Chapter 21 first quarter
The concept of happiness of the upper class in feudal society, in the final analysis, is nothing more than whether one's selfish desires are satisfied.But they use two different scales to measure happiness—the degree of satisfaction of desires.
They measure the happiness of others, often according to their already satisfied desires, which are obvious to everyone at a glance.They measure their own happiness, but they are often based on their unsatisfied potential desires that they have imagined, hoped for, made efforts or have not yet worked hard for. Only he himself knows best, and others may not be able to fully understand.
It is precisely because of these two different standards that they feel that others are often happy, but themselves are often unhappy.
In the eyes of others, Emperor Xuanhe is rich all over the world, he is an official, and he has enjoyed peace and happiness for more than 20 years.According to "Xuanhe Three Years National Account Records", the prosperity of household registration and the amount of tax revenue in the whole territory were not only unprecedented in this dynasty, but also surpassed that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, making it a world of Zhizhi.In addition, he lived in a majestic palace, and he continued to build new palaces every year.He embroidered Dagon body, eaten thousands of square meters of jade, and collected the world's famous painting post, treasure tripod and copper Yi, which can be described as dazzling.He himself is romantic and unrestrained, with excellent calligraphy and painting skills.All the things that can be hoped for in the world, the so-called richness and elegance, he possesses and is good at all, and everything is satisfied to the maximum.
Isn't he the happiest person in heaven and earth?
But this is just what other people think of him, and he definitely doesn't think so.Although he is the son of heaven and has unlimited power, there are still many things that are beyond his sphere of influence and cannot be satisfied.For example, his collection in the inner palace is known as the richest in the world. He collected dozens of rubbings and copies of "Lanting Preface" in vain, and even brought some wolf-like steles into the inner court for collection.However, the authentic works of Wang Youjun were buried in Zhaoling by Tang Taizong long ago, and have been turned into dust for a long time.If this is the case, I would be heartbroken. No one has the ability to restore the rotten copybook to the real thing.At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhaoling Mausoleum was excavated, and a large number of bells and Wang Mobao hidden in jade boxes in the mausoleum were unearthed.He spent twenty years of hard work and tried his best to obtain more than ten copies. Although he had a series of reasons to support him when he got it, he thought that the one he got this time must be the real one, but after repeated appraisals, it turned out that it was still a fake tripod.
It seems that no matter how powerful he is, he can't get it, and he can't be sure whether the original "Lanting Preface" is still in the world?This is really a matter of great regret to him.
Not only that, but he also has many regrets in his private life.
First of all, his married life is not very happy.Since Mrs. Lai and Concubine Liu An passed away one after another, he has long felt dull in the palace.In fact, even Concubine Liu An and Mrs. Lai are not really the people in his heart, let alone Empress Zheng, Concubine Qiao and other descendants.What he wanted was the "authentic work". The harem possessed so many concubines and concubines in vain. They were all "rubbings" and "copies", and they were all "fake tripods". The "authentic work" is indeed in the human world, and she is hiding in the vast sea of people in Tokyo, unlike "The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion", which is already in the midst of nothingness.It's a pity that she is unwilling to belong to him.He tried his best, but he couldn't make her change her mind and enter the palace.This is another thing that cannot be done by the power of an emperor, and it is useless for him.Generally speaking, the desires of officials are easier to satisfy than others, but all satisfaction has its limit, even the maximum, but his desire is unlimited, so he cannot get absolute satisfaction.Therefore, he often feels sorry for himself and thinks he is an unfortunate person.Sometimes I fall into such confusion and distress, and I simply think that I am a very unfortunate and distressed person.
Now, this unfortunate and distressed Ninth Five-Year Lord is wandering in a study marked "Qiong Lan Room" in the east of Baohe Hall.From his fidgeting and circling movements, it can be seen that his mood is indeed very heavy.
"The Room of Qionglan" is a small study with only a few couplets.According to his request, all the palace decorations, such as the beautiful painted dandelion, the caisson pattern on the ceiling and the resplendent glazed tile tubes, are all left here.It only painted ink paintings of the mountains and rivers of eastern Zhejiang on the whitewashed walls, and completely painted the west and north walls without doors and windows.The endless and surging water of the Qiantang River has been pouring into one third of the east wall. This mural summarizes and refines the essence of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains in a small space, and it is obviously a masterpiece.It comes from the writings of Zhang Jian and Wang Xiyu, Daizhao of the Hanlin Academy, and also incorporates his own opinions.When he came here, he could have enjoyed a trip to Tianmu, but today he didn't come here to appreciate the murals, but to conceive a painting by himself.The mountains and winding waters on the wall, although they are drawn with great energy, can't help him or inspire him, but disturb his conception and make him upset.The soft and beautiful sentiment conceived in his mind and the majestic state of the murals belong to two different categories from an artistic point of view, and they cannot be combined.After the failure of his conception, he came to a conclusion: this elegant artistic environment hindered him from creating good works, and he regretted not coming here to paint.
