“If only the hearts of men would change less, yet people are so quick to change.”
Han Mo dipped his brush in ink again, then continued to write on the paper.
After finishing these two lines, he suddenly heard a sobbing sound from behind him.
When he turned his head again, an extremely beautiful face appeared before him. Her tear-streaked appearance made one want to hold her in their arms.
Is this Li Shishi?
Even Han Mo, who had seen much of the world, couldn't help but be lost in thought at this moment upon seeing Li Shishi.
“Qin lai!”
As if noticing Han Mo's lapse, Li Shishi quickly called out to her maid.
Han Mo finally snapped back to reality, coughed dryly, and quickly refocused his attention on the paper beside him.
Hearing Li Shishi’s call, the attending maids and servants quickly went about their tasks. In the blink of an eye, they had prepared tables, chairs, and stools. Some even brought two incense burners and placed them on either side of the table.
Li Shishi’s personal maid directly brought a guqin and carefully placed it on the table. Then, someone hurriedly brought a golden basin for Li Shishi to wash her hands.
After the entire ritual was completed, Li Shishi slightly adjusted her breathing, then raised her hand and gently strummed the guqin before her.
Immediately, a cascade of notes, like celestial music, echoed throughout the Fan Lou. For just a moment, even Han Mo felt as if the entire world had suddenly fallen silent. The hawkers' cries outside the Fan Lou ceased, and the entire Bianliang city seemed to have come to a complete halt. All Han Mo could hear now was the guqin music, like divine melody.
“If life were only like the first meeting, why does the autumn wind grieve for the painted fan?”
“If only the hearts of men would change less, yet people are so quick to change.”
…
Li Shishi’s voice, accompanied by the sound of the guqin, made Han Mo understand in an instant why Emperor Huizong, despite having three thousand beauties in his harem, would sneak out in the middle of the night for a tryst. Even just listening to her play the zither and sing was an supreme enjoyment.
Ancient texts spoke of music that would make eaves resonate for three days. Han Mo had always believed this to be mere exaggeration. But after listening to Li Shishi’s music, he realized that he had been living under a rock.
“Brother Han, Miss Shishi is waiting for you!”
Just as Han Mo was fully engrossed in listening to the music, Zhong Yanchong whispered beside him.
“Ah?”
Han Mo finally came to his senses. No wonder she stopped singing after a few lines; she had been waiting for him!
“The words at Lishan finished in the middle of the clear night, tears and rain endlessly falling, yet no regret.”
“How could I compare to a fickle man in brocade, who vowed to be as two birds flying wing to wing on that day?”
Han Mo steadied himself and quickly wrote down the remaining two lines. A waiting maid quickly took the paper from before Han Mo and presented it to Li Shishi.
“If life were only like the first meeting, why does the autumn wind grieve for the painted fan.
If only the hearts of men would change less, yet people are so quick to change.
The words at Lishan finished in the middle of the clear night, tears and rain endlessly falling, yet no regret.
How could I compare to a fickle man in brocade, who vowed to be as two birds flying wing to wing on that day.”
Li Shishi sang it three times consecutively before finally stopping. Even though her performance had ended, the Fan Lou remained silent. Countless young noblemen were moved to tears, and no one spoke for a long time.
There was no need for further critique. Zhou Bangyan stood there, his face pale, as if struck by lightning. He had spent his life writing lewd and frivolous verses, and only today did he realize why he had never become a master. In the end, it was all because he was too shallow…
“Not counted! Not counted!”
At this moment, Cai Shu’s voice, like a broken gong, suddenly shouted.
“Why not counted? Brother Cai, do you have anything better to present?” Zhong Yanchong said disdainfully.
“Earlier, the great scholar Zhou said that tonight we are competing with new lyrics! This is clearly a poem, and without varying sentence lengths, how can it be called new lyrics?”
After hearing Cai Shu’s words, the gamblers who had just recovered some sense from their emotional state fell silent. If you thought about it that way, it seemed correct. Although it was being a bit nitpicky and a rather unfair victory, since it wasn’t them who were being embarrassed, and people were offering them stacks of silver and piles of copper coins, it wouldn’t be right to refuse.
“You’re clearly quibbling!”
Even Zhong Yanchong was taken aback.
“So what if I’m quibbling? Am I wrong?”
Having finally turned the tide, Cai Shu was now extremely smug. This made him feel incredibly good; not only had he managed to slight Han Mo, but he also wouldn’t lose money tonight. He had finally landed safely!
“Alright, since it doesn’t count now, let’s do it again!”
However, before he could even finish his sentence, Han Mo suddenly interjected.
“You…”
“What me? This stick of incense hasn’t finished burning yet!”
Han Mo spoke while pointing to the half-burnt stick of sandalwood still in the incense burner before Li Shishi.
“Let’s see what else you can come up with!”
Cai Shu was now speechless. The limit of one stick of incense was a condition he himself had set. Now, it seemed he had lifted a rock only to drop it on his own feet. Zhou Bangyan, standing to the side, no longer had the desire to compete with Han Mo. His gaze towards Li Shishi was filled with extreme complexity.
Han Mo, on the other hand, swaggered back to the table, spread out a new sheet of paper, and picked up his brush. At this, the gamblers who had thought they had victory in their grasp suddenly felt their hearts clench again.
No way? The poem Han Mo had just written could be called a masterpiece. Could it be that this kid could really write another one?
“Today, I will show you what it means to have a mind that flows like a spring!”
Han Mo sneered and picked up his brush again.
“There’s only half a stick of incense left now, you can write quickly!”
Seeing Han Mo pick up his brush again, Cai Shu felt an inexplicable sense of nervousness. He couldn’t help but feel anxious; if this fellow wrote another equally high-quality lyric, he would probably be beaten to death upon returning home tonight. That was one hundred and forty million copper coins!
“Well, watch closely!”