Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 135: Wu State Scholars
Seeing that Zhang Bo and the others were somewhat lacking in interest, Lu Zheng said, "The literary gathering hasn't even begun yet, and you're all acting like this. This isn't good. How can you lose your spirit just because you're worried about a defeat before you even fight?"

Zhang Bo heard this and said, "Brother Lu, what you said is quite true. However, it's hard not to be worried about things like this... The Wu Kingdom has always been at odds with our An Kingdom. We can't lose this literary duel tonight!"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Who can always win? Victory and defeat are common in the military. Winning or losing is not important. What matters is that we gain something from tonight's literary gathering."

Zhang Bo smiled helplessly and said, "Brother Lu is open-minded, but I can't do that. My elders served on the border and once fought against the Wu Kingdom. If I lose to the Wu people, I really can't afford to lose face."

Zhang Bo paused and looked at Lu Zheng, "Brother Lu, are you really not going to participate in any competition tonight?"

"It shouldn't be..." Lu Zheng smiled and said, "But everyone takes this literary competition so seriously. If it really comes to that, there are ways to deal with it."

"What method?" Zhang Bo asked curiously.

Lu Zheng smiled and whispered, "Just overturn the table."

Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Li Zhao reacted quickly and said excitedly, "Brother Lu, is it just like what happened last time in Mingyue Tower? But it's not easy to overturn this table!"

Only then did the others realize what he meant.

Zhang Bo couldn't help but say in embarrassment, "There will be quite a few people coming to this literary gathering. What Brother Lu said...wanting to cancel the literary gathering is probably not realistic."

"It's okay, I'll take action when the time comes!"

Lu Zheng smiled calmly, looking calm and composed.

Although they didn't know what Lu Zheng wanted to do, these words gave Zhang Bo and the others a reassurance, and they felt inexplicably at ease.

Time passed slowly, and many students boarded the ship with invitations.

Suddenly, the atmosphere became lively.

Most of these students knew each other and greeted each other.

Lu Zheng and his companions could no longer sit there, so they all stood by the window, watching the students coming and going.

From time to time, people come to greet each other and exchange pleasantries.

Some people even learned that Lu Zheng was here and came over to meet him, being very warm and polite.

People in this era attach great importance to etiquette, even to the point of being overly formal.

If Lu Zheng wanted to communicate with these people, he could only blend in and respond to them one by one with a smile.

Two ships in the distance were slowly approaching this side.

One was the Fengcheng County Lord's tower ship, and the other was a large ship of merchants from the State of Wu.

When the large ship of Wu State came close to a Wenhui ship, someone put up a gangplank and beautiful women came out.

Several of the women were dressed exquisitely, with charming facial features and graceful figures, which were a real eye-catcher.

Li Zhao blinked and said, "This is the courtesan from Wu State. She's quite pretty..."

A student nearby said, "I heard that those courtesans are good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and some are even good at writing poetry. They will compete with us tonight."

"A few of the most beautiful girls from Wu State want to outdo us. They are so arrogant!" someone said angrily.

Li Zhao waved his paper fan and said loudly, "Perhaps the men of Wu are so addicted to the pleasures of life that they can't find any capable men. They are even worse than women, so they can only send women here!"

When some students heard this, they couldn't help but clap and laugh.

Disputes between countries have always been like this. Even in words, one cannot lose momentum.

"Who says there are no good men in Wu?"

A man's voice came from the Wu Kingdom's ship.

When everyone's attention was drawn over, a tall and handsome young man walked out.

The man looked at the crowd and said respectfully, "My name is Yang Heng. I heard that your country's Changchuan County is holding a Qixi Festival literary gathering. I happened to pass by here and came to see it... It's not that my country of Wu has no good men, it's just that they don't know about this literary gathering."

Someone asked, "I heard that you are a scholar of heaven and earth?"

Yang Heng smiled and nodded, saying, "I am not very talented. Three years ago, I was admitted to the realm of heaven and earth scholar. Now, my literary talent is more than seven feet..."

After saying that, Yang Heng waved his sleeves, and a literary aura emanated from him, reaching seven feet high and with a hint of light green.

Seeing this, many people were surprised.

Zhang Bo's face was somewhat solemn, and the man's seven feet was covered with a greenish-blue aura of literature. This aura was even stronger than his own. The other party was truly a man of talent and learning.

Of course, literary competitions are not judged by the length of the writing.

After all, every student has different strengths. Some students are short on literary talent, but may be good at writing articles; some students are long on literary talent, and may be good at calligraphy and painting.

If we only consider the literary atmosphere, then why do we need to hold literary gatherings?

This time, the Qixi Literary Gathering will focus on poetry writing, followed by calligraphy, painting and music.

In fact, in Confucianism, the classics of sages are the most important, and poetry is considered a minor art.

However, the Qixi Literary Gathering was just an elegant gathering of literati and a place for students to communicate with each other, and it was not overly formal.

There is really no need to let everyone sit down and discuss things, or write articles or policy papers, as if it were an exam.

Li Zhao muttered softly, "This is a bit tricky. This person must have come prepared."

