Chapter 96: Poetry Cheng Xianzhi Does Not Love Gongsun Xue
The repeatedly defeated young masters of the aristocratic families and the Hanlin Academy scholars felt ashamed of themselves and said with sincere admiration, "As expected of our Shangshu Lord, the Zhongshu Ling's students are truly extraordinary. Shangshu Cheng is so knowledgeable and talented that we are ashamed of ourselves."
Facing the praise from everyone, Cheng Xianzhi remained calm, revealing a faint, humble smile: "Thank you for the compliment."
Jiang Qingsheng, who was not far away, saw this scene, showed a trace of disdain, put down the wine glass in his hand, stepped forward and pushed through the crowd.
"Minister Cheng was one of the top three in the palace examination of our dynasty. You all also want to gain benefits from the Minister." Jiang Qingsheng said slowly, his eyes sweeping across the crowd and finding Gongsun Xue.
He stared at her so unscrupulously, and a wave of evil thoughts surged over him.
Gongsun Xue's eyes were always on Cheng Xianzhi.
She hadn't seen him write poetry for a long time. When she went in and out of the Zhongshu Ling Mansion in the past, that extraordinary young man with a romantic and elegant demeanor, like pine wind, water moon, and orchids and jade trees, would stir her heart again and again.
Cheng Xianzhi, who has always been the center of attention, turned a blind eye as usual. The gleam in the eyes of those women from aristocratic families seemed to pierce through him.
"Mr. Jiang, are you interested in singing a song too?" Cheng Xianzhi said leisurely.
Jiang Qingsheng was an illiterate man, but he was good at writing obscene poems and lyrics. He could only recite a few of the elegant poems about appreciating flowers and praising the moon. When he was young, he practiced martial arts with spears and sticks, and most of the books he read were military books. He was adept at setting ambushes in battles.
He dared to come forward and provoke me today, who knows what he is planning.
"Minister Cheng, are you bullying me? I'm just a warrior, how dare I show off in front of you? A one-on-one fight would be so boring. How about something more interesting? What do you think, sir?" Jiang Qingsheng showed his ruffian nature. Gongsun Xue looked at him, and the scene of Weiyang Tower that day flashed through her mind. She suddenly felt shy.
This person looked over here intentionally or unintentionally, as if he had other intentions.
"How would Young Master Jiang like to play?" Cheng Xianzhi was rarely interested, and Han Zhou was surprised. What happened to him today?
And in a corner where no one noticed, Cheng Xianzhi's fiery afterglow fell on a certain place, but no one noticed.
"Poetry competition requires making friends. Since it's a garden poetry gathering, it's boring to compete alone. How about forming a team to compete?" Jiang Qingsheng often went to restaurants and teahouses after returning to Kyoto. He knew exactly what kind of fun things were there.
It's nothing.
"I'd like to hear more about it."
"I heard that the Minister's wife is the most talented woman in Kyoto. I am not talented enough, but I wonder if the lady would be willing to lend me a hand?" Jiang Qingsheng looked at her as if no one else was around. His eyes were aggressive, as if he was provoking Cheng Xianzhi.
Gongsun Xue's face looked ugly. She was already a married woman in front of everyone, and this man wanted her to abandon her husband and join him in public.
Cheng Xianzhi glanced at Gongsun Xue with a reassuring look, "Young Master Jiang wants my wife to duel with me. Do you think that's appropriate?"
When Gongsun Xue heard Cheng Xianzhi protecting her, she felt a warm feeling in her heart.
"Your Excellency, that's not true. We've heard a lot about the wonderful stories between you and Madam. It's just a poetry competition, nothing else. What are you afraid of?" Jiang Qingsheng said with a hint of meaning, "If Madam and you were in the same group, then we wouldn't have any chance of winning. We might as well have Concubine Rong send this first prize directly to the Cheng Mansion."
Cheng Xianzhi smiled faintly, which seemed to make some sense. The people below the stage murmured, but Cheng Xianzhi responded calmly, "Mr. Jiang, you're being polite. Of course, that's fine. But if you want to invite my wife, didn't you ask her about her wishes?"
"Then, Madam Cheng, would you be willing to help me, Jiang? Rumor has it in Kyoto that when Madam was still in her boudoir, she once competed in poetry with Minister Cheng, and even won."
It was true, but it was only because of Cheng Xianzhi's humility that she was able to barely win. At that time, he had not yet taken up the position of Minister of the Court. As a disciple of Gongsun Yin, he often went in and out of the Palace of the Minister of the Central Secretariat.
