kill the immortal

Chapter 7 7, Poetry Club

Early in the morning, Yu Huanzhang came to look for An Yan, and kept knocking on An Yan's door.

"Brother hate! Get up!"

Last night, An Yan read a book and fell asleep a little late, and was awoken by this alarm clock-like sound, and felt very irritable.

An Yan opened the door for him, and said helplessly, "Brother Huanzhang, disturbing people's dreams is not the work of literati."

But Yu Huanzhang laughed loudly and said: "It's late outside the window, my brother sleeps too much, and the good time is wasted, it's a pity!"

"Will the poem go so early?" An Yan asked.

"You don't need to go to the Poetry Club so early. Didn't I just come to Luoyang, Brother Yan? I want to take you around the city."

"Brother Huanzhang waits for me to dress, wash and have some breakfast."

But Yu Huanzhang said: "Brother Yan, wash up quickly, the food at home is not good, let's go out to eat."

An Yan was urged to put on clothes, Xiangyun and Zhenniang brought water and washing utensils, Yu Huanzhang stared at the two girls for a while, and suddenly said: "Brother Yan, these two maidservants are pretty. "

Xiangyun and Zhenniang blushed immediately when they heard the words.

An Yan said: "Brother Huanzhang's house should have better ones."

Yu Huanzhang curled his lips and said, "There are good ones, but they're not mine either."

His father was strict with him, and there were only a few male servants who served him. Although his father was strict, his family education was not very strict. The stricter his father, the more rebellious he felt in his heart.

After An Yan finished washing and put on the Putou, no one would notice his short hair.

He left the prime minister's mansion with Yu Huanzhang and got into his carriage. Yu Huanzhang directly ordered the groom to say, "Go to Fangzhen!"

"Where is Fang Town?" An Yan asked.

Yu Huanzhang said with a smile: "Fang Town is not a town, but a store. Brother, I will take you to taste our Central Plains specialty, Hu spicy soup!"

An Yan: "...It's hot in the afternoon, why don't we have something light?"

Yu Huanzhang laughed loudly: "You don't have this delicacy in Yanzhou, how can you not taste it!"

The groom drove through the streets of Luoyang. Although it was morning, the city was already active. The shops were open for business, the tea stalls and wine shops set up awnings outside the doors early, and the staff inserted thick bamboo poles into the holes in the ground.

Fangzhen Hu Hot Soup Shop is a two-story attic. It is in the breakfast room, and the business is extremely hot. Standing at the door of the shop, An Yan can feel the heat coming from inside.

Hu spicy soup, drink a bowl in the morning, heartburn all day, if it is winter, it is fine, it is hot summer, An Yan really has no desire.

"This is a good thing, brother Yan must have never tasted it."

Yu Huanzhang took An Yan directly to the second floor, sat down at a window seat, and skillfully called the waiter to order. After a while, two bowls of steaming Hu spicy soup were brought up, plus a serving of oil cakes and a serving of Meat box, a fried bun, two tea eggs.

Compared with the first floor, the second floor is quieter, and the clothes of the guests here are more expensive, and the prices on the menu are probably different.

Seeing Yu Huanzhang kicking his legs directly on the chair beside him without any image, An Yan felt that he was getting closer, so he couldn't help laughing: "Brother Huanzhang's appearance is no different from the guests below. "

Yu Huanzhang saw that there was no disdain in An Yan's eyes, and he immediately laughed and said, "Brother usually eats on the first floor, but today I brought you here to the second floor, I'm afraid you won't be used to it."

As he said that, he glanced at the guests around him, and then whispered to An Yan: "The people eating here are too busy, which makes me feel very uncomfortable. What are you pretending to be drinking spicy soup?"

It was really novel to say this from a rich young man like him, and An Yan couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard the words, and immediately picked up a spoon and took a mouthful and sent it to his mouth.

"Hiss...hot!"

Yu Huanzhang said happily, "Brother Yan, don't be in a hurry to drink this."

