65. Good Times
Chen Wenzong stood beside the table, holding a piece of rice paper and silently reciting poems about autumn, as calm as jade.
For some reason, he felt a trace of regret and sorrow in his heart.
He regretted that, with the exception of "Withered Vines, Old Trees, and Dusk Crows," these poems consisted of only one sentence. While a single sentence might be exquisite, it lacked a complete artistic conception and could not be considered a complete work.
Chen Wenzong was about to put down the rice paper, but picked it up again... It was precisely these regrets of incomplete sentences that made him feel itchy.
He looked at the handwriting of the poem: the font was beautiful, it must not have been written by the prince.
Chen Wenzong recalled that when the maid had taken down the curtain, it was Princess Baili who had picked up the pen. Could it be that the princess had written it? The next time he saw the princess, he would definitely ask what the complete poems looked like.
The eldest son of the Chen family in Luocheng was so absorbed in the poetry that he completely forgot that his younger brother Chen Ji was also at the table.
"Brother, what's wrong? Why are you standing there motionless?" Chen Wenxiao asked.
"Huh? I'm reading poetry," Chen Wenzong came back to his senses.
At this time, Lin Chaojing also stood up and walked over, wanting to see what Chen Wenzong was holding. "Is it the poem written by that prince? Before, when we were at Donglin Academy, I advised him not to make trouble in the academy, but he just wouldn't listen..."
As he was speaking, when Lin Chaojing saw the nine lines of poetry in Chen Wenzong's hand, he was also stunned.
More and more people gathered in front of the table. Princess Baili had a total of three pages of rice paper, so these three pages of rice paper circulated among different people.
Two maids came up and said with a smile, "My dear gentlemen, my daughter is here!"
But Liu Xingshou was seen slowly climbing up the wooden stairs. She looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, and her appearance was not particularly gorgeous. On the contrary, she looked a bit mediocre compared to the carefully dressed women in the Red Lane.
But there is a kind of lively cuteness in the eyes and eyebrows.
When Liu Su went upstairs, she saw all the scholars gathered in front of a table, and no one looked at her.
The maid wanted to speak up again to remind everyone, but Liu Su stopped her with a smile. She tiptoed over and asked a scholar with a smile: "What are you looking at?"
It was not until the fragrant breeze blew in his face that the scholar realized: "Ah, we are reading poetry."
Liu Su looked at the poem on the rice paper and asked curiously, "Hey, which young master wrote this?"
"The prince of Prince Jing's mansion wrote this, but he's gone now."
"Gone?" Liu Su came to the window, held the window frame and looked down at the embroidery building, only to see the prince and his entourage talking, laughing, and playing as they walked out of the embroidery building.
The scenery downstairs is much more interesting than upstairs.
Liu Su smiled and said, "They are so lively. I really want to keep them for a drink, or go drink with them."
The maid was stunned for a moment: "Miss, what should we do now? Do you want me to ask them to come back?"
Liu Su smiled and said, "No need. Interesting people are better viewed from a distance. If you get too close, they won't be that interesting. Let's go. We still have to deal with those boring men."
"Should we find someone to fill the three empty seats?"
"Okay, it doesn't matter who makes the money."
…
…
The prince came out of the embroidery building. It was obvious that he was angry, but he was arrogant like a general who had just won a battle.
Someone at the door saw him come out and asked curiously: "Didn't the prince go into the embroidery building? Why did he come out so soon?"
The prince smiled frankly and said, "I can't write poetry, so I just wrote it out!"
"Have you seen Chief Liu?"
"I didn't see it. Fortunately, I didn't spend any money, otherwise I would have lost a lot!"
At this time, along the bluestone road of Baiyi Lane, every household hung up beautifully shaped lanterns, some in the shape of koi fish and some in the shape of buildings, which were exquisite and interesting.
The people walking on the street are all scholars and literati, who are knowledgeable about astronomy and geography.
The prince and his companions walked carelessly on this path, looking out of place.
When they were far away from the embroidery building, the prince whispered to Bai Li, "Did I do the right thing today?"
Bai Li smiled and said, "That's right, you are worthy of being my brother. You should be so decisive and efficient in your life."
"Hehe," the prince said, straightening his clothes proudly. "They despise us, but we despise them too! Since we can't even compete in poetry, we won't compete anymore!"
Bai Li's eyes curved with laughter: "Yeah, what's the point of comparing?"
Liu Quxing added, "Look at how Lin Chaojing was showing off just now. He was like a peacock spreading its tail."
She Dengke muttered, "You haven't learned much from Master's medical skills, but you've inherited his true ability to harm others..."
Everyone burst into laughter, and the unpleasantness just now was swept away.
At this time, Liang Gou'er asked, "Prince, where are we going now? To the Red Clothes Lane Gold Square or somewhere else?"
