Chapter 1218: Beautiful Scenery and Good Weather

The last one is Gu Yunqing, who was already a famous Kunqu opera actress in Jiangnan at a young age. She was graceful, elegant, and had a soft and melodious voice that sounded like crying. She also had a smooth and logical writing style. Whenever she encountered ancient and modern lyrics, she could remember them at first sight. When she wrote, she seemed to have a sense of purpose, which made her the envy of many talented people.

Kunqu opera was the popular song of this era, and Gu Yunqing was the Teresa Teng of the Ming Dynasty. Tu Long, Wei Shang, Zhang Jiuyi and others were all good at writing lyrics and composing music, so they naturally looked at Gu Yunqing differently.

So the poem goes: "The bamboos grow greener in the snow, why is there only Boya's love in the world?"

Moreover, Gu Yunqing was gentle as water, just like a lady from a noble family. After toasting Mr. Zhao in a proper manner, she bowed her head and waited for his good news.

"Mr. Zhao, poetry and music have been inseparable since ancient times. Tonight, we have both poetry and music, but not a single piece of music." While Zhao Hao was pondering, Tu Long suddenly asked, "Can you add a finale to my music?"

Hua Bozhen, Wang Shimao and others were shocked when they heard this. They knew that Master Zhao was tone-deaf and knew nothing about Kunqu Opera. They were about to cover up for Zhao Hao, but he said without hesitation: "Why not? Then I will give this "Zhao Luo Pao" to you!"

Zhao Hao drank twelve cups of wine in a row and was completely in a state of drunken excitement. Cao Cao got drunk and married someone else's wife... Oh no, he wrote a poem with a spear in hand and stabbed Liu Fu to death. It can be seen how terrible alcohol is. If he were to enjoy the snow in the north at this time, he would even bring up "the mountains and rivers are so beautiful".

Gu Yunqing listened attentively, and heard Master Zhao say in a long and leisurely voice:

"It turns out that all the beautiful flowers are in full bloom, but now they are all left to the broken wells and dilapidated walls. What can we do about the beautiful scenery? Who can enjoy the beautiful scenery?"

"Great!" Tu Long and the others stood up and cheered. "What a great phrase 'A beautiful day, but a bad weather'!"

Zhang Jiuyi said excitedly: "Young Master is unparalleled in the world. As soon as he opens his mouth, he dominates the country's music world by a large margin!"

"Shut up and listen to what the young master has to say." Wei Shang hurriedly said in a low voice.

Zhang Jiuyi quickly covered his mouth, fearing that he would interrupt Mr. Zhao's inspiration.

Fortunately, Zhao Hao never needs inspiration. All he needs is a good memory and thick skin.

He continued to chant: "Flying in the morning and rolling up in the evening, clouds and green pavilions, raindrops and wind, painted boats in the mist, the people on the brocade screen look down upon this beautiful time..."

Looking at Gu Yunqing again, she didn't even have time to thank him. She just stood there like a madman. After pondering for a while, she opened her red lips and couldn't wait to sing it again.

Her singing, as clear as pearls falling on a jade plate and as lingering as spring rain, floated to the nearby boat, and all the listeners were intoxicated by it.

On a nearby boat, Li Zhi was entertaining a group of fellow students from Jiangxi. A handsome young man named Tang burst into tears when he heard this...

~~

After the song was sung, the evaluation of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling came to an end. When the judges were urgently conferring to decide the final ranking, they saw Mr. Zhao, who had presented twelve wonderful poems and songs in one breath, slowly stood up and left the table.

"Where are you going, sir?" everyone asked hurriedly, thinking, maybe you drank too much and needed to pee?

That’s right, talented, handsome and rich people all have kidney deficiency. What’s more, Mr. Zhao is a talented, handsome and rich man... It would be strange if he didn’t have kidney deficiency.

But Master Zhao said leisurely: "The twelve golden hairpins are all immortal flowers in the paradise, stunningly beautiful. If you insist on comparing them, it will spoil the mood. I cannot bear to hear it, so I will leave first."

