The snow has finally melted, and spring is coming, which is a very interesting time.
It was seven days in a blink of an eye. The water in the mansion was gurgling. Izumi Shikibu concealed a lot of uneasiness and pretended to be calm and chatted with the maid. He stood at the entrance of the corridor and looked inside, just asking: "What is Yamada doing?"
"Master Yamada, I write in the study every day, using the paper I got at the Prince's Mansion last time."
"Ah, leave this alone for now, let's go take a look."
Although it was winter, the weather became mild. Several people entered along the corridor and saw the window of the study room open, and Yamada Shinichi was writing in front of several cases.
"It is said that it is written by You Pushe's poetry collection..."
"The handwriting is very elegant. He really doesn't look like a warrior, let alone someone who kills people."
The maids whispered, and Izumi Shikibu lowered his head secretly. Her eyes fell on him. Although she was used to it in the past few days, she was still in a daze. It took a long time to wake up.
"Hey, it's been seven days since the emperor summoned you."
Pei Ziyun stood up, admired his post, and said: "The emperor's summons will take a few days at most, one day at the shortest and three days at the longest."
Izumi Shikibu pinched his fingers and looked pale, obviously not believing what Pei Ziyun said.
But he didn't care whether she believed it or not, Pei Ziyun said casually: "If this kind of thing is false, it will be exposed in a blink of an eye. Do you think I would be so unwise?"
"Besides, I killed an important retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu. Something really happened. Will there be no movement in the past few days?"
"Besides, it's not like I have nothing to do when I write these poems. The emperor will definitely summon me because of the poems - or a female official has already been sent."
"Poetry post?" Izumi Shikibu was stunned for a moment, frowning slightly. She slowly turned to the dignified handwriting, straightened her bun, and looked at Pei Ziyun again, with a serious attitude and a little hidden expectation.
"Yamada-kun, are you telling the truth?"
"Please also be considerate of the little girl's situation. She has just been abandoned by her father. If she continues to cover up the crime of being a traitor, it would be better to die early and end up in a safer place."
"It's true, Abe said this to me the day before yesterday." Pei Ziyun said directly without hesitation: "Besides, if you really want to be held accountable, just refuse to accept my coercion, and you'll be fine."
"Courtmaster Abe?" In fact, this was the correct title. Izumi Shikibu was a little relieved. In the blink of an eye, her attitude was much better than before.
"I was rude just now. Please allow me to go back and deal with things. Now..."
"You go and do your work while I write another article." Pei Ziyun knew what she was going to say and said calmly.
Izumi Shikibu breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his head slightly: "That's good, I'll order him down immediately so that the people in the house will not affect Yamada-kun's interest."
With that said, he walked out in small steps.
Looking at the back of Izumi Shikibu, the long black hair is very eye-catching, and even the back looks graceful because of it. Her appearance is said to be better than Seishonagon, and Seishonagon is better than Murasaki Shikibu, but the results are the opposite, which is really a bit Food for thought.
Pei Ziyun looked back and chuckled: "Ha, interesting!"
After Izumi Shikibu left the room, he was immediately greeted by several maids. A female official came over. Although her figure was weak, she was also quite beautiful. She was different from others. As soon as she bent down, she whispered: "Shikibu" , haven’t you made up your mind yet?”
Seeing that Izumi Shikibu was silent, she continued: "Yamada has been in the mansion for seven days. You should send someone to arrest Yamada. If you don't go, not only Shikibu, but also the entire Tachibana mansion and... The Ju family will definitely be severely criticized, and the court officials will definitely think that the Ju family is colluding with this traitor."
Izumi Shikibu raised his eyes and stared at the female officer, and then at the maids. Although they didn't speak, their expressions also had this meaning.
Izumi Shikibu glanced at them, anger showed on his pale face, and his face darkened: "This matter has been discussed for a long time, so let's stop here. I will handle Yamada-kun's matter, and it must not be spread outside."
"But Shikibu, the news of Yamada's murder has spread throughout the city. If someone is found in our house, then..."
The maids who usually didn't dare to refute easily started to speak.
Izumi Shikibu understood their thoughts very well. He suppressed his annoyance and sneered: "Then I will say that this is Yamada's coercion. After all, you and I are both weak women and cannot resist, and there may not be any disaster. Besides, you They all have a clean background, and they will all go their separate ways when the time comes.”
