Qiao Jinniang also commended. “No matter what Zhou Qinghe’s character is, her poems are superb, and I like her ‘Partridges in the Sky·Sweet-scented Osmanthus’ the most.

  “Faint yellow in color and delicate in shape, Osmanthus blossoms quietly and leaves people with an intoxicating aroma.

  “Why should it have to be shallow green or dark red like those famous flowers? In my opinion, it’s the best flower.

  “Plum blossoms should be envious and chrysanthemums will be shy. In the gorgeous garden in the Mid-autumn Festival, Osmanthus pales all other flowers.

  “Most people love plum and chrysanthemum, but no one praises the sweet-scented osmanthus in poetry. But the poem read that facing sweet-scented osmanthus, ‘Plum blossoms should be envious and chrysanthemums will be shy’. That’s really awesome! How can ordinary people write such wonderful poems?”


  Lu Chen said, “Now there is a bookstore in Luoyang compiling the collection of her poems. If you like it, I will have someone go to the bookstore to order one for you. Now it costs fifty taels of silver for each collection of her poems. You may not be able to get one until after the fall.”


  Qiao Jinniang was surprised. “Fifty taels of silver? It shows how popular Zhou Qinghe’s poems are!”


  Junior Duke Rong said, “Zhou Qinghe is really a special woman. She left Chang’an 20 years ago, but when she came back, she became even more famous than before.”


  Soon it was the Qixi Festival. That night, the entire Luoyang was brightly lit, and girls all went to the streets.

  Qiao Jinniang went to Xuanwu Street with three princesses where there were three major competitions being held, one was threading needles, another was making Clever Fruits, and the third was carving melon lanterns.

  There were vendors peddling on both sides of the street.

  Fulu and Qiao Lu came to Xuanwu Street to watch the fun. Taking a fancy to a hairpin on a stall, she put it on her head and asked Qiao Lu with a smile, “Does this hairpin look good on me?”


  Qiao Lu nodded and paid the money. “Yes, you’re so beautiful.”


  “Zhou Qinghe is here!”


  “Don’t push me. Let me see Zhou Qinghe. I really like her poem ‘Thoughts in a Boudoir’.”


  “I think ‘Thoughts in a Boudoir’ is too sad. I like that line of her poem ‘Be man of men while you’re alive, and soul of souls if you’re dead’ best. How can ordinary people come up with such a wonderful poem! Unfortunately, I am not a man. If I were, I would marry Zhou Qinghe.”


  For a time, all the women on Xuanwu Street rushed to see Zhou Qinghe.

  Seeing that even the hawker ran to see Zhou Qinghe, Fulu took off the hairpin on her head in anger and puffed out her cheeks like a squirrel in winter.

  “She just wrote a few poems. Do they need to extol her like this?”


  Qiao Lu said, “Zhou Qinghe’s poems are good indeed. Don’t get angry. Let’s go to my sister?”


  Fulu nodded and went to the location of the needle threading competition.

  The competition had already started. Whoever thread the most needles in the set time would be the winner. This was the easiest of the three competitions, so many girls came to participate in it.

  However, hearing that Zhou Qinghe was here, many girls put down the needles and threads in their hands and gave up the competition.

  Zhou Qinghe and Zhou Shihui got out of the sedan chair, and Zhou Qinghe said, “Please continue your competition. Shihui hasn’t seen the Qixi Festival in Luoyang before, so I brought her out to have some fun. Don’t delay your competition because of me.”


  Princess Jinghua snorted and said to Qiao Jinniang, “If she really doesn’t want to delay the competition, why did she come at this time? Although her poems are good, I always feel that something is wrong.”


  “Why?” Qiao Jinniang asked.

  Princess Jinghua said, “This is not the place to talk about poetry. Are you free tomorrow? How about I go to the East Palace to talk with you about it, Your Highness?”


  “Okay, I’m bored in the East Palace anyway,” Qiao Jinniang replied.

  The competition was over half an hour later, and the winner was the fifth daughter of the Wang family, the royal merchant in Luoyang. Qiao Jinniang commended her and awarded her a set of gold needlework tools. Miss Wang kowtowed and thanked her.

  Qiao Jinniang also awarded three gold needles to each of the participants, and everyone was very happy. After all, the reward from the imperial palace was precious.

  With the three gold needles, their sisters must be very envious of them.

  “Miss Zhou, you’re such a talented poet. It’s so lively today. Can you make a poem?”


  A girl asked.

  Zhou Shihui also looked at Zhou Qinghe and said, “Mother, it’s the Qixi Festival today. Why don’t you make a poem?”


