Li Tai personally took Qin Mubai's hand and kept urging Qin Bin, leading the two to the first corner of the stream. According to the rule, it was usually the King of Wei himself and the group of people who were most familiar with him and had the most poetic ability. Where people sit.
"Brother Mubai, let me introduce some people to you." When Li Tai pulled Qin Mubai over, everyone else sitting there had already stood up.
Qin Mubai took a cursory glance and found an acquaintance among them—Chang Sun Huan. He was sitting at the same table as a young man, and their faces looked somewhat similar.
"This one is Sun Chong, the commander-in-chief of the Prince Consort." Li Tai first introduced the young man to Qin Mubai. Sure enough, it was Changsun Huan's eldest brother Changsun Chong, the eldest son of the Changsun family, who married Princess Changle's first consort.
Princess Li Lizhi of Chang'an is the eldest daughter of Empress Changsun, the eldest princess of the Zhenguan Dynasty, and the biological sister of Prince Li Chengqian and King Wei Li Tai. Li Lizhi was dignified, virtuous and had the demeanor of the eldest grandson empress. She was the favorite of Li Shimin since she was a child and praised him as a role model for the princes and princesses. Li Shimin married her to Changsun Chong, which shows his favor for Changsun's family.
According to the custom of this dynasty, it is generally "the eldest son ascends the throne and the second son ascends the throne". Changsun Chong was originally the eldest son of Changsun Wuji, the first minister of the dynasty, and he made an exception by marrying the eldest princess. His reputation in the dynasty was evident. However, this Changsun Chong does not seem to like the limelight as much as his younger brother Changsun Huan. Like his father, he is low-key and cautious. He usually lives in seclusion, so his influence in the circle of the second generation ancestor is not very large.
Qin Mubai looked at Changsun Chong. At first glance, he seemed to be a courteous and handsome young man. The two of them greeted each other as if they had met each other.
"Xiao Wang doesn't need to introduce this one. You two are very familiar with him, haha!" Li Tai pointed at Changsun Huan and said with a smile.
"Brother Qin hides his secrets, but he turns out to be an elegant and talented man!" Changsun Huan raised his lips with a smile and cupped his hands, the sarcasm in his words clearly revealed.
Qin Mubai returned the gift with a casual smile: "I'm just a martial artist, and Yu Shici is really a fool outside the family. It's the king of Wei who doesn't think I'm stupid, so he called me here to open his eyes and ask for a drink to join in the fun."
"Brother Qin, there is no need to be too modest." Changsun Huan had a kind smile on his face, but snorted in his nose, and sat down.
On the side, Chang Sun Chong frowned and scolded in a low voice: "The King of Wei is here, how can you be so rude?"
Changsun Huan's expression changed slightly, and he lowered his head in embarrassment: "I understand my mistake."
Li Tai and Qin Mubai pretended not to hear anything and went to greet the others with smiles.
There are quite a few big-name second-generation ancestors here today. Du Ruhui's son Du He, Xiao Yu's son Xiao Rui, Chai Shao's son Chai Lingwu, Wang Gui's son Wang Jingzhi, Fang Xuanling's sons Fang Yizhi and Fang Yiai... many of them were consorts who married princesses. What interests Qin Mubai the most is Fang Yiai, the famous cuckold king in history. This boy is still only fifteen or sixteen years old and has not yet married a princess. He is tall and has a bit of a reckless attitude. It is said that he has well-developed limbs and is quite capable of bending a bow and riding a horse. During the conversation, I heard that Chang Sun Huan had previously invited him to run for the Hundred Cavalry, but the second-in-command said that it would be too hard to serve as a soldier in the army without Mei Ji. It was better to wait to marry the princess, and he would be guaranteed to live a lifetime of glory, wealth and carefree life, so why go to the army? Dance with guns and sticks.
He is really far-sighted and ambitious!
Qin Mubai paid attention and found that Wei Zheng's son was not found here. It is said that Wei Zheng's upbringing was extremely strict, so strict that he seemed to be withdrawn as if he was suffering from depression. Normally, his family always closed the door and refused to interact with anyone. He also strictly ordered his family members and nephews not to make friends with anyone. Therefore, there is not even half a member of the Wei family in the circle of the second generation ancestor of Chang'an.
Li Tai finally introduced the new guy Qin Mubai to everyone. It took a long time to complete the interviews one by one. The officials and talents below were a little impatient. Many people were bored waiting and had already started chatting in groups of twos and threes.
"The meandering stream starts now!"
Everyone cheered and started their preparations. Upstream of the stream, someone was also preparing to put wine bottles.
Li Tai said: "The wine today is an extraordinary good wine. It was given to me by His Majesty the Emperor for the purpose of holding this meandering drinking ceremony - Qin Xian Royal Wine - oh, it was brewed by the Third Young Master of Qin! "
Li Tai pointed at Qin Mubai, which immediately attracted everyone's attention. Whether it was out of loyalty to Li Tai or to give Qin Mubai some face, many people applauded and there were boos.
