Chapter 385 Making up for the situation before it is too late

The sixth day of July, Huaqing Palace.

Yuan Siyi walked towards the back hall and whispered: "Sage, Wu Daozi is back."

Li Longji was reading a memorial with a hesitant look on his face. Hearing this, he threw away the memorial in his hand, wondered for a moment, and asked, "Where did he come back from?"

"Back to the sage, Tianbao was in his fifth year. The sage sent him to the Jialing River to sketch and present the beautiful scenery of Sichuan to the emperor."

"Yeah."

After many years, Li Longji had completely forgotten about the incident, but he was still quite happy to hear that Wu Daozi was back.

There is no shortage of offerings in the palace, and there are many people who are good at painting. Although Zhang Xuan is old, there are also Cao Ba who is famous for his painting "Nine Horses", Chen Hong who painted "Eight Gongs", and "Double Riders".

Wei Yan, Han Qian who painted "Herding Horses", and Wei Wuxian who painted "Strange Beasts".

Among so many offerings, Wu Daozi was regarded as the one favored by Li Longji, because he had participated in painting the most glorious period of Li Longji. It was in the 13th year of Kaiyuan, when Li Longji was enshrined in Mount Tai. When he returned to Beijing, he passed by Jinqiao and saw

The 300,000-feather guards lined up for thousands of miles, and the banners were neatly arranged. They were very excited, and asked Wu Daozi, Wei Wuxian, and Chen Hong to jointly draw the "Golden Bridge Picture". After that, every time Li Longji saw Wu Daozi, he would think of the grand occasion.

, feeling more and more proud in my heart.

In comparison, the memorial I was reading just now is not so happy.

It was sent from Anxi, and the content was to impeach Gao Xianzhi. It was said that the Shi Kingdom had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, but Gao Xianzhi used deceptive means to destroy his country and massacred people, causing the prince of the Shi Kingdom to publicize the matter to the Zhuhu, and the Zhuhus united.

Dashi attacked the four towns of Anxi.

In fact, Gao Xianzhi is not a defensive character at all. After learning the news, he personally led 30,000 troops to attack Dashi in April and went deep into its territory. At this time, someone suddenly impeached him, which was obviously not optimistic.

In this war, we have to draw a clear line with Gao Xianzhi.

In this regard, Yang Guozhong did not dare to specialize and asked the Holy Judge.

Li Longji had liked Gao Xianzhi very much over the years, because no other general could report successes as easily as Gao Xianzhi. They were also great victories that destroyed the country and captured its lord.

Over the past few years, Li Longji ordered the execution of these small chiefs who dared to betray him again and again in Chang'an. He enjoyed the supremacy of heaven and the world, and he no longer liked it.

Hear bad news.

So, he picked up his imperial pen and made two strokes on the memorial to express his rejection. Then he threw the memorial away and said: "Pass an edict to summon Wu Daozi."

"Xuan Wu Daozi comes to see you!"

When his mind turned from the possible bad news back to dance, music, painting and other artistic matters, Li Longji's mood improved and he regained his strength.

Wu Daozi is nearly seventy years old. His hair is pale and sparse, and it is wrapped in a scarf, as if it is about to fall off at any time. His eyes are full of wrinkles, but his eyes are still shining.

Although he had not seen them for many years, when Li Longji saw these eyes, he immediately felt familiar and said with a smile: "My 'Painting Saint' is back."

Wu Daozi looked at the imperial couch, was stunned, and couldn't help but said in surprise: "The saint is actually younger than before."

After blurting out a sentence, he remembered that he had not even had time to salute, so he quickly crossed his hands and bowed, saying: "I have grown old."

Li Longji was overjoyed when he heard this. Before Wu Daozi could present his sketches on the Jialing River, he had already sent out a message that he would be rewarded.

Yuan Siyi lowered his head, thinking that aging was inevitable. Over the past five years, the saint was still visibly older, including that his spirit was not as good as before. It can be seen that although Wu Daozi was obsessed with painting, he was not without any talent.

"It has been five years since you left. I am still your minister and do not want to worship you in the palace." Li Longji said with a smile.

"Returning to the saint, the mountains and rivers of the Jialing River are so beautiful that I cannot forget to return."

"You are so lingering here that you can't forget to leave and present the drawings so that I can feast my eyes on them." Li Longji said, not forgetting to ask his chamberlain to summon the concubines.

But Wu Daozi replied: "Reporting to the sage, there is no drawing."

Li Longji was surprised: "You go to sketch, but you haven't had a single painting in five years?"

Wu Daozi responded calmly: "The three hundred miles of Jialing River are all in my heart."

"good!"

As the emperor, Li Longji liked the feeling of being able to surprise him even though he did not completely fulfill his wishes. This is something that mediocre ministers cannot do. Only extremely smart ministers can have such witty words.

He couldn't help stroking his hands and laughing, and said: "Wu Qing is going to do something for me on the spot."

Wu Daozi smiled and replied: "This hall is too small for me to write."

"Hahaha." Li Longji's mood became more and more cheerful, and he said: "When you go to the back hall to paint, the entire white wall in the hall will be the painting paper of the painting saint."

Speaking of paper, he thought of Xue Bai.

Today, there is a painting sage painting for him. Someone should play music, sing and dance for him, and someone should write poems and lyrics for him.

"Invite Li Guinian, Jia Chang, Xue Bai and others. The royal banquet will be arranged in advance. I will drink and sing while enjoying the poems and paintings of the prosperous Tang Dynasty."

