Chapter 65: The Beauty Before the Hero

  The poetry gathering has dispersed. The so-called famous scholars of Luoyang went to the wine houses or brothels, and only a few people truly cared about being first in the poetry gathering.

  Zhao Xing didn't care either. Those poems were just his plagiarism of famous people's works from later generations, not worth mentioning. Moreover, Zhao Xing also looked down on the current situation where from the imperial court to the common people, everyone was only good at writing and literature, but not interested in military affairs. Since ancient times, forgetting war would lead to danger, and loving war would lead to destruction. If it weren't for the Han people being busy with Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and other such things, there wouldn't have been the Five Barbarians' invasion later on, which lasted for three hundred years!

  Seeing Zhao Xing without any excitement or pride about winning the poetry contest, Guo Jia couldn't help but ask: "Brother Guo Chang, tonight you have repeatedly produced astonishing works, making me envious. Why are you so calm and not saying a word?"

  "Does Brother Feng really think that flowery words and rotten phrases can save the people from fire and water?" Zhao Xing asked with a pointed tone.

  "Saving people from water and fire, making such a grand vow, there is no one else in the world who can do it except for Guo Chang. However, up till now, I have yet to see anyone who has put it into practice! Guo Chang is only half of what he claims to be. If you were to go to Shangdang and everything turns out as Guo Chang said, then you would be the one!" Guo Jia also said with a serious expression.

  "I will definitely not let Brother Fengxiao down!" Zhao Xing said with great confidence.

  The two of them thought about the current situation where eunuchs and imperial relatives were openly fighting and secretly scheming, the entire court was corrupt to the core, and the people were suffering. They both fell silent, their hearts heavy, and returned to Zhao Xing's mansion, a night without words.

  On the second day, Zhao Xing got up early to practice his marksmanship. Just as he was getting into it in the courtyard, Li Tiezhu came in with an invitation card in hand. "Master, a servant from the Zhang household brought this invitation card early this morning. It says that Grand Secretary Zhang is hosting a banquet at home today and invites you over for a chat!"

  "Oh, this Bachelor is really an impatient one. I only agreed yesterday and today he sent someone to deliver the invitation." Zhao Xing said to himself.

  "Master Zhao, should we tell Mistress and Miss Hua about your trip to the Zhang residence?" Li Tiezhu, a small but cunning man, asked with a sly glint in his eye.

  "Why must they be hidden?" Zhao Xing asked somewhat gloomily.

  "Your Honor probably doesn't know yet, but the news has spread all over Luoyang City this morning: Your Honor was so impressed with Zhang Xuan's talent last night at Yubi Pavilion that Chancellor Zhang wants to arrange a marriage between her and you!"

  "Damn..." On such a hot day, Zhao Xing couldn't help but take a cold breath. "I'm telling you, who the hell has nothing better to do? How can they say something that sounds so real? I haven't even seen Zhang Xin's face yet! Even if Zhang Jiong is willing, it still needs my approval!" After saying this, Zhao Xing turned around and continued practicing, completely ignoring Li Tiezhu's expression of being owed a beating.

  At lunch, Zhao Xing informed everyone that he would be going to Zhang Jue's mansion for dinner tonight. For a moment, no one paid attention to him, Hu Xiang'er, Xu Wanting, Zhao Yu, Guo Jia, Li Jin Si and others were all eating with their heads down, making Zhao Xing lose his temper.

  "I said, isn't it just going to the Zhao's for a banquet? You're all making such a fuss, as if I'm going to attend the Hongmen Banquet!" Zhao Xing said with a self-deprecating smile.

  Guo Jia finally couldn't help but speak up, saying: "Hmmm, I've heard that Zhang Yan's daughter, Zhang Xun, is a stunning beauty, and all the young masters of Luoyang are eager to catch a glimpse of her. I wonder if Brother Guo Chang can take me with him, so I can broaden my horizons!" After speaking, Guo Jia had a look of longing on his face.

  "Ah, who stepped on my foot!" Guo Jia suddenly let out a mournful cry. Everyone looked up to see Zhao Yu staring at Guo Jia with wide eyes, huffing and puffing as he said: "You're so shameless! As soon as you hear someone's going to the Zhang residence, you tag along like a cheap follower! You deserve to be trampled to death!"

  Zhao Xing heard Zhao Yu over there making sarcastic remarks about himself being worthless and almost choked to death on his food.

