Chapter 70: Why does he know everything?
Di Zhiqing was born into the Rongyang Di clan, a relative of the Xie clan. Influenced by Xie, Di Zhiqing developed a profound understanding of the interpretation of the Huainanzi Honglie. Therefore, the questions Di Zhiqing proposed were closely related to the Huainanzi Honglie.
"Orange trees north of the Yangtze River transform into citrons. Orioles never cross the Ji River, and raccoon dogs die after crossing the Wen River. Form and nature cannot be changed, and position and location cannot be shifted."
"This is a line from 'Huainanzi Honglie'. I believe that a woman who abandons household duties to pursue literature is like an orange tree on the north bank of the Yangtze River, an oriole crossing the Ji River, or a leopard crossing the Wen River. It is an act of changing one's nature and circumstances, a futile effort that will ultimately lead to nothing."
To illustrate this point, Di Zhiqing casually recited numerous anecdotes. His eloquent and powerful narrative, coupled with his concise and fluent language and upright demeanor, drew the approval of many in the audience. Even before he finished speaking, many, unable to contain their excitement, were about to throw their silk flowers to him.
This overwhelming situation made the female students of the Imperial Court sweat for Cong Ying. Princess Chun'an also became a little impatient. She lifted a corner of the curtain and said to Yiyun, "Can this girl really handle it? I think in this situation, Master Luoxishan will have to take action himself."
Although Yiyun was unsure, he knew that Cong Ying's level was far above his own, so he comforted the princess and assured her.
Prince Jin, who had been listening silently for a long time, suddenly spoke up, "Princess, don't worry. I'm betting on you winning. If you win, I'll ask for mercy on behalf of this young lady."
Princess Chun'an asked, "What grace?"
Prince Jin smiled calmly, "This is the grace that the princess can afford."
After Di Zhiqing finished speaking, the audience cheered for a long time before it died down. Everyone's eyes were focused on Cong Ying, turning into a gust of hot wind, gently blowing the pearl gauze fence.
The people in the fence seemed to be separated from the world by mountains of ice and snow. They were calm and indifferent, without any ripples being stirred.
She spoke in a clear voice: "What you said is a fake."
This short sentence made Di Zhiqing suddenly stunned. A look of absurdity flashed across his face for a moment. "How is it possible? The line 'orange trees on the north bank of the Yangtze River' is right in the opening chapter of the original Dao Xun. Anyone who has read 'Huainanzi Honglie' must know this. How could it be a forgery?"
Cong Ying shook her head gently. "Aristocratic families often teach by mistake, and their students tend to believe what they hear. This is precisely their drawback. It's a pity that Mr. Di doesn't know that this quote originally came from the 'Zhou Li - Winter Palace Kaogongji Zongxu' (General Introduction). Over two hundred years ago, Zheng Xuan quoted this quote in his annotations to the 'Huainanzi Honglie'. Disciples copied it from one to another, misrepresenting it as a line from the 'Huainanzi Honglie'. An examination of its original meaning and wording shows that it doesn't flow smoothly with the 'Huainanzi Honglie'."
Her voice was steady and her arguments were well-reasoned. Di Zhiqing suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and began to feel guilty.
But how can we verify it at this moment?
Di Zhiqing refused to admit it: "The claimant must provide evidence. The girl's words are not enough to prove her truth. How can you judge her truth without her words?"
After hearing this, Cong Ying suddenly laughed. Her laugh was quiet, so that only Di Zhiqing could hear it. It was a gentle and friendly mockery, as if he was a young man who had just entered the path of learning, and she, like a teacher and elder, had seen through his shamefaced and forced self-preservation.
Cong Ying said, "It seems Mr. Di has been so busy with official duties that he hasn't delved deeply into the interpretation of the Huainanzi Honglie for a while. This statement is a forgery. It's not my opinion, but the view expressed in Xie Xiang's 'Annotated and Corrected Huainanzi', written last year. I heard that the Di and Xie families often discussed the interpretation of the Huainanzi Honglie together. Mr. Di should go home now and ask your elders for confirmation."
Di Zhiqing was speechless, his mouth felt dry and his heartbeat even slowed down for a moment.
If this is true, then he is simply ridiculous. He can't even tell the truth from the falsehood. Wouldn't his bragging just now become a huge joke?
Gan Jiu, the princess's female official, handed over a copy of Huainanzi's Old Notes and Collation. Di Zhiqing flipped through it with trembling hands, his gaze fixed on a certain page. Seeing his face gradually turn pale and cold sweat break out on his forehead, Di Zhiqing finally uttered a helpless, wry laugh, "Indeed... I'm not very good at my craft."