Gongsun Xue looked at Cheng Xianzhi, feeling torn between the two. If she was unwilling, people would think she was narrow-minded and had low vision, but if she was willing, she was afraid of gossip.
Cheng Xianzhi on the stage knew that it was difficult for her to make a decision.
"In that case, I'll pick someone too," he casually raised his arm and pointed into the distance, "this one."
Everyone followed the direction and found a figure standing on the lotus pond by the lake outside the pavilion. The lake breeze blew up her skirt, making her look like a lotus fairy floating down.
That was Lu Tingwan's seat. Through the gauze curtain of the waterside pavilion, when the wind blew, Gongsun Xue saw the person clearly. Her face was full of energy, completely different from when she was lying on the sickbed before. She was even more beautiful than the new buds in the lotus pond.
"This? Isn't this Master Lu?" A palace maid exclaimed, covering her mouth. "Master Lu is Minister Cheng's second wife, so this makes sense."
Lu Tingwan stood still. Gongsun Xue watched the person on the stage slowly turn around and called out, "Sir..."
Cheng Xianzhi's eyes lit up with joy. He extended his hand and met the gaze of the person beside the pool, as if he didn't know it was her. "So it's Master Lu. Are you willing to fight alongside me?"
"Minister Cheng is teaming up with the Second Madam, and the First Madam is teaming up with Young Master Jiang. That's quite interesting." Someone in the crowd said.
Lu Tingwan now has some reputation in the palace. She is a fifth-rank female official, has good relationships with all the palaces, and is highly regarded by the empress dowager. She is someone the emperor and Minister Cheng want to protect, so naturally, the remnants of the Lu family have less to say about her.
"It seems like I'm in for a treat today."
"Oh? Isn't this Mrs. Lu, the Second Madam Cheng from my aunt's palace?" Jiang Qingsheng said as if he were watching a play. "The Second Madam is also well-versed in poetry?"
Lu Tingwan had no idea what he was planning. With a prying smile hidden in her eyes, she walked slowly forward, like a fairy treading on water, with lotus flowers blooming at every step. The gazes of those young masters from aristocratic families gradually became hotter.
Under the gaze of the crowd, she remained calm and composed. After approaching, she said calmly, "It's not that I can say he's accomplished. Our master and the eldest lady are both very talented, so it goes without saying. The master asked me to accompany him. I think he thinks that Young Master Jiang is unsophisticated, so he casually pointed at someone as ordinary as me to serve as a foil for Young Master Jiang. This competition is fair."
"Does the Lord think so?" She chuckled, her eyes seeming to question Cheng Xianzhi.
When Cheng Xianzhi asked her to come up and recite poems, she felt that he was deliberately trying to embarrass her. In public, she would be compared with his beloved wife. Thinking of this, she regretted leaving a jar of wine for him.
Just think of it as feeding the dog!
Fortunately, she is open-minded. She does not claim to be elegant, so when it comes to writing poetry, she does it within her ability. Even if she can't come up with a correct answer, it doesn't matter. As long as she is frank, it's fine.
Jiang Qingsheng usually speaks nonsense, and his playboyish nature was fully exposed at the banquet, but now he has to disguise himself and hide it in front of Gongsun Xue.
How could he compose a serious poem? Gongsun Xue, looking at the moon, was the first to compose one: "At the beginning of the month, the eastern mountain is quiet, the clear light shines on the whole garden, the wind blows and shatters the shadows of the flowers, the dew is heavy and the sound of the pond is quiet."
Then Jiang Qingsheng continued by breaking off a lotus flower, "A pretty girl sways in the breeze, drunken in the evening pond, half-covering her shy face to tease the mandarin ducks. Her heart secretly yields to the waves, stealing her fragrance to her lover."
Jiang Qingsheng looked at Gongsun Xue with a scrutinizing gaze. Gongsun Xue's face flushed red, and the other noble ladies quickly covered their ears, their shyness overflowing upon hearing a romantic poem.
Since they used moonlight and flower petals as the lead for their poems, as the saying goes, flowers in the mirror, moon in the water, Lu Tingwan used the water as the lead, "A mirror opens to reveal sleeping cloud shadows, a vast expanse of glazed glass lies on the blue lotus. The wind blows and suddenly shatters the diamond-shaped mirror, scattering into a river of stars that falls on the wine boat."