He put the peeled tea eggs into An Yan's bowl, then picked up a spoon to scoop out a mouthful, blew lightly on his mouth, and then slowly sipped it into his mouth.

Then I picked up a piece of oil cake with chopsticks and ate it up.

An Yan was sipping Hu spicy soup, looking casually out of the window, the bustling stream of people, the vendors yelling along the street, and the peaceful and comfortable smiling faces, this is clearly a scene of prosperity.

However, he thought of the numb eyes and the withered black and thin hands outside the city...

Which is reality and which is the world?

An Yan's mood was complicated, and he couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. He had no appetite, so he drank a bowl of hot and spicy soup.

Yu Huanzhang smiled and said, "What, brother, I didn't lie to you, did I?"

An Yan exclaimed: "A must!"

Yu Huanzhang said loudly: "Xiao Er, keep the accounts."

Hearing the sound, the guy on the second floor immediately bowed and responded, "Okay, Young Master Yu, go slowly!"

People of Yu Huanzhang's status don't need to pay for meals in Luoyang City. They are all recorded on the account until the end of the month, and the clerk goes to the house to settle the settlement. .

After getting into the carriage, Yu Huanzhang said, "Go to Huxi Garden."

There is Pianyun Lake in Luoyang City, which got its name because the lake west garden is in the west of Yunhu Lake.

Most of the people living by the lake are wealthy people, and it is obviously much quieter here. The carriage stopped in front of a noble and elegant attic.

Yu Huanzhang and An Yan got out of the car and came to the door. Yu Huanzhang took out an invitation card and handed it to the door attendant.

"Young Master Yu, please." The door attendant said respectfully.

"How many people are here?" Yu Huanzhang asked casually.

"Half of the guests are here."

The interior of the attic is elegantly arranged, and there are poems and essays hanging on the walls on both sides. An Yan can read one at random, which is far less than those recited in previous lives.

Thinking about it, all that can be handed down are fine products.

Of course, if you write a poem like "the rock is big when you look at it from a distance, but the big rock is when you look at it up close", you can also become famous.

Go up to the second floor and pass through the screen. There are already several people here.

"Brother Huanzhang!"

"Brother Ziye, brother Zhiyuan!"

Everyone present knew Yu Huanzhang, and they got up and greeted him warmly.

No matter who let them come from, they are not as good as Yu Huanzhang, his father is a fourth-rank official doctor, his uncle is an internal history of Fengge, and he is the prime minister of the court!
"Brother Ziye, do you have a new work?"

"The collection will be completed next month, and I will give it to Brother Huanzhang first!"

"Hahaha, I'm looking forward to it."

After some courtesies, Yu Huanzhang pulled out An Yan again: "Let me introduce to you, this is my good brother, An Yan, from Chang'an, especially good at poetry and music."

Listening to Yu Huanzhang's introduction to herself, An Yan thought that apart from the correct name, nothing was correct.

When drinking Hu spicy soup just now, Yu Huanzhang obviously knew that he was from Yanzhou, so why did he grow up to be a safe person?
"It turned out to be Brother An, nice to meet you!"

"We must see Brother An's literary talents later!"

An Yan piled up a smiling face, and bowed his hands with everyone, he doesn't have any literary talents, but he can copy a few poems, fearing that it won't be suitable for the occasion, and he has already set up a persona who has never read books with Yu Jingtang.

Is it true that the whole sentence "the rock looks big from a distance" should come out?

Yu Huanzhang sat down on a seat with An Yan, and whispered to An Yan, "People here are very particular about their background, if you say you are from a small place in Yanzhou, they will look down on you."

An Yan smiled and said, "Since when did I like poetry and rhythm?"

But Yu Huanzhang laughed softly: "When those famous ladies come out, you will fall in love with them."

A maid came to serve tea and snacks, a faint aroma diffused in the air, and a faint cloud of smoke wafted from the incense burner on the side.

An Yan also saw several servants carrying several large things up, with a solid wooden barrel underneath and a hollow wooden frame above, and a bench-sized ice cube was placed inside the room.

