March 26th, Qianqiu Festival.
Li Chengjin was fond of luxury. Previously, there was a quarrel between Qingsi Palace and the Eastern Palace, which annoyed him. Fortunately, Concubine Xiao was gentle and understanding. She specifically instructed that this year's Qianqiu Festival should be celebrated in a grand manner, so that he could feel happier.
With hints from the emperor and the imperial concubine, the palace naturally put all its efforts into the preparations. Red lanterns were hung under the eaves of each palace. In the daytime, they looked bright red, but at one o'clock in the night, they looked like a sea of fire or a river of stars, making the Daming Palace as bright as day.
On the day of Qianqiu Festival, the banquet was held in the Linde Hall, facing the Taiye Lake. Singing and dancing never stopped since early in the morning. First there was the graceful and charming Da Huxuan dance, then the Nuo dance to drive away evil spirits. Musicians and dancers came and went, making the people in the music house so busy that even He Jing had to lift up his sleeves and play the piano himself.
There were naturally many gifts. The gift list sent by the court officials and royal family was enough to bury people. The pearls collected from the South China Sea were as big as a baby's fist. They were placed on a smooth porcelain plate and moved away by themselves with a slight shake. The embroidery could be stretched from one end of the Linde Hall to the other, with mountains, rivers, lakes and seas embroidered in detail. The flowing silk was used, and the slightest movement would create a new embroidery pattern. There were also hand-copied Buddhist scriptures made of red coral powder, sets of white porcelain and celadon, and ornaments cast with golden dan beads... The piles were as vast as mountains and seas.
Birthday congratulations continued, sounding like songs in his ears. Li Qishen stood beside the guzheng, watching the gifts being delivered one by one. The bright red sea of lights was reflected in his light amber eyes.
These gifts were very good, and the music and dance in the palace were also very good, showing all the prosperity and wealth of the empire on Longshou Plain, but what was hidden behind was completely the opposite. The musicians in the Jiaofang played and rehearsed repeatedly, their fingertips cut on the strings until they bled; the barefoot dancers had blood blisters on their toes, and they had to keep stepping on the scabs to make a perfect circle in the palace; the pearl collectors were pearl girls, who repeatedly dived into the sea. Even if they were lucky enough to survive, within a few years, their limbs would be frozen and deformed, and they could only crawl on the ground; the embroiderers were even more numerous, perhaps tens or hundreds of them, all embroidering together to go blind.
Across the sea of lights, Li Qishen saw the blood and bones underneath and heard the cries hidden in the music.
“… Did you see and hear it?” He silently asked his ancestor who had long since died and only had a spirit tablet left in Xuanyuan Hall, “Is this correct?”
No one responded, only the music in the Linde Hall broke. The fast-paced music in the middle section slowed down, and at the end there was only dancing but no singing. The dancers in the line stood on tiptoes and spun to the beat, like fairies in the sky, gradually slowing down their pace and dispersing into the clouds.
"The Colorful Clothes" is about to end." He Jing turned his head and glanced at Li Qishen, "Your Highness, are you ready?"
Li Qishen came back to his senses, looked back at He Jing, and said nonchalantly: "Mr. He, do you know what I'm going to play?"
"Of course I know." He Jing said.
"Okay." Li Qishen suddenly smiled, with a bright and cheerful smile that only a young man could have. He raised his hand and moved the thin braid that had fallen in front of his shoulders to the back of his shoulders. He casually pushed the phoenix-headed konghou and said to He Jing amid the sound of the rollers, "This is our farewell. Thank you Mr. He for your guidance over the years."
He Jing said nothing, watching the tall figure walk into the Linde Hall step by step. The light fell on his face, and this usually cold and hard middle-aged man suddenly smiled slightly, and he said softly: "Goodbye, Your Highness."
Li Qishen did not look back along the way, and of course did not hear anything. He waited for the eunuch to place the phoenix-head guzheng to the musician's position, then he lifted the hem of the guzheng and sat behind it, looking as if he was about to play it.
