Chapter 64 True Bodhisattva

The bustle in Baiyi Lane is different from that in Hongyi Lane. The shops in Hongyi Lane are called brothels, teahouses, brothels and kilns, while the shops here are called "Qingyin Xiaoban".

Baiyi Lane is paved with clean blue bricks, on which are even carved patterns of plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum and other flowers.

There was no sound of soliciting customers, nor any charming woman standing on the second floor leaning against the railing to greet customers. Only the sound of zithers and harps drifted out from the building and the courtyard, and the woman's singing was melodious and touching.

One can only hear the sound but not see the person, just like a woman holding a pipa, hiding her own appearance.

Chen Ji opened his eyes and the golden melon seeds fell heavily into his palm.

He didn't wait until the golden melon seeds fell before opening his eyes. He was just knocked to the ground by the giant halberd warrior again and almost lost consciousness...

At this time, the area in front of the embroidery building became lively again, attracting everyone's attention: it was the carriage of Chen Fu, the co-magistrate of Luocheng, who had arrived.

A spacious carriage stopped in front of the door. Chen Wenzong, Chen Wenxiao and Lin Chaojing got out of the carriage together and came to the table while chatting and laughing.

Chen Wenzong smiled and asked, "Brother Chaojing, are you going to do it or am I going to do it? It only takes one poem to get four people in. Anyone of us can do it."

The words were confident, as if they could be easily won.

Lin Chaojing smiled and said modestly, "Of course I'm here to ask you, Brother Zong. I've been away from Donglin Academy for more than half a month, and I haven't appreciated your poems for a long time. I miss you so much. Do you have any new poems recently?"

Chen Wenzong smiled and replied, "Yes."

These three scholars were all very elegant. As the weather was getting cooler, they all put on plain fur coats early on.

Fur coats are also divided into different grades, among which the white fox armpit skin worn by the three people is the most valuable.

Liu Quxing, who was standing by, curled his lips and whispered, "It's not even winter yet, but you're already wearing a fur coat. Aren't you feeling too dry? Why don't you hold a heater in your hands?"

The next moment, Chen Wenzong saw a groom behind him helping him take off the fur coat on his shoulders. He then picked up the brush on the table and quickly wrote four poems.

After writing, he smiled and looked at the two reception girls outside the embroidery building: "We are three people traveling together, and we don't want to take advantage of Liu Xingtou, so each of us can exchange a poem for a seat on the second floor."

The receptionist smiled and asked, "Why did you write one more poem?"

"This is a special gift for Chief Liu."

The onlookers cheered and praised Chen Wenzong for his behavior as a talented and romantic man.

Chen Wenxiao smiled and said, "Brother is very talented. You will definitely win the first place in the provincial examination this time!"

Chen Wenzong looked unhappy: "You also need to work hard... Forget it, I won't spoil your fun today."

The receptionist took the four poems upstairs. After a while, she returned to the door and said with a smile, "My daughter said that Master Wen Zong was very clever. His four poems fully describe the four seasons. Please come upstairs, gentlemen!"

Princess Baili looked at Chen Wenzong, then at Chen Ji: "Your father is too partial."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm living a good life now."

The prince sighed, "When your second brother Chen Wenxiao was in Donglin Academy, he was not much better than me. I even saw him in the tavern at the foot of the mountain. But now he is pretending to be a decent person. People only give him some respect for Chen Wenzong's sake."

Bai Li frowned: "Brother, don't speak ill of others behind their backs!"

"I'm talking about Chen Wenxiao..."

"No one can do this. This is not what a gentleman does! If you are dissatisfied with him, you should scold him to his face later!"

The prince raised his hands: "Okay, okay, I won't say anything..."

As he was speaking, the receptionist said, "Everyone, there are not many seats left on the second floor. If you have any poems or works, please bring them here."

The prince became angry after hearing these words.

While the others were not paying attention, the prince lowered his body and moved closer to Chen Ji: "Quick, quick, quick, do you have any more poems?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "In addition to the previous sentence, I need two more. One gold melon seed is not enough."

Bai Li took out another golden melon seed and stuffed it into his palm, complaining quietly, "Why do we have to donate money for incense, just like making a wish to the Buddha?"

The prince was happy: "Sister, if you donate money to the Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva may not pay attention to you, but if you donate money to Chen Ji, he will pay attention to you immediately, just treat him as a Bodhisattva."

Chen Ji thought for a moment, put the golden melon seeds into his sleeves, selected two lines of poetry, and whispered them to the prince.

Bai Li's eyes sparkled at the side: "How come there is only half a sentence? It would be great if you could write the whole poem. It's such a pity now... Hey, why are you sleeping again?!"

