“Wangfu Keqing, teaching the children of the imperial family!” Pan Hongda shouted, “How can such a matter be treated as a mere game? If this were just a poetry gathering, anyone trying to gain fame could be driven away. But if such a person becomes a teacher in the Wangfu, who can bear the responsibility for the reputation of the imperial family and for misleading the young prince and princess? This matter is not usually something I can intervene in, but having been in education for decades, I must investigate it thoroughly today. Ning Liheng, tell us now, have we misunderstood you?”

Pan Hongda’s words were righteous and resounding. The surrounding people were already excited. Yan Lingzhong said, “A few days ago, I met Princess Zhou Pei of Kang Wangfu and examined her talents. Her Highness is intelligent and learned, worthy of the name 'talented woman'. Later, in casual conversation, she spoke highly of Master Ning. Therefore, I am willing to believe that Master Ning can live up to his reputation. However, I am truly puzzled by his performance today. Ning Liheng, you haven’t written a single word at this poetry gathering, and I haven’t heard of any new works from you in the past year. To say that you could write masterpieces like ‘When will the moon be clear’ and ‘A night of fish and dragon dance’, but haven’t uttered a single word of poetry since then, isn’t that… strange?”

From the beginning, this Grand Scholar had been quite amiable towards Ning Yi. After he finished speaking, Zhou Qing said, “These past few days, my cousin Zhou Pei has been in Beijing, and she has indeed spoken highly of her teacher. I was also very curious about what kind of person could be so admired by my cousin. I wanted to witness Master Ning’s talent at today’s gathering, but so far, I am rather disappointed…”

As soon as she said this, the noble sons who had come with her began to clamor, shaking their heads or mocking. At this moment, several young men were quietly walking to the side. They had seen that face in the doorway of the courtyard in the distance. In fact, among the men who came with Zhou Qing, most had a favorable impression of Zhou Pei. However, Zhou Pei's manner when speaking of Ning Yi seemed a little unrestrained, so they all wanted to come and see what the fuss was about, especially to prove that Ning Yi was not as impressive as she made out. Seeing that face at this moment, they couldn’t help but begin to distance themselves.

“Hey, Princess Pei is coming…”

“How did she know…”

“What do we do now…”

“What can we do? Coming here won't save her teacher. She can't take the exam for him, can she…”

“Will she know it was us?”

Amidst the surrounding clamor, a few whispered words could be heard. Yan Lingzhong said, “Before a conclusion is reached about today’s matter, I am still willing to believe that you, Ning Liheng, are a talented person. Many of those present are people of status. We were just discussing that today we should recommend talents to the nation. Just for that Nian Nu Jiao, we should recommend Shao Yuan to enter the Imperial College. Liheng, you are still young, but you can become a guest in the Wangfu. If you truly have this talent, we will also recommend you to enter the Imperial College. What's wrong with that?”

At this time, students of the Imperial College were recommended from various places, but a large portion of the places were still occupied by the children of officials. Although the people present had a great influence in Bianliang, they could only recommend very few people each year. Once someone entered the Imperial College, they would have a better path to the imperial examinations and officialdom, which all talented scholars craved. Princess Qing and the others, though wealthy idlers, were all clamoring that if he truly had talent, they would naturally help.

Xue Gongyuan was still saying, “Even if he is truly talented, I still question his character!” Yan Lingzhong was talking about recommending Yu Shaoyuan and Ning Yi at the same time. Yu Shaoyuan smiled and cupped his hands.

“Thank you, Master Siye. In that case, I am willing to compete with Master Ning and everyone present in poetry and talent, for this Imperial College student spot, in a gentleman’s competition.”

This immediately turned the matter into a challenge, which everyone was happy to see, and they were all waiting for Ning Yi to embarrass himself. Sure enough, they heard Ning Yi say, “I have no ambition for the Imperial College. Let's skip this kind of prize.”

Some people laughed. “Look, how clumsy. He’s pretending not to like fame.”

“Putting on a show of purity. Does he think he can get away with it?”

Yan Lingzhong in front had already become serious. “We study to acquire literary and martial skills to offer to the emperor's family. I have seen people with indifferent hearts, but Ning Liheng, at your age, if you use this as an excuse, are you making fools of everyone here!”

