While Xie Shu was thinking, a few more people were walking towards them.
These people were also from Jinling Academy, but they had always been at odds with Zhang Enshi, Xu Shengkai and others.
After all, there are still prejudices based on family background in the court, and Jinling Academy is no exception.
People like Zhang Enshi and Xu Shengkai all came from ordinary backgrounds and only got in through hard study. Fortunately, after passing the examination to become a scholar, they were exempt from military service and taxes, and the state also provided them with food, so they were able to make ends meet.
However, they usually study and do not farm, so their life is inevitably tight. This is what the so-called poor scholars are.
There is another type of people whose families are wealthy landlords or local officials. Most of them were sent to Jinling Academy by their fathers and paid a lot of tuition fees. Therefore, Jinling Academy accepted everyone and opened its doors to them.
These people come from wealthy families and spend money lavishly. Some of them even like to hang out in brothels, so they naturally neglect their studies.
It's not surprising that people on both sides look down on each other.
The leader of this group of people was a handsome young man, but he had an unpleasant arrogance on his face: "Wow, you guys have taken the seats so quickly, if you don't know, you might think you are here to take advantage of us."
As soon as these words came out, Xu Shengkai could not help but yelled angrily: "Wan Tianyun, don't go too far!"
The man in front of him was named Wan Tianyun, and he was the young master of Yingtian Prefecture.
Nowadays, local official positions are divided into four levels: province, prefecture, state, and county. The prefect is considered the highest-ranking official in Jinling City. Therefore, Wan Tianyun is usually very arrogant, and those playboys also follow him.
Of course, Xu Shengkai and others might not be that afraid of him. After passing the imperial examination to become scholars, they were no longer ordinary civilians. They had political and judicial privileges. Officials had to treat them with courtesy, and they did not have to kneel when meeting them.
But whenever the two sides meet, there will always be disputes.
Zhang Enshi also held back his anger and said, "We don't want to cause any trouble at today's poetry gathering, and you guys shouldn't come here to cause trouble for no reason. If a scene breaks out, it will be embarrassing for everyone."
Wan Tianyun also knew this truth. Their family could not afford to provoke the Gu family, so he snorted coldly.
Just then, he noticed that there was one more person among the crowd today. Unexpectedly, it was his old acquaintance, Xie Shu.
Xie Shu is different from these people. He is very tactful.
Thinking about the fact that the other party married into the Yu family three years ago, although Wan Tianyun felt a little disdainful, he also had some intention of winning him over.
Wan Tianyun thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Xie Shu, why didn't you tell us in advance when you came? I haven't seen you for three years. You have changed a lot. Xie Shu, why don't you come over and reminisce about the past. What's the point of talking to these sour scholars?"
As soon as these words came out, the playboy behind Wan Tianyun immediately laughed and enthusiastically replied, "Yes, Xie Shu."
Xu Shengkai and others glared at him, but everyone's eyes finally fell on Xie Shu.
Many people have already noticed this. If Xie Shu chooses Wan Tianyun's side, they will lose face.
But Zhang Enshi also knew that Xie Shu was different from them now. Facing Wan Tianyun's goodwill, Xie Shu's choice was self-evident.
Therefore, Zhang Enshi did not say anything, but was a little disappointed. Xu Shengkai gritted his teeth and looked at Xie Shu. They all knew who Xie Shu was. He would definitely rush to greet him, right?
Faced with all kinds of complex gazes focused on him, Xie Shu still appeared very calm.
Xie Shu was not sure about the identity of the person in front of him, but judging from his clothes, words and actions, he should be the son of an official family.
Apart from this, Xie Shu had no other extra thoughts. He was not like the people here who had a sense of awe towards officials.
As for the other party's purpose, Xie Shu could also guess it.
This person is mean and eccentric, and is not someone worth making friends with. However, Xie Shu also knows that it is best not to offend such a person.
Therefore, Xie Shu simply said, "Thank you, Master Wan, for thinking highly of me. Thank you for your kindness. Actually, I didn't know about this Xiyuan Poetry Gathering before, but I was invited by Master Zhang, so I had to come here. So, I hope Master Wan will understand. I will definitely accompany you next time."
Wan Tianyun was originally at ease, thinking that Xie Shu would definitely curry favor with him, but he didn't expect that the other party would reject him.
However, Wan Tianyun was not in a good mood, but he was not very angry. After all, Xie Shu's words were also considerate of his face.
There was no reason for Wan Tianyun to invite them a second time. After hearing what Xie Shu said, he gave up. He glanced at the others with a forced smile and walked away.
As soon as Wan Tianyun left, Zhang Enshi couldn't help but smile and said, "Thank you, Master. I was right about you."
Even Xu Shengkai looked better and his impression of Xie Shu had greatly improved. Although he still had doubts in his heart, he could no longer target him like before.
The other people who had just witnessed all this also had a new impression of Xie Shu.
