This time the news spread faster and wider than when Chang Suining had deliberately spread it secretly.
Not only was it fast, but it was also highly targeted. Through the mouths of many people, it was quickly and accurately conveyed to the ears of many officials, scholars, and students.
There was a lot of discussion going on, with most people expressing shock and astonishment, and for a moment they did not dare to believe whether it was true or not.
You have to know that the people at the apprenticeship banquet, whether it was Qiao Jijiu or Yao Siqing, not to mention the Dongtai Shilang Wei Shilang, and the Grand Commander Cui who never interacted with others - if you pick any one of them out alone, they are all people you would not have the chance to get close to on weekdays.
This is true for ordinary officials, and it is an opportunity that ordinary literati who have not yet entered the officialdom cannot even dream of.
Even if we don't even think about making friends through this, it's good to just join in the fun and broaden your horizons!
Moreover, it was the Dragon Boat Festival, and they were meeting friends through poetry. What an elegant thing! Many people heard the news and rushed there.
"Look, many people are heading to Dengtai Tower!"
"It seems to be true..."
In a teahouse not far from Dengtai Tower, on the second floor facing the street, four or five young people were sitting, but no one was in the mood to drink tea at this time. Their attention was all on the figures of the literati who were heading to Dengtai Tower in groups.
"This apprenticeship banquet has really turned into a poetry gathering..." Someone couldn't wait to try it, so he suggested, "Brother Song, why don't we go and take a look?"
"Yes, Brother Song, don't you have an invitation from Madam Chang? If you bring it in, you will definitely be warmly received, and we can also benefit from it!"
"I didn't accept the invitation she sent." Song Xian frowned. "She made friends through literature, and sent a poem as an invitation... She is just an ordinary girl, with no reputation among scholars. The only thing worth mentioning is that she had fought one or two fights with others. How could she have the confidence to say such big words?"
"Brother Song, why do you have to dwell on this... Although this is Madam Chang's apprenticeship banquet, you are not here for Madam Chang. In the final analysis, you are just gathering together for poetry and prose."
"That's right. Such lively poetry gatherings are rare in recent years. Wouldn't it be a pity to miss them?"
"Brother Song..."
Song Xian interrupted them coldly: "If you want to go, go by yourself. I will never go there."
"Brother Song——"
Some people wanted to persuade him, but were stopped by their classmates' eyes.
"Brother Song, if you don't want to join in the fun, then forget it. We'll go take a look first. If that Madam Chang is really doing something wrong, then we can tell Brother Song!"
Song Xian raised his eyebrows: "Whether she is fooling around or not is none of my business!"
Who wants to listen to her?
"Yes, yes, yes, I was wrong. Then... Brother Song, can you sit for a while? We will be back soon!"
As they spoke, they exchanged glances, then stood up and saluted Song Xian, then quickly went downstairs.
In the blink of an eye, he was the only one left. Song Xian's face was gloomy. He couldn't help but think of the girl's arrogant words in front of him in the Imperial College that day. She didn't look arrogant, but she was arrogant everywhere.
Making friends through literature, sending invitations through poetry... Does she deserve these words?
But there are so many people flocking to it.
But in the final analysis, who was really going after her? She just relied on the fact that the chief priest and others were willing to indulge her, so she unscrupulously used other people's names to satisfy her vanity.
No matter how much she embellishes herself, she is nothing more than a spoiled, willful, and self-righteous little girl!
Looking at the intermittent stream of people on the street heading towards Dengtai Tower, Song Xian sneered, "It's really a mess."
But no matter how he viewed the matter, the bustle at Dengtai Tower was obvious to all, and this bustle was still spreading through word of mouth.
In order to prepare for the next spring examination, some candidates from other places who had to travel long distances would usually rush to Beijing a year or even earlier to prepare in order to be safe and familiar with the various places as soon as possible.
Taking the imperial examinations is very expensive, and considering that it is not cost-effective to stay in an inn for a long time, after arriving in Beijing, they often choose to rent a villa to live together, so that they can share the rent and take care of each other.
There were several such candidates living in the Daixianfang in the city.
They also heard about Deng Tai Tower.
"Brother Tan, aren't you going to climb the Tai Tower?"
The man who was lying on the mat in the house fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan shook his head, glanced at the scorching sun outside, and said with a sad face, "It's too hot... I really don't want to go out."
If someone had told him that the summer in the capital was so hot, he would never have rushed here in early spring this year!
"There is not only wine in the Dengtai Building, but also ice drinks and ice basins!"
The man surnamed Tan was delighted when he heard this: "Ice basin?"
Ice is expensive, and ordinary people like them who have spent all their family savings studying hard for more than ten years, how can they afford to use it on weekdays? Speaking of which, since the beginning of summer, his most common way to cool down is to quietly recall the days of studying hard at home... After all, it has something to do with the word "cold".
