Three, this sound can be heard all around the house

  At this time, the ancient city of Jinling was prosperous to the extreme, and Qinhuai River was even more crowded with people rubbing shoulders. Scholars who thought they were full of talent, women with makeup and blushes, as well as various eccentric people, all gathered in this city, performing a drama of joys and sorrows.

  Liu Jingting is one of these extraordinary people, and now that he is nearly fifty years old, his reputation as a storyteller has long been established. People from all over admire him so much that every time he tells a story, they have to pay two taels of silver, and they even need to make reservations ten days in advance.

  Perhaps it was the whole day of telling stories about heroes and chivalrous men, but Liu Jingting was very dissatisfied with his current situation in his heart. He felt that he was also a heroic figure like those in the novels, only lacking the opportunity to display his talents.

  "Today, the Huifang enters the water, and we can invite Mr. Liu to show off his exceptional skills, it's truly a fortunate event!" After Liu Jingting finished speaking about Wu Song beating the tiger, Mrs. Cai smiled and said: "Today, all of you have come to support us, which is also a fortunate event for our Huifang..."

  She said that after inviting a few guests to the scene, Yu Guozhen had always been concerned about the identity of those guests, who were all scholars with some reputation in the capital.

  After the most auspicious toast, a famous singer was invited to sing a southern tune. The melodious and soft melody was quite interesting to Yu Guozhen, but only quite interesting.

  He recalled a line of ancient poetry: The merchant's daughter does not know the sorrow of her country's downfall, across the river she still sings of flowers.

  At this time, the Great Ming was already in a precarious situation, and what followed was the bandits burning down the Central Plains, turning the heart of China into a scorched earth. The Tartars took advantage of the chaos to break through the passes, and the once-great land of China was now filled with the stench of blood and gore. Meanwhile, Western colonizers were busy dividing up the world piece by piece, and history had deviated from its normal course. And yet, the sons and daughters of the Yellow Emperor, who should have been rising to the challenge, were instead busy doing what?

  "Yu Gongzi, Yu Gongzi!"

  His expression was somewhat wandering, but the atmosphere in the painting boat had reached a climax. Those famous scholars wrote poems one after another, praising today's gathering, and their eyes often glanced at Yu Guozhen, for no other reason than that Liu Ruzi was sitting upright beside Yu Guozhen, and as soon as Yu Guozhen's cup was empty, she would pour wine for him.

  Although only fourteen years old, Liu Ru is already showing a stunning beauty that can overthrow cities and countries. On the Qinhuai River, she is also a top-notch beauty.

  "What's wrong?" Yu Guozhen asked, coming back to himself when he heard Cai's mother calling him.

  "Who is this Mr. Yu?" His reaction naturally provoked the displeasure of those scholars, one of whom spoke up and asked: "Is it that the poems we just composed are not worthy of your ears? Why else would you be so dismissive?"

  Yu Guozhen glanced at him and raised his wine glass: "It was I who was rude, so I'll punish myself with a drink."

  Nashi was taken aback for a moment. Among the people he knew, there was no one with Yu Guozhen's personality, so for a while, he didn't know what to do.

  Another person smiled slightly: "Just now, I heard Mrs. Cai say that Master Yu is a Anhui native. Among the people of Anhui, there are poetic talents like Gong Xiaosheng, but also scoundrels like Ruan Dacheng...I wonder if Master Yu knows these two?"

  The contempt in his words, Yu Guozhen could hear it clearly. This group of scholars, after arriving here, were either reciting poetry or discussing current events, while Yu Guozhen remained silent the whole time. Therefore, they looked down on Yu Guozhen, thinking he was an uneducated and ignorant country bumpkin. But surprisingly, the most beautiful woman in the room, Liu Ruyi, was standing beside him, serving him. How could this group of self-proclaimed elegant scholars not be filled with righteous indignation!

  "I don't know either." Yu Guozhen said calmly.

  Liu Ruzi glanced at him, and the reputation of Zhang Yu and Fang Yizhi of Tongcheng School, although not necessarily comparable to the first two, but also not much worse. Yu Guozhen casually mentioned one of them, and these scholars would probably all look up to him with new respect.

  Guo Zhen never mentioned it!

  "So, I wonder if Master Yu has any honors or achievements?" Those few scholars looked at Yu Guozhen's attire and asked.

  "No."

  "Master Yu usually writes poetry and essays, can you recite some for us to broaden our horizons?" Another scholar said.

  As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of those scholars already showed a sneering smile. A young man from the countryside who had no official title and did not know the famous poets of today, yet he alone occupied the position of honor, this kind of thing was pleasant to hear when told by others, but for them, it was a great shame!

  "I won't." Yu Guozhen's response was still just two simple words.

  On the other side, Mrs. Cai secretly sighed in frustration. She had seen Xu Fo's letter saying that Yu Guozhen was a learned and talented person, so she kept him there. Originally, she wanted to introduce some famous scholars from Jinling City to get acquainted with him, as a way of repaying the favor he showed when sending Liu Rushi over. But now it seems that this Mr. Yu is really not very understanding of human relationships.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, I must say that today we have to thank Master Yu for bringing Miss Rong from Suzhou Prefecture. Miss Rong is skilled in the arts and has a wonderful singing voice, which is not inferior to those of our own ladies in Jinling. Now, please let us invite Miss Rong to sing a song for everyone, how about it?"

  Cai's mother interrupted, and everyone shifted their attention to Liu Ruzi. Liu Ruzi first bowed to Yu Guozhen, who nodded in response. With a faint smile on her face, she stood up, cleared her throat, and began to sing.

  She sang the tune "Let's Row the Double Oars", this kind of melody and lyrics, on the Qinhuai River is still the first time. Her voice was clear and bright, with a hint of childishness, and at the high-pitched place, it was even more piercing and refreshing, making people feel like they had been splashed with water all over their body, feeling an indescribable coolness and pleasure.

