Mara, the second-class guard in front of the imperial palace and the fourth-rank martial artist, was as anxious as a child who had made a mistake, and hurriedly came out of the main hall and walked to the study in the backyard after Ji Kaisheng, who was in the middle of the military department's right and from the fifth rank of the capital.

Ji Kaisheng looked like he was hurrying away, and occasionally looked up at Mara behind him, but he always frowned and looked sad. This frightened Mara, who thought she had made a big mistake.

"Master Ji, I'm ......" Mara ran two steps quickly and grabbed the position next to Ji Kaisheng, but she didn't have time to salute, and she opened her mouth to explain.

"Mara's guards are silent first, and we will speak in the study." Unexpectedly, Ji Kaisheng raised his hand violently and interrupted Mara.

"Huh......" The young man of the guard behaved at this moment, and there was still the dignity and majesty of the imperial guard, all of which were submissive after making mistakes.

On the contrary, it was this minion who called the official's promise and reminded Ji Kaisheng of something, he hurriedly turned around and looked carefully, only to find that Mara's demeanor was extremely unnatural, and he knew that he was too hasty just now.

"Lord Mara, the lower official is out of shape. Come on, come on, talk ahead. Ji Kaisheng changed his face to a pleasant face, took Mara's hand and walked forward for more than ten steps, until he entered the second gate of the backyard, and then he stood firm under the leafy and magnificent cedars, and looked back at the location of the front hall, and he couldn't hear any words from here, so he bowed slightly and said:

"Lord Mara, you just had a gaffe, don't be surprised."

"Where, where, it's a small errand...... "Mara hurriedly returned the salute, trying to explain.

"Since this forehead has come on his own initiative, whatever the reason, he will always come. It's just that you happened to bump into it, no wonder you, the guard. Xia Guan was thinking about the reason for this all the way just now, and he snubbed you, my lord, which is really presumptuous, please forgive me. Ji Kaisheng explained to himself first.

"I ......" Mara now knows the great harm of being a shallow learner, that is, people who read "bang bo" for a long time, have "opened the truth" and "gone from shallow to deep", and she is still here with her mouth open for a long time and can't say anything.

What he wants to say most at the moment are two sentences: the first sentence - that Geng Zhaozhong seems to have taken my pigtails, so I had no choice but to accept him and visit him together. The second sentence - that little braid, I'm still embarrassed to explain it, because I don't understand weishenme myself!

"Uncle! Didn't you go to the front hall to meet guests, how can you stand alone under the tree? Suddenly, a clear, sweet call came from not far away, interrupting Mara's next words once again.

"Oh, Xiaolian, uncle, I ......" Ji Kaisheng turned around when he heard this, and before he could continue to speak, the soft and gentle voice of the woman in the inner courtyard had already floated over:

"Uncle, the silver taels of the four-axis sandalwood scroll should be given to Songzhuzhai earlier, so that they can return it to the Manchurian as soon as possible, we don't owe them money!"

Mara was a little annoyed, blaming the visitor for interrupting his train of thought again, but after calming down and listening to this second sentence, he found that it was so "familiar", as if it was a natural voice from his own heart, but it was not from someone else's mouth. In fact, it can't be considered familiar, but it was only half an hour ago that I heard this "Nong Nong soft language" for the first time on the bridge deck of Liulichang...... Could it be? ……

"Ahh Uncle has a guest, Xiaolian retires! The woman on the other side could not see the whole picture of his uncle's side because of the dense pine tree, and Mara could not recognize the woman's body and face. After turning half a corner, he suddenly found that his uncle was not alone, and there was a burly man opposite, who immediately came to a sharp brake, said a thousand blessings, and was about to leave.

"Little Lotus......" Ji Kaisheng was about to stop his niece and ask her to tell Mr. Tan to wait in the study and come later.

"It's you! Wait a minute! Unexpectedly, Mara behind her actually opened her mouth and screamed. This frightened Ji Kaisheng.

Xiaolian seemed to have heard something familiar in her surprise, and she obediently stopped again, paused, and then turned around.

"How did you get here?" When the girl said this, there was originally some joy on her face.

"I'm ......" Mara "behaved clumsy as always, although this problem has not occurred before ~ the palace this morning.

"You ......" Xiaolian knew that as long as she and this young man looked at each other, her cheeks would be hot like a charcoal fire, and she couldn't speak, so she had to lower her head and nervously rub the sleeves of her long skirt.

