What happened outside the palace gates was just a minor incident.
Of course, it ended with Bai Qingyuan being humiliated and leaving.
Then a group of people escorted Jing Zhe to the outside of the Golden Palace.
Perhaps because he was going to see Jing Zhe off at the morning court session, Emperor An arrived very early. However, after entering the Golden Palace, he found that there were very few people in the huge palace. Apart from the Crown Prince, the Prince of Xiang, and important officials such as Hao Junguang, no one else had arrived yet.
Curious, he looked to the side and asked, "General Sui, where is he?"
Sui Shouren glanced outside and laughed, "Your Majesty, look, they've all arrived!"
Immediately afterward, Bai Qingyuan and Jing Zhe walked in one after the other. However, Bai Qingyuan looked like a defeated rooster, listless and weak, while Jing Zhe still looked heroic.
Behind him followed a large number of civil and military officials, which left Emperor An speechless: This guy's influence is too strong!
Immediately following was the morning court session.
In less than half an hour, the matter of the morning court was mostly settled. Emperor An knew that Jing Zhe had many things to attend to before leaving, and that having him attend the morning court had already taken a long time out of him. Therefore, he wanted to finish quickly, talk to him for a while, and then let him leave.
Before he could speak, Hao Junguang stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I have a request!"
"Oh? Grand Tutor Hao, please speak freely!"
"Your Majesty, President Jing is a man of great talent. It is a pity that I was not present when President Jing composed poems and lyrics at the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Gathering. This is a great regret."
Since then, President Jing has never performed in public again. This journey to Jinxi is long and arduous, and I don't know when I'll see him again. I am truly itching to do so. May I ask President Jing to present me with another piece of calligraphy?
It turns out they wanted me to write poetry.
Jing Zhe glanced at Hao Junguang, and the more he listened, the more it felt like he was being asked to leave his last words.
"What Grand Tutor Hao says is true. It has been quite a while since I've seen President Jing compose a poem on the spot. Why don't we take this opportunity to write one? What do you all think?"
After Emperor An finished speaking, he smiled and looked at the entire audience.
The other ministers were naturally delighted with this and immediately echoed it.
"President Jing's first trip after taking office is indeed worth making a big deal out of!"
"Yes, we won't be able to see President Jing for a long time. Leaving him his calligraphy is a way to remember him."
"President Jing is about to travel west, and I'm sure he has a lot of joy to share with everyone. Let's write a poem!"
At this point, Li Haoyun held a different opinion.
"Joyful? I don't think so. After all, President Jing will be away from home for many days. At this time, he must be missing his family and loved ones. It would be more appropriate to say he's melancholy!"
As they spoke, everyone looked at Zhu Xinning. In the vast city of Jingzhou, it seemed that the only person Jing Zhe cared about was her, his second sister.
Zhu Xinning no longer avoided the gazes of others and boldly looked at Jing Zhe, seemingly full of anticipation.
"Very well, since Your Majesty has spoken, then I shall make a fool of myself!"
"Haha, President Jing is being modest again!"
The ministers sighed upon hearing this.
Because Jing Zhe always says this before he puts on a show: "If he's considered to be making a fool of himself, then what about everyone else?"
Emperor An smiled and immediately sent someone to prepare paper, ink, brush, and inkstone.
Before long, everything was prepared and placed in front of Jing Zhe.
Jing Zhe wrote with deep emotion.
In fact, when Qingqiu left Jingzhou, he had thought about going to Jinxi. At that time, he was all alone and had no ties.
But the situation is completely different now.
In Jingzhou City, his greatest concern was for Zhu Xinning. When he heard her reluctance to part with him that morning, he felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
Besides Zhu Xinning, Yu Xiangrong, Su Mochen, and Zhang Xiaoyu also each held a place in his heart. There was always reluctance on the eve of parting, so he was indeed sad.
Now, I have no choice but to go to Jinxi.
It wasn't just to see Qingqiu, but also to accompany Wang Yingqiu and, incidentally, to find Liu Jinghong, not to mention that he now held an official position and had to work for Emperor An.
Most importantly, he still had to find Qiu Qianqian!
So many tokens and the Emperor's Sword must be retrieved!
He was filled with sorrow, but in front of the entire court, he couldn't act like a young man and write about his sorrows; that would make him seem petty and a laughingstock.
After a moment of contemplation, an idea came to him.
Then he put pen to paper, his brush moving like dragons and snakes, his wild cursive script leaping onto the paper.
The ministers were secretly amazed to see that Jing Zhe's imposing presence was completely different from his refined and handsome appearance and his usual carefree manner.
Then I looked at the words on the paper again and read them aloud.
"In youth, one knows not the taste of sorrow, and loves to climb to the upper floors."
I love climbing to the upper floors, forcing myself to write new poems and feigning sorrow.
Now I know the full taste of sorrow, yet I cannot speak of it.
"I wanted to say something, but hesitated, and instead said, 'What a fine autumn day!'"
After Jing Zhe finished reading, Hao Junguang was the first to clap and cheer.
"President Jing truly lives up to his reputation as the greatest talent in Anguo. He has not lied to me at all! Having seen him today, I believe him!"
Everyone else chimed in.
Li Haoyun echoed, "Although President Jing is young, his mind is more meticulous than ours. Perhaps this is why President Jing can not only come up with the idea for the newspaper, but also do a good job! We can only think about the sorrow of parting, but President Jing has already transcended all of that. It makes us feel ashamed!"
"..."
Jing Zhe glanced at Li Haoyun, thinking that his flattery skills had improved considerably, and immediately cupped his hands and smiled humbly, saying, "Prefect Li, please...please don't stop! If you're so good at flattery, then say more!"
"..."
Emperor An repeated it several times before saying, "After President Jing goes back—never mind, President Jing is too busy, how about Zhu Sheren do it for him? After court, copy this poem and send it to the newspaper. Add this poem to the literature section of the third issue and use it as the cover!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Xinning looked delighted; she was naturally very happy to do something for her younger brother.
Why does thinking about my younger brother make me feel restless? Maybe it's all Jing Zhe's fault. Why does he point at his lower body at night and call out "younger brother" and "younger sister" all the time?
Thinking of this, she blushed and lowered her head.
Emperor An was unaware of Zhu Xinning's thoughts. After she agreed, he turned to Sui Shouren beside him and said, "General Sui, take President Jing's poem, have it framed, and then hang it..."
Emperor An paused for a moment, then said, "It seems that the previous poems were all hung in the council hall, and there's no more space there! From now on, they will be hung in my imperial study!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"..."
What seemed like a trivial matter to Emperor An was met with envy from the other ministers. Since the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering, this was already the nth poem by Jing Zhe that Emperor An had collected; apart from that, there didn't seem to be a single one outside.
Then someone said, "President Jing's calligraphy and poetry are also of the highest caliber. It's fortunate that there are no pieces by President Jing outside, otherwise I'm afraid they could fetch an unimaginable high price!"
The ministers nodded in agreement.
————
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