Chapter 63: The Gemstone

  A snowy banquet went smoothly, but the doll was still somewhat disappointed: "...when watching it, there would always be someone to provoke the protagonist, let the protagonist make a poem on the spot, and then the protagonist would make a stunning debut."

  Yang Yunqiu was speechless —— what just happened was shocking enough!

  Besides, if someone really comes to provoke him, he can only get a mediocre evaluation by making up a poem, which is self-exposure.

  As for plagiarism, he can plagiarize one or two poems, but if he continues to do so, he will eventually be exposed. If it were a critical moment, it wouldn't be impossible to use this trick to save face, but in the current situation, it's clearly not a crucial moment.

  After three rounds of wine, the poetic sentiments of countless literati and elegant scholars had been fully expressed. The Snow Appreciation Banquet was nearing its end, and the focus of everyone's attention, Rouge Maiden, finally sent out a maid to select today's lucky winner to go to the Purple Cloud Studio to listen to her enchanting music.

  As usual, whenever such gatherings took place, if Ziyunzhai was present, Rouged Maiden would select from among the guests who had brought gifts, the one whose gift pleased her the most, and play the zither and brew tea to entertain them.

  "This time it's probably Sun Zhongyang, Young Master Sun again."

  Several familiar customers looked at each other with an expectant expression, shaking their heads and smiling wryly: "As long as Sun Zhaoyang is here, the gate of Purple Cloud Pavilion rarely opens for others. It seems that the last time King Jing came, even Rouged Maiden didn't give him face."

  It can't be said that way, I remember last month in the Brocade Pavilion, Su Gongzi gave a snow-white horse and let Yanzhi fall in love with it, and stayed in the Purple Cloud Studio for more than two hours.

  "It's just that although it's hard to get into Ziyunzhai, we still have hope."

  Like this famous courtesan, many people like her proud and aloof style. Before the fresh flowers have been picked, they are lovely and charming, but once obtained, after a while, they naturally become uninteresting.

  Rouge was very clear about this, and she did a good job. She had long since redeemed herself and now only stayed in the Zi Yun Pavilion. Whenever a brothel held a grand banquet or received a noble guest, she would go and make an appearance. When she was in a good mood, she would also appear at the brothels in Quanzhou. The owners of these brothels naturally treated her as a lucky charm, making her a famous courtesan with a transcendent status.

  Yang Yunqiu felt that the women of this era were indeed pitiful, but also thought that they were actually very clever and open-minded. She was very clear about her own background, and even if she was taken in as a concubine by someone, she would still be able to be bought and sold at will, and once the novelty wore off, she didn't know how she would get through the days. But if she were to marry an ordinary person as his legitimate wife, not to mention whether she looked down on him or not, even if she could get by with a life of worrying about food and clothing, her husband would probably also be infatuated with her beauty and wealth, and eventually look down on her. One day, who knows what unspeakable tragedy might occur.

  If Rouge knew Yang Yunqiu's mind, she would certainly regard her as a kindred spirit. Having been in the brothel for so long, such things happened every day, and those women were often beaten until their teeth fell out and they swallowed blood. Rouge couldn't bear to watch it, so she decided that while she still had a pretty face, she would earn more money, and when she grew old and her beauty faded, whether she became the madam of another brothel or found a place where no one knew her, she would spend the rest of her years. Perhaps it wouldn't be worse than most courtesans' fate, hoping to find a good man to live with, but ending up even more miserable.

  The rouge is good to their own maids, the pretty and delicate little maids stand on the stage, their appearance and demeanor are not inferior to those of the female performers below, and the men look at them with even more anticipation.

  That little maid also didn't hang around, took out a flower letter, and smiled: "My young lady said that Sun Zhao Ming, the second son of the Sun family, sent a precious stone necklace, she is very fond of it. Today, at the Purple Cloud Pavilion, tea will be served to guests, please don't decline."

  Everyone was stunned for a moment, wanting to be shocked, but then they found that they were not too surprised either.

  Lian Sun Yao also remained calm and composed, with a carefree air about him. He spoke loudly, "Hey, Rouge, you'd better be more careful. My younger brother is still young, don't let him return home late again, or it'll make my father angry."

  Everyone burst out laughing, and those who had originally wanted to see Sun Zhaoyang's excitement also shut their mouths, feeling that the brothers' feelings were good and their relationship was close, and the older brother did not suppress his younger brother.

  There are still people who think that Sun Zhaoyang has an extraordinary temperament, no wonder he has such a reputation. Not many people who know something about Sun and the two families' current actions have some vigilance - Sun Zhaoyang is not a simple person, and it's likely that he really has hope to win Le Ping Gongzhu's heart.

  That Princess Le Ping was the emperor's only daughter, spoiled since childhood. Although her character wasn't bad, she had a flaw that everyone knew about: she liked handsome young men and had a string of good-looking young princes following her around. When she went out, if she saw someone handsome, she would want to take them back with her, looking quite like a kidnapper of virtuous women and men.

  The emperor never interfered with her and even thought his daughter had a bit of her father's style.

