"The sixth generation has become overlords, and the remains are seen in the capital. Until now, the Qinhuai period has brought rituals and music to show off all the heroes." (Li Bai, Tang Dynasty)

Jinling, after Li Bing, the founding of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was renamed Jiangning Prefecture and established it as the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Li Bing took the basic national policy of "stopping troops and calming the people" and was not restrained in the future to advance to the Central Plains. He adopted the strategy of quitting the army and stopping the war against the Wu Yue, Fujian, Southern Han, Chu and other dynasties on the same border, and at the same time formed a northern Khitan to restrain the Central Plains regime.

The internal taxes were light and taxes were urged to teach agriculture and sericulture, and business were encouraged. Through the sea trade with Khitan, they exchanged tea, silk, ceramics for sheep and horses, which promoted economic development. The national strength gradually grew, and the imperial examinations were promoted, and the Imperial Academy was established, and many northern literati arrived, which led to the prosperity of the literary style in Jiangnan. The imperial capital Jiangning Prefecture was the ideal place for these scholars and poets.

Where there are places where literati and scholars gather, there are naturally places for chanting poems and music, so many romantic courtyards emerge. In order to cater to the hobbies of these literati and poets, the site of the courtyard is mainly based on the beautiful Qinhuai River. For a time, there are many courtyards on both sides of the Qinhuai River, and it is known as the Long Rouge Street of the Qinhuai River in the Ten Mile of Qinhuai River.

In order to attract business, these wards spent a lot of money to train outstanding women in the ward to teach them talents so as to win the title of "The Courtesan". If you want to win the title of "The Courtesan", the difficulty is not inferior to the title of "The Courtesan". You must not only be beautiful, but also be proficient in poetry, songs, music, chess, calligraphy and painting. The final result is naturally the final result of those literati and poets with great talent.

At the end of the afternoon of that day, a man in a blue shirt and bearded walking on the Long Yanzhi Street was walking, followed by a man holding a sword. From time to time, he looked at the signs of the pavilions on both sides, walked slowly, and stopped in front of the building with the plaque "Huanchun Pavilion".

Butterfly girl who was over thirty years old at the entrance of the "Huanchun Pavilion" was of medium beauty to attract guests. But when she saw a man of forty-year-old clothes, she was quite arrogant and thought she was a person of identity. She took a step and walked up to the man like a willow, and gave a blessing, "The distinguished guest is very good, I think he came here with me, right?"

The forty-seven man nodded: "Not bad."

"Oh, but I don't know which girl is lucky enough to get the admiration of a distinguished guest?" Die Niang threw her charming eyes.

The forty-seven man smiled faintly but did not answer.

Seeing that he did not answer, the Butterfly Girl smiled charmingly, "All the girls in this courtyard are very talented and will not disappoint the distinguished guests. Please come with me..." He turned around and led the way, and welcomed the two men of forty-year-olds into the building.

Twisting his slender waist, waving the brocade handkerchief in his hand while walking, "This season's courtesan Rouge Street is the girl Ruyue in my "Huanchun Pavilion". She has been in the forefront of two seasons. Not only is she beautiful and dignified, but her talent is praised by many elegant celebrities. The romantic people who come to see each other every day in the flower hall of this pavilion cannot be ranked... Otherwise, I will help the distinguished guests..."

Perhaps because the flowers are not red for a hundred days, there is a dispute over the courtesans every three months.

But when the Butterfly Girl said something that she wanted to be rewarded, the forty-year-old man smiled slightly and gave a wink to the follower beside him. The follower took out a ingot of silver from his sleeve and handed it to her hand. The Butterfly Girl laughed: "How can you be so embarrassed..." but put the silver into her sleeve.

I walked through the courtyard with brocade pots and came to the lobby. I thought it was too early, but no other guests were seen in the hall. On both sides of the stairs leading to the second floor were maids wearing gauze and half-exposed shoulders.

