The Second Master of the Red Chamber

At the foot of the peach blossom slope and on the bank of Qinfang, Li Wan had already ordered people to surround the pavilion as a venue for poetry club activities.

The pavilion, which was already decorated with flowers, golden beasts burning incense, and full of elegance, became even more fragrant after members of the Haitang Club gathered.

Shi Xiangyun and Tanchun are always the most active. They laughed and said, "This time our poetry club is prospering. I thought that the two sisters from the Li family would not be able to catch up, but I didn't expect that they would also come back.

In this way, plus the thirteen people we originally planned, there will be a total of fifteen! "

Everyone heard the sound and turned their attention to the slender sisters Li Min and Li Qi, who looked like a pair of side-by-side sisters, making the two of them smile a little shyly.

They had followed their mother to visit relatives for a few days. Fortunately, they were back, otherwise they would have missed this "grand event."

Yes, so many little sisters gathered together to drink and write poems. They had never heard of such a thing before, so they couldn't help but look forward to it.

As for their mother, she had come with them to have a look before. Perhaps she didn't want to stay here and delay their younger generation's play, so when Aunt Xue came over, she simply followed her to Hengwuyuan to talk.

Different from the expectations of the Li sisters, the You sisters seemed a bit embarrassed.

It’s not that everyone doesn’t take them to play. Li Wan had asked them before, but they knew that with their superficial knowledge of a few words, it would be a shame to play with these people.

Seeing these people playing with literary things for who knows how long, Sanjie You, who was unwilling to keep watching, suddenly saw a little maid holding many kites next to her, so she tugged on her sister's sleeves, signaled, and quietly Followed.

"Due to some special reasons, it has been almost two months since we last opened a club. This is also the longest interval since the establishment of Haitang Club."

Haitang President Li Wan came out, suppressed the excited and chattering sisters, and delivered a speech.

"In this season when peach blossoms are in full bloom, as agreed, the title of our poetry club is..."

"wait."

President Li, who didn't expect his words to be interrupted, looked at Lin who was speaking, and subconsciously glanced at Jia Lian, who was sitting on the side talking to his sister, who was too friendly and not at all paternalistic.

Facing everyone's scrutinizing gaze, Daiyu walked to the middle, smiled playfully at Li Wan, then took out a folded note from her sleeve and gave it to Li Wan.

Facing Li Wan's surprised gaze, she smiled and said: "We have been talking about setting up a club and writing peach blossoms for more than ten days. For such a long time, no one knows how many peach blossoms we have made. Even if it is now It's not that difficult to ask for a letter.

I have a better topic here..."

Daiyu stopped talking at this point, but people who knew her well probably understood what she meant.

Damn it, she had to change the subject on the spot!

For a moment, countless talented men and women who were not confident enough broke into a cold sweat.

Li Wan naturally understood that among the many sisters-in-law, Daiyu was definitely one of the most talented, and among the previous poetry societies, she had gained a considerable voice in the society by virtue of her strength.

Therefore, even she, the president, did not dare to ignore Daiyu's suggestion easily.

But she has an upright nature. Although she doesn't want to offend Daiyu, she also doesn't want to let Daiyu be arrogant and deliberately make things difficult for everyone. Therefore, while subconsciously unfolding the note to observe, I was still thinking about how to reject Daiyu's unreasonable request.

However, her idea changed after carefully reading the note Daiyu handed her.

What Daiyu handed to Li Wan was naturally the ditty "Ru Meng Ling" that Xiangyun had written based on his feelings.

The original manuscript was originally kept by Baochai, and she asked for it specially.

Everyone else probably guessed that what Daiyu gave Li Wan was a poem. Looking at Li Wan's appearance, they thought, could it be that Lin Xiaoxiang has written something good again? So everyone gathered around to watch.

After a while, Li Wan gave up the manuscript to the competing sisters and looked at Daiyu: "Did you write it?"

"I don't dare to steal this name. This is a poem written by a certain 'Jin Xin Xiu Kou' just now. I haven't even covered it yet, so I hurriedly took it out for everyone to appreciate."

