Chapter 149 - The Immortal at Magpie Bridge Knocked the Door
Chapter 149 The Immortal at Magpie Bridge Knocked the Door
“You want Qing to go to your side? Actually, that’s what I had thought.” Listening to the words of Jiang Qizheng thinking about defeat before winning, Gu E’nuo laughed heartily together with the other people. Xue Fangmi glanced at her niece and said lightly, “In this case, Qing, go over there. Your literary talent is actually quite good. Do weigh your words carefully! If you could beat me, I would ask for something good for you in front of my father!”
Xue Nongqing was stunned and said, “Me?”
Seeing Jiang Qizheng beckoning to ask her to go there, she was very nervous, “I can’t compose a poem to a given tune, which must be a piece of cake of my aunt…”
“Stay here and take it easy, we just asked you to cheer for us.” Zhuang Man patted her on the shoulder. “Our trump card is Sister Qiu.”
Since Qiu Yelan taught her to use the tactics against moral integrity to defeat Duan Wenji, their relationship had developed by leaps and bounds. And after discussing about the age, they had begun to call each other elder and younger sisters.
Xue Nongqing let out a sigh of relief, but then she nervously reminded her, “My aunt is very good at composing a poem to a given tune!”
“No matter how excellent she is, can she be as remarkable as my sister Qiu?” Zhuang Man was different from Jiang Qizheng. Her previous understanding of Qiu Yelan entirely arose from the praise of her father Zhuang Mo after the two imperial court assemblies. Although Zhuang Mo did not say that Qiu Yelan was a talented girl, Zhuang Man believed she must have true skill and genuine knowledge because she saw the competitor colluding with Xue Fangmi, and Qiu Yelan dared to guarantee that she would win.
So what she should do at present was to fool Xue Nongqing, “You should really be afraid that your youngest aunt can’t afford to lose. If she complained to your grandfather, Ruan Chunjun would be incriminated by her!”
Xue Nongqing remembered what had happened two years ago. Although she wasn’t the one who did that thing, she blushed at the moment and said awkwardly, “It… no, it’s unlikely to happen.”
Zhuang Man certainly wouldn’t believe such kind of guarantee, but her words had been targeted for her maid instead of her, “I’ve always been straightforward, so I hope you won’t mind if I speak bluntly. I think your youngest aunt was too mean for this matter today. It is common for us to fight with Gu E’nuo, but Xue family never got involved with our family affairs before. Now your aunt not only interfered with this matter herself, but also implicated you into it… If Prime Minister Xue didn’t really plan to go to Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang for shelter, do you believe that you wouldn’t escape the punishment of family rules when you go back home today?”
Xue Nongqing thought her words were reasonable. But driven by her nature, she didn’t want to speak ill of the seniors. So she didn’t know how to reply, though she tried to open her mouth to say something.
Fortunately, the maid behind her answered, “Our lord has no contacts with Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang. Our young lady has understood Miss Zhuang’s reminder. After getting back home, she will definitely tell the truth to our lord and first madam.”
“I’m not that kind.” Hinted by Jiang Qizheng, Zhuang Man smiled sluggishly at the moment and said, “Miss Nongqing and I are not familiar with each other, so why should I say such thankless words to remind you? It was Sister Qiu who specifically begged me to tell you since she still remembered that Mrs. Sun took you to mourn her grandfather’s death.”
“We maids will also tell the first madam about the kindness of Commandery Princess Ningyi.” The maid promised after understanding her meaning.
Zhuang Min nodded with satisfaction, and she didn’t say anything more after winking at Qiu Yelan as a hint of “OK”.
By this time, Gu E’nuo had chosen the topic, “Let’s take Double Seventh Festival (ancient Chinese Valentine’s Day) as the topic!”
“Double Seventh Festival?” Jiang Qizheng was stunned. It was only early spring. Why was the topic directed to autumn abruptly?
“You’re right, that’s exactly Double Seventh Festival.” Seeing the surprise shown on their faces, all the members on Gu E’nuo’s side smiled proudly, even if Ruan Qingyan had prepared all kinds of contextual words such as responding with a poem and playing a drinkers’ wager game for her cousin’s trip today, he would never expect that their topics were totally irrelevant to the current season, flowers, trees or environment….