"When the enemy comes, we will fight him; when the water comes, we will block it with earth..." Zhang Bo said seriously, "We have so many students, is it possible that we are no match for those few people?" Zhang Bo could not help but look at the tower ship not far away. That was the tower ship where the Princess of Fengcheng County was.

However, the building ship stopped at a distance and seemed to have no intention of getting closer.

Just then, several carriages came from the riverside avenue.

The carriage stopped and several elderly people got off and slowly boarded the boat.

Zhang Bo said, "It's the county magistrate, and the teacher from the academy."

The county magistrate and several others came onto the boat, and everyone bowed and greeted them.

The county magistrate nodded and smiled, then walked to the side of the boat, looked at the towering ship not far away, and said respectfully, "The county lady has arrived, and we are sorry for not welcoming you..."

The county magistrate had learned of the arrival of the Princess of Fengcheng and wanted to visit her, but was unable to board the ship.

Although there had been rumors about the arrival of the Fengcheng County Lord before, everyone finally believed it after seeing the county magistrate's attitude.

A maid appeared on the ship and said, "The county lady was touring Hongjiang and learned that there was a Qixi Festival literary gathering here today, so she stopped here temporarily. The county magistrate will preside over the gathering. If there are any outstanding students, the county lady will naturally reward them!"

"well……"

The county magistrate responded quickly, then took several gentlemen upstairs to preside over the Qixi literary gathering.

Li Zhao lowered his voice and said, "I thought I could meet this county lady, but she didn't even show up."

Zhang Bo smiled and said, "The Princess of Fengcheng County is of a very high status. How can ordinary people meet her? If you perform well in the literary gathering tonight, you may be able to meet her."

"Hey, you're insulting me again!" Li Zhao said with a laugh, "I don't have that kind of ability. I can only rely on you gentlemen present here."

Li Zhao looked at Lu Zheng and whispered, "There really is a county lady. If you want to overturn the table, you'd better be careful. Otherwise, it will be difficult to deal with if you anger such a big shot!"

Lu Zheng said calmly, "I know this. There are so many students here today, so my method might not be useful."

On the deck, Yang Heng looked at the Fengcheng County Lord's ship with a flickering gaze.

He had earlier gone to visit the county lady with gifts, but she didn't get on board and even the gifts weren't delivered.

The county magistrate sat on the third floor and said to the people beside him, "Everyone is almost here, we can start now."

The Qixi Literary Gathering does not start with a competition.

We gather here to celebrate the festival, so the festive atmosphere must be created first.

The county magistrate gave some instructions, and the maids on the ship came and went, serving delicious food and wine to everyone.

There is a stage built on the deck, with musicians playing the piano and dancers dancing, and the melodious music creates an atmosphere.

For a moment, the ship gradually became lively.

As for the singer, she is not included in the program.

After all, the song "Staying at Qinhuai" that Lu Zheng had played before was too powerful, and the county magistrate had repeatedly reminded them that no singing girls were allowed to appear at the Qixi literary gathering.

It was evening, and night had not yet fallen.

The river bank is already brightly lit, the roadside stalls are still there, and there are more people coming and going than before. They are all out to visit the Qixi Lantern Festival, which is also very lively.

There were police officers patrolling everywhere inside and outside the city to maintain order and prevent any trouble from occurring.

Lu Zheng was eating pastries and looking at this rare lively scene, feeling very good.

On the boat, the students gradually relaxed and gathered in groups of three or four to discuss things.

Some people even came over to toast Lu Zheng and the others, and were very polite.

However, at Lu Zheng's insistence, no one drank alcohol, but instead used tea to toast him.

After all, tonight's literary gathering is different from usual ones. If I get drunk and make a fool of myself, that would be bad.

Although we are all students with good cultivation and can drink quite a bit, we should try not to drink if possible.

Li Zhao was a wine lover, so he endured it all because he didn't want to drag everyone down.

After a while, several courtesans from Wu State came out again to show their talents to everyone.

The music is gentle and graceful, and the dancers are charming and attractive, with a unique foreign style that makes people look sideways and attracts attention.

Even though Lu Zheng was not often exposed to these things, after comparing them, he found that the music and dance of the two countries were very different.

"Such lascivious music..." Lu Zheng whispered.

Zhang Bo, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "Locality shapes local people. Speaking of the Wu Kingdom in the south of the Yangtze River, it's really not as good as our An Kingdom. The people there are good at enjoying themselves, and most of their dance music is like this, which is a bit unpresentable."

Li Zhao shook his head and said, "It is said that some men over there are more delicate than women. Do you dare to believe it?"

Upstairs, the county magistrate was sitting quite close to Lu Zheng and the others. He heard these words clearly and couldn't help but frowning slightly.

He turned and whispered, "Let those Wu women go! Don't let them ruin the character of the men of An. Let the people below prepare and hold the literary competition!"

A man beside the county magistrate quickly murmured his agreement and hurried away.

The county magistrate stroked his beard slowly and whispered to the scholar beside him, "You said these Wu people didn't come earlier or later, but chose to come to our literary gathering at this time. What are they trying to do?"

(End of this chapter)