Tonight, some are triumphant, and some are dejected.
Jing Zhe was the one who was triumphant, but there were many others who were disappointed.
But most of the people who are down on their luck are because of Jing Zhe. If everyone were given a sword, Jing Zhe would be riddled with holes.
Su Xinping never imagined that he, a mere bystander who followed Su Moyan to the poetry gathering, would end up in serious trouble.
It turned out that after hearing Jing Zhe's request, Emperor An immediately ordered Su Xinping to return the Zhang family's winery to the Zhang family without saying a word.
Tonight, Jing Zhe treated Emperor An as a national hero, and Emperor An naturally reciprocated with the same respect.
Even though Su Xinping was unwilling—after all, he had spent real money to acquire Zhang's winery—he had no choice but to agree in humiliation because Emperor An's power was inviolable. All his dissatisfaction and resentment were then transferred to Jing Zhe.
Are you satisfied?
"Satisfied, thank you, Your Majesty!"
The liquor business is extremely profitable, but while the royal business is lucrative, it lacks some of the joy of doing business. Ever since Zhang Xuexian mentioned it last night, he has been calculating the situation today.
However, Emperor Andi's graciousness exceeded his expectations.
Upon hearing that the distillery had been brought back, Zhang Xiaoyu was the first to rush to Jing Zhe, hugging his arm with tears welling up in her eyes.
"Young master, thank you!"
The scene of the lovers' affection caused a burst of wailing and laughter from the crowd, who couldn't help but envy Jing Zhe, who was so talented and beautiful that he was able to win the heart of a beauty. This was the dream of many scholars.
Su Xinping was furious.
His distillery was seized, and the woman he loved threw herself into the arms of his enemy. Is there anyone in this world more miserable than him?
When Zhang Xiaoyu first told him that Jing Zhe was her cousin, he was suspicious. It turned out he was right. This wasn't a cousin at all, he was clearly her lover!
Su Xinping silently walked to a corner, whispered a few instructions to one of his subordinates, and then returned behind Su Moyan, his eyes filled with gloom as he looked at Jing Zhe.
...
The scene of Jing Zhe and Zhang Xiaoyu being affectionate was witnessed by Zhu Xinning, who was standing directly in front of them.
Just like her beloved toy being suddenly snatched away, Zhu Xinning felt anxious, sad, and angry.
He's clearly my...brother. I haven't seen him in so many years and I haven't even gone over to hug him yet. Why are you hugging him?
If no one was around, she probably would have run over, pushed the person away, and pulled her brother back!
But with Emperor Ke'an, the Crown Prince, and others around, she couldn't move.
He could only stare intently at Zhang Xiaoyu, his expression cold and aloof.
Zhang Xiaoyu felt something was off. She looked up and met Zhu Xinning's icy gaze. She couldn't help but shiver and subconsciously let go of Jing Zhe's arm.
Zhu Xinning's eyes returned to normal instantly.
Zhang Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled bitterly: Why is it that when I'm with him, I either encounter that aloof and beautiful fairy or this stunningly beautiful Zhu Sheren?
She wasn't bad to begin with, but in front of these two, she instantly felt ashamed of herself.
"Young Master Jing, would you like to continue composing poetry now?"
Fearing that her younger brother would be entangled with that woman again, Zhu Xinning quickly asked.
Jing Zhe waved his hand and laughed, "I'm not writing anymore."
"Not writing anymore?"
Everyone was shocked. Wasn't it agreed that they would compose three poems in a row to determine the winner?
Although it was difficult, they were happy to witness miracles!
Jing Zhe smiled and pointed at Zhou Zhiwei, "Young Master Zhou is my good brother. I hope to advance to the final round with my brother, and then we can go boating on the river and compose lyrics together. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
In the current rankings, Jing Zhe occupies the top three spots, Qi Junguang is fourth, and Zhou Zhiwei is fifth. If he writes another poem, Zhou Zhiwei will be eliminated.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiwei immediately came over, cupped his hands in thanks, and said, "Brother Jing is truly a gentleman! I, Zhou, have made him my brother!"
Jing Zhe was undoubtedly the brightest star tonight, and his initiative in mentioning himself would earn him special attention from Emperor An, which would certainly be of great help to his future career. Zhou Zhi failed to appreciate Jing Zhe's good intentions, so he was truly grateful.
Jing Zhe patted him on the shoulder with a smile, thinking to himself, "Now you know I'm not just bragging, I'm really awesome, right?"
When Emperor An heard Jing Zhe say he would not continue writing poetry, although he was still somewhat unsatisfied, it suited his wishes perfectly, and he nodded to Wang Yingqiu.
"Now that the rankings have been determined, please invite Young Master Jing, the Third Prince, and Young Master Zhou to enter the garden together to participate in the second calligraphy competition!"
"Hmph, you clearly can't write it, so stop pretending!"
Qi Junguang snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves, and strode into the garden, drawing pointing fingers and whispers from the others behind him, who said he was just being a sour grapes.
Jing Zhe just smiled and said: "You'll see whether you can write it or not in a moment!"
Another unlucky fellow was Chen Jiannan. He was initially in fourth place and had no problem advancing. However, after Jing Zhe wrote his second poem and eliminated Song Jimao, he became fifth place, but still managed to advance.
But Jing Zhe wrote another poem, no more and no less, which eliminated him directly, ruining his plans for advancing.
Sure enough, that glance she gave me just now was intentional!
Chen Jiannan stood alone in the chilly autumn wind, unnoticed by anyone, feeling utterly desolate!
...
Upon entering the main hall of Wuxian Garden, everything became bright and clear.
Zhu Xinning wanted to slow down and whisper a few words to Jing Zhe several times, but unfortunately there were too many people tonight, so she had no chance.
Then I thought, now that he's already in Jingzhou, why should he be afraid of not having an opportunity? It would be bad if he revealed his relationship in front of so many people and people started gossiping about him!
Having made up her mind, Zhu Xinning finally felt at ease and prepared to acknowledge Jing Zhe after the poetry gathering.
After everyone had found a place to settle down, Wang Yingqiu had three tables set up in the open space under the stairs. Each table was covered with paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones, and female disciples from Wuxian Garden stood by, waiting to grind ink and add fragrance to the ink.
"Distinguished scholars, we will now proceed with the second round of today's poetry gathering: calligraphy. You may freely write down any poems that best showcase your calligraphy skills, or simply write down the poems you just wrote, and then the three judges will provide their critiques!"
Perhaps due to the setback, as soon as Wang Yingqiu finished speaking, Qi Junguang was the first to come to the table, took the brush handed to him by the maid, concentrated his energy, and wrote the seven-character quatrain he had just written on the paper in one stroke.
"This character... is great!"
People gathered around and sighed.
"It seems to be a skill learned from childhood!"
"And it's a skill he's practiced since childhood for over ten years!"
"I heard he even defeated his own teacher, the Grand Preceptor of Southern Qi. It's not surprising that he can write such calligraphy!"
Immediately afterwards, more people gathered around, admiring Qi Junguang's calligraphy with admiration.
Since Jing Zhe appeared, Qi Junguang, who had suffered a series of setbacks, finally had a chance to cheer up. His mood brightened, and he looked up at Jing Zhe with a smug expression.
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