Bore not with the intricacies of Prajna, yet her lips subtly bit down. On one side, an out-of-date and impolite old woman; on the other, a blooming and city-adored courtesan. Even a blind man would know how to choose, and you managed to choose wrongly?
Yulou lifted her gaze, revealing a complex expression...
Lin Su raised his hand, and the language of flowers was handed to her: "Sister Yulou, my brother asked me to bring you a poem."
Yulou's eyes suddenly warmed: "Write it down!"
Lin Su turned to the nearby table, picked up a pen...
In the eyes of the crowd, there was mockery; he knows how to use a pen?
Lin Su's pen danced, and it quickly finished...
"Nian Nian!" Lord Jin smiled: "Let's see what our Second Young Master Lin can write."
The elegantly dressed lady smiled as she took the poem, but suddenly, her smile stiffened. Slowly, she recited, "Borrowing the question of river tides and sea patterns, how is it similar to your affection and my heart? Regretfully, it's better to have the tide's trust than our mutual resentment; the beginning of love makes me realize the shallowness of the sea."
After reciting, disbelief covered her face, but she made no comments. For the previous poems, she would add a suffix after each one, praising Prajna. But for this poem, she left it without a suffix...
The top student sitting among the scholars suddenly opened his seemingly closed eyes.
Zhang Xiu's folding fan stopped halfway, suddenly halting.
Lord Jin's smile completely froze on his face.
The five courtesans who had hidden in the adjacent room exchanged glances, all revealing astonishment in each other's eyes...
The people in the building fell silent.
How is this possible?
How could it be such a fantastic poem? The structure is exquisite, the poetic feeling is endless, and every word carries a deep and heartfelt love. Such a wonderful poem would surely have a place even in the top literary circles in the capital.
In a distant corner of the restaurant, a scholar looked around, quietly asked a young literary man beside him who seemed to be in a daze, "Brother Deng, how is this poem...?"
Deng exhaled, "Regretfully, it's better to have the tide's trust than our mutual resentment; the beginning of love makes me realize the shallowness of the sea... Truly an earth-shattering phrase, this poem overwhelms the entire building."
Suddenly, someone next to them coughed lightly. Deng was startled and quickly shut his mouth...
Even though he stopped urgently, some people still heard it, including Prajna. Prajna's smile on her face also stiffened. She had collected flowers from the entire building, except for one, and it happened to be this one. This poem, in terms of weight, was much heavier than the fifty or so poems she received combined. If this poem is considered a good wine, the other poems were nothing more than stale water...
The feeling in her heart was far from good.
Yulou took the poem, looked at it for a long time, then slowly raised her head, whispering, "Third Young Master, give a message to your elder brother for me."
"Yulou sister, please speak."
"Although the young master is still ill, he still cares about Yulou. Yulou will personally go to the Lin Mansion, wash her hands, and make a soup to ensure the young master's health!"
The entire building erupted!
This statement truly set the tone.
"Washing hands and making soup," that means she's joining the Lin family! Even though Lin Jialiang wasn't present, just with this poem, he managed to win the beauty!
Zhang Xiu's face turned dark!
The group that had just participated in the courtesan competition also had unpleasant expressions on their faces.
At this point, the banquet concluded successfully. Led by the elegantly dressed lady, the beauties left one after another, and the two generations of courtesans also left almost simultaneously.
Prajna and Yulou reached a tacit understanding at this moment—when leaving, their last glances were all directed at Lin Su, but the meaning in their eyes was completely different.
There was also one person whose gaze fell on Lin Su, the zither-playing woman. Her gaze was exceptionally bright...
Sitting in the first seat, a middle-aged man said, "The ten talents of Quzhou are rarely gathered. Since we have gathered today, why not take this opportunity to discuss the reevaluation of the ten talents? What do you think?"
With these words, those preparing to leave sat back down.
Reevaluate the ten talents? This matter is significant; it can be considered a grand event in the literary world of Quzhou. Anyone even remotely connected to literature would be unwilling to leave.
Lin Su's mind stirred. Is this a new development?
Today's banquet was undoubtedly a grand banquet set up by the Zhang family with the aim of suppressing the Lin family!
What were the steps?
The first step was for Zhang Xiu to marry Yulou and use her to suppress Lin Jialiang. Yulou's ambiguous relationship with Lin Jialiang was known even to Lin's mother. These people had no reason not to know. However, now that Yulou had broken free, Zhang Xiu's plan fell through.
The opponent immediately initiated the second move: the reevaluation of Quzhou's ten talents.
What was the purpose of this move?
Now it became clear: these people wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to remove Lin Jialiang from the list of Quzhou's ten talents!
The title of Quzhou's ten talents might seem like just a name, but its impact on literary reputation was enormous. Originally part of Quzhou's ten talents, being expelled today would be hard to accept. Even a slight lack of determination would be enough to break one's spirit, leading to the true downfall of their literary path.
Alright, let's see how you perform...
