Chapter 179 Su Guo'er: This boy is arrogant and talented, so annoying.
"We are both leisurely gardeners, sharing the desolate rain and snow..."
Inside a pavilion in the garden of the Su family mansion.
The two stood in front of a pavilion pillar with an inscription and gazed at it silently for a while.
The young county magistrate's eyelids drooped, and he was slightly drunk.
The blue-clad constable turned to the former and said sternly:
"Your Excellency, this is clearly aimed at you. Have you thought about how you're going to respond? It's not going to be the same as yesterday, is it?" He muttered to himself, "By the way, why did Your Excellency write my name on it..."
Ouyang Rong shook his head. "What do you mean, 'coming at me'? Maybe it's coming at Liu Lang. Liu Lang is a good catch, what girl wouldn't like him?"
Yan Liulang was taken aback, then touched his face. "Where is my condition good?"
Ouyang Rong let out a burp, nodded, and said, "Sixth Brother has arms and legs; he'll find shelter when it rains, he won't pick up things from the ground to eat..."
"..."
Yan Liulang smiled bitterly, his mouth feeling a little sore:
"Don't joke, Your Excellency. Don't I know myself? I'm just a rough, uncouth man. The only way I can read a few characters and write my name is because my parents and sisters beat me with sticks..."
"Your Excellency is truly a man of both talent and good looks, a refined gentleman. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, what daughter wouldn't admire such a scholarly talent?"
"This young lady who left the poem must have long admired you, Your Excellency, and wanted to get to know you, which is why she made a fleeting appearance and caught my eye."
He stroked his chin, nodded, and analyzed the situation with great clarity:
"In my humble opinion, this is most likely a member of the Su family. She is so cultured, playing the zither and chess, and she is also so beautiful. In all my years in Longcheng, I have never seen such a beautiful and elegant young lady before."
"I don't know if she's Su Dalang's sister or sister. She shouldn't be a concubine. Given Uncle Su's henpecked nature, he wouldn't dare to keep a concubine even if he had a hundred lives. Dalang is the same."
"She's probably a young lady from a good family. That makes sense. Uncle Su and Da Lang are both good-looking. Judging from this, the whole family seems quite noble."
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Rong glanced at him sideways and nodded in affirmation:
"If Liu Lang put half of that energy into solving cases and catching criminals, Junior Sister wouldn't have to run around looking for medicine."
"..."
Yan Liulang turned his head and said seriously, "My lord, let's not talk about official business tonight while we're drinking. Let's think about how to reply to that young lady. We can't neglect her."
Ouyang Rong sighed: "I have principles. I treat my friends' and brothers' sisters, wives and daughters with respect and keep them at a distance."
Upon hearing this, Yan Liulang sighed and said, "Is that so? I was originally planning to introduce a few of my elder sisters to you another day, but if you mind so much..."
Ouyang Rong immediately interrupted seriously: "If it's your sister, it's not impossible. We can discuss the principle flexibly, don't be too rigid."
"?"
Yan Liulang glanced at Ouyang Rong's drunken state and could hear the joking tone in his words, so he shook his head helplessly:
"Your Excellency is mocking me again."
Ouyang Rong patted his right cheek, flicked his sleeve, and turned to leave.
"Let's go back. The effects of the alcohol have mostly dissipated. Uncle Su and Dalang are still waiting for us."
Yan Liulang couldn't help but say:
"They're leaving already? What about the poem left by this lady of the Su family? Shouldn't you reciprocate, Your Excellency? Her writing brush and ink are already laid out on the table."
"Sixth Brother, please reply. Just say anything. If you really can't think of anything, then just keep saying 'six'."
"Is 'six' too few, just one character?"
“Then three sixes.” Ouyang Rong waved his hand.
"Three sixes? What does that mean?"
Yan Liulang scratched his head, then frowned and muttered in confusion:
"Also, Your Excellency, what do you think this young lady meant by writing this poem and the one from a couple of days ago? I can guess that she might want to get to know Your Excellency, but how do you interpret these poems?"
