Chapter 679

Seeing Mo Lan, who had been full of triumph just a moment ago, saw her triumphant smile freeze on her face after hearing Rulan's whispered words.

Seeing Mo Lan had participated in many such poetry gatherings before, and although she had recited a few of her own proud works, none had ever had such an impact as these two lines.

Looking at the admiring, appreciative, and somewhat worshipful gazes of those noble young ladies, Seeing Mo Lan herself had not yet enjoyed it enough.

Lifting her chin slightly, Seeing Mo Lan blocked her mouth with her round fan, tilted her head, and whispered: "Fifth Sister, if you say it, I will certainly lose face, but the Sheng family's reputation will also be lost. If Father finds out..."

Upon hearing this, the somewhat triumphant expression behind Rulan's round fan vanished, and she whispered: "Fourth Sister, how could you be like this!"

To the side, Pinlan, who was unaware of the situation, looked back and forth as the conversation progressed.

Minglan frowned, took a deep breath, and whispered: "Fourth Sister, we naturally won't make a scene, but we will tell the Young Xiao Xiao Gongye."

Rulan's eyes lit up: "Right, we'll tell Brother Yuanruo. If he finds out what you did today, Fourth Sister, I wonder what he will think!"

Minglan whispered: "The young lady of the Chai family is the Young Xiao Xiao Gongye's cousin, Fourth Sister!"

Seeing Mo Lan's expression panicked, and she whispered: "You, you all!"

After speaking, Seeing Mo Lan looked toward the noble young ladies in the garden again.

The noble young ladies in the courtyard were still appreciating these two lines of poetry.

Rong Feiyan sat straight in her chair with her chin slightly raised, nodding continuously, the ornaments on her hair bun swaying along.

Looking at the Han Han Wu Niang of the Li family, who was silently writing down these two lines of poetry to the side, Rong Feiyan recited them carefully twice, then said softly with admiration in her eyes: "'Dampen my clothes,' 'apricot blossom,' 'rain'—these words are truly used well by Fourth Young Lady Sheng."

Not far away, Hai Chaoyun had a look of reminiscence in her eyes, as if she were thinking of a spring rain she had experienced, and she said with a graceful expression: "The poem doesn't say the spring rain is as fine as silk, but as soon as the four words 'dampen my clothes' come out, it makes people feel as if they are in the rain; it is truly marvelous."

The noble young ladies around them nodded one after another to show their agreement upon hearing this.

"Fourth Young Lady Sheng, are there only these two lines?" Chai Zhengzheng asked with a smile.

As soon as Chai Zhengzheng asked, the noble young ladies around them nodded one after another and looked at Seeing Mo Lan with expectation.

Seeing Mo Lan took two deep breaths, a smile appeared on her face, she glanced at her three younger sisters beside her, and then bowed gently to everyone in the garden.

Seeing this, the young ladies were a bit confused.

After Seeing Mo Lan finished her salute, she smiled: "I have made you all laugh. To tell you the truth, these two lines of poetry were actually heard by chance when I was studying at our family's school. Seeing that they matched the 'Spring Rain' topic, I recited them."

As soon as these words were spoken,

The expressions of the noble young ladies in the garden were all different.

Some were surprised, some felt it was a pity, some raised their eyebrows, and others curled their lips.

As the host of the day, Shen Hezhen nodded with a seemingly steady expression, smiled like a little adult, and praised: "I have always heard that the renowned Scholar Zhuang is now teaching at the Sheng family; could it be that this was a casual work by this old gentleman?"

After Shen Hezhen finished speaking, the people in the garden had expressions of sudden realization on their faces.

Rulan, who was beside Seeing Mo Lan, frowned and was about to stand up to speak, but was grabbed by Minglan, who was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and whispered in her ear: "Fifth Sister, wait until Fourth Sister finishes speaking."

Rulan listened to the advice, pursed her lips, sat down, and stared straight at Seeing Mo Lan, waiting for what would come next.

Seeing Mo Lan smiled and shook her head: "Not so, these two lines are not the casual work of Scholar Zhuang."

Before Seeing Mo Lan could continue, the Han Han Wu Niang of the Zhang family looked at Minglan, who was speaking, and her eyes lit up as she smiled: "Ah? Right! I heard before that the younger brother of Sixth Young Lady Sheng passed the county examination at a young age; could it be..."

