Chapter 117: Shocking Words!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
On the stage.
Wu Yi began to liven up the atmosphere and prepared to announce the start of the second round of the competition.
While the mother and daughter of the Qin family were preoccupied with their own thoughts, Tang Jiasong walked over with a smile and cupped his hands. “Aunt Song, Miss Qin, the words in the poem just now was really exquisite. It’s amazing. ”
Song Ruyue looked at him with a smile. “It’s just so-so. It’s a pity that you didn’t take out a poem to compete, Jiasong. Otherwise, you would have defeated that guy called Yue Mo.”
Tang Jiasong stood there awkwardly, not knowing how to reply.
At this moment, the courtesan on the stage had already announced the topic of the second round.
“Today, the moon is bright and the scenery is beautiful. The second round of the competition will be based on the moon. There’s no limit to the number of words. You only have an incense stick’s time, everyone, work hard.”
“The moon as the question?”
Tang Jiasong’s eyes lit up. He was secretly delighted.
A few days ago, he happened to obtain a poem at home. It happened to be about the moon. After editing it carefully for a few days, it was definitely a rare masterpiece.
This was his chance!
A smile appeared on his face. Tang Jiasong cupped his hands at Song Ruyue again and said respectfully, “Aunt Song, I missed the first round of the competition. I don’t want to miss the second round. I’ll make it later. I hope Aunt Song and Miss Qin can give me some pointers for improvement.”
“Not again…”
Luo Qingzhou glanced at him and thought inwardly.
Song Ruyue was all smiles. “Sure, you can write the poem here. The brush, ink, paper, and inkstone are already prepared.”
After saying that, she looked at a certain someone and her smile disappeared.
Qin Weimo also looked over.
Luo Qingzhou was silent.
Seeing that, Tang Jiasong was relieved. He smiled and cupped his hands at him. “My brother from the Qin family, I hope you can help me correct my mistake later.”
Qin Weimo frowned slightly. She wanted to correct the way he addressed Luo Qingzhou, but she hesitated and did not say anything.
Luo Qingzhou originally wanted to ignore Tang Jiasong, but seeing how enthusiastic he was, he could only say, “I don’t know poetry. I’m sorry.”
The corners of Tang Jiasong’s mouth twitched. He smiled awkwardly and retracted his hand.
Qin Weimo pursed her lips slightly.
Tang Jiasong looked at her with a smile and said politely, “Miss Qin, it’s not convenient for me to write while standing. Can you help me write it on paper as I recite it later?”
Qin Weimo frowned and was about to decline when Song Ruyue said with a smile, “Jiasong, do you have a draft?”
Tang Jiasong smiled and said, “Yes.”
“Oh,” Song Ruyue replied. She turned to the maidservant standing beside her and said, “Zhu’er, come and grind the ink. He will read out and Weimo will write.”
Zhu’er agreed and walked over to pick up the ink stick.
When Tang Jiasong heard that, the smile on his face became even brighter. His Adam’s apple bobbed excitedly, and he hurriedly walked over, preparing to stand closer to Second Young Miss Qin and recite his poem.
However, before he could get close, he suddenly bumped into a figure.
When he looked up, his smile froze.
Luo Qingzhou stood between him and Second Young Miss Qin, but he looked at the stage in the distance as if he did not notice Tang Jiasong.
Tang Jiasong’s expression darkened. Just as he was about to speak, Song Ruyue immediately shouted coldly, “You’re still looking! If you look again, I’ll gouge out your eyes! Is that brothel girl that beautiful? Has she stolen your soul? I asked you to come over and recite a poem. Didn’t you hear me?”
Tang Jiasong stood there in confusion for a few seconds before he came to a realization. The muscles on his face twitched.
Luo Qingzhou retracted his gaze and turned to look at his mother-in-law.
Their gazes met.
Song Ruyue glared at him. “Who do you think I’m talking about?”
