Chapter Seventy: The Brushstrokes of the Book Saint

  Seeing Taiping Princess's slightly strange smile, Tang Guan's heart skipped a beat.

  The scene was strange, Wu Sansi kept glancing at Shangguan Wan'er, while Shangguan Wan'er stared at Li Dan, and Li Dan quietly paid attention to himself.

  "Wait, why is Li Dan staring at me? What's going on here?" Tang Guan couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart, unable to understand why this "soft" emperor had suddenly become "hard" and was staring at him.

  He didn't care much about where Shangguan Wan'er and Xie Yun were going, after all, in Tang's impression, the two seemed to have no relationship, it was likely that there were some unknown details.

  Moreover, upon closer observation with his peripheral vision, Yuwen Wenyu's face wasn't a foolish expression, but rather an extremely unusual one.

  Xue Yi sat down and kept looking outside the hall, waiting for his precious son Xue Shao. Tang Guan was just a cover-up, and the real purpose was to get engaged.

  Tang Guan also had some interest in Xue Shao, a man who was extremely indecisive in his understanding. If it weren't for the relationship with the Xue family, he would have no chance of getting close to him.

  Of course, the most popular saying is that he and Taiping Princess are in love. If you still believed in the previous Tang crown, then now this statement would naturally be disdained. Think about it, Taiping Princess's arrogance today, even her own nine-year-old son is not taken seriously, let alone Xue Shao.

  Most of the reasons still come from Wu Zetian's political needs, but whether the two people have a long-standing relationship afterwards, Tang Guan doesn't know.

  Just as everyone had their own thoughts, a young man walked into the hall from outside the door.

  Tang Guan looked over and saw that the person had a full forehead, looking to be around twenty years old. He was quite handsome, but upon closer inspection, he couldn't be described as refined.

  Xue Shao bowed his head and said: "Your subject Xue Shao pays respects to the Heavenly Queen and to Your Majesty."

  "Is this Xue Shao?" Tang Guan also sized him up.

  "Relax."

  Xue Shao stood up, looked at the Tang crown on the imperial case, and was slightly stunned. Although he had heard that this little champion was deeply favored by the Empress of Heaven, he did not expect to be so favored.

  "Did General hear you want to meet Little Zhang?" Wu Zetian spoke again.

  "After returning to the capital, I have long heard of the great reputation of the Number One Scholar, but unfortunately had no chance to meet him."

  Wu Zetian heard this and smiled lightly, saying: "Now that you've seen him, what do you want to say to the sick prince?"

  "Haha, good question, aren't you thinking of seeing me?" Tang Guan was delighted to hear this and looked at Xue Shao to see what he would say.

  Xue Shao was indeed stunned by the words and hesitated on the spot, casting a pleading glance at Xue Jing.

  At this scene, Princess Taiping frowned and muttered in a low voice: "Really useless..."

  At the age of nine, Tang Guan was already bold enough to chat and laugh with the civil and military officials in the court. Now that Xue Shao is also at the age of majority, he becomes speechless when asked a question, making it hard not to compare and feel embarrassed.

  Xue Yi also felt embarrassed, and the father and son's intention was not to praise Tang Guan. He immediately stood up, bowed his head and said: "I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I am not good at speaking, seeing the champion scholar is inevitable self-abasement, unable to speak, still hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

  Wu Zetian saw this and slightly shook her head. She had met Xue Shao twice before, but he hadn't been so wooden then.

  Li Dan also looked at this father and son with a smile that was not quite a smile, Xue Gui felt even more embarrassed, fortunately Wu Zetian said after a moment: "Take a seat."

  Xue Yi then thanked him and pulled Xue Shao to sit with himself.

  Xue Shao sat down and couldn't help but steal a glance at Princess Taiping on the other side, seeing her charming appearance, he was dazed.

  Princess Taiping saw him staring straight at her and didn't dodge, she coldly snorted and looked back, Xue Shao hastily lowered his head.

  This scene fell into the eyes of a thoughtful person, and it was another shake of the head.

  "This person doesn't have too much going on." Only Tang Guan felt a surge of joy in her heart, these women's personalities were all over the place, finally seeing someone normal made her extremely happy.

  He was afraid that another weirdo would emerge beyond his control, fortunately Xue Shao really didn't have much discrepancy with the historical records.

