A Complete Explanation of the Negative Textbooks of the Imperial Examination

Chapter 75: Chiaki

The room was silent, and after a long time, an official said tremblingly: “I didn’t hear it right now, did I?”

”

On the second day, several officials from Jiannan Road knocked on the door of the Princess Mansion in awe, and handed the salutation with both hands.

“We are envoys from Jiannan, ordered by the Inspector, to come to Chang’an to congratulate the saints for the future. This is yesterday’s invitation.”

“Are you all the messengers of Jiannan?” The concierge glanced at these people, then turned sideways to make way out, “Everyone, come this way, the princess is already in the main hall.”

Chang Shi and the others followed a group of lithe court ladies in plain clothes to the main hall.

“I have seen His Highness Qian Ning.”

coming?”

“Naturally.” Chang Shi responded quickly, turned around and instructed his subordinates, “Bring the screen here.”

Ten huge screens were locked in wooden boxes and transported from Shu to Chang’an not far away. Chang Shi had already instructed these people, but a few people carried the long and narrow wooden box into the main hall and assembled the screen neatly.

As the screens stood up one after another, the palace maids in the hall heard the sound of inhalation.

“It’s double-sided! How is it embroidered so that both sides are the same?”

Hearing the chatter of the palace servants, Chang Shi was not without complacency: “Back to Your Highness, this kind of embroidery is called double-sided embroidery. There are ten screens, each of which corresponds to the world. The scenery shown on the screen was painted by the officials of Jiannan, and the inscriptions on it were also written by several provincial governors. Your Highness, look at this pair, this is Jiannan Road, The above is the handwriting of the Governor of Chengdu Prefecture.”

Unconsciously, Rong Ke had stood up and dragged her long skirt to the screen. She looked at a few pictures according to Chang Shi’s instructions, and finally nodded with a smile: “The provincial governor and all the sage officials have bothered already.”

“Where, it is the duty of my ministers to share the worries of the saints!”

Rong Ke talked to Chang Shi again, and then sent someone to send several distinguished guests out. After Jiannan’s people left, the other maids in the palace gathered around Rong Ke and looked at the screen curiously.

“Look, Your Highness, this flower has so many layers of colors that it can embroider both sides at the same time, and you can’t even see the stitches!”

“The ten worlds are embroidered on silk, I don’t know who came up with it!”

The palace maids kept shouting and shouting, Rong Ke walked slowly in front of the ten screens, and said with emotion: “It turns out that the world is like this.”

Rong Ke moved to Chang’an with his family when he was four years old, and entered the palace. In recent years, he seldom left the city, let alone left Chang’an to move around in other places. Not only Rong Ke, but even the prince stayed in Chang’an for a long time, and he couldn’t see the scenery of the rest of the world for the rest of his life. However, Chang’an is a prosperous capital that everyone yearns for. Even people from the Western Regions and overseas countries risk their lives to want to see Chang’an. It is actually a very enviable thing to be able to stay in Chang’an for a lifetime.

But for Rong Ke, she grew up in the court, and she has never left Chang’an City all these years, which is very regrettable. The female official and others saw Rong Ke’s yearning for the outside world, so they accompanied Rong Ke to watch them one by one.

“Look, Your Highness, this is Jiangnan Road, no wonder literati likes to write about Jiangnan, so Jiangnan is so beautiful!”

“By the way, where is Jiangnan?”

“Wow!”

Surrounded by maids, Rong Ke slowly walked to a dark screen: “This is, Hebei Road?”

The palace maid glanced at the words on the screen, nodded and replied: “Hebei Road.”

Rong Ke did not speak, and looked at the person on the screen quietly with a pair of eyes.

The sky is full of turbulent clouds, which makes people nervous when looking at it, and on the far horizon, a black cavalry seems to descend into the sky, even if it is only a painting in front of it, It also seemed that through time and space, the clanking cries of death could be vaguely heard.

