The clouds in the sky were soft like fine fish scales. When the afternoon sun spread through the clouds, flocks of birds flew across the sky above the lake. West Lake was quiet, and Little Yingzhou was located in it. It was the most beautiful garden in the water. The trees around the embankment were verdant, and there were pavilions and curved bridges in it. People gathered around the embankment, and the lotuses in the water were blooming lush pink.
In the center of Little Yingzhou was a Baoning Temple. Some people took advantage of the time and went inside to worship the Buddha.
This kind of situation could no longer be seen in later generations.
A number of gaily-painted pleasure boats were circling one side of the Little Yingzhou like a crescent moon, and there were already many people gathered on the big boat in the center. According to the previous times, everyone went to the boat and sat down. Then, the magistrate would speak, and the old people would also speak. Then, everyone would discuss and communicate. Under the setting sun, the chef of Fuqing Restaurant would serve exquisite dishes. They ate, drank, and recited poems. At night, they would enjoy the night scenery and set off flower and water lanterns. Basically, this was the process.
At this time, there was still some free time before everyone boarded the ship. In fact, it was between three and five o 'clock in the afternoon. When everyone was officially seated, the prefectural magistrate and the others would come out. Usually, it would be a quarter to five o' clock in the afternoon, which was after four o 'clock. Before this, people like the magistrate of Hangzhou, Lu Tuizhi, the great scholar Qian Xiwen, Mu Bozhang, and Tang Xiuxuan would greet each other or meet some people in private. What kind of interests they had, and whether it was deep or shallow, was not known to outsiders.
The Beginning of Autumn Poetry Meet, which started in the third year of Jinghan in the Wu dynasty, decided many things in the light and dark. Of course, for people like Ning Yi and his wife who had just arrived in Hangzhou this year, even if they were talented, it was difficult for them to know the content. After that, they did not have the chance to understand what the content was.
The poetry meet in the ninth year of Jinghan did not end.
After that, the sudden event that happened during the poetry meeting shook the entire Southeast land in a way that caught everyone off guard, and caused many things to be unable to be carried out to the end. Of course, at this time, everyone was still doing their own things as usual, looking forward to the events that were supposed to happen next. In the shade of the trees on the embankment, a woman playing the zither played with her fingers and sang softly, letting the sound of the wind spread her voice over the province.
On the Qian family's boat, Qian Xiwen had just met the nephew of the Chang family. At this moment, he said something to the housekeeper and asked a few questions about Ning Yi and his wife. He had given Ning Yi the invitation and asked Lou Jinlin about the Su family's young miss and Ning Yi. If Ning Yi had come to visit him at this time, he would have gone to see him. However, Ning Yi and his wife had already arrived, but they hadn't directly boarded the ship to see him. This made him feel a bit amused. He just smiled and asked Qian Yu to invite some other people to come in and have a seat.
In fact, he was interested in learning. Usually, he gave lectures everywhere. Above the family's interests, what he sought was the general trend of the Great Dao. If others were in a hurry, he could understand, but he might not like it.
On the other hand, after leaving the Qian family, the current head of the Chang family began to visit Mu Bozhang, Tang Xiuxuan, and the others. On the way, he was greeted and greeted by many people. He also entertained them one by one, making the circle around him the center of the crowd, almost blocking the embankment.
The heads of the few real big families in Hangzhou were all people with profound knowledge. After all, this was the world of scholars. If they could not pass down poetry to the family, they would not be able to make a name for themselves. At the beginning of this year, Chang Yuan of the Chang family passed away. But because the family had a good foundation, the Chang family did not decline in Hangzhou. On the contrary, because the current head of the family was Chang Yuan's son, all the elders treated him as a nephew. At this poetry meeting, as long as they knew each other, the elders would inevitably show concern for him. If they were of the same generation, the juniors would also reminisce about Chang Gong's achievements and sigh endlessly. At the banquet later, the prefectural magistrate would inevitably talk about this topic. As long as they grasped it well, the Chang family would become the main character of this banquet.
In the eyes of scholars, all kinds of greetings here were mostly people who fawned on the rich and powerful. On the other side, under the shade of the trees, in the cool breeze, there were already scholars in elegant clothing waving their folding fans. They listened to the music of a few girls and began to compose poems to fit the occasion. Occasionally, there would be a good piece that spread around.
