The invitation sent by the young Prince of Guangping to the Crown Prince was actually just a polite gesture in front of their relatives, but the Crown Prince did not treat him as an outsider at all and came to the banquet every time. The Crown Prince waved his hand, signaling the people around him to stand up, and then he put his arm around the young Prince's shoulder and walked in.
When passing by Chu Xinian and Xie Jingyuan, he just greeted them casually, and was not as warm as when he was in the mansion.
Chu Xi looked at the prince's back, thinking that although the prince was usually reckless and impulsive, he was still somewhat thoughtful and only pretended on the surface.
Although many people knew that Xie Jingyuan was a member of the prince's party, it was not a good idea for the crown prince to make friends with court officials, as it was suspected of forming a party. The censor heard about it and reported it to the emperor. The next day, the dragon case would be filled with memorials impeaching the prince.
There were many people at the banquet for the heroes today, and on the surface they were keeping their distance.
Xie Jingyuan was full of disgust for such occasions, and the corners of his lips curved in a mocking and sarcastic manner. He felt that those literati who recited sour poems were like big white geese shouting at the top of their lungs in the lake, which was quite funny.
"General, let's go, the banquet has started."
Chu Xinian held his hand and walked towards Jinlin Pavilion. He was wearing white clothes and holding a paper fan, looking elegant and refined, and even more elegant and bookish than those men of letters.
Xie Jingyuan lowered his eyes and glanced at Chu Xinian holding his hand, thinking that if this person wanted to recite a poem, he could listen reluctantly and show his support. Chu Xinian did not have that sour air.
The Golden Scale Pavilion is located in the center of the lake, surrounded by water on all sides. In addition to boat trips, there is only one corridor on the shore that can be passed. There are thousands of golden carps in the lake, swimming with their tails wagging. Those with outstanding talents may be able to "leap over the dragon gate".
The young prince was the one in the east, so he should take the upper seat. However, considering the position of the crown prince, he followed the etiquette: "Your Highness, please take the upper seat."
The prince found a random seat at the bottom, right next to Chu Xinian and Xie Jingyuan: "This is not the palace, no need for etiquette, I can just sit here. Today we will only discuss the level of talent and learning, not the status of the people."
These words were so beautiful that they didn't even sound like they came from his mouth.
Chu Xinian observed the people present with great interest. His eyes swept over the famous scholars and young talents one by one, and unexpectedly found a young lady from an aristocratic family sitting among them. She was wearing a hairpin, a ring and a flowery dress, adding a beautiful scene to the Jinlin Pavilion.
Seeing Chu Xinian staring at those women, Xie Jingyuan followed suit and chuckled, his emotion undetectable: "How is it, is it?"
Chu Xinian held a folding fan in his hand. Hearing this, he tapped his palm twice and smiled, "Voluptuous, yes."
It's not his appearance, but his youthful spirit. If anyone present here today is lucky enough to meet a mentor, they can step out of the Golden Scale Pavilion and step onto the ladder of success. In the future, they may become officials or famous people all over the world, with a bright future.
When Chu Jiaoping entered the officialdom, he debated and lectured at a banquet for heroes, and battled with a number of literary masters. From then on, he became famous in the capital and was accepted as a disciple by the King of Jin.
This banquet for heroes is like a ladder to heaven, and it is also a famous event.
Chu Xinian thought that it was interesting to experience this kind of scene in person. But he didn't know if it was an illusion, but Xie Jingyuan always felt that he was a beautiful woman, and raised his eyebrows: "So what did you do?"
Chu Xinian only said two words: "What."
Today, Prince Chang and Prince Ping were also present. They saw that the eldest brother, the Crown Prince, did not come up to greet him, but was only interested in making friends with scholars. It was obvious that they had no respect or fear for him. They even looked down on him and were unwilling to even try to save face.
Prince Chang wanted the support of the scholars, and he had been toasting and talking with Emperor Wenzong Yan Qinghe, trying to win them over. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong target. The Yan family never participated in the seizure of power, and they had been busy making articles. Just from Yan Qinghe's lukewarm attitude, it was clear that Prince Chang's efforts were in the wrong place.
Prince Ping was talking to a young man named Jin, and they were almost brothers. This young man Jin was ordinary and frivolous, but his father was the inspector of the Jin Department, in charge of the trade of the whole country.
If the old foxes are not willing to be won over, then the king will start with their cubs. King Ping is quite smart.
Xie Jingyuan sneered at Chu Xinian: "You are just being mysterious."
As they were talking, many people arrived one after another. When a young man in blue entered the Golden Scale Pavilion, he attracted the most attention. It was Chu Jiaoping.
The young prince of Guangping was delighted to see this and immediately stood up to greet him: "Brother Jiao Ping, I have been waiting for you for a long time. You are late, so you have to drink three cups as punishment."
