Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 172 Minglou Literary Battle
……

"Master, I will follow you today."

"Jinling is not peaceful right now."

"Is Jinling not peaceful either?"

"Well, what if that Young Lord Ye refuses to give up? You also said that Young Lord Ye is not dead yet." Xiao Xiao threatened Jia Rong.

Jia Rong finally nodded and agreed.

Xiaoxiao changed into a bookboy's clothes and tied her hair into a bun, looking quite elegant.

"Hate it, what are you looking at?"

Jia Rong: “…”

He felt that her gaze was no different from usual and didn't understand why Xiaoxiao suddenly looked coquettish.

"Let's go!"

Xiaoxiao walked forward shyly.

Jia Rong followed behind with a serious face.

The rented courtyard was more than ten miles away from the Qinhuai River. The two hired a carriage and drove forward slowly.

Not long after, the driver outside reminded: "Sir, the Qinhuai River section is ahead, and my carriage cannot go forward. Do you need a favor?"

"no need."

Jia Rong jumped out of the carriage.

Xiaoxiao followed out. It was obvious that she was not used to being a servant for the first time. She even thought about lifting up her skirt when she got off the carriage, but when she bent down she realized that she didn't need to.

"Haha, let's go!"

Jia patted Xiaoxiao on the shoulder.

"Ok!"

Xiaoxiao followed behind Jia Rong, looking left and right, as if she was a curious little book boy who had just arrived at Qinhuai River.

Jia Rong carefully felt the connotation of this ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. Compared with Kyoto, it was less solemn and heavy, more literary and elegant, and had more of the prosperous atmosphere unique to the south of the Yangtze River.

Young scholars can be seen everywhere on the street, and it seems that everyone is followed by one or two handsome little servants. Xiaoxiao is not conspicuous among them.

"Brother Li, please walk faster. It is said that talented scholars from the Yingshe Society will be present at the literary gathering in Minglou today. It will be exciting to watch." A handsome young man dressed in the clothes of the Imperial College walked quickly forward.

There was another young man behind him, who quickly chased after him and asked, "Really? How did Brother Zhang know this?"

"I learned this from Brother Zhao last night when I was having a drink with him. As you know, Brother Zhao is very close to the British Society and is likely to join it soon."

"That's very interesting. Xie Jiwen of Qingshe will definitely be humiliated if he faces Yingshe. It's simply wishful thinking for Qingshe to become famous in Jiangnan."

"Not bad!"

"Today, let that northerner see the strength of our Jiangnan talent. Don't think that just because you are famous in Jiangbei, you can act wildly in Jiangnan!"

As the two talked, they walked faster.

Jia Rong's eyes lit up. He didn't expect to hear news about Xie Jiwen on the first day after his arrival. He hurriedly followed the two of them carefully.

The two walked forward and suddenly turned back.

"Brother, you look unfamiliar?"

"Are you going to Minglou too?"

The two looked at Jia Rong and asked.

Jia Rong did not hide it either. He smiled slightly and said, "I hope you two brothers will not blame me. My surname is Jia. I just heard you two talking about the literary gathering in Minglou. I was so eager to go and see it. Do you need an invitation to the literary gathering in Minglou?"

"No, no." One of them smiled at Jia Rong and said, "The Minglou Literary Gathering has always only invited talented people from all over the world. Invitations are not accepted. As long as you can pass the test at the door, anyone can enter."

"Oh? What kind of test?"

Jia Rong asked.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"Someone will give you a question in person, and you need to complete an eight-part essay within two incense sticks." After that, the two explained, "Of course, this test will only be given when you first enter the building. From now on, you only need to give your name and you can enter the building without any obstacles."

"Brother Zhang and I have passed the test and can enter the building directly. If Brother Jia is coming here for the first time, he will have to go through some tests."

Jia Rong nodded.

It is quite difficult for an average scholar to finish an eight-part essay in two incense sticks.

Not to mention others, the Nightmare Book is bad enough.

But for him...

Haha, one stick of incense is enough.

As they were talking, they had already arrived at the door of Ming Tower.

This Ming building, which is close to the Qinhuai River, occupies a length of more than ten meters along the street. It is a tall three-story attic with a plaque hanging high at the door.

The two large gold-plated characters "Ming Lou" shine brightly.

There is a line of small words below.

Written by Zeng Yongwei, the top scholar in the Jiazi examination in the first year of Chongwen.

Jia Rong was filled with awe.

Zeng Yongwei was only 20 years old when he won the top spot in the imperial examination. He was the first top scholar in this dynasty to win the top three places in the imperial examination. His eight-part essays were unmatched at that time, even some great literary scholars had to admit defeat.

The eight-part essay, a style of ancient Chinese literature that is extremely popular today, was first created by Zeng Yongwei.