On the pleasure boat of the Lou family, Lou Jinlin sent off an old man who had come to visit. His face was full of smiles, but his heart was thinking about some of the things that had just happened. Just now on the lake, the Qian family's boat had taken the initiative to approach. Qian Xiwen had cordially invited him over for a chat. This matter made him feel puzzled now.
The Qian family and the Lou family did not have much contact before. The Qian family was a scholarly family and a big landlord who occupied a region. The Lou family, on the other hand, was at most a big family that had many connections in the officialdom. In the eyes of others, the status of the two families might only be a line apart. But he knew that this line of distance could not be closed without the hard work and luck of one or two generations. Qian Xiwen was not much older than him, but if they met, Lou Jinlin still had to call him Sir Qian.
Originally, the two families did not have much contact. When the other suddenly leaned over and chatted for a while, although he was also a person who had experienced many things, it was difficult for him to understand what the other was thinking. Could it be considered a hint of intimacy? Or was it because Chang Yu 'an had passed away, and those old men were preparing to make a move against the Chang family for some reason? If those people really went crazy at some point, the Lou family would act according to the situation. This kind of ambiguous hint was actually enough. But no matter how he thought about it, it did not seem very likely.
During Qian Xiwen's chat, he did mention the couple, Ning Yi and Su Tan'er. But in Lou Jinlin's heart, naturally, he would not think of such a reason. The distance between the Lou family and the Su family was actually similar to the situation between the Qian family and the Lou family. Back then, when he said that he would let Su Tan'er marry Lou Shuheng, it was purely because he felt that Su Tan'er could be a good wife to his second son. Even so, at that time, he had a condescending feeling. Later on, both sides had a laugh and let it go. This was a normal thing.
This time, when Su Tan'er and Ning Yi came over, even though they had warmly welcomed them once, they actually did not have any special feelings. They said that the original engagement was just a joke. Lou Jinlin did not think that there was anything special about this couple. Of course, Su Tan'er had some ability, but so did his daughter. They were best friends, so it was their business. Ning Yi was the number one scholar in Jiangning. But if his son-in-law, Song Zhiqian, went to Jiangning, he would probably be able to call himself the number one scholar in Hangzhou. Who knew? At his position, being a scholar was not a very shocking identity.
Using the title of number one scholar to get close to Qian Xiwen, that great scholar, was nothing. But even if he was the number one scholar, it was impossible for Qian Xiwen to personally come and ask about their relationship. So Lou Jinlin did not think about this.
In the side hall of the main ship, a group of officials and scholars were gathered. The person in the lead was the current Hangzhou Prefect, Lu Tuizhi. This Prefect Lu was easygoing. At least, he liked people who were unruly on the surface. At this time, it was not a very formal occasion. Everyone chatted happily. A large group of men gathered together. If they were not talking about football, they were basically talking about politics.
"… the flames of war in the Northern Lands have risen. I want to throw away my brush and join the army. I will join the army in the North and follow the Emperor to expel the Tartars and recover Yan Yun …"
"… Brother Liang is righteous. But now that the Jin and Liao have been at war for a long time, there has not been any news from the capital. Could it be …"
"… Ziran is thinking too much. In fact, recently the Northern Lands have been reorganizing the six armies. Now that there is news of the Qin Prime Minister's revival, it is enough to show that the Emperor had thought far ahead. He has prepared for this for eight years. In my opinion, in a month or so, we will see the results … "
"… it seems that we deliberately chose to mobilize the army before the autumn harvest. After the troops are mobilized, there will be new rations. We will not run out of rations …"
"… Our Suzhou and Hangzhou area has always been a land of fish and rice. I think the responsibility of storing and transporting goods is also very heavy. At that time, the prefect will have to work hard."
"… it is a pity that there is still banditry in the southwest, and it seems to be getting worse these days …"
"… Ah! Brother Chen, you are wrong. Banditry is just a small calamity. In my opinion … "
Lively places, thoughts and ideas were just interludes. On the eve of the poetry meet, these small interludes that were not unusual gathered into a grand scene of people gathering on Little Yingzhou.
At the same time, Lou Shuheng was standing on the deck of the ship and looking down. The second floor of the ship was relatively high. Looking down from here, the cofferdam of Little Yingzhou was full of lush trees. In the distance, he could see the Baoning Temple. The sun shone down from the sky and shone on him, making him feel a little hot. Because of this, most people were more willing to walk in the shade of the road below.
