Chapter 15 of Volume 1: Two Poems Stir Up the Court and the Countryside, No Intention to Save Pei Yan

  Pei Yan's words echoed in the hall, but no one stood up to refute or support him. No way, they couldn't afford to provoke either of them, one being the current empress and the other being the regent prime minister.

  They actually understood what was being said, and Pei Yan was indeed very strange. He had been the one to support Tian Hou in the past, but now he wanted to strip her of power.

  The person behind the curtain remained silent for a long time, as if regulating his breathing, before speaking faintly: "What Old Master said is not unreasonable, let's reconsider."

  On the throne, however, an official secretly glanced at Pei Yan and sneered coldly.

  "If Her Majesty thinks it's improper, then I, your old minister, am willing to lead a large army to quell the rebels!"

  "Old General, you are already advanced in years, why must you go through the hardships of war? My imperial court has many soldiers and generals, it would be better to appoint someone else."

  "After seeking the Emperor's permission, I, your old minister, am willing to serve as a supervisor of the army for the court!"

  The officials present looked at each other in dismay, unsure what was wrong with the prime minister, who insisted on taking over the hot potato.

  "Good! Since General Lian is still vigorous and not old, you will act as the supervisor of the army, overseeing all military affairs, selecting generals, and suppressing rebels!"

  The person behind the curtain finally spoke, and Pei Yan bowed his head to accept the order. However, the official who had secretly investigated Pei Yan earlier furrowed his brow, looked again, and seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.

  "Report if there is something; withdraw if there is nothing!"

  As soon as this was said, an inner attendant immediately shouted to the officials outside: "Those with business report! Those without withdraw from court!"

  Chen Yusheng in the queue heard the sound of his body moving, tightly grasping the scroll in his hand, as if he wanted to step forward and report, but hesitated.

  "...retreat" Within the palace, seeing that all was quiet below, he was about to follow the usual routine. At this time, Chen Yunsheng suddenly stepped forward with a scroll in his hands and said: "I have something to report to Your Majesty."

  The eunuch glanced at Chen Yunsheng, turned his head and said a few words to the person behind him. The man immediately entered the palace and bowed to the person behind the curtain: "I beg to report to Your Majesty, Chen Yunsheng, the governor of Huainan, has come to make a report."

  "declare"

  "Proclamation: Chen Yunsheng is promoted and enters the palace!"

  Outside the palace, Chen Yunsheng hurriedly tidied up his black silk hat and stepped into the palace.

  "Your humble servant Chen Yunsong pays homage to Your Majesty!" Chen Yunsong entered the palace and immediately kowtowed, holding the scroll above his head.

  "What is it that you wish to report to me?"

  "After returning to heaven, I have a wise man to recommend"

  As soon as this was said, all these big shots slightly shook their heads. At a time like this, they're still recommending someone for promotion. He must be another one with connections.

  But the curtain moved slightly, as if someone behind it was overjoyed and said: "Who is it?"

  Yu Hang Tang Crown

  "Tang Crown?"

  This name was naturally unfamiliar to the people in this high and distant temple, and for a while, many officials also had some interest.

  "I have two poems of this person to present"

  "Present!"

  He walked down from the inner watchtower, took over the scroll in Chen Yunsheng's hand, and then turned back to respectfully present it into the curtain.

  Pei Yan looked at Chen Yunsheng with a scrutinizing gaze, and after a moment, he turned his attention back to the curtain.

  "How dare you! You actually dare to deceive me!"

  Chen Yunsheng was greatly shocked, and the other officials were also stunned, guessing that he had written some bad poetry that had displeased Empress Tian, and they all looked at Chen Yunsheng with schadenfreude.

  "These two words are crooked and twisted! This is the talented person you've been holding up!" As soon as the voice fell, two pieces of paper floated out. Chen Yusheng crawled forward, only to see that the papers had three strange characters written on them: "Grass Mud Horse", but he didn't recognize them.

  "It's I, your humble servant, who should die; you have been wronged"

  Chen Yunsheng only then realized that the person behind the curtain had actually seen the wrong side, and couldn't help but let out a silent sigh of relief, re-arranging it again before holding it up to his head.

  "How dare you! You dare to mock the saint!" An official immediately rebuked Chen Yunsheng, and the curtain slightly moved, a voice came out: "Wait! Bring it up!"

  His face also turned pale, and he couldn't help but think that he had almost been dragged down by him just now.