  On the Qinhuai River, in a painted barge, singing such a tune is quite fitting. Of course, what's most important is that Liu Ruyu's voice suits this song perfectly. As she sang, her eyes were fixed on Yu Guozhen's face, and her expression was very sweet, making those few scholars even more jealous.

  This era's popular songs, similar to the Kunqu of later generations, are elegant and subtle, although also extremely pleasant to listen to, but emphasize restraint and subtlety. The songs sung by Liu Ruzuo, however, have a unique charm that is unrestrained and full-bodied, whether it be the lyrics or the melody, both make people's ears and eyes feel refreshed. Even if they are not considered to be exceptionally talented or beautiful, at least they can be said to have carved out their own path.

  "Good!"

  As soon as the song was over, those scholars looked at each other in dismay, trying to think of a way to praise the beauty's singing, when they heard someone outside speaking out first.

  The voice came in, and Mrs. Cai was taken aback at first, then a joyful expression appeared on her face: "Is that Li Dangnu on the painted barge?"

  The applause came from another boat, a lightly made-up and elegant woman was looking over, seeing Cai's mother slightly bowed: "It turned out to be Cai's mother, is this the new boat of Hui Zhen Hall? I wonder which sister of Hui Zhen Hall sang just now, can you please ask her to come out and meet me?"

  When he saw the woman, Liu Jingting, who had been somewhat arrogant, also came to the window and bowed his hands: "Liu Ma Zi has seen Li Da Niang."

  "It turned out to be Mr. Liu." The elegant woman pursed her lips and smiled faintly: "I want to see the sister who sings, not you with a numb face."

  The two of them must be extremely familiar with each other, so the woman could make this kind of joke. Yu Guozhen furrowed his brow: "Who is this person?"

  "Haha, there are still people on the Qinhuai River who don't know Li Damao!" Yu Guozhen asked in a low voice. Wang's family was separated by half of the river and couldn't hear it, but the scholars on the boat heard it and one of them burst out laughing: "Indeed, they are really ignorant!"

  Yu Guozhen looked at him and smiled: "That's natural, I'm new to Jinling, not as good as brother."

  Cai's mother didn't care about them anymore and pulled Liu Ruyi to the window: "Li Dangnu, the one who just sang was this Miss Ruyi."

  Liu Ruyi bowed to the woman, Li Dangnu. She had heard of this person from Xu Fo and his fellow musicians in Jinling, who had told her that while there were countless songstresses in Qinhuai River, only one was widely recognized as having a heroic spirit.

  Li Daigne, Li Zhenli.

  If Liu Ruyi has already shown her absolute beauty, but still retains the girlish innocence and childishness, then this Li Dangnu is a completely ripe fruit, with every move exuding countless charms.

  "I heard Mother mention Li Danni in Wujiang, but I never expected to meet her on the first day of arriving in Jinling City." Liu Ruo asked loudly.

  "It's true that a person is like their song, clean and transparent." Looking at Liu Ruxi, Li Zhenli smiled and then took off one of her hairpins and handed it to a woman beside her: "Ruxi sister, this is a small gift I'd like to give you."

  Got Li Zhenli a hairpin, that is to get her recognition. In the Qinhuai River song and dance, it counts as having a reputation. If Liu Ruzi really stayed in Jinling, with this, it can be said that the situation has opened up, and from now on, there will be continuous literary scholars who come to admire his name.

  "Thank you, Mrs. Li." But Liu Ruzi didn't feel much joy, for the life of leaning against the door and selling smiles by the Qinhuai River was not what she truly yearned for in her heart!

  Seeing her somewhat indifferent expression, Mrs. Li was even more delighted. In her heart, she didn't like those hypocritical and superficial courtesies either. The more Liu Ruzi remained calm and composed, the more she felt that they were on an equal footing, with a bit of a heroic spirit.

  "If you have time, sister, come find me, I want to learn that tune from you." Li Zhenli said another sentence, then smiled and retreated into the painting boat. Before long, the old woman brought over the hairpin and handed it to Liu Rushi. Liu Rushi had just arrived here and didn't have anything on her that could serve as a return gift. After a moment of hesitation, Yu Guozhen handed something over to her.

  It was a string of pearls, all of average size, strung on a red silk thread, looking round and smooth. Pearls of this size are not very valuable, but once they're made into a bracelet, their value won't be low either. Liu Ruo was slightly stunned, then handed the pearl over to her, while Mrs. Cai wrapped another silver ingot as a thank-you gift for the errand runner.

  The other scholars involuntarily hummed in response to this scene, originally a nouveau riche country bumpkin, relying on some wealth in his pocket, actually showing off in front of them!

  They envied and hated Yu Guozhen even more, and would not give him a good face to look at. Cai's mother was a clever person who diverted the topic to the song that Liu Ruzi had just sung. In a few words, those scholars began to shift their attention to how to write poems and lyrics to praise Liu Ruzi.

  They also have a sense of self-awareness, Yu Guozhen's pearl bracelet worth several dozen taels of silver was given away casually. So it's impossible for them to surpass this nouveau riche from Anhui in terms of wealth. The only way is to surpass him in talent. In this world, only talented scholars can match with a good family. The story of the oil seller monopolizing the beauty can only happen after those talented scholars don't want her anymore!

  ——Vote for me, vote for me, vote for me——

  (Tomorrow I'll be on the charts again, tonight's update will be a bit late, estimated to be around 11:30 pm. Please save some clicks for tomorrow, this book has been uploaded for two weeks now, and there are only two weeks left to get on the new book chart. Some small tricks, please don't mind, dear readers. Thank you to those who have rewarded me with a gentle touch of your lips.)