On the ninth day of September, Chongyang.

Chongyang Festival is a very important festival, ninety-nine return to the truth, the beginning of one yuan. In ancient times, the autumn harvest was sacrificed on this day, and in the Han Dynasty, there was the custom of climbing in autumn, wearing dogwood, eating canopy bait, and drinking chrysanthemum wine, which has been passed down to this day.

Before dawn, Gu Qing instructed the housekeeper to prepare a carriage and go out of the city.

Chang'an is more than 80 miles away from Lishan, because Li Longji takes Yang Guifei to Lishan Palace every year for the winter, so the road from Chang'an to Lishan is very wide and smooth, Gu Qing took the carriage out of the city and found that the road was full of cars and horses, many magnates and courtiers' carriages were also on the road, and many nobles with titles were neatly guarded with honor, and the flag was hunting. Gu Qing's carriage was mediocre and simple, and it looked very abrupt in the queue of many luxurious carriages, like a duck scurrying left and right in a flock of swans.

Gu Qing sat in the carriage and yawned, his naturally unhappy face looked more and more unhappy at this moment, what kind of expression would a person who looked unhappy look like if he was really unhappy, Gu Qing was at this moment.

Customs are naturally respected, and on the premise of not tossing, Gu Qing still respects customs very much. But before dawn, he went out of the city to run dozens of miles, and he had to climb the mountain, just to drink a few glasses of chrysanthemum wine and chat about some painless official polite words, Gu Qing felt that it was really unnecessary.

As soon as he got up, Gu Qing sat alone in the carriage, and had the urge to rush out and fight when he saw someone.

The coachman is from his own house, which is considered an official establishment, Gu Qing should be on an errand during the day on weekdays, and after returning home at night, he will be closed in the door after eating, and the people in the house are quite in awe of this new master, mainly because Gu Qing has that unhappy face every time he appears in the sight of everyone, and when the people see his expression, they unconsciously begin to reflect on what they are not doing well, and over time, Gu Qing does not have to say a word to establish prestige in the house.

The coachman drove very steadily, and he could see that he was an old driver, and there were only two people in the carriage, Gu Qing, and the coachman didn't dare to say a word with trembling, and looked ahead with his whip in full concentration.

When the day was about to dawn, a carriage came out of the side, and it seemed that he was ready to overtake without a double flash, the coachman was a little nervous, for fear of scratching, and hurriedly turned the horse's head a little, the carriage suddenly was a little bumpy, Gu Qing's anger had not passed, and he lifted the curtain dissatisfiedly.

As soon as he lifted the curtain, he heard a rather familiar voice calling: "But Zuo Wei Gu Changshi's car?" ”

Gu Qing looked at it, and it turned out that it was Yan Zhenqing who was about to overtake next to him, and the curtain of the carriage was opened, and Du Fu was still sitting inside.

Gu Qing smiled and arched his hand towards Yan Zhenqing: "Yan Yushi, it's been a long time." ”

He bowed his hand to Du Fu, who looked quite restrained in the carriage: "Brother Zimei, it's been a long time." ”

With acquaintances, Gu Qing's mood is obviously much better, and these two are still historical celebrities, Gu Qing feels that he should pull a relationship, get a few words of Yan Zhenqing, deceive a few Du Fu's poems, and stay at home as heirlooms to pass on to future generations,—— if Gu Qing's virtue can have future generations.

Gu Qing patted the wall of the carriage vigorously, instructed the coachman to stop, and then quickly got off the carriage and got into Yan Zhenqing's carriage.

After entering the carriage, Gu Qing greeted Du Fu very familiarly: "Brother Zimei squeezed in, the back is very empty, and there is a big seat......"

Du Fu smiled and moved back, freeing up a vacant space.

Yan Zhenqing's carriage also seems very simple and narrow, after all, it is the history of the palace servants, and he can't be too luxurious in his private life, otherwise he will have no confidence to impeach others in the court.

Yan Zhenqing is in his forties, he is an elder to Gu Qing, Du Fu is also in his thirties, and Gu Qingqing is the youngest among the three, so he should be called an elder, but Gu Qing doesn't like to recognize his elders indiscriminately, so when he first met Du Fu, he preemptively called him Brother Zimei, and for Yan Zhenqing, out of respect for the loyal ministers, Gu Qing has always honored his official position.

Yan Zhenqing and Du Fu didn't care, but felt that Gu Qing had a free and easy temperament, so they happily talked to him as equals.

