Shang Cheng soon came to the bamboo forest where he and Gu Shi usually played chess.

Every time he came back to play chess with Gu Shi, he inevitably had to think of something when he walked through this bamboo forest.

According to Gu Shi, this piece of green bamboo was planted by himself in the seventh year of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty, in order to remember his carefree youth on the shore of Poyang Lake. Now more than ten years have passed in a flash, and the bamboo artemisia that was less than knee-high has already become an impermeable bamboo forest. Gu Shi also inadvertently mentioned that when he used to have nothing to do, he would always go to the pavilion in the forest to sit for a while. Sitting alone on the pavilion, don't think about anything, don't use any thoughts, the heart has no external objects, the light breeze whimpers sadly in the forest, and the yellow finch sings happily on the bamboo tops. However, in the last two or three years, for some reason, he can no longer find that feeling of unrestrained and detached. Now, every time he sees the lush and tall bamboo, he can't help but sigh "the years are like a fleeting hero, and the hero is easy to get old......

At that time, Shang Cheng sat on the pavilion and quietly listened to Gu Shi confide in the melancholy in his heart. From beginning to end, he didn't say a word. Afterwards, he never mentioned this matter to Gu Shi, let alone told others about it.

He was very grateful that Gu Shi could say these words to him, which showed that Gu Shi trusted him very much, otherwise, he would not have sighed in front of him. At the same time, he was also very angry: This old guy has more than a dozen mothers-in-law and a lot of children, who is he looking to confide in his heart, but he wants to find himself? When he finished speaking, he patted the ash on his ass as if it was all right, but he was at ease; But I suddenly heard about such a large number of life insights without a clue, which will inevitably cause some resonance in my thoughts. What's more, Gu Shi is obviously still hiding words in his words.

Shang Cheng didn't know Gu Shi's past experience very well, and he didn't ask anyone about it. But there are some things that don't need to be deliberately inquired about to come up with a clue. The time when Gu Shi planted bamboo was in the seventh year of the Eastern Common Era, and that year was also the time when the "Liu Lingtai case" occurred, and the two events happened in the same year, is it just an accidental coincidence? Shang Cheng never believed that the answer was so simple.

In addition to the Liu Lingtai case in the seventh year of the Eastern Common Era, there is another thing that may have a lot to do with Gu Shi's melancholy and depression. Shang Cheng had a copy of the "Chronicles of the Great Zhao Clan" revised in the tenth year of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty, and in the opening "General", the first eight surnames were "Chen Wanggu Zhang, Deng Song Li Zhao", and the Poyang Gu family ranked third; Compare the second edition of the "Chronicles of the Great Zhao Clan" compiled by Xianzong Xiande in the first year of Xianzong decades ago, but it is "Chen Du Wang Huang, Liu Gu Deng Zhang", and the Gu family ranks sixth; In the first edition of the "Clan Chronicles" compiled by Zhao Taizu Yide in the twelfth year, the Gu family was only in the sixteenth place, and it was barely a big family that "lost the world's hopes...... Think about the surnames that have fallen behind or even disappeared in the "Chronicles of the Clans", and then look at the progress made by the Poyang Gu clan in the past hundred years, the light and shadow in it are complex and bizarre, I am afraid that it is more moving than any novel or history book......

In addition, Gu Shi himself said that it was only in the past two years that he began to realize that "the deceased is like Sifu", that is, a few years earlier, he did not have such an idea. What happened two or three years ago that caused him to make such a big move? Two or three years ago, wasn't it the time when the prince's temperament was seriously ill and his symptoms first appeared? Apart from the prince's affairs, what else could make this old man, who was accustomed to seeing the wind and waves, be confused and restless all day long for two or three years? It can only be the prince's business. Alas, Gu Poyang, Gu Poyang, how can you be smart and confused for a while, "There was Zhou Tianzi at that time, why did they say Wei Qi one after another", Emperor Dongyuan is still there, what are you doing when you go to get close to the prince?

