Chapter 2: The First Snow (Part 2)

  "Second Brother, what's wrong with you? You're fighting a big tree! A few more punches and you'll knock it down!" Just as he was feeling frustrated and had nowhere to vent, a gentle voice suddenly appeared in his ear.

  "You mind your own business." Wang Xun responded instinctively, wanting the other person to stop meddling. Suddenly feeling a familiar voice, he blankly raised his head and saw Bai Hua Ci pulling along a beautiful middle-aged woman wearing red clothes, standing in front of him with a charming smile.

  "White sister, how did you come?" Wang Xun suddenly felt very embarrassed, smiled awkwardly and greeted the other person in a low voice.

  "Really!" Bai Wei's maid, Xiao Ping, was just jumping down from the carriage and heard Wang Xun's words. She immediately scolded loudly, "Yesterday afternoon, you didn't even say goodbye, turned around and left. White sister was worried about you all day. This morning, not long after the hour of Mao, those two Qin brothers came again. They said they couldn't find you at your house, so they asked White sister if she knew where you went!"

  "Ping'er..." Bai Wei Zi shyly turned her head and softly stopped him.

  "We've been searching for him since early morning, and we're afraid to let him know!" Xiaoping said with her neck stretched out, putting on a posture that she would rather be beaten than not speak up for justice. "We split up with the two Qin brothers to find you, from early morning till now. If it wasn't for running into Wang Xiang halfway..."

  "It's my fault, I made you worry!" Before Xiaoping could finish speaking, Wang Xun had already quickly walked over to Bai Weizi's side. Without caring that others were watching, he gently took her hand.

  He had never experienced any setbacks from childhood to adulthood, but in the past three days, he encountered things that couldn't be solved by his own strength. Just as he was at a loss, he suddenly heard someone showing such concern for him. His chest shook violently, and his gaze towards Bai Huiji had already become infatuated.

  Bai Wei was extremely embarrassed, and she tried to shake off Wang Xuan's hand, but couldn't. She had no choice but to let him hold her hand, lower her head, and say in a low voice: "Second Brother, you haven't introduced your friend to me yet. How rude!"

  "Ah, oh, oh!" Wang Xun suddenly woke up from his gentle dream, with a happy face, and pulled Bai Huixiang directly in front of Zhang Xun and Lei Wanchun. "Two brothers, this is my, my red beauty Bai Huixiang, she, she is currently performing at the Jin Hua Lou. Huixiang, these two are my good friends, the one on the left with the surname Zhang, single name Xun, was a top scholar in the Kaiyuan era. The one on the right with the whiskers, surname Lei, named Wanchun, is a heroic knight who travels the Jianghu!"

  Jing Wang Zong introduced himself to his friends without hesitation, and Bai Jieci's heart was both happy and shy. She slightly curtsied and made a gesture of respect, "Songstress Bai Jieci, nice to meet the two brothers!"

  "Exempt from bowing!" "Younger brother and sister exempt from bowing!" Zhang Xun and Lei Wanchun each took a half step back, saying this one after the other.

  Bai Hua's face suddenly flushed with a red glow, and she looked as beautiful as a flower. She glanced at Wang Xun with a shy expression, then turned around to pull the red-clothed middle-aged beauty who had arrived in the same carriage as her, laughing as she introduced: "This is my good sister Gong Sunlan, her sword dance is unparalleled in Chang'an City!"

  "Is that Gong Sun's wife?" Zhang Zhou was not sensitive to the name Gong Sun Lan, but Lei Wan Chun immediately widened his eyes, "Haha, I'm really lucky today. The first two of the Four Greats in the capital, and I've seen them both at the same time!"

  "What's all the fuss about the Four Greats of the Capital? Those are just friends making a ruckus. How can they enter the eyes of Xiao Zhang and Lei Daxia?" Gong Sunlan was also flustered, squatting down, and suddenly spoke in extremely authentic Wu dialect...

  "Gongsun Dajia has been polite!" It wasn't until then that Zhang Zhou vaguely guessed who he had met, and hastily stepped aside half a step, returning a slight bow.