Yan Zhenqing pointed at Du Fu and said with a smile: "After Zimei made "The Great Gift", now he is waiting for His Majesty to be crowned an official in Jixian Pavilion, the old man admires Zimei's poetry and talent, and today His Royal Highness the Prince set up a banquet, and the old man brought him to see the world. ”

Du Fu smiled shyly: "Thank you Yan Yushi for your kindness." ”

Sitting in the carriage and greeting for a while, Gu Qing smiled at Du Fu and said, "Brother Zimei, Brother Yu happened to get acquainted with Brother Taibai when he was in Shuzhou, and Brother Taibai also lived in my house for a while." ”

Du Fu's eyes lit up, and Gu Qing instantly saw the excitement in his eyes.

"Brother Taibai? What a white brother? Did he travel to Shuzhou? Du Fu said excitedly.

Gu Qing smiled, and could see that Du Fu was Li Bai's hardcore little fan brother, and his admiration for Li Bai was clearly recorded in the official history. Legend has it that in the early years of Tianbao, after Li Bai resigned from the palace as a Hanlin edict, he met Du Fu in Chang'an.

Li Bai also has an identity as a Taoist priest, he is very obsessed with alchemy and immortality, and he has also refined a lot of pills, so under Li Bai's flickering, Du Fu also swallowed a lot of so-called elixirs, not only that, Li Bai, a poet with naïve romance in his bones, also asked Du Fu to go overseas with him to find immortals, find fairy grass, and refine elixir.

The two then set off, and met another poet Gao Shi on the way, that is, Gao Shi who wrote "Mo Chou has no know-owning confidant in the future", the three of them walked together with Li Bai as the leader, for a whole year, the three of them traveled through the Tang Dynasty landscape, from the spring to the autumn, the money was spent a lot, and the armpit hair of the immortals did not see a single one.

Later, the little fan brother Du Fu finally couldn't stand the pain of traveling, so he woke up halfway and realized that his star-chasing behavior was too irrational, and decided to chase stars from now on, but he had to chase stars sensibly, and he couldn't be brain-dead anymore. In the end, Du Fu and Gao Shi quit the journey to find immortals and quit.

This is a real anecdote, Gu Qing can even guess how Li Bai fooled the two, most of them drunk Du Fu and Gao Shi, and then said conclusively that there are immortals overseas, Du Fu and Gao Shi agreed in a daze, and every night during the trip, Li Bai continued to drunk them, continued to fool, and the two continued to agree in a daze......

"Brother Zimei, why did you agree to go overseas with Brother Taibai to find immortals?" Gu Qing's eyes flashed with gossip, maybe it was another excellent material.

Du Fu was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly, and waved his hand again and again: "Don't mention it, don't mention it, the three of us have been looking for immortals for a year but have no results, I think it's because we haven't practiced enough, and we haven't had the opportunity to see the immortals." ”

Yan Zhenqing listened with a smile on the side, and then said with a smile: "Li Taibai's poetry talent is high, and his temperament is true, which is the only thing he has seen in the old man's life, but unfortunately, Taibai is too high, but he is as innocent as a child in terms of human feelings, and he is not allowed by the court after all. ”

Gu Qing said with a smile: "There are always all kinds of people in the world, Brother Taibai is straightforward and naïve, I think this is precisely his advantage, there is nothing bad about his character, except that he is not suitable for being an official." What is lacking in the world is not a man who is an official, but a man of true temperament. ”

Du Fu's eyes lit up, and he arched his hand towards Gu Qing: "If Brother Taibai hears Si's words, he will definitely introduce Brother Xian as his confidant in life." ”

…………

The carriage soon arrived at the foot of Lishan Mountain.

Gu Qing and the three of them got out of the carriage and could only walk up the mountain, which could be regarded as Chongyang's ascending to the heights.

At the foot of the mountain, the eunuchs have been waiting at the entrance to the mountain pass, respectively check the identity of the courtiers who should be invited, after checking, the eunuchs will send a dogwood with both hands, the powerful courtiers will insert the dogwood obliquely on the sideburns of the crown hat, the legend of the dogwood has the effect of avoiding evil and seeking good fortune, as early as the Han Dynasty has this custom.

Gu Qing and Yan Zhenqing Du Fu walked up the mountain, the courtiers who were familiar with each other along the way greeted each other, Gu Qing followed Yan Zhenqing and also mixed their faces in the courtier team, I heard that the young man next to Yan Zhenqing was Gu Qing, a talented man who has been in the limelight in Chang'an City recently, and the courtiers were surprised and admired for a long time, and some courtiers who were quite obsessed with poetry and literature even took the initiative to come over to make friends, and Gu Qing became a protagonist-like existence for a while.

After being polite for a while, Gu Qing consciously kept a low profile, deliberately lowered his head, and rarely greeted people.

