Chapter 53: The Thief Who Failed to Steal a Chicken Loses His Rice

  Du He held a pen, writing was a piece of cake for him, but the key was what to write.

  It can be seen that Empress Changsun has a plan to test herself, although the reason is unknown, but instinctively does not want to let the other party look down on her.

  After a moment of contemplation, Du He suddenly thought of Zhang Juzheng's poem "Long Sun Advances Wisely", which was used to praise Empress Longsun.

  Zhang Zuolin was not famous for his poetry in history, but he entered school at the age of five and became a Xiucai at twelve. He also passed the imperial examination at sixteen and was quite a figure.

  The Tang Emperor is majestic and brilliant, surpassing the Three Kings. In reality, he is a wise ruler, with Zetian by his side in the imperial court. He governs with harmony and integrity, rewarding loyal and good officials. He employs the worthy and capable, and their merits are renowned. The grand and resplendent imperial court will be remembered for eternity.

  The first and last sentences of this "Long Sun Jin Xian" were originally "Tang Zong Lie Lie" and "Qian Zai Yi Fang".

  Here, Du Fu made some changes. The title of Taizong was conferred on Li Shimin after his death, and now that he is still alive, the two characters "Tang" and "Zong" cannot be used. If a tragic text (prison) were to come out, saying that he cursed Li Shimin to die early, it would not be fun at all.

  "'A thousand years of fragrance' is also ordinary, when Zhang Juzheng wrote the poem, Empress Longsun had been dead for over a hundred years, one sentence of 'fragrance left behind' was appropriate, if at this birthday banquet, he himself came up with a sentence of 'fragrance left behind', it would be ridiculous."

  So I made some minor changes, replacing Tang Zong with Tang Huang, and Yi Fang with Liu Fang, the meaning is also the same.

  The Empress Changsun held the letter written by Du He, and in the list of poems she had made, a pleased smile was already visible on her face. "A thousand flatteries, ten thousand flatteries, but not a single one that doesn't please," after all, everyone loves to hear words of praise.

  Even if it were Empress Longsun, it would be no exception!

  Moreover, these words came from Du He's pen, and it is not hard to imagine that this character and this poem would be passed down, enough to make her virtuous name even more renowned.

  The Empress Longsun couldn't help but exclaim: "In the past, there was Cao Zijian who composed a poem in seven steps. Today, I see Du Erlang composing poetry with just a flick of his brush! Sister Zhang has indeed given birth to a fine dragon!" She nodded her head in satisfaction, took the letter, invited Lady Zhang to sit down, and ordered Du He to take it to the side hall next door.

  This is where these noblewomen stay, Du He and those young men have another seat.

  Entering the side hall, Princess Chang Le, Li Xueyan, Li Yexu and others were already inside.

  A young man who looked a bit like Li Shimin limped along and walked up.

  Li Chengqian?

  Du He guessed his identity. In the Great Tang, only the tragic Crown Prince Li Chengqian resembled Li Shimin but had a lame leg.

  Li Chengqian seemed to have replaced Princess Changle in welcoming him as the host and said some nice words, leading him to his own seat.

  Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Du He's seat was relatively far back, listed in fifth place, under Li Weiling.

  As for this child, Du He didn't have any particular thoughts and sat down casually.

  Princess Chang Le, Li Xueyan, Li Yexi, and Li Yexu all furrowed their brows one after another.

  In ancient times, the banquet was set up with a flowing water seat, one person per seat. Therefore, the order of this seat is quite important, and Du He's identity and status are not below them. Moreover, Du He also has the title of a calligraphy master, so it would be reasonable for him to sit above them, how can he be seated below, let alone lower than Li Weiling?

  Princess Chang Le stood up, thought for a moment and sat back down.

  She was not afraid of her elder brother, but she knew the general situation and understood that if things got out of hand, she would be fine. However, this had led to Li Chengqian and Du He becoming enemies. In her opinion, offending the crown prince was not a good idea, let alone having her loved one at odds with her brother, so she could only look at Du He apologetically.

  Du He smiled indifferently and didn't take it seriously.

  The order of this character was a major event in ancient times.

  Let's take Wei Zhengde as an example. History records this incident.

  One day, Li Shimin set up a banquet and invited Wei Zheng and other high-ranking officials.

  Wei Chi Jing De found that there was another person on his seat, and he became dissatisfied at once. He shouted: "What merits do you have to dare sit above me?" Li Dao Zong, the king of Rencheng, who sat below Wei Chi Jing De, heard this and spoke out to persuade him.

  Wei Chi Jing De suddenly flew into a rage, throwing a punch that struck the prince in the grand hall filled with people. He nearly blinded Li Dao Zong in the process.

  This fierce general had saved Li Shimin's life three times on the battlefield, and was also a heroic figure in his youth, but as he grew older, he became arrogant and looked down on others, relying on his own merits.

  But from his actions, it can also be seen that the height of a seat was so important in ancient times.

  Du Hequan didn't mind, not because he didn't know the importance of seating, but just didn't want to embarrass Empress Shangsun. He knew this was absolutely not what Empress Shangsun meant, and could be seen from the gleeful eyes of Shangsun Chong at the top.

  How could he have known that Changsun Fox Spirit and his family were die-hard supporters of the Crown Prince?

  Du He's demeanor was so impressive that it won over everyone else present.

  Li Yehui stood up and left his seat, went to Du He's side, and directly expressed his dissatisfaction.

  He came from a military family, under Li Jing's guidance he was a tough and straightforward man who didn't care about politics or offending Li Chengqian. If he was dissatisfied, he would directly express it.

  Li Yexu then also left his own seat and sat together with Li Ye in one seat.

  Li Chengqian's face suddenly turned ugly and he said in a loud voice: "You Li brothers, what is the meaning of this!"

  At first, Li Chengqian affectionately called them Ye Si and Ye Xuan, but at this moment he changed to Li brothers, his dissatisfaction was evident.

  Li Ye didn't mind Li Chengqian's questioning at all, and only said: "It doesn't matter, I am close friends with Qinglian, we agreed to drink and chat together, the seats are too far apart, this is just right."

  He also took into account that it was the birthday of Empress Zhangsun, and did not want to cause trouble, so he did not make the conversation clear, but simply found an excuse.

  Li Yexu also smiled and said: "The same!"

  Li Chengqian was originally a proud and arrogant person who didn't listen to advice. Faced with this situation, he wouldn't admit his mistake and instead coldly snorted: "Do as you please!"

  At this time, a low laugh of schadenfreude spread from the top of the banquet: "This little thing can't be done, it's really embarrassing to Madam! Mr. Du is a famous calligrapher in our Great Tang Dynasty, and his status is so prominent? He is also the teacher of my Great Tang's first Confucian scholar, Mr. Kong Yingda, and the Crown Prince is also a student of Mr. Kong Yingda, so the Crown Prince belongs to Mr. Du's disciple-grandson. To treat one's master like this, it can be said that he is the only one in history!

  The speaker was a big fat man with a large waist, who was none other than Li Shimin's most beloved son... Wei Wang Li Tai!

  Li Tai originally was a learned and eloquent scholar. He surprisingly entangled the master-disciple relationships of Du He, Kong Yingda, and Li Chengqian in one place, and made things difficult for Li Chengqian, openly hinting that he couldn't accomplish great things, while secretly classifying him as an impolite person who didn't respect his teachers or the Tao.

  If this matter were to spread out, it would be a heavy blow to Li Chengqian's already poor reputation.

  Li Chengqian also realized this and became even more furious.

  Originally wanted to give Du He a hard time, but unexpectedly ended up losing face instead, now can't even show his own face.