Chapter 125 Look, I'm Really Accurate
Fan Xian looked inside the door and asked.
"Is everyone here?"
Li Hongcheng supported the bottom with his left hand and freed his right hand to push down the two bags of persimmons, revealing his chin.
"Ah, everyone is here, except you."
"Where are the girls?"
“Here we are.”
Fan Xian's expression lit up with joy, and he suddenly reached out and patted Li Hongcheng's arm.
"Then hurry in, go, go, go."
After saying that, he waved to his sister and Teng Zijing, signaling them to follow him, and then walked towards the mansion.
After all three of them had entered the house, Li Hongcheng came to his senses. He looked down at the mess in his arms and walked towards the mansion in a daze.
……
backyard.
Because of the addition of the Second Prince, there was not enough space in the pavilion, so they moved to a platform not far from the pavilion.
There were four low tables placed on the platform, facing each other. Li Roujia and Lin Wan'er sat on one side, and Mei Cheng'an and the second prince sat opposite them.
Li Roujia looked at the second prince and asked curiously.
"Second brother, where is your inseparable bodyguard?"
The second prince sat with his legs propped up, not caring about his image, and replied casually when he heard it.
"He's waiting outside the courtyard. You don't need him to follow you here."
Li Roujia said "oh" and stopped talking.
Lin Wan'er followed up with a question.
"Why did my second cousin come here suddenly?"
The second prince paused as he looked at the Red Tower in his hand.
"I... came here for Fan Xian. I'm very interested in him."
As he said this, he raised his head and looked at Lin Wan'er.
"Wan'er, aren't you here for him?"
Lin Wan'er blushed.
"Second cousin, stop talking nonsense!"
The second prince tilted his head, curved the corners of his mouth, and lowered his head to continue reading.
Li Roujia pulled Lin Wan'er aside and started talking in private.
Mei Chengan was not in a very good mood. A date was supposed to be a date, but with two uninvited guests, it turned into a dinner party.
The second prince moved his eyes away from the book and looked at Mei Chengan. Seeing that he was unhappy, he suddenly became happy.
"Why, I'm not welcome."
Mei Chengan nodded.
"Your Highness, why can't you go to see the Red Mansion? Why do you have to come here?"
The second prince took a deep breath and looked Mei Chengan up and down.
"No, you really admitted it. You are really resentful! Oh, that's not right. Wan'er also disturbed you. Weren't you having a good chat? Why is it different when it comes to me?"
Mei Chengan shrugged.
"How can it be the same? She is a girl after all."
The second prince uttered a "hey".
"Then I'll go?"
Mei Cheng'an sighed.
"Since you are here, Your Highness should just sit down. It would be nice to have Your Highness to talk to me. I won't be lonely while the two sisters chat."
The second prince slapped his thigh and said happily.
"Sure! What do you want to talk about?"
Mei Cheng'an looked at the second prince, and his gaze paused on the red building in his hand.
"Your Highness, what do you think of the book Red Mansions?"
Upon hearing this, the second prince looked down at the Red Tower in his hand and said.
"This book is extremely well written, it is truly a masterpiece. Reading this wonderful book is enough to comfort you for the rest of your life!"
A hint of surprise flashed across Mei Cheng'an's eyes.
"It seems that His Highness really likes the Red Mansion."
The second prince smiled.
“It can be said that I can’t put it down!”
Indeed, from the time the Second Prince entered the courtyard until now, the Red Mansion has been firmly in the hands of the Emperor and has never been let go.
Mei Chengan nodded.
"I see it."
The second prince looked at the fruit plate on the table, picked up a bunch of grapes, held it to his lips and bit off one.
"Fan Xian, um, he's attending a poetry reading in front, don't you want to go and take a look?"
Mei Cheng'an picked up the teacup, looked at a small piece of tea leaves floating on it, blew on it, and watched the tea leaves drift to the side.
"What are you going to see?"
The second prince was stunned for a moment.
"Look at Fan Xian, aren't you friends with him?"
Mei Cheng'an turned the teacup and observed the movement of the tea leaves.
"What's so good about him? Why should I leave Roujia and go to see him?"
The second prince was happy.
"Aren't you curious about what kind of poetry he wrote?"
Mei Cheng'an felt so bored, so he put down his teacup, looked at the fruits and snacks on the table, stretched out his fingers and started to count them. Well, he picked up the osmanthus cake, so he picked up a bunch of grapes.
"Your Highness should be more curious than me. Your Highness is not anxious, so why should I be anxious? Anyway, why hasn't anyone come to report the news? Hasn't the front started yet?"
The second prince burst out laughing and pointed at Mei Chengan.
"You, you, look at me, I'm so accurate! Be patient, it should start soon."
……
forecourt.
Fan Xian walked around the female guests and didn't see the chicken leg girl. He walked up to Fan Ruoruo with a puzzled look on his face and said to her.
"No!"
Fan Ruoruo subconsciously turned her head to look over there, wanting to help look for her. After looking for a few times, she suddenly remembered that she had never seen Sister Jitui, so it would be useless to look. So she turned around and said to Fan Xian.
"Brother, don't be anxious. Take a closer look. Maybe you missed it."
Although Fan Xian felt that the possibility of missing something was slim, he had no better solution. He walked to the other end and wanted to take a look from the beginning again, but he was stopped after taking a few steps.
“People live in the world by courtesy. A gentleman may not wear fancy clothes, but he must be polite.”
Fan Xian looked at the man in front of him with impatience.
"Who are you?" He Zongwei almost vomited blood and took a deep breath.