I saw a woman with a wide and low stairs walking up the next floor, with a charming and smiling woman. The butterfly girl hurriedly stepped forward, whispered to her, and then she smiled and bowed to the 40-year-old man and left.

The woman was the clerk in charge of the "Huanchun Pavilion", and gave a blessing to the forty-six man, and said with a smirk: "How about the distinguished guest?"

The forty-seven man answered the question irrelevantly: "Is the Narcissus still in the pavilion?"

The woman was stunned. She heard the whisper of the Butterfly Girl who was welcoming guests and thought that the 40-year-old man was here to hold the courtesan like the moon. Unexpectedly, she found that the courtesan from two years ago, and the now outdated Daffodil girl.

She had been so worldly, and in a daze, she nodded and responded: "Ah, Narcissus is also a famous signature figure in our pavilion. She has both talent and appearance, and her piano skills are first-class. The distinguished guest has such good eyesight."

The courtesan in the romance field is like a flash in the pan. Today, the new one laughs, but tomorrow they may become old ones cry. This daffodil is both talented and beautiful, and his piano skills are even more extraordinary. Two years ago, he was very popular, but at this time there are few people supporting him. But when the forty-year-old man called her, the woman was also happy.

"I guess Huanchun Pavilion has its own pleasure boat on the river, right?" The forty-year-old man smiled and said, "At the third hour of the Youth hour, please ask the fairy girl to play a song on the boat."

He paused and glanced at the servant beside him. The servant took out two ingots of silver ingots of ten taels and handed them to the woman.

"This is just a silver reward. Afterwards, someone will settle the fee for the pleasure boat." The forty-year-old man smiled, then stared at the woman who took the silver ingot and smiled and said, "But in addition to the fairy girl, there is no need to arrange servants such as boats and maids on the boat, Huanchun Pavilion."

When the woman heard this, she pushed back the silver ingots she received: "Although the pleasure boat belongs to "Huanchun Pavilion", I don't know the identity of the distinguished guest... How can this be done?"

Of course she is not stupid, so how could she deliver the extraordinary value of pleasure boat and daffodils to someone she doesn't know for two ingots of silver?

"Hehe, I can know my identity." The man took out the fish talisman from his sleeve and handed it to the woman. The woman took it and looked carefully, and felt a stern in his heart, "I hope Lord will forgive me..."

The forty-sen man raised his hand and interrupted her words, "There is no need to be mentioned to anyone, otherwise..."

When the woman saw his sharp eyes, she felt a stern and said hurriedly: "I understand, sir, please rest assured."

She can survive in this romantic and romantic scene and understand the truth that disaster comes from her mouth.

**

The Qingfeng Inn was located in the northeast of the city, which was specially designed for the Liao Kingdom. It covers a large area, with pavilions, towers, and Quzhi corridors. Xiao Yanbei and a civil servant dressed in the South Courtyard of the Liao Dynasty, walked in the rain corridor inside the inn, and followed Zhuo Wu and four guards two feet away.

"I have been to Jiangning Prefecture for more than ten days and have only met with the Emperor of Southern Tang once. The remaining joint forces were contacted by the Crown Brother Li Jingsui. These days, they have always been stubborn about the number of horses and argued constantly, as if my Daliao had taken advantage of it. It was really hateful." The civil servant said, but his expression was angry.

"This Southern Tang Emperor Li Jing is far from his father Li Bing. When he sent troops to the State of Min, Xiao thought he was an accomplished emperor... Hehe, not only did he lose the opportunity to enter the Central Plains, but he also allowed Wu Yue to gain Fuzhou."

"Now that the troops were sent to destroy Chu, the Southern Han Dynasty took half of the land of Chu. It was useless and did not know how to appease the people. The south of the Yangtze River was rich, but it increased taxes in Chu. I heard that the Chu general Liu Yan is now against Tang, and he is afraid that he will lose the land of Chu again." Xiao Yanbei shook his head and said.

