Chapter 112: The Melon Eater Front Line 5
Versace nodded slightly dully. It was so high and so far away, he couldn't even see clearly, but Fan Xian was beside him in a flash. It turned out that he knew martial arts. Fortunately, he listened to his mother and canceled the plan of taking action, otherwise he would be in trouble.
Bluebird then walked up to Versace.
"Master Sizhe, let's go up."
Versace said "oh", turned around and walked a few steps before being stopped by Fan Xian again.
"and many more!"
Versace looked back blankly.
"what?"
Fan Xian pointed at the Red Tower in his arms and made a pinky promise.
"Give me the book."
Versace looked down, reacted, and quickly handed the book to Fan Xian, then followed Bluebird out of the crowd and upstairs.
When Versace walked into the box, Mei Cheng'an gave him a thumbs up, which made Versace feel quite embarrassed. Then Qingniao relayed Guo Baokun's words to him word for word.
Mei Cheng'an felt a little touched after hearing this. This little brother is really helpful and cares about him.
downstairs.
Fan Xian flipped through the Red Mansion in his hand and slowly walked towards Guo Baokun.
Guo Baokun looked at Fan Xian's figure and thought to himself that you finally showed up. I've been waiting for you for a long time.
Guo Baokun gathered his emotions for a moment and spoke loudly.
"So you're the illegitimate son that Si Nanbo raised in Danzhou. What's your name? Oh, Fan Xian, right?"
Fan Xian stopped walking, a bewildered look on his face.
"Who is it? Are you talking about me? Your Excellency, I am just passing by."
Guo Baokun thought that pretending to be stupid would not work, so he laughed.
"Oh my, my, my, my, what are you doing? You are so ashamed of yourself, Fan Xian. How come you don't even dare to acknowledge your own identity?"
Fan Xian's pretentious performance showed his distress after being recognized by fans, and then he pointed at Guo Baokun.
"Oh my, I really didn't expect you to admire me so much!"
Guo Baokun's smile froze.
"Nonsense!"
After scolding Guo Baokun, he even laughed out of anger. He sneered and looked at He Zongwei beside him.
"Still worshipping..."
At this moment, Fan Xian suddenly introduced the situation to the crowd in a loud voice, attracting Guo Baokun's attention again.
"I just arrived in Kyoto yesterday. Today is my first day out. I haven't even recognized all the people in my family yet, but you recognized me at first sight and remembered my name so clearly. Could it be that you have admired me for a long time?"
After saying this, Fan Xian raised the corner of his mouth and looked at Guo Baokun.
Hiss~ Fan Xian's words were well-reasoned and Guo Baokun couldn't think of how to refute them for a moment.
"you you you…"
He looked at He Zongwei for help and said, "Don't just stand there, help me think of an excuse."
He Zongwei pursed his lips, indicating that he could do nothing to help. He could lend a helping hand, but he didn't know the ins and outs of the matter, so what was the use of thinking about it?
Guo Baokun glanced at He Zongwei with disappointment, thinking that what he said just now made sense, but he was speechless at the critical moment. You are a waste.
Fan Xian was quite kind-hearted and took the initiative to help Guo Baokun out of the predicament.
"Hey, if you can't say it, don't say it. I'm embarrassed for you!"
The words were a bit harsh, but Guo Baokun was indeed relieved. At least he didn't have to rack his brains to come up with excuses.
Fan Xian looked down at the Red Tower in his hand and took a few steps towards Guo Baokun.
"Back to what happened earlier, if I remember correctly, you said this book was an obscene book and wanted to ban it, right?"
As Fan Xian got closer, Guo Baokun felt a sense of oppression and became a little flustered.
"Uh ah, I said, what?"
Fan Xian asked.
"Have you seen?"
Guo Baokun took a half step back and raised his voice to hide his panic.
"Read... Tsk, I can't even finish reading all the books of sages, how can I have time to read something like this?"
Fan Xian nodded, held up the Red Tower and looked at He Zongwei again.
"Have you seen it?"
Seeing that Guo Baokun was also looking at him, He Zongwei puffed out his chest. He had just disappointed Guo, so he had to perform well this time to save his image, thinking with disdain on his face.
"He is afraid of dirtying his eyes!"
Fan Xian snorted, looked at the two of them, and his expression turned cold.
"So you guys haven't even seen it yet and you're already scolding me?"
Guo Baokun snorted.
"The author of this book is unknown, how can he write anything good?"
Fan Xian was really angry now. How could he come up with such a bullshit excuse? There was anger in his words.
"Are you looking at articles or fame? If you are not famous, you can't write good works? Without learning, you can't broaden your talents, and without ambition, you can't complete learning. You have such a shallow vision, and you still call yourself a writer and have integrity. You don't even have the cultivation to look at other people's words squarely. Have you read so much that it's like a dog's stomach?"
Guo Baokun and He Zongwei's faces turned red and purple after hearing these words. The most frightening thing about an argument is that in the middle of an argument, they find that the other person is right, and their momentum involuntarily weakens.
The previous words could not be refuted, but the last sentence was rude and disrespectful, which also gave Guo Baokun a breakthrough.
"How dare you! How can a country bumpkin like you comment on a scholar?"
Fan Xian took a step back and was almost spitted at by this guy. It was so disgusting.
"Straighten your tongue before you speak. If all the scholars in the world were like you, I would be ashamed to be associated with them!" The scene was quiet for a moment. Guo Baokun and He Zongwei looked at each other. Fan Xian's fighting ability was so strong. What could they do if they couldn't win the argument?
