Chapter 61: Insight

  It's normal, Yang Yunqiu has been writing vernacular Chinese for over a decade, and suddenly changing his style is unlikely. The original owner hadn't read many books or received proper education, so his memories wouldn't be of much use. If he were to write with great eloquence all of a sudden, that would be truly unbelievable.

  Mr. Hu didn't understand the situation at all and was always dissatisfied with Yang Yunqiu.

  "You should really improve your wording and phrasing, as it is, this article which originally had a good tone and was well-written, becomes uncomfortable to read and truly wastes your brilliant ideas."

  This is also when Mr. Hu began to take Yang Yunqiu seriously, otherwise, why would he be so heartbroken? In the family school, there are a large number of students who can't even write complete characters, and he hasn't scolded any one of them.

  Mr. Hu looked at the homework written by Yang Yunqiu, nodded and shook his head, sighed and put it away: "Fortunately, the words are not bad."

  If the examinee has good handwriting, it is definitely a big plus. Even if the content of the article is average, good handwriting will make it look outstanding. If you encounter an examiner who likes calligraphy, he may relax his standards and give you an excellent grade.

  Yang Yunqiu's child test for Mr. Hu is not on his mind, it must be passable. Just look at his face, look at the Sun family's face, the Sun family students will not fail even the child test, just look at the good or bad results.

  "Tonight, come with me to the Yuelou Tower to attend a snow appreciation banquet. I heard that Ziyun Pavilion will also be there, so it's a good opportunity for you to broaden your horizons and see how others compose poetry and write essays."

  Yang Yunqiu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry and could not decline Mr. Hu's kind intentions after all.

  He has recently encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation, as he used to be able to obtain some memory fragments from the wilderness every day and merge them into his physical body. However, lately, it seems that there is an obstruction that makes him feel annoyed in his heart, even quieting his mind and practicing his breath feels less comfortable than before. He simply put it down for now and blended into life to seek opportunities for a breakthrough.

  Yang Yunqiu was not in a hurry, his path ahead was very clear, now he just encountered a stumbling block on the road ahead, if he couldn't kick it away, he would go around it, and eventually solve it.

  He himself didn't think it was necessary to attend those gatherings of literati, in case he was asked to improvise a poem on the spot, which he might not be able to do, unless it was a humorous poem. The two servants were excited and rummaged through all the clothes at home: "Young master, the clothes from our mountain are beautiful, they suit you well, unfortunately we didn't bring them back."

  Yang Yunqiu was speechless, and quickly drove the little girl away. He casually picked a simple blue robe to change into. His current identity is that of a son of the Sun Zhifu family. If he dressed more extravagantly than Sun Zhaoyang, it would be troublesome. However, after changing clothes, Er Ya didn't say anything more. Some people's coarse linen clothes are still not inferior to those luxurious garments.

  "My young master looks good in anything he wears."

  Yang Yunqiu's clothes and accessories were never many, nor did he pay attention to these things. However, within the Sun family's household teachings, no one ever felt that his attire was improper. It couldn't be helped; as soon as this person stood there, people lost interest in paying attention to what he wore.

  Quanzhou is a place where people are foolish with money, and the Yiyuelou is the largest brothel in Quanzhou. It's said to be the business of King Jing, and the girls inside are all top-notch beauties with exceptional skills. Especially now, the number one beauty in Quanzhou, Rouged Maiden, has a single raised eyebrow and smile that makes men lose their souls and can't extricate themselves.

  Yang Yunqiu followed Mr. Hu, thinking about a new illusion she had just created in her mind, but her face didn't show it at all, and she politely greeted those literary talents with Mr. Hu's introduction.

  The doll was so excited that she almost flew up, taking pictures of the entire scene of the Moving Moon Building, singing and dancing, extremely colorful. Every female attendant serving here is the best female attendant in the Moving Moon Building, not a mediocre woman. They can talk, sing, play chess, those women who rely on their skin to make a living are impossible to enter this kind of brothel like the Moving Moon Building.

  A group of literati sat on the second floor of the pavilion, where it was warm and cozy, with songs and dances filling the air. Outside, the sky was icy and snowy, but plum blossoms were in full bloom, their branches adorned with red paper strips, a sign that courtesans had gone out to admire them, jotting down lines of poetry as they strolled, to share with friends.

  Mr. Hu had Yang Yunqiu by his side, and since he was still young, he didn't let him drink too much wine, but smiled and said: "Choose two favorite female entertainers and have them come over to serve you."

  Yang Yunqiu was dumbfounded - he was only twelve years old! This guy who didn't respect his elders took the child to drink flower wine, and wasn't afraid that Sun Zhifu would find out and settle accounts with him.

  Mr. Hu couldn't guess his inner ridicule, and he picked up the wine glass to savor a mouthful, still saying leisurely: "You're still young, just see the world today, pick two '乙' (second) grade ones, don't be too shy, beware of others laughing at you, after another two years, you won't lack these social interactions either, if you don't practice now, it will be easy to show weakness later."

  Yang Yunqiu was speechless, but still honestly picked two female entertainers who caught his eye to hold the wine.

  Just as they were drinking, the music and dance in the Moon Building suddenly stopped. Even those literary men who had been sitting upright and properly turned their heads to look over, and saw that on the viewing platform, behind layers of curtains, only a beautiful silhouette could be seen.

  Next to my ear, I suddenly hear a woman's sorrowful voice: "Is it true or not that the beauty of Su Wu is unparalleled? The embroidered mouth and flower-like cheeks are like a dancing dress. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to find another such beautiful person; from now on, we will no longer fly together in pairs. By the riverbank, tears fall and leave shallow marks; under the pine tree, the knot of our entwined hearts is loose. I regret not being as madly in love as Dong Cheng, and owe a song to lament the loss of my beloved in the women's quarters..."

