After Gu Changsheng saw Ouyang Ji off to rest, he went to the main hall.
Yao Xian saw Gu Changsheng and said hesitantly, "You and him..."
"You want to ask how I know him?" Gu Changsheng said with a smile.
Yao Xian nodded. Although she had a good impression of Gu Changsheng, she had only known him for a short time and didn't know his attitude towards her, so she was a little hesitant to ask about Gu Changsheng's private affairs.
"You wouldn't understand if I just told you. How about going out with me for a walk?" Gu Changsheng didn't answer, but instead invited Yao Xian to go shopping together.
Yao Xian was stunned. Strictly speaking, she had only known Gu Changsheng for three days. Faced with Gu Changsheng's sudden invitation to go shopping, she didn't know how to react for a moment. Although she had been living in the Yao family, she also knew that a woman going shopping with a man who wasn't a family member or relative meant that the woman's relationship with the man was not superficial.
"Wouldn't it be too fast?" Yao Xian asked in a low voice.
"Fast?" Gu Changsheng was taken aback and said, "If you feel the evaluation of Ouyang Ji by the people of Tianrao City, you can very intuitively feel Ouyang Ji's character. It is indeed fast."
"Oh right, wait for me. I'll be right back." Saying that, Gu Changsheng left the main hall and walked towards the room where Ouyang Ji was resting, as if he had remembered something.
Yao Xian stood there with a slightly flushed face. What she said just now, "Wouldn't it be too fast?", referred to the progress of their relationship, but Gu Changsheng thought she was talking about Ouyang Ji's matter. These two things were completely unrelated.
At the same time, Yao Xian felt a little annoyed, annoyed that Gu Changsheng was not romantic and also annoyed that she was thinking too much.
Yao Xian, ah Yao Xian, you are the little princess of the Yao family, how could you start overthinking things when you just met Gu Changsheng a few days ago? Wake up.
After Yao Xian reflected on herself, Gu Changsheng had already returned.
"Sorry for the wait."
Gu Changsheng was holding a black bag in his hand, and Yao Xian knew it was for money.
Gu Changsheng saw Yao Xian looking at his money bag and smiled, "That guy didn't know how much of my wine he drank a few days ago, this little money isn't enough. Let's go!"
Yao Xian subconsciously said "Um", but the next moment she realized something was wrong. She had just reflected on herself, how could she agree so quickly now? But since she had already agreed, would it be bad to go back on her word?
Gu Changsheng didn't know Yao Xian's complicated thoughts at this time, and he was very happy that Yao Xian agreed.
No matter what the purpose of this shopping trip was, this was the first time he and Yao Xian went shopping together, this was a historic moment!
So Gu Changsheng closed the door of the tavern and took Yao Xian to the bustling market.
Inside Ouyang Ji's resting room, although Ouyang Ji was drunk, he was not completely unconscious. At least he was aware when Gu Changsheng was rummaging through his money bag.
"Good you, Lao Gu... actually... taking advantage of me being unable to resist to rob my money bag, this... feud... I remember it, when I wake up, I'll drink... drink all your wine..."
Ouyang Ji said vaguely, as if he was talking in his sleep.
...
Gu Changsheng and Yao Xian went out together. In order not to cause too much of a sensation with his handsome appearance, Gu Changsheng also transformed himself into a very ordinary person in terms of temperament and appearance, the kind that you couldn't find even if you threw him on the street. However, whether Gu Changsheng did it intentionally or unintentionally, his temperament was very similar to Yao Xian's disguise. Outsiders would think they were a married couple at first glance.
Gu Changsheng didn't take Yao Xian for a random stroll, but came to a place similar to a bookstore.
This place also had a very elegant name, called Tingfeng Xuan(听风轩: Listening Wind Pavilion).
Gu Changsheng seemed to be very familiar with this place. After greeting a servant and paying a certain amount of money, the servant took them to a courtyard.