Daiyu glanced at Xiangyun with a smile.

Only then did everyone realize that it turned out to be Xiangyun's work.

Naturally, Shi Xiangyun discovered early on that Daiyu was "cheating" with her things. But at first she was really satisfied with the little poem she had written in a flash of inspiration.

Secondly, she could guess that Daiyu did this just to add glory to Today's Poetry Club. It just so happened that she also wanted everyone to write "Catkins" to see if anyone could write better than hers.

Therefore, facing everyone's admiring looks and words of approval, she just smiled slightly shyly.

Daiyu smiled at the right time and said: "How about it? Jin Xinxiu's mouth is already full of pearls and jade, and she has painted all the catkins alive. It's perfect. Although we don't eat as much meat as she does, if we compare in a row, I don’t even dare to compete, wouldn’t it be like letting her take the lead today?”

In fact, there is no need for Daiyu to stimulate the general. After circulating Xiangyun's dreamlike order, many friends have begun to look at the catkins dancing in the sky and meditate.

Baochai also helped: "Although the theme was originally Peach Blossom, we got together just for fun. It's rare that Zhenxia's Catkins is interesting and appropriate for the occasion. We might as well add a temporary chapter and write it later. It’s not too late for peach blossoms.”

Mr. Heng Wu, the former top authority of the Haitang Club, had already spoken. Li Wan no longer had any doubts and nodded immediately: "In that case, then add another club. It will be limited to one stick of incense, with catkins as the theme, and various minor tunes."

However, I have something to say first, because it is a temporary addition, no matter what, it is just for fun, and there will be no rewards or punishments. "

As the president, Li Wan basically reviews and ranks the works of previous Haitang Clubs.

The sisters also recognized her level of judgment and appreciation.

But she knew that she could only appreciate, but in fact her essays and thoughts were far inferior to those of Baochai Daiyu and others.

Therefore, Haitang Society had an agreement when it was first established. The weaker ones like Li Wan, Yingchun, and Xichun all held "official positions" in the society. Among them, Li Wan is the president, and Yingchun and Xichun are the secretaries.

When encountering simple questions, the three of them would do it as long as they could. If they couldn't do it, they wouldn't force it or punish them.

In other words, the real members of the club are Baochai, Daiyu, Xiangyun, Zhen Yuhuan, Tanchun, Jia Baoyu and Jia Lian, among whom Jia Lian is often absent.

Now that there are so many new sisters joining, their true level is still uncertain. In order to avoid hurting self-esteem and maintain everyone's dignity, Li Wan made the final emphasis.

Daiyu just smiled at this. She just wanted to have fun and show off her talents, and she didn't really want to compete with anyone, so naturally she didn't care.

After it was agreed upon, a maid brought the incense burner, and Baochai personally lit a stick of "Dream Sweet Incense" for the time, and then each of them started talking bitterly.

Daiyu felt that she had come up with the topic herself, and others would inevitably suspect that she had it. She didn't want people to think she was taking advantage, so she immediately stepped forward and wrote down the lyrics, but then she kept them herself without letting anyone see them.

Soon Baochai, Baoqin, Zhen Yuhuan and others were also there.

Seeing everyone coming up to write one after another, Jia Baoyu, who kept looking here and there, started to panic.

I hurriedly meditated for half a day and only wrote half of it. I felt it didn't make sense. I was distressed and rubbed it out again. When I wanted to come back again, I found that the incense had burned out.

Sighing in despair, he refused to force himself to take the blame. I just lamented in my heart that I really lacked talent and suffered a loss in this kind of on-the-spot test, and then I threw my hands together and was willing to admit defeat.

Seeing that everyone had finished writing what they could, Li Wan smiled and said, "Okay, who of you will bring it up first?"

"Xiao Xiangzi was the first to write it, so let's read hers first."

Faced with everyone's recommendation, Daiyu was not afraid and handed over the poem manuscript generously.