The prince waved his hand and said, "Let's not go to Red Clothes Lane yet. The little monk should have finished chanting by now. Let's pick him up and then go to the Gold Square together! How can we abandon such a happy event? We've already carried out the lame man, and we still need a monk?"
Chen Ji: "...Then after we return to the palace, can you please leave me in the clinic and leave me alone? I don't want to drink."
"no!"
"Let's go back to the palace to pick up the little monk. Don't leave anyone behind!"
"Pick up the little monk!"
Chen Ji watched helplessly as this group of lunatics, arm in arm, laughing and joking, and suddenly realized that he had to walk for more than half an hour to return to the palace to pick up the little monk, and then walk another half an hour back to the East Market...
Just like when everyone is young, they can be reckless and waste time without restraint. As long as you are still standing gracefully in your youth, the world will forgive you once you fall asleep.
At some point, you will be convinced by the world that this is not right.
But when you look back in your twilight years, you suddenly realize that there is no right or wrong, success or failure in this world. The days when you and your friends stood on the table and sang until dawn, and smiled foolishly when you looked at the girl you liked, were the real good times.
Because you can never go back.
Chen Ji asked, "Princess Baili, are your brothers usually this crazy?"
Princess Baili smiled faintly, "He's usually even crazier than he is now. Two years ago, during the Lantern Festival, when he returned to Luo City, he was drunk and insisted on going to the Tuoluo Temple to ring the bell. He and a few of his friends sneaked over the wall in the middle of the night, and the bell woke up hundreds of residents nearby. My father hung him from the beam and beat him all day."
"Why would he ring the bell?!"
"He said he wanted to wake up those people in the world who couldn't be awakened..."
Chen Ji stood in awe: "It really woke up a lot of people."
"I followed him out now because I was worried that he would do something so outrageous again."
"Are you sorry your brother got beaten?"
Bai Li shook his head. "Last time, my father beat him up for a whole day and he fell ill from exhaustion. It took him half a month to recover. Father is already busy and tired, and it would be bad if he got mad at him again."
Chen Ji: "...the love between father and daughter is so deep."
…
…
By the time everyone picked up the little monk and returned to the East Market, it was already late at night.
Hongyi Lane is still brightly lit, with two rows of red lanterns hanging from the beginning to the end of the street, like fireworks that will never go out.
As Liang Gou'er carried the bamboo chair past the buildings, the girl upstairs smiled sweetly and waved her handkerchief, "Isn't this Brother Gou'er? Who's the rich man you've hooked up with to drink with today? Don't go to the Jinfang to find Miss Yan'er. You can't drink as much as her. Come drink with me. I'll be drunk in two!"
Liang Gou'er laughed and scolded, "I won't drink with you. I'm afraid you'll suck my yang energy!"
The girl upstairs started to curse: "Liang Gou'er, the wine you bought is enough for Yan'er to open another gold shop. You were coaxed into not listening. What she drank with you was not wine at all, but water!"
Liang Gou'er continued to carry the bamboo chair forward, smiling as he walked, "I'm happy to!"
At this moment, a bright and charming girl came out from the gold shop to greet him: "Brother Gou'er, you are here!"
Liang Gou'er laughed heartily: "Miss Yan'er, please don't go and greet the other guests today. Tell the girls to take care of our table and don't neglect my new friend."
Yan'er took a look at the silver-threaded, dark-patterned python robe on the prince and immediately replied with a smile, "Okay!"
She led everyone up to the second floor and arranged a very spacious private room. The dishes and drinks were served like a buffet, with no two dishes being the same.
After a while, a group of girls rushed in with a fragrant breeze. Bai Li glanced at them and pointed at Chen Ji: "He doesn't need company. He is injured."
At this moment, a girl wanted to sit on the prince's lap. The prince glanced at Baili and said with a wry smile, "No, no, no, just drink."
At this time, a guest outside said, "Have you heard that the idiot prince of Prince Jing's Mansion wrote twelve lines of poetry in the Embroidery Tower?"
"Oh? How's it going?"
"Haha, you know Lin Chaojing, the one who has the best chance of competing with Chen Wenzong for the title of Jieyuan this year, said that the Crown Prince's writing is crap. He only wrote half a sentence of each poem, and none of them are complete. I don't know where he picked it up from, or if he bought it."
"What do others say?"
"Others have said the same thing, that the prince's level is only enough to spell out half a poem."
"The idiot prince."
The prince's private room was quiet. He drank a large bowl of wine, exhaled, and asked, "Young lady, let me ask you, what do you think of the poem 'Autumn comes to the frontier, the scenery is different; the geese of Hengyang leave without notice'?"
The girl smiled and said, "Good brother, I don't understand what you are saying."
The prince scratched his head and asked, "'After the rain in the empty mountains, the weather turns to autumn late', is this sentence well written?"
The girl refilled his glass of wine and said with a smile: "Sir, please don't embarrass me.
If you want to attract girls with poetry, you have to go to White Clothes Lane. In our Red Clothes Lane, it’s better to fill up the wine first. We don’t have room for scholars here!
