Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 280 Chills in the Back
Since entering the park, everything has gone much more smoothly.

Currently, no one has passed all three entrance tests. As long as you are in the garden, you have an invitation.

Most of those who were able to receive invitations were famous artists from the Jiangnan area, and were also respected in the garden.

It was not until they sailed across the water and arrived at the Canglang Pavilion in the center that Yue Ling saw how the banquet was arranged.

There were several circles of tables and desks surrounding the inside and outside, and in the pavilion in the center there were several people with the most noble status.

"Master Miaoyu, this way please."

He was led to the outermost table in the northeast and sat down, and the attendant left.

Yue Ling looked at the table and saw that two people were going to sit on it. He couldn't help but frown and said, "How stingy! They put such a small table for people to sit on. There's almost no room for two people to sit on it."

Sitting next to Yue Ling, Miaoyu was in a good mood.

She had never sat so close to Yue Ling before. As long as she swayed her body slightly, she could feel the touch of his arm. She couldn't help but lower her head and smile secretly.

"Master never came down the mountain before, and most people didn't think we would come to participate, so the seats were at the very outside."

"It seems that the closer to the center the table, the better. Those who go boating on the lake only have a small table."

"I have only done some good deeds recently. I am not well-known yet. I am only treated better because I am from Suzhou. Please don't mind if I make you unhappy."

Yue Ling shook his head and thought: "Is your master always invited? Why is your master so famous?"

As the seat in front was occupied, Yue Ling moved his head closer and spoke in a low voice to Miaoyu.

Yue Ling's face was getting close to her. Miao Yu subconsciously wanted to avoid him, but she controlled herself and answered Yue Ling directly, "I'm not sure about this. When I was young, Master rarely came down the mountain and never mentioned the past."

Yue Ling frowned and nodded, and didn't ask any more questions.

Suddenly, he felt a chill behind him. Yue Ling raised his head and looked forward, but he didn't see anyone who was hostile to him.

Yue Ling thought to himself, "What's going on? There was such a strong murderous intent just now. Isn't this an elegant gathering? Could there be an assassin?"

Yue Ling shook his head. Unless the assassin was a very good assassin in disguise, the cost of killing one person in a place with so many people was too high.

Moreover, Yue Ling's identity has not been exposed, so he will not do anything bad to Liu Xianglian.

"Oh, it's really a narrow road for enemies to meet."

The person sitting in the front seat turned around and saw that it was Shen Ying who had an argument in front of the door.

"Dad, look at this guy. I wonder where he has tricked my cousin to go. Now he is flirting with this female master. How can this be so disrespectful?"

Another middle-aged man turned around, it was Shen Yishu, the head of the Shen family.

Shen Yishu was very well-mannered. He nodded to Liu Xianglian first, and then asked, "I don't know what Young Master Liu is planning, but you took Yinglian away, so you should treat her well. As her elder, how can I not ask about this matter?"

Yue Ling replied, "She is doing well now and is resting in the inn. This young master and I are old friends, so I will escort her to this meeting. Master Shen, don't worry too much."

"No need to read more? Dad, you don't know, this guy was holding an invitation and was just taking a test in front of the door. He uttered a arrogant word and looked down on all the students present, just to win the favor of this female teacher."

Miaoyu lowered her head when she heard this, thinking to herself, "If this is true, then that's good."

Shen Yishu was stunned when he heard his son's angry words. "Liu Xianglian is the son of a noble family. He has been wandering around for many years without ever returning home. He is only good at martial arts, but I have never heard that he is also good at literature."

Shen Yishu couldn't help but frown, but he pulled his son back and said, "Stop talking nonsense and disrupting the order of the gathering."

Shen Ying snorted coldly, and finally said to Yue Ling: "It would be good for you to come in and see how my brother Xu won the championship in the competition, and see how Brother Xu earned the favor of the great Marquis An Jing."

"The favor of Marquis Anjing? Would Marquis Anjing favor a villain who doesn't even have the courage to fulfill a bet?"

"you!"

Shen Yishu glared and asked, "Is it not over yet?"

Seeing that his father was really angry, Shen Ying stopped talking, spat, and turned around.

Miaoyu beside him came closer and said the same thing as Yue Ling just now, "My Lord, when are you going to reveal your identity?"

Yue Ling sat upright, and it was only when Miaoyu came over that he realized how ambiguous this action was.

The two of them were originally sitting close to each other, and when they moved closer, their cheeks were not far from each other.

A faint fragrance wafts into the nose, fresh and elegant, like plum blossoms.

A piece of white head and neck was revealed, and the wide robe shook, revealing a corner of the deep chest.