"Miss Ji, I'm ...... Oh!!!! You turned out to be Master Ji......" Mara finally used her brain, not her mind, to think about the problem. turned to look at Ji Kaisheng, and also changed to a big red face.

"Uncle, hurry up and give this official two pieces of silver, everyone is asking for it." Xiaolian finally discovered that she was wrong, threw down a sentence, and hurriedly ran back to her boudoir.

"Miss Ji......" Mara wanted to habitually shout "don't run" in a hurry, but when the words came to her mouth, she found that it was inappropriate, because Ji Kaisheng's eyes were full of doubts and surprises.

"You...... You ......" Ji Kaisheng hesitated, and stopped talking.

"I ...... We ......" Mara hated herself at the moment, and she couldn't give a decent explanation in a thousand words.

"Well, let's talk about it later, let's go to the study first." Seeing this, Ji Kaisheng was even more puzzled in his heart, he really wanted to get to the bottom of it, and he could think that there was another "prince's forehead" in front of him, so he had to endure it.

After entering the study, Mara was finally able to do business, and naturally returned to her usual ability and conciseness, and made her meaning clear in a few words.

"The old man is a vulgar man, how dare he take care of the prince?" After listening to Mara's relay, Tan Qian put down the paintbrush in his hand and respectfully hugged his fist towards the north, which could be regarded as a greeting to thank Hongyi.

"Mr. Tan, my family Lord Belle said, please feel at ease in the next few days to recuperate in Lord Ji's mansion, in a few days, he will personally come to invite you to the Inner Academy of History to ascend." Mara replied respectfully.

Judging the appearance of the two of them before and after, Ji Kaisheng was very curious, his mind moved, and he suddenly came to a superficial understanding: Namara and Xiaolian are of the same age, is it possible......

"In this way, there is Prince Lao!" Tan Qian said something that made the two people breathe a sigh of relief, although he still used the title of prince instead of saying "Lord Belle", but even so, it was already very difficult for the remnants of the former Ming Dynasty.

"Where, where! If you hear it, you will be very happy! Mara reacted on the spot, no longer saying the word "Lord Belle", but changing her name to "Little Master", trying to make the old man listen more comfortably.

"Hehe......" Tan Qian didn't say more, and picked up the brush again.

"Then when it comes to the food, clothing, housing and transportation of adults in the past few days, I have to worry a lot about Lord Ji!" Mara came back to her senses and respectfully saluted Ji Kaisheng.

"Oh...... It should be! Please go back and report to the master, and the next official will talk about the adult as if he were a guest, which is also the honor of Ji someone! Ji Kaisheng heard Mara talking to himself, so he pulled back his thoughts and put aside the matter of the girl and the boy for the time being.

"In that case, let's go back and send off Lord Edo!" Ji Kaisheng also wanted to send Mara and Geng Zhaozhong away as soon as possible, so that he could go back to the back house to carefully interrogate his niece Xiaolian.

"Who? What is the forehead? Tan Qian's paintbrush in his hand flowed smoothly and never stopped, but he suddenly asked.

"Oh, it's Geng Zhaozhong, the second son of Geng Jimao, the king of Jingnan. He came with Master Mara. Ji Kaisheng replied casually, raised his hand and clasped his fists in salute, ready to retreat.

"What is he doing?" Tan Qian finally put down the brush and looked at Ji Kaisheng and asked.

"He ......" Ji Kaisheng was speechless, the speculation that he hadn't figured out yet couldn't be said casually at this moment.

"This ......" Mara, as the subject of the matter, has a hard time speaking.

"Did he come to greet the prince for his Lao Tzu, that Geng Jimao?" In the words of Tan Qian, he expressed the speculation in Ji Kaisheng's heart.

"Talk about adults, Takami!" Ji Kaisheng couldn't help but echo it, he really admired the old guy's decades of reading history and writing history, it was really not in vain.

"I'm ......" Mara was about to interject, but she heard Tan Qian already start talking.

Although the three kings were Qing ministers, they were also once Ming subordinates, but now they are in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan to rebuke Fang Xuan, which is overwhelming. Which is right and which is wrong, the old decay does not judge, and there are later generations to judge. can be the strategy for now, but the old man has to remind the prince not to make enemies on all sides too early and mess up his own square inches! After all, the Han Emperor is not dead, and the Han people are not convinced! After speaking, Tan Qian continued to paint his own freehand landscape.

