“Why not go?”

“Too lazy to go. Search: \(Complete Book 神站\) to read excellent literature for free.”

“Son-in-Law hasn’t written poetry in Jiangning for a long time. If you don’t go this time, those people will start gossiping again.”

“Let them gossip. Anyway, those people are like busybodies, with no life pursuits other than gossiping all day long…”

“I heard they are all very knowledgeable people. They’ve invited young people a few times to sit down and discuss Dao, and then they became famous. Li Pin, the young master Li, who is very familiar with Son-in-Law, has been there. And Gu Yanzhen before, I heard that he shone brilliantly in front of these people, and later he was considered one of the most talented scholars in Jiangning. Then I heard he passed the imperial examination in the capital.”

“And then he kicked the bucket…”

“What did you say, Husband?”

“Nothing… You women only know how to be vain. Think about it, those who participate in these literary gatherings are all over thirty or forty years old. It's true they are knowledgeable, but if they were really capable, they would be officials or have taken up official posts. Isn't it because they don't have such opportunities that they study desperately? Like the assistants of county magistrates, the advisors of prefects, or the guests of royal courts. People without prospects desperately study to examine young people. When the young people succeed, it makes them look impressive. Your Son-in-Law doesn’t plan to be an official anyway, so why should I let them examine me… There aren’t even any beautiful women…”

“But the assistants of county magistrates and the advisors of royal courts are also very powerful…”

“Are they?”

“Yes.”

“Uh… we must keep up with the times. Don’t look at these people with old eyes. Now our family can ignore the assistants of county magistrates. Anyway, they are all forty or fifty years old. There’s a generation gap, and there are no beautiful women to liven things up…”

“There are.”

“…You have to contradict me, right?”

“…”

“Son-in-Law, I was wrong.”

“I won’t dare again…”

“That’s more like it… What kind of beautiful women are there?”

“Pan Duoyi! Chen Xiaoxia!”

“Miss Qi Lan should also go…”

“Luo Miaomiao…”

“Who exactly is the man here? How do you know more than I do…”

“Hehe…”

In March, the spring scenery was picturesque. As the wind blew flower petals across the city, the little courtyard of the Su family was filled with laughter. In the courtyard, the family was chatting while making Kongming lanterns. Yellow paper, paste, brush, ink, and inkstone, along with some bamboo branches for making the lantern frame, were scattered around. Even Su Tan’er, who was nearly ten months pregnant, was joining in the fun, drawing pictures on the paper to be pasted onto the lantern shade. At this time, her mind was peaceful, and she had a dignified temperament, but after all, she was only a woman in her early twenties. Her long hair was tied back with a ribbon, and she was still pretty and clever when participating in the discussions with Chan'er, Juan'er, and the others.

After all, this was a much simpler time than the later generations. Even though she had been involved in scheming and intrigue in recent years, once her mind was cleansed, being nearly ten months pregnant, she seemed younger and simpler than women in their twenties in later generations. At this time, her thoughts were mostly on the child and Ning Yi. The other side of her maturity in her mindset only precipitated another special attractive temperament. Occasionally, when her eyes met Ning Yi’s, she could feel her smiling as she spoke.

It had been almost half a month since returning from Hangzhou. The poetic and literary gatherings and romantic atmosphere outside were not much different from when they left Jiangning. From time to time, such news could be heard, increasing the sense of reality of being in such an era. The post sent yesterday might still be a rather important gathering, at least for Jiangning. If grand occasions like the Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival and the Lantern Festival Poetry Festival were a carnival for the entire upper class, then this type of banquet was probably similar to an invitation from a Mensa club in later generations. It was relatively private, but due to the different participants, it was also quite influential.

In these kinds of gatherings, people don't just enjoy poetry. The requirements for classics, commentaries, and strategies are higher. Of course, there is usually no sense of examination. A group of Confucian scholars who have devoted their lives to studying exchange experiences. But if someone like Ning Yi, who has shown his talent relatively quickly, is invited, there is often a round of examination. Once he passes, proving that he has the ability to discuss classics and history with them, it is undoubtedly a great affirmation of his knowledge.

For Ning Yi, these kinds of things were best avoided. This wasn’t about plagiarism or whether or not he had a template to borrow from. If Confucianism could really provide much guidance in life, Ning Yi's own life experience had already exceeded that scope. It was just that everyone had different ways of expressing themselves. He didn't look down on these people, nor did he need to ask them for advice or prove anything to them with a respectful attitude.

Looking back from the future, literary gatherings and poetry festivals seemed to be the mainstream of this era. People seemed to be living their lives like this, but in reality, these were just trivial matters. Regardless of who became famous, or which beauty in the brothel fell in love with which talented scholar, most people were still living their lives according to their own pace. These days, in order to enlighten Zhou Junwu, he talked about things like airplanes and hot air balloons. When he returned home and talked to his wives and maids, everyone thought it was interesting.

