433: Chapter 433 Interruption of Flow

Inside the Qushui Banquet, everyone was still immersed in the shock of this "Song of Joining the Army," unable to extricate themselves.

Lv Sheng was also unable to calm down for a long time; after reading this poem and then looking at his own... it was unreadable!!

"Boss Su, I have a question."

A young man with an arrogant expression stood up; it was Cui Yan, who had been the first to recite a poem earlier but had suffered an initial setback.

"Please speak, Young Master Cui," Su Wansha said, in an excellent mood. She knew that once her husband's poetry appeared, it would absolutely shock the literary world.

"Since Wu Mountain is a coal-producing mine and a mountain within our borders, wouldn't the last line, 'Never let the barbarian horses cross Wu Mountain,' be somewhat inappropriate?"

When Cui Yan asked this, many people on the scene looked at each other. It seemed... there was some truth to that.

This was a mountain within the borders; what barbarian horses were they still blocking? Although it didn't hinder the brilliance of this poem, it could still be considered a minor flaw.

Seeing that he had found a flaw, Cui Yan's face beamed with radiance again, feeling that he had regained some face.

Su Wansha, however, remained calm and explained with a smile, "Young Master Cui has misunderstood. The 'Wu Mountain' in this poem is not Wushan Commandery, but... the Ural Mountains."

"Ah? Wu... Wu what mountain?" Cui Yan didn't understand for a moment.

Master Xu Huaian frowned and said, "You ignorant boy, the Ural Mountains are where the Northern Desert royal court is located, the holy mountain of the Northern Barbarians!!"

The scene was in an uproar!

"So that's it!"

"Haha, this is to strike directly at the royal court and force the barbarian tribes to the ends of the earth!"

"Miss Su, you truly have great talent!!"

Cui Yan was scolded by his teacher and instantly wilted; he hurriedly retreated to his seat and drank wine to hide his embarrassment.

Su Wansha generously denied it, "Everyone, please do not misunderstand. This poem was not written by me... it was written by my husband, the Prince of Zhenbei, in private before he set out to campaign in the Northern Desert."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the scene instantly reached a new climax!

"As expected! I knew it, it must be the Prince's poem!"

"No wonder it is so heroic and magnificent, swallowing mountains and seas. I dare say that among the heroes of the world, the Prince of Zhenbei is the number one!"

"The Prince's 'Ascending Jiangyue Tower' was already shocking; now with the addition of 'Song of Joining the Army,' his literary talent is truly peerless!"

Lv Sheng was also shocked. He had never really believed that "Ascending Jiangyue Tower" could be written by a military general.

Could it be that there really was someone in this world who, besides having peerless martial arts, also possessed world-leading literary talent? How could that be possible? Such a person had never appeared in the history of the Tianwu Continent!

A complex emotion of defiance, unwillingness, and a hint of admiration made Lv Sheng clench his hands tightly.

Zhu Ming had long expected this; he recited "Song of Joining the Army" several times and drank happily to his heart's content.

The news that this poem was written by the Prince of Zhenbei soon spread outside Zuihua Pavilion. The crowd, who hadn't quite believed that Su Wansha could have such talent just a moment ago, instantly realized the truth! That makes sense! Only the Prince of Zhenbei deserved this poem! For a time, the praise of "The Prince of Zhenbei is peerless in both civil and martial arts" resounded through the entire street!

In the neighboring restaurant, Emperor Hong gazed toward the north. "The Ural Mountains... Someone once said they wanted to fight their way there to see what kind of scenery that so-called holy mountain was."

The few people beside him remained silent; that person's surname was Mu, and it was inconvenient to mention it.

After a long while, Prime Minister Yang Gengzhong sighed, "After tonight, this poem will surely spread throughout the Great Gan and be passed down through the ages."

Just then, Zheng Yangwei received some intelligence. His expression changed, and he hurriedly lowered his voice to whisper something in Emperor Hong's ear.

"What!?" Emperor Hong looked toward Tianxiang Restaurant with surprise once again. "Lin Xiao? It really is him!?"

"Princess Ningxiang is now a concubine of the Prince's estate; it makes sense for the Prince of Zhenbei to be at Tianxiang Restaurant."

Prime Minister Yang Gengzhong frowned. "Master Hong, with the Prince of Zhenbei's martial arts, I fear he has already detected Eunuch Zheng. We should be careful to avoid any misunderstandings."

"What, does he dare to touch me?" Emperor Hong snorted lightly. "Old Zheng, you and the others, just keep to yourselves."