Silent, I could only hear the sound of brushing and brushing the intersection of pen, ink and paper in the study, and after a while, a thick landscape scroll was completed!

Mara looked, this Han painting is really wonderful! What seems to be black and black, as long as you pay a little attention, it immediately turns into mountains and clouds, even if you don't understand the deep meaning, you can see what the painting is!

In the silence, he really couldn't pick up the conversation, and he couldn't just leave, so Ji Kaisheng had to come over and take a closer look.

In the middle of the smoke, in the upper right corner of the painting, a tall mountain peak rises out proudly and stands proudly independently. At the top of the mountain, the old pine is isolated in the wind for a moment, and the instrument is lofty. Around, through the fog, you can only see the mountains jagged, languishing, and lifeless. Under the unique peak, starting from the halfway up the mountain, there is a stream trickling out, passing through layers of clouds and smoke, falling straight to the foot of the mountain, which has already become a big river, sweeping the mountains, wrapped in haze, and has a great tendency to be in the ascendant. At this time, the painting peak turned, but saw that the river had already entered the sea: on the shore, two or three thatched huts, and a lone lamp......

In the blank space in the upper left corner of the painting, Tan has replaced a brush and is inscribed with an ancient poem. Mara naturally couldn't understand it, but she listened to Ji Kaisheng read softly:

"The grass has been exposed, and the pine and bamboo are always windy. The mountains look left and right, like tigers and dragons. When I see the fishing lanterns, I know whose house is Pu Li, and the stars are in the sky. Everything is swept away, and the world is waiting for the heavenly palace.

Autumn is bleak, the forest sheds its leaves, and the water returns to the flood. The rivers and lakes are drifting and the geese are compatible. To make the group safe, not to listen to the three more barking dogs, this is a miracle. A painting Lin Pavilion, I from the old wall east. ”

Tan Qian did not deal with Ji Kaisheng, but then fell into the "double paragraph [1]" - "The second son of the Qing Emperor."

Yafeng; Shunzhi Yiwei [2] Juyue [3], Guan Ruo. ”

"Good paintings, good words, good words! Talking about adults, this "Water Tune Song Head" by Wang Zhen [4] of the Southern Song Dynasty, as the title with your painting, can be said to be a collection of 'three uniques [5]' in one! Ji Kaisheng sighed with emotion, and Mara on the side didn't know whether his breathtaking appearance was from the bottom of his heart or flattery.

In fact, where will Mara, a "semi-literate person in Sinology", understand that the meaning of this painting is quite profound:

First, the mountains are sluggish, and there is a single peak, reflecting that only the Qing Dynasty is unique in today's China, whether it is the Southern Ming Dynasty or the Dashun Daxi, they are just lingering and languishing;

Second, the lone pine on the top of the mountain, the mountain spring that trickles and flows into the sea, alludes to Xuanye, the second son of the emperor, and talks about moving in the hope that he can help the world, the big river into the sea, and finally get the right way;

Third, the inscription is quite meaningful: the words "Great Qing Dynasty" and "Shunzhi" appeared for the first time in Tan Qian's paintings, which was the first time to make a clear position and recognize the status of the Qing Dynasty. "Guanruo" is the number of talking about relocation, and it is even more important to say that he hopes to be able to "see the fire" in the current situation.

zuihou, Wang Zhen's "Water Tune Song Head" is even more poetic, so naturally there is no need to repeat it.

Just when Mara was confused, Tan Qian had already stamped his own seal, so he picked up the picture scroll and saluted Ji Kaisheng:

"Lord Ji, there is also a party for you to give the seal, fill in this clumsy work completely, and present it to the second son of the emperor on my behalf, can you?" This is the meaning of asking Ji Kaisheng for a seal.

"Ahh The little bit of gold and stone kung fu in the later life, I'm afraid I won't be able to enter your old eyes! Ji Kaisheng gave full play to the "Sao ~ love" between literati and scholars, and was very humble and polite.

"Hehe, Lord Ji doesn't have to be polite, the old man's previous seal can only show his previous mood, at this moment, it is naturally different from the past, please also invite Lord Ji Haihan!" Let's talk about the migration for a little explanation.

Ji Kaisheng is also a smart person, and immediately understood that Tan Qian intended to make an artificial break with the past history, and hurriedly changed his words and said:

"In this case, the late life had to be reluctant to make it difficult and make a fool of himself in front of his predecessors."