Li Chengjin was annoyed just by looking at this, but he felt guilty after Li Zhuoqi's previous incident, so he didn't directly scold Li Qishen: "A Shen, what are you doing again?"
"Prepare to play the music." Li Qishen said calmly, "This is a music I composed myself. I will play it for Aye during the Qianqiu Festival."
"Nonsense!" Li Chengjing thought he was crazy. "When did you learn to compose music? This is a konghou. Can you count how many strings it has?"
"Your Majesty!" Concubine Xiao didn't want to argue, so she smiled and pulled Li Chengjin's sleeve with one hand, handing him a glass of wine with the other, "Seventh Prince is also very filial, just let him play. After all, even if the child doesn't play well, the intention is always there."
With a beautiful woman beside him and saying this, Li Chengjin had to give her face. He drank the wine handed to him by Concubine Xiao, but still looked uneasy: "Go ahead."
"Okay." Li Qishen nodded, raised his hand and half-hugged the guzheng, with his index finger and thumb resting on the guzheng strings.
"Pretty much the right look." Li Chengjin sneered.
The next moment, music started to sound, and he was startled. All the court officials and royal family members attending the banquet were also stunned, and the sound of clinking cups stopped for a moment.
This piece of music did not need to be accompanied by dancers. The dancers withdrew, and the center of the hall was empty. The music sounded particularly clear, flowing from the konghou strings and Li Qishen's fingers, falling into the ears of the people present, and instantly touching their hearts. This piece of music was not like the previous "Six Yaos", "Nichang" or "Pozhen". It was a tune they had never heard before. It was clearly a phoenix-head konghou from the west, but it was played with the meaning of the qin, like crying and complaining, with resentment for the country and the sorrow of the separation of the millet.
Li Qishen seemed not to notice the surprised looks from the people around him, and continued to play the strings. He studied under the national master He Jing and had studied in the Jiaofang for ten years. It took him two years from the idea to the score. He would not be surprised by the reactions of others. He was not just playing the phoenix-head konghou, but the resentment and grief he had accumulated over the years.
Until this moment, he finally remembered what he was thinking about when Murong Feique had just died and he sat in the music school all night long, facing the phoenix-head guzheng.
—Resentment. All the pain and sorrow that could not turn into tears would flow back into his stomach and turn into a raging fire of resentment that burned him day and night, and could not be extinguished no matter how much ice he swallowed.
When the song ended, Li Qishen slowly exhaled, put his hands back on his knees and said, "It's over."
There was silence in the hall for a while, and he turned his eyes and saw an old minister who had been in the court during the reign of Emperor Pingxing. The old man had white hair and lowered his head slightly. When he raised his hand to wipe his tears, his whole hand was shaking.
"The song is good." Li Chengjing admitted reluctantly, "I put a lot of effort into it."
As soon as he spoke, the court officials and royal family members immediately followed up with praises, such as "brilliant talent" and "extraordinary talent". They dared to say all kinds of words to Li Qishen, which made Li Qishen feel a little uncomfortable.
Everyone was praising him, but Li Qishen said nothing. He looked at the emperor and the imperial concubine sitting on the seat, waiting for them to speak again.
Concubine Xiao really spoke up: "Your Highness is thoughtful. Since this piece of music is a self-composed piece, is it famous? Why not record it in the music studio so that it can be performed in the future."
"Yes." Li Qishen smiled slightly, "It's called 'New Station'."
Concubine Xiao's expression changed.
Li Chengjing's expression also changed, and he stared at the young man sitting below in disbelief.
"The Book of Songs·Beifeng·Xintai".
It is the first satirical work among the "Guofeng". It satirizes Duke Xuan of Wei for robbing his daughter-in-law Xuan Jiang after she was beautiful and built a new platform. It mocks him for violating human ethics and directly laughs at him as a leprosy.
