Chapter 137: Escaping from Marriage
Chang'an Street.
Li Nuo held his wife's hand in one hand and Mu'er's hand in the other, and walked on the street in front of the Song Mansion.
In the past, when the three of them went out, Mu'er walked in the middle, and he and his wife each held one of her hands.
Now, he is in the middle.
Many changes happen quietly without us noticing.
During this month, Li Nuo did not go to Yuyin Pavilion again.
Because of an article titled "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix", rumors about him and Phoenix were once again all over the city.
Rumors that he and his wife were divorcing were also spreading.
I didn't go to Yuyin Pavilion to avoid suspicion.
Of course, it's not just about avoiding suspicion.
Looking back on the whole thing, at first, he just thought it was Phoenix's narcissism.
But since Li Nuo asked her to keep it secret, the next day, the fu spread almost everywhere in Chang'an.
Afterwards, the rumors that were about to die down were brought up again.
Yuyin Pavilion was once again at the center of controversy, and Fenghuang, as the person involved, naturally became the center of public opinion, with countless people wanting to see her beauty.
Just to see her once would cost fifty taels of silver, and a song she played would be worth a hundred taels.
No matter how slow-witted Li Nuo was, he could still figure out that someone must be fanning the flames.
Phoenix and Nightingale had both helped him a lot. If they needed help, he wouldn't mind helping them, even without asking for money.
But he hated this kind of secret calculation.
He considered them friends.
But she treated him like a fool.
Li Nuo didn't intend to argue with her, but the previous friendship was canceled from then on.
Speaking of which, the most outrageous thing in the whole incident is some people's interpretation of that fu.
It is so-called courtship, but in fact it is a veiled criticism of Your Majesty. It is simply outrageous.
Li Nuo himself didn't say anything, but they just accepted this statement.
This crime, once confirmed, would be a serious crime.
The lightest sentence is exile.
If it were someone else, they would have been caught and taken to Mingjingsi for tea.
Fortunately, Mingjingsi is owned by their family.
The three people walked leisurely on the street, and every time they passed a place, there would be a whisper from the crowd.
"Didn't they say that these two were going to get divorced?"
"Divorce is bullshit. Have you ever seen a couple who are about to divorce holding hands and walking around every day?"
"So those rumors are false."
"It's not just fake, they have a very good relationship. Haven't you read the book 'Collection of Beautiful Women'?"
"What is 'The Beautiful Women'?"
"It's a collection of poems that came out half a month ago. You can buy a copy and read it and you'll know."
"Who are you?"
"I'm a clerk at Jiaren Bookstore, my name is Zhao Er. Just tell me your name and go to the bookstore to buy books. I can give you an employee price..."
…
"Collection of Beautiful Women" is a new collection of poems published in Chang'an half a month ago. It was sold out on the day of the first printing. In just half a month, it became completely popular in Chang'an.
The literati of Daxia like to publish collections of poetry and prose.
It is probably the common dream of every writer to have his or her works praised by the world.
Those famous talents all have their own poetry collections. They have many admirers, and every time their poetry collections are updated, they will be snapped up by admirers in large quantities.
Officials in the court used to like to compile their own collections of essays.
It's not just about fame, it also involves certain profits.
A thin volume of collected works signed by some officials could be sold for hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver, and was once an important means for them to accept bribes.
This method is reasonable and legal, and even the imperial court has no reason to ban it.
Until recent years, Li Xuanjing, the Minister of Dali Temple, launched a campaign of textual terror, where any random sentence could be distorted and deconstructed. Those officials were so afraid of being caught that they no longer dared to write anything.
This collection of beauties was written by the son of the chief minister of Dali Temple.
The first poem in the collection is a short poem.
One glance can conquer a city, another glance can conquer a country. In just two short sentences, beauty is described to the extreme. Anyone who writes about beauty afterwards can only sigh in admiration.
The title of this poem is "Beauty", which echoes the name of the collection of poems and also echoes his wife's name.
Once this poem was published, the rumors about their marital discord were self-defeating.
How beautiful must a woman be to make him abandon even his country?
When it comes to writing about beauties alone, even the piece "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix" cannot compare to it.
However, for the sake of beauty, one would even give up his country. On the surface, the values of this poem are not worth promoting and are contrary to Confucian thought.
But Confucian scholars gave a deeper explanation for this.
How could it be possible that the man who could write "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix" wrote this poem only to praise his wife?
No matter how beautiful a woman is, how can she abandon her city and country for one person?