After Li Bing died, Li Jing succeeded to the throne and took advantage of the chaos in Fujian to send troops to destroy Fujian. He was not good at employing people, and his subordinates fought for merit, but could not respond to advance and retreat. Even more than 100,000 troops attacking Fuzhou, the Fujian territory, were defeated by Fuzhou defenders and 20,000 troops, which greatly damaged his vitality.

At that time, the Khitan captured the Central Plains Capital. Li Jing was exhausted in Fujian and lost the great opportunity to compete with Liu Zhiyuan for the Central Plains, which led to the rise of the Later Han Dynasty.

Now that he has broken through Chu territory, Xinping has decided to settle the matter, and he has allowed his subordinates to increase taxes in Chu territory, which has made the people of Chu resentful and rebelled. The Emperor of Southern Han took the opportunity to send troops to attack Chu and seize half of the land of Chu territory. The Chu territory naturally has the potential to gain and lose again.

"I also like to recite poems and essays, singing, dancing and wine every day, how can I be an emperor who has expanded his territory..." Xiao Yanbei stopped talking suddenly, turned his head to look at the rockery five feet to the left, and said in a deep voice: "Who is you? Now that you are here, why bother to hide?"

Zhuo Wu and others behind him were shocked and secretly felt ashamed. They walked to Xiao Yanbei and drew their swords to guard him. But after seeing a middle-aged man in a green robe and bearded, bowing to Xiao Yanbei, "I have met the envoy for a humble position."

The visitor went to the forty-sen man in the "Huanxiang Pavilion". Although he was polite to see him, he did not report his name.

Xiao Yanbei heard that the forty-year-old man called him an envoy and frowned slightly, "Your Excellency is..."

The man glanced at the people around Xiao Yanbei, but did not answer. Xiao Yanbei also saw his meaning and said to the people around him: "Let's retreat for the time being."

Everyone was hesitant, and Zhuo Wuyan next to him said, "You go back, I'll just accompany you here."

After everyone retreated, the man bowed and said, "Qu Yuan, the commander of the Longwu Army, has long heard that the envoys have extraordinary martial arts. Today, he is well-known for his reputation."

The guards in the Southern Tang Dynasty imperial palace and the royal palace were contrary to the organization of the surrounding countries. There were no personal guards, but six field imperial guards were also responsible for the guards. The position of Qu Yuan Duwei was also the commander of the personal guards. He was in a state of great spiritual enlightenment. As soon as he sneaked into the inn and approached the rockery, he was discovered by Xiao Yanbei while talking, and he was also admired.

"Oh? What happened to Lord Nagqu?" Xiao Yanbei was surprised. The safety of his daily walking in Jiangning Prefecture at this time was protected by the guards of the Dragon and Tiger Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but this Quyuan was ignorant.

"After the order of the King of Yan, I came to invite the envoys to go out for a lecture." After Qu Yuan said that, he took out a gold-burned post from his arms.

Zhuo Wu stepped forward to take it and handed it to Xiao Yanbei. Xiao Yanbei opened it and saw that it said:

Your Excellency:

The Huai River crabs are fat, the flowers are mellow and mellow, like a bonfire roasted sheep, and the wine is smooth and vigorous. I look at the white sky and the sound of the piano is sounding, and I am now preparing a boat to wait, hoping that the emperor will be moved. Li Hongyi is respectfully on the way.

Xiao Yanbei looked at the red private seal on the signature on the post, pondered for a moment, looked up at Quyuan, "When?"

"At the third hour of You, I prepared a carriage at the back of the hall, and I hope that the envoy would be in a vain and move."

Xiao Yanbei nodded without answering.

"That young man will leave first." Qu Yuan bowed and bowed, then turned around and hid in the rockery and left.

Zhuo Wu hesitated for a moment, "Is this King of Yan...? How come his actions are so mysterious?" Although he followed Xiao Yanbei for many years, he knew very little about the kings, princes and ministers of various countries.

