Lin Jialiang's study held a great many books, all thread-bound volumes: Lunyu, Tao Te Ching, Spring and Autumn Annals. The edges of these classics were worn fuzzy, clearly having been read countless times.
Lin Su's fingers brushed lightly over them, and atop the withered branch in his mind, more than a dozen leaves quietly sprouted.
No one would ever have imagined that after merely walking one round through the room, he had become a scholar. A dozen or so steps were equivalent to more than ten years of bitter study by the scholars of this world.
Beside more than a dozen classics from the Hundred Schools of Thought lay a book with a yellow cover. Lin Su opened it and saw The Grand Cang Colored Poetry Collection. Its opening passage read: This book collected the works of three hundred and seventy-one poetic geniuses from Great Cang over a thousand years, totaling four hundred and eight poems, all five-colored or Seven-Colored Poems. Their poetic fragrance had passed down through the ages, their glory enduring for a thousand years.
The first poem, "Night Rain at West Forest": "Misty rain blankets half the city and covers West Forest; a thousand peaks roll with fog, the trees dark and dense..." Its author was Ren Zifu, a native of Central Province in Great Cang, born in the 108th year of the Cang Calendar and deceased in the 146th year. This poem...
The second poem, "Inscription on Lingyin Wall"...
The third poem, "Winter Day"...
He read more than thirty poems in succession, yet not a single one was familiar to him.
Lin Su set down the poetry collection, but his gaze was drawn to another book beside it. It was called Miscellaneous Talks on the Literary Path. Lin Su opened it, and his eyes lit up. This book recorded the Literary Path of this world in detail. The saints above had bestowed Literary Way Power upon the people. What was the Literary Path? What stages did it have? How did one advance? What were the taboos of the Literary Path...
Under the taboos of the Literary Path, it was written with utmost clarity: Should a scholar suffer a severe setback or public humiliation, dust would settle upon their Literary Altar. Once dust settled, their literary thoughts would no longer flow freely, and it would become difficult to advance another inch upon the Literary Path. In severe cases, their literary road would end there, leaving them no different from a cripple...
Lin Su's heart gave a small jump. So a literary gathering really could sever someone's Literary Path and ruin a lifetime's pursuit!
In the drawer beneath the desk, he smelled a strange fragrance as soon as he pulled it open. Inside was a sheet of yellow paper carefully wrapped around half a stick of incense. The incense was golden in color, as though cast from gold itself. This was the "Sage Incense" mentioned in the book.
After some thought, Lin Su picked up the half-stick of Sage Incense and carefully tucked it into his clothes...
The study door made a soft sound. Lin Su abruptly turned his head and saw Xiao Yao.
Xiao Yao carried a large bowl. "Brother, so you're here. I searched everywhere for you."
"How is my second brother?" Lin Su asked.
"He's asleep. Sister Xiao Tao is looking after him." Xiao Yao brought over the bowl. "Drink this porridge. Your mother... ah, Madam said that your health isn't good either, so you mustn't be careless."
After half a bowl of rice porridge went down his throat, Lin Su's stomach finally warmed somewhat. Then he suddenly noticed a glistening trace at the corner of Xiao Yao's mouth...
Lin Su could not keep drinking. "Didn't you eat breakfast?"
Xiao Yao nodded, then quickly shook her head. "I ate a dough ball last night. Dough balls keep you full for a long time. I'm not hungry at all..." She swallowed, and she truly could not keep the sound under control...
Lin Su held the remaining half-bowl of thin soup out to her. "Drink it."
Xiao Yao hesitated before taking it. She drank the soup, every last drop, then even licked the bottom of the bowl. The bowl basically did not need washing anymore.
Lin Su said, "Xiao Yao, do you want to eat meat?"
Meat? Xiao Yao's throat bobbed, and that familiar glisten appeared again at the corner of her lips. She slowly shook her head. "Brother, Xiao Tao said there's no meat left in the manor. Really..."
"No, I'm taking you to a banquet. We'll mooch a delicious meal..."
Xiao Yao's eyes suddenly brightened, shining like two tiny stars...
Lin Su and Xiao Yao reached an agreement on attending the banquet at once, but they hit a snag with Madam Lin. "What did you say? You're going to the banquet? That's a gathering of scholars... What are you getting involved for?"
Lin Su took out the invitation. "But Mother, they sent us an invitation. If the Lin Family does not attend, what will people say? They will say the Lin Family has no one left. They will say the Lin Family's sins are truly too grave, that we do not dare show our faces in public."
Madam Lin's resolve wavered somewhat...
After a long while, Madam Lin said, "You heard it just now as well. This literary gathering is far from ordinary. It is highly likely to be an attempt by the Zhang Family to suppress the Lin Family..."
"What can he suppress me over? I do not even have a Literary Root. Can he cut off my literary road?"
