Wei Ni

Chapter 18
The so-called guests do as they please, and the guests should not overwhelm the host.

Xia Houhui first apologized to himself for coming uninvited, claiming that he disturbed their elegance; then when he entered the table, he was very humble and younger than the others, and took the initiative to pull Xia Houhe together at the last banquet. sit on the table.

Such a knowledgeable person naturally won the favor of everyone.

Of course, Chen Tai would not let him and Xia Houhe squeeze together at the same desk.

In fact, as early as when his servants welcomed the Xiahou brothers into the house, he asked people to set up additional desks, but he did not change the order of the Xiahou brothers' last seats.

Needless to say, Xia Houhe is not as weak as the crown and his reputation is not yet high, so it is a matter of course that he is the last seat.

And Xia Houhui has only just become an official, and his official position is not high, and he is not considered a celebrity nowadays, so it is a very appropriate result to receive courtesy under his meeting.

After all, don't look at most of these people sitting here have no official positions, but if they become official in the future, relying on the merits of their parents and family background, it is not uncommon to start a family with two thousand shi or become a privy secretary.

In this way, Xia Houhui, who is a weak crown and a scattered rider, is really nothing.

He himself knows it well.

After exchanging a few words with everyone, he treated himself as a guest calmly, watching the gags and jokes and jokes of these talented people at the farewell banquet very peacefully.

The only thing that made him a little uncomfortable was that Master Sima's seat was next to him.

Originally, with the reputation of Master Sima, he should be at the front, next to the host Chen Tai and the farewell guest Huan Jia.Even if he is modest, he still distinguishes seniority and orderliness, so he shouldn't attend his brother-in-law and queen who also married Xia Houshang's daughter!

But he just sat there.

Claiming that at his own age, he should sit on top of Xia Houhui.

And when everyone is feasting and drinking together, they never forget to turn to Xia Houhui to invite a cup of courtesy. The meaning of friendship cannot be said to be obvious, it is simply known to passers-by!

It also made Xia Houhui very tired.

He still couldn't figure it out, he had been away from Luoyang for three years, and it only took him a month to come back, and he had always lived in seclusion, how could he let Sima Shi, who is already a celebrity, show him so much?
How can He De He can!
I can't bear the burden~
Could it be that you also heard that elder brother Xia Houheng intends to ask for a wife for me?

However, isn't the only younger sister in your family betrothed to Xun Yu, the grandson of Xun Lingjun before she was a few years old~
Could it be that among your celebrities, you also have the habit of admiring Longyang Jun?

But I don't want to cut off your sleeves, and I don't want to eat your peaches!

What's the point of being so close, and raising a cup of invitations again and again!
Just as Xia Houhui was thinking wildly with his eyes, nose and heart, a burst of applause interrupted his thoughts.

"good!"

"Wonderful!"

"Written compliments, emotionally moving, nothing like this!"

It turned out that just now Xun Yi took advantage of the wine and made a farewell gift to Huan Jia who was about to leave Beijing to take office, which aroused applause from the crowd.

Alas, this kind of writing is really boring.

It was inevitable that Xia Houhui, who followed the praises of the crowd, slandered secretly when he toasted together.

But he didn't expect that when he hadn't put down the wine cup, the rest of the people would focus on him in unison.

uh~
what do I do?

Could it be that I was discovered just now when I was wandering in the void?

"Zhengquan rarely has a famous literary name, and the "A Fang Gong Fu" written by the previous series is brilliant, and it is an excellent work in the world!"

Just when Xia Houhui was stunned, Chen Tai, the host, bowed his hands slightly to him, and said with a joyful smile, "It also makes us hate the timing, so we can have fun with the banquet! Now, the juvenile power is at the right time, Why don't you compose an impromptu poem to quench our longing thirst?"

So you want me to be a gift~
"Don't dare! Don't dare!"

Hastily bowing his hand to return the gift, Xia Houhui declined sincerely, "Brother Xuan's words are absurd! You are all talented people in this world, and I am just a humble man who has lived in the mountains for a long time. How dare I play tricks?"

I don't want to, as soon as his modest words fell, and Chen Tai hadn't answered yet, Master Sima next to him took over the words familiarly.

"Alas!"

I saw that he was surprised at first, and then pretended to be indignant, "You are so immature! The poetry is as brilliant as "A Fang Gong Fu", and it took a while to write, and he called himself a scumbag. Yes!" Let's just say that, before Xia Houhui could speak out to defend himself, he cupped his hands and invited the crowd to say loudly, "Masters, you should punish yourself with a cup of tea for slipping your tongue and hiding your clumsiness?"

"Be punished!"

"That's natural!"

"Don't be dazed when you are young, pour yourself quickly!"

Immediately, the people who had drunk for three rounds took advantage of the wine to clamor and echoed one after another.

If you don't speak, no one will treat you as dumb, right?

Xia Houhui muttered in his heart, with a wry smile on his face, he had no choice but to pour himself a drink as everyone wished.

And the very cheerful and funny person met with Fu, and with the affection of relatives and old friends, he came back and teased, "Children, do you have literary ideas? If not, you can drink it again!"

It's not over, is it?
"It's not because of my pretentious posture that I don't want to have fun with the lords, it's really impossible."

In desperation, Xia Houhui got up from the case, bowed to the crowd, and said with a little emotion on his face, "Masters may not know that it was when I was thirteen when I traveled to Chang'an to find the ruins of the Afang Palace." "Fu" was also from the beginning of that time until I left Luoyang and returned to my hometown. This Fu was completed. Presumably, you should have heard that I was drowned in Luoshui during this period, and since then I have stopped talking about drinking and banqueting. I read it behind closed doors. Art of war, learning to bow and horse. People at the time didn’t understand. They all said that my temperament changed drastically after adversity. Literary affairs are capable!"

