In the spring of this year, there was an attendant in the Yifeng Pavilion who moved out of the Huangmen due to illness, and Miao Shuyi wanted to let the province make up another one, I remembered Zhang Chengzhao's entrustment, so I recommended it to her, and soon Zhang Chengzhao was transferred from the former province.

Once I mentioned Wang Gongchen to Zhang Chengzhao and asked him if Wang Shilang had returned to Beijing to report on his work, Zhang Chengzhao replied: "He guarded the frontier in Yingzhou and had some merit, so the official family called him back and added the official titles of Hanlin Scholar and Longtu Pavilion Bachelor." Now he has not been allowed to return to Yingzhou, looking at this meaning, it seems that he wants to keep him as a Beijing official, but there are many people in the court who oppose it. ”

I suddenly remembered that day when he was coldly looked down upon by hundreds of officials in the Fire City, so I asked Zhang Chengzhao: "Haven't all the new ministers who were impeached by him have not returned to Beijing yet?" It stands to reason that there should be many people in the court who oppose the new policy, why did they also exclude Wang Gongchen? ”

Zhang Chengzhao said: "Who let him sway from side to side like a wall grass? When he was young, he was supported by Lü Yijian, and he originally followed Lü Xianggong, and after Lü Xianggong dismissed the prime minister, he had many contacts with the ministers who later implemented the new policy. When the official family first wanted to appoint Xia Zhu as a privy envoy, he led the imperial history platform to fight to the death with the officials. The official family was upset when he heard this, and turned around to leave, but was pulled by Wang Gongchen, who was kneeling on the ground, and refused to let him go. The officials had no choice but to accept their advice. Therefore, although Wang Gongchen finally broke with the Minister of the New Deal completely and severely rectified Su Shunqin and others, Xia Zhuyu did not want to see him, so that both factions in the DPRK and China were offended, and they were not people inside and outside. After he was released, he returned to Beijing to report on his work, and the new and old parties all looked at him unfavorably, and some people who were red and white also followed suit, so he was quite ostracized. ”

Here's a question that I can't figure out: "Then why did Wang Gongchen completely break with the Minister of the New Deal?" I heard that he and Ouyang Xiu are still brothers-in-law, why don't they even care about this bit of kinship, and make such a stiff fuss? ”

"Haha, it's this Ouyang Xiu who drove him crazy!" Zhang Chengzhao has always liked to inquire about the minister's private affairs, and when he heard me mention the matter of his brother-in-law, he became more and more interested, "Wang Gongchen and Ouyang Xiu knew each other before they married the daughter of the Xue family, and the two had a good relationship before. Ouyang Xiuwen is even more outstanding, and in that imperial examination, he was the first in the Guozi Supplementary Prison Examination, Liberation, and Rite Examinations before the palace examination, so he is very confident and is determined to win the title of champion. After the palace test, Ouyang Xiu made himself a new dress, ready to wear it after the roll call, but Wang Gongchen, who lived with him, took it to wear first. It is estimated that he was also unintentional, and said to Ouyang Xiu with a smile: "If I wear your clothes, I will definitely be able to win the championship, and let me wear it too." Unexpectedly, the next day, the winner was really Wang Gongchen who wore new clothes instead of Ouyang Xiu. After that, although the two of them no longer mentioned jokes about new clothes, they were afraid that they would feel a little uncomfortable. ”

Judging from the articles and poems of the two over the years, it is indeed Ouyang Xiu who is far better than Wang Gongchen, because he missed the champion in a palace test, and there was a new clothes joke before, Ouyang Xiu will inevitably be a little worried. I sighed secretly, and listened to Zhang Chengzhao again: "Wang Gongchen confessed to the official family that he had done the title of the palace exam before, although the official family did not win his title of champion, but Ouyang Xiu must be even more unconvinced. Moreover, there have been many theories about Wang Gongchen's previous way of getting the test questions over the years, one of which says that the test questions were revealed to him by officials who wanted to win over Wang Gongchen, such as Lu Yijian and the like. Later, Wang Gongchen was indeed attached to Lu Yijian, and Ouyang Xiu was bound to despise him even more. Later, when Fan Zhongyan came to power, Ouyang Xiu followed and became even more estranged from Wang Gongchen. ”

Thinking of that in-law relationship, I asked Zhang Chengzhao again: "Since they are all married to Xue Kui's daughters, they are very close on weekdays, even if there are any more suspicions, they should ease up?" ”

