Chapter 491: Poaching Each Other's Talent?
"Miss Qin, I've made a fool of myself with this humble work."
"No, they are well-written. These two poems are cleverly composed and eloquent, revealing the poet's profound thoughts and feelings. Could they really be written by Young Master Wei? I didn't expect him to have such good writing skills."
"Miss Qin, you flatter me. A thousand cups are easy to come by, but a true friend is hard to find. Even if my music is too highbrow and I am not appreciated by many, I still hope that there will be a flowing stream echoing my sentiments beneath the high mountains."
"Even poetry needs a kindred spirit, and I never expected that Miss Qin would be someone who resonates with me."
"Come, please have some tea."
On the third floor of Yunshui Pavilion, in the top-tier private room, Wei Shaoqi smiled and extended his hand, inviting Qin Ying to have some tea.
Qin Ying raised her teacup, lowered her eyes, and blew on the steam. Under Wei Shaoqi's watchful gaze, she put the teacup down again without drinking.
Qin Ying looked up:
"Young Master Wei is somewhat different from what I used to think."
"What's the difference? It still has two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. What, is it some kind of man-eating monster?"
Wei Shaoqi couldn't help but chuckle, pointed to his nose, and teased himself, laughing twice.
"Some rumors may now seem unreliable."
She couldn't help but look the third young master of the Prince of Wei's mansion up and down.
He was dressed in plain gray clothes today, showing none of the airs of a noble young master from the Prince of Wei's mansion.
There were some sweat stains on his forehead, and his clothes were gray and wrinkled, especially the cuffs, which were a dark color from the dried white porridge that had been accidentally spilled on them.
He had a faint smile on his face, which made him seem approachable and gave people a refined and gentle feeling.
"It's normal. Most people are prejudiced. Rumors can spread like wildfire. On the streets of Luoyang, there are many people who criticize my father, saying that he is incompetent and a sycophant, and that the members of the Wei family are all good-for-nothings who are not even good at leading troops."
Wei Shaoqi recounted the story in detail, then shook his head helplessly.
“But if we let them come and put them in my father’s position to handle state and military affairs, they will keep quiet. Only when you are in that position do you know how difficult it is. No matter what you do, a group of people will be dissatisfied and you will be scolded.”
Qin Ying smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying.
She handed the poem back to her.
"If it was written by Young Master Wei, then we can see that Young Master Wei has a broad vision and lofty ambitions, and wants to do something worthwhile."
"Eh."
Wei Shaoqi sighed softly, shook his head, as if he had many things to say but swallowed them back, all of which turned into a silent and resolute profile.
Qin Ying glanced at it a couple more times.
Wei Shaoqi lowered his head and put away the two poems he claimed to have written himself. During this time, he subtly observed the expression on the face of the slightly plump woman he had finally managed to invite out for tea.
"To be honest, today was a bit rushed. I don't know if I neglected Miss Qin."
"Ah, I just finished reading my father's letter a couple of days ago and learned about Miss Qin's situation. This morning I received a reply from General Qin and learned that we were meeting. I rushed over without even having time to change my clothes. I hope Miss Qin will not be offended."
"Won't."
After a pause, Qin Ying still asked softly:
"Where did Young Master Wei go this morning? Also, do you usually go out alone without any guards?"
"Why bring guards?" Wei Shaoqi asked back, then said with a serious expression, "Indeed, there are a few unworthy members of our Wei family who like to bring guards to bully men and women, but I am lazy and don't like to show off, nor do I think I am particularly noble or special."
He glanced down at his cuffs and smiled sheepishly:
"As for clothing, here's what happened: these past two mornings, I accompanied my cousin, Qiniang, to distribute porridge and some warm clothing in Xingzifang."
"I see." Qin Ying nodded. "I've heard that some noble people have been doing good deeds in Xingzifang these past two days. I didn't expect it to be Young Master Wei and your sister."
Wei Shaoqi smiled faintly, seemingly unconcerned about accumulating merit, and casually changed the subject:
"I have long heard of Miss Qin's name, and today I finally get to see her beautiful face. In fact, Miss Qin is somewhat different from what I had imagined."
"What's different?"
"More grand and dashing."
Qin Ying joked, "Maybe it's because I've been hunting a lot lately, and the wind, frost, and sun have made me a bit tanned."
"No, no."
Wei Shaoqi said with a very focused expression:
"Who says women are inferior to men? Who says women must be kept in seclusion? Lady Qin's temperament is unparalleled in this era; she is a heroine among women."
With a wave of his hand, he immediately raised his cup and toasted Qin Ying with a cup of tea.
Qin Ying smiled slightly and remained silent.
Seeing that the eldest granddaughter of the Qin family seemed to speak very little and did not respond much, the atmosphere on the scene became a bit awkward. Wei Shaoqi opened his mouth with an unchanged smile, and then praised General Qin a few times, full of admiration.
