Su Su was also taken aback; this was the first time she had encountered such a situation. When she appeared, some people were chatting and teasing the other women. However, she was used to big occasions, and with her smile unchanged, she continued, "Today's poetry recitation is open to all, and Su Su looks forward to seeing everyone's talents!" After saying this, Su Su led her entourage to sit behind a screen.
What you can't have always stirs your heart; what you can't see clearly makes you even more eager. As the maids brought out paper and pens and served them to each table, everyone began to rub their hands together, ready to show off their skills.
"Brother, please help me out!" Yu Chi Baolin said, shoving the pen into Qin Mu's hand.
"No!" Qin Mu put down his pen and said.
"Ah! How could you not know?" Yu Chi Baolin asked, stunned.
"There's nothing strange about it. Didn't you say it yourself? They're so capable, why should I embarrass myself?" Qin Mu said calmly, swirling his wine glass in his hand.
"Hehe, don't be angry, don't be angry. Look how well you speak, brother. How could you not know poetry? Just consider it helping your brother out," Yuchi Baolin said with a smile.
"Okay? What did I say? I didn't say anything!" Qin Mu spread his hands innocently.
"I already said it! It's that story of 'Where there's a will, there's a way,' the one who burns his boats and sets his course."
"Where there's a will, there's a way; with determination, even the mighty Qin Pass will fall to Chu; Heaven rewards those who persevere; with patience and determination, the three thousand Yue soldiers can conquer Wu," Yuchi Baoqing added from the side.
“Yes! Yes! This is it.” Yuchi Baolin nodded vigorously.
"This is just an inspirational quote, not a poem," Qin Mu said, somewhat speechless.
"Then...then...what about that line, 'What is love in this world that makes people willing to die for it?' Could you help me complete it? Write a poem about it?" Yuchi Baolin asked expectantly.
"this…"
"Could it be that it won't work?" Yu Chi Baolin asked, somewhat disappointed.
"Of course, no problem!"
"I knew you could do it, brother!" Yuchi Baolin said happily.
"Quickly grind the ink for my brother!" Yu Chi Baolin said, waving to the person next to Qin Mu.
Qin Mu recalled the poem, confirmed it was correct, and then began to write. He recalled that it was precisely because of the line "What is love in this world?" that he had read the entire poem. Although he only liked that one line, fortunately, he had a good memory and remembered the rest.
"Touching Fish - Ode to the Goose Mound"
What is love in this world that makes people willing to die for each other?
Flying across the north and south, their old wings have weathered many winters and summers.
Joyful moments, bitter partings, and among them, foolish lovers.
……………
As Qin Mu wrote, the woman grinding ink beside him read aloud softly, and the other two, along with the Yuchi brothers, gathered around. When Qin Mu finished writing, the three women looked at him with great admiration. It should be known that as courtesans, they all possessed some knowledge of poetry and music, especially poetry, which was practically their favorite subject. Life in the brothel was lonely and desolate, and they often used good poems to reflect on the passing of time.
The three of them could understand and appreciate the meaning of the poem written by Qin Mu, which made them admire him even more.
"Good! Good!" Yuchi Baolin exclaimed with a beaming smile.
"Tell me what's good about it?" Qin Mu put down his pen, picked up a towel, and asked while wiping away excess ink.
“Brother, you’re looking down on me! Although I can’t write such good poems, I can still distinguish between good and bad ones,” Yuchi Baolin said hurriedly.
"How could you possibly distinguish them? You can't even read a single character, yet you dare to talk about poetry!" Yuchi Baoqing sneered.
"Hmph! Second brother, stop talking nonsense. I'm going to see Miss Su first. If Miss Su keeps me here, you can go back on your own later." Yuchi Baolin glared at his younger brother guiltily, then picked up the Xuan paper and went downstairs.
The maid downstairs handed the poems written by the guest behind the screen. Yuchi Baolin came downstairs, but before he could hand them to the maid, he heard a mocking voice: "Haha, isn't this the young master of the Duke of E's mansion? Did you also write a poem and want to have a friendly exchange with Miss Su Su?"
"Changsun Chong! Are you trying to cause trouble?" Yuchi Baolin's face turned cold as he turned around and glared at him.
Changsun Chong was three years younger than Yuchi Baolin and shorter in stature. When Yuchi Baolin glared at him, Changsun Chong took a step back. Then, realizing what he had done, he said with a hint of embarrassment and anger, "You, Yuchi Baolin, know poetry? Did you ask someone to write it for you?"
"Hehe, Brother Changsun, you are mistaken. As the saying goes, 'A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation.' Perhaps Young Master Yuchi has learned to compose poetry?" Wang Jun said with a smile as he came down from upstairs.
