I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 66 Stealing the Imperial Seal
While Wu Zhiyuan was copying the poem, Zhu Huaiyuan, who had been unable to contain himself any longer, also wanted to show off his skills and recite a poem.

Everyone's eyes converged, Zhu Huaian opened his folding fan, fanned it slowly, and sighed softly:
"A person's life is but a few decades long. Who will remember it after death? But if one can write a good poem, it can be passed down to future generations and be remembered through the ages..." Zhu Huaian's lips curled up slowly. He looked around and said, "Today I will also recite a poem, hoping to leave a brilliant mark in the long years!"

After these words were spoken, even the talented scholar who had always been prejudiced against Prince Zhu began to feel a little hopeful.

Could it be that the silly kid from the Wang family in Changting has finally gotten enlightened?

Before anyone could think about it, Zhu Huaian recited a poem about falling rain:
"Drop by drop,
Two drops, three drops, four or five drops;
Six drops, seven drops, eight drops, nine drops…”

After reciting to this point while shaking his head, Zhu Huaian suddenly closed his folding fan, squinted his eyes and smiled, and continued with the last sentence - "It will disappear even if it falls into a puddle."

The literary gathering was momentarily silent.

Everyone knew the level and quality of this poem, but no one dared to make a joke about it, and no one dared to say that Prince Zhu wrote it poorly.

The reason is simple. It is because the current Emperor Longping loved to write poetry when he was young. If one counts his poems throughout his life, there are at least 30,000 of them, if not 50,000.

Among them is a poem called Flying Snow, and the "artistic conception" of that poem is no different from the current poems of Zhu Shizi.

Therefore, who dares to say that this poem is not good?
No wonder Prince Zhu is so confident, this is clearly a scoundrel and a rogue!
"How is it? Does my poem meet your liking?"

The poetry collector coughed lightly, intending to change the subject and skip over it, but unexpectedly, praise suddenly rang out in the silent literary gathering.

"Wonderful, wonderful! This is a truly rare masterpiece, especially the last line, which says, 'It even disappeared into the puddle.' It's the finishing touch. Just one line gives this poem its true charm!"

Wu Wencai had the same uninhibited personality as Zhu Huaian. Seeing that Zhu Huaian was just having fun, he joined in the applause.

Seeing his brother step forward, Wu Zhiyuan nodded and said, "Compared to mine, this poem is indeed more talented."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Huaian looked at the silent Zhuang Zijun and said with a smile, "What do you think, Zijun?"

Zhuang Zijun's eyelids twitched, and he forced a dry laugh, saying, "This poem... is indeed fresh and unconventional. I'm far inferior to it..."

Xu Qing felt happy when he saw Zhu Huaian and others torturing the talented people.

When he was in Shuhuang Pavilion, whether he was giving gifts to the girls in the brothel with his real name or shouting in dishevel that he was the Prince of Changting, he thought that the little fat boy was deliberately showing weakness to the future crown prince and creating an image of a good-for-nothing who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun.

Now seeing the other party selling treasures so blatantly, and acting as if he were in character, Xu Qing couldn't tell for a moment whether Zhu Huaian was acting or it was really like that.

When today's literary gathering ended, Yang Xue's ranking had already been confirmed as the top spot.

Among them, there were originally only the top three in the poetry category, namely, Poet Yuan, Poet Feng and Poet Tan.

But because someone showed up to play dirty and cheat, the host of the literary gathering at Yuyingxuan had no choice but to add a new category that was independent of the list, called Jinyuan.

As for how much truth there is in this Jinyuan, it is unknown.

Not to mention Zhu Huaian who took advantage of the situation and won the individual award.

Take the Wu brothers for example. They became famous overnight at the literary conference, and along with that came the recommendations and solicitations of celebrities. Some strangers who had never met them on weekdays also rushed to make friends with them.

Xu Qing watched from the side, and when he saw that the two brothers were polite to the visitor and did not try to please him, he smiled slightly.

The children of Old Wu’s family are not bad!

Later, the old man who delivered the poem came specifically and said that an important person wanted to see him.

