"I've heard that the Empress is very knowledgeable. I wonder what this poem says?" Shan Lan was quick to pick up the piece of paper covered with Yue characters and said, "The ink is still fresh. The Empress must have written it last night, right?"
There were too many things seized, and it was impossible for the emperor to see through them all immediately, so Shan Lan first picked out the evidence that she thought was the most powerful and presented it to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I think there must be something strange about this poem. It may be related to Concubine Shan's poisoning." Shan Lan said.
"Oh?" The emperor took the Yue characters, identified them, and handed them back to Eunuch An, asking, "Does anyone recognize the characters written on them?"
"This... I am an old servant with little knowledge and I really don't know him, but the great scholar of Longyuan Pavilion must know him." Eunuch An suggested.
After a while, several scholars from Longyuan Pavilion were invited.
As soon as they finished reading the poem, their faces changed drastically and they said, "Your Majesty, it's not that I'm disobeying your order, it's just that the language of this poem is vulgar and cannot be translated."
"Just translate it! Anyone who violates the rules will be dismissed!" The emperor slammed the table.
After a while, several great scholars tremblingly translated the above content and wrote it in Chinese characters:
Ten Fragrance Poems
The black hair is seven feet long, tied up as house makeup; when I sleep on the pillow, I can smell the fragrance of green clouds.
…
The soup tastes delicious, and the words are sent out from the palace; How can you know that there is a warm and sweet fragrance in your mouth?
…
There are ten sentences in total, each one is so erotic that it is unbearable to look at.
"Is there any mistake in your translation?" the emperor asked angrily.
"I won't make a single mistake. I guarantee it with my life!" The great scholar said, "There is another thing. Next to each character 'Lang' in this poem, there is an additional character 'Yun'. I don't know what it means."
There was total silence all around, and everyone understood.
"Your Majesty, this poem was definitely not written by me, but copied!" The Queen hurriedly explained in a deep voice: "Last night, Concubine Shan came alone and brought a page of red paper with a poem, saying that it was the posthumous work of the former poet Wu Zidao, and gave it to me, asking me to copy it... I don't recognize the words on the poem!"
"Where is the red paper manuscript now?"
"It is placed beside my bed," the Queen replied, and hurriedly sent her maid Ruyi to fetch it.
Ruyi went and came back soon, whispering a few words into the empress's ear.
Shan Lan was secretly pleased to see Ruyi didn't bring the red paper poem, and immediately whispered, "In my opinion, this matter is the fault of Concubine Shan. Last night, during the Lantern Festival, Your Majesty received the Persian envoys, and I and the other concubines had a feast in the back garden to enjoy the moon and lanterns... In Yuanheng Palace, there were only the Empress and the musician Yun, and Concubine Shan came to pay her respects at this time, which disturbed the Empress's interest."
"I really don't remember having any red paper poem draft last night." Concubine Shan was weak and looked worried.
"Your Majesty, if you blame Concubine Shan for disturbing your pleasure, you can just punish her. Why did you let her drink the Hundred Forgets Powder and lose her memory of that night?" Shan Lan asked respectfully, "Could it be that Concubine Shan saw something she shouldn't have seen?"
"Shut up!" The emperor was furious. "Queen, where is the red paper manuscript you mentioned? Why haven't you brought it here yet?"
"This..." The queen showed a hint of panic beneath her calm appearance.
"I have the courage to speak up!" At this time, Xu Zhaorong's maid Huanxiang spoke up. She was originally a concubine placed in Xu Zhaorong's place.
The spy on the side was loyal to Concubine Shan. He had already informed the emperor once today. He had already put his life and death aside and simply tore his face off and stood on Concubine Shan's side: "My guess is that there is no red paper poem draft at all!"
"Huanxiang, don't talk nonsense. Although I don't remember anything, I can't slander the Empress!" Concubine Shan tried to stop her weakly.