"We are both leisurely gardeners, sharing the desolate rain and snow... Do you wish to invite Lord Ming, a fellow enthusiast, to enjoy the rain and snow together? Ah, are all the talented men and beautiful women of today so reserved and elegant in their speech? Speaking like this is a bit too tiring."
Ouyang Rong nodded in agreement. "I don't know. Why don't you ask her and reply with 'Can't you speak properly?' to tell her to stop playing riddles."
Yan Liulang hesitated and said, "Wouldn't that be too forward for the lady, and make you look stupid, like you're not as talented as her? That won't do. Perhaps you could help me match her poem a little better..."
Ouyang Rong stopped, turned around, and began to speak:
"The matter of replying to poems is actually very simple; Liu Lang is really stupid."
"Come on, let me teach you a little trick. Remember, since what she wrote confused you, you should write something that confuses her too."
"To confuse her?"
Yan Liulang was taken aback and turned to look at the young magistrate who had passed by him like the wind. He saw the latter roll up his sleeves, pick up a writing brush, and walk to another empty pavilion pillar next to him.
The young magistrate raised his hand, turned around, and smiled:
"How about this, Liu Lang, we'll each write one sentence back. I'll write one sentence, and you'll write one sentence too."
"But I don't know how to recite poetry."
"It's okay, I'll teach you. You write, just pick one sentence to write..."
The two whispered to each other for a while in front of the pavilion pillars.
A short while later, the matter was concluded. Under Yan Liulang's slightly strange expression, the two left the pavilion called "Drunken Old Man" with a relaxed air and returned to the main hall, where the banquet at the Su residence continued.
Amidst clinking glasses, laughter, and farewells, it was as if nothing had happened...
The moon rises above the branches.
After seeing off the distinguished guests, the Su residence fell silent once more.
Even before summer arrives, the chirping of insects in the garden has already begun.
However, the chirping of insects in the grass made the garden seem even more spacious and quiet.
"Miss, do you think even if he's a blockhead, he should have figured it out by now?"
A young woman in a vermilion Taoist robe, accompanied by a chubby-faced maid, walked ahead towards the Drunken Old Man's Pavilion.
The latter kept chattering.
Seemingly still quite expectant of someone's reply, Cai Shou skipped past Su Guo'er, who was deep in thought, and ran ahead to lead the way on the bluestone path in the woods.
The young maid turned around, backed away with her hands behind her back, facing Su Guo'er, and praised her:
"Miss is so clever and insightful. Instead of directly approaching me and returning the umbrella at my door, she took a different approach. She started by exchanging literary ideas, which was more reserved and elegant. This way, it wasn't vulgar at all, just like the stories of talented scholars and beautiful women in literature."
"Who knows, Young Master Ouyang still can't forget Miss's elegance and literary talent. He'll probably come to visit tomorrow to discuss poetry with her. We can return the umbrella then, and we'll get to know each other better. Hehe, Miss is so clever."
Su Guo'er looked up at the grinning maid and suddenly muttered to herself:
“What exactly does ‘six’ mean? Why doesn’t he come into the pavilion to play chess with me? I’ve already set up the Six Harmony Chess opening, and I’ve chosen a spot where the moonlight is at its brightest.”
Cai Shou was taken aback. "Why is Miss still worrying about this?"
Su Guo'er shook her head and ignored her.
Her brows, adorned with bright red plum blossom patterns, furrowed as she bit her lip and gazed at the empty night sky.
These past two days, she has been pondering the "six" in Ouyang Lianghan's name for a long time, and has roughly figured out some possible meanings.
Could it be a veiled reference to the time, implying that she should go to the same place at six o'clock tomorrow morning for a secret rendezvous in the waterside pavilion outside Juxian Garden?
After all, one of the lines in the poem she wrote on the pavilion pillar was "Tomorrow I will come with my zither," which roughly implies a reunion of close friends and refined scholars.
Could it be that Ouyang Lianghan intends to bring his zither and wait for her in the waterside pavilion at the sixth watch of the night, which is early morning when the sun rises, so that they can play music together?
