Mu Youqing walked away beside Lin Xuan, chin held high and looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
In Mu Youqing's arms, Xuanzhu shook her head. "That uncle is really unlikeable."
Xuanxi nodded in agreement. "Yeah! He likes showing off, and Mother taught us not to be like that."
Mu Youqing lovingly kissed the two little girls. "You're both right. Your auntie hates people like that too!"
Xuanhan and Xuanyou, nestled in Lin Xuan's arms, both raised their little hands and pointed at him.
In unison, they said, "Daddy is still the best!"
Mu Youqing giggled. "You little girls are so afraid that people won't know how wonderful your daddy is!"
"Of course!"
All four little girls nodded together, looking very pleased with themselves.
Their daddy was the best in the whole world, after all. Hmph!
Watching them disappear into the distance, with bursts of laughter drifting back now and then,
Sima Wenyi clenched his fists, his face full of regret.
"Damn it! So Youqing's cousin-in-law is that poet!"
The two people accompanying him also shook their heads and sighed.
"From Miss Youqing's expression, she really admires and likes her cousin-in-law!"
"That's only natural. Her cousin-in-law is incredibly handsome and so talented."
"Hmph!" Sima Wenyi's face twisted with resentment. "All the great scholars have gathered for this assembly. I want to see just who her cousin-in-law really is!"
With that, he beckoned to the other two and hurried toward the mountaintop.
When Lin Xuan and Mu Youqing brought the children to the entrance of the Wenqu Star Hall, they heard the hubbub inside.
Clearly, most of the people attending the assembly had already arrived.
Before they even entered, they saw eleven gilded seats in a row on the raised platform at the far end.
Lin Xuan figured these eleven seats were reserved for the most important guests, including Jiang Jiubai.
At that moment, ten of them were already occupied.
The remaining seat was obviously Lin Xuan's.
Inside the hall, people were all discussing that last seat.
"Great scholars have gathered for this assembly, and the eleven guest seats are dazzling. Who exactly will get to take the last one?"
"I heard it's the man who wrote 'The rosy clouds and the lone wild duck fly side by side.'"
"Anyone who can write such a timeless line of brilliance certainly deserves the honor!"
"I'm so jealous! If I could sit up there, I'd be grinning in my sleep!"
As soon as Lin Xuan walked in, Shangguan Jie hurried over.
With a deferential smile, Shangguan Jie saluted Lin Xuan with clasped fists, then led him toward the guest seats on the platform.
At once, every eye in the hall turned to Lin Xuan.
The white-haired elder in a white robe, Jiang Jiubai, hurried forward. "So this is the Emperor Consort! You truly are a man of outstanding bearing!"
Shangguan Jie had already told Jiang Jiubai who Lin Xuan was.
Now that he saw Lin Xuan in person, handsome and dignified as an immortal descended from heaven, Jiang Jiubai admired him all the more.
Seeing Jiang Jiubai take the lead, the other great scholars and venerable masters, including Shen Yakang, also rose to greet Lin Xuan.
Though they held lofty positions in the literary world,
Lin Xuan was both the Emperor Consort and the author of that line of timeless brilliance.
His talent and status were both exalted enough to earn the respect of Jiang Jiubai and the others.
The people below the platform also began praising him.
"So the man who wrote that line is the Emperor Consort! Incredible!"
"The Emperor Consort is so handsome and so talented. He's truly won at life!"
"Ah, I'm so jealous!"
Unlike everyone else, Sima Wenyi had just stepped inside when he saw his teacher, Shen Yakang, bowing to Lin Xuan.
Sima Wenyi's face fell at once.
A crushing sense of defeat weighed on him, sweeping away all his pride.
Lin Xuan's status, talent, and looks were all top-notch.
Even his teacher had bowed and greeted him. Sima Wenyi wasn't worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Lin Xuan!
With Lin Xuan around, how could Mu Youqing ever spare him a glance?
At the thought, the sheet of paper in Sima Wenyi's hand, covered in a poem of undying love, seemed to burn hot.
Even if someone asked him to show it now, he wouldn't want to.
Grinding his teeth, Sima Wenyi crumpled the paper to pieces, then turned and left the hall, looking dejected.
He couldn't bear to stay and watch Lin Xuan shine brightly, basking in the adoration of the crowd.
By now,
Lin Xuan had finished greeting Jiang Jiubai and the other nine great masters of literature, and they had all returned to their seats.
Lin Xuan took his own seat as well.
Fortunately, the chair was wide enough for all four little girls to sit with him.
Seeing the four adorable girls, like little kittens, sitting in Lin Xuan's lap,
the tens of thousands attending the literary gathering all looked envious.
Some of the male scholars especially wished they could rush home and have a daughter with their wives, just so they could dote on her.
Xuanzhu and her three little sisters were simply too lovable.
Lin Xuan with the four children made such a heartwarming sight that it nearly melted everyone's hearts.
Just as the crowd was quietly marveling at them, a holy light suddenly shone.
Behind the guest seats where Lin Xuan and the others sat, a gigantic statue, a hundred meters tall, appeared amid the light.
The statue wore a scholar's long robe. He held a brush in his left hand and a book in his right, gazing up at the sky with an extraordinary air.
With the knowledge bestowed on him by the Mysterious Absolute Heavenly Book, Lin Xuan recognized the statue at a glance. It was Wenqu Star.
Xuanzhu pointed at the statue and asked, "Daddy, is that Grandpa Wenqu Star?"
Lin Xuan smiled admiringly. "You know about Wenqu Star too?"
"Yep!" Xuanzhu nodded. "Mother taught me."
Lin Xuan nodded silently. Xuanzhu was the most polite of the four children, and the one who loved literature most.
Donghuang Ziyou must have noticed her traits and taught her accordingly.
"But Mother only briefly mentioned Grandpa Wenqu Star."
"I still don't know what kind of person he was!"
Xuanzhu furrowed her brow.
Lin Xuan smiled. "According to legend, Wenqu Star is the fourth star of the Big Dipper, a star of scholarship descended into the mortal world."
"He governs academic honors, literary fame, and official appointments in the mortal world. He's also overflowing with talent and renowned for his literary brilliance."
Xuanzhu thought for a moment, then nodded. "So he's a literary grandpa who used to be the Big Dipper."
"You could put it that way." Lin Xuan felt that Xuanzhu was truly perceptive and had summed it up very well.
Xuanzhu asked again, "Then why do people build a statue of him?"
"Of course, because they admire and love him." Lin Xuan smiled and rubbed Xuanzhu's little head.
"Oh!" Xuanzhu nodded.
Xuanxi's big eyes spun as two adorable dimples appeared in her smile.
"Then I want to build a statue of Daddy too!"
Xuanhan held up four fingers. "I'll build four—one for each of us!"
Xuanyou shook her little head. "That's not enough! I'm going to build a thousand, ten thousand!"
Xuanzhu, Xuanxi, and Xuanhan all looked stunned.
In unison, they said, "Xuanyou, if you build that many, what if you can't keep an eye on them and someone steals them?"
Xuanyou: °.°·(((p(≧□≦)q)))·°.°
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