Chapter 30 Section IX

The carriage was moving into a dark place, and Tu Tu Cheng Cui's face looked extremely pale in the darkness.He asked: "Just now you mentioned that a few years ago you planned to separate the Holy One and Wu Yuanheng. What do you mean?" "The True Orchid Pavilion is now." "True Orchid Pavilion?" Tutu Chengcui stared at Li Zhongyan in disbelief, "Even that acrostic poem is related to you? Oh, you couldn't have made it yourself!" "How is it possible?" Li Zhongyan laughed, "If I had that much talent, I would have been a Privy Councilor long ago. Let me tell you, the poem was actually spelled out."

"Spelled out?" "Do you still remember that when we were in the East Palace, the first emperor, as the prince, often called all kinds of literati, even monks and Taoists, to do some elegant things together? For a while, the late emperor was particularly interested in acrostic poems, and those people competed to compose acrostic poems to show off their talents, and competed with each other. It was lively for a long time. Throwing it aside, gradually lost interest, and no one mentioned it anymore. I, envious of their ingenuity, quietly copied all these poems, and wanted to learn to write them myself, but in the end I didn’t even come up with half of the capital. Later, when I arrived in Fengling, I had nothing to do every day, and my mind was always wandering about the old days of the Eastern Palace, so I turned out these acrostic poems again, and often read and practiced them. To pass the time."

"Just killing time?" "It was true at first, but gradually an idea formed in my mind. Because I occasionally found the words 'lan' and 'ting' in the pile of acrostic poems." After a pause, Li Zhongyan asked. Tu Chengcui, "Do you know who wrote the acrostic poem with these two characters?" "Who?" "The dream of Lanzhou and Luoshui leaves only seven steps of writing. Penghao is inseparable, and Kunpeng does not meet. These four poems are combined to form a word 'Lan (Lan)', and its author is Wu Yuanheng." "Wu Yuanheng?" Tutu Chengcui was taken aback, "It turned out to be him?"

Li Zhongyan sarcastically said: "Why all the fuss? It's not like you don't know that Wu Yuanheng also walked around the East Palace back then. Although he was not as close as Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi to the former emperor, it was definitely not like what he showed later. That way, there is a clear distinction between him and the East Palace, and the boundary is so clearly drawn. That's why I hate him, especially at this point! I don't know if you've heard of it, but later Quan Deyu once initiated a separation and reunion poetry meeting, and Wu Yuanheng deliberately didn't participate, which seemed Extraordinarily noble. In my opinion, it is really shameful to cover up!"

Tu Tu Cheng Cui was delighted when he heard it, but he said: "It's not kind of you to slander Wu Xiang like this!" "You can say whatever you want." Li Zhongyan said, "I remember that Wu Yuanheng wrote this poem at the time and mentioned that he loved Cao Zijian the most, so he wrote this allusion into the poem. If you don't believe me, go ask Duan Chengshi again. Does his grandfather particularly admire Cao Zhi's poems?" Tutu Chengcui nodded, and asked again: "Then what about the word 'Ting'? Who made it?" Li Zhongyan was silent for a long time, and Tutu Chengcui almost got impatient with waiting, and then he said in an infinitely melancholy tone: "Liangjin has two masters, not Zhongmouer. Dingling Jinlouzi, Jiangling has only one person. These four acrostic poems with the word 'Ting' were written by the late emperor himself."

Tutu Chengcui opened his mouth wide in shock. Li Zhongyan said: "Don't you think that? Among the sixteen lines of the acrostic poem 'Zhen Lan Ting Xian', only the four lines of 'Ting' are the most imperial. Especially 'Dingling Jinlouzi, Jiangling is only one person' , pointing directly at the tragic consequences of Xiao Yi cutting off his brothers and sisters in order to seize the throne, and in the end he was left alone. After the city of Jiangling was broken, he himself was killed... The first emperor wrote these four lines of poems, so he was using the past to satirize the present, and lamented Li Tang The family relationship in the royal family has been lost, and the father and son brothers are killing each other!"

