rainbow a

City Contract God

Xi Sikong was in the Northern Palace, and Huan Xuanwu disliked him for holding military power. Xi was always in the dark about the situation, so he sent a letter to Huan: "I want to help the royal family and repair the gardens and tombs." The crown prince Jiabin was on a journey. When he heard the letter on the road, he hurriedly took the letter, read it, and found it was torn into pieces, so he returned. He also wrote a letter, explaining that he was old and sick, and could not bear the idleness of others, so he wanted to ask for some vacant land to support himself. Xuanwu was overjoyed when he received the letter, and immediately ordered the transfer of the Duke to supervise five counties and be the prefect of Kuaiji.

This prince looks familiar.

The Duke said, “Why don’t gentlemen today practice this?” Confucius said, “Gentlemen today are insatiable in their love of goods, untiring in their indulgence of virtue, idle and arrogant, and are sure to destroy the people. They use the people at noon to attack those who have the Way; they seek what they want, not what they should. In the past, people were used from the front, but now people are used from the back. Gentlemen today do not practice etiquette.”

Heart Like a Flower

Pure as still water

Pao: take a pig, cut it up, fill it with dates, weave it with weeds, apply it with careful coating, fry it, and dry the coating, split it, wash your hands and rub it, remove the wrinkles, make rice flour and urine to make wine, add it to the pig to fry the fat, and the fat must be burned. Boil it in a large pot and put dried tangerines in a small pot. Make sure the pot does not burn. Do not turn off the fire for three days and three nights, and then season it with acid and meat.

The next time love comes

When Wang Rong was a young man, he visited Ruan Ji. Liu Gongrong was also present. Ruan said to the king, "I happen to have two buckets of fine wine, and I would like to drink it with you. That Gong Rong has no right to drink it." The two men exchanged cups, and Gong Rong did not get a single drink. But when it came to talking and discussing drama, the three of them were no different. When someone asked him about this, Ruan replied, "Those who are more honorable than you have to drink with; those who are less honorable than you have to drink with; only those who are honorable as you have to drink with you can not drink with you."

From the End of the World to the Ancient Times

　　Wang Wuzi and Sun Zijing each spoke of the beauty of their land and people. Wang said: "The land is flat and level, the water is fresh and clear, and the people are honest and steadfast." Sun said: "The mountains are steep and rugged, the water is turbulent, and the people are brave and heroic."