Like the capital Chang'an, the eastern capital Luoyang is full of ancient temples and temples. Among them, in the Shangshan Fang, which is adjacent to Dingdingmen Street in the west and overlooks Luoshui in the north, the Tiangong Temple, which was once the former residence of Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, is also second to none among all the famous temples in Luoyang, and there are many virtuous monks.

And because it is only separated by a water from Luoyang Palace, Shangshanfang, where Tiangong Temple is located, not only has official offices such as Taishi Jian Chongxian Pavilion and Zongzheng Temple, but also Xirì Wu Sansi and Princess Taiping all have mansions in this place. Time has passed, and the two people who were prominent at the beginning have long been turned into loess, and now the two mansions are still standing majestically, but the owners have been replaced by Li Ye, King of Xue, and Li Fan, King of Qi.

Du Shiyi, who was passing by these two royal mansions, just glanced at the vermilion lacquer gate, but did not mean to stop at all. Although he also has a good impression of King Qi's bold xìng, but now when the Son of Heaven is sharpening his sword to the kings, King Qi clearly drills the horns and can't get out, and it is useless for a confidant to persuade Wang Wei, let alone him? Moreover, he came to Shangshanfang today because Pei Tanzhi invited him to Tiangong Temple to participate in the sacrifice of his deceased mother, so he didn't want to do much at all. When he and his party dismounted in front of Tiangong Temple, a little novice immediately stepped forward.

"But Du Shiyi?" After receiving an affirmative answer, Xiao Shami, who was only fourteen or fifteen years old, looked at Du Shiyi's face very curiously for a while, and then remembered his duty, and hurriedly folded his hands and saluted, "General Pei is waiting, and I ask Du Shiyi to come with me." ”

Buddhist temple and Taoist temple, Du Shiyi has not been to this life and this life, after all, whether it is Songshan, Chang'an or Luoyang, which he has stayed in for the longest time, these two are indispensable in the most beautiful places. However, it was indeed the first time he had come to Tiangong Temple. When he dismounted outside the door, he felt that although the exterior wall was mottled, it could still show the majesty of the year, and at this moment, with the little novice walking on the avenue in the temple, he tasted the magnificence of the buildings everywhere. Thinking that after Li Shimin conquered the eastern capital of Luoyang, he had lived here, and even used this private house as a temporary Qin Wangfu to order the generals, he couldn't help but think about it, until the light in front of him suddenly dimmed, but it was the building facing him that blocked the sun, and he came back to his senses.

"General Pei."

Pei Guo, who was dressed in filial piety, stood in front of the small building and arched his hand to Du Shiyi, and waited until the little novice had retreated before he explained: "This place is where the first mother often came to worship the Buddha, so now that she has died, the presiding officer of the temple agreed to lend this place for me to live temporarily during the ceremony." ”

Speaking of this, he suddenly hugged his fist and gave Du Shiyi a deep blow, and when he saw that he hurriedly turned sideways, he straightened up and said: "This is to thank Du Shiyi for matching me with the bridge, I went to see Mr. Wu according to your rumors, and he promised to paint a side of the wall in Tiangong Temple for his ancestors." It must be known that Mr. Wu is now famous, and the inner palace of Luoyang City is often difficult to start for a year and a half. ”

Du Shiyi was surprised when he heard that Pei Guo meant that Wu Daozi easily agreed to his request. Before, because of the paint and smoke, Wu Daozi bargained with himself, which was obviously not pleasant, and then Pei Guo begged to make a mural for his deceased mother, but this painting saint could be so refreshing? Zhang Xu himself said that Wu Daozi had a good name, and he couldn't afford to be early in his view, which was really rare

"General Pei is serious, I can't hide it, Wu Gong and I are just general friends, and when we met this time, because of a piece of ink, Wu Gong was a little unhappy. Fortunately, at that time, Zhang Gong, who was a master of cursive writing, was next to him, so he was able to smoothly express General Pei's request, and Wu Gong was able to agree, it should be because of General Pei's prestige, but I didn't dare to take credit. ”

Du Shiyi didn't have the slightest grasp of Wu Daozi's temper, and after explaining this section, he said in a few words the dispute over the paint and ink, and said with a wry smile at the end: "Now that the messenger to Wangwushan has returned, although Wu Gong agreed to make them very excited, but Wu Gong invited them to hesitate, so the ink is new, and the formula needs to be finely adjusted, the more people who use it, the easier it is to find those advantages and disadvantages, so they hope that more people can give comments and opinions, and I am embarrassed." ”

Pei Guo also heard a lot about Wu Daozi's xìng grid, and he didn't feel strange at the moment: "There is a specialization in the art industry, and the two inkmen used by Du Shizhi have the demeanor of some famous craftsmen who do not seek fame." ”

After a few more casual gossip, Du Shiyi remembered the polo game a few years ago, and remembered that Pei Tan had been a general in Hebei for many years, and suddenly his heart moved, so he asked: "General Pei, have you ever heard of a bearded man named Chu Shen in Hebei?" This man was seven feet long, strong and brave, and I occasionally went to see a polo match before, but I saw that he was invincible, and there was no enemy under him. ”