Those words completely dispelled Madam Lin's final concern. Yes, the Zhang Family would surely stir up trouble at the literary gathering. It would indeed be fraught with danger for Second Son to go, but what could Third Son lose?
With nothing, there was nothing to lose!
Madam Lin's expression slowly relaxed. "...I'm only afraid that with your old temper, you'll fly into a rage at the slightest provocation... Forget it. Listen more and speak less!"
"Yes!" Lin Su tugged Xiao Yao along and walked out of the courtyard.
The little girl hurriedly wiped away the glisten at the corner of her mouth and set off happily.
They headed for Haining Tower.
Along the way, Lin Su lifted his gaze toward the distant sky and quietly said in his heart: From today onward, I'll shoulder the Lin Family's burden!
Haining Tower was not far away, located on the eastern side of Haizhou City. To the east lay the Yangtze River, while green willows swayed gently. In this season, it would truly have been a shame if this were not a place for singing of the wind and toying with the moon.
From the outside, Haining Tower had only three floors and stood no more than ten meters tall. Yet upon entering, Lin Su was utterly astonished, scarcely daring to believe his eyes.
There was a main hall in the middle, surrounded on all sides by buildings that clearly rose more than ten stories, forty or fifty meters high!
Two men entered Haining Tower at the same time as them. One of them was plainly struck by this bizarre sight as well, and the person beside him explained, "This is Literary Way Power!"
"See that character in the corridor?"
"The character 'Rise'!"
"It was personally written by Deng Xianchu, the Supreme Literary Heart Great Confucian. Haining Tower paid a thousand gold to obtain it. Once this character was hung up, Literary Way Power changed heaven and earth. Haining Tower's three-story building was replicated four identical times, so the interior is a twelve-story tower!"
Lin Su stood dumbstruck. One character had conjured nine extra floors in the middle of a bustling city. Why did he feel that if such a character were brought to Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, even a price of a thousand gold per character would not be enough...
Where was Xiao Yao?
Lin Su followed her gaze and saw the roast chickens and roasted lamb laid out on tables to either side.
Gulp! They swallowed at the same time.
The two stepped into Haining Tower, only to be stopped at the entrance by a waiter. The waiter smiled and said, "Third Young Master Lin, it has indeed been some time. My apologies, but Haining Tower has important business today. Those cockfighting and dog-racing amusements are suspended."
It seemed this man knew him!
But what did he mean? Did the old him know only how to fight cocks and race dogs?
Lin Su's face darkened. "What are you saying? I came today precisely for your important business!"
"You? Hahaha..." The waiter laughed...
With a swish, an invitation was thrust before the waiter. His laughter came to an abrupt halt, and his eyes widened at once...
Lin Su swaggered past him and went up to the second floor. Once again, he displayed the invitation. The person receiving guests on the second floor had much better manners. Seeing the invitation, he gave a slight bow. "Lin Family... one honored guest!"
At the wine tables, all the scholars looked up at once. At the seats closest to the river in front, several scholars chatting and laughing also turned around. Beneath the window to the right, a veiled woman raised her delicate hand, and with a clang, her zither sounded a welcoming note.
Then they all froze. If anyone from the Lin Family attended, it ought to have been Lin Jialiang. Yet the one climbing the stairs was not Lin Jialiang, but a handsome young man. Some among them knew this youth: he was the Lin Family's third son, a wastrel who had achieved neither literary nor martial success. They had even heard that he had disappeared some time ago. What tune was this fellow playing? The scholars whispered among themselves, utterly baffled...
Lin Su looked around, intending to find a seat at random.
But the portly young master seated at the highest place rose and cupped his hands. "Third Young Master, has your elder brother not come?"
Lin Su paused, sizing up this young master before asking a man beside him, "This young master is quite portly. May I ask who he is?"
The man beside him said, "Young Master Zhang Xiu, Quzhou's foremost talent. Third Young Master has seen him before. How could you have forgotten today?"
Lin Su smiled. "My apologies, Young Master Zhang. I suffered a serious illness some time ago and lost many unimportant memories..."
The smile on Zhang Xiu's face stiffened slightly. What did he mean, unimportant memories lost? Was he actually an unimportant person in this fellow's memories?
Yet the stiffness on his face vanished in an instant. "Young Master Jialiang has always claimed to be Miss Yu Lou's confidant. Today, Miss Yu Lou is leaving the tower. What a momentous occasion! Yet Young Master Jialiang avoided it and did not come. What is the reason for that?"
Lin Su explained, "My mother fell ill. In order to treat her, my elder brother wrote the Qi Guiding Text twice every day. My mother improved a little, but my brother fell ill instead. Therefore, I came in my brother's stead to attend Sister Yu Lou's farewell banquet. A pleasure to meet you all, a pleasure to meet you all. My apologies, my apologies..."
He cupped his hands in a round salute to all four directions...
A voice came from elsewhere. "Yu Lou did not previously know of the Lin Manor's family affairs and rashly sent an invitation. Please forgive any discourtesy."