Ning Yi had not finished speaking, “I have only been in Bianliang for a few days, and I have not visited anyone. I am very curious, where did those rumors about Ning come from, and why are they so exaggerated…”

On the other side, Princess Zhou Qing said, “Master Yan is right. Ning Liheng, I was originally curious about what kind of outstanding person was admired by my cousin. But you are pushing back again and again. What are your intentions? I will also put my words here. If you are indeed seeking fame by fraudulent means to obtain the position of guest in the Wangfu and deceive my cousin, I will not spare you. Do you think no one can do what Master Pan said?”

As soon as she said this, everyone was about to agree when another voice rang out, “Ninth sister, these matters are all matters of my Kang Wangfu. Mr. Ning is my younger sister’s teacher. You are being… too much, aren't you?” At this moment, the girl who appeared in the crowd was none other than Zhou Pei.

****************

Seeing the development of the situation, Zhou Pei was somewhat unclear about Ning Yi’s thoughts, but she knew that she had to go out. As she walked in here, others did not recognize her, but Zhou Qing and the others had already seen her. She smiled and said, "So, Xiao Pei, you're here too. Although this has nothing to do with the Chong Wangfu, we are sisters. If you are deceived by this person, how can your sister stand idly by?"

“But under these circumstances, it's a bit of a mess, isn't it?”

Between the sisters' dialogue, the crowd pointed and whispered to those who didn't know, "This is Princess Zhou Pei of the Kang Wangfu."

Xue Gongyuan said, “Your Highness, don’t be deceived by such a villain…” Yan Lingzhong and others also said that the verification was indeed necessary. Zhou Qing also adopted a caring attitude. In fact, under this kind of unanimous opinion, even Zhou Pei, who had grown up in the Wangfu, was overwhelmed, having not seen much of the world. After arguing for a few sentences, she suddenly heard Ning Yi say, “So that's how it is… Xiao Pei, come here.”

****************

For Ning Yi, the entire situation was quite unexpected. But what he was most concerned about was not how to break the situation, but the whole story, who was watching him from behind.

After all, he was very innocent in this matter. After coming to the capital, he believed that he had not contacted many people, nor had he made any enemies who needed such a grand display. Before things happened, Yu Hezhong, Chen Sifeng and Li Shishi would never have imagined that someone would do something to him. He had been thinking about the difficulty of being a courtesan in the capital. Who knew that suddenly, all the arrows would clearly point to him. Ning Yi’s most helpless feeling was this kind of abrupt thing.

This unsolvable situation could not bring him a sense of urgency, but his silence, delay, and even provocation were primarily aimed at observing everyone's expressions and performances. These things were already roughly outlined in the noise, but it was not until Zhou Pei suddenly appeared, hearing her words and seeing her expression, that Ning Yi suddenly assembled the whole story.

Then... he sighed.

He never thought it would be because of this.

Looking at Zhou Pei's flushed face, the slight sweat on her forehead, and the slightly disheveled hair, Ning Yi recalled Zhou Pei's demeanor when she came to him yesterday. Everything was fine here, everyone took care of her, and the sisters in the Chong Wangfu were very concerned about her... It seemed they were all lies. Recalling her appearance when she came to him yesterday, her hesitation at times...

She had no acquaintances after coming to the capital. Coming to him was probably to confide her grievances, and even... she seemed to be looking forward to his going to the poetry gathering at Cai Mu Yuan the other day...

If it were a slight friction at a general poetry gathering, or if Ji Wanqing wanted to embarrass Li Shishi, deliberately finding something to pick on, he could understand it and regard it as normal. But Zhou Pei’s matter was something he had not thought of before, which made him feel a little irritable. In fact, looking at Yu Shaoyuan and the attitudes of some people, they should have known about it before. So, he sighed: “So that's how it is… Xiao Pei, come here.”

His tone was calm, and a bit bossy towards Zhou Pei. Xue Gongyuan slapped the table: "How dare you speak to the princess like that..." The others probably felt that he was not polite enough. In fact, what was popular in the Wu Dynasty now was that the scholar-officials and the emperor co-ruled the world, and therefore, Princess Qing and others participated in this poetry gathering together. Even if there were many people in the middle who had no fame, they would not really show a servile attitude towards these royals. But general respect was always necessary.