  Sun Zhaoyang, apparently meets women's aesthetic requirements.

  The atmosphere in the Yuèyuè Building suddenly became harmonious and joyful, and several young merchants laughed and said: "It turns out that Miss Rouged Lips likes gemstone necklaces, we have as many as you want, as long as Miss Rouged Lips is happy, ten or eight of them we can afford to give."

  That little servant girl didn't get angry, and said in a crisp tone: "My young mistress also said that she got some good treasures, if you gentlemen aren't allowed to see them together, she won't be happy either. She especially asked me to bring the gift for Master Sun, so everyone can take a look."

  She said so, and the people present were indeed somewhat interested.

  Mr. Hu chuckled in a low voice: "Ming Ge, what did you give her? I took a look and it seems to be just a pendant, how did it become a diamond necklace?"

  Yang Yunqiu smiled and said: "Maybe it was Miss Rouge who changed it, my pendant was originally made to be unconventional."

  At this time, two girls came out with trays covered in red silk, and the Ruyue Building gradually quieted down. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the stage. The maid of Zhu'er smiled and lifted the red silk with a wave of her hand. Under the shining lights, the blue sapphire pendant had been replaced with a silver chain and turned into a necklace. It was indeed bright and beautiful in color, very exquisite.

  That's all there is to it.

  “…………”

  Many people are disappointed.

  Someone laughed and said: "Miss, your family's rouge master is too easy to coax."

  "It's just that this kind of gemstone is polished so smoothly, it's indeed valuable and exquisite, but the gift we gave wasn't much different from this."

  Generally speaking, such a gift can win Rouge's favor, but this time it was Miss Rouge's first time to take out the gift and show it off, so everyone was very expectant, so even if the thing is actually not bad, they also have a feeling of disappointment.

  That little maid mysteriously blinked her eyes and smiled, saying: "Everyone don't worry, take a closer look." As she spoke, she carefully picked up the necklace from the tray, and two more maids brought candle holders onto the stage.

  Behind them, a turtle servant walked by, dropping the curtains. The entire main hall of the Moving Moon Building suddenly darkened, with only the candlelight on the stage shining brightly. Everyone was subconsciously drawn to their movements and looked over to see the little maid holding the gemstone in her hand, gently rotating it in front of the candelabra.

  Suddenly, everyone's eyes lit up, and some people couldn't bear the brightness, squinting their eyes, and when they opened them again, they saw that a beam of light from the gemstone had enveloped the entire hall.

  Mr. Hu was shocked: "This is..."

  They seemed to have arrived at Shi Xia Mountain in Quanzhou in an instant from the Moon Moving Building, where they could overlook the city's streets and see the rippling creek waters, like a real painting unfolding before their eyes, stretching down to their feet, with some people unable to resist the urge to reach out and pick up an entire mountain peak in their hands.

  The entire Moon Moving Building was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

  When the candlestick's light faded, the beautiful picture flashed and disappeared. The large hall was filled with heavy breathing sounds, probably because they were too shocked to breathe earlier.

  The king is still okay, he has seen more exciting scenes and hasn't lost his composure, but others don't have such good self-control.

  "What is this?"

  After a moment of silence, the noise erupted in the Moon Moving Building. Many literary men who usually paid great attention to their demeanor couldn't help but walk to the front of the stage to take a closer look. Fortunately, everyone here had status and position, so they didn't lose their composure excessively.

  That little maid smiled and said: "I'm just a young girl, seeing such a strange sight, I'm surprised like everyone else. Let's let the original owner tell us what's going on, how is this?"

  Everyone turned around to look at Yang Yunqiu.

  Yang Yunqiu nodded and walked over to casually pick up the gemstone, handing it to these guests: "Actually, it's just a kind of carving, micro-carving. In the past, there were also clever craftsmen who could carve out palaces, utensils, figures, birds, beasts, wood, and stone from a single inch of wood. The principle is roughly the same as this one. I was using it to practice my hand's stability, so I tried carving it. This time, I rushed out in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare gifts, so I could only give you these small trinkets that I played with myself. I hope Miss Rou won't despise them."

  He deliberately downplayed it, but people were still greatly surprised. Not to mention that the gemstone was very hard and difficult to carve, even on a gemstone of this size, which is about the same as a thumb, carving out half of Quanzhou City's scenery is not something an ordinary person can do. However, although everyone was surprised, they didn't say much. At this time, the craftsman's skills were not highly valued.

  The rouge's maid, Yu'er, smiled and said: "Where did Master Sun get that from? Our young mistress really likes you a lot. Please don't stand her up, I'll be waiting quietly at the door." After finishing speaking, she left.

  The last grand finale came to an end, and the banquet also came to a close.

  Mr. Hu introduced Yang Yunqiu to several of his good friends, took him to meet many people, and also introduced him into the literary circle in Quanzhou, then let him go to meet with beautiful women.

  Being able to get a famous courtesan like Yanzhi to show favor, that's a elegant thing, Sun Zhao Yang became famous because of this back then. Mr. Hu didn't think there was anything wrong with a twelve-year-old boy having an appointment with Yanzhi at all.