Miaoyu felt something and covered her clothes with her hands, then looked up at Yue Ling, her eyes sparkling as she waited for Yue Ling's answer.

Miaoyu's appearance is really outstanding, and paired with the Haiqing robe, a nun who practices with hair uncut has a different flavor.

Imagine a female master who is cold as ice in front of outsiders, but behaves like a little woman in front of you. Any man may not be able to resist her.

Maybe this is a career bonus?
Yue Ling is not a fool. Since the two of them are so close, he already knows some of her feelings.

But before he started to think about it, he felt a chill down his spine again, causing Yue Ling to sit up straight and look around.

"After all, it's a grand event, and it would be bad to disturb it on the spot. Let's see who can win the literary style competition. I have arranged people to come when it is at its most heated."

Still not noticing anything unusual, Yue Ling calmed his breath and responded to Miaoyu in a low voice.

Miaoyu nodded gently, her cheeks already flushed a little.

I don’t know if it was Shen Ying’s words just now that touched her heart and made her act so boldly.

You know, in front of Xing Xiuyan, between sisters, she didn't often do such frivolous actions, but now in front of a man...

"If there is someone who can really do something for you, are you willing to give yourself to him?"

Xing Xiuyan's words echoed in her heart. Miaoyu lowered her head and secretly glanced at Yue Ling who was drinking tea. She seemed to have the answer in her heart.

……

With a bang, Lin Daiyu slammed the teacup on the table, her brows furrowed, and she looked extremely angry.

Xue Baochai frowned secretly, covered her face with her folding fan, and asked in a low voice: "What's wrong?"

Lin Daiyu leaned close to Xue Baochai's ear and said, "I saw Brother Yue."

"Shouldn't you be happy then?"

"Brother Yue has a woman by his side, and she's being affectionate with him!" Xue Baochai was startled when she heard this, and then responded in a low voice, "You must have seen it wrong. The Marquis is not a playboy, how could he get involved with a woman from another family in just over a month? And aren't women not allowed to attend elegant gatherings?"

"This...that woman looks like a nun who is practicing Buddhism with her hair untied."

Xue Baochai comforted her again, "Untied hair is also a form of spiritual practice. Sister Lin should not be too suspicious, lest someone discovers your flaws and causes you to make mistakes."

Lin Daiyu held her breath, then picked up the teacup and took a sip.

At that moment, Lin Daiyu thought of what the Queen had said. If Yue Ling met a very proactive woman one day, what should she do?
At that time, Lin Daiyu didn't believe that there would be such a woman, but now she had to believe it.

A nun who practices Buddhism with her hair uncut actually tried to get into Brother Yue's body!

Lin Daiyu quickly reviewed the Queen's instructions in her mind, and exhaled lightly, thinking to herself: "We'll settle the score when we meet in person!"

To others, the little actions of Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai seemed as if Lin Daiyu was getting impatient and Marquis Anjing was whispering comfort to her.

Such an intimate act of embracing each other in public really caused everyone to avoid suspicion, and they turned their heads away and pretended not to see it.

But in their hearts, those who didn't see the clues couldn't help but sigh: "Lin Ruhai's daughter has such a close relationship with An Jinghou. It seems that Lin Ruhai's future career will be smooth. Why didn't we encounter such a good opportunity before?"

"It seems that the thirty thousand taels of silver from Patriarch Xu had little effect."

Everyone looked at Xu Yaozu at the same time, but Xu Yaozu remained calm with a smile on his face.

He had a clear mind and knew what everyone was thinking, but he thought he had a sure win.

After all, he had just learned from Fan Pengcheng that Marquis An Jing had slept with twelve women in a row, and he was even just sweating slightly.

The only thing Xu Yaozu regretted was that he couldn't find more to make Marquis Anjing more satisfied.

At that moment, a servant came in and whispered something in Xu Yaozu's ear.

Xu Yaozu frowned upon hearing this and whispered, "Then put some chairs on the shore and serve some tea and cakes."

It seemed that the meeting had changed. Qian Shiyuan was afraid that he had neglected An Jinghou, so he asked, "Master Xu, what happened?"

Xu Yaozu stood up and bowed, "It's not a big deal. Three questions have been set up outside Canglang Pavilion to screen talents. If you answer them correctly, you don't need an invitation to get the qualification to enter the garden."

"Of the three questions we prepared this year, only the first one was the most difficult, in order to exclude most people once and for all. But something unexpected happened and someone solved it. The questions that followed were not that difficult, which resulted in a large number of people entering the park right now."

