Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 161 A Song Singing Throughout the City
Jinling, Xue family mansion.

There are flowers and trees supporting vegetables, and stone paths leading to secluded places. A two-story building with graceful eaves, a green tile roof, and white walls reflecting the snow stands in the southeast corner of the backyard of the Xue family mansion.

The maid Ying'er was sitting on the kang, with colorful silk threads wrapped around her hands, making a plum blossom knot with stirrups pointing upwards.

She looked up and saw her daughter took out the calligraphy she had obtained a few days ago, spread it out on the desk, and admired it carefully, unable to let it go.

"Miss, is the calligraphy that Master Cong gave you really that good? You've been taking it out to read every day these past few days, and you never get tired of it."

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "A few months ago, the shopkeeper's wife from the capital came to our house and mentioned that this brother Cong is not only a great scholar, but has been famous in the capital for his poetry and literature since he was a child. I was a little confused when I heard this.

Now that I have seen this calligraphy, I know it is authentic. Human beings are so unique. I often hear people say that it is difficult for a calligrapher to achieve success without 20 to 30 years of hard work. Brother Cong is about the same age as me.

This person has only been able to hold a pen for a few years, and I don't know how he learned to write like this. And this poem is more elegant and mellow than the one about plum blossoms that was circulated last year, and it is also excellent."

As the master and servant were talking, they heard the sound of singing faintly coming from the garden below the embroidered building. The voice was soft, melodious, and very pleasant to the ear.

"Listen to the deep night, loneliness hits the lonely city, the spring tide is rushing. Thinking of the past, sorrow is like a weave... The song of the jade tree is over, the autumn dew is cold, the rouge well is broken, and the cold crickets are crying."

Baochai was surprised when she heard this. Isn't this the Man Jiang Hong poem sung by brother Cong? The calligraphy was delivered only a few days ago and has been in her room all along. She thought outsiders might not know about it. How come someone sang it?
"Ying'er, who is singing this song?"

"It's Miss Qu from Qingyin Pavilion who is singing. Because of the last lawsuit, my wife doesn't let me go out. I'm bored at home, so I've been finding some tricks every day these days.

Today, I invited a female storyteller from Qingyin Pavilion to tell stories for Madam, and also invited a female composer there to sing songs for her."

Baochai knew that the Qingyin Pavilion was quite famous in Jinling. It was not a brothel or a prostitute's house, but a music hall that specialized in raising prostitutes, musicians, and dancers.

Because the female artists there were highly skilled, Jinling's high-ranking officials, nobles, and literati would invite the female artists from Qingyin Pavilion to perform to liven up the atmosphere at banquets, celebrations, festivals, and literary gatherings.

In Jinling, the presence or absence of female artists from Qingyin Pavilion has almost become a symbol of whether banquets and gatherings are luxurious and elegant.

When Baochai heard that the person invited was Ms. Qu from Qingyin Pavilion, she was fine with it.

Qingyin Pavilion is a proper music hall, and at least my brother has some sense. If he had invited some singing girls from brothels to sing at home, it would have been too disrespectful if it got out.

But how could Lady Qu from Qingyin Pavilion be singing Brother Cong's "Man Jiang Hong"? Baochai was curious, so she went down the embroidery tower and followed the sound to look for her.

In the Lanfang Pavilion in his own garden, his brother Xue Pan was sitting with his legs crossed and drinking. In front of him were two ladies from the Qingyin Pavilion, one was singing a song and the other was playing the pipa to harmonize.

The song "Man Jiang Hong" was sung over and over again. Qu Niangzi's voice was soft and charming, and the sound of the pipa was either passionate or low, making the song "Man Jiang Hong" melancholy, lingering and soul-stirring.

Baochai stood aside and listened fascinatedly. This brother Cong was truly a genius. The music he put together for "Man Jiang Hong" could make it sound so beautiful. It had more artistic conception than the literal meaning.

"Why are you here, sister? You also think this song is nice. I heard they just learned it."

Although Xue Pan was a playboy and a jerk, he loved his sister very much. Seeing that his sister liked the song, he wanted Lady Qu to sing it again.

But Baochai asked, "I know this piece of music. It is the same song that Brother Cong sent me a few days ago. I wonder where you two ladies learned it from."

"Sister, are you talking about the calligraphy that my cousin from the Jia family gave me a few days ago?"

Xue Pan was a dandy fool. Although he knew that Jia Cong had given him a piece of calligraphy, he would never bother to read what was written on it.

"That's right. I've never heard of this poem by Brother Cong before. It must be a new one. It hasn't been that long since it was written. How come the lady from Qingyin Pavilion can sing it?"

The lady singing the song asked, "The brother Cong you are talking about is Jia Cong, the young master of Xinglongfang."

"Exactly. How do you recognize him?"

Baochai felt a little strange. It turned out that this brother Cong was also a romantic man and was so familiar with Miss Qu from Qingyinfang.

The lady who sang the song smiled and said, “We have never had the chance to meet Master Jia, but there is a reason why we sing his songs.

