At this point, the third prince of Southern Qi has essentially been eliminated from the competition for the title of the most talented man in the land.
Then someone said, "Speaking of the third prince of Southern Qi, I just remembered that he went to Jingzhou last year to participate in the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering, and he was utterly defeated. Can someone like that deserve the title of the greatest talent in the world?"
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. The news that the Third Prince of Southern Qi and his entourage had arrived in Jingzhou with the intention of marrying Princess Su Mochen had caused quite a stir, and they had heard about it even as far away as Jiangling.
In particular, the fact that the third prince of Southern Qi attended the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering and even wanted to marry someone through poetry made the talented scholars of Jiangling even more interested. Therefore, they were very familiar with the poems written at the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering in Jingzhou.
Therefore, when mentioning the third prince of Southern Qi, one cannot help but mention Jing Zhe, who was known as the number one talent in Jingzhou and the president of the Da'an Newspaper.
"That poem, 'May we all live long and share the beauty of the moon, though separated by a thousand miles,' can be considered the best poem for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The third prince of Southern Qi did not lose unjustly."
"This President Jing does have some talent, otherwise he wouldn't have won the Emperor's favor. However, I heard that the people of Jingzhou not only call him the number one talent in Jingzhou, but even the number one talent in Anguo. Isn't that a bit arrogant?"
"Heh, he's just a frog in a well. Does he really think that just because he got first place in Jingzhou, he'll be first in Anguo? Little does he know, the literary style in Jingzhou is a hundred and eight thousand miles inferior to that in Jiangling!"
"That's absolutely right. If you really want to gain the approval of all the scholars in Anguo, you must first gain the approval of the scholars in Jiangling. If you don't go to Jiangling, you're not worthy of being a scholar!"
"..."
When the topic of Jing Zhe came up, opinions varied widely. However, since they were all locals from Jiangling, their conversation was filled with too much regional prejudice and discrimination, which was unfair. Otherwise, his rendition of "When Will the Moon Be Bright?" alone would have been enough to overwhelm everyone else.
However, they could not admit it, for if they did, where would their dignity as the talented scholars of Jiangling be? Therefore, belittling Jing Zhe was to protect their own talents in Jiangling.
However, since Jing Zhe has already been mentioned, someone asked, "Although President Jing may not be qualified to be called the number one talent in Anguo, he is still deserving of the title as the number one talent in Jingzhou. After all, his Mid-Autumn Festival poem 'May we all live long and prosper' is truly excellent!"
"Yes, if some people believe that even the third prince of Southern Qi, who was defeated by President Jing, is qualified to be selected as the most talented person in the world, then President Jing is even more qualified."
"..."
At this point, someone looked at Prefect Xu and asked, "The third talented man Prefect Xu mentioned, could it be Chief Jing?"
To everyone's surprise, Magistrate Xu smiled and shook his head, "No, no."
"..."
After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.
As scholars, they were well aware of the quality of the best Mid-Autumn Festival poem. Neither Feng Mubai nor Lin Wan'er had written a better poem yet. The reason they didn't admit that Jing Zhe was better than Feng Mubai and Lin Wan'er was mainly because they were both from Jiangling. However, based on the best Mid-Autumn Festival poem, Jing Zhe was more than qualified to rank behind the two.
But now Prefect Xu doesn't even acknowledge that Jing Zhe is the third most talented man in Anguo, which is a bit hard to accept, especially for the people of Jiangling...
Sure enough, even Fatty Wei, standing next to Jing Zhe, couldn't help but spit out, "This Prefect Xu is too dishonest!"
Jing Zhe smiled and said, "Brother Wei, you can even speak our Jingzhou dialect?"
"Hehe, that's all you know."
"..."
Jing Zhe didn't care about what Prefect Xu said. He had even guessed it beforehand. Who told him to bully Grand Tutor Bai so fiercely before? And Prefect Xu was Grand Tutor Bai's disciple. It would be strange if he didn't target him!
...
"Prefect Xu, who exactly is the third talented scholar?"
Although everyone felt that it was a bit unfair of Magistrate Xu not to list Jing Zhe as the third most talented man after Feng Mubai and Lin Wan'er, his words also piqued everyone's curiosity.
"To be precise, the third talent is not one person, but two people."
"Two people? Who are they?"
Everyone was even more surprised by his answer.
"Actually, you've already told us who these two people are, the third genius."
Magistrate Xu stroked his small mustache and laughed, "One of them is the Chief Jing I just mentioned. He can be considered a half-talented scholar."
"..."
Hearing this explanation, everyone felt somewhat better.
Then Prefect Xu continued, "As for the other person, it is the third prince of Southern Qi. He can also be considered a half-talented man. Together, these two can be considered the third most talented man in the world."
"..."
After hearing this, everyone fell silent again.
Finally, someone couldn't help but ask, "Prefect Xu, it's one thing to say that Chief Jing is only half a talent, but why is the Third Prince of Southern Qi, who was once defeated by Chief Jing, also considered half a talent? If Chief Jing is only half a talent, then the Third Prince of Southern Qi is not even half a talent!"
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Although to the people of Jiangling, Jing Zhe, who lived in Jingzhou, was considered an outsider, their xenophobia was understandable.
However, compared to the third prince of Southern Qi, Jing Zhe was from Anguo, just like them. Their xenophobia only targeted the third prince of Southern Qi, and there was no reason to exclude Jing Zhe. Therefore, at this time, some people began to speak out for Jing Zhe.
Jing Zhe stood outside and laughed, "It seems that not all the scholars in Jiangling City are unreasonable people!"
Fatty Wei nodded and said, "The main problem is that Prefect Xu's actions this time were too obvious and went too far!"
"..."
After listening, Prefect Xu waved his hand and said, "That's not right. The Third Prince of Southern Qi has won first place in poetry competitions many times in Southern Qi. Losing to President Jing once cannot negate his entirety. If that's the case, Mu Bai has also lost to Miss Lin so many times. Does that mean Mu Bai's strength can be denied?"
"Prefect Xu, this is different! Everyone has witnessed the poetic talent of Miss Lin and Young Master Feng! Although the Third Prince of Southern Qi is also formidable, President Jing's Mid-Autumn Festival poem completely surpasses him! So no matter how you look at it, President Jing is a level above the Third Prince of Southern Qi!"
"That's right, the Third Prince of Southern Qi is definitely no match for President Jing, otherwise he would have married Princess Mo Chen!"
"President Jing's Mid-Autumn Festival poem 'When Will the Moon Be Bright?' is truly superb. Although he doesn't write many poems, this one poem alone is enough to crush the Third Prince of Southern Qi!"
"..."
Listening to the crowd speaking up for him, Jing Zhe sighed inwardly, thinking that it seemed that poems from large-scale poetry gatherings like the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Gathering were more widely known. He had written quite a few poems, but only one, "When Will the Moon Be Bright?", was truly praised in Jiangling City.
However, this one song is enough.
————
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