Xu Youcai drew a line of ink on his face, cupped his hands and said, "Honorable sirs, I think we have matched enough couplets. Shall we start composing poems now?"
"No hurry, no hurry," Song County Magistrate said quickly, "There is still time. Let's match a few more couplets."
"I also think we can match a few more," Li Yao chimed in. "I came late and missed all the wonderful couplets earlier."
Since both of them said so, Li Prefect naturally could not object.
Xu Youcai felt a little cold in his heart, but he was not afraid either. Although all the prepared couplets were used up, the next contest would show true talents. As the number one scholar in Yizhou Prefecture, he was not undeservedly famous.
So after a brief pondering, he came up with a decent upper line himself.
Seeing the opponent was no longer playing tricks but comparing real talents, Wang Er was not intimidated at all. With a quick thought, he wrote a lower line on the paper.
Li Prefect and Song County Magistrate looked them over and both said the antithesis was well-matched and exquisite.
"It's my turn. This time my theme is mountain."
Wang Er continued to swiftly write another timeless line: No mountain compares to the sublime Mt. Wu.
It was another homophonic antithesis, making Xu Youcai and the others frown in distress. No matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn't come up with a fitting lower line, so they had to draw another stroke on their faces.
In the next nine couplets, although Xu Youcai squeezed out seemingly ingenious upper lines with all his wits, Wang Er matched them out one by one.
But for Wang Er's upper lines, he couldn't match a single one.
How was this situation any different from when he had used prepared upper lines to overwhelm Wang Er earlier?
As Wang Er frequently came up with wonderful lines and the situation was reversed, even Li Prefect repeatedly exclaimed in surprise.
He couldn't understand at all, since Wang Er had such good upper lines, why didn't he use them earlier and waited until Li Yao came to use them?
Could it be that Li Yao usually didn't allow Wang Er to show his talents, lest he provoked envy?
After twenty rounds, it finally ended.
There were 11 strokes of ink on the faces of Xu Youcai and the others, while there were 9 strokes on each face on Wang Er's side.
Although there was only a difference of two strokes, the distinction was clear.
"Brother Xu," Wang Er said, "Those ten upper lines just now completely lacked your previous elegance. Could it be that Brother Xu was not well prepared enough and was caught off guard?"
Xu Youcai really wanted to retort, but he didn't dare to.
He had really cheated. If he was questioned, his reputation would be ruined!
"Brother Wang, we still have to compose poems later," Xu Youcai said. "We'll naturally see the difference then."
Wang Er just smiled without replying.
He had roughly grasped Xu Youcai's level, so he was not worried at all.
As long as he didn't cheat, the number one scholar in Yizhou Prefecture was no more than this.
Seeing the scholars with faces covered in ink strokes, Li Prefect and Song County Magistrate were in good moods, as if seeing their young selves.
"Alright, go wash your faces clean. We'll compose poems next," Li Prefect said.
Xu Youcai and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.
If they continued matching couplets, there would be no space left on their faces to draw.
After a short rest, the scholars washed the ink off their faces and returned to the bamboo pavilion.
Composing poem was much more difficult than matching couplets, so today they would only write one poem each. Li Prefect, Song County Magistrate and Li Yao would each propose a theme, and the scholars could choose one to compose a poem about.
Li Prefect casually gave the character "bamboo", and Song County Magistrate followed with "pine".
Since the participants were all young scholars, they didn't need overly demanding themes.
When it was Li Yao's turn, she naturally had to pave the way for Wang Er, so she pointed at the wine cup on the table and said, "I'll just give the theme 'wine cup'."
With the three themes given out, everyone immediately started racking their brains.
In less than half a teacup of time, Song Zhe put down his brush, "I'm done!"
"Haha, like father like son," Li Prefect laughed. "Let me see."
Song Zhe happily handed over his poem, and Li Prefect's face was filled with awkwardness after reading it. Song County Magistrate's eyebrows wrinkled into the shape of the character "chuan", his whole face darkened.
Seeing their amusing expressions, Li Yao also couldn't help but take a look, and her face almost fell off.
"A grove of bamboo on the hill, Bringing mosquitoes and bugs indoors in summer. Come autumn and winter, Made into baskets to carry everything."
It was smooth to read, but this was just a doggerel poem! It was comparable to "The universe in one cage, A black pit on the ground".
This kid really wasn't imperial examination material.
He should go back and diligently practice his martial arts.
"Not bad, not bad," Li Yao smiled. "Don't write next time."
Song Zhe: ...
But he knew his own level, so he didn't mind too much.
Anyway, Wang Er would surely stand out later and give honor to the Baichuan County scholars.
As time passed, more and more scholars finished their poems. Li Prefect and Song County Magistrate looked through them and put the ones they considered fairly good to the side to select the best later.
"I'm done too."
Xu Youcai strode forward and handed in his masterpiece.
After reading it, Li Prefect stroked his beard with one hand, looking very satisfied.
The number one scholar in Yizhou Prefecture really wasn't undeservedly famous, he did have some real talents. Although this poem couldn't be called a masterpiece, it could already be considered outstanding among the young scholars.
After everyone finished writing, Wang Er finally completed his poem.
"I wrote about pine. Please review it, sir."
Wang Er's poem was also astonishingly amazing. But Li Prefect was biased towards Xu Youcai, so he directly announced Xu Youcai as first place.
Although Song County Magistrate argued reasonably, Li Prefect's rank was higher so he didn't have much leverage.
"Or how about joint first place?"
"That won't do."
As soon as Song County Magistrate suggested joint first, the Yizhou Prefecture scholars became dissatisfied.
"Even if the two poems are equally good, Brother Xu spent less time," someone said, "So the students believe the first place should be Brother Xu."
"That's right, Brother Xu has quicker literary thinking, so he naturally should get first place!"
"How could the number one scholar in Yizhou Prefecture lose to a country bumpkin?"
"Who are you calling a country bumpkin?" Song Zhe jumped out from behind the desk. "Say that again and see if I don't beat you until your own mother can't recognize you!"
"A country bumpkin is a country bumpkin, why can't I say it?"
"You're asking for it!"
"Song Zhe, stop at once!" Song County Magistrate shouted. "Brawling like this, how undignified!"
Song Zhe was grinding his teeth. But with the prefect here, he couldn't really start a fight, so he could only obediently back down.
"Brother Wang," Xu Youcai saw that the matter was settled, and smiled as he approached Wang Er, "Brother Wang, your literary thinking is agile and you have extensive knowledge. You have my utmost admiration."
"You flatter me."
"However," Xu Youcai continued, "There is a saying that one should read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles. Brother Wang today didn't lose in learning, but in experience. In the future, you should still travel more."
Although there wasn't the term "country bumpkin" explicitly stated, it was equivalent to saying: You are an inexperienced country bumpkin!
Seeing his smug look, Wang Er's gaze turned cold.
He had originally wanted to take first place and humiliate Xu Youcai again, ending today's matter.
But he didn't expect his opponent to have the prefect's bias, and was now even more arrogant.
Then don't blame him for being impolite.