"No, no, not only did it not ease, but it got worse!" Zhang Chengzhao shook his head again and again, and said with a smile: "Ouyang Xiu is married to the fourth daughter of the Xue Kui family. Wang Gongchen first married the third son-in-law, and within a few years the lady died, the Xue family cherished Wang Gongchen's talents, and was reluctant to let him be a son-in-law for other families, so they married the fifth son-in-law to him as a continuation. Ouyang Xiu wrote a poem 'Dao He' at that time: 'The old son-in-law is the new son-in-law, and the eldest aunt is the younger brother-in-law. This poem spread quickly, and everyone in the world knew that Wang Gongchen married his sister-in-law. Later, Ouyang Xiu went to his friend Liu Chang's house as a guest, and also invited Wang Gongchen to go with him. Liu Chang told a joke in front of a full house of guests: Once upon a time, there was an old scholar who taught children to read, and when he read the sentence in the Book of Poetry, "Retire from food and self-righteousness, and entrust the snake to the snake", he specially warned the students, "The snake here should read the sound of the aunt, remember." The next day, the student was on his way to school watching a beggar play with a snake, but he forgot the time and arrived at the school very late. When the old scholar asked him why, the student replied, 'I saw a man playing with a snake on the road, so I stopped to watch and saw that he had made a big snake and then a small snake, so I missed school.' ’……”

The "snake" Zhang Chengzhao in the last sentence made an "aunt" sound, and when he talked about this, he couldn't help it first, and bent over with a smile.

I can imagine Wang Gongchen's mood when he heard this joke. Although there is only one side, he can already be perceived that he is introverted and sensitive by nature, and he can't accept the humiliation of bending over and picking up the wat, and how can he bear the world to make fun of his boudoir.

"Huh? It's so ridiculous, why aren't you laughing? Zhang Chengzhao asked me in surprise.

Out of politeness, I smiled at him, didn't answer, and continued to ask him, "Did Ouyang Xiu smile at that time?" ”

"Of course he laughed," Zhang Chengzhao said, "the guests were laughing, how could he not laugh!" Because of this laugh, Wang Gongchen naturally became more resentful of him, and maybe he would think that Ouyang Xiu deliberately took him to make everyone laugh at him. Later, when the new policy was implemented, Ouyang Xiu served as an official, and frequently reported the villains and villains in the court to the officials, and even criticized the officials of the Imperial History Stage, saying that the Taiwan officials were 'not talented, and there was no one to be called'. Since it is said that no one is competent, it naturally includes Wang Gongchen, who was the middle of the imperial history at that time. Over the years, Ouyang Xiu and his talented friends have not talked about Wang Gongchen's writing, and they often ridicule him for being unworthy of his name, and this time Ouyang Xiu said this openly in Zhang Shuli, so Wang Gongchen was furious and determined to oppose the new ministers. After the incident in the palace, he smiled and said the words 'all the net in one fell swoop', maybe he felt that his years of resentment were exhausted all at once, could he not be happy? This net is not only filled with pavilion talents who support the New Deal, but also Ouyang Xiu's friends who have been stimulating him with words...... In the second year, before Ouyang Xiu's nephew case, he first instructed his former subordinate Liu Yuanyu to impeach Ouyang Xiu, saying that he sang peace with the people of the pavilion and was a friend. Now that I think about it, I am afraid that he has also done something secretly. ”

"What about Su Zimei?" I asked him again, "Although he may have talked about invading the Imperial Observatory when he presided over the affairs of the Jinsoyuan, it seems that he did not attack Wang Gongchen himself." Now everyone says that Wang Gongchen's impeachment of Su Shunqin was mainly to make Du Yan resign, but if there is no selfish grudge, how can Wang Gongchen be dissatisfied with Jinshang's decision to let Su Shunqin cut his nationality to the people, and insist on asking Jinshang to kill him? ”

Zhang Chengzhao nodded and said, "Yes, I also think it's strange!" In fact, their personal relationship was not bad before, and they have known each other for many years. When Su Shunqin entered the pavilion to be the manager of Jixian School, it was jointly recommended by Wang Gongchen with Fan Zhongyan...... Su Shunqin didn't seem to have said anything about ridiculing Wang Gongchen, but Wang Gongchen must cut him down......" He thought about it, suddenly leaned over and approached me slightly, and said with a smile: "Once I went to Hanyuan on business, I saw that the scholars were sitting and chatting, and when I was talking about Wang Gongchen's harm to Su Shunqin, a bachelor said: 'He is so ruthless to Su Zimei, isn't Zimei and him having a grudge against killing his father and taking his wife?' When they heard this, they all laughed. ”

I didn't answer his words again. Recalling Wang Gongchen's demeanor, I feel very sorry: a person with such an elegant appearance fell into a battle of will, couldn't let go of that little bit of mind, and finally became thin by the public. Faced with his current situation, I wonder if he will regret his original thoughts.

The fifteenth day of mid-spring is the Flower Dynasty Festival. At the suggestion of Concubine Zhang, the queen was ordered to lead the palace to Yichun Garden to enjoy the flowers, and invited the foreign women to go with her, and gave a banquet in the garden at noon.

