However, just as everyone was thinking this, a servant came to Huaijuxuan.
He came from Wanggui Garden, where the male guests were seated. He was handsome with delicate features and a clever air about him. He found a maid who seemed easy to talk to and asked, "How are you, sister? Do you know where Miss Zhu is?"
The maid paused, then asked him, "Which Miss Zhu are you referring to?"
The servant smiled and said, "Today at this banquet, I naturally want to find Madam Ning's niece, Miss Zhu Jiayu."
Before the maid could speak, the young lady sitting next to her stood up and stepped forward, sizing up the servant. After a while, she said, "I know where she is. Come with me."
The young lady who spoke was named Yu Qinglan.
She wasn't a kind-hearted person, and her offer to take the servant to find Zhu Jiayu wasn't out of good intentions.
Anyone of status knows that when attending a banquet, servants should not be allowed to enter the garden where the female guests are seated. After all, the young ladies gathered in the garden are of extraordinary status, not common women, and occasional clashes are not a big deal.
In other words, the young master behind the man who would send a servant to look for someone at this time is probably not a respectable person. This small incident alone is enough to show that he is ill-mannered and frivolous.
However, Yu Qinglan deliberately didn't offer any warning. Instead, she wanted to ruin Zhu Jiayu's reputation by associating with such a young master, which showed that Zhu Jiayu wasn't a good girl either.
That was her real purpose in taking the servant to find Zhu Jiayu.
Upon arriving at the pavilion where Zhu Jiayu was, Yu Qinglan used the excuse of admiring the flowers to turn around and go to the side.
The servant bowed respectfully at the foot of the stone steps outside the pavilion and asked, "May I ask if Miss Zhu is inside the pavilion?"
Upon hearing the servant's voice, all the young ladies in the pavilion frowned.
Zhu Jiayu stood up and asked the servant boy in front of the steps, "What is it?"
Upon hearing this, the servant lowered his head even further and introduced himself, saying, "I am a pageboy by Lord Song's side. I have been ordered by my master to invite Miss Zhu to Sishui Pavilion to discuss philosophy with him."
Discussing the Dao?
What path are we discussing?
Music, chess, calligraphy, painting? Or flowers, birds, fish, and insects?
The women in the pavilion were discussing among themselves and couldn't help but start speculating: which Song was this Lord Song?
Yu Qinglan hadn't expected that it wasn't any young master who had sent the servant to look for someone. But she didn't leave; instead, she stayed and continued to listen to their conversation.
Zhu Jiayu thought for a moment and asked, "May I ask your master's name?"
The servant said, "My master is none other than Lord Song Baopu, who met Miss twice in Heling. Later, when he came to Yujing, he often corresponded with Miss, discussing literature and policy, and debating landscapes and gardens. Upon learning that Miss had come to the capital, he specially sent me to invite Miss to Sishui Pavilion to discuss literature and philosophy with him."
It turns out it was Song Baopu!
Hearing this name, everyone was startled. Of course, they knew Song Baopu's name. He was the top scholar in the imperial examination twenty years ago. The emperor once praised him as having "the talent of the world, unmatched by any other." Later, he was demoted to Xingchuan Prefecture because of a corruption case. Everyone thought that he would spend the rest of his life in that rural place, but unexpectedly, he was reinstated and is now the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, in charge of the literary affairs of Daye.
Zhu Jiayu... How could Zhu Jiayu have any dealings with such a person? And according to the servant, she and Song Baopu were not teacher and student, but could discuss philosophy with each other through literature.
Regardless of what others thought, Zhu Jiayu, upon hearing this, simply looked at the women in the pavilion, smiled, said goodbye, and left with the servant.
After she left, Lin Yulou patted his chest, let out a soft sigh, and said, "Luckily, I asked her to give me pointers in private when she had time. Otherwise, if she had pointed out the shortcomings in my poems and essays in front of so many people today, I would have been so ashamed that I would have died."
After she finished speaking, someone exclaimed in surprise, "I thought you wanted her to observe and learn from you, Sister Lin, but I didn't expect that you had already seen that Miss Zhu was exceptionally talented and genuinely wanted her guidance! I truly admire your foresight, Sister Lin!"
Hearing her praise herself so highly, Lin Yulou felt a little guilty, but after feeling guilty, she kept a calm face and said:
“Miss Zhu is very talented, but she has never boasted about it. Although I can see it, I don’t want to make a fuss about it. Don’t you ladies understand Miss Zhu’s intention? She wants to tell us that there is no end to learning, and we must be humble. I hope you will all devote yourselves to learning and strive to write, so as not to let Miss Zhu’s good intentions go to waste.”
Upon hearing this, everyone felt ashamed and agreed.
Yu Qinglan also returned to her seat, seemingly lost in thought.
Over there, Zhu Jiayu followed the servant to the Sishui Pavilion. Through the fluttering curtains, she curtsied and said, "Lord Song, how have you been?"
Song Baopu smiled through the curtain and said, "Don't be so polite, come into the pavilion quickly."
Zhu Jiayu entered the pavilion, only to find Song Baopu leaning against the railing, engrossed in reading and completely oblivious to her. Not wanting to disturb his thoughts, she could only sit down at the stone table and pick up a book to read.
After an unknown amount of time, Song Baopu finally put down his book, looked at Zhu Jiayu, and smiled: "Aren't you curious why I called you here?"
Zhu Jiayu put down the book in his hand and nodded, saying, "Yes."
Why didn't you ask me?
“The master has his reasons for calling me here. I don’t need to ask; the master will tell me anyway,” Zhu Jiayu replied.
Song Baopu shook his head. He stood up, put the book in his hand on the table, took a sip of tea, and said, "I don't know where a young girl like you got such an old-fashioned attitude."
He later learned that the person he had thought was a persuader was not a persuader at all. Later, Wei Qinglou went to Songjiang, and they occasionally corresponded. When Zhu Jiayu didn't understand something while reading an article, she would write a letter and slip it into the letter Wei Qinglou gave her. It was from then on that he gradually began to take Zhu Jiayu seriously.
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