I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 76 - 65: Stealing the Imperial Seal

While Wu Zhiyuan was transcribing poetry, Zhu Huaiyuan, who could no longer contain himself, also decided to showcase his talent and recite a poem.

All eyes turned towards him as Zhu Huai’an opened his folding fan and waved it gently. With a light sigh, he said:

"A person’s life lasts only several decades. After death, who will remember? But if one can write an excellent piece, it can be passed down through the ages, leaving a name in history..." Zhu Huai’an’s lips slowly curved into a smile as he glanced around and said, "Today, I too wish to recite a poem, hoping to leave a dazzling mark through the long years!"

Upon hearing this, even those scholars who usually held biases against Prince Zhu felt a slight anticipation.

Could it be that the fool from the Wang family of Changting has finally come to his senses?

Before anyone could think further, Zhu Huai’an began to recite a poem about raindrops:

"One drop, one drop, and another drop,

Two drops, three drops, four and five drops;

Six drops, seven drops, eight and nine drops..."

As he swayed his head while reciting, Zhu Huai’an suddenly closed his folding fan, squinted with a smile, and concluded with the final line— "Falling into the puddle, all disappear."

The literary gathering fell abruptly silent.

Everyone knew well the quality and level of this poem, yet no one dared to laugh or say that the poem written by Prince Zhu was poor.

The reason was simple: Emperor Longping, in his younger days, loved composing poetry. Throughout his life, he had written no fewer than thirty thousand, if not fifty thousand, poems.

Among these was a poem titled "Flying Snow," whose ’artistry’ was not much different from Prince Zhu’s work.

So, who dared to say this poem was bad?

No wonder Prince Zhu was so confident; this was clearly shameless hooliganism!

"Well, what do you think of my poem?"

The Poetry Collection Officer lightly coughed, intending to change the topic, but unexpectedly, in the silent gathering, a voice of praise suddenly arose.

"Marvelous, marvelous! Truly a rare masterpiece, especially the final line, ’Falling into the puddle, all disappear,’ which is simply the finishing touch. Just one line endows the poem with a charm!"

Wu Wencai, known for his rebellious and unconventional nature, saw through Zhu Huai’an’s intention to amuse himself and began to clap in cooperation.

Seeing his brother take the lead, Wu Zhiyuan also nodded and said, "This poem indeed possesses more cleverness compared to mine."

Zhu Huai’an then looked at Zhuang Zijun, who remained silent, and with a smile asked, "What do you think, Zijun?"

Zhuang Zijun’s eyelids twitched, and he forced a dry laugh, "This poem... is indeed fresh and unconventional, far beyond my reach..."

Xu Qing watched Zhu Huai’an and his group torment the scholars and found it quite amusing.

At the Book Emperor Pavilion, regardless of whether he was rewarding courtesans or yelling that he was the Crown Prince’s successor in disheveled clothes, Xu Qing had always thought this chubby guy was deliberately showing weakness to the future Crown Prince, creating an image of a worthless person only interested in eating, drinking, and playing.

Now seeing Zhu Huai’an’s conspicuous displays and apparent natural behavior, Xu Qing couldn’t tell if Zhu Huai’an was acting or genuinely like this.

By the end of the literary gathering, the ranking was already set.

For the poetry section, there were originally only three ranks: Poetry Origin, Poetry Style, and Poetry Explorer.

But because an unreasonable and cunning character emerged midway, the host of Jade Shadow Pavilion’s literary gathering had no choice but to add a new independent title outside the list, called ’Brocade Origin.’

As for how credible ’Brocade Origin’ was, that remained unknown.

Not to mention Zhu Huai’an, who got the personal award through dubious means.

Just speaking of the Wu brothers, their fame soared at the literary gathering, followed by recommendations and solicitations from social elites, and even strangers who had never interacted with them before sought their acquaintance.