After Li Wan took it, he laughed and said to everyone: "It's a song called "Tang Duoling"."

Then Fang Nian said:

"The powder falls in the Baihua State, and the fragrance lingers in the swallow tower. The groups form pairs one by one. Wandering is like a person with a thin life, and the sky is lingering, talking about romance.

Even the grass and trees know their sorrow, and their youth turns gray! Sigh: Who will give up and who will take back in this life? Marry with the spring breeze and don't care, go with you and endure the flood to stay. "

After hearing this, everyone sighed: "Of course it's good, but it's just too sad."

But he was sitting on the edge, smiling and looking at the elegant and charming Jia Lian, and his expression changed at this time.

Without him, the scene in front of him gave him a very strange feeling, as if he had seen it in a dream.

While he was distracted, Tanchun and others gathered around him after appreciating it, asking for his poem manuscript.

Jia Lian smiled and gave them the song "Nan Kezi" he wrote.

"The slender strands are hanging in the air, and the silk is hanging down. It is difficult to tie and tie, and it is easy to separate the east, west, north and south.

You will not regret it if it falls away, but I will know it when it flies. When the orioles are worried and the butterflies are tired and blooming in the late evening, even if it is the next year to see each other again in the next spring. "

When Li Wanfang was about to finish reading, Tanchun clapped his hands and said, "As expected of the second brother Lian, this writing is both good and elegant."

"Sister Tanchun is right."

Facing the praise from her sisters, Jia Lian shook her head and said, "Don't compliment me. I can't compare to Xiao Xiangzi in this song. I'm the only one who is thick-skinned and dares to show it behind her."

When Jia Lian said this, although everyone found it interesting, they didn't find it easy to laugh.

I wanted to say something nice, but I really couldn't unconscionably say that Nan Kezi was better than Tang Duoling, so I had to stop talking quietly.

I sighed in my heart, as expected, second brother Lian is broad-minded. If it were anyone else, with such a status and talent, they would not admit that they are inferior to others so frankly.

Daiyu also glanced at Jia Lian with a smile, and said that Jia Lian's poem was already very good, much better than what she had written in the poetry club before. After all, I felt that this was obviously too proud, so I didn't say anything.

After seeing Jia Lian, everyone originally wanted to recommend Jia Baoyu. It was only when Jia Baoyu said that he had handed in a blank paper that everyone let him go and came to see Baoqin.

At this time, Li Wan felt that his mouth was a little dry, so he delegated power to Baochai: "As an elder sister, come and read it to her."

Baochai did not shirk the blame, took it and read:

"The Han Garden has limited sporadic elements, but the Sui Dynasty embellishments are endless. The cause of the Spring Festival is in the east wind, and the pear blossoms in the bright moon are just a dream."

There are several red courtyards, whose fragrant snow curtains are there? The south of the Yangtze River and the north of the Yangtze River are generally the same, but people hate them more when they are away! Li Wan commented: "Sure enough, it is still her usual style, with a more tragic tone than others." "

Xiangyun also smiled and said: "Perhaps she has been abroad and has more experience than us, so the things she writes are grander than ours."

"Well, the two sentences 'a few places' and 'whose house' are the best. In my opinion, this one should be in the top three."

Baochai shook his head: "It's too decadent."

Although they knew that Baochai was not praising his own family, everyone still couldn't help but feel sorry for Baoqin because of Baochai's reluctance to praise his sister.

So Xiangyun and the other younger ones spoke up almost at the same time, asking to see Baochai.

Baochai knew that he had made many difficulties, so he smiled calmly: "I think catkins are originally a frivolous thing without roots. According to my idea, it is interesting to say it well and correctly. So I If I tell you something, it may not be what you want."

The sisters, who have become accustomed to Baochai's behavior of "pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger", will naturally not be fooled. She said that what she wrote was naturally good, and when Baochai just took out the manuscript, she rushed to grab it first.

It is a song called "Linjiang Fairy".