"My name is He Zongwei. I met Master Fan at Yishiju yesterday."
When He Zongwei announced his name, Fan Xian lost interest in listening and continued to scan the seats for the female guests. After a round of scanning, he still couldn't find it, so he pointed at the seats for the female guests and asked He Zongwei.
"Hey, are all the girls here?"
He Zongwei didn't react for a moment.
"what?"
Fan Xian added.
"Are there no other girls?"
Guo Baokun couldn't bear it any longer, so he shouted Fan Xian's name, stood up, rushed to him, and pointed at him.
"Why are you so vulgar?"
Fan Xian looked at him with a frown and made a "tsk" sound. Before he could react, Li Hongcheng walked into the main hall and spoke out to stop him.
"You two, calm down first. Since this is a poetry gathering, it's better to make friends through poetry!"
Guo Baokun and He Zongwei quickly saluted him.
Li Hongcheng smiled and walked up to Fan Xian and the other two and stood in front of them.
Just as Fan Xian was about to ask about the chicken leg girl, Li Hongcheng looked at him and spoke.
"Everyone should take a seat first, ah."
As he spoke, he patted Fan Xian's arm, then walked around him and went to the main seat.
Guo Baokun and He Zongwei had already sat back down obediently. Fan Xian frowned and turned to glance at Li Hongcheng's back, then returned to his seat in a depressed mood.
After Guo Baokun sat down, he leaned over and looked at Li Hongcheng who was sitting in the main seat.
"Your Highness is right. Since it is a contest between literati, they should naturally answer with poetry!"
Fan Xian was already in a bad mood, and when he heard Guo Baokun flattering him, he immediately became impatient.
"What's the comparison? You will definitely lose."
Guo Baokun sneered.
"What a loud tone!"
Fan Xian sighed.
Guo Baokun shouted again.
"Fan Xian, if you don't dare to compete with me, I won't make things difficult for you. Just kneel down and admit your mistake."
Fan Xian advised him kindly.
"I've already told you, you're definitely the loser, so just stop trying to humiliate yourself, okay?"
Guo Baokun shouted loudly.
"Ridiculous! You, you think you are Master Xiaomei! How ridiculous!"
Fan Xian was speechless.
"Okay, tell me, how do you want to compete?"
……
backyard.
Xiao Tao hurried to Li Roujia to report.
"Miss, the prince asked his servant to report the details of the previous poetry meeting to the Second Prince, but was stopped outside the courtyard by the Second Prince's guards. He asked me to come and ask the Second Prince whether he would let him go."
Li Roujia couldn't help laughing when she heard that and looked at the second prince.
"Second brother, what happened to your people? Why did you even stop the person who gave you the news?"
The second prince laughed.
"He can be a bit rigid sometimes. Now that the messenger is here, let's all listen together."
After saying that, he looked at Xiaotao.
"Please go back and tell him I said so, and ask him to let them in."
Xiao Tao looked at the young lady, and only turned and left after she nodded in agreement.
Soon a servant came trotting up to the group, knelt down and kowtowed under their gaze and said.
"The prince asked me to report that there is a poetry contest ahead. Guo Baokun proposed that we write a poem every ten steps. The poems written before the moonlight will be compared!"
The Second Prince raised his eyebrows.
"A poem every ten steps. That's exciting enough. Fan Xian agrees?"
The messenger boy said.
"Fan Xian refused and said that no matter how many poems Guo Baokun and He Zongwei wrote, he only needed to write one to win!"
After these words were spoken, the four people reacted differently.
Lin Wan'er frowned when she heard this, thinking that Fan Xian's tone was a bit arrogant and might bring him into trouble.
Li Roujia nodded upon hearing this. As expected of someone who could write A Dream of Red Mansions, talent gives one confidence.
A hint of surprise flashed in the second prince's eyes when he heard this.
"Ha! So arrogant!"
Then he glanced at Mei Chengan and added.
"I just don't know if there is any strength to match it."
Mei Chengan curled the corners of his mouth and drank his tea calmly.
After the servant delivered the news, he got up and left. At this time, another servant who delivered the news also arrived and passed him by.
Everyone looked at him expectantly, and the new servant knelt down in the same position to report.
"Guo Baokun first composed a poem: The clouds are green and the towers are covered with dew, the jade boats are like the wind in the brocade hall, the smoke and waves cover the sky, and a little literary thought reflects the fading lamp.
After Guo Baokun finished reading, everyone applauded. Fan Xian commented that the rhythm of the poem was not right, and the whole poem was full of flowery words without any effort. After Fan Xian finished his comments, the audience suddenly fell silent.
Mei Cheng'an showed no emotion after hearing this.
The second prince burst out laughing.
"This is a really sharp review, very insightful, I like it."
Li Roujia had a strong sense of association. Just by listening to the servant's description, she could imagine how embarrassing the scene was. She couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.
Even Lin Wan'er, who had mixed feelings about Fan Xian, couldn't help laughing after hearing this.
……
forecourt.
After being criticized by Fan Xian, Guo Baokun felt a little embarrassed and anxious.
"You, you, you, you said..."
He Zongwei stretched out his hand to signal Guo Baokun to calm down, then stood up and walked to the hall to look at Fan Xian.
"It has its flaws, but it is rare to be able to write a poem in a flash. Since Mr. Fan wants to listen to the sincere words, when I left my hometown and went to Kyoto, I also wrote a poem when I was full of confidence. Although it is simple, it also expresses my inner thoughts."
Fan Xian's impression of him was even worse than Guo Baokun's.
"Tsk, if you miss it then just read it!"
……
(End of this chapter)
