Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 26: Dirty Talent
After everyone was seated, a maid came to lead Jia Cong to his seat. However, his seat was at the large desk outside the stone pavilion.

He was the recorder of this literary gathering and was required to copy the poems and essays produced at the gathering. This desk was specially arranged for him.

At this time, the sky was covered with rolling clouds, the winter sun gradually dimmed, and soon a drizzle fell.

Zhang Yuqing, who was sitting on the table, smiled and said, "On the Lantern Festival, the sky rained, which is a good sign that the Water God will help you get rid of the disaster. Your Majesty has chosen a good day for the literary gathering. Today, we will surely produce some excellent works."

Prince Jiashun laughed and said, "Thank you for the good words from the Heavenly Master."

Then he turned to Liu Yanxiu and asked, "Master Liu, why don't we just respond to this scene and use rain as the theme, regardless of poetry or prose, to start today's literary gathering."

Liu Yanxiu said: "Very good, I will do as your Highness says."

Prince Jiashun wrote down the topic and struck the jade chime on the table. A female official came forward to take the topic, showed it to the reception maid, and then passed it down along the canal.

The Nanxi Literary Festival in the tenth year of Jiazhao thus kicked off.

Everyone present here is a person of profound talent and learning. All of them want to use this literary gathering to promote their own reputations. Before coming, each of them had prepared a proud speech.

But it was not difficult for them to answer questions asked by Prince Jiashun. They just needed to spend more time and figure out the answer.

In less than a cup of tea, someone put the manuscript of the poem into a wooden box and let it drift away in the Qingqu.

This clear canal was cleverly constructed. Although the stone pavilion was located on a slightly higher ground, the draft poems in the canal water were able to flow upstream and smoothly into the stone pavilion.

A female official took it out and presented it to Jiashun, Qing Wang and three others.

Liu Yanxiu, Prince Jiashun, and Zhang Yuqing were all famous figures of the time with extraordinary vision and perspective. They commented and pondered over the poems submitted to them, and laughed heartily in the process.

Thinking that there were many excellent works among the submitted poems, everyone put the poems they had read into three sandalwood trays, one with plum blossoms, one with peonies, and one with chrysanthemums, to distinguish them.

Finally, the three trays were sent to Jia Cong's desk, and he copied them in volumes. After the literary gathering, these manuscripts would be compiled into books and circulated in the capital and even the literati of the Great Zhou.

Originally, Jia Cong was short of money, and writing five pieces of rough paper every day was considered a luxury. Later, Tanchun and Prince Jiashun both sent him a large amount of pens and ink, and he earned some money.

There is no need to be too busy when practicing calligraphy. In addition to studying the Four Books every day, you should get up early in the morning to practice on ten sheets of rice paper, and practice five more sheets before going to bed. Put your whole body into every word and study it carefully.

I have satisfied my addiction to practicing calligraphy. In just one month, the muscle memory of my body has gradually formed, and the previous slight stagnation in my body has disappeared without a trace.

At this moment, he held his wrist in the air and wrote swiftly, copying out a stack of poems every once in a while. His calligraphy was ancient and beautiful, yet it revealed a hint of sophistication.

Wu Jinrong, who was not far away, glanced at Jia Cong who was concentrating on writing, and a trace of contempt flashed in his eyes.

The scholars from the Hanlin Academy who were invited this time are all the best among the scholars. In order to prevent any talents from being missed, each scholar can recommend one person to participate in the literary gathering.

These Hanlin Academy scholars have their eyes on the top of their heads. Whether the people they recommend are genuine or not represents their vision and decency.

So there is no need to worry that these people will bring some untalented relatives and friends to fill in the gaps.

Some individuals cannot find talented people around them, and would rather give up the recommendation opportunity than to make a random recommendation and ruin their own reputation.

Wu Jinrong brought his cousin Qiu Xuanfu. Although his cousin was not a Jinshi, he was a Juren and was quite talented. He had some fame in the scholar circle in Shenjing.

It was just a coincidence that Jia Cong grew up in the East Courtyard, and few people from other places knew him. However, Qiu Xuanfu was one of those few people, and there was a reason for that.

Qiu Xuanfu's elders were relatives of Jia Huang's elders from another mansion, and the two families visited each other all year round. As a result, Qiu Xuanfu got to know a girl from Jia Huang's neighboring family.