After saying this, he clasped his fists towards everyone, waved his sleeves, and walked towards the stairs in a very casual manner.

"Well, after hearing what you said, I also think this is a futile act." Wei Chang smiled bitterly and shook his head as he looked at the list in his hand. Qi Shuangshuang, Zhao Jinyan, and Wang Yuer were ranked in the top three...

"Sir, please stay." The Twelve Beauties of Jinling also called out in unison, "What can we do about the beautiful scenery and beautiful weather? Whose courtyard can we enjoy the pleasure?"

"Yes, the beauty gave you ten scented handkerchiefs. You should accept one of them tonight, right?" Everyone also advised: "We can't let all these beautiful flowers bloom and leave them to the ruins..."

On the banks of the Qinhuai River, if the ladies gave you a scented handkerchief as a gift, it was a pass to the boudoir. When Mr. Zhao got nine room cards, everyone was curious about whose house he would please.

The female historians were extremely nervous, as if Mr. Zhao's choice was the real crown.

Young Master Zhao's gaze slowly slid across the faces of the Twelve Beauties, and it really made his heart beat.

Then he shook his head slightly, his eyes became clear and almost transparent, and then he leisurely chanted a poem "Picking Mulberry Leaves":

"The affectionate moon should laugh at me, laugh at me now. I have failed my spring love, walking alone and chanting alone. Recently I am afraid to talk about the past, and my clothes are all tied with orchids. The moon is dim and the lamp is dark, where can I find the clouds in my dreams?"

The whole place was silent. What a pure and noble soul this is. Giving him a room card is simply desecrating the treasure of the Ming Dynasty...

When the Twelve Golden Hairpins came to their senses, Master Zhao was no longer there.

The ladies were all feeling lost, even Zhang Nuer, who had just been dumped by Xuelang, felt like she had been dumped again.

I even gave him a bag... Tuo Shiniang even cried out of self-blame.

~~

On the carriage back to Liuyun Mountain Residence, Master Zhao leaned drunkenly on Sister Ma's thighs, hugging her slender waist tightly, as if he was drunk.

Ma Xianglan ordered the carriage to go as slowly as possible while giving Zhao Hao a massage to help him sober up.

She had mixed feelings tonight, looking at the Twelve Beauties of Jinling on the stage, Sister Ma seemed to see herself yesterday... or with her 'not outstanding' beauty, she could not be included in the official list.

This made her feel fortunate that she had been decisive in the beginning and implemented the plan to cultivate a young boy. It took her a thousand days to cultivate a young boy from a young boy, and she had achieved a good result that all the Qinhuai ladies envied but could no longer copy. At the same time, she felt deeply inferior, thinking that she had won unfairly and that she was not qualified to be here...

Then she secretly felt lucky that Lianli Company was established at a good time. Otherwise, with the young master's habit of accepting everyone, this Lotus Fairy Meeting would have become his concubine selection meeting. But she also felt deeply guilty... How long has it been since the young master wrote poems? Tonight, the Twelve Beauties of Jinling suddenly inspired so many excellent works.

Seeing his inspiration tonight, which is like a torrent of water, it is clear that a talented man cannot live without wine and beauties. Jiang Baishi once said, "The dream of a brothel is good, but it is difficult to express deep feelings." Without these "rain hatred and cloud sorrow", Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Yuan opera would be much less colorful, right?

The young master is the fig leaf of the poetry world and the pillar of the ci world, and he has even developed the ability to compose songs... There has never been such a person in the Ming Dynasty, and I'm afraid there won't be one in the future, right? It's a crime to surround him with an iron curtain and restrict his hands and feet when he's only 18 years old!

Just as she was feeling overwhelmed, Zhao Hao suddenly opened his eyes, reached out his hand to stroke her creamy cheek and said, "Of course it was in my dream that I came back to this house..."

Hearing Zhao Hao's words, her body and heart softened at once. She suddenly felt that she was one of the happiest women in the world.

"And Qiaoqiao." Sister Ma reminded him guiltily, but she saw that he had fallen into a deep sleep again.

Secretary Ma then bent down and kissed her sweetly.

