The wind squeezed in through the window, the oil lamp swayed gently, and the handwriting on the unfolded letter was sharp as a blade.
My enlightened brother:
Chongwen has been ill recently, and the Chang'an Autumn Literary Meeting may not take place, so I wrote a letter myself and presented it to my brother's residence to express my apologies.
Under the light, the paper was unfolded in his hand. The man who was reading the letter was in his early thirties, with a fine beard. When he saw the words, he couldn't help but smile.
"He is a sincere gentleman who respects literature..."
Move your eyes downward and continue reading word by word.
… My brother, have you heard of the name of Nanchen Lu Liangsheng? Before writing this letter to my brother, I met this man at Shunyuan's house. I saw that he was gentle and kind, and he was a rare and talented man. I was in danger of misfortune and was saved by Nanchen Lu Liangsheng.
But he is not a swindler or a wanderer.
I have heard that he was a newly-appointed tribute scholar in the spring imperial examination of the Southern Chen Dynasty. He was humiliated by the tyrant emperor in the Golden Palace, so he drove a giant to smash the Golden Palace and fled to the north. If he did not travel around waiting for a wise ruler to appear, he would have become indifferent to worldly affairs and left the world.
Brother Kaiming and his younger brother are both literati. When literati appreciate each other, how can they just stand by and watch
I don't want such a talented and skilled person to fall into disgrace, so I wrote to you with a bold face. I know that you have a close relationship with the eldest son, so I hope you can give him a detailed recommendation...
"Lu Liangsheng, a scholar from the Southern Chen Dynasty? Haha... he has the same last name as me."
Lu Kaiming took another look and said that the other party was traveling in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and going to Chaoning Prefecture. He might have the opportunity to come to Chang'an to see the capital of the Northern Zhou Dynasty later.
"Haha... Chongwen didn't come, but he asked for a lot. Anyway, Young Master Yang is quite fond of literati, so it's okay to talk about it."
He smiled and shook his head, put the letter away and blew out the light.
The next morning, Lu Kaiming took a bath, changed his clothes, put on new robes, and went out and got on the carriage.
"Go to the Prime Minister's Mansion."
After giving an order to the coachman, the shaft of the carriage slowly rolled and drove towards the street where the officials' residences were located. When it arrived at the side door of the prime minister's residence, another person also came over at the same time.
The two men got off the carriage and clasped their hands to each other.
"Brother Kaiming!"
"Brother Cheng!"
After a few pleasantries, they invited each other to walk into the side door together. This mansion was where the current Prime Minister Yang Jian lived. The two of them had no official positions, but they had a good personal relationship with the Prime Minister's eldest son Yang Yong, so they had to enter through the small door in the side courtyard.
The two walked past the corridor and could hear the sound of laughter coming from the main hall of the north courtyard in the distance. When Lu Kaiming walked over, many scholars had gathered in the hall, discussing current affairs or debating some differences with each other by citing scriptures.
Lu Kaiming walked around the side and sat down at a random seat. The maid brought him some tea, and the aroma of the warm tea wafted into his mouth and nose. He looked at the courtyard outside the door. The sunlight shone through the dense leaves, and the summer cicadas that had just broken out of the ground were slowly crawling over the moss-covered tree trunks.
Not long after, a figure strode towards this side, turned into the hall and saw the middle-aged scholar sitting in a prominent position at the door. He smiled and waved his hand to tell him not to be polite.
"sit down."
Lu Kaiming just stood up to salute, but when the other party waved his hand, he had to sit down obediently.
"Lu Kaiming has met the eldest son and Mr. Ming."
The old man who came in behind Yang Yong was named Ming Kerang. He was over sixty years old and looked elegant in a long robe. It was said that he was a minister of the previous dynasty and was well versed in rituals, tortoise shells, and calendar.
The old man nodded at him and walked straight over without saying much. The talented writers present hurriedly bowed and held out their recent works, wanting the old man to comment and compare them.
"Enlightened, why don't you go over there?"
Yang Yong took a look at the grand scene over there, took the teacup handed to him by the maid, sat down next to Lu Kaiming, and blew away the floating tea leaves.
"By the way, someone sent me a famous painting from Chaoning Prefecture yesterday, so I'll bring it here for you to appreciate."
He took a sip of tea and clapped his hands twice.
The servant waiting at the door came in carrying a long tray. Everyone in the hall stopped talking, gathered around, and looked at the red silk being unveiled, revealing a framed landscape painting.
