Chapter 103: Poetry Competition
When the topic of poetry competition came up, all the scholars around became interested. Even the owner of Linjiang Tower happily came over with his people, set up two tables and laid out paper and pens so that the two could have a great time competing.
Li Sanlang was born into the Li family, a large family in Qingzhou Prefecture. He was once a well-known figure. Unfortunately, he was thin and of ordinary appearance since childhood. He happened to be close in age to Meng Ting, so it was inevitable that some people would compare them.
In terms of talent, Li Sanlang is no match for Meng Ting, and in terms of appearance, he is even more inferior to him.
Especially the girls he liked, all of them wanted to marry Meng Ting, which made Li Sanlang jealous to the core. He originally wanted to regain his status in the provincial examination, but who would have thought that he would be second and Meng Ting would be first.
After that provincial examination, Li Sanlang couldn't control his inner jealousy and started a poetry contest at Linjiang Tower. Just look at everyone's reactions today and you will know how miserably he lost at that time.
It was because Xu Zifeng was an outsider and didn't know that the grudge between the two was so serious, so he invited them both to a banquet. Before Su Fengzhang came, the two had already fought each other once.
In front of Meng Ting, Li Sanlang was still restrained. After all, the Meng family and the Li family were equally powerful, and they were even related by marriage. If he made a big fuss, he would also be criticized.
But when he saw Su Fengzhang, he did not restrain himself at all, especially when he saw Su Fengzhang's outstanding appearance. Standing next to Meng Ting, he looked like a pair of young masters, comparing the others to hard-earned people. He was even more resentful in his heart.
Why are some people born to dominate others? Li Sanlang once resented the appearance given to him by his parents. Even when his teacher praised him, he would say that he had decent talent, but unfortunately his appearance was ordinary and not favored by his superiors.
Due to various reasons, Li Sanlang challenged Su Fengzhang to a poetry duel.
He also had two or three good friends around him, and it seemed more lively than Su Fengzhang's. At this time, someone whispered in his ear: "Yuan Hao, do you really want to compete with him? Su Fengzhang wrote "Sui Hua Yin", so his poetic talent must not be too bad."
Li Yuanhao completely failed to grasp the persuasive meaning in these words and snorted coldly, "What kind of knowledge can a scholar from a small village have? We don't even know if the poem in Suihuayin was written by him!"
The man was about to speak when Li Sanlang impatiently asked, "Why, do you think I will lose to him?"
Upon hearing this, the man hurriedly shook his head and said, "How could it be? Not to mention Meng Ting, you are the first among all the people present."
Who knew that after hearing this, Li Sanlang became even angrier. It was always like this. Wherever Meng Ting was, he was always second in command, and his parents at home always praised him, as if Meng Ting was their biological son.
With such anger and resentment, Li Sanlang glared at Meng Ting fiercely, but saw that he was talking to Su Fengzhang with a smile. This attitude of not taking him seriously at all made Li Sanlang even more furious.
What he didn't know was that Meng Ting also disliked him very much. No matter who was stared at and criticized from childhood to adulthood, no one would have a good impression of that person.
Compared to Li Sanlang, Meng Ting actually liked Su Fengzhang more. He felt that this new friend was very much to his liking. At this time, he kindly reminded him: "Although Li Sanlang is not a famous master, he does have some skills. You should be careful later."
Su Fengzhang accepted his kindness and said with a smile, "It will come sooner or later."
"Suihuayin" brought his fame to Qingzhou. He had never participated in literary gatherings before, and the literati must have been talking about him for a long time. If it wasn't Li Sanlang today, Zhang Sanlang or Li Silang would come to pick a fight tomorrow to test his worth.
Before setting off, Su Fengzhang had prepared himself mentally, and now it turned out to be true.
The shopkeeper was also a clever man. He quickly cleared the items away and let them compete in poetry. He said with a smile, "It is truly a blessing for Linjiang Tower that you two young masters have such a refined taste. Why don't I treat you all to a drink to cheer you up?"
Xu Zifeng had a headache at first, but after hearing this he smiled and said, "Manager Lin, you're trying to compete with me for the host position."
After a glass of wine, the tense atmosphere eased somewhat. Xu Zifeng laughed and said, "Since everyone is interested, how about a prize for this poetry contest?"
When Meng Ting heard this, he immediately pulled off the jade pendant from his waist and said with a smile: "A beauty gives a sword to a hero, but since I don't have a sword today, I might as well use this jade pendant as a gift."
Xu Zifeng quickly said, "How can I let you, Brother Meng, spend the money? Why not use mine?"
Meng Ting said, "This fine jade deserves to be in the hands of a talented person. So be it."
Li Sanlang snorted coldly: "You are so generous despite being poor, but this is..."
Not knowing what he was thinking about, he swallowed the rest of his words.
Meng Ting said with a smile: "Haven't you always wanted this jade pendant? If you win, I'll give it to you. How about it?"
"Don't regret it later." Li Sanlang snorted coldly.
Meng Ting laughed and said, "But I think it's more suitable for my brother Su to wear the jade pendant. After all, he is very pleasing to the eye."
Su Fengzhang glanced at him and felt that Meng Ting was really good at attracting hatred and was about to make him a public enemy.