Qin Weimo secretly reached out to tug at his clothes. She whispered, “Brother-in-law, read it quickly…”
Luo Qingzhou was at a loss for words.
Did he say even that he was going to compose a poem?
However, when he saw the girl looking at him with pitiful eyes, his heart could not help but soften.
He thought, “Sigh, I must have owed you guys in my previous life.” Fine. He would go the extra mile for them.
Luo Qingzhou sighed softly and leaned closer, lowering his head.
When Qin Weimo saw this, she lowered her head and muttered softly, “Brother-in-law indeed has it. Ultimately, Mother is the one who understands Brother-in-law the most.”
Song Ruyue frowned. She felt that this sentence was a little strange.
She did not think too much about it and suddenly smiled at the stiff-faced
Tang Jiasong. “Jiasong, wait a moment. Later, when Weimo comes up with a poem, you help to give some pointers. After that, you can compose a poem.” Tang Jiasong forced a smile and cupped his hands without saying anything.
“Brother-in-law, you can start reciting…”
Qin Weimo held a brush in her hand and lowered her eyes as she said softly.
Luo Qingzhou pondered for a moment and decided to come up with something more powerful this time. That way, the guy would not dare pester them and try to show off anymore.
He lowered his head and leaned closer. He sniffed the faint fragrance on the young girl’s body and glanced at the young girl’s beautiful and slightly red side profile. Then, he looked at her delicate and fair hands and muttered in a low voice, “Prelude to Water Melody.”
The young girl started writing.
“When will the moon be clear and bright? With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the clear sky.”
“In the heavens on this night, I wonder what season it would be?”
The girl’s hand trembled slightly. Then, she clenched the brush tightly and continued writing.
“People experience sorrow, joy, separation, and reunion. The moon may be dim or bright, round or crescent shaped. This imperfection has been going on since the beginning of time.”
“May we all be blessed with longevity. Though thousands of miles apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.”
Luo Qingzhou finished reciting in one breath.
The young girl waved her fair hand gently and outlined the words with a brush and ink. Soon, the snow-white rice paper was filled with words.
After she finished writing, she suddenly could not help but look up at him with a complicated gaze. She muttered softly, “You shouldn’t have married into the family…”
“Ahem!”
The sound of coughing beside her brought her back to reality.
The young girl lowered her head and looked at the writing on the paper. She was in a daze for a moment before she wrote: Luo Mo.
Song Ruyue, who was peeking from the side, immediately coughed again.
The girl put away her brush and carefully picked up the rice paper on the table. She could not help but read it from the beginning again. With a complicated expression, she muttered, “How can a mortal make such a poem…”
“Ahem! Cough! Cough!”
Seeing that Qin Weimo had no response, Song Ruyue had no choice but to remind her anxiously, “The name is wrong.”
The girl turned to look at her with a hint of stubbornness in her eyes. She said softly, “Mother, I want to write this name. Is that okay?”
Song Ruyue was stunned by Qin Weimo’s sudden request. Her gaze suddenly became gentle. She turned her face away and looked out of the window. “Up to you.”
The girl said in a low voice, “Thank you, Mother.”
After saying that, she looked at the words in her hand reluctantly. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up her brush and copied the words onto another piece of rice paper.
She did not change any words.
Then, she picked up the second piece of paper and handed it to Zhu’er. “Zhu’er, send it up.”
Zhu’er took it and was about to bring it on stage when Tang Jiasong hurriedly said, “Miss Qin, can I take a look?”
Only then did Qin Weimo remember him. She hesitated for a moment, as if she could not bear to do so. She knew that it would be a blow to his self-esteem. However, she still nodded and said, “Yes, Young Master Tang, please take a look.”
Song Ruyue turned around with a gloating expression.
Tang Jiasong took the rice paper from Zhu’er and lowered his head to look at it.
“When will the moon be clear and bright? With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the clear sky.”
After reading the first few sentences, he was taken aback, and his hands began to tremble.
