Chapter 43

Li Bai is the type who says he'll go and goes; having agreed to Wang Hui's invitation, he didn't want to wait another moment. He casually handed the gold, silver, and silk bestowed by the emperor to the little eunuch who had followed him, asking them to send it back to his lodging, while he himself laughed loudly, took Wang Hui's hand, and was about to leave the palace.

"Go go go! Go to your estate, taste your light wine!"

Wang Hui (Wang Xiu) laughed and cried, but his heart was blooming with joy. He quickly arranged a carriage, carrying this drunken poetry immortal, and headed all the way to the Yi Water Manor outside the city.

In the carriage, Li Bai's wine rose, but his desire to talk didn't diminish at all. He would sometimes sing loudly, "When life is going well, one must enjoy to the fullest; do not let the golden cup face the moon empty," and sometimes he would angrily denounce those court officials he disliked: "How can I bow and scrape for the powerful, making me unable to cheer up?"

His mood swung back and forth between abandon and resentment, while Wang Hui (Wang Xiu) simply listened quietly, occasionally interjecting a few words, like the most attentive listener.

Wang Xiu knew that for someone like Li Bai, the best way to make friends was not to flatter or lecture, but to listen and understand. What he needed to do was give this eagle temporarily trapped in a cage a valley where he could briefly spread his wings and let out a long cry.

The carriage traveled for about an hour before finally arriving at the Yi Water Manor.

When Li Bai was helped down from the carriage by Wang Hui and saw the scene before him, even someone as accustomed to worldly splendor as he couldn't help but be stunned.

Only see, under the lingering glow of the setting sun, a vast, boundless manor lay before his eyes. In the distance were rolling green hills; nearby, the Yi Water rippled with blue waves. Vast tracts of neatly arranged fields held verdant wheat seedlings, growing vigorously, and some unfamiliar, peculiar farming tools were scattered among the fields.

Several wide stone-paved roads ran through the manor, connecting the distant village and several large-scale kiln workshops. From the kiln chimneys rose thin blue smoke, and faintly one could hear the workers' chants and the clear ringing of objects striking each other.

The entire manor was not a private garden of a powerful noble, but rather resembled a vibrant, self-sufficient little kingdom. Here there was the joy of farming and weaving, the vigor of countless artisans, filled with the atmosphere of mortal life, yet it was planned in perfect order, exuding an air that transcended the age.

"Is... is all this yours?" Li Bai asked, the drunkenness on his face fading a bit as he pointed at the scene before him in astonishment.

"Please excuse my rudeness." Wang Hui (Wang Xiu) smiled slightly, saying with a touch of pride, "My father, in his lifetime, disliked court intrigue, so he poured most of his energy into this place. He often said, 'To serve as an official for a time, to pass down one's estate to the family.' These ten thousand mu of fertile land and a thousand artisans are the true foundation of our Wang Family."

Upon hearing this, Li Bai gave Wang Hui a deep look, his eyes full of approval.

"Good! Well said! 'To serve as an official for a time, to pass down one's estate to the family!' Your father, Wang Wenzheng Gong, is a truly wise man! Unlike those fools at court who only know how to seize power and profit—today a minister, tomorrow possibly exiled a thousand miles—ultimately it amounts to nothing."

He praised while following Wang Hui deeper into the manor.

Passing through a dense bamboo grove, a delicate manor came into view. This was the Wang Family's main residence in the manor; although not as grand as the city mansions, it was far more serene and elegant.

At the manor gate, the steward Fu Bo had already been waiting with the servants for a long time.

"Head of Family, you've returned. This must be Master Taibai, right?" Fu Bo stepped forward to salute, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Exactly." Wang Hui nodded, introducing Li Bai: "Sir, this is our family's old steward, Fu Bo."

"Master Taibai." Fu Bo performed a respectful salute.

Li Bai casually waved his hand: "No need for so much ceremony, old man."

Era Name Transition the manor, Wang Hui did not take Li Bai to the splendid gold-and-jade hall, but directly brought him to a waterside pavilion.

The pavilion already had a banquet prepared. But unlike the elaborate, luxurious imperial feasts of the palace, this banquet exuded a heroic spirit of the martial world.

There were no exquisitely carved jade plates of delicacies, but rather a large plate of just-cooked fragrant soy-braised beef, a whole roasted chicken golden and oozing oil, a few plates of fresh and tasty garden vegetables, and an unopened jar of aged old wine.

