Chapter 6 Poetry Collection
"As for me, I know how to do business." Jiang Ran said frankly.
Xu Qingwan covered her mouth with her hands and doubled over with laughter, deliberately raising her voice: "Doing business? How can you prove that? Are you taking us to watch you hawking on the street now?"
The crowd of onlookers also talked a lot. Some were surprised, some were contemptuous, and some were waiting to see the joke.
Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants are the lowest class after all. I have never heard of anyone treating business as a skill for women in the boudoir to compete with others.
Jiang Ran ignored Xu Qingwan's ridicule, and didn't care what the people around him said. He said calmly, "There's no need to go far. I'll take out something, and everyone here is willing to buy it. Even if I win, how about that?"
Xu Qingwan's expression froze. Everyone present had seen the world, and even if Jiang Ran took out a rare item, it would be difficult to impress everyone.
But what if...
"Are you there? Princess Le'an is hosting this flower viewing banquet. You'll only win if Princess Le'an is willing to buy it."
The conditions proposed by Xu Qingwan were indeed harsh. Some even murmured that they were unfair.
In the crowd, Jiang Ran and Xu Roujia looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
"Okay. If this item is auctioned, Princess Le'an should be the number one buyer." Jiang Ran was confident of winning.
"Stop talking nonsense. What is it? Take it out quickly."
Everyone's eyes were focused on Jiang Ran.
She rummaged through her bag for a while and took out a booklet.
"What is this? Could it be your family's account book?"
"I thought it was some treasure, but this broken thing, does anyone want it?" Xu Qingwan breathed a sigh of relief and started to sneer.
Jiang Ran looked up and saw the green color, still sitting steadily under the hibiscus tree, and felt much more at ease.
"This is Prime Minister Lu's collection of poems. Who wouldn't want it? Raise your hand so I can see."
Jiang Ran held up the booklet and walked around in the crowd.
Lu Weiqing has always topped the list of Chang'an girls' dream lovers. Which girl present has not admired the handsome Prime Minister Lu?
Not to mention scholars, even if they won the top three places in the imperial examination, if they wanted to obtain Lu Weiqing's calligraphy, they would have to worship him before every exam.
"One hundred gold."
"I'll give you two hundred."
"Three hundred! No one can compete with me."
Like water dropped into a hot oil pan, the scene suddenly became lively and turned into an auction market.
Xu Qingwan was furious, but she couldn't say anything against her will.
If there hadn't been this bet, she would have gotten this collection of poems no matter what.
"How do you prove that this is Prime Minister Lu's collection of poems?" someone suddenly asked.
"Yes, such a precious calligraphy, where did you get it?"
"That's right, could it be that Prime Minister Lu gave it to you?"
"Open it and show it to us first."
Questions arose one after another.
Jiang Ran felt a little guilty and held the booklet in his arms.
"How can I show you such a treasure casually?"
"Prime Minister Lu is sitting right there. I can go ask him."
Jiang Ran was afraid that someone would open it and take a look, so he ran all the way to find Lu Weiqing.
Lu Weiqing looked into her eyes, which reflected light like freshly ground ink, as if he could see through everything.
"My...poetry collection?"
There was a rare smile in Lu Weiqing's words, and the ending tone was slightly raised.
Jiang Ran was so embarrassed that he hid the booklet in his arms again.
What poetry collection?
This was indeed the account book of a cloth shop in the West Market. She had just collected the accounts and brought it with her to look at because she was afraid the banquet would be boring.
"Lord Lu, help is needed. Please help me because I held you in my arms when we were little."
Jiang Ran found a tricky angle, blocking everyone's view, clasped his hands together, and bowed pitifully.
"Lord Lu? How can I help you when we are so unfamiliar?"
Seeing how nervous she was, with beads of sweat oozing out of the tip of her nose, Lu Weiqing suddenly wanted to play a trick on her.
It seems I have to take the risk.
Jiang Ran closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, recalling Lin Buqiu's coquettish tone, and said with a hardened heart, "Brother Weiqing."
It didn't seem that difficult to open my mouth.
She pulled up Lu Weiqing's sleeve and shook it stiffly, "Brother Weiqing, please, help me."
Lu Weiqing coughed a few times and slowly pulled back his sleeves.
Jiang Ran scratched his head in confusion. Did she use too much force?
As she looked at it, Lu Weiqing's face seemed to be a little red.
Jiang Ran wanted to get closer to take a closer look.
Lu Weiqing turned around and avoided her, taking a few steps towards the crowd.
"This collection of poems was indeed written by me. I gave it to a friend as a gift. It is not appropriate to sell it."
Since the person involved admitted it himself, everyone naturally had no objection.
Many people feel it is a pity that they missed out on such a rare opportunity to see it.
"Wait! We haven't asked Princess Le'an's opinion yet." Xu Wanqing shouted with her neck stiffened.
Now everyone couldn't stand it anymore.
"If Princess Le'an were here, she would probably spend a fortune."
"That's right, everyone knows..."
"Miss Xu, please accept defeat."
Everyone in Chang'an knew that Princess Le'an was in love with Prime Minister Lu and had openly shown her affection on many occasions.
But Prime Minister Lu has always been cold and indifferent. Flowers may have feelings, but water is ruthless.
It is human nature to make such a choice. If he marries a princess, his official career will basically be over.
Prime Minister Lu is young, holds a high position in the government, and has an immeasurable future. He would choose a woman from an aristocratic family as his ideal match.
Accusations came from all directions, Xu Qingwan's face flushed and she was about to speak.
"Princess Le'an invites you—"
Princess Le'an's personal maid stopped in front of Jiang Ran and made a gesture of invitation.
"I?"
"Yes, Miss Jiang, the princess invites you to the garden for a chat."
Xu Qingwan was gloating when she heard this. She guessed that Princess Le'an was probably jealous and had specially gone to find Jiang Ran. It was very dangerous.
Jiang Ran was also nervous.
If Princess Le'an can be said to be pursuing Lu Weiqing relentlessly, her love-brainedness is comparable to hers.
She was just bragging, she shouldn't be punished by death.
"Jiang Ran? You're so pretty, and your face is so small."
Princess Le'an ran towards her with a smile on her face, her hair and skirt flying up, showing no sign of anger at all.
Jiang Ran was confused.
Princess Le'an held her face with both hands, leaned forward to look at it, and touched it.
"Is your eye color natural? It's so light, like glass beads."
"Why is your nose so high? I'm envious."
"It's so delicate. What kind of ointment do you usually use?"
"Ah?" Jiang Ran lost his ability to speak and pinched his thigh hard. It hurt, but it wasn't a dream.
Seeing that she was a little reserved, Princess Le'an didn't care. She took her hand and walked towards the center of the courtyard.
"Someone won't let me go out, and I'm really depressed."
"Hurry up and sit down. Come and sit here. Have some of this, the golden osmanthus cake, and this, the rose wine fermented glutinous rice..."
Seeing the food, Jiang Ran couldn't hold himself back anymore.
The two of them enjoyed the meal very much and found that their tastes were very similar. The more they talked, the happier they became.
Until Lu Weiqing appeared at the door and said coldly: "She should go back."
"What a bummer."
Princess Le'an looked regretful and said, "Let's play together next time, Ah Ran."
Jiang Ran's head was empty, and he was taken away by Lu Weiqing like a child leaving school.
"Xu Qingwan is a idiot. I'll ask her to come to your house and tell you later!"
Jiang Ran looked back and saw Princess Le'an waving at her from afar, with a lively expression on her face that she had never seen before.
She realized later that the relationship between Lu Weiqing and the princess did not seem to be as rumored.
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