The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 483: Chaiyun Issue, the Four Kings Arrive

Hengwu Garden. Snow was falling outside the window. Baoqin had already gone to bed. Baochai and Xiangyun were still discussing the poetry club tomorrow. Ying'er and Cuilu, two maids, were accompanying them, chewing melon seeds and chatting in low voices.

In the first month of the lunar year, people are forbidden to sew or do needlework, so at the beginning of the new year, girls in the boudoir do not do needlework. It is a rare month of leisure, and this is naturally the happiest month for Shi Xiangyun, because at home, in order to help with the family expenses, there is always endless needlework to do, and sometimes she even has to do it until midnight.

Now, during the first month of the lunar year, not only does she not have to do needlework, but she can also go to her aunt's house with a legitimate reason and play and have fun with her sisters. This is undoubtedly the happiest and most carefree time of the year for her.

It is worth mentioning here that Shi Xiangyun's aunt was eager for her to stay in the Jia Mansion for a full month, because one could not do needlework in the first month of the year, but one had to eat every meal. If Shi Xiangyun went to the Jia Mansion, she could not only save the money for three meals a day, but might even get something back. So there was no need for Grandmother Jia to send someone to pick her up. On the first day of the New Year, she arranged for someone to send Shi Xiangyun there early, and told her that she could stay as long as she wanted, and she could go back after the first month of the year.

Let's get back to the topic. Baochai and Xiangyun were discussing how to run the poetry club tomorrow. The door suddenly opened, and Xiangling flashed in with the wind and snow, then quickly closed the door.

Xiangling was seen wearing thick fox fur, a snow hat and scarf, her body was covered with snow, her pretty face was red, and even her eyebrows and eyelashes were covered with a layer of frost.

Ying'er giggled and said, "Look who's this? Our poetry nerd is back. Isn't the snowy scenery outside beautiful?"

It turned out that Xiangling had just run to the corridor outside to watch the snow, and even put on a thick set of gear, but she came back less than two minutes later.

Xiangling shook off the snow on her body, took off her snow hat and scarf, and trotted to the stove to warm herself up, which was both pitiful and funny.

Ying'er hurriedly handed over a cup of hot wine. Xiangling breathed a sigh of relief after drinking it, and said joyfully: "It's snowing so heavily outside, like cotton wool pouring down from the sky. Tomorrow the snow will accumulate to three feet, which is just right for the poetry club. It must be a good day."

Shi Xiangyun couldn't help but laugh and said, "No wonder they all call you a poetry nerd. You are really possessed. If you can't write a good poem tomorrow, I will see how I punish you."

Xiangling asked with a smile: "Have Miss Shi and our daughter agreed on what poem to write tomorrow? Tell me the title first, and I will have it ready. Then I won't make a fool of myself tomorrow."

Shi Xiangyun chuckled and said, "Just now I said you were stupid, but you turned out to be such a clever little girl. Cuilu Ying'er, beat her hoof away to prevent her from taking advantage of the situation."

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "As long as it's a good piece of work, it doesn't matter if it's written before. Besides, she has only recently learned to write poetry, so she is at a disadvantage compared to us. What's the harm in letting her hear the title of the poem?"

Shi Xiangyun nodded and said, "Sister Bao is right. Well, I'll let you listen here. Since I wrote a poem about crabapples last time and it's snowing this time, how about writing a poem about snow tomorrow?"

Xue Baochai said, "It doesn't matter what poem you write, but you are the host of this party tomorrow. Although it's just for fun, you have to think ahead and behind, make it convenient for yourself, and don't offend anyone, so that both the host and the guests can have fun. You can't be the master at home. You only have a few strings of money a month, which is not enough for your own expenses. If your aunt knew about this, she would probably complain about you even more. Besides, even if you take out all the money you earn every month, it won't be enough to host this party. Can't you ask your family for it? Or ask the old lady?"