"Mr. Lei's proposal aligns with the students' wishes," Zhang Xiu's dark face gradually relaxed. "Quzhou has a deep cultural heritage and literary elegance, occupying three-tenths of the splendor of the Great Tang. The reputation of Quzhou's ten talents is indeed praiseworthy. Those who have both literary talent and a solid foundation should be considered. Today, let's publicly evaluate and place the worthy ones on top, while those who deceive the world and steal fame can take the lower position. It is necessary. I ask Mr. Lei to preside over this grand event and create a wonderful tale in the literary world."
A deep bow.
Mr. Lei shook his head lightly, "What merit and ability do I have? Dare I evaluate Quzhou's talents? It is better to find someone else more capable for this great task..."
The crowd started to speak up, urging Mr. Lei not to be so modest. Most of the people present were just budding in the field of literature. Even those who had a bit of literary foundation were just scholars, contributing to the literary world. Mr. Lei, being a jinshi, had already built his literary reputation...
Yes, yes, in the literary
world, seniority took precedence. A half-step on the stairs could make one a teacher...
Lin Su knew these things. He had just read about them in "Miscellaneous Discussions on Literature."
Literature was divided into seven tiers: Literary Foundation, Literary World, Literary Peak, Literary Heart, Literary Path, Literary Realm, and Saint.
Literary Foundation was the first tier in literature, and there were two ways to obtain it. One was through the examination for children, and the Temple would grant a literary foundation. The other was through great fortune, directly bestowed by the Temple.
If one acquired a literary foundation, they could participate in the provincial exam. Those who passed were called scholars and were granted Literary World.
Scholars could participate in the metropolitan exam. Those who succeeded were called jinshi and received Literary Peak.
Jinshi could participate in the palace exam. Those who passed were called jinshi jidi, and they received Literary Heart.
Lei Dongyang had entered Literary Peak, meaning he was already a jinshi.
Jinshi, when measured in terms of academic qualifications, were one level higher than scholars. So, him presiding over this was fitting, and it was the expectation of the crowd.
Lei Dongyang finally agreed after a lot of humility. He tasted a sip of wine and spoke, "The world is prosperous and vibrant, and you all have great ambitions. Let's express our aspirations through poetry. We will use these poems to determine Quzhou's ten talents. Does anyone have objections?"
"Poetry expressing aspirations is a common skill, and naturally, there are no objections."
"No objections..."
Everyone expressed their agreement...
Lin Su, with a cold gaze, observed the situation. Damn, this tactic is quite targeted...
Poetry expressing aspirations, making it clear that it must be filled with heroic spirit...
For more than a month, the Second Young Master Lin had been rubbed against by society over and over again. How could he have a heroic spirit?
Even if he wrote "Ten years of life and death, two vast and dim," that would be more or less enough!
After the scholar above him expressed no objections, everyone's gaze focused on Lin Su.
Lin Su spoke, "Why are you all looking at me? Do you need my opinion? ... Hmm, I really have a question to ask..."
Mr. Lei above him said, "Third Young Master Lin, please speak."
Lin Su said, "My elder brother was originally one of Quzhou's ten talents. Today, he is unwell and cannot attend. May I ask, are you going to evaluate only nine talents and add my elder brother to make it ten, or are you going to exclude my elder brother directly and forcefully evaluate ten talents?"
"Since it is a reevaluation, the original ten talents are naturally not considered."
Lin Su nodded, "Taking advantage of my elder brother's illness, quickly reevaluate the ten talents. You see, there's an opportunity here... Hmm, hmm... You guys seem quite wary of my elder brother."
Haha...
The crowd burst into laughter...
"Wary? Haha, what is Lin Jialiang? Including him in Quzhou's ten talents was purely for the sake of numbers..."
"Exactly! Including him was just for the sake of giving face to Duke Dingnan. But where is Duke Dingnan now?"
This was somewhat offensive. Lin Su raised his gaze, staring at the person who spoke. He had just heard the introduction; this person was the son of Guiyang.
Guiyang's son opened his folding fan, "What? Third Young Master, do you disagree? No problem. You can go back now and let your elder brother come over. I will make it clear to him personally, letting him lose both his reputation and standing!"
"No need to bring my elder brother!" Lin Su said, "I'll play with you all. Just writing a poem, right? I've at least learned from my elder brother for a few days. I don't dare to enter the grand hall of great elegance, but playing with you all is still bearable."
"You?"
Hahaha, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Even Xiaoyao, who had eaten and drunk enough, looked at him in surprise. Big brother, you only had one cup of wine, and you're already dizzy? You can write poetry? Why didn't I know?
"If Third Young Master wants to write poetry, shall we start with his return?" Zhang Xiu smiled.
"Good, good, there's no rule that waste can't write poetry..."
"Then write it. I never expected such a humorous event to occur at a literary event..."
"One after another, the papers were placed on the table.
Lin Su picked up the pen, and someone tugged at his sleeve. He turned to look, and it was Xiaoyao. She brought her small mouth close to his ear, "Big brother, should I quickly go back and let Second Young Master write? Xiaoyao is full now and runs fast..."
Lin Su said, "What are you stirring up? Go eat your chicken leg!"
Oh!
Xiaoyao sat by the pillar, very obedient, and picked up the chicken leg...
Shua shua shua...
The pen danced like a dragon, and the entire building was filled with people who could handle a pen...
Time passed minute by minute, and finally, Lin Su also started writing, producing a considerable amount of content...