After Lu Tingwan finished, she raised an eyebrow at Cheng Xianzhi. Since she used water as a guide, Cheng Xianzhi would use the mirror as a guide. He poetically compared the flower in the mirror to a woman whose beauty is fleeting: "Half of her face is separated by icy silk from the moonlight, and before her fingertips touch it, it turns to rosy clouds. The east wind takes away the fragrance overnight, leaving only the bronze mirror to reflect the withered flower."
"I don't like Minister Cheng's poetic style." Lu Tingwan whispered beside him, and Cheng Xianzhi heard it.
Cheng Xianzhi glanced at her, imagining her makeup that day, and continued a poem for her, "Rouge condenses into dew and freezes into spring smoke; a smile lingers on her jade-like face. If you ask why this flower doesn't fall, it's because there's spring in the beauty's eyes."
"How is it? Does Manager Lu like it?" Cheng Xianzhi joked with her as if no one was around.
Lu Tingwan seemed to see the pride in his eyes, but she regarded it as a provocation and turned her head away, ignoring him.
After several rounds, Jiang Qingsheng was defeated, but Lu Tingwan was still able to fight back a few times. She didn't want to win anymore, so she simply admitted defeat and withdrew, leaving the two of them to decide the winner.
Seeing that Gongsun Xue and Cheng Xianzhi were evenly matched in the competition, Lu Tingwan felt bored and somewhat uninterested. Gongsun Xue seemed to have returned to the scene of the two of them exchanging poems in the past, with love spreading in her heart and tenderness in her eyes. It seemed to Lu Tingwan that the two of them were truly in love, and that she and Jiang Qingsheng were just part of their show of affection.
Cheng Xianzhi slowly showed signs of defeat, and finally admitted defeat. Gongsun Xue was delighted by the praise from everyone.
Surrounded by the crowd, Lu Tingwan squeezed out of the crowd and moved away from the pavilion.
Amidst the laughter and joy, Cheng Xianzhi searched for that figure, while fireworks spread across the sky.
Countless stars were formed and hung in the night sky, but their speed of disappearing could not catch up with the rising fireworks. The sky above the Imperial Garden was shrouded in fireworks, and the touching scene was soothing to the heart.
In the distant pavilion, she saw Gongsun Xue standing beside him and whispering to him. Lu Tingwan just smiled, and suddenly she felt a little envious of Gongsun Xue. At least someone loved her. Only in the most lively times did she feel lonely.
Everywhere she looked was perfection. Finally, she looked up at the stars and bright lights in the night sky, trying to see through them, but she could not find a place to rest. Her heart was never at peace.
She didn't like this scene because there was no one around her and she was alone.
After a long time, she smiled with relief, and the beautiful shadow disappeared under the fireworks. Cheng Xianzhi stared at the dark corner for a long time, watching her leave as if no one was around.
In the end, Lu Tingwan did not tell Cheng Xianzhi about the rest day. She had come here today for this matter, but after seeing this scene, she didn't want to say anything.
Gongsun Xue beside him watched his every move, her expression becoming even more lonely. She could no longer distinguish the person next to her, and wondered whether there was still a place for herself in his heart. Sometimes it was sometimes not, and she was so worried about gains and losses, and felt extremely insecure.
Jiang Qingsheng in the corner was watching all this, as if he had figured out the entanglement between the three people, and the corners of his lips gradually curled up.
Gongsun Xue's lonely expression was accurately captured by Jiang Qingsheng. He had glimpsed a secret that no one knew about. A smile flashed through his heart, and the wine cup that he was holding in his fingertips suddenly fell into his palm, as if he had grasped something.
After tonight's poetry gathering, he could be even more certain of one thing: Cheng Xianzhi did not love Gongsun Xue!
The hatred in Gongsun Xue's eyes came from the figure that disappeared into the depths of the imperial garden.
Interesting, interesting! The next day, in front of Hanzhang Palace, Li Tingfeng talked about the poetry gathering in the Imperial Garden last night.
I heard that Cheng Xianzhi and Gongsun Xue showed off their talents at the poetry meeting, which was quite a sight. Coincidentally, Persia had recently sent a batch of Luozidai as tribute, so Li Tingfeng took this as the first prize and awarded it to Cheng Xianzhi in the name of Concubine Rong.
Cheng Xianzhi still remembered that when the two of them were hiding from pursuit in a dilapidated temple outside the city, Lu Tingwan had said that eyebrows looked good with snail dai. She liked to put on makeup and loved to spend time on it. Her face was obviously so delicate that it was impeccable, but even when she was hiding from life-threatening pursuit, she did not forget to use charcoal to draw her eyebrows.