"By the way, Seventh Sister is about the same age as Miss Qin. Why don't we meet another day and do some charitable work of distributing porridge together?"
"At that time, Seventh Sister can also learn from Little Sister Qin."
Qin Ying shook her head: "I should be learning from the princess, having this patience to do good deeds."
"Miss Qin is too modest."
Seeing that Qin Ying seemed to be in a good mood, Wei Shaoqi pressed his advantage:
"I heard that Miss Qin likes hunting, and coincidentally, I also quite like it. I'm new to Jiangzhou and not very familiar with the area. How about Miss Qin shows me around? Hmm, I'll definitely listen to Miss Qin the whole time and won't steal any of her prey."
Qin Ying shook her head without much thought: "No, I'm used to being lazy by myself."
After saying that, she turned to look at the sky outside the window, stood up from the tea table, said goodbye, put on her shoes, and prepared to go out.
Wei Shaoqi couldn't sit still any longer. Suppressing the unease in his eyes, he followed and asked with a smile:
"Father and General Qin mean that we young people should get out and about more. Little Lady Qin shouldn't feel pressured. We won't listen to them. It's so boring to be so rigid and formal. It's like we're completing a mission. Let's be casual."
"Haha, since we're all from Luoyang, we have plenty to talk about in this remote place."
"By the way, Miss Qin, there's an autumn outing fair in Kuanglu tomorrow. It seems like there are quite a few fun things to do. If you're free these next few days, I wonder if you'd be interested..."
Qin Ying suddenly turned her head and interrupted, "Young Master Wei, have you been free these past two days?"
"That's right, so what?"
"Young Master Wei, if you have time, you can visit the Xunyang Grottoes currently under construction at Shuangfengjian. If you have more time, you can also go to Longcheng County to see the Zheyi Canal... These are all excellent examples, all created by Ouyang Lianghan, the Prefect of this Prefecture. My grandfather also speaks highly of them, and they are worth seeing and learning from..."
Wei Shaoqi was stunned as he saw the slightly plump Qin woman in front of him earnestly giving him instructions:
"From those two poems, we can see that Young Master Wei has ambitions to do things. I, Qin Ying, admire men with such aspirations. However, since ancient times, scholars have been prone to empty talk. I would like to offer a small suggestion: Young Master Wei should spend less time indulging in poetry and think more about how to do practical things for the country and the people."
He tried to explain, "Actually, I did it too..."
Qin Ying shook her head and interrupted, "Young Master Wei, doing good deeds and distributing porridge is only a temporary act of kindness. Giving someone a fish is not as good as teaching them how to fish, just like Ouyang Lianghan did. That is a good deed that lasts for generations. You should know which is more important, a temporary act or lasting ones."
"Young Master Wei, it's better to let your sister, a young lady, handle things like delivering porridge and clothes. You shouldn't go."
He kept mentioning Ouyang Lianghan... Wei Shaoqi's eyes were filled with hidden anger, but he suppressed his temper and put on a gentle smile with a hint of interest.
He was incredibly magnanimous; instead of getting angry, he smiled and nodded without any apparent concern.
“Okay, I’ll go and see him in the next couple of days. Ouyang Lianghan, I’ve heard so much about you.”
Wei Shaoqi then said, "Miss Qin, please take care. I'll see you downstairs. Let's arrange a time to have a meal together next time..."
Qin Ying replied apologetically:
"I've been quite busy lately, spending time with Sister Xie. We can talk about it another time... By the way, it would be best if Young Master Wei visited Yunshui Pavilion less often in the future."
"Why is it that Miss Qin doesn't like the tea here?"
"No, it's just that while this building looks respectable, some of the tea-related businesses are not very legitimate. I don't know why Young Master Wei chose to meet here."
"Not very proper?" Wei Shaoqi frowned immediately.
He looked around:
"Actually, I... I was recommended by a friend who said this place is low-key and quiet. I'm not very familiar with it, so I'm really sorry, Miss Qin."
"It's alright."
Wei Shaoqi didn't have time to dwell on this matter. Watching the slightly plump woman stride away ahead, he narrowed his eyes slightly as he followed, asking directly:
"Does Miss Qin have someone she likes in Xunyang City, so she needs to avoid suspicion? Well, Miss Qin has been lingering in Xunyang and hasn't left... So who is he? Could it be... Ouyang Lianghan, the Prefect of Jiangzhou?"
"Young Master Wei, please don't speak nonsense."
Qin Ying said without turning her head.
His tone was calm, revealing no emotion.
Wei Shaoqi was unsure, so he chased after them. At that moment, the two left the private room and were walking along a long corridor covered with Persian carpets.
They had just passed a private room when the door opened from the inside, and a tall, handsome figure walked straight out, adjusting his clothes and collar as he left.
