Yu Wenshu ate with big mouthfuls, even looking like he was wolfing it down.
"Don't worry, I've booked a table at Sifanglou. After we go to Lantingji, we can go to Sifanglou for another drink."
Yu Wenshu looked up at Fu Xiaoguan and said, "Thank you!"
"Don't be polite with me."
"Do you know what the biggest regret of my short life is?"
"It's definitely not that the thing didn't work out."
Yu Wenshu laughed, "That was just a bummer... The biggest regret in my life is that I never truly loved someone like you did."
This statement made Fu Xiaoguan stunned for a moment. What kind of person was this person in front of him?
As Fu Xiaoguan thought, his regret might be that he failed to honor his parents, that he was not doing his daughter Yu Yixi justice, or even that he had not been killed in advance.
But he just talked about love!
Is this what it means to love both the country and the beauty?
Is this what it means when a hero is old and young men are still in love?
But you, Yu Wenshu, are not a hero at all! At best, you're just a pathetic wretch with a bit of ambition but lacking the skills of a tyrant.
"You don't believe it?" Yu Wenshu bit open a crystal bun and said as he chewed, "Actually, I admire my eldest brother very much. He actually fell in love with a woman who sells wine!"
He laughed at himself, "I know about this. Of course, I didn't believe it at first... I remember the woman's name seemed to be Rouyi. Should she be called sister-in-law now? She sells wine in front of Yanyu Tower. Big brother would go there to drink whenever he had time."
"I thought the wine there was good, and I even tried it, but it was as bland as water."
"At that time I thought it was just another trick of his, but I never expected it was true love!"
Yu Wenshu laughed. "This is what the opera loves, but he made it a reality. So... he's truly remarkable. And I, on the other hand, feel truly regretful. Let's go, now that we're full, I'll treat you."
He dropped a twenty-liang ingot of silver on the table, and without even glancing at it, he walked out with Fu Xiaoguan and got back into the carriage. Then he said, "I still have over a hundred liang in my pocket, so I'll treat you to the dinner at Sifanglou later."
Fu Xiaoguan didn't hesitate, "That's great, it just so happens that the one I asked Sifanglou to make is the most expensive."
The carriage continued to move forward, and Yu Wenshu was still looking out the window.
The two of them remained silent and came to the Weiyang Lake.
They boarded a black-sailed boat and arrived at Lantingji.
Yu Wenshu went straight to the Thousand Stone Steles and looked at them carefully one by one.
"When it comes to studying, I'm better than my elder brother. I still remember when I was at the Jixia Academy, I always participated in the Lanting Poetry Gathering. At that time, I wanted to leave my name on these thousand stone tablets. It didn't matter what rank I got, as long as I could leave my name..."
"In the end, none of them stayed here, but you...you left a total of six poems and essays here, all in the first column of the A character."
"Thank you for the compliment. Actually, I haven't really thought about it."
Yu Wenshu stopped in front of a stone tablet, shook his head and smiled, "So this is what it means to seek but not to obtain. Just like my fifth brother, Yu Wendao, when he was six years old, Queen Shang threw him into the Sword Forest. They said he couldn't seek, but my eldest brother and I are desperately seeking here in Shangjing City."
"This is like trying to plant flowers but not having them bloom. It's a pity I saw through the day..." Yu Wenshu looked up at the still gray sky, "I'm afraid it will rain today."
"Looking back at the desolate place, I return, neither wind nor rain nor clear..." Yu Wenshu pointed at the thousand-tablet stone and asked, "Can you truly achieve the indifference of 'Don't listen to the wind blowing through the leaves, why not sing and walk slowly'?"
Fu Xiaoguan also looked at the Thousand Stone Tablets, thought for a moment, and said, "I am different from you."
"Is it because I'm a prince and in the game, while you're a small landowner in Linjiang and outside of it?"
"No..." Fu Xiaoguan laughed, "Because I died once."
Yu Wenshu was stunned. He did not understand the true meaning of Fu Xiaoguan's words. He thought Fu Xiaoguan was talking about the time when he was almost beaten to death by Dong Shulan's men in Linjiang.
So he also laughed, "It seems that dying once is also very beneficial."
"Perhaps."
What can Fu Xiaoguan say?
He could only hope that the Fourth Prince could travel through time even after his death, but this kind of thing... was probably impossible to happen again.
"Let's go and have a drink."
…
…
The sixth day of the fifth month of the tenth year of the Xuanli calendar.
Fu Xiaoguan and Yu Wenshu had a morning drink in Sifang Tower.
There were only two people at the banquet, and Xu Xinyan was still guarding the door.
The chef of Sifanglou prepared a large table of the best dishes, but the two of them only drank a bottle of wine and ate only a few dishes.
Yu Wenshu kept talking and Fu Xiaoguan acted as a loyal listener.
Yu Wenshu talked about the joy he had with the Empress Dowager when he was a child, and about a girl he had liked when he was in the academy. Her name was Zhuang Yan, and now she has become the mother of someone else's child.
He talked about how he built Yuhuatai, how he fought with the eldest prince, and how he used Chen Zuojun to control the underworld at the south gate of Jinling City in the name of Southern Tyrant.
"So, I don't think it's true love, but mutual exploitation."
"Oh, by the way, I suddenly remembered someone, the county magistrate of Yunlai County, whose name seems to be Zhuo Liuyun. I wonder if you know him?"
Fu Xiaoguan nodded. "He became a Jinshi in the eighth year of the Xuanli reign. What happened to him?"
"That county magistrate is quite interesting. He reclaimed all the wasteland in Yunlai County and then issued two policies. One was to redistribute the land, and the other was even more absurd. He used the land to encourage childbirth and even gathered all the unmarried men and women in his jurisdiction and had them draw lots to decide who would marry."
Fu Xiaoguan was stunned. The Ministry of Personnel had given this kid a good rating, and His Majesty was planning to replace him. His marriage policy was a bit ridiculous, but wasn't the policy of dividing the land the equal-field system proposed by Zong Shiji?
"You said you were going to Wofeng Road. I think that person is quite capable."
Fu Xiaoguan did not express his opinion on this, and Yu Wenshu naturally did not take it seriously.
He turned his head to look out the window and raised his glass. "It's almost time. Let's drink this glass of wine and send me back to the palace."
"good!"
The two left the Sifang Building, and Xu Xinyan drove the carriage towards the palace again.
Fu Xiaoguan accompanied Yu Wenshu towards the imperial study. Yu Wenshu kept looking at the palaces and walked slowly, feeling a little unhappy.
"These palaces are a bit old and need to be renovated."
"Your Majesty said that although there is silver in the treasury now, the Yu Dynasty still has many other needs for it. I'm afraid we'll have to wait another two or three years."
"Oh...I think it will look better after the renovation."
Just ten feet away from the imperial study, Fu Xiaoguan stopped and said:
"I'll take you here."
"If there is an afterlife, I will definitely be with you under the moon and flowers!"
"Then you must be a woman in your next life."
"Hahaha……!"
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