Chapter 579 Lantern Festival Poem No. 1: The moon in the sky is hard to find, but the moon on earth is a gift to you. [Seeking monthly votes!]
"No, don't even think about it."
Inside the VIP box stands.
Li Guo'er replied expressionlessly to Ouyang Rong, whose face was full of sincerity.
She slightly raised her chin, as if looking down at the opera performance below, and gave a soft hum.
Ouyang Rong, standing to the side, remained expressionless and sighed.
He took back the jade hairpin with mandarin ducks, turned around, and prepared to leave:
"Well, never mind then, I won't bother Your Highness any longer."
"I'll go find my junior sister right away, but I just took her back to Jingyi Pavilion. My master is leaving tomorrow, and she wants to spend time with her father, so she can only return early tonight. I don't know if she's asleep yet, and I'm afraid of waking her. It's alright, go and ask her..."
Li Guo'er, with her back to Ouyang Rong, frowned slightly.
"Wait!" she suddenly called out.
This slightly stopped Ouyang Rong from stepping out of the private room.
"Is there anything else, Your Highness?"
Ouyang Rong asked in a questioning yet polite tone.
“A single jade hairpin is indeed not enough to entice this princess, but I did not say I refused, it’s just… there has to be some reward.”
"oh."
Ouyang Rong nodded in agreement, then continued walking away from the private room.
"No, Ouyang Lianghan, aren't you going to ask me what kind of reward I want?"
"I won't humiliate myself; I can't afford to do that."
Li Guo'er said irritably:
"If you can't give it to me, why should I even bother to ask? Do you think I'm as stingy as you? You expect me, a princess of noble birth, to promote your goods and you still won't give me a single penny?"
"That's hard to say, but... Your Highness, please tell me first."
Ouyang Rong stopped in his tracks, but still kept half of his body outside the threshold, ready to say goodbye and leave at any moment.
When Li Guo'er saw his wary and cautious appearance, she was immediately furious.
How to guard against her is like guarding against a thief.
Anyone who didn't know better would think she was the one coming to him tonight to ask for a favor.
However, after this back and forth, Ouyang Rong's "whatever" attitude made Li Guo'er swallow some of the "exorbitant" additional conditions she had originally wanted to add.
She walked to the window, opened the door, pointed to the jade disc hanging high in the night sky, and asked bluntly:
"My request is very simple, just one."
"Tonight is the Lantern Festival, and the moon is very round. I am very pleased. Ouyang Lianghan, do you have anything that resembles or is similar in shape to the 'bright moon'... to give to me?"
Li Guo'er spoke very seriously.
"Bright moon?"
Ouyang Rong muttered to himself, and couldn't help but glance at the little princess with plum blossom makeup who was looking at him expectantly by the window.
“That’s right.” She didn’t blink. “You might… gain some insights from this. Think about it carefully.”
The sound of singing from the stage downstairs drifted intermittently, and the room fell silent for a moment.
Ouyang Rong stroked his chin, looked at her for a moment, and then his expression suddenly changed to one of realization:
"Oh, I've got it!"
What is it?
"Princess, wait a moment. I'll go back and get it right away."
"Okay, but tell me what it is first."
“It’s nothing important.” Ouyang Rong waved his hand casually, his tone nonchalant: “Mingyue? I’m familiar with her. If the little princess likes it, she can have it. It’s nothing. I’ll bring the Ding Sword over right away.”
"Okay, okay... Hmm? Wait a minute."
Upon hearing Ouyang Rong's earlier words, Li Guo'er happily agreed, but then realized what she had said halfway through.
"What cauldron sword?" She was also taken aback.
"Your Highness's description makes it clear that you want the Dingjian sword. I thought it was something more difficult. Your Highness is being too polite; you should have said so earlier..."
Ouyang Rong smiled, turned around and was about to leave, his steps quick.
"Wait a minute, Ouyang Lianghan, are you kidding me? That's not what I meant. Come back here!"
Li Guo'er was speechless and hurriedly called out to him.
"Isn't this it...?"
Ouyang Rong stopped, turned around, expressionless, pointed to the moon outside the window, and said calmly:
"So you're going to go up to the heavens and pluck the moon for Your Highness, is that right?"
"No, you must be joking. Do you think I'm that kind of unrealistic person?"
