Li Ting checked the children's artwork according to their age.
Li Ruizhang chose to write articles praising pine trees.
Li Ting picked it up and read the beginning:
"The pine tree grows beside the rock. It is ignored by the common people and unknown to craftsmen."
It has no terrain to flaunt its beauty, but nature's secrets to adorn it. One can only observe its upright branches and slender trunk, which lean against the layered mountains to veil the clouds and cover the scenery, and gather mist and hide smoke in the secluded valleys.
The rock formation, thin and buried deep, has stood for many years; the ancient vines, intertwined and bound together, have stood for countless years.
After reading the beginning, Li Ting said it was good.
This completely stumped Li Xingran.
She dared not murmur to herself, because she knew about this article.
This is Li Shen's "Ode to the Cold Pine" from the Tang Dynasty.
So does that mean that even though Li Shen didn't appear, "Ode to the Cold Pine" would still appear?
What if other brothers' poems and essays repeat my own?
Fortunately, the fathers were arranged in order of age.
Next is a poem about orchids by Li Ruiheng.
"Green and verdant, planted beside a rock, its solitary root blooms not among the many flowers."
As the wine is finished, I unfold the scrolls by the mountain window; a gentle fragrance wafts from the paper.
Li Ting praised, "Not bad."
Li Xingran felt it was too magical; the poems she had read before were appearing here.
Isn't this a poem by Dong Qichang?
I wonder what the third, fourth, and fifth brothers wrote!
When it was Li Ruijin's turn, she read the poem aloud herself.
"The flower does not bloom among a hundred flowers, but stands alone by the sparse fence, its charm never ends."
"I'd rather die fragrant on the branch than be blown away by the north wind."
Is this a parallel universe? The culture that exists in the modern world is actually here, but the author has changed to an Indian.
Li Ruiqi and Li Ruiyue both wrote poems, and as expected, they were all poems that Li Xingran had read in modern society.
When it was Xiao Sheng's turn, he sang about orchids.
"Graceful blossoms and long green leaves, their fragrance cannot be hidden from the valley when the wind blows."
"Not because it is worthy of being worn as an ornament, but because it is fragrant even when no one is there to admire it."
After listening to Xiao Sheng's poem, Li Xingran looked completely bewildered.
These poems and essays come from every dynasty and were written by all sorts of people.
Xiao Sheng's poem was actually written by Emperor Kangxi.
How strange!
Thankfully, there were no duplicates.
Li Xingran wrote four poems in one go.
It contains plum, orchid, pine, and chrysanthemum.
Li Ting read through the poems one by one, and was nothing but shocked.
Are modern people really that talented?
Looking at Li Ting's expression, Li Xingran thought it was good; it seemed that these poems and essays were appearing for the first time today.
Ink Plum Blossoms:
"The tree by my inkstone-washing pond, its blossoms faintly trace the ink. It doesn't need praise for its beautiful colors, it only leaves its pure fragrance to fill the universe."
"orchid":
"A solitary orchid grows in a secluded garden, overgrown with weeds."
Though the spring sun shines brightly, I am saddened by the high autumn moon.
The early frost has fallen, and the vibrant greenery may soon fade.
If no gentle breeze blows, for whom will the fragrance arise?
After listening to just two songs, Xiao Sheng was already deeply impressed by Li Xingran's talent.
I never knew that Li Xingran could write such good poetry.
Thinking of this, Xiao Sheng felt somewhat inferior.
Li Ting was overjoyed. His daughter's talent was so great that she could surpass his own top score in the humanities.
No wonder Ruan Ruan always talks about becoming a teacher. With her talent, no one in Tingquan Manor can match her!
Next song: "Green Pine"
When the pine tree was only a few inches tall, it was soon buried by grass.
Unseen is the heart shrouded in clouds, who knows the bones burdened by frost?
Weak trunks can be destroyed, and slender stems are easily damaged.
When will I be able to cover the bright moon for you, thousands of feet high?
As expected of the top scholar in literature in Nanchen Kingdom, Li Ting knew as soon as he read the poem that Li Xingran wanted to tell Xiao Sheng that as an emperor, he should discover and support talents as early as possible, so that they can make contributions and benefit the people.
After carefully savoring the poem for a while, Xiao Sheng also understood its meaning.
What a situation! Xiao Sheng felt like he was about to give his whole heart away.
I wonder how earth-shattering the last song will be!
Then they heard Li Ting reciting: "Chrysanthemum"
"When autumn comes on the ninth day of the ninth month, my flowers will bloom and all other flowers will wither."
The fragrance of incense fills Chang'an, and the entire city is adorned in golden armor.
"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Perhaps my Li family can produce a female scholar who excels in the imperial examination!"
Xiao Sheng's plan was to take over the Great Yue Kingdom and then swallow up the Great Liang Kingdom!
"Father, who will win this prize?" Li Xingran didn't really care about the gold; she just thought it was fun.
When her older brother's article came out, she felt as if she were trapped in a parallel universe.
Borrowing famous poems from renowned figures to enhance one's image.
"Your poems and essays are all excellent. How about this, your father will take out a few more ingots of gold from the treasury, one ingot each, as a reward, shall we?"
"Yay! Daddy is the fairest!"
The older brothers felt that since they had only chosen one scene to write about, while their younger sister had written about four, she should be the best.
Li Ting said, "Writing isn't about quantity. But your sister's four poems are of a higher level than anyone else's in this era."
"You guys are pretty good too!"
"Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, let's have a good time, everyone gets the same reward!" Li Ting laughed heartily, full of pride.
Fan Zuan, a science major, wasn't very familiar with classical Chinese poetry, but he had read a few of Li Xingran's poems.
This little rascal could easily outwit these ancient people just by relying on his memory.
However, I myself am living a very carefree life in this other world.
It feels so good to have a peaceful and prosperous country where people can live and work in peace and contentment.
After the competition, everyone offered their blessings to Xiao Sheng.
Li Ting and Xu Ningyou gave Xiao Sheng the New Year's money they had prepared.
Just like last year, he had everything that the Li family's children had.
Fan Zu'an also offered his heartfelt gift, having once said he would explain the mysteries of the human body to Xiao Sheng.
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