Love Affairs in Chang’an

Chapter 66: Pleasant Goat and Gray Taro

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After resting for a long time, Qin Mubai estimated that Li Zhi and the others should wake up, so he returned to the Penglai Palace. As soon as he walked outside the palace, he was amused. A voice came from the room—

"Meah, I am Beautiful Yangyang, Ninth Brother, you are Big Big Wolf! Come and catch me, catch me, hehe!" Li Mingda's voice.

"No! I'm Pleasant Goat! Gray Taro has scars on his face and a vicious wife who hits him on the head with a spoon. I don't want to be Gray Tarang!" Li Zhi said with indignation.

"Then what should we do? There is no Gray Taro - nanny, why don't you play Gray Taro?"

"No, the nanny is a woman and Gray Taro is a boy - let the wet nurse play Gray Taro's wife. Ask the eunuch to play Gray Taro, haha!"

"Okay! Okay! Brother Ninth, you are smart, hehe - why don't you come over and play with us!"

Qin Mubai stood outside the door and listened for a long time, and couldn't help but laugh. There was a roar in the room, and the eunuchs, wet nurses, and maids were all called over to play their roles. The sheep were rolling and yelping all over the ground, and Gray Taro and his wife were spinning around in circles to chase them away, making it really noisy. The laughter of Li Zhi and Li Mingda can be described as "crazy".

When they were all tired from playing, Qin Mubai opened the door and went in.

Li Zhi and Li Mingda were already sitting on the ground panting, still laughing and giggling. The eunuchs and palace wet nurses were rolling all over the floor for a while, and they were exhausted.

"Look, Pleasant Goat, General Qin is here! Hee hee!" Li Mingda stretched out his little hand, pointed at Qin Mubai and smiled mischievously.

"How about we let him play the role of village chief and protect us?" Li Zhi said.

"Okay, okay!" Li Mingda clapped his hands, "General Qin, you are the village chief, you are the village chief who protects us!"

Qin Mubai came over with a smile, knelt down and patted their backs: "Okay, I am the village chief, and I am the village chief who protects you - look, my clothes are soaked with sweat from playing. Nurse, hurry up Let's go take a bath for your two young highnesses. You have to go to your teacher's class later."

"No, I don't want to go to class!" Li Zhi shook his head stubbornly, "I want to play Pleasant Goat and Gray Taro!"

"Brother Ninth, let's go!" Li Mingda shook Li Zhi's hand and said, "I didn't finish writing a word yesterday! Go, go. Let's play again when we come back, okay?"

Qin Mubai smiled and said: "Prince Jin, look how well-behaved the princess is, she looks like a beautiful goat. Since you are playing the smartest and most sensible Pleasant Goat, how can you skip school? That would make you the most useless. So lazy."

"Oh... Then I'll go study." Li Zhi looked at Qin Mubai blankly and nodded.

"That's good." Qin Mubai patted them on the back, "Now, go take a bath first. I will take you to your husband's place later."

"oh!"

The two little guys were taken to take a bath by their nanny, and Qin Mubai breathed another sigh of relief. Today, he didn't know how many breaths he took. This is really not good at dealing with children. Ten-year-old Li Zhi is sometimes not as sensible and smart as five- or six-year-old Li Mingda. The future emperor of the Tang Dynasty seems a little dull now, at least compared to Princess Gaoyang and Li Mingda, he doesn't seem very clever. To put it bluntly, if he was as clever as his father and as wise as he grew up, how could he give up the great Tang Dynasty to Wu Meiniang

But not anymore. Wu Meiniang has become Qin Mubai's unmarried daughter-in-law. This history has also undergone a slight deflection... Now that it has been deflected, can Li Zhi finally become the emperor

Thinking of this, Qin Mubai felt a little confused and dizzy, and finally decided not to think about it anymore. No matter what history eventually turns out to be, my own life must be wonderful. It is said that the current era of the Tang Dynasty is not bad. I am embarrassed to do things that harm the country and the people. It is also a great sense of accomplishment to create a lifetime of great achievements for future generations to admire.

Soon, Qin Mubai took Li Zhi and Li Mingda to study in the study.

The teacher Li Shimin hired for these two princes was a famous one—Yu Shinan!

Yu Shinan was almost eighty years old and had already been an official for a long time. However, Li Shimin loved his talent so much that he hired him as a bachelor of Hongwen Hall after he begged for his bones. There, he is undoubtedly a figure like Taishan Beidou. As early as the Sui Dynasty, he was Emperor Yang's daily servant, that is, his secretary and think tank. Later, he became one of the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Palace. His knowledge spread throughout the country and was praised by the world. Li Shimin praised his "virtue, loyalty, erudition, literary style, and calligraphy" as his five unique qualities. In fact, his most outstanding thing is Shuhan, that is, calligraphy.

Yu Shinan learned the essence of calligraphy from Zen Master Zhiyong, the seventh grandson of Wang Xizhi and a calligrapher of the Sui Dynasty. Today, he is recognized as the "first calligrapher of the dynasty", and Li Shimin highly praised his calligraphy. In his early years, when he was in good health, most of Li Shimin's decrees and imperial edicts were written by him.

