At the end of the year, noon was approaching, and there was a slight cold rain in the sky. The rain was weaving diagonally, and dark clouds were hanging low. The sky was as dark as dusk. The camellias in Zhenqing Taoist Temple were shining brightly in the cold rain. Everyone praised the plum blossoms for their proud snowy character.
Little did they know that camellia also has the appearance of frost.
Lu Weirui was wearing a black lamb's fur and was waiting quietly on the corridor of Sanqing Palace. Her snow-white face was set against the black lamb's fur, and her lips were lightly red, giving her a bright color.
The little maid stomped her feet with a hoe and said: "My feet are cold today, and it's raining. I'm afraid Chen Langjun won't come, and he arrived at our house yesterday - otherwise, let someone call him."
Lu Weirui said: "You don't have to call me. Just wait a while. If you don't come, we can go see the flowers ourselves. Isn't the Camellia in the Cold Rain beautiful?"
A servant from the Lu Mansion came in quickly and said, "Mr. Chen is here."
After a while, I saw Chen Caozhi walking calmly on high-toothed wooden clogs and holding an oil-paper umbrella. There were some rain marks on the hem of his robe. He smiled and said, "Ms. Wei Rui is here early."
Lu Weirui said with a smile: "You didn't say you were late, but you said I was early. Isn't it unreasonable?"
Chen Caozhi collected the oil-paper umbrella in the corridor and said, "Look, the rain has stopped now. Isn't it just the right time for me to come?"
The little maid held a short hoe and said with a smile: "Chen Langjun, will God help you? If it rains still, what will you say?"
Chen Caozhi smiled and did not answer, but asked Lu Weirui: "Have you brought the camellia painted by Madam Weirui? Let me admire it first."
Lu Weirui's face turned slightly red and she said, "You want to see how ugly my painting is, right? Well, I'll show off my ugliness."
With a short hoe, he took out a roll of drawings from the oxcart. Chen Caozhi and Lu Weirui came to the left wing of Sanqing Hall and sat down on their knees across the table. Chen Caozhi opened Lu Weirui's drawings and saw that it was also the "Auspicious Snow" plant.
She couldn't help but look up at Lu Weirui and said with a smile: "This is really the same thing. It coincides with each other."
Lu Weirui smiled sweetly and said: "Originally I was going to draw the 'Big Purple Robe', but unfortunately the two best flowers were picked off by the sixth brother who ruined the scenery, so I painted 'Ruixue' instead. I also know you can draw it."
Ruixue——"
Chen Caozhi smiled and said: "I understand, you saw me looking around Ruixue for a long time that day, right? You want to compete with me -" Then he looked down at Lu Weirui's painting of Ruixue Camellia and sighed: "It turns out that Weirui was so beautiful yesterday
The reason why I refuse to take out the painting is to save my face in front of the envoy. My humble painting can only be seen by itself, but if it is put together with this painting, it will pale in comparison."
Lu Weirui smiled and said: "How come? No one dares to despise Chen Langjun's paintings. I have been studying painting for three years, but I am only a little more skillful than you. You will soon surpass me."
Chen Cao smiled and asked: "The drawing will be handed in on the 19th of next month. Madam Wei Rui will probably draw another one. Do you have any ideas?"
Lu Weirui said, "I was just about to ask you for advice."
Chen Cao said: "The picture of camellias in the cold rain is good. The flowers are gorgeous in the cold rain. This corresponds to the painting of 'big purple robe'."
The little maid clapped her hands with a short hoe and said: "Ah, the picture of Camellia in the cold rain, my little lady said so just now. My little lady, you made an agreement with Chen Langjun yesterday, didn't you?"
Lu Weirui responded: "Yes." Her eyes looked at Chen Caozhi, her face reddening slightly.
The two of them took advantage of the rain break to go up the mountain to visit the camellias again and discuss how to paint the picture of camellias in the cold rain. At noon, the rain stopped and the rain started to fall again.
Chen Caozhi and Ran Sheng walked to Xu's Thatched Cottage. Ran Sheng said: "Little Master, there was a man probing outside the Taoist Temple just now. I glared at him before he left."
Chen Caozhi said "hmm" and thought to himself: "Then the spies must have reported Chu Chenglang. How would Chu Chenglang spread this rumor? With the reputation of the Lu family, Chu Jian would not dare to spread rumors in vain. He should be able to
I deliberately let many people see me and Lu Weirui together, so that such rumors will appear to be well-founded and conclusive. I think Zhenqing Taoist Temple will be very lively in three days."
