"Fictitious? This scholar's way sounds a bit strange. Could it be that the Yan An we saw was not the real person but an incarnation?" Shen Tang suddenly felt a pain in his head. This world is really full of strange and bizarre abilities.
Is there still a way out for science here
I'm afraid the coffin lid has been nailed shut...
Gong Shuwu nodded first, then shook his head, leaving Shen Tang confused and not understanding what this meant.
Fortunately, Gong Shuwu did not deliberately keep the secret.
"If Yan An didn't lie back then, your lord's guess should be almost correct, but if he lied, it's hard to say." Gong Shuwu paused and asked, "Does your lord think that Yan An, as a scholar with a literary mind, will fully reveal his background?"
It's not that he intentionally made a fuss, but the average literary scholar owns three properties per person because "a cunning rabbit has three burrows."
Especially when it comes to such private matters as the way of scholars, outsiders must not be allowed to find out easily, and something must always be kept in reserve.
Gong Shuwu was inclined towards Yan'an but had reservations.
Shen Tang: "How is Banbu's relationship with Yan Xingning?"
"I've said a few words, but if I have to say it, it should be 'half-baked'." Gong Shuwu made a rare joke, "Yan'an's father is a famous scholar of Xin State and also a court official of Xin State. Although it is just a sinecure without any real power, he has a high status and a great reputation among scholars. People who want to become his disciples can pass through their doorstep. And Yan'an has become famous at a young age, so it's hard not to know him."
As the younger brother of the head of the Gong family and a highly valued military officer, Gong Shuwu was naturally a popular bachelor in the capital. However, he was older than Yan An, and the two were not of the same generation. One was a scholar, the other a warrior, so there was a generation gap in communication.
"Yan An once said in public that his way of the scholar is 'fictitious', and the effect is similar to the 'indecisive' words of the scholar. However, the latter can only exist for a short time and only has a vague human form, while the former can actually transform into an incarnation of literary energy that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and the incarnation can even walk outside. Other than that, there is nothing special about it."
This way of scholars seems magical, but it is actually very useless. Even Yan An himself said that it is of little use except for being lazy.
Chu Yao grasped the key point.
"Said it in public?"
What is the way of the scribes
The trump card of the literati.
Yan An just said it out loud in public, a trump card that might help turn the tide at a critical moment, or even save his life? It would be fine if he just confessed it in public, but he also talked about his abilities in detail. This is abnormal no matter how you look at it.
Gong Shuwu carefully recalled the scene at that time.
Explained: "I remember it was at a palace banquet, the old king wanted to show off to envoys from other countries."
In simple terms, the neighboring country boasted that there was a young man in their country who had the ability of a scholar before he was 18, which embarrassed the host of Xin country, and the old king was embarrassed. In the end, Yan An stood up and turned the game around.
Yan'an is younger.
At sixteen you gain, at eighteen you master, at twenty you achieve perfection.
The way of the scribes is not so easy to control.
Yan An's words aroused the envoy's doubts.
So Yan An confessed his ability as a scholar in public. Gong Shuwu was also present at the time and remembered it particularly clearly - if this ability was used to carry out a suicide attack, who could withstand it
Moreover, the name of his Scribe’s Way is special.
False
It's completely in line with Gong Shuwu's aesthetic point of view.
Shen Tang was curious and gossiped: "'Three Minds and Two Wills', this literary spirit, can create two literary incarnations, and can do three things with one mind, but the duration is short, while Yan Xingning's literary incarnation can run around freely... So how many literary incarnations can he create at most?"
I am really envious.
Gong Shuwu said: "He himself said there are two paths."
But the bottom of his eyes said—
Even dogs don't believe what Wenxin literati say.
Shen Tang: "There were two back then, and now after so many years, let's conservatively estimate that there are six. Together with me, there are seven in total. Wow, he can do the work of seven people."
What a great 996 and 007 player...
The contemporary king of rolls!
Gong Shuwu: “…”
Chu Yao: “…”
Is this all the lord is concerned about
Even if one person can do the work of seven people, he is still working for others. It is useless to envy him.
The pattern opens—
Gong Shuwu: "It doesn't matter whether there are two or six incarnations of Wen Qi. What matters is that I will know when Wen Qi's incarnation dies. Now is not the time to alert the enemy. Try to avoid Yan An as much as possible..."
Don’t be fooled by his name Yan’an, courtesy name Xingning, that he is the “peaceful and quiet” type of elegant scholar - any famous scholar of literature does not become famous by his looks or good temper, and the more famous he is, the more ruthless he becomes.
Shen Tang naturally understood this truth.
When Gong Shuwu said that the envoy Yan Xingning was not the real person, she gave up the idea of letting him "have an accident".