"Spring dance in front of Baiyu Hall, the east wind blows evenly..."

When Tan Chun read out the first sentence, Xiangyun, a pretty fan, suddenly clapped his hands and applauded: "What a 'even roll', this sentence alone is above us."

"The spring dance in front of the Baiyu Hall is spread evenly by the east wind. Bees and butterflies are surrounded by a chaotic array. How many times have the waters passed by? How can we have to live in the dust?"

Thousands of threads will never change, let him gather and divide as he goes. The laughter of Shaohua has no roots at all. The good wind carries me to the blue clouds with its power. "

The sentence "The good wind will send me to the blue sky with its power" made everyone marvel.

Without him, the previous poems, including those by Xiang Yun and Jia Lian, all wrote about loneliness and sadness. Only Baochai took a different approach and actually wrote about the "unyielding" and "ambition" of catkins.

This literary pattern is indeed the first of its kind.

After Baochai, the rest of them were resigned to being inferior, and were too embarrassed to hand in their own manuscripts.

Li Wan saw that they were circulating among each other and commenting on each other below, but no one was recommended to the top anymore, and he knew that no one was outstanding anymore.

So he closed the case with a smile: "Liuxu, this society, should respect Mr. Hengwu. Do you have any objections?"

Everyone laughed, even Daiyu didn't say anything.

Li Wan added: "The following is about the lingering sadness, which belongs to Xiaoxiangzi; the charming and charming mood, it is the pillow cloud; the upright and elegant, it is the green pine; the tragic and solemn style, it belongs to Xiaoxue.

At this point, I have to name Yihong and once again handed in a blank paper. "

In front of all the old sisters and new sisters, Jia Baoyu was a little ashamed when she was named by her sister-in-law. She explained: "I said I'm not good at this. Next time, next time I will make sure to do it well."

In fact, being named by Li Wan also shows that Jia Baoyu's strength is definitely among the top five in Haitang Club. As the saying goes, expectations are there, but if you always perform abnormally, it makes people suspicious of slacking off.

"This time I won't punish you because I said it first. If Peach Blossom Club behaves badly next time, I will punish you as well."

Facing the stern Li Wan, Jia Baoyu could only humbly answer and obey.

After the first club was abandoned, Shi Xiangyun and others were eager to prepare to open the second club.

Li Wan said, "It's still early. It won't be too late to wait until the clerks have transcribed all the lyrics."

Everyone obeyed.

Seeing that the masters were taking a break, Ping'er stepped forward and said with a smile: "I bought a lot of kites according to the second master's order and put them all over there. Now that the wind is blowing, girls and grandmothers might as well fly kites for fun."

"Is there a kite?"

Zhen Yuhuan and others followed Ping'er's instructions, and sure enough, they saw many colorful kites set up under the Grand View Tower in the west, facing the sun and rippling in the spring breeze.

Those with sharper eyes have already seen several kites floating in the air.

Ping'er explained with a smile: "Those are the two aunts from Dongfu and Qingwen who are playing on the hillside."

After everyone heard this, they became interested. After getting Li Wan's consent, he immediately went there like a swarm of swarms.

Suddenly the pavilion became quite empty.

Li Wan was about to go see Yingchun and others to excerpt the lyrics, but was stopped by Jia Lian.

"I would like to ask the president for an official position."

"what?"

Jia Lian smiled and said: "Although I was also the first person to join the poetry club, I am ashamed to say that the number of times I participated in the poetry club was very few. It is not an exaggeration to say that I am an 'away friend'.

I thought, instead of letting me break the rules like this, it would be better for the president to reward me with an official position and make me look like a little girl, so that I can have a name in the society from now on. But don’t worry, Feng Yatou and I are definitely different. If we meet, we will naturally do it. It’s just that you don’t need to participate in the rankings anymore. "

"How can this be possible, you..."

When Li Wan heard that Jia Lian actually wanted to "withdraw from the society", he immediately opposed it. After all, they had put in a lot of effort to bring Jia Lian in.

