[Fifteen-year age gap] A passionate young newcomer to politics vs. an elegant chancellor who is both mentor and friend
It was the third year of the Yuanxian era, on a hazy, fragrant spring day with willow catkins floating in the air and green plums hanging from the branches. On the road leading to the Hall of Government Affairs, the green-robed junior official Xue Baoyu, barely past twenty, boldly stepped in front of Chancellor Pei Hong.
“Baoyu came up with two new lines of poetry yesterday, but I cannot find a suitable ending. I humbly ask Your Excellency to help me.
‘The courtyard plum falls in the season of Shaonan, while frost rests in a jade cup, offering wine.’”
She held a delicate white jade cup, with an unripe green plum floating in the clear wine. She was clearly offering the wine to him, yet both her cheeks were flushed, as if she were already drunk.
“Shaonan: Plums in the Air” is one of the famous love poems in the Book of Songs.
Pei Hong sighed inwardly. She should not be a plum waiting for someone to pluck her. She ought to be a pillar of the realm.
At the time, Xue Baoyu could not understand why, after drinking her plum wine, Chancellor Pei had answered with these lines:
“If you would let me stand among the pillars of Lingyan Pavilion, I would be a phoenix bough beyond the ninefold heavens.”
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Many years later, after the regional military governors were subdued and power was returned from the eunuchs, the Tang Dynasty finally regained its golden age.
The female chancellor Pei Wenjun governed the realm, established Lingyan Pavilion, and commissioned portraits of the heroes of old.
In the order of merit, the two chancellors from the Yuanxian era took the top places. One of them, with arched emerald brows and a radiant face, was unmistakably a beautiful woman.
At the opening ceremony, Pei Wenjun gazed at the two figures in the pavilion and silently said:
“Uncle, Master, the realm is at peace and the whole world is flourishing. Can you see it?”
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For a thousand generations, may we stand together in Lingyan Pavilion.
Reader's Guide:
1. This is, broadly speaking, a feel-good, fictionalized story set in the middle to late Tang Dynasty, about a woman disguised as a man who rises through the political ranks and overcomes challenges. However, it contains a substantial amount of romance. The plot and romance are roughly equal in proportion. The early part focuses mainly on the plot, and the romance develops slowly. The romance takes up more space from Volume Two onward. Some institutions from the early Tang period have been adapted to serve the story.
2. Although the heroine disguises herself as a man, she is very beautiful, very beautiful, very beautiful. (Yes, it's that absurd.)
3. The heroine is 20 when she appears, and the hero is 35, an age gap of a full 15 years!!! [In the Tang Dynasty, officials had to follow a strict system of qualifications, and promotions proceeded step by step. It was almost impossible to have a powerful chancellor in his early thirties and a high-ranking minister in her twenties. This story uses feel-good fantasy conventions.]
4. The hero has a deceased wife and no children.
5. The story opens with the heroine already in office. There is no imperial examination arc.
Theme: Successive generations must carry on the struggle to bring lasting peace to the world.