Chen Ji did not answer her and returned to the Qingshan Mountain to fight again.

The prince and Baili came to the embroidery building, and someone recognized them: "It's the prince of Prince Jing's mansion and Princess Baili!"

Someone also whispered, "Is this the incompetent prince that the Donglin scholars mentioned?"

"Shh! You don't want your life!"

"It's okay, the prince is a good person and won't care about it."

The principles of this world are very strange. The more evil you are, the less likely others will bully you. But if you happen to be a good person, everyone will dare to step on you.

The prince came to the table and wrote down two lines of poetry with great enthusiasm. When he came to the third line, he lowered his voice and asked, "Bai Li, what is the third line?"

"No birds have flown away from the thousands of mountains..." The prince did not write the third sentence until Baili reminded him.

The prince put down his pen and looked up at the two reception girls: "I have finished writing, but I am different from the others."

The receptionist also heard the identity of this person from others, and asked with a smile: "Excuse me, my lord, what is the difference?"

The prince was very proud: "Others have to write a whole poem to get in, but I can write better than them, half a sentence is enough! Take it, let Liu Xingshou see it!"

The receptionist was stunned for a moment, then took the rice paper and ran upstairs.

"I heard from a scholar who came back from Donglin Academy that the prince was scolded by the teachers every day. Every day he either went up the mountain to catch pheasants and rabbits, or sneaked down the mountain to drink in the city. Look at the group of people over there, they don't look like scholars at all, they are all wielding swords and sabers, and are just country bumpkins."

"Master Liu should let him go because of his status as a crown prince, right?"

"You don't know this, but previously on the Qinhuai River in Jinling, the grandson of the Hu family wanted to board the boat even though he couldn't produce any poems, causing a big commotion. Guess what happened?"

"What's wrong?"

"A young master of the Xu family beat up the grandson of the Hu family and threw him into the Qinhuai River! So, if the prince wants to show off, he is really showing off in the wrong place. This Liu Xingshou is protected by the Xu family, the chief minister of the cabinet. The Xu family does not need to give face to a vassal king..."

At this time, everyone was still talking, but the prince turned a deaf ear to them and waited for the receptionist to come down. He asked curiously, "Miss, what did Liu Xingshou say?"

The receptionist smiled sweetly and said, "My daughter said that the prince was not exaggerating. Your half sentence is worth ten sentences of others! Please go upstairs!"

The onlookers were shocked: "Can this idiot prince write poetry?" The prince narrowed his eyes slightly and turned his head to look at the crowd, trying to find who was speaking.

But he looked handsome, wearing a black hat of a prince and a robe with silver thread and dark pattern. He looked dignified just by putting away his smile. For a moment, he didn't look like the playboy he used to be.

The person who spoke was not stupid, he just took advantage of the chaos in the crowd. He saw that the prince was faintly angry, so he dared not really challenge this majesty, and immediately shrank into the crowd.

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Bring out the poem that the prince just wrote, so we can see if Liu Xingshou let it slide!"

The prince was silent for a moment, then laughed out loud, no longer taking the criticisms to heart: "Whatever you say, I can go up to the second floor, but you can't. I'll piss you off! Let's go drink!"

The prince waved his hand with great force, showing a heroic spirit.

He ignored these people and turned around and waved to Liang Gou'er excitedly: "Hurry up, carry Chen Ji upstairs to drink together!"

Everyone looked at Chen Ji and the others. Why were they carrying a sleeping person?

"Why are so many people carrying him?"

"Maybe he has a disability and can't move his legs?"

"so poor."

Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er carried the bamboo chair forward, and Liu Quxing said with a smile: "Now, Chen Ji will be famous in Luocheng."

She Dengke couldn't bear it: "It's better to put him in a clinic, so that he won't be called disabled."

Liang Gou'er said carelessly, "You and I are children of the underworld. How can we drink without someone? He must be so depressed in the clinic, so we must drink together! Let's drink until morning, and then carry him to the Drum Tower to watch the sunrise. That would be so exciting!"

At this moment, Chen Ji had died and woke up again, but he didn't have the courage to open his eyes after listening to the discussions around him...

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, "Stop talking and leave!"

Liang Gou'er and Liu Quxing burst into laughter: "So he's awake!"

Entering the embroidery building, you will find it quiet and elegant. There is even a fish pond in the lobby with three or five koi fish.

Just as everyone was about to go upstairs, a beautiful maid came down the stairs. The prince suddenly raised his hand and signaled Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er to stop in front of the maid.

The prince patted Chen Ji and said, "Chen Ji, look at this girl. She is very pretty."

