12dz Chapter 114 Asking Him to Copy Calligraphy
Chapter 114 Asking Him to Copy Calligraphy
August th, Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Yuan capital was bustling early in the morning.
The bandits who caused chaos a few days ago have been executed. The Capital Protectorate cooperated with the Five City Guards to patrol the city, and the Five Capital Guards cavalry guarded outside the city. Although such a large-scale battle is extremely rare, the people of Yuanjing City found that the security in the city has improved a lot after the curfew and strict inspections in the past few days. Now there is no petty theft. Now there is no complaint or anxiety, and they are at peace.
Cao Weishan walked along the long street, and seeing the smiling faces of the people passing by, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Mid-Autumn Festival! Cao Weishan's life and official position were saved. Although the real murderer of Luo Yu had not yet been identified, the masterminds were being detained and interrogated in the Jingji Duhufu and the Dali Temple. It was only a matter of time before the truth came out.
There is no court meeting today. Cao Weishan plans to go to the Jingji Protectorate first to explain some matters. The criminal has just been arrested and he cannot let his guard down during the Mid-Autumn Festival. If there is any "suicide out of fear of punishment", he will be in trouble again.
Cao Weishan had just arrived at the Jingji Protectorate government office when Qi Xiao arrived within a short time.
"Your Highness, the Ninth Prince." Cao Weishan personally came out to greet Qi Xiao. "Why is Your Highness here? Today is the Moon Festival, so why are you not entering the palace?"
"Yes, I am going. I thought I'd go to the Protectorate Office first. Maybe Lord Cao will be there, and it would be best if we could have a few words."
Although Cao Weishan didn't know why Qi Xiao came, he understood what he said and immediately asked everyone around him to leave.
Qi Xiao sat down, and Cao Weishan personally brewed a cup of tea for him and served it to him: "What are your instructions, Your Highness?"
"I don't take your orders. But there is something I want to discuss with Lord Cao."
"Your Highness, please speak."
"Lord Luo's case is basically closed, and His Majesty will probably not pursue it further. However, I still have some questions in my mind that have not been solved. After thinking about it, I decided to come here uninvited."
Cao Weishan held the teacup to his lips. After hearing Qi Xiao's words, he was stunned for a moment, and it seemed that he had forgotten how to drink the tea. Cao Weishan knew all too well what Qi Xiao was referring to as "mystery", but he had originally thought that Qi Xiao would not mention it.
Qi Xiao said quietly, "There are two things that confuse me. One is the reason why Luo Yu must die, and the other is the real murderer who assassinated Luo Yu."
Luo Yu was the Minister of the Supreme Court, a third-rank official. Why would he choose to execute him, even if it meant angering His Majesty? No matter how much the First Prince had embezzled over the years, as long as it wasn't treason, His Majesty's punishment would have concluded with the Ministry of Revenue. Before Luo Yu's incident, the Ministry of Revenue's case had already been nearly concluded, with those who deserved convictions and those whose property needed confiscations. Even the Minister of Revenue, a veteran of two dynasties and seventy years old, couldn't escape punishment. His Majesty even brought the Vice Minister of Revenue to justice, just to put an end to the matter. Could the First Prince be so foolish as to stir up trouble at this critical juncture, especially by assassinating an imperial official?
It was obvious that someone did this on purpose to eradicate the eldest prince's influence in the court and the Ministry of Revenue.
There are only two vested interests who can plan such a thing in Yuanjing City, the fifth prince Qi Li and the seventh prince Qi Ting.
As for the second mystery that Qi Xiao mentioned, the person who assassinated Luo Yu, if Cao Weishan wanted to find it, he could find it.
The Protectorate of the Capital Region oversees every tangible matter, yet often fails to do so, turning a blind eye in most cases. But Cao Weishan's deception isn't foolishness; he knows everything he needs to know, but simply remains silent. The Yuan capital city has experts who can infiltrate the residence of the Supreme Court official, kill people, and escape unscathed. If he can't even find a list of names, how can he still be the Yuan capital's leading official? What use does Your Majesty have for him?
So, the two things Qi Xiao asked about were actually one.
"I wonder what Master Cao is planning?"
Cao Weishan had a sip of tea on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to drink it. What was his plan? He planned to continue turning a blind eye, of course. The Fifth Prince and the Qin clan, the Seventh Prince and the Gongsun clan—both were difficult to offend. Cao Weishan had adhered to the Cao family motto of nonpartisanship for over a decade, and maintaining his position in the Yuan capital was incredibly difficult. It wasn't a matter of what he wanted, but rather what he could do.
"..."
"I understand." Qi Xiao nodded slightly, stood up and said, "Master Cao, don't be embarrassed. I'm just asking. It's getting late. I have to go to the palace. I'll take my leave first."
Cao Weishan stood up and bowed: "I respectfully bid farewell to His Highness the Ninth Prince."
