Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 118 Lin Daiyu: Don’t worry, nephew

……

Ningguo Mansion, on the outskirts of Kyoto.

One hundred personal soldiers inspected the manor carefully and then came to patrol outside the manor.

The head guard, Li San, was a sensible person. He knew that the young ladies from Ningguo Mansion would be drinking tea and appreciating the moon here today, so he solemnly instructed, "Listen carefully, when the young ladies from the mansion enter the manor, no one except the eldest master is allowed to enter and disturb them!"

"promise!"

Everyone hurriedly found their seats and stood.

Soon, several carriages came unsteadily and stopped in front of the manor gate.

Jia Rong got off the carriage first.

Li San hurried forward and said with an apologetic smile, "My Lord, you are here. Everything has been arranged inside, and people have been arranged outside."

Jia Rong patted Li San on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Very good, not bad."

"I'll leave your safety tonight to you. I'll treat you to a meal and a drink some other day."

Li Sanxi said, "Thank you, young master!" He patted his chest and promised, "Not even a fly can fly in and disturb us today."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "It's enough to have the intention. Don't brag. I saw several of them fly in just now."

Li San: "Ah, this..."

Soon, several carriages slowly entered the manor.

This manor on the outskirts of Ningguo Mansion in Kyoto is located on a mountainous area and is not suitable for farming. Therefore, it is quite large, occupying two hills in the north and south.

The hillside on the east side of the two mountains is gentle and is the main part of the manor. Some pavilions and terraces have been built along the streams at the foot of the two mountains. Most of the other flowers, plants and fruit trees are original and basically remain in their original appearance.

The back mountain is steep. It was not developed at first due to the huge cost. Later it was shelved and used as a training ground. The last time Jiao Da trained his troops was there.

Soon, everyone got off the carriage.

The maids took the fruits, vegetables, snacks and meat from the carriage and went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

The maids accompanied the young lady to visit the sights.

"There is such a place in our house? I didn't even know it!" Xichun asked Jia Rong in amazement, and she had already started calculating how many times she could come here in the next month.

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I don't come here very often. This place is too remote. I only come once or twice a year."

"It's too late to go back tonight, so just stay here. We'll go back to Beijing tomorrow morning. You can divide up the houses over there. Two people in one room. The bedding is all new."

"The one on the far east is mine. I stayed there the last time I came here."

"it is good!"

When Xichun heard that she could stay here for one night, she was immediately happy and ran to share the good news with her sisters.

Jia Rong called Daiyu over again and told her, "I have something to do and I will be back soon. Aunt Lin will keep an eye on me. If you have anything to ask, please ask Xiaoxiao. She knows where I am going."

Everything has been arranged and there is basically no chance of anything going wrong. I gave Lin Daiyu some instructions just in case.

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Well, I have to take care of the house for you when I come out to play with you. Tell me, what are the benefits?"

Jia Rong was speechless: "You want more benefits?"

Lin Daiyu said as a matter of course: "Of course, otherwise you can go find your aunt Bao."

Jia Rong: "Okay..."

Lin Daiyu: "Hmm? New book?"

Jia Rong: "I mean it's good. I'll go back and invite Aunt Lin to come over."

Lin Daiyu shook her head: "That's not necessary."

Jia Rong asked, "So what?"

Lin Daiyu whispered in Jia Rong's ear: "How about getting a new book for Aunt to read?"

Jia Rong: “…”

Lin Daiyu added: "Don't worry, I won't tell my uncle. This is a top secret, known only to heaven, earth, you and me."

Jia Rong: "...Let's wait and see."

Lin Daiyu: "Then it's a deal."

"Don't worry, nephew. Your aunt will take good care of you at home. I guarantee nothing will go wrong."

Who has the final say?
Jia Rong wanted to say something, but Lin Daiyu had already turned and left, leaving behind only a proud back.

……

The Qing Society's literary gathering was held at the Yun'an Restaurant next to Qingyun Lake on the outskirts of Kyoto. This place is not too far from the Ningguo Mansion, which is why I brought my aunts here to play this year.

Jia Rong arrived a little late.

Xie Jiwen stamped his feet anxiously and said, "Oh my God, I thought you were going to quit and not come. You scared me to death."

Jia Rong waved his fan and chuckled, "It's okay. Didn't you say last time that it was easy to defeat Li Chun?"

Xie Jiwen said, "This time it's not just Li Chun, there are also several famous Jiangnan talents coming, it seems they are also planning to suppress our Qing Society. In addition, many people from other prestigious literary societies in Kyoto have also come, some to cheer us on and some to watch the fun."

"Oh?"

Jia Rong asked in surprise, "Why are there so many people here?"

"Yes."

Xie Jiwen said: "The tables and chairs we prepared are not enough, and many people are standing."

"There is another person you would never have thought of. Li Chun actually invited Duke Huan Yuan to be the judge. The judge we invited is totally useless."

Jia Rong couldn't help clapping his hands: "Great."

A Qingliu leader, a figure from the same period as Ye Tong, but was removed by Ye Tong. Now he is unemployed at home, and although he has no official position, he has a high reputation.

