Your Majesty will suffer

The world is impermanent, Nan Gongji finally understands a thing or two now.

Fortunately, why do young people worry about it for a long time? !He is also considered an open-minded person, and his Bianliang is prosperous, which is even worse than him in Chengdu. There is no lack of good places to go on weekdays; although he still has to enter the palace to study with him, the lecturer is not strict with him. Enroll in school every day, and leave school at the time of application, but just sit for a few hours. As for the homework of the essay, you can deal with it at will, and the lecturers seldom pursue it.After such a long time, he has become more and more lazy, and his studies have gradually become exhausted.Fortunately, after Emperor Liang learned about it, he decreed to strictly restrict him, which was better.

Naturally, it is not suitable to live in the post house for a long time since I am the prince's companion. Fortunately, the holy family, Longhou, gave me a mansion under the state bridge and on the south bank of the Bian River. Yao, it can be called the place of gold, even the prime minister of the current dynasty, and there is no such kind treatment!

It's just that as usual, since the imperial decree didn't mention it, the envoys didn't dare to stay for a long time, and they had to leave Beijing as soon as possible!Before Yu Bi left, he repeatedly asked him to study hard and be careful in handling things, and Nan Gongji responded to them one by one.

When Nangongji moved into the new house, the palace sent him a servant by the way, and it was Zhang Lingqi who had met him several times before!

Seeing this, Nan Gongji felt mixed feelings, Zhang Lingqi had some friendship with him after all, after Yu Bi left, it would be a good thing to have an acquaintance by his side; but what worried him was that he was actually a person in the palace, said to be a close servant In fact, it is more of an eyeliner, but from now on, my every word and action will be under the supervision of others, so I can't find anything wrong!

Fortunately, not long after that, two people came to share his worries in time, which greatly relieved him.

Of these two people, one is Su Yubi who has gone and returned, and the other is Zhou Huaian, who was originally promoted by Song Mingxuan of Shu Palace!Seeing these two people at the moment, Nan Gongji was overjoyed, but on the other hand, he was worried that this matter might not be approved by Emperor Liang.

Yu Bi said: "Your Highness is still young, and I need one or two close people to take care of me, and I am His Highness's Xibin (1), and Huai'an is my close follower in the old days. It is normal to stay here temporarily as a companion. I want to come to Emperor Liang There is no reason why not.”

Nangong Jisi came too, so he wrote Daoming's request according to his words, and his wish came true.It's just that now that their identities have changed, Yu Bi and Huai'an are no longer called "Your Highness", but "Lang Jun".

It's the end of the year when everything is settled.

At this time, it has been two months since Nangongji entered Beijing, and it has been more than a month since he joined the palace to study with him. Fortunately, Nangongji is talented and intelligent, but with a little effort, reading and writing are not difficult tasks!In addition, he gets along well with several classmates!Therefore, accompanying reading is not as boring as previously thought.

Let's talk about his classmates in the palace, apart from the Crown Prince and Prince Chu Yue Yunxi, Prince Shang Gongjing Yue Yuning, Prince Han Yue Yunze, and King Wu's eldest grandson Yue Xiyan, they are all at the age of having fun , And get along very well, I wish I could play together all the time!It's a pity that his Yue family's patriarchal law is strict, and his clan members are not allowed to meet guests from outside the court without permission, and they are also not allowed to leave the palace privately, so the gathering of several people is limited to the forbidden!On the contrary, Nangong Jide was especially kind to the emperor, so he was able to go to the banquets of various palaces occasionally, which was another joy!

Five or six days ago, school work was suspended, Nan Gongji didn't have to enter the palace, and he sat alone in the mansion every day, feeling bored, and also missed his relatives during the festive season, feeling unhappy.

Yu Bi is a sympathetic person, knowing that he is sad, he stopped doing his homework years ago, and taught him to rest well, and he can go out for a walk in his free time to relieve his worries.

The festive Bianliang City is decorated with lanterns and festoons, and it is peaceful!But who knows that this scene makes Li Ren even more homesick!Recalling that in the Shu Palace in the past, he would hang up a few lanterns or write peach charms by himself.Although the Fuzhong also buys these things now, but people are different, and it is quite sad to think about it.In order to avoid worries and thoughts, Nan Gongji changed his past laziness, buried his head in the books every day, and did not ask about foreign affairs, so as to relieve his troubles.

In a blink of an eye, it was the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, and someone sent an invitation early in the morning!

