Chapter 579: Zhong Ling’s Gathering
Zhu Lan found out from the inn's waiter the time and place of tomorrow's gathering. After they had dinner, they returned to their rooms to rest.
The next morning, the four maids were still dressed as guards and followed Zhu Lan and Yan Jing.
The six people arrived at the gathering early, found a place with a good view, and waited for the gathering to begin.
The Zhongling Yaji was held under a huge banyan tree in the center of the county. A platform was set up under the tree with several tables on it.
More and more people gathered around to watch, and soon the stage was completely surrounded. It was obvious that Maoxian was indeed as the waiter had said, with a thriving academic atmosphere and everyone eager to learn.
At this moment, someone shouted and the crowd of onlookers made way.
Two men, one fat and one thin, walked side by side through the crowd and stepped onto the stage with smiles on their faces.
The thin man among them was wearing a blue cloth shirt and looked like a scholar.
Zhu Lan listened attentively to the discussions around him and learned that the man was Xu Taifu's nephew Wu Zhiyuan, who was also the organizer of the annual Zhong Ling Ya Ji.
The fat man who came with him was dressed magnificently, with a big gold ring on his thumb. He looked very wealthy, so it was no surprise that he was the "Master Liu" mentioned by the inn's waiter.
If this year's gathering is well organized, he will use the money to sponsor the charity school in Mao County, which sounds like a good deed.
Wu Zhiyuan stood in the middle of the stage and cleared his throat, and the people around him immediately quieted down.
Wu Zhiyuan briefly announced the rules of the gathering. The Zhongling Gathering had limited topics, and any citizen could go on stage and answer them with poetry.
The only thing emphasized is that this year Mr. Liu is willing to donate twice as much as last year, so the villagers are encouraged to actively participate and not to let down this poetry and literature event, and not to let down Mr. Liu's kindness.
It was precisely because Mr. Liu paid a large sum of money that he was chosen to set the questions and serve as a judge for this year's Zhong Ling Ya Ji.
When mentioning Master Liu, Wu Zhiyuan's tone was clearly respectful.
The people present applauded.
At the beginning of the gathering, Wu Zhiyuan asked Mr. Liu to give a question.
Mr. Liu laughed, thought for a while, and said to everyone:
"I am a humble man, but I have long admired Master Xu's talent and fame, and have always hoped to meet him. Unfortunately, we are thousands of miles apart, so I have never been able to fulfill my wish.
Since Mr. Xu has shown me the kindness today by giving me the opportunity to set the questions, I will do my best to repay you.
"Teacher Xu is a man of integrity and honesty, a role model for us. Let's title this gathering 'Incorruptible Wind'. What do you think?"
Taifu Xu is a god-like figure in the hearts of the people of Maoxian. Now that he wants to write a poem with "Qingfeng" as the theme to praise his nobility and integrity, everyone is naturally happy.
It didn't take long before someone in the crowd shouted, "Me! I've made up my mind!"
"I've thought about it too!" another woman followed.
Then several other people said they had the answer.
Wu Zhiyuan smiled slightly, invited them to come on stage, and take turns walking to the table to write their own poems.
A total of five people took to the stage, three men and two women, ranging in age from their teens to their thirties.
The five people wrote their poems in the order they came on stage, and then someone copied their poems and hung them up for everyone to see.
Zhu Lan folded his arms and savored their works with great interest. One of the doggerel poems was obviously made up to make up the number and could not be counted. The other three were mediocre. Only one of the girls' poems used allusions ingeniously, which showed some skill.
After the poems of these five people were hung up, some people felt more confident after seeing the doggerel and they also enthusiastically went on stage.
Yan Jing looked at the various poems of varying quality covering the wall and couldn't help but frowning, then he looked up at Zhu Lan eagerly.
Zhu Lan, however, had no intention of taking any action. His eyes were playful, as if he was still carefully appreciating those poems.
In fact, she was not looking at the poem, but Mr. Liu and Xu Zhiyuan on the stage.
Xu Zhiyuan seemed to be very respectful to Mr. Liu, a wealthy businessman, but in fact Zhu Lan discovered that when Mr. Liu spoke, he would glance at Xu Zhiyuan's expression almost every two sentences.
This is a typical performance of a subordinate.
Yan Jing, who was beside Zhu Lan, waited for a while, and couldn't hold it in any longer, so he clenched his fists and said:
"Aunt Zhu, if you go up, you will definitely come out on top!"
As soon as these words were spoken, more than a dozen eyes were cast over him. Everyone was wondering whose child this was and why he spoke in such an arrogant tone!
Zhu Lan showed a somewhat panicked expression and explained to them at a loss, saying that the children didn't understand and were just talking nonsense.
Seeing that Zhu Lan admitted her mistake so well and Yan Jing was so cute and still a little kid, the people stopped arguing with them.
Yan Jing's face wrinkled even more.
Zhu Lan suddenly leaned over and said something in her ear.
Yan Jing opened his eyes wide in confusion, but still nodded seriously.
Mr. Liu and Xu Zhiyuan on the stage have already begun to comment on everyone's poems.
Mr. Liu selected the most disgusting poem on the wall and kept praising it, saying that only such a good poem could be worthy of the virtues of Master Xu and it should be the best one today.
Wu Zhiyuan naturally had no objection.
He was about to announce the results of the competition when he suddenly heard a boy's crisp voice:
"I have poetry to write, too!"
Wu Zhiyuan was slightly stunned, his eyes wandered around the stage for a moment, and finally he saw the small figure in the gap between the crowd, who was standing on tiptoe trying to make himself seen.
She was a little girl of about seven or eight years old, and looked like a little porcelain figurine.
Wu Zhiyuan, with the mentality that no amount of praise is too much, asked with a smile:
"Little girl, can you write?"
Yan Jing raised his little head and didn't even bother to answer such a question.
Wu Zhiyuan waved to Yan Jing and asked her to come on stage to write.
Yan Jing was not at all stage-frightened. He immediately let go of Zhu Lan's hand and stepped onto the stage with small steps and some difficulty.
She walked to the table and suddenly stopped.
Because the table is as tall as she is.
Wu Zhiyuan ordered someone to bring a bench and was about to carry Yan Jing up, but Yan Jing climbed onto the bench before him and reached for the brush on the table.
She frowned, pinched her sleeve with one hand and began to write with great momentum.
Xu Zhiyuan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and when he looked closer, he was even more surprised.
Although the handwriting showed some traces of imitation, it was still elegant and powerful. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that the handwriting was written by a seven or eight-year-old child.
You should know that there were no private schools in Maoxian. All the children who wanted to study were sent to free schools, and they didn’t even have to pay tuition.
The Xu family had a very high reputation in Maoxian, so naturally they took over the management of the charity school here on behalf of the government. The annual expenses of the charity school were all reported to the government through the Xu family.
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