Chapter 21: The Gifted Scholar

  Chen Qi's carriage was very stable and soon arrived at Nanzhuang.

  Nan Zhuang is the name of this villa.

  In his early years, after his great-uncle became wealthy, he added a lot of land to the Chen family in Jingzhong Alley. Within tens of miles around Nan Zhuang, all are private properties of the Chen family up to now. Among these lands, there is a place surrounded by water on three sides, with beautiful scenery in late spring, where the colors are dense and seem to be painted with ink, and where the colors are light and seem to be shrouded in mist, which is breathtakingly beautiful.

  Great-grandfather came to see the spring sowing, and as a result, he saw this place, thinking of building a villa, which would be a great place for entertainment in the future. Moreover, this place is certainly cool in the scorching summer, making it more suitable for escaping the heat.

  After hesitating for half a year, his great-grandfather finally made up his mind and invested heavily in building this courtyard, which was named Nanzhuang.

  Outside Nanzhuang, there are all farmlands, with lush green rice seedlings resembling emerald clouds.

  The wheat waves gently, and the rice wind blows slowly.

  The entrance of the villa is a spacious area, already filled with luxury cars.

  The courtyard wall of Nanzhuang is very high, probably because it's afraid that the mischievous children in the village will climb over and damage the construction inside the yard. At the entrance, there are two large Chinese parasol trees with dense and deep green leaves like two giant umbrellas, supporting the shade.

  Chen Qi's carriage stopped, and Chen Xuan and Chen Qi jumped down from the carriage.

  At the gate, there is a young servant welcoming people.

  Chen Qi and Chen Jing entered the door, walking along the left corridor. The long corridor was lined with various potted flowers, including luxurious peonies, elegant begonias, slender white orchids, and fragrant tea plants, filling the air with a subtle scent.

  At the end of the corridor is a two-person-high screen wall.

  Beyond the screen wall is a spacious corridor.

  Beyond the corridor is the Weeping Flower Gate.

  It gradually heard the sound of people and music, very lively.

  "Seventh brother, seventh brother!" Seeing Chen Qi, the fourth house's Chen Shi and Chen Ge immediately came up to him, attentive and courteous.

  Chen Qi just nodded slightly, with a cold attitude.

  He recently either followed Chen Ernian to read books, or thought about Xiweng, or looked for Chen Jing, and also had two friends Sun Shiyi and Huang Lankui, so his younger cousins, who were three years younger than him, gradually didn't want to play with them.

  "Seventh Brother, Second Brother has invited Miss Su!" Chen exclaimed excitedly in Chen Qi's ear.

  Su Shang and Xi Wen were also famous courtesans, only slightly less renowned than Xi Wen, but much more high-end than the likes of Lan.

  "Got it." Chen Qi himself had listened to the tune in Xiwen's room, and as for Su Shang, he didn't even bother to look at him.

  Can compare with Wen Mei?

  Is music better than literature?

  Chen Qi, who had eaten mountain delicacies and seafood, was unwilling to go back to eating ordinary dishes.

  "...Why do you always follow me around?" Chen Qi was being dismissive, but the two brothers still stuck close by, pushing Chen Jing behind Chen Qi, which made Chen Qi very unhappy. "Go away, go play on your own, do I have the energy to take care of you guys?"

  Then he himself retreated several steps and stood beside Chen Jing.

  Chen Jiong smiled and followed Chen Qi further inside.

  "Seventh Brother, we haven't been to Nanzhuang often, afraid of getting lost. Please guide us." Chen Shi said with a smile, still leaning on Chen Qi's side.

  Chen Qi's footsteps came to a halt, his face tightening: "Most of you, are you afraid of getting lost in the courtyard? Do you want me to call your wet nurse over and have her take you?"

  The two brothers of the fourth house didn't dare follow again.

  "Alright, let's go." Chen Qi finished scolding Chen Shi and Chen Shiyi, then turned to smile brightly at Chen Jing.

  Chen Jing followed Chen Qi inside and saw that they had shaken off the two brothers, then said: "You're a useless good-for-nothing!"

  "I'm not their mother, who has time to take care of kids? If they don't behave, they won't understand. Those two kids have no sense." Chen Qi laughed, thinking Chen Jing was just joking.

  Chen Jiong said no more.

  The relationship between the few houses in Jingzhong Lane seems simple, but in fact there are many obscure things that outsiders cannot understand. This kind of thing has been the case since ancient times. In his previous life, Chen Xiang also had three uncles, five or six paternal granduncles, and not a few paternal cousins, all of whom he understood.