Nan Gongji felt strange because he had no relatives or friends in Beijing, so he really couldn't think of anyone who would invite him to have a drink for no reason.Full of curiosity, he accepted the invitation card, but when he saw the signature Yunxi on the cover, he thought it was sent by mistake, so he taught him to return it.

But the family boy said: "The man said that he and Mr. Lang have not seen each other for a long time, and he may not be able to remember this name when he hears it for the first time, so please think about it for a while!"

Nangongji heard the words, but after thinking about it for a while, he really felt the name was familiar.He pondered for a while, then clapped his palms and laughed loudly. After laughing, he said, "I'm going out for a stroll at noon. Go and tell Mr. Su." The family boy promised to go down.

Just after the time passed, Nan Gongji led the two children out. Although the weather was not very good, but because it was New Year's Eve in two days, the streets were still full of people and vehicles, which was even worse than usual. Lively.

The three of them stopped and went, looking around and having fun, before they knew it, they walked around for an hour, and finally got tired of walking, the two attendants were so hungry that their stomachs were growling!Nangongji then took the two of them to a restaurant, and seeing that there were still vacant seats in the main hall, he taught the two to sit, eat and wait here, while he went inside to find a quiet place.

This restaurant is the largest main store outside Suzaku Gate (2). Entering from the main hall, you will see a large garden, among which pavilions and lofts are scattered all over, and any place can be used as a banquet place, even open-air banquets in summer.

Under the guidance of the waiter in the shop, Nan Gongji circled half of the garden to a painting boat moored by the pool. There were already people waiting here to guide the guests into the boat.The inner table has been prepared, and there are only two people sitting in the huge boat, and there are two or three servants standing beside them.

Nan Gongji ignored him and the others, but said seriously: "You are so bold, you dare to go out of the palace to meet guests privately, but you are not afraid that someone will sue Zongzheng and severely punish you!"

The two men showed no signs of timidity, and laughed and said: "We have accepted the crime and punished you, but you will be safe? When Yushitai impeaches you in the name of making friends with the clan, the crime will probably be no less serious than ours!"

After saying that, everyone laughed out loud!It turned out that the two were not other people, they were Chu Prince Yue Yunxi and Han Prince Yue Yunze!

The three drank a few cups to each other, Nan Gongji said: "It's hard to find here, I have to avoid people's eyes and ears all the way, it took me a long time to stop and go! I'm new here, you should be considerate, why don't you come near me?" Choose a restaurant?"

Yunxi said: "You are always smart, but you still have to ask why here?!"

Nangong Ji smiled and said: "Since you want to avoid people, you shouldn't choose this place! Although this place is far away from the palace, there are many high-ranking officials and dignitaries at the party! In my opinion, if you go out to drink in the future, you might as well find a quieter place at home. store (3)."

This statement is reasonable, courtiers and dignitaries usually go to the main store for banquets, and the foot store is a place where ordinary people often gather, so it should be more appropriate.

Yun Ze frowned: "Can you go to such a noisy place?"

Nangong Ji smiled and said: "I have been to the foot shop a few times when I was alone. Although the size of the shop is small, it is passable for a long time in other places. I also occasionally see people with private rooms in the shop. If you don't want to get along with outsiders, you can go inside. You can drink alone, but I usually like to sit and drink with everyone in the outer hall, and listen to some folk anecdotes, it is really a pleasure!"

Those two people seemed to be a bit tempted when they heard the words, but they didn't dare to agree lightly, or they still had some concerns.If you want to come to him and wait for the prince and son, how can you drink and have fun with the people in the market?Nan Gongji knew what he meant, so he didn't force him to persuade them, and the three of them exchanged cups, chatted and laughed, and went elsewhere.

When the wine was half drunk, Yunxi said: "The prince's birthday is tomorrow, you already know?"

Nan Gongji nodded: "The palace sent a message the day before yesterday, and I will go to congratulate it tomorrow."

Yunxi hurriedly asked: "Have you prepared the ceremony?"

Seeing Nangong Ji nodding, the two competed and said, "What is it?"

Nangong Ji was surprised: "It's just an ordinary thing... Could it be that... Is there anything special about it?"

Yun Ze said: "That's not true, it's just that the prince didn't like the gifts we gave in the past, so today I want to go out to find some novelties, and I also want to ask about your plans. Maybe everyone can come up with some ideas together!"

Nangong Ji laughed and said: "So, you have to worry about it, but if you don't know what the prince likes, it's useless for the three of us to guess here!"

Yun Ze said: "I am ashamed to say that although we have been with the prince day and night, we can't figure out what he means. We are really at a loss right now."