Qin Mubai shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, let's start quickly, everyone can't wait any longer."
"Okay, let's start!" Li Tai chuckled, looking very honest. He raised his hand, the music played changed, and someone upstream began to play the wine cup.
There were three wooden wine glasses that came down for the first time, each containing a small half glass of wine. Follow the stream and flow down the winding stone path next to the stream. At the first corner, a stream of rocks blocked the scene, and the scene suddenly burst into applause.
"Okay, Your Highness comes out on top!"
"Your Highness, please come quickly!"
The first glass of wine fell in front of Li Tai, and the other two glasses slowly flowed down and were taken away by the other two talents.
"Haha, then Xiao Wang will show off his shame first." Li Tai bent down and picked up the wine glass from the stream, drank it down, and his face immediately turned red. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and praised: "Qin Xian Yujiu is indeed a good wine, a good wine! - Xiao Wang took the word 'immortal' as his idea and recited a poem!"
After that, Li Tai casually recited a poem, which caused cheers and applause from the audience, and the reception immediately reached a climax.
Qin Mubai secretly admired: I have to say that this fat boy is very talented. In this aspect, I am far behind him.
The other two officials also recited poems one after another, which also won applause. There was a royal recording office at the scene, which recorded all these poems. Later, the best works will be selected from all the poems, and they will either be carved into tablets and erected in the back garden of the palace, or compiled into a collection of poems and circulated to the world.
The meandering water flow continued, and cups filled with wine poured down from the upper stream in an endless stream. Many poems appeared. Of course, some people were stuck and couldn't recite poems, so they were punished by drinking three glasses of wine and everyone laughed.
Qin Mubai just came to support him and join in the fun, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself by fishing for cups from the stream. In fact, everyone is sitting very close to each other. Who can recite the poem when the cup is placed depends entirely on everyone's interest, or someone else recommends it in honor.
Sitting with Qin Mubai was Qin Bin, and very close to him were brothers Li Tai and Changsun. The two brothers seemed to be very interested in this flowing cup. Changsun Huan volunteered to pick up the cup from the stream and recited a romantic love poem in public, which made everyone laugh and applaud.
Young people are romantic, everyone here likes this flavor.
Another round of drinking came down.
Qin Mubai and Qin Bin were chatting silently, and suddenly the whole place fell silent. He raised his head in shock and saw Chang Sun Huan standing in front of him holding a dripping cup with a malicious smile on his face.
"Brother Qin, why are you only focused on chatting? Now that you're here, you should show off your skills, right?" After saying that, Changsun Huan put the cup on Qin Mubai's table.
"Well... I am a martial artist who is really not good at poetry." Qin Mubai smiled and said, "Brother Changsun, since you are the one who picked up the cup, you should do it. He who can do more work!"
There were boos all around, and it was obvious that many people were laughing at Qin Mubai, "a martial artist" behind his back.
"Since Mr. Changsun is so kind, we cannot be respectful. Third brother cannot recite poems, so I am willing to do it for you." Qin Bin stood up and was about to reach for the cup when Changsun Huan suddenly raised his hand and stopped him: "Wait a minute. ! Second Brother Qin, I made a special trip to get this wine for Third Brother Qin.”
Qin Mubai frowned slightly: This bastard even got into trouble with me. Does he really want me to make a fool of myself in public
For a moment, the atmosphere became a little tense.
Li Tai hurriedly stood up and came over, laughing loudly: "It's okay not to recite poems, it's absolutely okay! Brother Mubai, just punish me with three cups of water. You are not the only one who was punished with water today, so it doesn't matter." No problem."
Changsun Huan looked at Qin Mubai and sneered with a raised corner of his mouth: "The King of Wei is absolutely right. It's just a penalty of three cups of water. With Brother Qin's huge amount, there is no problem at all."
At this time, Qin Bin whispered: "Third brother, just give me three cups of water as punishment."
"Three glasses? My drinking capacity is very limited. I brewed this wine myself, so I naturally know how powerful it is. If I get drunk for a while and become drunk, wouldn't it ruin the atmosphere of today's elegant party?" Qin Mubai stood up, looked directly into Changsun Huan's eyes, suddenly smiled coldly, and reached out to pick up the cup.
"Although I am uneducated and incompetent, and compared to all the talented people here, I am almost an illiterate fool, but when it comes to reciting poems... I also have fun occasionally." After that, Qin Mubai raised his neck and drank the glass of wine, and then drank it. The wine glass sat on the table.
Changsun Huan was startled for a moment, looked at Qin Mubai with wide eyes, and thought to himself: What kind of mystery is this kid trying to make again? I have been in the army for several months and have been together day and night. When did I see you, a warrior, recite even half a line of poetry? The books you read were all collections of military books and strategies, none of which had anything to do with elegance - I wanted to see how you stepped down!