  Wu Zetian saw that everyone's cups were empty and glanced at Li Dan beside her. Li Dan, seeing this, whispered a few words to Wu Zetian, who nodded slightly.

  Shangguan Wan'er, seeing the situation, stepped forward, bowed her head and body, Wu Zetian gave her two orders, she blushed and looked at Tang Guan.

  "Your Majesty, that calligraphy..."

  Tang Guan also perked up his ears, unfortunately didn't hear the whole thing, only saw Shangguan Wan'er's face change several times, and then quietly retreated to the back of the hall.

  Tang Guan saw her leave and didn't think much of it. She stared at Li Dan from behind, which made herself uncomfortable instead.

  Wu Zetian gazed at Tang Guan with a seemingly smiling yet not quite smiling expression, then spoke up: "Let the banquet begin!"

  The palace maidens heard this and swarmed out, in an instant a fragrant aroma wafted in, making people's fingers move with desire.

  "Haha, finally time to eat!"

  Only saw a variety of exquisite dishes placed in front of him, Tang Guan stared at them without blinking, but his own table was still empty.

  "What's going on?"

  As Gong E exited, everyone's table had dishes on them, but only his own table was empty, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

  The officials present did not think much of it and turned their attention to this side, knowing that the second part of the Flower Exploration Banquet was about to begin.

  In the past, those who passed the imperial examination together, especially those who ranked in the top three, often stayed and played together until they went to their respective posts.

  One of them is that after the imperial examination, there is another test. If one performs well, even a third-place winner can get more benefits than the champion.

  Although Tang Guan is now a lone commander, attending the banquet alone, this test cannot be avoided.

  Tang Guan saw everyone looking at himself and was taken aback for a moment.

  "Ah, it seems this meal isn't free after all." Seeing everyone's expressions, Tang Guan suddenly realized something.

  Indeed, Wu Zetian saw that the menu had been decided and said to Li Dan: "Since the emperor has arrived, then you should come up with the theme for the Flower Exploration Banquet."

  Li Dan seemed to have discussed it with her beforehand, and nodded immediately, smiling at Tang Guan: "Little champion, I know that your poetry and articles are all first-rate, so I won't test you on these."

  The officials present were interested in what they heard, and it was unusual that no poetry or articles were examined.

  "Damn you, it seems that poem didn't scold you enough. Your mom is so shameless and you're really stupid."

  Tang Guanzhong was dissatisfied in his heart and kept complaining, which is very strange for the mother-son relationship. After all, Li Dan is Wu Zetian's biological son, although he has yielded to the throne three times, he still managed to keep himself safe in more than a dozen coups.

  Although he was indeed "wronged", Tang Gao knew that he had a son who would one day become the great Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji!

  Tang Guan had gone a whole day without eating, just to come here and have a big meal. Who would have thought that after drinking a big mouthful of vinegar, he'd still be tested by someone? He was rather indignant, but his face didn't change expression.

  At this moment, Shang Guan Wan'er came in from the side door again, still holding a scroll in her hand, and slowly walked forward.

  Wu Zetian nodded slightly, and Li Dan carefully took it from her hand.

  "Then he said: 'Little champion, do you know what this thing is?'"

  He said as he carefully opened the scroll, looking like it was extremely precious, as if it were a treasure.

  Tang Guan heard the words and looked away carelessly at first, but then suddenly became serious, furrowing his brow.

  " Wang Xizhi!" Then Tang Guan lost his voice.

  It turned out to be a calligraphy painting, with the strokes of the characters resembling dragons and snakes. The paper itself was not from this world. What caught the eye most was the boldness of the writing, like an unsheathed sharp sword. A connoisseur could see the three flavors in it at a glance.

  "No, Wang Xizhi's handwriting isn't so tyrannical." Tang Guan immediately shook his head slightly again. Of course, he hadn't seen the real thing before, but he had seen hand copies.

  Li Dan saw Tang Guan and first exclaimed, then shook his head, laughing: "Indeed it is the calligraphy of the Saint of Books, only that it is from his younger years."

  Tang Guan's eyelid twitched upon hearing this, and it was actually a genuine work of the Book Saint. He didn't know what kind of test this mother-son duo wanted to give him.

  "Little champion, you just look here."

  Tang Guan heard this and looked up, most of the people present were civil officials, some also raised their heads to look.