Yunxi continued: "Actually, we can't blame us! The prince buryes his head in the scrolls every day, and we are by his side, but how can we know his thoughts?"

Nan Gongji thought it was reasonable, thought for a moment, and said: "In my opinion, there are many rare treasures in the palace, and the prince will not be happy if he sees too many, so if we present it with gold, jade calligraphy and paintings, It’s not a coincidence. I heard that there is a market in the south of the city. There are all kinds of things to eat, drink and play in the market. I think there are quite a lot of novelty things. If you think about it, you might as well go and have a look, maybe you can get something!”

Both of them praised each other after hearing the words.

Go south from Zhouqiao, go outside Suzaku Gate, turn a few turns, and you will arrive at Nancheng Bazaar that Nangongji mentioned.

Strolling along the way, there are various shops along the way, and there are also small stalls selling cloth, fragrant medicine, calligraphy and painting, as well as antique toys, etc., everything that one expects to find.

The three of them walked halfway, but their eyes were already dazzled, and they seemed to feel that everything was fine.Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly saw many people gathered in front of him, who seemed to be discussing something novel.The three of them were overjoyed and hurried forward to see what happened.

It was easy to squeeze into the crowd, but I couldn't help but be disappointed at first glance: it was a small stall selling wooden birds!The strange thing is that although there are many onlookers, there are no interested people.

After the three of them inquired, they found out that this thing actually costs two bucks each!And the stall owner was an old man, he looked very strange, he ignored other people's pointing and ridicule, just sat with his eyes closed, as if he would take the bait.

Yunxi looked at the bird for a long time, but still couldn't see the mystery, so he said: "What's so good about this bird that you want such a price?"

The old man spit out a few words slowly: "If you want to know the mystery, just buy it!"

Everyone laughed, "How shameless"!But the old man didn't seem to have heard it, and his expression remained the same.

When the three of them saw this, they were curious for a while, so they offered two pieces of money to ask for advice on what is so extraordinary about this bird.

Amidst the ridicule of the crowd, the old man put a bowl of water under the bird's beak, and tapped the bird's head, and the bird seemed to be alive, and lowered its head to drink water!After drinking, raise your head, pause for a while, and then lower your head to drink. . .Repeatedly like this, everyone was dumbfounded, but those three people were overjoyed.

After thinking about it, Nan Gongji stepped forward and said: "The old man is so skilled, he is really extraordinary! Besides this bird, there should be other rare things, why don't you show us a lesson?"

The old man hesitated for a while, then smiled and said: "The old man said that there are few people who know the goods here, and he is a little disappointed. He doesn't want to meet you young gentlemen with extraordinary eyes! In this way, the old man will teach you to open your eyes!"

As he said, he turned around and took out a few things from the wooden box at the back. When he looked closely, they were all carved wood birds and beasts, which were placed on the ground. Some of them could move, some could walk, and some could roll. Applause!After playing for a while, the old man put these wooden birds and beasts into the box one by one, as if he was going to close the stall.

The three hurriedly stopped him and said: "Old man, didn't you just agree to sell it to us?"

The old man said: "I only told you to take a look, but I didn't say that I would sell it."

The three hurriedly took out the money, and said: "If the old man is worried that I can't afford it, then there is no need. Besides, I just bought your old wooden bird, so please sell me the favor of the old man."

But the old man still took care of himself and didn't answer.

Some of the onlookers said with a smile: "This old man is afraid that you will buy it back and steal the teacher. If you teach you to steal such a unique skill, what will he do for a living?!"

The three hurriedly said: "We are not doing this business for a living, how can we do this?"

Seeing his sincerity, the onlookers interceded one after another.The old man couldn't shirk it when he thought about it, so he lowered his head and thought for a while, then took a wooden ox from the box and gave it to him, but he didn't receive the money, so he went to pick up the burden.

Although the three of them only got two pieces, they were quite satisfied. It would be nice to use them as a congratulatory gift, but if they go more, it would be nothing new!Then I wandered around the market for a while, and found some novelty things as gifts.

At sunset, the three of them dispersed separately.

Note:

(1) Xibin: An honorific title for a tutor or a friend of a family school.

(2) Zhengdian: that is, a market store, generally referring to a large-scale restaurant (Song Dynasty).In the Song Dynasty, liquor monopoly was practiced, and only the main shop could make its own liquor.

(3) Foot shop: A common name for a small retail hotel, generally referring to a relatively popular restaurant (Song Dynasty).Footshops are not allowed to brew their own wine.