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墨書 Inktalez
Li Jiancheng couldn't comprehend the musical rhythm, so he had no way to judge how well the instrument was played. Regardless, the sound of the music was quite pleasant.
As the performance concluded and the audience lingered in the afterglow of the melody, a woman wearing a purple veil slowly descended from the back courtyard to the makeshift stage below.
"This is Dan Bingbing!" Li Yuanji exclaimed, clearly excited, pointing at the woman to Li Jiancheng.
This is Dan Bingbing? Li Jiancheng frowned and said, "Didn’t you say she was as beautiful as a celestial being? She's wearing a veil; how can you see her face?"
"Of course we can't see it!" Li Yuanji replied readily, as if it were obvious.
"Then how do you know she's good-looking?" Li Jiancheng couldn't help but feel even more puzzled.
"People say so! Those fortunate enough to be invited into Dan Bingbing's presence have seen her true face and all claim she is breathtakingly beautiful, rivaling the fairies in heaven..."
Damn! Li Jiancheng really thought this Dan Bingbing was extraordinarily beautiful! It turns out she was just hyped up by others!
It seems that Dan Bingbing truly understood the art of publicity; her entrance was deliberately shrouded in mystery with that veil.
While Li Jiancheng was mentally critiquing this situation, Dan Bingbing began to speak. Her words were merely expressions of gratitude for everyone's support.
Li Jiancheng hadn’t seen what Dan Bingbing looked like yet, but her voice had a sweet quality that was genuinely pleasant to hear. He hoped she wasn't just a voice actress with no real talent!
"Miss Dan, please present your challenge!"
"Yes, yes, hurry up with the challenge!"
As soon as Dan Bingbing finished her opening remarks, some people in the audience could hardly wait.
"What does it matter? With your poetic talents, do you think you can impress Miss Dan?"
"This young master has prepared thoroughly today; the first prize is mine and mine alone!"
"What arrogance! If I hadn't come, you might have had a chance at first place, but now that I'm here, you can forget about it..."
Before Dan Bingbing could present her challenge, a group of Talented Scholars in the audience had already started bickering.
Watching their eager antics, Li Jiancheng couldn't help but feel a sense of resignation.
Talented Scholars? More like wolves' offspring; they were more like jackals!
"You see, Young Master Wang, this is the character of these so-called Talented Scholars..." Li Yuanji also expressed his disdain for those who were arguing heatedly.
Then he proceeded to introduce his elder brother to a few of the most animated individuals below: "The loudest idiot there is Mo Hongkuo, son of Imperial Censor Mo Jianyou. The one opposing him is Liu Hui, grandson of Imperial Academy Chancellor Liu Xu..."
What a fine background they have! At least they are all sons of fifth-rank officials; no wonder they are so boisterous.
Thinking about it, without some sort of backing, who would dare to act so arrogantly?
As the crowd continued to argue, it was Dan Bingbing who stepped forward to restore order.
"Everyone, please stop arguing. I will present the topic," she said, her voice enchanting and instantly silencing the room.
"Please, Miss Dan Bingbing, present the topic quickly!" Liu Hui bowed, looking confident.
"Young Master Liu, please wait a moment. I will announce it now," Dan Bingbing replied with a light laugh before sweetly continuing, "Today, the world is at peace and there are no wars. However, I know this peace is thanks to Prince Qin's years of military campaigns that quelled the chaos. Whether it was the rebel kings within our borders or the incursions from the Turkic tribes in the north, it was Prince Qin who led the troops to restore order. I dare to ask everyone to compose a poem on the theme of warfare."
Hearing Dan Bingbing's words, Li Yuanji instinctively glanced at Li Jiancheng, who was also momentarily taken aback.
Damn it! Are we going to praise Li Shimin?
Well, why not! Perhaps I can fan the flames today and amplify Li Shimin's achievements! These wolves probably don't understand the principle of "merit high enough to overshadow the master."
Li Jiancheng pondered silently for a moment before quietly asking Li Yuanji, "Do you want to be Miss Dan Bingbing's guest of honor?"
"Of course!" Li Yuanji nodded vigorously but soon his expression dimmed. "But I can't compose poetry on the spot; I might manage something in my study..."
Li Jiancheng gently gestured him closer and whispered, "Come here!"
Li Yuanji looked at Li Jiancheng with skepticism but quickly leaned in.
As Li Jiancheng spoke softly, Li Yuanji's eyes suddenly brightened.
"Did you write this poem?" he asked in surprise.
Li Jiancheng shook his head and whispered back, "No, it's your sister-in-law's work; I'm just copying it."
He had no choice but to pretend in front of this fourth brother and attribute the poem to Lu Lingling. After all, everyone in the Li family knew that Lu Lingling had some literary talent; claiming she wrote it would raise no suspicions.
Sure enough, Li Yuanji looked enlightened. "I see! I thought we were alike; we can both write a petition..."
Realizing he had misspoken halfway through, he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, our knowledge is similar; we can write some articles just fine, heh heh..."
"Alright, alright!"
Li Jiancheng waved his hand, "Quickly remember this, and let’s see the looks on their faces later!"
Li Yuanji nodded vigorously, but suddenly his expression stiffened. He had to muster the courage to lean closer again, awkwardly saying, "Young Master Wang, can you say that one more time? I... I forgot..."
"I..."
Li Jiancheng paused slightly, momentarily at a loss for words.
Is his memory really that poor? I just told him, and he forgot so quickly?
With a sigh of resignation, Li Jiancheng leaned in again and repeated it.
While the two were whispering to each other, someone below had already begun to recite poetry. However, the verses produced were hardly worthy of being called poetry; they were just a jumble of meaningless phrases forced together for the sake of rhyme.
Not only did Dan Bingbing shake his head in disapproval, but even the people present couldn't help but do the same.
The poet, embarrassed by his lackluster performance, sat down with a flushed face.
Then another person began to compose a poem. It was slightly better than the previous one but still far from impressive.
The only sounds in the room were laughter and a chorus of boos.
After more than ten attempts at poetry that all fell flat, Li Yuanji suddenly stood up with an arrogant laugh, "You lot think you can write poetry? Hurry up and get lost; you’re just embarrassing yourselves here!"
At Li Yuanji's words, anger surged among the crowd below. They had long found him displeasing. How dare he insult them now?
Liu Hui looked at Li Yuanji with disdain, "Zhang Meng, what talent do you have to speak so boldly here? I've never heard you recite a decent poem before; don’t embarrass yourself any further..."
Zhang Meng was just a name Li Yuanji had thrown out while chatting; he claimed it belonged to a son of the master Zhang family.
"Exactly!" Mo Hongkuo pointed at Li Yuanji and sneered, "How about we give you a chance to perform? You don’t even need to write poetry; if you can string together a few coherent sentences, we’ll consider you the winner. What do you say?"
As Liu Hui's words fell, laughter erupted throughout the room.
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