  Fortunately, from that day on, he was eager to seek out the virtuous and talented, and attached great importance to promoting the worthy. He didn't blame them at all, and instead handed over two scrolls of silk through the curtain.

  After this commotion, these officials also just watched the excitement, after all, even if that was a negative side, looking at those strange characters, the person who wrote the poem wasn't much better off. But what came next was a gasp of cold air, which left them all stunned.

  "Who's there? The poet!"

  No one knew what expression was hidden behind the curtain, but the tone was full of excitement and astonishment, and for a moment everyone was shocked.

  "After returning to heaven, in Yuhang"

  "What's your surname and given name? Where do you live?" A flurry of urgent questions came from behind the curtain, and Chen Yunsheng's heart also began to beat rapidly.

  "The son of Tang Weixi, a former official in the Ministry of Works, Tang Guan, lived in Yuhang and was only... only..." Chen Yunsheng suddenly stopped, this was the most shocking part, he didn't even have the courage to say it."

  "Don't be evasive!" The tone behind the curtain changed from urging to scolding, leaving all the officials present at a loss.

  "He's only eight years old!" Chen Yunsheng finally spoke out, and as soon as he did, a pair of white jade-like hands stretched out, and the officials saw this and hastily bowed their heads, not daring to look straight.

  "Eight years old!" A woman in a phoenix robe walked out with two poems tightly grasped in her hand. The woman looked to be only thirty or so, but whether that was her true age or not, who knows?

  Her raven tresses fell straight down, at first glance she seemed like a delicate beauty, but upon closer inspection, one dared not look her straight in the eye. Those eyes that should have been gentle as water were instead razor-sharp, more profound than those of officials who had weathered many storms and generals who had fought countless battles. Especially when her vermilion lips parted to speak, her words exuded an aura of majesty.

  She is the Empress Wu Zetian of today! Also known as the first female emperor in history, Wu Zetian! No one can decipher the expression on her face. The officials only know that after the two saints ascended to power, they never saw this woman so shocked again!

  "Do you think I'm a three-year-old?!?" Wu Zetian stared coldly at Chen Yunsheng, who was prostrating on the ground and didn't dare to lift his head, her words dripping with murderous intent as if she wanted to see through him.

  "I dare not deceive the Holy One! If there is even a hint of concealment, I am willing to accept the punishment of being cut into pieces!" The matter had come to this point, and Chen You Sheng also let go, the fact was indeed so, and he was no longer afraid.

  When Chen Yunshang said this, these officials became even more curious about the two poems in Tian Hou's hand. They thought it was just a ordinary talented person who wrote them, but at the age of eight, they jumped their eyelids, and not to mention the content of the poem, just being able to write poetry at this age is already considered a genius.

  Wu Zetian saw Chen Yunsheng so resolute, her eyebrows furrowed, and she lightly waved her jade-like hand at Pei Yan: "Old minister, take a look"

  Mulberry bark boat, sandy beach boat, jade flute and golden pipe sit on both ends.

  At this sight, he was shocked and continued to mutter: "A thousand piculs of fine wine are placed in the cellar, and the singing girls follow the waves, coming and going as they please."

  "Ah!" Pei Yan's voice stopped, his throat choked, and he opened his eyes wide to quickly read the poem again and again. The officials secretly saw that the young man who was known as a talented scholar and prime minister had such an expression, and they were also shocked, looking at Chen Yunsheng's expression no longer with jest.

  Chen Yunshang was also sweating profusely at this time, and the thick imperial robe was wet with a layer of sweat. In later generations, Wu Zetian and Pei Yan were considered to be the number one and two in command of power, while he was just a small local official who could not speak out and would be accused of deceiving the emperor.

  Pei Yan finished reading "A Song of Jiang Shang Yin", and hastily turned to the second one, which was "Spring Outing on West Lake in Hangzhou", but suddenly froze.

  "This can't be right... This can't be right... The two tunes are completely different..." Pei Yan looked at the identical handwriting, yet the styles of the poems were vastly different, and suddenly shook his head slightly, as if in disbelief.

  "Old Master?" Wu Zetian was dissatisfied with Pei Yan's words of returning power to the Emperor, but she still held him in high esteem. After all, Pei Yan's reputation as a talented scholar was not undeserved. Although she had also read extensively, she was just a woman, whereas Pei Yan had spent decades studying and mastering the classics.

