While Liu Cheng went after Wei Kuang, the others seated beside the stream were reviewing the linked verse they had just composed.
Wang Yang had received the most flowers and won the prizes for this round-a Boshan Gilt-Bronze Incense Burner with "Qinghe" engraved on its base, supposedly used by the celebrated Western Jin writer Lu Yun during his tenure as Governor of Qinghe; a silver incense box, spoon, and chopsticks; and a cake of blended incense made by the Music Family themselves (incense mixed and combined into a blend), following a secret recipe left by Fan Ye.
This Boshan incense burner was excavated from the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan in the Han dynasty, and is now housed in the Hebei Museum. Boshan was an immortal mountain in the sea, a popular design for incense burners at the time.
(Due to the image's character limit, the description continues here: when the fragrance rose, it resembled a mist-wreathed immortal realm. Hot water placed in the lower basin warmed the incense, creating the image of seawater surrounding a mountain.)
As the saying went, a beauty's red sleeves added incense to the room. The ancients were quite particular about the art of incense, regarding it as an elegant pursuit. Wang Yang had little interest in that, but looking at Lu Yun's incense burner put him in a good mood. There was a certain pleasure in handling antiquities.
Although Le Zhan was the one giving away the prizes, he had gained a fine poem-one he had helped compose, no less-and was even happier than Wang Yang, who had received them! The more he looked at Wang Yang, the more he liked him! He immediately chuckled and said, "Zhi Yan, I have a niece from my cousin's branch of the family. She's