Soul travels through the world of immortality

After appreciating Mr. Lin's paintings, almost all the guests had arrived, and the poetry meeting officially began. The person hosting the poetry meeting was the second young master, Li Mohan. It was a bit funny, because the eldest young master was not good at poetry.

The venue is located in the core area of ​​the garden, with small bridges and sparkling water, and the water system surrounds the garden, creating a pleasant scenery. Sitting in the garden, the breeze blows slowly, making people feel peaceful and comfortable.

Li Mohan and everyone came to the garden and said formally: "Today, our Marquis' Mansion held a poetry meeting. Not only the talents from the capital, but also the ladies in the boudoir came to the mansion. It really made Pingyang Marquis' Mansion shine. .

In order to make this poetry competition fair, we specially invited Mr. Lin to be the judge. I believe that your talents will not disappoint.

For the Poetry Fair, the Marquis' Mansion has also prepared valuable things. In previous years, the empress had given her a pearl hairpin that was hard to find. "

Li Mohan's beginning was supported by everyone, and the poetry meeting officially began.

Just as it started, a boy came to the long pavilion in the garden. Tea and cakes were already prepared, and pens, ink, paper and inkstones were also prepared on the table.

More than 20 young men have already gathered in this pavilion, all of them are full of energy, extraordinary momentum and full of confidence.

Li Mingyang was among them. He asked a familiar young master next to him, "Brother Fan, what are the rules of this poetry meeting?"

This Mr. Fan is the legitimate son outside the Household Courtyard. He nodded and replied: "Brother Li, the rules are simple. Each person will draw a poem title and complete it within a cup of tea. After the poem is completed, there will be three judges to judge. "

Li Mingyang chatted with Mr. Fan for a while, then sat there and drank a cup of tea leisurely, looking at the questions and thinking about it.

The first question is about heavy snow, but the word snow does not appear in the text. It is a seven-character poem. Some of the young masters frowned, but Li Mingyang looked calm. There was no panic at all, and after thinking about it, he wrote on the paper: "It was originally rain falling on the world, but it was suddenly turned into cotton by the strong wind, the immortals danced on Hongyan Mountain, and China turned into a nightless sky in an instant."

Just when Li Mingyang finished writing, someone next to him read it loudly, and Mr. Fan also clapped his hands and praised it. "What a poem! What a poem!"

Li Mingyang glanced at Li Mohan, who had just met him recently, and he cast a disdainful look. This seven-rhyme poem was indeed neatly contrasted and had a grand artistic conception. It could be described as an excellent work. Several judges nodded frequently, discussed for a while, and gave the priority at the same time. rating.

Li Mohan chuckled and said: "I am not very talented, so I also made a song. Please appreciate it."

Then someone around him recited, "Thousands of scenes and thousands of colors have been covered with silver, covering the sky, making it difficult for passers-by to find traces, and covering all the mountains and rivers without homes."

"What a poem, what a poem!" The people around responded with warm applause, and some even shouted.

Li Mohan smiled slightly and gave a thumbs up gesture to Li Mingyang: "Xue is my favorite scenery to write about. I'm sorry to show my shame. Brother Li is also very good."

Li Mingyang knew that Li Mohan was provoking him, so he didn't care and continued to listen to the poems that followed. He sat and drank tea with others, watching the poem party as a spectacle. One of the poems signed "The Passenger Outside the Window" was particularly good, and it made Li Mingyang take a second look at that direction.

The poem goes like this: "The goose feathers are falling in the strong wind, the sky and the earth are covered with silver, the wilderness is desolate and uninhabited, and the vast earth is calm."

In the first round of this poetry meeting, five poems were judged as excellent, including the poem by Li Mingyang, Li Mohan and the one signed "Guest outside the window".

The poem topic of the second session is to write a poem in five or seven characters for the beginning of the new year.

As soon as this topic came up, many young masters took the initiative to retreat, but Li Mingyang remained calm. After a while, he wrote a poem: "On the first day of the year, I pay respect to my parents. I gather together every year to wish Anlan and talk about old things with Tianyan." Fireworks warm the heart every year.”

As soon as this poem came out, Li Mohan glanced at Li Mingyang in awe, and immediately frowned. He had only half thought about his poem. His future brother-in-law had actually written a masterpiece, which really made him a little jealous.

Now, he really doesn't want to be asked to be a lowly person and accept the disadvantage...

But the poems and essays that saved this boy can indeed be used. In comparison, what I wrote is far inferior.

The next work was The Guest Outside the Window, a five-character poem that was neatly composed and beautifully eloquent, and received high praise from the judges.