Xu Qing looked up at the old man, who still had a dead expression on his face. If he hadn't been able to smell the scent of life on him, he would have thought the old man in front of him was a real zombie.

Everyone knows who the noble person in the attic is. The Wu brothers have been appreciated by the prince. This unexpected gain is far more useful than having tea with the courtesan. Who knows, when the crown prince ascends the throne in the future, these two brothers will be able to rise to prominence with their current opportunity.

Xu Qing was a man of few years. Worldly fame was of no use to him. His interest in the Crown Prince was far less than his interest in having tea with the courtesan. At worst, listening to Guo Dongyang's storytelling was still more enjoyable than chatting with the old man in the attic. "Huh? Brother Xu, aren't you going to the pleasure boat for tea?"

Zhu Huaian was having a lot of fun and was even willing to continue to the next game.

"If we don't go, didn't Zhuangzi just say that we should go to the pleasure boat to continue reciting poems and composing couplets? No matter how beautiful the courtesan is, these people will just flaunt their beauty. In the end, let alone a tea party, I'm afraid we won't even be able to see the courtesan dance for a bit."

"It would be better to go back and listen to storytellers telling stories about ghosts and monsters."

"Ghost?"

Zhu Huaian immediately became interested when he heard this: "Is there a female ghost?"

"Of course." Xu Qing rubbed his chin, but thought of the female corpse in the zombie transformation.

……

Storytellers are popular among the lower nine.

Those who carry corpses, drive corpses, and retrieve corpses are also of the lowest class.

Xu Qing still remembered the evaluation of his own corpse, which was low-grade.

Low-quality people are assigned to low-class jobs, and no one should look down on anyone else. As long as the scale in our hearts is not crooked, even if we are of the lowest class, we are not necessarily worse than the princes and nobles sitting high in the palace.

Ruiyang Teahouse.

After the storyteller finished talking about one of the eight major sects in the martial arts world, he took a sip of tea and waited until his throat felt lubricated before striking the wake-up stick.

At this time, there were no empty seats in the teahouse. There were people standing even at the door and in the corners. Some people who lived nearby even brought small stools outside just to listen to this story.

This is what Guo Dongyang is famous for.

When Xu Qing arrived at the teahouse, he saw that there were no seats. Fortunately, the shopkeeper was considerate. Knowing that he was Guo Dongyang's friend, he ordered the waiter to move another small table from upstairs and squeezed out a seat.

Zhu Huaian was a big, round man, and he took up two seats by himself. Seeing his surprised look, Xu Qing couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhu, is this your first time here?"

"Yes, and no." Zhu Huaian held the hot tea in his hands, took a sip, and explained, "I heard it once before, but it wasn't good. The old man always choked on phlegm, and he ruined all the good stories. I haven't heard it since then. If I want to listen, I take the storybook to the young lady. You don't know, the young lady's voice is so delicate and weak when she tells stories, it has a unique flavor..."

Hearing this, Xu Qing tried to imagine the scene of the lady in the brothel telling stories in a gentle voice.

Are you telling a story? I'm afraid you'll be telling so many ghost stories that you'll spill the beans.

"You haven't found a proper storyteller yet. Just listen to what this snuff bottle has to say..."

Without Xu Qing saying much, Zhu Huaian was already attracted by Guo Dongyang on the stage.

A storyteller who is sought after by all the teahouses and taverns must have his own unique qualities.

Right before his eyes, Guo Dongyang happened to be talking about another branch of the Eight Great Sects of Jianghu - the Thousand Shadow Thief Saint Pan Qianying who secretly stole the imperial seal.

Xu Qing thought it sounded familiar and after a moment's thought, he realized that the Linhe government office had sent him a corpse before. In the ticker tape, that person was Chen Xiaoyi, the 21st ranked Thief Saint disciple of Qianying Sect.

And his master is Pan Qianying.

Xu Qing secretly speculated, could it be that the lost jade seal of the previous dynasty was really done by Chen Xiaoyi's master?
Zhu Huaian listened intently. When the story came to a close, and he heard that a king of a different surname had searched for Pan Qianying for this matter but to no avail, the little fat boy muttered, "Why do I feel like I've heard this before in the mansion..."

(End of this chapter)