So Su Guo'er did what she said she would do. For two consecutive days, she stayed up early in the morning and went to the waterside pavilion with her zither.
But every time, she would wait from dawn until the sun was high in the sky, and no one would come.
Instead, she was frequently glanced at by the yawning maids of the Su family who passed by the waterside pavilion. In particular, her older brother, who was reading aloud in the early morning at Juxian Garden, looked at his younger sister with a strange expression after bumping into her...
Su Guo'er was really annoyed.
However, she has a stubborn nature, never giving up until she hits a wall.
Inside Meiyingzhai, he diligently reviewed and practiced the "High Mountains and Flowing Water" piece he had played in the waterside pavilion that day, trying to recall if there were any errors in the six-tone scale.
Meanwhile, he continued to bury himself in his research.
She lost her appetite, couldn't eat, and couldn't sleep at night.
Last night, while I was turning over in bed, a sudden inspiration struck me!
Does Ouyang Lianghan's use of the number 'six' refer to the six lines in the I Ching's eight trigrams?
“爻” means bright, and what is brightest? It is the moonlight, especially on a full moon night.
Wait, does this 'six' refer to the six-way opening pattern in Go?!
So, in other words, Ouyang Lianghan meant that the next time they "bring their zithers" would be in a place with bright moonlight, where the two of them would play chess.
The artistic conception is indeed very elegant. If that is the case, it can only be said that Ouyang Lianghan's meaning is too deep and mysterious. Fortunately, it was she who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was able to barely see through it!
Su Guo'er suddenly realized something and couldn't help but glance in the direction of Meilu Garden, a hint of admiration appearing in her eyes.
This is a mutual appreciation after two equally matched opponents have solved each other's riddles.
However, she soon became somewhat worried, pacing back and forth in her boudoir, patting the railing and gazing into the distance.
I'm always worried that I haven't fully understood the meaning of Ouyang Lianghan's mysterious "six," or that I've misunderstood it.
That would be embarrassing.
Su Guo'er, who has been proud and competitive since childhood, cannot afford to lose face like this.
I can't let myself be looked down upon by some man.
No one will do, especially not the ally you're planning to befriend for 'sharing weal and woe'.
Su Guo'er hates bad teammates, so how could the clown be herself?
She's not the heartless Caishou.
So, Su Guo'er racked her brains for two days, but Ouyang Lianghan still didn't come knocking.
She felt she couldn't delay any longer, otherwise, if Ouyang Lianghan laughed at her for not understanding the reply poem, where would she put her face?
So Su Guo'er immediately took action, carefully arranging everything to ensure that every step was correct. Finally, she chose this bright moonlit night and had Cai Shou pretend to be a passing maid to give directions.
She specially dressed in a Taoist robe, an elegant female Taoist, with a Taoist demeanor quite in line with the metaphysics of the I Ching. In the pavilion called Zuiweng in front of her, she set up a chessboard, sat alone under the moon, and laid out the standard opening moves of the Six Harmonies Chess game, waiting for someone to sit in the empty room.
Su Guo'er felt that she had done everything she could think of regarding Ouyang Lianghan's "six".
While sitting in the pavilion, waiting with considerable unease, Su Guo'er found herself more tense than ever before. Her pink buttocks were stiff as she sat on the stone bench, and even when she had been taught by renowned scholars and teachers and had her year-end exams, her palms were never this sweaty. As each second passed, the feeling of sitting alone in the Drunken Old Man's Pavilion was like waiting for a respected and strict teacher to come and check her homework. Her heart was beating slightly faster, filled with both anticipation and nervousness...
However, Ouyang Lianghan and his henchmen finally arrived.
But the final result left her frowning and disappointed.
Ouyang Lianghan ignored him completely, did not enter the pavilion, and sat down to play chess.
Didn't you see her?
How could that be? He's not blind. Even his muscular sidekick next to him glanced at the pavilion several times. Is it that the underachiever has good eyesight while the top student is blind? No, that's not that bad.
That means turning a blind eye.
Su Guo'er was annoyed, but gradually calmed down and began to reflect with furrowed brows.
