Chapter 63: True Bodhisattva

The liveliness in Bai Yi Xiang isn't the same as the liveliness in Hong Yi Xiang. The shops in Hong Yi Xiang are called brothels, teahouses, lodging houses, and kilns. The shops here are called Qing Qu minor classes.

Bai Yi Xiang has clean and neat green brick paving the road. Even plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and other patterns are carved on the green bricks.

There are no sounds of soliciting customers here, and no enchanting women standing on the second floor leaning on the railing to attract guests. Only the sound of zither and lute floats out from the buildings and courtyards. The women's singing voices are gentle and moving, stirring the heartstrings.

One only hears the sound, but does not see the person, like a woman hugging a pipa, concealing her own appearance.

Chen Ji opens his eyes. Shiny golden melon seeds fall heavily into the palm of his hand.

Just now he didn't intentionally wait for the gold melon seeds to fall into his hand before opening his eyes. It was just that he was flipped to the ground by the giant halberd warrior again and almost didn't regain consciousness...

At this time, the area in front of the embroidered building became lively again, attracting everyone's attention: it was strikingly the carriage of the Chen family, the Tongzhi of Luocheng, that had arrived.

A spacious carriage stopped at the door. Chen Wenzong, Chen Wenxiao, and Lin Chaojing got off the carriage together and came to the table, chatting and laughing.

Chen Wenzong smiled and asked: "Brother Chaojing, is it you who comes or I who comes? We only need one poem to enter four people. Either of us can make a move."

His words were confident, as if he could easily accomplish it.

Lin Chaojing smiled modestly and said: "Naturally, it is Brother Wenzong who comes. I have been away from Donglin Academy for more than half a month and haven't appreciated your poetry for a long time. I miss it terribly. Do you have any new poems recently?"

Chen Wenzong smiled and replied: "Yes."

These three scholars had an elegant demeanor, like today's cool weather. The three people had already put on plain fur coats early in the morning.

Fur coats were also divided into various grades, among which the white fox armpit fur on the bodies of the three people was the most precious.

At the side, Liu Quxing pouted his mouth and said in a low voice: "They haven't even reached winter yet and they're wearing fur coats. They don't even feel hot and stuffy. Why don't they hold a hand warmer!"

The next moment, they saw a groom behind Chen Wenzong help him take off the fur coat on his shoulder. He then picked up the brush on the table and quickly wrote four poems.

After writing, he smiled and looked at the two welcoming girls outside the door of the embroidered building: "The three of us are traveling together, and we won't take advantage of Liu Xingtou. We'll exchange one poem per person for an elegant seat on the second floor."

The welcoming girl laughed: "Why did you write an extra one?"

"This is separately given to Liu Xingtou."

The onlookers all applauded and praised Chen Wenzong's manner as a romantic talented scholar.

Chen Wenxiao smiled and said: "Elder brother is so talented. You will surely rank first in this county exam and achieve Xie Yuan!"

Chen Wenzong's face seemed to show displeasure: "You also need to put in effort. Forget it, I won't dampen your spirits today."

They saw that the welcoming girl took the four poems upstairs, but after a while, she returned to the door and said with a smile: "My girl says, Young Master Wenzong's thoughts are clever. He wrote a full spring, summer, autumn, and winter in four poems. Three young masters, please go upstairs!"

Baili Junzhu looked at Chen Wenzong, then looked at Chen Ji: "Your father is too partial."

Chen Ji smiled: "No harm, I'm living quite well now."

Shizi sighed: "Your legitimate second brother, Chen Wenxiao, wasn't much better than me when he was at Donglin Academy. I even saw him at the tavern at the foot of the mountain, and now he's pretending to be a proper person."

Everyone just looked at Chen Wenzong's face and gave him some respect.

Baili frowned: "Brother, you are not allowed to speak ill of people behind their backs!"

"I'm talking about Chen Wenxiao..."

No one is allowed to do this! This is not the behavior of a gentleman! If you are dissatisfied with him, you should wait a while and scold him to his face!

Shizi raised his hands: "Alright, alright, I won't say anymore."

Just as he was speaking, the welcoming girl said: "Gentlemen, there are not many elegant seats left on the second floor. If you have poetic works, please take them out quickly."

These words made Shizi anxious.

Shizi lowered his body and leaned close to Chen Ji while others weren't noticing: "Quick, quick, quick, what other poems do you have?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "Except for the previous sentence, I still need two sentences. One golden melon seed may not be enough."

Baili took out another golden melon seed and stuffed it into his hand, complaining in a low voice: "How is this like making wishes to Buddha? You still need to donate incense money."

Shizi laughed: "Sister, when you donate incense money to Buddha, Buddha may not care about you, but when you donate incense money to Chen Ji, he may care about you immediately. Just treat him as Buddha."

Chen Ji thought for a moment. While collecting the golden melon seeds into his sleeve, he selected two more poetic sentences and taught them to Shizi in a low voice.