  "I won't do it!" Xǔ Wǎnlín suddenly said with a huff, her head still bowed as she picked at the rice grains with her chopsticks.

  "Wanlin, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you doing anything?" Zhao Xing asked with a concerned face.

  "You're not allowed to marry the Zhang family's daughter now! Auntie has already agreed, and I'll be the third wife!"

  "Who said I'm going to marry the Zhang family's daughter?" Zhao Xing sighed with a bitter smile, "I just went to the Zhang residence to visit the scholar Zhang Jiong, you guys are thinking too much! Tonight I'll go to the Zhang residence, no one will come with me, just let Zhang Wangcai drive the carriage!" Zhao Xing was getting angry, put down his chopsticks and left the table.

  At dusk, Zhao Xing changed into a warrior's uniform, carrying a long sword with an open blade, wearing his own handmade heart mirror on his body, and inserting a dagger made before coming to Luoyang inside his leg wraps. He sat in the carriage driven by Zhang Wangcai and headed south towards the Zhang Mansion near Kaiyang Gate. Zhao Xing deliberately got angry and left at noon, leaving behind a sentence "No one is allowed to follow" which actually had deep meaning!

  Because Zhao Xing felt that the unknown danger was gradually approaching in these days, there were no Guan Yu and Zhao Yun by his side, even Zhou Cang and Li Jinwu were in Shangdang. Once encountered with danger, he could cope with it relying on his special forces' close combat skills, while others would be in great danger. No matter whether it was the female relatives, or Guo Jia or Li Jin Si, any one of them got into trouble, it would be a huge loss for him.

  Arriving at the Zhang residence, the sky had already darkened and it was time to light the lamps. Zhang Wangcai took the name card and went to call out, and before long, a servant from the Zhang residence opened the gate and led Zhao Xing's carriage into the compound.

  As he entered the living room, Zhao Xing found that there was only one person in the hall, and that was Zhang Jiong. It seemed that tonight's dinner party was a very private affair.

  "General Zhao, please take a seat!" Zhang You said politely.

  Zhao Xing, in accordance with Han Dynasty etiquette, knelt down on both knees before the wine table, bowed to Zhang Jiong and said loudly: "Tonight I have been invited by the Grand Scholar to a banquet, I am doubly honored!"

  "General Zhao is being polite, today we can invite the new star of the literary world to our humble abode for a chat, what a fortunate event! General Zhao, please, first drink this cup!" Zhang Jiong said excitedly. Zhang Jiong's excitement was justified, because when Zhao Xing came to the Zhang residence, he brought a whole cart of Longhe Daqu as a gift, according to the standard set by his previous visit to the Lu residence!

  "I don't know who General Zhao learned from, but he has acquired this talent that combines both literary and military skills?" Zhang You asked with concern.

  "To be honest, I'm from a humble background, born into a tenant farmer's family in An Yang countryside. I've never had the privilege of studying under a master, and my knowledge of literature and martial arts is limited. I wouldn't dare to enter the grand hall of refined scholars." Zhao Xing said humbly.

  "So it turns out that Guo Chang is a genius!" Zhang Jiong couldn't help but be greatly shocked.

  "The university student has been awarded, I dare not accept it!" Zhao Xing humbly declined again.

  "Is it true that Guo Chang's martial arts skills are matchless as people say?" Zhang Fan asked again.

  "Since ancient times, there has never been a first in literature or a second in martial arts. I have never personally experienced the battlefield, so I dare not say that my own martial skills are exceptional!" Zhao Xing remained low-key as always.

  Zhang Jue saw that Zhao Xing was not a person who was arrogant and looked down on others, nor did he have the arrogance of a young man who had just gained power. He was quite impressed in his heart. However, Zhang still asked the question that had been troubling him for some time.

  "Guo Chang is already a high-ranking general at a young age, not someone who is unhappy with his life. Why does he repeatedly write poems that express discontent and frustration? Moreover, there's the poem 'Jiang Jin Jiu' which is so negative and decadent, corrupting the students of the Imperial Academy."

  This question is really hard to answer, fortunately Zhao Xing has a quick wit and said very seriously: "Xing is a martial man, but also has the heart of a child. I see that in today's world, how many poor scholars spend ten years studying, only to find that they don't even have the opportunity to 'be with the imperial family', so I was moved to create this work full of sadness and indignation!"

