Chapter 4 Where is this place

  The Hundred Flowers Lake is located in the western suburbs of Cinnan, the second largest city in the southern country. The climate is warm and spring-like all year round, attracting many scholars and poets to gather here to recite poetry and compose verses. Every evening, the flower boats from various buildings and alleys would stop at a distance from the lake shore, with beautiful and charming courtesans on board. At this time, young talents from Jiangnan would gather together, hoping to win the smiles of these beauties with their talents, and perhaps even get a chance to be close to them. This naturally formed a legendary tale, but usually only one or two out of hundreds of people would have the luck to be invited onto the boats. However, this could not stop the enthusiasm of the scholars.

  It was the time when tourists were crowded, and the shore had already gathered many talented people from all over the world. Three or two formed a small force, constantly commenting on the flower boats in the lake, discussing which family's flower queen was more beautiful, and how good their skills were in bed.

  "Little... young master! Will Master Tang Wen come today?" A powdered-faced youngster dressed as a book boy turned to ask his master beside him.

  Everyone says that Tang Wengong is a talented scholar from the southern country, and no one can match him. It's said that Tang Wengong often comes here to exchange verses with the flower queen on the boat. This place allows us to admire Tang Wengong's talent, so it's a pity that you've come for three days in a row, but only brought these self-proclaimed talented yet gaudy people.

  The speaker was a young nobleman dressed as a scholar, with skin as white as jade, delicate skin that seemed almost translucent, slender eyebrows shaped like willow leaves, bright and clear eyes, and a slightly upturned nose. This face was surprisingly born on a man's body; if it were a woman, it would be considered a stunning beauty, capable of making fish sink and birds fall from the sky. Even so, it attracted the envy and admiration of the surrounding scholars, who couldn't help but feel inferior.

  Just then, a commotion broke out in the crowd, and someone shouted: "The question has been posted! Miss Ye Ying has posted the question!" Following the direction of the crowd's gaze, on the largest flower boat in the middle of the lake, an attendant stood at the bow of the boat, holding a roll of brocade in his hands. With a flick of his wrists, the unfolded brocade revealed the first line of a couplet: "Pine leaves and bamboo leaves are green."

  As soon as the topic was released on the boat, the crowd on the shore began to think about the next couplet. Suddenly, there were voices everywhere. This couplet is not difficult to say, but if you want to match it perfectly, you need to think carefully. No one responded in a short period of time. At this moment, the white-faced scholar whispered to the book boy beside him, and then the book boy shouted loudly towards the flower boat on the lake: "Our young master's next couplet is: Autumn sounds like geese, sound after sound, cold."

  Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard the answer, and this couplet was not only fair but also relatively seasonal. Facing the crowd's envious gaze, the white-faced scholar saw it in his eyes, and he didn't think much of it either. This kind of antithetical couplet was just a child's game for him; even if they knew that his father was the most learned Taifu of the current dynasty, they wouldn't be overly surprised.

  Before long, the attendant on the boat walked to the bow again and threw down the second question, which was another couplet: Waterwheel pushes water, water follows wheel, wheel stops water ceases.

  As soon as this couplet came out, the ravens and sparrows by the lake were silent. This upper couplet is much more difficult than the previous one, with four cars and four waters, interlocking with each other, it can be said to be cleverly stolen from nature. The crowd by the lake was also racking their brains, but couldn't think of a well-crafted lower couplet for the time being.

  Just as everyone was thinking hard, the white-faced scholar whispered to the book boy again, and then the book boy shouted once more: "Our young master has come up with a matching couplet, listen carefully: The fan fans the wind, the wind comes out of the fan, the fan moves and the wind is born."

  "Good! Good! Good!" The crowd around him lit up their eyes and applauded, this couplet can be said to be flawless, four cars and four waters against four winds and four fans, the verbs and nouns are perfectly matched. Especially the fan movement is born, almost everyone folds a fan, this couplet also expresses the elegance of the scholars shaking the fan, which adds to the atmosphere of the moment.

  The young servant was also extremely pleased, as if his master's answer was his own. Looking at the surrounding scholars flattering him, he was also very proud in his heart, and secretly thought: "Hmph, you dare to call yourselves scholars? My mistress is the daughter of the current Grand Tutor, her learning is far superior to yours, who only have half a bottle of ink to show off. If my mistress didn't want to meet with Tang Gongzi, she wouldn't be here showing off her literature with you people."

  The flower boat on the lake fell silent for a short time, and everyone looked up to wait for the beauty on the boat to ask the last question. If she could answer three questions in a row, she would be able to get on the boat and spend a romantic night with the beauty.