Zheng Yangwei smiled bitterly to himself, thinking that if the other party decided to attack, they wouldn't be able to stop him anyway.

"Rest assured, Master Hong. Although this old servant is not his match one-on-one, if my fellow disciples and I join forces, we need not fear."

Although he felt guilty, he couldn't admit defeat verbally; after all, only his mouth was left.

With the stunning opening of the first piece, the Qushui Banquet had become completely lively. Once Su Wansha's identity was revealed, it was naturally inappropriate for her to sit in the corner, and she was invited to sit beside Zhu Ming.

"Brother Xu, it is your turn for this second piece." Master Li Jingyi saw that the atmosphere was just right and looked at Master Xu Huaian.

Master Xu Huaian did not decline. He stood up with a smile and said, "The topic Brother Zhu gave for the first piece was truly difficult to write about, so I will propose a simple one."

He pointed to the full moon outside and said, "The moonlight is thick tonight; let's use 'Moon' as the topic!"

Upon hearing that it was to write about the moon, cheers immediately arose from the scene. This was much easier; the scholars wrote about it often.

Soon, several scholars who thought highly of themselves stood up to recite their best poems about the moon.

This time, Cui Yan did not stand up first. He waited until everyone had mostly finished before standing up to recite a fine piece.

This time, Cui Yan's work won applause from the whole hall, making him quite proud.

However, the people present were not stupid. The topic was proposed by Master Xu Huaian, and Cui Yan was his student, so there was a high probability that he already knew this topic would come up. Therefore, this poem was definitely carefully selected.

"Young Master Lv, why are you silent?" Master Li Jingyi saw that Lv Sheng hadn't made a sound and took the initiative to ask.

Lv Sheng sighed, "Master Li, with the Prince's 'Song of Joining the Army' beforehand, my poetic attainments are truly not worth mentioning."

"Sigh... that is incorrect. You have never served in the military, so naturally, you cannot write good frontier poems, but the Prince may not be as skilled as you in writing about the moon." Master Li Jingyi said, "Young Master Lv, you need not belittle yourself."

After listening, Lv Sheng felt it made sense. Every trade has its specialty; if he wrote about other things, he might not lose to Lin Xiao.

He chose a poem he had been most satisfied with in recent years and stood up to recite: "The lonely moon and lingering clouds float for ten thousand miles, when will the suffering of the world cease? Who will ask about the safety of the nation? I gaze at the clear radiance in vain, entrusting my distant worries."

"Good! Good! Using the clouds and moon in the sky to look upon the suffering of the world, your vision is far-reaching."

"The great talent Lv is worthy of being a disciple of Master Meng; with the world and the nation in your heart, you are a pillar of the country!"

The scene immediately erupted in praise, which was on par with Cui Yan's poem from earlier.

"Boss Su, do you have any more of the Prince's fine works this time?" Master Li Jingyi smiled and looked at Su Wansha again.

When the whole audience heard this, they all looked over with expectation and nervousness.

Su Wansha naturally had some; after all, Lin Xiao was often begged by them to "write poems." Sometimes, to reward them, Lin Xiao would unlock some special ways of playing and would also reward them with some heart-stirring poems. However... Su Wansha felt it was better to forget it. If another one came out, nobody else would be able to play at the Qushui Banquet tonight.

Therefore, Su Wansha smiled and shook her head.

Seeing this, Master Li Jingyi was slightly disappointed, while Lv Sheng and the other scholars, besides being disappointed, felt a sense of relief. Master Li Jingyi then made a decision to tie the two poems by Lv Sheng and Cui Yan for first place and announced them together. For one thing, both were indeed excellent in their own ways, and for another, it was to give Master Xu Huaian some face. However, this time, he did not pick up the pen himself.

The onlookers outside finally got to see the works of the "number one talent in the world." Although there was plenty of praise, it was much quieter compared to the "Song of Joining the Army" from earlier.

"Really boring. These two poems, placed after the Prince's 'Song of Joining the Army,' are simply like adding a dog's tail to a sable coat. The level of this Qushui Banquet is too poor." Xie Juner was very dissatisfied. Her beautiful eyes turned, and she looked at Lin Xiao eagerly: "My Prince, I want to 'break the flow,' is that okay?"

"Hmm?" Lin Xiao didn't understand either. He was drinking happily, and seeing the woman looking at him so movingly, he didn't think much about it. "Sure."

Xie Juner felt as if joy had fallen from the sky. She hurriedly ran outside the pavilion and proudly shouted, "This Princess wants to break the flow!!"