"Wang Jun, stop being so sarcastic in front of me. Just as you said, 'A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation,'" Yuchi Baolin said arrogantly.
"Hehe, that's hilarious! Studying hard? What can you learn? Fighting? Or blacksmithing?" Changsun Chong laughed, clutching his stomach.
"Hmph! As the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way; with determination and perseverance, even the mighty Qin Pass can be conquered by Chu; Heaven rewards those who persevere; with patience and determination, even the mighty Yue army can defeat Wu. You think you can see through me?" Yuchi Baolin said with high spirits.
Yu Chi Baolin's voice echoed in the Rouge Tower, silencing everyone as they pondered his words.
"Great!" After a while, a voice exclaimed in praise.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw several more people coming downstairs, led by two distinguished young men.
"Lu Chengli!"
"Hehe, Wang Er, long time no see!" Lu Chengli greeted him with a smile.
Upon hearing Lu Chengli's greeting, Wang Jun couldn't help but twitch his lips, feeling a strong urge to punch him. However, he managed to hold back.
"Yes! Long time no see. I didn't expect you to still be alive," Wang Jun replied with a forced smile.
"Thank you, very good." Lu Chengli didn't care about his attitude at all and said with a smile.
Knowing he couldn't win the argument, Wang Jun turned his head away from Lu Chengli's face, which he hated.
"Greetings, Young Master." Lu Chengli ignored Wang Jun and bowed to Yuchi Baolin.
"Greetings, Brother Lu." Yuchi Baolin bowed respectfully. He had a very good impression of Lu Chengli, who had spoken up for him.
"Based on what you just said, young master, I believe you can compose excellent poems. May I have the honor of reading them?" Lu Chengli asked sincerely.
"Hehe, no problem, no problem," Yuchi Baolin said happily, then handed the Xuan paper to Lu Chengli.
"Alas! Young Master, you are truly talented. I am ashamed of my own inferiority." Lu Chengli silently finished reading, then picked it up with both hands and handed it back to Yuchi Baolin, before sighing in admiration.
"I don't believe you can write any good poems. Maybe you just plagiarized them from somewhere," Changsun Chong said defiantly, brandishing the Xuan paper in his hand. His intention was clearly to compete with Yuchi Baolin.
As is customary, Su Su would collect the poems and let the host choose her favorites. However, the poems from others wouldn't be read aloud to avoid embarrassing those who wrote poorly. Of course, there were exceptions. Sometimes, if she thought other poems were also well-written, she would read them aloud after consulting the host, helping to promote their work. This was one of the reasons why many people liked to come to the Rouge Pavilion.
People like Changsun Chong would spend time meticulously preparing before bringing their work. Firstly, they wanted to win the favor of the beauties, and secondly, they wanted to gain fame. Otherwise, at his age, frequenting brothels would surely result in him getting beaten up.
"How about I read aloud the young master's poems for everyone to appreciate?" Su Su walked up to Yu Chi Bao Lin and asked with a smile.
“No problem, of course no problem,” Yuchi Baolin nodded repeatedly in response.
"This is so embarrassing!" said Yuchi Baoqing, covering his face from upstairs.
"What is love in this world that makes people willing to die for it..." Su Su took the Xuan paper, gently unfolded it, and froze after reading just the first line.
The others were no exception; this one sentence had already stunned the entire audience, and Changsun Chong's astonished expression froze on his face.
Su Su paused for a moment before realizing she was reading aloud. She took a deep breath, suppressed her distracting thoughts, and continued reading: "Flying together across the vast sky, their old wings have weathered many winters and summers..."
Su Su's soft, sweet voice, combined with the lyrics that already evoked feelings of melancholy, captivated everyone.
After reading it, Su Su remained silent for a moment, then gave a graceful bow and looked at Yuchi Baolin, asking, "Young Master, I truly don't know how to evaluate this poem. The line 'What is love in this world that makes people willing to die for it?' expresses the highest realm of emotion! No words can surpass it! Please accept my bow."
At this moment, Su Su showed no trace of coquettishness; her expression was dignified, revealing her deep respect for the poem.
"Miss Su, you're too polite!" Yu Chi Baolin hurriedly dodged, returning the greeting somewhat awkwardly. Although he had intended to win the beauty's favor with the poem, he still felt a little uncomfortable being given the honor himself. He didn't want to take Qin Mu's credit, even though he couldn't personally appreciate its quality. He was good at reading people's expressions, and the reactions of the others undoubtedly indicated that it was a top-notch poem.