In addition, they also deliberately set this festival so as to prevent Qiu Yelan from seeing Ruan Qingyan’s old works about autumn love in private. There was also a reason for this: Ruan Qingyan has been in filial piety for the past two years, so he broke up with those prostitutes who had had an affair with him before.
According to the evaluation of Ruan Qingyan by Xue Chang and Duke of Guangyang, this guy was very cautious and would never ruin his entire life for restraining himself in only twenty-seven months. So during the period of observing mourning for his parent, even if he wrote something just for idleness, he would not write about the ancient Valentine’s Day in order not to be impeached by his political opponents!
As for what he had written before observing the mourning, they would have been sent out a long time ago with the amorous nature of Ruan Qingyan. If Qiu Yelan dared to copy them, her reputation would be just ruined!
However, Qiu Yelan had picked up the writing brush just after Gu E’nuo and her followers were complacent for a short while, when the maids had just rubbed an ink stick on the slab since Xue Fangmi, who had already known the topic in advance was still making a draft in mind at the table!
“Is she pretending to do that?” Seeing Xue Fangmi was still thinking, Gu E’nuo and her followers sneered, “Does she think she can write first if she holds the writing brush first?”
“Maybe she was going to wrote something messy?”
“At least, she’s a Commandery Princess, does she know nothing about the type of classical Chinese poetry?”
“That’s not necessarily the case. As the saying goes, “rotten wood cannot be carved”. If everyone could become a talent with a wise teacher, then there would have been too many talents in the world.”
At first, Jiang Qizheng was worried that having a quarrel with them would disturb Qiu Yelan’s flow of thoughts in writing. Seeing that their mockery becoming even more excessive, she was about to fight back. At this time, she saw Qiu Yelan dip the writing brush with ink and write as fast as possible without even stopping to think!
Seeing her writing speed, the expressions of Gu E’nuo and her followers changed at once, among which the first few guys even stood up forgetting about, forgetting about their courtesy. The girls on Jiang Qizheng’s side were also stunned, “Even if she has an agile imagination. Isn’t that too agile?”
One can’t write a poem as fast as she does even if he copies others’ works! It must be a proficiency in memorization that equips her with this speed!
“It seems that she was frightened by our words.” It was natural for Gu E’nuo and her followers to think that she couldn’t write any good works so quickly. Thus they joyfully teased, “So she deliberately wrote so quickly to frighten us.”
“It would really scare us if she was able to compose a poem right now.” Tang Xinyao smiled faintly. “It’s a pity that there appears only one talent like that for so many years. Is it something that ordinary people can have?”
After a short while, Qiu Yelan threw the writing brush and left the table to make room for the audience to see “her” poem.
Clouds float like works of art, stars shoot with grief at heart. Across the Milky Way the Cowherd meets the Maid.
When autumn’s golden wind embraces Dew of Jade, all the love scenes on earth, however many, fade.
This tender love flows like a stream, their happy date seems but a dream. How can they bear a separate homeward way?
If love between both sides can last for ages, why need they stay together night and day?
There was a dead silence in the enclosure. Qiu Yelan admired the jaw-dropping look of these audiences with a big smile, “The masterpiece of Qin Guan (a famous ancient Chinese poet) has been a classic abusively quoted by innumerable posterity! Not to mention you, Xue Fangmi, even the top poets of Darui might be crushed if they just give play to their average level!”
I’m good at throwing away my moral integrity. Who’s going to fight an intellectual battle with you?
She looked at the distance in a leisurely manner, “Miss Xue, I’ve already finished writing. Why don’t you start writing? Do you want us to wait for you here for ten days or a half month?”
Meanwhile, Zhuang Man offered an ingenious assistance, “Bravo! Bravo! How marvelous it is! Not only every word is a pearl of wisdom, but the epigraph of name is also closely linked to the title “Immortals at the Magpie Bridge”! Using such a poem to deal with Xue Fangmi is absolutely breaking a fly on the wheel! From my perspective, it is enough to be spread forever, serving as a good story for the later generations. Ah, what a pity! In the future, when the posterity mentions this poem, they would certainly talk about today’s competition so that Xue Fangmi would be remembered, too. What a pity! How can she match it with her level?”
