Chapter 15: Is There Any Other Excellent Work?

Elder Zhou clapped three times, and the maids filed in one after another, placing bowls and utensils on each table.

"There are no set formats; poetry, lyrics, essays, novels, and prose are all acceptable. The elders will judge, and the best work will win a top-grade She inkstone."

Lu Beigu noticed that inkstone resting on the main table; its stone was a dark green-black, and the ink pool naturally formed ice-crack patterns.

Given the Zhou family's wealth, since this object could be placed here as a prize for the literary banquet, it must be quite valuable.

After all, the Zhou family had purchased the rights to the brewing industry around Anle Creek.

—No doubt this was also the reason the other party chose 'wine' as the theme.

In later eras, the Chishui River would become the most important production area for strong-aroma baijiu in the country, with many famous baijiu brands originating there, such as Langjiu.

And the reason the brewing industry in this place was so developed was due to its unique geographical conditions: the valley's high temperatures, frost-free and humid microclimate, combined with clear water quality and glutinous sorghum that grew exceptionally well; one could say there was no place in the entire world more suitable for brewing strong-aroma baijiu than here.

In the present Great Song, the predecessor of Langjiu, the "Fengqu Fajiu" brewed with high-quality Daqu from Erlangtan, was already a wine of great renown, and the very wine placed on their tables was this one.

After everyone raised their wine cups, Lu Beigu took a careful sip of the "Fengqu Fajiu".

The wine entered the mouth with a rich and soft texture; the tip of the tongue first tasted a sweetness, followed by a slight warmth, as if a warm current slid down the throat into the abdomen.

Savoring it further, the aftertaste was long-lasting, and it actually shared a certain spiritual resemblance with the Qinghua Lang he had drunk before.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly; with such a wonderful taste, no wonder this wine was famous throughout the Shu region and even sold far away to Kaifeng.

"How is the taste?" Lu Guangyu, seated at the long table beside him, asked.

"Truly excellent wine!"

"My family is right here in Erlangtan; if you have time these next few days, you can come find me, either to study together or to roam about. At that time, I will take Brother Lu to tour the Tianbao Cave where the wine is stored."

"Very well, then I shall trouble Brother Lu at that time."

At this moment, Elder Zhou's speech reached its conclusion.

"Everyone may indulge freely; today's literary banquet has no time limit, we only seek excellent works."

Among the guests, some buried their heads eating, others pondered deeply, and some, after drinking a few cups of fine wine, were suddenly struck by poetic inspiration and began to write furiously with their brushes.

Lu Guangyu leaned over and whispered, "Brother Lu, do you have a draft in mind?"

"No draft in mind, but hunger in the belly is indeed real."

Lu Beigu said earnestly, "As for what to write, I do have some ideas; anyway, let's first see everyone's level. If there are already pearls and jade before us, there is no need to insist on stealing the spotlight."

He thought very clearly: the purpose of the Zhou family holding this book club and literary banquet was simply to make Zhou Mingyuan, who had prepared beforehand, famous.

They provided food, drink, and books to read; he had already taken all the benefits he was entitled to, so if someone wanted to show off, let them show off.

However, while Lu Beigu was enjoying the food to his heart's content, a sudden change occurred at the literary banquet.

Some scholars who had already finished their works handed them to their young attendants to read aloud, while the VIPs in the inner circle were responsible for judging.

And Zhou Mingyuan had even carefully prepared a poem titled "Fengqu Fajiu".

"Fengqu condenses the cloud-liquid, the jade disc transmits the secret method.

The fire stove burns red marrow, golden waves ripple with purple mist.

One drink opens the realm of truth, a second cup penetrates the blue sky.

The fragrance permeates the Jade Pool banquet, where a crowd of immortals, drunk, forget the years."

This poem could not be called a world-shocking masterpiece, but it was evident that Zhou Mingyuan had written it with his own heart.

Overall, it read quite well, and combined with Zhou Mingyuan's status, the crowd immediately burst into applause upon hearing it.

But Ji Yun, who had just put down his brush, let out an untimely snort of laughter.

"What does Young Master Ji mean by this?" Zhou Mingyuan was somewhat annoyed.

"Nothing much."

Ji Yun's words were a pun; whether he meant the other party's poem had no meaning, or that he himself had no other intentions, depended on individual interpretation.

Afterwards, Ji Yun brushed the Xuan paper in his hand.