"If you are really uneasy, you can resign today."
As soon as these words came out, several maids bowed their heads and did not dare to say any more.
After waving them to leave, the personal maid immediately came over and turned to Izumi Shikibu: "Shikibu, I didn't tell anyone about Yamada-kun's matter..."
"It's okay. I was in trouble and was scolded by my father. Except for you, everyone else is afraid of leaving." Izumi Shikibu sighed, not blaming her.
There is a saying that when a tree falls, the hozens scatter.
She is now unable to protect herself, abandoned by her father and despised by outsiders. She has an empty house but is as helpless as duckweed on the water.
Even her current husband will break off with her once he learns about the situation in the capital.
And her lover is the prince, and his life or death is uncertain. Even if he survives, he will probably not renew their relationship.
These maids must have been equally frightened and uneasy, so they lost their sense of proportion. Don't they know that Yamada Shinichi is a hot potato, and whoever touches him will get hot
But she had no choice. She had seen Yamada's cruelty with her own eyes. If she really disobeyed him, she would not be able to survive now, let alone in the future.
"However, they can't keep them anymore."
The rule of the Heian period was that the imperial palace would select the daughters of three or more ministers as female imperial concubines or ministers, and the female imperial ministers or ministers would in turn recruit the daughters of more than five nobles as maids and female officials.
Daughters of more than five nobles, such as myself, would choose women with more than seven official positions as female officials or maids.
All these must be paid with salary.
Once abandoned by her husband and father, how could Izumi Shikibu afford a maid of such a background
Rather than saying that these maids were afraid, they were worried about their future. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look sad, and she reluctantly cheered up and gave orders.
"Shikibu, someone is coming from the palace!" Just when Izumi Shikibu ordered Yamada Shinichi to tidy up the room and planned to organize the poems in the study, a maid came to report in a panic.
Izumi Shikibu was startled, then thought of Yamada Shinichi's words, managed to calm down, and said, "Follow me to greet the female officer."
Although she is the daughter of a nobleman and the wife of Izumi Mamoru, she still needs to go to the door to greet the female official in person, because she is coming on behalf of the emperor.
With thoughts swirling in my heart, I waited outside the door and discovered that not only the female official came in a bullock cart, but also a group of people watching the fun, pointing at the door.
Seeing her come out surrounded by maids, the onlookers' expressions became excited and their voices came.
"... His Majesty the Emperor must not have heard of this. This woman is so promiscuous. It's really, tsk tsk..."
"One year has not come yet, don't look for others, and you have killed others. It's a disaster."
"Hush, I heard that there was an evil spirit in her body, which caused the death of the Prince. Someone from the palace must be here to investigate the matter..."
These voices made Izumi Shikibu look pale, and his always affectionate eyes revealed annoyance.
The female official who came from the court had an ordinary appearance but a good temperament. She was obviously from a noble family. She had also heard about Izumi Shikibu and couldn't help but take a look.
But thinking of this mission, she raised her chin slightly and said calmly: "Izumi Shikibu, I am visiting your residence and I have something to tell you. Won't you invite me in?"
Izumi Shikibu suppressed his embarrassment and said, "I'm rude. Please come in."
When the female officer slowly walked in, she did not dare to look at the onlookers, covered her face with a fan, and immediately said to the maid: "Close the door!"
The master was humiliated by outsiders, and these maids' faces turned red. After hearing the order, without saying a word, they closed the door amidst roars of laughter.
"Yamada-kun, who presented poems to the emperor, is he in your house?" The female officer listened to the movement and raised the corner of her mouth slightly. She waited for Izumi Shikibu to come up, then turned around and asked.
It turns out that the last time Abe Seimei's child came to collect poems, was it to present to the emperor
Izumi Shikibu immediately replied: "Yamada-kun is at home."
"That's good. I came here this time because I have an order from the Emperor to convey to Mr. Yamada." The female officer said reservedly.
Izumi Shikibu saw that the other party didn't want to talk to him anymore, and felt ashamed and angry, but he could only endure it and accompany the other party inside.
The group of people walked quietly for a while and saw a pavilion. Izumi Shikibu saw the figure in the pavilion at a glance and said to the female officer: "Look, that is Yamada-kun."