"Huh?" Pei Guo was slightly stunned when he heard this, and gently read the name twice, before he said thoughtfully, "I don't have any impression of the name Chu Shen, but the bearded man with a body of seven feet you said is a bit like Chu Huaisha, a ranger who once shook Hebei more than ten years ago. This person because of the most friends in his life The whole family was harmed by the wealthy Guo family, but the government did nothing, and came to the door to seek revenge in a fit of anger, it is said that he had broken three doors with a sledgehammer, and dozens of family members of the Guo family were not allowed to get close under his single sword, and Zuihou was a flying sword that shot down the plaque in the main hall, and the owner of the Guo family was shocked to death. And when he was leaving, he used the hammer to blast open a big hole in the outer wall of that house. Because of this incident, the reputation of the Guo family, which was once quite prestigious in Dingzhou, Hebei Province, plummeted, and the head of the family died, and the children and grandchildren could not compete for property, and they had already fallen to the third rate. ”

Seeing that Du Shiyi was amazed when he heard it, Pei Guo couldn't help but sigh, and then sighed: "I was fighting against the Xi people with Sun Dudu at that time, and after I came back, I heard that the Guo family was chasing after the official, and there was no trace of this person. After so many years, this person has never been heard of in Hebei Province, and even the sea fishing documents have long been transferred. It is rumored that this person went to the Western Regions, and there is no news of him. Counting the age, I am about my early forties, but I have never seen a real person, and now I am in the mourning period of my mother, otherwise I can go to watch the polo match with Du Langjun to see if this Chu Shen is that Chu Huaisha. ”

"Even if it's not, hearing such a strange story from General Pei's mouth is enough to make people amazed."

Because of this little episode, Pei Guo couldn't help but ask a few more questions about the polo jīng British tournament that he had only heard of but had never witnessed. Although he has been guarding Hebei for many years, his family is in the eastern capital, so he has also heard of the sixth room of the Cui family in Qinghe in Yongfengli, the eastern capital, and heard that Cui Jianxuan picked up Jiang Du and Dou Yi together, he couldn't help but nod and said: "Although the young man loves to make trouble, then playing polo is indeed the way to select and train soldiers." However, the five-person competition is too small after all, I used to choose red and blue in the army, and the two sides ranged from ten to thirty or even hundred, so that the melee can see the real equestrian level, and the tactical cooperation is better than ten years ago, and there are more poems and fewer brave and ruthless people."

Between the jokes, the little novice came in a hurry again. But he also knew the opportunity, for fear that others would think that he was eavesdropping, so he stopped and saluted from afar: "General Pei, Du Shiyi, Duke Wu has arrived." Also with Zhang Gong was there. ”

Who is Zhang Gong who came with Wu Daozi, who would not be able to guess the two at this moment? For a while, Pei Guo was surprised and delighted, and Du Shiyi was also very surprised. The two of them immediately walked out quickly, and when they followed the little novice along the avenue to the east gate of the temple, they saw Wu Daozi standing with his hands behind his back in a Taoist robe, squinting at the long mural on the wall, and Zhang Xu was looking around, and when he saw the two of them, he stepped forward and reached out to pat Wu Daozi on the back shoulder, and coughed lightly: "Come back to your senses, everyone is coming"

"Oh" Wu Daozi immediately turned around, and saw Pei Guo wearing a sackcloth filial piety robe, and Du Shiyi followed closely behind, and a sly smile appeared on his face that was not easy to be noticed. When they met, in the face of Pei Tan's words of thanks, he waved his hand indifferently and said, "General Pei is a famous general in Hebei and has a great reputation, if I refuse this request, then I can't say it." ”

After saying the beautiful words, he glanced at Du Shiyi, and suddenly changed his words and said: "However, General Pei should also know that my person's Xi xìng, agreeing to paint for the late Mrs. Tai is one thing, but when to paint is another matter." ”

Just now, Pei Guo was very pleased to listen to Wu Daozi's words, but Du Shiyi muttered a little, and at this moment, when Guo saw that the beautiful words were followed by the word "but", he sighed even more secretly and guessed. As he expected, Wu Daozi didn't seem to see Pei Guo's expression that suddenly became quite stiff, and said to himself: "If I want to paint immediately, but it is also easy, or there is affection and moving, or there is scenery and moving, or someone can move, or there is wine to move, I don't know what it is like at this time?" Of course, if General Pei can afford to wait, wait until I finish painting all the paintings of the temples in the Eastern Capital that I have in hand, and then slowly ponder a mural for Mrs. Lingtai, it is not impossible. ”

Du Shiyi's heart chuckled, and Pei Guo already asked in a deep voice: "Dare to ask Mr. Wu, what is the scene that can impress the honorable driver?" ”

"General Pei is quick to talk," Wu Daozi stroked his palm, and then said in a loud voice, "When I owe the murals of Anguo Temple for a year, and after watching the sword dance of Gongsun and the family, I was inspired for a while, and I finished painting the long wall in one night. And General Pei is the first in the sword dance army, majestic and magnificent, I have seen it once in the past, but I have never had the pleasure of seeing it again in these years. If you can see it, what is the reason for this mural? Even if I paid a lot of money before, I can also return General Pei a sword dance, how can it be compared to a mere daughter? ”

Without waiting for Pei Guo to say yes or no, he turned to Du Shiyi again, and said meaningfully: "If General Pei is willing to give a sword dance, and painting on the wall needs good ink the most, if Du Shizhi can set the one-year appointment of the lacquer and smoke as I prefaced, I am confident enough to paint a masterpiece that moves the Emperor of the Underworld and is touched by the gods and Buddhas."

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