The Virtuous Wife

Chapter 49: Difficult to Disobey the Holy Will

The emperor glanced at the queen, and he knew what she was planning. However, he just chuckled, "Okay! Since it was the queen's suggestion, I agree! But what's the point of her writing a poem alone? Why not let all the young ladies under ten years old write a poem? This way, it will be fair and lively. What do you think, Queen?"

The queen's heart choked. She originally thought that it would only embarrass the Su family's girl, but she didn't expect that the emperor would involve all the young ladies present. But the emperor has spoken, what else can she do? However, the queen's face suddenly changed, and she smiled again. She knew Min'er's talent, and this was a good opportunity to clear Min'er's name!

As soon as the emperor's order came out, the young ladies present had different expressions. Some were timid and nervous, some were excited, and some were envious because they were over ten years old. Some were jealous, and some looked like they were waiting to see the show.

Soon, seven young ladies stood in the center of the hall. In front of each young lady, a table was placed by the palace servants with the four treasures of the study.

Jingyi was the youngest and stood on the far right. She lowered her head. Everyone could not see her expression clearly. They just thought that she was young and nervous, afraid that she would not be able to write a poem later and make people laugh.

The emperor glanced at the young ladies and said with a smile: "Just now, Jingyi from Su Aiqing's family compared the queen to the king of flowers, the peony. I think it's very good! Today, the young ladies will write a poem on the theme of peony."

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the young ladies bowed and began to think, and some of them started writing directly. Only Jingyi still lowered her head, with her hands hanging at her sides, without any intention of writing.

At this time, a voice was heard from the women's seats: "It seems that Miss Su is just an embroidered pillow, which is a waste of her mother's reputation as a talented woman when she was young. She is so useless."

"Yes, look at Miss Bai, it seems that she is almost done. This is what a lady from a famous family should look like."

From time to time, there were voices mocking Jingyi in the crowd. Jingyi's eyes gradually became cold. She had no intention of showing anything. She just wanted to be a grass that did not compete for beauty. Now it seems that people actually looked down on her mother through her!

A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind! Such a simple truth, can't everyone understand it? Jingyi raised her head slightly and looked up. Seeing that the emperor was looking at her with a smile on his face, she was shocked. The emperor's eyes clearly wanted her to take the lead.

The Queen looked at Bai Min'er and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, since the ladies are showing their talents, they must be ranked. I wonder what the Emperor intends to reward for the first place?"

Hearing this, the Emperor leaned back and said, "It's not too late to decide after the winner is ranked."

The Queen's bright eyes turned slightly and smiled, "Why not, I will give her the mother-of-pearl dressing mirror inlaid with gemstones that the Emperor gave her a few days ago, what do you think?"

The Emperor looked at her meaningfully and said softly, "It's good if the Queen is willing to give it up."

The Queen felt a little guilty when she was looked at by the Emperor. She said so because she saw that Bai Min'er had a good chance of winning. But if the Emperor saw her little thoughts, she would still feel a little uncomfortable.

Jingyi had already picked up the pen at this time. She saw the Emperor's eyes clearly just now. If she couldn't win, she was afraid that the emperor would vent his anger on her mother. Jingyi stopped thinking and started writing in a hurry. After a while, she had finished writing.

All the ladies put down their pens and stood aside. Bai Miner even looked at Jingyi provocatively, with a smug look on her face!

When the emperor saw that everyone had finished writing, he shouted, "Where is Gao Lin?"

Gao Lin stood up and went to the center of the hall: "I'm here!"

"You are the Grand Secretary of the Palace, so you can judge it."

"Your humble servant obeys your order!"

Gao Lin began to read out the names from left to right.

The first one to be read was Bai Xiuhua, the youngest daughter of the Minister of Personnel. She was nine years old this year and was the daughter of a concubine of the Duke of Huguo. "Ten thousand leaves of red silk cut off the spring, and the painting is unpredictable. The scenery is ninety and there are not many days left, it's a pity to give it to others in front of you."

As soon as the words fell, everyone applauded. It was indeed the daughter of the Minister. Such literary talent was really good!

Gao Lin just nodded and asked someone to present the poem to the emperor for review.

In this way, Gao Lin read the poems of several other young ladies in succession. They were all ordinary in literary talent and did not have much new ideas. Gao Lin read the fifth person, Bai Min'er's poem: "There is a red Wei under the red railing in the hall, and a branch of rich and gorgeous flowers occupies the spring breeze. The news from Luoyang spreads that the good seeds may not bloom better than the old ones."

"Good! Good poem! Good poem!" As soon as Gao Lin finished speaking, many people clapped their hands and praised it! The queen's eyes were full of smiles. This is the style of a famous family!

