flstandardbreds Chapter 161 Ji Heng Chooses a Wife
Chapter 161 Ji Heng Chooses a Wife
"Yes." Yantai reluctantly took the questions her young master had prepared earlier and headed towards the waterside pavilion. Anyway, she had almost an hour to answer them, and Lin Shu's writing was excellent, so it probably wouldn't matter if she came a little later.
Inside the waterside pavilion, there were dozens of desks and tables, each with a cushion in front of it.
"Ladies, please take a seat."
The sound of the inkstone echoed loudly throughout the waterside pavilion. After everyone was seated, he continued:
"Today, my young master is seeking a wife. We will not compare family background or social status, but only literary talent and martial arts skills."
The first round is a test of literary talent. My young master will present two questions, and the ladies will have three incense sticks' worth of time to think and answer them. Afterwards, the Grand Tutor will select those who pass and advance to the next round of martial arts competition.”
Many people, upon hearing that a martial arts contest was actually going to take place, began to have second thoughts. Although they had known from the beginning that it was a contest between scholars and martial artists, no one took it seriously because the Grand Tutor's son was a scholar. Who knew that it would actually be a martial arts contest!
Ignoring everyone's expressions, Yantai distributed the questions:
[Question 1: Couplets]
Based on the first line of the couplet, create a matching second line. The two lines must correspond in number of characters, parts of speech, rhyme, and imagery.
The first line reads: "Peach blossoms drift away on flowing water."
Question 2: Compose a poem.
Based on the poem containing hidden meaning, interpret its meaning and compose a corresponding acrostic poem.
Poem: A light touch of fingertips transforms stone, polishing reveals hidden potential; a beautiful dream awaits your arrival, a red thread of fate binds our love.
"The topic has been given; the essay competition shall begin! Ladies, please write your essays on the Xuan paper on the table." After everyone had read the topic, Yantai turned to the servant beside the incense burner and said, "Light the incense."
Having said that, Yantai, regardless of what these so-called talented women thought, turned around and went back to the pavilion.
Half an hour later.
Several people from the literary competition have already left, especially those talented but illiterate women from noble families who struggle to even compose poetry, let alone acrostic poems, and they even have to extract characters from existing poems first!
Another half hour passed.
The second incense stick was already half-burned, but Lin Shu still hadn't arrived.
Now, not only Ji Wan and the inkstone were in danger, but even Ji Heng was extremely anxious.
He kept glancing at the entrance, though he had been told at the gate not to stop anyone who came today. But Lin Shu was nowhere to be seen.
Ji Heng clenched his fist, his rounded fingernails carving countless crescent shapes into his palm.
He felt that the incense had burned too quickly today, and his earlier confidence that Lin Shu would definitely come had also disappeared.
He bit his lip and looked at the remaining dozen or so people in the pavilion. They all seemed to be all show and no substance, probably not very skilled in martial arts. So he suddenly raised his head and said to Ji Wan with a serious expression:
“Sister, if Lin Shu doesn’t come later, then you can go up for the second martial arts competition.”
Originally, the second martial arts competition was to be a contest between those who passed the first literary competition. If only one person passed the first round, then there would be no need for another competition.
However, this civil and military marriage contest was originally set up for Lin Shu, and even if she didn't come, he wouldn't marry someone else.
By the time the second incense stick had burned out, all the people who had come to seek a husband had finished answering their questions.
Yantai handed everyone's answers to the Grand Tutor. In the end, only one person remained. This person was Qi Min, the daughter of the deceased former Minister Qi Xin, who is now the Prefect of the Capital.
Although the acrostic poem was poorly written, it was still possible to extract the characters from the poem, so it was barely acceptable.
After the inkstone was announced, Qi Min stood up, fanning herself, and asked, "I'm the only one who passed the first round. The rest of you shouldn't need to compete, right?"
"Miss Qi, of course we must compete..."
Before Yantai could finish speaking, Qi Min impatiently interrupted, "How can I, a young lady, compare myself to anyone else? And who am I comparing myself to?"
"Naturally..."
"Compared to me."
Yantai had intended to compare herself to her young mistress, Ji Wan, but when she saw a woman in a sky-blue brocade robe with auspicious cloud patterns walking in through the door, she immediately stopped talking.
Upon hearing this, Ji Heng's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but stand up and gently lift the gauze curtain to look in that direction.
Lin Shu has finally arrived!
Qi Min's face turned ugly. She turned around and glared at the newcomer. When she saw it was Lin Shu, she paused for a moment, a hint of hatred flashing in her eyes. She spoke in a sarcastic tone:
"Oh! Who is it now! It's the renowned Lord Lin. Lord Lin holds several positions these days, and has both a husband and a daughter. How come he has time to attend a banquet for us lonely people?"
Lin Shu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. Qi Min's words were interesting. First, she said that she had been absent from work without cause, and then she said that she was already married and had a daughter, yet she still coveted other people!
If this gets out, who knows what others will think.
