Chen Jiannan felt he had missed a good opportunity.
When the poetry gathering first started, the atmosphere wasn't lively, and even Emperor An was listless. If he had appeared, all the praise Zhou Zhiwei was receiving now would have been his.
However, this was a good time; the atmosphere was already lively, and he was confident that while his poem might not be better than Zhou Zhiwei's, it wouldn't be too bad either.
Of course, he didn't come just to write poetry; he had another purpose today, and of course, he had to write poetry first!
At this moment, Zhou Zhiwei had already stepped down and disappeared into the crowd, leaving the stage entirely to Chen Jiannan.
He closed his eyes, pondered for a moment with an air of seriousness, then opened his eyes, paced back and forth, and recited:
"In the fairy garden, I sing of my longing, and all things seem leisurely."
If there were no moon tonight, the autumn of the year would have passed in vain.
Like Zhou Zhiwei, Chen Jiannan also wrote a quatrain, except that the former was a seven-character quatrain, while his was a five-character quatrain.
Although short, it is concise and effective.
Sure enough, after hearing the poem, Zhu Xinning looked up at him. Chen Jiannan was overjoyed and quickly returned what he thought was a very handsome smile, but unfortunately, Zhu Xinning immediately lowered her head and didn't see it.
Although there was no set theme, all the poems were still written around the theme of "moon" because it was a Mid-Autumn Festival poetry gathering.
Throughout history, poetry gatherings have been held in various countries and regions every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, resulting in countless poems and lyrics about the moon. Since almost all the vocabulary has been used, it is not easy to innovate and write a masterpiece. This is why the poems written by the talented scholars of Jingzhou in the past were only so-so.
Zhou Zhiwei and Chen Jiannan are undoubtedly among the best.
After he finished reading, Emperor An also praised him, saying, "Not bad!"
Chen Jiannan quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty!"
He felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, because just now Emperor An had said "good" to Zhou Zhiwei, but "not bad" to him. It was clear who was stronger and who was weaker.
Emperor An then turned to Zhu Xinning and asked, "Have you memorized a few poems?"
Only these two poems.
Zhu Xinning replied.
Emperor An nodded. He ultimately favored poetry and seemed to have forgotten his bet with the third prince of Southern Qi. He looked at the silent Bai Qingyuan and Song Baiyun and asked, "Minister Bai, what are your thoughts on these two poems?"
"Your Majesty, there are many poems about appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival since ancient times, and it is not easy to compose another. So it cannot be entirely blamed that those talented scholars could not produce masterpieces before!"
The scholars below were all excited upon hearing this, and their eyes were filled with gratitude as they looked at Bai Qingyuan.
Emperor An sneered inwardly: This old bastard knows how to win people's hearts.
"However, Young Master Zhou and Young Master Chen have found another way and composed two excellent quatrains. This shows that there are many talented people in our Great An Kingdom, which is truly a blessing for Your Majesty!"
Emperor An nodded, a cold smile playing on his lips.
This Bai Qingyuan, who usually opposes me in court, is now flattering me in front of so many people. His two-faced behavior is despicable.
He then asked Song Baiyun, "Then, Scholar Song, please comment on the merits and demerits of these two poems!"
Song Baiyun was a Hanlin Academician, whose skill in poetry and lyrics was far superior to Bai Qingyuan's, and his commentary was quite professional.
"In terms of fluency and parallelism, Chen Gongzi's poem is the best!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jiannan was overjoyed and was about to express his gratitude when Song Baiyun changed the subject, "However—this poem is too fluent, with perfect parallelism. It doesn't seem like it was written on the spot, but rather like it was prepared in advance!"
Chen Jiannan was speechless. Preparing poems in advance for the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering was an open secret.
Then, Song Baiyun continued, "And Young Master Zhou's poem has an even better artistic conception. It vividly depicts the scenery of the backyard of Wuxian Garden, moving from the scene to the emotion. Moreover, it was written on the spot, so it should be even better!"
Song Baiyun's comments were more fair and professional, and the talented people below were not to be trifled with. Although they disliked Zhou Zhiwei, they still agreed with Song Baiyun's comments.
Emperor An smiled and nodded. He hadn't expected that these two talented scholars from out of town, whom he had never heard of before, would have such poetic talent. He glanced at Qi Junguang again, wondering if he had overestimated him. How could these two be enough to defeat him?
So he said, "Third Prince, do you find our two talented poets' poems pleasing to the eye?"
"Not bad, but if that's all, then I'm greatly disappointed!"
After hearing what he said, Emperor An was startled. Since he dared to speak like that, it seemed that he was confident of victory.
But he was quite unconvinced. He thought to himself, "He hasn't even written a single poem yet, but he's here making comments. Who can guarantee that the poems he writes will be better than those of Zhou Zhiwei and Chen Jiannan?"
He immediately said, "Third Prince, since you are so confident, why don't you also write a poem so that we can admire it? Then, we can decide which is better!"
Qi Junguang smiled and said without any hurry, "Your Majesty, I will compose a poem later, but we are guests from afar, so we cannot take the lead."
He glanced at the crowd and his gaze fell on Song Jimao. "I wonder if any of you talented gentlemen have any poems to write? If not, then I will make a fool of myself!"
At this moment, Song Jimao stepped forward.
"Song Jimao from Jingzhou, I humbly request guidance from the Third Prince!"
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Zhu Xinning, gritted his teeth, and then read aloud:
"Leaning on the railing, facing the cold sky, I drink wine without saying a word."
Who knows what lies a thousand miles away, where wind and rain accompany the moon?
Like Chen Jiannan, Song Jimao chose a five-character quatrain, but in terms of quality, it is obvious to anyone with a discerning eye that this poem is ultimately inferior to Chen Jiannan's.
Emperor An naturally noticed it as well, and his brows furrowed.
Thank goodness I didn't place my hopes on him. What on earth is this?
Even Zhou Zhiwei and Chen Jiannan are far inferior. He has been staying at home for the past three years. Has he been studying poetry or sleeping?
Or rather... was he doing it on purpose?
He then looked at Bai Qingyuan and Song Jimao, narrowed his eyes, and said, "You two ministers, please give your opinions!"
Song Baiyun spoke first, showing no mercy just because it was his son: "He's just passable, nothing special."
Bai Qingyuan followed closely behind: "Indeed, compared to Young Master Zhou and Young Master Chen's poems, it is far inferior, but it can still deserve third place in today's poetry gathering!"
The comments were sharp, and the audience was convinced.
Upon hearing this, Su Mowu, who was standing on Emperor An's side, was quite satisfied with Song Jimao: He had indeed listened to me and deliberately wrote such a terrible poem in front of the Emperor!
Little did anyone know that Song Ji-mo himself knew best whether it was intentional or not.
Compared to poetry, he is better at writing lyrics. For this Mid-Autumn Festival poetry gathering, he specially prepared a good lyric, intending to show his talent to Zhu Xinning again.
But who knew the rules of this poetry gathering would be so absurd, requiring participants to write poems first? It's no wonder he couldn't compete with Chen Jiannan.
After all, Chen Jiannan wrote a poem a few days ago at Wuxian Garden, which shows that he is good at writing poetry.
Trying to use your weaknesses to exploit someone else's strengths is bound to lead to defeat.
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