Chapter 53 Chapter 53 Plagiarism
Although they spoke in a questioning tone, everyone's eyes were all looking at Jiang Wu, the last one in the crowd.
The princess's gaze followed suit, recognizing her as the protagonist of the recent True or False Fiancée. "In that case, how about Madam Xie taking the lead in composing the first poem?"
Jiang Wu, instantly the center of attention, stepped forward, bowed to the princess, and, feeling awkward, said simply, "I cannot compose poetry. I'm afraid I'll be a disappointment to Your Highness."
Ji Ruyue crossed her arms and scoffed, "What do you mean by 'can't write poetry'? You're not just making excuses, are you? You did write a poem at the banquet before."
"Ask yourself, can the poem I wrote at the banquet really be considered a poem?"
"Of course it counts, of course it counts." Ji Ruyue was not embarrassed at all. She just wanted to use her as a foil for Sister Tingxue so that the Prime Minister could understand who was the woman who was truly worthy of him, the woman who could share common topics with him and resonate with his soul.
"Since you say so, then so be it." Jiang Wu shrugged and did not continue arguing about it.
Her compromising attitude made Ji Ruyue so angry that she was fuming.
Although the eldest princess hasn't been out for a long time, it doesn't mean she doesn't know what's going on outside. After Shen Tingxue said that she wanted to compile all her previous poems into a book for sale, and asked all the money earned from the sales to be donated, the balance in her heart inevitably shifted towards her.
She nodded slightly, "If Madam Xie keeps declining, I'll start to suspect that Madam Xie despises the banquets I'm hosting."
Hearing this, Jiang Wu's heart skipped a beat and she quickly admitted her mistake and denied it. "The Princess is doing this for the country and the people. How could I dare to do that? It's just that my poetry skills are not very high, and I am worried that it will pollute Your Highness's ears."
"You say you don't dare, but who knows what you're thinking." Anyway, Ji Ruyue just couldn't stand people like her, and she would only feel comfortable when she saw her in trouble.
"I don't know what others think, but I always say what I mean."
"Since everyone is waiting for me to start, I will do my best to show off my skills. I hope you will forgive me if I don't do it well." After Jiang Wu finished speaking, she walked to the plum tree, cleared her throat, and pointed to one of the plum blossoms.
"The plum blossoms are half open, half closed, and the delicate yellow petals are hidden in the heart." Thanks to the fact that she memorized a lot of poems when she was learning to write, she could pick out a few words she liked from them and combine them to make a poem.
Several other ladies then composed a few more poems. When the atmosphere was almost set, Shen Tingxue lightly walked to a plum blossom, touched its petals with her bare hands, and after a moment's silence, she slowly recited her poem, "A few plum branches bloom alone in the corner of the wall, braving the cold. I know from afar that it is not snow, because of the subtle fragrance."
"This poem is wonderful. Its profound artistic conception reminds me of the first plum blossom blooming in winter."
"Fortunately, the princess wasn't the first to write a poem, otherwise all of us who followed would be ashamed."
"This poem is truly a masterpiece of all time. How wonderful!"
"May I ask Princess Changle, is this poem really written by you?" Amidst the voices of praise and admiration, a different voice suddenly emerged, like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples.
Seeing that it was a new face, Shen Tingxue thought that it was another woman who didn't know her place and wanted to question her reputation as a talented woman in order to improve her own status: "Of course I wrote this poem, but what's wrong with this poem I wrote?"
"Has the princess composed this poem elsewhere before?"
"This poem is the one I wrote today, the first day of the year." To show off his talent, Shen Tingxue recited another poem to the plum blossoms: "The plum blossom is three points less white than the snow, but the snow is one point less fragrant than the plum blossom."
The girl who raised the question was holding a poetry collection in her hand, with obvious disappointment in her eyes. "But why are the poems written by the princess exactly the same as the ones in the poetry collection that suddenly appeared in the bookstore a few days ago?"
When she took out the poetry collection, Shen Tingxue suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart, "What poetry collection."
When Gong Lianyue brought up the collection of poems, Jiang Wu remembered that those were the poems she had secretly taken to the bookstore for printing.
She thought it would take some time to print and distribute, but she didn't expect it to be so fast. So there will be something interesting to watch next.