Of course, Shang Cheng also understood that if Gu Shi was really close to the crown prince as he guessed, it might not be from Gu Shi's original intention. The era is a turbulent river, which mercilessly discards all unsuitable people and things; If the Poyang Gu family wants to keep up with the times and continue to maintain their influence, they must be aggressive, even if they take risks and pay the price for it, they must try and execute hard. In the past 100 years, they must have succeeded many times, so there is "Chen Wang Gu Zhang, Deng Song Li Zhao"; But past successes don't say anything, and just one failure is enough to undo all previous efforts and achievements.

Now, with the sudden death of the crown prince, an unprecedented crisis has befallen Gu Shi. He must have tried to make amends, trying to salvage the situation, but for unknown reasons, his efforts did not seem to bear fruit; It also indicates that the crisis is far worse than he imagined! Although the disaster is unlikely to come immediately, Gu Shi must have realized that it will come one day, so he is looking for help. In the end, he pinned his hopes on himself. Looking at the situation in recent months, Gu Shi not only wanted to marry his daughter to him, and used the means of marriage to teach him that he would not be able to sit idly by one day, but also solemnly introduced his sons and grandsons to him. This is a bit of a sense of orphanage.

These are all Shang Cheng's speculations. Although the result was very unexpected, he believed that even if there were discrepancies in the details, there should be no mistake in the general direction.

To be honest, Shang Cheng's feelings now are very complicated. On the one hand, at the moment of crisis, Gu Shi did not go to Yang Du, nor did he go to anyone else, but came to him, to find a stranger who had only met a few times, nothing else, just this unreserved trust, which taught him to be extremely moved. On the other hand, he was very apprehensive. He felt that when the crisis really came, in the midst of the landslide and tsunami, he might not be able to help much. You must know that some things are unavoidable, and some things are not subject to personal will, and when the process of something finally forms a tide and rolls forward, any thoughts and actions that want to stop it are naïve and ridiculous...... Considering this, he did not reply to Gu Shi positively, he neither agreed nor refused. He can't just refuse the trust that others have in him, and he won't easily make a promise that he is completely unsure of. The only thing he can do at the moment is to accompany Gu Shi to play a few games of chess, say a few more gossip, and let the old guy distract himself in the quarrel and mutual sarcasm......

He soon walked through the path between the bamboo forests, and when he looked up, he saw the grass pavilion with the plaque "Good as water".

As usual, Gu Shi was already on the pavilion.

However, today is different from the past, probably because Gu Shi was really impatient to wait, and he found two new chess friends for himself. The person watching the game next to him didn't know, the person who was playing chess with his back to Shang Cheng was a short man, his head was shaved, he was wearing a silk shirt, and his sleeves were wide and big, but he was a monk, and he was leaning over and grabbing a handful of chess pieces and scattering them on the chess scale, saying: "I haven't seen you for four years, and I can't imagine that Gu Hou's chess skills are still as simple and unpretentious as when you and I met ten years ago." ”

Gu Shi shook his head and said: "The great monk's chess skills can be called a national player ten years ago, how can I compare with ordinary people like me?" To be honest, I was really surprised to be able to play against the great monk in the middle game and not lose in the middle game. He laughed as he spoke, obviously knowing very well that someone else was deliberately letting him.

"Gu Hou is fallacious. It was not for the monk to give way, but it was actually the change of Guhou's chess style at the beginning of the game, which was rapid and fierce, but the monk responded to today's new game with the old view of the past, and naturally he was unable to cope with it. If there is no hesitant son of Gu Hou in the middle of the game, the victory or defeat is still between two theories. It's just that the monk Guan Guhou has a complexion, and it seems that he is not disturbed by the situation, but has something else to think about. Since you can't be single-minded, negative children are naturally in the question. ”

Shang Cheng sighed in his heart. This monk is amazing! Look at the sycophants of others, they are obviously letting Gu Shi, but there is no trace at all, making a step on the chessboard is a sycophant, and the words are on a higher level, and even the reasons for how they narrowly won are clearly explained one by one, and they are actually still patting Gu Shi's sycophants.

