The next day.
Under the supervision of Luoyang County's yamen runners, the walls of Zheng Chang's private peony gardens were all pushed down. Ordinary citizens swarmed into these private peony gardens. The scale of the Peony Flower Festival instantly doubled, and its influence skyrocketed.
"It's indeed extraordinary. There are so many peony treasures in the Zheng family's peony garden!" Many flower lovers were pleasantly surprised. Among the private peony gardens, the Zheng family's was the largest and had the most peony treasures. Although it couldn't compare to Hu Daonong's peony garden, it had an exquisite design and had many treasures. It also had a unique flavor.
Therefore, most of the citizens went to the Zheng family's peony garden. They all went to admire the peony treasures and exclaimed in satisfaction. However, after a period of curiosity, everyone quickly felt bored.
Although the Zheng family's peony garden had many treasures, it didn't have a scale effect like the expanded Princess Garden. People who loved peonies naturally loved the treasures.
However, to most ordinary citizens, they didn't know what was a treasure or an ordinary variety. After being baptized by Mo Jiazi's sea of flowers, these citizens' standards were much higher. They couldn't help but be disappointed when they looked at the Zheng family's peony garden that was exquisite but lacking in grandeur.
"Still hiding it? I thought it would be beautiful."
"That's right! How can it compare to Mo Jiazi's Princess Garden? It's far inferior! "
"Even if there are treasures, which one of them can compare to Wei Zi?"
…
Many citizens came in high spirits but returned in disappointment. After seeing the sea of flowers in the Princess Garden, everyone's taste had long been spoiled. Looking at these small-scale peony gardens, they immediately lost interest.
In terms of scale, the Zheng family's peony garden couldn't even compare to the original Princess Garden, much less now that it had been expanded four times. The difference was like heaven and earth.
In terms of peony treasures, the Princess Garden had countless treasures, especially the newly transplanted Wei Zi. In comparison, the Zheng family's peony garden was naturally inferior.
In the beginning, it was packed with people in the morning, but in the afternoon, other than some scholars invited by Zheng Chang, there were only a few tourists who were there to appraise it.
Some were flower lovers who wanted to see the rare treasures in the Zheng family's peony garden. Some had already seen the peonies in the Princess Garden and wanted to have a change of taste. There were also a few people from the east of the city who did not want to go so far to the west of the city. Luoyang City did not have such convenient public transportation as Chang 'an City.
Although Luoyang had already opened more public buses to Princess Garden for the Peony Blossom Festival, they still couldn't meet the demand.
As the number of visitors dropped, the reputation of the Zheng Family's private Peony Garden fell. Some rumors naturally reached Zheng Chang and the others' ears. Zheng Chang's face immediately turned ashen.
"How could this be?!"
Zheng Chang and the others exclaimed in disbelief.
They could never have imagined that the Peony Garden that they were so proud of would one day be despised by the common people. It had to be known that the day before, these people could only sigh through the wall, but today, they were disdainful.
The others' faces also alternated between green and white. This slap in the face was too fast. They thought that they had suffered a great grievance after being forced to open the Peony Garden, but in the end, reality had a huge reversal.
"A bunch of unruly commoners. They are so easily fooled by Mo Jiazi," the azure-clothed youth said indignantly when he saw that the commoners were easily swayed by Mo Jiazi.
The other scholars also nodded. They thought that the Zheng family's Peony Garden was exquisite, but Mo Jiazi had another strange move. A large scale project had actually beaten them to the point that they were unable to retaliate.
"No, we can't let Mo Jiazi slap us in the face like this!" Zheng Chang said angrily.
"But our Peony Gardens are not connected at all. How can they compare to Mo Jiazi's Peony Garden that has been expanded four times? Furthermore, he has a famous flower like Wei Zi as the cornerstone of his garden," the azure-clothed youth said with a frown.
"Then think carefully. What other advantages do we have? We are the people of Luoyang, and also the flowers of Luoyang. We absolutely cannot let Mo Jiazi act so arrogantly in Luoyang City," Zheng Chang roared angrily.
Everyone immediately fell silent. Mo Jiazi was famous, and the scale and variety of his flowers were better. Furthermore, he had the support of Luoyang's county government, so there was nothing they could do.
"Right! We are all scholars, and reciting poems is our forte. How about we hold another Peony Poetry Meet with the theme of the peony? Every time there is a good line, we will immediately spread it out. It will definitely attract people to come to our Peony Garden. "A white-clothed scholar suddenly said excitedly.
After the white-clothed scholar said that, he could not help but look around smugly. He believed that his plan would definitely succeed, but he realized that everyone was looking at him like he was a fool.
"What's wrong?" The white-clothed scholar looked around in puzzlement.
"What's wrong? Don't you know what Mo Jiazi is famous for?" The azure-clothed youth said through gritted teeth.
"Ah!"
Only then did the white-clothed scholar come to a realization. Immediately, he looked ashamed. After all, Meton was not only proficient in the art of ink. What truly made him famous was his poems. From the initial three poems at the frontier fortress, to the love poem he wrote for Princess Changle, to the makeup poem, and even the most recent poem at Stork Brothel, which one of them was not a peerless masterpiece? What was even more hateful was that Mo Jiazi had never tired of destroying poems. Not only did he use poems to advertise, he had also written many incomplete poems that had not been completed, making people gnash their teeth in anger.
If they wanted to compete with Mo Jiazi in poetry, wouldn't they just be humiliating themselves?
"Don't tell me that we, the scholars of Luoyang, can't suppress Mo Jiazi, this dragon that has crossed the river?" The white-clothed scholar said dejectedly.
The scholars immediately became dejected. Facing Mo Jiazi's brutal reputation, no one had any confidence in their hearts.
"As the saying goes, there is no first place in literature and no second place in martial arts. You are all afraid of Mo Jiazi's reputation, but I am not. Isn't it just praising the peony? I have a poem that I am willing to present to everyone." The white-clothed scholar's fighting spirit rose. He lowered his head and bent over the table. With a wave of his brush, a poem praising the peony was completed.
"Yes!"
Everyone looked at the white-clothed scholar's barely satisfactory poem. After a long time, they suddenly came to a realization. They repeatedly praised, "Good poem, good poem!"
The white-clothed scholar also cupped his hands to the surroundings proudly and said, "Present my incompetence, present my incompetence!"
With the white-clothed scholar taking the lead, the other scholars also began to move. They either frowned in deep thought or pretended to take out the poems that they had already prepared. In an instant, everyone began to recite poems and were not happy at all.
When the green-clothed youth saw this situation, his heroic spirit rose. He said with hatred, "Alright, I don't believe that with all the scholars of Luoyang gathered here, we will still be afraid of Mo Jiazi. If we want to do something, we will do it big. You all have contacted the seniors of the literary world. This concerns the reputation of Luoyang, so we naturally have no choice but to surrender."
"That's right. With a generous reward, there will definitely be brave men. If Mo Jiazi can use ten thousand coins to obtain a peony of the highest quality, I, Zheng Chang, am willing to use ten thousand coins to offer a reward for a peony of the highest quality. Firstly, it will make Luoyang's peony famous, and secondly, it will be able to fight against Mo Jiazi."
"Alright! Young Master Zheng is indeed forthright. " The people in the scholarly forest were all tempted. This was a matter that had fame and also brought benefits. Immediately, many people were eager to participate. Immediately, the four of them actively contacted the big shots of the literary world, or racked their brains to think of a way to surpass the son of Mo.
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