The prince is very fierce

The sky is getting dark, and the Qinhuai River is full of people, singing and dancing.

The Jinling Poetry Society is very large, with gardens, rockeries, verandas and pavilions, where young ladies gather in groups to chat.

In the main building in the middle, more than 400 people gathered together. There were hundreds of books on the desks and a sea of ​​pens and papers. There were piano tables around the hall. Courtesans took turns to show off their skills. Talents from all over the world showed off their knowledge in one of them. From time to time, there was a burst of admiration. Voice.

Dayue was fond of martial arts, and such a large-scale cultural gathering was extremely rare in other places. Compared with the martial arts in Yueyang and other places, it was a completely different world.

At this time, in the main building, Du Hui, the prefect of Jinling, Yang Yingxiong with a big belly, and Lu Hongxin, Mrs. Lu's brother, were all sitting there, and the rest were figures from various major families and gentlemen from the academy. As the legitimate son of the Xiao family in Huainan, Xiao Ting had a very transcendent status. He and Wang Ruiyang stood in the middle of the hall talking and laughing.

Xu Buling took Xiao Qi into the main building. Xiao Qi just came to watch the excitement and had no intention of contacting the local officials and families, so she went directly to the outside of the crowd.

The two of them found a seat in a secluded place and sat down. There were so many people and it was difficult for Xu Buling to tease Xiao Qi with some naughty jokes, so he acted as calm as before, holding a tea cup and remaining silent.

Xiao Qi looked a bit like a girl who was dating a boy for the first time. There were people coming and going in front of her, so she might have felt a little embarrassed. She glanced around the crowd and said:

"People from aristocratic families from Hangzhou, Jinling, Suzhou and other places came here, and there were also many knowledgeable people. The scholar in Tsing Yi was Tang Bailun, a famous talent in Changzhou. He was the official minister of the dynasty, and he was quite famous in Jiangnan. , I’m just a bit conceited and too focused on reputation..."

Xu Buling followed his gaze and saw that the scholar named Tang Bailun was talking to Wang Ruiyang. It was obvious that he looked down on Xiao Ting in his eyes. It was no wonder that he was named by Xiao Qi.

They were all young people, and Xu Buling didn't pay attention to the high-spirited scholars. He moved his eyes to the high platform where the judges were sitting, and saw the fat man in the middle who was full of philistine air, and his eyes were slightly surprised.

Xiao Qi was extremely smart, so she could naturally tell what Xu Buring was surprised about, and explained softly:

"That's Yang Yingxiong. To hold such a large poetry gathering, it would cost a lot of money just to ask the oiran to help. Yang Yingxiong is very enthusiastic about this. He is always rushing to pay for it. Several big households in Jinling will naturally give a few. Split thin noodles.”

Xu Buling nodded and joked: "Does this count as taking from the people and using it for the people?"

Xiao Qi snorted lightly: "Yang Yingxiong used rogue methods to plunder and forced many poor people to death. How can the money used to entertain these useless scholars and oirans be used for the people? It's a pity. You could only give Yang Yingxiong a warning last time. With the King of Wu as his support, he will still run rampant as soon as we leave..."

Xiao Qi said this with a bit of helplessness in her eyes - the relationships between the aristocratic families are intricate and there are too many places for evil and evil to hide. As the head of the family, Xiao Qi can only consider the interests of the family. She knew that there was a famine in the countryside, but the only thing she could do was give out food and relief. If she wanted to completely solve all the problems, she would have to bloodbath the entire Jiangnan to break down the class solidification. She didn't even have the ability to do that today.

Perhaps because she didn't want to talk more about this issue, Xiao Qi focused her attention on the oiran playing the piano and singing next to her.

The courtesan, who was dressed in a gorgeous dress, was singing the song "The wind abides in the dust and the fragrance of the flowers is gone", which was popular throughout the south of the Yangtze River.

"The wind abides by the dust and the fragrance of the flowers is gone. I am tired of combing my hair at night. Things are different and people are different. Let's stop everything. If I want to speak, I will shed tears first..."

The singing voice is light and moving, and the singing is beautiful. It is a pity that the oiran is sought after by many talented people. Without the experience of "things are different and people are different, everything is over", it is impossible to sing the sad mood in the lyrics.

