The lights came on, dimming the huge city.
For the wealthy people of this era, the wonderful nightlife slowly begins at this moment.
The two strings of big red lanterns hanging on the two tall bamboo poles in front of the gate of Yihong Tower were lit up early, swaying slightly in the breeze, as if waving.
Xianyin Pavilion on the second floor of Yihong Building is Fan Duoer's private room.
The window frame is half open, red gauze is dancing, and the fragrance of tea fills the nose.
"The moon in the south of the Yangtze River fills the west building on a clear night.
...The red osmanthus knows not the sorrow of falling, and Su E should believe in the sorrow of separation.
Heaven and earth are vast and boundless..."
Fan Duo'er hummed the two poems in front of her, her brows raised slightly. After a few breaths, she raised her head. "Duo'er has been really lucky recently. A while ago, I was gifted Master Zhang's "Qing Ping Yue Lin Jiang Duan Wu" poem. Today, I was gifted two more exquisite works, "Wang Jiang Nan" and "Nan Ge Zi". I am grateful for your kindness. This is Duo'er's blessing... But I wonder which of the four great talents wrote these two poems?"
Fan Duoer was very excited. A good lyric was extremely important to her. She was the most beautiful woman in Yihonglou. She had amazing singing skills, but she also needed the best lyric in the world.
These two poems were even better than Zhang Wenhan's "Qing Ping Yue" and "Lin Jiang Duan Wu", and she particularly liked "Wang Jiang Nan". She believed that if these two poems were sung, her value would definitely rise.
Sitting around the tea table are the four talented scholars of Linjiang.
Zhang Wenhan, Liu Jingxing, Tang Shuyu, and Yu Yunqi.
Liu Jingxing picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, a wry smile on his face. "Miss Duo'er, these two poems were not written by the four of us."
Fan Duoer looked up at Liu Jingxing with a look of surprise in her eyes, and asked, "Who else in Linjiang could have composed these two poems?"
"You know him." Zhang Wenhan stood up, waving his folding fan, and walked to the window. Outside the window was the slowly flowing Linjiang River.
"He is Fu Xiaoguan." Zhang Wenhan turned around, and the cup in Fan Duoer's hand fell to the ground with a "ding" sound and shattered into pieces.
"Fu Xiaoguan?" Fan Duo'er's face was full of surprise. "Master Zhang, you must be joking. Fu Xiaoguan wrote the lyrics? Haha..."
Fan Duoer sneered and lowered her head to make tea. "If you say Mr. Fu is generous, Duoer will naturally believe it, but if you say he wrote the lyrics, Duoer can't imagine it."
Fan Duoer was, of course, very familiar with Fu Xiaoguan. This guy was the financial backer of Yihonglou, and he would spend a fortune just to make Fan Duoer smile. What's more, he had once declared that he would marry Fan Duoer!
I can't say I hate it, but I certainly can't say I like it either.
In Fan Duoer's heart, although her future is vague, she has an outline. In the future, she will redeem herself and then marry a talented man as a concubine. At dusk, she will boil a pot of wine, you write the lyrics and I will sing, and we will play the zither and sing in harmony. This is roughly the story of a talented man and a beautiful woman.
Fu Xiaoguan... This guy hasn't been here for more than two months. Fan Duoer naturally knew about how he had provoked Dong Shulan in Linjiang Tower, but she just thought he was recuperating at home and didn't take it to heart.
But today I heard the four great talents of Linjiang say that these two poems were written by Fu Xiaoguan... This is really ridiculous.
Zhang Wenhan walked back, waving his folding fan. "Miss Duo'er, please don't disbelieve me. We have no reason to lie to you. These two poems were indeed written by Fu Xiaoguan. I'm going to the capital now, and the Four Talents of Linjiang can't lose one because of me. So, in the future, Fu Xiaoguan will be one of the Four Talents of Linjiang."
"He...did he really write this?" Fan Duoer looked up and asked again.
Zhang Wenhan nodded and said with a smile, "Miss Duo'er, can you play and sing a few songs?"
"Please, four gentlemen, Rong Duo'er, please be quiet. Cuihua, bring the wine!"
…
The door of the Fu Mansion in Xishui Lane opened and a carriage drove out.
Bai Yulian gently raised the horsewhip in one hand and twisted a wine bag in the other, taking a sip from time to time, but the whip never fell once.
Fu Xiaoguan was sitting in the carriage with an exquisite red bottle in his hand. Next to him was an exquisite small box. In the box was the cup made of glass - Fu Xiaoguan named it the crystal cup.
He was going to Linjiang Academy to deliver a bottle of wine and ask for a few words.
The curtains of the carriage were opened, and the street gradually became lively with shouts, laughter, and noise... Fu Xiaoguan watched quietly with a smile on his face.
He liked this kind of scene, which was difficult to appreciate in his previous life.
I was thinking that after I had settled the wine issue, I would go out for a walk in the evening, find a night market stall, get some braised dishes, and order a few bottles of beer... and have a couple of glasses of wine, which would be very pleasant.
As the carriage moved forward, the noise and bustle gradually died down, and we had arrived at the riverside.
The river breeze was just right, carrying a faint scent of perfumed powder. Ahead was a pavilion with brilliant lights, and the faint sound of stringed instruments could be heard from inside the pavilion.
It was intermittent and vague, as if it was in the clouds, but soon it was before my eyes.
Yihonglou!
Fu Xiaoguan looked at the big red plaque and smiled indifferently as the carriage drove past.