Gu Shi shook his head with a smile, stood up and said, "Come, great monk, one by one, you also come, I will introduce you to a hero in the world." As he spoke, he waved his hand towards Shang Cheng. This is the county uncle, awarded the Shangzhu country, Yanshan Yi County people's clan, respect the Shang Shang and the next Cheng, don't say the word. ”

"Nan Wu," the monk had already stood up, bowed his head and recited a Buddha name, saying, "The monk has seen Shang Bo." ”

The other man was tall and thin, dressed in casual clothes, but he came over and made an official salute to his superiors, and said with a smile: "Uncle Ying and I have known each other for a long time." Speaking of which, I still owe Uncle Ying a big favor......"

Shang Cheng looked at him carefully in surprise. Since this guy named Bonian said that he knew himself, it was probably not a casual nonsense, but the strange thing was that he had no impression of this person at all.

Bonian reminded him with a smile: "It's not unusual for Uncle Ying to remember trivial things. 11. Before the New Year's Day Meeting, you instructed us on how to make the envoys of the vassal states pay their respects......"

He gave such a slight hint, and Shang Cheng immediately remembered what was going on. On the day of this year's New Year's Day Festival, he went to see the excitement of the Ministry of Rites and the vassal court, and casually did them a small favor, teaching those fake vassal merchants to learn etiquette. He ordered Bo Nian and said with a smile: "I remember, you are the Xiangzhou New Year He Bo Nian of the Ministry of Rites!" ”

Hearing Shang Cheng in the Chinese New Year, he still clearly remembered the names of the little people in the six parts like him, and he was happy to come, with a heartfelt smile on his face, and said: "Uncle Ying, you taught me to find a lot of hardship." At the beginning, thanks to your guidance, the envoys of the vassal states did not lose their honor in front of the king, and we were also rewarded afterwards, and there were some affordable bonuses. Shangguan Renjing and I both said that this is all up to you. In the past few months, Jingren and I have been looking for an opportunity to thank you in person, but we have never had a chance. Who would have thought that the word fate would fall in this Shangshan Pavilion and I would have known that it was like this, and I would have come to this pavilion early to wait. ”

Shang Cheng doesn't know how the chess skills of the Chinese New Year are, but the level of this sycophant is by no means below that monk. Shang Cheng laughed and asked him casually, "Then how do you want to thank me?" ”

He Nian never expected Shang Cheng to ask so directly. When ordinary people encounter this situation, they will be humble and say "small things are not enough to worry about", and people like Gu Poyang Shangying County, shouldn't they shake their hands even more? At most, he smiled and forgot about it in a blink of an eye. But Shang Cheng was able to remember his name, and he was obviously very impressed by him, and if this abrupt question could be answered properly, it would definitely be of great benefit in the future. In an instant, his mind turned countless thoughts, but he did not hesitate to hesitate, and said boldly: "There are wine shops and song shops in the inner and outer cities, let Ying Bo choose, I have nothing to say!" After a short pause, he said, "It's just that I'm a guest from afar today, so I inevitably have to disturb Uncle Ying's wine and dinner first." ”

Shang Cheng raised his face and laughed, and said repeatedly: "Okay, good, I haven't even fallen into my mouth yet, but I want to be eaten by you first!" Okay, I'll give you a big meal first! ”

Shang Cheng laughed several times before he remembered that there was a great monk standing next to him. He hurriedly put away his smile and said apologetically: "I'm sorry for the great monk......"

The monk was not annoyed, and said with a smile: "You might as well do it." Shang Bo is a lover, hearty and innocent, this is the true temperament, which is in line with what the Buddha said, 'look at the mountain or the mountain, look at the water or the water'. This is the Buddha's fate that others can't ask for, and the positive result that can't be cultivated. ”

Shang Cheng laughed again and said, "The great monk said it very well, and said it very well!" Shunkou also slapped back, "I look at the great monk's Dharma appearance**, and I know the dust realm, and he will prove the Arhat fruit one day!" ”

The monk always had a smile on his face, but when he heard this, his expression suddenly became stunned, and he looked up at Shang Cheng, but he didn't say anything more......