"Could it be that I guessed wrong again...? The character 'six' has other meanings, did I not match them up? But you only left the character 'six,' how else can it be interpreted...? This Ouyang Lianghan is so annoying, relying on his knowledge to be so arrogant and tease people."
Under the moonlight, on the bluestone path, the master and servant, each lost in their own thoughts, approached the Drunken Old Man's Pavilion.
"Miss."
"Hmm?" Su Guo'er looked up.
Cai Shou tapped her lower lip with her index finger and asked:
"Do you think it's possible that Young Master Ouyang really needed to relieve himself, drank too much, and wanted to find a toilet, so he hurriedly passed by without going into the pavilion immediately, and when he came back, you were too embarrassed to go in and ran away in advance, so he didn't have a chance to play chess?"
"You're too young to understand."
Su Guo'er shook her head gently, not looking at the clumsy maid in front of her.
This is a contest between clever people; it's not that simple.
As Su Guo'er lowered her head in thought, Cai Shou took the lead and ran into the Drunken Old Man's Pavilion. As if she had noticed something, her eyes lit up.
"Miss, miss, look! This time it's not just one word, it seems Young Master Ouyang replied with quite a few words! Hmm, this poem..."
Cai Shou pointed to another pillar with an inscription, turned around, and jumped up and down at Su Guo'er.
"real?"
Su Guo'er breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Ouyang Lianghan did not refuse to reply with a poem, or at least he replied with a single word.
Otherwise, it would be not very harmful, but extremely insulting.
As soon as Su Guo'er entered the pavilion, her gaze was drawn to a line of writing on a pillar in front of her.
The poem has two lines.
She couldn't help but furrow her brows and softly recite:
"The Han emperor, captivated by beauty, once whipped... a famous horse in a drunken stupor?"
Su Guo'er stammered.
The atmosphere inside the pavilion became deathly still for a moment.
Cai Shou tilted her head, her little face full of confusion, and said, "Miss, what does this mean? Did I see it wrong?" The little maid rubbed her eyes.
Su Guo'er smacked her lips.
She really wanted to say that she still didn't understand it even after reading it several times, but it was inconvenient to say it out loud, especially in front of her own silly personal maid.
However, the poem on the pavilion pillar in front of him was indeed inexplicable, with no coherence and even serious problems with tone and rhyme.
However, Su Guo'er immediately let out a soft "Eh".
The two lines of poetry on the pillar are written in different characters.
The first half of the sentence was written in the handwriting of Ouyang Lianghan, whom she was familiar with, while the second half was written in the handwriting of another unfamiliar man. The strokes were a bit crooked and not as elegant and beautiful as the former, clearly indicating that he was an amateur.
So it's not that they don't match, but rather that they were clearly written by two different people, so naturally they don't match.
Su Guo'er breathed a slight sigh of relief, and then immediately ignored the following line, "Once, while drunk, I whipped a famous horse."
What a mess! It seems this person made a mistake while writing it. It's vaguely recognizable that in the first draft, the bottom of the sentence contained the words "beauty," which were later crossed out with ink and corrected to "famous horse."
He once whipped a beautiful woman while drunk, right? What kind of crooked poem is this? Was it written by that constable's lackey? He's truly ignorant and incompetent.
She shook her head indifferently, the fiery red plum blossom pattern on her forehead gathering together with her brow, like a brilliant winter plum blossom closing its petals, about to bloom.
Su Guo'er stared at the top of the pavilion pillar, at the line of characters whose handwriting was very familiar to her: "The Han emperor, captivated by beauty, longed for a woman who could topple a kingdom..."
Cai Shou looked left and right, then turned her head back with a displeased expression: "Miss, what's the connection between these two lines of poetry? What nonsense! Even I can't tell they don't make sense..."
Su Guo'er remained silent, keeping her head up, gazing around for a while. After a long time, her expression turned solemn, and she nodded.
“Ouyang Lianghan’s sentence… is a bit profound, it’s normal that you don’t understand it.”
"..." Colorful ribbon.
(End of this chapter)
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