At night in the capital, when most civilians, after a busy day, tiredly went to bed to enjoy the warmth of their beds, in many streets and alleys, a new day had just begun. The wine shops and restaurants that had been doing mediocre business during the day were now filled with customers, the casinos that had been closed during the day reopened to welcome customers, and the romantic places that were deserted during the day also regained their brilliance.
However, the ban on officials sleeping with prostitutes was still in place, so those famous places often had heavily made-up, gorgeously dressed women and bands being picked up in carriages to perform at various mansions. Only those elegant places that claimed to never engage in sexual activities were flocked to by countless literati and poets, and it was said that nine out of ten of them were talented.
When Zhang Shou followed Lu Sanlang and Zhu Er out of the car, he saw a quiet and elegant courtyard gate, white walls and black tiles, a quiet courtyard, without any worldly air. There were no gaudy red lanterns hanging in front of the gate, but two lanterns covered with green gauze hung high, and inside, one could hear the sound of a zither playing the sound of high mountains and flowing water.
There was no noise or human voices around, which was in stark contrast to the busy places along the way.
Zhu Er was completely confused after getting off the car. His future brother-in-law actually came to Tingyu Cottage? What a joke! Even though this place never allowed men to stay overnight and was known as an elegant place, who didn't know what it was like? Most importantly, Zhang Shou came to Tingyu Cottage and dragged him along. What did this mean
Zhang Shou saw two servants in green clothes approaching, holding two lotus lanterns. Seeing Lu Sanlang approaching and talking in a low voice, he asked Zhu Er beside him, "Do you know the origin of the name of this Tingyu Cottage?"
With Zhu Er's pitiful wealth, he could not afford such an expensive place, and he dared not pretend to be a frequent visitor in front of Zhang Shou. After all, if Zhang Shou told Zhu Ying about it, he would be in trouble. So, he wanted to ask Zhang Shou what he was doing here, but he could only pretend to be a fool who had never been here before.
"This kind of pretentious place must have used some poem as an allusion to show off."
Lu Sanlang had just told the doorman that he was here to meet the Weinan Marquis, and as soon as he turned around, he heard Zhu Er pretending to be contemptuous. Even though he only got 40% of the shares, he couldn't help but sneer: "Even when several university scholars held birthday banquets, they invited girls here to sing and dance to entertain them. Let's not talk about other ministers. If you have the ability, try to pretend to be refined."
Zhu Er was stabbed by Lu Sanlang, and immediately new and old hatreds came to his mind. But before he could retort, he heard Zhang Shou say thoughtfully: "The bamboo grove is dust-free and the water is clear, but my longing for you is far away across the city. The autumn clouds do not disperse, and the frost flies late, leaving the withered lotus to listen to the sound of rain. Li Yishan's poems have always been known for their obscure beauty. I don't know if this poem is the source of the two words "listen to the rain"."
Having stayed at the Grand View Garden without the Yihong Courtyard before, and now at Tingyu Cottage, Zhang Shou's first reaction was Lin Daiyu's favorite line, "Leave the withered lotus leaves to listen to the sound of rain." He couldn't help but bring it up to stop Zhu Er and Lu Sanlang from arguing with each other like children. As expected, Lu Sanlang and Zhu Er looked at each other, but neither of them could continue the conversation.