He simply walked out, leaned on the railing of the Linyi Pavilion, and looked down at the green pool surrounded by spring ice, swimming fish and chattering, creating circles of ripples on the water surface.A ball of bait was thrown into the pool, and hundreds of swimming fish seemed to have heard the order, and they all rushed forward, snatching the one that was dissolved by the pool water and divided into countless fine particles, and swam back to the original place with satisfaction.Satisfied with his appetite, the carefree state of the swimming fish flicking their fins and dropping their tails, aroused his interest.
He looked at it for a long time, and then went back to Qionglan's room if he got something, walked to the painting table, stared at a piece of crystal clear Goose Creek silk pressed on the table with jade in a daze.
Knowing that the official's temper was very angry at this time, the maids stood far away to wait outside, not daring to come close.But they still have to use various reasons to spy on him to find out what he is doing and what he is going to do, so that when they see the "sage" for a while, they can report his developments with more details. "Sage" is very concerned about everything in the official family. She not only wants to know what he is doing, but also wants to know what he wants to do next, as well as his motives and possible consequences.
Officials who know that they are being watched and have long been accustomed to being watched have also developed an ability to adapt to it.He guarded closely to prevent the thoughts in his head from being stolen by the spies. From the perspective of the court, the surveillance of the "sage" is not without reason.In fact, a drawing was brewing and forming in his mind that did conflict with the interests of everyone in the court.Once he leaked it, he would face the joint challenge of the entire court, although there were also many contradictions and sharp struggles among them.
Asked last month, he painted a picture of "Picture of Playing in the Water" for the noble concubine, which caused a storm, and the painting could not be awarded, and in the end it inevitably destroyed the painting, which made him very sad.Today, he still wants to make use of this subject, and use the symbolic techniques misinterpreted by Concubine Qiao and the others to paint another picture and present it to another person.This is the person he really likes to compare the painting giver and the recipient as a couple.He already had a draft of the composition, and had two inscriptions in mind, but after thinking about it, the composition was a bit out of place, especially if it didn't break out of the pattern of the painting last month.The person he was going to give the painting to had such a high level of artistic accomplishment and appreciation, if he couldn't deliberately renovate it and paint it well, he would inevitably laugh at her.He didn't realize that, as a brilliant artist, he never wanted to repeat his old works.The artist's triumph is so strong, and it is often the driving force behind innovation.This positive factor, although ignored by himself, played a role unconsciously.
He decided to abandon the first composition, start over, and design a new one.He kept walking around the room, thinking hard, and suddenly a picture of midsummer appeared in his mind:
A few clouds float briskly in the sky, and a few clumps of algae float briskly on the clear green water, setting off a clear, bright and clean world.There are two curved ripples on the water surface from shallow to deep. They always maintain a close parallel distance, and finally disappear under a clump of dense lotus leaves.The lotus leaves trembled slightly in the rippling ripples, and a few splashed water droplets were rolling on the leaves.Among the lotus leaves, there is a slim lotus in bud.
It is obviously not an easy task to create such a painting that contains subtle dynamics in stillness.He understands its difficulty, but he seems to feel that such a hazy realm of beauty has long existed in the depths of his consciousness, and he has long longed for the day when he can grasp this beauty and transform the haze through painstaking efforts. For clarity, the drawing is completed with a pen.Such a work of heartfelt calling and prayer is worthy of dedication to her.Another artist's subconscious was ignored by him again.They think that the most novel subject matter can stimulate their creative desire the most, and the more difficult the task is, the more they want to complete it.This subconscious mind played an active role unconsciously.
He began to paint, overcame the initial hesitation and astringency, and gradually sank into the realm of creation with the deepening of his brushwork.The objective world beyond the pictures is gradually disappearing.
In his mind, there are only the sound of the waves, the coquettishness of the lotus leaves, and the pair of mandarin ducks that do not even appear in the picture.These objective things, through the artist's refraction, are reflected in a round mirror with a special structure in his heart chamber - this is the crystallization of his long-term painting.How close is this pair of mandarin ducks!Everything in nature seems to have been created to caress them, to shelter them, to complement them.With his own unexpected handiness, he quickly uses lines, brushstrokes, ink and paint to fix the world of splendor that emerges in the artistic conception on the plain silk.He gave them life.Everything fixed on the silk is active, they use human thoughts, language, and actions to think, speak, and act.But he himself stayed in the joy and confusion of artistic creation for a long time.
If he can really fulfill his amphibious wish with her, just like this pair of mandarin ducks that only exist in imagination, what a wonderful thing it would be!He vowed not to worry about regaining Yanyun anymore, it was enough for him!Wouldn't the value of recovering her be a hundred times, a thousand times greater than recovering Yanyun.In fact, although there are many high-sounding reasons for recovering Yanyun, in his heart, it is nothing more than to satisfy the desire to make great achievements, and in his evaluation, this desire is far less important than that desire.If so one day.He also didn't have to worry about the intrigue and endless farce in the palace, which really tired him.As long as she comes in, they will all be reduced to dust.If there is such a day, he will no longer have to pay attention to the gossip between the government and the opposition. Those officials who don't know the current affairs are like the cicadas in summer, and they will always make a noise at that time-otherwise, why call them "noisy moths" Son"?If she enters the palace and is formally registered as a noble concubine, what else can they mess around with than her being a singing girl outside.
