The Gay Genuis-Ch 19: Empress's Favorite-太后恩宠

一开始读这一章的第一句话：Su Tungpo always had luck with empresses，我就乐了。在太后的荫护下，苏东坡可算是 “否极泰来” 了，至少他不用再终日为生计盘算了。我以为苏东坡的内心还是高兴的，虽然他因此放弃了闲云野鹤的隐居生活，但正如他与王安石对话中提及的，“在其位才能谋其政”，且当时的宋朝，读书人十年寒窗求的就是一朝入仕可大展宏图。（the simple choice for the educated class was between being an official and obscurity.）而满身才气外溢的苏东坡壮志未酬，定是也希望有机会能再次为国为民效力的。

可惜的是，司马光复位后没多久便辞世了，不过因他的葬礼引出的苏东坡和理学家程颐之间的争辩也着实让人啼笑皆非。我对程颐认识不多，只是在之前读王阳明的传记时了解到他作为理学家提出的 “格物致知” 一说，断没想到在这里的程颐竟会是个如此拘于儒家礼节的。着实有点意外。我想之后有时间会再找一些其他的相关资料来好好认识一下程颐这个人哈~

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In the great Han and Tang dynasties, some wives of the emperors either usurped the throne and ruled through powerful eunuchs and relatives of their maiden families.

usurp, 及物动词，书面语里表示 “篡夺，侵占”，to take someone else’s power, position, job etc when you do not have the right to；
例句：There were a couple of attempts to usurp the young king.
例句：Did she usurp his place in his mother's heart?

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Then an amusing but pregnant incident occurred.

pregnant, 形容词，除了表示 “怀孕的” 意思之外（与 expectant 同义），书面语里还可表示为 “意味深长的，耐人寻味的”；filled with meaning or emotion because of what is going to happen or be said；与 meaningful, significant 同义；常搭配为：pregnant with;
例句：There was a long, pregnant silence.
例句：The moment was pregnant with excitement.

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This puritan was far from being an amiable character, to say the least, and his holier-than-thou manners irritated Su Tungpo greatly.

holier-than-thou，形容词，表示 “自我感觉良好的，自视清高的，假仁假义的”，showing that you think you are morally better than other people – used to show disapproval，与 self-righteous 同义；
例句：He has always sounded holier-than-thou.

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As far as the Su family was concerned, there was decided advantage in living at the capital.

There are decided social and material advantages in being a high official.

decided, 形容词，常用于名词前，书面语中表示 “明白无误的，明显的”，definite and easily noticed；
例句：The team has a decided [=clear, obvious] advantage in this competition.
例句：He's a man of very decided opinions. [态度鲜明的]