The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 5: Expressing Aspirations in Poetry

Last time we talked about how the outing ended with everyone singing "The Painter in a Small Town". Now let's continue.

After the outing, the girls were all very happy, and Ruyun was also in a good mood, humming Li Yi's two songs along the way. Dugu Yu and Nangong Qi, the two princes, said they wanted to go to Liumoxuan for a visit, so they went back together. Soon, the convoy stopped downstairs of Liumoxuan, and the girls jumped off the carriage and happily returned to their jobs.

Ruyun brought the two princes to the elegant room on the third floor, with Bailing, Huayu and Ruolan sitting with them. Li Yi and Chen Liang returned to the courtyard. Chen Liang insisted on taking Li Yi and Fang Zhuo for a few drinks. Li Yi couldn't refuse and drank with them in the courtyard. Chen Liang praised Li Yi so much that he asked Li Yi to write the poem on the blank space of the landscape painting during the day.

At this time, a maid came to the courtyard and bowed, saying, "Master Li, Sister Ruyun and the two princes invite you to come over and drink with them. Please also come with me to the elegant pavilion."

The three people in the courtyard exchanged glances, and Chen Liang said with a smile: "Little friend Li, go quickly, don't miss this good opportunity to make friends with the children of the noble family."

Fang Zhuo put down his wine glass and said, "My dear friend Li, you must be careful when you get there and don't lose your identity as a Confucian scholar. Even if they are powerful, don't flatter them deliberately. People from the four major families are not necessarily gentlemen." Li Yi bowed and said goodbye, then went to the elegant pavilion with the maid.

Entering the elegant pavilion, Ruyun sat in the main seat, with two princes on the left and right, and Bailing and the other two sat opposite, all holding musical instruments in their hands, chatting about "Blue and White Porcelain". Seeing Li Yi coming in, Ruyun waved and asked Li Yi to sit next to Bailing, and said, "Musician Li, Bailing and the others just sang your song "Blue and White Porcelain" to the two young masters, and they praised it highly, and insisted on drinking and chatting with you, so I invite you to come and sit down, don't be restrained, be more relaxed."

Li Yi naturally couldn't be so casual. After he sat down, he bowed and said, "I didn't expect that the two princes are also interested in music."

Dugu Yu was a very outgoing person, he said with a smile: "You are about the same age as me, so calling the musician a little unfamiliar is a little strange. Let's call each other brothers and just call each other by our names. Brother Qi and I are not the kind of people who think we are from aristocratic families."

Nangong Qi nodded and said, "Yes, we are like-minded. We are both people who don't care about power but only love romance, so Brother Li, please don't be so formal."

Li Yi smiled and said, "Then I, Li, will dare to call you two princes, Brother Yu and Brother Qi." Yu and Qi smiled and nodded in agreement.

Ruyun asked, "It seems that you two didn't learn anything good from your elders, and only learned the skills of romance?"

Nangong Qi hurriedly said: "Aunt Yun, power is nothing but a mirage to the two of us, it is out of reach. It is better to be free with beautiful women in the snow, moon and wind." After saying that, he looked at the beauties sitting opposite him with smiles on their faces.

Dugu Yu also smiled and said, "Sister Ruyun, isn't it more comfortable and relaxed to drink and chat with a beauty, and recite poems and couplets than to get along with those calculating and cunning people? The two of us are indeed a little lazy, and we don't want to bother to deal with them, so we naturally become greedy for worldly wine, intoxicated by the fragrance of beauties, and ignore worldly affairs, always staying by Luo skirts."

Ruyun covered her mouth and smiled, "Alright, I know what you two mean. You think my age is interfering with your conversation with the girls, so I'll leave now."

After saying that, she stood up and left. Before leaving, she said to Li Yi, "The girls here are really nice, but they are not playthings for others. Li Musician, please take good care of these two brats. Don't let them drink too much and lose their sense of propriety, or behave in a disorderly manner after drinking."

Li Yi clasped his fists and bowed, saying: "I understand. I will definitely entertain the two princes well." Ruyun nodded and left.

There were only three men and three women left in the elegant pavilion. Bai Ling glanced at Li Yi and asked, "Master Li, what does Sister Ruyun mean?"

Li Yi said seriously: "Sister Ruyun, I'm afraid these two young masters will take advantage of you! Let me watch!"