One of the principles of killing to silence witnesses is to eradicate the root of the problem, to kill an incarnation of literary energy without endangering the original body.
Why did she go through all that trouble
What Shen Tang was more concerned about was Yan An's purpose of coming.
Who are you here for
Why are you here
Could it be that they were exposed? Did Yan An guess that the seal of the Xin Kingdom in Gong Shuwu's hand was in his hand
This concerns her life and property.
"Do you think Yan An has discovered anything?"
"There must be suspicion, otherwise we wouldn't have tried so many times." Speaking of this, Chu Yao secretly felt fortunate that he had prepared for a rainy day and asked Qi Shan to disguise several people. He didn't expect it would come in handy. "But he has no evidence, so we have to stay calm."
Shen Tang nodded. Considering that Yan An's scholarly ways were hard to guard against, she suggested that he should just do what he needed to do in the next few days, take a few days off, and make sufficient preparations before taking up the post of He Yin.
For larger movements, stop for a day or two.
That's right—
"Should we exchange secret codes?"
Chu Yao was not that nervous, and even joked with a bit of ease: "Well, that's fine, the code is decided by Wu Lang?"
Shen Tang was excited: "Okay."
When Gu Chi received several copies of "Qimin Yaoshu" written by Chu Yao, he found an extra sentence at the beginning:
How old is Wulang
How tall is Wu Lang
Gu Chi: “???”
Is the style of "Qimin Yaoshu" wrong
Asked again, this is a code.
From now on, the Blue Bird will use this as a signal when delivering messages or meeting people.
If you answer wrong, it means it’s Yan An in disguise!
Gu Chi: “…”
What kind of code is this
The “correct answer” is also included at the end.
Secrets, Secrets
Gu Chi: ...What’s the answer to the code
Chu Yao: …It’s a ‘secret’.
Gu Chi: “…”
He has something to say, but he doesn't know whether he should say it or not.
The three heroes of Chu State back then probably ate too many of Shen Tang’s pancakes, so they had the same big pancakes as her!
Kang Shi only knew Yan An had been here when he received the message from the blue bird. He frowned slightly and was glad that he was not there at the time. Otherwise, if he was met by Yan An, it would bring trouble to the lord. After all, Yan An was not a good person.
Fortunately, Shen Tang kept his composure.
Otherwise, this matter would not be so easily uncovered.
Captain Yang took a sip of the warm rice wine and seeing Kang Shi's serious expression, he asked, "Is Yan An so difficult to deal with?"
"Yan Xingning's way of being a scholar is not as simple as Gong Shubanbu said. The so-called 'incarnation of literary spirit' is just something he made up to hide his shortcomings. 'Zi Xu Wu You' is originally a fiction. Since it is fiction, it naturally does not exist..."
Captain Yang was a little confused.
"Why exactly?"
Kang Shi said: "I don't know either."
He had few friends, and because of his scholarly ways, he had few close friends. He became good friends with Yan An, and they often visited each other when they were young, because Yan An's scholarly ways could restrain him.
But Kang Shi did not have a close relationship with him.
Captain Yang was surprised: "You don't know either?"
Then how can we say that Gong Shuwu was wrong
Kang Shi said: "It's just guesswork and intuition."
Captain Yang insisted on getting to the bottom of the matter.
"Tell me about it."
"It's just a guess. Just listen to it, don't take it seriously—" Kang Shi jokingly poured himself a bowl of wine, took a sip, savored it carefully, and did not forget to give Captain Yang a shot in advance, "Yan An's father once said to a friend after drinking that Yan An's scholarly way can subvert the cause and effect of reality. As for the specific extent of this, it is still unknown."
Captain Yang still didn't understand.
"Real and false cause and effect?"
"Make the fake become real or make the real become fake." Kang Shi said, "I just heard it, it's hard to say whether it's true or not."
Captain Yang had a look on his face that said, "I believe you are hiding something." How could such a secret be so easily "heard"? Who spread it? Or was it Yan An's father who made a mistake after drinking...
During this period of time, I can see that Kang Shi is not such a careless person. His words are half true and half false.
Captain Yang tasted it carefully.
Reality and fiction…
cause and effect…
Just from the literal meaning, it is not simple.
Captain Yang couldn't help rolling his eyes and muttered, "Young men nowadays are more difficult to deal with than the other one."
When he was young, there were many talented scholars, but most of them followed the rules, unlike now—
It's really a chaos of demons.
For a moment, Captain Yang didn't know whether to be thankful or regretful. He was born more than ten years earlier and was not of the same generation as them. He was thankful that he didn't have to meet them, but regretted that he couldn't fight them.
Kang Shi smiled awkwardly.
I just feel a little worried.
at the same time-
The envoys and their entourage did not behave as Shen Tang had worried.