Ouyang Rong calmly shook his head:
"It doesn't seem like it, but I'm not joking. Princess Mingyue has made this request more than once or twice. I recall testing me at least three times."
"Besides thinking that Her Highness the little princess is eyeing the cauldron sword, I really can't think of any other reasonable explanation."
Li Guo'er lowered her eyes, remained silent, picked up the sword on the table, and drew it.
As the female opera singers performed a sword dance on the stage downstairs, this dashing little princess, dressed in men's clothing, also casually brandished a sword a few times.
Her eyes were fixed on her own dark pupils reflected in the sword's blade, and she said softly:
"I once had a bizarre and wonderful dream that left a deep impression on me."
"In my dream, a dragon emerged from the abyss, carrying the bright moon and a poem in its mouth, which it bestowed upon this princess..."
She spoke haltingly, glancing at Ouyang Rong every now and then.
After waiting in vain for what seemed like an eternity, Ouyang Rong frowned and asked:
"A dream? And then what?"
"Then……"
Li Guo'er hesitated for a moment, then suddenly sheathed her sword and said:
"Then, this princess, holding the bright moon and the poem, rode the hidden dragon and soared straight to the heavens. How about that? Isn't it very meaningful?"
"Anyway, I later consulted a master to interpret the dream, and the master said that this was a destiny to soar to the heavens."
"This princess needs to encounter this hidden dragon and receive two gifts in return..."
"Understood."
Ouyang Rong nodded.
"This poor dragon has to give His Highness equipment and gifts, and then he gets ridden by His Highness, and so on..."
He pointed to his face and asked earnestly:
"Does the little princess think that this hidden dragon is me?"
Li Guo'er, her hands behind her back, her gaze wandering, hurriedly turned around, her back to Ouyang Rong. She looked up at the moon and began patching her clothes.
"It might not be true, it's just a dream, but let's give it a try. After all, it's a good omen. Some things are true if you believe in them, and not true if you don't. Besides, that dream interpreter is no ordinary person."
“Ouyang Lianghan, if you really can’t come up with ‘Bright Moon,’ then so be it, this princess doesn’t care… Wait, what are you doing, Ouyang Lianghan?”
Just as Li Guo'er was trying to make up for something in her mouth, she suddenly heard a noise behind her. She turned around alertly and saw that the handsome young man who had been standing at the door ready to run away had somehow returned to the private room.
He went to a desk in the luxurious private room, which was specially prepared for distinguished scholars and guests, and laid out paper and ground ink.
Ouyang Rong held the pen in his slender right hand and raised it, while his left hand grasped its wrist and twisted it, all while facing the white paper.
"There is no bright moon, but there is a poem. Coincidentally, just like Your Highness, I also dreamed of it. On this Lantern Festival, let us regard it as the moon on earth and present it to Your Highness."
After speaking, Ouyang Rong buried his head in his pen.
In an instant, he wielded his brush and wrote it in one go.
Li Guo'er, who was standing by the window and hadn't had time to speak, was slightly taken aback. She saw Ouyang Lianghan put down his brush, place the mandarin duck jade hairpin next to the new calligraphy on the table, and turn to leave.
He left without any hesitation, seemingly not worried at all that she would reject him.
"Princess, please remember what I just said. Wear this hairpin when you return and tell us about the elegant art of riddles. Thank you very much, Your Highness."
"In addition, regarding the taboo of my tone, my junior sister should have warned Your Highness. Please be mindful of this. However, I trust Your Highness in terms of caution."
He left with just one sentence, without looking back.
"Hmph, what's with the arrogance? Fine, don't send it if you don't want to. This guy is getting more and more impolite."
Li Guo'er frowned, and after a moment, she snorted coldly, which calmed her down a little. She then slowly moved to the table.
Princess Meihua, with a slightly disgusted look, picked up the jade hairpin with mandarin ducks, examined it for a while, and finally glanced at the new calligraphy on the table. She saw that it seemed to be a new poem.
Li Guo'er's previously indifferent gaze was instantly drawn in, and she began to examine it closely...
Then, she stood by the table for a long time without moving.
"Sister, what happened? Why did Lianghan leave? What were you talking about just now...?"
