Poem of an Abandoned Wife (Part Three)
Everyone understood the circumstances under which Yin Yan had left.
When Yin JiYao brought this up, Emperor Ning was displeased but smiled after seeing her punish herself with a cup of wine.
Since she was a young girl, she probably did not do it on purpose. There was no need to punish her any further.
Emperor Ning waved his hand and gave Eunuch Gao a look, “Quickly write down young miss Yin’s poem. If everyone could have the same level of creativity as young miss Yin, it’s possible that the poems from today’s spring banquet could become something on par with the Lantingji Xu.”*
Yin JiYao let out a long sigh of relief.
She finally showed herself in front of Emperor Ning and everyone else. She was no longer just a young miss from the prime minister’s manor that nobody knew about.
But Yin Shuo was clearly displeased. He never thought that there would come a day when she would oppose him.
She forced a smile and grabbed Yin Shuo’s arm, trying to explain to him in a gentle tone, “Eldest brother, I was just…”
Yin Shuo coldly pulled his arm back, leaving Yin JiYao’s hand to hang in midair before she awkwardly retracted her hand.
“There’s no need to explain.”
He was clearly smiling, but his words were as cold as metal.
Those nearby were definitely unable to tell what he had said to her, leaving her all alone to bear this coldness in the middle of this banquet…
The second cup of wine began drifting down the stream.
This time, the lotus leaf drifted past Yin Shuo and Yin JiYao’s seats and continued to bravely drift further downstream.
Yu Fu smiled and Gu ShuBai and said: “I haven’t seen eldest brother compose a poem before. I only ever saw a few essays that were left with Teacher Lin from when eldest brother was younger.”
Gu ShuBai watched the lotus leaf drift past the eldest prince and gently laughed, saying: “Oh? Which essays did you see?”
His eyes shimmered with curiosity, as he looked at Yu Fu from up close. The latter was a little embarrassed.
Slightly lowering her head, she thought back to Gu ShuBai’s poems that she had seen and wanted to tell him that she would not forget something that she had seen once…
Suddenly, she heard a sound. It turned out that a palace maid near the eldest prince had dropped a pear into the stream.
Initially, the lotus leaf had stopped in front of the second prince. With the splash caused by the pear, it was dislodged and continued downstream.
With this happening, the cup stopped in front of Princess DanYang.
“How could you be so careless?”
The eldest prince gently scolded her, and the palace maid acknowledged her mistake, immediately dropping to her knees and not daring to offer any excuses.
Under normal circumstances, dropping a pear was not a big deal, yet her carelessness had changed where the lotus leaf stopped. This made it a big deal.
Everyone up above saw this, and it was Emperor Ning who said: “Forget it. She didn’t do it on purpose. Since the cup stopped in front of DanYang, let’s have DanYang compose a poem!”
Princess DanYang and Yin Shuo very rarely interacted. Allowing her to show off a little would allow Yin Shuo to know her better.
He might even slowly come to adore her, and the marriage between the two would become even more harmonious.
Princess DanYang was currently in a trance and was thinking about how she could steal Gu ShuBai back when she was suddenly named to compose a poem.
Her mind was a mess. How could she be in the right mind to compose a poem?
The second prince shot a glare at the eldest prince, his eyes filled with enmity.
As Princess DanYang’s imperial brother, the eldest prince clearly knew what she felt for Gu ShuBai, yet he insisted on having her compose a poem at a time like this. It was clear that he was trying to have her make a fool of herself!
The eldest prince looked back at him with an innocent expression, “Second brother, don’t be so anxious. It was imperial brother’s servant who was clumsy and ruined second brother’s chance at glory. I will send this servant to second brother’s palace later to be punished as you see fit. What do you think?”
“No matter how clever a dog is, don’t they still listen to their master? It’s only you and me here. Why must eldest brother play dumb and refuse to admit it?”
The eldest faintly smiled and retracted his gaze, ignoring his endless pestering.
