The breeze is gentle and the waves are rippling.
A beautifully decorated pleasure boat hung with colorful lights was parked among a lake of lush green lotus and red lotus roots.
There were melodious piano music, graceful singing, singing and laughter on the boat, it was very lively.
The hall on the first floor was full of guests.
On the stage, there was a charming woman in colorful clothes and feathered robes dancing gracefully.
However, the guests in the hall all looked at the girl behind the pearl curtain, who was sitting in front of the eucalyptus table and playing the piano with her head down.
The girl was hazy and unclear behind the pearl curtain, but she made many men infatuated and unable to take their eyes off her.
After a song and dance.
A girl in a light yellow dress walked onto the stage and began to speak with a smile on her face.
It turned out that a poetry reading was being held on this pleasure boat today.
Sitting in the hall were talented men and beautiful women from Kyoto and all over the country.
at the same time.
A small boat approached the pleasure boat.
The guard standing at the railing of the pleasure boat immediately noticed the boat. Seeing that the boat did not leave but slowly approached the pleasure boat, he hurriedly shouted: "What are you doing?"
The boatman who was rowing the boat turned around and said, "Two guests, this pleasure boat belongs to Miss Tang. Today, Miss Tang is holding a poetry gathering on it. You can't go up there casually without an invitation."
Nangong Meijiao walked out of the boat awning, stood at the bow with a cold and arrogant look on her face, looked at the pleasure boat in front and asked, "Who is Miss Tang?"
The boatman quickly replied, "It is said that her family is a high-ranking official. Miss Tang's pleasure boat often sails on the West Lake and Jingwei River, so we all know each other. I don't know the details."
Nangong Meijiao ordered: "Keep getting closer, ignore him."
Seeing her full of momentum, the boatman dared not say anything more. He could only hold the bamboo pole and continue to slowly move the boat closer.
The guards on the boat were about to shout at them, but when they saw the girl standing at the bow, who was dressed elegantly, had an extraordinary temperament, and an impeccable appearance and figure, even the courtesan on the boat was inferior to her, so they did not dare to be careless.
Several people looked at each other and whispered, "Could it be the young lady's friend?"
Just as he was about to call the maid nearby to inform the young lady, one of the guards suddenly pointed to the boat and said, "I know that young man. The young lady personally invited him to the boat last time."
"Really? Did you see it clearly?"
"I saw it clearly. The young man was very handsome and seemed to be a scholar. He brought a few beautiful girls on board. I was particularly impressed."
"Then he should have been invited by the young lady. Even if the young lady didn't invite him, it doesn't matter. If the young lady knew, she would definitely let him on board. Let's go, let's go and meet him, otherwise the side of the ship is too high, they... Eh?"
Several people were about to go to meet them, when suddenly they saw the beautiful girl with a good figure jump lightly from the boat directly onto the side of the ship, and she was very stable after landing.
"That woman is a warrior."
Several people stopped.
One of them said quickly: "It's better to go and inform the young lady. You guys watch, I'll be back soon."
"good."
When literary people gather together, warriors are forbidden to enter.
If a warrior suddenly attacks and injures someone, it will be troublesome.
They cannot afford any mistakes made by any talented person.
Nangong Meijiao jumped onto the big boat, turned around, looked down at someone standing on the bow of the small boat and said, "Want to come up?"
Luo Qingzhou stood at the bow and said, "I want to."
Nangong Meijiao raised the corner of her mouth slightly: "Call me Sister Jiao."
Luo Qingzhou said: "Are you not calling her Lime Lady anymore?"
Nangong Meijiao's face darkened: "Don't mention these four words in front of outsiders!"
Then he added: "Lime is a hidden weapon, how can we let others know about it?"
Luo Qingzhou said: "Isn't it because of shame?"
Nangong Meijiao glared: "What did you say? Say it again?"
Luo Qingzhou stretched out his hand and said, "Sister Jiao, pull me."
Nangong Meijiao looked at him coldly and said sarcastically, "If you have the guts, just keep talking nonsense."
Luo Qingzhou said: "I have no backbone, Sister Jiao, please pull me up quickly."
Nangong Meijiao saw the guards coming over, snorted coldly, stretched out her hand to pull him, but suddenly retracted her hand, took out a purple handkerchief from her body, wrapped her jade hand, and then stretched out her hand again and said, "Hold on tight."
Luo Qingzhou grabbed her hand.
When a big hand holds a small hand, you can feel the warmth of each other's skin even through a silky handkerchief.
Nangong Meijiao paused, stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then suddenly exerted force and pulled him up.
Luo Qingzhou landed beside her, staggered, and almost fell.
"Fool."
