Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 89: Girls' Dispute
Lin Ruo returned to the Supervisory Office, and Mu Tie had been waiting for a long time.

"Sir, Prince Jing sent someone to invite you."

"What's the matter?" Lin Ruo asked as he walked.

Mu Tie followed behind and explained truthfully: "There will be a grand poetry gathering at the end of the month in Prince Jing's Mansion, and the prince would like to invite you to join in."

Lin Ruo smiled: "I remember that Prince Jing's Mansion has a poetry gathering every month."

"Yes, it has become a habit for the talented people in Beijing to hold poetry gatherings at Prince Jing's Mansion every month." Mu Tie also laughed.

Lin Ruo looked strange and said, "Prince Jing, don't you think about it? There are countless talented people from noble families in the capital who have been imprisoned in the Supervisory Council's prison. If you ask me to go, isn't that deliberately causing trouble?"

"You are too modest, sir. You were the top scholar in the imperial examination. In terms of talent and learning, those self-proclaimed noble scholars at poetry gatherings are probably not even half as talented as you."

Mu Tie had personally witnessed this gentleman writing a plan under the watchful eyes of the public twelve years ago. Thinking back on it now, he still remembers vividly the courage and ability demonstrated by him.

"If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten that I was also a scholar before." Lin Ruo sighed slightly.

"Is your Excellency going?" Mu Tiezhe asked.

Lin Ruo thought for a moment and said, "Prince Jing obviously hates poetry gatherings the most, but he still wants me to go. This is ridiculous."

"Your Excellency is the one who sees things clearly." Mu Tie raised his eyebrows and said respectfully, "Prince Jing said that for this poetry gathering, firstly, he hasn't seen you for a long time and he missed you very much, and secondly, Prince Jing himself is annoyed and too lazy to say more, so he asked you to come out and scare them and liven things up."

Lin Ruo rolled his eyes and waved his hand with disinterest: "Li Zhi is so ridiculous and boring."

……

Fan Xian's impression of Prince Jing was not too bad. During the dispute between the restaurant and the Minister of Rites' Prince Guo Baokun, this prince came out to mediate.

"Ruoruo, I heard that the Prince of Jing is a talented and romantic man. Is it true?" On the carriage to Prince Jing's mansion, Fan Xian pondered while picking up the gossip.

Fan Ruoruo was a little embarrassed, but she did not hide it: "It turns out that my brother knew so much about it in less than half a month after arriving in Beijing."

Fan Xian was not thinking about this issue. Thinking of the last restaurant incident, he said, "Prince Jing's reputation in the capital is a bit absurd, but when he saw my sister, he seemed very polite."

Fan Ruoruo finally understood what her brother was thinking, and said coquettishly, "Brother, what are you talking about? After all, I am a talented woman in the capital. It is normal that His Royal Highness does not dare to lose my composure in front of him."

"It's abnormal. No matter how restrained he is, he won't be polite enough to call her sister Ruoruo all the time and stare at her all the time." Fan Xian commented. His man's intuition told him that the Prince of Jing's attitude towards his sister was not simply admiration for her talent.

Ruoruo didn't seem to notice this, and still explained forcefully: "My sister is on good terms with Princess Roujia, so it's normal for Prince Jing to speak and act more intimately with my sister."

But after saying this, even Ruoruo felt that something was wrong and her little face turned red.

Fan Xian asked without any concern: "What does Ruoruo think of this prince?"

"Sister hasn't thought about anything else." Fan Ruoruo said in a low voice.

"Don't worry, I don't support you marrying such a man." Fan Xian laughed.

Fan Ruoruo's face flushed and she said angrily, "Brother, you are bringing up something that has nothing to do with us."

Fan Xian shook his head: "That's hard to say. The nobles have always valued marriage, and Prince Jing's Mansion and my Fan family are on good terms. It's not unreasonable to say that they might come to an agreement one day."