After they finished their work, they left straight away, but they were not very fast, but rather leisurely, and there was no sign of their eagerness to come here day and night. Yan An asked, "Is there any movement?"
Another person replied: "No."
A night passed and there was still no movement.
Yan An was suspicious, but could only give up - he had seen Shen Youli in person, and there was indeed nothing unusual about her. At most, she was smaller, more immature, and had clearer eyes. She did not look like those carefully cultivated by wealthy families, but more like the reeds growing wildly on the river bank, full of vitality, and carrying an infective vigor.
He said, "Go back and report."
Yan An waved his hand and rode his horse away into the distance. Strangely, the rest of the people seemed not to have seen him and did not follow him.
The group of fourteen people just stopped for a while and then continued on their way. Occasionally, one or two whispered conversations could be heard.
It seems like they completed this mission too quickly
At the same time—
Yan An, who was far away in the capital, paused for a moment while picking up his pen.
After a moment of distraction, he continued writing.
There are piles of things on the desk waiting to be dealt with.
Eighty percent of them are trivial matters, such as the birth of an auspicious sign in a certain place, and the birth of a son who can speak, which must be a blessing from heaven, protecting the king for thousands of years; for example, an official from a certain place pays respects and greetings, and cries poor by the way; for example, flattery.
The rest only report good news and not bad news.
but-
How is the situation in different places? How could Yan An not know
I was so angry that I even wanted to pick up a pen and scold him, but I couldn't, because Yan An was not the king, Zheng Qiao was. As for how the things that should have been handled by Zheng Qiao ended up on his desk
This is something you need to ask his good junior fellow apprentice Zheng Qiao.
Those who are capable should work harder.
Since Senior Brother Yan An has this intention, Zheng Qiao doesn't need to find things to do for himself and just leave the government affairs to them.
Every day he played and had fun in the palace, either feasting with court officials or racing horses, hunting, and playing Cuju and Chuiwan with others...
The other day, a groom was given a title on the spot because of his good chuiwan skills. Although it was only the lowest rank, it was still ridiculous. Other court officials were like sharks smelling blood. They all catered to his tastes, sent people to recruit young beauties and presented the palace's actors who were good at singing and dancing - of course, they would inevitably use this as an excuse to make money for themselves.
Yan An wants to pick up a sword and kill people every day.
Zheng Qiao came over to take a look and saw that he was full of murderous intent. He said, "Who has displeased me to such an extent that I have such murderous intent?"
Yan An did not answer.
Zheng Qiao felt quite bored.
But before leaving, he asked, "Brother, did you ask Zixu to check on Shen Youli? How was she?"
When Yan An heard this, his eyelids twitched.
He said, “There is nothing wrong with this person.”
Zheng Qiao sneered: "Even if there is a problem, I am not afraid."
Yan An looked at his junior brother who had changed drastically, and couldn't help but ask: "If this continues, aren't you afraid of dying without a burial place?"
Zheng Qiao sneered and waved his hand nonchalantly.
"It doesn't matter if I'm alone."
Yan An showed a hint of anger.
Zheng Qiao turned a blind eye and even said with a smug tone: "Even if I die, I will let all the officials in the court die with me, especially the old officials of Xin State. Brother, don't worry too much, you will not be lonely on the road to the underworld."
Yan An pursed his lips and watched Zheng Qiao walk away with big strides.
"etc!"
"What's the matter, brother?"
"Regarding the previous court meeting..."
Zheng Qiao thought for a moment and said, "What do you mean? If you can convince them to take out their wallets, I won't stop you."
It was previously agreed to take inventory of the granary accounts and open the warehouses to release the grain.
However, there have always been voices of opposition.
In order to maintain stability, Zheng Qiao deliberately indulged him.
The court officials did not completely deny it, but they just procrastinated, using all kinds of procrastination tactics. They passed the buck tacitly and deliberately blocked Yan An. Seeing that the weather was getting colder and the first snow fell in various places, if the problem was not solved, who knows how many common people would die this winter.
Yan An asked again: "If I want to kill someone..."
Zheng Qiao: "Brother, you can do whatever you want, but if they find any evidence against you, you will have to suffer in order to secure your position."
He didn't say it too bluntly.
But Yan An could hear the subtext.
If this "suffering" means killing Yan An, he must also die in order to appease the "public anger".
After Zheng Qiao left, Yan An was alone for a quarter of an hour before he suppressed the negative emotions surging in his heart. He looked in the direction of the gate and murmured to the void: "Wu You, how long will it take?"
After a while.
He added: "Two years is enough."
———
Two days later.
Shen Tang woke up and found that the air temperature had cooled down a lot.
When I opened the door, I saw dense, fine snow floating in the wind.
It was icy cold on my face.