Nangong Meijiao sneered, untied the handkerchief wrapped around her hand, held it between two slender jade fingers, and asked, "Do you want this handkerchief? If not, I'll throw it away. After you touched it, I definitely won't want it again."
Luo Qingzhou took a look and said, "Then throw it away. I'm not a woman, why do I need a handkerchief?"
Nangong Meijiao still held the handkerchief between her two jade fingers and stared at him coldly, without saying a word or throwing it away.
The old man who was rowing the boat stopped the boat, looked up, and looked at the girl's handkerchief fluttering in the breeze. Seeing that she was reluctant to throw it away, he couldn't help but said, "Miss, can you throw your handkerchief to me? I will take it back to my wife and daughter."
"roll."
Nangong Meijiao glanced at him with a cold look.
"Great!"
Without any hesitation, the uncle rowed away in the boat without even looking back.
"Then... I still want it."
Luo Qingzhou stretched out his hand.
Nangong Meijiao sneered: "Since it's so reluctant, I'd better throw it away."
She said throw it away, but her slender fingers did not loosen.
Luo Qingzhou took a look at the expression on her face, then decisively reached out his hand, snatched it away, and said, "It would be a waste to throw it away, let me use it."
Nangong Meijiao narrowed her eyes: "How do you want to use it?"
Luo Qingzhou stuffed the handkerchief into his arms and said, "I often have stomachaches. I can use it to help me next time I go to the toilet."
Nangong Meijiao clenched her fists.
At this moment, a woman's surprised voice suddenly came from behind: "Mr. Luo, it turned out to be you!"
Nangong Meijiao turned around and looked.
A woman in a pale yellow dress came over with a smile and surprise on her face, and said, "I forgot to leave my address last time, and I thought I would never see you again. Please come in, sir."
Luo Qingzhou was stunned for a moment when he saw the person coming, then he bowed and said, "So it's Miss Tang's boat. I just passed by on a small boat and heard that this pleasure boat was quite lively, so I wanted to come up and take a look. I didn't expect to meet Miss Tang."
Tang Yan'er smiled and said, "It's indeed a coincidence, which shows that I am very destined to be with Mr. Luo."
She had a lot more to say, but when she saw the girl next to the young man looked unhappy, she quickly smiled and said, "Mr. Luo, this is..."
Luo Qingzhou said: "My young lady."
Tang Yan'er was stunned for a moment, and said: "Mr. Luo is not into..."
She immediately stopped talking and said with a smile, "Oh, please come in and talk."
Luo Qingzhou explained: "My young lady's surname is Gong. After I came to Kyoto, I taught at her house. The weather is good today, so I specially accompanied her to visit West Lake."
Tang Yan'er smiled and said, "I see. Miss Gong looks like a lady from a wealthy family. I wonder which family she is from?"
She thought about it carefully and realized that the Gong family in the inner city seemed to have never heard of it.
Could it be from out of town
Nangong Meijiao said calmly: "It's just a small family, not worth mentioning."
Seeing that she seemed unwilling to talk, Tang Yan'er smiled, didn't ask any more questions, took the two of them into the hall, and chose an empty seat.
The maid immediately brought snacks and tea.
Tang Yan'er smiled and said, "Mr. Luo, what a coincidence! We are holding a poetry gathering and the topic has just been announced. Would you like to join us, Mr. Luo?"
Luo Qingzhou said: "I'll just sit and watch the fun for a while."
Tang Yan'er looked at him deeply and said, "Master Luo, Miss Huayue is here today too. Miss Huayue really likes the two poems that Master Luo wrote last time. Especially the one that Master Luo left for Miss Huayue, "The bright moon rises over the sea, and we share this moment together across the world." Miss Huayue likes it very much and has kept it close to her. If Miss Huayue knew that Master Luo was here today, she would be very happy. The topic of the poem just now was also proposed by Miss Huayue. If Master Luo can write one, I believe it would be a surprise for Miss Huayue secretly."
When Luo Qingzhou was about to speak, his feet under the table were suddenly stepped on by a foot and crushed hard. He hurriedly said, "Miss Tang, I'm really sorry, I have no inspiration right now and I really can't do it."
Tang Yan'er said, "Sir, you haven't even heard the topic of the poem yet, how do you know you can't write it?"
Luo Qingzhou glanced at the other side, not knowing how to answer, when Nangong Meijiao suddenly said, "What's the topic of the poem? I also like poetry, maybe I can help him write one."
Tang Yan'er looked at her in surprise and said with a smile: "The title of the poem is Autumn, the autumn of autumn. There is no limit to poetry or song. Miss Gong can give it a try."
As he said this, he asked the maid to bring pen and ink and put them on the table.