[Notes on Daily Life in the Tang Dynasty on Guanlu] (as of the end of Volume 2) 📜Position (numbered as chapter number-chapter page number. Includes starting time, location, rank, title, unit, salary, official uniform) 🩵1-1 In August of the 13th year of Jianzhen (the story begins, less than half a year after taking office); Fenghai County, Hangzhou, West Zhejiang Province; from the ninth rank; Fenghai County Lieutenant; Fenghai County Yamen; monthly salary of 20 guan + several acres of farmland; black gauze futou + light blue robe + tōu (tōu) stone belt + black leather Liuhe boots 🩵27-22~25 At the end of the 13th year of Jianzhen's reign, he was appointed to Changzhou City, West Zhejiang Province; from the ninth rank; Fenghai County Wei Zhizhi Changzhou Canal Water Transport (Zhicao); Changzhou City knew the Cao Administration Office; monthly salary was the same as before + Ambassador Pei secretly funded 💙65-1 End of July in the 15th year of Jianzhen/the first year of Yuanxian; the eighth rank; supervisory censor; censor's desk; monthly salary of 15 guan + two hectares of land (according to the annual rent of one stone per mu, which is more than ten shi per month. In addition, there is a thousand cash per month for common servants); dark blue round collar robe + stone belt. 💚103-11 In the late spring of the second year of Yuanxian (about March); seventh rank; the imperial censor in the palace was appointed as the deputy envoy of the three financial departments; the censor's platform + the three financial departments; green robe 💚108-4 (ends at 123-19) April of the second year of Yuanxian (until after the Dragon Boat Festival); seventh rank; Xuanwei Disposal Envoy (zhengshi) of Henan Province; Luoyang, the Eastern Capital; green robe ❤️128- Yuanxian three years? Month; from the third rank; serving as censor in the palace, serving as deputy envoy of the three financial departments, governor of Hangzhou; Hangzhou; Feipao 📝Poetry (the number is the chapter number-the chapter page number. Except for those marked * which are written by ancients, the rest are original by the author Ye Xue Hushan. Each poem is accompanied by the first few words of the text for search) Copywriting/128-54 "Untitled" Xue Baoyu (Xue Qunyu), Pei Hong (verse poem) When the plum blossoms in the courtyard fall down in Zhaonan, the ice cup contains frost and jade is recommended. If the light smoke supports the building's wood, the phoenix branches in the nine heavens will appear. 2-7 "Untitled" Xu Wei and Xue Baoyu (duplicate poem) Yuan Zhen Jiao Jiao... 8-5 "Ding You's Impromptu Over the Fields of Jinping Township" by Xue Baoyu Taking photos in the cold pond... 8-6 "Nineteen Ancient Poems: Less than 100 Years of Life"* (Liu Sanbao thought it was written by Li Bai) The birthday is less than 100 years old... 8-6 "Occasional Thoughts on the Way to Drink in the Young Master's Mansion" Liu Sanbao The sun looks like... 11-3 "Viewing List" Xue Baoyu On the list of wealthy families... 11-6 "Hong Ci's Post-Graduate Work" by Xue Baoyu Zimo reopens... 14-14 (Unfinished) Xue Baoyu You all pour out the wine... 14-15, 71-17 "Xia Ke Xing" Li Bai* (Zhou Tai os) (Xue Baoyu os) Three cups of Turano... 14-19 "Untitled" Liu Sanbao Fenghai pool is shallow... 33-13 "Winter White Pavilion Crossing Couplet" Xue Baoyu The official journey is in winter... 37-20 "Recalling Chang'an Song Chapter 2 to Pang Yu" Cen Shen* (quoted by Xue Baoyu) Where is Chang'an... 44-11 "Ci of Begging for Goldfish" Cui Riyong* (quoted by Xue Baoyu) Taichung rat... 64-2 "Nineteen Miscellaneous Poems (eight)"* (quoted by Chen Xun) Before the end of the day... 66-5 "Untitled" Pei Hong and Xue Baoyu (duplicate poem) Light green, easy dark green... 66-8 "The Supervisory Censor meets Huangfu Xianggong again" Xue Baoyu Zi Mo Zhong Sutra... 