The prince set up a banquet, Gu Qing still has to be a little measured, the only protagonist on today's occasion is the prince, Gu Qing can't take the lead, can't steal the limelight of the prince, it's not cost-effective to be remembered by the prince for this little thing.

It was quite hard to walk up the mountain from the footsteps, and after walking for nearly two hours, the powerful courtiers finally went up the mountainside.

The crown prince Li Heng had already ordered a temporary platform to be erected on the mountainside, and the platform was covered with a red carpet, filled with low tables, on which food and wine were prepared, and a beautiful Kabuki knelt beside each table.

It was also customary for the nobles to perform songs and dances in front of the guests, but also to kneel beside the guests during the intermission and pour sake and dishes for the guests. Chat softly with guests, meet some unparticular guests, and maybe secretly stretch out your salty pig hand.

Of course, Kabuki accompaniment is not necessarily the standard for the powerful, and some powerful people don't like it, so there is no such service at home.

After Gu Qing and the three of them arrived at the high platform, there were eunuchs to lead the three of them to sit down, and there was also a beautiful Maiko sitting at Gu Qing's table, seeing Gu Qing sitting down, the Maiko smiled shyly at him, knelt down and saluted him, and then poured chrysanthemum wine for Gu Qing.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who was the host, had not yet arrived, and the guests got together in twos and threes to chat.

On Gu Qing's left is Yan Zhenqing and Du Fu, and on the right is an unknown young civil official, about twenty years old. The civil official was very polite, took the initiative to greet Gu Qing, and after introducing each other, Gu Qing learned that this young civil official was a Hanlin edict, and now he was enshrined in the East Palace, and his name was Li Yu. According to popular understanding, this person named Li Yu is actually a strategist next to the prince of the East Palace.

Gu Qing's eyes blinked, he had vaguely heard of Li Yu when he was in history class in his previous life, but his impression was very weak. However, those who can leave their names in the history books are all amazing characters, and Gu Qing chatted with Li Yu with a very humble attitude.

As for whether to talk about poetry and poetry or about the wind and snow, it depends on whether the literati who gather together are serious or not, if a bunch of serious literati are mixed in with an unserious product, the style of painting will also be deviated.

Yan Zhenqing is the oldest, with the appearance of an elder, most of the time he listens to Gu Qing and Li Mi, but he smiles and does not say a word.

Du Fu is more introverted by nature, especially when he participated in the prince's banquet for the first time, Du Fu was even more nervous, Gu Qing secretly compared him with Li Bai, and found that Du Fu was still quite enthusiastic about being an official, because he was too enthusiastic, so he had more of a psychology of gaining and losing, and he was a little unnatural and restrained in his speech and salute.

Gu Qing and Li Mi were very open, the two chatted enthusiastically, Li Mi also turned his head from time to time to talk and laugh in a low voice with the Maiko who accompanied him, and it could be seen that Li Mi was a romantic character, and he didn't know what sassy words he said in the Maiko's ear, which caused the Maiko to cover his mouth and snicker, and gently slapped Li Mi a few times with his small fist coquettishly.

Gu Qing looked at Li Mi's commotion and wanted to advise the maiko not to engage in this kind of coquettish behavior, many of the samurai standing behind him were holding golden melons, and if they wanted to fight, they would really fight, and they would only be cool if they grabbed the golden gourd hammer in the hands of the samurai.

As for the maiko next to Gu Qing, except for nodding politely to her at the beginning, Gu Qing basically didn't pay much attention to her, and the maiko tried to take the initiative to chat with him, but they were all dismissed by Gu Qing without being salty, so they had to pour wine for Gu Qing in silence aggrieved.

The banquet hosted by the powerful is not just for drinking and having fun, nor is it just for getting acquainted with interpersonal relationships, it also has a characteristic, that is, the ladder that the humble climb up. Many people with low official positions but outstanding eloquence often talk at the banquet of the powerful, and are noticed by the powerful, leaving a deep impression and laying the groundwork for their future promotion.

Li Mi was still young, but he was not willing to be lonely, and he was still not satisfied with his official position of Hanlin to be edicted, so when he talked about poetry and poetry with Gu Qing, his voice was particularly loud, which attracted the frequent attention of the guests at several tables next to him.

"If you talk about Chongyang poems, there are few wonderful sentences in ancient times, but Mr. Jiang wrote a poem in the former Sui Dynasty 'Hometown Fence Chrysanthemum, Today's Flowers Bloom' is especially the essence, talk about a few sentences to express the meaning of homesickness, and I think that this sentence can be floated in vain."