So today, they held a contest to make Kongming lanterns, each making one to release in the courtyard at night, competing to see who made them better and more interesting.

“This Kongming lantern, although it looks small and simple to make, is actually very knowledgeable. Generally speaking, the temperature of the fire is relatively fixed. As long as the weight of the Kongming lantern is higher than… uh, I remember it was 23.56 grams, which is about half an ounce, it just won’t fly. So… Xing’er, your frame is too big. It won’t fly if you don’t redo it, haha…”

The atmosphere in the small courtyard was harmonious. During this time, Ning Yi was also in a fairly relaxed mood. He carefully pasted the shade of his lantern, while seriously pointing out everyone's shortcomings. In fact, his hands-on ability wasn’t very good either, but it was just a pastime for everyone to sit together, and things could be done slowly. Su Tan’er asked, “If it can’t fly if it’s more than half an ounce, then the method you taught the young Prince Zhou is useless?”

“It requires higher temperatures, better materials, and the things filling the balloon can also be changed. There are still many ways to use…”

After chatting about balloons for a while, everyone talked about the recent literary gathering. Ning Yi added cartoon portraits of Su Tan’er and others to the shade of his Kongming lantern, and also added some flowers and plants, making it quite exquisite. He originally wanted to add a poem, but after writing two lines, the paper broke, so he had to tear it down and redo this side. Because "their Son-in-Law knows everything," Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er would come to ask him how their lanterns were doing from time to time, and he would also comment on them with a smile.

When it came to releasing the lanterns that night, the Kongming lanterns of the others slowly flew up in the courtyard. Even his wife's lantern, which wasn't very well pasted, flew wobbly into the sky. Only Ning Yi's one was placed on a small rack and didn't respond. Little Chan held Su Tan'er standing to one side, while Juan'er and Xing'er stood on the other side, all with strange expressions and not speaking, obviously holding back laughter.

Ning Yi stood there blinking his eyes for a while, and rubbed his forehead with his fingers: "Whoever dares to laugh will have their silver deducted for this month."

Su Tan'er supported her belly and looked at him, and said softly: "Husband seems to have said that today is a Kongming lantern competition?"

“Did I say that?” Ning Yi glared at her, then stared at Little Chan, who looked like she was about to laugh. Little Chan quickly waved her hand: "Son-in-Law, I didn't laugh."

"I didn't say you laughed. Juan'er and Xing'er are doing well. They haven't made a sound yet. Deduct one tael of silver from each of them this month. Little Chan, you have none… And you, if you want to laugh, then laugh. It's not good for the child to hold it in for so long. Let’s go inside…”

He supported Su Tan'er and turned to walk towards the room. In the laughter behind him, Juan'er and Xing'er were protesting. But everyone knew Ning Yi's temperament. He was dignified and imposing at key moments, but usually very casual with his family. Even if he said he would deduct their salary, everyone might not care. Su Tan'er leaned on his shoulder and laughed softly. When they returned to the room, the two sat in front of the window. Ning Yi rubbed her belly to ease her emotions. Little Chan brought tea and hid behind Ning Yi, pursing her lips and smiling. Ning Yi turned his head to look at her, squinting his eyes: "I'll settle the score with you later."

Little Chan's status as a concubine had now been confirmed, but the courtyard hadn't specially arranged a maid for her yet. She was only slightly different from Juan'er and Xing'er in terms of clothing, and it wasn't obvious. She was dressed in a clean and simple Jiangnan style, like Zhao Ling'er, sometimes in skirts and sometimes in silk trousers. At this time, she ran away before Ning Yi could pull her over for a hug.

Outside the window, four Kongming lanterns slowly rose into the night sky. Juan'er and Xing'er were tilting their heads and jumping around on one side of the courtyard, watching. Soon after, they ran to the second-floor corridor to watch, so they could only hear their voices. Little Chan looked around the courtyard, examining Ning Yi's Kongming lantern. Later, she found that the ink had seeped out of a small crack on one side of the Kongming lantern, so she carefully patched the crack up. When it was lit again, this lonely Kongming lantern finally flew up. When the night wind blew, it was blown a little off course. Later, it was blocked by a branch in the corner of the courtyard, floating under the branch and unable to fly up. In the night, it looked like a small lantern was hanging on a tree on one side of the courtyard.

Ning Yi and his wife watched Little Chan and the others scratching their heads under the tree. Then they found wooden sticks and bamboo poles, poking at the tree, but the tree was already a bit tall. The three girls were busy for a long time without any results. In the end, the night wind blew, the Kongming lantern shook, got rid of the branches, and flew towards the sky.

The surroundings were quiet. The lanterns rose into the sky, merging with the stars, a pleasant and charming late spring night.

For half of the nights, Ning Yi still slept with Little Chan.