71-8 "Untitled" Pei Hong Qing Shi Zengbiao... "Untitled" Xue Baoyu The bones sleep in the shadow of the wall... 71-16 "Han Donglang's poems to each other at the banquet are two unique features" Li Shangyin* (quoted by Pei Hong) Tung flowers bloom for thousands of miles... 75-18 "Ancient Meaning" Wu Weiye* (Xue Baoyu os) Palm coral… 78-14 Word Puzzle Poetry (Clam) Xue Baoyu A soldier hides in his belly... 78-33 "Reply to Wei" Bai Juyi* (He Xing os) Meet you... 84-26 "Untitled" Xue Baoyu Under the ninth edict... 84-27 "Untitled" (ancient poem in song style) by Xue Baoyu Tianyan Yingwu... 86-6 "Untitled" (nursery rhyme) Li Hezi Daying opens, Qionglin opens... 92-8 "Eastern Half Bright" Han Yu* (Xue Baoyu os) Half-light in the east... 98-1 "Untitled" Cheng Jun It snowed heavily last night... 101-8 "Qing Ping Diao Ci (Part 1)" Li Bai* (origin of real name) If it weren't for Qunyu... 102-1 "Untitled" Pei Hong Jinghua at the end of the year... 102-30 "Rewarding Si An Opera with the Same Use of Kuang Zi" Bai Juyi* (written by an old friend of the fake horse Taoist method) Three thousand taels of stalactite... 106-19 "Untitled" Xue Baoyu (Xue Qunyu), Pei Hong (verse poem) Green grass and endless rain... 110-14 "Untitled" Han Se (a couplet of hibiscus chanting in rhymes) Prescription for frost resistance... Yuanxu (a couplet of wood and hibiscus poems recited in separate rhymes) Light red with dew... "Untitled" Luo Shu (a couplet of wood and hibiscus poems recited in different rhymes) Hibiscus piled with beauty... 112-6 "Untitled" Cheng Jun The Luo River flows eastward... 115-11 "Giving Xiao Yu" Li Shimin* (quoted by Fan Min) Blast Zhijincao... 117-15/121-9 "Tanglihua and Mr. Pei" Hong Du* (actually "Tanglihua and Li Taiwei" Xue Tao) Wu Junhui Garden... 117-16/121-11 "Chibianlou" Hong Du* (actually Xue Tao) Pinglinyunniao... 128-55 "Qingmen Song for Judge Zhang of Dongtai" Cen Shen* (played and sung by Ou Zhengyi) Qingmen Golden Lock... 🐾Ten thousand animals (occasionally non-carbon-based organisms and those that are gods in a broad sense are all included) Xue Baoyu (Xue Qunyu): pony, paper kite, oriole, lychee pulp, frightened chicks/chickens, vigilant rabbits, wild dogs/puppies/dog cubs/evil dogs/puppies, tigers (five-animal play), Crazy green bamboo, little wolf cub with bared tiger fangs, stupid owl, frog (croaking with a hoarse voice), rabbit spirit about to transform, angry mad donkey, smelly, hard/stubborn stone, (Xue Xiaowenren) ,) (little idiot,) little beast, bright parrot, a piece of pink jade, dough, little swallow, holy white lotus (1/3), hedgehog (eyebrow) frog (eye) cow (nose) duck (lip), planted on the saddle Carrots, a pretty donkey with double eyelids/androgynous donkey-man, a sharp-beaked fighting cock, a beautiful boat with red lips in a boundless and colorless country, crabs, a pole for drying clothes, and fluffy camellias Pei Hong: Elegant sword, dog things, red sandalwood standing cabinet, clay sculpture, holy white lotus (1/3), Wei Boy Yabing/Fan Town Boundary Monument/Taihang Eighth Route/Great River and Mountain (lower abdomen), the big peach blossom that is burning in the future/Old Peach Demon/Peach Cloud, Chime Bell Zhou Tai: The dried old man with triangular eyes, old bacon and deer (Wu Qin Xi) Liu Sanbao: The thin monkey/hozen with a crooked mouth Wei Xiaokuan: Big black bear, a black tower Kang Maoyuan: Persian Porcelain Dolls and Birds (Five-animal Opera) Chen Xun: Big Bat, Night Owl, Hengdi Cheng Jun: Ghost All in this nest in western Zhejiang: oily cockroaches in the kitchen Zheng Ye: Green-haired old turtle, Bodhisattva-faced Yaksha, and toad Xu Wei: Smiling face and long face Lu Congxuan: Butterflies, Ducks Luo Liu: The painted devil in the temple with oily hair and powdery face Yang Xian: Lychee Lang (lychee shell) Tian Wei: River clam Dugu Jing and other generals: wild boar, wolf Fifth Mystery: Old Plague Chicken Wen Jue: The fat green bamboo tube that glows green Liu Sanniang: The wine bug