The word "small" simply means being obedient and subservient.
His young wife always spoke and acted reasonably, and it was perfectly acceptable for her to be so obedient.
If there are things you really can't agree to, agree to them for now, and then deal with them gradually later.
The stubborn and obstinate Gu Jinghui unknowingly grasped the true meaning of how to serve his superiors.
Whether one has attained enlightenment in life or not, it turns out, lies in whether one has married.
Upon hearing this, Qin Siyuan felt a closer affinity for his brother-in-law and smiled in agreement: "The name Nantang is excellent. My sister, you are indeed worthy of the name Nantang."
Qin Yuan laughed and said, "Brother, you're making fun of me too."
Master Gu was filled with envy and secretly thought that he would search through all the books of poetry and literature tomorrow to find a good name for himself, and use this name to write poems and paint in the future, which would be very elegant.
Lord Gu laughed loudly, "I suddenly had an idea, but I don't know if I should say it or not."
Qin Jijiu said, "My dear son-in-law, please speak freely."
The Grand Master of Ceremonies is now increasingly pleased with his son-in-law, Lord Gu.
Gu Jinghui cleared his throat and said, "Today's matter is an elegant affair. I've heard that fireflies are also known as poetry insects, and all of you are excellent poets. Seeing such a beautiful scene, your words are naturally pearls of wisdom. Since you published a collection of poems after your last visit to Yuyuantan, wouldn't it be wonderful to also have the poems you composed today published?"
Master Gu immediately clapped his hands and said, "Excellent, excellent! The poets who wrote poems today are much better than the last ones."
Qin Jijiu immediately said, "Hey, you can't say that. The last collection of poems included some excellent works by the Minister and the Education Commissioner."
Qin Siyuan smiled and said, "Sixth Master's mistake was unintentional."
Qin Jijiu said seriously, "As the saying goes, walls have ears. You must be careful in everything you do and in everything you do. You will understand when you become an official. A careless word can cause trouble. We are not like Mr. Songshan, a famous scholar. A famous scholar can do whatever he wants without overstepping the bounds, and others will praise him for his true nature and elegance."
Mr. Songshan laughed loudly: "The Grand Master of Ceremonies is educating his nephews and nieces, and he even has to bring along this storyteller."
Qin Jijiu said, "Brother, your great talent lies in hiding in the theater as a storyteller. I dare not speculate, but how could we ordinary people do what you do?"
Qin Yuan smiled and tried to smooth things over, "Father, someone just said one sentence, and you ended up saying all this. What was originally about composing poems and lyrics has turned into writing an essay in your hands."
Qin Jijiu pretended to hit his daughter.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Master Gu sighed, "I truly envy Brother Siyuan. He has received earnest guidance from his elders and is meticulous in his conduct and dealings with others."
Lord Gu thought to himself that he had been too lax in disciplining his sixth brother. Turning his head, he saw Qin Yuan covering her mouth with her sleeve and chuckling to herself.
Lord Gu asked in a low voice, "What are you laughing at?"
Qin Yuan gestured with her eyes.
Then Qin Jijiu said earnestly, "Nephew, after reading the poetry collection of Yu Yuyuantan last time, I made a reading list, but I was worried that you would think I was pedantic and meddlesome, so I didn't show it to you. I heard from Siyuan that you are very ambitious and eager to learn. You read books and practice painting whenever you have free time. I will give it to you today. If you finish reading this reading list, your knowledge will become solid."
Lord Gu's eye twitched involuntarily: "..."
After all this time, I still haven't read much of his "Spring and Autumn Annals".
Unaware of the gravity of the situation, Master Gu gratefully accepted the book list, but upon opening it, his gratitude instantly froze on his face.
The book list was ridiculously long, and it was filled with book titles written in tiny, handwritten characters, which made me want to give up as soon as I saw it.
Qin Jijiu added, "The real skill lies outside of poetry itself. If you want to write good poetry, my dear nephew, you need to put in more effort to study."
Mr. Songshan craned his neck to look and sighed, “No wonder your nephew can’t write poetry well, given how you teach people to write it.”
He already looked like a crane, and with that gesture, he looked even more like one.
Qin Jijiu countered, "This has been the way it has been taught since ancient times, and I was also taught this way by the great Confucian scholars. Does Master Songshan have any insightful opinion?"
Mr. Songshan said bluntly, "I have no brilliant insights. I have heard that the maids in Zheng Xuan's household during the Three Kingdoms period were all elegant and skilled in poetry, especially in responding to the Book of Songs. How could a maid have read so many books? Your daughter can enlighten your nephew, but you cannot do anything about it. It is clear that reading alone is not enough. But Sixth Master does need to read more books, otherwise when others quote classics, you will not know where they come from."
Upon hearing this, both Master Gu and Qin Jijiu blushed and turned pale.
Qin Yuan stopped laughing and replied, "My father's talent is not in poetry. My cousin is learned enough, but he lacks a bit of ingenuity. After all, a nine-story tower starts from a pile of earth. As for my younger brother Heng, he is beyond my ability to guide."
Mr. Songshan said, "That makes sense. Let's go. If we keep talking, it will be dawn."
He was originally a storyteller, but no one here treated him as just a storyteller.
Before he could finish speaking, Qin Jijiu chimed in, "That's right. There will be a market to watch in the future, so it can't be too bad and embarrass our son-in-law."
Mr. Songshan and Qin Jijiu discussed scholarship along the way until they arrived at the largest pond in the Marquis's mansion. Weeping willows were planted on the bank, their long branches drooping downwards. A crescent moon floated above the clouds at the tips of the branches, and the reflections of the lotus leaves on the pond's surface were like a painting.
Sparkling lights danced among the willow branches. Qin Yuan, standing beneath the tree, turned and gazed back, as if veiled in a light gauze, dreamlike and ethereal.
"The moon rises bright, and the beautiful one is there."
Master Gu murmured his praises, wishing he could immediately pick up his brush and paint a picture of a beauty under the moon.
A small boat emerges from the depths of the lotus leaves.
Qin Heng and his companions were exhausted after catching fireflies for half the night.
Kang Ge'er and Fu Ge'er lay motionless in the boat, while Gu Baozhu was still not satisfied. She shook the lotus leaves, stirring up more fireflies, and laughed loudly, "You write poems, and I'll lend you a hand."
Qin Heng squatted by the boat and released the large bag beside him. A dense swarm of fireflies poured out, and the beautiful scene suddenly became noisy.
Qin Siyuan looked at the people on the boat in surprise and laughed, "I do have a poem."
Sixth Master Gu hurriedly asked, "No restrictions on rhyme or topic?"
Mr. Songshan shook his head: "No need. If we restrict this, good poems will disappear."
Qin Yuan looked at the leisurely Lord Gu under the tree, raised her eyebrows and said, "I have one too."
Someone had already arranged for writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, and everyone picked up their brushes and wrote on the paper.
In a short while, he had written a stack of papers.
Mr. Pian Songshan, being mischievous, said, "Why don't we find someone to start the poem, whether it's a five-character or a seven-character poem, and each of us will try to write a line and we'll see what kind of poem we can come up with?"
Gu Baozhu wanted to see what kind of person Qin Siyuan was, so she jumped ashore and followed Qin Heng and Qin Siyuan to get closer to them. Upon hearing this, she immediately nudged Qin Heng and said, "Aren't you going to start? Everyone else has already written poems, but you haven't."
Qin Jijiu thought that although his youngest son's poetry talent was not very good, it seemed to be better than that of Gu Liuye, so he said, "You're right. You've been playing around for a long time. Let your father see if you've made any progress in your studies recently."
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