Who said that they were the only ones who could hear?
Gu ShuBai and his group were sitting nearby. He had heard that once someone’s martial arts ability reached a certain level, their hearing would be better than normal; moreover, the extremely old Deity of Medicine was also present. He did not dare carelessly reveal what he truly thought.
Princess DanYang thought carefully thought back. During the usual gatherings of noble young ladies, they would recite poems for fun. Right now, she could just recite a poem that had already been written before.
It was just that she was in too much of a rush and could not think of a good one.
Got one. It was a rather normal one, but it was rather fitting for the occasion!
She stood up and slowly recited: “Cherry blossoms cover the mountaintops, and the spring melt streams down the mountain. The red flowers quickly wither much like love, the water flows endlessly like my worry.”
Once again, it was a heartfelt poem filled with misery, but with that exquisite poem by Yin JiYao coming first, Princess DanYang’s felt much more shallow.
Moreover, it was not refined to express the trivial matters shared amongst young ladies to a crowd of court officials.
Yin JiYao’s poem could be explained as thinking of her parents, but Princess DanYang’s poem had the tone of an abandoned wife!
Connecting the dots, they thought back to Emperor Ning sanctioning the marriage between Yu Fu and Gu ShuBai. With these thoughts in mind, could it be that Princess DanYang thought of herself as Gu ShuBai’s abandoned wife?
For a girl who was not yet married, such behavior was far too lacking in dignity.
In the crowd, some began to quietly discuss this. There were also some who covered their mouths and secretly laughed.
Imperial Consort Xian cast a quiet look of scorn in her direction.
This sort of princess born of the empress was worthy of showing off in front of Emperor Ning?
Pft.
Emperor Ning’s expression immediately turned ugly, as he looked at Princess DanYang with a look of disappointment that she had never seen before.
*TN: A piece of writing that is considered the pinnacle of a certain calligraphy style. It was also written during a Spring purification celebration.
Poem of an Abandoned Wife (Part Three)
Everyone understood the circumstances under which Yin Yan had left.
When Yin JiYao brought this up, Emperor Ning was displeased but smiled after seeing her punish herself with a cup of wine.
Since she was a young girl, she probably did not do it on purpose. There was no need to punish her any further.
Emperor Ning waved his hand and gave Eunuch Gao a look, “Quickly write down young miss Yin’s poem. If everyone could have the same level of creativity as young miss Yin, it’s possible that the poems from today’s spring banquet could become something on par with the Lantingji Xu.”*
Yin JiYao let out a long sigh of relief.
She finally showed herself in front of Emperor Ning and everyone else. She was no longer just a young miss from the prime minister’s manor that nobody knew about.
But Yin Shuo was clearly displeased. He never thought that there would come a day when she would oppose him.
She forced a smile and grabbed Yin Shuo’s arm, trying to explain to him in a gentle tone, “Eldest brother, I was just…”
Yin Shuo coldly pulled his arm back, leaving Yin JiYao’s hand to hang in midair before she awkwardly retracted her hand.
“There’s no need to explain.”
He was clearly smiling, but his words were as cold as metal.
Those nearby were definitely unable to tell what he had said to her, leaving her all alone to bear this coldness in the middle of this banquet…
The second cup of wine began drifting down the stream.
This time, the lotus leaf drifted past Yin Shuo and Yin JiYao’s seats and continued to bravely drift further downstream.
Yu Fu smiled and Gu ShuBai and said: “I haven’t seen eldest brother compose a poem before. I only ever saw a few essays that were left with Teacher Lin from when eldest brother was younger.”
Gu ShuBai watched the lotus leaf drift past the eldest prince and gently laughed, saying: “Oh? Which essays did you see?”
His eyes shimmered with curiosity, as he looked at Yu Fu from up close. The latter was a little embarrassed.
