The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 71 Poetry
When Jia Rong finished his work and returned to his room, he found that several children were taking a nap and the room was very quiet.

When the maids saw Jia Rong coming in, they whispered, "Master, grandma and the girls have gone to the garden to enjoy the snow and write poetry."

When Jia Rong went out, he saw Wang Xifeng and Ping'er coming over, so he went over to say hello.

"You are here too. Yuanchun and the others are enjoying the snow and writing poems in the backyard."

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "I have been here for more than an hour. I came here with Qingwen."

Jia Rong spent quite a while entertaining his guests. Indeed, the entire morning had passed, and it was already afternoon.

"Jia Baoyu is here too?" Jia Rong frowned. Qingwen was Jia Baoyu's maid, but Jia Rong would not allow Jia Baoyu to come over for no reason.

Wang Xifeng looked at Jia Rong and said with a smile, "Baoyu didn't come, but he was at home eating with the old lady and was curious about what the girls were doing, so he asked Qingwen to come and see."

Jia Rong scolded: "You are useless!"

Wang Xifeng knew that Jia Rong was scolding Jia Baoyu.

"I can't write poetry, but I came out when I saw the girls writing poetry. Miss Shi said she wanted to invite you, the Jie Yuangong, to write poetry, but Yuanchun declined because she knew you didn't like it."

Jia Rong really didn't like this kind of activity, but thinking about the beauties in the garden behind him, how could he not go and take a look?
"Let's go take a look." Jia Rong was interested. "I'll go take a look. You go ahead and do your work."

Wang Xifeng wanted to go home, but when she saw Jia Rong was going to take a look, she also said, "I'll go back and take a look too."

The three of them quickly went to the backyard. The back garden of Jia Rong's house had always been a good place for Jia Yuanchun to enjoy the snow and take a walk. After she had children, she would often take the children out to play.

When Jia Rong got married, he planted an osmanthus tree in the yard, and he also planted many trees in the backyard, including peach trees, pear trees, as well as the elegant plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. Even now, during the heavy snow, the yard is still colorful and not deserted at all.

As Jia Rong and Wang Xifeng approached Tianxiang Tower in Huifang Garden, they heard a group of talented girls reciting poems together.

Li Wan said: "The snow is still falling when the door is opened, and it is so white when it sinks into the mud."

Xiangling said: The whole earth cherishes the beautiful jade, and is interested in the flourishing withered grass.

Tanchun said: I have no intention of decorating the withered seedlings, the wine in Gaocun is ripe.

Li Qi said: "In Liangrao, Nianfu, Jia moved the gray flying tube."

Li Wen said: The sun has returned and the Big Dipper has turned, and Hanshan has lost its green.

Xiu Yan said: A frozen river has no tide, and it is easy for sparse willow branches to hang.

Xiangyun said: It is difficult to pile up broken banana leaves, or to melt musk coal in a precious tripod.

Baoqin said: The golden sable is clad in the brocade sleeves, and its light outshines the mirror in front of the window.

Daiyu said: The fragrance sticks to the pepper on the wall, and the slanting wind still blows it.

……

Jia Rong listened for two or three minutes. These people kept taking over one another's sentences. Soon most of them ran out of words. Only Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun and Xue Baoqin continued to sing.

Wang Xifeng laughed and said, "I don't know how to do this. It makes me feel overwhelmed just by hearing it."

After Wang Xifeng spoke, the people inside quickly asked, "Why did Sister Feng come back? Did you forget something?"

Wang Xifeng shouted, "I have invited Mr. Jie Yuan to come in. Is it convenient for him to come in now?"

"It's convenient, come in!" Shi Xiangyun came over quickly and lifted the curtain.

When Jia Rong came in, he saw a group of ladies from prominent families gathered together, and a thought suddenly came to his mind: Is this the treatment that Jia Baoyu gets?

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but dislike Jia Baoyu even more.

Shi Xiangyun saw Jia Rong coming in and said happily, "Big brother, come and take a look at the poems of the three sisters."

Li Wan came over and said, "Sister Xing and Sister Baoqin are both writing poems. Qi'er is not very good at writing seven-character regulated verse, so let Wen'er try."

Jia Rong noticed that three of the four girls who came this time were writing poems at the desk, and they all claimed to know a few words.

The three of them finished writing the poem quickly. Lin Daiyu handed it to Jia Yuanchun, who then took it to show Jia Rong who was sitting by the fire.

Xing Xiuyan wrote poems in scarlet characters
The peach blossoms are not in full bloom, the apricots are not red, but the cold wind is already smiling. My soul flies to Yuling Mountain, and it is hard to tell the spring. The clouds separate Luofu Mountain, and the dream is not clear. The green calyx adds makeup and melts the precious torch, and the white fairy helps the drunk to cross the remaining rainbow. It seems that this is not an ordinary color, and the shade is determined by the ice and snow.

Li Wen used the word "plum" to compose a poem

I am too lazy to write about white plum blossoms, so I write about red plum blossoms, which bloom to welcome drunken eyes. The marks on the frozen face are all blood, and the sour heart without hatred has also turned into ashes. I swallowed the elixir by mistake and changed my real bones, and sneaked down to the Yaochi to get rid of my old body. The spring in the north and south of the Yangtze River is brilliant, and the bees and butterflies are suspicious.

Xue Baoqin is a flower character
The branches are sparse and the flowers are gorgeous. Children compete to be extravagant in their spring makeup. There is no snow on the curved railings in the idle courtyard, and there are sunset clouds on the empty mountain and flowing water. The cold dream follows the red sleeve flute, and the fragrance of the immortal floats on the river raft. The previous life must have been from the fairyland, and there is no doubt that the color is different.

