Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 71 The Princess' Invitation
With his bare upper body and a thorny bramble on his back, Zhu Er, looking dejected, no longer looked like the cockerel that he had been last night. Instead, he looked like an obedient quail, with only his eyes still darting around. Seeing this, Zhang Shou felt that Zhu Ying's second brother was not as good as Lu Sanlang, and was even worse than Zhang Chen, who sometimes claimed to be a righteous young master.
Seeing Zhu Er raise his eyes and glance at him quickly, his eyes were dark, obviously he had been beaten, and guessing that it was Zhu Ying who did it, Zhang Shou couldn't help but smile. When he smiled, Zhu Er immediately glared at him angrily, but when he saw Zhu Ying looking at him, he quickly smiled apologetically.
"Yingying, you asked me to come and apologize, and look, here I am. Look at this bramble, it still has thorns, but I am sincere..."
There were many dandies like Zhu Er in Cuiyun's room. Zhang Shou was not surprised by his behavior. He said nonchalantly, "Second Young Master shouldn't have come to me. He should have gone to the Madam and apologized sincerely first."
"I said he should go to grandma's first, but he insisted coming to you first." Zhu Ying paused here and looked at her second brother with some unfriendly eyes.
No wonder she felt something was wrong just now. You are such a good second brother. You even want to calculate the order of priority. Do you want grandmother to think that A Shou is arrogant and rude?
Zhu Ying immediately snorted coldly, then grabbed Zhu Er and walked out: "A Shou, I'll take him to kowtow to grandma first, and come back later!"
Seeing Zhu Ying rushing out again like she did when she came, Zhang Shou noticed that Mother Li had a subtle look in her eyes, and after smiling and bowing, she hurriedly chased after her. He shrugged his shoulders, then turned his head to look at Qi Liang and Deng Xiaodai.
"I think you two didn't sleep well last night. Do you want to go out for a walk with me today, or stay here and catch up on your sleep?"
"Of course, go out!"
Qi Liang and Deng Xiaodai uttered five words almost in unison, and then looked at each other.
What a joke! If the young master went out and they stayed in the Duke of Zhao's mansion, who would be able to bear it if the lady called them over to question them? Anyway, it was just a sleepless night, at most they would feel sleepy, which was better than staying here and fidgeting!
Zhang Shou also hoped that Deng Xiaodai and Qi Liang would take him around the capital. As for Zhu Ying, the eldest lady was too conspicuous, and whether she was dressed as a woman or a man, she would be too conspicuous. However, before he could figure out how to persuade the grandparents to let the three of them go out for a walk, Mother Li came back with a forced smile on her face.
"Master Shou, Princess Yongping's Yuehua Tower Literary Gathering is today, and she sent you an invitation specially."
Zhang Shou had heard Zhu Ying mention the name of Princess Yongping once before. In the story told by the eldest lady, the princess who was born on the same day as her was a complete villain. She not only stepped on her lotus lantern, but also mocked her. As a result, the eldest lady angrily fought back and ended up in a bad situation. He was not very interested in these palace affairs and never asked Lu Sanlang and others about them.
But now, he received this inexplicable note on the second day after arriving in the capital. He was surprised and helpless, and said calmly: "I am a nobody, why would Princess Yongping send me a note? I promised the teacher yesterday that I would take Xiao Qi and Xiao Dai to his place to solve a few problems. For things like the literary meeting, I'll have to trouble Mother Li to decline it for me."
Mother Li didn't expect Zhang Shou to refuse so simply and directly, and a smile that was much more sincere than before suddenly appeared on her face. Even so, she still handed over the invitation with both hands, and when she saw Deng Xiaodai quickly took it and handed it to Zhang Shou, she finally explained a few words.
"Princess Yongping has been very talented since she was young. She is proficient in all arts, including music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She is also quite good at poetry and songs. In addition, the atmosphere of this dynasty has always been open. Once, she accompanied the emperor on an incognito tour and met three talented people in Yuehua Tower. After questioning them, they were convinced that she was better than them. Her reputation spread, so she took the opportunity to ask the emperor to hold a literary gathering in Yuehua Tower every month, and she would watch from upstairs."
