He thought that Tan Yaoxian was talking in his drunken stupor.
Tan Yaoxian, who was supporting his head with one arm, chuckled in self-mockery. With drowsy eyes, he slowly mumbled, "They're just withered leaves expressing their love …"
When he blurted out the truth, Lu Shengzhong was speechless. He realized that this couple in love was really amazing. They were even more amazing than Lu Shengzhong. The provincial governor's mansion, which was hard to break through, was actually broken through by them.
The garden of the provincial governor's mansion was connected to the flowing water outside. People couldn't enter, but the leaves could float in with the current. This couple actually carved words on the leaves, letting the leaves float in and out to communicate with each other, relieving the pain of their lovesickness.
The two agreed on a time to release the leaves. They were afraid that they would make a mistake, so they had to release a few more. How much motivation did they have to be so patient to do something like this?
At the agreed time, Tan Yaoxian would put the prepared leaves into the water upstream, while Shao Liuer would come and fish the leaves in the garden at the agreed time. Then, Shao Liu'er would release the leaves that had been tattooed at the appointed time, while Tan Yaoxian would go to the lower reaches of the Shao Residence to fish for the leaves.
The two kept in contact like this. From this, Tan Yaoxian found out that the dissolution of the poetry club was related to Shao Pingbo. He knew that Shao Liuer was being watched by Shao Pingbo and wouldn't be allowed out.
Tan Yaoxian originally wanted to use his youthful courage to confront Shao Pingbo and ask for Shao Liuer's hand in marriage.
Who knew that the following reality would directly beat him to the ground. First, the library where he taught fired him.
So, he went to other places to look for teaching. He had a bit of fame in Beizhou City. Otherwise, a poor scholar with no money or background wouldn't be qualified to join Shao Liuer's poetry club. So, it was relatively easy for him to find work. However, the problem was that after finding work for a day or two, his employer would immediately find an excuse to fire him.
It would be fine if it was only one employer, but it happened one after another. Later on, he was forced to change his profession, which was mostly the same.
Gradually, he couldn't find anything to do and lost his source of income. Forced to live, he began to pawn things at home to survive. That was how he managed to survive until now.
He wasn't stupid. He realized that it might be related to the Shao Family.
Even though the Shao Family didn't say it out loud, it was clear that they wouldn't allow him to be with Shao Liu 'er.
His meaning was clear. You can't even support yourself, so why should you marry Shao Liu 'er?
The truth was that even the basic necessities of life were a problem. How could he go and confront Shao Pingbo? If someone poked at your weakness and reminded you, do you still need to go and ask them to say it in person? The difference in their family backgrounds was too great.
The poorer one was, the more they would think about this. What kind of food did Shao Liuer usually eat? Even if the Shao Family did not force him, would he be able to afford it?
His heart was filled with sorrow. He had finally been beaten to the ground by reality. He gave up on that thought and now thought about how to continue living.
He also knew that he wouldn't be able to last long in Bei Zhou City in this situation. Most of the things that should be pawned at home had been pawned. If he wanted to survive, the day he left Bei Zhou City was not far away.
He had already made up his mind. If he couldn't pawn anything at home, he would sell the house that his parents had left behind. He would use the money he had earned to pay for his travel expenses and then leave his hometown with a desolate heart. It was time to wake up from that unrealistic dream!
At this point, Tan Yaoxian cried and fell asleep on the table. However, he would still mutter a few words as if he was talking in his sleep, "Liu 'er … Liu' er …"
"Brother Tan, Brother Tan …" Lu Shengzhong pushed his shoulder and shouted a few times, but he couldn't wake him up. He had indeed fallen asleep.
Lu Shengzhong returned to his seat. He could tell that this guy was still unwilling to leave even after being forced to this extent. He would only leave after he couldn't pawn anything at home. It was obvious that he still couldn't let go of Shao Liuer and still held onto a last glimmer of hope.
Lu Shengzhong shook his head as he listened to Tan Yaoxian's murmurs in his sleep. He found it funny.
He realized that this guy was indeed pedantic. If he could hook up with Shao Liuer, he wouldn't think about using the Shao Family's power to get rich. Instead, he would think about things that he couldn't afford to support Shao Liuer. He was torturing himself and making things difficult for himself. If he could really marry Shao Liuer, with the Shao Family around, would living be a problem? It was useless to worry about it!
However, he didn't intend to reason with Tan Yaoxian. It was useless to talk about this with a scholar who still had a backbone. Instead, he would think that you were insulting him. This kind of person would only bend his back when he was truly subdued by the reality of life in the future.
Lu Shengzhong stood up and paced back and forth in the room. Even he was surprised. He ran over to touch it, but he didn't expect to find something like this.
He finally understood why Wu Tiannan didn't say anything back then. It wasn't because he didn't want to, but because he was afraid of the Shao Family's power.
Even Wu Tiannan could see through it. It was obvious that the ambiguous relationship between Tan Yaoxian and Shao Liuer in the poetry club wasn't a secret at all. Everyone else had seen through it long ago. Only the two people involved were fools who thought that others didn't know.
