After the family fell, I wanted to lie down

Chapter 31 Lie

Seeing Yingge remained silent, Liu Abao thought she agreed, so he said earnestly, "Come, come. You've worked hard writing poetry. Let me give you a shoulder massage."

Yingge stood up hurriedly and avoided him, saying, "Men and women should not touch each other. Although we are engaged, it is better to avoid it now."

"Don't listen to my mother. Don't be too nervous." Then she covered half of her face with a fan and whispered, "If you finish writing a poem and get praise from Lord Lu, if he asks you what you want, remember, just fulfill the bet you made with the fifth lady of the Chen family and let her marry you."

Yingge looked at Liu Abao in silence, really not knowing what to say to her.

"Don't be unwilling. The Chen family is very rich. You see, I'm not bad looking, but my personality is probably not your type. I'm mean to you every day. You might as well choose their family. They're powerful and influential."

Yingge glanced at her and said calmly, "You don't have to worry about me. You can't beat me."

"You, you, why are you so stubborn? Do you still want to rely on me? Why do you insist on being faithful to me until death and marrying me? If you reject me so quickly now, you will regret it in the future. All our family members put together are not as willing as her."

Seeing her attitude, Liu Abao was about to raise his hand to hit her, but then he heard a burst of girls' laughter coming from above. Liu Abao also wanted to save face, so she threw away the fan in her hand and ran back to Mrs. Liu.

Yingge looked at the paper and ink in front of her without saying a word, but she could hear cheers getting louder and louder in her ears. The game of tossing pots was going on fiercely and the sound of drums was deafening in her ears. Suddenly, a feather arrow fell into Lu Gong's hand, and all the officials around her laughed.

Prefect Liang raised his hand and said, "Mr. Lu invites you. Please, please."

Lu Gongqing spun the feather arrow in his hand in a circle, his handsome face flickering under the lamp. Suddenly, he picked a sweet-scented osmanthus flower that was relatively close to him, lowered his head and sniffed it, saying, "The peach blossoms are full of branches without restraint, and the deep red and light red are all into the painting."

There was a moment of silence in the banquet hall. Everyone couldn't help but stare at the scene in fascination. As expected, he was so handsome, and even more so for the bold ones. They wondered in their hearts, no wonder he could be favored by the current empress dowager.

After a moment of silence, the master of the Chen family clapped his hands and cheered, "It is indeed a masterpiece, Lu Gong is very talented." Lu Gongqing turned around and asked Yingge, "Yingge, have you written a poem?"

Yingge stood up and bowed, "I am not talented enough, I have never done that."

Liu Abao, Liu Ziheng and Yufeng all couldn't help feeling anxious. Mr. Lin kept stroking his beard. Only Fu Zijing lowered his head and smiled.

Yingge's answer made everyone tense. Liu Xiucai hurriedly urged, "But there is not enough time?"

Prefect Liang said, "Not yet. Others also made it at this time."

Lu Gong also smiled and asked, "Can't you do it?"

Yingge lowered her head timidly and answered yes.

Lin Xiucai still had some hope and asked, "Master Yingge, the dragon boat race song you composed for the Dragon Boat Festival was a masterpiece of your talent. Today, you improvised a theme with the moon. This is difficult for you. You didn't do it on purpose, did you?"

Yingge raised his head again and said, "I really can't do it."

Lü Gong heard this and said, "Why can't you do it? You can do it on Dragon Boat Festival, why can't you do it today when there is such a grand scene?"

Lu Gong's attitude suddenly became stern, which made it hard for people who were not familiar with him to tell whether he was doing it on purpose or was really angry. The master of the Chen family came out to smooth things over, "Yingge, don't be nervous or worried. Today is purely for entertainment. There is no distinction between you and me, and there is no need to distinguish between superior and inferior. If you have a poem in mind, just read it out and let everyone appreciate it."

Yingge looked up at Lu Gongqing, then lowered her head and slowly stretched out a hand. There was something crystal clear on her white and tender palm. Anyone with common sense would know that her palm was sweating. Then she said, "I am in a state of panic, and I can't write poetry."

Everyone present was stunned, their expressions strange. Was this flattery? Just now, everyone was more or less flattering Lu Gong for his good poems, either because of some power or because they were sincere. They were all deliberately flattering him to make everyone happy. They all said that they were not as talented as others, but they did not say that they could not do it. But now, after hearing Yingge say this and comparing themselves with them, the difference was immediately apparent.