During the banquet on this day, Zhang Guifei paid special attention to an official's wife who sat silently and looked lonely, and specially sent the attendant to greet the lady, enjoy the flowers after the banquet, and invited the lady to accompany her, and personally picked a branch of Ruixiang flower, inserted it on the lady's crown, and talked with her with a pleasant face, and the kind and friendly look simply flattered the lady.

I recognize that several ladies of Concubine Zhang's mother's family often enter the palace, but today this lady is very faceless. The rare hospitality of the concubine made me feel abnormal, so I asked Zhang Chengzhao to inquire about the identity of the lady, and he quickly brought back the answer: "That's Mrs. Xue of Wang Gongchen's family." ”

I understand Zhang Guifei's intentions.

Soon after, an incident in the harem confirmed my suspicions from another angle.

That day, the princess said that she wanted to eat green plum fruits, but there was no more in Yifeng Pavilion, so Zhang Chengzhao asked for orders to go to the Imperial Diet Bureau to get them. It took a long time to come back, and after presenting the green plums, I couldn't stop wiping the corners of my eyes with my sleeves.

The princess was surprised, "Why did you shed tears?" ”

When Zhang Chengzhao heard this, he knelt down in front of the princess with a "plop" and cried: "It's useless to be a minister, you are bullied outside, and you have embarrassed the princess." ”

The princess asked him, "Who has bullied you?" ”

Zhang Chengzhao said: "Shicaichen came back from the Imperial Diet Bureau to take green plums, passed through the inner east gate, and saw a few small yellow men pushing a cart in front of him, walking slowly. The minister was worried that the princess would wait for a long time, so he said to them in a kind voice, 'Can you go a little faster, or let me go first?' Unexpectedly, they were like eating **, and they turned around and scolded the minister. The minister still wanted to reason with them, so he said: 'I went out to do business according to the order of Princess Fukang, and the princess is still waiting for me to return to my life, and I ask the little brother to be accommodating and let me go first.' Unbeknownst to them, they shouted loudly: 'We are doing things for Zhang Guifei.' What happened to the princess? Can a princess be bigger than a concubine? Speaking of which, the concubine is still the princess's mother! ’”

When the princess heard this, she suddenly became angry: "Presumptuous! How dare they say that? ”

Zhang Chengzhao couldn't help but nod as if pecking rice: "Yes, yes, that's exactly what I said." The minister was also angry when he heard this, so he reasoned with them, saying that the princess only called Miao Shuyi sister, and where did she Zhang Guifei dare to say that she was the princess's mother. They said that they couldn't help the minister, but they wanted to start beating the minister, but the minister was in a hurry, blocked it with his hand, and accidentally knocked down a box on a car and fell down. At this time, Granny Jia rushed from the palace, and when she saw it, she suddenly became vicious, and cracked the minister's cheeks dozens of times, saying: 'This is filled with treasures that are not even in the palace, and I can't afford to pay for smashing your ten cheap lives!' ’”

"Huh? How dare she hit you? The princess frowned and said angrily, "This fat woman is getting more and more hateful." ”

"Isn't it!" Zhang Chengzhao burst into tears, "It's nothing for the ministers to be wronged, it's just that they can't swallow this breath when they despise the princess so much." They dare to fight the princess today, but tomorrow they don't know what they will do to the princess......"

The princess was provoked by him, and immediately took the case, and was about to say something, but I stopped her and said, "Princess, bear with me for the time being, and think about what the official family taught you." ”

She was stunned: "What? ”

I reminded her, "Take a deep breath. ”

The princess couldn't help laughing, and withdrew a little angrily.

I turned to Zhang Chengzhao and said, "Although they are arrogant, you may not be without a little mistake, right?" It must have been because you saw that they were just little yellow doors, and ordered them to give way in a reprimanding tone, which aroused their dissatisfaction. ”

Zhang Chengzhao had a fleeting shyness, and then wanted to quibble, I raised my hand to signal him to shut up, and said, "I asked Miao Niangzi to transfer you over, but I didn't want you to cause trouble for the princess." The harem is different from other places, and a little thing can be out of control. If you don't know how to restrain and try to take advantage of the princess's momentum to swagger around, it's better to go back and forth from where. ”

It was the first time I had spoken to him in such a harsh tone. He was stunned for a long time before turning his head to look at the princess and begging, "Princess......"

