Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 120 Young Chen Lin

The Nine-Bend Pavilion is located in the northeast corner of Qionghua Pavilion, and at this moment it faces the arched bridge across the lake.

A boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old bowed to the girl beside him and said, "Don't worry, Senior Sister. Steward Mu is keeping an eye on the Prince Consort, and I will also keep an eye on that person myself."

The young man was tall and straight with fair skin. Even dressed in servant's clothes, his handsome features were still evident, especially the small beauty mark under his left eye, which was very eye-catching.

The young girl was none other than Mingwu, the eldest disciple of Madam Zhou, who had taken Mingyue to the Tang family mansion in Lin'an. She instructed, "You are always careful, but you have made a mistake this time."

The young man was on his first mission and was wondering what he had done wrong. Then he heard Mingwu, with a stern face, coldly remind him: "You should at least make your face a little darker, otherwise when you go to serve at the banquet later, be careful that some young master doesn't take you away."

Upon hearing this, the boy's face flushed red. He dared not argue and hurriedly turned around to take out a piece of charcoal wrapped in a scrap of cloth from a pouch embroidered with bamboo leaf patterns at his waist. He hastily applied the charcoal evenly to his skin and then rubbed it a couple of times with a handkerchief.

"...Senior sister, is this okay?"

Mingwu sighed, tucking the thumb-sized porcelain bottle back into her sleeve. Regardless, she was determined to have a serious talk with her master when she returned; Junior Brother Chen was indeed unsuitable for this line of work. The patriarch needed manpower in Jinzhou, so they could send Junior Brother there.

Meanwhile, at Qionghua Pavilion.

A servant came to the side courtyard to deliver a message: the young masters of each household had finished their greetings and were about to go to the Nine-Bend Pavilion to attend a poetry gathering. The maids in the courtyard were to leave in order.

When Hua Yan and her companions arrived at the flower hall, the Second Miss was with Miss Su and Miss Sun. The eldest daughter of the Marquis's mansion, Tang Yu'er, was standing in front of the Second Miss, with Tang Ling'er and three other young ladies who were close to her standing beside her.

“Mother Wei is going with her mother to Lianxinzhai to attend the Princess’s banquet. Let’s go to Jiuqu Pavilion now.”

Hua Yanmingyue stepped forward, Ruizhu nodded to Hua Yan and stood with Caiyue and Caixia, while Mengzhu and Donggua stayed to one side, trailing far behind the group.

Although Mr. Lin did not come from a distinguished family, his father had a deep connection with the Prince Rui's mansion. Therefore, Mr. Lin grew up in the mansion and received royal education along with the princess. Later, he was invited to teach at private schools in various mansions several times. He had an excellent reputation in the capital, and noble families considered it an honor to have Mr. Lin teach their daughters.

This poetry gathering was quite unique. Mr. Lin, dressed in an elegant light blue scholar's robe, sat quietly in front of the pavilion, a book in his hand. The second young lady and Hua Yan exchanged a glance, both feeling as if they were studying at Muyunzhai.

A moment later, two maids brought several items to the table and gently placed them. Mr. Lin stood up, cleared his throat, and announced in a clear voice, "The three prefectures, including Jinzhou, are suffering from a severe drought. The Princess is deeply worried and has specially entrusted me to organize this poetry gathering. The theme of this gathering is 'Five Grains,' and the winner will receive a pair of pearl-embellished phoenix hairpins as a prize from Her Highness the Princess."

After saying that, she pointed to the millet and other grains on the table, and on a red brocade tray on the side, a pair of phoenix hairpins shone brightly.

As soon as an incense stick burned, the area outside the pavilion was divided by a curtain, and the twenty-odd young ladies inside were divided into two rows, kneeling respectfully outside the pavilion. Before long, two teams of servants came forward one by one with writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones, and carefully placed them on the table in front of each young lady.

Hua Yan began to lay out paper and grind ink, while Meng Zhu and the others waited outside the curtain. During this time, Dong Gua went to the lakeside as Hua Yan instructed. Apart from the servants of the Princess's Mansion, everyone else in the manor came from the Tang Mansion, so no one drove Dong Gua away when he went up.

None of the young ladies were particularly talented, and the second young lady of the Marquis's mansion was somewhat troubled. She knelt before the table according to the rules, her eyes listless.

She's someone who can't even write a limerick.

Fortunately, Tang Yu'er knew her younger sister's capabilities. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she wrote a mediocre poem and handed it to the maid beside her.

Miss Lu sat upright at the table, concentrating on drawing, while her trained staff wrote the drawings for her.

With a young lady who was unfamiliar with poetry and literature preceding her, there was naturally another young lady like the second, who pondered deeply before finally putting pen to paper. Hua Yan turned her attention to Miss Jiang. According to the information she had gathered earlier, although Miss Jiang was the daughter of a military family, she was exceptionally skilled in poetry, literature, and needlework. Now she could see that as Miss Jiang only thought for a moment before picking up her pen.

Miss Lu and Tang Ling'er were cheating so openly, yet Mr. Lin didn't care. She leisurely closed her eyes to rest, and when she got bored, she had her maid bring a Go set to the Nine-Bend Pavilion to study a game of Go. Occasionally, she would put down the Go manual and glance in the direction of the Second Miss, but her gaze would unconsciously fall on Hua Yan.

'Back when we were taking chess lessons at Muyunzhai, this little maidservant next to Wan'er was actually more intelligent,' Mr. Lin murmured, shaking his head and not dwelling on it.

Halfway through the hour, Liu Yuhe, holding the completed poem, stood up and walked to Su Wanwan's table, saying with a smile, "I've heard that Grand Secretary Su is exceptionally talented and has been praised by the Emperor several times in court. I'm sure that with Grand Secretary Su's guidance, Sister Su will surely win the prize!"

The Su and Liu families had never had any dealings, so Su Wanwan was a little puzzled. However, she politely put down her pen, stood up, and replied, "Miss Liu is too kind. Everyone here comes from families with a long tradition of scholarship, and I, Su, dare not presume to be so. In my humble opinion, the key to this poetry and prose session is not the literary talent itself." After saying this, she prepared to sit down again, treating it as just a casual greeting.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yuhe spread out the poem manuscript, leaned forward and said in a feigned friendly manner, "Sister Su is too modest. I was just thinking of asking you for some advice."

The change was sudden, and Caiyue and Caixia were caught off guard, causing the half-dry ink to 'accidentally' stain Su Wanwan's sleeve.

Upon hearing Caiyue's exclamation, all the young ladies in the room turned to look in this direction. Liu Yuhe, realizing she had caused trouble, hurriedly apologized and took out a handkerchief to wipe it, but naturally, the more she wiped, the dirtier it became, and a blot of ink spread out.

Ruizhu saw this scene through the curtain and stared at Huayan in disbelief. There really was something fishy going on... She had been watching Miss Su's side the whole time and saw it more clearly than anyone else. Just now, Miss Liu had deliberately stuck the poem on Miss Su.

Hua Yan remained silent upon seeing this. According to Miss Liu's plan, shouldn't her cousin be the next to take the stage?