Chapter 33

Zhi Shao waited in that small courtyard in the West City until nightfall, but seeing that Jia Cong still hadn't returned, she began to feel flustered.

After suffering through until midnight alone, still without a glimpse of Jia Cong, Zhi Shao was truly starting to get scared.

She hid in a corner of the room, wrapped in an unsettling darkness, hugging her knees and weeping.

For so many years, Zhi Shao had accompanied Jia Cong every night; now that he was gone, she simply couldn't fall asleep.

She waited until the east turned white, then waited until the sun climbed to the zenith, its stark light shining through the withered yellow window paper, illuminating the room.

Jia Cong still hadn't appeared. Zhi Shao's tears seemed to have run dry; she remained motionless like a clay statue, as if even her shadow under the sunlight had frozen.

She suddenly twitched, as if waking up all at once: "The Cong Sanye must have forgotten I'm here; he must have returned to the prefecture himself."

"I will go back to the prefecture to find him right now, go back to the prefecture to find him..."

Muttering to herself, she rushed out of the small courtyard. The sunlight outside was dazzling, making her feel dizzy; she hadn't had a drop of water for a day and a night.

But her heart felt like it was burning with fire; she couldn't feel the weakness in her body, and she ran straight toward Jide Fang, facing the wind and snow that hadn't stopped all night.

Lin Daiyu had actually kept it in mind, hearing that the literary gathering was full of great scholars and famous figures from the Love Shenjing, and that these people would surely compose poems and lyrics there.

But Jia Mu didn't take it to heart; she didn't understand literary gatherings and just felt that this grandson was always stirring up trouble, frowning whenever she thought about it.

Yet, until the sky turned dark, none of these people had seen Jia Cong return.

She thought Jia Cong would surely bring some back, and when the time came, she could take a look to see what kind of good poems these famous scholars outside could actually write.

When it came down to it, it was all trouble caused by that bastard; nothing good had happened since he was born.

According to what he knew, not a single colleague in the Ministry of Works had been invited to the literary gathering.

Jia She and Lady Xing felt disdain and carried some shame and anger, hearing that the Second Master of the West Prefecture had even specially prepared a carriage and servants for Jia Cong.

Jia Baoyu sneered at Jia Cong attending some literary gathering; it was just a bunch of national traitors and salary-grubbers boasting and flattering each other.

Jia Cong looked like a handsome figure, yet he actually went to attend such nonsense, pointlessly disgracing himself, which made Jia Baoyu feel quite sorry for him.

Daughters of noble families, trapped in embroidery rooms and gardens, were always curious and yearning for the world outside.

What was this supposed to be? It wasn't his son, so who was he doing it for?

Now he was even going to attend some bullshit literary gathering; it would be cleaner if he died outside.

He was still waiting for Jia Cong to return and tell him about what he saw and the poems he heard at the gathering; it would be decent to talk about it with colleagues in the future.

If it weren't for this, how would they have been demoted to the East Road Courtyard back then?

Many people in the Rongguo Prefecture knew that Jia Cong went to attend the Nanxi Literary Gathering yesterday.

Although the regular officials of the Ministry of Works were also from the imperial examination system, the Ministry of Works was the most trivial and busy of the Six Ministries.

Those two in the Second Branch loved to play the Bodhisattva, gained a good reputation, and even compared themselves to their side; their intentions were too deep.

Jia Zheng was the elder in the Jia family who cared most about Jia Cong attending the Nanxi Literary Gathering; he himself had no chance to attend, but since someone in the family had the ability to go, he was still happy in his heart.

Moreover, dealing with construction projects and other miscellaneous affairs every day, after a long time, all literary grace was worn away, and there were few colleagues who were outstanding in literary matters, so he had always been insulated from the Nanxi Literary Gathering.

Among the sisters, the ones who cared the most were probably the two sisters, Tan Chun and Ying Chun, who were both waiting for Jia Cong to return to tell them about what he saw at the Nanxi Literary Gathering.

Jia Zheng knew that Prince Jia Shun had always valued Jia Cong, so it was possible he kept him at the villa overnight, and it was not impossible that he would return tomorrow.

Guo Zhigui and the two servants hadn't returned to report either; they were all idiots.

Tan Chun waited until the lamps were lit, then let Shi Shu go to the Lin Ku Courtyard to check. Shi Shu returned saying that Cong Sanye Cong hadn't returned yet, and even Zhi Shao was nowhere to be found; that courtyard was pitch black.

It would be one thing if Third Brother Cong hadn't returned, but even the maid Zhi Shao was missing; Tan Chun had a bad premonition, but she didn't know who to tell.

The Old Lady had never looked favorably upon Jia Cong; she would surely not care.