"Sir, the manor doesn't have much; only some homegrown coarse tea and plain rice. Please don't disdain it," Wang Hui (Wang Xiu) said with a smile.

Li Bai's eyes lit up at the sight of the food and wine; he plopped down, broke the clay seal on the wine jar, and a rich aroma of wine instantly filled the air.

"Good wine!" He took a deep breath and praised, "This is the kind of wine a man drinks! Much more refreshing than the cloying fruit wines of the palace."

He didn't use a cup, but directly lifted the wine jar and glug glug gulped several big mouthfuls, then grabbed a piece of beef and chewed it heartily, his face showing utter satisfaction.

"Refreshing! So refreshing!"

Wang Hui (Wang Xiu) saw his unrestrained manner and also laughed, accompanying him in eating and drinking.

He was not as reserved as in the palace, but completely let loose. He chatted with Li Bai about poetry, swords, and the landscapes of the world. Wang Xiu's knowledge and ideas from later generations, spoken through Wang Hui in a way understandable to people of this era, often opened Li Bai's eyes and made him slap the table in admiration.

Li Bai discovered that this young man, although in officialdom, had not a trace of bureaucratic stiffness. Although he was fabulously wealthy, he had not a hint of merchant's profiteering air. He understood Li Bai's poetry, and could even articulate the artistic conception behind Li Bai's verses that Li Bai himself had not deeply considered.

He felt that the person he had met was not a second-generation official, not a second-generation rich, but a true kindred spirit!

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes.

Both were already dead drunk.

Li Bai clung to the wine jar, gazing at the scattered fishing lights on the Yi Water outside the pavilion, and suddenly let out a long sigh.

"Young master of the Wang family, do you think my coming to the capital this time is right or wrong?" His voice carried a hint of confusion.

Wang Hui (Wang Xiu) knew that after wine comes truthfulness; Li Bai had finally opened his heart to him.

"Sir, your talent is like the bright moon in heaven, shining over the four seas. Coming to the capital, you wish to use this talent to assist the ruler, achieve something, and make this prosperous age even more glorious. What's wrong with that?" Wang Hui said.

"But the emperor... the emperor only treats me as a poetry-playing minstrel!" Li Bai slammed his fist on the table, wine splashing everywhere, "He rewards me with gold and silver, lets me attend to his left and right, but never asks my strategies for governing and pacifying the state! I, Li Bai, may have lofty ambitions, yet I can only write those flowery, moonlit, trivial tunes! Today, Gao Lishi taking off my boots for me seems a great honor, but to me it is a huge insult! He is telling the entire court of civil and military officials that I, Li Bai, am nothing but a minstrel that even eunuchs can toy with at will!"

By the end, his voice already carried a sob.

Wang Hui (Wang Xiu) fell silent. He knew Li Bai spoke the truth. In Emperor Xuanzong's later years, he had long lost the enterprising spirit of the early Kaiyuan era; all he needed was a court literary man to embellish his prosperous age with peace, not a chancellor who wanted to realize political ambitions.

"Sir," Wang Hui picked up the wine jar and filled a bowl for both Li Bai and himself, "Perhaps the imperial court is too small to hold a true dragon like you. Perhaps the mundane world is too vulgar to match your exiled immortal's spirit."

He raised his wine bowl, facing Li Bai, and said word by word: "But sir, please remember, no matter how the court is, no matter how the world is. In the hearts of us juniors, in the hearts of countless readers across the world, you will always be that poetry immortal whose pen startles wind and rain, whose verses make ghosts and gods weep."

"Your poems are enough to be passed down for eternity, shining alongside the sun and moon! As for fame, rank, and profit, they are nothing but fleeting clouds! Come, sir, let's drink wine!"

Li Bai looked at Wang Hui's utterly sincere eyes, listened to his earth-shaking words, and his whole person froze.

He felt the pent-up anguish in his heart, as if at this moment, being completely cleared away.

Yes, what am I pursuing? Isn't it to leave a name in history? My poems can make me immortal; why bother worrying about temporary office and empty fame?

"Good! Well said!" Li Bai suddenly stood up, drained the wine in his bowl in one gulp, then fiercely smashed the bowl onto the ground, shattering it to pieces.

He threw back his head and laughed loudly, his laughter filled with an indescribable exhilaration and relief.

"Young master of the Wang family, you are my Li Bai's kindred spirit! This kindness and gratitude cannot be repaid! Bring the brush! I will write a poem for your Wang family!"