For wealthy families, after the wife becomes pregnant, it is most normal for concubines to serve the husband. Concubines often have the opportunity to compete for favor during these times. The situation was naturally quite different on Ning Yi's side. Previously, they were in the tense environment of Hangzhou. After returning to Jiangning for half a month, Su Tan'er finally had a real opportunity to arrange these things carefully. Her pregnancy was already more than nine months, and Ning Yi felt that her condition was more important. Su Tan'er was naturally a little moved by this, but most of the time she insisted that Ning Yi should spend time with Little Chan.

Little Chan gave people a very peculiar feeling. He had already noticed it during the time they spent alone in Hangzhou. These feelings had become clearer recently. She was willing to do almost anything in terms of intimacy, as long as she felt that Ning Yi liked it, nothing was out of the question. On the other hand, she was an extremely pure girl. She wouldn't make a sound or speak during these kinds of things. She would desperately bite her lip when she was nervous, and her face would turn red if she made a sound.

Ning Yi didn't have a very strong desire for pure physical needs. He had never been able to fall in love with anyone, but after experiencing the life at the top, these kinds of things were not a forbidden zone for him. Although he wouldn't be reckless because of self-control, he had actually experienced, seen, and felt everything in terms of women, as long as there was a need.

He had been intimate with Little Chan for more than half a year. Ning Yi thought that it might have been that in an extreme environment in Hangzhou, the girl was desperately trying to comfort him. Later, he gradually realized that Su Tan'er had eloped, and Little Chan had received the premarital education that girls from wealthy families should receive. She probably felt that she was a maid and concubine, and that everything was what she should do. But in her heart, she was extremely pure. If they were naked and Ning Yi asked her to look at him, she would still blush, and then close her eyes and bite her lip. A few times, Ning Yi whispered a few words to her, asking her to speak as well, but the girl would just stutter in a daze: "Sa-say what…" Her mind was in chaos, and she couldn't say anything at all.

Everyone was doing this, and the other person was willing to do anything, very active, very cooperative, and very obedient, but was only focused on being shy in her heart. Sometimes Ning Yi couldn't help but feel frustrated, he thought he wasn't doing that bad.

"Actually… I think… it's very… comfortable." When Ning Yi really asked, Little Chan couldn't avoid it, and could only answer like this with a red face and a voice like a mosquito, and then asked concerned, "Does Son-in-Law feel comfortable?"

"Uh… comfortable…" With such an answer, it felt like two elementary school students kissing for the first time. For this kind of wonderful feeling, Ning Yi could only sigh, but honestly, he liked it in his heart.

The weather wasn't cold anymore. Wearing a thin bodice and silk trousers, Little Chan was used to sleeping on her side, holding one of his arms. She didn't mind Ning Yi touching any part of her. Sometimes when Ning Yi turned his head, he could see a smile on her lips in the faint light, a feeling of great satisfaction and happiness, just like a child curled up beside him… A little girl curled up beside him.

For Little Chan, perhaps this was what she really liked.

The next day, Ning Yi ultimately did not attend the literary gathering to which he was invited. In the days that followed, talk began to spread among Jiangning's literati about Ning Yi being all reputation, Ning Yi being afraid to attend the gathering. Since there were people deliberately pushing it, the emergence of such things was not surprising. The Su family was affected by it. Because of this, Su Chonghua, the head of the academy, specially came to lecture Ning Yi, but Ning Yi just looked at him with strange eyes, and in the end he had to leave sullenly.

At this time, Ning Yi was no longer thinking about these things in Jiangning City that had nothing to do with him. In the southern region, Fang La was still resisting stubbornly. Calculating the time, Liu Xigua's troops might have already entered the mountains. Tong Guan was starting to consider withdrawing his troops and heading north. Ning Yi was also formally considering what he could do when he went to the capital. During this time, Kang Xian looked for him once, asking him if he wanted to consider taking on a position in the secret detective department nominally under Princess Chengguo to manage some things. This was beyond Ning Yi's expectations.

"...Originally, it was just a small patchwork yamen. There are many things to do, and it interferes with everything, so it's very short of people. A Gui is helping out here. Wenren Bu'er highly recommends you. He is a disciple of Qin Gong and will be going to the capital soon. You can cooperate and respond to each other… On the other hand, for the next period of time, you may have some dealings with the Green Forest people. You happen to be familiar with these people, and you have the great name of Blood Hand Butcher in the Jianghu. Those who hear it are saddened, and those who see it shed tears, cough cough… How about joining us, helping us, and doing us a favor? Because the situation in the south has been roughly determined, and the Northern Expedition can no longer be held back. Next, we may have to keep an eye on places like Liangshan Marsh. You have killed their people, and you can be considered to have old ties with them. If you are interested, why not use your public office for private gain…" (To be continued.) Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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