The rich will indeed enjoy it. With these few pieces of ice, the room will cool down in a short time. Otherwise, when it is hot at noon, how can I still have the mood to write poetry.

Yu Huanzhang and An Yan talked endlessly about the development history of the Xiyuan Poetry Association, and who usually came, and also wentssip with An Yan about these people.

During the conversation, I learned that there are only three kinds of people who can participate in the Xiyuan Poetry Association.

For the children of officials and eunuchs in the first condition, the rank of the elders in the family should not be too low, and those below the fifth rank will not be able to come.

The new subject Jinshi of the second condition must be in the top ten on the list.

As for the talent name of the third condition, it is completely subjective.

It was only then that An Yan realized that this West Garden Poetry Club was a gathering of officials and young masters. As for the children of rich merchants and famous oirans in Luoyang that An Yan had thought of before, they were not eligible to enter.

However, from Yu Huanzhang's mouth, I learned that even high-ranking officials and dignitaries pretend to be noble, and there are not many who really like poetry. Everyone has slept in private and so on...

Hearing this, An Yan couldn't stop clicking his tongue, and looking at the refined and refined men standing there, there was something sanctimonious in it.

After thinking about it, An Yan asked: "Then this Wenren Jinping is just like those people..."

He was a little concerned about his fiancée. If his private life was as messy, he couldn't accept it.

"Of course Wenren Jinping is different!" Yu Huanzhang said with staring eyes.

"She is a truly talented woman. The purpose of establishing this poetry club was also to make friends with talented scholars."

An Yan laughed and said, "If that's the case, why do you need to set up this so-called door frame? If you only pay attention to talent and learning, there are also many people from poor families."

Yu Huanzhang frowned and said: "If there is no threshold, wouldn't those three religions and nine streams all come, and what will become of this Xiyuan poem?"

"Then change the threshold to a problem of poetics, so that those who can solve the problem can get in?" An Yan said.

After thinking about it, Yu Huanzhang still shook his head: "If you are really knowledgeable, you can just go to the exam and get fame."

He said with a sneer: "What can be determined by a question, if it gets out, people in the whole Luoyang City will want to solve this question? Let them feel that after solving the question, they can see their beauty and put it on their faces." What did Wenren Jinping do?"

An Yan was speechless, but he understood Yu Huanzhang's thoughts in his heart. He looked unrestrained and informal, but he was very "sane".

Just like at the Hu Hot Soup restaurant in Fangzhen, he looked down on the pretentiousness of those people on the second floor, because his status was more noble than the people on the second floor, so he had this kind of disdain.

He is willing to eat with the common people on the first floor because he is willing to do so. It is he who is willing to sit with the people on the first floor, not the people on the first floor who can sit with him.

For a person of his background, the thought of family status is engraved in his bones.

Even if Wenren Jinping really wanted to meet talented and learned people, if the threshold was lowered, these high-ranking officials' children would not come.

How is "talented scholar" defined?All kinds of gossip will be unavoidable at that time, if Wenren Jinping is willing, will her family agree?
Thinking about it this way, the door frame of the Xiyuan Poetry Society is rather wide. It is probably the bottom line of people like them, and perhaps there should be no third line.

As for the son of a rich businessman that An Yan had thought about before?

None of them are short of money. They can go to the hot and spicy soup shop to eat tea eggs for two cents each, and they can also spend a lot of money in the best restaurants in Luoyang. In their eyes, those rich businessmen are just using The smell of copper disguises itself as a lowly people.

Oiran?

A woman who can sleep with money, if Luo Yang really becomes an oiran who crowns the whole city, most of these young talents present will become like-minded people.

It's just a plaything, how can such a person deserve to sit with them.

An Yan didn't say much, and heard Yu Huanzhang gossip there.

About half an hour later, people came one after another, and not everyone Yu Huanzhang would stand up to greet, and he didn't bother to answer some people, and the other party greeted him. Regardless of the embarrassment on the other side's face.