“I remember that the battle in Youzhou was led by my grandfather?”

Hearing Rong Ke’s voice, the maids stopped laughing and shouted cautiously: “Princess…”

Rong Ke raised her head, closed her eyes, and forcibly suppressed her tears. After a while, she opened her eyes again, and her expression was very calm.

Rong Ke grew up with the emperor from a young age, and writing was taught by the emperor, so he has a strong relationship with his grandparents. Seeing Rong Ke’s reaction, the other palace maids also came to their senses. I am afraid that this screen is embroidered on the late emperor, so it’s no wonder that the princess’ bereavement was brought up.

“My grandfather fought all his life, and spent most of his life in the barracks when he was not on the throne. I remember when I was very young, there were always only me and my mother in the house. In time, I can hear the reports from the servants, saying that my grandfather led my father to another victory or another city. I thought my grandfather was invincible, but I didn’t expect that he would also be injured, even worse. Those who died early because of war wounds in their early years.”

“Your Highness…”

“I’m fine.” Rong Ke stopped the palace maid’s movements and took a deep breath, “But I didn’t expect that in the eyes of others, my grandfather would look like this. It’s just an ordinary event. The siege of the siege is not worth mentioning in my grandfather’s expedition records, I can hardly remember it, but I didn’t expect that in his writings, I would have the opportunity to see the heroic appearance of my grandfather back then.”

“His Royal Highness, the late emperor was wise and martial, and he made great achievements in battle. The people of the world will always remember the late emperor.”

Here, the emperor will not grow old, he will always be the heroic Prince of Qin. Rong Ke smiled, pointed at the screen and smiled at the palace servant: “How long has he been an official, and he has learned the officialdom over and over again, and he is really promising!”

The screen sent by Jiannan, and this painting is the battle of Youzhou, Rong Ke guessed who the painting was after a little thought.

The palace people didn’t understand, but when they saw the princess laughing, they wanted to coax Rong Ke to divert her attention, so they all asked, “Your Highness, who are you talking about?”

Rong Ke shook her head and didn’t say much. At this time, another palace maid patted her forehead and shouted, “I almost forgot, I handed a box together yesterday, I’m afraid of something coming from outside. It wasn’t safe, so I didn’t send it to the palace.”

“Oh? He also came with a box?” Rong Ke said, “Bring it here.”

“Yes.” The palace maid replied softly, and immediately turned around to get the wooden box seized yesterday. Rong Ke stood in front of the huge screen for a while, and said, “Go get the pen and ink.”

These ten screens depict ten worlds, from Mobei to Lingnan, where the world is beautiful, but there are two places where no one dares to write.

One is the representative of Guannei Road, the capital city of Chang’an, and the other is Taiyuan House on Hedong Road.

In the past, the Taiyuan Mansion was naturally left behind.

Rong Ke picked up the pen without even typing the manuscript, and wrote a poem directly in the blank space above.

“My Palace Seal.”

The maid serving on the side immediately took two steps forward, and the other maid opened the box and offered Rong Ke’s palace seal with both hands.

Rong Ke took over the palace seal and printed two seal characters “Qianning” on the screen.

“Princess is a good word!” The maids on both sides laughed and praised.

“Okay, everyone is so flattering.” Rong Ke scolded with a smile, and then said, “Keep this screen well, it must not be bumped. Wait for the day of Qianqiu Banquet, together to my father.”

The people in the palace promised to lift the screen with all their hands and feet. Rong Ke never had to worry about this kind of strength. She straightened her sleeves and walked into the house.

Xia Lan, who was waiting by the side, saw Rong Ke walking out, and hurriedly caught up with the box. “His Royal Highness, this is what the magistrate Xiao sent together.”

Rong Ke sat in the inner hall and said, “Open it and take a look.”

Xia Lan handed the wooden box to the little palace maid behind her, stood on her side, lifted the lid of the box with both hands, and showed it to Rong Ke.