The three girls looked shy. Dugu Yu laughed and said, "Sister Yun, you are overthinking. We two do prefer beautiful women, but we will not do anything despicable."

A few people started chatting, and Li Yi asked, "Today I heard Brother Yu mention Nangong Huayun. I wonder if you can tell me more about this matter."

Dugu Yu looked at Nangong Qi, who smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a story about my father and Aunt Yun."

This kind of gossip naturally aroused the girls' interest. Since it was about the good elder sister in everyone's heart, they were even more curious. The three of them pricked up their six ears and their eyes widened.

Seeing the girls' excited faces, Nangong Qi said, "Aunt Yun and my mother are sisters from the same school, and they have a deep friendship. Seventeen years ago, my mother invited Aunt Yun to Shangjing City. At that time, Aunt Yun was in her prime, talented in both civil and military affairs, and had both moral integrity and talent. As soon as she arrived in Shangjing, she attracted many admirers, and the children of the four major families were vying to pursue her. Later, my mother also advised Aunt Yun to choose a good man, so Aunt Yun set up two arenas for civil and military affairs, and she became famous in Shangjing for a while."

Dugu Yu took over the conversation and said, "You don't know, all the prominent children of the noble families and high-ranking officials in Shangjing City are here, and they are all eager to win the beauty, but guess how they will do it?"

"how's it going?"

The three girls blurted out, "Could it be that Lord Nangong won the first place?" Li Yi said.

Nangong Qi shook his head and said, "No, no, my father is not that capable. Aunt Yun stipulates that only those who rank in the top three in both civil and martial arts can become her husband."

Dugu Yu smiled and said, "Sister Yun is a heroine and a dragon among men. Her strict requirements are beyond reproach. But I never thought that the top three in the martial arts exam were my father, Brother Qi's father, and General Wuwei's son Tuoba Bin, and none of these three were shortlisted for the top three in the literary exam. Brother Qi's father ranked fourth in the literary exam. What a pity!"

Bai Ling asked, "Master Qi's father has already started a family, why does he still want to participate in the election?"

Nangong Qi smiled and said, "It was my mother who persuaded my father to join the competition. My mother meant that it would be a good thing for good sisters to share a husband. Besides, my mother was afraid that there would be conflicts of interest in the future, and she didn't want Aunt Yun to marry into another family."

Hua Yu interrupted, "Mr. Yu's father is also a man of family background, didn't he also participate?"

Dugu Yu said: "You know nothing about Sister Yun's background?" The three girls shook their heads.

They really didn't know what kind of background or past their sister Ruyun had. They only knew that sister Ruyun was very powerful and even the governor of Qingzhou didn't dare to provoke her. Although Liumoxuan was a brothel, no one dared to do anything indecent unless they were in love. There were only a few drunken scholars who were beaten half to death by the guards and thrown into the cesspool. No one dared to ask whether they were dead or alive.

Moreover, Liumoxuan only entertained scholars. Those crude warriors who dared to intrude would be beaten and killed directly, and no one dared to intervene. What was even more puzzling was that in the entire Qing'an City, there was only one brothel, Liumoxuan. Although there were some secret brothels, it was the only one in the open. The government also clearly stated that Qing'an City was not allowed to open private brothels. All of this showed one thing, Sister Ruyun's background was extraordinary.

Dugu Yu shook her head and smiled: "Sister Yun is really like that, do you want to know?"

The three girls nodded again, and Dugu Yu continued, "Sister Yun's real name is Liu Ruyun. She is the daughter of the leader of the Luoyue Sword Sect, the second largest swordsmanship gang in the martial arts world. She is at the fourth level of the Ming Yi realm in martial arts, which means freezing water into ice. She once had the feat of sealing a lake with one sword."

Li Yi was already dumbfounded, thinking: Is this big sister so awesome? I really can't tell! I'd better not mess with her in the future, or she will be unhappy and KO me with one sword, it's really not worth it! Big sister told me not to hit on these girls, yeah! Absolutely not! My life is more important!

Nangong Qi said: "Not only that, Aunt Yun is also at the seventh level of Confucianism and Taoism to nourish her qi. You should know this. With the blessing of talent and righteousness, her sword will is even stronger. She is also a strong one among the fourth-level warriors. The average fourth-level warrior is no match for her and can't even take three moves!"

