Chapter 207: Hidden Secrets in Calligraphy

In the fifth month, the streets began to overflow with festive cheer. Business at gift shops for birthday celebrations became noticeably brisk, and restaurants and brothels also became lively.

The Zhen'an Prefecture and Qinian Prefecture of the Love Shenjing dispatched large numbers of yamen runners to clear the streets of thieves, arrest local ruffians, round up beggars and refugees, and open porridge stalls outside the city to feed the poor.

The entire Love Shenjing presented an atmosphere where strict order and harmony coexisted.

The reason for such a scene was that the fifth month was the Retired Emperor's 65th birthday, and Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao had issued an edict for the entire Love Shenjing to celebrate.

The Zhen'an Prefecture and Qinian Prefecture naturally had to clean up the Love Shenjing to match the glorious atmosphere of the Retired Emperor's birthday.

At that time, the nobles and titled ladies of the Love Shenjing would all enter the palace to offer birthday greetings.

Since the end of last year, the Ministry of Rites had hired famous masters from various places to instruct various zither players, singers, and dancers.

After half a year of preparation, they had prepared grand music and dance stunts to be performed at the Retired Emperor's Chonghua Palace. It was said to be spectacular and rare to see.

On the day of the Retired Emperor's birthday, restaurants, teahouses, theaters, and brothels within the Love Shenjing would not be closed all night, sharing the joy with the people.

Because Qin Ye was still in Jin Ling presiding over the construction of the secondary hall of the Daci'en Temple, there were only women in the Qin residence. In a scholarly and official family, the rules of the house were strict, and it was inconvenient for Jia Cong to visit alone.

After the 15th of the first month, Jia Cong had taken Qingwen to visit the Qin residence in Guizhi Lane once.

Jia Mu sighed, "Brother Zhen inherited his title while young, and his father has always wasted his time in Daoist temples. Without anyone to restrain him, he has been allowed to be carefree. For these ten-plus years, he has been overly extravagant; even a family fortune of ten thousand strings of cash could not withstand such tossing."

Wang Xifeng said, "Getting married only happens once, so just muddling through it will be fine. I heard Brother Zhen has also been looking for a livelihood recently; I suppose he is considering the logic of the days to come."

Wang Xifeng was reporting to Jia Mu and Lady Wang about the distribution of monthly allowances and the expenditure of silver in various places in the manor.

Rongqing Hall.

Those eight or nine fields and manors in the Eastern Prefecture don't even yield five thousand taels of harvest all year round. Brother Zhen's expenses over there are even greater than ours, so naturally, he finds it difficult to use silver."

She added, "Old Matriarch, the Eastern Prefecture is preparing for Brother Rong's wedding. This morning, Brother Zhen borrowed three thousand taels of silver from our public funds to use for the wedding."

Jia Mu asked in surprise, "Why borrow so much silver all at once? The Eastern Prefecture's foundation is not inferior to ours; how did they become so short?"

When Qingwen returned, she brought back a message from Keqing: "Wait peacefully to be married, do not worry, study peacefully."

He had taken Qingwen with him so that she could visit Keqing in the name of visiting Ruizhu. In fact, he also knew that doing such a thing had no meaning.

At the same time, the Ningguo Prefecture also spread the good news of the wedding of the heir, Jia Rong...

But after parting in Jin Ling, they couldn't just be silent. To say there was no attachment would be deceiving oneself.

And the news that had been circulating since the beginning of the year—that the Emperor would open an Imperial Grace Examination for the Retired Emperor's 65th birthday—was finally confirmed.

"I heard Brother Zhen values Brother Rong's marriage highly and wants to hold a grand ceremony to gain some face outside, which is why he borrowed silver from us, saying he would pay it back in two months at most."

Wang Xifeng replied, "The Old Matriarch may not know, but the climate in the north has been abnormal these past few years. When the Wu Jinxiao brothers came to the capital to offer gifts during the New Year, they said that the north has had constant droughts and floods these past two years, and the weather has been abnormally cold."

Scholars from all over Yongzhou participating in the provincial examination and successful candidates from all over the Great Zhou participating in the metropolitan examination were rushing to the Love Shenjing from all over like wind and clouds.

Jia Cong thought about Keqing's message for a long time, remembered the scene he saw at the Chunhua Tower last year, and finally let go of his thoughts, focusing his energy on the Autumn Examination first.

Jia Cong felt a bit disappointed upon hearing Keqing's message, but he had long expected such a result. The rules of propriety were strict, and marriages were arranged by matchmakers; it was no child's play.

Lady Wang asked, "Brother Zhen wants to hold a grand wedding, but which family's daughter is he marrying that he values it so much?"

