The sky has brightened, and the morning sun rises in the east, shining warmly. This is the most comfortable time of the day, and it is not too hot. The warm sunlight slants on the red bricks and green tiles of West Chang'an Avenue, especially favoring the eaves of the pavilions, adding poetry and nobility to West Chang'an Avenue under the sun.
On the streets of West Chang'an, a large sedan chair carried by eight people was slowly approaching from the direction of Xiyuan.
The sedan chair covered with curtains is simple and heavy, majestic and restrained. There are maids on both sides of the sedan chair and guards carrying swords.
In the entire capital city, there are only a handful of people who are qualified to ride in a sedan chair carried by eight people. If we narrow the scope to West Chang'an Street, the answer becomes obvious.
"The Prime Minister is back."
"It's Master Yan who's back."
"Lord Yan, this is really Lord Yan's sedan chair."
The people who were queuing up in front of Yan's house to deliver visiting cards suddenly shifted their attention to the sedan chair slowly approaching from the opposite side, and shouted excitedly.
On the one hand, the high-ranking official Yan Nian directed his servants to maintain the order of the queue and arranged the team against the corner of the wall, leaving space at the door to facilitate the entry of Yan Song's sedan chair; on the other hand, he asked the doorman to convey the news that the master had returned to the mansion, and Yan Nian himself trotted to the front to greet Yan Song.
"Master, you are back..."
Yan Nian lifted the front skirt of his hair and trotted to the sedan chair, stood still, bent over, and respectfully welcomed Yan Song back home.
"Hmm." Yan Song hummed softly in the sedan chair. He was not in good spirits and a little sleepy. He was old. After presenting the Qingci yesterday afternoon, he stayed in the Western Garden to wait for the emperor's order. It was not until after midnight that he received the note from the emperor. It was already after midnight. The keys of the Western Garden were locked and there was a night curfew outside. Everyone could not go back to the mansion and could only rest in the guard house. The guard house was relatively simple and far inferior to the Yan Mansion. Yan Song almost did not fall asleep. For his age, it was really unbearable, so he was not in good spirits.
In addition, I didn't expect that in the end, it was Xu Jie's Qingci that won the first prize. Although Xu Jie has been very docile these days and has been close to me, I still feel a little disappointed.
I was very optimistic about Donglou's Qingci, which was much better than Yuan Wei's. I thought it would be favored by the emperor. It's a pity that Xu Jie's line "transformed the tiger into a dragon and returned to heaven" was too spiritual.
This old man Xu Jie was lucky. He met a good candidate when he was the examiner of the imperial examination. His talent for Qingci was not inferior to Yuan Wei, so he was a promising talent.
Of course, young people have some edges and corners, and they are just like a newborn calf who doesn't know how high the sky is and how deep the earth is. If they are beaten and suffer a few times, they will be able to understand the situation clearly... ... Young people are not afraid of having edges and corners, but of having no talent.
Xu Jie is a good example. He was also very sharp and angular at the beginning, but after being polished several times, he no longer hurts when you hold him in your hand.
Yan Song sat in the sedan chair, thinking about Xu Jie's performance in recent days, and nodded with satisfaction.
"Hurry, open the gate and let the master go back home. Tell the kitchen to prepare ginseng soup..." Hearing the fatigue in Yan Song's tone, Yan Nian quickly trotted to make way, told the guard to open the gate quickly, and then told the doorman to ask the kitchen to prepare ginseng soup.
Soon, Yan Song's sedan chair arrived in front of the gate.
"Your humble servant greets Lord Yan."
"Your subordinate greets Lord Yan..."
The people who had lined up at the door to submit their visiting cards now paid their respects to Yan Song's sedan chair.
"The master is tired after a night's work. Let him go back home first." Yan Nian stopped the people who were paying their respects and reprimanded the guards on duty to maintain order.
"stop."
Yan Song's voice came from the sedan chair.
Then the sedan stopped in front of everyone, and the maid serving outside the sedan lifted the curtain of the sedan, revealing Yan Song's figure.
"Yan Nian!"
Yan Song called Yan Nian to the sedan chair and taught him unhappily, "You are a guest from afar. These are guests of our Yan Mansion. Is this how you treat our distinguished guests?"
"Master, you have been busy all night..." Yan Nian explained.
"Okay, go ask the kitchen to prepare some more cooling tea and bring it out to moisten the guests' throats." Yan Song waved his hand to stop Yan Nian and ordered his men to bring cooling tea to the people in line.
"I am so touched. Lord Yan is a high-ranking official, but he is still so approachable and considerate of us everywhere..."
"We are willing to die for you, sir."
"He is courteous and approachable. Lord Yan really loves the people like his own children..."
Everyone in the queue rushed to express their gratitude and appreciation towards Yan Song, with rich emotions.
"I am very happy to have you all here. Compared to you, I have no other advantages, except that I am older. Now my Ming Dynasty has an excellent ruler above me and you gentlemen below me. The country is peaceful and prosperous, and it is a rare and prosperous era in a century. You must not miss this good opportunity. You should work hard and believe that you will have a bright future. I am old, and my Ming Dynasty will have to rely on you young people in the future."
After giving the order, Yan Song nodded to the people in the queue and gave them encouragement, like a kind and responsible elder at home.
"Thank you, Master Yan."
"Thank you, Master Yan, for your advice..."
"Master Yan has good intentions. He really worries about us."
"Master Yan is still strong despite his old age. He gets up early and stays up late, handling government affairs day and night. We admire him. Master Yan, please go back home and rest soon."
The crowd below was excited and moved.
Looking at the reactions of the crowd, Yan Song nodded with satisfaction, and after giving a few more words of encouragement, he returned to his seat in the sedan chair and nodded to the attendants outside.
"Go back home." The attendant understood.
The sedan chair was lifted up again and moved towards the gate of Yan's mansion.
Yan Song sat in the sedan chair, opened the curtains, nodded to the people in line, and said goodbye to them.
Just as Yan Song was lowering the curtains, his attention was suddenly attracted by a piece of cardboard outside the sedan, or to be more precise, by the words on the paper.
The spirit is insightful and vigorous; the righteous spirit is vigorous and powerful.
Looking at it, the characters are like sails riding the wind and waves, as if they are about to break free from the paper and roar out.
What attracted Yan Song's attention the most was that there seemed to be a hint of his own calligraphy in this font...
"Yan Nian, bring that piece of paper over here."
Yan Song lifted the curtain, pointed at the piece of paper on the ground, and gave an order to Yan Nian outside the sedan chair.
Paper
What paper
Yan Nian was stunned for a moment, then turned his head to look in the direction Yan Song was looking, and then his eyes popped out, his brain buzzed as if it had been pricked by a needle, and he was completely stunned, like a fool, with his mouth open, trembling, "No... No way..."
A breeze blows
The piece of paper on the ground sways gently
It's like laughing at myself.
Yan Nian was stunned. He could not believe his eyes and felt an inexplicable fear in his heart.