Luo Qingzhou said, "Ms. Tang, you go ahead and do your work. Let my young lady think about it for a while. I will help her grind the ink later."
Tang Yan'er smiled and said, "Okay, Miss Gong has finished writing, you can give it directly to the maid. If you two have any other needs, you can also tell the maid directly."
After saying this, she took her maid and left.
Luo Qingzhou suddenly felt the foot under the table stepping on his foot, squeezing it harder, and hurriedly explained: "The last time we came to Kyoto, we took Miss Tang's boat. My mother-in-law and the eldest lady were all there at the time, and that's when Miss Tang and I met. There was a poetry meeting on the boat at the time, and Miss Tang didn't want to charge us for the boat fare. I felt embarrassed, so I wrote two poems and left them. Miss Tang and I don't have any ambiguous relationship, and I haven't had any contact with her since that day. The reason I came here today is that I occasionally feel like visiting West Lake. I can swear that I didn't come here because I knew in advance that she was holding a poetry meeting here. You heard what she said just now, we just met by chance..."
Nangong Meijiao sat opposite him, with a cold and beautiful face. She stepped on his feet under the table, listened to his explanations, and looked at him quietly. After he finished explaining, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Why are you explaining so much to me? What does it have to do with me?"
Luo Qingzhou said: "I am afraid that you will misunderstand me and go back and tell the second lady nonsense, right?"
Nangong Meijiao sneered: "Do I look like a gossiper?"
Luo Qingzhou glanced at her pink little mouth and was about to nod when his foot suddenly hurt. He had no choice but to pick up the ink block and grind the ink, saying, "Princess, please write a poem quickly. I will help you grind the ink."
Nangong Meijiao glared at him and said, "Be careful, there are ears on the other side of the wall. Call me Miss."
"Oh, miss."
Luo Qingzhou didn't care.
Nangong Meijiao pretended to pick up the pen, dipped it in ink, frowned and thought seriously.
Luo Qingzhou couldn't help but ask: "Miss, can you loosen your legs now?"
Nangong Meijiao raised her head and asked, "What feet? Can you please stop disturbing my thoughts?"
Luo Qingzhou didn't say anything else. He raised his other foot, put it under her skirt, and stepped on her other foot.
Nangong Meijiao froze for a moment, then raised her head and looked at him. After a pause, she said coldly, "Are you looking for death?"
Luo Qingzhou asked: "What's wrong?"
Nangong Meijiao narrowed her eyes and said, "Take your stinky feet away?"
Luo Qingzhou looked puzzled and asked, "What feet? Miss, hurry up and write your poems. The maids are collecting the poems."
Nangong Meijiao looked up and saw that the two maids were indeed collecting the papers.
She quickly lowered her head and began to think hard again.
Under the table, the two men overlapped their feet, each stepping on one, and did not move.
Nangong Meijiao suddenly looked at him and said, "You read and I'll write."
Luo Qingzhou: “???”
Nangong Meijiao suddenly exerted force with both feet, one foot against his foot and the other foot against the ground, and said, "Do you want to read it?"
Luo Qingzhou nodded and said, "Read it."
Nangong Meijiao immediately dipped the ink again, stared at the rice paper in front of her, and her two little ears stood up.
"Miss, do you want a poem or a lyric?"
Luo Qingzhou suddenly asked.
Nangong Meijiao thought for a moment and said, "Lyrics, I like lyrics."
Luo Qingzhou hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay."
After that, he recited directly: "Blue sky, lotus leaves on the ground, autumn colors on the waves, cold smoke on the waves..."
Nangong Meijiao wrote quickly and finished the whole thing in one go. When Luo Qingzhou read out the last sentence, she did not put down her pen.
When the maid who was collecting the papers came over, she coughed, dipped the brush in ink, wrote the last sentence seriously, then picked up the rice paper, blew dry the ink on it, and read it carefully.
The little maid came over, took a look, and said with a smile, "The young lady hasn't signed her name yet."
Nangong Meijiao was awakened by this, and quickly put the rice paper on the table, picked up the pen, thought for a moment, and wrote her name: "Gong Meijiao."
The little maid took the rice paper and left respectfully.
In the box behind the stage.
Tang Yan'er was talking to Huayue who was wiping the xylophone.
She did not immediately tell Huayue the news that Young Master Luo had just boarded the ship. She decided to give the girl a surprise later.
Tang Yan'er said a few more words before leaving the room.
After the door was closed, Huayue suddenly stood up and bowed to the maid in green who was tidying up books at the table and said, "Miss, why are you here? Did something happen at the bottom of the lake?"
The maid in green picked up a book, opened it and looked at it. Her originally dark eyes suddenly turned scarlet. She said calmly, "It's okay. I came up to see someone."