"Ouch!" Tutu Chengcui hurriedly covered Li Zhongyan's mouth, "Please stop talking nonsense!" Li Zhongyan knocked his hand down: "Let go! I'm dying, so just let me say it. It's just that no one else can hear it. What are you afraid of!" Tutu Chengcui gasped and said, "Then...where did the other two-character acrostic come from?" "The four sentences of the word 'true': Ke Duan's younger brother's trespass, Ying's remonstrance to his brother's filial piety. Fear of rumors, who will understand Zhou Gong's heart. It was written by Bai Juyi. He once wrote "Five Poems of Putting Words", the third There is a sentence in "Zhou Gong fears the day of rumors", which uses the same allusion."

"What about the last word 'now'?" "Ode to Shengde, Yuzhang Jinjinjin. Linlang Taiwei's Mansion, Kunyu is full of bamboo forests. It is both gold and jade, which shows that the style of the boudoir is written by a woman." Li Zhongyan asked with a sneer, "In the In the Daming Palace, apart from our female Shangshu Song Ruohua, who else in the palace can make such a good sentence?" "Song Ruohua!" Tutu Chengcui was beyond words. After a while, Li Zhongyan said: "Actually, the acrostic poems I copied are far more than these few lines, but it is precisely these sixteen lines that make up the four characters "Zhenlan Pavilion". When I spelled "Zhenlan Pavilion" in Fengling After realizing it, a plan was formed in my heart, and it was dedicated to deal with Wu Yuanheng!"

"You really hate him that much?" "Of course, I've just mentioned the reason. In the first dynasty of Yuanhe, Wu Yuanheng simply stepped on Yongzhen's corpse. Recalling Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi and others clearly intended to reactivate them, but they were blocked by Wu Yuanheng, and they all fell through. I know what Wu Yuanheng is afraid of. He just doesn't want the old man Yongzhen to stand on the court again. Opposite him. Because by that time, the grievances and grievances of the past will be revealed again, and his glorious days of Wu Yuanheng covering the sky with one hand will come to an end!"

Li Zhongyan's words were heartbreaking, and he couldn't help sighing aloud.In fact, when Wu Yuanheng was alive, Tutu Chengcui also resented him, because Wu Yuanheng had taken too much trust from the emperor, and because he tried every means to prevent the eunuchs from grabbing more power. Tutu Chengcui was the first to suffer the most.However, Tu Tu Cheng Cui also had to admit that everything Wu Yuanheng did was definitely not out of selfishness.In all fairness, Wu Yuanheng is indeed the most loyal courtier to the emperor.Therefore, even Tu Tu Cheng Cui could not agree with Li Zhongyan's deep-seated hatred. Of course, there is no need to argue about it now.