Li Tai took the lead in applauding: "Okay, okay! Qu Shui Liu Shang, in fact, it is important to participate, but it is easy to have fun together. No matter whether the poems that Brother Mubai recited today are good or bad, this spirit is worthy of praise." He said that he had paved a downhill path for Qin Mubai first, so that he would not be able to get off the stage after reciting a bad poem later.
Now that King Wei has said this, everyone has no choice but to follow suit: "Yes, yes, it's important to participate. We will listen to Mr. Qin's masterpiece."
Qin Mubai smiled casually, holding a wine glass in one hand and pacing behind his other hand, pretending to be thinking hard, scratching his head a little embarrassedly from time to time.
Li Tai quickly asked his servant to pour wine into his cup.
Qin Mubai burst out laughing: "Thank you, His Majesty the King of Wei, for the wine. I have it..."
"In the name of this wine, I will compose a song called "The Wine Is About to Enter", which will make people laugh."
"Okay, let's bring in the wine! Everyone, please fill up your glasses!" Li Tai shouted.
Qin Mubai wanted to laugh.
I thought to myself, although I can’t compose poetry, I can at least recite a little bit... Li Bai, Li Bai, don’t blame me for your piracy. I have no choice but to let the turtle grandson force me!
"If you don't see it, the water of the Yellow River comes up from the sky and rushes to the sea and never returns! If you don't see it, the mirror in the high hall will look sad and white, and it will turn into snow in the morning! If you are proud of life, you must enjoy it to the fullest. Don't let the golden bottle stand in front of the moon. I am born with talent. It will be useful, and you will come back after all your money has been spent.”
Qin Mubai was a general. He had developed a sonorous voice as early as in the army, and he had a generous and majestic momentum when he recited poems. As soon as these first few sentences were chanted, many people were stunned, and the scene suddenly became a little quiet.
Even Li Tai couldn't help but widen his eyes and suddenly shouted: "Okay! 'To be successful in life, you must have all the joy. Don't let the golden bottle stand empty against the moon. I am born with talents that will be useful. I will come back after all the gold is gone.'" Excellent poem !”
"Okay-" There was a loud cheer and thunderous applause.
The corners of Changsun Huan's eyes were already twitching, and his face turned pale involuntarily. Ever since he met Qin Mubai, he found that he always turned pale easily and became even more angry.
Qin Mubai laughed twice, drank all the wine in the cup, raised the cup high and chanted loudly -
"It's fun to cook sheep and slaughter cows, but you have to drink three hundred cups at a time!"
"... When you are about to drink, don't stop drinking. I will sing a song with you, please listen to me."
"good-"
The atmosphere of the reception reached its peak in an instant, and many talented officials couldn't help but clapped their hands and raised their glasses to drink. Those present today are all well-read poetry experts. Li Bai's "About to Enter the Wine" is a masterpiece that has been passed down through the ages. How can they not be excited
"The five-flowered horse and the golden fur will be exchanged for fine wine, and I will sell the eternal sorrow with you."
After reciting the poem, Qin Mubai laughed crazily as if he was drunk, waving the empty wine cup in his hand: "Masters, please drink this cup to the full, and let us sell away the eternal sorrow together!"
Li Tai took a deep breath and waved his hand: "Here comes the wine!!! For Brother Mubai's masterpiece, I'll drink a full glass!"
Everyone poured their wine and stood up, saying in unison: "King Wei, please, Brother Mubai, please!"
"Please-" Qin Mubai shouted loudly with a burst of heroic spirit, and drank the strong wine in the cup.
After drinking three glasses of wine in a row, Qin Mubai was really a little dizzy. In the blink of an eye, I looked at Changsun Huan, and saw that he was already like an injured little mouse, huddled in front of his table, not even looking at Qin Mubai.
Qin Mubai pretended to be drunk, staggered back to his seat and sat down. Li Tai also sat down, turned sideways and said happily: "Brother Mu Bai really has a deep and unparalleled literary talent. Xiao Wang loves your work "Will Enter the Wine" very much. Xiao Wang is willing to treat this work as a gift. Mr. Yu Shinan wrote the first sentence, and then engraved it into a tablet and erected it in my house. I wonder if Brother Mu Bai would mind?"
"If your highness doesn't mind that my poems are crude, please feel free to do as you please." Qin Mubai replied with a smile.
"That's very good, that's very good." Li Tai laughed twice with his signature hehe, indicating that the flow of wine would continue. But now there is a lot of excited discussion around, and many people are immersed in the passion of "The Wine Will Come", chanting the words in "The Wine Will Come" endlessly.
Qin Mubai glanced at Changsun Huan and couldn't help but smile: Strange, this kid's face is turning green again