People around were whispering and commenting.
"A lone sail on the long water, the morning sun rising in the east of the river, what a beautiful scene!" "... If you ask me, the scene can only be seen in the morning breeze in the mountains and forests. Can you see the direction in which the leaves are swaying? The truth is revealed in the subtleties!"
"Yes, we can still see monkeys in the forest. The painter's brushwork is really superb."
Yang Yong is fond of literature and is good at writing poems, but he doesn't know much about calligraphy and painting. When he first got this painting, he asked everyone to comment on it so that they could see its value. It would also be better to hang it in the master bedroom to show its elegance rather than throwing it into a corner to let it gather dust.
"Is it really as good as you say?"
Lu Kaiming also looked at it for a while and nodded: "This painting must be from the hand of a master."
At this time, someone has already looked at the signature at the bottom of the painting.
"Lu Liangsheng... I don't think I've heard of this name before. Does anyone here know him?"
"Why does this name sound familiar?"
Hearing the name 'Lu Liangsheng', Lu Kaiming was stunned for a moment. The eldest son of the Prime Minister's Mansion turned around and was about to ask him, but when he saw his expression, he couldn't help but laughed and said, "This person's surname is also Lu, is he Kaiming's cousin?"
"That's not the case."
On this side, Lu Kaiming quickly bowed and apologized. Seeing someone looking at him, he smiled to cover up his embarrassment.
"I was a little surprised to hear this name. Last night I received a letter from Shunyuan Wang Chongwen, which mentioned a Southern Chen scholar named Lu Liangsheng."
I was originally thinking about how to recommend him, but now it was just the right time to go with the flow. I thought about the words in my mind, and then Lu Kaiming continued:
"Have you heard about the incident in the Southern Chen Dynasty? The hedonistic and incompetent emperor of the Southern Dynasty humiliated a tribute scholar in the palace, and in the end the Golden Palace was smashed."
The scholars looked at each other in bewilderment, and someone asked tentatively, "Could it be this Lu Liangsheng?"
“Yes!”
Lu Kaiming responded, looking at the eldest son, and bowed slightly: "Wang Chongwen mentioned in the letter that this person is quite talented and well-versed in ghosts and gods. When he smashed the Jinluan Palace, it was like a giant holding a wine jar and smashing it down angrily. Almost the whole city knew about it, which made the Southern Chen emperor lose face!"
Hahaha-
All the people present were scholars from the Northern Zhou Dynasty. They were in a bold and open-minded mood. When they heard that the imperial court of another country to the south had suffered a disaster, they all burst into laughter.
Even the serious Ming Kerang couldn't help but curl his lips slightly, stroked his white beard, and looked at the eldest son over there.
"There are many different opinions, whether it is true or not, let's not discuss it for now. Since he is a well-read person, you might as well recruit him. Even if he cannot enter the court, it is good for the prime minister to gain the reputation of recruiting wise men."
The two of them are both teachers and friends, so Yang Yong naturally would not refuse such a thing to help his father.
"That's what I thought too. My uncle Yang Su is good at martial arts and Taoism, and is also an expert in military affairs. He is a man of both civil and military talents. If he can recruit a master to assist him, he will be even more powerful."
A group of literati and scholars around echoed the sentiment.
"Young Master is right." "This is the truth. I believe the Prime Minister will think more highly of you!"
"Haha, the great prime minister's prestige is growing day by day!"
Amidst the chatter, a small face popped out from the side of the hall door and looked inside. The boy took advantage of the conversation and rushed over, dragged the framed painting on the ground and ran out.
Seeing that it was a teenager, the servants did not dare to chase him. Yang Yong reacted, lifted up his robe and chased after him.
"Ah-chuang, put that painting down!"
Hearing this, the young man quickened his pace, dragged the framed painting, turned a corner, ran to the courtyard, turned around and laughed at Yang Yong who was chasing him.
"Yang Yong, Yang Yong, you are brave but not wise!"
"you-"
Yang Yong was so angry that he stamped his feet and yelled, "Yang Guang! Stop right there! I'll beat your ass!"
He turned around and ran to the flower garden grass, trying to catch the boy by taking a shortcut. One was chasing and the other was fleeing. The maids and servants passing by dodged in panic, causing chaos.
At the end of the corridor, two figures were walking towards them with the gait of a dragon or a tiger. They were originally talking to each other, but when they heard the noise, the figures in front of them glanced over and shouted, "What the hell are you two brothers doing?!"