Chapter 5: Prince Prince Jia Shun

Shi Shu didn't know where she found out that the Zhang woman who planted flowers in the garden was a fellow villager of Jia Cong's wet nurse, Zhao Mama.

She took two qian of broken silver to buy wine for the Zhang woman, and soon she heard a pile of gossip about Jia Cong from the Zhang woman.

"Young Lady, I heard that Cong Sanye Cong's concubine mother had a bad reputation, and the Old Mistress didn't like her very much."

"Bad reputation?"

Seeing Tan Chun's confused face, Shi Shu leaned into her ear and bit a few words, which made Tan Chun's face flush, but in her heart, she felt a bit of pity for Jia Cong.

The matter of Jia Cong's biological mother caused a great uproar that year, making the Jia family lose face, and the Old Mistress issued a gag order. For so many years, those who knew the truth in the prefecture had been tight-lipped. Tan Chun hadn't been born yet, so naturally, she didn't know.

"It is said that Cong Sanye Cong was a bit fierce at birth, and his concubine mother died the next day. The midwife and maid who assisted in the birth also died one after another."

The Great Master and Great Mistress disliked him even more, and daily beatings and scoldings were common occurrences. Since childhood, they had confined him to the granary and warehouse of the East Road Courtyard, squeezing him into a room with a maid.

I heard that last month he broke a jade ruyi of the Great Master and was beaten until he was covered in blood, and he almost stopped breathing. Later, he was luckily saved..."

Tan Chun was also a daughter born of a concubine, having tasted enough of the filth of her biological mother not being prominent, so she felt a sense of empathy for Jia Cong and couldn't help but want to protect him.

Tan Chun was a shrewd person. This time, sending books and paper over could also be said to be a thank-you gift for liking Jia Cong's calligraphy, and others couldn't say anything about it.

She had talent and broad vision, so how could she not see the extraordinary nature of this running script? The person who wrote it was already close to the realm of a master who could open a sect.

Tan Chun's face turned pale after hearing this, and her eyes turned red. The Jia Prefecture had the Old Mistress sitting in town, and there were rarely any outrageous things in daily life. At least Tan Chun hadn't heard of any trampling on people in the prefecture since she was a child.

"You send these books and snow-wave paper to Third Brother Cong. Be careful in your words and actions. The East Road Courtyard is not our place here, so don't cause trouble for others."

If she felt pity and sent more medicine and silver, it would make the Great Master and Great Mistress lose face, and it might bring disaster to Jia Cong.

Shi Shu pouted while tidying up the things on the table and asked, "Young Lady, should we send something else? Cong Sanye Cong is pitiful, and his injuries haven't healed yet. In any case, he is considered the Young Lady's brother."

In the Prince Jia Shun Prefecture, Prince Jia Shun, Li Haocheng, was walking back and forth excitedly with the couplet on the red paper, his left hand tracing in the air, repeatedly calling out "good" in his mouth, and his usual scholarly calmness was nowhere to be seen.

He had seen countless famous calligraphy posts in the imperial treasury, so his vision was naturally more than a notch higher than ordinary people.

"What did you say? Ten years old...?"

"Did Changyan ask for the name of the person who wrote it?"

Even for the maids and servants below, the master was usually physically and mentally kind, not to mention the legitimate descendants of the prefecture. He had never heard of anyone being treated as miserably as Jia Cong.

"It is the illegitimate son of Jia She, a First-Rank General of the Rongguo Prefecture, named Jia Cong, ten years old."

These old-fashioned martial families had long since withered, and their descendants couldn't ride horses or lift spears. They had raised all kinds of absurd playboys and waste, and they could actually produce such a person?

That a ten-year-old child could write such calligraphy made Prince Prince Jia Shun dumbfounded.

Such a person should be hard to find, so why would he use such coarse red nitrate paper to write a couplet and just paste it on the gate across the street?

"We don't need those for now. There's a long life ahead. Hurry up and go."

But he was still shocked by this warm, moist, ancient, simple, elegant, and free calligraphy.