"There are plenty of ice basins in Dengtai Tower. Let's go!"
The man surnamed Tan hurriedly checked into the hotel - he had to go!
Who can resist the temptation of free ice basin to cool off during the hot Dragon Boat Festival? "Are you really not charging money?" the man asked while tying his belt.
"Why would you charge me any money?" The friend shook his head and said with a smile, "But you must write a poem..."
Man surnamed Tan: "That's a good deal!"
On the way, he asked his friend, "How long does the apprenticeship banquet in the capital usually last?"
"The apprenticeship banquet will only last a few days, so naturally this is the only day!"
The man showed a look of regret.
How could such a good thing only last for one day?
If writing a poem can bring him an ice basin to cool off, he can write one poem every day until the beginning of autumn! "But it looks like it's almost noon... Could it be that when we arrive, the apprenticeship banquet will be over?"
"Brother Tan, you may not know this, but I have already inquired about it carefully. The lady who came to become my disciple has already said that she wants to hold two banquets in a row, until the evening!"
The man was relieved and walked faster: "We have to go there quickly..."
There are probably many people like him who love ice basins but don't like poetry. If you go too late, you may not be able to find a good position close to the ice basin!
…
Master Chu, who has been the Minister of Rites for a long time, had a rare day off today, so he came to the Imperial College in the afternoon to go fishing with Qiao Jijiu.
Qiao Yubai, who had to stay at home to recuperate due to an injury, was feeling bored. After waiting for a long time, someone finally came over. He was particularly enthusiastic. He bowed and invited Master Chu to sit down, while asking the servants to make tea.
Master Chu nodded and sat down in the hall, then asked, "Where is your father?"
Qiao Yubai was stunned. It was said that the news was already spreading like wildfire outside, but Master Chu had not heard of it yet? He then explained the matter of setting up a banquet for apprenticeship in Dengtai Tower today.
"A banquet for apprenticeship?" Master Chu raised his long white eyebrows, and the face of the girl by the river that day flashed before his eyes. He suddenly felt dissatisfied: "Since he held a banquet, why didn't he inform me?"
He said he was his confidant, but he didn't even invite him to the banquet for his disciples. Could it be that he was deceiving his feelings and just treating him as a fishing partner? "How could it be." Qiao Yubai said puzzledly: "I clearly remember that my father sent someone to send an invitation to your house--"
The servant beside Master Chu whispered, "Master, it seems so."
Master Chu frowned: "Then why didn't you give it to me?"
The servant looked aggrieved: "You instructed me before that all gifts should be returned. You don't need to care about any invitations, let alone send them to you to cause trouble..."
The Lord was not very willing to take over the post of Minister of Rites, and was particularly impatient with those who tried to win him over. His temper also became worse due to too much official business - this was also the reason why, although they had heard about the apprenticeship banquet before they came, they did not dare to go to the Lord and make a fuss without permission.
Master Chu choked, "...it depends on who sent the invitation."
The old servant had no choice but to respond with a resigned “yes”.
Master Chu frowned and glanced outside the hall: "It's past noon, the people should be back by now, right?"
Qiao Yubai smiled and said, "Just now the servant came back and told me that there will be another banquet in the evening, and I will probably be back late at night."
"Two banquets in a row?" Master Chu exclaimed in his heart: "What a shame! Has he never accepted any apprentices or -"
After a pause, he said, "Oh, this is indeed Qiao Yang's first time accepting disciples, and he is not as good as him."
Moreover, all his students were princes and princesses, and the most outstanding student was even both a prince and a princess.
This was something he had used to tease his students in the past, but when Master Chu thought about it now, he couldn't help feeling a little sad.
The old servant had followed him for many years. At this moment, he noticed his master's mood and sighed in his heart.
Seeing that Qiao Jijiu was accepting students, Langjun also missed his students.
Seeing that Master Chu did not speak for a while, Qiao Yubai took the opportunity to say, "If Master is not in a hurry to go back, how about I play a game of chess with you?"
Playing chess is secondary. He mainly just wants someone to relieve his boredom.
"No need." Master Chu stood up and snorted, "I'd like to go and see. It's just a banquet for apprenticeship, and he accepted his own daughter as a student. Is there anything worth holding two banquets in a row..."
Having said this, he left with the old servant.
Qiao Yubai could only bow and say, "Taifu, take care."
"My dear, how about I play chess with you?" the servant suggested.
Qiao Yubai looked at him, sighed, but ultimately did not say anything hurtful.
The servant lowered his head silently.
"Yubai, Yubai!"
At this time, a young man ran over with sweat all over his forehead.