  Before he came to the capital, he had also heard from his friends that there were four great masters in the capital. Anyone who had been to the capital would be proud to have met with the four great masters. The so-called "four great masters" referred to "Li Taibai's poetry, Zhang Xu's calligraphy, Lei Haizhen's pipa, and He Zhichang's eyes."

  Li Bai's poetry is renowned throughout the land, and the calligraphy of Zhang Xu, the "Sage of Grass", is also priceless. Lei Haiqing once helped Emperor Tang Xuanzong to revise the "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Robe" melody, and his pipa playing was so divine that it left listeners unaware of their surroundings for days on end. As for He Zhizhang's eyes, they were said to be able to discern talent, and it was he who praised Li Bai as a "banished immortal", thus bringing him to the attention of the current emperor. Moreover, because of his haughty attitude towards those with inferior talent, he repeatedly ridiculed Li Linfu for having "talent but no virtue" and Yang Guozhong for having "neither virtue nor talent", which is why he was doubly revered by scholars.

  For the people of the world, going to Chang'an without meeting "Da Si Jue" is not a regret in life. If you also miss "Xiao Si Jue", then this trip to Chang'an is equivalent to walking in vain. The so-called "Xiao Si Jue" refers to "Gongsun Niangzi's sword, Bai Suzhen's song, Xie Feiyan's zither, and Hu Aban's waist." Among them, Hu Aban came from the western regions of the Western Regions and was said to be a princess who had lost her country. Her waist was as soft as willow in spring. After one dance, she made countless princes and young masters infatuated. Every year, many talented scholars who traveled to Chang'an became fascinated with Hu Aban's dance and spent all their money, eventually ending up on the streets.

  Xie Feiyan's guqin, on the other hand, has a different flavor. It is like autumn mountains after new rain, with an unspeakable emptiness and bleakness beyond its lightness. Every day, many talented but unfortunate scholars sit in front of Xie Feiyan's music hall early, waiting from morning till sunset just to hear Xie Feiyan play one song, shed two lines of clear tears, and wash away the blockages in their hearts.

  Compared to the latter two's unorthodox swordsmanship, Gong Sun Dang and Bai Wei Qi adhered to the traditional middle path. Especially Gong Sun Dang, her sword dance was like "coming like thunder, going like a gentle breeze". There is a legend that Zhang Xu created his unique cursive script after watching Gong Sun Dang's sword dance, which eventually earned him a place among the Four Great Calligraphers.

  As a top idler in the capital, Wang Xun naturally also knew of Madame Gongsun's reputation. However, he didn't spend much time on singing and dancing, and even when he went out to have fun, he mostly ended up in Bai Hua's room, with no time for anything else. The ancients said, "Those who gaze at the sea find it hard to be satisfied with a small stream; those who visit the gates of sages find it hard to speak." Perhaps this is the reason.

  After everyone finished their greetings, Bai Xiangxi lightly smoothed out the wrinkles on Wang Xun's clothes and asked in a low voice: "Second Brother, what have you been busy with these past two days? Why did you rush to the yamen entrance early in the morning? I asked the Qin brothers, but they just murmured and wouldn't say anything!"

  "Zi Da has gotten into some trouble!" With outsiders present, Wang Xuan also found it inconvenient to reveal too much. Especially in front of Gong Sunlan, a "noble" who had once entered the palace and had interactions with many concubines, he was even more tight-lipped.

  Bai Wei Zhi was raised by her mother from a young age, and observing people's words and expressions had almost become a compulsory course for her since childhood. She noticed that Wang Xuan seemed to have some unspoken troubles that he couldn't share with outsiders, so she smiled and said in a soft voice: "Since Second Brother is fine, then I can rest assured. The Qin brothers are looking all over for you. If you're free, meet up with them today! I'll leave with Gong Sun sister first, and another day, younger sister will invite the two brothers to Jin Hua Lou for tea and to wash the dust off your feet!"