To have grown up in the granary and warehouse with such difficulty, and to have practiced such outstanding calligraphy, how difficult must that be? Thinking of this, Tan Chun couldn't help but have tears welling up in her eyes.

That the writer came from a martial family like the Jia family already made Prince Prince Jia Shun feel strange.

Such calligraphy might not be practiced even after ten years of hard work. Could it be that this person started writing from the womb, or was it just talent?

Tan Chun's willow eyebrows stood up, and she shouted: "Shut up! Don't look at what place this is. Learning to speak such nonsense, don't say it again in the future. That person is Third Brother Cong's biological mother; don't be disrespectful."

This kind of calligraphy, even if practiced hard for ten years, might not be practiced. This talent was too terrifying.

But a ten-year-old child could hold a brush and write, at most for five or six years. To practice such calligraphy that was enough to open a sect in such a short time, this talent was too terrifying.

"Did Changyan really ask clearly? Is it really a ten-year-old child from the Rongguo Prefecture?"

Zhou Changyan smiled bitterly: "I didn't believe it at first, but later I learned that the woman was Jia Cong's wet nurse, who watched him grow up, and I saw Jia Cong write this couplet with my own eyes, so I couldn't help but believe it."

Prince Prince Jia Shun's face was shocked. Although he still didn't quite believe it, he knew Zhou Changyan was meticulous. If he hadn't figured out the truth, he wouldn't have brought the couplet to him.

"He is indeed a rare child with talent... After the New Year, you send an invitation to invite him to participate in the Nanxi Literary Gathering, and I will also see this rarity."

Zhou Changyan was shocked. He didn't expect the Prince to value this calligraphy so much that he actually wanted to invite the writer to participate in the Nanxi Literary Gathering!

Prince Prince Jia Shun saw Zhou Changyan's moved expression and guessed his thoughts, smiling: "With such calligraphy cultivation at ten years old, the talent is rare. In a few years, he will definitely become a master of a sect. He is worthy of it."

Speaking of this Nanxi Literary Gathering, there was a reason for it.

Prince Jia Shun had a quiet and elegant Shuyun Villa on Qifeng Ridge in the suburbs of the Divine Capital.

The clear and surging Nanxi River in Qifeng Ridge was guided by craftsmen to flow through the entire villa, forming the wonderful scenery of flowing water and winding cups in the villa, which was a famous elegant place in the Love Shenjing.

Prince Jia Shun advocated literary culture. To recruit and excavate talents, he held a Nanxi Literary Gathering every other year, which was a very high-standard literary gathering in the Divine Capital.

Although the Nanxi Literary Gathering was hosted by Prince Jia Shun, the Retired Emperor went twice, and even the current Emperor appeared at the literary gathering the year before last.

So the Nanxi Literary Gathering not only had a royal background but also had a semi-official color in the eyes of the folk scholars. The participants were all famous scholars and talents known to the scholars.

Being able to be invited to participate in the literary gathering was a great honor for the participants. Through the literary gathering, one could not only communicate and improve with current famous scholars but also greatly enhance the participant's reputation among the scholars.

Excellent poems and articles that stood out at the literary gathering could be sung across the north and south of the Great River in the blink of an eye, and the authors of these poems and articles would become famous all over the world in a very short time.

Therefore, the students and talents in the capital flocked to this Nanxi Literary Gathering, hoping to stand out through the literary gathering and be appreciated by famous scholars and nobles, to turn their luck and soar into the sky.

It's just that for ordinary people, if they don't have extraordinary talent and reputation, wanting to receive an invitation to the Nanxi Literary Gathering is no different from a daydream.

Now, Prince Prince Jia Shun actually wanted to invite an unknown boy to participate. It seemed that he was really conquered by the calligraphy on the couplet.

Li Haocheng sipped his tea and thought thoughtfully: "Forget it, don't send an invitation. When the time comes, I will write a letter myself, and you go and invite him to come.

Since he has such attainments in calligraphy, he must be well-versed in poetry and books and be a disciple of famous teachings. Since I write a letter to invite him, he will definitely reply."