Xie Shu didn't care about all this. His mind was still on the poetry meeting, and he didn't know when the host of the poetry meeting would arrive.
Just as Xie Shu was thinking this, Gu Yuanke, the owner of West Garden, finally appeared.
As soon as he appeared, everyone rushed to greet him.
Gu Yuanke nodded one by one with a smile, and when he passed by Xie Shu, he couldn't help but pause.
Gu Yuanke also happened to see what happened just now.
Gu Yuanke was in mixed feelings at this time. It seemed that Xie Shu was not as bad as he had previously investigated. Instead, he was a talented person.
But Gu Yuanke couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Now Shao Zhen had already formed an impression of him, which would probably be difficult to change.
Now that the host has arrived, the poetry reading is about to begin.
But before that, Gu Yuanke suddenly smiled and said, "Today, I have another distant relative coming. He is coming to see the world. His surname is Zheng and his courtesy name is Ziqi."
After saying that, Gu Yuanke looked towards Changting and said, "Ziqi, come out."
Everyone looked and saw a young man in brocade clothes coming. Although he looked unfamiliar, he had an extraordinary aura and seemed to be no simple person.
Xie Shu noticed that when the young man walked up to Gu Yuanke, Gu Yuanke subconsciously took a small step back.
Gu Yuanke then asked everyone to sit down. As the host of the poetry gathering, he livened up the atmosphere and suggested, "Today's poetry gathering depends on your presence. You are all talented people, and I have always admired you. This time, I have specially prepared the best wine and food, and you can all enjoy yourself. But I just suddenly thought that there is no point in competing in poetry like other poetry gatherings, so why not come up with a new rule."
When these words were spoken, everyone had different expressions.
In fact, for this poetry meeting, many people had prepared their transcripts in advance. Some of them made them themselves, while others hired others to do them, just to become famous at the poetry meeting.
Therefore, when people with real talent and learning heard that Gu Yuanke had come up with new rules, they were able to remain calm, but the rest of the people could only get anxious.
Gu Yuanke seemed to be unaware of it, still smiling and saying, "How about this, let's imitate the ancients today and play a game of drinking and composing poems. Let the wine cup flow along the stream, and if it stops in front of someone, that person must compose a poem. It doesn't matter what rhythm or tone, but it must be done within three breaths. If you fail to do so, you will be fined three cups of wine. How about that?"
Hearing this, many people breathed a sigh of relief, because Gu Yuanke did not specify the theme of the poetry meeting, so what they prepared could still be used, so everyone cheered.
At this time, Mr. Zheng suddenly said, "How can we write poems without any good intentions?"
Gu Yuanke just reacted, but he looked distressed again.
Mr. Zheng was not in a hurry. He took off the jade pendant from his waist and said, "Forget it. Just use mine."
When he made this move, everyone's eyes could not help but focus on it. Even from a long distance, one could see that the jade pendant was as clear as water and had delicate carvings on it, but it was unclear what shape it was.
Even Wan Tianyun couldn't help but marvel when he saw it. This Master Zheng was really generous. A jade pendant of this quality was really rare.
Gu Yuanke also smiled and said, "Then whoever wins the first place in poetry will be given the jade by me. Ziqi, don't regret it."
Master Zheng laughed out loud, which made everyone like him even more.
Everyone's heart was even more excited. Not to mention the importance of winning the prize, there were many talented people from Jinling here today. If anyone won the first prize in poetry in such an occasion, he would become famous in one fell swoop.
As everyone was already sitting by the stream, there was no need to move. Starting from the uppermost reaches, a maid knelt by the stream and filled a half cup of wine with a jug. She then placed the glass in a scoop and let it float downstream.
According to the rules, whoever the wine glass stops in front of has to recite a poem, so everyone is a little nervous and just keeps looking at where the wine glass stops.
As the water waves flowed, the scoop went down along with the flower petals, and first stopped in front of Wang Jing who was sitting in front.
Wang Jing picked up the wine glass, thought for a moment, and then chanted a five-character quatrain, which had two lines, the upper and lower lines, which had its own artistic conception and was not clichéd.
Everyone couldn't help but cheer. With this good start, the rest would be easy.
The maid picked up another wine glass and poured it into the cup, starting from Wang Jing and flowing downstream.
In this way, after one round, the cycle repeats itself.
At the beginning, everyone was at ease. After all, they only needed to compose a line of poetry, not a whole poem, which was not a difficult task. Moreover, everyone had prepared things in advance, so everyone could say a line.
But soon, starting from the third round, people began to drop out of the game one after another.
At this time, a wine glass stopped in front of Xu Shengkai. Xu Shengkai thought hard and could not think of a sentence, so he had to drink three glasses as punishment. However, Xu Shengkai was in a good mood because Wan Tianyun had just left.
Next, it started again from Xu Shengkai, and this time the wine glass stopped in front of Xie Shu.