Li Dalang pushed open the door and entered. As he entered, he still looked confused, turning his head to gaze at the stairwell where Ouyang Rong had disappeared, muttering:
"Hey, why isn't your sister talking? She forgot to close the window. What if she catches a cold? What are you looking at...?"
Li Dalang couldn't help but turn around and walk to Li Guo'er's side. He immediately sensed something was wrong. His eyes followed his sister's fixed gaze and fell on the freshly written characters on the Xuan paper on the table. He subconsciously read aloud:
"What is this, Qingyu... An? Is it a Lantern Festival poem written by Lianghan?"
"Hmm... The east wind at night releases a thousand trees of flowers, and blows down stars like rain... The road is filled with the fragrance of precious carriages and fine horses..."
As the reading progressed and the pace quickened, Li Dalang's eyes widened involuntarily as he continued reading:
"The sound of phoenix flutes stirs, the jade pot's light turns, a night of fish and dragon dance... Moths, willow branches, and golden threads, laughter and fragrance linger... Among the crowd... among the crowd..."
Having read this far in one breath, Li Dalang felt his mouth go dry. He swallowed hard and was about to continue reading when he was interrupted by Li Guo'er's mutterings, who seemed to have been frozen in place for a long time:
"I searched for him a thousand times in the crowd, but suddenly when I turned around, I found him where the lights were dim."
Li Guo'er murmured to herself, walked past Li Dalang, went to the window, gazed at the moon in the sky, still lost in thought.
Li Dalang clicked his tongue in amazement: "This Lantern Festival poem was written by Liang Han? I've never seen it before. He can even write poems with such Zen-like depth..."
Li Guo'er didn't answer, but suddenly turned around, pointed to a poem on the table called "Green Jade Table - Lantern Festival," and murmured:
"Indeed, it shines as brightly as the moon in the sky."
After saying that, she immediately stepped forward, took a deep breath, bent down and took out another sheet of white paper, carefully copied it, and then carefully folded the original manuscript of "Qing Yu An: Lantern Festival".
Li Guo'er then picked up the jade hairpin with mandarin ducks, inserted it into her hair, grabbed the manuscript, and turned to leave.
"Hey, sister, where are you going? Aren't we going to watch the show?" Li Dalang asked, coming back to his senses.
“Watching a play is no fun; getting into it is. Let’s go back to the mansion. Aren’t those distinguished guests all regretting that the rumored ‘brother’ didn’t come? This unique Lantern Festival poem, which is no less impressive than ‘On Chrysanthemums,’ can be considered his presence on his behalf.”
...
The night was very deep.
The Xunyang Prince's Mansion remained brightly lit and resplendent. At a certain moment, the lively sounds of the banquet, which was nearing its end, lingered for a long time...
The return of a certain little princess, along with a Lantern Festival poem she brought back from "the Prince's Gentleman," brought the entire Lantern Festival banquet to its climax at the end.
The "Prince's Son-in-Law," whose true identity was tacitly known to all, did not come tonight. However, after the banquet, he became the topic of conversation among the scattered guests.
As the maids and servants of the Prince's mansion saw off the distinguished guests in the long corridor, they frequently heard the words "Qingyu'an," "Xiuwenguan Scholar," "Ouyang Lianghan," and "Tanlang," and couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.
Even the servants feeding the horses in the stables at the back gate knew that a poem, "Green Jade Table - Lantern Festival," had suddenly appeared tonight. The guests were either amazed, full of praise, or stunned into silence. Not one of them left without admiration and respect. Prince Xunyang, Li Xian, and his wife, Wei Mei, who were seeing off the distinguished guests, were beaming with joy, their smiles never fading...
However, even the most exciting fireworks eventually come to an end. The banquet lasted until 5 a.m., and even the most energetic people and the most enthusiastic topics of conversation eventually had to take a break.
The impact of this poem, "Green Jade Table," is estimated to begin to take effect tomorrow during the daytime...
In the inner quarters of the Prince's mansion, after the banquet, Li Guo'er, dressed in her finest attire and adorned with a pair of jade hairpins, politely declined the requests to see two groups of people from various factions, including the purple-robed Taoist priest from the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain and the trusted female official of her aunt, Princess Chang Le, citing exhaustion. She then returned directly to her boudoir.