It's ridiculous that Xue Bai was busy here and there, but in the end he was still the same as the worshippers and ministers.

Soon, Li Guinian and Jia Chang came into the palace with dancers, musicians, and cockfighting children respectively. They set up their formations and played the flute, which immediately became full of fun.

The concubines in the palace also dressed up one after another, so the maids came back and forth carrying hot spring water. When the water in the basin was poured, the scent of the washed rouge filled the harem.

Wu Daozi held the paintbrush in his hand and washed it in a wooden barrel, and the paint came out as red as rouge.

The little eunuchs had ground all kinds of paints and arranged them colorfully. Wu Daozi held his pen and swung it decisively on the white and flawless wall. Everyone couldn't help but hold their breath, for fear that his strokes would be crooked.

Li Longji looked at this scene with great joy. After a while, he turned his head and asked, "Isn't Xue playing cards yet?"

"I'll send someone to urge you again."

"Does he think he is Li Bai, and the emperor can't get on the ship?" Li Longji didn't know whether he was joking or really unhappy.

Yuan Siyi immediately changed his words and said: "I'll go and ask myself."

He walked out of the hall in small steps, called over a confidant, and asked, "Are you sure Xue Bai is no longer in Lishan?"

"No one has seen him for two or three days. If he is unable to get up from Mrs. Guo's bed, he is no longer in Lishan Mountain."

"Keep sending people to urge you. The saint can't wait any longer."

Yuan Siyi did not have any personal grudges with Xue Bai, but he was very curious about Xue Bai recently. He could not figure out why this young man who could have a bright future kept causing trouble. He stood on the opposite side of the prince and An Lushan, and was also at peace with Yang Guozhong.

Discord of heart.

If a person is too unique, he will often become intolerable to the world.

After waiting for a long time, many officials came in a hurry to attend the banquet.

Yuan Siyi stood at the palace gate and watched them hurriedly and slowly, feeling a sense of humor, just like King You of Zhou lighting the beacon and seeing the princes arriving in embarrassment.

It's getting dark soon, and Xue Bai hasn't arrived yet.

"Longgongmen, Xue Sheren should not come." Yuan Siyi ordered.

The duty of the scholar in Zhongshe is to be ready for the saint's call at any time. Xue Bai's failure to come today is dereliction of duty. Yang Guozhong already has a reason to dismiss him. If the saint is not happy, he is afraid that he will be punished.

However, just as he finished speaking, someone galloped towards him on horseback.

"Hush!"

Before the palace door closed, a vigorous figure dismounted from his horse and ran to Yuan Siyi. It was Xue Bai.

"Xue Lang is here to the beat of the drum to close the palace gates."

"Forgive me, General Yuan, but I prepared a Valentine's Day gift for the saint, so I came late."

Yuan Sili reminded: "On the Qixi Festival, you are not allowed to give gifts to the saints."

Xue Bai was stunned, but he still held a big package and was about to enter the palace. Yuan Siyi stopped him and said: "Xue Lang is coming to the inner palace for an audience. I'm afraid it's not appropriate to bring foreign objects. Leave it to me."

"This is my gift."

Xue Bai said something and saw that Yuan Sili was still holding out his hand, so he handed the package over calmly and generously, and said with a smile: "Then please take care of it, General Yuan, as this item is somewhat dangerous..."

~~

Painting and music are both elegant matters and have something in common.

Li Linfu is also good at painting, and there are five people in his family who are famous for their painting skills and are called the "Five Lis", namely Li Linfu, his father Li Sixun, his uncle Li Sixun, his cousin Li Zhaodao, and his nephew Li Cou.

Among them, Li Sixun has the best painting skills.

Li Sixun passed away as early as the sixth year of Kaiyuan, but his life achievements were very remarkable. In the Zhongzong Dynasty of Tang Dynasty, he was Zong Zhengqing, the Duke of Longxi County. When the emperor came to the throne, he was named Peng Guogong, and he was promoted to General Youwuwei. He was given the posthumous title after his death.

"Zhao" was buried with Qiaoling. He was good at painting landscapes, pavilions, flowers, trees and animals. People at the time rated him as "the best in landscapes in the country", which shows his ability.

In his early years, Li Sixun also painted the landscape of the Jialing River for the saint in the palace. He spent several months painting the landscape with vigorous brushwork and magnificent artistic conception. The saint liked the mural very much and praised it as "green landscape, shining with gold and green".

It is known as "General Li's Landscape" in the world.

In the eighth year of Kaiyuan, when the Xingqing Palace was renovated and the Datong Hall was renovated, the mural could not be preserved. Li Longji felt very regretful and later asked Wu Daozi to sketch in Shu.

Therefore, Wu Daozi felt extremely pressured by this matter. In order to be as good as Li Sixun, he stayed in Shu for five years, watching the Jialing River day and night, and engraved its mountains, rivers, plants and trees in his heart before he dared to come back.

.

As the moon sets and the sun rises day after day, he sees countless waves under the stars, and finally paints a splash of ink.

The tip of the pen moved flexibly on the wall, not as if he was painting, but as if the water of the Jialing River in Wu Daozi's heart was pouring out.

This is what Xue Bai saw when he entered the back hall of Huaqing Palace.

In his eyes, Wu Daozi's back did not look old at all, like a crane over the Jialing River, holding grass and trees in its mouth, building hills and valleys.
To be continued...