Xue Fangmi had just picked up the writing brush and wrote down the epigraph of name. Looking at the three words “Green Jade Table” on the far right side of the rice paper, her face changed at once. Then she took a deep breath, dropped the writing brush, and force her way through the crowd with a livid face, “I want to see how marvelous Commandery Princess Ningyi’s poem is. Is it so wonderful that you guys can’t wait to make a noise before I finish writing?”
The silent teammates of Gu E’nuo got out of the way one after another.
Such a silent and frustrating scene made Xue Fangmi’s heart sink down!
It is likely that Gu E’nuo and her followers could pick bones from eggs! Unless that was an impeccable work, it was impossible for them to be speechless!
Holding down the fear in her heart forcefully, Xue Fangmi went to the front of the table. But her face changed as soon as she glanced at it!
She was known as the most talented woman in the capital city. Though she might not be matchless, her ability couldn’t be denied. How couldn’t she understand that this poem of “Immortal at the Magpie Bridge” was actually something out of her reach?
Even her father Xue Chang was unable to write such a poem, let alone her! After all, Xue Chang wasn’t good at poetry, though he had passed the Metropolitan Exam in his early years!
“I’m sure you aren’t the author!” Xue Fangmi just regained her consciousness after staring at the table for quite a long time. Ignoring Zhuang Man’s cynicism, she looked at Qiu Yelan like a duck in a thunderstorm and said with a sneer, “After two years of hard-working, Ruan Chunjun’s poetry has just improved little by little. ”
Before Xue Fang finished her words, Qiu Yelan suddenly took a few steps, grabbed the “Immortal at the Magpie Bridge” and slapped her on the face heavily!
“You are such a fool, does your own mother know?” It’s so rare to get such a chance to fight back. Qiu Yelan gave full play to her strength and slapped Xue Fangmi’s face through the rice paper so heavily that it looked like a pig’s head. Ignoring the dumbfounded expression of other people, including Jiang Qizheng, she said in a cold tone, “Take this poem back to submit to Prime Minister Xue. He is my cousin’s mentor who knows my cousin’s ability best. Ask him whether it’s my cousin’s work!”
Zhuang Man stopped Xue Nongqing, who wanted to go up to check Xue Fangmi’s injury, and said with a sneer, “Miss Nongqing, do you think your aunt has been wronged? Sister Qiu is helping your family!”
Xue Nongqing’s maid also held her lady’s sleeve tightly and whispered to her, “My young lady, Miss Zhuang is right. Two years ago, your aunt once humiliated young master Ruan in public without any reason. As a result, our lord was busy rushing from one to another to deal with the trouble she brought! Even young master Sun had been running with her for a long time to put an end to that matter! Now she implicates young master Ruan into this matter again… That’s the poem about Double Seventh Festival! Young master Ruan hasn’t finished mourning for his parent’s death yet!”
Now the Xue families present who had just regain their consciousness, including Xue Fangmi’s trusted subordinate, were all praying that this poem must be written by Qiu Yelan!
In that case, Xue Fangmi could be regarded as a narrow-minded girl at most. If it was proved that Ruan Qingyan was the real writer, then what should Xue Chang do in the official circle if his own daughter revealed his students wrote such an amorous poem during the mourning period, which was the taboo between master and apprentice!
“What a fool Xue Fangmi is! Even if you think so, do you need to say it yourself? It doesn’t matter if we doubt it, but Ruan Chunjun is the student of your own father! If he really wrote something that he shouldn’t have written during the mourning period, he should just be punished in private according to the rules. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Xue had to cover up this matter for him in public to show the relationship between master and apprentice!”
After being beaten, Xue Fangmi’s face showed only hatred and no fear. Seeing this, Gu E’nuo couldn’t help being disappointed. “Now even if this poem was really written by Ruan Chunjun, Prime Minister Xue would have to try his best to prove that it was written by Qiu Yelan!”
To be accused of not disciplining his teenage daughter well, or not holding on his political morality? Was it necessary for him to spare any time to think about which one was more important?