Shi Xiangyun stood next to Jia Rong and quickly asked, "Big brother, who do you think did a good job?"

"They are all good." Jia Rong said with a smile, "They are all good girls who are well-versed in poetry and literature. I will have something to talk about them when I drink with others later."

Xue Baochai quickly realized that she had missed the opportunity and should have written a poem for Jia Rong to see.

Li Wan knew how much benefit Jia Rong could gain from saying this.

"Uncle Rong is now a top scholar and will definitely become a Jinshi in the future. He knows talented people from all over the country. How can we show off the things these girls made casually? We have to ask them to go back and carefully write a masterpiece that they can show off and ask Uncle Rong to take a look at it." The Li family is a scholarly family, but they don't know many people. Their circle of friends is not as broad as Jia Rong's.

Xue Baochai was about to say something, but Shi Xiangyun couldn't wait to say, "Brother, why don't you write a poem too? Look, Miss Lin finally came here."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "It's not easy for you to come here, and it's not easy for me to come here either. It's not easy for everyone."

Lin Daiyu was also curious about Jia Rong's literary talent, so she said, "Brother Rong, everyone is so happy today, would you please write a poem for us sisters to admire?"

Seeing this, Jia Rong said helplessly: "Then I will compose a poem based on your red plum blossoms. Like Miss Li, I am not good at seven-character regulated verse, so I will compose a poem that is easy to remember."

"Good!" Shi Xiangyun clapped her hands happily.

The other girls, including Jia Yuanchun, became interested and quickly made way for Jia Rong to write poems.

Jia Rong walked to the table where everyone was writing poetry. His sister-in-law Tanchun had already helped him place paper and pen.

Looking at the group of beautiful women surrounding him, Jia Rong looked at the sunset outside the window again.

In winter the afternoons come earlier.

Jia Rong quickly lowered his head and wrote a poem.

After Jia Rong picked up the pen and wrote his name, everyone listened to Jia Yuanchun reciting a poem.

"The sun sets as the sorrow of parting spreads."

"The whip points eastwards, and the end of the world is at hand."

"Falling petals are not heartless."

"Turning into spring mud will protect the flowers."

Jia Yuanchun had never discussed poetry with Jia Rong. She only knew that Jia Rong didn't like it very much and thought that Jia Rong was not good at writing poetry.

The girls present all knew something about poetry, so they could tell whether it was good or bad just by listening to it.

Good poetry speaks for itself.

Even Wang Xifeng felt something unusual at this moment.

"I don't understand poetry, but I feel like I can understand what Uncle Rong is saying. It must be a good poem, right?"

Shi Xiangyun felt offended by Wang Xifeng's remarks, and she quickly said, "Of course it's a good poem! I want to collect it! Big brother, can you give me this calligraphy?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Take it."

Jia Xichun quickly shouted, "Rong'er, write another one!"

"Go away." Jia Rong smiled and refused his sister-in-law's order, and then said: "Young ladies, when you come here to enjoy the snow and write poems, you must pay attention to the cold weather. Although there is a fire here, you must also have more good wine and good meat to entertain you. In the future, let the kitchen and two cooks come to serve, prepare some good wine, good food, hot soup to warm your body, and pay from my account."

Jia Yuanchun nodded and said, "Master, you are right. I was inconsiderate and forgot that the girls are weak and need to be taken care of more."

Jia Rong said, "I have come here and written a poem. I have other things to do in the evening, so I will leave you now. It gets dark early outside. If you don't want to go back, just stay. I will send someone to tell them later."

Shi Xiangyun said quickly: "I forgot about this. I have a lot of things to do at home, and I have to go back to celebrate the New Year today."

Jia Rong said, "I'll have someone take you back. Don't worry. Did Yuanchun give you money for the New Year?"

Before Shi Xiangyun could say anything, Wang Xifeng said, "They were all given. Even I got twenty taels! Twenty taels for the ladies, five taels for the maids who came with them, and two taels for the maids and servants who followed outside."

Jia Rong quickly sent the person back.

After Jia Rong and Shi Xiangyun left, Xue Baochai followed and said, "I have something to do at home and have to go back early. Brother Rong's poems are here, so I won't show off today."

Lin Daiyu also felt that the time was almost up, so she said, "It is indeed late, and we should go."

Jia Yuanchun smiled and said, "We are so close, what are we afraid of? We can leave after dinner. It won't be too late. It will only take a while to ride in the sedan chair."

When Lin Daiyu heard Jia Yuanchun say this, she agreed.
Jia Tanchun naturally listened to her elder sister, and as Jia Xichun was from the Ning Mansion, she naturally had to stay to celebrate the New Year.

Yingchun was pulled by Xichun, so she naturally stayed as well.

The four springs have gathered together and are all staying here today.

The Li sisters and Xing Xiuyan were guests, and when Jia Rong was not with Jia Yuanchun, they also ate with Jia Yuanchun.

After all, Xue Baochai was an outsider, so she soon went back to see Lady Jia with the widow Li Wan and Wang Xifeng.

After leaving Ning Mansion, Shi Xiangyun went to Rong Mansion. When she said goodbye to Lady Jia, she told her mother about Jia Rong's poetry.

Soon during the New Year, Jia Rong's poem was spread through the mouths of women in each family.

The strength of the provincial examination champion is beyond doubt.

(End of this chapter)