Xu Qing watched from the side and smiled slightly when he saw the two brothers respond politely without trying to ingratiate themselves.

"The Wu family’s kids are not bad!"

Later, an old man delivering poems came specifically, saying that a noble wanted to meet them.

Xu Qing looked up at the old man, who still maintained a deadpan expression. If not for the living scent emanating from the man, Xu Qing might have thought the old man was a real zombie.

Everyone knew who the noble in the attic was. The Wu brothers had gained the favor of the Crown Prince, and this unexpected benefit far exceeded accompanying courtesans for tea. In the future, should the Crown Prince ascend the throne, these brothers might ride the winds of fortune from this day’s encounter.

Xu Qing, having no interest in worldly fame, found accompanying the courtesans at tea far more appealing than impressing the Crown Prince. At the very least, listening to Guo Dongyang’s storytelling was more comfortable than chatting with the old man in the attic.

"Hey? Brother Xu, aren’t you going to the boat to have tea?"

Zhu Huai’an, having had his fun, still had the energy for another round.

"No, didn’t Zhuang Zijun just say that going to the boat means more poetry contests? No matter how beautiful the courtesans are, this group will still compete with each other, making it hard to even see a courtesan dance by the end."

"I’d rather go back and listen to ghost stories."

"Ghost stories?"

Zhu Huai’an’s interest was piqued, "Are there female ghosts?"

"There can be," Xu Qing said, stroking his chin, recalling the female zombie from a corpse transformation.

...

Storytelling was considered a low-class profession.

Handling corpses was also a low class.

Xu Qing still remembered the evaluation of his corpse, ranked at the bottom of humanity.

The lowest of humans works in the bottom nine professions. No one should despise each other, as long as the scale in your heart is balanced, even low-class people are no worse than dignified officials.

At Ruiyang Tea House.

After finishing a section about the Eight Great Sects of the Jianghu, the storyteller took a sip of tea to soothe his throat before striking the wooden block.

At this moment, the tea house was packed, even the corners were occupied. Some people who lived nearby had even brought their small stools and sat outside, just to hear the story.

This was Guo Dongyang’s fame.

When Xu Qing arrived at the tea house and saw no seats available, the considerate shopkeeper, knowing he was Guo Dongyang’s friend, instructed a worker to bring a small table from upstairs, squeezing out a seat for him.

Zhu Huai’an’s bulk occupied two seats. Seeing his curious expression, Xu Qing couldn’t help but ask, "Brother Zhu, is this your first time here?"

"Kind of, but not really," Zhu Huai’an replied after sipping his hot tea, "I’ve heard it once before, but the previous storyteller had a phlegm problem, and a good story was ruined. Ever since, I’ve never listened again. If I wanted to hear stories, I’d have courtesans read from storybooks to me. You don’t know, their soft voices add a unique flavor..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing imagined the scene of courtesans telling stories with their gentle voices. freeweɓnøvel.com

Is that storytelling? It’s more like turning a ghost story into something seductive.

"You probably haven’t encountered a proper storyteller. Listen to how this guy narrates..."

Without Xu Qing needing to say more, Zhu Huai’an was already drawn to Guo Dongyang on the stage.

A storyteller coveted by teahouses and wine shops must have unique skills.

At the moment, Guo Dongyang was describing the Eight Secret Sects of the Jianghu, particularly Thousand Shadows Thief Saint Pan Qianying’s theft of the National Jade Seal.

Xu Qing found the story familiar. Upon reflection, he recalled that the Linhe Government Office had once sent him a corpse, carrying the Nose Snuff Bottle, a disciple ranked twenty-first in the Thousand Shadows Sect named Chen Xiaoyi.

And his master was Pan Qianying.

Xu Qing pondered if the lost National Jade Seal of the previous dynasty was indeed stolen by Chen Xiaoyi’s master.

Zhu Huai’an listened intently and mumbled, "Why does this seem familiar, like I heard it back at home..."