Ji Ruyue couldn't stand seeing anyone slandering her most admired sister Tingxue, so she immediately jumped out and accused her, "Who are you? Are you jealous of Sister Tingxue's talent and deliberately trying to frame her? You know, I've seen many women like you before."
Gong Lianyue ignored Ji Ruyue and asked again, "Princess, I hope you can give me an explanation."
Shen Tingxue suddenly became panicked. Could it be that there were other travelers in this world besides her?
Regardless of whether it was true or not, she couldn't panic right now, and certainly couldn't bear the reputation of plagiarism. Her long eyelashes drooped with loneliness. "I don't know what this lady means. I used to put my poems in my study after I wrote them, but my study was suddenly robbed a while ago. I'm afraid my poems were taken away during the chaos."
"As for why those poems I wrote earlier appeared in the poetry collection in this young lady's hands, it must be related to this matter."
Just as the situation was about to calm down, Jiang Wu said, "It's very simple to confirm whether these poems were written by the princess. As long as the princess can match the second half of the seven-character regulated verse written by this girl, it will be fine."
Shen Tingxue's body stiffened. If looks could kill, Jiang Wu would have been cut into pieces by her long ago.
Even though Ji Ruyue hated Jiang Wu, she couldn't deny that her idea was a good one. "Sister Tingxue, don't show any mercy later. Hit them hard in the face and let them know what it means to be the most talented woman in the Great Yan Kingdom."
"Aunt, I heard about the excitement here from far away. I wonder if we can come and join in the fun." He Shiyan suddenly came over with a group of young men and adults who came to the banquet. When his pair of sparkling peach blossom eyes swept over, he looked at everyone with tenderness and affection.
The eldest princess looked at the prince approaching, her eyes full of love, "Aren't these young people just writing poems about plum blossoms, competing to see who can write the best."
He Shiyan also became interested. "It's been a long time since I've heard Changle compose a new poem. Today is a lucky opportunity to feast my ears."
Gong Lianyue looked at her elder brother who was following behind the prince, turned away indifferently, and then looked at Chen Tingxue again, "Proud of the snow and plum blossoms, with a strong will, who will pity you, whose heart is as pure as the moon? I hope the princess can come up with the second couplet."
When she hesitated to respond, he said mercilessly, "This is a simple seven-character regulated verse. My lady, do you still need to think about it for so long?"
Shen Tingxue, who only thought she was a bitch, had never learned any seven-character regulated verse, so how could she write one? Now everyone around her was looking at her, and then she immediately came up with a line, "Sparse shadows slant across the shallow water, and faint fragrance floats in the moonlight at dusk."
"Well, the princess is indeed the most talented woman in Chang'an. I thought Miss Gong's was already excellent, but I didn't expect the princess's is even better."
"Under the moon at dusk, this scene is incredibly beautiful just by the description."
Ji Ruyue was very proud after Shen Tingxue matched her poem. "Sister Tingxue didn't want to match her poem at first because I was too disdainful to answer such a simple poem for you and worried that it would upset you. Who knew you would dare to do such a thing and seek abuse?"
Unexpectedly, Gong Lianyue's frown deepened, and she asked with a hint of doubt, "May I ask, Princess, did you write this poem recently?"
Shen Tingxue listened to their praises and raised her chin, “Naturally.”
"But why have I heard of this poem? If I'm not mistaken, the full sentence of this poem should be 'All the flowers have fallen, only the blooming one remains, taking all the charm to the small garden. The sparse shadows slant across the shallow water, and the faint fragrance floats in the moonlight at dusk. The author is a man named Wuming⑤." Gong Lianyue began to press step by step.
"The two poems you wrote earlier can be explained clearly. They were stolen and published first. But why is the poem you just wrote also included in this collection? I hope you can explain it to me."
No one expected that Gong Lianyue would say such words, nor what did she mean by those words. Could it be that the poems written by Princess Changle before were all plagiarized?
He Shiyan raised his lips and said, "The poetry collection in Miss Gong's hand is quite interesting. I wonder where it came from?"
Gong Lianyue handed over the poetry collection in her hand, "I stumbled upon this collection three days ago. Because the writings in the collection were so stunning, I wanted to keep it with me so I could read it often. I didn't expect to come across a poem written by the princess, which is exactly the same as the one in this collection."