The princess also seemed to understand at this moment, took a deep breath, and then smiled at Zhang Chengzhao and said, "Daddy asked me to take a deep breath when I was angry, and think about it again." Now that I've figured it out, I'm not angry. ”

Zhang Chengzhao was quite disappointed, and stopped crying, looked at the princess, and then turned to me, and suddenly said: "Actually, I remembered that Mrs. Zhang and Granny Jia framed you back then, so I couldn't swallow this breath." Everyone is working hard for the princess, why should they be beaten and scolded to death! ”

When the princess heard this, her eyes widened again: "What did you say?" Did Mrs. Zhang and Granny Jia frame Huaiji? ”

Zhang Chengzhao immediately said loudly yes, I wanted to stop him, but the princess turned to me and ordered me to shut up, so he ignored my obstruction and told the princess everything about the glass cup back then.

The princess was very quiet after hearing this, there was no obvious anger, she lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, and suddenly asked Zhang Chengzhao about today's incident: "Granny Jia said that the box you knocked down contains a treasure that is not in the palace, do you know what it is?" ”

Zhang Chengzhao replied: "Later, she opened it and looked at it, and it was a large vase with red glaze. ”

"Sauce red glaze?" The princess thought about it and said, "Isn't it Dingzhou red porcelain?" I heard that the porcelain of the kiln is very small, it is not easy to fire, and the color depth is extremely difficult to grasp, so it is very valuable. Daddy didn't want the palace to be extravagant, and ordered that Dingzhou should not be allowed to pay tribute to red porcelain. Where did Zhang Niangzi's vase come from? ”

Zhang Chengzhao said: "Look at that posture, it should be transported from outside the palace...... Maybe it was her uncle Zhang Yaozuo who came to please her. ”

The princess was silent, her eyes rolled leisurely to look around, and she smiled and instructed Zhang Chengzhao: "You go to the back garden to pick a bouquet of pear blossoms for me, and then find a white coarse porcelain vase to insert." ”

Zhang Chengzhao was stunned for a moment: "With a white coarse porcelain vase? ”

"Yes." The princess said, "The more ugly the vase, the better...... It's better to have a broken notch, and if not, you smash one out. ”

Zhang Chengzhao quickly picked the pear blossoms, but it took a lot of time to find the vase that met the princess's conditions. At last, he ran out, found it in a cook's room, smashed the gap that the princess needed, and happily inserted pear blossoms to offer to the princess.

The princess placed the vase in the most conspicuous place in the cabinet, so that she found it when she came in today.

"This pear blossom blooms well, but the bottle doesn't deserve it." "The flowers and the bottle are both white, but they are not the same hue, and the flowers are snow-white, and the bottle is more and more dirty, and there are notches, which is very eye-catching." Let's go get another one. ”

"How can my daughter have a vase that can be replaced!" The princess replied angrily, "Daddy obviously has a good Dingzhou red porcelain vase, but he won't give it to me." ”

Jin Shangqi said: "Where does Daddy have a Dingzhou red porcelain vase?" You often go to the Funing Palace, have you ever seen it there? ”

"There is no Funing Palace, but there is one in Ninghua Palace!" The princess pulled her father's sleeve and said angrily, "Daddy is biased, and he gave the Dingzhou red porcelain vase to Mrs. Zhang but not to her daughter, of course the daughter had to find a broken vase to arrange flowers at will." ”

Jinshang frowned: "There is Dingzhou red porcelain in Ninghua Palace?" ”

The princess nodded: "Yes, many people have seen it." ”

Imakami suddenly got up and stepped out the door. The princess chased after me, and when she saw her father in sight, she looked back at me and playfully stuck her tongue out at me.

The next day, everyone in the palace heard the news that Jinshang was angrily smashing Dingzhou red porcelain in the Guifei Pavilion.

It is said that as soon as I entered the Guifei Pavilion of Ninghua Palace, I looked around, as if I was looking for something. Later, I saw the red porcelain vase that Zhang Guifei had just put out, and asked her where this thing came from, Zhang Guifei replied that it was offered by Wang Gongchen, and now she was furious and reprimanded her: "I warned you not to send it to the ministers, why don't you listen!" With that, he lifted the axe and smashed the vase. Zhang Guifei was so frightened that she knelt on the ground to apologize, and today she was asked to kneel, and it took a long time before she got up.

"Daddy would be so angry, I didn't expect it." The princess later said to me, "Actually, I just want him to scold Mrs. Zhang for being extravagant, which will attract the people in the palace to follow suit, and not allow her to use the vase, so as to add to her blockage and vent your anger." ”

I tossed away the little flutter attached to her brow for her: "The princess doesn't have to do these things for the courtiers. It has been a long time since the glass cup incident, not to mention that at that time, it did not have any adverse impact on the minister. ”

The princess bowed her head and said, "But the thought of her bullying you like that makes me angry, even more angry than when she bullied me." Then, as soon as she shook my hand, she said seriously, "If anyone bullies you again in the future, you must let me know." I know you're going to take a deep breath, but I just want to protect you. ”