The beauties here are not just beauties, but your majesty’s dream of eternal life.
He definitely didn't mean to say that he could give up the world for the sake of beauty.
On the contrary, he used such an exaggerated method to advise Your Majesty to put the country first and not abandon the country and the people for the sake of illusory immortality...
The literary and political value of this poem is even greater than that of "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix".
In addition to this poem "Beauty", the other poems in this collection are also extremely rare masterpieces.
"Her beauty overshadows the present and the past, and the lotus flowers are ashamed of her jade-like face", once again praising the wife's beauty, which is similar to "One glance can conquer a city, and another glance can conquer a country".
"We meet each other for a thousand years", her name is once again embedded in the poem, expressing the beautiful wish of being together with the beloved forever and growing old together, making people feel that this is the most affectionate confession in the world.
After the words “When the mountains have no edges, the rivers have dried up, the winter thunders, the summer snows, and the heaven and earth merge, then I dare to part with you” were spoken, people realized that what lasts longer than eternity is the end of the world and the destruction of the sky and the earth.
“If love between two people lasts for a long time, why does it matter if they are together day and night?” I wonder how many women resonate with this saying.
…
"Collection of Beautiful Women" contains twenty poems, each of which is a masterpiece that those who claim to be talented people cannot write in their entire lives.
Compared with her wife, Song Jiaren, the Phoenix girl from Yuyin Pavilion was simply a joke.
It also made those rumors disappear completely overnight.
All of these poems contain his strong feelings for his wife.
The collection of poems is called "Collection of Beautiful Women".
The title of the poem is "Beauty".
Poems are also full of "beauties".
Even the bookstore is called Jiaren Bookstore.
Is there any need to guess the intention behind this?
He used the most direct, simple and brutal way to shut up all those who spread rumors.
After "Collection of Beautiful Women" was published, for a whole half month, not a single poem was uttered by the talented scholars in Chang'an.
The women in Chang'an, especially those who admired talented men, were envious of Song Jiaren to the point of madness.
If they had such a husband, who could declare his love for them to the whole world in this way, they would be willing to do anything for them, even if it meant death.
Damn the rumormonger.
Fuck divorce!
If this couple divorces, there will be no love in the world!
During the period of half a month, many people even lingered in front of the Song Mansion all day long, just to see the peerless beauty described in the poem with their own eyes.
How beautiful a woman must be to be worthy of such poetry?
There were also many women who stepped out of their homes despite the criticism, wanting to see what kind of person could write such poems?
Along the way, wherever Li Nuo and Song Jiaren passed, there was constant discussion.
"She is indeed a rare beauty..."
"It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that she is stunning, but it's not a wasted trip."
"The two of them are such a perfect match. Is that little girl their daughter?"
"How is that possible? They just got married not long ago, where did their daughter come from..."
…
Somewhere in an alley.
The woman with Mu Li was holding a copy of "A Collection of Beauties" in her hand. As she watched the two people walking away, she clenched her fists involuntarily, and her nails left deep marks on the cover of the poetry collection.
After a long time, she let out a long sigh, put away the collection of poems, and walked into a small courtyard deep in the alley.
After closing the gate, she took off the veil on her head, revealing a stunning face.
She walked straight into a room.
One wall of the room is covered with paintings.
The woman in the painting is extremely beautiful, some holding a sword and looking back, some leaning on the railing and gazing into the distance, with an extraordinary temperament.
The painter's skills are very superb. From a distance, the woman in the painting seems to be walking out of the painting.
As the woman looked at these paintings, a hint of fantasy emerged in her mind and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up.
The next moment, her expression changed and she said coldly: "Who!"
Before she finished her words, she suddenly turned around and looked into the inner room, her sword clenched tightly in her hand.
A figure walked out from the inner bedroom.
It was an old woman with gray hair, wrinkled face, and wearing a white robe. On her left shoulder were three marks in the shape of small mountains.
She smiled at the woman and asked, "You can hide for a while, but can you hide forever?"
When she saw the old woman, the woman did not draw her sword.
She threw the sword to the ground angrily and said angrily: "If I don't hide, should I go back and marry someone else? That crude warrior can't play the piano, can't draw, can't write poetry, can't even beat me in a fight, he is totally useless, why should I marry him..."
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. She even started to cry out of grievance. She wiped her tears vigorously and cried bitterly, "Wow, why did she do that? All these were originally mine. Not only did she take away my home, but she even wanted to take away my husband..."
(End of this chapter)
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