Serenade of Peaceful Joy (Lonely city closed / Gu Cheng Bi / Isolated city / Held in the Lonely Castle / Qing Ping Le / 清平乐)

♔ Follow @skysoultan on Instagram ♔ = Episode 10 =

Yongshu. Yongshu.

Zimei.

Don’t dismount.

Go straight to my place.

You came top in the exam

and have a beautiful wife.

Tonight, you’re...

Youheng and I are finally married.

= Ouyang Xiu, courtesy name Yongshu = I am excited.

Yongshu,

= Su Shunqin, courtesy name Zimei = Youheng is at home

preparing dinner as we speak,

right?

I’ve also invited

other friends.

Let’s drink till all’s blue tonight.

No problem.

Let’s go.

Hya! - Hya!

One of the scholars who passed the exam

is Su Yijian’s grandson Su Shunqin.

He did surprise me.

Since he was young, he and Mu Xiu

have been opposed to flamboyance and obscurity.

Ouyang Xiu followed in his steps.

= Fu Bi, courtesy name Yanguo Han Qi, courtesy name Zhigui =

He isn’t afraid of others’ mockery.

His works don’t follow a fixed form.

His words are simple yet sharp.

I’ve read quite a lot of his articles.

Ouyang Xiu will soon work in the Capital.

Su Shunqin passed the exam

and can serve the court.

I’m sure

they’ll lead

the new literary trend.

Fan Zhongyan disagreed with deposing the former empress.

Yet Lv Yijian insisted on driving him

out of the Capital.

Many officials found that unfair

yet Fan Zhongyan

didn’t seem to be angry.

He even came up with

that masterpiece

Ten Enjoyments in Tonglu.

That poem is indeed well-written

but I prefer the other one called

Following Ge Hong’s Flower Grafting Song.

Your Highness

Madam Miao, Madam Yang, Madam Yu

came to pay respects.

Send them in.

Yes.

My respects, Your Highness.

Your Highness is the Empress.

We don’t have

valuable presents

but could only bring you

sachets, accessories

and snacks we made

to congratulate you.

I also prepared

gifts for you.

I got them when I went hunting

with my brothers before.

Hunting?

Your Highness could hunt?

Your Highness came from a decorated family.

The Caos

are all-round talents.

Have a seat.

Which book are you copying?

It’s not Commandments for Women or Virtues for Women.

nor is it a Buddhist text.

It’s new to me.

They’re recipes to cook pies.

Plain pies, baked pies, stuffed pies...

You’re reading a cook book.

Taste the liquor.

So good.

My mother and I

made this liquor according to the recipe.

Then we changed the recipe

to enrich its flavor.

We also learned how to dry the meat

to make dried meat slices

and how to dry vegetables.

Good!

“I won’t cry to the wall like you” is wonderful.

Han Qi,

you love all sorts of entertainment, right?

Have you watched puppet shows?

Yes, I have.

Your Majesty...

Prepare a puppet show

based on Mr. Fan and the gardener’s story.

I’d like to invite Lv Yijian

to watch it with me.

Cheers.

Cheers, everyone. Let’s drink.

We’ve drunk enough.

Let’s see if Zimei’s poem

for this girl

is better than Liu Sanbian’s.

= Wang Gongchen, courtesy name Junkuang = He dares not write it,

or his wife

won’t let him in tonight.

Am I right?

That’s not true.

Prepare the stationery.

Ouyang.

Long time no see.

You’ve become even more famous.

My father-in-law loves your works.

Whenever your new articles

or poems come out,

he’ll have them copied and shared with our family.

I’m grateful

for Mr. Xue’s appreciation.

Last year, after my wife passed away,

he also expressed his condolences.

Before I came back to the Capital,

he even sent the matchmaker

to marry his fourth daughter to me.

What do you say, Ouyang?

Let’s drink first.

Drink up.

Don’t change the subject.

Mr. Xue favors you more,

doesn’t he?

After his third daughter died,

you married the fifth one

and are still his son-in-law.

The old son-in-law is also the new one.

If I marry his fourth daughter,

how should I call you?

Won’t that make your rank

lower than mine?

Don’t take it to heart. Let’s go.

Let’s drink.

Su Zimei,

are you done or not?

I’m on it.

Let me see.

Finished.

Good!

Let’s drink.

Yongshu is drunk.

Stop drinking.

Come on.

Let’s go back, my lady.

We shouldn’t be here.

Why?

What happened?

They mocked your husband,

saying he’s become the new son-in-law,

= Wang Gongchen’s wife, Xue Yuhu = and something about ranks.

Good. Not bad at all.

It’s beautiful.

Let’s go.

Let’s go home.

Hearing that accent,

I feel as if Fan Zhongyan were back.

Good!

That’s admirable.

I was moved by Fan Zhongyan’s spirit

and lost control of myself.

Don’t worry.

We aren’t at court.

This poem by Fan Zhongyan

and Pipa Song

by Bai Juyi

are similar in many ways.

Their stories are similar.

While Bai Juyi cried

after hearing the singer’s story,

Fan Zhongyan says “I won’t cry”

after learning the gardener’s misfortune.

Quality aside,

Fang Zhongyan’s spirit