"What's going on?"
"Why isn't he moving?"
"Maybe he hasn't thought it through?"
…
…
After seeing the poem written by Li Yi in such a short time, the officials felt hopeless. Seeing Zhao Xiuwen staring at the poem for a long time, they were confused.
This was not a difficult topic. If Li Xianzi couldn't think of a line of the poem after he finished writing, the officials would doubt whether the title of "the best poet in a thousand years" was just an empty title.
But if that was the case, why would Wang Zhong, the Poetry Demon, say that he was ashamed of his inferiority?
"Is there something wrong with Li Xianzi's poem?" someone asked confusedly, noticing that Zhao Xiuwen's eyes were fixed on Li Yi's poem.
"How can this be?" Wei Siye stood in the crowd, his face full of disbelief. Like Zhao Xiuwen, he stared at the poem and murmured, "How can this be? How can this be?"
A scholar from the Hong Wen School walked out and stroked his beard. He had a slightly excited expression on his face. "What an eye-opener! It really is an eye-opener!"
The officials were very surprised to hear this. This poem could not be said to be ordinary, but it was not outstanding either. But looking at the expressions of Wei Siye and Grand Scholar Chu, it seemed that there was something special about it.
So the officials looked at the poem again, left and right, horizontally and vertically — but still couldn't figure it out.
The expressions of the people changed. Could it be that Wei Siye, Grand Secretary Chu, and Li Xianzi's attainments in poetry had reached an unfathomable level that they couldn't even understand?
At this time, Zhao Xiuwen finally looked away. He put down his brush and walked back to the side of the Third Prince of the Qi Kingdom. He said calmly, "I lost the first round."
Hearing this, a eunuch immediately extinguished a long stick of incense.
Of course, there was no time limit for this competition. Otherwise, the Emperor and the officials wouldn't be able to wait for half a month to compose a poem.
From the time they decided on the topic to the time they finished writing the three poems, it took them half an hour. Li Xianzi didn't think at all and started writing, so he didn't waste much time. On the other hand, Zhao Xiuwen's incense had been burning for a short while.
"What?"
"Why? You clearly haven't written it yet!"
Hearing Zhao Xiuwen's words, the expressions of the envoys of the Qi Kingdom changed drastically. After the young man from the Jing Kingdom had composed that poem, they had thought that victory was in their grasp. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen?
Zhao Xiuwen actually admitted defeat?
In an instant, the few envoys looked at him with vigilance. Could it be that this person with the surname Zhao had been bribed by Jing Guo? Or could it be that — he was Jing Guo's spy?
In this round, the envoy of the Qi Kingdom had lost in a baffling manner. The officials of the Jing Kingdom had also won in a daze.
He won just like that?
Why?
Even they had come up with a poem that could surpass Li Xianzi's. Although it took them a little longer to come up with a poem that could surpass Li Xianzi's, it didn't matter if they won another round. Why did this man from the Qi Kingdom admit defeat? Was his poem really just a boast?
"Don't waste too much time in the first round. You did well." The Third Prince of the Qi Kingdom finally withdrew his gaze and patted Zhao Xiuwen's shoulder as he spoke.
Zhao Xiuwen nodded. When he looked at the figure chatting and laughing with the young girl again, his expression finally became serious.
"First round, Li Xianzi wins."
The Qi Kingdom admitted defeat, so they didn't even need to judge this round. The eunuch immediately announced the result in a loud voice.
Even when they heard the news that they had won, the officials still didn't understand why they had won.
"Wei Siye, what's going on?"
"Yes, Great Scholar Chu. What's so special about this poem?"
"Why don't you tell us?"
Though they had won, the officials felt even more tormented. Wei Siye and Great Scholar Chu immediately became the focus of attention.
Great Scholar Chu stroked his beard again and said with a smile, "My lords, please take a look at Li Xianzi's poem again."
The crowd felt puzzled and looked at the poem again.
"The tide follows the dark waves of the snowy mountain and the distant fishing boat catches the moonlight.
The bridge faces the gate of the temple and the path is small. The alley is the spring and the stone ripples are clear.
The distant green trees and the river are at dawn. The rosy sunset is clear.
Looking at the clouds and water in the distance, the thousands of dots on the blue peak are light. "
But no matter how they looked at it, this poem, Writing about the Cold Mountain Temple, didn't seem to have anything special.
This poem could barely describe the scene at dusk. If they thought about it carefully, it would be suspected of going off-topic.
"Master Chu, don't keep us guessing," an official urged.
Great Scholar Chu shook his head and said, "My lords, why don't you try to read this poem backwards?"
"Read backwards?" The officials were puzzled. How could a poem be read backwards?
But an official read it out reflexively, "The thousands of dots on the blue peak are light; the water is the edge of the clouds and the water is the edge of the clouds and the stone ripples are clear … Hiss, this, this …"
He closed his mouth after reading one line, and his eyes seemed to pop out from his eye sockets.
"How can it be?"
"How can it be done like this?"
"This, this poem is actually a poem if you read it backwards!"
After being reminded by Great Scholar Chu, the officials had finally figured out the secret.
"The tide follows the dark waves of the snowy mountain and the distant fishing boat catches the moonlight.
The bridge faces the gate of the temple and the path is small. The alley is the spring and the stone ripples are clear.
The distant green trees and the river is at dawn. The rosy sunset is clear.
The distant green trees and the water is the edge of the clouds and the stone ripples are clear.
The thousands of dots on the blue peak are light; the water is the edge of the clouds and the stone ripples are clear.
The clear sunset is red; the trees are the edge of the clouds and the stone ripples are clear.
The alley is the spring and the stone ripples are clear. The small path faces the bridge of the Pine Gate Temple.
The fishing boat under the bright moon is far away. The snowy waves follow the tide in the dark. "
This poem was an excellent poem regardless of whether it was read forward or backward. When the two were combined, the meaning was naturally different.
Not only could it be read forward, but it could also be read backward. Moreover, it was still neat and appropriate. It could be seen that Li Xianzi's writing skills had reached the pinnacle in terms of choosing words and constructing sentences.
If it was read forward, it could be said that it was the moonlit night scene and the river was at dawn. If it was read backward, it could be said that it was read from dawn to the fishing boat singing in the evening. The crowd could even imagine the two scenes at the Cold Mountain Temple outside the city.
Could a poem be written this way?
They finally understood what Great Scholar Chu meant when he said it was an eye-opener. They had lived for dozens of years, and this was the first time they had seen such a marvelous poem.
It was no wonder that Zhao Xiuwen gave up after taking a look at it. Even if he was given ten or one hundred incense sticks, he might not be able to do it, let alone one incense stick …
At this moment, the officials looked at Li Yi in a different way.
He could write such a poem that had never been seen before. Even if he had prepared beforehand, how bad could his poetic talent be?
Perhaps, they really had a chance of winning today's contest.
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