  "Never mind for now, at noon today, I'll be waiting at Linfeng Tower to invite Li Bai, Gao Shi and others for a drink. If Gong Sun and Bai Xing are willing to join us, that would be great!" Lei Wanchun said with a sly smile, unexpectedly blurting out the words.

  As soon as the words were spoken, Zhang Zhou's face changed greatly. Since conquering a group of aristocrats with the surname Ashina, the Hu style had been very popular in the capital of Tang Dynasty. It was normal for young talents to gather together to drink and invite a few songstresses to help with the excitement. Even if someone got drunk during the banquet and rolled around with the songstresses, everyone would just laugh it off as a romantic affair after the fact. No one would make a big deal out of it by dragging in some moral issues about men and women. But how could these two women be treated like ordinary songstresses? Not to mention that Bai Yuzhi was Wang Xun's confidante, she might even be their sister-in-law who had not yet been married into the family. As for Lady Gongsun, she had received praise from the emperor himself in the past, and it was unlikely that ordinary princes and nobles could invite her to perform, let alone a few powerless scholars wielding swords.

  Who would have thought that Gong Sun's wife and Bai Zhiqi didn't take Lei Wanchun's words to heart, looked at each other, pursed their lips and smiled. This smile suddenly attracted countless passersby to stop and stare, even the morning sun in the sky seemed to dim.

  Under the gaze of everyone, Gong Sun's wife slowly took a few steps forward and then bowed her head again. "Since Lei Daxia has an appointment, how can we disappoint him? However, the gift cannot be less, so Li Xian, Gao Shuji, and Zhang Tanhua each need to compose a poem as a thank you note. As for Lei Daxia and Wang Xiaohouye, they can choose their own suitable gifts!"

  "Come on, come on!" Regardless of whether Li Bai and the others were present or not, Lei Wanchun took charge. "If anyone dares not to write, I'll pour wine down his throat! Although I, Lei, may not be accomplished in literature or martial arts, my capacity for wine has never been surpassed by anyone!"

  Gongsun's wife smiled again, nodded, and pulled Bai Zhiyu to turn around and leave. It wasn't until the people and horse carriage disappeared at the street corner that some onlookers suddenly came back to their senses, shouting loudly: "Ah, I saw Gongsun's wife today! Hurry home and practice writing! Whoever has an extra brush at home, lend me one first!"

  Everyone burst out laughing at these words. No one had the time to notice what kind of relationship the three men who were just talking to Lady Gong Sun had with her.

  After this strange encounter, the depression in Wang Xun's heart dissipated a lot. Taking advantage of everyone's distraction, he secretly squeezed out of the crowd and jumped onto his mount.

  As they walked to the cockfighting arena, Zhang Zhou couldn't help but feel that Lei Wanchun was being too rash and shouldn't have casually invited the two strange women. But Lei Wanchun shook his head and smiled, spouting a bunch of nonsense: "Since they're both unusual women, we can't treat them with ordinary courtesy. Besides, I just heard Wang brothers lamenting that the waters in the capital are deep, and even the Qin family wouldn't dare to provoke the Yuwen brothers. Since the Public Sun family often enters the palace, if we need to plead our case in the future, it's inevitable that we'll need her help! So why not get familiar with them as soon as possible?"

  Note 1: The head of a line. An ancient honorific title for singing girls or female performers. That is, the leader of a certain profession.

  Note 2: Lei Haiqing, a real historical figure and a member of the Pear Garden group. After Chang'an fell, he refused to play the pipa for An Lushan and was executed by being torn apart by carts.

  Note 2: From Mencius, with a tone of irony.

  Note 4: Head wrapping, a gift for the singing girl. Gao Shi once served as a secretary under Ge Shuhan's command, and at this time had not yet risen to prominence, so he was respectfully referred to as Secretary Gao. Later, when he became a military governor and an imperial inspector, he would be known as Inspector Gao.

  Wine slave's note: Where is the flower? The flower? The wine slave looks around. A beautiful woman has come, where did the flower go?