Logically, Qingshe was just a newly established literary society, and even if there were up-and-coming talents such as Jia Rong and Xie Jiwen, they would not be noticed by many people.

The reason why it became popular was all due to Li Chun's promotion.

Li Chun announced early on that he would write a stunning article on August 15th to let those people in Qingshe see their world.

Hence today.

The upper and lower floors of the Yun'an Restaurant were almost filled with scholars in blue and colorful robes. A rough estimate was that there were nearly a hundred people.

It's all money!

If it weren't for fame, only a fool would organize such a literary gathering!

"The head of the society is here!"

"Brother Shunzhi."

"Jia Shunzhi has long admired me!"

At the front, a man appeared like a moon surrounded by stars, with a handsome face and elegant demeanor.

It was Li Chun, the grandson of Li Min, the current Minister of Rites.

"Brother Li, I have heard a lot about you."

Everyone greeted each other.

Li Chun smiled lightly and said, "Today is the Qing Society's literary gathering. We are so presumptuous to come here. I hope Brother Shunzhi will not be offended.

Jia Rong laughed and said, "Confucius said, 'It is a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar. How can you say that I am being rude?'"

If you don't come to my Qingshe, when will it become famous?
Li Chun nodded calmly and said with a smile: "I think there is no need for all those empty talk. Let's just start the competition and let one article decide the outcome. How about that?" He didn't want to waste too much time dealing with Jiangbei's trash literary society.

Wouldn’t it be nice to go to Yunlou when you have time?

Jia Rong originally wanted to give a good treat, but since Li Chun wanted to save money for him, that was fine.

"can!"

Several people went in together and paid their respects to Duke Huan Yuan.

Duke Huan Yuan looked at the crowd, as if he saw himself in his youth, who was just as elegant and unrestrained, full of vigor and vitality. He could only sigh:

Poor white happened!

"The Yangtze River's waves behind push forward the waves ahead. The future belongs to you young people. The theme of this literary gathering is..."

Duke Huan Yuan casually flipped through the Analects.

"If you do not do what is right, you are not brave."

"Timing begins!"

……

The eight-legged essay competition, in which one article could decide the outcome of the whole essay, was held with very tight time limits of only half an hour.

Basically, I only have time to think and write the article. It is almost impossible to take time to polish it unless I am very fast.

For a moment, the place was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

Soon, half an hour passed.

Duke Huan Yuan received more than twenty articles in succession.

The rest were either not completed or simply abandoned.

"How's it going, Shunzhi?"

"I'm fine. How about you guys?"

Xie Jiwen smiled and said, "I guess it should be first."

Ye Mengshu said: "Sorry, I haven't finished writing..."

evil creature!

How dare you say that?

Xu Lian said softly: "I have finished writing, but it is not very good."

"Brother Lian is too modest. It's good that you can finish it." Jia Rong comforted him.

As for Ye Mengshu, he didn't even want to waste his breath on comforting her.

the other side.

Li Chun also talked to several friends from Jiangnan around him.

"How are you guys? Have you finished writing?"

"Brother Li, don't worry. You can't even finish writing this. Why are you going to take the imperial examination? Just go home and farm."

"Haha, not bad, there are actually people who can't finish writing, how interesting, the scholar didn't plagiarize it, did he?"

"We'll be judging the top five later. There are five of us, so we won't take all of them, right?"

"About the same."

"..."

Soon, Duke Huan Yuan finished reading more than 20 articles and said with a smile, "I have selected the top five. The ranking is just my personal choice and may not be accurate."

Everyone said: "You are right!"

After all, the prestige is there.

Duke Huan Yuan nodded and said, "Fifth, the opening sentence: How can disaster and fortune be constant? It is difficult to avoid disaster without knowing it."

A scholar from the south of the Yangtze River smiled slightly and stepped forward to salute.

"Comments from student Xie Huanyuan."

Duke Huan Yuan nodded slightly and handed the article over.

There were only circles and dots on it, and it was reviewed in detail from beginning to end.

Li Chun and others all laughed.

The fifth place is theirs, not to mention the rest.

"Fourth, the opening sentence: Courage is born from righteousness, righteousness is established by action, and action begins with vision."

Li Chun and several others visited each other.

"who?"

"not mine."

"Could it be?"

"No way?"

the other side.

Xie Jiwen cried out in grief: "It's over, it's mine!"

Jia Rong was too lazy to comfort her.

"Go get it!"

"Hey!"

Xie Jiwen was dejected.

Duke Huan Yuan continued with a smile, "Third, the opening sentence: The Qi is strong, so it blocks the heaven and earth, flows through the deep springs, and does everything."

Jia Rong's side.

"who?"

"not mine."

"not me."

Shake his head.

sigh!

the other side.

"who?"

"not me."

"Is it still theirs? That's impossible. There can only be one!"

They didn't notice that Li Chun's face had turned pale!
third!

He was only third!
impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Could it be that someone else has solved the problem in the same way as him?