Although Qin Mubai has always been conceited, he has always respected elders like Yu Shinan who have outstanding virtues and talents. When he brought the two princes, he also saluted Yu Shinan with a very sincere attitude.

Yu Shinan's hair and beard were all turning white, and it seemed that his health was not in good shape. He looked at Qin Mubai for a long time, and then said: "You are... Baiqi Envoy Qin Mubai, General Qin, right?"

"Mr. Yu, do you recognize me?" Qin Mubai smiled, "Yes, it's just me."

"That's right, that's right. He is indeed a talented person, and his future life is formidable!" Yu Shinan stroked his silvery white beard with his withered hands and said with a chuckle.

"Sir, that's ridiculous. I have no knowledge in my lower abdomen and have always been very ashamed." Qin Mubai said.

"General Qin is too humble." Yu Shinan laughed and said, "The five-flowered horse, the golden coat, the call will be exchanged for fine wine, and we will share the eternal hatred with you - such a poem can only be written by a reckless person. ?”

"Uh... this!" Qin Mubai was dumbfounded for a moment, then suddenly remembered that Li Tai had indeed said at the beginning that he wanted Yu Shinan to write down the title of this poem and then engrave it on a stele. Could it be that this has already been done?

"Haha, let's stop chatting. Your Highnesses, please sit down. Let's start class?" Yu Shinan changed the subject and said to the Li Zhi brother and sister.

Brother and sister Li Zhi sat down and started class. There are two classes today, one is to study "The Classic of Filial Piety" and the other is to practice calligraphy. After the class started, Qin Mubai walked out and waited outside the door.

Hearing an old man and a young boy reciting the "Book of Filial Piety" in the room was quite childish and elegant. Later, when he was studying calligraphy, Qin Mubai walked in and took a look. Moreover, the handwriting of five or six-year-old Li Mingda is much more beautiful than that of Li Zhi.

Li Zhi learned Yu Shinan's calligraphy, while Li Mingda learned Li Shimin's self-contained "Fei Bai calligraphy". At a young age of only five or six years old, Li Mingda has already mastered the charm of Fei Bai Shu. Yu Shinan always looked at Qin Mubai and nodded and smiled, expressing his approval and admiration for this little girl.

"What a genius child!" Qin Mubai was also amazed in his heart.

After the class was over, the two little kids shouted with joy and asked Qin Mubai to start telling them stories. Qin Mubai coaxed them for a while and asked them to wait outside the study. He walked up to Yu Shinan and bowed with his hands.

"Is there something wrong, General Qin?" Yu Shinan asked with a smile.

"Sir, I have a heartfelt request. I wonder if you can agree to it?" Qin Mubai said.

"General, please tell me."

"I also like to read on weekdays. I just read a lot of places and don't understand them very well. In the military camp or the palace, I don't know who to go to for advice." Qin Mubai said with a smile, "So I am here I thought, if I have something I don’t understand in the future, could I ask my husband for help?”

"Okay!" Yu Shinan was very cheerful, without the common pretentiousness of many literati. He laughed and said, "You are so diligent, studious and open-minded. It would be a blessing for me to give guidance to young people like you! I don't It’s been a good few days, if you can leave a little more in this world, just leave a little more, haha!”

"Thank you, Mr. Yu!" Qin Mubai thanked him gratefully.

In fact, Qin Mubai really didn't have much interest in those poems, articles, and ancient books. The reason why he wanted to "steal" from Yu Shinan in this way was simply to get some more guidance from him on how to be an official and how to behave in the world.

Yu Shinan served the emperor through two dynasties. His knowledge and insight in many aspects were enough to serve as Qin Mubai's teacher. Since the last conflict with Changsun Huan, Qin Mubai has deeply understood the principle of "there are people outside the world and there is heaven outside", and he also realized that he is really still very young and must strengthen his cultivation and learning.

Right now, isn't Yu Shinan the best teacher? You can learn everything from following him. Confucianism, calligraphy, poetry and articles, and even the way to behave as an official... A hard-core figure like Yu Shinan is a living library in itself!

"Okay, okay, young people are diligent in their studies and make progress. I am really happy to have such a person by your Majesty's side, haha!" Yu Shinan smiled while stroking his beard and walked away on crutches.

In the evening, Li Shimin finally came back, and Qin Mubai could finish his work and go back to rest.

The two little princes still cheered happily after receiving their father. The difference is that they don't need Li Shimin to think of something to coax them to talk and make them happy today. On the contrary, Li Zhi and Li Mingda competed with each other to tell Li Shimin the story of "Pleasant Goat and Gray Taro".

Li Shimin burst out laughing and hugged his two children tightly. He was so happy that he almost lost his temper.

"Good kids, I haven't seen you so happy and lively in a long, long time, haha!" Li Shimin laughed endlessly, and then said to Qin Mubai, "Mubai, thank you for your hard work. It seems that they get along very well with you. Yes, I like you very much. "

"Your Majesty, these are all things a minor official should do." Qin Mubai breathed a sigh of relief again: It seems that I did a pretty good job on my first day at work...