As the sun sets, Zhu Ping'an stands at the gate of Prince Yu's Mansion, holding an inkstone in one hand and a scroll of calligraphy in the other, with a smile on his face. Bathed in the afterglow of the sunset, he bows and bids farewell to Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others.
"Young master, let me hold that stone for you." Liu Dadao walked over, leading the horse, and said to Zhu Pingan.
"Oh, ok, thank you."
Zhu Ping'an nodded and handed the inkstone in his hand to Liu Dadao. It was not convenient to ride a horse with one hand holding something.
"This stone feels pretty good." Liu Dadao took the inkstone, tossed it casually and praised it.
"Hey, you rough man, you'd better be careful. That's not a stone, it's the inkstone bestowed by the current emperor. An inkstone is worth thousands of gold. You'd better not drop it..." An official of Prince Yu's Mansion saw Liu Dadao throwing the inkstone casually as soon as he walked out of the gate. His face turned pale with nervousness.
"What?! An inkstone bestowed by the emperor, worth a thousand gold coins?!"
Liu Dadao didn't expect that the stone in his hand was so powerful. He was so frightened that he shuddered and almost dropped the inkstone.
"Hey, hey..."
When the official saw the inkstone slip out of Liu Dadao's hand, he couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise. Only when he saw Liu Dadao finally caught it did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"Hehe, so this stone has such a great origin. Sir, you hold the stone and I'll take the roll of paper." Liu Dadao touched his head with a silly smile and handed the hot inkstone in his hand to Zhu Ping'an, wanting to exchange it for the calligraphy copy in Zhu Ping'an's hand.
"That roll of paper?!"
Upon hearing this, the official just now couldn't help but roll his eyes at Liu Dadao, "The roll of paper you mentioned is one of the few authentic works of the calligrapher Wang Xizhi that have survived. Calligrapher, one of the few authentic works, understand?! It's no exaggeration to say that the 'roll of paper' you mentioned is enough to exchange for half a city."
"Can it be exchanged for half a city?!"
Liu Dadao's eyes almost popped out of his head, he smacked his lips and shrank his neck, "Then I'd better hold the inkstone."
"Haha, it's not that exaggerated..." Zhu Ping'an smiled and shook his head.
The inkstone in Liu Dadao's hand was the prize that Zhu Ping'an won at the poetry gathering in the pavilion of Prince Yu's mansion. It was an inkstone bestowed by Emperor Jiajing. The other inkstone was obtained by Zhang Juzheng. Of course, Yin Shidan did not get one empty-handed either, as Prince Yu gave him another prize.
As for the copybook in Zhu Ping'an's hand, it was a surprise to Zhu Ping'an.
When the poetry gathering in the pergola was about to end, someone from the neighboring Jingwang Mansion came on the order of King Jing and delivered a piece of calligraphy, specifically saying it was for Zhu Ping'an.
Wang Xizhi's Peaceful Letter?!
King Jing gave it to Zhu Ping'an? ! ! !
At that time, Zhu Ping'an had a bewildered look on his face. Everyone in Prince Yu's Mansion was in an uproar, and they all looked at Zhu Ping'an with strange eyes.
There's a traitor among us... ...that's about it.
Everyone had heard rumors before, saying that Emperor Jiajing was originally going to transfer Zhu Ping'an to be a lecturer in Prince Jing's Palace, but for some reason he was changed to a lecturer in Prince Yu's Palace. Now, Prince Jing actually sent someone to give Zhu Ping'an such a valuable thing? !
Now it seems that it would be strange if there were no ghosts here? !
Therefore, everyone in Prince Yu's Mansion looked at Zhu Ping'an with suspicion at that time, and even Prince Yu seemed a little strange.
Zhu Ping'an remained calm and asked the visitor calmly why King Jing gave him the calligraphy.
The man then briefly recounted the whole story.
It turned out to be a prize for the poetry competition. King Jing actually put the works of the two poetry competitions together for evaluation.
So, everyone was relieved, and the look they had in their eyes when they looked at Zhu Ping'an changed from traitor to envy. Although it was only half of Wang Xizhi's original work, its value was immeasurable and enough to be regarded as a family heirloom.
