Hearing the sound, everyone turned around and saw a young man in brocade robes walk out from the corner with a wicked smile on his face.
The young man was handsome and refined. The scholars present, who usually considered themselves dashing and debonair, felt somewhat ashamed in comparison to him.
After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd immediately began to whisper among themselves.
After some discussion, they reached the same conclusion: they didn't know him!
Then someone said irritably, "Where did this person come from, interrupting our conversation for no reason? Don't they know any manners?"
"That's why I said sorry to bother you."
"..."
This was said with such conviction that the person couldn't find any reason to refute it—yes, they said they were bothering, so they really were…
Then someone else spoke up, saying, "None of us know you. Which ear did you hear us talking about you?"
"I heard it with both ears!"
Pointing to his ear, Jing Zhe continued with a serious expression.
Qi Junguang on the second floor, Qingqiu on the third floor, and Wang Yingqiu couldn't help but chuckle at such a strange answer.
Wang Yingqiu glanced at Qingqiu and said quietly, "I know why you want to go down, sister. It's rare to meet such an interesting person in this building. Wouldn't it be a pity not to go down?"
The two exchanged a smile, afraid of missing the exciting scene of one person taking on multiple people, and decided to watch until the end before going down.
The person downstairs who was talking to Jing Zhe was nearly driven mad by his outburst, glaring at him angrily: "Stop talking nonsense to me! Tell me, out of all these people, who said anything about you? If no one said anything about you, be careful we'll make you regret it!"
Jing Zhe wasn't afraid at all. Pointing at the crowd, he said, "You, you, and you, you've all been talking about me!"
"Bullshit! You don't even know your own limitations. There's not a single person here who knows you, and you still dare to say that!"
After saying that, he shouted to the servants in Wuxian Garden, "Someone come here! There's someone causing trouble. Throw him out!"
The waiter looked up at the third floor, then turned his head away, pretending not to hear.
"..."
Everyone felt a little awkward.
But Jing Zhe pointed at Chen Jiannan and said, "You don't know me, but he does! Isn't that right, the second most talented man in Yongzhou?"
These words caused an uproar in the audience.
...
"Young Master Chen, won't you introduce him to us?"
Song Jimao had already figured out that the handsome young man in front of him knew Chen Jiannan, and that their relationship was not harmonious, so he asked jokingly.
"He is... Ah Kun!"
Chen Jiannan said through gritted teeth.
"Ah...Kun!"
A low gasp rippled through the crowd, and their gazes toward Jing Zhe changed. Although they had just belittled A-Kun, he had, after all, written the poem "Spring Water." When confronted, they chickened out.
"See? I told you some people said I was like that, didn't I?"
"..."
Jing Zhe said with a smile, but no one answered.
"Young Master Kun, Young Master Chen just said that you prepared for that poem about spring waters for more than ten years, and that you spent half your life writing it. Is that true?"
Song Jimo was very skilled at complaining to people face-to-face.
Chen Jiannan, on the other hand, looked ashen-faced.
"How is that possible?"
Jing Zhe shrugged and said.
At this moment, someone boldly asked, "If that's not the case, then with Young Master Kun's talent in writing Spring Water Poetry, surely he shouldn't have only written this one amazing poem? Why haven't we heard of the others?"
That's because...
Jing Zhe thought for a moment, "The conditions don't allow it!"
"What are the conditions?"
Everyone was curious.
"When I compose poems and lyrics, I only have one requirement: good wine! With good wine, composing a good poem is a piece of cake! Back in Yongzhou, I happened to get some good wine, which is why I was able to write the poem about spring waters!"
After he finished speaking, everyone was stunned.
They had never heard of such strange conditions before.
Chen Jiannan, in particular, was desperately searching his mind to recall the details of the time at Chunshui Tower, but he couldn't remember that Jing Zhe had drunk alcohol before writing the lyrics!
No one knew what he was thinking. "Young Master Kun, speaking of fine wine, Wuxian Garden has no shortage of it. Why don't you compose a poem today, so that we can all have a look?"
"If there is good wine, then it is not difficult."
"Fine wine? Our Wuxian Garden certainly has it!"
At that moment, a female voice came from the second-floor corridor.
Everyone looked up and couldn't take their eyes off it.
...
At this moment, the two women who came down from upstairs were Wang Yingqiu, the owner of Wuxian Garden, and Qingqiu.
Wang Yingqiu wasn't bad-looking, but she frequently appeared at Wuxian Garden, so it wasn't anything special for people to see her. As for the woman next to her...
A beautiful and aloof mature woman can always catch a man's eye immediately, so everyone was stunned.
Only Jing Zhe, standing to the side, frowned:
What is she doing here?
Qingqiu looked over at that moment, a slight smile appearing on her cold face, but it vanished in an instant.
"I, Song, have met with Master Wang!"
Song Jimao was, after all, a man who had seen the world, or rather, in his heart, Zhu Xinning would always be number one. No matter how beautiful other women were, they were just fleeting moments. So he quickly adjusted.
"Young Master Song has not visited the garden for a long time. It is a rare occasion for you to show up today. You must leave behind a piece of your calligraphy!"
Wang Yingqiu bowed respectfully and began to speak.
Song Jimao nodded, "That's natural."
"I am Chen Jiannan from Yongzhou, greetings to Master Wang!"
In the brief moment of hesitation, Song Jimao got there first, and Chen Jiannan was somewhat annoyed. He then followed closely behind to visit Wang Yingqiu.
"Young Master Chen is the most talented scholar in Yongzhou, and he has also won first place in this imperial examination. His future is limitless. It is truly an honor for our Wuxian Garden to have you here today!"
Having managed Wuxianyuan for several years, Wang Yingqiu was very adept at handling interpersonal relationships.
She's actually heard of me!
In an instant, my heart was filled with joy, and all the gloom in my heart was swept away.
But then discordant voices arose again.
"This garden owner is the second most talented scholar, not the most talented!"
Jing Zhe reminded him, dissatisfied.
Wang Yingqiu's expression suddenly turned very strange. She glanced at Jing Zhe and then asked, "I heard you mention the second most talented person once before, and now you're saying it again. What do you mean by that?"
"It's the literal meaning, can't you even understand that?"
Jing Zhe shrugged, expressing doubt about her comprehension ability.
"Back in Yongzhou, he made a bet with me, saying that if my poems were better than his, he would give me the title of the number one talent. Then I wrote a poem about spring waters. Don't you think he's the second most talented?"
After he finished speaking, the crowd began to discuss among themselves.
"Ha ha!"
Seizing the opportunity, Song Jimao immediately mocked, "I just thought you were the number one talent in Yongzhou, but it turns out I overestimated you!"
"..."
Chen Jiannan's face turned as red as a pig's liver, but he was powerless to refute the facts. His head hung low as he racked his brains to think of a solution.
As the saying goes, when a wall falls, everyone pushes it down. People pointed and whispered about Chen Jiannan's dejected figure, and the hall became noisy.
————
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