At the foot of the vermilion steps, she habitually kicked off her two embroidered shoes, shook off the chubby-faced maid Caishou, and, with her bare feet wrapped in white socks, went up to her boudoir alone. She stepped on the soft, vermilion carpet and came to the second to last bookshelf deep in the study.
In the darkness, Li Guo'er stood in front of the bookshelf, tiptoeing on her white socks, arches of her feet tense, and took down a large book that hadn't been opened in a long time from the top shelf. She turned to a certain page, where an old bookmark was tucked inside.
She tucked a precious original manuscript of "Qing Yu An: Yuan Xi" into the thick book, picked up the bookmark, and walked to the window under the moonlight... Under the moonlight, the bookmark was actually a crumpled piece of red paper, which, even after being tucked into the book for a long time, had not been smoothed out much.
Li Guo'er lowered her head, her gaze falling on the red paper of marriage.
She stared intently at the divination inscription above, and at one moment, she seemed to recite or chant: "The moon shines brightly, when can it be grasped... Sorrow arises from within, and cannot be... cut off."
...
By reciting "Qing Yu An: Lantern Festival," Ouyang Rong had essentially unlocked a must-have achievement for any time traveler... As he descended the stairs, he immediately spotted a slender figure waiting patiently in the hall, standing alone under the lamp.
“Lingling—” The evening breeze slipped in through the doorway, fluttering the pendant of the icy white jade hairpin.
A girl with a sky-blue ribbon blindfolded, leaning on a jade staff, walked with difficulty toward a handsome young man whose every step produced a distinctive, crisp sound.
Ouyang Rong stepped forward to help her up, and they walked out the door together.
"The embroiderer has been waiting for a long time."
"ah."
“Embroiderer, I was often lost in thought while I was dealing with things. I was a little afraid that when I opened the door, I would see you on the stairwell, groping around looking for someone.”
She wrote, word by word, in his palm:
The young master told me not to leave.
"You're so naive and obedient. If I asked you to wait for me forever, would you wait? By the way, didn't you leave the few times we met in Longcheng? I thought I'd never see you again, that we were destined to meet but not to be together."
Zhao Qingxiu lowered her head and held her cane with both arms.
You didn't tell me not to leave back then.
Realizing he was in the wrong, Ouyang Rong changed the subject:
“Embroiderer, I heard a long time ago that blind people feel time passes very slowly when they are alone and waiting, and their hearing is still very good.”
"For example, if a normal person can walk a short distance on the street in the time it takes to burn an incense stick, it would take her half an hour to find her way, especially in a busy area with people coming and going. She wouldn't be sure if she would be bumped into, and she would have to stop and wait for a long time... Is that right?"
Yes, it was pitch black ahead, time was passing so slowly, it felt like I was waiting a lifetime.
"Isn't the embroiderer afraid?"
Waiting isn't scary; what's scary is waiting until there's no one left to wait for.
Ouyang Rong was silent for a while, gazing at the night sky ahead, and said, "I will always keep my promises. If someone is waiting for me somewhere, I will go there even if it's across the ends of the earth."
After a short while, he turned to look at the embroiderer and said softly, "Embroiderer, when I met you at Chengtian Temple today, a poem popped into my head and I've been thinking about it all day."
What word?
Ouyang Rong did not answer, but strode forward and whispered at a moment:
"Embroiderer, some people say that a person's life is nothing more than three states."
Last night, the west wind withered the green trees. Alone I climbed the high tower, gazing to the ends of the earth. This is the first realm.
"I grow thinner and thinner, yet I have no regrets, for I am wasting away for her sake. This is the second state."
"I searched for him a thousand times in the crowd, but suddenly when I turned around, there he was, in the dim light. This is the third realm."
"Corresponding to the three states of knowledge, action, and attainment... However, most of the time in life, we are in the state of 'looking to the ends of the earth' and 'wasting away for her,' in knowledge and action, and the time when we can 'suddenly turn around and find her in the dim light' is too rare and too precious."
"Embroiderer, it's so wonderful that this morning in Chengtian Temple alley, at the moment the fireworks lit up, I could turn around and see your figure under the dim lights. Tonight is the Lantern Festival, and I really wish it could pass a little longer."
The blindfolded, pretty girl tilted her head silently and wrote with trembling fingers.
【Me too】
(End of this chapter)
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