The streets of the capital of Shangyuan were abnormally crowded. Although the surrounding guards had purposely created a relatively loose space in the middle, it was still very difficult to walk through.
Yong Ning was too short and could only see the backs of others. Li Yi simply carried her up.
The proud Lolita was already very tall. She had always felt that she was no longer a child like Yong Ning, but at this moment, she was a little envious of her …
The streets were mostly filled with lanterns and acrobatics. However, after watching too many of them, it became boring. The performances in the brothels were much more exciting.
The group of people walked about half the street and entered a brothel. The brothel was still crowded, but it was orderly.
Li Yi and the two young ladies followed behind them. It didn't matter which venue they entered. These performances in the brothel were nothing strange to him.
However, this spacious hall seemed a little different.
Looking over, on one side, there were young scholars gathered in groups of three to five, whispering to each other. On the other side, there were curtains. There were light voices coming from inside, and he could vaguely see the women behind the curtains.
In between these young men and women, there was a long line of lanterns that separated them. On the other side, there were some young people holding lanterns and writing something on them.
The proud Lolita asked doubtfully, "Sir, what are you doing?"
Li Yi also didn't know who thought of this new way of playing. He waved to a worker in the brothel and asked, "What are you doing?"
The worker only felt that the young man in front of him looked familiar. After recalling, he shivered and hurriedly said, "Greetings, Young Master. I'll call the manager over immediately …"
Li Yi waved his hand and said, "There's no need. I'm just taking a look. What are they doing over there?"
The worker immediately replied, "Those people on the left are all famous scholars in the capital. They write poems on the lanterns and hang them there. If the ladies behind the curtains take a fancy to them, they will send a servant to tie a sachet on the lanterns …"
Li Yi finally understood that this was simply another form of matchmaking. Back in the day, he had experienced it himself. He had received countless scented sachets and love letters. If he did not remember wrongly, it was from an open-minded lady who had even stuffed a warm dudou into his arms …
No wonder some of the scholars were in high spirits, while others looked unhappy. That was because some of the lanterns in the middle didn't have a single sachet on them, while others had a few hanging on them.
Choosing a son-in-law wasn't rare in this era. If it was in the future, the lanterns would definitely not have poems, but photos. Perhaps there would even be property certificates, car keys, and passbooks …
Xiao Huan watched as a servant girl came out from behind the curtains and hung her lady's sachets on the lanterns. She thought it was very interesting. She grabbed onto Li Yi's arm and said excitedly, "Young master, why don't you also write a poem and hang it up? There will definitely be more sachets than all of them …"
In her heart, the young master was the most talented person. Otherwise, why would he be called the "number one scholar in the Jing Kingdom"? If the young master put up a lantern there, it would definitely be the one with the most sachets! "
The arrogant Lolita wished for the world to be in chaos. She added fuel to the fire and said, "That's right. Mister, why don't you write a poem and beat them all. It's best if you don't even give them a sachet!"
The two of them seemed to want to see such a scene. Their expressions were somewhat excited. They completely didn't notice that the scholars not far away had expressions of displeasure on their faces.
"Hehe, since when did such an arrogant person appear in the capital?"
"He won't even leave us a sachet. Who does he think he is? The number one scholar in the Jing Kingdom?"
"Even the number one scholar wouldn't dare to say such arrogant words …"
…
Some of the scholars not far away were feeling depressed. When they heard the words of the two young ladies, they felt ashamed and angry. However, they didn't want to argue with them. In a split second, the gazes on Li Yi increased.
Li Yi knocked on the heads of the two of them and said, "Write whatever you want to write. Writing a poem also requires inspiration. It's not something that can be written just because you want to. There's nothing to see here, let's go …"
Ruyi and Lin Wanru went to the venue next door. There weren't any performances there, but there was an exhibition of women's clothing. It was the most popular style of women's clothing in the capital this year. Li Yi originally wanted to follow them, but the arrogant Lolita and Xiao Huan insisted on seeing who had the most sachets in the end. He could only accompany them there.
What Xiao Huan wanted to see the most was the young master's poem. She rolled her eyes and walked over. She whispered, "Young master, you've written poems for Xiao Huan, for Miss, and for Miss Zeng. You've written many, many poems for Second Miss …"
Li Yi looked at Miss.Liu. Miss.Liu also looked over.
"Forget it." Li Yi shook his head and said, "Other people's lanterns and sachets have other meanings. It's better if we don't disturb them …"
Miss.Liu turned her head expressionlessly. In front of her, someone walked over. It was a scholar dressed in a scholarly robe. He looked rather refined. In his hand, he held a lantern that was obviously inscribed with words. He smiled and said, "Sorry to disturb you. I hope you don't take offense. It's just that when I saw you from afar, I was amazed and admired you. Suddenly, I was struck by inspiration and came up with a poem. This poem originated from you, so I wanted to give it to you."
After this young scholar walked out from the crowd, a sigh came from behind the curtains.
This young master Zhou's literary talent was brilliant. He was very famous among the scholars in the capital. He was also a new imperial examination scholar. He was the best candidate for a son-in-law. There were already many people who had their eyes on him. But today, young master Zhou actually gave the lantern with his poem inscribed on it to the young lady. This was the most direct expression of his feelings.
"What gift …" Before Miss.Liu could speak, Li Yi walked straight in front of her. He said to young master Zhou, "You're willing to give it to her, but others aren't willing to accept it."
He looked at Miss.Liu and asked, "Isn't that right, Ruyi?"
Miss.Liu glanced at him and asked, "Is that right?"
Young master Zhou saw this and was delighted. He looked at Li Yi and twitched the corner of his mouth. He said, "You're not this young lady. How do you know if she's happy or not? Why, if you can't give this lantern out, you won't allow others to give it out? "
The lanterns here were not just lanterns. If one wanted to give a lantern out, he must write his own poem on it. The scene of Li Yi's refusal made this young master Zhou feel that this person was just not talented and could not write a suitable poem.
Of course, if he really tried to look impressive at his own cost and randomly wrote a poem, then what awaited him would be even greater humiliation.
Li Yi glanced at him indifferently. He had seen too many such clumsy provocations. He looked at Miss.Liu and said, "Xiao Huan is right. I haven't given you any poem. If I give it to you now, we don't need his …"
Xiao Huan had already taken her favorite lantern with a smile. The proud Lolita grabbed a pen from the other side of the table.
"If you want to give it or not, who cares …"
Miss.Liu said in disdain. Her eyes looked at him.
Li Yi held the lantern with one hand and wrote on the blank space with the other. He quickly put down the pen and held the lantern with both hands. He passed it to Miss.Liu and said, "Ruyi, this is for you."
Young master Zhou wanted to stretch his head out to look but was pressed back by Li Yi.
At this moment, a manager from the brothel walked over and asked carefully, "Young master, do you want to hang this lantern over?"
"No need." Li Yi waved his hand. He looked at them and said, "There's nothing interesting here. Let's go."
"Let's hang it."
Miss.Liu looked down and suddenly passed the lantern in her hand over.
Although she was literate, she didn't know anything about poetry. However, she also wanted to see if the poem he gave her was good or not …
Was it good to give to someone else …
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