At first glance, the young man was wearing the clothes of a samurai, and he could write with a pen in hand. He was so handsome that even the female officer who was used to looking at ministers raised her eyebrows slightly and said to Izumi Shikibu: "Please wait here."
He went over by himself. In the pavilion, Pei Ziyun was reading leisurely. The dozen or so pieces of paper with still wet ink lying aside attracted the female officer's attention.
She then picked up one and read it aloud. After reading it, she realized that the style of the poem was very familiar.
"Does You Pushe (Bai Juyi) actually have this poem?" she asked in surprise.
"Yes, but the collection of poems I presented last time already contains these, so there is no need to present them again." Pei Ziyun replied casually.
At that time, Japanese aristocrats highly praised Bai Juyi's poems, especially aristocratic women. Everyone was familiar with the "Man'yoshu" and Bai Juyi. It can be said that if you are not familiar with Bai Juyi in this era, you will be despised and excluded. social circle.
But not all of Bai Juyi's poems have spread to Japan. These poems that have never been read but are obviously in Bai Juyi's style have greatly interested the female officer - could it be that these poems attracted His Majesty's attention
It wasn't until she finished reading them all that she reluctantly put them down and said to Pei Ziyun: "Kamada Yamada, I am here to convey His Majesty's instructions to you. His Majesty has granted permission to receive you at the Changhe Hall. There will be an oxcart coming tomorrow." Take you into the palace."
Pei Ziyun didn't care where he met the emperor, that was not his ultimate goal anyway.
"I understand. Please report back to His Majesty the Emperor. I will come to the palace on time to see you." Pei Ziyun said calmly.
The female officer took a deep look at him, then said goodbye and left.
After the female officer left, Pei Ziyun continued to sit in the pavilion, writing poems. After a while, another set of footsteps came, and Izumi Shikibu walked to his side and looked down.
Then he asked: "Yamada-kun's handwriting is really graceful and graceful, and he has quite a character. It really surprised me."
Pei Ziyun smiled, took the tool, bound the poems he had just finished and dried, together with the previous ones, into a book, and handed them directly to Izumi Shikibu who was curious about it, but she did not expect that Pei Ziyun would act like this. He looked over in surprise.
Pei Ziyun said: "Although Bai Juyi's poems are very good, I prefer Li Bai's poems. The collection of Bai Juyi's poems has been given to the emperor. This collection of Li Bai's poems is given to you."
"Why?" Izumi Shikibu felt that the poetry collection in his hand was a bit hot, and he was quite flattered.
Pei Ziyun smiled: "I will enter the palace tonight, so this should be considered as accommodation expenses."
I wanted to refuse, but Yamada spoke frankly. Izumi Shikibu stared at the poetry collection in his hand for a while, and couldn't help but open it and read it.
Li Bai, Li Taibai
Finally, I opened a poem and was hooked.
While reading, Pei Ziyun suddenly asked: "Shikibu, do you know why Taibai's poems are not as good as Youpuse (Bai Juyi) in Japan?"
Izumi Shikibu thought about it for a while, and originally wanted to answer that it was because the poems were good, but she had just read Li Taibai's poems, which were equally romantic and beautiful, and she couldn't put them down.
Izumi Shikibu is a rare talented woman in this era. Izumi Shikibu thought about it and gave his answer: "Because he is a right servant?"
"That's right." Pei Ziyun smiled, looking at Izumi Shikibu with a little admiration in his eyes.
As Izumi Shikibu said, Japanese aristocrats admired Bai Juyi's poems more because Bai Juyi had a higher status. At that time, Bai Juyi was granted the title of Marquis of Feng Yi County, with thousands of households in the city. Shoot (from the second level), and Li Bai is just a ronin.
It's not completely snobbish, but when Japan went to study in the Tang Dynasty, it was natural to learn from it - Bai Juyi was a high official at that time and was obviously more authoritative.
It is rare for Izumi Shikibu to think of this.
It’s just that there is no such thing as a banquet that lasts forever. The two volumes of poems he compiled are more than enough for food and accommodation. He immediately bowed and said, “I will go back first. There is no need to see each other off when we say goodbye.”
Just when he was about to turn around, he suddenly looked back and asked: "I heard that the princess who is the prince passed away today due to grief?"
"Yes, I went this morning." Izumi Shikibu didn't know what he meant, so he just replied. Pei Ziyun smiled, said no more, turned around and left with a clear sound of clogs.
(End of chapter)