The cultural venue is not far from Biqiao, and there are already huge crowds of people outside the venue.
Not many people were able to squeeze in to the front of the venue. Most of them came because of the excitement. Various vendors outside the venue also took the opportunity to gather to sell goods and solicit customers. There were also many scholars, so it attracted many women who wanted to hide themselves but were still ashamed. .
The venue is missing one side on all sides, like a barrel, with three floors on both sides and at the bottom. It is actually the entrance to the square, and the venue is quite large.
A platform was set up in the open space inside, and the upper floors around the platform were terraces with seats for the participating families.
A background wall was also built on the stage, and many wooden plaques were hung on the wall, all of which were the names of the children of each family who participated in the cultural gathering.
In front of the background wall, there is a row of seats for famous people in the Ningzhou literary world, who are also the examiners of the literary competition.
There were people standing in front of the stage all the way to the exit outside the square, and there was a buzz of discussion. People kept pointing to the name on the sign on the background wall and talking about it. The name "Yin Jizhen" was constantly mentioned.
At the scene, the government also sent many people to maintain order.
Dong dong dong dong dong…
The drummer in the corner of the stage suddenly beat the drum rapidly and non-stop.
Key members of each family appeared one after another on the terraces upstairs on both sides.
On the best viewing terrace in the center on the left, Wen Miao, the leader of the Wen clan, appeared, along with several elders of the Wen clan branch. Butler Wen Kui guided them to their seats.
Directly opposite, on the best viewing terrace in the center on the right side, an old man with gray hair and a beard, wearing a black robe with gold on the background, looked a bit menacing, came out, with a tiger-backed waist and a rather fierce look. It was Wan Qingtao, the leader of the Wan clan. .
As soon as he sat down, he stared at Wen Biao opposite him and snorted coldly, his disdain and dissatisfaction obvious.
The tribesmen who showed up followed him and took their seats one after another.
On both sides of the stage below, five famous figures in Ningzhou literary circles appeared on the stage amidst respectful greetings. After taking the stage, they sat on the examination seats one after another.
Someone put a stick of incense in the incense burner in the center of the stage, and then shouted to the people on the left and right balconies: "One stick of incense time, please each family to finalize the contestants!" Looking back, he pointed to the sign hanging on the wall in the background. .
Wen Bian took a look at the names of the five Wen family members, and then looked at the name "Yin Jizhen" on the Wan family's side. His expression was a little solemn. Yu Wenyuan was in a daze and could not attend, so basically everyone here Without the certainty of victory, one can only hope that the children in the clan can perform exceptionally well.
There was no joy on the faces of the other clan elders. They all knew that the Wen clan had no hope of winning this time, and they were purely there to serve as a foil.
Basically no one from each family said anything, and the names on the wall had already been confirmed by members of each family.
Everyone drinks tea when it’s time, and waits when it’s time to wait until everything is ready.
There was still chatter in the audience.
When one-third of the incense in the incense burner was burned, Wen Xin and his party finally arrived.
The carriage stopped for a moment on the roadside outside the venue. After a few people got off the car, the Wen family, who had been waiting here, took the group into a nearby shop, passed directly from the house to the front of the venue, and came out from one side. .
The Wen family members who had already occupied their seats in the audience made room for them, and those who gave up their seats quickly withdrew.
Yu Qing, who was hiding behind Wen Xin and others, looked around the scene from time to time, already thinking about how to escape. After all, Wen Xin's guards couldn't follow them here.
However, he could feel that Song Pingping was always staring at him vaguely, or in other words, being wary of him, always standing between him and Wen Xin.
"With so many families participating, we might as well guess which family will win this year and become the chief priest of the grand festival."
"Brother, are you back?"
"Exactly, uh, how did you know?"
As soon as these words came out, there was a burst of "hehe" snickers.
Someone whispered: "Do you still need to guess? It's either the Wen family or the Wan family."
"With so many families participating, why are you so sure it's just these two families?"
"The reason is simple. Except for those two families, all other families are just pretentious foils. Many families rely on those two families for their survival."
"My opponent, even if there are outstanding children in the family who are capable of overpowering the Wen family and the Wan family, they don't dare to do it. Just play with them."
"What is the officiant? It represents status. It is the status of a leader in various chambers of commerce in Ningzhou. He pressed the Wen family and the Wan family to be the officiant, and asked the patriarchs of the two major families to serve as foils. Someone has to dare, unless you don’t want to hang out in Ningzhou anymore?”
"In that case, what's the point of having this literary meeting?"
"Of course it's interesting. It can calm things down. In the early years, the two major families refused to obey the other. They did it with real swords and guns. Even the forces in the spiritual world were used. I don't know how many people died, and even affected the entire Ningzhou. The normal commercial exchanges caused panic among the people in Ningzhou. Later, the Mufu government came forward to suppress it strongly and mediate, and then the armed fight was changed to a civil fight."
"Actually, it's quite interesting. After all, they are all outstanding literary talents from various families. Poetry and poetry are not useless. It's okay to watch and learn a thing or two. You see, even Yin Jizhen, who was second in the new subject last year, came to participate. This is really A real talent, if you can watch a few things, you can be taught."