Seeing what was inside, Rong Ke raised her eyebrows, and other palace people also came over to look at it and said in surprise, “This is… a birthday gift for His Highness?”

Rong Ke’s birthday is in September. Although it can’t be done in a big way, as early as half a month ago, people have been giving gifts to Rong Ke in the name of her birthday. Xia Lan was not surprised by this, but she did not expect that there would be officials who were sent from outside the capital, but they had come all the way to send gifts to Rong Ke.

Xia Lan sighed from the bottom of her heart: “This person has a heart, although he still remembers His Highness’s birthday.”

what?”

Xia Lan holds a pair of black and white jade carvings in her hand. This piece of jade is also amazing. There are many black impurities precipitated in the white jade. A black and white animal. This animal sits on the ground in a naive manner, with a pair of eye circles turned outward, two obsidian inlaid in the eyeballs, and fluffy ears, which makes people love it.

Rong Ke was also attracted, took it over and watched it for a while before saying, “This is… a tapir?”

“So cute!”

“This is a war beast. It was mentioned in the Five Emperors’ Chronicle.” Rong Ke corrected a sentence, and couldn’t help but say, “How can you look like this when you eat iron war beasts?”

The maids were in love with these small and exquisite jade carvings, and one person said: “His Royal Highness, this Xiao county magistrate has a heart, but when he is out of town, he still asks someone to send birthday gifts to His Royal Highness, and Looking at the craftsmanship of these jade ware, it seems to be from Nanzhao.”

Rong Ke has jade in his name, so he receives all kinds of jade every year for his birthday. There are countless gifts from the palace and other princes and princesses, but this is the first time I see such a lovely Nanzhao jade carving. . Rong Ke likes these jade carvings the size of a palm very much, but to maintain the majesty of his princess, he waved his hand and said, “Put it away.”

Xia Lan put away the couple of jade carvings and brought them back to the palace together later. After putting away the jade, Xia Lan continued to take things from the wooden box, she exclaimed, took out a fan and said, “Your Highness, there is still a fan under the partition. Yo, this is also double-sided embroidery, and that The stitches on the fan screen are exactly the same!”

Rong Ke took the fan in Xia Lan’s hand, looked around, nodded and said, “The embroidery is really exquisite, even the embroiderers in the palace can only embroider on one side, this kind of needle It is really rare that the law can take into account both the positive and the negative at the same time.”

The fan is made of translucent silk, and the double-sided embroidery is painted with dexterous flowers and birds. The other fans in the box are embroidered with landscapes, mist and rain. Xia Lan took out these fans one by one and handed them over to Rong Ke and other palace maids to read. Everyone was amazed when they saw it.

“These round fans are really delicate and lightweight, with translucent fan surfaces and exquisite embroidery, just right for the princess!”

Rong Ke smiled: “If I really leave these fans, this one will blame me.”

“Ah? Isn’t this a birthday present for the princess?”

“How can I need so many fans by myself?” Rong Ke shook his head and smiled, “This is specially prepared for me, so I can give it to a few other aunts.”

The popularity of the world began in Chang’an, and the popularity of Chang’an began in the court. If a concubine or princess is brilliant at the banquet, it will not take long for this kind of clothing and jewelry to be popular in Chang’an, and everyone will follow suit. If this kind of exquisite and novel group fan appeared in the hands of the princess, once it came out, it would definitely arouse everyone’s madness. At that time, the double-sided embroidery really opened its doors in Chang’an, and at this time, there will be a caravan who will find a way to acquire this kind of group fan.

“Come on, help people to the end, send Buddha to the west, this kind of embroidery is really good, let me borrow flowers to offer Buddha.” Rong Ke put the double-sided embroidery fan back into the box, and then He stood up and said to everyone, “Let’s go, go back to the palace. After father’s Qianqiu Banquet, use these fans as a favor.”

At the end of August, the emperor’s birthday was grandly opened. Chang’an had three consecutive days of carnivals.