But this is a good result. You see, Lu Gong has already started to laugh. "It's my fault. It's my fault. I scared you."

Everyone was resentful, but Lin Xiucai was almost angry to death. He despised him in his heart, "This boy has never seen the world and has no ambition. In order to curry favor, he actually said that he was scared by a eunuch and dared not write poetry. He is really overwhelmed and has brought shame to scholars."

Taking advantage of the fact that many people were wearing wide sleeves, Liu Abao used the table as a cover to start bullying Yingge's legs. She twisted Yingge's calf hard. Fortunately, the sharp-eyed Madam Liu saw it and was so scared that she almost fainted. She dragged Liu Abao away and scolded her angrily and anxiously, "Do you want to make me angry to death before you can stop? Can you live in peace?"

Fortunately, Yingge didn't move at all during the whole process, otherwise she would have become the focus of the whole audience. Fortunately, Liu Abao was young and didn't use much strength in his hands, otherwise Yingge would have probably taken action.

"Madam, don't be angry. It's my incompetence that prevented me from writing a good poem."

Lu Gong seemed unwilling to give up, and tried to comfort him, "Don't be afraid, just treat it as a fun and educational experience. Just write it down casually. If it's good, I'll report it to the emperor and make you the top scholar. If it's not good, you don't have to be punished."

Everyone laughed and said that Lu Gong was indeed humorous. Prefect Liang also comforted her with a few words and told her to just keep writing.

Yingge pondered for a long time, and finally uttered "When will the bright moon appear? I raise my cup to ask the sky..."

“That’s the one sentence that came to my mind.”

"Oh, is it Water Melody?"

Sure enough, this man deserves his reputation for a reason, Yingge nodded and said yes.

Prefect Liang also agreed, "One sentence is fine. I'll let Lu Gong consider it for you and see if he can make up for it for you."

Lu Gongqing laughed, "So you were waiting for me here, but I was the one who got into trouble in the end. You are really the father and mother official of this Mo City!"

Lu Gongqing walked forward slowly for a few steps. After walking a few steps repeatedly, he repeatedly pondered the poem he had already prepared in his mind.

This banquet was originally held to welcome Lu Gongqing, so he would naturally not feel embarrassed because of writing poetry this time. He discussed a few lines loudly with several officials around him, and also guided Lu Gongqing to continue with the second two lines of the stanza. After hearing it, no one thought there was anything wrong, so this hurdle was passed.

"You have given me a difficult problem, kid. I can't think of anything better at the moment, so I'll just have to make do with this."

Yingge bowed and said, "Thank you, Master Lu."

Alas, she thanked him too quickly. Lu Gongqing smiled. He had been thanking her all night. Let's not talk about how she wrote poems, but she did say a lot of flattering words. Maybe she got Liu Wenru's instructions on the way here! It seems that it's nothing special.

Lu Gongqing said a few good poems about the Dragon Boat Festival and said that we should encourage each other in the future, and then let Yingge leave. After that, the prefect Liang also echoed and encouraged her several times as appropriate.

Liu Xiucai looked at Yingge angrily and said, "It's time for you to compose a poem, but you can't. Could the rumors be true?"

"What rumors are you talking about?"

"Some people say that the poem you wrote during the Dragon Boat Festival was bought."

"You are fair, aren't you? Reading and writing are not something that can be accomplished in a day, and writing poetry is even more so. If writing poetry is really as simple as you said, then why were you so amazed by my poem?"

Mr. Liu was unable to win the argument and he said angrily, "The boy is arrogant and very sharp-tongued." After saying that, he turned around and left!

Just as Yingge reached her seat and was about to sit down, Liu Abao reached out and kicked Yingge's chair away.

"Get away from me. You can't even write poetry correctly. What's the point of keeping you here?"

Madam Liu echoed from the side, "Bao'er, don't make a fuss. We're not making a fuss!"

Because of the poetry-writing issue, many students were laughing at the joke. There were no more chairs available, and Yingge didn't care about gender. Since there was no chair left, she sat directly on Liu Abao's feet. She jumped up in fright, and the situation became lively here.

Miss Chen waved her fan faster than usual, and told everyone she met, "Remember to tell my brother that he didn't lose the bet last time, Yingge cheated."