"It turns out to be Prince Chu. Nice to meet you."
"It's better to meet him in person than to hear about him. He is indeed extraordinary."
Chu Jiaoping was well-known among the noble families in the capital, and many people stood up to greet him. In contrast, Chu Xinian was quiet and inconspicuous. But his appearance was really outstanding, which attracted all kinds of mixed looks.
"I came down late, please forgive me."
Chu Jiaoping was dressed in a blue robe, as gentle as jade. He apologized gracefully, and then sat down surrounded by the crowd. Coincidentally, his seat was opposite Chu Xinian. When he looked up, he found his brother was also there, and he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
Chu Xinian poured a glass of wine and saluted him from a distance, his smile as bright as the breeze and the bright moon.
Chu Jiaoping didn't know why his brother came here for a moment, and his mind was full of doubts, but seeing Xie Jingyuan was also there, he had to suppress his doubts temporarily and nodded in greeting.
Seeing that he was the center of attention, Xie Jingyuan lowered his eyes and swirled the wine in the cup thoughtfully. He thought to himself that Chu Xinian was obviously not a bad guy, so why did the two brothers have such different reputations
He couldn't help but have conspiracy theories in his mind. After all, it was not uncommon for brothers to quarrel with each other among the rich and powerful. Xie Jingyuan glanced at Chu Xinian, slightly curled his lips, and deliberately said, "Do you want the position of the crown prince?"
Chu Xinian was stunned for a moment, not understanding why he was like that. Then he came to his senses, smiled, and said in a low voice: "If I want it, General, will you get it for me?"
Xie Jingyuan did not hesitate, he did not even think for a moment, playing with the cup in his hand, smiling: "If you want, I will get it for you, how about it?"
"… "
Chu Xinian glanced at Xie Jingyuan, but he saw that he was not joking. He was not sure what he felt. He was silent for a moment, then gently pressed Xie Jingyuan's hand and said seriously, "I was just joking with the general."
What does he want the position of crown prince for
Chu Xinian touched the cold back of Xie Jingyuan's hand and unconsciously rubbed it lightly with his fingertips. He did not retract his hand for a long time. He didn't know what he was thinking about, and he was a little absent-minded.
Xie Jingyuan felt a warmth on the back of his hand and paused, but did not push it away.
The banquet started, and everyone in the hall was talking loudly, citing classics or reciting poems, which was very lively. The prince was not interested in listening. He turned his head and found Chu Xinian and Xie Jingyuan holding hands under the table. When no one was paying attention, he quietly approached and asked suspiciously: "What are you doing?"
The voice suddenly came from behind them, scaring them.
Chu Xinian and Xie Jingyuan were both shocked when they heard this, and they both let go of each other's hands as if they had been electrocuted. They were both a little embarrassed for some reason. Chu Xinian saw that it was the prince, and changed the subject as if nothing had happened: "It's okay, Your Highness, why are you here?"
"I..."
Before the prince could figure out what was going on, Xie Jingyuan picked up a dried fruit from the fruit plate and smashed it at his forehead, sneering at Chu Xinian: "What can he do? He is just like you, here to see the beauty."
The prince sat back, covering his head.
Chu Xinian didn't know how to explain to Xie Jingyuan that he was not interested in women. He glanced at the corner of his eye and saw that the young prince of Guangping was preparing to let everyone appreciate his collection of paintings. He pointed at the box containing the paintings with his folding fan and smiled, "General, I'm here to see the paintings."
By chance, the young prince of Guangping got a long-lost famous painting from the previous dynasty, "The Banquet of Prince Chen", which was the last work of Meng Xiting. He regarded it as a treasure, loved it more than his life, and others would not easily see it. Today, he was willing to take it out for everyone to appreciate, which was really rare.
"I traveled to Jiangzhou and spent ten thousand gold coins to get this painting from an old man. Today I bring it to you to see. Let's see the original work of Master Meng. Please—"
After the young prince finished speaking, he personally took out a scroll from the exquisite box held by the maid, and then slowly unfolded the seven-foot-long scroll in front of everyone. This painting was delicately detailed, with Prince Chen feasting and officials toasting their cups. The scene was vivid and the expressions were lifelike, which was really rare.
"Excellent!"
"It's wonderful, wonderful!"
Everyone was amazed and came forward to watch. Of course, Chu Xi couldn't squeeze through and meow with them. Gu poured a glass of wine and poured it into the back of the chair, wondering what he was thinking.
Xie Jingyuan asked him puzzledly: "Didn't you say you came here for the paintings? Why can't you do anything now that the paintings are brought out?"
"General, you don't know," Chu Xinian took a sip of wine and smiled, "That's a fake painting."
