The next day, I took Bai Mao to leave the princess's mansion first and went straight to Cui Bai's residence.

At this time, Cui Bai had become a painter with a reputation in Beijing, and was quite appreciated by scholars and doctors, and often lived with literati and ink writers, and his residence also moved from the narrow alleys of the past to the scenic spot near Xiangguo Temple.

I followed the instructions of passers-by to find Cui's house, and after knocking on the door a few times, the door opened with a bang, and a teenage child poked his head out of the room, looking at me with dripping eyes, but did not speak.

"Yuan Yu, who is the visitor?" I heard Cui Bai's voice coming from inside.

So I told the boy his name and asked him to deliver it on his behalf.

The kid nodded and ran back, and after a while, Cui Bai personally greeted me, smiling at me, and said in a continuous voice: "Long time no see, Huaiji is okay?" ”

After the greetings, he led me in, I remembered the purchase of paintings, walked on one wall, and briefly described the reason to Cui Bai on the other, and asked him if he would like to choose a few new works for me to enter the emperor. He laughed and said, "I was originally abandoned by the art academy, how dare I submit graffiti for the royal reward?" But it just so happened that I was drinking tea and appreciating paintings with two friends in the garden, and they were all good at painting, and there were new works here, so you should go and see them, and if there is a suitable one, please ask them to take a few for you. ”

I was about to ask him again who these two friends were, but when I saw the gallery turning, he had already led me into the backyard garden.

The area of this backyard is not large, but the pine cypress and sycamore bamboo are planted in the middle, and there is a small bridge and flowing water inside, which is clear and elegant, and people walk in the middle, such as in the painting.

There is a pavilion made of bamboo by the side of the small bridge, Cui Bai's friends are among them, one is more than half a hundred years old, wearing a high-costumed scarf, wearing a collared shirt, the front and back of the robe sleeves, and the pen is dotted in the picture scroll on the case, and the other is similar to Cui Bai, in his thirties, wearing a Gao Shi scarf, wearing a big sleeve straight jacket, sitting by the tea stove at the moment, as if waiting for the sound of the soup bottle, in order to pour soup and tea.

Cui Bai took me in and introduced me to the two of them, and they both came to greet me. I asked Cui Bai what the two gentlemen should be called, but he smiled and didn't answer, only said: "Look at the two gentlemen's masterpieces." ”

I moved to the side of the desk and looked at the unfinished work of the gentleman who had just painted it. He painted a peony, the flowers are not described with an ink pen, only dyed with danfen dots, delicate and vivid, and without the backbone of brush and ink, which is very different from the Huang's painting method that prevailed in the academy.

So I had the answer: "Boneless painting flowers and birds, with ancestral style and new ideas, Mr. must be Mr. Chongsi, the eldest grandson of the Xu family in Jinling." ”

Jinling Xu is a guide to the Tang Dynasty flower and bird painter Xu Xi, Cui Bai has always loved his wild and easy painting style. The descendants of Xu Xi are also good at Danqing, among which the eldest grandson Chongsi painted flowers with the "boneless method", combining his ancestral legacy with the wealth and nobility of the Huang family, which was an innovative move in the painting circle of the National Dynasty.

As I expected, the gentleman bowed with a smile: "I'm ashamed, it's not Xu Chongsi." ”

Cui Bai also showed me a few landscape paintings hanging on one side wall, saying that they were made by another gentleman. I looked at them one by one, but I saw that his pen was skillful, and he took Li Cheng's method a little, painting the landscape at four times, far and near, shallow and deep, wind and rain, bright and obscure, and the scenes of morning and dusk are different, the peaks and peaks are showing, the clouds and smoke are extinguished, and there are thousands of forms between the haze, and the layout of the brushwork is quite unique.

I thought about it for a while, and roughly guessed: "Mr. pen's four o'clock mountain scenery is wonderful, the spring mountain is light and smiling, the summer mountain is green and dripping, the autumn mountain is clear and clean like makeup, and the winter mountain is bleak and sleepy. ”

I guessed that right. Guo Xi's eyes widened, and he was very surprised: "I am a cloth cloth, I have lived in other counties for a long time, and I am not like Mr. Xu who was born in a family, and his reputation is spread all over the world, but how do the nobles know the names of the contemptible people?" ”

I smiled and said, "Ten years ago, Zixi praised me for his exquisite brushwork, and in recent years, old friends of the art academy have also mentioned to me from time to time that my husband's masterpiece has been fortunate to appreciate before." ”

The rest of the day was spent with the hospitality of the three painters. Outside the pavilion, the water and stones are murmuring, the wind and bamboo swallow each other, the indoor stove smoke is square, the curtain rolls the ink fragrance, we order tea and comment on the painting, talk very happily, even Xiaobai and the child named Yuan Yu are familiar at first sight, the two sit by the river, Yuan Yu holds the branch in one hand, and from time to time on the ground to draw the jackdaw.

In the meantime, I said what I mean, Mr. Xu and Mr. Guo immediately took a few new works, generously gifted, I refused to accept this gift, ordered Xiaobai to take out the silver money to them, they excused themselves a few times, saw that I insisted, only slightly accepted some.

"Won't Zixi really give me a new painting?" I asked Cui Bai.

He smiled, called Yuan Yu, and whispered a few words, and the child immediately ran away, as if he had gone to get something.

This kid is so clever. I looked at his back and smiled, and then asked Cui Bai: "This is Ling Lang?" ”

Cui Bai laughed and said, "Yuan Yu's surname is Wu, and he is my disciple. ”

Then, with a slight decrease in his smile, he added, "I haven't married a wife yet." ”

I was speechless, and with a polite and pleasant expression, I silently listened to Xu Chongsi and Guo Xi laugh and say that Cui Bai's vision is too high, and there are hundreds of good women in the world, but no one can be favored by him and marry.