Su Qingyu shook his head and said with some regret: "I should bring him more often to occasions like this in the future. This is too..."

Liu Ziheng and Yu Feng on the side nodded and said, "Yingge is still too young. How can she be so timid?"

"Hmph, you are a cowardly guy who bullies the weak and fears the strong."

They watched singing and dancing, played the game of pitching pots, and had no new poems or couplets. The banquet was already halfway through. Prefect Liang, as the attendant, arranged a troupe of actors for Lu Gongqing to enjoy the local troupe in Mocheng. The young men from the Gudi Poetry Society had already started to clear away the pens, ink, paper, and inkstone that had been placed on the table.

"It's a bit regrettable. I thought there would be some new works today."

"Yes, yes, I have prepared some transcription tools."

The young men in the Gudi Poetry Society were discussing this, but Fu Zijing's desk remained tidy as before. Someone asked, "Zijing, didn't you plan to copy it from the beginning? Or did you know from the beginning that Yingge would not have any new works today?"

"But it's not like there's nothing to gain these days. I didn't expect this Lu Gong to be so gentle and easy to talk to."

When the young men heard someone say this, they all looked towards the center of the banquet hall. After a round of singing and talking, the banquet gradually came to an end, and Lu Gongqing's smile became more and more brilliant.

"This Mo City is indeed a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. Thank you very much for bringing your families here today."

As for what everyone here is thinking, it is unknown. Of course, some people may think that they would not have come if they had known earlier.

Although there were not many celebrities and wealthy people who came today, there were at least four or five families who came. However, they did not bring their daughters of marriageable age as required by the court, or they simply did not come.

Everyone had different thoughts in their minds, and they had all been on guard against Lu Gongqing losing his temper. Now that the banquet was about to end, he probably wouldn't lose his temper again. After all, he was a human being, so he had to be more polite when he lost his temper.

"I am sorry to bother you today. To thank you, I will visit you one by one in the future. I am sorry to bother you then."

I thought it was all over, but he came back for a return visit, which was really uncomfortable. However, his purpose was to get a better look at the girls from each family. Although everyone present was not very happy about it, the higher the official, the more power he had, and there was nothing they could do, right?

At this moment, a servant suddenly came from the banquet hall and hurriedly thanked him. "Master, Master."

There are so many masters here, but this servant is just called Master, and no one knows which family he belongs to. The servant looked anxious, and suddenly broke into this dazzling banquet hall, running around like a headless fly.

Someone asked, "Which master are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Master Luo in Huaihua Alley." The servant replied anxiously.

The ancestors of the Luo family in Huaihua Lane were royal relatives. When the Zhou Dynasty was first established, some of them married princesses and dukes. To this day, the Luo family still lives in these mansions.

"Why are you here? If you have anything to say, let's talk about it when we get back."

A middle-aged man who looked somewhat wealthy stood up. Since he responded to the servant, it was obvious that he was Mr. Luo.

"Master, master, the old lady is gone!"

Old Madam, Ou guessed that the person present was probably Mr. Luo's mother. Mr. Luo didn't react for a moment and was stunned.

There was an uproar in the hall. "Mrs. Luo is gone? Didn't she just celebrate her 60th birthday? How is this possible? When she attended the birthday party a few days ago, she looked very healthy."

"It was lost when the old lady was out cooling off with the young lady."

Suddenly, there was the sound of a wine glass falling to the ground in the hall, and the hall became quiet for a moment.

"Mr. Luo, please accept my condolences. Mrs. Luo and Miss Luo are out cooling off and haven't come back yet, so Miss Luo didn't attend today's banquet!"

Lu Gongqing turned the wine glass in his hand and said lightly.

Mr. Luo's face turned pale, and his somewhat fat body began to tremble. He suddenly knelt on the ground and shouted towards Lu Gongqing's position, "Lord Lu, spare my life."

In the hall, everyone fell silent when they saw this scene.

Liu Abao asked in a childish voice, "His mother is dead, why did he ask this gentleman to spare his life? Is he the King of Hell? Or did he kill the person?"

Mrs. Liu's face flushed red, and she covered Liu Abao's mouth and nose with her hands, suppressing the rest of her words.

As expected, the more beautiful something is, the more poisonous it is. Although opium is attractive, it is also addictive. Beautiful people are the most deceptive.