The two groups of people collided immediately.
"Young Master Ouyang?" Qin Ying stopped and turned around.
"Miss Qin, Miss Qin."
Ouyang Rong looked up in surprise.
After leaving Dalang, he drank tea alone in the private room, pondered for a while, and prepared to go downstairs to leave. As he went out, he was still thinking about the Qin and Wei families.
Speak of the devil and he appears... He was stunned.
In the corridor, Ouyang Rong, Wei Shaoqi, and Qin Ying stared at each other.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Ouyang Rong glanced at their positions, one in front of the other, and then looked sideways at the top-tier private room behind them.
His brows furrowed slightly.
His eyes turned to Wei Shaoqi.
Wei Shaoqi also narrowed his eyes and met Ouyang Rong's gaze.
Amidst the tense atmosphere, Qin Ying asked curiously:
"Young Master Ouyang, what brings you here? Did you come alone?"
"ah?"
Ouyang Rong snapped out of his daze and was about to nod.
At this moment, a maidservant dressed rather lightly approached respectfully, bowed, and spoke in a fawning tone:
"Young master, please wait a moment. There's no need to pay at the counter. Your tea was already paid for by your friend Su Fu. Young master, our shop has recently launched the 'Jade Beauty' tea ceremony. Your friend ordered it; you might want to try it too. It's definitely more interesting than drinking tea alone. You can ask your friend about it another day; he's a regular customer..."
"Su, Fu?"
Ouyang Rong immediately saw that Qin Ying's smiling expression vanished at a visible speed after hearing those two words.
She nodded and looked around:
"Young Master Ouyang, where is Dalang? Which private room is he in now?"
Ouyang Rong avoided looking at a quiet private room that still had a "Do Not Disturb" sign, and hesitated to speak.
Sensing the subtle atmosphere, Wei Shaoqi took a step back and watched the show without changing his expression.
Before Ouyang Rong could answer, Qin Ying turned to the scantily clad maid, took a jade ring from her index finger, and placed it in her hand:
"explain."
The scantily clad maid wasn't stupid; she sensed the awkward atmosphere in the corridor. Feeling the jade ring on her hand was like a hot potato, she lowered her head and said weakly:
“Young lady, that…that distinguished guest should have left…long ago…He and this young master only drink proper tea, no, no, I mean we only have proper tea here, and it’s all proper, and so does the lady…you must understand, young lady.”
Ouyang Rong nodded quickly in agreement:
"Yes, yes, Dalang left. Actually, I mainly wanted to try the new tea ceremony, so I brought Dalang along. He came with me, but left early to avoid suspicion."
Qin Ying seemed not to hear her, remained silent for a moment, and then said softly:
"When we parted this morning, he said he was going back to his study in the Prince's Mansion to study diligently, and that he wanted to be positive and learn from Young Master Ouyang, which put my mind at ease."
“Big Brother…” Ouyang Rong sensed something was wrong.
Before he could explain, Qin Ying had already turned and left.
As she passed by Wei Shaoqi, she said calmly:
"The day after tomorrow morning, we will go hunting outside the city. I will wait for you at the west gate at 3:45 AM. Latecomers will not be waited for."
"Okay, okay."
The surprise came too suddenly, and Wei Shaoqi nodded hurriedly.
Qin Ying went downstairs and left without any hesitation.
Wei Shaoqi reluctantly withdrew his gaze, then looked at Ouyang Rong with a strange expression. He immediately understood what had happened.
"Young Master Ouyang, is this friend you're talking about really you?"
Ouyang Rong frowned and looked in the direction Qin Ying had left, but did not answer.
Wei Shaoqi smiled broadly, his eyes filled with gratitude. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Alright, I just heard that the tea here isn't very proper. Hey, I didn't expect the gentlemanly Young Master Ouyang to come here with his friends. Why couldn't he hold back? Look how badly he hurt the beauty just now..."
"Hahaha, it's alright, it's alright. Where is your friend? I really want to invite you all for tea right now. Drink freely, as indecently as you like, it's all my reward, hahaha."
Ouyang Rong didn't want to talk to that person, so he quickly walked to the VIP room number 1 and knocked on the door, saying somewhat urgently:
"Dalang? Are you still there? Come out quickly, stop drinking. Are you dressed properly? Get dressed, I'm coming in!"
"What's wrong, Tanlang?" came Li Dalang's dazed voice from inside the private room.
Wei Shaoqi, who was originally feeling smug, was stunned and suddenly looked at the door of the Earth-class private room.
"Seventh Sister?!"
His expression changed drastically. He pushed Ouyang Rong aside and hurriedly rushed into the room.
"What Seventh Sister?"
Ouyang Rong frowned even more and followed him inside.
What kind of messy relationship do you have?
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
