Chapter 23: Young Man, You’re Truly Brave
Ye Ning sat in the elegant room, showing no intention to compete further.
Cai Xianggao also kept his eyes closed, showing no haste to take the stage.
“These two have already started their contest,” many whispered privately.
Regardless of Cai Xianggao’s intentions, Ye Ning certainly had no such intention.
He curiously watched the competition below.
About thirty or so talents were lying on the desk, composing poetry.
As soon as the brush touched the paper, their literary talents began to surge.
The entire Spring Wing Pavilion exuded a refreshing fragrance of ink.
“The taste of poetry and prose is truly extraordinary. Being able to appreciate a good poem or verse, I can go without eating meat for three months,” Liu Sanyuan shook his head and said with a smile.
He seemed a little tipsy, his face flushed. Watching the scholars below indulging in literary pursuits, he couldn’t help but feel a bit reckless himself.
After all, he was also a man of letters, easily intoxicated by such a literary atmosphere.
“Huang’s poem lacks flair, it’s difficult to capture one’s attention without a twist.”
“Zhang’s lyrics are not bad, but they suffer from excessive homogenization, lacking in brilliance.”
“At the moment, Wang’s skills seem superior, towering above others, truly outstanding!”
People discussed one after another.
Who was superior and who was inferior could be clearly seen from their literary talents.
At the moment their brushes touched the paper, threads of literary talent emerged, tinted orange, floating above the poetry and prose, exquisite and beautiful.
From the richness of literary talent, one could effectively judge who was more talented.
Currently, there were no outstanding figures.
Let alone impressing Xiao Qianqian, even the eight renowned courtesans would find it hard to appreciate.
“Pretentious.”
Cai Xianggao finally opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping towards the elegant room. Seeing Ye Ning still motionless, he sneered and went up to the stage.
“The top scholar is about to write!”
Expectation gleamed in everyone’s eyes.
This was the top scholar!
To some extent, he was the most talented scholar of the year in Great Zhou!
Cai Xianggao lightly picked up the brush, having already planned out his composition, and swiftly wrote.
“Excellent characters!”
Someone exclaimed in admiration.
As soon as the brush touched the paper, literary talent surged.
This was because the characters were written exceptionally well.
He continued to write without pause, and in the blink of an eye, half of a quatrain was done.
The rich literary talent was visible to the naked eye.
Suddenly, there was a tremor, and an even richer fragrance of ink spread in all directions.
“Half of a ‘reaching the prefecture’!”
The literati exclaimed in astonishment, revealing expressions of ecstasy.
Those who were competing with him on stage heard this and their faces changed drastically, their thoughts in disarray, unable to write anymore.
Ye Ning knew that in this world, there was a standard for evaluating poetry and prose.
When literary talent reached a certain level, it was called “reaching the prefecture”.
As the name suggests, poetry and prose could spread to a prefecture, which could be considered excellent.
After reaching the prefecture, there was “famous in Mingzhou”.
Famous in Mingzhou meant being renowned in a province. Such poetry and prose could already be circulated widely.
After Mingzhou, there was “town and country”.
Such outstanding works of poetry could become a treasure of a nation, leaving a lasting legacy.
Lastly, there was “known throughout the world”!
Works known throughout the world were extremely rare. Once completed, they would shake the world.
The current “sages of poetry” and “sages of lyrics” might have only written one or two works known throughout the world in their lifetime.
Such works were rare and hard to come by.
“Half of a reaching the prefecture by the top scholar indicates that once he finishes this piece, it’s highly likely to be famous in Mingzhou!”
“If it really becomes famous in Mingzhou, it will be a grand event in the literary world!”
“I’m impressed, the top scholar truly deserves his reputation, exceptionally talented!”
The crowd was ecstatic.
In this era where literary talent wasn’t abundant, reaching the Mingzhou level of poetry and prose was even more difficult.
Moreover, Cai Xianggao was improvising, adding a few more layers of difficulty.
“This young man, indeed very brave.” Liu Sanyuan said, glancing at Ye Ning.
He wanted to see Ye Ning’s reaction.
Unfortunately, Ye Ning remained expressionless.
It was hard to say whether he felt pressured or confident of victory.
Cai Xianggao continued to write, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. His literary courage was shaking, and the literary energy within him surged, supporting his spirit and allowing him to write a masterpiece.
In the end, he stopped writing.
The literary talent surged, rose several times, but it always fell short, not reaching the level of Mingzhou.
“It’s a pity, just a little short.”
“A work famous in Mingzhou is truly rare.”
“Cai Xianggao being able to reach this level is already extremely difficult.”
People sighed, but it wasn’t sarcastic. Instead, they encouraged him one after another.
In their eyes, this was already quite good.
This poem had a solid foundation. After Cai Xianggao went back and polished it carefully, it was highly likely to become famous in Mingzhou.
For an ordinary person, having such a work in their lifetime would be something to boast about for a long time.
This was already an achievement they could aspire to but not necessarily attain.
Cai Xianggao apparently thought the same. Although somewhat regretful, a smile still hung on his lips.
He was satisfied with his work.
However, his smile didn’t last long.
Because he noticed that Ye Ning still hadn’t come down.
This dissipated much of his joy. Watching the elegant room upstairs, Cai Xianggao couldn’t help but say, “Lord Ye, why haven’t you come down yet? Could it be that your inspiration has dried up, and you can’t write?”
Ye Ning had watched everyone write for a while, satisfying his curiosity.
Originally, he intended to come down.
Seeing Cai Xianggao urging him, a smile appeared on his lips.
“Young man, you’re truly brave!”