Xiao Qi liked this poem very much. After listening to it for a moment, she smiled and said, "Xu Buling, did you write this poem for Xiang'er or Hongluan?"

Xu Buling felt a little embarrassed when he mentioned this, raised his hand and said:

"Copied."

"Who copied it?"

"Li Qingzhao's." No. 6

"Li Qingzhao... sounds like a woman..."

Xiao Qi squinted her eyes slightly and went through all the famous talented women in Dayue in her mind. She couldn't find a suitable candidate and asked curiously:

"What does that girl look like? What does she have to do with you?"

Xu Bu Ling gently spread his hands, his eyes showing a bit of lovelessness. In the past, Xiang'er and Aunt Lu also liked to ask questions, but how could he answer this?

Seeing that Xu Buling was unwilling to say anything, Xiao Qi snorted slightly and turned her head to look away, obviously a little dissatisfied. She hadn't agreed to marry Xu Buling, yet she was so dishonest. If she really married Xu Buling, she would be treated like a polished princess who couldn't interfere in anything...

Xu Buling had a headache when he saw this. He was secretly thinking of a reasonable excuse when a call suddenly came from the hall:

"I heard that Prince Xu also came to the poetry meeting. Tang has long admired his name. I wonder if Prince Xu can show up to meet him?"

Xu Buling frowned slightly when he heard the sound, and looked up, only to see Tang Bailun standing with Xiao Ting, looking for him in the crowded hall...

-------

Earlier, when Xu Buling and Xiao Qi were chatting about Li Qingzhao, the center of the hall where many talented people and beauties gathered their attention also focused on the oiran's singing voice.

Wang Ruiyang was chatting with many talented people, and they all talked a lot. Xiao Ting couldn't get in the middle of the conversation. It happened that the person singing the song was his favorite oiran girl "Routuanzi", so he said slightly proudly:

"When the song "Wind blows away the dust and the fragrant flowers are gone" appeared, I happened to be present. You may have heard of the lyricist. I was a classmate and friend of the Imperial Academy, the Prince Su Wang, Xu Buling. At that time, he wrote this poem, Originally it was 'comb your hair when you are tired every night', but later it was changed to 'comb your hair when you are tired every night'..."

Seven or eight well-known talents from Jiangnan froze when they heard this. Even Wang Ruiyang looked slightly embarrassed and didn't know how to answer this. There is a world of difference between combing your hair and combing your cage. How could someone who could write this poem be confused.

However, Xiao Ting's identity was placed here, and no one dared to question it. They just nodded lightly, showing some admiration.

Tang Bailun, one of the many talented people, also came from a scholarly family and had a hard relationship with the court. He did not like Xiao Ting who was weak-minded and said softly:

"From what my tutor said, Prince Su seems to have admitted that the poems were copied."

Jiangnan has a strong literary culture. Buying and stealing poems is a matter of being beaten up, especially in Jiangnan. It doesn't matter if a prince, noble son or noble son buys poems to gain some limelight at a poetry festival, but if he really shows off as a talented person afterwards, don't blame others for looking down upon him.

However, it has not yet been determined whether Xu Buling's poems were plagiarized, because no target of plagiarism has been found. Several talented people knew that Tang Bailun had real talent and knowledge and hated plagiarism, so they said:

"Prince Su may be just being humble and didn't admit it directly."

Xiao Ting also nodded: "Yes, Xu Bu Ling is here. If you talk nonsense, I will kill you with a knife. I can't stop you."

As soon as these words came out, all the talented people were stunned for a moment, and their eyes showed a bit of joy. They didn't expect Xu Buring to come here today.

Tang Bailun had heard about Xu Buling's talent for a long time, and he immediately looked around: "Oh? Since Crown Prince Su is here, why didn't he show up? Brother Xiao, can you recommend someone to us?"

Xiao Ting knew that Xu Buling was spending time with his aunt, and he was eager to marry her off, so he definitely didn't want to interrupt. He shook his head and said:

"You can just yell no if you want, but if he beats you, don't blame me."

Tang Bailun had heard rumors that Xu Buling killed people without blinking an eye, but the literati had a sense of arrogance. With so many princes and nobles present, they were not worried that Xu Buling would degrade himself and use violence, so he shouted...