It was hard to leave one's homeland. On the night of the Double Seventh Festival, while others were busy dating girls, Li Yi couldn't control his emotions and tears streamed down his face because he missed his homeland.
After missing his homeland enough, he still had to continue living. He didn't want to think about what the future would be like for the time being. What Li Yi should think about now was how to lead his family to prosperity.
"He said that the pain in the wind and rain is nothing. Wipe your tears and don't be afraid. At least we still have dreams …"
The servant girl was worried about her son-in-law and secretly hid outside the window to eavesdrop. When the strange singing in the room gradually disappeared, the servant girl looked up and felt slightly relieved. She also prepared to go back to her room to sleep.
The sky was full of stars. As it was midnight, the lively atmosphere in the Willow Leaf Village gradually died down.
A little further away, the sword-wielding girl leaned against a willow tree that was as thick as a few people. She sensed the steady breathing in the room not far away from her. She slowly exhaled a mouthful of murky air and disappeared into the darkness.
At this time, Li Yi, who had already reunited with his homeland in his sweet dream, didn't know that because of his unintentional action, an invisible wave was gradually rising somewhere far away …
Back to the pleasure boat.
When two young scholars walked into the cabin, they were still in a trance as if they had suffered a great blow in their lives. At this time, there were already people surrounding them.
"Brother Fang, how is it?"
"How did Lady Ruoqing evaluate it?"
"Tonight's Double Seventh Festival poem was first place. Brother Fang must have been in the limelight in front of Lady Ruoqing this time, right?"
"Of course. Brother Fang's poem, even in a large poetry gathering like Bixuan and Zhaowen, can be considered a masterpiece."
…
…
Just now, after a round of competition, the scholar named Fang Zhou used an excellent Qixi poem to beat everyone else and took first place in the poetry meet. Everyone praised him generously.
That poem was indeed a masterpiece. Even if it was placed in one of the most popular poetry gatherings tonight, it wouldn't be buried.
Tomorrow, when someone sorted out the most outstanding poems of tonight's poetry gatherings and compiled it into a book, Fang Zhou's poem might also be on the list. At that time, he would probably become famous.
Just now, he had taken it out for Miss Ruoqing to appraise. Now that he had returned, everyone came forward to ask him about it.
If he had heard everyone's praises just now, the scholar named Fang Zhou would definitely have enjoyed it immensely. However, at this moment, he only felt an indescribable irony. He smiled bitterly and said, "Regarding the matter of first place, everyone, please do not mention it again. My words are really not worthy of these two words."
"Sigh, Brother Fang is too humble …"
"Indeed. When it comes to Qixi poetry, no one here can compare to Brother Fang."
When the crowd heard this, they all laughed and spoke, thinking that he was just being humble. Fang Zhou only shook his head and smiled bitterly, his expression was extremely awkward. After a while, the crowd also noticed that he was acting strangely, and the atmosphere finally began to change.
"Could it be that Brother Fang has seen an even better poem?"
Scholar Fang smiled bitterly and nodded. He took a few steps forward and walked to a table. He slowly said, "Just now, I heard Lady Ruoqing recite another Qixi poem outside. Everyone, please take a look."
With a wave of the brush, three large words appeared on the white paper.
Immortals at the Magpie Bridge.
As each and every word was written out from Scholar Fang's hand, the noise in the hall gradually disappeared. Only the sound of the scholars' breathing gradually became heavier.
When the last line of the poem was finished, the surroundings were so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard.
After a while, a huge uproar drowned the entire room.
…
…
"Li Yi …" The singer and the beautiful woman muttered this name as they walked down the stairs. Suddenly, she turned her head and asked, "Does Ruoqing know this scholar?"
The beautiful woman had also been thinking about this question. She shook her head and said, "I've never heard of him before. But for the Sky Prayer Lantern to be picked up by you and me, he must be a scholar nearby. But this name … is really unfamiliar."
"With the standard of a normal scholar, I'm afraid they would never be able to write such a good poem in their lifetime. Could it be one of those few?" A look of suspicion appeared on the singer's face. She then said a few names.
These people were all famous scholars in Qing 'an Prefecture. Their accomplishments in poetry were very deep, and many of their poems were widely read.
"Putting aside the fact that the name is different, just this handwriting..." The lady named Ruo Qing shook her head. After hesitating for a moment, she finally said, "Just this handwriting alone is not something that an ordinary scholar could write."
There was another sentence that she didn't say. With her accomplishments in poetry, she could naturally see that even the people that the singer had just mentioned were far from being able to write such a poem.
After a while, the two of them had reached the door of the hall. The singer pushed the door open and the two of them stepped in. Suddenly, they felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange. When they looked up, they found that the hall was frighteningly quiet. The scene of loud chatter was no longer there. Everyone was looking at them with a strange expression.
The two women's hearts shook. They didn't know what had happened.
At this moment, the scholar surnamed Fang stepped forward and smiled bitterly at the beautiful woman. He raised his hands in a fist salute and said, "Miss Ruoqing is very talented. Now that this" Immortal of the Magpie Bridge "has appeared, I'm afraid we don't need to write Qixi poems in the future."
"I didn't think that Miss Ruoqing was such a talented woman. My apologies!"
"If you have such talent, why hide it earlier?"
"Such talent really makes us men feel guilty!"
… …
… …
Although in this day and age, the status of women was not very high, but for those who were not any less talented than them, they could still receive the respect of these scholars.
At this time, the beautiful woman had more or less understood why they would act like this. She hurriedly said, "Everyone may be mistaken. This" Immortal of the Magpie Bridge "is not …"
"Ah, Miss Ruoqing, there is no need to be so modest. Brother Fang and Brother Wu heard it just now."
"Yes, I'm afraid we won't be able to write such a poem in our lifetime."
"There is no need to refuse …"
… …
… …
Seeing that everyone didn't seem to believe her explanation, a bitter smile appeared on the woman's face. She raised her hand and pressed it down. When her voice died down, she opened her mouth and said, "If I said that this poem fell from the sky and I happened to pick it up, would you believe me?"
The surrounding atmosphere was silent for a moment, and then someone laughed out loud.
"Hehe, miss, you must be joking …"
Everyone looked at the beautiful woman strangely. Their faces revealed an expression that said, "Don't take us for fools."
If this kind of poem could casually fall from the sky, then what was the point of having scholars like them? They might as well go home and farm, and compose some useless poem...
Seeing this, the absolute beauty could only smile bitterly and take out the Sky Prayer Lantern that she had picked up earlier.
Not long after, between the two pleasure boats on the river, a paper raft was sent over. After it was picked up by someone, it spread like snowflakes.
This was the usual practice in the past. During such a large-scale festival, if a poetry competition produced a good poem, it would be taken out to exchange and correct with others. The poem would be passed around in many poetry competitions. When dawn came, someone would extract ten of the most popular poems and compile them into a book, naming it "Qixi Poetry Collection" or something like that.
For a long time to come, these poems would become the signature songs of the brothels, and they would soon spread far and wide.
Tonight, a poem on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month called 'Immortal of the Magpie Bridge' spread through the two shores of the Yuan River in this manner, causing quite a commotion.
At this time, in the Willow Leaf Village, the scholar named Li Yi suddenly felt a chill in his sleep. He unconsciously frowned and wrapped his blanket tightly around himself. He turned over and continued to sleep.
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