Insufficient balance

  There were not many people in the cabin, only about a dozen or so. One of them was particularly short and ugly, but each man had a woman with him who was quite attractive.

  Yu Jie saw Yi Han, walked towards Yi Han who beckoned him over, and sat down at the same table with a smile.

  Yu Jie bowed and said: "I am Yu Jie, I haven't asked for your esteemed name, this is my family's Mr. Zhao San Si." He didn't introduce Zhao San Si much, believing that as long as people heard the three words "Zhao San Si", they must have heard a lot of rumors and stories about him.

  Yi Han returned the courtesy: "I'm Yi Han." Zhao San Si glanced at Yi Han's body, and it was certain that Yu Jie had just told him about the riddle-guessing incident, so he paid attention to Yi Han. The two smiled at each other as a greeting.

  Yu Jielang said: "Hong Niang, why don't you call a few girls to serve this young master?"

  Zhao Sansi said to Yu Jie: "Young master, since you've both come in, I'll go back first."

  "Be careful on the road, sir," Yu Jie said with a smile.

  Zhao San thought left, a middle-aged madam lifted the curtain and walked out with a smile, saying: "Yu Gongzi, what's the hurry? With you coming in, how could I not know? Isn't this arranged? He'll be right out."

  Yi Han smiled and said: "Yu Gongzi, you're too polite, one girl is enough, too many I can't handle".

  The old procuress laughed and said: "What is this young master saying? You are young and vigorous, just learning to be romantic, surely the young master isn't feeling shy?"

  Yu Jie burst out laughing and said, "Hong Ni is absolutely right. With good wine and beautiful women, one can truly show off the elegance of a refined scholar." After finishing speaking, he slipped a silver note into Hong Ni's hand and said, "Hong Ni, trouble you to call over some pretty girls to attend to this young master."

  Two women emerged from the curtain, dressed in fiery attire, with ample cleavage visible beneath their slender necks, their figures lithe and alluring as they walked over, their faces lightly made up, their eyes gleaming with flirtatious intent, though not exactly stunning beauties, still radiant and captivating.

  Hong Lan and two women, one on the left and one on the right, leaned in towards Yi Han's body.

  Yu Jie smiled and said: "Yi brother, two of you are enough."

  Yi Han said: "Beauty is available, no need for more."

  The woman in the blue shirt smiled and pouted, leaning against Yi Han's face with a flirtatious expression, leaving a bright red lip print on his cheek. The woman in red called out "Young Master" and sat down on Yi Han's thigh, her plump buttocks rubbing against his leg. With one hand hooked around Yi Han's neck and the other holding a wine cup, she said: "Young Master, I'll feed you wine."

  Yu Jie burst out laughing: "Brother Yi is indeed charming, with beauties in his left and right arms. I'm also sighing that I'm not as good as him." Yi Han was enjoying the warmth and fragrance of the beauties, but for some reason, he became more honest than usual. After all, he was an old hand at this, perhaps it was because he wasn't used to the local customs, having eaten too much game, and being sensitive to seafood.

  There was already someone in his arms, the red-shirted woman tightly leaned against Yi Han's body, and said: "Young master, how can you be so rigid? Don't we two sisters enter your eyes?" Look at that Yu Jie, who had already put one hand around the waist of the woman beside him, and the other hand had crawled to the plump place to knead.

  Yi Han smiled and said: "You two sisters are too enthusiastic, I haven't reacted yet"

  The woman in the blue shirt grasped Yi Han's hand and pressed it against her plump buttocks, saying: "You're all wrong, this young man isn't a honest person, look, his hand is already on someone's butt."

  These words made Jie and others burst out laughing, and Yi Han himself couldn't help but smile.

  "By the way, where is Shishi? I haven't seen her."

  The lady in red said with a smile: "Can't you think of anything else, sir? You should show more pity to us sisters."

  "Alright, alright."

  Yu Jie said: "Although we have entered, it is still not easy to see the poem girl. Brother Yi, please look over there."

  She glanced in the direction of Jie's pointing, and saw a poem hanging not far away, which read: The fragrance of clothes and flowers is intertwined, the wonderful belt is three points of cinnabar red skirt, eyebrows and eyes are as beautiful as paintings without bones, color and art are both elegant and good at poetry.

  Yu Jiedao said: "The poem on this describes the number one beauty of Qinhuai, Shi Shi. I have seen all the other nine beauties of Qinhuai, but only Shi Shi is the most mysterious, and it's as difficult to see her as climbing to the sky."

  Yi Han asked: "Then how can I see her?"

  Yu Jie said calmly: "It's not hard to see her, first, she is willing to meet the person, second, you have to be better than her in talent, force her to admit defeat, and then she will see you. Rumor has it that Shi Shi's figure is as slender as boneless, with a lot of charm, beautiful and moving. Unfortunately, I've been to Qunfang Pavilion several times, but I still haven't had the chance to meet her, this is almost becoming an illness for me."

  Yi Han said: "That's not even the beginning, I'm willing to help brother subdue this arrogant woman, so that she can understand that men are not easy to bully".

  Yu Jiedao said: "Take a look, Qinhuai Lantern Festival, if you want to see the flower girl, you have to follow their rules."

  The lady in red said with a smile: "Master Yi, you have a good heart. In our family, many people want to hold Shishi in their hands and cherish her. Do you think she's easy to bully? Don't get yourself into trouble later."

  Yi Han pinched the woman's buttocks and laughed: "It's you who hurt me, young master. If that poem is gone, so be it."

  The lady in red smiled and said: "You're so naughty, young master."