"Hey, I heard that Wen's future son-in-law Yu Wenyuan is also coming to attend. I looked at it for a long time. Why is there no name on the wall like his?"
"Are you kidding? It's an unfair competition. Who is Mr. Yuwen? How could he let his grandson interfere with it?"
A group of people behind were chattering quietly. Yu Qing looked back from time to time, and mostly listened with his ears straightened up.
Wen Xin also heard it, biting her lips secretly in silence, feeling ashamed, and wondering what A Qing would think after hearing this.
On the terrace on the right, Wan Qingtao, the leader of the Wan clan, was chatting with his clan members. Behind him, his grandson Wan Shengqun suddenly walked out, leaned over and said in his ear: "Grandpa, please come over here."
Wan Qingtao turned around and said, "Let's put the unimportant things aside for now and deal with this cultural gathering first. I just want to see how embarrassed Old Man Wen is today."
Wan Shengqun was helpless and whispered: "Something happened to Yin Jizhen. He wants to withdraw from this competition. No matter how much I try to persuade him, it's useless. If grandpa comes forward, maybe it can be saved."
The muscles on Wan Qingtao's face twitched, and he quickly stood up and left.
The Wan clan members on the left and right looked at each other, and they all heard something. They didn't expect that such a change would happen when things were about to happen.
On Wen's terrace opposite them, Wen Qian seemed to notice something and turned around and said, "There seems to be something abnormal about the people over there at Wan Lao'er."
"Okay." Wen Kui from behind understood and left, walked into the room behind him, called people over, and arranged for people to go to Wan's place to inquire.
Boom!
The door of a room was kicked open by Wan Qingtao.
Yin Jizhen, who was looking at the street scene from the window, was startled. When he looked back, he saw Wan Qingtao approaching angrily. He immediately saluted and said, "Grandpa."
Wan Qingtao raised his hand to stop and said in a loud voice, "No! You are the second person on the gold list. You are my uncle, and I can't bear your gift. Tell me, I heard that you suddenly don't want to participate in the cultural gathering again. What do you mean? ?”
Yin Jizhen was speechless, and then said helplessly: "Grandpa, after much thought, my current status is really not suitable for participating in this kind of cultural gathering. I really can't participate."
Wan Qingtao's bearded face turned fierce, "What's your identity? You're just a seventh-grade sesame official. I can pick out a bunch of people like you in Ningzhou City who are not better than you? Shake your hands, and you can find whatever you want between your fingers. The ones that fell out were also of the fifth and sixth grades. I served you, respected you, gave you a face, and made you lose your temper, right?"
Yin Jizhen couldn't laugh or cry, he knew this person's temper.
Wan Shengqun on the side sweated a little and quickly stepped forward to stop him, "Grandpa, let's talk carefully if we have something to say."
Wan Qingtao stared wide-eyed, "Speak well? Didn't I tell him well? How did I beg him before? I begged him personally for a long time before he agreed, and now he regrets it. What do you mean? Are you trying to make Wan a joke? If you really can’t, don’t agree in the first place. Once you promise, you must keep it. This is also the principle of Wan’s conduct. Just four words - keep your word!"
He turned back and glared at Yin Jizhen, "Now that you've abandoned me, where can I find someone to make up for it? What does it mean to be inappropriate? Your little feelings are nothing! Let me tell you, I don't accept your reason. Grandson, I am This person is easy to talk to and has always been a reasonable person. He never forces others to do anything. As long as you can show your reasons to convince me, you will quit. If you can't explain the truth, it's useless for you to quit. When the time comes, you will directly step on the stage. Go and shame everyone together! Otherwise..."
He suddenly raised his foot and pulled out a dagger from his boot. Dah! He inserted it directly on the table next to him, "Unless you insert it into me and leave on my corpse!"
"..."
Yin Jizhen stared at the glaring dagger stuck on the table in shock. Although he knew that Mr. Wan was very tough, today he really saw how old he was, and how many daggers were still hidden in his shoe tubes. What do you mean?
Seeing that the other party was staring at him eagerly, he lost his temper. After much hesitation, he finally said with a wry smile: "Grandpa, let me tell the truth. It's not that I don't want to help Wan, but that I really can't help this time. Even if I play It is also a self-inflicted humiliation, the Wen family invited experts to come."
Wan Qingtao raised his eyebrows: "What master? Has he grown wings or claws?"
Yin Jizhen said clearly word for word: "Ashiheng!"
At this point, he had no choice but to shake Yu Qing out to deal with it, otherwise there would be no way to end it.
"What the hell, this rotten person came out of nowhere, you...huh? Ash Heng..." The angry Wan Qingtao suddenly choked and was speechless for a while, and then carefully asked: "Who? The one ranked behind you? The Tanhua Lang?"
Yin Jizhen sighed: "Yes, it's him."
Wan Shengqun on the side was very surprised, "You mean, you are the one who got perfect scores in four subjects, which is rare in a hundred years, and who can make people all over the world flock to him with just three words on the restaurant question, and who will leave the capital in a hurry." Talented scholar Ash Heng?"
Yin Jizhen nodded, "That's him."