When he finished reading the entire poem, his hand holding onto the paper was trembling non-stop. His face was slightly pale, and he looked like his soul had left his body.
Tang Jiasong was in a daze for a while. Without saying anything else, he handed the rice paper to Zhu’er and cupped his hands at everyone. He bowed deeply and then turned to leave.
He never came over again.
Song Ruyue pursed her lips, her face full of disdain and boredom.
Zhu’er took the work and left.
Song Ruyue hesitated for a moment before standing up. “Weimo, I’ll go tell your Aunt Zhang and the rest. It’s getting late. We should go back.” Qin Weimo glanced at her and nodded gently.
It turned out that her mother was also thinking for her brother-in-law.
Once his work was read out to the public, those people backstage would immediately come out and look for the composer. It would be troublesome then.
Just as Song Ruyue was about to leave, she suddenly thought of something. She turned to look at the two of them and immediately said to Luo Qingzhou with a straight face, “You have to come with me. I don’t know what immoral things the two of you will do if I leave you alone!”
Qin Weimo blushed.
Luo Qingzhou was speechless and could only follow behind.
Qin Weimo looked at his back view and thought about the poem just now. She was in a daze.
Qiu’er stood at the side and was about to speak when a figure suddenly walked over.
Song Ruyue came to the table of the noblewomen. She wanted to inform them that she was leaving, but they forced her to sit there.
“Ruyue, why are you going back so early? The second round of the competition hasn’t ended yet. My nephew is also participating. Let’s go and see his work later. He’ll definitely be in the top three.”
“By the way, Ruyue, how’s the scholar from the Tang family? What do you and
Weimo think about him?”
“Has Weimo taken a fancy to him? I think he’s a good-looking man who treats people well. He will be a good son-in-law.”
A few noblewomen were asking questions non-stop.
Song Ruyue replied with perfunctory answers for a while. Seeing that she could not leave early, she could only say to Luo Qingzhou, who was standing at the side, “Go accompany Weimo first. Take good care of Weimo with Qiu’er. I’ll go over later.”
Luo Qingzhou bowed and left.
However, when he arrived at the seat just now, he suddenly realized that Second Young Miss Qin was no longer there.
Qiu’er was still standing at the side.
Luo Qingzhou was stunned for a moment before asking, “Where’s Second Young Miss?”
Qiu’er replied, “Miss Song came for her just now. Miss Song said that she had something to say to Second Young Miss. I wanted to follow them, but Miss Song didn’t let me. She said that she would take good care of Miss.”
Luo Qingzhou frowned. “Miss Song? Song Zixi?”
Qiu’er nodded.
Luo Qingzhou turned to look at the crowd. He did not see them, but he saw the girls they usually hung out with upstairs.
Earlier, when they were upstairs, Song Zixi had been with those people.
Why would she suddenly want to talk to Second Young Miss Qin alone? And at a time when he and his mother-in-law were not around?
Even if they wanted to exchange some secrets, there were empty seats in the corner of the hall.
“Qiu’er, did you see where Miss Song brought Second Young Miss?”
Luo Qingzhou suddenly had an ominous feeling and hurriedly asked.
Qiu’er looked at the stairs not far away and said, “Miss Song supported Second
Young Miss as she walked. They seemed to have gone upstairs.”
Luo Qingzhou’s heart skipped a beat. “Wait here. If Madam comes back, keep her here. Don’t allow her to go anywhere.”
Qiu’er felt puzzled. Before she could answer, Luo Qingzhou had already left in a
hurry and went upstairs.
Just as he reached the second floor, Luo Qingzhou suddenly saw Song Zixi, who was wearing a blue dress, walking out of the cabin in a hurry.
When she saw him, Song Zixi hurriedly ran over and said anxiously, “Young Master Luo! Quick, go and take a look at Weimo! She suddenly fainted in her room just now.. She seems to have a relapse…”