"Your Majesty, Lady Shanfei, you are broad-minded, but I cannot tolerate any grain of sand in my eyes!" Huanxiang's voice was sharp and scathing: "The Empress and Master Yun are having an affair, and everyone in the palace knows about it!"
Indeed, everyone secretly thought so in their hearts, but due to the status of the queen, no one dared to say it out loud. Only this Huanxiang La dared to say it, and she said what everyone was thinking.
"This must be what happened last night!" Huanxiang said, "The Queen was having an affair with Master Yun in Yuanheng Palace, and Concubine Shan came to pay her respects, and she happened to see it! In order to cover it up, the Queen pretended to comfort Concubine Shan and gave her Baiwangsan to drink! She also pushed the matter of the Ten Fragrance Poems onto Concubine Shan, saying that Concubine Shan asked her to copy it! Anyway, Concubine Shan has lost her memory, so whatever the Queen says is the truth!"
"Moreover, among the things seized here, there is the poem that the Queen wrote today, and the letter that Musician Yun gave to the Queen a few days ago! They are all great evidence, as solid as a mountain!" Huanxiang said it in one breath, ready to die.
"Empress, what else do you have to say?" The emperor had already believed it about 70% of the time, and he wanted to draw his sword and stab the empress to death.
At this time, a man's voice came from the side hall: "If the Queen won't say it, I will say it."
"Who?" the emperor roared.
"It's Yun, Master Yun..." Eunuch An recognized it.
Li Yuebai tidied up his clothes and prepared to go out and show off.
"Master Yun, you absolutely cannot do that!" Several eunuchs hurriedly stopped him and said, "Aren't you forbidden to see women?"
"Yes! I almost forgot!" Li Yuebai suddenly realized and clapped his hands: "You guys, bring me a screen and block it."
The young eunuchs immediately brought out several gauze screens and placed them in the courtyard.
"Okay." Li Yuebai took a deep breath and snapped his fingers: "Show Time!"
"Show your sister, please watch your words and actions." The system said in a sarcastic tone: "Any language that is not in line with the times will be muted."
"Damn it, why do you always show up when we don't need you!" Li Yuebai was so disappointed that he said, "What's the point of having a system!"
Tidy up your mood, then tidy up your clothes - there is actually nothing to tidy up. Yun Weizhi always wears white clothes that don't collect dust. The fabric is special and there is not even a wrinkle. The white clothes really make him look like a fairy.
Li Yuebai walked out of the side hall and bowed to the emperor: "I, Your Majesty, apologize for my crime."
The emperor wanted to order him to be taken out and beheaded immediately, but fortunately he was stopped by Eunuch An.
"Master Yun, do you have anything else to say?" asked Eunuch An, his tone as if he was talking to a dead person.
"Yes." Li Yuebai said, "Perhaps I am usually cold and indifferent to others, which led to misunderstandings, causing Your Majesty and others to misunderstand, and also implicated the Empress. I am to blame for this, even if I die."
"Misunderstanding?" Eunuch An was stunned. "Master Yun Le, you keep saying it's a misunderstanding, but you still refuse to admit your guilt! With so much evidence, can't you bow your head?"
"Just now, I have heard all the three pieces of evidence you mentioned." Li Yuebai stretched out his hand and pointed at the three items through the screen: "But I have to say that these three pieces of evidence are all false!"
"It's all fake?" Everyone was shocked. Even if it's like a trapped beast fighting desperately, you can't be so ignorant of your own abilities. You're on the verge of death, and you're still stubborn?
"First, it's the poem that the Empress wrote today." Li Yuebai said, "Miss Huanxiang pointed out that my name was embedded in it."
"Yes, I heard it clearly!" said Huanxiang.
"Then I'd like to ask Eunuch An to open this poem and have a look at it." Li Yuebai's voice was very steady.
Eunuch An stepped forward and, under the guidance of Huanxiang, found the most recent one from a pile of poetry manuscripts. The date on it was today, and the ink was not dry yet. It was the handwriting of the Empress.