"Of course, the curtains are drawn upstairs. She will not meet with the scholars and outsiders are not allowed to go upstairs."
At this point, she paused and lowered her eyelids again: "The emperor often sends his eunuchs to accompany him, so the scholars who get the invitations all regard it as a great honor. After all, who can resist the temptation of being able to make a name for themselves before the imperial examination? If all the invitations were signed with names, some people would do anything to get one."
There's only one character difference in the titles, and what they are doing now are surprisingly similar. Does that princess want to be Princess Taiping?
Zhang Shou laughed in his heart, but said jokingly, "Mother Li said that Princess Yongping was quite good at poetry and songs, but what's being held in Yuehua Tower is not a poetry club, but a literary gathering?"
"Because Princess Yongping said that although poetry and songs can show literary talent, no matter how good the poetry is, it may not necessarily make a good official or be beneficial to the court. It is better to see a person's character and talent through his writing."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but laugh at what Li's mother said about Princess Yongping: "Although I don't know how to write poetry, I have to say that if someone really puts in the effort to write good poetry, how many people can't write good articles?"
"Besides, can one's writing reveal a person's character and talent? Can one tell whether a person can be a good official? Most corrupt officials were chosen based on their writings, right? As the saying goes, knowledge gained from books is shallow, and one must practice to truly understand. Aren't there people who are good at writing but know nothing about being an official?"
"We should hold a literary conference just to select talented people who can write good articles. Why should we despise poetry and songs and elevate articles?"
"A Shou, you said it well!" Just as he said this, an exclamation of praise came from outside. Immediately afterwards, Zhu Er with a subtle expression staggered into the house, followed closely by Zhu Ying.
Miss Zhu's face was flushed red at this moment. It was unclear whether she was in a hurry or was happy because of what Zhang Shou said: "Princess Yongping always thinks that Lu Fangweng's poems are too shallow. If you ask me, it's because she is too shallow! You want to go just because that woman sent you an invitation? No way! I will accompany you, Xiao Qi and Xiao Dai to see Grandpa Ge!"
At this point, Zhang Shou thought that the matter was over.
To his surprise, when the lady learned that he was going to Ge Yong, she insisted that he change his clothes and even asked the maid to bring him clothes.
It was not until then that Zhang Shou discovered that in addition to the Qinglian gauze shirt that had been given to him as a birthday gift, the lady had actually prepared other clothes that were exactly his size, and not just one, but several in different colors.
Zhang Shou had nothing to say about this style, so he could only choose a relatively simple indigo-colored suit. Just as he was dressed, Zhu Ying came again with Zhu Er, who was also dressed neatly, saying that he wanted to take people to Grandpa Ge to be influenced by him.
Seeing Zhu Ying winking at him as she spoke, Zhang Shou knew that the influence Zhu Ying hoped for his second brother was the bombardment of a sea of math problems that made the group of noble children in Cuiyun Room complain endlessly. He glanced at this young lady who betrayed her brother unhappily, and neither agreed nor disagreed, but simply said, "Okay, it's getting late, let's go out."
"Hey, are the young lady and Mr. Shou here? I have something to report."
Just at this moment, there was a cough outside, and then Mother Jiang came into the room. She looked around at everyone and then knelt down to salute.
"Empress Yu just sent someone over, saying that she hasn't seen Miss for a long time. She will also go to Yuehua Tower at noon today, and asks Miss to go meet her."
Seeing Zhu Ying was shocked and then shook her sleeves in annoyance, she sighed and said, "Empress Yu said that if possible, please ask Mr. Shou to bring two students to the meeting so that people can see the elegance of the disciples of Gemen. The lady said that it would be fine if you didn't go, but the princess sent the invitation first, and Empress Yu also sent a special message, so you should go."
"She sent someone to inform Grand Tutor Ge, so that he wouldn't have to wait in vain. She was so bored that she decided to go to Yuehua Tower with you!"
Zhang Shou was just too lazy to accept this invitation which obviously had the connotation of a Hongmen Feast. Now that he couldn't refuse, he smiled and said, "Well, let's go. I'm a country boy, so I'll just treat it as an opportunity to see the top literary gathering in the capital."
