Rebirth of the Merchant Woman's Revenge

Just as everyone was looking at them and talking about it, Mr. Nanshan also stood up and greeted Xie Chengan and Gu Qiongsi with a smile.

Then Xie Cheng'an took two quick steps and greeted Mr. Nanshan and the guests at the main table.

"I am Xie Cheng'an, a student, and I would like to greet Mr. Nanshan and all my colleagues." Xie Cheng'an bowed to everyone one by one with a humble smile on his face.

"Cheng'an, come, sit here." Mr. Nanshan pointed to the seat next to him and actually invited Xie Cheng'an to sit next to him.

Such behavior immediately caused everyone to speculate about Mr. Nanshan's intentions.

"Mr. Nanshan was also present at the last housewarming party of the Xie family. He must have been very fond of Mr. Xie's poems and talent." Someone who attended the housewarming party explained to the person next to him.

"Yes, it's possible. Mr. Nanshan values ​​talent the most, and all of his disciples are talented writers. Maybe he wants to take Xie Zhuangyuan as his disciple."

"Yes, yes, to me, every line of Xie Zhuangyuan's poem is classic, and it is really a rare and good poem."

Everyone was talking about it, and for a moment it seemed as if Xie Cheng'an had already become the protagonist of this poetry gathering before it even started.

Gu Qiongsi was beside him, listening to everyone's discussions, and felt proud in her heart.

With this good start today, Xie Chengan's career in officialdom will surely be much easier.

Today's poetry meeting is called a poetry meeting, but in fact it is a small banquet. Since it is raining outside, the poetry meeting was arranged in the hall of Nanshan Academy. There were only about thirty people attending the banquet. There were eight tables in total, with four people sitting at each table, arranged in a circle.

Seeing that most people had arrived, the servant whispered something in Mr. Nanshan's ear. Mr. Nanshan nodded in satisfaction, then stood up and walked to the center of the group.

He looked radiant today and said to everyone, "Thank you very much for giving me the honor of attending this poetry gathering today."

After saying this, he turned around and bowed to the guests at each table, and then continued, "I'm sure everyone has guessed why I held this poetry gathering. Recently, several popular poems have been circulating in the capital, and I'm also very concerned about them."

"I later heard that they were all poems written by Xie Zhuangyuan, which is really amazing."

As soon as Mr. Nanshan finished speaking, he was immediately greeted with a wave of echoes, "Yes, yes, we have all heard it, it is indeed well written."

"Yes, yes..."

Xie Cheng'an also hurriedly bowed to everyone and thanked everyone for their recognition of him.

Mr. Nanshan went on to say, "Today, I have taken this opportunity to invite Mr. Xie to come over. We should continue the segment that was interrupted at the housewarming party last time. I also hope that Mr. Xie can perform well and broaden our horizons."

Xie Cheng'an could no longer sit still, and he stood up respectfully and bowed to Mr. Nanshan, then he said loudly, "I am not talented, but I am honored to be recognized by all of you colleagues and friends. I will definitely spare no effort in today's poetry discussion."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a warm applause, which showed that everyone recognized his talent.

"Today we will use the game of passing the flower by beating the drum to select people. Each time we choose a person, that person must first recite his or her own poem, and then Xie Zhuangyuan will compose a poem on the spot with the same theme within the time of one stick of incense." Mr. Nanshan smiled and stated the rules of this poetry gathering, which immediately aroused cheers from the crowd.

Xie Chengan was a little unsure in his heart. It was a one-on-many situation. He had never played like this before.

But he also understood that this was an opportunity given to him by Mr. Nanshan to perform, an opportunity to be recognized by everyone.

So he glanced at Gu Qiongsi, and when he saw him nod gently at him, he felt relieved and said, "Xie will do his best. If there is anything wrong, please forgive me."

Then, the poetry reading truly entered its climax.

Mr. Nanshan appointed the highest official in this poetry meeting and his most proud disciple, Pan Mingda, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, as the drummer, and he sat in the center of the eight tables.

Then, a servant came forward and tied a smooth white brocade handkerchief over Pan Mingda's eyes.

Following Mr. Nanshan's order, the drums began to sound. Gu Qiongsi narrowed his eyes and looked at the lively crowd, with a faint smile on his lips...

At the beginning, Xie Cheng'an felt at ease, because Mr. Nanshan had arranged for several of his own people to align the theme with the three poems he had written, so he recited the three poems that had been revised by Mr. Nanshan very smoothly, which drew rounds of applause. However, as the drum beats continued, Xie Cheng'an became a little short of words, and the poems he recited gradually became mediocre.

At this time, the drums stopped and the brocade flower was passed to Zhang Yuanming, Xie Chengan's classmate.

Zhang Yuanming lowered his head and thought for a moment, then he began to recite, "The peaks pierce the clouds, and my ambitions are higher than the sky. I am not afraid of difficulties and obstacles, and my heart soars to the blue sky."

This is a poem with the theme of lofty ambitions and the broad mind of young people, which was originally the theme that Xie Cheng'an was best at. However, he had written similar poems on many occasions before, and his classmate knew it best, so he needed to seriously write another one at this time.

However, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he really became a little nervous, and his eyes couldn't help but glance at Gu Qiongsi again.

The other party obviously noticed Xie Chengan's nervousness and made a step gesture with his hands. Xie Chengan immediately understood and said, "The sun sets over the mountains, and the Yellow River flows into the sea. If you want to see a thousand miles away, you must climb to a higher level."

This was the line that Gu Qiongsi was most satisfied with among the poems that he had written for him yesterday, so as soon as he recited it, there was another round of thunderous applause.

Xie Cheng'an continued to bow to thank everyone. Just as he was ready to wave his hand to let Pan Mingda continue to beat the drum, Zhang Yuanming stood up and asked, "Xie Zhuangyuan, the poem you just wrote is indeed wonderful, but it makes me a little suspicious. This poem is not written by you. I wonder if I can ask the doubts in my heart?"

Xie Chengan looked at Zhang Yuanming. They had been classmates for two years, so he naturally knew him. He was also a serious person, so it was not surprising that he would say such a thing. So he smiled and looked back at Zhang Yuanming, and then said, "Brother Yuanming, if you have any questions, just ask."