With Xiao Yu speaking, the bet was officially established.
Li Shang had long since reached his limit in his patience with the arrogant and domineering Mu Zi'an.
"I have long heard that the new Duke of Zhenguo of Dali is both a scholar and a warrior, but I do not know whether his virtue matches his great reputation?"
Mu Zian glanced at Li Shang, his eyes full of disdain.
Seeing this, Li Shang's anger intensified, and he immediately spoke.
"My first line of the couplet: 'The three lights are the sun, the moon, and the stars!' is an absolute masterpiece for all time! Even the most renowned sages of my Zhao state could not come up with a matching line!"
"Now I humbly request the Duke of Zhenguo to enlighten me! I would like to hear what kind of masterpiece the Duke of Zhenguo can produce!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Zian stood with his hands behind his back and sneered.
"A mere five-character first line dares to be called an absolute masterpiece for all time?"
Having said that, Mu Zian stepped forward, his powerful aura forcing Li Shang to take a step back.
Then, Mu Zian bowed to Xiao Yu with his hands clasped and spoke calmly.
"The three lights are the sun, moon, and stars; the four poems are elegant and hymns!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shang's expression froze instantly!
Du Yuheng, who was sitting to the side, and the Hanlin Academy scholars who were deep in thought immediately slammed their fists on the table and stood up.
"That's right!"
"excellent!"
Their loud shout snapped Li Shangfang out of his daze!
"The three lights are the sun, moon, and stars; the four poems are elegant and hymns!"
"The three lights are the sun, moon, and stars; the four poems are elegant and hymns!"
Li Shang murmured repeatedly, then his expression changed drastically!
"How is this possible! How is this possible!"
Seeing the Zhao envoy in such a panic, the Second Prince Xiao Zi, who had just been reprimanded, was somewhat puzzled.
What is special about these four poems, "Feng," "Ya," and "Song"?
Hearing Xiao Zi's voice, Chu Fu, who was in a state of shock, finally came to his senses.
"The Duke of Zhenguo is truly a genius! He actually managed to come up with such an absolute answer!"
After saying that, Chu Fu took a deep breath to calm himself down before continuing his explanation.
"Reporting to you, the reason why the Second Prince's answer was so brilliant is because the Book of Poetry, one of the Four Books and Five Classics, is divided into three parts: the 'Airs of the States,' the 'Odes,' and the 'Hymns.'"
Before Chu Fu could continue, Xiao Zi immediately interrupted.
"If there are only three poems, how can they be called four poems? Isn't that a contradiction?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Fu patiently replied.
"That's precisely why this second line is so brilliant!"
"Of the three, 'The Wind' is a collection of folk songs, while 'The Odes' is a collection of songs used in sacrificial rites."
"The truly exquisite part lies in one of these three poems, the 'Odes,' which can be further divided into 'Greater Odes' and 'Lesser Odes.'"
"Therefore, these four lines of poetry, in their elegant and refined style, can be considered masterpieces!"
In my opinion, this second line is even more brilliant than the first!
Xiao Yu, sitting on the dragon throne, was also somewhat surprised.
"Excellent! Perfect parallelism! Fluent meaning! Complete structure!"
"Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!"
The officials inside the main hall did not participate in the poetry gathering on the painted boat that night.
Therefore, even after hearing about it, most people were skeptical.
However, seeing Mu Zi'an immediately respond with the matching couplet today, my prejudice vanished instantly!
Mu Zian looked at Li Shang, who was still in a daze, and extended his palm.
Li Shang was somewhat stunned upon seeing this.
Mu Zian said with great impatience.
"What are you looking at? Pay up!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shang froze on the spot, never having imagined that he would lose.
So how could he suddenly give Mu Zi'an a fortune?
Seeing Li Shang's embarrassed appearance, Li Shang immediately said.
"No! No! The Book of Songs only contains three poems: 'Airs of the States,' 'Odes,' and 'Hymns.' How can that match four poems? You...you're cheating! It doesn't count!"
At this moment, Li Shang had no shame whatsoever!
Upon seeing this, the scholars of the Hanlin Academy could no longer contain themselves!
"I have never seen such a shameless person!"
"This is utterly disgraceful to us scholars!"
"That's right! You're utterly unworthy of having studied the classics!"
“Snake-like words come from the mouth. Clever words are like a reed, shameless indeed.”
"Even a rat has skin, but a man has no manners. If a man has no manners, what is the point of living?"
The scholars in the Hanlin Academy could curse with quotations from classical texts, without using a single vulgar word.
Li Shang's face was also flushed! But he knew that he absolutely could not back down now!
They had no choice but to grit their teeth and persevere, otherwise, once they gave up, they would be utterly disgraced.
Upon hearing this, Mu Zian showed a hint of disdain on his face, as if he had long expected Li Shang to deny it to the death.
Before Li Shang could continue his sophistry, Mu Zi'an suddenly stepped forward again.
This step was so big that Li Shang lost his footing and fell to the ground.
Mu Zian stood with his hands behind his back and continued speaking slowly and deliberately.
"If one set is not enough, Your Majesty has three sets!"
"The sun, moon, and stars shine brightly, and a storm rages!"
"The three lights are the sun, the moon, and the stars; the four virtues are the origin, prosperity, and success."
"The three luminaries—sun, moon, and stars; the nine chapters—the Pythagorean theorem!"
Mu Zian's voice grew louder and louder.
As Li Shang lay on the ground, he felt as if the sky was about to collapse!
It was clearly an absolute match that would last for ages, yet the person before me not only matched it, but matched four of them in a row!
At this moment, even if Li Shang had the thickest skin, he couldn't argue anymore!
With a loud "poof!", Li Shang coughed up blood and collapsed.
Upon seeing this, several Confucian scholars from the Zhao delegation immediately stepped forward.
"Brother Li! What's wrong?"
"Brother Li, don't scare me!"
Even though he was shaken repeatedly, Li Shang refused to open his eyes.
Seeing this, the Confucian scholars from the State of Zhao immediately seized the opportunity to challenge them.
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