Chapter 673
The Marquis's Mansion is Going Too Far
Chapter 673 The Marquis's Mansion is Going Too Far
Ranxiangju outside.
The owner of Shuhaige had given up on explaining, since it would be useless no matter how he explained.
It's completely useless.
These people are biased; the more you explain, the louder they shout.
Moreover, the young master of the Qin family asked him, "What if you were to have a match with Master Songshan?"
That's naturally incomparable.
After ten years of hard study and passing the imperial examination, he stopped focusing on his studies.
Fortunately, there was a clueless scholar named Lin who helped him debate the classics.
“Heng-ge’er, what do you know? To establish words, merits, and virtues is to achieve immortality. Mr. Qinzhou has been running his bookstore for many years. Which student in the world hasn’t read the collection of essays printed and sold by Shuhaige? This can be considered to have established words, merits, and virtues.”
Hearing this, his expression softened considerably. He glanced at Lin Ziqi, thinking that the guy actually had some brains.
But other people's feelings are different.
Qin Heng chuckled disdainfully and said sarcastically, "It seems that your eldest sister's family is about to do some great deeds. Second brother-in-law, we have other matters to attend to and will take our leave first."
“…Ah…this, this,” Lin Ziqi was at a loss for words.
The owner of Shuhai Pavilion was furious, but he couldn't say anything. He couldn't very well say that only he could do such a great deed, so he simply said, "A treatise is not the same as a collection of poems."
Gu Baozhu immediately interjected, "With Mr. Songshan and Young Master Nantang here, our Dingbei Marquis's Mansion can definitely produce the essay collection. Wouldn't it be more lively if we did this great deed together?"
Xiao Dong burst out laughing, then quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Haha, haha, I'm just happy. The Empress Dowager's birthday is truly a wonderful day, to hear such good news. I'm genuinely happy for the students."
"No, I'm not happy," the owner of the Book Sea Pavilion cried out in his heart.
However, no one cared about his feelings.
Gu Baozhu raised her chin, signaling the guards behind her to make way, and said to him, "Please."
This is to make him leave the territory of the Marquis of Dingbei's residence as soon as possible to avoid suspicion.
That's truly hateful.
He was extremely frustrated and was about to say something harsh to save face when the shopkeeper nudged him and whispered in his ear, "Master, our poetry contest is more important."
Yeah, why bother arguing with these sharp-tongued little creatures?
The poetry competition is the most important event.
So he helped the shopkeeper out of the crowd with great momentum, and even Lin Ziqi's shouts behind him did not stop. They squeezed and jostled their way back to Shuhaige, almost losing half their lives in the process.
I had expected to see a sea of students, but I was surprised to find that the area under the nine-turn lotus lantern was crowded with women, children, the elderly, and ordinary people in short clothes, all of whom were exclaiming, "This lantern is so well made, I heard it cost a lot of money."
"That's right. They say it was built by a master craftsman specially invited from Cangzhou, who spent many days building it. His lamps are the most beautiful on the whole street."
There were only a few people in the crowd wearing traditional Chinese robes or Taoist robes.
After searching for a long time, he finally spotted a few famous poets he had invited to stay in a corner. He hurriedly squeezed through the crowd and asked, "Why are there only a few of you here? There were many more when I arrived."
The man looked rather uneasy, and frowned as he said, "The master isn't here, and we can't very well help with the reception... It's really..."
"But, but..." The owner of Shuhaige also realized that he was in the wrong.
In retrospect, it was my own fault.
After stammering for a long time, he finally said, "I went to great lengths to invite this person, and he left without even composing a poem? Weren't there many scholars and officials here before?"
They also set up a prize at Shuhaige—a copy of "Selected Essays on Policy".
This is the prized possession of Shuhaige.
The top three winners will also receive an exquisite revolving lantern decorated with tortoiseshell. The wooden frame and painting skills are both top-notch, making it a very presentable item.
The man sighed and said, "Someone came to lure people away before, saying that Ranxiangju was having a garden party with great prizes, and quite a few people went. But you went and never came back, and then someone else came and said..." "Said what?"
"They said they admired Mr. Songshan and felt inferior, so naturally the rest of the people left. They heard that the poems selected from the poetry wall at the Ranxiangju Garden Party would also be collected, printed, and sold, so..."
Writing a poem is easy, but writing a good poem is not.
Sometimes I spend days deliberating over a single word and still can't find the right one.
Of course, they want to use their best resources wisely.
He left before he could even put pen to paper.
He covered up the blanks he had already drawn before leaving.
He himself had many dealings with the Book Sea Pavilion, so he couldn't be too ruthless and stayed to wait for them.
If he doesn't come soon, he won't be able to wait any longer.
Upon hearing this, the owner of Shuhaige was dumbfounded.
What's the point of all this?
The person opposite said somewhat embarrassedly, "We were hoping to say goodbye to you in person, which is why we've been waiting here for you. Now..."
Although it was difficult, I still said it.
Upon seeing this, he couldn't bear it any longer. He clutched his chest tightly and, with trembling lips, ordered the shopkeeper to quickly give them the agreed-upon silver.
The man looked at him with sympathy, but also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, he felt even more aggrieved, but he still tried his best to hold on and not let others laugh at him.
The group of people took the papers one by one, whispered a few kind words, and then dispersed.
Without a doubt, these people are also heading to Ranxiangju.
The shopkeeper looked guilty and felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, unable to bear looking at his ashen face any longer.
So much money and effort spent, all wasted, completely wasted.
Scholars in the capital city are most fond of following trends.
If no solution can be found, the business of this poetry collection will be in jeopardy, and I'm afraid that Cewen's business will also be affected in the future.
The owner of Shuhaige was holding back his anger. He ignored everyone and refused to let the shopkeeper help him. He staggered back into the bookstore and spat out a mouthful of blood before he could even sit down.
"The Marquis of Dingbei's mansion has gone too far in bullying us."
One family rejoices, another grieves.
Gu Baozhu commented in public: "Heng-ge'er is quick-witted, Xiao Dong is clever, and the three of us are so good at talking that Mr. Qin Zhou, we can even leave him speechless. It's really satisfying."
Xiao Dong clapped his hands and said, "Let him slink back home with his tail between his legs."
Gu Baozhu burst into laughter.
Qin Heng urged her from the side, "Didn't you say you were going to see the princess?"
"I almost forgot, I'm going now."
Gu Baozhu chuckled, her eyes darting around as she looked at Brother Ximen: "Is this one of the two prodigies of Captain Hong who stole the show today? I remember your embroidered outfit was very much liked by Her Highness the Princess."
Brother Ximen lowered his head and smiled, "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed. I didn't expect Miss Gu to remember."
Gu Baozhu then said, "Since you and Heng-ge'er are on good terms, why don't you come with us? There's no point in listening to them spouting nonsense here."
Xiao Hong and the others also wanted to go see the princess, so they pleaded, "Brother Ximen, please come along so we can broaden our horizons too."
Encouraging glances from his companions, Brother Ximen hesitated for a moment before joining Gu Baozhu and the others to greet the princesses' carriage.