"Don't be in a hurry, Master Ji is not in a hurry." Tan Qian nodded with satisfaction.

Mara on the side thought that the politeness between cultural people was finally over, so she was ready to go out of the study to the front hall to send Geng Zhaozhong away. It can be found that these two scholars are actually motionless, and there seem to be a thousand words, but they are not a word.

Ji Kaisheng carefully looked at the long scroll in his hand, looked at the painting, and looked at the old man; The old man just looked at Ji Kaisheng with a smile, stroked his beard, and looked profound.

"Talk about my lord, old man, please help me! Please be more powerful! Ji Kaisheng finally broke the silence, and with expectations for the picturesque country, he saluted respectfully.

"Hehe, the old man is a bookwriter, he has nothing to do and do idle paintings, how dare he not do his own power?" Tan Qian continued to wield his beard and be polite.

This is also a big one, Mara has a big head, I don't know what these Han people are talking about.

"Definitely. Mr. This painting is self-explanatory! Please also ask Mr. Kuang to help the trickle and become a great river as soon as possible, so as to cleanse the world and benefit China! Ji Kaisheng didn't give an inch, and he hit the ground.

……

It was Tan Qian's turn to be silent. After a long time, he sighed, as if he had made a lot of determination.

"Well, the prince and I have the grace of acquaintance, and Han Ming has the affection of a master and servant to me. So far, I can't care about that much, so I entered the shogunate on the side of Master Ji, and let's make a little effort! ”

"Thank you for your love!"

"As for that Geng Gongzi, what kind of forehead, please ...... Master Ji" Tan Qian's right hand was raised slightly, and Ji Kaisheng took the initiative to move forward, so the two naturally began to talk to each other. Ji Kaisheng nodded frequently, and Zuihou suddenly realized.

In the middle of the sound, Ji Kaisheng took out Geng Zhaozhong's famous post from his arms, and found a blank famous post with a similar shape in the study and spread it on the bookcase.

"Mara-sama, could you please write it as it is?" Ji Kaisheng spoke.

"This? ...... "Mara doesn't know what to do.

"After writing, you will know." Talking about relocation is even more sophisticated.

"Huh!" Mara had no choice but to re-inscribe her name, speculating that these two cultural people did not want to give herself a "calligraphy practice lesson"!

"Good! Then there is Lord Lao Ji's skills! After Tan Qian saw Mara finish writing, he smiled at Ji Kaisheng again.

"Talking adults made fun of it! In this case, it is time to sacrifice ugliness once! Ji Kaisheng didn't feel annoyed after being teased, but happily picked up the pen, and he was imitating Geng Zhaozhong's Chinese characters! In a few moments, the two identical posters were completed, but there seemed to be a few words that were not quite the same, but Mara could not delve into them.

"Master Mara, it's good for you to do the same......" Ji Kaisheng pulled Mara over, and then went private...... I only heard Mara break out in a cold sweat, but she was helpless!

[1] In Chinese paintings, a painting, except for poems and other places, only inscribed with the author's name, is called "single paragraph". In addition to the name of the author, the picture is inscribed with the character and number of the owner of the painting to indicate that it is owned by someone. For example, "Mr. So-and-so Yafeng", this gentleman's name is inscribed on the author, called "single paragraph". Therefore, the author's name is also called "next paragraph". The upper and lower sections together are called "double paragraphs".

[2] The twelfth year of Shunzhi is the year of Yiwei.

[3] Juyue, one of the elegant names for the ninth month of the lunar calendar.

[4] Wang Zhen (1135-1189), the name Jingwen, the name Snow Mountain, Xingguo Jun Yangxinli (now Yangxin Village, Xinlonggang Town, Yang), was a famous scholar, poet and writer in the period of Gaozong and Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty. Throughout his life, Wang Zhen was not only a scholar and a literati, but also a patriot. He lived in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty in troubled times, but he was very concerned about politics and was a staunch anti-war faction. In his early years, he was aggressive, but because of his upright personality, he was repeatedly attacked, dismissed many times, and entered the shogunate many times, but his ambition was never rewarded. "History of the Song Dynasty" called him "to go to the country with the ancestral hall" and "to bear his promising talent", and deeply regretted him. His main achievements are in academic research and literary creation.

[5] The combination of poetry, calligraphy and painting has always been known as the "Three Beauties" and "Three Uniques", which are the praise of the combination of poetry, calligraphy and painting, and are also the artistic realm generally pursued by Chinese painting.