As he spoke, he looked around and slowly began to speak.
"No flowers bloom in winter, only plum blossoms. I smell their fragrance at the pavilion, and the stream flows past my house."
After Li Sanxia finished speaking, all the talented men and beautiful women present praised him.
Then someone stood up, gave a thumbs up, and said:
"Brother Li, you are truly a gifted writer! You can compose poetry on the spot and perfectly capture the mood of the moment. It's wonderful, truly wonderful."
Another person spoke up, "Brother Li said he was just throwing out a brick to attract jade, but he actually uttered such an amazing poem. How are we, the later ones, supposed to put ourselves in his place?"
Everyone burst into laughter. Just then, another man stepped forward, cleared his throat, and said, "In that case, I'll also sing a song."
"A proud pine tree stands tall by the bridge, while plum blossoms smile at its branches. Where the fragrant water flows, a beautiful woman's reflection appears!"
The crowd praised the poem again, saying that it not only captured the essence of the scene but also depicted the beautiful women sitting by the stream reflected in the water, which was very realistic. This made the family members cover their mouths and smile.
Everyone took turns speaking, showcasing their talents, and using the surrounding scenery and real-life situations as themes, each producing a poem or verse.
Although these poems are extremely ordinary, they still demonstrate the authors' remarkable talent.
After circling around, everyone finally turned their attention to Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yunwen had simply picked up the wine cup in front of him and drunk it. The wine was made from green plums, and it tasted elegant with a rich and mellow aroma.
At this moment, Li Sanxia smiled and said:
"Your Highness, Third Prince, don't you feel like composing a poem? That would silence those who say you have no learning, and dispel those unverified rumors."
Zhu Yunwen smiled slightly; he knew this place was waiting for him.
But he didn't panic; instead, he deliberately remained polite and said:
"Actually, writing poetry is not my strong suit, and I'm not very good at it either."
Upon hearing this, the talented men around him immediately showed disdain.
Even the man in the blue robe beside him spoke up without any attempt to hide it:
"Previously, His Highness the Third Prince said those things about your shallow learning, which were probably just rumors spread by others. But now His Highness the Third Prince is unwilling to compose a poem. Doesn't this mean that His Highness the Third Prince is indeed..."
He didn't say what he was going to say next, but everyone understood what he meant.
Zhu Yunwen smiled. It wasn't that he didn't want to write poetry, but rather that the time wasn't right yet.
It should be noted that during his stay at Shaoyang Palace some time ago, he read a great many books in Zhu Biao's study.
Although my talent and learning haven't improved by leaps and bounds, writing poetry is really not a difficult task.
He actually has some expertise in this area.
Seeing that he smiled without saying a word, some of the other talented men around him also stood up and used words to mock Zhu Yunwen intentionally or unintentionally.
Clearly, if Zhu Yunwen doesn't produce a good poem today, these scholars will likely use this opportunity to let the entire capital know that Zhu Yunwen, the third grandson of the emperor, is a person of shallow learning.
After all, in ancient times, the literary circles were a group of sharp-tongued people. If they started gossiping, the village aunties of later generations would be no match for them.
Seeing that these scholars were going too far, Zhu Yunwen remained calm. Li Sanxia, seeing that things had calmed down, said to Zhu Yunwen:
"If His Highness the King of Wu is truly unable to compose poetry, that is also fine."
As soon as he said that, Zhu Yunwen knew that this guy was about to define him.
So he began to speak:
"Well, I originally wanted to be humble, but since you all are pressing me so hard, it would be really inappropriate if I didn't offer a poem."
As he spoke, he stood up and put his hands behind his back.
However, his actions drew ridicule from the crowd, who thought that if he could write poetry, he would have done it earlier, why wait until now?
Unless it's just for show.
So everyone was waiting to see Zhu Yunwen make a fool of himself.
However, after casually glancing around, Zhu Yunwen smiled slightly and said:
"The plum blossoms in the garden are fragrant, their proud spirit unafraid of the cold wind. Unlike all the other trees that are colorless, with only dead flowers on the branches!"
After Zhu Yunwen finished reciting the poem, the atmosphere at the scene instantly quieted down.
Previously, they had all been waiting to see the show with mocking expressions, but now their expressions all became serious.
The reason is simple: Zhu Yunwen's poem, in terms of its artistic conception, aesthetics, and the message it conveyed, almost instantly surpassed all the poems written by others before him.
Simply put, this poem not only describes the surrounding situation but also portrays the plum blossom's pride and uniqueness, while simultaneously belittling the other withered flowers in the garden.
The last two lines also contain some metaphors, seemingly alluding to the other talented men present.
If flowers were compared to poems, then plum blossoms would clearly outshine all other flowers in the garden.
Speaking of poetry, Zhu Yunwen's poem also almost completely outshone the poems of those so-called talented scholars.
Its attack power is extremely strong, and its intentions are very clear.
This made the faces of the talented scholars present look rather grim. They never expected that after all the groundwork they had laid, they would be completely outmaneuvered by Zhu Yunwen's poem.
They were also belittled as if they were just empty branches in a garden that had lost all their flowers.
Li Sanxia's expression was also not very good. He had been quite proud of his own poems just now, but now that Zhu Yunwen's poem had been published, their poems paled in comparison.
That line is: "Unlike ten thousand trees that are all colorless, only the flowers on the branches have died."
Isn't that exactly what they're talking about?
People were not only angry because Zhu Yunwen's poem was mocking them, but also somewhat helpless.
Because today, Li Yuanming, the Minister of Rites, said to everyone that the current third prince has no talent and no learning.
He was far inferior to the Second Prince Zhu Yunwen.
So he made some provocative remarks, trying to embarrass Zhu Yunwen at today's gathering and spread rumors about his shallow learning, thus using public opinion to pressure Zhu Yunwen.
At the same time, they promoted Zhu Yunwen, but now it seems that this plan has failed.
Judging from the poem Zhu Yunwen just recited, his talent and learning are quite high.
At least many people present could not compare to him, so it was clear that this goal would be difficult to achieve.
Meanwhile, deep within the Hundred Flowers Garden.
When Li Yuanming, the Minister of Rites, saw the poem that Zhu Yunwen had just written on a piece of paper brought to him by a servant, his brows furrowed tightly.
"What a fine poem! It truly is a fine poem. How could he possibly compose such poetry? It seems I'll have to step in!"
After reading the poem, the elderly people opposite were also very impressed, but these scholars and the court officials were almost on the same side.
They also hoped that Zhu Yunwen could rise to power.
Then an elderly man with white hair spoke calmly:
"Although he has some talent, he still needs to be suppressed. Let him come to our side; those young people can't suppress him, so it'll be easier for us old folks to take action."
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