Chapter 16 Section VI

Early the next morning, when Shi An opened the door, he couldn't help being surprised. There were four beautiful carriages parked outside the gate, and some Khitan people were moving things from the carriages to the ground. Obviously, these were gifts, and they filled the courtyard in front of Shifu Gate. The handsome Khitans were standing by the car waiting, one was very gentle, the other was full of flesh, like a bear. It can be said that there are too many officials who come to visit Shifu. Now that Shifu has added a few mothers and servants, Shi An has naturally become the housekeeper of Shifu—although the ostentation of Shifu is far from ordinary Compared with the ostentation of the official, but Shi An also knows that his master is a very great person—the storyteller also said that Mr. Shi was descended from Zuo Fuxing.Therefore, Shi An is not surprised by the people who come to visit Shi Yue, no matter how grand they are.

It's just that it's quite rare for Khitan people to bring gifts. Shi An hurried over and asked, "Are you..." Xiao Youdan saw a person coming out of the Shifu, quickly took out a name card from his arms, and said: "Daliao envoys Xiao Youdan and Yelu Jingui specially came to visit Lord Shi, please let me know." Shi An took the post and guessed in his heart: "Probably because I was scared out of my soul by my young master's thunderstorm a few days ago, these Liao dogs came to beg our young master in such a low voice." After breaking the rules of Shifu, he hurriedly said: "Wait a moment." Then he took the name card and went in to announce.

Shi Yue and Pan Zhaolin were drinking tea, when they heard Shi An's announcement, they were almost choked, and asked in surprise, "Are there any officials from this dynasty accompanying me?" "No." Shi Yue frowned and said: "How is this possible? I'm afraid we can't meet each other." But he didn't know that Xiao Youdan deliberately went out early in the morning to get rid of the accompanying officials. Pan Zhaolin said, "If you don't see him, you'll look petty." "If we meet, it will cause gossip." Shi Yue thought for a while, and then said to Shi An: "Take a few people, invite them in, and keep the gifts outside. If they insist on bringing gifts in, just go I even blocked everyone." After a pause, he continued: "Call out all the family members in the house and serve them in the living room."

Shi An agreed to go, and Shi Yue asked Pan Zhaolin, "Brother Qianguang, do you want to meet?" Pan Zhaolin shook his head and said, "No. I'll just listen behind the screen." Shi Yue nodded and said: "In this case, I will go out first and come down to greet each other." If he goes out to greet him, maybe the censor will impeach him for making friends with foreign countries the next day; act.He adjusted his clothes before walking to the steps outside the main hall, and saw Xiao Youdan and Yelu Jingui walking in, the gift was blocked outside the gate after all.

Only then did Shi Yue feel relieved, and clasped his fists and said in a loud voice: "Your envoy has come far away, and Shi has not been able to meet him in time, so I hope you will forgive me." Xiao Youdan smiled from a distance: "Where, where, we are here to take the blame. It would be very lucky if Mr. Shi didn't blame us." Shi Yue was stunned and said, "Pleading guilty to the thorn? Your envoy is serious." Xiao Youdan smiled and said: "My partner offended me a lot during Tongtian Festival, today I specially brought him here to make amends to Master Shi." After speaking, he glanced at Yelu Jingui.

Yelu Jingui was full of displeasure, his face flushed from holding back, and he clasped his fists for a long time and said, "Master Shi, I'm a rough man, if I knew it was you that day, I wouldn't dare to be rude. Please forgive me." Although it was true that Yelu Jingui was rude first that day, it was probably the first time since the founding of the Song Dynasty that the Liao envoy was asked to make amends to the officials of the Song Dynasty.Although Xiao Youdan had other plans, Yelu Jingui didn't know about it, he had already greeted Shi Yue and the eighteen generations of Xiao Youdan's ancestors in his heart.

Shi Yue returned a salute lightly, and said with a smile: "Your envoy is too polite, please come in and talk." Xiao Youdan looked outside the door, only to see the door was open, and all those gifts were placed outside, because he said: "Master Shi, those things are some special products of our country, they are not worth much money, just a little expression of heart, please also invite Master Shi Laughing." What he said was very sincere, but once Shi Yue accepted these things, he would naturally plan to spread rumors to slander Shi Yue's reputation.Although Shi Yue couldn't expect him to have such sinister intentions, but he has been in the officialdom for so long, how can he not know the reason to be cautious?He laughed at the moment and said: "Your envoy has read poetry and books, and you should know that a gentleman loves others with virtue. When you two come, Shi should be a landlord, but I would like to ask you to bring these gifts back. This is also your envoy's perfecting Shi." .” His words were tactful, but his tone was firm.

Seeing him like this, Xiao Youdan didn't force it any more, secretly yelled that it was a pity, and said with a smile: "I have no choice but to bring it back. Master Shi, please!" Immediately, the two entered the room and sat down with Shi Yue as guest and host. When Xiao Youdan saw the servants of the Shifu came to serve tea, they were all servants, and there was not even a maidservant standing in the living room, so he couldn't help being surprised—after all, Shi Yue was one of the few favored ministers in the dynasty, but this ostentation was not even a servant girl. The county magistrate is not as good.He took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Although I heard about the steep cliffs of Mr. Shi, I didn't expect Qingjie to come here. In fact, it doesn't hurt to buy a few maids for daily life. There are some things that maids are more considerate than servants."