Although he knew the whole story and knew that the calligraphy was the prize for the poetry meeting and that he deserved it, and that the prize was one of the few surviving authentic works of Wang Xizhi and was priceless, Zhu Ping'an still refused without hesitation.
joke.
You still have to have a stance.
I work in Prince Yu's Mansion, how can I accept things from Prince Jing's Mansion? !
Don't lose the big picture for the small.
Zhu Ping'an's decisive refusal without hesitation surprised everyone in Prince Yu's Mansion. They thought that they could not do what Zhu Ping'an did, so they looked at Zhu Ping'an with a little more admiration.
Chen Yiqin stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly.
Zhu Ping'an's stance made Prince Yu very satisfied and relieved, and he looked at Zhu Ping'an with more trust in his eyes.
The person who came from Prince Jing's mansion said that if the task was not completed, the prince would be punished, so he knelt for a long time and refused to get up.
This happened again and again.
Zhu Ping'an had no choice but to take the calligraphy, but after taking it, he presented it to Prince Yu with both hands and asked Prince Yu to deal with it.
After Prince Yu took the calligraphy, he gave it to Zhu Ping'an.
Although it just changed hands, the nature was completely different. It changed from a reward from Prince Jing to a reward from Prince Yu.
Since it was a reward from Prince Yu, Zhu Ping'an naturally accepted it with a smile.
So, when Zhu Ping'an got off work and went home, he returned home with an inkstone in one hand and a copybook in the other.
"Master Zhu, take care."
"Master Zhu, take care..."
Many officials who came out of the door later took the initiative to bow to Zhu Ping'an and say goodbye. Zhu Ping'an's performance at today's poetry gathering won the respect of many people in Prince Yu's Mansion.
"Lord Zhang, take care. Lord Liu, take care... Lord Liu, Lord Wang, see you tomorrow..." Zhu Ping'an bowed to them one by one.
After bidding farewell to everyone, Zhu Ping'an mounted his horse with the calligraphy in his hand, and rode towards the Linhuai Marquis' Mansion with Liu Dadao.
Dusk was falling, and the clouds were urging the horse's hooves along the way. When the afterglow of the setting sun kissed the horizon, Zhu Ping'an returned to the Linhuai Marquis Mansion.
"Miss, Miss, my uncle is back..."
"My uncle is back..."
The little maids in Jingxiang Garden saw Zhu Ping'an coming from afar, and they ran to tell Li Shu the news.
So, when Zhu Ping'an just walked in, Li Shu came to greet him with Baozi, the little maid, and others.
Just like yesterday, the naughty kid Rui Ge'er and the little Lolita Niuniu were also in Jingxiang Garden, following Li Shu's lead.
"Brother-in-law, what are you holding in your hand?"
The naughty kid had sharp eyes and saw the inkstone and calligraphy in Zhu Ping'an's hand at a glance. He asked curiously. When he called Zhu Ping'an brother-in-law, the word "bumpkin" almost came out of his mouth as usual.
“Boom.”
Li Shu placed her delicate jade hand on the naughty kid's head, flicked it with her pink jade finger, and said with concern: "Brother Rui, there is a grass on your head."
"Thank you, Fifth Sister."
Seeing that Li Shu was so nice to him and even helped him play the grass, the naughty kid was so touched that he raised his chubby face and said thank you.
After thanking Li Shu, the naughty kid turned his little fat face proudly. His eyes were not big to begin with, and he squinted his eyes to look down on Zhu Ping'an. He snorted proudly, like a piglet who had succeeded in winning favor. Hum, you country bumpkin brother-in-law, did you see that? Even though you married the fifth sister, she is still good to me. You can only sit in the back row...
"Silly child, why are you being so polite to your sister? Hey, there's one more." Li Shu said in a sweet voice with her eyes narrowed and a smile on her face. As she spoke, she seemed to have found another piece of grass, then she bent her pink jade fingers and flicked it again.
Boom.
The sound is quite crisp.
"Fifth sister is so nice." The naughty kid raised his chubby face and thanked Li Lishu, feeling very moved.
After thanking Li Shu, the naughty kid turned his chubby face proudly again, looked at Zhu Ping'an, and hummed proudly twice.