After Qi Xiao left, Cao Weishan sat dejectedly on the chair, silent for a long time.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Qi Xiao, as a prince, had to go to the palace to pay his respects to His Majesty and the ladies in the palace, and then he could go to Qiyun Palace to have lunch with Concubine Lin.
In Chengming Hall, His Majesty was writing Huaisu's "Thousand Character Essay in Cursive Script". He had been copying this calligraphy for several months. The thousand characters were very long, and writing them required calmness and was a test of his patience. But even if he didn't use the thousand characters, and just wrote a few sentences on a piece of paper, he always felt that it was not to his satisfaction, as it lacked a certain spirit and could not express that clear and unrestrained style.
Qi Xiao knelt before the palace. He didn't dare move unless His Majesty told him to. He could only sigh silently. What had he done wrong to deserve kneeling here as punishment? Tang Ling?
"Get up." His Majesty put down his pen and looked at his own handwriting, still not satisfied. He raised his eyes to look at Qi Xiao and said, "You come."
Qi Xiao stood up, took two steps toward the imperial desk, and stopped half a meter away.
"I want you to come here," His Majesty raised the hand holding the pen and called Qi Xiao closer, "You come and write."
Qi Xiao was stunned. Was he going to test him on his homework? When he was a child, His Majesty never asked him about his homework. Now he was going to discipline him?
Qi Xiao walked up to the emperor and tried to take the imperial pen with both hands. The pen seemed to weigh a thousand pounds and was too heavy to lift.
Qi Xiao had never copied the calligraphy of the monk Huaisu. He rarely practiced cursive script. When he was a child, he was taught regular script at the Imperial Academy, and his imitations were all from Yan and Liu. Qi Xiao left Beijing at the age of ten. Although his master was very strict, he and Bai Xiqiao never dared to fall behind in their studies. But without a famous teacher, they could never compare to the several princes raised by His Majesty. Asking him to copy calligraphy now would be worse than dragging him out and giving him a beating.
Qi Xiao secretly glanced at His Majesty and saw that his eyes were fixed on his hand holding the pen. He could only grit his teeth and pick up the pen to copy the calligraphy.
Continuing where His Majesty had just paused, it reads, "Virtuous conduct maintains virtue, and restrained thought makes one a saint. Virtue is established, and reputation is established; form is upright and outward appearance is upright." Sounds echo through empty valleys, and empty halls are used to hearing. Misfortunes arise from accumulated evil, and blessings arise from the accumulation of good.
Qi Xiao had great difficulty writing these three sentences, and Your Majesty felt pain in his eyes just reading them.
"...Alright, go back and practice your handwriting. Which teacher could teach you like this?" His Majesty frowned at Qi Xiao. Was there a teacher in Fuzhou? There should be. His handwriting wasn't great, but it was decent enough and not bad either. Since he had mastered martial arts, he seemed to have learned other skills as well.
Qi Xiao put down his pen and said, "I know I was wrong."
His Majesty sighed and said, "Forget it, it's not your fault."
Qi Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and took two steps back, wanting to escape quickly while the emperor was still in a good mood.
"Come back. Did I ask you to back off?"
"I don't dare."
His Majesty found another copy from a nearby post and said, "Copy this and send it to Linxiantai for offering during the monthly sacrifice. Copy it carefully. If your writing is messy, you will be punished by kneeling in the main hall of Linxiantai for half a month."
"...Yes." Qi Xiao looked at the Daoist Scripture before him, suppressing a sigh. What had he done wrong? Where had he offended His Majesty? Why was he being punished by having to copy a book? With less than half a day left before the Moon Festival, shouldn't he have already copied the Daoist Scriptures for offering in the hall? What was the point of asking him to copy them now? And how could he, a copyist, be qualified to offer them at the Linxiantai?
But no matter whether he was dissatisfied or doubtful, Qi Xiao did not dare to express it.
Zhang Suian ordered someone to bring a table and place it in front of the hall. Qi Xiao quietly picked up his pen and began to copy the scriptures right under the emperor's nose.
"I promised you at Baiyan Mountain that if you beat Yao Yishan, I would grant you a wish. Have you thought it through?"
Qi Xiao looked up, stunned for a moment, and said, "Your Majesty, by allowing Mother to go to the West Palace to recuperate, you have fulfilled my wish. I dare not make any more extravagant requests."
"Since you won the hunt, you should be rewarded. These are two different things."
Qi Xiao lowered his head and didn't speak for a long time.
"Can't you think of it?"
Qi Xiao certainly had a wish: to take his mother back to Fuzhou and away from Yuanjing City; to find out what happened to Bai Liu; and finally, to take Tang Ling away. His Majesty had done all of this in the past three years, but Qi Xiao couldn't even mention a single one.
"If you can't think of anything for now, just owe it to me. I can exchange it for a Wu Shi Pai later."
Qi Xiao was startled. The "Nothing to Worry" token was the Tiance Camp's token. Luo Yu's case was almost closed, and he was planning to return it. But did His Majesty's words mean that Qi Xiao should always keep Chi Yue by his side? And always keep the Tiance Camp safe?