Especially in the eight-part parallel part, the ancient style got rid of the previous awkward and strange style, with many parallels but no parallels, and the uneven and free-flowing style that was close to the ancient style but not neat, making the parallelism neat and rhythmic.

The ancient style of eight-part essay has extremely high requirements on the number of words, neatness, rhythm and grasp of the main theme. Due to time constraints, few candidates dared to use the ancient style in the provincial and imperial examinations.

Jia Rong had not dared to take the Shuntian Prefecture examination last time, mainly because his essay was not good enough at that time. Another point was that the examination was not worth using Jia Rong's best tricks.

"Haha, brother Minglou is here."

"We are waiting for Brother Jia to arrive inside."

The two of them walked into Minglou while talking.

In fact, although the two of them were very polite to Jia Rong, it was just to show off themselves. They didn't even think that Jia Rong was capable of entering Minglou.

After all, they recognized Jia Rong's accent, which seemed to be from the north.

There are tables and chairs at the door.

There are a few people who are eager to try, but no one really accepts the test. Those who are capable have already obtained the qualifications, and those who are not capable can only "eager to try".

At this time, a young scholar strode forward, muttering to himself, "I hope today's topic will be simple."

Many people seemed to know this young master, and someone nearby immediately said jokingly, "Hey, Young Master Zhou, this is your third time this month, right?"

Someone else sneered, "It's true that you keep trying and failing, but you keep trying again and again."

Facing the laughter of the crowd, Master Zhou seemed to be used to it and didn't care at all: "I am Zhou Yanru, and I am so shameless to come to you again today to ask for a question!"

The boy at the door obviously knew him, nodded and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou, please wait a moment. I will go get the questions right away."

Just as I turned around, I heard someone behind me shout, "Wait a moment, little brother. Pick a question for me too."

The servant looked back and saw that it was also a young man, so he nodded again and went into the house.

Zhou Yanru looked at Jia Rong in surprise and said with a smile, "I don't know this brother. Where are you from?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "My ancestral home is in Jinling, and I now live in Kyoto. I came back to visit my hometown during the New Year, and I didn't expect to encounter such a grand event."

Zhou Yanru said with a smile: "Brother, your literary talent is far superior to mine. If we are lucky enough to pass the exam together today, how about we take the same exam?"

Jia Rong cupped his hands and said, "That is exactly what I wish for."

After a while, the servant took out a set of questions.

"The host said that you two can just do one question."

Both of them nodded.

This doesn’t matter to them. After all, there is no such thing as copying questions when writing articles in such places.

Seeing that the two agreed, the servant opened the question and presented it to them.

The two looked and saw:
No one knows the evil of his son.

This sentence comes from "The Great Learning".

The meaning is simple: people always fail to see the faults of their own children.

Maybe for the two teenagers Jia Rong and Zhou Yanru, "children" is a little far away for the time being, but this does not have any impact.

Because this sentence is not about how to teach people how to discipline their children. In the context of the whole text, what it means is:

The importance of self-cultivation.

And how to manage the family. Thinking of this, Jia Rong picked up his pen and wrote it down in one stroke.

There is a proverb that mocks other people’s fathers, which is a proof of their favoritism.

The tradition says that to manage a family, one must first cultivate oneself, and that in a family, no one is closer than father and son, and no one is more distant than father and son. It is not that the father is distant from his son, but that the closer the father is, the more distant he becomes…

After one stick of incense, Jia Rong finished writing.

He looked at Zhou Yanru next to him and saw that he had also reached the second half, so he waited for a while. When the second incense stick was halfway through, the two of them handed in their papers together.

Zhou Yanru seemed full of confidence this time, and said with a smile: "Brother is indeed extraordinary. I saw you finished it very early just now. May I know your name?"

Jia Rong smiled slightly.

"It was just luck. My last name is Jia."

After a while, the servant appeared again, with a much more respectful look on his face: "Two gentlemen, please come in."

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers immediately showed envious expressions, and several of them who were originally eager to try came out.

"We are willing to give it a try."

The servant at the door continued to go inside to get questions. Jia Rong and Zhou Yanru smiled at each other and followed him into the house.

The scent of ink and literary charm fills your nose.

There are also sounds of stringed instruments surrounding my ears.

After the two men entered the room, a waiter led them to the inner room to register so that they could come next time. After Zhou Yanru gave his name, he found that Jia Rong was missing.

"You were still here just now?"

Zhou Yanru looked around but couldn't find Jia Rong. He smiled at the registration clerk and said, "Maybe he went to the bathroom. Please wait for a moment, brother."

The clerk in charge of registration sneered: "If you are late, we will not wait. If you don't register, you will have to make some preparations to get in next time you come."

After hearing this, Zhou Yanru didn't care much. With that brother's strength, wouldn't it be a piece of cake?
……

Meanwhile, upstairs.

A group of people gathered around a table.