As soon as I left the palace, the eunuch from Jinhua Palace came to deliver a message.
"Minister Cheng, Headmistress Lu sent me a message. She has returned to the Cheng Mansion on her day off."
Cheng Xianzhi was stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly.
When he saw her last night, why didn't she tell him that she had a day off? He had clearly told her that he would come to pick her up if she had a day off.
Obviously, she didn't take his words to heart. After thinking about it, Cheng Xianzhi pretended to be sour.
After walking a few steps out of the palace, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Gongsun Yin came forward and called out to Cheng Xianzhi. He had not asked about what happened in Hanzhang Palace before, but he stayed after he left the palace and the court officials dispersed.
Gongsun Yin had also heard about what happened at the poetry party in the Imperial Garden last night. Lu Tingwan was originally insignificant to him. She was nothing more than a pawn used by Lu Mingqian to curry favor with the Queen Mother.
However, Cheng Xianzhi had repeatedly broken his principles, which made people feel wary.
I stopped him today to give him some advice: don't play with fire and get yourself burned. Be clear about the situation.
Lu Tingwan is the daughter of a criminal minister. Although she has been pardoned by the emperor, she cannot get around her identity. The right thing for her here is to live a peaceful life with Gongsun Xue, give birth to a child as soon as possible, and assist the king with peace of mind.
Cheng Xianzhi was extremely respectful and didn't say anything else. He just told him to be at ease, and he didn't say much else.
He was well aware of Gongsun Yin's advice.
After returning home, he was originally going to the study for breakfast, but remembering what Gongsun Yin said in front of the palace gate, he turned around and headed towards Yingyue Pavilion.
Since Cheng Xianzhi seldom came to Yingyue Pavilion for breakfast, Gongsun Xue happened to be about to have breakfast, and the maid in the courtyard brought in a message that Cheng Xianzhi had already entered Yingyue Pavilion.
Gongsun Xue was overjoyed, and the dark clouds of last night dissipated.
"My Lord," she went out to greet him, "you left court so early today, how come you have time to come to Xue'er's place?"
Cheng Xianzhi walked into the main courtyard, raised his hand to ask her to stand up, and said casually, "I came to see you."
Gongsun Xue showed a look of favor: "Perfect, let's have dinner together."
Cheng Xianzhi still didn't say much and didn't talk about anything else during the meal. He just asked about the Zhongshu Ling Mansion and told her to go back for a walk if she had nothing to do.
Gongsun Xue remembered in her heart that every time he was on the verge of an emotional outburst, he seemed to be able to calm her down with ease.
The Luozi ink sent from the palace naturally entered the Yingyue Pavilion. Cheng Xianzhi explained, "This is the Luozi ink given to me by Concubine Rong at the poetry gathering last night. There wasn't much Luozi ink in the Persian tribute this year. Your Majesty is willing to give it to me as a gift, as it shows your appreciation for me. Of course, Xue'er's talent is also evident in Kyoto. This Luozi ink is also a reward for you, so I'll keep it with you."
"Luozidai is precious," Gongsun Xue lifted the hem of her skirt and stood up to look at the box of tribute. "There are five boxes in total. His Majesty values you so much, and Xue'er is honoring you with her."
"You are the mistress of the Cheng family, and you deserve half of all this glory. Anyone who is a member of the Cheng family is inextricably linked to me. I sent a box of this mule dai to Yansheng Hall in your name. Lu Tingwan is the head of the empress dowager's affairs, so it is only natural that I must fulfill this courtesy. Xue'er won't blame me, right?"
Gongsun Xue's heart skipped a beat, as if someone had accidentally pierced her hidden inner darkness. Her heart sank, but she forced herself to hold it in, remaining calm as she replied, "How could it be? The Master gave one box to the Second Madam, but left all these to Xue'er. Xue'er knows the Master's intentions, and she certainly wouldn't get jealous over such a trivial matter."
Cheng Xianzhi smiled faintly: "That's good."
Lu Tingwan had just returned to Yansheng Hall not long ago. She asked Feng Xin to keep the materials for the Sunset Bow that she had bought from the black market. She wanted to take advantage of leaving the palace today to go out again and see if there were any craftsmen who could forge a Sunset Bow.
Feng Xin didn't ask too many questions. She had no complaints about anything Lu Tingwan did. As long as she was doing well, she was satisfied.
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