It's the official sedan. The government officials in front of the official sedan carry signs such as "Quiet" and "Avoid". They shout in front of them as they walk, blow gongs to clear the way, and call for war.

Today, the Minister of the Song Dynasty, Zuo Pushe, and Zhang Dun, the servant of the powerful family, came to Cai Jing's residence in a light sedan.

"Later-born Cai Jing greets the Grand Prime Minister." Cai Jing, who was dressed in casual clothes, had been waiting at the middle gate with his eldest son Cai You for a long time. Cai Jing respectfully bowed his hands and saluted.

"Cai Chengzhi doesn't need to be polite." Zhang Dun nodded, looked at Cai You and asked, "Who is this...?"

"Quinzi You." Cai Jing replied with a smile.

"What a handsome young man." Zhang Dun praised him.

Although Cai You looks more frail, his appearance still follows that of his father, with fine features and handsome eyes, and he still looks like a jade tree facing the wind.

"Thank you so much, Grand Prime Minister, please come in." Cai Jing thanked him with a smile, and then welcomed Zhang Dun into the mansion.

Zhang Dun is around sixty years old, and Cai Jing is around fifty years old. Both of them are past their prime, but they are both from aristocratic families, knowledgeable and good at writing. At the same time, they were both handsome and tall when they were young.

Although he has reached middle age, his prowess has not diminished, and some shadows of his youth are still left behind.

The two walked side by side, walking unhurriedly and very gracefully.

What a pair of charming old husbands... everyone in the Cai Mansion secretly thought.

Entering the living room, after the two parties exchanged greetings for a while, the guests and hosts took their seats. Cai Jing picked up a bowl of tea and asked, "I wonder why Mr. Zhang came to this place?"

"I'm in a good mood today. I'm so excited to visit Cai Chengzhi. I wonder if it's rude?" Zhang Dun asked with a smile.

"Mr. Zhang is so late in his life!" Cai Jing said quickly: "Mr. Zhang, out of all his opportunities, came to the humble house with great power. The humble house is full of brilliance. Isn't it an outrageous move?"

"Haha" Zhang Dun couldn't help but smile and said: "I recently heard that Cai Chengzhi has a new work, so I came here to ask Cai Chengzhi for some calligraphy. I wonder if I can give it to you?"

The gathering of stars in the literary world of the Song Dynasty triggered a trend of combining literati painting and calligraphy. From the emperor to the common people, they especially loved to study calligraphy and painting. As the saying goes, "There are many arts and there is no burden on the body." The talented Cai Jing practiced calligraphy and painting while studying scriptures.

Brother Cai Xiang gave him all his money.

At this time, Cai Jing's regular script was restrained, his running script was bold and bold, his brushwork was charming, steady, and his momentum was extraordinary and unique.

Cai Jing is not only excellent at calligraphy, but his painting can also be called a masterpiece. Whether he is painting mountains, water, or flowers, birds and figures, he can combine things and give them shapes, and he can do it at will.

its physiology.

At this time, Cai Jingzuo was the first to be praised by the people in the capital. If he happened to get it, he would regard it as a treasure, and even the princes and ministers would pay a lot of money to get it.

"Wan Sheng's humble work is just random scribbling." Cai Jing said humbly: "Since Mr. Zhang values ​​​​so much, Wan Sheng will show his shame today."

Without Cai Jing's instructions, Cai You walked out of the room and after a moment ordered someone to prepare pens, inks, paper and inkstones.

People say that Cai Jing's life is very particular, and now it seems that it is indeed the case. Zhang Dun sipped the tea slowly, watching Cai Jing and his son busy, and thought to himself.

Although Cai Jing tried his best to hide that the clothes he wore were ordinary silk fabrics, the clues could be seen from the four treasures of his study.

The brush is a deer-hair brush made by the Zhuge brothers in Xuancheng. It is the best brush in the world. One brush can rival several or even dozens of other brushes. Not only the brush, but also the pen holding the brush is made of gold.

, it is also decorated with several

Suihou beads the size of longan.

The ink is called "Suanni ink", and the "Suanni ink" added with the fragrance of dragon and musk deer is made from Pan Gu, who is known as the "Ink Fairy". It is actually a divine ink. Cai and his son have not yet begun to research it.

Mo and Zhang Dun smelled a faint fragrance in the air, which was refreshing.

The paper laid flat on the wooden table is Chengxintang paper produced in Sichuan. It is also an extremely precious paper and is known as the "King of Paper".

The inkstone used by Cai Jing is also extremely valuable. It is the Ge Xian inkstone from Fangcheng County, Tangzhou. Under the rays of sunlight coming in from the wooden window, the Ge Xian inkstone is like jade and jade, like a mirror, and the ink is like clear mud and is not slippery, even if it is slightly polished.

After all, the ink has gone down but is not hot enough to cause bubbles.

Next to the Ge Xian inkstone, there is an inkstone made of jade, but it is abandoned and is only used for viewing. The reason is that as everyone in the know knows, the jade inkstone has a high hardness and is not easy to produce ink, so it is only for viewing, not suitable for studying ink.

Cai You, who was grinding ink on the side, slowly poured the grinded ink into the jade inkstone.

Although the pens, ink, paper, and inkstones used by the Cai family and his son were extremely valuable, the imperial censor could not grasp the leverage of the Cai family and his son...

The literati spent a lot of money to buy valuable pens, inks, paper and inkstones. This is something that ordinary people can do, let alone Cai Jing, the brother of Cai Bian, the deputy prime minister of the imperial court?

This was one of Cai Jing's brilliance, and Zhang Dun sighed inwardly.