  Zhou Qinghe paused for a moment and then blurted out, “The crickets in grasses startle the parasol trees into dropping leaves, and an ancient sorrow fills Heaven and Earth, even the steps of clouds are strewn with hurdles on the Moon grounds. Although the boats go searching to and fro, they rarely meet among the stars a single soul. Only once in a year over the vast Starry River, the magpies gather on a bridge for the lovers, the Cowherd with his Weaver Girl, a moment together. The rest of the year they’re apart from each other, as today, an endless struggle like the weather. Nothing stays, rain or wind, sunshine or pleasure”


  When Qiao Jinniang heard this poem, she couldn’t help being amazed by Zhou Qinghe’s talent again, but she felt that it was not very suitable for the occasion. The Qixi Festival came from the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

  However, since in Datang, the Qixi Festival had always been a festival for girls, people would only mention the Weaver Girl but not the Cowherd.

  Besides, why did she write a poem full of melancholy and sadness when it was such a lively and cheerful festival?

  And how did she come up with the line “the crickets in grasses startle the parasol trees into dropping leaves’ on such an occasion?

  Shouldn’t poems be inspired by emotion?

  Even if Zhou Qinghe had been separated from her husband for a long time due to the flood and she missed her husband during the Qixi Festival, the poem shouldn’t start with “the crickets in grasses startle the parasol trees into dropping leaves” anyway.

  It was not that she couldn’t write cheerful poems. Qiao Jinniang still remembered the line of her poem “Row the boat, row the boat! Startle a beach of gulls”.

  Many girls took down the poem Zhou Qinghe just made, silently reading with relish.

  Some girls even shed tears when they heard this poem. “Alas, I cried for the beautiful love between Zhou Qinghe and her husband again! I hope the Weaver Girl can bless Zhou Qinghe to reunite with her husband soon.”


  “There is always a man in Zhou Qinghe’s poems. She must love that man much, but I don’t know where the man is gone?”


  Fulu said angrily, “What a stupid poem! Although I don’t know how to make poems, I know “the crickets in grasses startle the parasol trees into dropping leaves” describes the scene in a silent night. But is it silent now?

  “It’s obviously very lively now!”


  As soon as Fulu said so, she immediately annoyed all the girls.

  “This is obviously an excellent poem. Your Highness, don’t comment on something you don’t understand.”


  Zhou Shihui looked at Fulu smugly.

  Qiao Lu took Fulu’s hand and said, “Although it is a good poem, it doesn’t suit the occasion. What Princess Fulu said was not wrong.”


  Zhou Shihui frowned and said, “Senior Brother, with your talent in literature, I think you know how good my mother’s poem is. How can you help Princess Fulu and lie through your teeth?”


  Qiao Lu said, “You have been driven out of Qingming Academy. Don’t call me senior brother again!”


  Cold-shouldered by Qiao Lu, Zhou Shihui was very depressed. She remembered how well Senior Brother treated her before.

  Senior Brother must have been coerced by Fulu to be so cold to her.

  The crowd went to the place where the Clever Fruit competition was held. Clever Fruit should not only look good, but should also taste delicious, and although this was the case, there were still many girls who came to participate in it.

  Clever Fruit needed to be fried, so there were many oil cauldrons on the arena, which were full of hot bubbling oil.

  As soon as Qiao Jinniang arrived here, she heard a scream. It turned out that someone had knocked over a frying cauldron, and the hot oil sprinkled over a girl’s face.

  This was no small matter, and Qiao Jinniang hurriedly asked the accompanying imperial doctor to treat the girl.

  This competition had to be halted.

  “It was Mr. Xie’s granddaughter who knocked the frying cauldron over!”


  Mr. Xie was the president of Qingming College and had students all over the country.

  His granddaughter, Xie Xiangxiang, was seventeen years old. With a red mole between her eyebrows, she looked quite pretty.

  This was the first time she came to the ceremony of the Qixi Festival. Scared, she kept retreating. When she saw Zhou Shihui, she hurriedly ran to her and took her hand, asking for her help, “Sister Shihui, I didn’t mean it. I just accidentally knocked the cauldron over.”


  Zhou Shihui gently flicked Xie Xiangxiang’s hand away. “But they all saw that you did it.”


  Zhou Shihui hated Xie Xiangxiang. She was not even a student of Qingming Academy, but she could play with Qiao Lu all the time.

  What annoyed Zhou Shihui even more was that she also had a red mole between the eyebrows just like Qiao Lu.

  Seeing this scene, Qian Yin who accompanied Princess Shou’an and Prince Consort Qin to have fun in Xuanwu Street quickly went over and rolled up her sleeve regardless of etiquette. As expected, he saw a peach blossom-shaped birthmark on her wrist and he exclaimed, “Xiangxiang!”