"Thank you, brother. How do you want to compete this time?"

"Just stick to the old rules."

"Okay, thanks brother for being so straightforward!"

"If you don't make it into the top five this time... then you have to admit that Qingshe is not okay."

Xie Jiwen smiled slightly: "No problem."

"but……"

"how?"

"You all know that among the three heroes of Qing Society, I am ranked last. If I can make it into the top five, the other two will definitely be ranked higher than me. Do you have to admit that Ying Society is not as good as Qing Society?"

"Hahaha……"

Everyone laughed.

It's really a joke.

Their Yingshe is an old literary society with a history of more than ten years, and it is also one of the best literary societies in Jiangnan. How could it be worse than Qingshe?

"Do not laugh."

"Just say whether you dare or not."

Xie Jiwen looked at everyone with a proud look on his face.

Everyone was amused by Xie Jiwen's expression.

However, they really didn't dare to agree.

What if Xie Jiwen manages to make it into the top five by chance?

After all, Xie Jiwen still has some literary talent.

It would be so shameful to admit that the British Society is inferior to the Green Society at that time.

"That's not fair."

One person stood up and sneered: "You just made it into the top five, and you want so many of us to admit that we are not as good as you, Qingshe. You want beauty! Unless... you can get first place!"

"That's right, unless you can take first place!"

Xie Jiwen laughed out loud.

"Haha, you're actually afraid that I'll make it into the top five?"

"Your British Society is full of talented people!"

"Are you so cowardly?"

"I suggest you change your name to Songshe."

Everyone was furious.

"Compared!"

"Go call the eldest and second brothers!"

"Go and invite Master Yuan as well!"

"How can we, the Seven Heroes of Yingshe, be afraid of this kid?"

Xie Jiwen waved his hand: "Whatever, just call anyone, but let me make it clear, don't get a scholar to mess around and fool me."

"Humph, we are upright people, how could we do such a thing!"

After a while, a handsome young man in red clothes and white silk walked into Minglou in a leisurely manner.

Everyone came forward to greet him.

"Meet Master Yuan."

"Master Yuan."

"Master Yuan is here!"

Master Yuan had a smile on his face and nodded frequently towards all directions.

"I heard that the brothers from Qingshe are here?"

The sound is very nice.

"Here it comes, on top!"

"Oh, take me there quickly."

A group of people surrounded Master Yuan and went upstairs.

As soon as Xie Jiwen saw the person coming, he immediately felt pressured. This was the temperament that only Jia Rong and Xu Lian had!
"My name is Xie Jiwen, nice to meet you, Brother Yuan."

"Thank you, brother. Nice to meet you!" Yuan Xi bowed and said with a smile, "Today we are meeting friends through writing, regardless of ranking. Let's all enjoy the writing together."

Xie Jiwen returned the greeting.

"Brother Yuan is magnanimous, that's just the way it should be."

At this moment, someone downstairs laughed and said, "That's very boring. I came all the way here because I heard there was a competition.

"Big brother."

"Hello, senior brother."

The eldest brother nodded, walked up the stairs and said with a smile: "I heard that a friend from Kyoto has come? I am not talented, but I would like to have a discussion with Brother Xie."

Xie Jiwen looked at the person who came and saw that this Senior Brother Liu was in his thirties, with a heavy and steady aura, but his words were quite arrogant.

Xie Jiwen said with a smile: "We are just junior students sparring with each other. You... ahem, haven't you passed the imperial examination yet?"

The eldest brother's face suddenly turned dark.

This is the pain in his heart!
His writing was naturally impeccable, but he was just unlucky. He failed the imperial examination six times and is now thirty-eight years old. Even some of his disciples have passed the imperial examination.

"Stop talking nonsense. If you can write better articles than me, I will admit that the British Society is not as good as your Qing Society. Not only you, but also your head Jia Shunzhi."

Ye Mengshu smiled and said, "Then let's compete, but it's just between us. If you want to compete with our club leader, I'm afraid you will have to go to Kyoto."

Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and advised: "Since ancient times, there has been no first place in literature. Why do you have to strive for the first, second or third place? Whether it is Qingshe or Yingshe, it is just for the purpose of discussing knowledge together."

The eldest brother waved his hand and said, "Brother Yuan, please stop talking. Brother Xie has come all the way here. If we don't show our sincerity, won't we be looked down upon? Please ask Elder Mo to set the questions."

Mr. Mo was an old censor who was devoted to scholars. He was extremely fair and especially enjoyed evaluating various literary gatherings.

At this time, Mr. Mo heard that everyone was ready, so he casually took out a book of "The Analects of Confucius" and slowly read a sentence.

“When you go out, treat others as if they were meeting a distinguished guest; when you lead your people, treat them as if they were attending a great sacrifice. Do not impose on others what you do not want imposed on you.”

(End of this chapter)