Fan Ruoruo paused and began to think about the possibility. It was quite a big possibility and she was obviously resisting it.

Seeing this, Fan Xian straightened up and said seriously, "Don't worry, I'm here. Even if my sister doesn't want to get married, even the king of heaven can't force her to do so."

Fan Ruoruo burst out laughing, thinking that his brother was really frivolous on weekdays and spoke in a playful manner.

"But coming to the point, what kind of person do you want to marry, sister?" Fan Xian changed the subject and started joking again.

Fan Ruoruo lowered her head and muttered with a shy girlish look: "Sister has already said that I don't want to think about these things."

Fan Xian nodded and smiled: "It's up to you, but don't set your sights too high. After all, I really can't find anyone in the world who can compare with you, sir."

"Brother even makes fun of the teacher." Fan Ruoruo stared at him with resentment.

"Brother just thinks that he can only feel at ease if he finds someone like you for his sister," Fan Xian explained.

Fan Ruoruo smiled and covered her mouth: "That's because my brother has too high standards. There are no people like you in the world."

"No, so it doesn't matter who it is, as long as my sister likes it." Fan Xian said straightforwardly.

The carriage stopped suddenly, and they arrived at Prince Jing's Mansion.

In the early morning sky at the end of the moon, many scholars and talented people came and went in front of Prince Jing's mansion.

The young Prince of Jing, Li Hongcheng, stood at the door with his servants in a very elegant manner, welcoming the guests. The guests were flattered, but they also understood that the prince was not welcoming them, and secretly wondered what unusual guest would be today.

The person that Prince Jing welcomed was naturally Fan Xian, who had just arrived in Kyoto. The Prince Jing's Mansion and the Fan's Mansion were already on good terms, and when he saw him at the restaurant, he became very interested in this young man with a genuine temperament.

Seeing the carriage from the Fan Mansion approaching, Li Hongcheng immediately went to greet them and bowed to the guest who came down: "Sister Ruoruo is here."

"Brother Fan is here too."

Fan Ruoruo bowed slightly and asked how the prince was. Fan Xian clasped his fist and said, "I'm a little late. I kept you waiting for a long time."

"It's not too late. It's a good thing that Brother Fan can come." Li Hongcheng said with a slight smile, and led the two of them to the garden in the mansion.

In the back garden of Prince Jing's Mansion, the place for reciting poems and writing couplets was chosen on the grass by the lake. At this time, it was already full of scholars. They sat around the table, sipping wine and laughing in groups of three or five.

After a brief chat with Prince Jing, Fan Xian sat down alone at a side table, resting his chin on his hand as he thought, trying not to attract attention. After all, his purpose of coming here was not to become famous.

Looking towards the pavilion covered by a white curtain, where the talented girls gathered, Fan Xian pricked up his ears, quietly waiting for good news from his sister.

He was leaning lazily on the desk, and from time to time people were looking at him. Fan Xian just glanced at them and didn't care much.

After a while, Fan Xian was surprised to find that there were several pairs of eyes carrying unknown malicious intent, and he could not help but search the room.

Upon closer look, I discovered that Guo Baokun and his group were also invited. They were sitting in the center of the lake, fanning themselves and quoting from classics.

Naturally, they also noticed Fan Xian's arrival, but they deliberately hid their gazes and secretly figured out the conspiracy.

Fan Xian smiled, thinking that these people playing with literature wasn't just being a hooligan...

In the pavilion on the other side of the lake, a dozen young ladies from official families gathered together, writing poems and joking with each other, having a great time.

"The test questions have been given. Miss Ruoruo, please write a poem and let the sisters see it." A young lady said, eager to see this talented girl improvise a poem and compete with the talented men by the lake.

Ruoruo shook her head in boredom, indicating that she had run out of ideas. She turned to look at Miss Ye and asked with concern, "Is Sister Lin okay?"

"Much better." Ye Ling'er said casually, her voice not gentle at all. She was a martial artist, and seemed out of place among this group of weak women.