"This King of Yan is the eldest son of the Southern Tang Emperor, and I have never met each other forever... I heard that he was young, brave and decisive. Now he is cautious in his actions, which shows that his scheming and strategy are extraordinary. In the future, the strength of the Southern Tang Dynasty may depend on his ambitions."

Looking at Zhuo Wu with a puzzled look, Xiao Yanbei smiled: "The Emperor of Southern Tang made Li Jingsui the crown prince because of a temporary measure. As far as I saw when Li Jingsui met in the past few days... This crown prince acted steadily and had extraordinary strategies, and had the style of his father Li Bing."

"And the King of Yan is not weak, and he is also the eldest son of the exiled... I am afraid that the unscheming Emperor of Southern Tang will not be able to be good in the future."

As a member of the tent of the Khitan uncle Bali clan, Xiao Yanbei knew the cruelty of the throne. He thought that if the rumors were true, how could this young and resourceful King of Yan Li Hongji give up the throne? The Southern Tang Dynasty would be in chaos in the future.

Li Bing, the ancestor of Tang Lie, passed away. The court officials made Li Jing the emperor in accordance with the rules of changing imperial powers in previous dynasties. The Southern Tang Dynasty was surrounded by enemies on all sides. Li Jing's younger brother Li Jing was a man of both civil and military affairs, and had a high prestige in the court. Li Jing ascended the throne because of the custom of establishing Di Zheng, and fearing that people would not accept it, he made a vow to join Li Bing's coffin. The brothers finally came to an end, but they also left behind future troubles.

"The private invitation from the King of Yan must be related to the alliance between our Great Liao Dynasty. The Emperor of Southern Tang has not decided for a long time. It must be because of the party dispute in the court..." Xiao Yanbei paused for a moment, "Go to meet him for a while and see what the King of Yan is thinking?"

At the third hour of You, a carriage carried Xiao Yanbei and Zhuo Wu and the other two to the Qinhuai River. They arrived at a row of long and short willow trees on the bank, dressed as coachmen, pulling the rope to stop the horse, lifting the curtain, "Please move with the envoy."

Xiao Yanbei and Zhuo Wu got off the carriage. At this time, the sky was getting darker, but they saw bright lights on both sides. On the river house with carved railings and painted sills, red makeup was hidden in the windows. The sound of silk and bamboo instruments singing came from his ears. A five-meter-long painting boat was parked near the front. There was a pavilion built on the back of the cabin roof, with crystal bead curtains hanging. At the top of the cabin, they were surrounded by three-foot-high carved wooden railings, connected to the pavilion pillar.

There were horn lights hanging on the corridors on both sides of the pleasure boat. At this time, the two boats spread the springboards to the shore. Qu Yuan bowed and asked: "Sir, please get on the boat."

When he arrived on the boat, Qu Yuan led the two into the front cabin six feet deep. The front cabin was separated from the middle cabin by a carved sandalwood wall with arches. On the top of the arch, there was a plaque with the words "Xianzhi" inscribed on it. Two beautiful maids stood by the door.

Seeing Xiao Yanbei and others coming in, the two maids bowed their knees and turned up the pearl curtains. They saw a young man wearing a jade crown and a white cloud-patterned brocade robe from the middle cabin to welcome the general and bowed: "Li Hongji has met the envoy."

Xiao Yanbei looked at Li Hongji, the King of Yan who was about twenty years old, with a strong and majestic appearance, nodded and bowed back to his greeting: "Xiao Yanbei has seen His Highness the King of Yan."

The middle cabin is nearly three meters long and is separated from the back cabin by a wooden wall carved by sandalwood. There are calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall. There is an Arhat bed placed on the hem, separated by a low table in the middle. The cabin windows on both sides are open, hung with bead curtains, and there are two chairs equipped with coffee tables under the middle window.