Lin Su turned his gaze to the left.
To the left hung a beaded curtain. Behind it sat a group of courtesans. More precisely, there were five small formations. Naturally, each formation had its central figure, each center a beauty surrounded by three or four maidservants, like stars encircling the moon.
The woman who had spoken was the central figure of the very middle formation. She wore magnificent attire, her skin like congealed cream, her brows like distant mountains, her bright eyes like twin pools of spring water. She looked to be a maiden of sixteen, yet with the slightest turn of her brows and eyes, she possessed an elegance beyond measure, as though the spring tides of passing years flowed through the depths of her gaze in an instant.
She was the protagonist of today's farewell banquet: Yu Lou.
Lin Su's heart stirred. This was the red-faced confidante his second brother had taken a liking to? She truly was extraordinary—cultured, courteous, poised, and graceful.
Lin Su smiled. "Fortunately, it has all passed. My brother merely exhausted too much literary energy. There is no serious problem with his body, and he will recover after resting for a few days."
Yu Lou let out a soft breath. "Third Young Master, please take a seat and help yourself to some wine and food."
Behind the beaded curtain, the women in the five formations exchanged glances. Each saw something unusual in the others' eyes. These women were also top courtesans: Qin Xiangjun of Hundred Flowers Tower, Li Rushih of Dingxiang Tower, Du Yuebo of Zuixiang Tower...
All were fragrant guests in Dream Soul Land, lovely women in the tomb of tenderness...
Yu Lou was leaving the tower today to return to a respectable life. Her former sisters had gathered together to send her on her way...
Though the pleasure quarters were a heartless place, they still held three parts mist-and-rain affection.
The great courtesans all shared similar circumstances and similar fates. They regarded "leaving the tower to return to a respectable life" as a second rebirth, and thus took it very seriously.
"Sister, Second Young Master Lin did not come today. Do you truly believe he is too gravely ill to attend?" Qin Xiangjun sighed faintly.
"At such a moment, he actually claims to be ill and lets that be the end of it!" Li Rushih said. "Just as expected... Once, guests greeted the wind before the tower; those who came and went were all fickle-hearted men..."
Du Yuebo sighed. "Do not speak of him like that. With the Lin Family reduced to such a state, whether Second Young Master Lin comes or not makes no difference..."
The murmured words within the beaded curtain could not reach the banquet hall. Only Yu Lou could hear them. She said nothing. A faint sigh, too, remained tightly locked behind her lips...
A soft zither note rang out, and the entire tower fell silent.
Lin Su raised his gaze. A beautifully dressed middle-aged woman walked out from the center. "Esteemed talents, today is Miss Yu Lou's farewell banquet, and also Miss Ban Ruo's Top Courtesan Ceremony. Therefore, Haining Tower has invited all of you esteemed talents to witness this moment together. We hope to borrow your marvelous brushes to compose this tale of snow, moon, wind, and flowers..."
Someone beside Lin Su quietly discussed the matter, allowing him to understand what "leaving the tower" and a "Top Courtesan Ceremony" meant. Put plainly, it was the old top courtesan stepping down while the new top courtesan took office. A top courtesan was the pillar holding up a pleasure house. Once she became the top courtesan, she was no longer an ordinary pleasure-house woman, but a famed courtesan. A famed courtesan's worth soared in a straight line. Even visitors from officialdom found it all the more prestigious to be received by one...
After the richly dressed woman finished speaking, she clapped her hands. Eight beauties emerged from behind her, all famed courtesans from the top three floors of Jade Fragrance Tower. The courtesans walked gracefully toward the beaded curtain on the left, lifted it, then bowed together and invited Sister Yu Lou to perform "Farewell Tower Melody."
"Farewell Tower Melody" was the piece that must be played when a top courtesan stepped down. It both thanked the patrons who had supported her through the years and served as her final curtain call. As the melody ended, people scattered.
Yu Lou gave her former sisters a graceful salute, then slowly raised her head. "Yu Lou has leaned upon this tower for thirteen years. I have received extraordinary favor from all you esteemed talents and patrons, for which I am endlessly grateful. Now that my years have grown, I can no longer serve my patrons. With Mother's permission, I shall leave the tower and draw the curtain. I offer only this piece to thank my patrons, and to toast my glorious years."
After finishing her farewell words, she returned behind the qin. Her slender hand descended, and ding-dong...
"At year's end, no flower has yellowed; the southeast lies shattered, winding waters carry grief. My heart is like the moon, longing yet unable to attain; high halls of cassia cannot keep me by your side..."
The qin melody drifted gently, while her singing was even more tenderly entwined with the heart. Every character, every word, seemed like a soft breath rising from the depths of her heart. The entire tower was silent. There were only those poetic lyrics, the picture-scroll scene of her playing, the repeated ding-dongs, and strands upon strands of silk-and-bamboo music...
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