The rain during the Guyu solar term fell like a fine curtain, and water droplets clung to the Xiangfei bamboo curtains of Qinghe Courtyard. Jiang Wan paused as she held her wolf-hair brush, letting a small blot of ink spread across the final stroke of the character "spring" on the Xuan paper. She raised her head to look at the banana leaves outside the window, then suddenly let out a soft laugh. In her past life on this very day, she had been at her wit's end over the theme for the poetry gathering, but in this life, she had already memorized the *Air of the States* from the *Classic of Poetry* back-to-front.
"Miss," Wanqing entered holding the *Selections of Refined Literature*, with the pages thick with dense annotations, "Nanny Zhou says that at past poetry gatherings, the Liu Mansion has always loved to test people on 'The Jinsheng' from the *Airs of Zheng*, but since Second Miss used that last year, I'm afraid they'll switch to something even more obscure this year."
Jiang Wan put down her brush, took the book, and flipped to the "Cunning Boy" section of the *Airs of Zheng*. "Obscure? I'm afraid they'll test controversial pieces like 'The Cunning Boy' or 'Gathering the Skirts'." Her fingertips traced over the lines, *That cunning boy, he will not speak with me*. "Poems about the romance between men and women like these are the easiest to make young ladies of good families feel embarrassed."
Chapter 32