The floor in the cabin is covered with carpets embroidered with brocade flowers, the ceiling is painted with the pattern of fairies running around the moon, and the colorful ribbons embroidered with gold powder are shining in the light of lanterns hanging around.

Li Hongji led Xiao Yanbei to the Luohan bed and took the seats at the host and guest, while Zhuo Wu sat on the chair by the window. At this time, a maid presented the tea and refreshments. Xiao Yanbei felt that the boat was rippling and knew that the pleasure boat had left the shore.

"I admire the envoy for a long time. Last year, when Siwen and the princess were married to the horse, I was trapped in a battle with Wu and Yue, and had no chance to go to congratulate me. Now the Japanese king came to the court to meet the saint. He learned that the envoy had arrived and wanted to visit the inn, but he was afraid that he would listen to the criticism, so he suddenly invited him and hoped that the envoy would forgive me." Li Hongji sat in his seat and bowed his hand to his side.

Xiao Yanbei heard this polite words with three points of truth, and smiled: "The King of Yan was a young man and was a heroic young man. Before he arrived in Jiangning, he had heard of the famous name on the way. It was a blessing that he was invited to each other today. If you say something abrupt, Your Highness of Yan is polite."

After Li Jing ascended the throne, he changed his father's strategy of "stopping troops and calming the people" and took advantage of the civil turmoil between Fujian and Chu to invade, which also caused suspicion from Wu, Yue and Southern Han countries, and triggered a melee of fighting for territory.

The king of Wu and Yue has always had good friendship with the Central Plains dynasty. Last year, the Northern Han and Liao soldiers attacked the Later Zhou Dynasty. Guo Wei was deeply afraid that the Southern Tang would take the opportunity to go north, so he instructed the King of Wu and Yue to attack the border of the Southern Tang and restrain the Southern Tang from using troops to go north. Li Hongji was brave and brave at a young age and led his troops to defeat Wu, and since then he became famous.

Therefore, the civil officials Han Xizai, Chang Mengxi and Jiang Wenwei were supported by the Northern Tu scholars, and they vaguely advised Li Jing to make Li Hongji the crown prince. However, the civil officials led by Feng Yanyi, Feng Yanlu and Song Qiqiu stood on the side of the crown prince Li Jingsui, so a dispute between the court formed in the court.

Li Jingzhi was very talented and had no idea of ​​the wisdom of using talent. He was with Han Xizai and Feng Yan every day, and he was accompanied by wine, singing and dancing, singing and playing with the moon. The dispute between the two factions gradually evolved into a struggle between the literati, which naturally ignored the interests of the court and fought for the gains and losses of personal speech.

This time, Xiao Yanbei was ordered to go on an envoy to the Southern Tang Dynasty, and wanted to form an alliance to attack the Later Zhou Dynasty. The Southern Tang Dynasty also wanted to form an alliance, but due to the lack of horses, he asked the Liao Dynasty to give 3,000 horses. After civil strife, the Khitan was still weak and he was only willing to give 300 yuan. The remaining horses were exchanged for tea and silk, which touched the interests of the gentry and chaebols in the south of the Yangtze River, resulting in the unanimous discussion of the coalition forces.

Although Li Hongji was only twenty years old, his courage and knowledge were extraordinary. He had the ambition to enter the Central Plains. When he learned that Xiao Yanbei came here to discuss the attack on Zhou, he thought that the opportunity was rare, so he went to Beijing to meet the saint. He actually wanted to invite Xiao Yanbei to gather together to express his thoughts, but he was afraid that he would be known and would be suspected of being arbitrarily. He sent Qu Yuan to sneak into the inn to send him to invite him.

While the two of them greeted each other, Xiao Yanbei felt that the boat was slightly paused, and he guessed that the pleasure boat should have been on the shore. A sound of footsteps came. He looked up and saw the bead curtains of the arches rolled up. Qu Yuan, who had already changed into a satin robe, walked in and bowed to Li Hongji: "Your Highness, you can serve the food."