We have a frequent visitor in Qingyin Pavilion, he is a young master from Yade Zhai in the south of the city, his name is Zhang Qinan. When he heard that Mr. Jia's poems were brought to his shop for mounting, he thought they were excellent and copied them down.

During the banquet, he asked the lady in the pavilion to sing along with the poem in rhyme. When the lady came back, she brought the poem to the pavilion.

Our Lady Qing got this lyric and couldn't let it go. She composed the music and set the rhyme herself. When she sang it in Qingyin Pavilion, she received cheers from the whole room. Now it is not only sung in Qingyin Pavilion, but it has spread very quickly in a few days. Many brothels and taverns in Jinling are singing it, and everyone in the city knows about it.

This Mr. Jia is really talented, but I didn’t expect that he is a relative of ours.”

"I see."

Baochai was also surprised when she heard this. As a girl living in seclusion, she didn't have many casual contacts and was somewhat closed to what was happening outside.

In addition, my brother has been detained at home by my mother in recent months because of the lawsuit, so the news from outside cannot reach the inner house.

This brother Cong is a man of luck. He has extraordinary literary talent and his poem was so clever that he became famous in Jinling.

……

Ever since he parted with Keqing in the Buddhist temple that day, Jia Cong never saw her come to Anding Temple again, and he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

But when he met Qin Ye again, he found that he was a little strange. In the past, when they met in the official residence, Qin Ye would always chat with him enthusiastically, but now his attitude towards him was very cold.

Jia Cong exchanged a few pleasantries with him, but Qin Ye just responded casually and walked away, which made Jia Cong very puzzled.

Could it be that Qin Ye had already noticed what was going on between him and Keqing that day in Ci'an Hall? In fact, this was not surprising. Qin Ye was just busy on the construction site every day and did not pay attention to this.

No one knows a daughter better than her father. If Keqing's words and expressions reveal something that makes Qin Ye think more, he will naturally notice it. That can explain his sudden change in attitude towards her.

If it was really as he guessed, it at least meant that Keqing was fine. She might have been detained at home and was no longer allowed to come to Anding Temple.

Keqing had never told Qin Ye where the Qin family lived in Jinling, and Jia Cong didn't dare to ask Qin Ye, for fear of making things worse and bringing trouble to Keqing.

If it was really as he guessed, he was probably a lecher in Qin Ye's mind, so how could he tell him.

That day in the incense room, the two of them were a little forgetful. What would it matter if they met again?

After copying scriptures for several days in such a restless mood, one day, Prince Ning's personal guard came to deliver a message.

Prince Ning will set out to return to the capital the day after tomorrow. The heads of various government offices in Jinling are hosting a farewell banquet for Prince Ning at Zhujiang Tower in the east of the city. Prince Ning sends a message asking Jia Cong to attend the banquet together.

This time, the Jinling Longtan Port case was really solved. When the case reached a stalemate, Jia Cong unraveled the mystery, found another way, and found new clues.

Afterwards, the ronin were gathered and annihilated in Qixia Mountain, the salt soldiers were mobilized into the city of Yangzhou, Zou Huaiyi was rounded up at the birthday banquet at the Zou Mansion, and the news was passed on in the city of Jinling to control the situation. In almost every matter, Jia Cong made a huge contribution.

With such merits, he naturally had to be present at Prince Ning's banquet.

The fact that he had such strategies and tactics at such a young age made Prince Ning think highly of him. If he was not afraid of the emperor's suspicion, he would even have considered bringing him into Prince Ning's palace as an official.

Although he was not the eldest son of the emperor, he was diligent and pragmatic in his daily work, courteous to others, and made friends with wise and talented people. He had a good reputation both inside and outside the court.

Jia Cong was not only an excellent poet, but also had an extraordinary appearance at a young age, full of strange ideas and strategies, which was amazing.

When Zou Huaiyi's case was settled, Prince Ning praised Jia Cong's ability and asked for credit for him in his memorial, but Emperor Jia Zhao sealed the case and sent it back to the Ministry of Personnel for consideration.

This made Prince Ning a little wary. The emperor had always been kind to Jia Cong. Last time, he used the three-stage attack method to promote Jia Cong to the seventh rank.

But this time, he again praised Jia Cong and was commended by the emperor. Could it be that he had done this again and again, making his father realize that he was trying to win over Jia Cong?

Emperor Jia Zhao's practice of conferring an honor was just a euphemistic refusal. Sure enough, the Ministry of Personnel reviewed the matter and said that Jia Cong's admission as a scholar and his new appointment as a seventh-rank official was a special case, and his recognition of merit should be postponed.

In other words, he was only a scholar, but he was awarded the seventh-rank official title, which was an extremely rare case.

According to the custom of the imperial court, the number one scholar would only be appointed as an editor of the Hanlin Academy of the sixth rank. If a scholar of the seventh rank were to be promoted again, wouldn't he be on the same level as the number one scholar?

Unless he ranks among the top three in the future or has made other special achievements, he can be promoted. Otherwise, Jia Cong has reached the limit of what can be given to him, so the promotion should be postponed.

(End of this chapter)