This courtyard was very large and decorated very elegantly. There were already people in the courtyard at this time, and there were many of them. In the center of the courtyard, four young men dressed as scholars stood together. They wore feather fans and scarves, jade pendants around their waists, and a folding fan in each hand, how elegant!
In a pavilion in the courtyard, a qin(琴: a chinese musical instrument) prostitute from Honghualou(红花楼: Red Flower Tower) was playing the qin gracefully, the sound of the qin was leisurely, gentle and comfortable.
The arrival of Gu Changsheng and the others did not attract the attention of the scholars, because there were many people like Gu Changsheng and Yao Xian. They all sat around the courtyard, as if they were watching.
Gu Changsheng saw a place for two people and took Yao Xian to sit down.
Yao Xian was even more puzzled. Could this allow her to understand Ouyang Ji more intuitively?
Gu Changsheng knew Yao Xian's doubts and explained with a smile, "This Tingfeng Xuan(听风轩: Listening Wind Pavilion) is the most beloved place for scholars in Tianrao City, because here, they can use their knowledge to earn money for the imperial examination."
Yao Xian nodded gently, and then looked at the few scholars.
At this time, these scholars were standing in front of a desk, holding writing brushes and writing furiously.
"Are they creating poetry to sell for money?" Yao Xian asked.
Gu Changsheng nodded gently. Just as he was about to speak, a middle-aged man in brocade robes not far from Gu Changsheng spoke.
"Our Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom is a country based on military force, and its national strength is still considered strong, but it is only two hundred years old. Its cultural heritage is not as good as some large countries with a long history, such as the Beizhao(北赵: North Zhao) Kingdom, which is adjacent to us. Perhaps the national strength of the Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom is better than that of the Beizhao(北赵: North Zhao) Kingdom, but in terms of literature, three Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdoms combined are not as good as the Beizhao(北赵: North Zhao) Kingdom."
"Now the country is peaceful, and the imperial court is also ambitious, sparing no expense to dig up famous writers from other countries, but writers, there are always some who are not tempted by worldly money, or have a strong sense of family and country. Anyway, there are many reasons, and this move by the imperial court not only did not succeed, but instead offended countless writers in the world."
"There are even some writers who have joined forces to block our Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom's scholars from studying there."
The middle-aged man's face was already full of disdain when he said this.
Yao Xian then asked, "What happened later?"
"Later?" The middle-aged man glanced at them in surprise and asked, "Are you not from our Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom?"
Gu Changsheng and Yao Xian looked at each other and nodded.
"Then no wonder." The middle-aged man suddenly realized, and he said, "Later, a Xiucai(秀才: one who passed the county level imperial exam) from our Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom broke this situation."
When he heard the word "Xiucai(秀才: one who passed the county level imperial exam)", Yao Xian had already thought of Ouyang Ji.
Sure enough, the middle-aged man said the identity of the Xiucai(秀才: one who passed the county level imperial exam) in the next moment, and he said proudly, "This Xiucai(秀才: one who passed the county level imperial exam) is the city guard of our Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City, Mr. Ouyang Ji."
When the surrounding people heard the middle-aged man mention Ouyang Ji, they all turned their gazes from the scholars to him.
They seemed to recognize the identity of the middle-aged man, so they didn't say much, just waited for his next words.
The middle-aged man did not keep everyone waiting, but continued to say proudly, "City Guard Ouyang Ji was already well-known when he was young..."
The middle-aged man seemed to be a fanatical fan of Ouyang Ji. Knowing that Gu Changsheng and Yao Xian were not from the Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom, he started from Ouyang Ji's youth. The locals in Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City naturally knew these topics clearly, but when the man talked about them, they also listened attentively, without the slightest bit of boredom, and even the four scholars and the qin(琴: a chinese musical instrument) prostitute not far away stopped their movements and listened carefully.