  Not to disappoint the crowd, after a while, the attendant walked up to the bow of the boat, looked at the crowd, and slowly revealed the final question, which was still an upper couplet: Lonely cold window empty guard sparse.

  The upper phrase has the same radical on each character, and the meaning is also smooth and coherent. It's very difficult to come up with something like this, and the ingenious mechanism in those words is hard to match even if you just focus on the word "lonely". Even White Face Scholar furrowed his brow in thought after hearing it, let alone the other talented scholars around him.

  The scene suddenly fell into silence, with only the gentle lapping of the water against the shore. After a while, seeing that no one could answer, a sorrowful sigh came from a brightly lit room on the boat: "Alas..."

  After waiting for a while, still no one could come up with an answer. A soft and gentle voice came from the boat house: "Third son, let's go back."

  Everyone present understood the meaning and knew that the beauty had no one who could match her in this last pair, and couldn't help but feel disappointed, with some already having the intention to leave.

  "Slow!" The white-faced scholar suddenly had an epiphany and, without regard for the crowd's astonishment, stepped forward and said directly: "The delicate red thread ends fate, I wonder if it can be considered a perfect match?"

  If it's said to be neat, it can be considered neat, but if it's said to be perfect, it still lacks a bit. From the whole sentence, "empty guard sparse" matches the ending rhyme, and can be called a beautiful ending in people's minds. However, "lonely" and "delicate" are still somewhat forced. Nevertheless, for a white-faced scholar to come up with such a correct lower hem in such a short time is not easy, and the surrounding geniuses all sighed that they were inferior, and had to disperse.

  When there were no more people around, only the white-faced book boy and the book boy left, the soft and moving voice on the boat came out again: "You are a beauty, why do you want to dress up as a man? Is it that as a woman, you also have intentions for me?" The tone was slightly frivolous.

  This made the white-faced scholar so ashamed that he turned bright red, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond. He watched as the flower boat slowly turned around and sailed out of sight without another word.

  Alas, it seems that today's wish to see Tang Gongzi has been dashed again. The white-faced young master thought for a moment and said in a low voice to Shu Tong, "Cui Hong, let's go back."

  "Bang! Splash......"

  Just as they turned around, they heard the sound of a heavy object falling into the water. Frightened, the two of them quickly turned back to look and saw that there was an extremely unusual ripple in the lake.

  "Miss, won't someone fall into the water?" Cuìhóng furrowed her brow and asked worriedly.

  "I don't know, I'm watching from here, it's not far from the government office, you quickly go and call a few people to come." The white-faced scholar instructed.

  "Miss, it's getting late, you're alone..." Cui Hong was somewhat worried, but seeing the miss frown, she knew she was about to get angry, so she quickly lowered her head and stuck out her tongue before hurrying away.

  Time was running out, and after everyone worked together to pull the object out of the water, they saw that it was indeed a person - a young man. Upon closer inspection, he looked very strange: his hair was cut extremely short (military-style), and he wore strange clothes that were similar in color to his face (camouflage uniform). Moreover, he had a long, strange-shaped iron object (gun) slung over his back. From head to toe, there wasn't a single thing about him that looked like it belonged to this era. The servants who saw him couldn't help but be shocked and amazed.

  "Miss, this person is so strange, what kind of person is this?" Cuì Hóng asked with some concern. She had heard her father say when she was young that the world has all sorts of wonders and there are many eccentric people under the sky. She worried that if this person was a good person it would be fine, but if he was a bad person, it would be troublesome.

  "Cui Hong, don't worry about so much for now, take her back to the mansion and invite a doctor to come and take a look." The white-faced scholar instructed.

  "Miss..." Cui Hong wanted to persuade her again.

  "Save the man first, don't talk about it for now, take him back to the mansion." The white-faced scholar signaled a few servants to lift up this strange person and put him on the horse carriage. After thinking for a moment, he also got in, Cui Hong was worried and followed her master into the carriage as well.

  Due to the jolting of the carriage, the man slowly opened his eyes and weakly asked: "This... where is this?" After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for a response and fainted again.

  ……………………

  This is my first time writing this kind of novel, and it took me two hours to write just this chapter. I had to do a lot of research, which was really painful. Before, I used to write military novels with a lot of bloodshed, but writing this kind of novel feels like trying to thread a needle with a big fist... But I believe that once I get the hang of it, it'll be fine. If you, esteemed readers, think my writing is passable, please vote for me and support me. I will work harder to create works that cater to your tastes.