Baili's eyes at the side flashed brightly: "How are they all only half-sentences? How good it would be if he could write the whole poem. It's such a pity now... Hey, how did he fall asleep again!"

Chen Ji did not answer her. He had already returned to fighting on the green mountain.

When Shizi and Baili arrived in front of the embroidered building, someone recognized them: "It's Shizi and Baili Junzhu of Jing Wang Fu!"

Someone else said in a low voice: "It's the straw bag Shizi that the Donglin scholars mentioned..."

"Shh! Do you want to live!"

"It doesn't matter. Shizi is a good person and won't mind."

The principles of this world are very strange. The more evil people are, the less others dare to bully you. But if you are a good person, then everyone dares to step on you.

They saw Shizi come to the table, wave a large brush, and write down two sentences of poetry with spirit. When it came to the third sentence, he lowered his voice and asked: "Baili, what is the third sentence?"

"Thousands of mountains with birds flying absolutely..."

Only after Baili reminded him did Shizi write down the third sentence.

Shizi put down the pen and looked up at the two welcoming girls: "It's written well, but I am different from others."

The welcoming girl had also heard this person's identity from the bystanders and asked with a smile: "Dare I ask Shizi, how are you different?"

Shizi said proudly: "Others need to write a whole poem to enter the door, but I write better than them. Half a sentence is enough! Take it, let Liu Xingtou see!"

The welcoming girl was stunned for a while, took the rice paper, and ran upstairs.

"I heard from a scholar who returned from Donglin Academy that this Shizi is scolded by teachers every day. Every day he either goes up the mountain to catch wild chickens and wild rabbits, or he slips down the mountain to the city to drink. Look at that group of people beside him. Which one is like a literati? They are all wielding knives and swords, like country bumpkins."

"Liu Xingtou should consider his Shizi identity and let him go up."

"You don't know this. Previously at Jinling Qinhuai River, the legitimate grandson of the Hu family couldn't produce poetry but still wanted to board the boat and made a big fuss. Guess what happened?"

What happened?

A young master of the Xu family beat that legitimate grandson of the Hu family and threw him into the Qinhuai River! So, Shizi wants to put on airs, which is really putting on airs in the wrong place. This Liu Xingtou has the protection of the Xu family, the Chief Grand Secretary. The Xu family doesn't need to give a vassal king face...

At this time, the crowd was still discussing animatedly. Shizi was deaf to these sounds and only waited for the welcoming girl to come down, asking curiously: "Girl, what did Liu Xingtou say?"

The welcoming girl laughed charmingly: "My girl says, Shizi did not speak big words. Your half-sentence can top others' ten sentences! Please go upstairs!"

The onlookers were shocked: "The straw bag Shizi can also write poetry?"

Shizi's eyes narrowed slightly, and he turned his head to sweep the crowd, wanting to find out who was speaking.

He had a handsome appearance, wore a Shizi's black gauze hat on his head, and a silver silk dark pattern python robe on his body. Once he put away his smile, he naturally had a dignified air about him, which for a moment made him seem a bit unlike the previous playboy.

That speaker was not stupid either, just relying on the chaos of the crowd.

He saw Shizi vaguely showing anger and dared not really provoke this dignified figure, immediately shrinking into the crowd.

Someone in the crowd shouted: "Take out the poem Shizi just wrote and let us see if Liu Xingtou wasn't being lenient!"

Shizi was silent for a moment, then laughed heartily and generously, no longer taking these attacking words to heart: "Say whatever you want, anyway I can go to the second floor and you can't. It will anger you to death! Let's go drink!"

Shizi waved his big hand, quite having a Jianghu heroism.

He no longer cared about these people and turned around excitedly to beckon Liang Gou'er: "Quick, quick, quick, carry Chen Ji upstairs to drink together!"

Everyone's gaze turned towards where Chen Ji was. Why were so many people carrying him?

"Why are so many people carrying him?"

"Maybe he has a disability and his legs can't walk."

"How pitiful."

Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er carried the bamboo chair forward. Liu Quxing laughed: "This time, Chen Ji will be famous in Luocheng."

Yu Dengke couldn't stand it in his heart: "It would be better to put him in the medical hall so he doesn't get called disabled."

Liang Gou'er said boldly: "You and I are Jianghu children. How can we lack one person when we drink? How bored he would be alone in the medical hall. Naturally, we want to drink together! We'll drink until morning, and then we'll carry him to climb the drum tower and watch the sunrise. That's what you call happiness!"

At this time, Chen Ji had already died and woken up again, but listening to the surrounding discussion, he really didn't have the courage to open his eyes.

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, saying: "Stop chatting, walk quickly!"

Liang Gou'er and Liu Quxing laughed heartily: "So you were awake!

Entering the embroidered building, the interior is clear and elegant. In the middle of the main hall, there is even a square fish pond dug, raising three or five colorful carp.

Just as the crowd was about to go upstairs, they saw a good-looking maid walking down the stairs. Shizi suddenly raised his hand, signaling Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er to stop in front of the maid.