Xiangyun was generous and straightforward. She had just said she wanted to be the host without considering the cost of hosting. But after hearing what Baochai said, she hesitated. As Baochai said, her monthly allowance was only a few strings of money, less than one or two taels of silver. Even if she took out all of it, it would not be enough. It was true that heroes are short of breath, and a thin horse has long hair. A penny can make a hero fail.

Xue Baochai said with a smile, "You are stupid, aren't you? I'll see if you dare to take on too many responsibilities in the future. I've got an idea. The owner of my pawnshop has raised a fat sheep for the whole winter. I'll ask him to send two of them over. After the kitchen is cleaned up, we'll present the old lady and the ladies with the rest, and then we'll skewer and roast them. We'll also prepare four or five tables of fruit wine and invite the masters and maids from each family. How many poems can we not write?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Xiangyun held Xue Baochai's hands, her eyes slightly red as she said, "Sister Bao, you are really thoughtful."

Xue Baochai smiled gently and said, "Please don't be suspicious. If you think I underestimate you, then our friendship will be in vain. If you don't be suspicious, then I will give the order and we will do it according to this method tomorrow."

Shi Xiangyun said quickly, "Sister, you are being too suspicious of me. Even if Yun'er is a fool, how could she not know what is good and what is bad? Would she still be a human being if she didn't treat you like my own sister? If I didn't treat you like my own sister, I wouldn't have told you about the troubles at home."

Xue Baochai nodded and smiled, "If that's the case, let's do it tomorrow. As for the title of the poem, don't make it too new and clever. Look at the ancients' tricky and strange titles and those extremely dangerous rhymes. No matter how hard it is to get a good poem, it's still petty. Poetry is afraid of using familiar words, but it's even more important not to be too cliché. As long as the idea is fresh, the words will naturally be good."

Shi Xiangyun pondered for a moment and said, "Then let's write a chrysanthemum poem tomorrow. It's neither too new nor too elegant. There are many chrysanthemum poems written by predecessors, and I'm afraid it will fall into the cliché."

Xue Baochai's mind was moved: "I have it. Now, with chrysanthemum as the guest and people as the main subject, I can come up with a few titles. They all have two words, one real and one imaginary. The real word is chrysanthemum, and the imaginary word is a common word. This way, we can both praise the chrysanthemum and describe an event. No one has done this before, so it will naturally be unconventional. It will describe the scenery and describe the objects, which is fresh and generous."

Shi Xiangyun couldn't help clapping her hands and said, "That's great. I've thought of one. How about 'Chrysanthemum Shadow'?"

Xue Baochai said, "The Chrysanthemum Dream is also good."

Shi Xiangyun added: "I also have one, 'Asking the Chrysanthemum'!"

"This is a good one. How about 'Visiting the Chrysanthemums'?" Xue Baochai said with a smile. Shi Xiangyun said with a smile, "Why not write ten of them?"

So they fetched paper and pen, wrote down ten titles, and Xiangyun looked through them and said with a smile, "Ten are a bit out of place, but let's make twelve to make a painting."

Upon hearing this, Xue Baochai thought of two more topics, making a total of twelve topics, namely: Remembering Chrysanthemums, Visiting Chrysanthemums, Planting Chrysanthemums, Talking about Chrysanthemums, Offering Chrysanthemums, Ode to Chrysanthemums, Painting Chrysanthemums, Asking about Chrysanthemums, Wearing Chrysanthemums in a Hairpin, Chrysanthemum Shadow,

After Shi Xiangyun finished recording all the questions, she looked at them again and asked, "How should we limit the rhymes?"

Xue Baochai shook her head and said, "I hate restrictions on rhymes the most in my life. There are obviously good poems, so why bother with rhymes? We don't follow the small schools and just set topics without restrictions on rhymes. We originally wanted everyone to have fun with a good sentence occasionally, and we don't want to make things difficult for others."

Shi Xiangyun nodded and said, "Then there is no limit to the rhyme. But even if Xiangling is included, there are only seven of us. Now there are twelve topics. Doesn't it mean that everyone can write twelve poems?"

