Do you think you know more about poetry than them?"
Lantian Hou's tone stagnated: "I..."
Li Xuanjing patted his shoulder gently and said, "In terms of poetry and prose, Marquis Lantian needs to improve a lot. Don't make random assumptions about everything you see, so as not to make a fool of yourself and lose face for the rich and powerful. I will select a few books of poetry and prose and send them to your house in the next two days. Please take a look..."
The faces of Marquis Lantian and several other dignitaries turned red with anger, but they only had the power to participate in politics, and if they wanted to accomplish anything, they had to get the support of court officials.
But now, all the court officials were threatened by Li Xuanjing, and they either dared not or were unwilling to stand up.
Li Xuanjing glanced around the hall again and said, "It's getting late. Since everyone has nothing to report, let's adjourn the court..."
He walked straight out of the hall, and the atmosphere in the hall suddenly relaxed.
Prince Rui sat at the top, his face as gloomy as water.
After a brief silence, the chief officials of the three provinces and six ministries in the front bowed to King Rui above them, and the court officials left the hall in an orderly manner.
There was constant discussion among the crowd.
"Since the last incident, he has become more and more unscrupulous..."
"If you could get a gold medal of immunity from death from His Majesty, you would be so arrogant."
"However, the article "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix" is really well written. No matter from which level, it is a masterpiece among masterpieces. Someone has already deconstructed five levels of connotation."
"Really? I haven't read it yet. I'll take a good look at it after I get back to the yamen..."
(End of this chapter)
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