The prince was startled, then burst into laughter: "This place is good, this place is good! I don't like those scholars either!"
The girl covered her mouth and smiled. "There were also middle-aged scholars who liked to come to Red Lane quietly. Before going to bed, they would quietly take Sea Dog Pills, a medicine for impotence, with wine, and tell me to wait and not to rush. Before the drug took effect, he would talk to me about Han history, the meaning of the classics, and everything from astronomy to geography. I admired him so much at that time. When the drug took effect, I asked him where Sirius was, and he said don't ask, just take off your clothes quickly."
The little monk's face turned red as he listened. He chanted scriptures while listening and chanted scriptures while listening.
The prince thought back to what the other guests had just said. It turned out that the poetry he had been obsessed with was not as important as he had imagined. "When I first arrived at Donglin Academy, I saw Chen Wenzong, Lin Chaojing and others reciting poems and composing couplets. I was envious. How could they be so elegant and graceful, full of romance, while I couldn't? If I could write a good poem, a line like 'If life could only be as it was when we first met, why would the autumn wind bring sorrow to the painted fan?', I could stand on their side. Today, I suddenly realized that they and I are from two different worlds. There's no need to force it."
The prince picked up the large bowl and raised it to Chen Ji from a distance: "I'm sorry that your poem has been humiliated along with me."
Chen Ji smiled and comforted him: "It's okay, you paid for it."
The prince drank more and talked more: "And the teachers in the academy, they always ask us to be self-reliant, but they themselves bring concubines into the academy... Oh, Donglin Party members."
Bai Li frowned and pinched the flesh on the prince's waist fiercely: "Brother, be careful with your words."
"Haha, enough talking, let's drink!"
The prince drank an unknown amount of wine that night. Chen Ji didn't want to drink at first, but he ended up drinking until he was dizzy without realizing it.
The Secret Service Department, the Military Intelligence Department, the fighting skills, and the sword techniques were all thrown behind his mind, leaving only the sweet wine in the Red Lane.
Chen Ji forgot why he drank so much. He only remembered that when he was drowsy, someone shouted, "Let's go to the Drum Tower to watch the sunrise," and then a group of people carried him out.
Before leaving, Liang Gou'er took Yan'er's hand and asked, "Do you want to go watch the sunrise?"
Miss Yan'er smiled and said, "There is still business in the gold shop."
Liang Gou'er asked again: "Are you going?"
Miss Yan'er replied, "Go."
They ran madly to the Drum Tower in Luocheng in the dark. Bai Li stuffed a silver peanut into the hands of the soldier guarding the Drum Tower, and only then did the soldier let them go.
Arriving at the top of the Drum Tower, Chen Ji opened his eyes as the cool autumn breeze blew.
He saw the prince sitting dejectedly on the railing, as if he would fall down at any time if the wind blew.
The prince asked loudly, "Liu Quxing, what do you want to do in the future?"
"I want to inherit my master's legacy and become the imperial physician!"
"Okay, from now on you will be the imperial physician of my Prince Jing's Mansion!"
The prince asked loudly again: "Liang Maoer, what do you want to do in the future?"
Liang Maoer thought for a moment and said, "I want to buy a few acres of land."
"I'll give it to you tomorrow!"
The prince then asked, "Chen Ji, what do you want to do in the future?"
Chen Ji said dazedly, "I don't know... I really don't know. Let's just survive first."
Everyone laughed: "What's the point of thinking about surviving?"
"Prince, what do you want to do in the future?" Liang Maoer looked up and asked.
"I want to be a great knight!" The prince said with a smile, "I just realized that reading those scriptures is useless. From now on, I will read whichever page the wind blows. I will tear off the difficult page! Beat the drum!"
After saying this, he picked up the drumstick and was about to strike the huge drum upstairs.
However, Bai Li held him back and said, "Brother, think carefully. If you hit the drum tower with your hammer, the soldier guarding the drum tower downstairs will be exiled!"
The prince let go of his hand awkwardly: "Then I won't knock."
Chen Ji looked to the other side again. Liang Gou'er was looking at the sky in a daze, while Miss Yan'er was leaning gently on him, not knowing what she was thinking.
Liang Gou'er hugged her and said, "Liu Xian, where have you been all these years?"
Yan'er clutched Liang Gou'er's collar, as if wanting to grasp the warmth of this prodigal son. She whispered, "He's back."
"It's good to be back, it's good to be back."
As soon as the words fell, someone shouted, "The sun is out!"
Chen Ji looked up and saw a red sun slowly rising at the end of the world, with clouds flowing and orange-red light gradually shining on everyone.
There are a bunch of idiots around me who are drunk and crazy, but even the morning sun in autumn is so gentle.
Bai Li looked at Chen Ji and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Chen Ji smiled and said, "I want that cloud in the sky to stop."
(End of this chapter)
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