The maid covered her mouth and smiled.

Chen Ji refused to open his eyes and refused to do such a shameful thing, but the prince was so shameless that he refused to leave.

I don't know how long the stalemate lasted. Chen Ji, feeling very uneasy, quickly opened his eyes and closed them again, his teeth almost breaking. "I've checked it. Come upstairs quickly."

The prince laughed: "It's just a look, what are you afraid of? Don't be shy!"

Chen Ji: "..."

You didn’t treat me as a disabled person, but you didn’t treat me as a human being either…

The prince walked beside the bamboo chair and teased, "You are usually quite calm, why are you so reserved today?"

Chen Ji turned and looked at him: "Were you carried here too?"

"Hahahaha." The laughter of the crowd rushed to the roof, as if circling around the beams, lingering for a long time.

Chen Ji felt extremely embarrassed, but after a moment of embarrassment, he couldn't help laughing. He cursed and said, "When I recover from my injuries, I will kill you all."

……

……

On a street dozens of feet away, Jin Zhu and a secret agent, dressed as wealthy businessmen, were quietly keeping an eye on the embroidery building.

Jin Zhuzheng whispered, "We need to pay special attention to this embroidery building. Luocheng is in a turbulent time right now, and today is not a good day. There is something strange about him choosing to open today. And that Liu Xingtou, he was staying well in Jinling, why did he suddenly come to Luocheng?"

"Sir, it is customary in our dynasty to invite the leaders of the Qinhuai River in Jinling to come for the opening ceremony of the Qingyin small troupes in various places. After all, they are well-known, and everyone knows that the ones on the Qinhuai River are the best."

Jin Zhu shook his head. "No, no, we have to keep a close eye on all the new faces that appear in Luo City during this period. And this prince and princess, Donglin Academy closed a month ago. Even if it takes half a month to return by carriage, where did they go and what did they do in the other half a month? Check it out."

"In the territory of Luo City, will it be possible to provoke Prince Jing's Mansion..."

Jin Zhu narrowed his eyes slightly and sneered, "Without the support of Prince Jing's Mansion, would the Liu family dare to collaborate with the enemy? Even if they were to rebel, they would have to find a new master for themselves. Without Prince Jing, would the Liu family sit on the throne themselves? They don't deserve it! Wouldn't the Xu family, Chen family, Qi family, Hu family, and Yang family eat him alive?"

Jin Zhu knew one thing very well: even if the Liu family succeeded in their rebellion, they would not be able to sit on that chair, so the other party had to choose someone to sit on it.

So who did the other party choose? Prince Fu, Prince Qi, Prince An? These three were still young and had no ability to command the support of all. Only Prince Jing was qualified to become the backbone of the Liu family.

As they were chatting, Jin Zhu watched helplessly as Chen Ji was carried into the embroidery building by Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er, with Princess Baili helping to carry the handrails...

He rubbed his eyes subconsciously: "Did I eat something dirty and my eyes are blurry? Look quickly, is the person Liang Maoer and Liang Gouer carrying Chen Ji?"

The trusted spy said dryly, "It's him."

Jin Zhu was even more shocked: "This guy has such a high status in Prince Jing's Mansion?! I have to go visit him tomorrow and tell him to keep a good eye on the prince and the princess, and find a way to dig out evidence of the palace's connection with the Jing Dynasty!"

……

……

When I went up to the second floor of the Embroidered Tower, I saw that the layout was strange: all the elegant seats were separated by layers of gauze curtains hanging from the ceiling, as if they were isolated from the world.

The prince was surprised and asked, "What does this mean? How can we see Liu Xingshou if we are all sitting behind this curtain?"

The maid explained, "This is tonight's game. It's autumn and the weather is nice and crisp. My daughter said that we should use autumn as the theme. Everyone has to write three poems related to autumn. There are three layers of curtains outside the private room. You have to remove one layer after you write one poem. Only when you finish writing three poems can you see my daughter."

The prince looked around and saw a maid removing three layers of curtains on Chen Wenzong's side. He had actually finished writing all three poems.

Looking at another private room, someone was handing out a piece of rice paper from behind a curtain. Soon, a maid came and lifted the curtain outside the private room, revealing Liu Ming who was sitting upright inside.

The prince subconsciously looked at Chen Ji, but Chen Ji fell asleep again.

He urged, "Bai Li, hurry up and donate the money!"

Princess Baili took out three golden melon seeds from her small purse and stuffed them into Chen Ji's hand, but this time, Chen Ji, who was lying on the bamboo chair, did not wake up.

The prince exclaimed, "It's bad. Even money doesn't work. It must be a real Bodhisattva!"

(End of this chapter)