Chapter 162

The Cui family had been arranging a marriage for Cui Fei since May, and now they finally had some progress.

Shen Cui had known about it for a long time, so she wasn’t surprised.

The others only found out about it now and congratulated Cui Fei, eagerly asking questions.

“Why are you getting married so suddenly? You didn’t mention it before.”

“Yeah, such a big event, why didn’t you inform us earlier? When is the wedding?”

They cared about Cui Fei and were worried that if the wedding date was too close, they wouldn’t have time to prepare proper gifts.

Cui Fei’s face flushed as he spoke, “Back in May, my sister told the headmaster, and I asked him not to inform everyone. Brother Hanshan was still taking exams at that time, and there was no need to distract everyone with my affairs… We haven’t reached the step of setting a wedding date yet.”

The family that Cui Fei’s family was considering was surnamed Sun, and they ran a silk and satin shop in the prefectural city, with their own dyeing workshop.

Overall, their business was slightly smaller than the Cui family’s, but they were also well-off.

Cui Fei had told Shen Cui before that in these big households, the marriage process was divided into several steps.

They had already passed the step where the matchmaker relayed messages, and Old Master Cui had also taken Cui Fei to the Sun family as a guest, allowing the Sun family girl to see him through a screen.

Cui Fei wasn’t worried that the girl wouldn’t like him; it was just pressure from the elders in his family.

He later confided some thoughts to Cui Wu Niang.

So, after this step, Cui Wuniang pleaded with their Grandfather, who then negotiated with the Sun family.

The Sun family also cherished their daughter and naturally worried about her future, so they suggested that Cui Fei and the Sun girl could communicate through letters.

This kind of tacitly approved communication had to be done in front of the elders, so it was usually polite greetings and inquiries.

But as the saying goes, “The character reflects the person.”

The Sun girl’s handwriting was elegant and graceful, and her tone of speech was exceptionally warm and gentle.

Cui Fei had already imagined her gentle and beautiful appearance.

Of course, if the Sun girl wasn’t that beautiful, it didn’t matter.

Cui Fei thought that inner beauty was more valuable than outer beauty.

Now, only the final step was left, which was to create an opportunity for the two of them to meet in person, talk, and get to know each other before the marriage.

This step was usually just a formality at this point.

As long as there were no particularly outrageous accidents, the younger generation could not disobey the elders’ wishes.

The Cui and Sun families planned to complete this last step before the new year and start the process of the three books and six rites in the spring.

“It was said that Brother A Fei used to come home every ten days or so, but in the past few months, he has been coming back every few days. After coming back, he would write while smiling foolishly. When I asked what he was writing, he wouldn’t let me see.”

Mu Er Pang suddenly realized, sounding a bit ‘sour,’ which made Cui Fei’s face burn even more!

Shen Cui immediately glanced at Mu Er Pang. “You, too, Mr. Steward, always want to see everything. When it’s your turn to get engaged, I’ll see if you’re embarrassed.”

Mu Er Pang grinned, “What’s there to be embarrassed about? When I get engaged, I’ll definitely tell everyone in our academy and let everyone brainstorm ideas for me!”

He was completely naive in this regard, which is why he spoke so candidly.

Shen Cui, Lao Bu Yu, and the others in the academy couldn’t help but laugh.

Mu Er Pang was a bit confused by their laughter, scratching his head, but ignoring it, he asked Cui Fei if he would have to leave the academy after getting married.

Although if Cui Fei left, they could still meet during the day at the prefectural school, it would definitely be different from their current situation where they were inseparable.

Cui Fei naturally said he wouldn’t, “It’s all agreed upon. After marriage, I’ll still only go home on the days of rest at the prefectural school. Everything else will remain the same.”

…

After Laba Festival, the prefectural school was on break.

Because of the heavy snow this year, many people gave up traveling home.

All of them were literati with achievements, and since they didn’t have classes at the prefectural school, they didn’t know who took the lead, but some of them joined forces with a local poetry society to organize a poetry gathering, inviting many talented scholars to go out, enjoy the snow, and compose poetry, exchanging ideas with each other.

On the side of Cui Wei, Mei Ruo Chu and others also received invitations.

The event was scheduled to take place at the Shuxiang Temple outside the city.

It was Mu Er Pang’s first time receiving such an invitation, and he was a bit tempted to go.

Moreover, in the invitation to Cui Wei, Mei Ruo Chu was ranked first, and he was ranked second, symbolizing the representatives of the old and new students in the minds of others at the prefectural school.

However, he was afraid that going would waste a day of study time—after all, although the prefectural school was on break, Cui Wei was still active, and Lao Bu Yu led them in classes every day.

Shen Cui sensed his dilemma and encouraged him, “I’ve heard of these literary gatherings. If you decline the first time, others might feel embarrassed to invite you again. Besides, it’s a poetry gathering, and it would benefit you to see and hear how others compose poetry. Even if you don’t learn much, consider it a day of relaxation. You guys won’t have many opportunities like this in the next two years. Next year, you’ll be thinking about preparing for the provincial exam.”

Lao Buyu also agreed that they should go.