Tutu Chengcui thought about it and asked: "I still can't figure it out, how can a poem of separation and reunion be able to drive a wedge between Wu Yuanheng and the Holy One?" Li Zhongyan said proudly: "I managed to send the acrostic poem to the emperor's desk." "Which one did it for you?" Tutu Chengcui showed a fierce look again. Li Zhongyan replied calmly: "Wei Decai." "Wei..." Tutu Chengcui couldn't believe Li Zhongyan's words.Nothing could be easier to plant on a dead man, or a notorious dead man.But...he looked at Li Zhongyan suspiciously, thought about it, and decided not to pursue these details for the time being.No matter who Li Zhongyan placed next to the emperor, after today, there will be plenty of time and opportunity to deal with them.At present, Li Zhongyan is very excited about talking, so he must be allowed to talk without stopping, the more the better. So Tutu Chengcui asked: "What do you think the Holy Majesty will do when he sees the acrostic poems?" "He will be very worried. The Holy Majesty may not be able to immediately decipher the four words 'Zhen Lanting Present', but he can definitely see that this poem has a deep meaning, which means that someone is coveting something in the dark. Therefore, the Holy Majesty will definitely find the most Trusted learned men to help." "So His Majesty... found Wu Yuanheng?" Li Zhongyan smiled slightly: "I think there are two candidates for the Holy Spirit, one is Wu Yuanheng, and the other is Song Ruohua." Tutu Chengcui suddenly realized: "It makes sense! So you deliberately chose the poems of the two of them to put in it?" "It's just a chance meeting." Li Zhongyan said, "It can only be said that the seeds of future affairs have been planted in the Eastern Palace Poetry Meeting a few years ago. According to my calculation, no matter whether the Holy One finds Wu Yuanheng or Song Ruohua, the two After seeing this acrostic poem, you will be terrified. First of all, it contains evidence that they sang with the Yongzhen Party members in the East Palace. Although since Yuanhe, the two of them have tried their best to cut off the past, However, once the old matter is brought up again, no matter how much the Holy Majesty trusts them, he will feel quite uncomfortable, and a rift will arise. Secondly, with the talents and learning of the two of them, they should be able to separate and reunite the word "Zhenlantingxian" immediately, but for these four The meaning behind the words, but they must have a lot of doubts. So they can only lie to the Holy Majesty, claiming that they cannot solve the poem for a while, and ask the Holy Majesty to give them full power to solve this puzzle, so as to gain the initiative and facilitate offense and defense. " Tu Tucheng shook his head straight: "I didn't expect that, you guys are planning so deeply!" "I have nothing to do in Fengling all day long, so I didn't plan on these things." "Okay." Tutu Chengcui asked, "The person you want to take revenge on is Wu Yuanheng, why do you want to involve Song Ruohua?" "It's unlucky for her to write an acrostic poem with the word 'now', which is just useful. However, Song Ruohua was not a good person. During the Yongzhen period, she also secretly supported the Zen position. Emperor Dezong summoned her back then Entering the palace, the late emperor was afraid of avoiding him, so Song Ruohua held a grudge, and picked the most difficult time for the late emperor to fall into trouble." Tutu Chengcui was speechless.He finally understood that in Li Zhongyan's eyes, all those who refused to be tied to the tottering emperor during the Yongzhen period and fell into the abyss were traitors and should be cut to death. He let out a long sigh: "You guessed it, the Holy Majesty did find Wu Yuanheng. Wu Yuanheng did what you thought, and asked the Holy Majesty to entrust him with the full power of this matter." "God help me too. Not long after, the feudal town actually used a golden vase to bribe Wu Yuanheng, and Wu Yuanheng was trapped by the 'Zhen Lan Ting Xian' and was trying to figure out the secrets hidden in the "Lanting Preface", so he hurriedly put away the golden vase. After that, he still concealed it from the Holy One. In this way, even if the Holy Majesty didn't think much about it before, he now has suspicions about Wu Yuanheng." "Wait!" Tutu Chengcui frowned, "You mean, without Wu Yuanheng's help, the Holy Majesty would have come up with the word 'Zhenlan Pavilion'?" "Of course. The Holy Majesty has participated in the poetry meeting in the East Palace and played with acrostic poems, so I think he will be able to solve it as long as he puts a little effort into it. Once he solves it, he will immediately think of Emperor Taizong's forged "Orchid Pavilion Preface" ". For the Holy