"Oh my! It's my fault for being late!" Zeng Zhui beat his chest and stamped his feet, then asked, "Please tell me who the lady gave this collection to? I'll go find him and buy it back."
Xu Jiang glanced at the carriage behind him and thought: This may be as difficult as climbing to the sky.
"My wife?"
"Didn't I tell you that it was far away in the horizon, but it was right before your eyes?" Xu Jiang pointed behind him and said, "It was Du Hui, Mr. Du."
Zeng Zhui immediately put the reins into Lin Qinnian's hands and ran towards the carriage behind. When Xu Jiang turned around, he had already entered the carriage.
She smiled like a fox, but in the blink of an eye she met Lin Qinnian's inquiring gaze. She quickly coughed twice, concealed her smile, and pretended to look at the road.
When they returned to the bookstore, Xu Jiang first asked Lin Hongchu to ask Doctor Chen to come and see Zeng Zhui's injury, and then invited them into the bookstore to sit down.
Zeng Zhui was no longer bothering Lin Qinnian at this time, but went to bother Du Hui, insisting on buying back the collection, which almost made Du Hui so angry that he hit him on the head.
Lou Jing, Li Tongxue and Zhong Lu laughed so hard when they saw Du Hui's rare embarrassed look.
As the saying goes, the tough ones are afraid of the stupid ones. No matter how fierce Du Hui is, he can only sigh when he meets Zeng Zhui, this young man.
It was not until Lin Hongchu invited Doctor Chen that Du Hui's ears were finally at peace.
Doctor Chen was also familiar with several of them. During their casual chat, he heard about what happened at the Shiwen Yaji Gathering. He was gentler when giving Zeng Zhui the medicine and no longer pressed him so hard that he screamed.
Zhong Lu said, "This time, we have offended him severely. I am afraid that this young man will have a hard time in the capital from now on."
Du Hui asked, "In the capital, could it be that Zhou Shancai still wants to dominate the country?"
Xu Jiang thought of Zhou Shancai's words, and also of Lou Yunchun's words about his involvement in a very deep-seated conspiracy. It was hard not to speculate in some direction. However, it was only a guess, and she didn't dare to speak it out loud, lest it cause trouble.
"Thanks to you all today, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten away so easily." Zeng caught up with Wan Yao and knelt down to pay a deep respect to them. "Thank you, gentlemen, and thank you, Madam Xu."
Lin Qinnian quickly helped him up and said, "It's my duty, no need to thank me."
Xu Jiang smiled and said, "Thanks to you, I'll have to think twice before forging anything in this collection of elegant literature."
Lin Hongchu stared at him curiously, still not understanding why he went out to a banquet but brought back someone.
Zeng Zhui saw that she kept looking at him, so he grinned at her. His face was covered in all kinds of colors, and his smile looked silly and creepy. Lin Hongchu quickly turned her eyes away.
Lou Jing asked, "You said you came to the capital to participate in next year's Spring Examination?"
Zeng Zhui nodded and said, "Just wait until the beginning of the year to sign up."
Lou Jing shook his head and said, "I advise you to postpone it for a year."
Du Hui and Li Tongxue also agreed.
"Why?" Zeng Zhui's face flushed, and he asked anxiously, "Gentlemen, don't you believe I can make the list?"
Lin Qinnian suppressed him with his eyes and said slowly, "With your literary talent, it's no problem for you to be on the list. It depends on whether you want to be at the top or at the bottom."
“Naturally at the top of the list.”
"That's not enough."
"I..." Zeng Zhui was dissatisfied but couldn't refute.
Du Hui said, "Young man, the scholars in the capital are not all the fools they are today. I'm telling you, let alone the top three, with your current talent, you can't even make it into the top ten."
Zeng Zhui was devastated and looked truly pitiful, yet Xu Jiang offered no comfort. Zeng Zhui's talent was undeniable, but his arrogance could easily lead to failure midway. A stable and long-term career required further refinement.
The fact that all the gentlemen value talent and want to polish and train him is Zeng Zhui's blessing and also an opportunity for him. It depends on whether he can grasp it.
Du Hui exchanged glances with his friends before adding, "I know you're dissatisfied. How about this? Tomorrow I'll host a banquet at my house and invite a few scholars to discuss the matter. If you're interested, you can come and watch or join in the discussion, to witness the true elegance of our capital's scholars. How about that?"
Zeng Zhui nodded solemnly upon hearing this, "Okay!"
Du Hui invited Lin Qinnian again, "Would Brother Rushan be so kind as to come?"
Lin Qinnian glanced at Zeng Zhui and nodded in agreement.
After they had agreed, seeing that it was getting late, they said goodbye to Xu Jiang, and Zeng Zhui was about to leave as well.
When everyone asked him where he was resting, he said that he was temporarily staying in an inn in Jinchangfang.
Jinchangfang is close to Quchi, and he actually ran so far with them without saying a word. Lin Qinnian was afraid that he would not be able to return in time, so he lent him his donkey.
He left with many thanks.
Lin Qinnian was about to go home with Lin Hongchu when Xu Jiang stopped him. She then bowed to him solemnly to thank him for escorting her today.
Lin Qinnian hurriedly asked Lin Hongchu to help her up, "We are all family, let's not talk behind each other's backs." Not to mention his relationship with Zhe Yun, even because of Xu Jiang's support for the Lin family, he could not sit idly by.
If you give me a papaya, I will repay you with a jade pendant. This is the natural thing to do.
A gathering of elegant writers allowed Xu Jiang to see through the corruption in the capital's bookstores and witness the financial power of the First Book Company.
She was not timid, but calm.
If an enemy comes, we will fight him; if a flood comes, we will block it with earth. Before her, there was the injustice of Lin Qinnianping’s imperial examination, and later there was Zeng Zhui’s crackdown on the injustice of Shiwen Yaji. She followed their path, so what was there to fear?
So she still stayed in her bookstore and bound her poetry collection.
Two days later, Zeng Zhui came to the door covered in dust and dirt. When Xu Jiang saw his appearance, she knew that he had been bullied badly.
Lin Hongchu said that Yuan Zuzhi and Hu Xu also attended the Qingyi meeting that day. Given Yuan Zuzhi's love of chaos, the scene must have been very lively.
Xu Jiang invited him to tea and asked, "What do you think of the scholars in Kyoto?"
Zeng Zhui's eyes were dark and his spirit was dispirited, but he still admired him and said, "I admit defeat."
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