"Hehe, Brother Baolin, you've really changed a lot in just a few days! I'm quite surprised. Please forgive my rudeness just now." Seeing Su Su bow to Yuchi Baolin and keep looking at him, Changsun Chong was burning with jealousy and forced a smile.
Changsun Chong was still young, and Yuchi Baolin could tell at a glance that his act was fake. He replied in a refined manner, "Well, it's alright, it's alright. Ignorance is no excuse!"
Changsun Chong's lips twitched, and he suppressed his anger as he continued, "Brother Baolin's poetry has improved greatly, far surpassing ours. Today, since Miss Su Su is so pleased with your work, why don't you compose a poem for her?"
"Ah! This..." Yuchi Baolin was stunned, not expecting Changsun Chong to tease him like this. He wanted to refuse, but looking at Su Su's expectant eyes, he couldn't say anything.
"Could it be that Brother Baolin looks down on Miss Susu?" Changsun Chong said with a sinister smile.
“Of course not!” Yuchi Baolin blurted out.
"Brother Qin! Please help me!" Yu Chi Baoqing, who was upstairs, hurriedly said when he saw his elder brother being cornered.
Even if he hadn't said anything, Qin Mu was already planning to take action, after all, he couldn't let his friend who came with him be bullied.
"It's just a trivial matter, no need for Brother Baolin to take action," Qin Mu said loudly.
Hearing voices from the second floor, everyone looked up and saw two young men walking out of a booth. The one in the lead was dressed in white, and held a long fan in his hand, which he swayed slightly, making him look very dashing.
"Yuchi Baoqing, and who are you?" Changsun Chong asked, looking Qin Mu up and down.
"A nobody, even if I told you, Young Master wouldn't know him, so let's not talk about him." Qin Mu said with a faint smile, then stepped past Changsun Chong, cupped his hands and smiled, "Young Master Lu, Young Master Cui, how have you been?"
"Hehe, so it's Brother Qin. If I had known you were here, I wouldn't have made a fool of myself." Lu Chengli smiled and returned the greeting, then put the poem he had written into his sleeve.
“Brother Lu is absolutely right,” Cui Yanxing nodded in agreement, and then put away his Xuan paper.
"You two are too kind. I am unworthy of such praise," Qin Mu said, feeling ashamed. He knew his own shortcomings and always felt ashamed when comparing his plagiarized work with others.
"What a pity!" Lu Chengli glanced at the poem in Su Su's hand and sighed. He lamented that such a fine poem hadn't attracted Tianci's attention.
“It’s a real pity. If he had written it after he got married, it probably would have been different.” Cui Yanxing glanced at the book following his gaze, realized what he meant, and nodded in agreement. When they saw Qin Mu, they both knew that it was written by Qin Mu, since Yuchi Baolin and the others had also heard about it.
"Your Excellency, could it be that you have come from the Three Passes?" Changsun Chong asked, his expression uncertain, while bowing. He was very displeased with Qin Mu, the one who had come to cause trouble, but he couldn't figure out Qin Mu's background. Judging from the behavior of Lu Chengli and the other man, Qin Mu must have some influence, so he was unwilling to offend him.
"No, although my surname is Qin, I am not from the Three Passes," Qin Mu said, shaking his head.
"Since you just said you would give Miss Su a poem, why don't you let us see it?" Unable to figure out Qin Mu's background and unwilling to let the matter rest, Changsun Chong once again tried to provoke him.
Qin Mu found Changsun Chong's behavior extremely childish, relying solely on provocation. However, he didn't want to lose face because of his love for Changsun Chong, and having just come downstairs, he remembered a poem. He replied without hesitation, "As you wish!"
"I'll grind the ink for Brother Qin!" Lu Chengli said with great interest.
"No, no!" Qin Mu hurriedly refused.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. It's my honor to be able to read Brother Qin's poems first." Ignoring Qin Mu's objections, Lu Chengli picked up the inkstone nearby and began to grind ink.
The ink had already been ground, and he had only tested it to see if it was suitable.
"Thank you very much!" Qin Mu couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to bow and express his gratitude. Then he pressed his folding fan onto the Xuan paper and picked up his brush to write.
"A beautiful and enchanting woman lingers by the Xiang River. The orchids and azaleas by the riverbank are fragrant; to whom shall I send them?"
Her teeth were white as gourd seeds, and her eyebrows were like twin moths, furrowed in the breeze. Her face was as red as a blooming lotus, and her skin as smooth as solidified cream.
Graceful and unrestrained, light and nimble. She boasted of her unparalleled beauty, and relied on her captivating charm.
His poem, too, was only half-finished. Although it left something unsaid, it was still quite fitting. Qin Mu had considered this point repeatedly in his mind.
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