The emperor read the poem, and the smile on his face did not diminish, but his eyes were filled with a gloomy color, but it was fleeting and no one noticed.

Gao Lin walked in front of Jingyi at this time, stretched out his hand to take the words in front of him, but at a glance, Gao Lin was surprised and said: "Good words! Really good words!"

Everyone was a little surprised and curious. How good words can a seven-year-old child write? How could it be praised so highly by the Grand Secretary Gao Lin, who always boasted of his talent?

"What a good poem, what a good poem!"

Everyone was even more curious, and someone had already urged: "Master Gao, don't say it yourself, read it out quickly for everyone to hear!"

"Yes, Master Gao, read it quickly!"

Gao Lin then realized that he was in the hall, and hurriedly read aloud: "The fragrant wind attracts the nobles to travel, and the monks move and stay. It's a pity that the pine trees in the corner of the hall are so long that the prince can't raise his head."

After the voice fell, the hall was silent, and everyone gasped. Obviously, no one thought that a seven-year-old child could write such a wonderful poem.

The emperor also saw a very beautiful small regular script at a glance, which shows that this child must have worked hard in his daily life. The more the emperor read, the more satisfied he was. The poem praised the peony in a clear and hidden way, which was very much in line with his heart! It seems that this girl understood what he meant just by a glance! The emperor smiled and said, "Queen, it seems that your mother-of-pearl dressing mirror is going to change hands!" After that, he handed the poem to the queen.

The queen looked unbelievable, and her eyes were already full of anger! But this was in the public eye, and as the mother of a country, she still had to pay attention to her manners. She took a deep breath and suppressed the anger, which made her heart hurt!

"Miss Su is only seven years old, and she can write such poems. She is really talented! But everyone knows that your mother is a talented woman. I am afraid that you may have copied this poem from her." The queen paused, looked at the people below whispering with satisfaction, and smiled again: "However, there is no basis, it is hard to say. How about this, I will give you another question. If you can write a poem on the spot, it will prove that this poem was written by you. What do you think?"

Jingyi has been forbearing to the extreme. You are so aggressive, queen, do you really think I am easy to bully?

Jingyi bowed and said, "Please ask the Queen."

Her answer surprised many people, even the Emperor was a little surprised! This little girl, it seems, is not simple? Knowing that the Queen was making things difficult for her, she still took it. Did she know what questions the Queen would ask to make things difficult for her? She is really a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers!

The Queen was obviously also stunned. She didn't expect that this girl would actually agree. This is even better! The Queen's eyes moved and she said lightly: "In this case, I have always heard that the reason why the Mid-Autumn Moon is so bright is because there is a fairy named Chang'e living in it. Why don't you write a poem on this topic."

As soon as the Queen's voice fell, there was already a commotion below. Isn't this making things difficult for a little girl? It is really too much for a child to make such a request. But she is the Queen who is high above, who dares to refute a word?

Jingyi blinked lightly and looked in the direction of the Emperor, who nodded to her imperceptibly. Jingyi lowered her head, thought for a moment, walked to the palace gate, picked up a sweet-scented osmanthus flower that had fallen by the palace gate, and looked up at the moon again and said: "The jade beads fell from the moon, and I picked up the new dew in front of the palace. I still don't know what happened in the sky, it must be Chang'e throwing it to people."

For a moment, the hall was silent again! The emperor was the first to come to his senses, clapped his hands lightly, and murmured: "Good, a good 'it must be Chang'e throwing it to people'! Good poem!"

Following the emperor's praise, everyone applauded! The emperor picked up a glass of wine and said to Su Wei: "Lord Su is really a good father! The eldest son can fight on the battlefield at the age of twelve and enhance the prestige of our country! The daughter can speak eloquently at the age of seven! Great! Lord Su taught well! Come, I toast you a glass!"

Su Wei hurriedly took the wine and stood up and said: "Thank you for the praise, Your Majesty. I am overwhelmed!"

The emperor waved his hand and laughed, "No need to be so humble! Come, drink!" After that, he drank it all!

Su Wei also hurriedly followed and drank the wine in the glass!

The emperor laughed again and said: "Jingyi! You are really smart! Come, bring my golden lion paperweight and give it to Miss Su!"

As soon as the words fell, the ministers below sighed again. This is the emperor's personal item! Besides, the things used in the study are rewards, and they are generally only given to princes and civil servants. I have never heard of rewarding a little girl! Rewarding her is not a reward to the Su family? It seems that the Su family is really favored by the emperor!

The eunuch was also surprised and quickly agreed, ordering someone to bring a golden lion paperweight and present it to Jingyi. Jingyi thanked her and sat next to Gu again, not looking around.

The emperor was even more pleased to see that she was not surprised by the change, and ordered people to reward her with a lot of gold, silver and jewelry, and then stopped.