Yao Xian saw all these people's performances. As the middle-aged man talked about Ouyang Ji, who was not yet an adult, alone fighting against the eight great writers of the Beizhao(北赵: North Zhao) Kingdom, Yao Xian slowly began to have a concrete impression of Ouyang Ji.
Ouyang Ji's one-man battle against the eight great writers of the Beizhao(北赵: North Zhao) Kingdom, making the eight great writers speechless, was his famous battle that made him famous all over the world. After that, he was appreciated by a prince of the imperial court and recommended to become the city guard of Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City. To the surprise of the world, Ouyang Ji was not only a great literary figure, but also had unique insights in terms of marching and fighting.
The Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom was a country based on military force, but Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City was often invaded by sea bandits, causing the people to live in misery. It was not that the imperial court had not sent troops to clear the sea bandits, but the sea bandits were proficient in naval warfare, and the Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom's generals were all powerless. It was not until Ouyang Ji appeared that he only spent two years to clear the sea bandits who had been harassing Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City for more than ten years.
Ouyang Ji, who was already famous, was added with a legendary color, although this does not mean that Ouyang Ji's military ability exceeded those great generals who had been in the army all their lives.
But it should be known that Ouyang Ji was originally a scholar, and those military generals admitted that they could not compare with Ouyang Ji. Comparing military ability with a scholar was originally a sign of incompetence.
But Ouyang Ji's legend did not end there. Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City was originally a poor small county, otherwise it would not have been Ouyang Ji, a seventh-rank official, who took office as the city guard. But it was such a small county that in just over ten years, Ouyang Ji developed it into a large city whose prosperity was no less than that of the royal capital. The population even broke through one million from the original 100,000, and many people moved to Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City, contributing to the population of Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City.
The middle-aged man became more and more excited, and even the saliva in his mouth splashed out and landed on the face of a man in front of him, but the man did not mind at all, just wiped his face and continued to listen.
"Later, the eight writers of the Beizhao(北赵: North Zhao) Kingdom who were defeated by the city guard returned twelve years later. The eight of them invited Yu Xing(誉兴), the number one writer in the Beizhao(北赵: North Zhao) Kingdom, who was known as the Bansheng(半圣: Half Sage). You all know that Yu Xing(誉兴) was respected by the scholars of the world as Bansheng(半圣: Half Sage), and his status was only one level lower than that of Kong Sheng(孔圣: Confucius) of the Qi(齐) Kingdom a thousand years ago."
"The Bansheng(半圣: Half Sage) came to challenge our city guard. At that time, the scholars of the world did not think that the city guard could win, including our Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom. The scholars of other countries were waiting to see our city guard's joke."
"But they were all wrong, hahaha... The city guard's magnificent "Sha Po Lang(杀破狼: Killing, Breaking, Wolf)" poem killed that half-baked Bansheng(半圣: Half Sage) on the spot, causing him to vomit blood. It is said that he died after returning to the Beizhao(北赵: North Zhao) Kingdom."
"And from then on, the city guard was called the Literary Sage in the world, and completely broke the blockade of our Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom by other countries."
The middle-aged man's saliva splashed, and with his age, he was a witness of that year, so it is no wonder that he spoke so vividly.
"Cough cough, sorry, I was too excited."
After speaking, he was also taken aback when he saw the man in front of him taking his saliva, and quickly apologized.
"Mr. Li doesn't have to be polite, we still want to hear you continue to tell the story of the city guard, please continue!" The man did not mind at all, because this middle-aged man is the richest man in Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City today, Li Wanjin(李万金).
A very vulgar name, but he himself is not vulgar. Although he is a businessman, he does not have the copper smell of a businessman, but has a bit more of a refined temperament. This Tingfeng Xuan(听风轩: Listening Wind Pavilion) is his industry. Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City and even some scholars from other places who are determined to take the imperial examination but lack money have been supported by his Tingfeng Xuan(听风轩: Listening Wind Pavilion).
