Chapter 20 Chen Pingping: Real men don’t read “Dream of the Red Chamber”!
Kyoto, in front of Sanyong Pavilion.

Under the urging of the huge crowds, the door of Sanyong Pavilion was finally opened.

A man dressed as a scholar walked out slowly, and the waiting crowd suddenly became excited.

"Shopkeeper Su, you finally opened the door. I came here before dawn!"

"It's finally open. Zuixianju has contracted forty copies of the fourth volume of The Story of the Stone!
If I can't buy it, the girls will drown me in their foot washing water!"

"Shopkeeper, give me ten copies, one for each of the ten ladies in the Duke of Jingguo's Mansion! Who dares to snatch it from me?"

"Old Su, my brother came all the way from Danzhou, please leave a copy for me!"

Before Shu Xiong could even open his mouth, he was already drowned out by all the shouting. There was a crowd of people in front of him, at least a thousand of them.

However, all this was within the expectations of His Royal Highness Prince Yong, and Shu Xiong was not panicked at all.

He cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, our store has never said that we will release the fourth volume of The Story of the Stone today."

"Su has clarified this many times, why do you guys still not believe it?"

Although Shu Xiong said this, the crowd did not calm down, but became even more lively.

"Shopkeeper Su, please don't lie. The amount of paper you purchased this month has increased significantly, and our shop knows the numbers!"

"Yes, the amount of ink purchased by Sanyong Pavilion increased fivefold last month! Who would believe you if you don't print books?"

"Your 10-chapter storybook novel will sell for two taels of silver, which is enough for me to buy two complete storybooks!
Everyone agrees that you are evil-minded, so Boss Su, stop hiding it!"

After the crowd finished complaining, Shu Xiong patiently explained, "Everyone, please listen to Su's explanation."

"Everyone knows how good The Story of the Stone is. Do you think Mr. Sanyong can write ten chapters in a month?"

"The first thirty chapters were all accumulated by Mr. Sanyong over the years, and now all the manuscripts have been sold out."

At this point, he took out an exquisite thread-bound book from his arms. The title of the book was "Stone Chronicles Magazine", and the year and month were marked on the back.

There are no newspapers in Qing Dynasty at present, so people are still relatively unfamiliar with monthly magazines.

"Boss Su, why did the words in The Story of the Stone change? What does the magazine mean?"

……

In Prince Yong’s palace.

On the title page of the same issue of "Stone Chronicles Magazine", Li Changan wrote in Slender Gold script "To my nephew Xiao Shitou" and signed it as Prince Yong Li Changan.

Li Chengze carefully took the magazine and blew the ink gently with his mouth. Looking at the elegant and graceful handwriting, he almost blew out the saliva in his mouth.

What does it mean to be unable to let go of something? What does it mean to treasure something like the palm of your hand? The second prince is just like that.

After the ink dried, Li Chengze stared at the words and talked to himself.

"Uncle Yong's calligraphy can make a child appear in one's eyes!"

Hearing this, Li Changan pointed at Xiren and Qingwen and said, "Little Stone, the two of them help me practice calligraphy every day, but I don't think they have a second pupil in their eyes."

When Xiren and Qingwen heard Li Changan's teasing, their faces turned slightly red and they felt extremely shy.

Li Chengze opened the magazine devoutly like a pilgrim, and then screamed excitedly!

"The Story of the Stone, Chapter 41 and Chapter 42!"

"The Romance of the Western Chamber, adapted from a vernacular novel, first three chapters."

"The Peony Pavilion, adapted from a vernacular novel, first three chapters."

Although Li Changan was poor in his previous life, he found reading very easy and could read his favorite books several times.

After acquiring the ability of photographic memory, I can now easily memorize the books I have read before.

Li Chengze flipped through the book quickly, then put his nose close to it, "Smells good! It smells really good! The book smells really good!"

This expression is even happier than an alpaca seeing grass. He is indeed an artistic boy.