"Qianshan?" Qiao Yubai looked at his classmates who came over with joy.
The young man was breathing unevenly: "I came here specially to find you!"
Qiao Yubai was somewhat moved.
There are still people who miss him.
"Mrs. Chang's apprenticeship banquet today has really made a big name for itself... I heard that many scholars have gathered here, and there are probably more than a hundred people at the banquet right now!" The young man said, "It's being spread everywhere now! It's really going to become a beautiful and elegant event!"
Qiao Yubai smiled and nodded: "I heard it too, sit down and talk."
"I won't sit down anymore..." The young man waved his hand hurriedly: "I just came to tell you something, but I have to go over there, Brother Fu and the others are waiting for me!"
“?” Qiao Yubai’s smile froze.
"I'll tell you in detail when I come back!"
The young man came like the wind and left like the wind.
With medicine still applied to the wound on his head, Qiao Yubai sat back in his chair silently.
Sure enough, the excitement belongs to others.
He was born with an easy-going and indifferent temperament and seldom got angry with others, but at this moment, he somewhat belatedly hated Chang Miao.
I hate it so much!
In stark contrast to the desolate and miserable situation of Qiao Yubai, who was "filled with resentment", the Dengtai Tower was filled with noise and excitement.
Fine wine, flying music, long gowns and scarves, and wonderful poems. The setting crow in the west bursts out with golden light, which shines into the room obliquely with the evening breeze, as if turning this place into a fairyland.
Cui Lang looked at this scene and couldn't help but sigh: "It's really full of literary spirit... I feel like I've been stained by it just by sitting here."
Hu Huan also nodded: "If a mouse passes by here today and returns to its nest, it can probably become a gentleman, right?"
"If I reincarnate as a human in the next life, who knows, maybe I will be the next top scholar to win the top three prizes in the imperial examination." As Cui Lang spoke, he looked in the direction of Wei Shuyi.
Wei Shuyi had no idea that he had become the reincarnation of a mouse. At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged, looking at the scene in the building.
Some scholars were playing drinking games and uttered poems during the banquet, which were then copied down by their servants.
"Li Bai wrote a hundred poems after drinking a dou of wine..." Wei Shuyi said with a smile, "Even though not everyone is Li Bai, one dou of wine cannot produce a hundred poems, but with so many writers here, even if each person writes one poem, it would be enough to make a hundred poems."
"One poem is a good poem, ten poems can become a good story, a hundred poems..." As he spoke, his eyes moved slightly and landed on the young girl in green beside Qiao Jijiu, and he said slowly: "A hundred poems will be a great event."
Big event?
Changji was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously said, "After this incident, will Madam Chang become famous?"
Wei Shuyi shook his head slightly: "No, it's not enough."
At least for now, the fame that will spread far and wide is from this apprenticeship banquet, and even from the excellent works that will be circulated at this apprenticeship banquet, not from her.
The glory of the apprenticeship banquet far overshadowed her.
Wei Shuyi said slowly, "Just like everyone came here for the apprenticeship banquet today, and even more so for the people at the banquet, but not really for her."
The girl in green in his sight noticed his gaze and turned to look at him.
Behind her was a wide-open window, and behind the window was the sky full of scorching sunset glow.
Wei Shuyi raised the wine cup in his hand towards Chang Suining and said with a smile: "But I came here for her."
After he finished speaking, he was about to drink the wine.
The noise continued, and the dusk had not yet completely permeated the surroundings, but the bright lights had already been lit, illuminating the surroundings again like daylight, adding a touch of splendor that only the capital's nights could have.
Lights were gradually lit up throughout the capital city. The nights without curfew were always particularly lively, and Dengtai Tower was undoubtedly the most eye-catching place in the capital tonight.
By now, everyone knows the grand occasion of Dengtai Tower today.
The news was also circulating among officials.
"What did you just say?"
In the mansion of Duke Ying, Ming Jin frowned and rebuked several female servants who were talking in the corridor.
It has been two months since the incident at Dayun Temple. His injuries have only now healed, but his house arrest has not yet been lifted. At most, he can only walk around the mansion once or twice.
"Your Highness, we servants are saying that someone in the city is holding a banquet to pay homage to his teacher..." the maid replied timidly.
Ming Jin kicked the maid impatiently: "How dare you dodge and hide it? I clearly heard the name of that bitch Chang Suining just now!"
The maid stumbled back a few steps after being kicked, and knelt down in panic: "Yes... it was the apprenticeship banquet held by that Madam Chang!"
"She took a disciple?" Ming Jin sneered, "What kind of a master did she take?"
Under his questioning, the maid could only tell him everything she heard.
The more Ming Jin listened, the gloomier his expression became.
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