Yan Zhenqing and the others responded with a smile, and Gu Qing also smiled, feeling slightly impatient in his heart.

When will this intimidating chatting end? According to his idea, the prince should appear immediately, and then make a toast, after the toast, they eat and drink, and finally the host and the guests say goodbye to each other, pat their butts and leave. In view of the fact that food cannot be wasted, uneaten food can be packed and taken away, and the waiter will tell the waiter that the bill will be counted on the prince's head.

This is the correct way to eat and drink, just concentrate on eating and drinking, what kind of day to chat, especially if you talk so elegantly, although Gu Qing is famous, he knows that his so-called talent is all based on plagiarism, and when it comes to literary talent, there is no ink in his stomach, and the words are written very ugly.

Yan Zhenqing said with a smile: "In the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan, the champion of the imperial examination was named Cui Shu, a person from Songzhou, and his talent was also quite amazing, he wrote a Chongyang poem, one of which is 'I want to find Peng Zezai closely, and I am drunk with a chrysanthemum cup', which is also a rare Chongyang sentence......"

Everyone echoed again, and Gu Qing's cheeks stiffened with laughter.

Li Mi seems to be quite fond of Gu Qing, mainly because the two are not much different in age, and they are both quite famous in Chang'an City, so Li Mi looked at Gu Qing with a smile and said, "Brother Gu Xian, which Chongyang poem does you think can be called a wonderful sentence?" ”

Gu Qing put down the wine glass, blinked blankly, his mind was spinning rapidly, and then he didn't know what to remember, and suddenly turned sideways and whispered in Du Fu's ear: "Brother Zimei, do you know a poet named Wang Wei?" ”

Du Fu was stunned for a moment and said, "What the virtuous brother said is the official Langzhong, the Maha monk Wang Wei?" ”

"Yes. Is he expensive this year? ”

"Uh, about ...... About fifty. ”

Gu Qing sighed, and his heart suddenly had a bottom, so he smiled freely: "I remember that Mr. Wang Wei, a monk in the Ministry of Langzhong, once wrote a poem when he was a teenager, and the last sentence of it 'Knowing the brothers ascending to the heights, there is one less person in the dogwood', which can be the wonderful sentence of the Chongyang poem in the current world, especially the last sentence 'one less person in the dogwood', it is especially sad to read, it makes people sigh that life is scattered and impermanent, in a different place, the brothers are all in their hometown to insert dogwood, but the Maha monk can't insert it if he wants to, but it's a pity that it......'s a pity."

As soon as he finished speaking, the pretty maiko beside Li Mi blushed and turned into the color of pork liver, twisted his body uncomfortably, suddenly muttered, whispered to Li Mi, and then hid his face and hurriedly left the table.

Gu Qing and the others were stunned and looked at Li Mi one after another.

Li Mi also looked unnatural, wanted to laugh but couldn't laugh, coughed twice, pointed to the back of the Maiko leaving, and said in a deep voice: "I asked this lady just now, her name...... It's called Dogwood. ”

The atmosphere was very awkward for a while, and Gu Qing faintly heard two crows above his head......

There was no maiko by Li Mi's side, Gu Qing felt a little guilty, after all, he was inadvertently not serious just now, Gu Qing felt that Li Mi should be compensated, and it happened that he had no interest in the maiko who accompanied him, so he turned his head and stared at the maiko beside him seriously.

Maiko was being made shyly by Gu Qing's hooligan topic just now, and she didn't dare to squeak when she lowered her head, and when she saw Gu Qing looking at her, she couldn't help but feel even more uncomfortable, and shyly twisted her face away.

Gu Qing had a serious face: "You don't call it Dangwu, right?" ”

Maiko was stunned and shook her head.

"It's not called Hetu, is it?"

The Maiko shook her head in confusion.

Gu Qing was silent for a moment, then simply shook out all the evil knowledge he knew, and continued to ask, "It's not called coral, right?" It's not called step green, right? It's not called Qingtian, right? ”

After getting the answer that was all negative, Gu Qing pointed to Li Mi next to him with satisfaction, and said to Maiko: "You, go and accompany him, I don't need someone to wait here." ”

Li Mi suddenly cast a moving gaze at Gu Qing.

Gu Qing raised his glass and smiled apologetically at Li Mi, and then said, "Come on, let's continue the topic of 'sticking dogwoods' just now......"

Yan Zhenqing snorted and laughed, Du Fu, an honest man, also laughed, and Li Mi laughed so much that he leaned forward and beat his chest.

Gu Qing put down the wine cup, feeling melancholy.

When talking about poetry, all of them are sanctimonious, but they are actually not serious people, and the poetry world of the Tang Dynasty has degenerated.