Lan Shuang was sitting on the brocade couch in a "duck sitting" position. Although the golden charcoal in the brazier was burning vigorously, she was still wrapped in a thick blanket, with only her fair and lovely oval face exposed. The weather was really cold.
If it wasn't to cater to the needs of the guests, she would not go downstairs wearing a thin veil skirt.
"Miss, today's poem is here."
The maid came in with a stack of paper. There were not many, only a dozen or so. Rich businessmen and squires could not write poems, only scholars could.
"Yes." Lan Shuang nodded with her exposed head and motioned for the maid to put it in front of her. The maid turned it over. She saw that as an oiran who had been carefully trained since childhood, she was proficient in all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and she was very good at poetry.
clear.
What is the most important thing for an courtesan who only has a "career lifespan" of ten years?
Pretty face?
Slim figure?
Although she has both, she is neither.
The most important thing for an oiran is fame!
The best way to gain fame is poetry. She is already eighteen years old this year, which is still young for an ordinary woman. But for an oiran, she is already quite old. If she still hasn't broken out in a few years,
If you are famous, you can only find a wealthy businessman or a high-ranking official to marry as a concubine, and be submerged in the intrigues and intrigues in the back yard.
Every once in a while, she would use "Orchid" and "Frost" as the themes, hoping to meet a talented person and write a good poem. Unfortunately, Linfu County is located in a remote place, and there are not many scholars and even fewer talented people.
There are so few, and so far I have not encountered any poems that can make her famous.
Every day, looking through the poems written by the guests one by one is like finding a grain of gold in piles of sand. You can imagine how difficult it is.
When she saw the seventh one, her eyes brightened a little. This poem was obviously at a higher level than the previous ones, and the handwriting was also extremely neat.
"This is the work of a master. I heard that it ranked fifth in last year's Qiu Wei. It's very impressive."
The maid smiled so hard that her eyes narrowed. Even she could see that this poem was really good. "It should be the best poem in recent times. As expected, he is the guest of honor today."
Lan Shuang tilted her head slightly and signaled the maid to put this poem aside and read the rest. It's not afraid of ten thousand, just in case. If there are better poems left, don't read them.
If she throws it away and is exposed, her career will be over.
Therefore, out of caution, she would read every poem and essay every day and finally select the best one.
When she saw the last song, the maid burst into laughter. The words looked like a dog crawling, and it looked like they were written by a wealthy businessman or country squire just to join in the fun. Even her maid's words were not as good as hers.
Lan Shuang couldn't help but laugh, but when she saw her, she was stunned, staring blankly at the poem placed in front of her. Then, her eyes turned red, tears started to form, and she burst into tears.
Come on, this poem seems to be about a long-lost confidant, and you can see her fragile and sad little heart under her glamorous courtesan appearance.
"Miss?"
Noticing that something was wrong with her young lady, the maid followed her gaze and looked at the poem in front of her carefully. At this sight, she was also stunned. She felt a tingling electric current flowing through her body. She couldn't help but shudder and her arms trembled.
She had goosebumps, and only now did she know what a good poem was.
Although there are also good poems written by literary greats in ancient books and scrolls, this is a new work made on the spot, which has a completely different feeling.
"Hel me up."
Lan Shuang opened the blanket and wiped the tears from her eyes with a brocade handkerchief. She had been sitting in the "duck sitting" posture for a long time and her legs were numb.
The maid realized what she was doing and quickly reached out to help her get down from the brocade couch.
Lan Shuang moved lightly, walked to the dressing table and sat down. She wanted to welcome her confidant in her most beautiful state, "Go and invite this young master up."
The maid took the poem and hurried downstairs.
Seeing Miss Lan Shuang's personal maid come down, the guests were very calm, because there was no suspense. With someone like Fang Xuping around, the others were destined to become mere foils and overshadowed.
Fang Xuping turned his head and glanced at Bai Yu intentionally or unintentionally.
Bai Yu is very calm, and he also knows that there is no suspense... If he can't do a job with so many masterpieces in his mind, he can wipe his neck, and he can't afford to embarrass this person.
Only the officer and soldier were anxious, with their heads lowered, like a defeated rooster. It didn't matter whether he was embarrassed or not. The main thing was that he couldn't bear to see the inspector become a laughing stock.
The maid walked onto the stage with a cheerful smile. The young lady had won a good poem that could make her famous. She would also rise with the tide. She had never been so happy as today. "My lady, today's guest is the guest at table 13."
The guests looked at Fang Xuping subconsciously, and found that Fang Xuping was sitting at table 7, not table 13. This surprised them. Can anyone surpass Fang Xuping in poetry?
Looking left and right, they finally discovered that the table being inspected was number 13. They were all stunned.
"Table 13? I must have made a mistake. Table 7 is correct."
"How could it be table 13?"...
The scholars felt puzzled.
Fang Xuping's face was extremely ugly, "I demand that the poems written by table 13 be released!"
The maid chuckled lightly, "Don't worry, sir. For the sake of fairness, the poems written by the winners every day will be published. This is the rule of the boat painting."
After that, the maid opened the paper with her little hands, as solemnly as reading "Imperial Edict", ""Yonglan""
“It’s admirable when you break the stem, and it becomes fragrant when you enter the house.”
The bird-like voice is quite nice.
Fang Xuping's face turned pale. With this sentence alone, he knew that he had lost. He didn't even need to listen to the rest. Although he was an official and could compose poems, he knew he couldn't compose such a spiritual poem.
.
The other scholars were stunned. They were also scholars and knew immediately that Fang Xuping had lost.
Although wealthy businessmen and country gentry cannot write poetry, they can still tell the quality of a poem. The catchy rhythm and vivid imagery make them understand that this is a good poem.
"The flowers bloom without competing for the festival, and contain a hint of frost to show off their beauty."
The maid finished reading.
All the guests were silent.
The overall meaning of this poem is that an orchid cut off with its stems and leaves can be worn, placed in a room and naturally fragrant, but the flower does not compete with other flowers to reach the high branches, and its beauty is withered in the slight frost.
Fang Xuping's face turned from white to red, with both hatred and jealousy. He glanced at Bai Yu and left in a hurry without saying a word.
The scholars looked at each other. They came to the boat today to greet Fang Xu when he returned to his hometown. But now that the protagonist has left first, they are naturally embarrassed and have no intention of staying any longer.
The rich businessmen and squires were not affected at all. They were arty and came here for the oiran in name, but their actual target was the pipa-playing and dancing girl on the stage. Although the oiran was good, these girls were more pitiable, weren't they?...
..
The maid walked off the stage and walked straight to Bai Yu's table.
"Sir, please follow me."
With a smile on her face, the maid squatted down for the Wanfu gift, stretched out her little hand and made a gesture of invitation.
Bai Yu felt his heart get warm again, this little maid also called me Young Master!
"Um."
Bai Yu looked calm and stood up unhurriedly. He waved to the officers and soldiers behind him, "Go to the shore and inform my more than two hundred subordinates to go back first."
The officers and soldiers felt numb all over...
grown ups.
Where did you get more than two hundred subordinates?