Xie Jingyuan paused after hearing this, thinking it was impossible. How could the young Prince of Guangping bring out a fake painting for everyone to see? He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Have you seen the original? Why do you think this painting is fake?"
Chu Xinian shook his head: "I have never seen the original, but the "Chen Wang Banquet" is from the previous dynasty, at least 150 years ago. At that time, famous painters used blue silk, and the paper was blue. The painting in the young prince's hand is rouge silk, and the paper is light pink. It is the work of Shaojiang Mansion 80 years ago."
They are in a forward position and can see more clearly.
Chu Xinian observed carefully for a moment and found a loophole. He chuckled and pointed at Xie Jingyuan with his fan in the air, lowering his voice: "This painting uses ancient jade and ivory as the axis, and the hidden pattern carved on it is the phoenix and magpie pattern that is popular in our dynasty. How could the imperial paintings of the previous dynasty have such patterns carved on them?"
After speaking, he concluded: "It's full of loopholes."
It can only fool those who have not seen the original.
Xie Jingyuan didn't understand: "Why did he do this?"
Chu Xinian shook his head, not understanding: "Let's just watch the fun."
Little did they know that the prince was standing beside them with his ears perked up, listening to everything they said.
Prince Guangping stood aside and saw that everyone was enjoying the painting, so he ordered people to slowly put away the scroll. However, he was not happy about receiving this famous painting, but frowned, as if he had encountered some difficulties.
Someone asked, "Why is the prince so worried? Seeing this famous painting today is truly a blessing in my life."
The young prince shook his head and sighed, "It is hard to have a rare treasure without any use. Although I am a little famous, I cannot bear the weight of this painting."
Everyone hurried to find out the reason.
Young Prince of Guangping: "I wonder if you guys know that some time ago, bandits were rampant in the capital. There was a thief called a thief with a thousand faces. He was very good at disguising himself and had extraordinary martial arts skills. He broke into hundreds of homes at night and stole a lot of treasures. He has not been brought to justice yet."
When this matter was mentioned, everyone felt sad. This thief had robbed many wealthy and powerful people. Eight out of ten people present had their homes robbed.
There are so many items like the white jade pendant from the Shen family, the nine-faced Buddha from the Jin family, the thousand-year-old ink from the Prince Chang’s Palace, and the luminous cup from the Prince Ping’s Palace.
"What does this have to do with the prince?"
The young prince of Guangping took out a piece of paper from his sleeve with a gloomy face and showed it to everyone: "You all don't know that before this thief steals, he always leaves a letter to the victim's family, stating what he stole. Three days ago, I received this letter by my pillow, saying that he will take away the "Chen Wang Banquet Picture" today."
As soon as these words came out, the whole room was in an uproar, and the young prince's face turned pale. "This thief is really clever. I have no idea what to do. I have been unable to sleep for several nights. I took out this painting today because I want to make it public and appreciate the masterpiece of Mr. Meng. Even if it is stolen... I won't feel too sorry."
Chu Xinian seemed to know what he was going to do. When everyone was confused, he slowly shook his fan and said to Xie Jingyuan: "This painting will be destroyed soon."
The prince asked him suspiciously: "Is it true?"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sound of paper shredding in the hall. Everyone followed the sound and saw that the young prince had found a dagger from somewhere and, like a madman, he suddenly slashed the painting into pieces.
"Your Majesty, you can't do that!"
"Prince! This is the last work of Master Meng! Stop it immediately!"
The young prince didn't feel sorry for him, but those who knew the value of the thing felt so sorry that they almost cried. They stepped forward to stop him, but it was too late.
The young Prince of Guangping threw the dagger upwards with all his might in front of everyone, and said loudly: "Even if I destroy this painting today, I can't let this precious pearl fall into the hands of thieves!"
The prince found it quite strange, turned his head to Chu Xinian, and said happily: "You guessed it right."
Chu Xinian smiled but said nothing.
Xie Jingyuan lazily leaned back in his chair, thinking that this year's banquet for heroes would be more interesting than previous years, and today's show was quite lively.
Everyone else was mourning the destruction of the famous painting, but the three of them were sitting in the corner, laughing and gloating. An old man with sharp eyes walked up to them, pointing at them and angrily said, "A famous painting was destroyed today, and we can no longer see the beauty of Meng's meticulous brushwork. We are all heartbroken, but why are you watching it with laughter?!"
The old scholar was a little annoying. Just cry yourself, why bother about whether others laugh or not. As soon as the voice came out, everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the three of them.
When had the prince been scolded by someone pointing at his nose? He sneered and said, "It's just a fake painting. It's just torn up. Why cry about it?"
Upon hearing this, the young Prince Guangping's face changed slightly and he looked nervous, let alone others.
The old master was surprised and doubtful when he heard this: "Your Highness, why do you say that? This painting is clearly the original work of Master Meng. Could the young prince deceive us? If you don't tell me the truth today, I will not give up!"
