The burning turpentine heated up the air, and the sky lamp slowly rose into the sky. The fire gradually faded away, becoming smaller and smaller, and finally merged into the sky full of stars.
The young girl put her palms together, her pretty face full of sincerity, and her heart full of good wishes, watching the sky lamp gradually drift away.
After releasing the sky lamp to pray for blessings, there were more activities. The young girls laughed, the naughty children played, and the whole Willow Leaf Village was in a lively atmosphere.
Li Yi leaned on a big tree under the building, his eyes and thoughts drifting away along with the sky lamp. At this moment, he was incompatible with this festive atmosphere.
As a stranger in a foreign land, he missed his family more during festive occasions.
The loneliness and misery of living in a foreign land had never been so clear before. The more lively the surrounding atmosphere, the more the feelings hidden in the bottom of Li Yi's heart were revealed, until he could no longer suppress it.
His mother's nagging often annoyed him, and his several crazy friends also made him feel that he was not careful in making friends. He often scolded the black-hearted boss behind his back who didn't give him overtime pay for working overtime, and sometimes he would sigh about his messy life …
But these … were all the things he missed the most now!
Li Yi, who was never very emotional, couldn't help but burst into tears at this moment.
On top of the exquisite building, the woman stood there with her arms crossed, holding a longsword. She looked at the figure not far away, revealing a side of him that she had never seen before. A strange expression appeared on her face, one of surprise and astonishment …
It was only now that she discovered that the impoverished scholar she thought she had seen through seemed to be covered with a mysterious veil.
"Son-in-law …"
A delicate figure ran over from afar. The young servant girl's pretty face was full of smiles, and her eyes curved into crescent moons. She lifted the hem of her clothes and said to Li Yi as if showing off, "Son-in-law, I stole some fruit from there …"
Suddenly, as if she found something, her clear voice became panicked, "Son-in-law, you … why are you crying?"
Li Yi waved his sleeves and wiped the tears on his face without leaving a trace. He smiled and said, "It's nothing, sand got into my eyes just now."
"Son-in-law, take these fruits, Xiao Huan will help you blow them …"
Under the girl's careful blowing sound, one of the sky prayer lanterns that rose into the sky swayed a few times in the air because the resin was about to burn out, then slowly fell down in a certain direction.
In the dark night, the starlight cast a huge shadow. A magnificent city appeared in the flickering lights.
The tall city walls separated the inside and outside of the city into two different worlds. The outside of the city was lonely and cold, but the atmosphere inside the city was almost boiling.
The peddlers and shouts were mixed with the deafening sounds of gongs and firecrackers … For the people living in this city, the nightlife had just begun.
On the main roads of the city, there was an endless stream of carriages and horses even before the sky turned dark. Outside the tall courtyard walls of some wealthy families, there was occasionally a corner of a colorful building. In the streets, alleys, brothels, and restaurants, all kinds of goods were displayed at the entrance, competing with each other in luxury …
The ripples were clear and crystalline, reflecting the flickering lights on the surface of the river. There was an endless stream of pleasure boats and small boats. Singing and laughter lingered on the surface of the river, rising and falling, rising and falling again.
And at this time, on a slowly moving two-story pleasure boat, a small poetry gathering had already reached its climax.
"Brother Su is so talented, I am ashamed …"
"Tonight, Brother Su's beautiful poem will probably take first place."
"Hehe, it's just a coincidence. Naturally, I don't dare to say first place. I still need everyone's comments."
"Brother Su is too humble. In terms of Qixi poems, no one here can compare to you …"
…
…
It seemed that a young scholar had made an excellent poem, attracting the admiration of the people around him. After a few excuses, youth Su couldn't help but show a proud expression.
Although tonight was only a small poetry gathering, the participants were only a few not famous poetry societies. Even if their works could take first place, it could only be circulated in a small circle. By tomorrow, it would probably be drowned in the vast sea of poems.
But at the very least, at this moment, the youth surnamed Su enjoyed the praise of the people around him. If a female singer were to sing it later, his vanity would be greatly satisfied.
"Humph, don't you think it's too early to say such nonsense before the poetry gathering is over?"
In the midst of all the praises, there was a sudden cold snort, which was particularly harsh.
Everyone turned their heads angrily and saw a few figures walking towards them.
"It's the Bailu Poetry Society."
Seeing those people, the crowd frowned slightly. Obviously, they didn't like them.
It was not strange. Since ancient times, scholars despised each other. Since they belonged to different poetry societies, they usually didn't look up to each other. In the poetry gathering, they were even more competitive. In particular, the other party had spoken rudely just now. Naturally, they wouldn't be nice to them.
"Oh, what advice do you have, Brother Fang?" youth Su raised his eyebrows and asked.
"I can't say that I want to give advice, but I happened to get a Qixi poem by chance. How about asking the literary friends of the Dongli Poetry Club to correct it?" A young man in a cyan gown at the front said lightly.
"I'm all ears."
The youth Fang didn't stand on ceremony. There was a brush and ink on the table beside him. He simply picked up the brush and, after a moment of contemplation, started to write on the white paper.
Everyone's eyes fell on the table at the same time. When the youth Fang wrote halfway, the group of people led by the youth Su slightly changed their expressions, and their expressions became somewhat unnatural.
"The style is sad and melancholy. Through the Altair and the Weaving Girl, it reflects the joys and sorrows of the human world. What a good poem! I'm afraid Su Wentian is still inferior to Fang Zhou."
Those who could participate in the poetry gathering more or less had some cultural background. At this moment, the crowd looked at the poem written by the youth Fang. Compared with Su Wentian's poem, the former's poem was superior in both the choice of words and the idea.
It was generally like this in the poetry gathering. Even if it was a rare good poem, it was common for others to beat it. It was not uncommon for a nameless poet to become famous and gain both fame and fortune with a good poem.
This was the charm of poetry.
After being defeated by his opponent with one poem, the youth Su led the people of Dongli Poetry Society to another place dejectedly. The victorious White Dew Poetry Society began to enjoy the praises of the crowd. At this moment, no one noticed that a female singer who had just finished singing walked out of the cabin and came to the deck.
The female singer raised her head and looked up with a slight smile on her face. She went up the stairs to the top and walked to the side of the carved railing. She smiled at the woman who was leaning against the railing and looking at the river. "Why did you come up alone? Just now, several people had good poems. Do you want to go down and have a look?"
The woman turned her head slightly and revealed a beautiful face. She smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't. Although the choice of words is different, most of them are like 'pleasure is short'. They are sad and sorrowful, and nothing new. My ears are about to get calluses from hearing them."
The female singer laughed bitterly and said, "I wonder how the scholars downstairs would feel if they knew that Miss Wan described them like this?"
The beautiful woman on the side was about to speak when she suddenly raised her head and looked up. The female singer also felt something and looked up. Suddenly, she saw a tiny flash of fire, and then a white shadow fell from the sky and landed at their feet.
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