  "What's missing a word?" Tang Guan found that it was a short poem, but there was one less in the middle, like damaged and repaired paper, which was not much different from the surrounding paper.

  Wu Zetian sighed lightly and said: "It's been a long time, I got this character when it was already damaged."

  Tang Guan heard this and was overjoyed, "It can't be that I'm being asked to fill in the blanks, right?"

  Li Dan said, "The talent of the top scholar is obvious to everyone. I have also read your two poems and indeed they have the style of a famous family. Let me test you with just one word."

  The officials looked at each other in surprise, never expecting it to be Tang Guan's supplementary character.

  As soon as this was said, it happened to hit the nail on the head of Tang Guan, who thought he was more powerful than a printing press and thought they would come up with some difficult questions.

  But he didn't rush to write, and thought of Chen Yunsheng's previous entrustment, asking in a low voice: "If the illness is supplemented, Tian Hou may agree to a request from a humble minister."

  Wu Zetian was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "If you really make up for it, then there's nothing to worry about."

  The officials were shocked to hear this, Tang Guan had already surprised them many times before, and now the Empress Dowager was boasting about him, what if he really succeeded, would they have to make him a prime minister too?

  Fortunately, Wu Zetian added: "As long as it is a reasonable thing."

  The officials then secretly let out a sigh of relief, but each person's heart was still trembling with fear. To be able to make such a promise was already a great honor and privilege.

  Tang Guan smiled slightly and said: "What's so difficult about this? Trouble you, sister, to bring me a pen and ink."

  Shangguan Wanyou was taken aback by the words, and seeing Tang Guan's unfamiliar expression, she couldn't help but feel a little suspicious in her heart, but still turned around to fetch the pen and ink.

  Tang Guan took it over and didn't forget to thank him. Wu Zetian couldn't help but glance at the two of them.

  Below that, Princess Taiping was also attracted to it. Before that, she had only heard about the various deeds of Tang Guan, but now she wanted to see him make up for the missing Book of Saints with her own eyes, and she couldn't help but feel interested.

  "Hmph, this kid will definitely show his true colors." Taiping Princess still didn't quite believe in Tang Guan's talent, thinking he was just a temporary favorite of Wu Zetian, who had lifted him up to the sky.

  On the other side, Xue Shao saw Taiping Princess paying attention to Tang Guan and secretly glanced at her. If Tang Guan had seen it, she would have also sighed: "What a wonderful silk."

  But Tang Guan didn't have this leisurely mind, picked up his pen and looked at the strokes again.

  He raised his head again and said: "Your Majesty, Tiān Hòu Niáng Niáng promised me one thing, can you also promise me one thing?"

  Li Dan was taken aback by her words and looked at Wu Zetian beside him. Seeing that she nodded slightly, he smiled and said, "Good."

  Tang Guan's face lit up with joy, "Hey, this foolish emperor can sometimes be deceived."

  Shangguan Wan'er saw that Tang Guan was not moving her brush, and thought she was going to do something astonishing like last time. As for imitating calligraphy, no one could surpass Shangguan Wan'er. Even Tang Guan's messy handwriting was imitated by her with great accuracy.

  Fortunately, after Tang Guan hesitated for a moment, he finally started writing.

  Just finished writing a stroke, Shangguan Wan'er couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, and secretly thought: "Wrong!"

  Only under Tang's painting was a horizontal stroke, like a child's scribble, Wu Zetian's face also sank.

  Ke Tang Crown suddenly turned pen style, a stroke of hook and drew a "乙" character.

  "It's done." Tang Guan finished with a flourish, but the several people around him were all stunned.

  Only the characters written by Tang Guan are seen, and the strokes are very different from those above, extremely prominent. The same penmanship has some similarities, but also has places that are completely different.

  Wu Zetian's face suddenly turned gloomy, and the Tang crown was clearly in disarray, but Shangguan Wan'er was still stunned.

  Li Dan gazed at the character for a long time, and just as Wu Zetian was about to erupt in anger, he suddenly exclaimed with great joy: "It's Ouyang Xun's handwriting!?" (Note: Ouyang Xun, courtesy name Xinben)

  Upon hearing this name, Wu Zetian calmed down, and Shangguan Wan'er whispered: "It seems so."

