Chapter 2: The First Snow (Third Part)

  It must be said that, apart from being slightly outdated, Zhang Zong's ability to handle affairs was indeed impeccable. Once he had crossed the threshold of his own mind, "宁在直中取，不往曲中求" (Rather die than surrender), the rest was a matter of course and did not require Wang Xun and Lei Wanchun to worry about it. He casually flipped open the account book left by Yuwen Zhilu, reading as he spoke, and in an instant, he had already categorized which pages could be torn out and handed over to Lei Wanchun's friends to deliver to Zhu Zhanggui; which pages could be slightly edited and spread as rumors; and which pages must be kept in hand as the last resort to intimidate Yang Guozhong. He then took up pen and paper, reorganized the entire action plan, and handed it over to Wang and Lei for them to scrutinize the details.

  After all the details were finalized, it was almost noon. The three of them carefully hid the things that could save Yuwen's life again and then rode their horses out of the door, hurrying to Linfeng Building for the appointment.

  The largest shareholder behind Linfeng Building is Wang Xuan. Since it's the boss's friend who wants to set up a banquet here, how can the shopkeeper and his apprentices not use their utmost skills? Early on, they cleared out a huge elegant room on the second floor, arranged low tables, tableware, wine cups and other items according to the expected number of guests. Moreover, they specially brought in a batch of fine old wines from the Qin brothers' estate.

  Because of the temporary addition of Gong Sun's wife and Bai Wei to perform, Wang Xun made some temporary adjustments to the room's layout after his arrival. Just as he finished tidying up the room, Li Bai and others arrived. The three smiled and welcomed the guests inside, gesturing for Li Bai and others to take their seats in the main position. Seeing this, Li Bai quickly shook his head and politely declined: "Lei Daxia should please go first, after all, you're the host today!"

  "Haha!" Lei Wanchun grinned, looking very pleased with himself. "I didn't bring a single copper coin today! This wine shop is run by Brother Wang, he's the real moneybags!"

  Everyone burst out laughing and asked Wang Xun to take a seat. In front of these people, how could Wang Xun dare to pretend to be a big shot? He looked at Zhang Xun, then at Li Bai and Gao Shi, smiled and bowed in all directions, "Today, no matter who is the host, the elder is respected. I'll take a chance and guess everyone's age, I think Secretary Gao should be the oldest. Why don't we ask Secretary Gao to sit in the seat of honor? What do you all think?"

  Gao Shi's actual age was only a few months older than Li Bai, but due to the relatively bumpy experience, he looked much older than everyone else. After hearing Wang Xun's suggestion, he hastily shook his hand and politely said, "In terms of talent, I am not as good as Little Zhang Jinshi, in terms of reputation, I am not as good as..."

  "It's not about taking the imperial examination, who can discuss talent and reputation with you!" Lei Wanchun laughed and interrupted, picking up Gao Shi and pressing him onto the main seat in the center without giving him a chance to refuse. "The elder is respected, this proposal is most in line with my thoughts. Secretary Gao, hurry up and do it well, otherwise, after another round of modest refusal, the sky will be dark!"

  Everyone burst out laughing again after hearing him. After the laughter, they followed Wang Huan's suggestion and asked Li Bai to sit in the first seat on the left, opposite Zhang Xun. Next were Cui Hao, Lei Wanchun, Cen Shen, and Wang Hu. Among them, Cui Hao and Wang Hu were not noticed by Wang Huan that day because they had gone touring with Li Bai and Gao Shi. It was only when Zhang Xun pointed it out to him on the road just now that he realized the former was also a famous poet, while the latter was a descendant of the Five Pecks Old Man, with a very deep family learning.

  As they spoke, the Qin brothers also arrived. They apologized to everyone for being late and took their seats next to Shen Can. Shen Can had once chased after Yuwen with his sword, causing trouble, and afterwards felt quite ashamed. Seeing that there were still two empty seats at the table, he smiled and asked in a low voice, "Why isn't Zida here with Mingyun today? Is he going to bring reinforcements even for drinking?"

  "He has something on today, I'm afraid he can't make it!" Wang Xun immediately straightened his body and explained to everyone with a smile. Then he adjusted his clothes and bowed to Li Bai, Gao Shi and others, "The matter the day before yesterday was that Zida misunderstood someone's provocation, so there were many offenses. He has something on today and can't come, let Wang Xun apologize for him! Please forgive me and my youthful arrogance!"

  Everyone straightened their bodies and returned the courtesy. Among them, Gao Shi was the most uninhibited, smiled and said loudly: "I originally wanted to drink a few big bowls with him today to make up for the loss I suffered that day. Unexpectedly, this kid ran ahead of time. Forget it, the wine that should be drunk by him, I will leave it for myself to drink!"

  Hearing this, Li Bai also smiled, shook his head and said in a low voice: "What nonsense are you talking about? Who hasn't had a few fights when they were young? At our age, if I didn't fight with someone every day, I'd probably feel itchy all over!"

  "Is Taibai still so shameless?" Everyone stared in shock, but they didn't dare believe it.

  "I was born in a place of scattered leaves, and from the time I could remember things, I fought with those barbarian children until I grew up!" Li Bai laughed and nodded, not hiding his youthful arrogance at all.