These old guys are highly respected and the prince's status does not have any deterrent effect on them. It would be bad if a conflict broke out.
Chu Xinian was thinking about how to calm the storm, but he saw the prince suddenly pointed at him and said, "Chu Xinian, you have a sharp eye. You recognized that this painting is fake first. Explain it to him."
As soon as these words came out, the Golden Scale Pavilion was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Did they hear it right? That idiot Chu Xinian said that this painting was fake? !
If Chu Jiaoping said this, it would be somewhat credible, but if Chu Xinian said it, they would never believe it. Chu Xinian was a notorious scoundrel in Beijing, hanging out in brothels and gambling houses, and knew nothing about poetry and songs, so how could he know how to identify ancient paintings.
The old master waved his sleeves in anger and pointed at Chu Xinian: "How rude of you! You don't even know what this is, and you dare to lie?!"
Xie Jingyuan narrowed his eyes dangerously when he heard that. If he hadn't considered that the other person was an old man, he would have knocked out all of his teeth. He said in a gloomy tone: "Old man, try to say it again?"
Chu Jiaoping quickly came out to smooth things over: "Please calm down, old sir. My brother did it unintentionally, not intentionally."
Chu Xinian gave the young prince of Guangping a meaningful look, but said nothing. After all, he had torn up the fake painting, and if the real painting was lost, he would have no place to complain and no place to complain, so he could only swallow his anger.
It was very obvious what happened today. In order to preserve the original work of Meng Xiting, Prince Guangping deliberately forged a fake painting and tore it into pieces with his own hands in public, in order to discourage the Thousand Faced Flying Thief from stealing.
It's quite clever, but the disguise is too crude.
Although Chu Xinian felt that this method might not be reliable, he would not expose it. He stood up and apologized to everyone with a smile, saying politely, "I was just talking nonsense. I am sorry for making you laugh. Don't take it seriously. Just continue the banquet."
The old man did not continue to pester her, but just reprimanded her sternly: "You are young, you should be more cautious. There are many talented people in the capital today, don't make a fool of yourself."
Laughter rose around them, and Chu Xinian followed suit, sitting back down calmly. The prince rolled up his sleeves and lowered his voice in dissatisfaction: "Chu Xinian, why are you afraid of them?!"
Chu Xinian signaled him to be patient, saying, "Your Highness, please don't get involved in useless matters."
Xie Jingyuan raised his eyelids and said in a cold tone: "I have said it before, these pedantic scholars are more annoying than each other."
Prince Ping sat opposite him and glanced at Chu Xinian inconspicuously. Seeing that he was calm and composed, he found it difficult to gauge his depth for a moment. He was more unpredictable than Chu Jiaoping.
The disturbance was barely calmed down, and the prince of Guangping ordered people to clean up the place and asked everyone to return to their seats to continue the banquet. However, not long after they sat down, a scream suddenly rang out, and a noble lady from an aristocratic family pointed at the back row in panic: "No! Someone is dead! Someone is dead!"
“Wow—”
The whole room was in uproar.
Everyone followed the direction she pointed, and saw the young master of the Jin Mansion lying on the table with his head down, as if he was asleep. There was a red blood hole at his temple, and dark red blood dripped down the table, gathering into a small pool on it.
"vomit-"
At once, the people around him retreated as if they were electrocuted, forming a vacuum circle. The timid ones were so scared that they covered their mouths and vomited. They wanted to run away, but were stopped by the servants at the door.
"Don't panic, everyone! Don't leave your position!"
The young Prince of Guangping walked quickly forward and tried to comfort everyone. However, before he could say anything, a servant suddenly rushed into the room and whispered something in his ear.
I don't know what he said, but the young Prince of Guangping turned pale when he heard it. He suddenly staggered back and grabbed the servant's collar in shock: "What did you say?! My painting was stolen?!"
It was really a case of one thing after another. King Ping subconsciously asked, "Painting? What painting?"
The servant trembled like a sieve, with a sad face: "It is the painting of 'Prince Chen's Banquet'. When I returned, I opened the box and found it was empty. It has disappeared without a trace."
Everyone was even more confused now: "Wasn't the painting torn up?"
The young Prince of Guangping was so angry that he was shaking all over. In a moment of desperation, he even blurted out the truth: "The painting I tore up was a fake, a fake painting! Find it quickly! Hurry up and bring the real painting back to the Prince!"
The servant immediately obeyed the order and ran out in a hurry, leaving everyone present in shock. The painting is fake?! How is it possible?!
Many people subconsciously turned towards Chu Xinian, but saw him sitting quietly in his original position, pouring drinks. He didn't seem surprised at all by this incident. Even the death of a person did not cause him the slightest fluctuation.