Chapter 39: Golden Wind and Jade Dew Meet (Three)
One mistress and one maid, two girls suddenly found that time seemed to have stopped, only a few men stared at them intently, until accompanied by a "gulp" sound, time seemed to move again.
The one who swallowed his saliva was the shop's regular customer, but at this time he hesitated and didn't dare to come forward, as if he was somewhat ashamed of his earlier loss of composure.
It was only then that Zhou Wenbo suddenly reacted, realizing that the so-called "Listening to the Pine Pavilion Collection" by Zhou Jinyu was actually a famous poem from the Song Dynasty that he had copied himself.
Zhou Wenbo only copied three books and gave them to Emperor Li Cunxu, Empress Liu Yuniang and Consort Fu Fenghuang, but it is unknown from whom this poetry collection was transmitted.
Li Dafu was indeed an experienced big boss, and at this time he had already reacted, looking at the skin and appearance of these two women, knowing that they must be the young ladies of the Li family.
In the Tang Dynasty, it was not allowed for women to go out alone. Of course, this mainly applied to noblewomen from prominent families, and ordinary commoners were naturally not bothered about. However, where there's policy, there's countermeasure, and many women chose to dress as men when going out, especially princesses of the Tang Dynasty, who often made such a choice, which was quite an interesting sight.
"The carved edition has not been engraved yet, and the only handwritten copy is 'Listening to the Pine Pavilion Collection'. Li Dafu said that he had left the front desk for many years, but pretending to be an ordinary shopkeeper was flawless."
"Wow, young master, the Qiming Business Association really has 'Listening to Pine Pavilion Collection'! I ran to five bookstores today and couldn't find it, it was worth the trouble."
The girl currently seemed overjoyed and turned her head back to smile at the petite girl behind her.
"This 'Listening to the Pine Pavilion Collection' was copied at great cost from a close servant of the Emperor himself. It's said that Zhou Jin-yu, the great talent, only copied three volumes, and his brushstrokes are powerful and majestic, worthy of being called a master of the generation. The original manuscripts of these three volumes are in the hands of the Emperor, the Empress, and Consort Fu, and now they can be said to be worth a city!"
"Our store has specially arranged for an old gentleman who is proficient in pen and ink to copy Mr. Jin Yu's handwriting, striving not to lose its shape or change its bone. From yesterday's imitation of the original, only two copies have been copied so far. It can be truly called a treasure, if you two want to buy it, one book costs two yuan!"
Li Dafu's voice was calm and powerful, and for a moment it quieted everyone in the room.
Today, martial power is valued over literary pursuits. Many precious collections of writings have been lost to the ravages of war and fire. Scholars have no status, so naturally the price of books cannot be raised; a volume of "Analects" can only fetch twenty copper coins, enough to buy several kilograms of millet.
This book "Listening to Song Xuan's Collection" actually costs two guan, which is equivalent to 2,000 wen, or the value of 100 copies of "The Analects". Although it is said that rarity makes things precious, Zhou Wenbo never thought that his plagiarized poetry would be worth a hundred times more than the works of Confucius, the great sage of Confucianism.
Zhou Wenbo was ashamed at the same time, but also envied this profiteering. Unfortunately, no one told you about copyright back then, and others printed your books for sale, which helped to expand your reputation. It's a pity that this huge profit was missed.
Zhou Bao, who had been shrinking in the corner of the wall, jumped up at this time. He naturally knew that the young master had written a collection of poems, but he didn't know that this collection could sell for two taels per copy!
He worked hard for two or three years in the Zhao Guo Gongfu, and the total reward he received was only one guanqian, which was not even comparable to what the young master earned from writing a book.
If this young master writes 8-10 books a day, wouldn't that be worth more than his own life?
"This... young master, are you going to buy it or not?" The tall and slender girl in front also hesitated, this price was far beyond her expectations. She thought that if she was willing to wait for a while, once these poems were transcribed and spread out, the price of this book would naturally come down.
But turning back to look, she saw that her mistress was staring blankly at a new book with a blue cover and white paper, held in Li Dafu's hand, which still carried the scent of ink, and seemed not to have heard anything.
As soon as she saw her own young lady's appearance, the tall and slender girl knew that she would have to spend money today.
Zhou Wenbo furrowed his brow, in his past life he was a web writer who made a living by selling words, at that time the price was clearly marked, 1,000 characters for two cents, this collection of poems only had 2-3,000 characters, such a price was truly excessive.
This little girl is obviously a bookworm, and Hong Zhuang, her personal maid, is also clearly one of her own iron-clad book fans. How could Zhou Wenbo be willing to let his own book fan lose a large sum of money for nothing? The most important thing is that this money won't even end up in his own hands.
Then Zhou Wenbo put down the book in his hand, opened his mouth and said: "Who is Zhou Jinyu? A collection of poems wants to sell for two taels of silver? It's too expensive."
Li Dafu is a sly old fox, and just by looking at the young girl's eyes, he knew that his book was sold today. At this time, however, he didn't want to talk to Zhou Wenbo, and simply stood with his hands clasped behind his back, not saying a word.
Xiao Qing secretly praised in her heart, this young man not only looked handsome, but also spoke beautifully. If he could dispel Miss's desire to buy books today, wouldn't they be able to save these two taels of silver?
Contrary to everyone's expectations, the beautiful girl who had been quiet and introverted since entering the store suddenly spoke out loudly: "Don't you dare look down on Mr. Jinyu!"
Her small body seemed to contain a great deal of energy, and this loud and clear voice was unexpected by everyone in the store.
Even Xiao Qing, her maid who was always by her side, did not expect that the gentle and amiable Second Miss would have such a resolute side.
"Mr. Zhou Jinyu's 'Listening to the Pine Pavilion Collection' contains 18 poems and 36 songs, each of which is a masterpiece that will be passed down through the ages. The Emperor himself has praised them repeatedly and specially appointed Mr. Jinyu as a scholar! Everyone who has heard these works has been impressed, and they all say that Mr. Jinyu's talent is comparable to that of Li Bai and Du Fu. Moreover, Mr. Jinyu is only 16 years old this year, and he will surely become the master of our Tang Dynasty's literary world! I see that you like to come to the bookstore to read books, so you must also be somewhat familiar with literature. You are about the same age as Mr. Jinyu, don't you have any excellent works that you can show me?"
This little girl really scared a lot of people as soon as she opened her mouth, her voice was extremely pleasant to listen to, but her words were extremely sharp. First, she praised Zhou Jinyu's talent, comparing it to that of Li Bai and Du Fu, which made Zhou Wenbo feel ashamed and speechless; then, she cleverly ridiculed Zhou Wenbo who had stood up, if it were an ordinary person, they would have been left speechless!
She said so much in one breath, her chest heaving violently, revealing her slender figure even more, and a flush rising to her cheeks. She didn't even notice that she had inadvertently acknowledged her female identity, although this was already common knowledge.