Everyone looked at him. Xie Shu had always been lucky before and it had never been his turn, but this time it was finally his turn.
Xie Shu did not hesitate. After raising his glass, he also composed a poem.
In this era, poetry had not been around for long. Although there were questions in the imperial examinations that required writing a poem, the score was not high, so people did not spend much time on writing poetry. Unlike Xie Shu, who had both the leisure time and the knowledge reserves, Xie Shu had put a lot of effort into the rhythm of ancient poetry in modern times.
After he finished speaking, everyone couldn't help but applaud, thinking to themselves, has Xie Shu been studying poetry for the past three years? Of course, most people still believed that Xie Shu must have made notes in advance.
After a few more rounds, there were only three people left in the game.
They are Wang Jing, Xie Shu, and another one named Cui Cheng, who is quite talented in poetry.
In the end, Wang Jing also humbly withdrew and said, "I really can't think of it. Master Xie and Master Cui are more talented, so let's take a look at these two."
Although everyone could understand what Wang Jing said, they were still very surprised. They didn't expect that even Wang Jieyuan couldn't hold on to the end.
Of the remaining two people, Cui Chengji is the only one. He has a nickname called "Poetry Demon" and he writes poems every day like crazy. But who is Xie Shu and what qualifications does he have?
Cui Cheng was actually very surprised at this time. Why had he never heard of Xie Shu's reputation before? He didn't expect that such a person would appear in Jinling at some point. If he had known that there was such a person earlier, he would have discussed poetry with him frequently.
Cui Cheng was a little bit unsteady at this time. These three breaths were too short. It was really hard to come up with a good poem...
At this time, Master Zheng suddenly said, "If you two continue like this, I don't know when I can give the jade away. How about we come up with a new topic and have you two compose a poem on the spot, and then let everyone judge it?"
Shao Zhen felt unhappy when he saw that the final situation was different from what he had expected, especially since the one person involved was Xie Shu.
However, Shao Zhen was open-minded. This jade was a rare treasure to other people, but to Shao Zhen, it was just something to open up the situation and leave a deep impression on everyone. If this jade fell into the hands of someone he liked, it would be good. If not, it would be fine. The effect he wanted was enough.
But Shao Zhen didn't expect that this jade would be given to someone he didn't like at the moment.
Shao Zhen then proposed this method, and naturally others just wanted to watch the fun, the more exciting the better, and they all joined in the cheering.
After Shao Zhen finished speaking, he watched the two people's reactions coldly.
Cui Cheng heaved a sigh of relief, with a hint of joy on his face, which proved that he... was not strong enough just now.
And what about Xie Shu?
There wasn't a trace of gloom on his face. His expression was still clear and calm, and even a little...excited?
Shao Zhen couldn't help but frown, feeling unspeakably depressed in his heart. However, when Shao Zhen thought about his previous reaction, he was still a little annoyed. He didn't believe that he had really misjudged the other party.
Thinking of something, Shao Zhen said, "Of course, the rules have changed now. The winner can still make a request to... Brother Gu."
Perhaps Shao Zhen did not realize the underlying arrogance in his words, but how could Gu Yuanke not see that Shao Zhen was a little too carried away.
But there was no other way, Gu Yuanke could only cover it up, laugh cheerfully a few times and then agree.
There was a strange flash in Wang Jing's eyes. Maybe other people were not too clear about Gu Yuanke's background, but Wang Jing studied under a great scholar and was also involved in the current affairs of the dynasty, so of course he could make some connections.
A maid had already brought writing brushes, ink and rice paper to the two of them, waiting for them to be asked questions.
In order to prevent Shao Zhen from revealing any clues again, Gu Yuanke directly spoke up to make the plan this time. He recalled the look Xie Shu had given Taohua before, which was quite different.
It would be better to give him another try to see what his ambitions are, whether he is just after fame and fortune or he really has talent.
So Gu Yuanke said, "How about you write a five-character quatrain with the theme of peach blossoms and the time limit of one stick of incense?"
Cui Cheng was lost in thought when he heard this. Peach blossom was not a tricky topic, but it was not easy to write well about it.
There are many images of peach blossoms. Peach blossoms blooming in spring not only mean the prime of life, but also represent a hazy and beautiful feeling.
However, peach blossoms bloom for a short time, so they also express the sentiment of cherishing and lamenting the coming of spring, just like the flowing water and falling petals, which cannot be traced.
When evaluating a poem, the poetic meaning is the most important.
After thinking about it this way, Cui Cheng quickly came up with an idea in his mind. He spread out the paper and started writing.
On the other side, Xie Shu looked at the bright peach blossoms among the weeping willows by the stream, and his expression suddenly became gentle.
When he put pen to paper, his expression was also free and elegant.
Until he put down his last stroke and the incense stick had not yet completely burned out, people around him could not help but come closer.
Gu Yuanke also walked around and took a look. After taking a look, he suddenly realized that everything made sense.
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