Li Hongji laughed and stood up, "Encuse me, please follow me to the open platform on the roof of the boat to watch the bright moon and listen to the beautiful woman's music..."

Then he saw Qu Yuan walk to the right side of the Arhat bed, pulling it with his hand, and a door appeared on the wooden wall separated from the rear cabin. It turned out that there was a hidden door on the partition wall, and then he saw a staircase slanted upwards appear in front of him.

After Li Hongji said "please", he led Xiao Yan north to the stairs and out of the gate of the stairs, there was a pavilion with crystal bead curtains hanging on three sides, one meter and five feet long and two feet wide. There was a round table in the middle of the pavilion, and there were several drum trunks next to the table.

After Li Hongji invited Xiao and Zhuo to take their seats, he heard footsteps coming from the stairwell. He saw several women in colorful clothes holding red lacquer food boxes in their hands and coming one after another from the door of the ladder. In a moment, a table of delicious dishes were placed: bird's nest chicken soup, abalone and pearls, mushroom chicken simmered with mushrooms, ham, shark skin chicken juice, fish tongue and bear's paw, hibiscus eggs, goose palm soup, steamed anchovies, drunk shrimp, steamed crabs, and soup buns.

After the teeth and chopsticks were displayed, Qu Yuan opened a jar of yellow mud-sealed fine wine. But when he smelled the fragrance of the wine, Qu Yuan held the wine jar in his hand and poured the fine wine into three silver pots, handed it to the three maids, each holding a pot, and came to the table to fill the wine.

Li Hongji patted his palms lightly. With the sound of "ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding lingering in the Boshan stove beside the tunic.

Seeing the bead curtain rolled up, the woman stood up slowly. Her white clothes fluttered in the breeze, her temples were raised, and she looked like a fairy. She gave a blessing to Li Hongji and the other two, and sat down to play the piano.

As the fingertips rise and fall, the sound of the piano is like a dripping spring in the quiet stream, clear and ethereal, exquisite and transparent, and in the gurgling flow, it suddenly seems to be coming into the sea. When the sound of the piano is raised, it is also heard like a rapid flow that flows thousands of miles away, and the sound is whistling.

Suddenly, the woman's hands were separated from the strings, her beautiful eyes were slightly closed, and her fingers were connected, which was fast and moderate, but she heard it as if she retreated bravely, and the overtone was lingering on the quiet lake, like the sound of fish jumping and splashing waves, and the ding dong beads made people feel rippled.

At this time, I saw lotus lamps floating lights on the Qinhuai River, shining faintly, like stars in the sky. When Li Hongji and the other three listened, they were already in the inverted world, and their hearts were filled with joy. If life was full of success, the three of them did not say a word, and the maids frequently added wine. Before a meal was moved, a song was about to end, and a jar of 20 kilograms of Huadiao was finally drunk.

With the lingering sound, three maids holding small silver hammers came to the table, took down steamed crabs like persimmons, and helped the three of them knock the crabs open their shells. Li Hongji, Xiao Yanbei, and Zhuo Wu were awakened, but Li Hongji smiled and said, "I think my dreams are in the world, and I am in the world. The meaning of the water fairy girl's piano realm makes people not know the truth. Now I laugh at Jiangning's Wenliu, all of whom are blind and deaf."

The implication is that it is to mock the literati and poets who selected the courtesans for their elegance, but they are unaware of the phantry of the Daffodil girl.

Little do they know that the so-called soulmate is closely related to the mood of the person who plays the piano and listens to the music. Although this daffodil is young, he has experienced the cold and warmth of the world in this romantic and moon field. Over the past two years, he gradually went from starry to no one caring about it. The desolate and cold feeling in his heart is naturally deeply experienced.

But she also realized the true meaning of being calm and unstoppable. At this time, her mood is not tempted and bound by glory, wealth, and she will not be sad. The piano intention is naturally transcendent and spotless.
Chapter completed!