  The maid said: "Miss, the young masters downstairs are getting impatient." "I know, just wait a moment," Shi Shi replied calmly.

  After the maid left, Shi's beautiful eyes were dim and confused, and she muttered to herself: "He treats me like this, why don't I get angry with him at all? Knowing that seeing him again will only increase trouble, but I'm eager to see him again. Is it because love is hard to control? It's ridiculous that among the thousands of men who adore me, the one I like has no feelings for me."

  On the side of Yi Han, someone had already grown impatient. A short and ugly-looking person at the banquet said, "Aren't we starting yet? Do you want us to wait until dawn?"

  The maid came out and said loudly: "Coming! Coming!"

  "Ladies and gentlemen, please listen carefully. Seated alone by the window, playing the jade flute, I suddenly see a joyful face approaching, fallen flowers have intention but water has no feeling, dreams entwined in my intestines wanting to recognize you. This is a poem just composed by the young lady. Please use the poetic imagery to compose another poem and guess the young lady's thoughts."

  This poem is out, and everyone can't help but guess that the actual meaning is nothing more than a deep boudoir daughter secretly in love with her lover, but can't get a response, and can only think about it bitterly.

  This poem is too obvious, everyone can't help but feel that this last hurdle won't be as simple as imagined.

  That short and ugly man said: "I'll go first. In the past, I saw you often but didn't speak much. Now, I regret it even more and feel awkward. Is it that emotions are still not enough? If it's hatred, then it's hard to do. The crowd cheered for good poetry, and the short man was even more complacent, thinking that today's flower crown belonged to no one else but him.

  The maid brought back the poem and Shishi listened to it, saying: "This person is quite talented, please invite him up".

  The maid hesitated, "But this person is extremely ugly." Shi Shi smiled lightly and said indifferently, "What's wrong with being ugly? How can you say that someone's talent is placed there? Go invite him to come up. I'm tired of receiving guests, I want to rest now."

  The maid loudly asked the short man in the cabin: "What is your name, sir?"

  The short man said: "My surname is Xú and my name is Yóu"

  The maid smiled and said: "Please ask Master Xu to go up to the second floor, other masters please leave, it's getting late".

  Yu Jie sighed and said: "Why am I hesitating over such a simple poem?"

  Yi Han smiled and said: "You haven't even written a poem yet, how can you be sure there's no chance?"

  Yu Jie said: "Yi brother, didn't you hear? They are going to send us off."

  Yi Han smiled and said: "I originally thought there would be a poetry duel, but I didn't expect it to be so boring. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have come to this Qinhuai Lantern Festival."

  Yi Han suddenly stood up and left his seat, bowing deeply to Yu Jie, "Brother Yu, today I'm grateful for your help, I have nothing to repay you with, so I'll play a song on the guqin for Brother Xu instead. How about we leave after that?"

  When someone played the piano, everyone loudly said it was good. Xu Jie nodded upon hearing this, "Then let's trouble Yi brother to play a piece as a witness to our meeting today."

  Yi Han Lang said in a clear voice: "Little girl, bring me the zither".

  The maid thought to herself, never mind, playing another tune wouldn't take much time, no need to offend these young masters.

  Yi Han smiled and said: "Yu brother, what tune do you want to hear?"

  Yu Jie said calmly: "I'm not very familiar with music, Brother Yi, just play whatever can ease your current mood."

  "Alright", Yi Han sat down with a warm and elegant demeanor, only at this moment could one see the air of elegance that didn't originally belong to him.

  Softly plucking the strings, a beautiful melody of piano sound arises, with subtle and elegant language, like a gentle brook flowing through the valley, knowing the music, people feel that this piano sound is pleasant, but can't say where it's good, only feeling that the melancholy mood is dispelled, replaced by a kind of joy, a kind of enthusiasm for doing anything.

  "Alas, the spring breeze has dispelled all heartaches. The lanterns on the painted boats shine brightly on this Qinhuai night. You, a delicate and lovely young lady, why not join me in losing our souls together?"

  When the music ended, everyone burst out laughing. Yi Han's melody could make them happy, and his poem could also make them feel relieved.

  Shi Shi was on the upper floor when she first heard the sound of the guqin. At first, she was attracted by the beautiful melody of the guqin. As someone who was well-versed in music, how could she not appreciate the high level of skill of the person playing the guqin? Of course, she could also hear the carefree and joyful emotions within the music. The more she listened, the more enchanted she became. The rhythm of each note was like a clear spring flowing into her heart, washing away all her sorrow and worries. It was as if she had entered the heart of the person playing the guqin, sharing in his joy. This resonance was something she had never experienced before. And yet, the poem seemed to be comforting her while also teasing her. Unconsciously, she scolded: "What a wicked monk!"

  Yu Jie said: "Yi brother, this song is really wonderful, listening to it makes me feel happy and joyful."

  Yi Han chuckled in a low voice: "Yu brother, you guys think it's cool, but I'm afraid that Shi Shi is now so ashamed that she's scolding me for being a despicable rascal."

  "Hey, that's wrong! This is a place of romance and beauty. Easy Brother's poem fits the atmosphere perfectly. I'm afraid Miss Poetry will be secretly delighted."

  After finishing the song, she savored it for a long time, and didn't come back to her senses until the maid walked in.

  "Who was the one playing the zither just now? Hurry and invite him in!"

  The maid replied: "It seems like a young master with the surname Yi, he left together with Young Master Xu".

  A poem of disappointment, with a look of despair on his face.

  The maid said: "Miss, this young master Xu is still waiting outside?"

  "Please let him in."