Chapter 282 Nonsense
Xuan Jiu took it with both hands, rubbed the paper with his hands first, felt it carefully, and soon came to a preliminary conclusion.
"This paper is made of qingtan."
As he said this, he took a cushion and threw it on the ground, then knelt on the cushion and put the paper on the ground, while introducing it.
"This type of paper can be divided into three types based on the degree of ink absorption: raw, cooked, and semi-cooked."
As he said this, he stood up again to get the pen and ink, knelt on the cushion again, dipped the brush in ink, and dripped a few drops onto the paper.
After the ink completely soaked the paper and he observed it for a moment, a look of understanding flashed in Xuan Jiu's eyes, and he picked up the paper and said.
"Dean, this is half-cooked paper."
Tear off a strip and observe the tear.
"The skin is mostly sandalwood, so it is pure skin."
Xuan Jiu placed the paper horizontally in front of his eyes and smoothed it with his hands, observing the thickness.
"Looking at the thickness, it is the second layer."
Chen Pingping closed his eyes, shook his head and moved his neck while listening quietly.
"The paper pattern is...Double Silk Road."
He took another small piece of paper, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and spit it out.
"In addition to rice straw, the auxiliary materials also include mulberry and hemp. This is the craftsmanship of Hexi Dao! This kind of paper is not considered top-grade and is not often used in Kyoto."
Having said that, Xuan Jiu looked up at Chen Pingping and asked.
"Dean, is this order large?"
Chen Pingping stopped shaking his neck but did not open his eyes. He took a deep breath with a smile on his face.
"All over the city."
Xuan Jiu's eyes moved, and after a little thought, he spoke.
"There's only one store in the whole city that has this much stock."
Chen Pingping suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him.
Xuan Jiu looked at him and nodded.
……
Time is brought back to the present.
Chen Pingping looked at Fan Xian in front of him and smiled.
"In the whole of Kyoto, only your Danbo Bookstore received this batch of goods, so you are the mastermind behind this."
"..."
Fan Xian was speechless. Even if he racked his brains, he could not imagine that there would be traces on the paper. What a fuss!
Chen Pingping smiled.
"Don't you have enough money? How did you get such cheap goods?"
Fan Xian raised his eyebrows, spread his hands and said helplessly.
"No way. Versace is in charge of this matter. It's his character to save as much as possible."
After a pause, Fan Xian lowered his hands and said.
"In the Overwatch Council, the Eighth Division is the one I usually pay the least attention to. I didn't expect that."
Chen Pingping smiled, pushed his wheelchair to the side, and spoke at the same time.
"The Overwatch Council was built by your mother. Don't underestimate it."
If he didn't take it seriously before, now he took it very seriously. Fan Xian threw down the watering can and walked towards the same side.
"Do many people know about this?"
The two met from the side, and Fan Xian asked worriedly.
Chen Pingping stopped his wheelchair and shook his head gently.
"No one knows. I pressed the button. Is what's written on it true or false?"
Now that things have come to this, there is nothing to hide, Fan Xian said frankly.
"The private relationship is fake, betraying Yan Bingyun is real."
"how do you know?"
"I heard it with my own ears."
Chen Pingping suddenly laughed.
"What did you hear when you broke into the palace that night?"
Fan Xian already knew that he knew about this, so he didn't find it strange and nodded obediently.
"Ah."
Chen Pingping put away his smile, leaned forward and asked curiously in a low voice.
"Do you want to attack the eldest princess?"
Fan Xian shrugged.
"She wanted to kill me, and it wasn't just once or twice. I can't just sit there and wait for death."
Chen Pingping leaned back and asked again.
"Why didn't you tell me when I asked you before?"
Fan Xian replied honestly.
"I'm afraid of causing you trouble. She is a royal after all, so I want to try it myself first. I'll tell you if it doesn't work."
Chen Pingping nodded and said no more. After thinking for a while, he said.
"It's not enough to just make incitement, there has to be evidence!"
Fan Xian said without hesitation.
"I've thought about it. There's one person who is the breakthrough point in this matter."
"Minister of Rites, Guo Youzhi!"
Chen Pingping smiled and gave him the answer.
Fan Xian's eyes widened.
"how do you know?"
Chen Pingping smiled and said softly.
"I've heard about how the father and son deliberately targeted you several times during that night banquet. According to Guo Baokun, Zhuang Mohan framed you, and he knew about it before."
"If the princess wants to contact Zhuang Mohan, there must be an intermediary in the court. Guo Baokun is not qualified, so this person must be his father, Guo Youzhi!"
Fan Xian suddenly realized.
“So you thought of that, too.”
Chen Pingping looked at him and spoke softly.
"I care about your business."
Fan Xian temporarily suppressed the emotion in his heart and spoke.
"But this is just speculation. I have a way to prove that there is a connection between Zhuang Mohan and Guo Youzhi."
Chen Pingping continued his words.
"Zhuang Mohan disappeared when he first came to Kyoto?" "You know about that?"
Fan Xian was almost used to it.
Chen Pingping smiled and continued speaking.
"Ah, from what we can see now, Zhuang Mohan did meet the princess, so there must be someone who wanted to conceal his presence and take him away from his residence."
Fan Xian suggested.
"You can check who Zhuang Mohan met that day."
"We have checked, Guo Youzhi is among them."
"..."
