Chen Jiannan took a few steps forward and came to Song Jimao.
"Chen Jiannan of Yongzhou greets Young Master Song!"
He first bowed to Song Jimao and offered a polite greeting, then changed the subject, saying, "I just heard Young Master Song say that I dare not include my grades in the evaluation. I wonder what you mean by that?"
Before resigning from his official post, Chen Jiannan's father, Chen Guozhong, served in the same court as Song Jimao's father, Song Baiyun. Moreover, Chen Guozhong was older than Song Baiyun and was Song Baiyun's superior at the time.
However, Song Baiyun's career has progressed too quickly in recent years, and he has become a Hanlin Academician, while Chen Guozhong no longer holds any official position and cannot be compared with him.
Therefore, Chen Jiannan always felt inferior to Song Jimao. If it were before, he would only have the right to look up to him and would not dare to talk back.
But things are different now. He is first in the exam and has a bright future ahead of him, while Song Jimao has not yet participated in the poetry gathering, and everything is still uncertain.
Moreover, he has the identity of being a distant relative of the Zhu family, and Song Jimao was rejected by Zhu Xinning, while he was looking forward to marrying into the Zhu family. Therefore, he has a huge psychological advantage when facing Song Jimao.
Chen Jiannan's attitude greatly displeased Song Jimao, who frowned and said disdainfully, "You're supposed to be a scholar, can't you even understand this much?"
"..."
With a single sentence, Song Jimao left Chen Jiannan red-faced with embarrassment. "A guy from Yongzhou wants to show off at the poetry gathering in Jingzhou? Heh, did you even ask me? Do you even deserve it?"
Chen Jiannan's question, "Are you worthy?" made him famous.
Having lived this long, he's always the one saying "Are you worthy?" to others. It's really upsetting to suddenly hear those words said to yourself.
"Why am I not worthy? What, are you afraid I'll steal your thunder? Heh, that's right, you haven't participated in poetry gatherings for years, you must be out of practice and scared, right? Tsk tsk, you haven't even found the feeling for writing poetry and lyrics anymore, have you?"
After saying this, even Chen Jiannan himself almost believed it.
Hearing the two exchanging barbs, everyone marveled and watched with rapt attention, keeping up with the show.
Do you know how people in Jingzhou address me by my name?
Song Jimao suddenly smiled wickedly.
"The most talented scholar in Jingzhou?"
"Hehe, I've heard you're known as the number one scholar in Yongzhou?"
Chen Jiannan puffed out his chest and exclaimed, "Exactly!"
"So what do you think—"
Song Jimao glanced at him and sneered, "So, which is more capable, the people from Jingzhou or the people from Yongzhou?"
"..."
This is a trap!
Chen Jiannan did not rush to answer.
If he said that the people of Jingzhou were powerful, it would be an indirect admission that he was inferior to Song Jimao. But if he said that the people of Yongzhou were powerful in front of so many people from Jingzhou, he was afraid that he would be attacked by the crowd!
That Song Ji-mo is really wicked!
He thought for a moment before smiling and saying, "Young Master Song, what a question you ask. Let alone Yongzhou, even Jiangling, which is renowned for its literary culture, cannot compare to Jingzhou. After all, His Majesty is in Jingzhou!"
"Hehe, since that's the case—"
"but!"
Chen Jiannan quickly interrupted Song Jimao, who was about to speak, and immediately added, "My trip to the capital this time to participate in the poetry competition for the imperial examination is just for fun. The most important thing is to ask my cousin's family for a marriage proposal! Once I marry my cousin, won't I be a Jingzhou native too? Haha..."
"..."
Song Jimao attacked Chen Jiannan because he heard about his feelings for Zhu Xinning!
It must be said that Chen Jiannan's counterattack this time was brilliant. He not only broke Song Jimao's trap, but also hit the nail on the head, throwing Song Jimao into disarray!
Chen Jiannan won this round completely!
But Song Jimao was unconvinced and suddenly pondered:
Everyone says the building is wonderful, and tourists should only grow old here. The spring water is bluer than the sky, and one can sleep on a painted boat listening to the rain.
The woman by the wine shop is like the moon, her fair wrists like frost and snow. Do not return home before you are old, for returning home will break your heart.
It was the poem "Spring Water" that Jing Zhe wrote at Chunshui Tower!
After he finished reading, the hall fell silent instantly, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
...
The second-floor private room has an excellent location, above the main hall. Opening the window reveals the entire scene inside the hall.
At this moment, Qi Junguang, the third prince of Southern Qi, and Su Xinping, the heir apparent of the Prince of Jin, happened to be sitting by the window.
"Is this Wuxian Garden really nothing special?"
I watched from upstairs for so long, but there was nothing new to see. I just listened to two grown men arguing for ages, which was really boring.
Su Xinping also stood up. "I told you, this place is just full of pretentious scholars showing off their literary skills every day, making people drowsy! The Third Prince insisted on coming, now he regrets it, doesn't he?"
Then he leaned closer, a lewd look on his face, and said, "Hehe, I know a really nice place called Fragrance Garden in the east of the city. The girls there have great figures and beautiful faces, and they're skilled in everything from playing musical instruments to singing and dancing. If the Third Prince wants to discuss poetry and lyrics, they can do that too. And if you get tired, you can even... hehehe, you know what I mean!"
As she spoke, she gave Qi Junguang a lewd look.
"..."
Qi Junguang glanced at him speechlessly, thinking to himself, "Is this really a prince? Why is he acting like a pimp?"
Just as he was about to refuse, Song Jimao downstairs spoke up, and the poem about spring water was carried up.
"This poem..."
Qi Junguang was stunned. He had never heard of this poem before, or rather, he had never heard of such a good poem!
Qi Junguang, who had just stood up, sat back down.
Su Xinping, who was standing nearby, had already flown to Fragrance Garden. Seeing that he had sat down again, she urged, "Why has the Third Prince sat down again? Let's go to Fragrance Garden! These are just scholars here. How can they be as interesting as the girls in Fragrance Garden?"
Qi Junguang didn't turn his head. The bored expression on his face disappeared, and his eyes became serious. He said earnestly, "This young master Song is much more interesting than the ladies!"
"who?"
Su Xinping was somewhat bewildered.
"I had heard of Young Master Song's name before, but I've rarely heard of his poems in recent years. I didn't expect that Young Master Song would teach me a lesson so soon after I arrived in Jingzhou!"
After saying that, he read the poem about spring water to himself again, and couldn't help but say "good!"
Just now, Su Xinping was only thinking about going to Fenfang Garden, and he didn't hear Song Jimao reciting poetry downstairs. Now that Qi Junguang has finished reading it, he frowned, feeling that the poem sounded very familiar.
Suddenly, he clapped his hands. "Oh, I remember now! This wasn't written by Song Jimao, it was written by Young Master Akun!"
Although he was not fond of poetry, the crown prince, whom he was on good terms with, loved poetry, and he naturally heard some of it from him through constant exposure.
Especially this poem about spring waters, after it was brought from Yongzhou, the Crown Prince read it every day during those days!
"Young Master Akun?"
"hold head high!"
After a brief explanation, Qi Junguang breathed a slight sigh of relief. If this was truly Song Jimao's work, he really wasn't confident he could beat him. As for Young Master Akun, he was far away in Yongzhou and probably wouldn't participate in this poetry gathering. He felt both fortunate and somewhat regretful.
"This fellow surnamed Song hasn't left the house in years. He hasn't learned anything else at home, but he has learned to plagiarize! I, the young master, will go down and teach him a lesson right now!"
After saying that, Su Xinping was about to go downstairs.
————
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