"You..." No matter how bad Li Chengjing was, he was forced to study by four great scholars when he was young. How could he not be familiar with the Book of Songs? His chest rose and fell violently, and he stared at his son with his eyes wide open, which really looked a bit like the bulging pupils of a leper, which was a pity for the face that inherited the beauty of Emperor Pingxing and Empress Wen.
"What do you think, Aye?" Li Qishen smiled, as if he was totally unaware. "Is this song nice?"
“… Get out! Get out!” Li Chengjin was so angry that he didn’t care about his manners. He grabbed the fruit plate or wine jug in front of him and threw it at his son without caring about anything. “Li Qishen! Get out!”
At that time, people used courtesy names instead of given names. Normally, calling someone "A Shen" was considered a friendly gesture. But using the given name and surname together was definitely an insult. Li Qi Shen was not panicked. He stood up and avoided the things that were thrown at him. He slowly smoothed his clothes and walked out of the hall without even a greeting.
The emperor was so angry that no one dared to move. There was complete silence for a moment, and it was Concubine Xiao who moved first. She grabbed Li Chengjin's sleeve and stroked his chest, which was still rising and falling violently: "Your Majesty, forget it... forget it."
Li Chengjing felt a little better, but after listening to the song "Xin Tai", he felt awkward looking at the graceful beauty who had been his favorite for several years. He waved his hand, signaling Concubine Xiao to stay away, and then he started to scold: "When did the Seventh Prince learn to play the konghou!"
"… Your Majesty, it was ten years ago." The Music Bureau official hurriedly stepped out of the line and knelt on the ground. "Your Highness the Seventh Prince has been learning from the zither player He Jing for ten years."
Li Chengjing was also happy. He was no stranger to He Jing. He thought about it and his pupils shrank.
He suddenly remembered that Emperor Zhaoxuan also studied the zither in a music school when he was young, and his teacher was He Xuan, a national master at that time.
"… Continue." Li Chengjing leaned back in his chair and said to Feng Yan, "Ask the Secretariat to send someone over after the banquet."
**
This year's Qianqiu Festival was held grandly, and the dishes requested at the banquet were also varied. Xie Wangzhi was busy in the kitchen, and she didn't know how many pears she had dug, and her whole body smelled like flour and sweet soup. It was not until the second half of the night that the noble who ordered the glutinous rice snacks disappeared. The female official pitied her hard work and let her go.
Xie Wangzhi was so tired that she was about to go back to sleep. As soon as she came out of the restaurant, she suddenly saw a young man standing outside. She was stunned: "Changsheng? Are you here because you are hungry? Then wait..."
Just as she was about to turn around to get the remaining ingredients, Li Qishen suddenly reached out and grabbed her. Facing the girl's surprised gaze, he shook his head and smiled: "No. I was just bored and came to play with you."
"Play?" Xie Wangzhi was even more stunned. She was really sleepy and wanted to refuse, but looking at the cold and beautiful face in front of her, she couldn't say anything for a while. The weather was very good tonight, and there was nothing to do recently, but she felt inexplicably flustered, as if this young man was like a dream, and if she didn't agree, he would turn into ashes in the next moment.
She suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, rubbed her eyes, and smiled, "Okay! Where are we going to play?"
"Let's go to the city wall and watch it again." Li Qishen calculated that there was no time left. He ignored her obvious sleepiness and held her hand instead. "There is also the Jiaofang. Let's go watch the singing and dancing."
The author has something to say: Hehe, Changsheng is so stubborn (OK, you are worthy of it.jpg
I'm out today, so I'll update early so I don't get stuck at 8 o'clock. The descriptions of "New Stage" and "Nichang Yuyi Wu" are modified from Sogou Encyclopedia. Of course, the original text doesn't say what "New Stage" is like, but I don't want the original text to say it, I want my own feelings, I think this is the first among the poems of resentment and satire, the people of Wei are so cool (.)