"Ah~"

"What a pity!"

"Is this heaven jealous of talents?"

After listening to it, some of them were surprised, some sighed, and they couldn't help feeling a lot of emotion.

Only Sima Shi was an exception.

For Xia Houhui's explanation, he was stunned at first, and then he left the table, bowed to Xia Houhui with a very ashamed face, "I don't want to have such an experience! And I have no virtue, to be so aggressive Such an attitude, embarrassing Juvenile Quan in public, is really not what a gentleman does, ashamed! Ashamed!"

uh~
Suddenly, Xia Houhui was dumbfounded.

In any case, he never imagined that he just randomly found a reason to avoid being a fu, which caused Sima Shi to apologize in public, and judging from his expression, he was really not a hypocrite.

This person lives up to his reputation!

Maybe it's because he is only in his twenties now, and he has not yet transformed into the stoic, ruthless and murderous hero in the future.

Alas, what a pity.

If he didn't know how the wheel of history is moving forward, just his sincerity today would be enough to make me a good friend who takes care of him wholeheartedly.

For a moment, Xia Houhui's mind was full of thoughts.

And soon, after Sima Shi's words fell, He Fu, who had just ridiculed and urged him, and Chen Tai, who was the first to propose Xia Houhui's Fu, also got up to apologize.

It also made Xia Houhui wake up from his thoughts.

He hurriedly got up, returned the salute to them, and said calmly, "you don't have to be like this. It's my misfortune that I can't be good at writing. It's not your fault. Besides, I have no poems." To share the joy with the princes is to disturb the prosperity of the banquet, and the princes have not blamed me, which is lucky, how dare you accept the rituals of the princes?"

Everyone did not suspect him, even Xia Houhe had a sad face, as if he had accepted the lie.

After all, Xia Houhui's family was also puzzled by the reason why Xia Houhui's temperament changed drastically after drowning, but he had no choice but to attribute it to the fact that he changed after a catastrophe.

"Children are indeed gentlemen!"

"Don't dare to take it. This is not a childish fault, it is indeed our lack of thoughtfulness."

"Wow! God's will is thin, but it is easy to deal with it. When you are facing a crime, you think about your own faults. Xiahou Zhiquan's vigor is restored, and the valley can't bear it!"

Naturally, everyone did not hesitate to praise Xia Houhui's practice of blaming himself.

Presumably after today, everyone will make a name for him, and let him fulfill Xia Houheng's wish - to become famous in the capital.

After this little episode, the people at the banquet also lost interest in composing poems and prose. Instead, they called servants to fetch instruments for fun, and turned to throwing pots, talking with hands, playing the piano and singing, etc. for fun.

And Xia Houhui was "tangled" by Master Sima.

He was already married to Xia Houshang's daughter, and had a relationship with Xia Houhui, so when he earnestly invited Xiahouhui to go to the thatched cottage to enjoy archery, Xiahouhui really couldn't refuse.

There is no way, just now I claimed that I came from behind closed doors.

And also pretended to be listening.
If he refuses, doesn't that mean that he disdains to be with Master Sima~
However, when he came to the thatched cottage with all kinds of reluctance in his heart, after a while, he became full of interest.

Because Master Sima invited him to compete in archery, it was false, but on the grounds that he said he read military books, he planned to discuss the fact that the Shu State frequently invaded Yongliang in recent years.

Moreover, Master Sima had also traveled to Chang'an in his early years, and he was very familiar with Wei Guo's current defenses in Yongliang and the terrain and geography. Just a few words of analysis made Xia Houhui feel sympathetic.

Without him.

Master Sima's opinion on the war between Wei and Shu was that Wei should adopt the strategy of defending and strangling the enemy first, and use the tactics of fortifying the walls and clearing the country, so that the country of Shu, which has dangerous mountains and rivers and difficult transportation of food and fodder, will be exhausted in military affairs, and eventually fall into poverty and weakness. middle.And Wei Guo can take advantage of this time to save labor and rest for the people, but only for farming and mulberry, use more military resources, increase combat equipment, raise soldiers and civilians, and reward soldiers for performing martial arts to prepare for war, so that the strong will remain strong and wait for the time to come. Destroy it!
Such an idea almost coincides with Xia Houhui's.

What makes Xia Houhui feel emotional is that he can have such a strategy because of the reverse deduction of the memory of later generations, while Sima Shi made his own deduction, and he is only twenty-two this year!
There is such a strategy!
This is not a general knowledge of the family, but it can be called a genius in the world!

No wonder, people of later generations often refer to Sima Shi as the last hero in this period of history.

With admiration, Xia Houhui and Sima Shida felt that they had met each other, and they talked with each other on the steps in front of the thatched cottage.It wasn't until Xia Houhe came out of the inner hall and reminded Sun Jiangmu that it was time to go back.

"Children are really geniuses!"

When talking about other things, Master Sima also said, "Today, I have the honor to get to know Zhiquan, I have learned a lot, and I am yearning for him. If Zhiquan doesn't think I am stupid, I will always have the audacity to ask for advice in the future."

Xia Houhui's reply was noncommittal.

Said: "Ziyuan's talent is like the brightness of a bright moon, but he is as dull as me, which can be called a firefly. Today, I have benefited a lot from talking with Ziyuan, and I am overjoyed. The day is coming to an end, so let's say goodbye."

After saying that, he directly bowed to the people present, turned and left.

Even if he was far away from the Chen family's other courtyard, he felt a sense of regret in his heart——

Alas, why is he Master Sima?
(End of this chapter)