"The banned books The West Chamber and The Peony Pavilion mentioned in The Story of the Stone actually exist!"

"Uncle Yong is truly a genius! He can actually write a banned book! And he can even think of this way to sell books!" "First, let the name of a book appear in The Story of the Stone, and then write the book as well!"

"Now that this magazine contains content from three vernacular novels, more people will buy it."

Li Changan said seriously, "This is called a serialized magazine. It comes out once a month, so it's called a monthly magazine."

Li Chengze suddenly said alertly, "The West Chamber and The Peony Pavilion are banned books that Jia Baoyu secretly read..."

"Can an eleven-year-old kid like me watch this?"

Li Changan said, "Don't worry, there's nothing too exciting."

Li Chengze looked regretful, then nodded helplessly and opened the latest chapter of The Story of the Stone.

However, he just read a few words and quickly closed the book.

He said mysteriously, "Such a sacred text, Chengze should bathe and fast, and then read it with all his heart in a quiet place."

Li Changan's eyelids twitched when listening to Li Chengze's words. This guy is too crazy. He really has the potential to go crazy.

After Li Chengze finished speaking, he held up the brand new magazine high, then thanked several times and left.

……

Royal study room.

After Li Changan established his government, he has always been relatively low-key, but this time he made a big scene.

Emperor Qing was holding the first volume of "A Dream of Red Mansions" in his hand. He just flipped through a few pages and then threw it on the table.

"What the hell! How can so many people like to watch such a whiny, tearful thing!"

"Shu Guifei likes to watch it, Yi Guifei likes to watch it, even the eldest princess likes to watch it!

So many talented men and beautiful women love to watch it! How come I can't even stick to it the first time! "

"I heard that even the young emperor of Northern Qi likes to look at this thing. What kind of taste is that? Could that young emperor be a woman?"

Chen Pingping, who was sitting not far away, smiled and said, "It is written in this book, also known as The Dream of Red Mansions.

Because your majesty is not a talented person, but a great hero, it is normal that you can't understand it. "

After saying this, he took out the latest issue of "Stone Chronicles Magazine" from his arms and asked Eunuch Hou to hand it to Emperor Qing.

After seeing this, Emperor Qing was surprised, "Chen Pingping, do you like to watch it too?"

Chen Pingping said seriously, "A real man doesn't read Dream of the Red Chamber. I can't appreciate this crappy book."

Hearing Chen Pingping say this, Emperor Qing's face changed slightly, but he gave a thumbs up, "Well said!"

Chen Pingping continued, "Your Majesty, please look, the last cover page of the latest issue is an admission ticket."

"In half a month, His Royal Highness Prince Yong will hold a calligraphy and painting exhibition in the Sanyong Pavilion, exhibiting his latest paintings, "Ode to the Goose," "Ode to the Snow," and "Ode to the Needle."

Emperor Qing quickly picked up the magazine and turned to the last page. It was indeed a card with exquisite patterns.

"Hey! Prince Yong can write poems and his calligraphy is pretty good, and he can even paint?"

"What exactly does he want to do by organizing this calligraphy and painting exhibition? To improve his reputation? A ten-year-old kid wants to be famous so much?"

Chen Pingping smiled and said, "Your Highness Prince Yong is determined to revitalize the literary world. He has made achievements in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, which is also a good thing."

After Chen Pingping left, Emperor Qing pounded the table alone.

"A Dream of Red Mansions" has such a great influence, in fact, he had read it carefully a long time ago.

"The Twelve Beauties of Jinling... used the names of the twelve golden hairpins around him. The poems that Third Brother writes now are about beauties, and the books he writes are also about beauties..."

"The protagonist Jia Baoyu is a dandy good-for-nothing. Hehe! It seems my beauty trap is working!"

"My third brother is holding a calligraphy and painting exhibition...it won't be that simple. What exactly is he going to do?"

(End of this chapter)