It was inconvenient to talk to the Eldest Master's side across the family branch, and besides, Tan Chun knew clearly how he usually treated Jia Cong.

She could tell her own father, but she knew that Jia Zheng cared even more than she did about Jia Cong going to the Nanxi Literary Gathering, so he must have kept it in mind.

Before long, Ying Chun also went to Tan Chun's room to ask. Seeing the outside turn pitch black, both sisters felt heavy in their hearts. Shi Shu ran another trip, but returned saying there was still no one there.

She also said that the Eldest Master's side was brightly lit, and he was drinking and having fun with several concubines, naturally not taking the fact that his youngest son hadn't returned to heart at all.

Jia Cong hadn't returned all night, and everyone in the prefecture had different thoughts.

The candles burned out and the east turned white. Tan Chun, Ying Chun, and others who had things on their minds woke up early, naturally paying attention to the movement outside.

Jia Zheng went to the Ministry of Works early in the morning, but he had things on his mind.

He hadn't been sitting in the Ministry of Works for long when he saw Zhao Li, who was also a Vice Prefect, come over with a smile: "Cunzhou, I didn't expect the Jia family to produce such an outstanding descendant. Why haven't I heard you mention it before?"

Jia Zheng looked puzzled: "Brother Zhao, why do you say that?"

Zhao Li laughed: "So you don't know yet. My elder brother is the Libationer of the Imperial Academy. He went to the Nanxi Literary Gathering yesterday and said that at the gathering, a young man composed a poem on plum blossoms that shocked everyone. That calligraphy was also extremely outstanding."

"Later, I found out it was Jia Cong, the son of your eldest brother. The family of a Duke truly has long-lasting blessings; otherwise, how could such an outstanding son be produced?"

As Zhao Li spoke, he took out a piece of paper, on which Jia Cong's "Bu Suan Zi: Ode to Plum Blossoms" was copied.

"Cunzhou, look at this poem he wrote. The conception is exquisite, the bearing is magnificent; it is truly a good poem. Even Master Jing An praised on the spot that this poem would surely be passed down for a hundred generations."

Jia Zheng had been stunned by this unexpected good news. After a long while, he asked: "Master Jing An? Is it the former Minister of Rites, the old gentleman?"

Zhao Li smiled: "Besides this literary saint, is there a second Master Jing An in the world?"

Jia Zheng looked at the poem a few times, but didn't have time to savor why it was good. He just felt happy as if he were exploding. Jia Cong went to the Nanxi Literary Gathering and actually made such a big name for himself. It was worth it that he valued him so much; he did have some vision after all.

The plum blossom poem Jia Cong composed was actually praised by Master Jing An as a work to be passed down through the ages. This was something he hadn't even dared to dream of before.

A few days ago, because Jia Cong's calligraphy was outstanding, he had already gained great face.

He didn't expect him to have such astonishing poetic talent. How old was he? How could he be so excellent in both poetry and calligraphy?

It is truly a blessing from heaven. My Jia family actually has such a literary champion. Haha, let's see who dares to say that the Jia family is a bunch of vulgar martial nobles in the future.

Colleagues nearby who heard the news also came over to echo the congratulations.

The scholars who participated in the literary gathering yesterday returned to the city early, so the anecdotes from the gathering had already spread.

These officials were all in the official circles of the Love Shenjing and were the first batch of people to know the news.

But there was one thing they didn't know: those who attended the literary gathering almost all tacitly didn't mention the fact that someone was killed at the gathering.

One was out of consideration for Prince Jia Shun's face.

The second was that the murder of Wu Jinrong had been intervened in by Zhou Junxing of the Tui Shi Yuan. He told Prince Jia Shun that Wu Jinrong might have been killed by the remnants of the Hidden Sect. Many people heard this at the time.

This matter not only involved Zhou Yanluo, who was famous for framing others, but also involved the Hidden Sect, which was regarded by the imperial court as a major threat of rebellion. Who didn't know how dangerous this matter was?

As long as they didn't think they had lived too long, no one would talk about this matter, so as to avoid trouble from the mouth. They wished they had never encountered this matter, so they all acted like ostriches and pretended not to know.

The matter was so strange. Such a big event as the murder of a Hanlin Academy official had passed for half a day and a night, and the unrelated people in the Love Shenjing still didn't know.

Instead, Jia Cong's outstanding performance at the literary gathering was used as a topic of conversation by these people and spread rapidly.

Jia Zheng had been working in the Ministry of Works for so many years. Today was the day he remembered having the most face. Just as he was feeling intoxicated, a runner came over and said that Vice Minister Li called him over to talk.

Looking at the envious eyes of his colleagues, Jia Zheng felt that he was about to float to the sky.

(End of chapter)