Li Yi and others' jaws almost dropped to the ground. Dugu Yu and Nangong Qi looked at each other with great satisfaction.

Dugu Yu said, "So, Sister Yun is extraordinary in terms of personal strength, family background, and status in the martial arts world. Naturally, she will be targeted by various forces in Shangjing City. Although my father is married, with such conditions and a stunning beauty, who wouldn't be tempted? So anyone who is capable, regardless of family background, will participate in the competition, and my father is no exception."

Li Yi suddenly interrupted, "Oh, no wonder Brother Yu's father would instruct his son to steal the test questions. I guess he is a top three martial artist, but not very good at literary exams, so he resorted to such an extraordinary measure."

Dugu Yu was not ashamed and said frankly: "I have heard about this matter. My father knew that he would not be shortlisted for the written test, so he used a strategy to delay Sister Yun and let Brother Long steal the questions. Unexpectedly, Sister Yun returned to the inner courtyard during the test and caught Brother Long in the act. He gave Brother Long a beating with a stick. Brother Long is still scared now! He said that Sister Yun was very fierce at that time, and it felt like she was about to be beaten to death. It was also because of this incident that my father was disqualified."

Dugu Yu shook his head, and Nangong Qi said unhappily: "How dare you say that! You even talk about stealing questions so righteously!"

Dugu Yu refused to give in and said, "Brother Qi, you have no right to criticize me for this. I don't believe that Uncle Nangong would have been ranked fourth in the literary exam without your mother's help!"

Nangong Qi was about to refute but was stopped by Li Yi, "Brothers, please don't be angry. It's all in the past. Why should we hurt our relationship over such a thing?" Dugu Yu took the opportunity to back off and said with a smile, "Brother Qi, you know me too. I just said it casually. Don't take it to heart!"

Bai Ling also came out to help, "Master Qi, what happened later? What happened to Nangong Huayun?"

Nangong Qi sighed and said, "My father actually loves Aunt Yun very much, and my mother also tried her best to promote this matter and said many good things. But it is really a pity that she ranked fourth in the written test. I felt very regretful, so I casually drew a portrait of Aunt Yun."

Dugu Yu interrupted, "You don't know that Uncle Nangong's painting skills are indeed first-rate, especially when it comes to painting beauties. His paintings are often praised by the palace painters. There was once a comment that if Nangong could practice for ten years, his paintings would become a school of his own. That is to say, if Uncle Nangong could concentrate on studying and painting for ten years, he would be able to form his own school and become a master painter of his generation!"

Nangong Qi smiled proudly and said, "Although I have never seen that painting, it is definitely a top-notch piece. I heard from an old man that the painting has a very high artistic conception. It is not just as simple as being lifelike, but there seems to be a charm in the painting. It is said that the person in the painting will only smile when the painting is hung on the wall and looked up. If it is placed on the table or held in the hand, it will only have a frosty and cold expression."

This was also the first time Dugu Yu had heard about this painting. "Brother Qi, it's so mysterious? Uncle Shi is truly an amazing artist!"

Nangong Qi smiled and said, "My father gave the painting to Aunt Yun. On the first day, Aunt Yun didn't find anything special about it. It was not until the third day that she realized the unusualness of the painting. Later, she went to find my father. The two of them sat and talked for a long time, about literature and martial arts, from the common people to the heroes of the world, and even evaluated the heroes of the world. It can be said that they had a very pleasant conversation. After several more contacts, they developed a friendship.

Everyone thought that this would be a story of lovers finally getting married, but they never thought that because of the promise made in advance, they must be the top three in both civil and military examinations before they would be willing to marry. Aunt Yun was a person in the martial arts world, and she valued loyalty and loyalty the most, so she was unwilling to break her promise. My father only had a slight difference in the civil examination, and the two of them had already developed feelings for each other, so naturally she was unwilling to give up, so she told Grandpa about this. Grandpa also wanted to help my father, so he used the family power to find the head of the Luoyue Sword Sect and formally proposed marriage to Aunt Yun's father.

But they are a gang and don’t want to have anything to do with the rich and powerful in the court, and they don’t want their daughter to marry into a noble family. Grandpa got angry and used some means to force the Luoyue Sword Sect to commit a crime, but the result was…”

Li Yi continued: "The result was the opposite of what we expected?"