Although the old drunkard looked thin and weak, he was actually very strong. The boat quickly left the shore.
When the boatman picked up the silver and swam ashore, the boat was only a faint shadow on the lake.
The boatman held the silver tightly with a puzzled expression.
Someone beside him said, "Don't be angry. This person is a madman from Yueyang City. He'll act crazy after drinking. When he sobers up, he'll return your boat. If you lose it, you can report him to the yamen. "
The boatman wiped the water off his face and asked, "I have seen this old madman a few times. It is reasonable to say that in places like Dongting Lake and Yueyang Tower, the officials would not allow such a person to cause trouble. Could it be that there is something fishy?"
"I only heard that he's a pitiful person. He hasn't done anything evil. He'll compensate for the stolen items when he wakes up, and he'll compensate a lot. Some people can't wait for this old madman to torment himself."
The boatman smiled, "So that's how it is. Then I hope he sinks the old boat and gets a new one."
Everyone laughed and left.
Dongting Lake was covered in mist. When night fell, it reflected the starry sky like the sea. The old drunkard rowed to the depths of Dongting Lake and stood up shakily. He stood at the bow of the boat and actually undid his pants. He faced the sky and released water.
The old drunkard's body trembled and let out a comfortable groan. Tiredness surged and he lay on the boat in a daze, falling asleep.
After an unknown period of time, the boat swayed and an ordinary pleasure boat gradually approached. On the pleasure boat, the sound of a zither was melodious and elegant.
The old drunkard's brows moved slightly. He slowly opened his eyes and the starry sky came into view.
The drunkenness in his eyes completely disappeared and became incomparably clear.
"Sigh …"
A trace of sadness flashed across Ji Anchang's face.
In order to defeat Li Wenying, Ji Anchang cultivated desperately in the ancient land. In the end, he quietly returned to Saint Origin World. He wanted to suppress Li Wenying at the Saint Apricot Literary Association and return home in glory.
He originally wanted to leave a way out for himself, so he wanted to keep a low profile. However, he didn't know that the Zong family's Gyeongo and Fang Yun's Jingguo were like fire and water. As soon as he appeared, Zong Xueyan and the others pushed him to the top, making him the hope of Gyeongo. At that time, he thought that victory was in his grasp and lost his vigilance. He considered himself as the leader of Gyeongo's literary circle and challenged Li Wenying and Jingguo.
In the beginning, everything went smoothly. However, when Li Wenying finished writing "Gift of Fortune", just the sentence "A sword that frosts fourteen prefectures" shocked the entire human race, not to mention the various strange phenomena and the legendary infinite treasure light.
Since then, there was only one poem in the world, 'Gift of Fortune', and no one else dared to use it as a theme.
After being suppressed by Li Wenying, Ji Anchang left in a daze. The first thing he received was not consolation, but reproach from Zong Xueyan and the others. They said that he was clearly not strong enough, but he put on a show and embarrassed Gyeongo.
Not only that, but some scholars from other countries who used to be friends with him also criticized him. They thought that he was disrupting the human race by challenging Li Wenying at such a time.
What he couldn't stand the most was that the Ji family had already prepared a grand ceremony to welcome him home. However, when this matter came out, the Ji family removed all the decorations and the Ji family's patriarch fainted from anger.
The dignified "three scholars, father and son four scholars" became the laughingstock of Gyeongo and even Saint Origin World.
All kinds of mocking words were heard on the rankings. Especially the scholars from Jingguo, especially those from Jingguo who were of the same generation as Ji Anchang. They were ridiculed and humiliated by Ji Anchang many times in the past. Now, new hatred and old hatred came together and they attacked Ji Anchang on the rankings for many days.
Under such heavy pressure, Ji Anchang finally couldn't hold on to his heart and became disheartened.
Ji Anchang had nowhere to go and changed his clothes. His hair was disheveled and his face was covered in dust. He hid his appearance and spent his days drinking in Yueyang City to numb himself.
The reason Ji Anchang did not leave was because he still had a thought in his mind. He wanted to climb back up from where he fell and find another opportunity to defeat Li Wenying. He wanted to show off the might of the Qing Kingdom and return to the Ji family as a victor.
However, Ji Anchang repeatedly analyzed Li Wenying's poem and couldn't find anything that could surpass it. Even if this poem wasn't a war poem, just the spirit of the poem itself was enough to rank it at the peak, let alone a war poem that was passed down through the ages. In addition, it created an unprecedented treasure light.
Theoretically speaking, this poem wasn't a new form. After all, this poem was a war poem that praised famous scholars. Therefore, Li Wenying couldn't be considered as the progenitor of poetry. However, in the hearts of the people, Li Wenying was definitely worthy of the title.
Ji Anchang used all of his power to deduce, but he couldn't find any hope.
If there was hope, then it would be to become a saint.
However, if he couldn't even defeat Li Wenying, his inner demon, how could he become a saint?
Ji Anchang fell into a vicious cycle. When he was sober, he wanted to use magic to suppress Li Wenying. However, the more he thought about it, the more hopeless he felt. His heart was in a mess, so he drowned his sorrows in alcohol. When he woke up, he didn't want to give up so he continued to think of a way.
Ji Anchang wanted to use his drunken state to pass the time, but he didn't expect to be woken up by the sound of the zither and the waves. He couldn't help but stare at the boat angrily.
The boat was very ordinary. It was more than thirty meters away from Ji Anchang's boat. The waves caused by the boat made the boat constantly shake, making the hungover Ji Anchang even more irritable.
However, at this moment, Ji Anchang was basically sober. Although he was unhappy, he didn't curse like when he was drunk.
Ji Anchang took a deep breath and ignored the boat. He observed his situation.
Ji Anchang found that the boat had left Dongting Lake and was on the river between Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River.
The Great Confucian scholar didn't forget things. However, he had been drinking these days and deliberately gave up the power of the Great Confucian scholar to resist the drunkenness. His mind was not as sharp as usual and his perception of the outside world was particularly dull. He needed to rest for several days to recover.
After a few breaths, he finally remembered the absurd things he had done yesterday, and a look of shame appeared on his face.
He looked at the wooden boat under him and recalled the place where the boat sailed and the boatman. He decided to row back and return the boat to the boatman and give five taels of silver as compensation.
At this moment, messy voices came from the boat. It seemed that the people on the boat were talking about poems and essays. The voices were louder.
Ji Anchang tilted his head to listen and frowned.
Although the distance was too far, the sound of the zither and the waves disturbed the people's voices, coupled with the drunken hearing, Ji Anchang still heard some obviously flattering words.
"Great master", "world-famous", "good poem", and so on.
Ji Anchang looked at the boat again. It was very ordinary and didn't look like a real famous person's boat. It was obvious that it was a gathering of ordinary scholars. At most, it would be Han Lin. This kind of boat was disdained by the general scholars.
Ji Anchang snorted. He looked at the direction and rowed towards the lake. However, he suddenly stopped. His face was cold and there was a trace of ridicule in his eyes.
This was because he heard someone praise another person as "the Sage of Poetry". Moreover, the rest of the people actually agreed.
In the Saint Origin World, some words of flattery didn't matter. For example, 'great master of the present age' or 'world-renowned', these kinds of praises could be seen everywhere. However, anything related to the word 'Saint', even if it was flattery, couldn't be casually said. Otherwise, it would inevitably cause trouble.
Although it was harmless to say "Sage of Poetry" in private, it couldn't be made public.
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