First question

"Sister...sister..."

The girl in yellow felt that her heart was about to jump out. She had seen countless handsome boys in Beijing, and there were also many talented and handsome young men here, but she never expected to meet a handsome boy like a demon this time.

This white and smooth skin, this gentle eyes, this relaxed and measured movement...

Is there any man in the world who looks so beautiful?

But there are so many beauties in the willow forest, each of them is as delicate as a swallow, but next to this boy, it is really like the green leaves that complement it, and there is only this one flower in the whole garden.

"Sister... help me up quickly."

The girl in yellow shouted in a panic, just hoping to stand up a little more decently.

But after shouting twice, the sister Ruyan behind her did not move at all.

Looking back, she saw Liu Ruyan also standing there, dazed as if she had lost her soul, only her pretty face was red, much more energetic than usual.

The girl in yellow cursed inwardly for putting love before friendship, frowned and got up from the ground, patted the weeds on her body, took several steps back, pulled Liu Ruyan to her side, and whispered: "Sister, didn't you just say you don't like good-looking men? Why did you lose your mind at first sight? You ignored me when I called you."

"Sister, I..." Liu Ruyan only then noticed her tense. Looking back, she was so embarrassed that her face turned red, but she was concerned about the man in front of her. She only blamed herself for being so stupid at the time that she forgot to look at him clearly, so she couldn't help but take another look.

"Sister! You're still peeking!"

"I..."

"Hmph! You can't compete with me for this young man. Aunt Liu has already found someone for you. This handsome young man is mine."

"When did I ever say I wanted to compete with you for..."

"Don't worry about anything else. Just look at this young man's name."

The girl in yellow was delighted. She straightened her clothes and was about to approach him to talk, but a familiar voice came first: "Hey! Jiaqian!"

"Jiangnan!"

It turned out to be an old friend.

"Why are you here? I've been looking for you for a long time."

"Why can't I be here? Sister Ruyan is here too?"

"Sister Jiangnan."

Liu Ruyan and Sai Jiangnan have always been good friends. Seeing each other, she was delighted and immediately bowed.

Xia Shang watched silently from the side, not paying much attention to the appearance of the two girls. He was shocked when he heard the word "Jiaqian" from Jiangnan's mouth.

Could this be Princess Jiaqian?

"Sir, these two are my close friends. This is Liu Ruyan, the eldest daughter of Liuzhuang, and this is Princess Jiaqian, the protagonist of today."

This time Jiaqian was surprised: "Jiangnan, what did you say? Who is this gentleman?"

"Sir, my master! I invited you here today to compete with your master. Humph! If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten that you looked down on my master that day. I remember it! I won't be friends with you, so go play somewhere else."

Thinking of what happened that day, Jiangnan's face immediately became more unhappy.

After hearing what Jiangnan said, Jiaqian was surprised: "You said...you said this gentleman is your master?"

"What? No? I lied to you, didn't I?"

"He...he is so young..."

"You know that there is no order of learning?"

"Okay..." Jiaqian sighed slightly, "Your master surprised me."

"The surprise is still to come! Has your master arrived? Does the bet on that day still count?"

"It counts! Of course it counts!"

Jiaqian was still holding on, and secretly glanced at Xia Shang. Thinking, since he is such a handsome young man, today's bet is even more difficult to lose.

Besides, it is impossible to lose. Because of his youth and beauty, Jiaqian is more certain that Jiangnan's master is a useless person.

Thinking about it, Jia Qian said, "Jiangnan, what are you still doing here? Why don't you go up?"

"You have to be invited to go up there, and no one invited me, so why should I go?"

Jia Qian smiled, "Now someone has invited me, right?"

Jiangnan naturally didn't want to be inferior to others, but he still had to ask for the gentleman's opinion: "Sir, how about we go up there?"

"Forget it, I like it here."

Xia Shang replied indifferently.

How can it be as comfortable up there as here? Look at the girls around who are so enthusiastic, and there are still many things to say to them! What's good about up there? It's nothing more than pretending to be cool and funny. When I see a few blind people later, I guess I'll have to work hard to slap them in the face.

Xia Shang said he wouldn't go, so Jiangnan naturally had to stay. Even though he was a little disappointed, he couldn't do anything about it. Who said it was the gentleman who said it? What the gentleman said was the imperial decree, the will of heaven!

"Jiangnan, shall we go up?"

"No, if the master doesn't go, I can't go either."

Jia Qian frowned, feeling strange. In her memory, Jiangnan was not an obedient girl. Why was she so obedient to this master?

After the shock of the first meeting, Jia Qian gradually calmed down. Seeing that Xia Shang didn't seem to care about her identity, she felt a little unhappy. Besides, the two sides were in a hostile state, so she couldn't lose face just because the other party was good-looking.

"Jiangnan, you have to think clearly. If you don't go up with me, you won't even be able to see my master later. How can you compete?"

This means that Jiangnan's master is not qualified to be on an equal footing with her own master. How can this make people feel happy?

Jiangnan widened his eyes and was about to say something, but was stopped by Xia Shang: "It doesn't matter. If I can't go up, I will ask you all to come down in a while."

Jia Qian didn't understand the meaning of the words, and stopped pestering, pulling Liu Ruyan forward.

Xia Shang felt a little strange. He found that the taciturn green-dressed woman seemed to have been looking at him before. As the other person walked further and further away, he paid more attention to her. He found that she was a delicate and pretty girl.

Xia Shang did not think much about it. He returned to the girls in Liulin and chatted with them happily.

Soon, noon had arrived.

The tea girls in Liuzhuang began to serve snacks, and also brought pens, ink, paper and inkstone.

In addition to chatting and making friends, how can there be no poetry at the poetry meeting?

The people who came to the appointment were divided into two levels. The upper level was naturally a small group of people halfway up the mountain. The lower level was the majority of men and women resting by the lake.

Everyone knew the rules. In addition to those who were invited to the mountainside in advance, it was not impossible to stand out from the lower level. That is, the best in the next poetry competition could rise to the top in one step.

Everyone was looking forward to this moment. Now the pens and ink had arrived, and they were just waiting for the big man above to ask the questions.

Today, many important people came, and they were very low-key. I don't know when they arrived at the new pavilion halfway up the mountain.

With the prefect as the leader, there are Yangzhou's rich, literary masters, new-generation literary masters, and Jiangnan courtesans. It can be said that it has gathered top figures from all walks of life in Yangzhou.

However, at this moment, the small pavilion was silent, and no one dared to say a word when it came to the topic.

After a long silence, the old man lying on the reclining chair slowly said: "Let's start with the topic of 'Confucian scholars'. Let's listen to what kind of insights Yangzhou's talented people can have on the word 'Confucian scholars'."