Lin Jin Lou left Zhi Chun Hall and went straight to the front study. Pushing open the door, he saw Shu Ran directing two servants to divide the local specialties he had brought back from other provinces into several portions, preparing to have them delivered to various rooms later.

Seeing Lin Jin Lou enter, Shu Ran hurriedly came forward and said, “Young Master, everything has been sorted. Please take a look and let me know if anything isn’t to your liking, I’ll rearrange it.”

Lin Jin Lou nodded and examined each portion, seeing some contained writing supplies, others contained sachets and hair oil, while the elders mostly received nourishing foods, medicinal materials, and silk fabrics. While sorting through them, he said, “Don’t forget about Second Aunt Song from the second branch, her portion should match Second Madam’s, and her two children should receive gifts comparable to the young masters and ladies of the household.”

Shu Ran quickly replied, “Of course, everything has been prepared.”

Lin Jin Lou then asked, “There was a calligraphy copybook by Shen Zhou in the boxes we brought back – where did you put it?”

Shu Ran said, “I saw it was wrapped in red silk and thought it must be precious, so I placed it in the drawer beneath the treasure cabinet.” She then took out the key and retrieved the copybook.

Lin Jin Lou opened the red silk wrapping and flipped through the copybook. This Shen Zhou, known as Master of the Bamboo Residence, was an inheritor of the Wu School of painting, most skilled in landscape painting, and also wrote with an elegant and unrestrained hand. During this trip, his subordinate had gifted him Shen Zhou’s “Black Clouds on the Horizon Calligraphy,” which he had originally intended to give to his father. However, after seeing Xiang Lan’s handwriting, he changed his mind, tucked the copybook into his sleeve, and walked out. Suddenly remembering something, he turned back and instructed, “Set aside some hair oil and face powder to send to Xiang Lan in the east wing.”

Shu Ran was greatly surprised but immediately lowered her head and said, “Yes, understood.” She diligently saw Lin Jin Lou out. Returning to the room, she took out a bottle of hair oil and a box of powder from the chest, thought for a moment, then added a sachet, pondered briefly again, and added a string of glass bracelets, then wrapped everything in a piece of pink silk.

This Shu Ran was eighteen years old, of medium height, with a round face and clear, pretty features, though her beauty was considered ordinary among the competing beauties of the Lin household’s maids. However, she was gentle and kind, always wearing a smile that made people feel particularly close to her. Shu Ran was originally a second-rank maid serving Madam Qin, who, seeing her steady, clever, cautious, and cheerful nature, gave her to Lin Jin Lou. Having served at Lin Jin Lou’s side for five years, Shu Ran had witnessed quite a few storms and earned great trust, moving freely between the inner and outer quarters without restriction. Throughout the mansion, everyone respectfully called her “Sister Shu Ran” and gave her due respect. Previously, her parents had tried to suggest having Shu Ran become Lin Jin Lou’s concubine, but Shu Ran immediately went to Lin Jin Lou to request a respectable marriage to show her intentions. Lin Jin Lou then arranged for her to marry Xu Fu, a highly regarded chief steward in his service, and in recent years had allowed her to leave service.

Shu Ran’s actions earned the respect of the Yang family, and even Madam Qin praised her several times. However, Shu Ran herself was crystal clear in her heart – over the years, she had seen plenty of Lin Jin Lou’s decisive and ruthless actions. While others saw him as an indolent young master, she knew Lin Jin Lou was like King Yama himself, with methods that still made her shudder to think about, not to mention this master had endless romantic affairs and a wife who was like a demon at his bedside. Being a clever person, she had long since abandoned any inappropriate thoughts and devoted herself to serving Lin Jin Lou as her master. Seeing Lin Jin Lou now taking such interest in a little maid like Xiang Lan, although surprised, Shu Ran had long since become experienced enough to know not to ask questions she shouldn’t, privately thinking that the master’s quarters would likely soon have a new addition.

To show proper respect and to curry favor with the “new concubine,” Shu Ran felt she shouldn’t simply send a little maid to deliver the items as she had when Lin Jin Lou rewarded Xiang Lan with the ointment. This time, she would personally deliver the items and engage in some warm conversation.