Minglan, who was to the side, saw this and hurriedly raised both hands, waving them repeatedly to deny it: "Sister Zhang, it's not my younger brother, it's not him."

As she spoke, Minglan looked at Seeing Mo Lan with a hint of urging in her eyes.

Seeing Mo Lan took a deep breath and smiled: "Everyone, these two lines of poetry are the work of a classmate at the school, Fifth Cousin Xu."

After Seeing Mo Lan finished speaking, she bowed again with a smile, lowered her eyes, and sat back in her seat.

The noble young ladies in the garden had different expressions.

Chai Zhengzheng and Rong Feiyan were both stunned when they heard the words "Xu family."

Chai Zhengzheng couldn't control the smile at the corners of her mouth, while Rong Feiyan was lost in thought, not knowing what she was thinking about.

The Han Han Wu Niang of the Zhang family's eyes lit up, and she smiled: "Ah? It's actually the work of Xu Wu Ge Xu! Tsk! Truly not bad!"

Hai Chaoyun, Shen Hezhen, and the young ladies from official families like the Han Han Wu Niang of the Li family nodded repeatedly.

The Han Han Wu Niang of the Li family leaned forward, squinting her eyes, looked at Hai Chaoyun beside her, and smiled: "There was a poem 'The rain on the heavenly street is as moist as ghee' before; that was also composed by Xu Wu Ge Xu, right?"

Hai Chaoyun nodded with a smile: "Hmm! It seems to have been three years ago, right?"

The Han Han Wu Niang of the Li family echoed from the side: "Yes, I remember that year was exactly when the Marquis of Xiangyang had a son and Sister Anmei got married."

The female official from the palace, who was standing behind the Han Han Wu Niang of the Li family, listened to the chat of the noble young ladies and nodded slowly; she probably had some new topics to talk about after returning to the palace.

The poetry gathering continued,

And the noble young ladies continued to discuss poetry and songs.

Hai Chaoyun, who was to the side, listened to the voices around her and somehow fell into deep thought; she vaguely remembered that during the Lantern Festival that year, she had also heard a poem by Xu Zaijing, which she had even modified on the spot.

After a while,

"Sisters, we have been discussing poetry for some time; why don't we take a rest and taste some fragrant tea?"

Shen Hezhen said with a smile.

The guests naturally all agreed.

The Shen family maids then brought over various kinds of tea leaves.

"Shuangjing, Xieyuan, Yunwu, Yujin, Jinpian. Sister Hezhen, the fine teas you have here are truly complete," Chai Zhengzheng said with a look of surprise.

Upon hearing this, the Han Han Wu Niang of the Zhang family, who had a look of confusion on her face, showed a look of sudden realization and smiled: "Right, right, this tea is called Yujin; I almost didn't recognize it."

On the other side,

Rulan, who only recognized one type of tea, pursed her lips, looked at Minglan and Pinlan beside her, and said: "How many did you recognize?"

Pinlan held up four fingers, hesitated for a moment, then put one down and said: "Three."

Minglan pursed her lips, looked at Pinlan, and said softly: "I also recognized three."

Seeing Mo Lan, who was to the side, curled her lips: "Five types of tea leaves, it's not that hard to recognize."

"Then Fourth Sister, why don't you tell us and introduce them?" Rulan smiled.

Seeing Mo Lan's expression faltered, and she turned her head and snorted coldly: "Go home and read your books."

In the garden,

Shen Hezhen smiled like a little adult and said: "These are all little things produced by our family's tea garden. If you sisters like them, it is my honor."

Chai Zhengzheng nodded with a smile, turned to look at Miss Yun Mu, and said softly: "It looks about the same as the tea sent by our family's tea shop."

Miss Yun Mu nodded, bent down, and whispered: "Yes, Young Lady! The servant also remembers that if the family makes a large purchase of tea leaves in the West Jiangnan Circuit, the Shen family's tea shop also supplies them."

"Hmm."

Subsequently,

Everyone tasted the tea leaves.

The four Lans of the Sheng family looked at the noble young ladies who were talking from time to time, listening to the comments they didn't quite understand.

The maids like Xique, Xiaotao, and Yunzai also looked at the maids beside the noble young ladies like Chai Zhengzheng with blank expressions, watching them skillfully manipulate the tea sets and make tea soup.