As expected, Li Sanlang couldn't stand it anymore and shouted in anger, "Since this is a poetry competition, all the truth should be revealed in the pen. Why are you talking so much nonsense, Su Jieyuan, don't you think so?"
"Let's start. Who will ask the questions?" Su Fengzhang asked with a smile.
Meng Ting immediately said, "Since I'm the one who set the prize, it's only natural that I should be the one to set the questions."
He glanced at Li Sanlang and said, "But Li Sanlang and I have never gotten along. He would definitely not accept it if I were to set the questions. How about this, let today's host set the questions. That would be fair."
Li Sanlang was about to scold him, but after hearing this, he didn't mind: "Thank you for troubling me again, Brother Xu."
Xu Zifeng smiled and said, "It is my honor to be able to set questions for you two. Let me think about it."
While he was thinking, Su Fengzhang turned his head to look at Li Sanlang, only to see that Li Sanlang was very angry. When he saw his gaze, he glared at him fiercely, showing a bit of a childish temper.
One of them is the first place winner this time, and the other is the second place winner last year. They are both talented young men, and this poetry competition is obviously very interesting. At this time, not only the literati at their table, but also the other guests in Linjiang Tower have come to join in the fun.
Few of the guests knew that Su Fengzhang had written "Sui Hua Yin", but most of them had heard of Li Sanlang's reputation. They talked about it a lot for a while, and everyone felt that Li Sanlang had a greater chance of winning.
Xu Zifeng thought about it again and again before saying, "Since we're at Linjiang Tower today, which is a well-known place in the Great Zhou, why not write about it? What do you think?"
There are many excellent works in Linjiang Tower. There were scholars who came from thousands of miles away just to see the style of Linjiang Tower. When this statement was made, it immediately attracted a lot of response.
The shopkeeper of Linjiang Tower even laughed and said, "If you're using Linjiang Tower as your subject, then I'll have to show my appreciation and offer a fee. The winner will receive 100 taels, and the other 50 taels. It's all my appreciation."
One hundred taels of silver is not a small amount, at least not for most of the people present. The atmosphere suddenly became more lively.
The two people in the building are both well-known talents in Qingzhou Prefecture. Today's poetry competition is based on the theme of Linjiang Tower, and it will surely be widely circulated. No matter what the final result is, Linjiang Tower will not do a losing business.
At this time, Su Fengzhang and Li Sanlang were both standing behind the desk. Li Sanlang's servant hurried forward to grind the ink. Su Fengzhang was about to start when Meng Ting came over and said with a smile, "I'll grind the ink for Brother Su."
Li Sanlang snorted coldly, looking as if he couldn't bear to watch, but Meng Ting didn't care at all and quickly ground the ink.
As the topic appeared, everyone else in the building fell silent tacitly, not daring to disturb the two people while they were writing poetry. At this time, the building was completely silent.
The literary culture of the Great Zhou Dynasty flourished, and poetry contests were not uncommon. The winner would usually become famous, while the loser would lose face. Although the poetry contests between scholars were not as intense as those between the masters, they were also related to reputation.
Su Fengzhang closed his eyes and thought. The poetry contest was not only about the talent in writing poetry, but also about the speed.
Not far away, someone whispered, "Who do you think will win between these two?"
"It must be Li Sanlang. Even though he lost the poetry contest to Meng Ting before, he's also a well-known talent. Even though Su Fengzhang is this year's champion, I've never heard of him before. Writing poetry is different from the imperial examination."
At this moment, Li Sanlang had already started writing furiously, looking very confident. In terms of speed alone, he was definitely much faster than Su Fengzhang, because when he finished writing, Su Fengzhang had not even started writing yet.
Li Sanlang squinted his eyes and sneered, "Mr. Su, you haven't even started writing yet. Are you going to make us wait until sunset? We don't have that much time to waste."
Li Sanlang's friend walked up to him and read aloud the poem he had just written. Although it was not brilliant, it was still quite outstanding and did not seem like it was written in just a few breaths.
The scholars around also nodded and praised: "Good poem, indeed good, Master Li wrote quickly and well, worthy of being a talented scholar in Qingzhou, with extraordinary poetic talent."
Meng Ting laughed heartily and jokingly said, "Li Sanlang, you were able to write it so quickly. Did you prepare this poem long ago? If so, even if you win, it would be an unfair victory."
When these words were spoken, Li Sanlang's face turned pale and he said angrily, "Meng Ting, don't slander others casually."
In fact, before attending a literary gathering, writers usually prepare some poems just in case. After all, no one can be sure that they can write poems on the spot. Everyone knows this privately, but it is just tacitly understood.
Meng Ting had no intention of pursuing the matter. He just poked him and immediately said, "Okay, it doesn't matter whether it is or not. Let's take a look at the poem that Brother Su has finished."
It turned out that when Li Sanlang made a fuss, Su Fengzhang had already finished writing.
This speed is not too fast, but not slow either.
Everyone gathered around, and Meng Ting, standing closest, took one look and praised, "It's really a beautiful handwriting. Even Master Wang praised it."
Others also praised him. Li Sanlang was not convinced, so he walked over and took a look. He had to admit in his heart that Su Fengzhang's handwriting was indeed good, surpassing him.
He quickly tried to save his dignity: "Let's read the poem first!"
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Author has something to say: The fourth update~
Unbelievable
Brother Sheng, who has a clumsy hand, actually updates four times a day
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