Well, the fragrant fruits are the best.

~~

The next morning, Mr. Zhao, with a slight headache, was dressed up by Secretary Ma and Qiaoqiao, and reluctantly went back to the East Pier of Furong Pond to catch a boat.

If you don't hurry to Chongming, you will miss the boat.

The Lotus Terrace Fairy Meeting ended at midnight yesterday. It was said that there was a grand fireworks show. However, Master Zhao was drunk at that time and did not see anything. He only saw that the inside and outside of the Lotus Pond were in a mess. If they did not clean up, they would not be able to operate normally for a few days.

But this small price made the Lotus Terrace Fairy Club an instant success, and it would soon become famous throughout the south of the Yangtze River and even the whole country.

What's more, there is a gross income of nearly four million taels... Mr. Zhao owns 70% of the shares of Xiaocangshan Management Company. Now he has at least 500,000 taels of silver in his account.

Damn, it’s really profitable to run a platform... After seeing the report presented by Secretary Ma, even the wealthy Mr. Zhao couldn’t help but gasp.

"I didn't expect that after you gave a reward of 80,000 taels, you could still make a net profit of 500,000 taels in the end." Ma Xianglan was speechless and rarely expressed her emotion.

"That's normal. You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child." Young Master Zhao laughed.

At this time, they arrived at the dock. He got off the car and was about to get on the boat when he saw Li Zhi also leading a group of people, rushing to the dock.

Gao Wu looked at Zhao Hao, meaning, should he stop them?

Master Zhao shook his head. Li Zhi’s circle of friends is very powerful, so he shouldn’t leave a bad impression on them.

As expected, he was right. When they arrived at the dock, Li Zhi introduced them to Luo Rufang and He Xinyin, the giants of the Taizhou School. They came at his invitation to discuss the running of the Zhuowu Girls' School.

In addition, there are Luo Rufang’s old friend Tang Shangxian and his disciple Tang Xianzu... Tang Shangxian is Tang Xianzu’s father. The father and son entered the Nanchang Imperial Examination together this year and participated in the Jiangxi Provincial Examination.

As soon as the provincial examination was over, the father and son followed He Luo and the others to Jinling to relax, regardless of their scores. This incredible move was simply child's play for the unbridled Taizhou School.

In fact, it was mainly because neither of them expected to pass the exam. Although Tang Xianzu was still young at the age of 21, his father had already lost seven attempts. But yesterday, they received an urgent report from their family, saying that both of them had passed the exam and asked them to return home immediately.

There was a Lotus Platform Fairy Meeting yesterday, which meant that even if the house was on fire, we couldn’t leave. So everyone got up early this morning and went to the dock to catch the boat.

After Li Zhi finished introducing them, he pointed at Tang Xianzu and said with a smile: "This fellow burst into tears when he heard Mr. Gu sing your "Zha Luo Pao" last night."

When Zhao Hao heard that Tang Xianzu was actually present last night, even though he had a thick skin like a city wall, he felt a little hot at this moment.

Li Zhi naturally didn't know that Mr. Zhao was guilty of his crime, and he was still telling the story with great interest: "His father asked curiously, 'Son, why are you crying? Why, are you reluctant to leave this golden fairyland?'"

"Xiao Tang wiped away her tears and cried, 'No, I just listened to the song 'Beautiful Days and Beautiful Scenery, What Can We Do?' and I couldn't help but feel sad. I don't know why I feel so sad... It's like the lyrics were stolen from my heart."

"Hahaha! That's a fresh way of saying it." Everyone knew that he had talent in this area and they just thought that he was touched by the song.

Even Tang Xianzu smiled embarrassedly: "Uncle Zhuo Wu, I said something wrong in private, and you exposed my shortcomings in front of Master Zhao?"

P.S. These twelve golden hairpins are all real Qinhuai prostitutes who lived during the Jialong period. Their beauty and characteristics are not fictitious. In fact, in this book, as long as the names are not deliberately funny, they are basically historical figures. I deliberately gave the fictional characters highly recognizable names so that readers can distinguish them.

(End of this chapter)