The days are exceptionally long in midsummer. It's already past six in the afternoon, but the sun outside has not yet set.
The main hall of Yongshou Palace.
A bronze tripod with four dragons and eight trigrams burning three sandalwood sticks as thick as wrists. Together with the three small incense burners burning sandalwood under the statues of the Three Pure Ones, the hall is filled with a constant stream of incense, and the entire palace is filled with curling sandalwood smoke.
There were three long desks in the hall, and in front of them were more than a dozen officials, busy writing furiously or looking at a stack of petition books.
It was so sunny and full of incense, but it was chilly inside the Yongshou Palace, as if the air-conditioning was on.
Who is the source of the cold air
Obviously, they were not the dozen or so officials who were busy writing or reviewing memorials in the hall.
Look further inside.
In the middle of the bedroom in the main hall, there is a Bagua mat, in front of which are several open essays. Sitting cross-legged on the Bagua mat is a middle-aged man wearing a green Bagua Taoist robe and a Hunyuan scarf on his head. He has a thin figure, a dignified face and a serious expression.
This person was Emperor Jiajing.
Emperor Jiajing closed his eyes, frowned, and looked very unhappy. He looked as if he wanted no one to approach him, and one could feel a chill emanating from his bones.
Obviously this is where the cold air comes from.
Beside the Jiajing Emperor, who was meditating with his eyes closed, were kneeling two little eunuchs, holding high in their hands two food boxes which emitted bursts of fragrance.
"Your Majesty, please have your meal. You didn't have breakfast or lunch, and if you don't have dinner, even a body of iron won't be able to bear it. Your Majesty, please have a bite..."
Huang Jin knelt before Emperor Jiajing and risked his life to give advice, his face full of worry and anxiety.
"Huang Ban, please leave. I am fine and I have no appetite."
Emperor Jiajing opened his eyes, took a quick look, shook his head expressionlessly, then continued to close his eyes and meditate with his hand seals.
The two young eunuchs kneeling with the food box in their hands didn't know what to do. Huang Jin sighed, waved his hand, and asked the two young eunuchs to take the food box away.
"Has His Majesty not eaten yet?"
Yan Song, who was busy in the outer hall, saw the young eunuch coming out with a food box. He put down the brush in his hand and walked forward to ask anxiously.
"The emperor said he has no appetite." The two young eunuchs replied with their heads lowered.
well…
Yan Song sighed, looked worriedly in the direction of the bedroom, and then shifted his gaze to the busy ministers in the hall. Under Yan Song's gaze, the busy ministers in the hall became more concerned.
There is still a long way to go.
Emperor Jiajing did not eat again, which showed that he was still in a bad mood. It also showed that the article they had just presented did not satisfy Emperor Jiajing.
The atmosphere in the hall couldn't help but become more depressing.
"Huating, how is your article going?" Yan Song slowly walked up to Xu Jie and asked softly.
"I have finished the previous article and am about to finish the second one. It will take me a while." Xu Jie looked up and replied.
"Zishi, what about you?"
Yan Song nodded and asked Li Chunfang who was sitting below him.
Li Chunfang stood up and replied respectfully, "My Lord, I am about to finish the second chapter."
"good."
Yan Song nodded with satisfaction. Those sitting at this table were some of the best writers in the Ming Dynasty.
It would have been even better if Yuan Wei had not gone to patrol the border... At this time Yan Song thought of Yuan Wei. Although Yuan Wei was a little arrogant, he was still very respectful to him and was on good terms with Dong Lou. If Yuan Wei had not gone to patrol the border, with this kid's writing skills, he could have written at least three excellent works in one day.
I am old, and my talent is not as good as before. I have put all my effort into writing just one article today, but it is still inferior to the articles of Xu Jie and others.
But the good thing is that someone had already notified Donglou in the afternoon, and I believe that Donglou will be able to send someone to deliver the written article soon.
After Yan Song asked the officials who were writing at this table, he walked to another long desk.
There were dozens of petition books on the long desk, and three officials were carefully looking through them.
"Jingqing, are there any good works among the essays sent in this afternoon?" Yan Song walked up to Yan Maoqing and asked.
When Yan Maoqing heard Yan Song's words, he was about to stand up and salute. Yan Song smiled slightly and waved his hand to signal Yan Maoqing to just sit down and answer.
Yan Maoqing was an old subordinate of Yan Song. He served Yan Song as if he were his father. No, he was even more filial to Yan Song than to his biological father. Therefore, there were many people in the outside world saying that Yan Maoqing was Yan Song's godson.
"Your Excellency is standing, how can Maoqing sit down? I have carefully read the essays and papers submitted this afternoon. There are a few well-written ones, but only a few can be called masterpieces. These few are the rare ones that are well-written." Even though Yan Song gestured for Yan Maoqing to just sit down and answer, Yan Maoqing still stood up and answered respectfully and familiarly, and handed the three essay books on the table to Yan Song.
Yan Song nodded, took the three question books, casually opened the top one, and began to read:
"People often compare Buddhism and Taoism, but I just laugh it off. Buddhism cultivates the nature but not the destiny, cultivates the next life but not the present life, and talks about karma and blessings in vain, so how can it be so popular? It is because Buddhism has been promoted and fallen into the secular trend, and many foolish Buddhist disciples have been deceived by this. We must know the truth that "Rao You are smarter than Yan Min, so don't try to guess if you don't meet a true master."
…
I wrote this article not to be argumentative or to compete with others. I just wanted to help those who are puzzled by the mystery to solve it. "
"Jingqing, you did a good job."
After reading this article, Yan Song nodded slightly, a slight smile appeared on his face, and he praised Yan Maoqing.
This article is written in an unconventional way. Although the writing style is not as good as that of Li Chunfang and others, it is not inferior in terms of the whole article.
It can be seen that Yan Maoqing selected it carefully.
When Yan Song was about to turn to the next book, a young eunuch came in from outside the hall. After seeing the young eunuch, the smile on Yan Song's face became even more intense. He handed the three volumes of articles in his hand to Yan Maoqing and gave him a few words of encouragement.
After encouraging Yan Maoqing, Yan Song walked towards the young eunuch. The young eunuch turned his back to the crowd, took out a notebook from his sleeve and handed it to Yan Song.
My son’s article has finally arrived.
Yan Song took the question book, nodded with satisfaction, took out a bulging brocade bag from his sleeve and stuffed it into the young eunuch's hand.
The young eunuch pushed it away and then put it away.
Yan Song smiled gently and nodded, then turned around and returned to his seat, anxious to rewrite the article written by Yan Shifan.
As soon as the young eunuch who sent Yan Shifan to write the article left the hall, another young eunuch came in with five booklets of articles in his hands. It was Eunuch Li, the Chief Justice of Wuyi Hall.
"The elders of Wuyi have presented five more articles." Eunuch Li walked into the hall and reported.
"Thank you, Eunuch Li."
Yan Maoqing stepped forward to thank Eunuch Li and took the title book. He was responsible for screening the articles submitted by the officials of the Wuyi Palace. All the articles submitted by the Wuyi Palace had to pass through his hands first, and the best ones would be selected. Then they would be given to Yan Song for review, and Yan Song would decide whether to present them to Emperor Jiajing for his own review.