Xue Baochai laughed and said, "That's too difficult. Tomorrow we will post the titles of poems on the wall, and whoever wants to write one can write that one. Those who are talented can write all twelve poems, and those who are not can write none. The most talented and the quickest will be respected. If someone has finished all twelve poems, he will not be allowed to rush to write another one. He will be punished."

Shi Xiangyun clapped her hands and said, "Let's do it this way."

After the two girls had discussed the matter, they turned off the lights and went to bed.

…………

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At midnight, the wind and snow finally stopped. When I opened the door the next morning, I saw three feet of snow. Everywhere I looked, it was covered in silver.

As soon as Jia Huan got up and washed up, Shi Xiangyun's maid Cuilu personally delivered an invitation to join the poetry club at Luxueguang. Jia Huan gave Cuilu a tip and said with a smile, "I'll be there in a little while."

After Cuilu thanked them, she walked on the snow to deliver the invitation to the next door.

As usual, Jia Huan did a few sets of indoor exercises with his maid Mandarin. After breakfast, he planned to go out to Luxueguang to join the poetry club. As soon as he reached the door, a maid came in and reported: "The eldest master wants to discuss matters with the third master Huan."

Jia Huan's heart moved, and he said calmly: "Report to the master, just say that I am not feeling well and am resting in bed. We can discuss anything tomorrow."

The old woman stuck out her tongue secretly and stood there awkwardly. Jia Huan raised his sword-like eyebrows and said coldly, "Didn't you understand?"

Although Jia Huan was usually polite and gentle, as soon as he raised his eyebrows, he became like a sword drawn from its sheath, with a majestic aura. The old woman was so frightened that she dared not hesitate any longer and retreated obediently.

Jia Huan brushed his sleeves, regained his gentle and jade-like appearance, and walked towards Luxueguang. If he was right, Jia She suddenly came to him, most likely because of the honeycomb coal business. Jia Zhen and Jia She have always been like-minded. These two uncles and nephews are like-minded and are in collusion with each other. They are both greedy and lustful. Since Jia Zhen knows about the honeycomb coal business, then Jia She must know it too. Such a profitable business, this old beast naturally can't wait to start, now suddenly looking for him to discuss things, nine out of ten times it is for this. It's a pity that the uncle is not the father after all. If Father Zheng comes to him, he has to give him some face. As for Jia She, let him be left alone first!
As expected by Jia Huan, at this time, in the east hall of Rongguo Mansion, Jia She and Jia Zhen were excitedly waiting for Jia Huan to arrive. This business can make a daily profit of forty taels. Tsk tsk, although this kid Huan Lao San is annoying, he is a goose that lays golden eggs. Hehe, as long as he can get this business, he will never worry about having no money to spend.

However, Jia She and Jia Zhen waited impatiently for an incense stick of time, but the servant replied: "Master Huan San is not feeling well and is resting in bed. I will tell you to tell your elder master that we can discuss it tomorrow!"

Jia She became furious and cursed: "How dare you! This bastard is even rebelling against Heaven."

Jia Zhen sneered, "The third brother Huan must be pretending to be sick. He doesn't take the master seriously at all."

Jia She was furious when he heard this. He slammed his palm on the table and said sternly, "I will not let him go. I will go to the garden to catch him. If I catch him, I will give him two slaps on the spot to teach this bastard the difference between elders and juniors and respect for the inferiors."

After Jia She finished speaking, he stood up suddenly. Jia Zhen was secretly hating Jia Huan for interfering and ruining his own business, so he naturally wanted Jia She to come out and beat him up, so he stood up too, ready to watch the show.

However, at this moment, Wang Shanbao hurried in, panting and said, "The Prince of Nan'an, the Prince of Beijing, the Prince of Xining, and the Prince of Dongping are here to visit. The master asks the eldest master to go to Rongxi Hall to discuss matters."

Jia She's heart trembled. He did not dare to delay. He put Jia Huan aside for the time being and hurried to Rong Xi Tang.

(End of this chapter)