However, Lin Shu was not one to be trifled with: "I only came here after finishing important business. Besides, as the saying goes, 'A gentleman is admired by a beautiful woman.' I came here because of your reputation, so what's wrong with that?"
At this point, Lin Shu paused, then looked at Qi Min with a half-smile, and continued, "As for Lord Qi, when I arrived, I saw many people standing outside the Jingzhao Prefecture seeking justice!"
"You... even if you come, so what? The first round is over, what use are you now!" Qi Min pointed at Lin Shu and finally managed to say this after a long time.
"The time hasn't come yet; there's still one stick of incense left," Yantai corrected, glancing at the rising smoke from the incense burner.
"How could this be..." Qi Min also turned to look. The incense had already burned down to a third of its length, and she was temporarily relieved: "Ha! There's only this much left..."
"Stop talking nonsense, or I'll think you're trying to waste time!" Lin Shu interrupted her mercilessly, turning to ask Yantai to bring paper and pen.
He quickly wrote on the paper:
[Question 1:]
The first line reads: "Peach blossoms drift away on flowing water."
Yes: Bamboo shadows and gentle breezes come freely.
Question 2:
A gentle autumn breeze caressed my face.
The jade steps are slightly cool, and the night dew is glistening.
Where can one find a good man?
Following the stream to its end, one sees peach blossoms.
Before the time it takes to drink a cup of tea is up, Lin Shu has already put down her brush. There's still half a stick of incense left. Just as Yantai was about to go forward to collect Lin Shu's Xuan paper, he was interrupted by someone who came in from outside again:
Wow! It's so lively here!
Everyone looked up again and saw Xu Jingyun, dressed in a golden brocade robe, casually tapping a closed folding fan in her palm as she strolled in, as if she were visiting her own backyard.
"I'm just joining in the fun out of boredom, and I'm sure you all won't mind!"
As she spoke, Xu Jingyun glanced at Qi Min as if she were looking at a clown, then slowly approached Lin Shu, glanced at the essay topic, 'whoosh,' opened her folding fan, shook it, and added in a low voice:
"You're right, aren't you, A-Shu?"
Lin Shu took a step back without answering. Then she saw the other person hang the gold and dark blue sword tassel that he had given her earlier on the fan, and deliberately stroked it with his fingers as if to entice her. She couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Upon hearing that this young lady was also going to participate, Yantai had no choice but to bring out his brush and ink again, under the watchful eyes of everyone.
Seeing Lin Shu step back and remain silent, Xu Jingyun wasn't annoyed. Instead, she moved closer, glanced at the inkstone and the brush in her hand, and said in a pretentious manner:
"Oh dear! There's almost no time left! Ah Shu~, I have a fan in my hand, why don't you write it for me?"
Yantai looked at Xu Jingyun and frowned, saying, "Miss Xu, I'm afraid this is inappropriate!"
"What's wrong with that? I didn't ask you to write it for me." Xu Jingyun adopted a completely different attitude towards the others.
"This……"
Before the inkstone could speak again, Lin Shu looked at the incense stick that was about to burn out, picked up the brush and ink, and said, "You speak."
Xu Jingyun's eyes crinkled with laughter, and she took a small step closer. Before Lin Shu could frown, she quickly said, "For the first question, the first line is 'Peach blossoms drift away on flowing water,' so the second line is 'The blue sea rises and the tide returns.'"
After answering, he squinted and asked Lin Shu, "How was it? Shu~, was my answer alright?"
"Okay. Next question." Lin Shu nodded and quickly finished writing.
"This second question is actually quite difficult. Why don't you help me, Ah Shu?" Xu Jingyun tilted her head and smiled mischievously.
"Why waste time here if you can't answer? You're just like Lin Shu..." Qi Min couldn't help but complain.
Xu Jingyun turned around, her smile vanishing, her eyes filled with warning: "Did I ask you? If you can't speak properly, then shut up, or your tongue might one day leave your mouth."
Having said that, seeing that time was indeed running out, he stopped teasing Lin Shu and answered seriously:
"The second question is: 'A light touch of the fingertip reveals the color of the stone, and the rough stone is polished to reveal its inner beauty; the perfect time awaits your arrival like a dream, and the red thread of fate brings us together by chance.'"
It is indeed a good poem. The first line, "turning stone into gold," is a transformation of the character "gold"; the second line, "turning rough stone into jade," is a transformation of the character "jade"; the third line, "auspicious time," could be a transformation of the character "good"; and the last line, "the red thread ties love," is a transformation of the character "fate."
"A perfect match! Tsk tsk tsk! This question... is just what I wanted!"
After saying that, she paused deliberately, staring intently at Lin Shu, and continued meaningfully:
"A chance encounter amidst the golden autumn breeze and jade dew"
A jade tree stands tall in the wind, its thoughts endless.
Such a beautiful time and scenery should be like this.
Our destiny was sealed on the Stone of Three Lifetimes.
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