He thought of her sweetly and bitterly.She was the source of his pain and joy, and his present overriding desire.As long as she is willing to nod her head, she will be "Concubine Li Ming"!This is the title he prearranged for her. He intentionally used the word "Ming" to contrast her "cold" character.
But he couldn't do it.
She would rather be a noble and aloof Li Shishi who stands awe-inspiring outside the palace walls than a Li Mingfei who is favored by the officials and envied by everyone.This weak woman possessed incomparable courage, calmly and stubbornly blocked all his attacks, and made him truly taste what it was like to be a loser.
However, on this issue, he is also indomitable. Once he fails, he will launch a new offensive. If he fails to achieve his goal, he will never give up.
Escaping from the prying eyes of the court lady, he summoned his confidant inner eunuch Zhang Di, and asked Zhang Di to put the painting he had just released together with a "Nine Flowers, Nine Huis and Four Phoenix Crowns" that he had prepared for conferring imperial concubines on the Give it to the teacher in the gold-carved box.Zhang Di was asked to tell her face-to-face: Today, the officials abandoned all mundane affairs and devoted themselves to painting this painting for her, hoping to "open up a space next to her dressing table" and hang it up.He asked Zhang Di to memorize every detail of her reply and every action, and return to the palace to repeat it in detail without any mistakes.
On weekdays, a word from an official can decide the fate of one person or many people.Now, his own fate will be judged by Shi Shi's words.For the rest of the day, he really gave up the mundane duties, only excused that he was not in good health, and hid in Baohe Hall to read - that half day would definitely make Empress Zheng worry about him a lot.
The teacher asked him to wait for a long time, and Zhang Di came back to play dejectedly until late at night.What he said was:
"When the maidservant left, the nobleman was playing the qin, and the maidservant was ordered to wait in the corridor. Later, Liu Ji'an, who played the pipa, went and talked for a long time. Until after dinner, when Liu Ji'an left, the nobleman asked Xiao Xun to meet the maidservant."
"This guy surnamed Liu is not small," Zhang Di thought to himself, "but he is a friend of the famous people around the official family. How dare our family offend him? Hearing him from afar, he turned around , crossed his hands and saluted him. Unexpectedly, he refused to show his face, and walked past with his stomach full. He didn't even look at him. Hmph... oh! Where did our family go?" He hurriedly came to a sudden stop and continued to play:
"After the nobleman gave it to me, the slaves went back according to the government's order. The nobleman looked at the painting and put it on the piano table—that is, the black lacquered piano table under the window sill on the east wall. He asked the slaves to come back to thank him, but put The crown withdrew and said: "It's better for the officials to take it back and give it to others!" The servant kowtowed again and again, begging the nobleman to reward him, saying that if the crown was returned, the servant would be cut into pieces. The nobleman said No, just ask Xiao Xun to hold the box and send the slaves back."
Zhang Di couldn't help thinking in his heart again: "This little Xun doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth, but he also regards our family as low-spirited people, shouting and shouting. He even pushed us out of the door without saving any face. This yellow-haired girl knows how much face Zhang Neixiang has in the court! Wang Dazai wants to give us three points in everything, and Gao Dianshuai follows our ass all day long, so we still ignore it! You little Xun What... oh my! Where did our family go, we should touch our mouths."
So he uttered the last sentence loudly, slapped himself crisply on the cheek, immediately crawled on the ground again, kowtowed twice and said:
"The servant did not do well the mission assigned by the official, so I came here to receive a thousand cuts!"
The official waved his hand, reprimanded Zhang Di, and told him to stop talking nonsense in the palace.
Although he understands that in the court environment, the degree to which secrets can be kept is very limited.He suspected that in less than half an hour, this dog had already jumped into the queen's bedroom to sow discord.But let the Zheng family know what to be afraid of.He didn't pay attention to her at all.
He repelled Zhang Di and fell into deep thought.
The gift of the crown and the painting was the beginning of an onslaught that had been brewing in his mind for days.Shi Shi returned the crown and didn't even bother to look at it, indicating that she was still holding on to the barrier.Unwilling to back down.But she accepted the painting again.The implication of this painting is so obvious, how could she not understand the intention?Since she accepted the painting, it was tantamount to acquiescing to the meaning in the painting, which meant that there was still hope for things.He decided to go for a walk tomorrow in person, make a surprise attack, and simply explain the truth clearly, and see how she treats it!
That night he couldn't sleep because of tossing and turning, he came up with all kinds of methods: begging, coaxing, slight threats, frank confessions... He thought of all the tricks he could think of, and prepared to use them tomorrow.But experience told him that no matter how determined he is, no matter how many ways he has prepared, once he gets in front of her, most of his attacks will be blocked by her contemptuous glance.The advantage was on her side, and she was difficult, perhaps impossible, to conquer.
That night he felt himself a more unhappy and troubled man than usual.
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