Fan Xian took a breath and tilted his head.
"You should know what I'm going to say next."
"Let me think about it. Let me think about it. Haha."
Chen Pingping smiled with his eyes narrowed, just like an old fox.
"Well... these are not enough, we need witnesses!"
"Have you found any witnesses?"
Fan Xian felt that since Chen Pingping had thought of this, he should have already sent people to do it, so there was no need to wait.
As expected, Chen Pingping said with a smile.
"We caught his driver and he confessed everything. He did secretly take Zhuang Mohan away that night and sent him all the way to the palace. Someone picked him up in the harem."
Fan Xian nodded.
"We have done what we should do. What do you want to do next?"
Chen Pingping looked at him and changed his position from leaning towards the left handrail to the right.
"I should ask you, what do you want to do? I'll listen to you."
Fan Xian pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice.
"I want her to get out of Kyoto!"
Chen Pingping smiled.
"Okay, I'll find a way to make sure you get what you want!"
……
After a hearty morning of poetry exchanges, both Mei Cheng'an and his son gained a lot.
Mei Zhili looked as if he had eaten a big meal, his face was flushed and he was in a very happy mood.
Mei Cheng'an also felt very relaxed and comfortable, and it was not just to make his father happy.
Talking about excellent poetry and literature is interesting in itself, and it is a kind of spiritual pleasure.
It was also the first time that Mei Cheng'an truly felt that top literature could have such an intuitive and profound charm.
The review session was over, the study door opened, and the father and son only learned what had happened in the outside world before leaving for the dining hall.
After reading the contents of the flyers they picked up from the street, the father and son looked up at each other.
Mei Zhili looked at the flyer again, his eyes full of caution.
"This is going to be a big deal."
Mei Chengan thought to himself that something big was indeed going to happen. How could it not be considered a big deal if there was a princess and a second-rank official, the Minister of Rites?
After a long silence, Mei Zhili thought for a while and then gave an instruction.
"Don't talk about these things when you go out, and don't discuss them with others. We can't get involved in this matter. Let's wait and see what happens."
Mei Chengan nodded obediently.
"Listen to dad."
……
After a quiet lunch, Mei Chengan returned to his own courtyard.
Sitting at the desk, putting aside all distractions, he opened the reply letter from his wife Roujia that he had received in the morning and began to read it.
Roujia had too many curiosity and questions about that dinner, and in the letter she strongly expressed her regret for not being able to see it in person.
Regarding the drama in the first half that questioned Fan Xian's cheating, Roujia wrote a lot of her own guesses and thoughts based on the details written by Mei Cheng'an in the letter. You know what, it's quite close to the facts.
Mei Cheng'an silently gave his wife a thumbs up in his heart.
Regarding the climax of the night banquet, the part where Fan Xian recited poetry while drunk, Roujia expressed her disbelief.
Mei Chengan almost burst out laughing when he heard his wife say that one should not judge a person by his appearance.
My silly wife, is this how this word is used?
When he saw his wife expressing some dissatisfaction with the poetry competition between him and Fan Xian, and thinking that he should have come up with the questions and let Fan Xian take them up, Mei Cheng'an couldn't stop laughing again.
I'm giving my younger brother a poem and asking him to take it. It's really the opposite of what I thought! I'll give my cousin some advice later and ask her to make it difficult for him so that he won't know his place!
These were Roujia's original words. On the contrary, she learned the word Tiangang from Mei Cheng'an.
In her opinion, before the night banquet, Mei Cheng'an was undoubtedly the top figure in the literary world, and Fan Xian was just a junior. His behavior at the night banquet was indeed a bit confusing between the big and small kings.
Just by reading the letter, he could imagine his wife clenching her fists and looking angry while writing the letter. Mei Chengan smiled as if he was going to get rich.
Although Mei Cheng'an didn't care about what she said, how could he not love his wife when she cared so much about her?
After finishing the part about the night banquet, what follows is about her daily life and some sweet words about missing him.
Mei Chengan's heart almost melted when he saw this. It's no use. Until tomorrow!
I will go find my wife early tomorrow morning!
After carefully putting away the letter, Mei Chengan lay down on the bed.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to go today, but... there’s a high probability that Guo Youzhi will get into trouble this afternoon, and he wants to go and appease Guo Shao.
This father and son, ah, it's fate, what can they do...
As he was thinking, Mei Chengan fell asleep.
……
afternoon.
Royal study room.
Emperor Qing threw the evidence handed over by Chen Pingping in front of the eldest princess.
"See for yourself."
The eldest princess, who was wearing an elegant black dress, was silent for a moment, then slowly took two steps forward, picked up the letter on the ground, opened it and began to read.
In the memorial, the words "Minister of Rites Guo Youzhi", "Zhuang Mohan", "coachman" and so on were specially highlighted in red.
After closing the letter, the princess smiled, looked up at Emperor Qing and said softly.
"Guo Youzhi is indeed my disciple, and I did meet Zhuang Mohan that day."
Emperor Qing looked at her quietly, with a hint of doubt in his tone.
"You plead guilty?"
The eldest princess explained without changing her expression.
"Zhuang Mohan is a great master in the literary world. I was confused when I read ancient Chinese texts. I invited him here just to ask for advice in person. The matter of betraying Yan Bingyun is nonsense!"
……
(End of this chapter)
