"Who said there's no President Jing's calligraphy outside?"

At this moment, Yu Sheng stepped forward and said with some pride.

"Um???"

The officials looked at Yu Sheng with puzzled expressions.

I thought to myself, you're just a military man. You can criticize Bai Qingyuan normally, but when it comes to discussing poetry, what do you know?

But Yu Sheng didn't care at all, and was even quite pleased with himself.

"Hey, isn't it a coincidence? I happen to have a poem by President Jing in my home!"

"oh?"

The ministers became interested and immediately pressed on, asking, "Isn't Duke Yu, a military general, the one who usually hates poetry the most? Why would he suddenly be interested in President Jing's poems? And how did Duke Yu obtain President Jing's calligraphy?"

Everyone else also pricked up their ears, eager to hear the method.

Yu Sheng snorted coldly: "So what if I'm a military general? I hate poetry because you bookworms can't write anything that satisfies me. Why would I like it? But President Jing is different. I like all of President Jing's calligraphy!"

Then he said smugly, "As for the method, there's not much to say. It's just that my Xiangrong has a good relationship with President Jing, and President Jing specially wrote a poem for Xiangrong!"

"..."

Everyone else had heard of Yu Xiangrong and knew that she was somewhat mentally challenged, but extremely beautiful.

After glancing at Jing Zhe, the group of men felt a pang of sympathy.

No wonder Duke Yu stood up for Jing Zhe in court many times. Before, they thought it was just because the two of them disliked Bai Qingyuan, but now it seems that's not the case at all!

It seems that these two might become father-in-law and son-in-law!

I felt a little envious.

Zhu Xinning tilted her head to look at Jing Zhe: Hmph, it seems he's written poems for more than just me!

Jing Zhe felt Zhu Xinning's sharp gaze and was a little embarrassed, but he wasn't afraid at all: If you have any complaints, just call them over tonight. Anyway, I'm ready to unleash them all!

Seeing the envy of the assembled officials, Yu Sheng nodded slightly and asked in a low voice, "I just want to ask, how much silver is this calligraphy worth?"

"..."

The officials were taken aback.

He glanced at Yu Sheng, then at Jing Zhe, and thought to himself, no wonder these two get along so well. Besides their love for insulting others, their shady tactics are exactly the same!

To openly sell calligraphy that the original author gifted to his daughter in front of her—that's something no one else does!

Seeing the gazes of the assembled officials, Yu Sheng blushed slightly, waved his hand, and said nonchalantly, "Don't overthink it. Why would I sell President Jing's calligraphy? I was just inquiring!"

Hao Junguang stepped forward and said, "Duke Yu, although President Jing is the most talented man in Anguo, not all poems are the same. Why don't you read it aloud so that everyone can hear it and then make a judgment!"

"good!"

Yu Sheng agreed, thinking to himself that if even a roughneck like him thought the poem was excellent, it must be good too!

So he recited: "Clouds think of... clothes... no, clouds think of armor, flowers think of beauty, autumn wind..."

"Duke Yu, perhaps... I should do it?"

Jing Zhe was speechless.

Changing a poem right in front of the author is just too outrageous!

"Alright, then President Jing, please read it!"

Seeing Jing Zhe come to his rescue, Yu Sheng smiled and said.

Jing Zhe cupped his hands in greeting and then read:

"Clouds resemble her clothes, flowers resemble her face; the spring breeze caresses the balustrade, and the dew is heavy."

If not seen in the garden pavilion, then met under the moon on the Jade Terrace.

"What a beautiful poem!"

Such a bold confession poem, and of such high quality, even surpassed the poem "My Love Is Across Mountains and Seas" that he had previously written for Zhu Xinning in the newspaper, and immediately attracted a group of people to follow it.

Grand Tutor Hao Junguang, in particular, had his eyes shining.

He greatly admired Jing Zhe's poems and had long wanted to collect his calligraphy. Unfortunately, all the poems he knew of written by Jing Zhe were collected by Emperor An. When he finally saw a wild one, he naturally took a liking to it.

He immediately asked, "Lord Yu, did President Jing personally write this poem for you?"

"Of course, it's right here in my residence!"

Yu Sheng held his head high, looking arrogant and haughty.

"Duke Yu, how about five hundred taels of silver?"

Although Hao Junguang was a Grand Tutor, he was usually just as poor as Yu Sheng. For him to suddenly give away five hundred taels of silver was probably nearly half of his entire fortune.

"..."

Yu Sheng was tempted by such a large sum of money.

However, after glancing at Jing Zhe beside him, he still couldn't bring himself to agree, so he stubbornly said, "No."

Hao Junguang thought he thought it was too little, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Lord Yu, how about a thousand taels of silver? My monthly salary is about the same as yours, but because I have many disciples and my expenses are low, this is all I have. You won't still think it's too little, will you?"

"Forehead…"

One thousand taels of silver was indeed a huge sum for Sheng.

After all, he doesn't usually save much money, and he spends it all on wine as soon as he gets it. With a thousand taels right in front of him, he was indeed envious.

Taking a deep breath, he still gritted his teeth and refused, saying, "Grand Tutor Hao, there's no need for you to bother. I'm just inquiring about the value of President Jing's calligraphy; I don't really want to sell it!"

"..."

Hao Junguang glanced at him, shook his head, and sighed.

"It seems my silver is still too little; Duke Yu doesn't even look at it! Indeed, if Chief Jing's calligraphy were kept at home as a family heirloom, it would be worth more than a thousand taels of silver!"

The ministers sighed in dismay upon hearing this.

A genius of Jing Zhe's caliber is a once-in-a-century talent, destined to be remembered for eternity. Owning his calligraphy is indeed a wonderful thing.

So these people started plotting in private, determined to get on his good side and see if they could get a piece of his calligraphy. After all, they thought Jing Zhe was easy to talk to.

"If I had a daughter, I would definitely go and propose marriage to Chief Jing! Ah, I really envy Duke Yu for having such a wonderful daughter!"

Hao Junguang sighed again.

Logically speaking, from ancient times to the present, the custom is that the man should go to the woman's house to propose marriage, while the woman goes to the man's house. This would seem like the man is eager to marry her, and it wouldn't sound good if word got out.

But when these words came from Hao Junguang's mouth, the ministers felt there was no problem at all, and it seemed that Jing Zhe was indeed worthy of the title!

Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood.

He had indeed thought about this before, but Jing Zhe brushed it off with a simple "mutual affection." Later, he also felt that it would be beneath the dignity of the woman's family to bring it up first, especially since he was a Duke of Protectorate.

Because of his status, he let the matter drop.

After Hao Junguang brought it up, he suddenly realized that for a genius like Jing Zhe, who was a once-in-a-century talent, what was wrong with coming to propose marriage?

"Grand Tutor Hao, you're overthinking it. Even if you have a daughter, she certainly won't be as pretty as my Xiangrong!"

"..."

Seeing that things had gone on enough, Emperor An waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's call it a day for today's morning court session. President Jing, please stay behind!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Therefore, all the ministers withdrew.

————