After Cai Jing splashed ink and burned incense, he completed a calligraphy and painting of "green pines welcoming guests". He took out his private seal and stamped it with his own seal.

"It's embarrassing to be born late." Cai Jing put down his brush, washed his hands and said with a smile.

"Cai Chengzhi's paintings are indeed extraordinary and are truly masterpieces." Although Zhang Dun disapproved of Cai Jing, he still sincerely admired Cai Jing's calligraphy and painting.

"What Zhang Gong said is that Wan Sheng is extremely frightened." Cai Jing cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Since Zhang Gong likes it, Wan Sheng will have it framed and sent to the Grand Prime Minister's mansion."

"That would be disrespectful to me." Zhang Dun then touched his long beard and said with a smile: "It is not polite to come and not to go back. Cai Chengzhi said this, and I will give you something in return. Come, please bring it up."

Now that the business was about to begin, Cai Jing secretly thought to himself that this time Zhang Dun came to Cai's house for more than just asking for Cai Jing's calligraphy treasure. He must have had other motives.

But what surprised Cai Jing and his son was that what Zhang Dun ordered people to bring up was a box of fruit...

While Cai Jing and his son were surprised, Zhang Dun pointed to the fruits that were brought up and said: "This box of fruits and vegetables comes from Xibo. It is an extremely rare seedless pomegranate. It is said that the taste is extremely sweet. I don't want to have it all to myself, so I invite Cai Chengzhi to come with me."

How about tasting it with me?"

Seedless pomegranate? Pomegranates are common, but the Cai family and his son have never heard of the childless pomegranate, let alone eaten it. At this time, although Cai Jing was still puzzled, he was so kind that he neither dared nor wanted to.

It was a gift from a prime minister of the current dynasty, so Cai Jing happily accepted this box of seedless pomegranates from the Western Regions.

After the two parties had a pleasant conversation for half an hour, Zhang Dun took his leave, and Cai Jing respectfully sent him out of the house.

"Sir, what does he mean?" Cai You held a pomegranate and looked left and right, unable to guess what Zhang Dun meant.

The pomegranate in Cai You's hand was no different from ordinary pomegranates except that it was slightly larger. This made Cai You puzzled.

"Cut it open and take a look." Cai Jing thought for a while and said.

Hearing this, Cai You came over with a Bing knife, cut the pomegranate in half, looked at it carefully and asked

He said: "Sir, are you still looking the same?"

Not only is the appearance of pomegranates not much different from other pomegranates, but the inside is also the same. Not only does it have seeds, but there are also many seeds, just like other pomegranates.

Cai Jing stood up and walked back and forth a few steps with a solemn expression, as if he had something important to decide.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Cai You asked doubtfully.

"Da Lang, what color do you think is inside this thing?" After a moment, Cai Jing did not answer, but asked Cai You.

"Jiangse...ah?" Cai You somewhat understood, so he stammered and asked.

"That's right, it's crimson." Cai Jing nodded and said, "In my dynasty, who can wear crimson clothes? No one dares to do this except today."

"Sir, you mean...he is referring to Jinshang?" Cai You asked in surprise.

"Well..." Cai Jing nodded and responded: "Childless Pomegranate, he means that he has no children today."

In fact, it is not that Zhao Xu was childless, Zhao Xu still had a son and four daughters, but his only son, Zhao Mao, died three months after he was born. After that, he could no longer produce a son, so he has always been Zhao Xu's.

Heart disease is also Song's heart disease.

"He...what does this mean?" Cai You asked in a trembling voice: "Even if I don't have any children now, I will have one sooner or later in my youth. What exactly does he mean?"

"It's easier said than done." Cai Jing said in a low voice: "It is difficult to recover from illness today, and the dragon's body is getting worse day by day. If it is true... Mr. Zhang refers to deer as horses and is doing things to prepare for a rainy day, I have to admire his deep meaning as a father."

"Sir, does he mean to talk to you...?" Cai You pressed the wooden door of the study room uneasily and asked in a low voice.

Matters involving the emperor's heir are not much different from licking blood from a knife. If you don't pay attention, you will be wiped out. Of course, it is also possible to reach the sky in one step.

As a result, the voices of Cai's father and son's conversation became smaller and smaller, almost inaudible.

Cai Jing nodded.

"Sir, if it is true...that is the case, who do you think can sit in that position? Zhang...who do you think it is?" Cai You continued to ask.

"I still don't understand what Zhang Gong thinks." Cai Jing replied: "But the person that my father thinks he can do is only one of King Shen, King Duan, and King Jian."

Zhao Xu had no children. Zhao Xu, Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, had fourteen sons, among whom he died early. Currently, there are six sons alive including Zhao Xu, including nine sons, Zhao Ji, the king of Shen, Zhao Ji, the eleventh son, Duan Wang, and the thirteenth son.

Zijian Wang Zhao Si and others, among them Shen Wang Zhao Bai is the oldest among Shenzong's descendants except Zhao Xu.

"Sir, if this is the case, what should we do?" Cai You asked again.

Cai Jing thought for a while and then said: "In this case, I will make friends with the three kings, Dalang, Erlang, and Sanlang. Your three brothers will go and make friends with the three kings separately. This matter will be done in secret."

"My child understands." Cai You responded.

"I don't know exactly what Mr. Zhang means." Cai Jing continued, "But the most important thing at the moment is still in the palace. It is up to my father to sort out the reasons for this matter."

"Where is Mr. Zhang? What should I do?" Cai You asked.

"I have my own thoughts on this matter," Cai Jing replied.

Cai You nodded and finally asked: "Why did you deliberately use these precious Four Treasures of the Study today?"
Chapter completed!