This was something he had suddenly written just now, inspired by a folk tale he heard in his childhood, combined with the strange tales he had read recently.

The young attendant took it and began to read it aloud to the public, and only then did everyone learn the content.

It turned out to be a strange tale with wine as its theme.

"Record of the Wine Demon

In southern Shu, there is a sweet spring; a hermit is skilled in brewing. He stores it in jars beneath green rocks. Every year at Cold Dew, he opens the seal; the wine fragrance penetrates the forest, and a hundred birds swirl and gather.

One day, a guest in brown clothes knocked on the door, his eyes red like fire, his fingernails growing moss. He smiled and said, 'I hear you have the nectar of the Jade Pool; I wish to exchange it for a great treasure.' He produced ten black jade tablets from his sleeve, which, reflecting the moon, all turned into stubborn stones. The hermit silently pounded the qu, and the guest, angered, withdrew.

The next night, thunder and rain raged fiercely. The guest in brown clothes appeared again. The hermit suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: 'I am just waiting for a distinguished guest to taste the new brew.' He pointed to the jar beneath the rock; the vermilion seal on its lid was not yet dry.

The guest, smelling the wine aroma, immediately became dazed. Without thinking deeply, he drank three dou wildly. In an instant, the wine liquid surged out from his seven orifices, congealing like amber, and actually stuck to the green moss at his feet, inseparable. He revealed his true form: he was a wood spirit transformed from an ancient pine gall.

The next morning, looking for him, the wood spirit was gone; in the jar remained only the coiled roots stained with wine, its strange fragrance not dispersing even after a year. A woodcutter said that deep in the ravine, there was sometimes a snore like thunder; this was because the pine resin, meeting the spring, had re-congealed its soul."

Although the writing was not ornate and the story was simple, it excelled in having a somewhat eerie plot that subtly matched the theme of "wine," reading with a certain interest reminiscent of the Tang Dynasty's "Youyang Zazu".

Furthermore, since this was written on the spot rather than brewed over a long period, Ji Yun's talent made people look at him with even higher regard.

Several VIPs in the inner circle judged one by one.

"Although this text is not orthodox, it has a unique flavor; it is rather like the legacy of Tang legends."

An old man glanced over it a few times and also smiled: "Interesting! This brewer is indeed clever; using the wine jar to restrain the spirit coming to steal the wine has a certain meaning of 'using their own method against them'."

"On closer thought, there is a bit of horror..." someone muttered, after all, why was the wine so fragrant? Who knows how many spirits they might have caught and stuffed into the jars.

"Today's literary banquet is originally for exchanging literary thoughts; why be so rigid? This text, as a novel, fits the theme well; why not temporarily list it as the top choice, what do you say?"

Elder Zhou pondered for a moment; ultimately, unwilling to go against the wishes of these VIPs, he could only reluctantly nod in agreement.

But seeing his son, whose heart was burning with anger, a few degrees of dissatisfaction also rose in his own heart.

He had spent a great deal to hold this book club and literary banquet, with the purpose of making his son famous; now, he had inadvertently made a wedding dress for another merchant's son. Who could feel comfortable in their heart?

But who could be blamed for this? They had prepared for so long in advance, yet were still outperformed by someone's on-the-spot improvisation.

So for Elder Zhou, the matter was no longer about making his son famous; even how much money was spent was no longer important. What mattered was to offer a higher prize, hoping that someone among the crowd present would stand up and suppress Ji Yun, allowing his heart to feel at ease.

"Since everyone's literary spirit is so high today, the one who produces the finest work may choose any three books from the Library Tower to take away."

The Great Song Emphasized literature and enjoyed long periods of peace; thus, the prices of ancient texts in the market were not only no lower than antiques of the same era, but often even higher.

In the Zhou family's Shuyu Tower, there were certainly no Wei-Jin ancient texts, but there were quite a few from the early Tang. If one were minded to seek profit, selecting three early Tang ancient texts to resell would likely yield a pure gain of dozens of guan.

Elder Zhou scanned the entire hall and asked in a loud voice.

"Are there any more masterpieces?"

——————

① Liquan is west of Meishan County in Sichuan; it has two sources, both originating where Panlong Mountain and Song River converge, and later flow into the Yangtze River.

② Xuan Gui, also written as "Xuan Gui", is a type of black jade artifact, pointed at the top and square at the bottom, used in ancient times to reward those who established special achievements.

(End of this chapter)