There were not enough boats to circle the isolated island, so we could only watch the excitement from afar on the shore.

Qian Shiyuan tried to smooth things over by saying, "More people entering the park is not a bad thing."

He nodded to Marquis Anjing again, and Xue Baochai also nodded.

Seeing that An Jinghou's attitude was normal, Qian Shiyuan asked Xu Yaozu again: "Who is the student who solved the first question?"

Xu Yaozu said, "I heard from the servants that it was Liu Xianglian, a descendant of the Duke of Liguo. But for some reason, he is now practicing Buddhism with his hair tied up, as if he is going to convert to Buddhism."

Qian Shiyuan was startled and asked Zhen Yingjia, "Does the Second Master of the Zhen family know the children of the Duke of Liguo?"

Zhen Yingjia nodded slightly, "I do have some impression of him. This Liu Xianglian is a knight-errant who is not proud of his family background and always wanders around the world. He once competed with Marquis An Jing in the Prince Kang's mansion. Later, he was also seen in Cangzhou. It seems that he has done things for the Marquis?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Xue Baochai, who frowned and whispered to Lin Daiyu, "Liu Xianglian, is he the one who found human trafficking in Cangzhou?"

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "There is no such thing as Liu Xianglian. He is Brother Yue pretending to be him."

Xue Baochai was startled and asked, "What should we do then?"

Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes to the northeast and said, "Just look at me."

Lin Daiyu responded to everyone's gaze and said, "This man has a close relationship with the Anjing Marquis's Mansion. I have also heard of him from the Marquis. At the Kangwang Mansion, the Marquis appreciated his talent and showed mercy to his subordinates. When he saw him doing good deeds in Cangzhou, he took him in and did some work for him."

"But he is a dissolute person by nature and doesn't want to be under someone else's command for long. I didn't expect to meet him here again today."

Qian Shiyuan nodded and said, "If that's the case, you must be here to see the Marquis. How about inviting him to the pavilion?"

Lin Daiyu replied, "Thank you very much for your kindness, Mr. Qian. It is not appropriate to add another table in the pavilion now, and his status is not enough to be with you all. It will not be too late to invite him in to chat with us when the elegant party starts."

Qian Shiyuan nodded, "That's the only way."

The auspicious time has arrived, and the outside of the pavilion is full of people. There are also people boating on the lake, and the boats are full. People who come to the garden later sit on the shore, looking at the bustle of the pavilion from afar.

There are already thousands of people entering the park to attend the meeting, which is the largest number in the history of the elegant gatherings.

The elegant gathering has been held for many years and its process is well known. It consists of four items in total: literary debate, calligraphy and painting, couplets, and poetry.

Excluding the breaks, small activities such as the exchange of letters and gifts among the writers, these four competitions attracted the most attention.

Literary debate is to imitate the ancients, think about the different theories in the classics and ancient books, and explore academic subjects.

Calligraphy, painting and couplets are relatively simple. Painting and writing couplets are also a competition of literary talent.

Finally, and most importantly, it is poetry. The first place in poetry will be the poet champion of the elegant gathering. Those who have won this title are all famous talents in the Jiangnan area.

The best poems would be compiled into a book and circulated throughout the world. If one's poem was listed on the list, one could use it to visit high-ranking officials in the capital, which was considered a good resume.

Therefore, the most eye-catching part is the final poetry-writing segment.

Of course, for Lin Daiyu, her favorite thing is of course writing poetry.

She only dabbled in discussing the meaning of ancient texts and classics, and her calligraphy and paintings were mostly figures, which were slightly inferior to the landscape paintings of famous artists, and her couplets were more for entertainment.

The elegant gathering was in full swing until it came to the poetry-writing session, and a study was placed in front of Lin Daiyu.

Qian Shiyuan invited Lin Daiyu and said, "Today is a competition for the top talent, but the Lin family's daughter is also well-known for her talent, so why don't you leave your masterpiece behind?"

"If Miss Lin can win the championship, it will be regarded as a good story of 'one person surpassing all heroes' in the elegant gathering."

Lin Daiyu returned the greeting and said, "Thank you, Mr. Qian."

Lin Daiyu picked up her pen, dipped it in ink, and began to conceive.

Of course she had to write, and she had to win the first prize, so that the girls around Brother Yue would know what talent was and why Brother Yue liked her!

Lin Daiyu wants to surpass everyone else, and she is confident that she can do so.

After giving a vicious look towards the northeast, Lin Daiyu put down her pen.

Although it is also about autumn, the subject matter of Lin Daiyu's poem is different from other poems...

(End of this chapter)