Zhou Changyan heard that Prince Prince Jia Shun actually wrote a letter himself to invite Jia Cong to participate in the literary gathering. He was just a child who was unknown. This kind of courtesy was simply unbelievable.

But hearing Prince Prince Jia Shun's intention was to want to receive Jia Cong's reply, he understood in his heart. It seemed that the Prince still didn't believe that a ten-year-old child could have such extraordinary calligraphy.

The Prince lowered himself to write a letter to invite him. Not to mention the Prince's noble status, just this seniority of famous teachings, Jia Cong couldn't just receive the letter and accept the invitation; he had to reply with a letter to be in accordance with etiquette.

As long as there was a handwritten reply, it would be clear whether he had such amazing calligraphy or not.

Although Prince Prince Jia Shun was learned and scholarly, and seemed to be a free and easy person who didn't stick to small details, he also had a meticulous and cautious side.

When Shi Shu returned, she brought back a piece of calligraphy written by Jia Cong on snow-wave paper.

Tan Chun couldn't wait to open it, and that already somewhat familiar, graceful, and superb font jumped into her eyes.

"Remembering the plum blossoms under Xizhou, folding the plum blossoms to send to the north of the river. A single shirt is apricot red, and the double temples are crow-chick color..."

Tan Chun couldn't help but smile knowingly after seeing it. Earlier, when she met Zhao Mama, she was wearing an apricot-red skirt with branch embroidery and a cross-collar long jacket.

That Zhao Mama must have said it. This Third Brother Cong was really good at matching the scene. It could be seen that he had put his heart into writing this Xizhou lyric from the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Turning to think, there was a sense of longing for a woman in this Xizhou lyric, and her pretty face flushed, but she didn't think much else.

That Third Brother Cong only thought of the first few lines to match the scene, and because the artistic conception was beautiful, he chose it to write. Coupled with his calligraphy, it complemented each other perfectly.

"Where is Xizhou? Crossing the bridge with two oars. The shrike flies at dusk, and the wind blows the Chinese tallow tree. Under the tree is the front door, and in the door, the emerald hairpin is revealed."

"Opening the door, the young man doesn't arrive; going out the door, picking red lotus. Picking lotus in the south pond in autumn, the lotus flowers are taller than a person. Lowering the head to play with lotus seeds, the lotus seeds are as clear as water..."

The lyrics were good lyrics, and the calligraphy was even better. Tan Chun looked at it and couldn't put it down, her right hand constantly tracing and pointing in the air.

"Young Lady, I didn't find the place where the Cong Sanye lived when I went to the East Road Courtyard just now. I found someone to lead the way before I found that granary and warehouse."

Shi Shu's words woke up Tan Chun, who was addicted to calligraphy. She frowned and asked, "Did Third Brother Cong really live in the granary and warehouse?"

"Really, that granary and warehouse small courtyard only has three rooms. Cong Sanye Cong and his maid live in one of them, and the other two are piled with miscellaneous items from the East Courtyard.

Cong Sanye's room is like a snow cave, and the furniture is all broken. The edges of the Cong Sanye's sleeves even have patches. I've never seen how the masters in the prefecture are trampled on like this."

Tan Chun's personality was broad and sharp. The women in the West Prefecture gave her the nickname "Rose" behind her back. Roses were red and fragrant, and everyone loved them, but the thorns pricked hands.

Shi Shu was Tan Chun's personal maid, raised and influenced by her, and her personality was also frank and daring. Today, seeing Jia Cong's residence, she felt indignant and shouted in front of her own young lady.

Tan Chun's pretty face also sank after hearing the maid's words, but that was the Great Master's side, separated from their side by a room head, and he was an elder. What method could she have on the surface?

She looked deeply at the characters on the desk and said: "Tomorrow you go and find a good mounting master and mount this calligraphy well. Don't damage it."

"Third Brother Cong has lived such a difficult life and can still practice such good calligraphy. Such a person is strong in his bones and will not sink into the lower ranks forever. Just wait and see."

The evening clouds hung low outside the window, and the red clouds reflected the sky. Tan Chun suddenly said this, not knowing whether it was for her own maid to hear or if she was talking to herself.

(End of chapter)