  Wang Xun took a closer look and indeed found that Li Bai's iris color was slightly lighter than the others, probably due to his ancestors' long-term residence in the border areas where Hu and Han people lived together and intermarried. At this moment, there were hundreds of ethnic groups with their own names within the Tang Dynasty, and they got along relatively harmoniously among the common people. However, in the official circles, because of the emperor's preferences, those with non-Han bloodlines found it easier to get promoted. Therefore, everyone just laughed at Li Bai's words and no one took them seriously.

  In a moment, the attendants brought up wine and fruit, and invited the guests to taste them first. Gao Shi saw that two seats at the table were still empty, so he smiled and asked: "Who is late, missed everyone's drinking enthusiasm? If you don't show up soon, the wine worms in Gao's belly will crawl out by themselves!"

  "These two people are absolutely worth Secretary Gao waiting for a moment!" Lei Wanchun smiled mysteriously, but refused to reveal the guest's name.

  As soon as the words fell, a rhythmic and harmonious footsteps sounded from the staircase. Relying on their experience, everyone distinguished that the footsteps came from two women and couldn't help but look up. They saw one in elegant red and one in snowy white, walking together. Instantly, all the decorations in the room lost their color.

  "Master Gongsun!" Gao Shi immediately stood up, clapping his hands loudly. "It turns out that the number one of the Four Absolutes of the capital has arrived, this guest is indeed worth waiting for by everyone!"

  Gongsun's wife slightly bowed and greeted Gao Shi and others with a big smile, "What's the first of the four absolutes, Secretary Gao is really embarrassing people. With the Banished Immortal present, how dare I be called 'absolute' again? This is my good sister Bai Huiji, her singing voice must have been heard by everyone!"

  "It's been said, it's been said!" The crowd stood up one after another and returned the courtesy to Lady Gong Sun.

  They invited the first two of "Xiao Si Jue" to come and assist, this banquet for apology was set up with great sincerity. Immediately, everyone nodded to Wang Xuan one after another, and the misunderstanding from the day before yesterday would probably be forgotten by everyone for life.

  After everyone had exchanged greetings, Gong Sun's wife and Bai Weizi took their seats one after the other. One of them sat right below Lei Wanchun, while the other was seated next to Wang Xun. Seeing that Bai Weizi's face still showed a hint of shyness, Gong Sun's wife smiled and deliberately drew everyone's attention to herself, "Qinglian, how has your health been lately? Has the root of the illness from practicing Taoism back then been mostly cured?"

  "Everyone in the village of Laogong is worried about you, and it's been a long time!" For some reason, Li Bai suddenly let out a faint sigh.

  "What's this, Master Qinglian has taken to poetry again?" Madam Gongsun asked with a smile.

  "No!" Li Bai had always been a straightforward person, and he didn't hide things from everyone. "Just now Secretary Gao mentioned the Four Absolutes, which made me think of He Lao again. Back then, I was misled by his praise, and as a result, I, Li, have been carrying this empty fame for nearly twenty years. Now that I've reunited with the Gong Sun family again, but He Lao, who had once applauded for the Gong Sun family, has already passed away for almost ten years!"

  "Yes, seven years have passed in the blink of an eye!" Consort Gong Sun thought for a moment and softly echoed. "I recall when I was granted the position of musician by Your Majesty and left the palace, it was all thanks to Old Man He speaking highly of me to you."

  They are referring to He Zhizhang, one of the "Great Four" poets who passed away in the third year of Tianbao. It has been seven years since then. In these seven years, among the "Small Four" poets in the capital, only Gongsun Da Niang remains unchanged, while the other three have changed twice. However, the "Great Four" still maintains its regrettable situation with one missing member, and no one has yet qualified to fill the vacancy left by He Zhizhang.

  "Lend me a cup of wine!" Li Bai stretched out his hand, picked up a beautiful wine cup from the low table in front of him, walked quickly to the window and slowly poured it down. "Today I get to see an old friend, I am overwhelmed with emotion. I respectfully offer this wine to toast the Four Bright Talents' crazy guest."

  "I'll also borrow a cup!" Madam Gongsun slowly walked to Li Bai's side, shoulder to shoulder, and poured a cup of fine wine into the autumn wind. "Without the Poetic Genius, who can understand the loneliness of the Exiled Immortal?"

  These two people, you one word and I one phrase, recalled the late friend He Zhizhang in front of everyone, completely disregarding the other gentlemen present. Strangely, none of the gentlemen present harbored any jealous thoughts, but instead looked up to gaze out the window, as if the old man nicknamed "Poetry Crazy" was leisurely riding a donkey in the autumn wind, slowly disappearing into the clouds.

  Note 1: In ancient times, formal banquets were usually seated in separate seats. A small low table was placed in front of each person, and they knelt behind it.

  Note 2: Cui Hu, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, was arrogant and unrestrained in his early years, and had a bumpy official career. In his later years, he became famous for his border town poems. His poetry was highly admired by Li Bai. The Old Man of Five Pecks, also known as Wang Ji, a recluse at the end of the Sui Dynasty, younger brother of the great Confucian scholar Wang Tong, and a notorious drunkard, is considered the founder of five-character poetry.

  Note 3: Shu Ye. The city of Shu Ye was established in the first year of Gaozong's reign, belonging to the Tiao Zhi Du Dufu, located near Tokmak City, east of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. It once flourished, with all its layout imitating Chang'an.