After having lunch at noon, the afternoon was spent arranging flowers and tasting incense.

The four Lans of the Sheng family rarely spoke, mostly watching and listening; after all, they hadn't specifically learned these things yet.

In the afternoon,

Everyone returned home, and Shen Hezhen gave gifts to everyone.

Moreover, before the four Lans of the Sheng family left, Shen Hezhen held Pinlan's hand again and said a few words, which made Pinlan feel very honored and nod repeatedly with a smile.

In the evening,

Jingying Lane, Sheng family.

Lin Qige, outer room of the main house.

Seeing Mo Lan held a box of premium tea leaves in her hands and smiled: "Father, it is because your daughter recited the poem well that the Shen family young lady specially gifted these boxes of tea."

Sheng Hong waved his hand with a smile: "Mo'er, Father has tea here; you should keep such good tea for yourself."

Lin Qinshuang, who was to the side, looked at Sheng Hong with a smile: "Honglang, this is all Mo'er's heart; you should accept it, don't hurt the child's filial piety."

After glancing at Lin Qinshuang, Sheng Hong smiled and reached out to Seeing Mo Lan: "Good! Then Father will listen to your mother and accept Mo'er's gift."

Seeing Mo Lan bowed with a smile and handed the tea to Sheng Hong.

"Good child! Father didn't dote on you in vain."

Seeing Mo Lan smiled.

Lin Qinshuang smiled and took the tea from Sheng Hong's hand, opened the wooden box, took out the tea cake, and handed it to Sheng Hong.

"Sniff, sniff." Sheng Hong smelled it, his eyes full of surprise, and said: "Hiss, this tea smells truly wonderful!"

Upon hearing this, Seeing Mo Lan's smile became even brighter.

The next day,

Nanjiangtang Lane, Rong family, Huixue Courtyard.

Early in the morning,

The golden sunlight from the east crossed the eaves and shone on the wall of the west wing in the courtyard.

The flowers and trees in the courtyard, which had already turned green, swayed gently in the morning breeze.

After the sound of footsteps, Rong Feiyan, with a smile on her face and accompanied by four maids, stepped over the moon gate and entered the courtyard.

"Seeing Xi Bu, you say, can a child this big recognize people?"

Seeing Xi Bu smiled: "Young Lady, he should be able to recognize people! The little young master even smiled when he saw you!"

Rong Feiyan nodded with a smile: "Looking at it, with an extra wet nurse, that little guy has gained quite a bit of weight these days!"

Ningxiang smiled from the side: "Young Lady is right! The servant thinks the little young master is closer to you."

Rong Feiyan smiled: "I wonder when my brother will return to the mansion! He will probably be very surprised when he sees such a big, chubby boy."

The mistress and servants chatted as they entered the room.

Inside the room,

"By the way, Seeing Xi Bu, bring over the notebook where you copied the poems from yesterday's Shen family gathering."

"Yes, Young Lady."

"Is the Young Lady going to write? I will grind the ink for you," Ningxiang smiled from the side.

"Hmm."

Rong Feiyan nodded with a smile and sat in the chair behind the table.

A moment later,

Seeing Xi Bu handed over a thin little booklet.

Rong Feiyan lifted her chin, and Seeing Xi Bu knowingly placed it on the table.

Subsequently, Rong Feiyan propped her chin with one hand and flipped through it with the other.

Standing by the table, Ningxiang, who was grinding the ink, gave Seeing Xi Bu a meaningful smile, but was warned by Seeing Xi Bu with a glare.

Seeing this, Ningxiang hurriedly put away her smile and continued to grind the ink.

After Rong Feiyan looked at the booklet for a few moments, she reached out her hand.

Ningxiang hurriedly took a brush from the brush rack, moistened it with ink, and handed it to Rong Feiyan.

After writing a few characters, Rong Feiyan flipped through the booklet again.

Looking at the two lines of poetry in the booklet, the corners of Rong Feiyan's mouth lifted unconsciously, and then she began to write carefully.

At this moment,

Seeing Xi Bu, who had left, walked over with tea soup: "Young Lady, moisten your throat."

"Hmm, put it there," Rong Feiyan said without raising her head.

Seeing Xi Bu replied in the affirmative, put down the tea cup, and took the opportunity to glance at the characters her young lady had written.