  The two of them soon arrived at the main building.

  Second Brother Chen Ying is busy entertaining his friends.

  Chen Jiong and Chen Qi came in, went forward and greeted Second Brother.

  The second brother was also busy and had no time to take care of the two younger brothers, he just instructed them: "If you want to listen to the opera, find a seat and sit down; if you want to play, there are boats in the river in the backyard, go and have fun yourself."

  In the backyard of Nanzhuang, a large pond was dug out by the river, and the river water was introduced into the courtyard. Then, high iron railings were erected to separate the inside and outside of the yard. Because they were afraid of flooding and damaging the house, a reservoir was specially dug in the lower reaches.

  There were many boats in the courtyard, and also servants who rowed the boats.

  "Second Brother, don't bother about us, we'll play as we like." said Chen Qi.

  Chen Jiong also said so.

  Chen Ying indeed had no time to bother with them, patted Chen Xuan and Chen Qi's shoulders, said a few words of consolation, and then turned around to greet other relatives and friends.

  He seemed to be enjoying the bustle, with a look of excitement that hadn't been seen in him for days.

  Chen Jiong felt really annoyed.

  If it were Chen Jie, he would never organize such a gathering.

  Chen Qi then asked Chen Jing: "Where are we going?"

  "Let's go watch the play." said Chen Jiong.

  "What's with the old-fashioned tone?" Chen Qi complained to him, "There are plenty of fun things to do over here. The Autumn Garden behind is Third Uncle's hunting grounds, after lunch, Second Brother and the others will definitely go hunting, we can go first; the backyard can be used for boating and lotus picking; the south corridor can be used for playing liubo; famous courtesan Su Shang has arrived, she'll definitely play music at the Lotus Washing Pavilion, which is more fun than watching plays."

  "You're so stubborn and want to watch the show, but you don't even want to move a bit, just like an old husband."

  Chen Jing heard his complaint and laughed, saying: "If you can't sit still, go wherever you want to play. I'll just stay here and listen to the opera, I won't wander around."

  Chen Qi's recent goal is to get along well with Chen Jing.

  Would he abandon Chen Jing and go off to have fun by himself?

  "Let's go out and have some fun." Chen Qi pulled Chen Jing.

  Chen Jiong couldn't get past him and had no choice but to follow him out of the main hall.

  As soon as I came out of the gate with hanging flowers, I saw several men in fine clothes and brocade, accompanied by Second Brother, walking inside.

  "Ah... Shen Changyu!" Chen Qi's eyes widened as he stared at one of the men in a pale blue changshan, his voice filled with surprise and slightly raised.

  The group of people then noticed Chen Qi and Chen Jing.

  The second brother smiled and whispered something to the person beside him.

  Shen Changyu nodded.

  Second Brother shouted at Chen Jing and Chen Qi: "Come over! This is Second Brother's bosom friend, you two come to pay your respects."

  Chen Jiong didn't understand at all.

  But as an outsider, he still had to give face to his elder brother, so he went forward and paid his respects one by one to Shen Changyu and the others.

  "This is my younger brother's son." The second brother introduced Chen Qi, then introduced Chen Jing, "This is our cousin Yang Ji, his elder brother is Chen Zhang Chen Jiaxing."

  "Oh..." Shen Changyu didn't say anything, but someone who was traveling with them suddenly spoke up.

  Chen Jiong's elder brother was famous in Wangxian City and even more so among scholars.

  Whenever Chen Zhang is mentioned, even if one is jealous at heart, they must still praise him as a "prodigy" on the surface.

  "Two younger brothers, elegant and refined, will surely become pillars of the country in the future." Shen Changyu politely praised Chen Xuan and Chen Qi.

  Second brother smiled.

  After everyone exchanged greetings, they passed each other by.

  After Second Brother led Shen Changyu and the others in, Chen Qi couldn't help but turn his head to take another look, then said enviously: "Second Brother really has friends all over the world. He's actually on good terms with Shen Changyu too."

  "Who is Shen Changyu?" Chen Jing knew that Chen Qi didn't like to read books, but Shen Changyu was obviously a bookworm. A bookworm who wasn't scolded by Chen Qi as an idiot, instead being admired in such a way, made Chen Jing wonder and curious about Shen Changyu's identity.

  "Have you read too many books and gone silly? You don't even know Shen Changyu." Chen Qi was blunt, showing off his vast knowledge, "The Shen family of Nanqiao Alley, Shen Wei and Shen Changyu, the best among the talented scholars of Jiangnan, passed the imperial examination at 15 years old, far more impressive than your brother!"

