Even knowing he was tricked by Ma Shibin and Feng Daoyou, Xia Bingrong had to suffer in silence. As for settling accounts, he could only wait until after the Peach Blossom Poetry Gathering to have a proper talk with the two of them.
After a moment's thought, Feng Mubai decided to give up the opportunity to leave his calligraphy, a decision he had no other choice but to make.
Now two pieces of calligraphy have appeared. If he and Lin Wan'er both want to keep them, one of their pieces must be torn up. Whose piece should be torn up?
He definitely wanted to tear up Fatty Wei's calligraphy, but the key point was that Fatty Wei's poems were far better than his teacher Xia Bingrong's. If he tore up Fatty Wei's calligraphy and it got out, wouldn't that be a huge slap in the face to Xia Bingrong?
Of course, he couldn't tear up Xia Bingrong's post either, since he was his teacher. So after thinking it over, he decided not to write it himself.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw Fatty Wei smugly retreat from the crowd. His gaze followed Fatty Wei all the way back until he saw him walk to a boy's side.
It was only then that he noticed Jing Zhe. His first impression was that he was too handsome, even more handsome than him, and he felt a little uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Fatty Wei was having a pleasant conversation with the young man. The young man would occasionally glance at him, his eyes darting back and forth between Fatty Wei and Master Xia, and he would sneer repeatedly, making Fatty Wei feel even more uncomfortable.
Who is this person?
"I heard he's a friend of Fatty Wei; it seems he wrote that calligraphy piece that Fatty Wei created..."
Master Xia explained in a low voice.
"oh…"
After hearing this, Feng Mubai's gaze towards Jing Zhe was filled with hostility. At this moment, he saw the little girl Huaping next to Jing Zhe. He naturally knew that she was Lin Wan'er's maid, so he quickly looked around.
Strangely, he did not see Lin Wan'er.
So she asked, "Miss Huaping, where is your young lady?"
“Young Master Feng, my young lady has suddenly started her period, so she won’t be coming. She specifically asked Huaping to inform her.”
"..."
If Feng Mubai had heard this news half an hour ago, he would have been very disappointed, and he might not have even wanted to participate in the Peach Blossom Poetry Gathering anymore—what would be the point of winning first place so many times without Lin Wan'er? In other people's eyes, they would always think that Lin Wan'er gave him first place.
But now things are different. After hearing the news, he let out a long sigh of relief for no apparent reason.
Xia Bingrong felt the same way. Lin Wan'er's absence left a spot for a calligraphy piece, which saved him.
Of course, they weren't the only ones who breathed a sigh of relief. Ma Shibin and Feng Daoyou were also relieved. They had originally wanted to see Fatty Wei make a fool of himself, but they ended up losing more than they gained. If Lin Wan'er had come, they would have been the unluckiest people today. Who knows how Feng Mubai would deal with them after the poetry gathering!
So Lin Wan'er's absence is actually a great thing for them.
...
Next, Feng Mubai said with a smile, "It's a pity that Miss Lin suddenly had something to attend to and couldn't attend the Peach Blossom Poetry Gathering. If we want to see Miss Lin's calligraphy, we'll have to wait for the next poetry gathering!"
Then, changing the subject, he said, "Since Miss Lin isn't coming, I can only make a fool of myself by writing a piece of calligraphy!"
He said it was "making a fool of himself," but there was an unquestionable tone to it, as if it was only right that he should write this last piece of calligraphy.
But he had barely picked up his pen when an untimely voice rang out—
"Young Master Feng cannot write."
Following the sound, everyone's gaze fell on Jing Zhe.
The onlookers, who had initially thought they wouldn't get any good news, became excited again: it seems there's another juicy story to be told, and it looks pretty big!
"who is he?"
Feng Mubai's eyes were cold, but he didn't look at Jing Zhe, as if Jing Zhe didn't deserve the chance to speak with him.
"This is Young Master Akun!"
Hua Ping immediately began to explain.
"Young Master Akun?"
The crowd had naturally never heard of it.
Ultimately, information in this era relies on word of mouth. It was already quite difficult for scholars in Jiangling to have heard of Jing Zhe and his "When Will the Moon Be Bright?", so they naturally wouldn't know Jing Zhe's pseudonym before he became famous.
Upon hearing this introduction, Prefect Xu inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Jing Zhe reminded him of someone, but Hua Ping's introduction refuted his guess, making him happy: thankfully it wasn't that person, otherwise those words from earlier would have been troublesome!
Standing to the side, Fatty Wei thought to himself: So Brother Jing's name is Jing Kun! What a nice name!
"Young Master Akun?"
Feng Mubai repeated it once, but naturally he hadn't heard it before. He immediately looked at Jing Zhe with sharp eyes and asked, "Tell me, why can't I write it?"
Jing Zhe stepped forward, not in a hurry to reveal his identity, but asked, "I am from out of town and am not very clear about the rules of the Peach Blossom Poetry Gathering. I have only heard that the three poems that can be left at the gathering must be the best poems that everyone agrees on, is that right?"
"Yes."
Feng Mubai nodded. Although the rules had been broken for some reason today, the rules were still the rules. His voice turned completely cold: "What, do you think my poems are not recognized by everyone, or that someone can write better poems than me?"
Jing Zhe did not answer, but instead asked in return, "What, does Young Master Feng think that your poems are necessarily better than everyone else's?"
"..."
These words caused an uproar in the audience.
The calligraphy that Fatty Wei just left behind was most likely written by the young man in front of them; this was the unanimous consensus of everyone present.
Even so, everyone felt that the poem was no match for Feng Mubai's, and of course, that was Feng Mubai's own opinion.
He was about to say a few words when a commotion broke out outside.
Everyone looked outside and saw two monks, one fat and one thin, jokingly entering the backyard. The abbot of Peach Blossom Temple also followed them after hearing this.
"What happened?"
Prefect Xu looked at them and asked.
"Prefect Xu, someone knocked me unconscious, stole my incense stick, and sneaked into the temple!"
The one who spoke was naturally the thin monk, who was touching his bald head, which was bleeding from the beating, and said indignantly.
It turned out that the thin monk had intended to extort money from Jing Zhe, but Jing Zhe didn't play by the rules at all and knocked him unconscious. When he woke up, he was furious and rushed out of the woods to go into the temple to settle accounts with Jing Zhe. However, before he could rush in, he was stopped by the fat monk, who shouted that he wanted ten taels of silver from him.
Where would he get ten taels of silver?
He hadn't earned a single penny when Jing Zhe blew his head off. He was furious, and then the fat monk kept stopping him and demanding money. Naturally, he said he didn't have a single penny. But the fat monk said he had already taken the money, so the two of them argued all the way in.
This matter also alarmed their abbot, who, after inquiring about the details, came in with them to uphold justice.
————
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