"Hold a bottle to celebrate the New Year, write a pen to wish for flowers to bloom, no disasters, peace and tranquility, and blessings to come to my family."

Li Mingyang couldn't help but think of that poem, and wrote in hope that the flowers would bloom. It was a good poem. Poems appeared one after another on the desk. I continued to look towards the place where the poems of the guest outside the window were being sung, but there was no one there. Only a little maid put on a new poem and left. Li Mingyang stepped up to follow her, wanting to see whose young lady had such a talent and wrote poems anonymously.

After just two steps, I heard voices not far away from the bamboo path. This soft and gentle voice made Li Mingyang feel familiar. It was Li Moqiu.

"Miss, I just came from the garden after delivering the poems and saw the Marquis discussing with a stranger. We took advantage of today's poetry meeting to set a date for you and Mr. Li to get married."

"Although we have been engaged, the specific date of marriage cannot be truly determined until we invite someone to live with it. I think that person must be a family member of the Li family. Although it was decided when we were children, the rules still have to be followed according to common sense. , the marriage is naturally decided by the father."

"I also forgot, I think many people like Miss's five words, especially the sentence of writing in hope that the flowers will bloom, which made the whole house applaud. If you ask me, you are just a woman. If you were a man, you would definitely come back with the top score. "

"Don't talk nonsense, Ping'er!"

Li Mingyang heard the conversation and concluded that the guest outside the window who wrote the poem was his daughter-in-law Li Moqiu, who had never met her before. He wanted to see her appearance, but was afraid of offending the beauty, but then he thought that she was the one he wanted to marry, so he flashed away. He walked out of the bamboo path and walked up to the two of them.

Ping'er looked at Li Mingyang, then turned to Li Moqiu, and winked at her, meaning he is the person you are looking for.

It turns out that the reason why Li Moqiu is here is because she wants to see Li Mingyang. She knew that only poems could attract Li Mingyang's attention at the poetry meeting. For this reason, she asked Ping'er to go to the venue and try to lure him here. Moreover, Li Moqiu had calculated very well before and could attract him on a remote bamboo path. Seeing her without noticing.

"Miss, I, Li Mingyang, accidentally got lost in the courtyard. May I ask how to get back to the garden?" Li Mingyang asked loudly with a calm face.

Ping'er looked at Li Moqiu again and saw her nodding. Then Ping'er said: "Sir, this is the inner house. The foreigner should go back to the garden. If you don't know the way, I can find a boy to take you there."

"I have always heard that the family education in the Marquis Mansion is very strict, so I am indeed being rude."

Seeing Li Mingyang turning around to leave, Li Moqiu stopped him: "Master, I am a female family member and it is inconvenient to see foreign guests. It is better to let the maid take you there. Ping'er has gone and returned early. I am going back to Lanxiang Courtyard."

"Miss, I'm going and I'll be back soon."

Li Mingyang followed Ping'er all the way back to the venue in the garden. Ping'er didn't say anything and walked to the table outside the window. Li Mingyang didn't want to ask any more questions and just returned to his seat.

When he just sat down, the title of the third scene also came down, and he composed a poem based on the pear blossom in early spring.

"Brother Li, where did you go just now? It's easy for me to find you. Fortunately, you came back before the start of the third game." Mr. Fan said.

"Ah, Brother Fan, I felt bored, so I just wandered around." Li Mingyang cheered up, "Let me make another song."

"The powdery face has just begun to bloom, and the fragrance of flowers is fragrant. I often miss my family who are getting old in vain, and when I return in late spring, I will look forward to the stagnant pistil."

"On the journey to the west, it is appropriate to draw branches and branches, and the green poplars will fall down. . . . "

"The color of the river is as clear as spring and as tender as blue, and the thin fragrant silk silk skin is covered with snow..."

Although the fourth and fifth questions seem simple, there are still many young masters who are confused and write poems with poor grammar. Only Li Mingyang always feels that writing is extremely enjoyable and he can write whatever he wants. When it came to winning the championship, I didn’t feel it was out of reach.

According to the process, the top five will enter the final competition. The rest of the people lost the qualification to compare poems again. Although it is a bit regretful, the good poems in this poetry meeting also have the opportunity to be included in the poetry collection funded by the Hou Mansion. They can also make friends with poems, which has become a truly popular poem. The basis for going down. Many gentlemen did not come here just for poetry. They were surrounded by beauties and delicacies, everyone drank happily, and witty words and precious words frequently came out.

At this time, her cousin Li Yuwan, who was dressed as a man, came to Li Mingyang quietly. Picking up the poems in front of Li Mingyang was like a rainbow fart, which made Li Mingyang quite embarrassed. Although he knew that he had great literary talent, his cousin praised him for having everything in heaven and nothing on earth, which attracted frequent comments from Li Mohan not far away. Sideways glance.