The woman was about the same age as Qiu Xuanfu, with a beautiful appearance and a slender and charming figure, and Qiu Xuanfu fell in love with her at first sight.

The woman also liked Qiu Xuanfu, a scholar with a good reputation. Although the two of them had not yet committed adultery, they had already made a promise to be in love.

But there are unexpected events, Jia Huang likes to curry favor with the relatives of Ning and Rong families, so as to make some money and live a good life. He knows that Jia She is the most greedy for women, and there is such a beautiful girl next door, so how can he not go to seduce her and do evil.

So he found an opportunity and let Jia She meet the girl next door. How could Jia She not be moved by such a beauty?

So, with the help of Jia Huang, Jia She spent a thousand taels of silver to take the woman as his concubine.

The girl came from a poor family and had lived in poverty since she was old enough to understand things. How could she have seen much about human nature and the world?

Now that she has the honor of marrying into a wealthy Duke's family, how could she not be unwilling? She has long forgotten her poor, scholarly lover.

Qiu Xuanfu has always been proud of his talent and was arrogant. Now, his dignity and love were trampled on like dog shit, and he almost went crazy.

From then on, he hated Jia She to the core. He did not know his own limitations and always wanted to take revenge on this first-class general who had stolen his love so as to vent his anger.

He couldn't help but pay attention to everything around Jia She, and it didn't take him long to find a huge flaw or stain like Jia Cong's.

Today he had made up his mind to find an opportunity to publicize Jia Cong's embarrassing life experience at this literary gathering that gathered together the celebrities from the capital.

As long as the topic was brought out, it would spread all over the capital the next day. He severely humiliated Jia She and vented his anger.

Although he was somewhat puzzled as to why Jia Cong, at his age, was invited to be the recorder of the literary gathering.

But seeing that he was on good terms with Liu Bi, one guessed that his calligraphy was good. It must have been Liu Bi who begged his grandfather, and Prince Jiashun went along with it and gave Liu Yanxiu face.

As for whether he would offend Liu Yanxiu by making things difficult for Jia Cong, he didn't care. He was just a corrupt scholar who had retired and lived in seclusion for ten years.

How many people in the officialdom today still remember him? Anyway, he will never be able to use him in his life, so he might as well offend him.

Wu Jinrong glanced at Qiu Xuanfu who was sitting next to him, and saw him staring at Jia Cong with hatred in his eyes, and he couldn't help but frown.

My cousin is talented, but he is a little short-sighted. He keeps worrying about these bullshit all day long, even for a woman who is fickle.

Wu Jinrong was good at scheming. Knowing that Liu Bi was the eldest grandson of Emperor Wenzong Liu Yanxiu at the time, he tried to make friends with him. Originally, the relationship between the two was pretty good.

Seeing Liu Bi's cold expression today, it was probably because I had joined Zhou Junxing and made the other party dislike me.

These families of poetry and literature value reputation the most, and the friendship between him and Liu Bi is unique.

In order to save himself, he did not hesitate to join the notorious cruel official Zhou Junxing, knowing that he would never be able to be an upright person again in this life.

In this case, he was happy to see Liu Bi's friend make a fool of himself. If something went wrong, he would just say that his cousin acted on his own and he was not aware of it.

People like Liu Yanxiu couldn't blame him, and he didn't care whether his cousin would get into trouble because of this.

Just a cousin.

At this time, two cups of tea had passed since Prince Jiashun left to pass on the questions.

Among those participating in the literary gathering today, some are good at studying classics, some have made achievements in the interpretation of scriptures and articles, but not everyone is good at poetry.

However, since I am participating in a literary gathering, I have to write something that suits the occasion. Even if I can't write an outstanding poem, it's no problem at least writing one.

Wu Jinrong noticed that everyone present had finished writing their poems. He and Qiu Xuanfu had also finished their poems and put them into the Qingqu to pass them up.

Qiu Xuanfu, who was standing beside him, drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, his cheeks slightly flushed. He looked at Jia Cong who was copying furiously, and the sharpness and contempt in his eyes became more and more obvious.

Wu Jinrong sneered in his heart, waiting for a good show to begin.

(End of this chapter)