She felt that although Jia Lian was often absent, Haitang Club would be more meaningful with him in it.

But before she could express her objections, Jia Lian looked at her with a smile and asked, "Why not? I dare to ask the president the truth. Is today's judgment in line with the company's consistent principles and fair enough?"

Li Wan was silent for a moment. Knowing Jia Lian's wisdom, she naturally understood what Jia Lian meant immediately, and felt guilty for a moment.

Jia Lian smiled slightly. He was not being hypocritical, nor was he trying to break away from Haitang Club.

But he found that, given his status, being an ordinary member of the Haitang Club was indeed a bit against the rules.

For example, every time he writes something, no matter whether it is good or not, everyone always praises it unanimously.

Even Li Wan, who is known as an upright man, is not immune to vulgarity in front of him.

How could Jia Lian not know that in the past, at the end of each club, only the top three were rated. The rest of the rankings will be discussed and arranged by Li Wan and the two secretaries Yingchun and Xichun after the copying is completed, and then recorded in the book.

Today, Li Wan named five people on the list for the first time and ranked him fourth.

Moreover, Jia Lian did realize that even if he studied hard, his Wen Si Jie could only be ranked in the middle among this group of talented women. Even Jia Baoyu, who performed normally, was slightly inferior.

In this way, it's nothing to play with the golden hairpins occasionally, but it's quite tiring to rack your brains to make sentences every time. This is not his intention, he wants to be lazy.

Li Wan didn't know Jia Lian's thoughts, and faced his scrutiny, he felt guilty and a little aggrieved.

It is true that Baochai Daiyu and Xiangyun are undoubtedly the top three in poetry chanting today. Li Wan would feel bad if any of them were eliminated.

If Jia Lian is defeated, he is afraid that Jia Lian will lose face. Only then did she choose to do this, directly ranking the top five, so that Baoqin from the away team could also be on the list, and the away team would not be completely wiped out.

This was considered a foolproof way to take care of everyone, but who knows, it still made Jia Lian dissatisfied.

"Sister-in-law, just obey him."

A delicate voice sounded.

It turned out that Baochai and Daiyu did not leave with the crowd, but peeked at the situation.

Daiyu knew Jia Lian best and was afraid that Li Wan would misunderstand him, so she couldn't help but speak when they were in a stalemate.

Jia Lian also thought that Li Wan might have misunderstood, and added with a smile: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, how could I not know her considerations? I also said that I am not completely indifferent like Feng Yatou.

I just think that as the most talented person in the capital, competing with Lin Yatou and others in poetry writing is too bullying, so I don't want to participate in the rankings. I have no other meaning. "

Faced with Jia Lian's words, even though she knew it was a joke, Daiyu was still angry and couldn't help but taunted: "In front of Sister Bao, the leader, a person who almost failed can dare to speak so loudly."

Jia Lian smiled and said nothing.

Seeing this, Li Wan noticed it. Yes, there are so many sisters in the garden. Who else but Daiyu would dare to speak to Jia Lian so directly and equally?

It may indeed be inappropriate to let Jia Lian participate in the ranking.

After thinking about it, Li Wan said: "In that case, I will make you the vice president, responsible for maintaining the order of the meeting place when the club opens. I can't let you be lazy. If you are like Baoyu and hand in simple questions in vain, I will also I’ll punish you all the same!”

Li Wan finally figured it out. Since Jia Lian wanted fairness, she simply acted like her eldest sister-in-law. Anyway, with the current relationship, there is really no need to compliment him...

Jia Lian laughed: "I will obey the president's order."

After the matter was settled, Daiyu laughed and was about to say something to Jia Lian when she saw Ping'er walking back in a hurry.

"what happened?"

Ping'er glanced at everyone in the hall, walked to Jia Lian, and whispered a few words.

Jia Lian frowned deeply and his expression became serious.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Something unexpected happened and I need to go out of town."

With that said, Jia Lian gave Dai Yu and others a reassuring look and led Ping'er away from here. (End of chapter)