"Really?" Fan Ruoruo said in surprise, "My sister knows a famous doctor, she can take a look at Sister Lin someday."

Fan Ruoruo thought that the other party had no reason to refuse, but the impatient Miss Ye refused without a second thought: "No need, with Mr. Lin's care, Sister Lin will recover in no time."

Princess Roujia was grinding ink for Ruoruo. When she heard the words "Mr. Lin", her beautiful face suddenly lifted up and her little eyes brightened.

Her plan failed, and Fan Ruoruo looked miserable, wondering how her master had ruined her plan. In this case, she didn't know what means she could use to make Ye Ling'er willingly take her brother into the royal villa.

Ye Ling'er was completely oblivious to the changes in other people's emotions. She pondered in her heart and expressed her own thoughts: "Is your brother here?"

Fan Ruoruo nodded: "Of course I will come."

Ye Ling'er said very straightforwardly: "Okay, arrange for me to meet him and discuss the marriage with Sister Lin."

Fan Ruoruo was stunned: "How do you want to talk about this?"

"Sister Lin doesn't like him. I hope he can take the initiative to cancel this marriage. Don't force it." Ye Ling'er continued.

Little did they know that as soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere quickly turned cold, and all the girls looked over at them.

Fan Ruoruo frowned, feeling slightly angry, as if her brother was just coveting her beauty and pestering her. The marriage was decided by His Majesty, and her brother obviously had no choice.

"It's as if my brother likes your sister Lin." Fan Ruoruo no longer spoke reservedly and got in his face.

Ye Linger snorted and said coldly: "That's right, since both parties are not happy, they should retreat."

Fan Ruoruo responded with a cold smile: "Okay, Sister Ling'er, go to the palace and talk to His Majesty yourself."

Why did my brother have to take the initiative to cancel this marriage? Who would bear the responsibility for the consequences? Fan Ruoruo was very dissatisfied with the previous words and felt that they made no sense.

Seeing that the situation was getting worse, Princess Roujia came out to mediate and said delicately, "Okay, stop arguing, you two. If you have anything to discuss, you can discuss it in private. The sisters are watching."

Ye Linger shut her mouth and planned to go find Fan Xian in person after the poetry reading.

Fan Ruoruo insisted, "You have to bring this up to the table and ask for punishment."

Ye Ling'er was furious, but when she thought she was in the wrong, she didn't say anything back.

Seeing that the situation had calmed down, Princess Roujia grabbed Ruoruo's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Why is the style of Mr. Lin's Red Mansions different in the first eighty chapters and the last forty chapters? The quality has dropped a bit."

"Maybe Mr. Lin is too busy and asked someone to write for him."

After hearing this, Fan Ruoruo also felt puzzled. She had also read the entire Dream of the Red Chamber, so she naturally discovered the problem.

However, in the book of Dream of the Red Chamber, although the teacher made some revisions, the real author was her brother, but her brother kept silent about it, so how could she know?

Princess Roujia thought exactly the opposite of Ruoruo. Red Mansion was published by the bookstore behind Lin Ruoruo, and it was not a secret in Beijing. Princess Roujia had heard Prince Jing brag about Lin Ruoruo's extraordinary talent since she was a child, so she believed that Red Mansion was also his work.

Despite repeated inquiries, Ruoruo never revealed any inside information, so Princess Roujia took it as her tacit consent and naturally came to her conclusion.

Influenced by her father, the princess had a very good impression of Lin Ruo since she was young. When he visited Prince Jing's Mansion, she often asked him questions about literature.

Lin Ruo would always explain things to her without getting tired of it. As time went by, the little girl admired Lin Ruo more and more because of his great talent and knowledge. Especially after being influenced by the Dream of the Red Chamber, this admiration gradually rose to the level of obsession.

Fan Ruoruo stared at the princess's thoughtful face. How could she not know her enthusiasm for her master? She turned away and didn't want to say more to her.

(End of this chapter)