…
Three days passed quickly. At three quarters of the day, Chen Caozhi arrived at Zhenqing Taoist Temple and chatted with the white-haired Taoist Master Li Taoist. Li Taoist learned that Chen Caozhi was a disciple of Ge Zhichuan.
, couldn't help but be in awe, and asked Chen Caozhi for some advice on alchemy, and Chen Caozhi was able to answer.
After a while, Lu Weirui and his maidservant arrived, and they were sitting together talking about the beautiful things in the back mountain. They heard the noise outside the courtyard gate, and many bullock carts arrived one after another. Suddenly, a group of gentry led by Eguan Bo came in.
, the leader was Chu Jian, the sixth-grade prime minister, and the rest were either officials from Wu County or celebrities from the city's gentry. Someone shouted: "Mr. Li, I heard that a colorful camellia as big as a basin has bloomed in Zhenqing Taoist Temple.
Good luck, please lead us to have a look."
Li Daoren was stunned, and before he could answer, Chu Jian, who was very sharp-eyed, saw Chen Caozhi and said loudly: "Isn't this Qian Tang Chen Caozhi who was highly appreciated by Quanchang's servants and praised by Lu Shijun?"
He cupped his hands and said: "Everyone - everyone, in the past you asked Chu what kind of person Chen Caozhi of Qiantang was? Now you see, this is the first-class person of my Qiantang Han family. He is handsome and handsome, and is known as Chen Caozhi of Jiangzuo Weijie.
, both calligraphy and music are impressive. Huan Shenjun, who is the best in music in Jiangzuo, gave him the Keting flute."
Chen Caozhi smiled and saluted and said: "Chu Chenglang has been praised. Jiangzuo Weijie, how dare I deserve such praise?"
Chu Jian, a senior from the same town, admired Chen Caozhi so much that he was a latecomer. Wu County officials, nobles and celebrities looked at Chen Caozhi with more than a dozen pairs of eyes. They saw the beautiful young man standing in front of the palace with eyebrows like ink paintings and eyes like dots of paint.
His demeanor is excellent, and he really lives up to the reputation of Jiangzuo Weijie. Since Grand Administrator Lu and Chu Chenglang are so magnanimous and do not despise Chen Caozhi because he comes from a poor family, they naturally also appreciate Chen Caozhi——
Chu Jian's sharp eyes saw Lu Weirui again and exclaimed: "Isn't this Miss Weirui, Lu Shijun's beloved daughter? Why are you with Chen Caozhi?"
Lu Weirui was not as panicked or shy as Chu Jian thought, and even gave him a salute and said: "My father is going to hold a winter moon flower and tree painting gathering in Wu County. I am here to enjoy the camellias and prepare to paint them. This Chen Langjun
is also like this."
At this time, a person outside the hall shouted: "Zizhong, Zizhong——"
Chen Caozhi hurried forward to greet him and said, "Brother Changkang, have the guards arrived?"
The person who came was none other than Gu Kaizhi, and the person walking beside him was Wei Xie. Gu Kaizhi said: "Zizhong, you are walking very fast, leaving me and the Wei Xie behind."
Wujun officials, nobles and celebrities who knew Gu Kaizhi and Wei Xie came forward to greet him one after another. When they learned that Wei and Gu were also here to enjoy the camellias and prepare to participate in Lu Shijun's flower and tree painting gathering, they were all happy.
He said that this was an elegant event and Cheng Yi held it. He also learned that Chen Caozhi was a disciple of the Wei Association, and he thought highly of Chen Caozhi. He invited them to go up the mountain to enjoy the flowers together, and scolded the rumor mongers for saying that there was a big flower here.
The colorful camellias were really nonsense. Someone asked Chu Chenglang who he heard the rumor about?
Chu Jian also scolded the rumor makers a few times and hesitated, feeling very depressed. He didn't know that Governor Lu was going to hold a flower and tree painting gathering, and he didn't expect that the famous Wei Xie and Gu Kaizhi would appear here. No one would think of it now.
Chen Caozhi and Lu Weirui were thinking about something together. They saw the Wujun officials, nobles and celebrities all talking cordially with Chen Caozhi. Chen Caozhi also kept making witty remarks and was admired by these people.
Today's incident not only did not ruin Chen Caozhi's reputation, but actually made Chen Caozhi famous. This was something Chu Jian never expected.