Chapter 62 – Elegant Gathering (Part 2)
In the late spring of March, as the grass grows and the orioles fly, the willows turn green and the flowers bloom, the sky is as clear as can be.
By the Han Shui Pavilion, shadows flitted about as a young maidservant deftly carried fresh seasonal fruits. Nearby, the pear blossoms burst into full bloom, a beautiful scene, but the people were even more stunning. A dozen young masters sat at the table, where delicate pastries and fruits were laid out.
The eldest had just reached his twenties, while the youngest was barely ten; their ages varied, yet all bore handsome appearances.
Jiang Pengji watched the barrage of comments on screen, filled with moans and howls, rolling her eyes secretly, utterly baffled by their tastes.
These young masters were indeed beautiful, yet each donned brightly colored outfits, adorned with flowers and powdered faces, truly outshining the blooms themselves!
Cough cough cough— To put it bluntly, this was basically a gathering of pretty boys, wasn’t it?
Facing Jiang Pengji’s remarks, the audience in the chat was not pleased, a flurry of “prprprpr” comments nearly obscuring her view. Everyone had their own aesthetics; they simply adored these delicate, beautiful young lads. What was there to argue about?
Jiang Pengji: “…”
Yields?
Fine, she conceded.
Besides these dashing young masters, behind a semi-transparent landscape screen sat several noble girls.
Taking a glance, she was shocked—more than half were familiar faces.
Having recently survived an exhilarating adventure, it was surprising that these young ladies were in the mood to attend an elegant gathering so soon. They really had a carefree spirit.
As Jiang Pengji spotted them, the noble girls noticed her too, particularly Shangguan Wan, whose eyes lit up.
About to walk over, she paused; this was a public place, and everyone thought Jiang Pengji was a male, and even Wei Jingxian’s fiancé. If she acted too enthusiastically, she might be misunderstood as having a particular interest in “Sister Lan Ting.”
With that thought, the urge to stand up froze, and in frustration, she sank back into her seat, feeling rather dispirited.
Instead of approaching the noble girls, she found a spot among the young masters, with Xu Ke and the maidservant Ta Xue sitting on either side behind her.
She was a little late; the gathering had already been going for a quarter of an hour.
Not a single one acknowledged her presence, their displeasure palpable, timing their snubbing so precisely it was almost a silent agreement.
Jiang Pengji couldn’t care less, grabbing a fruit soaked in well water and popping it into her mouth. A refreshing chill spread throughout her body.
Why waste time reciting poetry with a bunch of flowery fools?
Eating, drinking, and perhaps dozing off when tired was far better.
Though she was content, the audience was on edge, eagerly awaiting Jiang Pengji to shine at the gathering and serve some serious face-slapping.
You seriously showed up at the gathering to simply eat, drink, and take naps?
What a disgrace for a time-traveler, Host!
【Host V】: I did poorly in liberal arts back in school, so please don’t put me on the spot. Ancient poetry, even the archaeological masters of my era couldn’t master it. My usuals are training and fighting—just a martial brute.
A crowd of viewers was left dumbfounded: “…”
This isn’t the script we agreed on!
【Lan Cuiyu No Hesitation】: It’s okay, Host; we’ll be your backers. Baidu and Mr. Gu will have your back.
【Magical Girl A-Feng】: With one hand waving aside the Tang corpses, and the other with Song lyrics and Yuan tunes, you’re standing on the shoulders of giants like Li Bai above and Du Fu below, Host—you’re a giant amongst shrubs, and you can crush these scrubs in seconds.
Just moments ago, they were all licking the screen; now, they turn their backs on her?
Jiang Pengji glanced at these comments, utterly speechless; they changed their tunes faster than flipping a book.
【Pretty Soldier A-Yuan】: My mouse is already hovering over the Baidu search interface; whatever poetry or lyrics you need, I’ll fetch it for you.
Watching the audience incite chaos, Jiang Pengji began to reflect.
Had she been too complacent these days?
Had she really let the audience forget about her earlier brutality?
【Host V】: As they say, there’s no first in literature, no second in martial arts; a single poem won’t impress them. Cheating methods would be uncovered in an instant. Even crafting a breathtaking poem won’t save her; they won’t back off that easily, so what to do next?
Moreover, the mainstream style of this era wasn’t simply seven-character or five-character quatrains or lyrics; hard-and-fast rules were useless.
Sure, in other eras, being caught plagiarizing or posing as someone else might not be a big deal, but in this literary flourishing age, it’s akin to asking for death—it could ruin an entire clan. Even a prominent noble house wouldn’t shake off such a scandal easily.
With all that said, the loyal night-owl viewers finally came to their senses and stopped the ruckus.
Sigh, without the poetry slapstick, how boring it was. They merely continued to shower praise on the pretty boys.
Before Jiang Pengji could even rejoice at this rare moment of peace, she heard someone calling her name and instinctively turned her head.
“Is there something?”
The other party was momentarily taken aback; any attentive observer could tell how absent-minded Jiang Pengji had been just a moment ago.
Due to the chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms leading to the unification by the Great Xia, women weren’t confined to their quarters; even now with the Five Nations separating Xia, the social atmosphere slowly leaned back towards male dominance, with women becoming increasingly constrained by various rules, but for the moment, it wasn’t overly severe.
This elegant gathering was essentially a matchmaking event for young folks of appropriate age.
Even if these young masters hadn’t intended to notice the noble girls nearby, they still wanted to show their best sides, strutting around like peacocks on display.
Just as they exerted their talents, a traitor in the crowd pretended to be uninterested.
Wasn’t that asking for trouble?
Right when one of the young masters was about to turn beet red from embarrassment, an audience member who had been watching the gathering reminded Jiang Pengji.
Only then did she feign sudden realization and said, “I’m no good with words and poetry; I fear I might dampen everyone’s spirits.”
Was that a straightforward rejection?
The atmosphere turned slightly awkward, but just then, a clear voice rang out from beside her, laced with amusement.
“Lan Ting truly is lazy; if not for rushing to the gathering, it would be nearly impossible to see you.” Feng Jin strolled over under the pear blossom tree, her skin like fine snow, face like an elegant jade, eyes like painted ink, with a pair of slender phoenix eyes that slightly raised at the corners, her age not grand, yet her demeanor already quite promising.
Compared to Feng Jin’s captivating entrance, Jiang Pengji’s reaction was utterly uncooperative.
“Why are you still in Hejian County?”
The crowd: “…”
The moment she speaks, she’s trying to shoo someone away from Hejian County, right?
Despite Jiang Pengji’s disdain, Feng Jin displayed no anger, instead having the maidservant arrange a seat next to her.
With a teasing smirk, she remarked, “Such indifferent words from Lan Ting truly wound one’s heart.”
Jiang Pengji scoffed, “Before saying such things, you might want to tidy up the perfume on yourself. Just a tip, youth is precious.”
Feng Jin froze for a moment, catching the underlying meaning in her words, her pale cheeks suddenly flushed red, barely maintaining her poise.
Meanwhile, a group of unprincipled viewers couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