  That voice is so moving and touching, it brings a sour feeling to people's hearts.

  Mr. Hu also smiled and sighed: "The rouge girl's singing voice is good, and Mr. Tianzhi's poem is also good."

  Next to him was a man in his thirties, who frowned and said: "Mr. Tianzhi said in his book that this poem was written by a poet named Xu from the previous dynasty for a beauty who did not live up to her years. I don't know if it's true or false, but is there really such a poet?

  Mr. Hu smiled wryly: "The scholars of the previous dynasty were not good at writing this kind of poetry, if such poetry really existed, how would we not know? It must be that Mr. Tianzhi wrote under someone else's name. Moreover, the famous courtesan Su Wan was fictional, and there was no one in this world named Dong Cheng who was a top scholar, so how could anyone have written such lines?"

  The rouge finished singing, and slipped away unnoticed. The audience below the stage took out their purses and put various gifts into several trays held by female entertainers. Some people only put in their own poems, which the female entertainers also respectfully accepted.

  Sun Zhaoyang, who was sitting in the front row, casually pulled off his own handkerchief and threw it away.

  The courtesan on the tray giggled and said, "Young master, you won't even give up a handkerchief, how stingy!" Although she said so, she still put the handkerchief away separately to keep it clean.

  Sun Zhaoyang smiled slightly: "My purse is still waiting for rouge to make."

  In short, after the screen fan was invited, a soft hum was heard, and the people around him burst out laughing. Some people secretly sighed that people were really different from each other. They threw away thousands of dollars, beautiful women didn't care about them at all, but when someone casually gave her a handkerchief, she treasured it extremely.

  Before long, the woman servant came walking up with a tray in her hands.

  Yang Yunqiu was taken aback, he didn't know this rule, after thinking for a moment, he casually took down the micro-carved ruby pendant he had just made to play with and put it in the plate.

  Mr. Hu saw it too, but didn't say anything. He was originally going to help Ming Ge take it.

  The geishas withdrew, and the music and dance resumed. A friend of Sun Zhaoyang's turned his head to glance at Yang Yunqiu and whispered, "Is that your new cheap brother?"

  Sun Zhaoyang casually responded with a grunt, "Probably, I didn't notice." He spoke carelessly, obviously not caring.

  A friend chuckled and said: "I heard that the young lady from the Yin family is very close to him, could it be that your family plans to have him marry Miss Yin in your place?"

  Sun Zhaoyang was surprised and raised an eyebrow, unexpectedly turning his head to glance at Yang Yunqiu, with a hint of displeasure on his face.

  His friend burst out laughing: "So you don't know. It's all over now, and some people are even saying that this cheap brother of yours took Miss Yin to live on Wenshan for several days, although a group of slaves followed, they were all underlings, what happened on the mountain, wasn't it your brother who was in charge?"

  Sun Zhaoyang's face sank, and he turned his head disdainfully: "Indeed, you have no upbringing, daring to randomly ruin a girl's reputation."

  If Yang Yunqiu knew Sun Xiangyang's thoughts, she would definitely find it amusing. Not to mention that the status of girls in this era is not considered low, and many women wear men's clothes to ride horses and hunt, and run wildly on the streets, which is not a new thing. Just talking about Princess Le Ping, who often gathers handsome boys as companions and plays in the capital, no one dares to tarnish her reputation.

  Besides, even if there was something improper about it, the Sun family wouldn't care about the reputation of a lone orphan girl. As for Yang Yinqu and Li Shanshan, they were modern people who came here to treat Li Shanshan's illness, so they didn't really care about things like reputation.

  Her friend turned around, smiled and said: "Don't be angry, he's nothing but a nobody. If you're not satisfied, let's go to the Snow Garden to admire the plum blossoms later. We'll make him lose face, just to make you feel better!"

  Sun Zhaoyang glared at him: "Don't be too excessive, making a scene now would not be good for the reputation of our Sun family. Princess Le Ping might take offense." However, he didn't object.

  His friend smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have a sense of propriety." He beckoned to a young servant, whispered a few words in his ear, and the servant nodded and went out. Before long, a female entertainer walked up to Mr. Hu and bowed to him and his fellow scholar friends, saying: "My mistress has not seen you for a long time, sir, and is very concerned about you. Please come to the Orchid Pavilion to have a cup of wine."

  The beauty made an appointment, and Mr. Hu and his party could not help but go. He reminded Yang Yunqiu to start the banquet in a while, and then he left with the female entertainers.

  This is also not Mr. Hu's intention, mainly because the safer the place like Yueshang Building, the less worried he is, and he absolutely cannot think that someone would want to deal with a twelve-year-old boy.

  Yang Yunqiu didn't mind either, it was just as well that he didn't have to entertain Mr. Hu, and there were two pretty little girls nestled beside him, massaging his shoulders and rubbing his legs, feeling so comfortable, even his thoughts were broadened, and he came up with several fantasy array changes.

  Before long, the gate of Xueyuan opened and a group of people went downstairs one after another into Xueyuan.

  Yang Yunqiu was stopped by the guards at the gate as soon as he arrived.

  "Where did you sneak in from, kid? This isn't a place you should be. Scram!"

  His voice was extremely loud, and with this one shout, everyone turned their heads around. Those who had already entered the Snow Garden also stopped in their tracks to watch. People, after all, love excitement, especially since they were originally here to have fun.