When she looked up again, Seeing Xi Bu helplessly made eye contact with Ningxiang, who was smiling again.

Ningxiang's eyes were full of "See, I guessed right."

Seeing Xi Bu could only smile.

After writing for a while, Rong Feiyan looked at the characters on the paper and nodded with satisfaction.

Seeing Xi Bu took a look and said: "Young Lady, the servant thinks these characters you wrote are truly good; why not find someone to mount them?"

Rong Feiyan pursed her lips and thought for a moment, looked around the room, nodded, and said: "My room is indeed lacking a bit of literary atmosphere; alright, mount them."

Ningxiang, who was listening to their conversation from the side, looked at Seeing Xi Bu with admiration in her eyes and thought to herself: It's no wonder they say Sister Seeing Xi Bu is the maid closest to the Young Lady; look at how she says things.

The paper with the characters was taken out by a little maid, and Rong Feiyan sat in the chair and drank a sip of tea soup, saying: "The wedding date for Qingzhi, who is beside Sister Pingmei, is near, right?"

"Yes, Young Lady."

"Prepare some gifts to send; if the money is not enough, come find me."

Ningxiang smiled: "Young Lady, the servant thinks we should forget about the gifts; money is more suitable."

Rong Feiyan was taken aback, remembered some interesting anecdotes about Alan, and nodded with a smile: "Then I will follow what you say."

Another day passed.

The morning weather was still fine,

But at noon, dark clouds drifted over and covered the sun.

In the afternoon,

When Rong Feiyan, who had taken a nap for a while, woke up, it was already gloomy outside.

"Seeing Xi Bu, what time is it?" Rong Feiyan asked while stretching.

"Replying to Young Lady, it has just passed the Weishi hour." (After 1:00 PM.)

Rong Feiyan said: "Hmm! Looking at the sky outside, it doesn't look like the Weishi hour."

"Young Lady is right," Ningxiang, who walked in from outside, echoed, saying: "It looks like evening."

As she spoke, Ningxiang also patted the clothes on her body.

"Is it raining outside?" Rong Feiyan asked in surprise.

"Yes, Young Lady, but the rain is not heavy," Ningxiang smiled.

"Oh?" As she spoke, Rong Feiyan slipped on her shoes, grabbed a jacket, and walked quickly toward the outside.

"Young Lady, what are you doing? Slow down!" Seeing this, Seeing Xi Bu hurriedly chased after her.

"Get a cloak for the Young Lady," Seeing Xi Bu ordered while chasing.

"Oh, oh." Ningxiang looked at Rong Feiyan's back and walked quickly to the side.

Chasing her young lady out of the room, Seeing Xi Bu saw her young lady already standing still in the courtyard, closing her eyes and tilting her head, letting the fine spring rain fall on the tip of her nose, her face, and her eyebrows.

Seeing Rong Feiyan's slightly smiling expression, Seeing Xi Bu looked at the drizzle and ultimately did not go over to disturb her.

"Sister Seeing Xi Bu, the cloak." Ningxiang, who walked out of the room, said as she was about to walk toward Rong Feiyan.

"Hmm? Sister, what's wrong?" Looking at Seeing Xi Bu who was holding her back, Ningxiang asked in confusion.

"Wait a moment, you go get an umbrella first," Seeing Xi Bu said softly while looking at Rong Feiyan.

"Oh."

After a while,

Rong Feiyan, who had a layer of fine raindrops on her hair bun, face, and clothes, opened her eyes with a smile, her gaze bright.

Seeing Xi Bu hurriedly took the cloak and greeted Ningxiang to walk over.

Looking at the maids beside her, Rong Feiyan looked down at her clothes full of water droplets again and said with a smile: "Seeing Xi Bu, Ningxiang, you say, was it in weather like this that he composed those two lines of poetry?"

Ningxiang looked up, only caring about whether the umbrella was covering Rong Feiyan, and was taken aback when she heard the question.

Seeing Xi Bu put the cloak on Rong Feiyan: "That person rides a horse to school every day; I think it is as the Young Lady said."

Upon hearing this,

Rong Feiyan's eyes curved into smiles, and she leaned her head out of the umbrella to look at the rainy sky, pursed her lips, and smiled: "Truly wonderful."

(End of chapter)