  Tang Guan put down his pen and smiled: "Exactly."

  Wu Zetian gazed at the characters, as if recalling past events. Ouyang Xun was one of the best calligraphers during the reign of Emperor Taizong, and even Emperor Gaozu had praised his writing, saying that it could be understood by people from all corners of the world. It was unexpected that Tang Guan could imitate it so perfectly.

  "This kid really likes to show off." Wu Zetian gazed at Tang Guanzhen, who had been constantly showing off his skills since he started, making him go east and west, but somehow still managing to be self-satisfied.

  The officials who heard the words were somewhat restless, wanting to take a look. Wang Xizhi was too far away, but there was someone in the scene who was from the same era as Ouyang Xun, and his handwriting was loved by people.

  Tang Guan looked at Wu Zetian and saw that there was no anger on her face. He smiled and said, "The minister's writing is not bad, right?"

  Wu Zetian took the calligraphy and painting, shook her head slightly and said: "Ah, Taizong also had Ouyang Xun supplement a book post, now that Ouyang Xun has passed away, I didn't expect there to be someone in the world with handwriting so similar."

  Tang Guan heard the words and secretly let out a breath, although he had an almost extraordinary ability to memorize everything at a glance, but he found that in his haste, he was unable to immediately decipher Wang Xizhi's characters.

  Had no choice but to use the familiar European style to fill the gap, fortunately Wu Zetian did not take it too seriously.

  "Who was Ou Xun originally?" asked Wu Chengsi in a low voice to Wu Sansi.

  Wu Sansi was taken aback by the words and responded: "Ouyang Xun."

  Wu Chengsi nodded slightly upon hearing this, seemingly still not quite understanding, only knowing that Tang Guan had once again surpassed his own "flattery".

  "This guy is more popular than anyone else."

  Wu Chonggui saw the Tang crown on top, lightly and easily grasped, Wu Zetian's heart was delighted, and she couldn't help but sigh in her heart. Later, he glanced at Li Dan again, with a fleeting expression of disdain.

  Princess Taiping suddenly stood up and looked around this way, and the woman beside her hastily pulled her back.

  Wu Zetian's brow furrowed and she said, "Peace."

  "After Mother, I also want to take a look." Taiping Princess made a spoiled expression, Wu Zetian saw the situation and smiled lightly: "Come up here."

  "It is." Princess Taiping heard this and was overjoyed, walking forward with a gentle smile. Xue Shao's gaze also followed her as she moved.

  Taiping Princess is the kind of person who is extremely stunning at first sight, similar to Wu Zetian. On the other hand, Shangguan Wan'er belongs to the type of person who never gets old no matter how many times you look at her, with a subtle and surprising charm in her plainness.

  Princess Taiping first curtsied to Li Dan and said: "Imperial Brother."

  Then he looked at the calligraphy and recognized the handwriting of Tang Guan, "Mother, he's writing nonsense!"

  "It's all right!" Wu Zetian heard the words and frowned slightly, thinking that it was just Taiping Princess's little temper again. Tang Guan also shook his head secretly.

  Actually, Wu Zetian initially thought that the Tang Crown was scribbled randomly, but after careful identification, it was indeed a famous calligrapher's handwriting, and being able to write like this is already not bad.

  But Princess Taiping had just finished speaking and whispered: "Empress, you say that Xue Shao is good every day. He must be able to write better characters than this. Let him write one for me to see."

  Although her voice was not loud, the officials all heard it clearly. Xue Shao was still in a daze, but Xue Ao's face changed greatly. He himself knew how much his son weighed, and although he couldn't see what Tang Guan had written in the European style, it was enough to make Li Dan, this Confucian scholar, lose his voice, so it certainly wouldn't be wrong.

  "Shao'er, Shao'er!" At this, Xue Yi secretly patted Xue Shao, and Xue Shao suddenly came to his senses.

  Wu Zetian listened to Taiping Princess saying this, and seeing her smiling face, glanced at Xue Shao and shook her head: "Taiping, don't be ridiculous, your uncles are all here."

  The Princess Taiping pouted and said: "Mother, Tang Que could become the top scholar, Xue Shao is so good, he must be even more powerful than him."

  "Enough!" Wu Zetian finally lost her temper. Princess Taiping took two steps back, her eyes slightly red.