Shi Yue said with a smile: "There is no female family member at home, and I am not used to being served by others. This is not a Qingjie." Xiao Youdan smiled and said, "Master Shi is too modest." Shi Yue was also curious about the Liao Kingdom, because he asked, "Did your emissary come from Zhongjing this time, or from Yanjing?" Linhuang Mansion; Yanjing is the closest to the Song Dynasty. In the Liao Kingdom, it was called Nanjing Xijin Mansion, and there was Nanjing Road.In addition to these two capitals, there are also Liaoyang Prefecture in Tokyo and Datong Prefecture in Xijing.The Nanjing Road and Xijing Road are the old places of Youji that the Song Dynasty has always wanted to restore.Liao people were also afraid of the bitter cold in the extreme north, and wanted to move south, so they moved their capital to Zhongjing during the reign of Emperor Shengzong of Liao Dynasty, which has a history of more than 60 years in Shiyue.But in the end of the Liao Dynasty, it was not until the rise of Wanyan Aguda and the Liao army's repeated defeats against the Jin soldiers that the Khitan was forced to temporarily move the capital south to Yanjing, but at that time the Liao Kingdom was about to perish.

Xiao Youdan replied with a smile: "Naturally, I come from Zhongjing." Shi Yueyin asked: "I have heard for a long time that Zhongjing is prosperous, and it is not inferior to the Central Plains. I don't know how the scenery of Zhongjing is?" "Although it is not as good as Bianjing, it is similar to Bianjing. There are everything in the world. When I came here, Master Shi's songs and lyrics were the most popular." Xiao Youdan laughed. "Oh? There is such a thing? Shi has wanted to see the style of Zhongjing for a long time, and what your envoy said is even more yearning."

Xiao Youdan said with a smile: "I'm afraid Master Shi's reputation will spread far and wide, and the Emperor of Song Dynasty will not let you go to Daliao as an envoy, otherwise there will be a chance." Shi Yue smiled and didn't answer, he wanted to go to Zhongjing, but he wanted to watch the soldiers under the city of Zhongjing.But this is not easy to say. Xiao Youdan naturally couldn't think of this, but Yelu Jingui was quite hostile towards Shi Yue. Hearing their unnutritious nonsense at this time, he couldn't help but sneered and said: "Since ancient times, people in the north are not resistant to heat, and people in the south are not resistant to cold. If Mr. Shi wants to go to Zhongjing, I'm afraid I can't stay here for a long time." He wanted to say more, but Xiao Youdan gave him a glare, and he stopped making a sound, just sneered nonstop. Shi Yue didn't expect this barbarian to say such a thing, so he couldn't help laughing: "When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up Lelang County, he never heard that the southerners were not resistant to cold." Xiao Youdan's eyelids twitched when he heard this sentence, and immediately calmed down as usual, and said with a smile: "Master Shi, don't pay attention to him. I have heard for a long time that Master Shi is called Shi Jiubian. Since I came to Bianjing, I have the honor to meet you. Could you please Lord Shi bestows a painting of calligraphy, so I can show off to my colleagues when I return to Zhongjing." He didn't know that Shi Yue's handwriting was notoriously poor, and he asked Shi Yue for calligraphy, which seemed to Shi Yue to be sarcastic.Shi Yue blushed a little, looked at Xiao Youdan, but saw that his expression was sincere, not mocking himself.He wanted to speak directly, but he felt ashamed; he wanted to refuse, but he was petty; but when he wanted to give, his handwriting was really not very authentic—after practicing for so long, although it is barely acceptable to modern people , but in the Song Dynasty, it was still a shameful thing, especially considering his such a prominent reputation, it seemed even more ridiculous. Seeing his hesitation, Xiao Youdan couldn't help but speak provocatively: "Master Shi thinks that I'm a barbarian, and won't see me?" Shi Yue had no choice but to say truthfully: "I don't dare, it's just that my words may not be considered elegant." How could Xiao Youdan believe it, he saw a few calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall in the hall, so he walked over and looked at them slowly.I saw that those calligraphy were done like dragons and snakes, and I knew at a glance that they were written by famous masters. Looking carefully at the seal, it was either Su Shi's or Fan Zhen's... Although he knew that Shi Yue would not write his own handwriting no matter how good his handwriting was. My calligraphy is hanging in the living room, but I still can't help feeling a little disappointed.He laughed a few times and said: "Lord Shi's friends are all famous people today. It would be presumptuous for me to ask for help. However, I would like to ask Master Shi to see the gift. To be honest, His Majesty the Emperor of Daliao has also heard of Master Shi's name for a long time. , I want to obtain calligraphy, and if the emperor asks me in the future, I can have something to prove that what I said is true." Shi Yue has been in the Song Dynasty for so long, and no one has ever been so persistent in asking him to send his calligraphy. After all, everyone in Bianjing knew that Shi Yue's handwriting was poor; get.Forced to have no choice but to agree, Shi Yue reluctantly agreed, found a picture that he thought was better written, and gave it to Xiao Youdan. Naturally, Shi Yue didn't know that Xiao Youdan was in Zhongjing, and he was also a famous calligrapher. When he was in Shifu, he tried his best not to laugh. When he got into the carriage, Xiao Youdan finally couldn't hold back and couldn't help laughing——Shi Yue's calligraphy was read by Xiao Youdan Come on, it's really naive, he finally understood why Shi Yue hesitated and refused to send himself the word.It turned out that he thought it was prudence, but it seemed that he was worrying too much.Along the way, Xiao Youdan carefully observed Shi Yue's calligraphy, hummed a little song, and said with a sneer in his heart: "I still want to set up Lelang County! The ambition is really big, I'm afraid it won't work out."

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