According to Yu Huanzhang's introduction, it's not that these people are of low background, but that he can't understand these people. There is a man whose father is a fifth-rank official, and everyone doesn't pay much attention to him, but Yu Huanzhang can have a good conversation with him .

As for the people Yu Huanzhang didn't like, they all had one thing in common: they all came for Wenren Jinping.

After knowing the reason, An hated to look at these guys, and felt a little displeased.

The crowd on the second floor suddenly became noisy, and a new person came to the stairs.

Yu Huanzhang frowned when he looked sideways, and muttered, "This bastard is here anyway, he probably won't be invited."

An Yan looked towards the stairs, and saw that surrounded by the crowd was a tall, burly young man, who was handsome in appearance, but there was a hint of hostility in his brows.

"Brother Junshi, I didn't expect you to come to the poetry meeting."

"Beauty is invited, why not come, hahaha."

Yu Huanzhang heard the words and spat softly: "Hey, Wenren Jinping will invite him? He's just dreaming, he came with his own dog legs."

It was the first time An Yan heard Yu Huanzhang swearing. He looked at the man who was admired by all the stars and asked, "Who is that man?"

Yu Huanzhang frowned, then picked up his teacup and said, "Shentu Junshi, his father is General Hushi, Duke of Zhen, Shentu Ying."

"A disgusting fellow!"

Hussar General, the highest rank of military officer, is still a Duke, and his status in Xuan Tang should be second only to the royal family.

If you hold military power, you may be more honorable than ordinary royal families.

"What a great official." An Yan said involuntarily.

But Yu Huanzhang dismissed it: "What's the big deal, my uncle is still Fengge internal history and Shangshu Zuo Pushe, Wei Guogong!"

An Yan didn't know that Yu Jingtang had so many titles, so it seemed that Yu Jingtang and Shen Tuying were the top civil servants and the other military officials.

However, in such a peaceful age, Shentu won't have military power in his hands, so compared with Yu Jingtang, his influence will be infinitely reduced.

An Yan suddenly thought that Xuantang's army was not an ordinary army, but a special soldier equipped with all kinds of mysterious weapons.

Maybe the reality is different from what you think.

Shentu Junshi suddenly walked towards Yu Huanzhang and An Yan.

Yu Huanzhang sat sideways on the seat and sipped tea, watching his approaching figure and the people behind him from the corner of his eye.

"I heard crows yelling on the tree just after I went out. I really should check the almanac in advance, so as not to encounter any wild dogs." Yu Huanzhang said suddenly, as if talking to An Yan beside him, but the voice was so loud that everyone present was shocked can hear.

The smile on Shentu Junshi's face turned cold in an instant, and he was no longer as polite as he was to others: "Yu Huanzhang, you don't have a long memory. If you see me, don't hide. Didn't you get enough of the beating last time? Yu Huanting is not here Luo Yang, you still don’t know how to be a man with your tail between your legs?”

Yu Huanzhang said angrily: "It's extremely vulgar! Is it possible for a countryman like you to come to this poetry meeting?"

A smile suddenly appeared on Shentu Junshi's face: "You think it's rare for me to come, but Jinping personally invites me, how can I refuse?"

Yu Huanzhang was so angry that he jumped up instantly, his face flushed red, and he pointed at Shentu Junshi's nose and cursed angrily: "You bastard, you can call Jinping too?!"

Being scolded by someone pointing his nose like this, how could Shentu Junshi bear it? Veins popped out of his forehead. He was already tall and thick, but combined with that hideous and ferocious face, he looked a little scary.

Seeing this, An Yan also got up quietly, to prevent Yu Huanzhang from being disadvantaged by the other party's sudden attack.

The rest of the people watched from the sidelines. Yu Huanzhang and Shentu Junshi didn't deal with it. This was something everyone in the circle knew, and none of them dared to help.

And just when the sword was on the verge of breaking out, a crisp chime suddenly sounded in the attic, interrupting the oppressive atmosphere.

A female attendant came out from behind the screen: "Young masters, please take your seats, the poetry meeting will begin."

(End of this chapter)