Slightly lowering her head, she thought back to Gu ShuBai’s poems that she had seen and wanted to tell him that she would not forget something that she had seen once…
Suddenly, she heard a sound. It turned out that a palace maid near the eldest prince had dropped a pear into the stream.
Initially, the lotus leaf had stopped in front of the second prince. With the splash caused by the pear, it was dislodged and continued downstream.
With this happening, the cup stopped in front of Princess DanYang.
“How could you be so careless?”
The eldest prince gently scolded her, and the palace maid acknowledged her mistake, immediately dropping to her knees and not daring to offer any excuses.
Under normal circumstances, dropping a pear was not a big deal, yet her carelessness had changed where the lotus leaf stopped. This made it a big deal.
Everyone up above saw this, and it was Emperor Ning who said: “Forget it. She didn’t do it on purpose. Since the cup stopped in front of DanYang, let’s have DanYang compose a poem!”
Princess DanYang and Yin Shuo very rarely interacted. Allowing her to show off a little would allow Yin Shuo to know her better.
He might even slowly come to adore her, and the marriage between the two would become even more harmonious.
Princess DanYang was currently in a trance and was thinking about how she could steal Gu ShuBai back when she was suddenly named to compose a poem.
Her mind was a mess. How could she be in the right mind to compose a poem?
The second prince shot a glare at the eldest prince, his eyes filled with enmity.
As Princess DanYang’s imperial brother, the eldest prince clearly knew what she felt for Gu ShuBai, yet he insisted on having her compose a poem at a time like this. It was clear that he was trying to have her make a fool of herself!
The eldest prince looked back at him with an innocent expression, “Second brother, don’t be so anxious. It was imperial brother’s servant who was clumsy and ruined second brother’s chance at glory. I will send this servant to second brother’s palace later to be punished as you see fit. What do you think?”
“No matter how clever a dog is, don’t they still listen to their master? It’s only you and me here. Why must eldest brother play dumb and refuse to admit it?”
The eldest faintly smiled and retracted his gaze, ignoring his endless pestering.
Who said that they were the only ones who could hear?
Gu ShuBai and his group were sitting nearby. He had heard that once someone’s martial arts ability reached a certain level, their hearing would be better than normal; moreover, the extremely old Deity of Medicine was also present. He did not dare carelessly reveal what he truly thought.
Princess DanYang thought carefully thought back. During the usual gatherings of noble young ladies, they would recite poems for fun. Right now, she could just recite a poem that had already been written before.
It was just that she was in too much of a rush and could not think of a good one.
Got one. It was a rather normal one, but it was rather fitting for the occasion!
She stood up and slowly recited: “Cherry blossoms cover the mountaintops, and the spring melt streams down the mountain. The red flowers quickly wither much like love, the water flows endlessly like my worry.”
Once again, it was a heartfelt poem filled with misery, but with that exquisite poem by Yin JiYao coming first, Princess DanYang’s felt much more shallow.
Moreover, it was not refined to express the trivial matters shared amongst young ladies to a crowd of court officials.
Yin JiYao’s poem could be explained as thinking of her parents, but Princess DanYang’s poem had the tone of an abandoned wife!
Connecting the dots, they thought back to Emperor Ning sanctioning the marriage between Yu Fu and Gu ShuBai. With these thoughts in mind, could it be that Princess DanYang thought of herself as Gu ShuBai’s abandoned wife?
For a girl who was not yet married, such behavior was far too lacking in dignity.
In the crowd, some began to quietly discuss this. There were also some who covered their mouths and secretly laughed.
Imperial Consort Xian cast a quiet look of scorn in her direction.
This sort of princess born of the empress was worthy of showing off in front of Emperor Ning?
Pft.
Emperor Ning’s expression immediately turned ugly, as he looked at Princess DanYang with a look of disappointment that she had never seen before.
*TN: A piece of writing that is considered the pinnacle of a certain calligraphy style. It was also written during a Spring purification celebration.