The silence lasted only a moment before it was suddenly broken by cheers and applause.
The sound came from Versace who was watching the show on the second floor. He looked very happy as he cheered and clapped.
Guo Baokun looked very bad. He winked at He Zongwei to let him exert his strength, but as expected, the guy failed to move again.
Just when I was at a loss as to what to do, someone outside the crowd suddenly spoke.
"Mr. Fan, what you said is very wonderful!"
Everyone looked in the direction where the voice came from, and saw a young man with a noble temperament and dressed in a white brocade robe standing on the steps at the entrance of Yishiju.
Although he couldn't see the main door from the window box on the second floor, Mei Cheng'an knew it was his brother-in-law as soon as he heard the voice.
The crowd didn't recognize him, and Fan Xian didn't recognize him either, but Guo Baokun knew him, and he quickly jogged towards the young man in white. He Zongwei followed closely. It didn't matter if he didn't recognize him, he had to follow Guo Baokun's footsteps.
Guo Baokun ran to the steps and bowed hurriedly.
"His Royal Highness."
He Zongwei followed suit and saluted and called out.
Li Hongcheng put one hand behind his back and the other hand on his waist, as if he didn't see the two people. He walked down the stairs, muttering to himself.
"Without learning, one cannot broaden one's talents; without ambition, one cannot achieve learning!"
After stepping on the ground, he looked at Fan Xian and walked towards him.
"I pondered these two sentences carefully and found them to be very meaningful. Mr. Fan's talent..."
Having said this, Li Hongcheng paused and nodded at Fan Xian.
“That’s a pretty good idea!”
Fan Xian was not impressed by this so-called Crown Prince who suddenly appeared. Who knew who he belonged to? So he looked at Li Hongcheng with a somewhat unscrupulous look.
When Guo Baokun heard Prince Jing's high opinion of Fan Xian, he became a little anxious.
"Your Highness, you must not be deceived by this person."
Upon hearing this, Li Hongcheng turned to look at Guo Baokun and said without hesitation.
"Mr. Guo and Mr. He are both famous for their talents. As it happens, there will be a poetry gathering in my residence tomorrow. You two can make friends through literature and express your feelings through poetry. How about you use the poetry gathering to compete with each other in poetry, so that all the scholars in the world can see who is the real talent? "
Poetry gathering... is a good idea. Fan Xian is really good at talking. He probably won't get any good results today. With this poetry gathering, he will have something to say when he goes to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. As long as Fan Xian can be embarrassed at the poetry gathering, it can be regarded as fulfilling His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's request in disguise.
Guo Baokun secretly weighed the strength of both sides. He had read the poems written by Fan Xian in the Red Mansion. The overall level was slightly better than his own, but not much. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were equally matched. But a tie was not acceptable. He had to win. Since it was difficult to rely on himself, then...
Guo Baokun looked at He Zongwei, and seeing that He Zongwei looked confident, he felt relieved and bowed to Li Hongcheng.
"I will definitely be there!"
"Here!" He Zongwei said immediately afterwards.
Li Hongcheng nodded with satisfaction. Before he turned around to ask Fan Xian's opinion, Fan Xian's voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Hey, who are you?"
Li Hongcheng turned around and looked at him in surprise. It was normal that Fan Xian didn't know him, and there was nothing wrong with him asking about his identity, but wasn't this way of asking a question a bit impolite? Wasn't this the custom in Danzhou?
Guo Baokun seized the opportunity, walked up and scolded Fan Xian.
"Fan Xian, you are so rude. This is the Prince of Jing. How can you be so rude?"
What Prince Jing? I don’t know him. Fan Xian was a little impatient.
"Who is Prince Jing?"
"you!!!"
Guo Baokun glanced at Prince Jing and saw that he just frowned slightly, but soon relaxed again, feeling somewhat regretful.
"Prince Jing is the younger brother of the current emperor! How dare you offend the prince of Jing? Why don't you kowtow and apologize!"
Fan Xian was too lazy to pay attention to him and looked at Li Hongcheng.
"Ah~Royal blood!"
Li Hongcheng's tone was as calm as ever.
"Talent and learning are the foundation of a person, bloodline is not worth mentioning."
These words made Fan Xian's impression of him much better. Fan Xian put his hand on his shoulder in a graceful manner, which startled Li Hongcheng and made him look over sideways.
Guo Baokun on the side was stunned. This guy was too bold. This was not the end yet. Fan Xian even started to praise Prince Jing in a sweet voice.
“You have a good attitude!”
Guo Baokun was confused, and Li Hongcheng was almost the same. He was a little confused about Fan Xian, but this was not enough. Fan Xian took advantage of him not being able to react and put his arm around his shoulders and asked him in a low voice.
"Hey, seriously, are there any girls at the poetry gathering?"
Hmm? Girl? What does this have to do with that? Are all conversations in Tanzhou so out of place?
"Well...there will indeed be many talented women coming."
Fan Xian's eyes lit up.
"Are they all young ladies from wealthy families?"
Li Hongcheng didn't understand what the question meant. What was considered a wealthy family? Compared to his family, they were all small families.
"Um... about... not much."
Fan Xian was delighted, here I come, chicken leg girl.
"It's settled then. See you at the poetry meeting tomorrow!"
Li Hongcheng breathed a sigh of relief. If he asked more questions, he would be sweating profusely. What a mess these questions were.
"Okay! Hongcheng is waiting."
Fan Xian grinned, patted his shoulder, turned around and walked towards Yishiju.
(End of this chapter)