A small collection of poems was being flipped through by everyone present. Shen Tingxue had no idea what was written in the collection, but she knew she couldn't go on like this. She snatched the collection, tore it up, and threw it on the ground, "Framed! Someone must have framed me!"
Besides her, she doesn't believe there is another time-traveling woman in this world!
"My princess said it was a frame-up, so why not write a new poem about plum blossoms? As long as you can do it, I will apologize sincerely. As long as it can make you calm down, I will be willing to do whatever you ask me to do." Gong Lianyue is a poetry fanatic, so she will never allow anyone to use other people's poems to gain fame for themselves.
Ji Ruyue didn't expect her to be so stupid, and immediately said happily: "Sister Tingxue, hurry up and write a poem and slap her in the face to let her know how powerful you are."
Shen Tingxue, who didn't know how much was recorded in the poetry collection, really wanted to cover her mouth with her hands. What did she, such a fool, know and just talk nonsense!
"Yes, Princess, we all believe in you. Let her know the consequences of doubting you."
"Changle, please don't let me down."
"Have you forgotten that the princess is the prime minister's disciple? How could she not even be able to match a single word?"
Although Shen Tingxue, who was now being forced to do something, was uneasy, she still had confidence in herself. She had more confidence in the five hundred years of her era. She could easily pick out a song and crush the ancients like them.
He cleared his throat, scoffed, picked up a nearby plum blossom, and placed it to his nose to sniff, "It takes a bit of freezing cold to smell the fragrance of plum blossoms."
After she finished, Gong Lianyue, with a complicated expression, recited the full line, "To escape from worldly affairs, it is not easy to escape from them. Hold on tight to the rope and do it. Without enduring the bone-chilling cold, how can the fragrance of plum blossoms fill the air?"
Earlier, they felt that the poem written by Princess Changle was missing something. It turned out that what was missing was the cold and hardship that the plum blossoms had to go through when they bloomed.
But why does Miss Gong know the whole sentence?
Shen Tingxue, who was about to bite her silver teeth to pieces, broke off the plum blossoms and threw them on the ground. She didn't believe that she could always match the words, "I have no intention of struggling for spring, I just let the flowers be jealous. They fall into the mud and turn into dust, but the fragrance remains the same."
"Outside the post station, beside the broken bridge, lonely flowers bloom without an owner. It's dusk, and I'm alone in my sorrow, even more so with the wind and rain. I have no intention of struggling for spring, and I let all the flowers be jealous. They fall into the mud and turn into dust, but their fragrance remains the same."
But then, no matter which poem Shen Tingxue composed, Gong Lianyue could recite the next line accurately.
In the end, everyone looked at Shen Tingxue with strange eyes. Miss Gong was lucky to be able to match one song, but she could match every song.
The most important thing is that the mental journey behind each song is completely different, and the age span is huge, so it doesn't seem like they were written by the same person at all.
"Impossible, how is it possible? How do you know those poems I wrote? Where did they come from?" Shen Tingxue, who was almost going crazy, listened to the doubts raised by the people around her and shouted coldly, "I wrote all these poems myself. Shut up, everyone. I am the most talented woman in Dayan. How could I do such a shameless thing as plagiarizing poems!"
Gong Lianyue picked up the poetry collection that she had torn up and thrown on the ground. Her eyes were filled with regret, and her tone was very calm as she said, "Your Highness said that these poems were taken from a poetry collection that I accidentally bought in a bookstore a few days ago."
"Now." Gong Lianyue raised her head and looked at her coldly. "Princess, could you please explain why you plagiarized other people's poems to gain fame?"
-----------------------
The author has something to say: ① From "Plum Blossom" by Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty
② "Snow Plum" by Lu Meipo of the Song Dynasty
③ "Song of Teaching in the Classroom" [Tang Dynasty] Huangbo Zen Master Dust and Labor
④ "Bosuanzi·Ode to Plum Blossoms" by Lu You of the Song Dynasty
⑤ "Two Poems on Plum Blossoms in a Mountain Garden (Part One)" by Lin Bu, Northern Song Dynasty
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