However, Zhou Pei was already walking towards Ning Yi.

She was wearing a long, large skirt, and at this moment, her whole body seemed a little small. She had sweated a little earlier and hadn't paid attention to her manners. Now, as she walked in front of Ning Yi, she seemed a little aggrieved and also a little guilty, not knowing what to say. Ning Yi smiled: “Didn't you say you were doing well here…” He reached out and gently patted Zhou Pei's head, then walked to the side: “Alright, brush and ink.”

Zhou Pei shrunk her head and gave a low "Ah?" then followed.

After all, there were many paper and brushes around. Ning Yi actually still had Yu Shaoyuan's "Nian Nu Jiao" in one hand. After putting it down, he pulled over another piece of Xuan paper and wrote casually.

“Writing poetry, writing poetry, all they know is writing poetry…” The brush moved on the paper. He looked indifferent and sighed. “If someone writes good poetry and essays, does that really make them good, or does it just make them a little better at doing things than the average person… You people…”

The two people sitting next to him leaned over to see what he was writing. Elsewhere, the crowd was still sneering: “See what he’s trying to do with his mystery.” “Putting on a show.” Several old men looked at each other when they saw that he was finally willing to write. Xue Gongyuan said: "You’re finally willing to write? I wanted to tell you that even if you can write two crooked poems, it doesn't mean you are talented!”

Ning Yi ignored them. Feeling annoyed, he wrote quickly. Before long, he finished writing, he picked up Yu Shaoyuan’s paper and his own, walked to the front, with Zhou Pei following beside him.

The surrounding people either sneered or protested, not knowing what he was up to. Ning Yi shook his head: “It seems that we are ultimately bumpkins from Jiangning… The poems you wanted have been written. I don't want the spot in the Imperial College, but Shao Yuan, you can skip it too… Such a lively poetry gathering is just the place for you all to participate. I still have important matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first.” He walked to a small table in front of the pavilion, placed the two pieces of paper and the brush with a *slap*, then tidied his sleeves while leaning over to Shishi's ear and saying: “I'm leaving, sorry, let's meet again next time.”

Shishi nodded.

In the midst of the noise, Xue Gongyuan and others had already slapped the table and stood up. The old man roared: "What does that mean! Do you think you can get away with this mystery! Do you think you can overwhelm the audience just by writing a poem! You haven't explained the matter of the Wangfu Keqing clearly today, don’t think you can really leave! What dogshit you’ve written…”

He took a few steps forward and grabbed the Xuan paper on the table. At this time, the people at the gathering were saying that Ning Yi wanted to escape, but no one stopped him. After all, after this matter became a laughing stock today, even the government would not spare Ning Yi. In the midst of the clamorous and mocking voices, not many people noticed that the two who had watched the entire process of Ning Yi writing poetry were sitting there in silence, or looked at each other with uncertain expressions.

Ning Yi had already strode out a few meters. Xue Gongyuan trembled with anger at their wanting to escape: “Your Highness, don’t be deceived by this swindler… Hmph, what… 'Mulan oars and *shatang* boat, jade flute and golden pipe sitting on both ends’… What dogshit sentences, Ning Liheng, stop for me, don’t think you can go… Fine wine… in the goblet… uh, uh… You, you this…”

While he was roaring and scolding, and even chased out a few steps, preparing to dismiss the poems on the paper as garbage, his steps finally slowed down, and the words in his mouth began to lower, and then he stood there, staring at the poem on the Xuan paper, his hand gradually trembling, and his old face seemed to be bloodshot due to emotional agitation, changing from red to white. Seeing his appearance, the surrounding scolding decreased. Everyone didn’t know what had happened. Yan Lingzhong and others walked over hesitantly. Yu Shaoyuan and Ji Wanqing looked at the departing Ning Yi and at Xue Gongyuan over here, unable to understand why this happened. What exactly was written on the paper. Even Shishi, who was sitting quietly here, couldn't help but stretch her neck, wanting to know what poem Ning Yi had made, throwing it down and leaving, making the atmosphere like this…

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The monthly votes are rising fast, so I will publish it quickly, can they continue to rise?^_^

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