Brother Xue (real Xue Baoyu): little old man Wang Chang: Mangy Dog Lu Mingen: A silkworm chrysalis that can only shake its head Ma Daofa: A weakling who has not been castrated, a dry old man with pigeon-toed feet Li Yu: Donkey, Holy White Lotus (1/3) Zhang Miaozhen: White Fat Fox He San: Old Shelduck Shen Ping: dead wood piles, walnuts What a blessing: the unlucky features of the splayed eyebrows (single eyelids+hanging bile nose+thick cherry mouth), the donkey who doesn't take off his hair Jinwu Guards and Shence Army: Turtle and Bastard Ou Zhengyi: The fire cow in Tiandan mooes (music sound) Huang Gong: old goat Pei Wenjun: a round face Lu Congfu: Treasure gourd head, pig head, and sparrow looking for bugs Du Zhen: The fat goose/grandmother goose For all the beloved: a cluster of loaches with open lips in a dry mud pond Luo Shu: Ancestral mung bean eyes, camels, and crowing roosters Gu An: embarrassed Zhu Tong (Ma Lou): a huge glutinous rice dumpling Ministers: A crowded nest of frightened chicks Celebrities in Luoxia: A nest of wriggling silkworm chrysalises
Although they have been close to each other for a long time, Jinjiang's best male protagonist and female protagonist this year finally broke through the window paper and ushered in their first kiss and a clear (hopefully not too long) separation. From the more than 400 collections of this article to the present, I unconsciously brought myself into Baoyu's biological mother and Xingyi's biological mother. Sometimes I was anxious, and sometimes I laughed hahaha. What I gained the most was joy and satisfaction. Just like Baoyu tossed and turned the night before the separation and couldn't talk about it when they separated, when he really saw the relationship between the two people, he didn't know where to start talking about it. I wish you the most lively and classy group of jade and the most elegant and restrained (lasting) perseverance, and all the best! 💜💜💜💛💛
No matter how late I sleep, I have become accustomed to waking up after eight o'clock every weekend and touching my phone to read Xiao Xue 😂 Although Xiao Xue did not read it today, I found out that I won the lottery 🤩 Teacher Zhu Ye, Xiao Xue and Pei Hong moved forward step by step in a down-to-earth manner 💪 As long as this book has a beginning and an end, I will definitely follow it 🌈
This attitude of striving for excellence is also responsible for the article and the readers. As long as the teacher does not give up on this book, I can wait [Hold my thighs]
I am very happy after reading the article, paragraph review, and chapter review. I am really happy to follow the series. Good night everyone~[Spread Flowers]
I had a severe withdrawal reaction after reading this article. After opening the other books and reading one or two chapters, I had to come back to Qunyu to relax. Only here is really a unique place; I will always cheer for Ye Xue😘
Come on! Think of Qunyu, Pei Hong, and the readers who are waiting for food! Just like jade, take your time first, things will be smoother if you slow down. We look forward to seeing the light of day soon. We are all waiting for it.
Hi! The weather today is very good, cloudless; the autumn wind has the flavor of expectation, and the night is snowing heavily. I send the autumn wind to you. I hope you will have divine help when writing today ❤️
Like! Letter! Wait! 🤩🤩 Anyway, I'm getting busy now that school has started, woo woo woo 😭, Teacher Ye just maintains the quality of her work, there's no need to be anxious and anxious [let me be healthy][let me be healthy]
Although I regret it, I can understand the troubles of perfectionism. No matter how sure others are, if you can't pass your own level, you will be obsessed with it. Then I wish Teacher Ye can adjust well and regain stability as soon as possible! PS: Will the three chapters be updated this weekend? Or is it suspended from now on?