What confused Lu Shengzhong was that Shao Pingbo wasn't a kind person. His methods were ruthless and decisive. If he didn't agree, how could Tan Yaoxian still be safe in Beizhou City? If Shao Pingbo didn't care about it, why did he use such methods on a nobody like Tan Yaoxian …
The next day, Tan Yaoxian, who was lying on the bed in a daze, opened his eyes and slowly got up. He remembered that he must have drunk too much the night before.
He looked around and realized that he was in his bedroom. He didn't know how he went back to his room to sleep.
He patted his aching head and realized that he had indeed drunk too much the night before. He had never drunk so much alcohol before.
He smelled the fragrance of porridge outside. He put on his shoes, put on his coat, and opened the door. When he walked out of the room, the sun was dazzling. He realized that he had slept until noon.
"Brother Tan, you're awake?"
Tan Yaoxian turned his head and saw someone standing under the eaves. Who else could it be but Brother Li from the night before?
He was a little embarrassed. He didn't want to meet a guest in a disheveled state, so he quickly put on his coat.
After studying and learning etiquette, it was rare for him to be disheveled in front of outsiders.
He quickly walked over and cupped his hands, saying, "Brother Li, I was too impulsive."
Lu Shengzhong chuckled, "It's okay to indulge yourself once in a while."
Tan Yaoxian remembered what happened last night and asked, "Where's Brother Tang?"
Lu Shengzhong smiled, "He woke up a long time ago. Seeing that you were sleeping soundly, he left early in the morning and said that he would come see you another day."
Tan Yaoxian slapped his forehead and sighed. Blaming himself was not the way to treat a guest.
Lu Shengzhong pointed in the direction of the kitchen, "I cooked a pot of porridge for you to eat when you wake up. Brother Tan, go wash up first. "
Tan Yaoxian cupped his hands in shame and quickly left to clean up.
When he was done, Lu Shengzhong also brought a large pot of porridge into the living room. The two chatted as they sat down to eat.
There weren't many dishes on the table to go with the porridge, and there were only some pickles in the kitchen. Lu Shengzhong knew that Tan Yaoxian's family wasn't well off, so he reluctantly made do with it.
Tan Yaoxian ate in a refined manner, which matched his fair and clean scholarly aura very well.
Lu Shengzhong wanted to wait for him to finish eating before talking, but he saw that he was eating very slowly. He didn't know when he would finish eating, so Lu Shengzhong didn't stand on ceremony and said, "Brother Tan is very elegant."
Tan Yaoxian looked up and was stunned. He stared at him nervously and asked, "Brother Li, what do you mean?"
Lu Shengzhong smiled, "Brother Tan, you drank too much last night and said some sincere words to me. I already know about you and Shao Liuer."
Tan Yaoxian's expression changed greatly. He suddenly stood up with a flustered look in his eyes. He was very upset and blamed himself for being drunk!
Lu Shengzhong gestured for him to sit down, "Brother Tan is sincere to me. I won't go out and talk nonsense, so there's no need to be nervous."
Tan Yaoxian closed his mouth and clenched the chopsticks in his hand. He lowered his head and slowly sat down.
However, just as his butt touched the stool, he heard Lu Shengzhong say indifferently, "Forgive me for saying something inappropriate, but I really look down on people like Brother Tan. You're not worthy of being called a scholar. You're a despicable person!"
"Uh …" Tan Yaoxian looked up in surprise.
Lu Shengzhong added, "She's a woman and even dared to take the initiative to confess her love to you. What about you? Because of you, Brother Tan, you've caused her to become like this. Losing her freedom and not being able to go out is a small matter. She's a lady from a noble family. She met you in secret and fell in love with you. Her reputation was ruined by you. How is she going to get married in the future? How will her future husband's family think of her? You can imagine how much punishment her family will give her. You can imagine how much her family punished her. She must have suffered a lot. She was afraid that you would worry about her, but did she complain to you? "
Tan Yaoxian suddenly stood up again. His chest heaved up and down. He was obviously agitated and looked like he was in pain and blaming himself.
Lu Shengzhong also stood up. "What about you, Brother Tan? You clearly know that Miss Shao is suffering because of you, but you don't think of a way to solve the problem. You don't know how to fight for her. You only know how to cower and be overcautious. For the sake of your pitiful self-esteem, you let a woman suffer in silence. You even want to walk away and let Miss Shao bear all the pain alone! Brother Tan, are you still a man? If you're not a despicable person, then what are you? You're a heartless and selfish villain. You've wasted your education! "He pointed at Tan Yaoxian's nose and scolded him.
Tan Yaoxian was ashamed of being scolded. He lowered his head in pain and said, "I'm not worthy of her!"
Lu Shengzhong immediately asked, "Since you know that you're not worthy of her, why did you provoke her? What evil intentions did you have? If you're open and aboveboard without selfish desires, you should have rejected her sternly at that time and broken up with her early. Then, you wouldn't have ruined her reputation and made her suffer. Do you dare to say that you didn't have improper thoughts about Miss Shao at that time? You provoked her and then said that you're not worthy of her. What's the difference between you and those despicable villains who use her and then abandon her? "
Tan Yaoxian closed his eyes. Two lines of tears flowed down his face. He raised his head and sighed. "Brother Li, don't say anymore. I'm the one who hurt her. It's all my fault.
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