The girl named Fan Duoer must be playing the piano and singing in Xianyin Pavilion at this moment.
Fu Xiaoguan spent tens of thousands of taels of silver on that girl, but in the end he couldn't even touch her.
What the hell! Fu Xiaoguan laughed at himself and shook his head.
The prosperity fell behind the carriage and shattered onto the ground. Fu Xiaoguan collected his thoughts and looked at the faint lights in the distance.
Linjiang Academy is nestled among the few lights, amidst the verdant pines and cypresses, dark, quiet and tranquil.
A small building, a lotus pond, two chairs, Qin Bingzhong and Dong Shulan sat opposite each other. Apart from the occasional sound of pages turning, the only sounds were the croaking of frogs in the lotus pond and the whispers of summer insects in the forest.
Dong Shulan seemed a little tired. She rubbed her forehead and looked at Old Qin and asked, "Grandpa Qin, do you have any words for Uncle Qin before going to the capital?"
Old Qin shook his head. "As for my grandson Qin Chengye... tell him to take a leave of absence from the academy and bring his sister Ruoxue to Linjiang. This kid has been doing nothing all day, so I, an old man, have no choice but to discipline him."
Dong Shulan pursed her lips and smiled. "Brother Chengye isn't idle, he likes swords and guns and is determined to join the army... A good man has ambitions, and that's also a way to achieve great things."
"Ah..." Old Qin sighed, put down the book, and said slowly, "I know that too, but I've already lost one grandson, and I don't want to lose another. This may be a bit selfish, but my Qin family is not very prosperous to begin with, and seeing the unrest in the north, I don't want him to suffer any more misfortune. It would be heartbreaking to see someone young die before me...
Dong Shulan nodded, was silent for a moment, and said, "I will also talk more about this matter with Brother Chengye. He is sensible and will understand your good intentions."
Old Qin looked at the starry sky with a somewhat lonely expression. After a few breaths, he collected his thoughts and said with a smile: "Today at Linjiang Tower, you really made the young man of the Fu family famous."
Dong Shulan nodded and smiled, "This man's thoughts are different from those of ordinary people. I also want to see if he will change if he really becomes a talented person in Linjiang."
At this moment, Xiao Qi came over and whispered, "Master Qin, Miss, Official Fu requests to see you."
Old Qin and Dong Shulan looked at each other, and Old Qin laughed. For some reason, Dong Shulan felt the indifference in her heart ripple like a wave, and she actually felt a little nervous.
"Please invite him in." Old Qin raised his hand and waved, "Xishan Qiongjiu is indeed better than Tianxiang wine. Let's see how the Xiangquan and Tianchun he mentioned are."
…
Fu Xiaoguan followed Xiaoqi in.
He was twisting a bottle in his left hand and holding a box in his right hand.
"Good evening, Mr. Qin, good evening, Miss Dong..." Fu Xiaoguan placed the two things in his hands on the table and said, "Your place is really wonderful. Sit here and listen to the sounds of nature, look down and see lotus buds, look up and see the misty stars. It is not only full of literary atmosphere, but I think it also has a bit of fairy air."
"You little boy, you have such a sweet mouth. Sit down, sit down."
Old Qin smiled and invited Fu Xiaoguan to take a seat. Dong Shulan also glanced at Fu Xiaoguan with a smile, but did not say anything and turned the kettle to boil tea.
"Mr. Qin, please take a look at this artifact of mine."
Fu Xiaoguan handed the red bottle with golden orchids painted on it to Qin Bingzhong with both hands as if he was presenting a treasure. Qin Bingzhong took it and looked at it. The workmanship of this thing was indeed exquisite, but it was much worse than the utensils produced by famous kilns. This kid took this thing... He shook the bottle and liquid flowed out.
"liquor?"
"Yes, this bottle contains Tianchun. Please give it to Master Qin."
As he spoke, Fu Xiaoguan opened the box. Inside the box was a piece of red silk, and on the red silk lay an object with a slightly strange shape.
"This is a wine glass, but I made it specifically for this wine."
Qin Bingzhong took the small wine glass in his hand and looked at it. It was a nice object, made of colored glaze... This thing was not cheap.
"Put the wine in this bottle and drink from this cup, what do you think, Mr. Qin?"
"Although this bottle isn't top-grade, it's still exquisite. This cup... isn't something that ordinary people can afford."
Fu Xiaoguan chuckled and said to the little flag behind Dong Shulan, "Miss, please help me clean this cup. Thank you very much."
He turned back and looked at Old Qin, smiling, "Old Qin, do you think anyone who can afford to drink Tianxiang can afford this cup?"
Old Qin thought about it and realized that Tianxiang was noble and not something that ordinary people could drink. Those who could drink Tianxiang would naturally not care about the price of the cup.
"I came here today to ask Mr. Qin to taste my Tianchun to see if it is comparable to Tianxiang."
Taking the cup handed to him by Xiaoqi, Fu Xiaoguan unscrewed the cork, and a thin stream of wine flowed down and poured into the cup. A rich aroma of wine drifted in the night wind.
"Please try it, Mr. Qin."
Qin Bingzhong picked up the wine glass. In the light of the lamp, the crystal wine in the glass rippled slightly. Just by looking at it, it was clear that the wine was extraordinary.
He put it to the tip of his nose and sniffed it, then took a sip, savoring it for a moment, and then drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
Dong Shulan just watched, feeling a little nervous. She had never tasted Tianchun before, and she didn't know whether it could really be compared with Tianxiang as Fu Xiaoguan said.
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