Leaving Shu Ran’s plans aside for now, let’s return to Lin Jin Lou, who was heading toward Long Cui Residence with the copybook in his sleeve. As he rounded the artificial mountain, he saw a group of women gathered in Long Cui Residence, with several young ladies and young wives gathered around a large table in the courtyard, chattering about something.

It turned out everyone had finished writing their poems and were gathered together enthusiastically to evaluate them.

The group went through the poems one by one. When they encountered good ones, they all praised them together and discussed their merits; when they encountered poor ones, they simply laughed and moved on; for those in between, they would pick out interesting lines to comment on before moving on. Qing Lan hadn’t managed to complete a full poem even by the time the incense was nearly burned out, so she had hastily submitted Xiang Lan’s poem. Thus, when they came to that “Lingering Fragrance” poem, there wasn’t much praise.

Lin Dong Qi thought to herself, “Qing Lan is my elder brother’s beloved concubine – it’s already remarkable that she can read and write, let alone compose a poem. Since she organized this poetry society, we shouldn’t let her lose too much face,” so she smiled and said, “Though this poem is short, it carries a deep melancholy within it. In just a few lines, it creates a beautiful artistic conception.”

Qing Lan, who had been somewhat displeased by the lack of praise, immediately brightened upon hearing Lin Dong Qi’s words and smiled, saying, “Second Young Lady is overpraising, it’s not that good…”

Lin Dong Qi smiled slightly and was about to discuss the next poem with everyone when she heard Hua Mei give a little laugh and say, “The ‘white jade orchid’ must refer to Sister Qing Lan’s ‘Lan.’ Sister is now the person dearest to Young Master’s heart, so why speak of being ‘abandoned in the spring breeze’ in such a dejected way…”

Lin Dong Qi immediately frowned, silently reproaching Hua Mei for speaking without considering the occasion, and making such tactless remarks in front of so many officials’ wives and wealthy ladies. Zhao Yue Chan’s face had already turned cold as she snapped, “Silence!” Though she hated Hua Mei’s phrase “dearest to his heart” for touching her sore spot, she hated even more that this little vixen Qing Lan dared to compete with her in everything.

Fearing that Hua Mei’s words would make her lose face, Zhao Yue Chan smiled sweetly and changed the subject, saying to Lin Dong Qi, “Dear sister, please read the next one for me, let’s see who wrote it.”

Lin Dong Qi looked and saw it was Song Tan Chai’s. Her chosen topic was “Phoenix Tree,” and Lin Dong Qi read:

“Where shall one seek autumn thoughts to find?

Half-rolling blinds reveal cyan shadows lined.

Borrowing three parts cold from the western wind,

Stealing one strand of clarity from jade moon thinned.

Through heavy mist and frost, lotus stands spare,

Across the broad river, low clouds, lone wild geese dare.

No kindred spirit found through ages past,

By small window, lonely phoenix tree stands fast.”

As Lin Dong Qi read each line, everyone praised it, amazed that Song Tan Chai had such depth of feeling. Even Zheng Jing Xian’s haughty expression softened somewhat, and she looked at Song Tan Chai differently, saying, “I didn’t expect Sister Tan to have such talent, this poem could win first place.”

Song Tan Chai blushed slightly and said, “It’s not that good, we haven’t seen Sister Xian’s poem yet… and Sister Qi’s was also well-written.” As she said this, her eyes glanced at Lin Dong Ling – unfortunately, Lin Jin Ting wasn’t in the mansion today, so Lin Dong Ling had no ghostwriter and had to write carelessly on her own, naturally receiving poor reviews. Seeing Lin Dong Ling’s face turning green, Song Tan Chai closed her mouth.

Zheng Jing Xian quickly covered her poem and smiled, saying, “I originally thought mine was good, but comparing it to my sister’s work makes me realize it’s inferior. It’s better not to look at this poem, we should just burn it.”

Everyone naturally objected, saying in unison, “How can that be? Quick, bring it out for us to read.”

As Zheng Jing Xian dodged left and right, Lin Dong Xiu suddenly snatched it away and began to read…