Majesty, the secret of "Orchid Pavilion Preface" involves the establishment of the Chu, and implies the tragedy of the royal family relationship, which is his biggest heart disease. Wu Yuanheng hid the witch hazel bottle, and he was very concerned about the separation of poems. The meaning is hidden but not reported, what do you think the Holy One will think of him?" Tutu Chengcui asked: "Could it be that the Holy One knew the secret of Emperor Taizong's forgery of the "Lanting Preface"?" "Every crown prince will be told this secret as a warning. So the first emperor knew about it a long time ago. But somehow, Wang Shuwen and Wang Yi also found out this secret. When the first emperor planned to establish a crown prince, the two of them Worried about losing power from now on, I sacrificed this secret in an attempt to prevent the former emperor from making the current emperor the crown prince." "That's right." Tutu Chengcui nodded and said, "The Holy Majesty hates the two kings deeply because they once tried their best to prevent the late emperor from conferring the Holy Majesty the crown prince." "Yes, it is precisely because of this that the late emperor made up his mind and handed over the throne to the Holy One after only six months in office. Because he knew that if the two kings continued to make trouble like this, it would definitely deal a fatal blow to the court. And His own illness is getting worse day by day, and he is no longer able to control them." After a pause, Li Zhongyan shook his head and said, "Too far away, you are very clear about these things, so I don't need to repeat them, let's talk about acrostic poetry. " "I understand! When you sent the acrostic poems to the Holy Majesty's desk, the Holy Majesty was worrying about re-appointing the crown prince. The secret of "Lanting Preface" will lead to the saying of "establishing a descendant to grow long", which is easy to be used by others. So Wu Yuanheng's attitude in this matter can be considered." Tutu Chengcui looked at Li Zhongyan and gave a thumbs up, "The timing is excellent!" "But, what exactly is Wu Yuanheng thinking?" Tutu Chengcui wondered again.Wu Yuanheng's loyalty to the emperor was unquestionable, coupled with his lofty personality, he never made rash comments on the prince's affairs, so even Tu Tu Chengcui did not believe that he would collude with Guo Nianyun's faction.With Wu Yuanheng's wisdom and his understanding of the emperor, he should soon be able to realize that this matter will pose a threat to him.If you want to maintain the emperor's trust in yourself, the easiest way is to tell the emperor everything, so that you can appear open and aboveboard, and don't hide evil in your heart.Why did he have to hide both the "Zhen Lan Ting Xian" and the witch hazel bottle?Later, a pure outsider, Pei Xuanjing, was even involved, so that even the emperor had to go out to clean up the situation himself—why did Wu Yuanheng come here? "I think Wu Yuanheng wanted to take the opportunity to find out the cause of the late emperor's death." Li Zhongyan said solemnly, "He smelled something different from the acrostic poem 'Zhen Lan Ting Xian', so he had some terrible associations." Tutu Chengcui was dumbfounded: "No, no, no! Wu Yuanheng will never have that kind of rebellious thought..." Li Zhongyan asked back: "Then why did he make a special trip to Fengling to find out what I have to say?" "Wu Yuanheng came to Fengling? When?" "Shortly after he accepted the witch hazel bottle." "Oh? What did he say to you?" "In short, it is related to the death of the late emperor, do you want me to say more?" "...Forget it, forget it!" Li Zhongyan sneered: "Wu Yuanheng is still very good, and he deduced that the Lihe poetry is related to Fengling and me. It's a pity that there is no proof now. Hmph, the assassination is considered cheap for him, otherwise there will be a good show to watch!" "What advantage did he get? The head has not been found yet." "So, so what if you are an extremely human minister, in the end there is not even a whole corpse." Li Zhongyan said in a sad and joyful tone, "At least in this point, I will definitely be better than Wu Yuanheng." His gaze stayed On Tu Tucheng's bright blue and white face, he smiled slightly, "You have to make plans early." Tu Tucheng said sternly, "Me? What's wrong with me?!" Li Zhongyan smiled but said nothing. The carriage stopped, and someone said outside the car: "General, Fengling has arrived." Both of them sat without moving, just quietly watching the sunlight entering the car through the curtains, drawing flickering lines on the inner wall.Morning birds chirped outside the car, indicating that the severe winter was going away. After a long time, Tutu Chengcui said: "There is one more thing, the