Shizi patted Chen Ji: "Chen Ji, look at this girl. She is extremely good-looking."

The maid covered her mouth and laughed lightly.

Chen Ji was unwilling to open his eyes. He would not do this shameful thing no matter what, but Shizi actually maliciously refused to leave.

Don't know how long the stalemate lasted, Chen Ji, who felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, quickly opened his eyes, then quickly closed them, almost biting his teeth broken: "I saw, quickly go upstairs."

Shizi laughed heartily: "What are you afraid of just looking? Don't be shy!"

Chen Ji: ...

You all don't treat me as a disabled person, but you don't treat me as a person either...

"See you often!" Shizi walked beside the bamboo chair and teased: "You're usually quite calm, how are you so reserved today?"

Chen Ji turned his head to look at him: "Have you also been carried over?"

"Hahaha."

The sounds of laughter from the crowd rushed to the top of the stairs, as if circling on the beams, enduring and not dispersing.

Chen Ji only felt extremely embarrassed, but after being embarrassed for a moment, he couldn't help but laugh himself. He cursed and blurted out: "Wait until my injury is better, I'll kill all of you..."

Just on the street dozens of zhang away, Golden Pig and a secret agent were dressed as rich merchants, quietly paying attention to the embroidered building.

Golden Pig just said in a low voice: "This embroidered building needs to be focused on. Luocheng is in a time of many troubles now, and today is not a good day either. It is suspicious that he chose today to open for business."

Also, that Liu Xingtou, he was doing well in Jinling, why did he suddenly run to Luocheng?"

"My lord, it is already a custom throughout my dynasty to invite the top figures from Jinling Qinhuai River to the opening of Qing Qu minor classes. After all, they have a good reputation outside, and everyone knows that the Qinhuai River is the best."

Golden Pig still shook his head: "It's different, different. All the new faces appearing in Luocheng during this period need to be watched closely."

Also this Shizi and Junzhu, Donglin Academy closed a month ago. Even riding a carriage back takes half a month. Where did they go during the other half a month, and what did they do? Check it out."

"In the territory of Luocheng, provoking Jing Wang Fu will not be easy..."

Golden Pig narrowed his eyes slightly and laughed coldly: "If there is no Jing Wang Fu's support, would the Liu family dare to commit treason? Even if they plan rebellion, he still needs to find a new master for himself."

If there is no Jing Wang, it is difficult for the Liu family not to sit on the dragon chair himself. Does he even qualify! The Xu family, Chen family, Qi family, Hu family, and Yang family would not swallow him alive?"

Golden Pig was very clear about one principle: even if the Liu family succeeds in rebellion, they cannot sit on that chair. Therefore, they must choose a person to sit.

So who would they choose? Fu Junwang, Qi Junwang, and An Junwang are all still young. No one has the ability to rally the masses. Only Jing Wang is qualified to become the backer of the Liu family.

Just as they were chatting, Golden Pig's eyes widened as he watched Chen Ji being carried into the embroidered building by Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er, with Baili Junzhu also helping to carry the railing...

He subconsciously rubbed his eyes: "Did I eat something dirty and my eyes are blurred? Look quickly, the person being carried by Liang Mao'er and Liang Gou'er, isn't it Chen Ji?"

The secret agent said dryly: "It is him."

Golden Pig was even more shocked: "This boy's status in Jing Wang Fu is so high! I need to visit him tomorrow and tell him to watch Shizi and Junzhu closely, and find a way to dig out evidence of Wang Fu's connection to the Jing Dynasty!"

Going up to the second floor of the embroidered building, they saw a strange arrangement here: all the elegant seats were blocked by gauze curtains hanging down layer by layer from the roof, as if isolated from the world.

Shizi said in surprise: "What is the meaning of this? We're all sitting behind these curtains. How can we see Liu Xingtou?"

The maid at the side explained: "This is tonight's game. The autumn is high and refreshing. My girl says she wants to use autumn as the theme. Everyone needs to write three poems related to autumn to participate."

There are three layers of blocking curtains outside the elegant seats. Write one poem, and one layer will be revealed. Finish writing all three, and you can see my girl."

Shizi looked around and saw that just now, a maid had revealed three layers of curtains on Chen Wenzong's side. The person opposite had actually already written all three poems.

Looking at another elegant seat, someone just handed out a piece of rice paper from behind the curtain. Soon, a maid came and revealed the curtain outside the elegant seat, revealing Liu Xianming sitting upright inside.

Shizi subconsciously looked towards Chen Ji, but Chen Ji had actually entered dreamland again.

He urged: "Baili, quick, donate incense money!"

Baili Junzhu took out three golden melon seeds from her small pouch and put them into Chen Ji's hand, but this time, Chen Ji, who was lying on the bamboo chair, did not wake up.

Shizi called out in a low voice: "Bad, giving money doesn't work either. He's a true Buddha!"