Chapter 399

"He could only watch the deaths of the descendants of both clans."

"Such an experience left Wang Xizhi exhausted."

【Popularity】+1+1+1+1....

——【Damn, what was this head of the Yu family thinking? Why did he keep promoting Wang Xizhi? I don't understand what kind of operation this is. Could it be that he did it on purpose to disgust people?】

——【Then you are wrong; Yu Liang was not trying to disgust people. On the contrary, he really liked Wang Xizhi. Wang Xizhi was his advisor at the beginning and soon became a Chief Clerk. Before he died, he even hoped that the emperor would reuse Wang Xizhi; at that time, he had become the successor to the Prime Minister. Even Prime Minister Yin Hao valued him even more. As a result, he refused everything and refused to be an official! Awesome, right! Later, there was no other way, so he just became a General of the Right Army, which is the origin of Wang Youjun.】

——【No wonder Xiang Fangyang said he was in a difficult position in the middle; on one side was his own Wang family, and on the other was the head of the Yu family who promoted him single-handedly. It just so happened that the two families were fighting to the death; whichever side he leaned towards would be reviled by others.】

——【Why do I feel his experience is a bit like Wang Mang's? Both were promoted by their uncles and were favored by others from a young age. When they reached the court, everyone liked them too. It's just that their paths were different; one wanted to be emperor, and the other wanted to be a calligrapher.】

The audience at the scene was already silent.

After Xiang Fangyang's explanation.

They had been brought into Wang Xizhi's life.

Surviving in such an environment.

A person's inner heart is very prone to distortion.

Either forge ahead and break all shackles.

Or be weary and avoid it like Wang Xizhi.

However, the story was not finished yet.

Xiang Fangyang's voice could still be heard slowly coming from the scene.

"If it were for the family, no matter how helpless he was, he could still hold on."

"But because of the war, his relatives died one after another."

"Father, aunt, granddaughter, clansmen!"

"Even in the end, even the ancestral graves were dug up."

240. Follow-up to the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion*, mountain collapse.

"At this time, Wang Xizhi looked around; there was famine in the east and the Five Hu in the north."

"From nobles to commoners, the whole country was in dire straits."

"Against such a life background, even though the weather was very good at the moment of writing the preface and people were on an outing."

"But this was just a fleeting happiness."

"You have to know that Wang Xizhi was already fifty years old at this time, having reached the age of knowing one's destiny."

"It is precisely because of various life experiences and the current turmoil that he couldn't help but feel sorrow from his heart."

"That is why he wrote that sentence on the paper: 'The ancients said, life and death are also great, alas.'"

"When he wrote to this point, you will find that Wang Xizhi's brushstrokes were no longer as upright as at the beginning, but more following his heart."

"The size of each character and the interval between them were no longer fixed, and there were even many places where he wrote the wrong stroke and smeared it to rewrite and modify it."

"From his characters, you can feel the kind of uncontrollable, surging sorrow he felt at that time."

"So he wrote again: 'Therefore, I know that life and death are false, and equating longevity and premature death is a delusion.'"

"It means: How sad, the scholars of the present pursue the void and actually equate life and death."

"Actually saying that longevity and short life are the same."

"How can that be? Life is short, and things don't last long. But later generations looking at the present is just like the present looking at the past."

"The changes in human affairs, the development of history, from prosperity to decline, from life to death, are all inevitable."

"Precisely because of this, he had to write this article to tell future generations that life has value."

"Life is short, time waits for no one, cherish the time, and enjoy it in time!"

After hearing Xiang Fangyang's explanation, everyone didn't come back to their senses for a long time.

Still savoring the time in that small pavilion with clear weather.

Before, they didn't know what the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* was about.

Now, from Xiang Fangyang's mouth, they knew for the first time that the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* had such a creative background.

A calligrapher who didn't want to be an official but only wanted to wander.

But because of the situation, he had to be an official.

He had always been doing things he was tired of.

Also because of the life and death around him, he wanted to escape this vortex.

But the more this was the case, the harder it was to avoid.

So, taking advantage of the wine, he wrote this preface.

Just when everyone thought the explanation was over.

Xiang Fangyang suddenly spoke again.

"What I just told you is the background of Wang Xizhi's creation of the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* and his story."

"But there are many such things in history; why is it that only Wang Xizhi's can become a national treasure?"

"For example, when filming *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*, the theme song was written several times but none were satisfactory."

"Later, the director and the composer were drinking and eating one day, and after three rounds of drinks, they went to the recording studio together."

"The classic song *A Laughter in the Ocean* was born just like that!"

"Sometimes, the art of improvisation can never be achieved again if you change the location and mood."

"It is said that after writing the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion*, Wang Xizhi was very satisfied with this work."

"He once rewrote it several times, but none could reach this artistic conception."

"So Wang Xizhi himself cherished this *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* very much and treated it as a family heirloom."

"Later, the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* was passed down to the seventh-generation grandson, the monk Zhiyong."

"He was a monk, and at that time, becoming a monk meant truly becoming a monk, without descendants."

"Before he died, he had no choice but to hand over the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* to his disciple, the monk Biancai."

"The monk Biancai naturally knew its preciousness and kept it well."

"At that time, Emperor Taizong of Tang especially liked Wang Xizhi's calligraphy."

"He also heard about the existence of the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion*, so he sent people everywhere to inquire about its whereabouts."

"He summoned the monk Biancai three times to ask him where the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* was."

"But all three times, the monk Biancai said he didn't know."

"Later, there was no other way, so Fang Xuanling recommended a person to Emperor Taizong of Tang, the Censor Xiao Yi."

"Then Xiao Yi dressed up as a down-and-out scholar and approached the monk Biancai little by little."

"In the end... the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* was still tricked into his hands and handed over to Emperor Taizong of Tang!"

"The monk Biancai, who lost the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion*, was very sad, and not long after, he became depressed and died!"

"So this is also one of the places where there is a lot of criticism of Li Shimin in history."

"And then there was the series of stories that happened later!"

At this point, Xiang Fangyang had completely finished telling the story of the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion*.

Everyone was stunned.

An hour ago, they were still yearning for Li Shimin's fighting on horseback.

An hour later, he became a thief.

This contrast was too big.

I guess Wang Xizhi never thought that his grandson who passed down the *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* would be a monk.

【Popularity】+1+1+1+1

——【*A Laughter in the Ocean*, a divine song! The lyrics and artistic conception of this song are too awesome; every time I sing it, I have a feeling of being a proud wanderer. Sometimes when I drink a little, inspiration pours out like a fountain, but when I look at it after sobering up, it might be a piece of shit.】

——【After listening to Xiang Fangyang's explanation, I suddenly became enlightened. I drank a few bottles of beer from the fridge. Taking advantage of the wine, I prepared to pick up the brush, but I was caught for drunk driving on the way to buy ink. Xiang Fangyang, if you have any conscience, bring a fruit basket to the prison to see me.】

——【So the ancients also doodled, haha, and it's such a classic *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion*. If you had put this in front of me an hour ago, I would have thought it was written by an elementary school student; it's all graffiti!】

——【The *Preface to the Orchid Pavilion* is not just a masterpiece of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy; its essence is in eight words: the scenery is secluded, the event is elegant, the writing is wonderful, and the characters are superb! Fine wine helps the fun, and extreme joy leads to sorrow; it can be called a masterpiece of prose!】

At this time, it was already past five o'clock in the afternoon.

The archaeological experts at the scene were full of joy.