person Meiniang is waiting for in Fuzhou..." "You should be able to guess it. Your Majesty must be able to guess it too." "But……" Li Zhongyan looked directly at the car wall in front of him, but his eyes were far away.He was staring at a past event, an unforgettable memory. "In the winter of the first year of Yongzhen, the Kingdom of Wa sent monk Samana Kukai to ask for a letter from the late emperor, allowing him to end his mission to the Tang Dynasty ahead of schedule and return to the Kingdom of Wa. The Emperor granted Samana Kukai a main ship, two auxiliary ships and all crew equipment. These The ship was loaded with more than 200 Buddhist scriptures and Acharya's appendages, and sent Samana Konghai back to Japan." After a pause, Li Zhong said, "But you and I both know that there are Tang people on board." "I know." Tutu Chengcui admitted, "but the Tang man didn't board the ship, but turned around from Mingzhou Port and headed west." "Because he wants to go back to Chang'an, and you naturally won't let him come back." Tu Tu Cheng Cui sighed: "He came back to seek death! Originally, the Holy Majesty planned to let him go. Think about it, if he really arrives in the Wa Kingdom, wouldn't he still send people across the sea to chase him down?" Li Zhongyan said calmly: "The first emperor hoped that he would arrive safely in the country of Wa, but he was also worried that he would come back soon, so he asked Meiniang to leave the palace and return home after his death, and made a special trip to Fuzhou to wait. The Wa country is coming to the ship. The late emperor prepared a handwritten letter for Meiniang, and if he comes back within ten years, he will hand the handwritten letter to him." "What was written in the letter?" "How do I know. The first emperor didn't show it to me. But I guess, it should be some pointers on what to do after returning to Tang Dynasty." "What? Rebellion?" "Treason? Haven't you already charged the crime of treason? He was also killed with a stick. The first emperor counted thousands of things, but he didn't count. He never boarded the ship, but died in the Tang Dynasty. !" Li Zhongyan stared directly at Tutu Chengcui, and said word by word, "I tell you, there has never been any conspiracy. The emperor has no need to be afraid at all, but he is afraid to death. It's just because what he is afraid of is not conspiracy, but —his own conscience!" Tu Tucheng excited Lingling to fight a cold war. "Okay." Li Zhongyan patted his knees lightly, "I've said everything I know, and it's time to hit the road." He smiled contentedly, "I've been waiting for this day for too long, really I can't wait." "Wait." Tutu Chengcui stopped, "Last question, where is Li Liang's brother now?" "I don't know where he is now, and you don't need to spend any more effort to find him. This person has an old injury from more than ten years ago, and he is just lingering on his last breath. I guess, it is very likely He's dead now. Even if he doesn't die, it's just a few more days, if you let him go, just treat yourself as a little bit of evil." Seeing that Tutu Chengcui was still full of anger, Li Zhongyan said suddenly: "I heard that the Holy Majesty has become more and more inseparable from Liu Guoshi's elixir?" Tutu Chengcui was taken aback. Li Zhongyan leaned forward slightly, and said: "I am Xin Gonggong, and I have seen the day when the sage ascended to immortality. I just want to ask——when the Yin soldiers broke into the Daming Palace, how should General Tutu deal with himself?" Woolen cloth?" Tutu Chengcui gritted his teeth loudly. Li Zhongyan moved closer to him, with a low voice: "Anyway, you and I have been friends for decades, and today I will give you the last piece of advice: If you don't want Yongzhen's tragic situation to If it happens again, you have to plan for the future new king. When you supported King Li back then, the crown prince in the Shaoyang courtyard and the concubine Guo Gui in the Changsheng courtyard have already regarded you as a thorn in their side. Once they gain power, what do you think? Think about what will happen to you! The Holy Majesty can protect you for a day, but not for a lifetime! This is all I have to say, General Tutu can do it for himself!" When Li Zhongyan's back disappeared into the depths of the narrow tomb passage, Tutu Chengcui ordered: "Seal the door." The Shence Army pushed the trolley and poured the mercury-mixed mud into the tomb passage in turn, until there was no gap in the tomb passage, and then they worked together to close the heavy stone door. Tu Tu Cheng Cui stared blankly at the tightly fitted tomb door.For a long time, Li Zhongyan's smiling face was still shaking in front of his eyes.In his memory, Li Zhongyan had never smiled so comfortably.