Stand up and shout hooray.

The emperor was wearing a mian robe and sat high on his head, as dignified and dignified as when he was the heir. When he saw the congratulations sent by the states, he just nodded and smiled lightly. Other than that, there was no major emotional fluctuation.

The ministers of Jiannan Road, under great pressure, presented ten pictures of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains to the saint.

As soon as this screen appeared, all the ministers in the hall were shocked: “This is…”

“Your Majesty, this is my great propaganda’s thousands of miles of rivers and mountains. I would like to congratulate the saint on this picture!”

The emperor was obviously stunned when he saw the screen. With a rare sense of admiration, he looked at the ten giant screen paintings carefully.

As an emperor, the emperor obviously prefers this way of praising his longevity, which is far more pleasing to his ears than directly praising his merits. When the emperor’s eyes swept to one of the screens, his expression paused.

He pointed at the picture and said, “Is this…”

“That’s right, it’s a picture drawn by a witness when my grandfather led his troops to attack Youzhou.” Rong Ke replied, “The one at the front is my grandfather.”

The emperor sighed deeply: “It’s been so long! I remember that when I attacked Youzhou, I was still blocked in Guanzhong, and I never followed my father to fight. I didn’t expect that I could see it with my own eyes today. situation.”

“Saint…” The other courtiers asked cautiously.

The emperor and the late emperor had a very strong relationship. Now that I see my father again, my heart is filled with emotion. He stood up, walked to the screen, and identified them one by one: “This is Longyou Road, this is Huainan, this is Taiyuan Mansion… Hey, did you write the words on it?”

Rong Ke got up and replied, “It was written by my son.” After speaking, Rong Ke gestured to the people around him, and sent the researched pen and ink to the emperor, “Father, look at the center. It’s Chang’an City, and there’s still one inscription missing.”

“You!” The emperor shook his head and smiled helplessly, but he didn’t refuse. He picked up the pen and wrote a line of poems, and finally put his imperial seal on him.

The prime ministers also got down from their seats and accompany the emperor to watch the screen. Seeing the inscription written by the emperor, the prime ministers all praised in unison: “The sage is wise!”

The courtiers did not dare to disturb. Finally, the emperor sighed softly: “The world is impermanent. If you have your mind, put it away.”

The officials of Jiannan Road were overjoyed, and the others also continued to congratulate. The people in front of the palace quickly came up and carefully removed the screen.

After the Qianqiu Banquet, this double-sided embroidered screen became famous immediately. All officials in Chang’an know that Jiannan officials presented a screen with exquisite embroidery, and even the saints praised it.

In a few days, at the major flower viewing banquets and lake tour banquets, the group fans in the hands of the eldest princesses made a big splash, and those with sharp eyes recognized the embroiderers on the fans. , which is clearly the same as the screen dedicated to the saint.

Although the eldest princesses are still keeping their filial piety, it is obviously impossible for all princesses not to attend any banquets for three years, so as long as there is no fanfare, the emperor and the officials will not control the movements of the eldest princesses. The embroidery method of these group fans is exquisite, but the color matching is mostly landscape, misty rain, elegant and plain, which is suitable for women who observe filial piety, and the emperor just got a double-sided embroidered screen, and then a few princesses can get the group fan of the same craftsmanship , This is a very face-saving thing, not to mention that each fan is the only one in Chang’an. Rong Ke sent the group fans to the aunts, not only doing favors but also helping Xiao Jingduo, and the eldest princesses were also willing to try early adopters, and the two sides hit it off. This kind of double-sided embroidery fan was brought out by the eldest princesses for a walk, and then many noble families inquired about it in the Dongxi market. When the businessmen smelled the business opportunity, they immediately inquired about where they could buy similar double-sided embroidery.

Double-sided embroidery was brought by Jiannan, and if you want to buy it, you can only buy it from them. It didn’t take long for many caravans to set off one after another to buy goods in Jiannan.