Cong Ying asked, "Does Di Langjun's theory about the female protagonist's misconduct based on this sentence require me to refute it point by point?"
Di Zhiqing: "No need, I admit defeat."
Although he was conceited, he was still open-minded. He turned to Congying and bowed properly. Congying also returned the greeting, saying, "Thank you."
Then she turned slowly and left the altar.
Some people in the audience were surprised, some were disappointed, and some were discussing in whispers. Princess Chun'an ordered the court lady to summon the girl wearing the veil to her side. The court lady looked around but couldn't find her.
"Your Highness, the ladies at Taiyi all said they didn't know him and had never seen him before."
Princess Chun'an became suspicious and turned to look at the Prince of Jin beside her. The Prince of Jin chuckled and said, "You've done your duty and left, keeping your achievements and fame to yourself... It seems your reputation is not well received."
＊
After changing his clothes from Ying, he wanted to leave quietly, but was blocked in the alley behind Tiannv Canal.
The man in front of him had a cold face and held a sword. Zong Ying became alert and took a few steps back. She heard a gentle reprimand from behind him: "Chen Zhang, don't be rude."
Prince Jin, wearing a black crane cloak, slowly walked out from behind the swordsman.
In terms of height alone, Prince Jin was taller than Chen Zhang, but he was frail and sickly, looking tall and thin. He only had a pair of ink-black eyes that stared at her deeply, as if gathering all the vitality in him.
Seeing that it was him, Zong Ying felt relieved.
Prince Jin slowly walked over to Congying, raised his hand to straighten the hem of her shirt, which was tucked into her collar, and brushed his cool, jade-like knuckles against her warm skin. His gaze was so deep, shrouded in endless emotion, that Congying was momentarily stunned and speechless.
"Your clothes are not in order. What have you been doing?" he asked.
Cong Ying's face flushed with embarrassment as she hurriedly straightened her clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles on her shoulders and sleeves. "I didn't do anything. There were just too many people at the altar, so it's inevitable that there were some scratches."
Prince Jin smiled, his eyes calm, and clearly refused to believe her.
Cong Ying didn't want to get entangled with him, so she lowered her eyes and said, "Thank you for your reminder, Your Highness. If Your Highness has nothing important to do, I will take my leave first."
She lowered her head and walked around the King of Jin. After taking two steps, she heard the man behind her ask, "Why did you pretend to be a student of the Imperial Court today and stand up for your lord?"
Cong Ying paused slightly, but continued forward without answering. He raised his voice slightly, "Mr. Luoxishan."
Zong Ying's pupils suddenly shrank and he stood there in shock.
How did he know she was...
No, maybe it's a test...
Then, the words of the Prince of Jin shattered her fantasy: "You used the name of Luoxishanren and wrote to your master. You were also worried that your master would be suspicious of your daughters of the Jiang family and the Xie family, so you used a trick to replace the prince with a cat, and asked Yiyun to impersonate you, but is that right?"
"You prayed for your master's boat launch at the Tiannu Canal. For today's debate, you toiled for several nights, drafting the Qing Lun manuscript and handing it over to the Taiyi students to memorize. Today, Di Zhiqing is challenging you, and you risk being discovered to help your master win this debate. But?"
Cong Ying clenched her hands tightly in her sleeves, and couldn't help but tremble slightly all over.
As the Prince of Jin approached her again, the fear in her heart slowly enveloped her like his shadow stretched by the sunlight. She had long known that the Prince of Jin had the ability to know everything, and she had always been worried about him. Now, this thunderbolt finally fell on her.
What to do, how to defend...
Prince Jin's hand gently rested on her shoulder, and he asked in a very soft voice, "Aying, why?"
Just as she couldn't figure it out, he couldn't figure it out either. She and Princess Chun'an had different standpoints and personalities. In her previous life, she was harmed and killed by the princess. Why did he spare no effort to help her?
Congying had nothing to say in defense and could only respond in silence.
In the distance, there seemed to be the sound of horses neighing and the clanging of weapons.
Few people could ride horses in Yunjing City. Cong Ying was startled. Sure enough, Chen Zhang jumped down from the wall and reported, "Your Highness, it's Third Young Master Xie who is leading his men here."
Cong Ying eagerly grabbed Prince Jin's sleeve and said, "Don't tell him! Don't let him know!"
Prince Jin looked at her calmly, his expression unmoved, waiting for her next words.
With nowhere to retreat, Zong Ying finally responded in a low voice: "Whatever you want to know, I will tell you."
