Chapter 271: I Wonder If Mr. Lin Pei Is Here?

Lin Xun, who was bragging and chatting next door, had already felt Jiang Qingshang’s gentle gaze.

Lin Xun panicked in his heart.

But even though Lin Xun was panicking inside, he remained as steady as an old dog on the surface!

You’ve got to be kidding; if he showed any weakness now, he’d be finished!

Besides, there was no need for him to panic.

He had written the poem anonymously.

Writing anonymously was a bit strange since the literati of the Qian Kingdom had a strong desire to show off, but it wasn’t unheard of.

Moreover, he believed that Madam Wang and Wang Xing would not sell him out.

After all, Madam Wang and Wang Xing had no reason to expose him.

As long as that was the case, as long as he refused to admit it, Qinger wouldn’t suspect him!

“Sister Qinger.”

“Young Master Lin, Sister Qinger.”

Just as Lin Xun continued to chat and laugh with his colleagues, a pleasant and familiar voice came from not far away.

Lin Xun turned his head to look, and when he saw the three of them—especially Sikong Wangxing—his body shuddered!

Similarly, Sikong Wangxing did not expect to meet Lin Xun here.

Didn’t Big Brother Lin say Sister Qinger was tired and resting in the courtyard?

But why was she at Luo Lake?

Sikong Wangxing then thought about how Big Brother Lin often left her.

“Could it be that Big Brother Lin wasn’t free because Sister Qinger was resting, but because he was originally accompanying Sister Qinger and gave half of that time to me?”

As she thought about it, the young girl’s cheeks grew redder and redder.

“Does Big Brother Lin really like me?”

“Was that poem really written for me by Big Brother Lin?”

“Could it be as Madam Wang said, that Big Brother Lin has long since…”

For a moment, Wang Xing’s heart was in a bit of a mess, and she didn’t know what to do.

The girl’s heart felt sweet, as if she were in a dream.

But she was also afraid of waking up and finding it all for naught.

If only Lin Xun, Jiang Qingshang, and Sikong Wangxing were present, the subtlety between Lin Xun and Sikong Wangxing would surely have been noticed.

Fortunately, because of the crowd and the way Little Girls like Yaya swarmed forward upon seeing beautiful older sisters, the atmosphere suddenly became much livelier.

After the three young women greeted Lin Xun’s side, they sat down on the side for female guests.

Upon hearing that the girl’s name was ‘Wang Xing’, Madam Liu and the others all widened their eyes in curiosity, covered their mouths, and asked whether ‘Miss Wangxing had been to the Poetry Garden’.

Lin Xun, on the other hand, was feeling terrified.

Just as Wang Xing wanted to hide the fact that she hadn’t been to the Poetry Garden to avoid making things difficult for Big Brother Lin, several flower boats came swaying along the banks of Luo Lake.

One bright flower boat after another was like floating lanterns on the lake, exquisite and magnificent.

On each flower boat, beautiful women dressed in light gauze skirts—who looked cold even on this snowy day—stepped out one by one.

Like a teacher walking into a noisy self-study classroom, the vast banks of Luo Lake suddenly fell silent.

Some of these women held pipas, some held Jade Zithers, and there were also those with jade flutes and bamboo flutes, as if they were about to hold a classical music concert.

Everyone knew that this grand arrangement was for singing the best lyrics and melodies from the Poetry Garden.

If it were a poem, it would be recited, and even with accompaniment, it would be simple.

With so many instruments appearing now, it could only be for a Ci poem.

Some people by Luo Lake had already heard that poem; these were the talents who had participated in the Poetry Garden, but they had not spoken of the lyrics.

According to the rules, the poem must first be sung at Luo Lake for its best debut.

So most people had only heard that a masterpiece had emerged from the Poetry Garden this year, but they did not know the content of the lyrics.

Especially seeing the dazed looks of the talents who had attended the Poetry Garden, their hearts were already itching with curiosity.

And now! Was this poem finally about to be revealed to the world?

The sound of a pipa rang out, followed by a girl lightly plucking a Jade Zither, and then the sound of a jade flute.

On the central flower boat, a famous singer from Luo City slowly began to sing the lyrics, her voice carrying across the entire banks of Luo Lake through an amplification Magical Artifact.

“The east wind at night lets bloom a thousand trees. It blows down stars like rain.”

The fiery trees were like lanterns, and the starry rain like flowing fireworks; the east wind had not yet urged the flowers to bloom, but it first blew open the silver flowers on the fire trees.

It not only blew open the lantern flowers on the ground but also blew down colorful stars from the sky like rain—ignited fireworks that first soared into the clouds and then fell from the air like a meteor shower.

“Noble horses and carved carriages fill the road with fragrance. The phoenix flute’s sound moves, the jade pot’s light turns, and all night the fish and dragons dance.”

A fairyland on earth where carriages, drums, music, lanterns, and the moon shine together—the ‘Jade Pot’—where folk artists sing and dance, with the’Shehuo’ variety shows of fish and dragons, bustling and dazzling to the eyes.

As the first half of the song ended, the noise and prosperity of tonight reappeared before the eyes of the singer and in the hearts of the listeners.

There seemed to be the clamor of waiters, the silver bell-like laughter of girls, the shouts of vendors, and the scent of fireworks in the night sky.

“Moth-shaped ornaments, snow-willow hairpins, and gold threads. Laughing and talking, their subtle fragrance fades away.”

The wandering ladies, each with misty temples and cloud-like hair, covered in the moth ornaments and snow-willows unique to the Lantern Festival; these dressed-up women talked and laughed incessantly as they walked, leaving only the scent of their clothes to drift in the darkness after they passed.

As that line was sung, some thin-skinned girls’ cheeks were already slightly flushed.

“In the crowd, I searched for her a thousand times. Suddenly turning my head, that person was there, where the lanterns were dim.”

The pure and beautiful girls who left behind a subtle fragrance were not the ones I cared for; the one I was looking for was not them.

I searched incessantly, but her trace was always hard to find.

Was there no hope left?

I walked down the street in disappointment when suddenly, I felt something.

I suddenly turned my head.

It turned out she had always been there, by that corner of fading light.

She had always been there, never leaving.

The song ended, and the sound faded.

On the lakeshore, there was no applause, only a blanket of silence.

Everyone was immersed in the lyrics and melody, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

On the lakeshore, Wang Xing’s little face was blood-red. Her small hands tightly gripped the hem of her skirt, and her eyes darted left and right at the white snow on the ground, not daring to look at Sister Qinger beside her, much less at Big Brother Lin.

Lin Xun took a deep breath to calm his emotions!

Don’t panic! I won’t be exposed!

Not knowing who reacted first, applause broke out, followed by thunderous applause along the banks of Luo Lake.

Because in previous years, these flower boats would depart amidst the applause, Lin Xun clapped very vigorously!

Hurry up and leave! From now on, just let there be an anonymous poet named Zhen Dishuai.

As for going to the brothels to listen to music for free, forget it; just give me the five hundred taels.

But unexpectedly!

The girls on these flower boats did not leave after bowing. Instead, they waited for the applause to die down, and the leading woman slowly spoke:

“I wonder if Mr. Lin Pei is here?”