  Pei Yan ignored Wu Zetian, gazing at the poem with furrowed brows, and once again took out the poem written on the riverbank: "Inspiration flows from my brush as I shake the Five Peaks, My poem is complete, laughing proudly above the vast expanse. Fame and wealth will last forever, The Han River should also flow northwest."

  "Good!" Pei Yan's sudden and loud praise, as if no one was around, caused the officials to be in an uproar instantly.

  "Later on, the poet is no ordinary person. If he was indeed eight years old, then it would be a heavenly gift to the sage, like Zhuge Liang."

  "We must ask you, is there anything hidden in your words?" Wu Zetian asked Chen Xuan again with a hint of agitation.

  "I dare not have the slightest concealment!"

  "The Empress, I am a scholar of the classics and my writing may be biased. Perhaps it would be better to let our colleagues who are scholars of the modern script take a look."

  The empress heard this and nodded slightly. Pei Yan's words were not unreasonable, so she immediately said: "All of you, my dear officials, are there any among you who have come from the imperial examination?"

  Minister of Works

  Minister of Personnel

  "The Minister of Henan Transportation"

  Another person hesitated for a moment and then stepped forward, saying: "I am the supervising censor." This man was none other than Cui Zha, the supervising censor who had been watching Pei Yan coldly for a long time.

  At that moment, all officials who were jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) stood out on the court. With a single order from Empress Wu, they rushed forward without regard for etiquette and surrounded Pei Yan, staring at him intensely.

  "Hiss... this poem..." Someone's eyes widened in shock and took a deep breath.

  "No way! No way!" Someone shook his head with a look of madness on his face.

  "What a beautiful scene of green willows and white sandy beach!"

  "This line is formidable! With such a broad mind, the poem becomes a proud smile beyond the blue continent..."

  The officials who were unable to move forward to watch also secretly anxiously, occasionally raising their heads to look around, and for a time, this imperial court which was originally still solemn and unusual due to the rebellion, actually became somewhat comical.

  "That's enough!"

  Wu Zetian shouted, and these officials retreated in a hurry.

  Pei Yan handed the poem back to Wu Zetian, who took it and looked at the three big characters "Tang Qubing" on it, with a flash of unusual color in her eyes.

  "What does everyone think?"

  "Great talent"

  "Spanning heaven and earth"

  "If you were really eight years old, you would be a literary genius, reincarnated as Zhuge Liang, a sage bestowed by heaven!"

  Chen Yunsheng listened to these big shots' seven mouths and eight tongues of praise, suddenly delighted, knowing that there was hope for the matter.

  "Chen Yunsheng!"

  "Your subject is here!" Chen Yunsheng's heart skipped a beat when he heard the Emperor address him by name.

  "We hereby relieve you of your post as Governor of Huainan and appoint you as Imperial Censor of Jiangnan"

  "Your subject thanks Your Majesty for heavenly grace!" Chen Yunshang heard this and immediately was overjoyed, knocking his head to the ground.

  "I give you a deadline of 100 days to bring this Tang Guo's illness before me. If there is even a hint of deception, the entire clan will be executed!"

  "A hundred days!" Chen Yunsheng's face turned red with excitement, but the time was too rushed. He had traveled by water and land to get here, taking just over two months, not to mention the back-and-forth journey. Now it was the depths of winter, and he feared that the northern route would already be impassable.

  "Your subject... has received your orders!" Chen Yunshang did not dare to refute, fortunately Wu Zetian's next sentence made him breathe a sigh of relief.

  "Grant you the Tiger Tally for safe passage, and may you travel freely through all stations within the pass!"

  The officials were suddenly in an uproar, and the Empress Dowager issued a series of edicts seeking wise men, but she did not expect that they would be so eager. At the same time, those ministers who had read Tang Guan's poetry also secretly savored it, and the age of eight shocked them - such poetry actually came from an eight-year-old child!

  But the Supervising Censor Cui Cha looked at Pei Yan again, then glanced at the Empress with a pleased expression on her face, and swallowed back what he was about to say. Tang Guan must have heard this name before - Cui Cha was the official who reported Pei Yan's disloyal intentions to Wu Zetian, and in history, Pei Yan indirectly died at his hands.

  The reason is precisely because of Pei Yan's previous words "returning power to the emperor"!

  Tang Guan this small butterfly finally set off the first layer of effect, the whole court was shocked by two poems, and actually erased Cui Cha's as if it never existed.