The reason why the Li family can become the richest man in Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City is not only because he has a lot of money, but also because he has wider connections than the Qian family. He has funded countless scholars, and most of the scholars have disappeared into the crowd, but the current Minister of Rites has received his favor.
It should be known that the Minister of Rites is a first-rank official, higher than Ouyang Ji's second-rank official.
However, the literati of the Nanxiang(南相: South Phase) Kingdom basically respect Ouyang Ji now. If the Minister of Rites sees Ouyang Ji, he may be more excited than seeing the current emperor.
After all, the emperor is basically seen every day, but Ouyang Ji can only have the opportunity to see him when he goes to Tianrao(天荛: Sky Rao) City or when Ouyang Ji enters Beijing to face the emperor, and it is only an opportunity.
As the Minister of Rites, he cannot easily leave Beijing, and Ouyang Ji's entry into Beijing to face the emperor is also a private meeting with him by the emperor.
Because the current emperor is also a literati!
Li Wanjin(李万金) certainly will not continue to say, just now has been said too much, after all, now this occasion is for the four scholars in the middle to play, now he said so, it is inevitable that will disturb their play, he is also a little embarrassed about this.
Obviously, those scholars were indeed affected, and not a little, they had already written half of the poems they had been writing hard before, but after Li Wanjin(李万金) said so about Ouyang Ji, they were also full of enthusiasm when they heard it, and they had countless ideas in their hearts. At first glance at what they had written just now, they immediately felt that it was nonsense, and they could not write anything if they continued to write.
Yao Xian saw the expressions and actions of these people in her eyes. For Ouyang Ji, she finally knew why he could become Gu Changsheng's friend, and still be a confidant at first sight.
Literary Sage!
Just now she heard from Li Wanjin(李万金) that he saved a country's literary heritage with his own strength, and even won the recognition of the world's literati. If this kind of person is not called a sage, who can?
"Sage" can refer to the realm of immortal cultivation, or it can be a very lofty position. Obviously, Ouyang Ji belongs to the latter.
Moreover, Ouyang Ji is still a civil and military Literary Sage, which is more of a bonus than Kong Sheng(孔圣: Confucius) a thousand years ago.
This kind of person, not to mention Gu Changsheng, Yao Xian herself also admires!
"How is it?" Gu Changsheng asked.
"Awesome!" Yao Xian praised, this praise is obviously Ouyang Ji.
"Let's go! Since we understand, then let's have a good stroll." Gu Changsheng reached out to invite.
"Ah?" Yao Xian was stunned, and then realized that Gu Changsheng was really inviting her to go shopping this time, and reaching out was the best evidence.
Yao Xian blushed slightly and reached out, holding Gu Changsheng's big hand.
Holding hands successfully!
Gu Changsheng was secretly happy in his heart.
In fact, he was still a little uneasy, but remembering that Yao Xian seemed to be jealous yesterday, if it was true, it meant that Yao Xian also cared about him, so today he planned to try.
Now that holding hands is successful, it naturally represents that the relationship between the two of them has taken another step.
The two left hand-in-hand. Seeing this, Li Wanjin seemed to also want to leave, muttering to himself, "I've said too much, I forgot I had important business to take care of today. I'll go check out that Longevity Tavern first. I was only gone for a short while, how did my daughter fall for a tavern owner?"
Holding Yao Xian's hand, Gu Changsheng paused in his steps. Yao Xian teased, "Maybe he wants to assess whether you're good enough to be his son-in-law?"
Gu Changsheng said with a wry smile, "Don't joke around, Li Wanyun is so young."
"I'm not old either," Yao Xian blurted out subconsciously, but regretted it as soon as she said it. It was too late to take it back.
Gu Changsheng turned to look at her, and said seriously, "You're different from others."
After saying that, without waiting for Yao Xian to respond, he pulled her away from Tingfeng Pavilion.
...