  "Oh." Chen Jiong said.

  "Don't you believe?" Chen Jiong's reaction was too calm, without any shock, which made Chen Qi very unhappy. He continued, "Your brother was 22 years old when he passed the imperial examination and ranked seventh; Shen Changyu was 15 years old when he passed the imperial examination and was the top scholar of the two Zhejiang provinces!"

  "Is that so......" Chen Jiong continued walking forward.

  Is that so?

  This tone of disdain, as if Chen Jing looked down on the person he admired, made Chen Qi lose face. Suddenly furious: "The Shen family is the first family in our county, they have produced two jinshi and three juren. So people say that their family is 'one door with two jinshi, a clan with three juren'. Don't you think he's impressive?"

  "Awesome." Chen Jiong knew what the solution to the Two Zhe Road was.

  In an era with such a low passing rate for imperial examinations, the champion of the provincial examination was even more formidable than the provincial champion in later generations, and being called a genius was nothing.

  Chen Jing still remembered that the last time his great-grandfather advised him to study, he told him that in the past 130 years of Wangxian County, only three jinshi had emerged, and two of them were from the Shen family.

  This door is in a very high position in Wangxian County.

  The gate is high, and the person is also full of talent, with a reputation that fills the world, it's really impressive!

  "Your tone doesn't show that you think he's impressive!" Chen Qi was dissatisfied.

  Chen Jiong burst out laughing.

  "...I think he's amazing. But what I want to ask is, Seventh Brother, why do you admire him so much? You don't like reading books, whether or not he's a top scholar doesn't concern you; my brother is also a jinshi, but I've never seen you show respect for my brother." Chen Jing explained.

  Chen Qi introduced Shen Changyu for half a day, but Chen Jing felt that he hadn't gotten to the point, so she waited for his next words.

  Who would have known, Chen Qi was anxious first.

  Chen Jing's words made Chen Qi choke for a moment.

  Chen Qi wanted to explain that he respected Chen Jing as an elder brother. But this was too fake, and even Chen Qi himself felt a bit embarrassed to say it out loud.

  "...He had a troupe of musicians, and his own household had singing girls whom he himself taught. The skills of those singing girls were not inferior to those of Xi Wen; his poetic talent was outstanding, and the whole of Liangzhe Road sang his poems; his paintings were sought after by many people with large sums of money, but he only gave away two a year. Wherever he went, the most famous courtesans in the land considered it an honor to meet him. If he could bestow a poem on them, it would immediately add luster to their reputation." Chen Qi spoke with a face full of admiration.

  "Ah!" Chen Jiong finally understood why Chen Qi revered Shen Changyu so much.

  Envy is admiring others for being famous and sought after.

  Chen Qi had been eating closed-door steamed buns on Xi Wen's side for more than a year, while Xi Wen wanted to see Shen Changyu, which was extremely difficult. This position is indeed enviable.

  Shen Changyu is not just a talented young man from Wangxian, he is a great talent of the entire Liangzhe Road.

  Compared with Chen Jiong's elder brother Chen Zhang, he is indeed a hundred times more powerful.

  "You'd better study hard and gain a reputation as a talented scholar, then you can keep a mistress and have people sing your praises and seek you out for your poetry and painting." Chen Jing said with a smile.

  Chen Qi gave him a white eye.

  Who doesn't want to be famous?

  Is it so easy to become famous?

  Chen Jing always responded to things with a tone of "what's the big deal", which made Chen Qi both angry and helpless.

  How arrogant.

  However, Chen Qi ridiculed him for being arrogant, and he was about to prove it to Chen Qi, which made Chen Qi a little afraid to make fun of him now.

  For example, during the Spring Festival last year, he said that San Shu's chess skills were "not bad", and then defeated San Shu who had never been defeated by anyone in the Chen family; he said "medical skills are just like that", and then casually prescribed a prescription, which cured two cases of difficult diseases that other doctors couldn't cure.

  Even if Chen Qi were to be foolish again, he wouldn't think it was all just a coincidence.

  Now Chen Jing thinks that "a talented person is just reading books, writing poems and painting, and then becoming famous all over the world", will he also make a name for himself as a talented person tomorrow?

  Chen Qi suddenly had an idea.

  "Where on earth did you pop out from?" Chen Qi suddenly asked Chen Jing seriously, "Tell me, can you write poetry or paint?"

  Ask clearly first, no matter what nonsense he spouts, Chen Qi will listen to it, lest one day he really makes a name for himself as a "genius" and scares Chen Qi to death. It's better to be mentally prepared beforehand.