During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a Taishi Mansion on Gulou Street in Beijing. Taishi's surname was Wang, and he was from Tengxian County, Shandong Province. He used to be the teacher of Emperor Xianfeng. There were two lamp pillars in front of the gate of the Taishi Mansion, and two headlamps hung on the pillars. On the lamp was written a couplet. The upper couplet was: The moon barks in the sky; the lower couplet is: The yellow dog lies in the flower heart. Wang Taishi liked this couplet very much. Whenever he came back up and down, he would take out a small handkerchief to wipe the dust off it. After wiping, he would read it several times.

One year, when the capital opened the exam, Luoyang Tang Bi won first place in the exam. According to the regulations, those who were in the exam had to be added to the official position. Coincidentally, there was no spare official position at that time, so Tang Bi had to wait in the capital to make up for the vacancy. After waiting for more than a month, the person who was the patrol in the eight provinces of Jiangnan violated the law, and the emperor asked Tang Bi to be the official. According to the old regulations, before the new officials took office, they had to visit the provinces one by one, and naturally the Grand Master Mansion had to go.

At that time, Wang Taishi was the most popular one in the dynasty, and his words were very good, and this new champion did not dare to neglect him. Tang Bi was the first to go to Taishi Mansion. He came to the gate of Taishi Mansion, looked at the couplet on the lamp pillar, and thought to himself: Taishi has its name, but not its reality, and then said to himself: The moon can only hang in the air, how can it bark in the air? The yellow dog can only lie on heel of the flower, how can there be a reason to lie on the heart of the flower? He was young and full of energy, and as soon as his mind was warm, he changed the word "call" of "the moon when the sky is calling" to the word hanging; the word "heart" of "yellow dog lying on the heart of the flower" to the word "follow." After changing it, he proudly entered Taishi Mansion.

Tang Bi chatted with Wang Taishi in the Grand Master's Mansion for a long time, but he did not mention changing the couplet. Wang Taishi sent Tang Bi away only to find that his beloved couplet had been changed. He asked the servant, "Who changed my couplet?" The servant replied, "It's the new champion." When Wang Taishi heard it, he thought to himself: This person is young and arrogant, and he can't be a good official. No, I have to start the saint and arrange another official position for him.

Wang Taishi met Emperor Xianfeng and said: "The Tang champion has literary talent, but he is arrogant and arrogant, and he cannot become a pillar of the court without training." Emperor Xianfeng said: "Which official position do you think is suitable for him?" Wang Taishi said that Kunming lacks a county magistrate, so let him go. "The emperor approved Wang Taishi's request.

The next day, the emperor issued an edict to change Tang Bi's eight provinces to the county magistrate of Kunming. When Tang Bi heard that it was changed to the county magistrate, it was like being hit with a stick. I really didn't expect a new champion to do it for such a small official. It is the mute who eats yellow and yellow, and it is hard to say. There is no way, so I have to pack on the hour and prepare to go to Kunming to take office. Before leaving, I visited the various provinces again.

On this day, Tang Bi came to the Grand Master's Mansion again and said to Wang Grand Master very embarrassedly: "Master, I am no longer an inspector of the Eight Mansions. The Emperor asked me to be the prefect of Kunming. Wang Grand Master said, "That's good, that's good!"

Tang Bi asked Wang Taishi again: "Master Taishi, do you think there is anything else I can do?" Wang Taishi thought for a while and said, "I like to drink Erjiang water of Erjiang there, and it would be great if I could bring a jar when I come. Tang Bi thought to himself: " This is not easy to handle, and I promised to bring a jar back when I came.

Tang Bi went to Kunming to take office after worshiping the various prefectures. This person deserves to be champion, and he has clearly handled the big and small things in the county within three months of taking office. Although it is very comfortable to be a county official, he is far away from the capital as an official, and the emperor has not used himself, which makes him sullen and sigh all day long.

One day, Tang Bi finished his business and said to a servant named Shuangxi, "Let's go to the garden to relax and relieve our boredom." The master and servant came to the garden, where there were all kinds of flowers and plants, and many birds on the trees were chirping non-stop, which was very nice. Tang Bi pointed to a bird that was "chirping" and asked Shuangxi, "What kind of bird is this? It sounds so good?" Shuangxi said, "It's called the moon bird."

Tang Bi pointed to the insect that was crawling on the flower's heart and said to Shuangxi, "Quickly take this insect down, or it will bite the flower." Shuangxi said, "Master, this insect is called the Yellow Dog Insect.

When Tang Bi heard this, he suddenly realized that he was blaming himself for doing a stupid thing. He shouldn't, he shouldn't, he shouldn't change couplet of the grand master. He was doing such a small official thousands of miles away, he asked for it himself!

After another month, the emperor issued an imperial decree inviting him back to the capital. Tang Bi was full of love and energy. After waiting for a few days, the new county official also came, and after the handover, he hurried on his way.

Tang Bi and his entourage took the dry road first, and then the water road. After walking for a few days, they remembered that the Grand Master had asked him to bring water from the Second River. He hurriedly asked the boatman, "Which river is this?" The boatman said, "This is the Three Rivers." He asked again, "When did the Second River come over?" The boatman said, "The Second River has long passed."

At this time, if he went back to pack the water of the two rivers, he was afraid that he would not be able to return to the capital on time. Tang Bi thought to himself that even if the second general was still Sanjiang, the grand master would not recognize him, so he packed a jar of water of the three rivers and hurried on his way again.

Tang Bi came to the capital, afraid that he would suffer the loss of the Grand Preceptor again, so he hurriedly went to the Grand Preceptor's house to plead for water. The Grand Preceptor saw that he had brought a jar of water, and his heart was happy, and he quickly asked the servant to boil the water in the jar and drink it with the champion. Tang Zhuangyuan saw the Grand Preceptor and mentioned the matter of changing the couplet: "Grand Preceptor, your couplet made me correct my mistake, but you wrote it right. Please forgive me."

Wang Taishi said, "Forget it, forget it, it's all in the past, don't mention it again." With that said, the servant brought the boiled water up, and Wang Taishi took the jade cup with his own hands and filled it with West Lake Longjing tea leaves. After a while, Wang Taishi looked at the tea in the cup and said with a smile, "Tang Zhuangyuan, are you still deceiving me?" Tang Zhuang said seriously, "This is the water of the second river!"

Wang Taishi said, I have lived in Kunming for twelve years, and I don't know what you say there. The water of the first river boils, and the tea leaves float on it; the water of the second river boils, and the tea leaves don't go up and don't go down; the water of the three rivers boils, and the tea leaves sink to the bottom very quickly. Do you still saying that this is the water of the second river? "

As soon as Tang Zhuangyuan heard what the Grand Preceptor said, he knelt on the ground with a "plop" and said repeatedly, "It is the water of the three rivers, it is the water of the three rivers, please forgive the Grand Preceptor again, from now on I am willing to worship you as a teacher, I am your student, and I keep kowtowing to the Grand Preceptor.

Wang Taishi walked over, gently helped Tang Zhuangyuan up, and said, "Young man, I have walked more bridges than you have walked. If you know your mistakes, you can change them. Don't be too arrogant when you do things. It depends on your actual actions in the future."

From then on, Tang Bi lived with her tail between her legs all the time. She no longer dared to deceive others. She became arrogant and domineering, and soon became a high-ranking official in the capital.