  Although Zhao Xing and Zhang Jiong were vastly different in age, after a conversation, they felt quite delighted, as if they had met too late. The more Zhang Jiong looked at Zhao Xing, the more he liked him, and he even seriously considered making Zhao Xing his son-in-law.

  "How many springs has Guo Chang had?" Zhang Jue started gossiping.

  "Xing was born in the first year of Jianning, and this year he is already 16 years old," Zhao Xing replied.

  "Oh, but she's the same age as my family's Xinyi." Zhang Jiong muttered to himself "I wonder if Guochang has ever been married?"

  "Already married with one wife and taken a concubine," Zhao Xing hastily replied. He knew the current marriage rules, but in the Han Dynasty, there was no such thing as a "co-wife"! A wife is just one, unless she is divorced or deceased, otherwise, you can't marry someone else as your wife! The saying of three wives and four concubines is purely for rhyming numbers, and in the Han Dynasty, no one dared to say they had two wives.

  It is said that Zhao Xing has already married and taken a concubine, Zhang Jiong's passionate fire was extinguished, he let his own daughter become someone else's concubine, he never thought about it, even if the emperor himself asked, he wouldn't agree, so Zhao Xing doesn't have much hope.

  An old man and a young one were chatting in the hall, unaware of the swift passage of time, and before they knew it, an hour had passed. Zhao Xing was just about to get up and bid farewell when he saw a white-clad woman with a face as beautiful as Chang'e in the moon walk in lightly, her hands placed on her right waist, her right foot behind her, half-kneeling and bowing her head, saying in a heavenly voice: "General Zhao, may you have good fortune."

  Zhao Xing is now familiar with the etiquette of the Han Dynasty, knowing that the woman in front of him is performing a standard "wan fu li" (ten thousand blessings) bow to him, which is a very solemn ceremony. He quickly stood up and bowed his waist to return the courtesy.

  Zhang Jiong had originally agreed with his own daughter that if he thought Zhao Xing was suitable as a son-in-law, he would call her out to meet him; if not, then he wouldn't. Now Zhang Xin didn't listen to her father's arrangement and ran out on her own, making Zhang Jiong extremely angry, but also inconvenient to scold in front of Zhao Xing, so he could only remain silent and watch from the side.

  "Xin Yi heard that General Zhao had written a good poem, I wonder if he could give me a poem as a gift?" Zhang Xin's face was flushed with shyness, but she made a bold request.

  Zhao Xing was still reeling from the shock of Zhang Xin's breathtaking beauty, and he couldn't help but think that it was no wonder that the young scholars of Luoyang were flocking to her like birds. He thought to himself that this girl was truly a stunning beauty, and if his wife, Xu Wanting, hadn't been so beautiful herself, giving him some resistance, he would have been completely enchanted. When Zhang Xin asked him to compose a poem, Zhao Xing couldn't think of an excuse, and in his haste, he recited a sloppy version of Liu Yong's "Rainy Bell". He thought that was the end of it, but little did he know that this carelessness would lead to another romantic entanglement!

  Students who are familiar with "Rainy Bell" should know that the original text of Liu Yong's poem is as follows:

  The cicada's mournful cry cuts through the evening by the Long Pavilion. The sudden rain has just stopped, and we drink together under the door awning, reluctant to part. The orchid boat is urging us to set off. We hold hands and gaze at each other with tear-filled eyes, but in the end, there are no words, only choked sobs. Thinking of going far away, a thousand miles of misty waves, the evening haze sinks heavily over the vast Chu sky.

  The sentimental are anciently hurt by parting, what can be more unbearable is the desolation of a clear autumn festival. Where will I wake up from my wine tonight? The Yangliu shore, the remaining moon in the dawn wind. From now on, it should be a good day with beautiful scenery, but all in vain. Even if there are thousands of emotions, who can I share them with?

  This poem describes the scene of a loving couple's separation, which evokes Zhang Xin's innocent and romantic heart, making her mistakenly think that Zhao Xing is hinting at his love for her. Zhao Xing was just randomly quoting, but to Zhang Xin's ears, it sounded like a declaration of love. Originally infatuated with Zhao Xing's poetry performance "**", Zhang Xin became even more entangled in the web of emotions she had woven for herself and couldn't extricate herself.

  A certain thief finished reciting a poem and hastily bid farewell to Zhang University Scholar, leaving the Zhang residence in a hurry and rushing back to the north of the city overnight.