They were all teenagers, after all, how could they not love having fun? They only suppressed their nature to play because they were forced to follow the path of the imperial examinations.

Besides, this poetry gathering was not purely for entertainment.

So, on the day of the poetry gathering, Shen Cui and Lao Buyu took the day off, while the others were invited to the Shuxiang Temple outside the city.

They set off early in the morning after breakfast, and when they arrived, there was already a crowd outside the Shuxiang Temple.

Not only literati, but also some ordinary people brought their families.

After inquiring with others, they learned that all the plum blossoms outside the Shuxiang Temple had bloomed overnight.

Entertainment was scarce in those days, especially in winter when travel was inconvenient, so many people came to admire the plum blossoms.

After a bit of a squeeze, Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang finally found the wing where the poetry gathering was being held.

There were already quite a few people inside, some were their fellow students from the prefectural school, while others were unfamiliar faces.

The host of the poetry society was surnamed Zhao, and he was the organizer of this poetry gathering.

He looked to be in his twenties, very capable and well-spoken.

He first greeted everyone and then introduced them to each other.

“This is Mei Ruochu, a literary prodigy who could compose poetry at the age of seven. He had some setbacks in the past, but he recently excelled in the provincial and perfectural exams, and let me tell you, his talent is no less than that of the famous scholar in the capital.”

“This is Little Brother Mu Hanshan, even more remarkable. His elder brother in the capital is a well-known scholar, and he himself achieved the ‘Little Triple Excellence’ at the age of thirteen. It is said that he started studying at home when he was ten years old.”

“This is Brother Shen, the top scorer in the county exam, second in the provincial and Perfectural exams. He has no jealousy towards Brother Mu, and they get along so well, it’s as if they were one person. Such a magnanimous character is truly rare in the world.”

“These two brothers, Wei Brothers, are also a pair of talented individuals…”

It was clear that this Master Zhao attached great importance to the Cui Wei group and had thoroughly investigated their backgrounds.

After the introductions, Mu Er Pang and the others immediately had many people come up to chat and make friends.

As for Cui Fei, Master Zhao’s introduction about him was a bit vague.

After all, honestly speaking, Cui Fei’s resume was not particularly outstanding compared to the others.

Cui Fei became the one who was neglected, but he didn’t mind at all.

He just felt honored to be among such talented individuals.

However, Mu Er Pang and the others certainly wouldn’t leave him out.

They tried very hard to include him in the conversation.

Unfortunately, the interest of others in them far exceeded that in Cui Fei.

Seeing how hard they were trying to take care of him, Cui Fei said he wanted to go to the courtyard to see the plum blossoms first.

Feeling a bit embarrassed about the situation, Master Zhao said, “We’ll be writing poetry later. Cui Xiong, go and get some inspiration from the plum blossoms. Your poems will surely be even better when you come back.”

With that, he sent a young boy to accompany Cui Fei.

Outside the wing, Cui Fei arrived in the courtyard.

The plum blossoms, in full bloom against the white snow, were incredibly beautiful.

Unfortunately, like the rest of the temple, it was also overcrowded.

Amidst the noise and chatter, the beauty of the scene was diminished.

Cui Fei found a corner, admired the scenery from afar for a while, and was about to go back when he seemed to hear someone calling his name.

Turning around, he saw a ‘familiar face,’ Li Rufeng, standing behind him.

“Why are you here?” In the prefectural school, Li Rufeng was like a rat seeing a cat when he saw Cui Fei.

However, this didn’t mean that after the lesson last time, he had truly changed his ways.

He just felt embarrassed.

Outside the prefectural school, he was much more confident, and his expression at the moment was strange.

Cui Fei said, “I came to participate in the poetry gathering.”

“I heard that today’s poetry gathering only invited the top scholars from the prefectural school and other talents from outside the school, right?”

Cui Fei really didn’t know about this, because his name was indeed on the invitation sent to Cuiwei.

But thinking back carefully, the classmates he saw in the wing just now all seemed to have achieved first place in the provincial exam.

“Why are you here then?” Cui Fei asked back.

Before Li Rufeng could answer, another servant ran over, “Young Master Biao has finally arrived. Just now our young master asked about you. Afraid you wouldn’t find a place, he sent me to welcome you.”

Seeing the eyebrow-raising expression on Cui Fei’s face, he roughly understood. Master Zhao had invited all the students from Cuiwei, and it wouldn’t be fair to exclude him.

As for inviting Li Rufeng, it was because the two families had a relationship!

Before he could say anything, Li Rufeng, seeing his understanding expression, flushed red and said fiercely, “I did indeed come here inappropriately. I didn’t know you were coming earlier, so I won’t leave now. But Cui Fei, you should know, your ability to participate in such an elegant gathering is all thanks to others. Are you really qualified based on your own merits?”

After saying that, he turned and left. After taking only a few steps, he stumbled and fell.

It was a young girl who tripped him, accompanied by two maids and several servants.

Seeing him fall, she pretended to be surprised, “Why don’t you watch where you’re going? You’ve dirtied my shoes for no reason.”