"Well, let's wait and see. Prince Chen, you and Princess Chen are welcome to do as you please."
After the greetings, He Xinhui led the concubines in the harem to sit behind the dragon throne in Yujianxuan.
Yu Chenfeng took Shu Jiaying to sit at a table on one side of the hall.
The banquet officially began with a wonderful performance by dancers.
The reason why this banquet is named "Hundred Flowers Banquet" is that flowers are definitely its theme.
After enjoying several performances, the Queen Mother posed a question with considerable interest, saying, "Since today is a Hundred Flowers Banquet, poetry and song are naturally indispensable. Therefore, I have a question for the female guests: compose a poem using the word 'flower'. This question is simple at first, but capturing the artistic conception is challenging. The female guest present who can produce the most artistically pleasing verse will be the winner of this round. Now, please begin your answers."
As soon as He Xinhui asked the question, the female guests at the table quickly fell into deep thought. However, these trivial matters were nothing to Shu Jiaying. She casually recited Wang Anshi's "Plum Blossom":
"A few plum blossoms stand alone in the corner, blooming in the cold.
I know it's not snow from afar because of the subtle fragrance."
All eyes in the hall immediately fell on Shu Jiaying. Some of these eyes were filled with disbelief, some were shocked, some were envious, some were admiring, and some were even full of hatred.
They couldn't believe that Shu Jiaying could come up with such a perfect poem in such a short time, and they savored the content of the poem carefully, "A few plum blossoms in the corner of the wall, blooming alone in the cold. I know from afar it is not snow, only the faint fragrance comes." The poem not only describes the plum blossoms' fearlessness of the cold and proud blooming alone, but the last two sentences also declare to people the purity of the plum blossoms. Even in extremely harsh environments, they still maintain their noble and strong character.
With such artistic conception, He Xinhui could not help but praise: "I never thought that Princess Chen's literary attainments are so high. I am truly impressed this time."
Thinking that Zhong Lihua might be the only one in the entire palace who could rival Shu Jiaying, He Xinhui quickly called out her name, "Noble Concubine Zhong, you've always excelled at reciting poems and composing couplets. This time, Princess Chen's answer was 'plum blossoms.' I'm truly surprised. I wonder which of the hundreds of flowers Noble Concubine Zhong will bring out to compete with Princess Chen?"
Zhong Lihua originally thought of a poem about chrysanthemums, but after listening to Shu Jiaying's "Plum Blossoms", she suddenly felt that her chrysanthemums were too bland. If she wanted to suppress the plum blossoms, perhaps she could only choose the king of flowers - peony.
Frowning deeply, she pondered as she recited, "It is difficult to match the heavenly fragrance and national beauty. Indeed, the king of flowers is the peony. Even bees and butterflies know to attract wealth and nobility, and they gather in groups outside the green railings."
After hearing the poem that Zhong Lihua recited, the hall immediately erupted in applause. They all praised Zhong Lihua, saying, "Noble Concubine Zhong is worthy of being the most talented woman in Luosuo Country. Noble Concubine Zhong's poem is amazing."
Compared with Zhong Lihua's "Peony" and Shu Jiaying's "Red Plum", "Peony" naturally appears more noble, which just alludes to the identities of the two people. Zhong Lihua was born in an aristocratic family and has been living a life of luxury since childhood. Her status is as noble and inviolable as a peony.
When it came to Shu Jiaying, Shu Jiaying immediately became the isolated wild flower at the foot of the mountain. Although she had a proud character, a wild flower is always a wild flower, and a wild flower can never be on the stage. So Shu Jiaying inexplicably became a laughing stock.
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