When I opened it, I was immediately shocked.
The poem is titled "Eternity" and consists of only two lines: "Dao's wisdom and fame will be passed down through the ages, but I will only leave the catkins to the breeze."
When it was presented to the emperor, he was also stunned.
"Huanxiang, do you know what the crime of slandering the empress is?" Eunuch An asked, "This poem only has two lines, where are the three words 'Yun Wei Zhi'? There is not a single word!"
"No? How could there be no?" Huanxiang's eyes widened, and her voice became even sharper: "It sounded to me that there was."
Eunuch An recited the two poems and finally understood them.
The word [韞] and [云] are homophones, the word [智] and [知] are homophones, and the word [唯] and [惟] are homophones.
Huanxiang could not read and could only listen, so naturally she misunderstood what she heard.
"So what if the characters are different in shape?" Huanxiang refused to admit it: "Since the pronunciation is the same, there must be something fishy going on!"
"Yes, poetry is about expressing emotions in a subtle way. If the Queen and Master Yun really had an affair, they should have used different characters to conceal it," said Shan Lan.
"This poem is definitely not written by the Empress to the common people." Li Yuebai sighed, "Everyone, please read the meaning of the poem. Daoyin, who is it referring to? Xie Daoyin, a famous talented woman in the Jin Dynasty, was born in a noble family, had a noble character, and was extremely talented. She was a rare and extraordinary woman in the world. And the word "zhi" was also used to praise her extraordinary wisdom. Both the word "zhi" and the word "yin" have nothing to do with me."
"..." Concubine Shan's face turned pale, and she secretly cried out that she had encountered a powerful enemy.
"Look at the second half of the sentence, 'Only leave the catkins to the breeze'. Xie Daoxuan was praised by the world for her talent in writing poems about catkins. Naturally, the catkins are related to her. As for the word 'clear wind', it is a deliberate attempt to honor your majesty's reputation. 'Only' is a commonly used word and has nothing to do with me."
The emperor's name was Murong Feng, which sounds the same as "feng".
"As for what other meanings these willow catkins have, I don't know."
"Liu Xu is the childhood nickname of the Empress!" The Empress's maid Ruyi finally couldn't help it and blurted out.
"Yes." The queen finally spoke. She raised her eyes and looked directly at the emperor: "This poem is written for your majesty."
When you put the two sentences together, the meaning becomes clearer.
The empress compared herself to Xie Daoyun, who was born into a noble family and had a noble character. Liu Xu (the empress) was devoted to Qing Feng (the emperor).
The emperor was slightly moved when he read the poem.
Although he was suspicious, there was indeed nothing wrong with the poem if we just looked at it.
If one can accuse someone of having an affair just by looking at the homophones of the characters, then there are so many homophones in Chinese characters that anyone can be found guilty.
Moreover, this poem is full of true feelings and is truly beyond reproach.
"Huanxiang, you misheard the poem and slandered the Empress. What crime should you be punished for?" Eunuch An questioned.
"I...I may have misunderstood this poem! But, but there are two other pieces of evidence!" Huanxiang pleaded anxiously: "I just don't believe that the other two pieces can be wrong!"
"Of course I can make mistakes." Li Yuebai nodded understandingly, and secretly added in his heart: As long as you work hard enough, there is nothing that can't be messed up.
"Qian Gu" is indeed a bad poem, and it was not written by the empress. It was composed by Li Yuebai, who spent ten minutes to read it to the crown prince, who then read it to the empress for copying. While copying it, the empress complained repeatedly: "The wording of this poem is weird, the rhythm is wrong, it is extremely crude, and it is of the lowest quality."
No matter whether it is a good poem or a bad poem, when time is tight, a good poem is one that can achieve the goal of luring the snake out of its hole.
He had reviewed the original work and knew that the Queen's childhood name was Liu Xu, but he insisted on pretending that he didn't know and let the Queen tell him herself.