As the sledgehammer struck the gong, Mr. Lin announced loudly: "After five rounds of poems in this poetry meeting, it is really a pleasure for you gentlemen to clarify your aspirations and express your feelings through poems. We, the judges, unanimously voted The top three poems and essays are..."

Of course, both Li Mingyang and Li Mohan were among the five winners this time, but the poems written by the guest outside the window were clearly better than those of the next few, but they were not selected. It was probably because she did not want to show up, Li Mingyang thought with regret.

Master Lin said humbly to the five victors: "Congratulations to all the talented men for your victory today. You can participate in the final competition and win today's prize, the pearl hairpin given by the Queen. If the collection of poems is successfully published, you can Set an example for future students and show that success is just around the corner.”

Li Mingyang was still thinking about the scene when he saw the master and servant just now. In particular, Li Moqiu's gentle and affectionate expression with lowered eyebrows and a slight smile was like a brand in his heart, hovering and silent in the bottom of his heart, and could never go away.

Later, the five people competed, thinking that the judges let things go, so as not to lose the host's face. In the end, the leader of the poetry club was Li Mohan.

Although Li Mingyang wrote well and did not lose his spirit, he failed to win the first prize. He didn't care about this, but he still won a lot of money because he came second. His cousin Wan'er was also very excited. The two came out of Pingyang Hou Mansion. She also kept complaining about her cousin's grievances, saying that he should have won the championship and wasted a lot of money.

After returning home, Li Shichang felt bad because Li Mingyang won second place in the poetry competition.

Looking at his father's look, Li Mingyang felt that he was second best and had lost face to his father. He asked cautiously: "Dad, is there anything going on in the Hou Mansion that makes you unhappy?"

"I'm not happy. My son, you must be feeling uncomfortable too, right? You could have won the first prize, but you were treated unfairly because of being favored. It's not worth it for me to do it for you."

"Dad, I don't think it's a good thing if you don't win the first prize. If you take his hairpin and marry a wife in the future, the betrothal gift will still have to include that hairpin. Don't say that second place is not a good thing this time. If you win the first prize, you will be fine. His family’s face, you say yes or no.”

Li Shiqian thought for a while, and felt that his son's analysis was reasonable, but he still felt that he could have won first place, but could only be ranked second, and complained about his son's injustice.

Li Mingyang smiled, and Li Shichang also laughed. He showed his son the letter he had brought from the Pingyang Marquis Mansion.

Inside are Li Moqiu's birthday and horoscope, as well as the auspicious days checked by Pingyang Marquis.

It's rare to see a father and son talk sincerely. Li Mingyang was really uncomfortable, but he looked at the letter on the desk and didn't respond for a long time.

Thinking that he was still having trouble, Li Shichang couldn't help but feel anxious, and his words were a bit stiff: "Although I have decided on this marriage for you, I have also sent people to inquire about this Miss Qiu from the Hou Mansion over the years. It is said that she is good at playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Since several young ladies in the Hou family got married one after another, she is now the closest daughter to Mr. Hou. As you know, my father has not been promoted in his tenure for several years. I I am no different from the idle prince who is idle at home. I have no extravagant expectations. I just hope that I can pave more ways for your future career. No matter how you plan, after the exam, no matter whether you pass or not, you must get your marriage done. ”

As soon as the words came out, Li Shichang felt that what he said was not serious. He had seen his son since he was a child. In addition to obeying the prince's words, he was soft-spoken to the old couple, so he still kept his temper, otherwise the marriage would have been postponed to the Year of the Monkey. However, Li Mingyang was not as repellent as before. After thinking for a moment, he nodded silently.

"Okay, after you finish the exam, I will send the matchmaker to the Marquis Mansion and then arrange your marriage."

Unexpectedly, he would agree so happily. Li Shichang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and felt a sense of relief. The child has grown up. No matter what, Li Mingyang still has him as his father in his heart and will still think about his father.

However, this relief did not last long, because Li Mingyang's next words were like a basin of cold water, which quickly poured out the little bit of joy in Li Shichang's heart.

"The prince is very kind to me. I can't stop accompanying him just because I have a wife. After we get married, I will go to the fief to find the prince."

When Li Shichang heard Li Mingyang's answer, a burst of disappointment and worry suddenly surged in his heart. He didn't want his son to leave them because of marriage, and he didn't want him to give up the opportunity to work with the prince. He knew that the prince valued and valued Li Mingyang, and this was a rare opportunity for Li Mingyang.