Lou Shuheng had just escaped from the compliments of a group of people. At this time, there was no one beside him. Suddenly, he had a particularly nostalgic feeling. He felt that the matter at hand was quite boring.
In fact, he often had such a feeling. Perhaps everyone had it. But his mood just now was probably because of one thing: he had just met Su Tan'er.
What happened was as follows:
He came over with some friends and saw everyone writing poems. At that time, his poetic nature was bursting, so he wrote one on the spot. The style of the poem was relatively wild and unrestrained, and it was written in one go. His usual style was praised by people as having the style of the Tang Dynasty. After writing for so many years, this could be considered one of his representative works. The main point was not the poem, but the expression, mood, and literary elegance when writing the poem. While feeling proud, he also noticed that when he was writing the poem just now, Su Tan'er and another woman were also watching. That woman should be Luo Tian's wife, Wen Haiying. The two of them obviously admired him greatly.
Then they greeted each other, and they left.
This was also normal. For Lou Shuheng, writing poems and being admired were also normal, nothing out of the ordinary. At that time, he did not think much of it, but when he ran over to drink water, when there was no one beside him, waves of thoughts came into his mind.
It was mainly about Su Taner's appearance, smile, ability in the business world, and her running around for the past few days. Initially, he wasn't really attracted to Su Tan 'er. After all, he had been playing around with women for so many years. Su Tan' er was a beauty, but it wasn't like Lou Shuheng had never seen someone who was more beautiful than her. However, none of them were as independent as she was, and they didn't have her … temperament. And the most important point was that when his father joked, "This Miss Su almost became your wife …", his mood floated again.
There was a possibility that the feeling of conquering such a woman was completely different from the feeling of conquering other women. At this time, whenever he thought about it, his heart could not help but throb. For example, when his sister sometimes joked with him, he did not think that it was a big deal that they might have been engaged, but these feelings were unavoidable.
Now that she saw his poem, what did she think? He saw the serious look in her eyes just now, and she definitely admired him. What a pity, she was already married, and it was some number one scholar who married into the family. Even if she had some talent, their temperament and aura were completely different, how could they be compared?
With these emotions floating in his heart, he suddenly couldn't be bothered to go and mingle with those people. His performance just now made him feel lonely in his heart. He had the feeling of a ferocious tiger sniffing the rose, and after the feast, tears streaming down his face. Then, he strolled down.
He walked in the crowd, and for a moment, none of his friends came over. Even if someone greeted him, he just smiled and nodded casually, not really in the mood to talk at this time. When he was about to reach the fork in the road ahead, he saw a woman playing and singing under a book. Beside her, two women were chatting and laughing with her, and there was a group of people surrounding them. He knew those women, they had long been there to flatter her. Although they were still guests, at this time, he did not have the desire to challenge them or court them, there was nothing to see.
He looked to the other side, and there were also people walking around. How boring … But then, he saw two figures by the lotus pond.
Those two people were also listening to the zither, but because there were too many people around and it was too disgusting, they stood by the lotus pond and looked over from the side of the tree. One of them was Ning Liheng, and the other was a well-behaved maid by Su Tan'er's side. He did not know her name.
At this time, he could go over and greet them, but after watching for a while, he frowned slightly. On the other side, the master and maid were talking. The young maid was sometimes laughing, sometimes depressed, sometimes angry, sometimes cute, and sometimes even jumping, looking at the woman playing the zither by the pond. Ning Liheng's face was also full of smiles, but it was a little different from the conservative look he had when he was with Su Tan'er. Then, Lou Shuheng realized that Ning Liheng even held the young maid's hand at some point.
How intimate …
He waved his fan and smiled. Then, he looked around and thought to himself, 'What would Su Tan'er do if she saw this scene?' He did not want to divulge it, but Su Tan'er did not appear in his field of vision either. While his thoughts were complicated, he walked over and prepared to give them a scare. It was quite interesting.
A son-in-law who married into the family with a maid was no different from the coachman who got his maid pregnant …
That was what he thought. As he got closer and closer, some thoughts in his mind suddenly sprouted and expanded in an instant.
He had always been a romantic and uninhibited person, so when he thought of it, he did it conveniently …
On the other side, the back view of Ning Yi and Xiaochan was also a small interlude on this big stage, and it was about to become a slightly bigger medium-sized interlude.
Lou Shuheng approached the back of the two and patted Ning Yi's shoulder.
"Ning Liheng!"
The moment Ning Yi turned around, he punched him …
*****
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