Suddenly, Yuan Yu came in with a scroll and presented it to me with both hands. I unfolded it and saw that the painting was a view of the Autumn River, a reed goose was independent of the bank of the decaying grass and water, looking up into the distance, with a lonely attitude.

At dusk, I said goodbye to Cui Bai and the others, and they tried their best to stay, saying that it was rare to fall in love like this, so it was better to stay one night less, and the four of them would talk about the wine tonight, and it would not be too late to return tomorrow.

At this time, the sound of twilight drums came from the nearby Xiangguo Temple, and I remembered something, and my heart moved slightly, so I agreed with my chin.

The next morning, as soon as I arrived at the door of the princess's house, I saw Zhang Chengzhao and Jiaqingzi both coming out, and they both said, "Thank God, you are back!" ”

I was surprised and asked, "You've been waiting for me here?" What happened? ”

Zhang Chengzhao led the horse for me, and said: "After you left, I asked a few friends to play in the pilling field in the garden, which was the princess's dressing room, and the princess heard the sound, so she walked to the railing and looked at it. One of the horse's friends probably guessed that the figure behind the curtain upstairs was the princess, and with a light heart, he deliberately used his strength to hit the ball on a roll of bamboo curtains beside the princess. The princess was furious, and immediately ordered a few little yellow men to go down and drive all the colt's friends away. The horse stood in the field for a long time, and didn't say much, but Uncle Guo's wife was not happy to hear about this, so she rushed over and pointed to those little yellow doors and scolded, foul language, and her voice was loud, and the princess was so angry that she shed tears, I wanted to take a few more people down to return to my uncle and wife to say a few words, but I was stopped by Liang Dujian and asked me not to do anything again. I had no choice but to obey orders, but then the princess's anger would not be able to escape. She sat upstairs and sulked for a day, but you didn't come back, she waited until midnight, and was worried that something would happen to you, so she sent many people out to look for her, and the more she waited, the more anxious she became, and she couldn't help crying again......"

I immediately quickened my pace and asked, "Where is the princess now?" ”

Jia Qingzi said: "In the bedroom hall, I haven't closed my eyes all night, and I'm still waiting for Mr. ”

When she saw the princess, she was indeed haggard, her eyes were red and swollen like peaches, her skin was dull, and her head should have been combed yesterday, and now several strands were hanging down.

When she found me coming in, her eyes flashed, and she got up subconsciously, but her face immediately sank, and she scolded me: "There is a free place outside, what are you doing here?" Then he looked left and right, and commanded: "Beat him out with a big stick!" ”

The surrounding ministers and maids all snickered secretly, and none of them stepped forward to drive me out.

I stepped forward with a smile and handed her a paper bag in my hand. She tilted her head in annoyance, but she must have smelled the fragrance coming from it, hesitated, and finally asked me, "What is this?" ”

"Xiangguo Temple burns the roasted pork sold by the big monk in Zhuyuan."

She was really curious, and looked down. I unpacked the package and explained, "The place where I bought the paintings is right next to Xiangguoji Temple. It was getting late after the discussion was settled, and I remembered that the princess had mentioned the roasted pork in Zhuyuan, so I wanted to wait until dawn to buy a piece of fresh pork for the princess, so I was invited by a friend to stay overnight. Before dawn today, I went to the Zhu Yuan, and when the first piece was baked, I bought it and brought it back to the princess. ”

She immediately asked a question she was concerned about: "Have you seen the great monk?" What does he look like? ”

"Unfortunately, no." I sighed, "His business has become bigger, and his shelves have also become bigger, and now the pork is handed over to the apprentice to roast, and he will easily lose customers." ”

The answer of "Oh ......" made her stunned.

I took the opportunity to hand her a small piece of roasted pork with a bamboo skewer, and she took it, looked at it carefully, sniffed again, and seemed to be ready to taste it, and I couldn't help laughing at that look, and she came back to her senses, and realized that she was angry, so she threw the piece of pork on the ground in shame and annoyance, and said "Phew", and sat down again and turned her head away from me.

Scattered chuckles rang out all around. The princess said angrily: "What are you laughing at? Stand down! ”

Everyone smiled and agreed, and after saluting, they withdrew one after another, only Jiaqingzi did not go far and was still waiting outside the door.

Seeing that there were only me and the princess left in the room, I put down the roasted pork and seriously confessed to her: "This time, the minister stayed out for the night without first asking the princess's permission, which is one of his crimes; Leaving his post without permission and failing to defend the princess is the second crime; The princess was worried about the princess after the night, and her crime was three. If the minister is indeed aware of the crime, he can promise the princess that such a thing will not happen again in the future, and hope that the princess will forgive the sin. ”

I waited for a while, and saw that the princess was motionless and had no intention of answering, so I said: "Since the princess refuses to forgive the minister, please let the minister retire for the time being, wait for the placement of the purchased calligraphy and paintings, and then remove the crown and feet, and come to the princess to kneel down and plead guilty." ”

With that, I took a few steps back, and then turned to go out, but the princess, who had been silent before, suddenly rushed forward and put her arms around my waist behind me.

I shuddered, and my steps faltered. Jia Qingzi, who was outside the door, heard the voice, looked back, and was also taken aback, and turned his head away with a red face.

"I'm not mad at you," said the princess, holding me tightly and putting one cheek on my back, "I'm afraid I'll never see you again...... On the day you went out, I was really here for a long time. If you leave me, I'd rather die the next moment. ”

I froze silently, not responding for a moment. Her sorrow was like an unexpected summer rain, and it wet my mood again. An inexplicable sadness, along with her tears, followed the texture of my clothes and gradually leaked into my heart.