As the last note of Zhang Yanyan's "High Mountains and Flowing Water" faded, the warm-up performance ended, and the Peony Flower Festival officially began!
Gu Jiaojiao did not return until the Crown Prince announced the start of the event.
Gu Chengyan's mind went blank.
Shi Xiu sighed and said to him, "Young Master Gu, the Crown Prince said that you should start with the original poems. Even if these poems are leaked, no one will surpass them."
Gu Chengyan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling extremely grateful to the Crown Prince. He quickly straightened his clothes, composed himself, and went up on the stage.
With a smile on his face, Hua Zisheng announced according to the procedure: "Please, Prince Gu, compose a new poem for this Peony Festival to open the event!"
Gu Chengyan walked onto the stage amidst the attention of the crowd.
Tall and slender, with an elegant demeanor, she wore a green brocade robe with a green belt adorned with white jade at her waist, and a white jade headdress of the same color, resembling a green fairy from a poem or painting in a peony garden.
Many noble ladies felt their hearts flutter as they looked at his sparkling eyes.
Xie Xiangxiang looked at him with joy, her heart filled with pride. There was a time when she could only watch as her brother-in-law.
Now, this ethereal beauty belongs to her.
Her gaze was too direct; she suddenly met a scrutinizing gaze, looked over, and paused for a moment.
It was Zhou Lingyin, the grandson of Prince Jing, her man in her previous life.
At present, Zhou Lingyin is only sixteen years old and studies at Yulong Academy. His grades are average, and he spends all his time hanging out with that group of good-for-nothing playboys.
Thinking of his past life, indulging in brothels and bringing so many concubines into his household, Xie Xiangxiang still felt uneasy.
She glared at him resentfully.
Zhou Lingyin was bewildered by the glare. Was this the woman his family had originally intended to marry him?
She's not even that good-looking, and she doesn't want to marry me, she wants to marry this green-haired turtle instead?
Pshaw, thank goodness it didn't happen, or I would have been so disgusted!
So Zhou Lingyin glared back without any hesitation.
With that glare, he spotted Xie Zhaozhao not far from Xie Xiangxiang.
That, is that the face of Guanyin?
He didn't sit at the Prince Jing's residence, but instead sat with Yin Jin'an and Li Yunmu, two notorious young scoundrels from the capital.
He reached out and tugged at Li Yunmu's clothes, then gestured towards Xie Zhaozhao with his chin: "Hey, Xie family, is that the legendary living Guanyin?"
Li Yunmu, the second brother of the Duke of England, glanced at Xie Zhaozhao, then quickly looked away and slapped Zhou Lingyin: "Don't look around. How can you look at the eldest daughter of the Xie family so casually? What kind of toads are we? We're not on her side."
"Why did you hit me? I didn't say anything bad about her. I said she's like a fairy..."
"You still say you haven't seen it? Why are you gossiping about it?"
“I didn’t comment. I just said that she was far more noble than the second young lady who was originally supposed to be given to me.”
"That's right, how can you compare? Her mother is the eldest daughter of a great Confucian family, while this Xu is just a concubine's daughter."
Yin Jin'an, the second young master of the Duke of Xun's mansion, said irritably, "If I had known it was going to be some pretentious poetry, I wouldn't have bothered coming. Zhou Lingyin, the Beast Fighting Arena has just received a few new slaves from the North Sea. How about we go check them out later?"
"Okay, we'll go in a bit."
They huddled together, whispering amongst themselves, and nobody paid them any attention. As notorious troublemakers in the capital, these few had already been abandoned by their families, who were too lazy to bother with them, as long as they didn't cause any major upheaval.
The female guest glanced sideways and thought, "Look, this is the most prominent figure among the bad apples in the capital."
Gu Chengyan had already taken the stage, and with a flourish of his brush, he composed a poem about peonies in one go.
#The peony in front of the courtyard is unparalleled in its beauty.
The lotus on the pond is pure and innocent, yet lacks passion.
Only the peony is truly a national beauty.
When the flowers bloom, the capital city is abuzz. #
His calligraphy was quite good, the strokes were fluent and smooth. After he finished writing it, Hua Zisheng asked someone to hold it up for His Majesty to see.
His Majesty's expression was inscrutable; he remained silent, gazing calmly at the stage.
Hanako Katsumi's forehead was sweating.
"Your Majesty, this is the opening peony poem written by Prince Gu for this Peony Festival," Hua Zisheng reported, kneeling on the ground.
The Empress was puzzled as to why the poem written by Gu Chengyan was exactly the same as the poem recited by the two young children. Was this a leak?
She was displeased, but she had no choice but to stand up for the Crown Prince.
"Young Master Gu's poetry is getting better and better, and his calligraphy is also excellent, with powerful and elegant strokes. Congratulations on the successful opening of the Peony Festival..."
The Empress was interrupted by Consort De: "That's not right, Your Majesty. If Prince Gu is going to open the Peony Festival, why is this poem already circulating in the capital? Did Prince Gu really write it?"
Her words immediately drew everyone's attention.
Yes, why were these poems, which should have been kept highly confidential, leaked ahead of time?
Some even speculated that it was a conspiracy, that the crown prince did it on purpose.
It's no wonder people think that way, after all, the Empress's maternal family was just too powerful, and Emperor Hui was always constrained.
Emperor Hui looked at the Crown Prince and asked, "Crown Prince, what happened?"
The Crown Prince hurriedly explained, "Father, Mother, Consort De, I don't know how Prince Gu's poems were stolen. The thief even printed them into a book and sold them for profit."
Gu Chengyan also knelt down with a thud and said, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! My poems and manuscripts have been stolen."
His Majesty said calmly, "Where did you put your poems? They were stolen!"
Gu Chengyan's mind was buzzing, and he said in horror, "It might be the servants in the house who have colluded with outsiders."
While Gu Chengyan was kneeling to receive the Emperor's questioning, Gu Jiaojiao secretly returned from outside the palace and was led back to the scene by a palace maid.
She finally found Guan Yingying, who shrugged and said, "How could I possibly write anything? If you don't have any new poems, just use the old ones. For these kinds of events, writing poems is just for show. Everyone is just using this opportunity to socialize. Who cares about the poems? Besides, you have a great scholar in your family. Who wouldn't give you some face?"
Gu Jiaojiao felt that what she said made sense. The key point was that Guan Yingying couldn't write any new poems right now, so she hurriedly ran back.
At this moment, His Majesty asked Gu Chengyan again, "Young Master Gu, how could you lose such an important manuscript? You were far too careless."
It doesn't matter if others say this, but when it comes from the royal family, especially the emperor, it's a very serious statement.
Both Madam Hou and Madam Tu knelt down and begged for mercy.
Gu Jiaojiao pointed at Liu Xian and Li Tang and said, "Where did you get your poems? Our poems were perfectly fine in the study, how did they end up in your hands?"
It means they sent people to steal it.
The Duchess of England was furious upon hearing this. She hurriedly knelt down with her young son and said angrily, "Miss Gu is spouting nonsense. Does she not respect the Duke of England's mansion?"
Madam Liu also knelt down and reported the situation: "Your Majesty, please understand that my son is young and has no ability to steal other people's poems. Moreover, the Prime Minister's family values disdain and do not tolerate petty thieves."
She handed a book of poems to Hanako Katsu with both hands.
"This is a collection of poems that a servant in the manor bought at Chunyang Bookstore. The poem that the child recited was from the book."
The Duchess of England also had a book of poems handed to her.
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