Wang Xifeng laughed, "Speaking of Brother Zhen's in-laws, they are not outsiders. They are colleagues of the Master in the Ministry of Works, Qin Ye, the Director of Construction. Brother Rong is marrying his only daughter."

Qingzhi Studio.

When Daiyu walked into the courtyard, she saw Jia Cong writing rapidly with a brush under the window of the East Study.

Daiyu knew he had to do his homework of writing essays and policy papers every day, so she didn't go to the study to disturb him, but went straight to the main room to find Zhi Shao, Wu'er, and the others to talk.

Entering the room, she didn't see their figures; only Zhen Ying Lian was copying calligraphy at the small desk by the window.

She was wearing a crimson printed jacket with a white cross-collar coat and a pale pink long skirt, with a bright yellow red gold neck ring on her neck. Although she hadn't shed her youthful greenness, she was already pretty and moving.

Daiyu walked up and saw that Zhen Ying Lian was practicing Jia Cong's calligraphy style. Judging by her appearance, she had already practiced it to quite a level.

Daiyu was not surprised. The few maids in the Third Brother's room were all literate. Zhen Ying Lian managed the Third Brother's study and was influenced by the scholarly atmosphere of the Third Brother, so she would not be weaker than others in literary matters.

Daiyu herself was full of learning, and naturally felt close to a woman like Zhen Ying Lian who had literary cultivation. She stood behind her and watched her copy the calligraphy for a long time.

However, her attention was soon attracted by the content of Zhen Ying Lian's writing. It was actually a new poem she had never seen before, and then her eyes turned to the copybook she was using.

Daiyu knew Jia Cong was good at poetry. In his early years, he wrote poems about plum blossoms in Nanxi, and in Jin Ling, he wrote two new poems, "Man Jiang Hong" and "Lin Jiang Xian," which won him the great reputation of being famous in Jiangnan.

It was just that after returning to the Love Shenjing, she had never seen him write any new poems, because Jia Cong had been busy studying hard for the past few months, preparing for the Autumn Examination, and the sisters didn't mention new poems in front of him, fearing it would distract him.

Daiyu couldn't wait to take Zhen Ying Lian's copybook and found that it recorded seven poems. Except for the three she was familiar with, the other four were new poems she had never seen before.

The style of the poems was either magnificent, elegant, gentle, or generous. These new poems were all very outstanding, and each one had the potential to be passed down through the ages.

Daiyu asked with a face full of surprise, "Zhen Ying Lian, are these poems newly written by the Third Brother?"

Zhen Ying Lian replied, "They aren't exactly newly written. They were all written by the Young Master in his spare time when he was in Jin Ling. Usually, they were thrown in the study, and later he bound them and gave them to me to use as a copybook."

Daiyu heard this, and a strange expression appeared on her face. She laughed, "Zhen Ying Lian, you are truly the most decent woman in our manor."

Zhen Ying Lian looked at Daiyu's smiling face, but she herself looked dazed, not understanding what Daiyu meant.

Daiyu laughed, "These new poems of the Third Brother are all enough to be passed down through the ages, yet they are unknown to anyone. If others got one, they would treat it like a treasure."

"He treats them like ordinary things, casually giving them to you to use as a copybook. You say what a luxury and decency you have. The Third Brother truly does not act according to common sense."

When Daiyu saw one of the poems, her arched eyebrows couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Meeting without speaking, a hibiscus in the autumn rain."

"A faint flush of red, the phoenix hairpin sliding down the hair bun."

"Waiting to call out softly, fearing that others will see the deep affection."

"Wanting to tell of the hidden feelings, turning around the railing to knock on the jade hairpin."

The meaning of the poem was gentle and lingering, the sorrow of seeing but not being able to be together, the thoughts of hibiscus and hairpins—it was clearly written for a woman.

Although the Third Brother and Sister Bao also met in Jin Ling, they actually only met once in Jin Ling.

Usually, when the sisters were together, she knew very well how the Third Brother treated Sister Bao. This poem must be for someone else.

Daiyu asked, "Zhen Ying Lian, for whom was the Third Brother's poem written?"

Zhen Ying Lian looked at the poem, her face flushed, and she said timidly, "I... I don't know either."

When they were in Jin Ling, Zhen Ying Lian and Qingwen took turns following Jia Cong to the Anding Temple to copy scriptures. How could she not know for whom the Young Master wrote this poem?

It was just that Qingwen had warned her that after returning to the Jia manor, she must not tell the origin of this poem, and the Miss Qin at the Anding Temple—she must not mention a word, otherwise it would harm the Third Master.

Although Zhen Ying Lian knew that Miss Lin was close to the Young Master, she didn't dare to reveal a word about anything that would harm the Young Master, even to Miss Lin.

Daiyu saw her expression and understood immediately. She was truly a stupid girl; she didn't even know how to lie.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 208 =====