  "I'm really getting hit no matter what!" Tang Guanxian, who was standing aside, had a schadenfreude expression at first, but then couldn't help but smile bitterly. Taiping Gongzhu made a clean sweep.

  His Highness Xue Shao's face turned red, this time he actually heard clearly, from head to toe he was under pressure, now hearing Princess Taiping say so, eager to try, and knowing that he was not as good as Tang Guan.

  Wu Zetian saw her tearful appearance and waved her sleeve: "Send the princess back to the palace!"

  "After Mother, sister was momentarily playful, you calm down." Li Dan comforted from the side, but Princess Taiping suddenly turned around and ran out.

  Wu Zetian was enraged, and all the officials stood up, "Empress of Heaven, calm your anger!"

  Wu Zetian calmed down at this, of course she couldn't be really that angry, but Taiping Princess's move was undoubtedly a slap in the face for the Xue family. Appearances had to be kept up after all.

  Never thought that her own daughter would be so arrogant.

  The Xue family father and son were already somewhat embarrassed, but after being stirred up by Princess Taiping, they became even more uncomfortable.

  "Retreat!"

  After a long time, Wu Zetian finally spoke coldly. The officials looked at each other and glanced at the dishes on the table that had not been touched. They all looked at Tang Guan, as this night feast was set up for him. No one expected it to end like this. Everyone was guessing that he must have resentment towards Taiping Princess in his heart.

  But they didn't expect that Tang Guan was completely unbothered by this, and only regretted the good food on the table.

  They immediately got up and bid farewell one after another. Xue's father and son didn't want to stay any longer, so they stood up, bowed and walked out of the hall.

  At this time, the originally lively Qilin Hall was left with only four people. Li Dan said softly: "Empress Dowager, calm your anger, I will retire now."

  Wu Zetian nodded slightly upon hearing this, and Li Dan glanced at the Tang crown once more before turning to leave.

  Shangguan Wan'er saw this and wanted to speak but stopped herself, watching Li Dan leave the palace.

  Wu Zetian hesitated for a moment, then looked at Tang Guan and said, "Little champion, you've ruined this happy event."

  Tang Guan was taken aback by his words and immediately smiled: "I don't know if Your Majesty's previous words are still valid?"

  Wu Zetian heard this and remembered her promise earlier, nodding: "You're not joking, speak."

  Tang Guan thought for a moment, then spoke directly: "Chen Bo wants to return to Hangzhou to take up his post. As he is still young and in poor health, I'd like to ask the Empress Dowager for a guard to escort him, so as to alleviate the worries of our elders."

  Tang Guan thought deeply and still did not bring up the matter of returning home. He was no fool, he knew that Wu Zetian would never let him go back.

  Or to put it another way, after that imperial court trial, Tang Guan never thought that Wu Zetian would let herself out of sight in a short period of time. At the same time that she expressed what Wu Zetian wanted to do most, she also committed her greatest taboo.

  This is a road of no return, and knocking on the bamboo stick with all one's might is the best choice.

  As expected, Wu Zetian heard this and asked without hesitation: "Who?"

  "Eagle soaring high, always eagle."

  "Chang Ying?" Wu Zetian murmured to herself, seemingly recalling something.

  "Brother Chang's martial arts skills are superb, his loyalty is hard to come by. On the way here to cure the illness, fortunately we had him. Otherwise, we would have fallen into Liu Xun's evil clutches."

  Tang Guan saw Wu Zetian hesitate and did not conceal the truth, telling her the actual situation. He knew that if he didn't speak, Wu Zetian would also go to investigate.

  Wu Zetian nodded and said: "Alright, I agree."

  Tang Guan was overjoyed when he heard the words, while Wu Zetian seemed a bit tired. This night banquet lasted for two hours, and in the end, it ended without joy.

  Tang Guan saw her appearance and knew that she was thinking about how to teach Taiping Princess a lesson when she returned, but what made him inexplicably pleased was that Taiping Princess and Xue Shao seemed to be getting further and further apart.

  "Haha, people are not giving up, it's because you're not firm enough."

  "Wan'er, escort the sick prince out of the palace."

  "Yes." Shangguan Wan'er nodded in agreement.

  "Come with me, young master."

  Tang Guan bowed his head in a salute to Wu Zetian and immediately followed Shangguan Wan'er out of the palace.

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