…
After Xie Xuanlan finished accompanying the emperor, he left the palace. Without returning home to change clothes, he went directly to Tiannvqu to pick up Cong Ying.
At this time, the debate on the east coast had ended. Although people on the west coast were still writing poems and guessing answers, the audience was much smaller than before. The spies from various prefectures and families had all returned with the news that "Taiyi Women's School surpassed the Imperial College", and the remaining ones were just idle listeners who came to join in the fun.
Xie Xuanlan rode his horse around the shore but couldn't find Cong Ying.
Princess Chun'an saw him and sent a message to express her gloating: "Madam Jiang and Prince Jin seem to have left at the same time. Perhaps they have old friends to talk about and don't want to be disturbed."
Xie Xuanlan's expression remained cheerful, but his tone was as cold as ice: "Your Excellency is truly destitute. How could you imitate the behavior of this gossipy woman? Get lost!"
He is in a bad mood today.
When entering the palace to accompany the emperor, Emperor Fengqi told Xie Xuanlan about Princess Xuande's request for an imperial decree to grant a marriage between Prince Jin and Jiang Si Niang, in order to test Xie Xuanlan's attitude. Xie Xuanlan knelt openly before the emperor and said only three words: "I do not agree."
He said yes in front of the emperor without any euphemism or hardship. His attitude was so straightforward and unshakable.
It was almost telling Emperor Feng Qi: this was his weakness and also his bottom line.
Although Emperor Fengqi was not angry because of his disobedient attitude, he looked at Xie Xuanlan who was kneeling in the hall with a look of melancholy and nostalgia in his eyes. After pondering for a while, he asked him to stand up and said, "I will think carefully about it."
But Xie Xuanlan was worried and anxious. He hurried out of the palace, wanting to see Cong Ying immediately to calm the vague uneasiness in his heart.
There was no one near the Tiannv Canal, so he searched along the north-south alleys on both sides of the canal.
Little did he know that at this moment, Cong Ying was standing in the private room of the teahouse above him, pushing open a crack in the dark window and looking at him with bated breath.
The sky was already dark, and the setting sun was filtering in through the window. Firefly gently closed her eyes amidst the golden and red light. When she opened them again, Xie Xuanlan had already walked along the alley into the distance, his figure gradually disappearing in the glow of the setting sun.
Behind me came the sound of a teacup falling on the table.
"Aying." Prince Jin's voice was as gentle as ever: "Have you thought of your reply?"
Cong Ying was still standing by the window, without looking back at him. As if talking to herself, she began to tell about her long and secret pursuit of Princess Chun'an.
"Before I was ten, I knew only a few characters. It wasn't until I was exiled to Xuzhou with my grandfather that I accidentally entered the Xuzhou Girls' School and truly began to learn. I still remember the kind female tutor who praised my talent and often kept me alone after school to teach me. We read the essays of Jinshi candidates who had passed the Kaimeng exam and studied the writings of ancient and modern sages. At that time, I was stubborn and unyielding. I asked her what the point of studying was for a girl. The teacher said that studying could lead me to Yunjing and to the princess."
“So, I made this my ambition.”
Unfortunately, fate played tricks on her. Out of nowhere, waves arose, pushing her in the opposite direction one after another.
Cong Ying lowered his eyes and smiled wryly. "Although my youthful aspirations have faded, I was once supported and educated by the princess. I've learned of her difficulties through our correspondence. How can I bear to stand by and watch? I've always wanted to do my best to help her... Besides, establishing a girls' school, helping the orphans and the poor, is a righteous way to accumulate virtue."
After hearing this, the King of Jin was silent for a long time, and then he said softly, "I didn't know these things before."
Congying thought that what he said was really strange, as if he was responsible for something.
She said, "This is a long time ago, and not many people know about it. I am telling you this only to clear up your confusion. Please don't mention it to anyone else, especially Sanlang."
"Why didn't you tell him? Are you afraid that he would be angry or embarrassed?"
Both, or neither. Cong Ying had vaguely heard about the grudge between Xie and the noble master, and knew it couldn't be resolved with a few words. Since she had long since lost the qualifications to serve the princess, why would she hurt Sanlang's feelings?
She replied, "Because he is all I have now, and I am afraid of losing him."
The King of Jin disagreed.
He looked at Cong Ying's back, and the thought that had been churning in his mind for many days but he dared not mention it was finally spoken out: "There is another way to solve your problem."
Cong Ying was curious: "What?"
The Prince of Jin said, "Cancel your engagement with Mrs. Xie and marry me as the Princess of Jin."
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