"What's up ahead? It looks pretty lively." Wenren Lingmeng saw a large crowd gathered ahead, creating quite a bustle.
"They're guessing lantern riddles," Jiang Yuyu said.
"Are lantern riddles this popular here?" Wenren Lingmeng asked curiously.
With so many people, the place was extraordinarily lively. Back in the Central Plains, only during festivals would lantern riddles draw such crowds.
Today was not any festival, yet circles upon circles of people had gathered there, packed so tightly that there was hardly room to squeeze through.
Moreover, most of them were dressed like scholars. They were likely all learned men with some literary refinement.
The south had a warm climate and better economic conditions than the north, so there were more scholars. The farther north one went, the colder and harsher the climate became. Making a living was already a problem, let alone studying.
Seeing so many scholars gathered in one place, Wenren Lingmeng was naturally rather curious.
Jiang Yuyu thought for a moment and said, "I remember now. The scholars in our south all like forming poetry societies and such, and they often go out together for excursions.
"I have some impression of this poetry society. It seems to be fairly well-known around here. I remember they once invited my younger sister to visit a garden with them."
"So that's how it is."
Wenren Lingmeng had heard a little about such things. Back in the Capital City, some young ladies had also invited her to join poetry societies, but Wenren Lingmeng found them uninteresting and never joined.
Once one joined a poetry society, there would be something going on every so often, and there were always many people involved—garden outings, boat trips, flower viewing, scenery admiring. Though Wenren Lingmeng was interested in such things and they were lively enough, being called