225: This poem in Chapter 225 is titled "The Song of the Wild Goose Mound".

Afterward, using a magnetic voice, he loudly recited his masterpiece.

What he had written was a seven-character quatrain expressing admiration for a beautiful woman, yet due to worldly decorum, he could only bury his feelings deep in his heart.

The entire poem used extremely refined wording, and its Concept progressed in layers. It expressed admiration without the slightest hint of frivolity; the balance was perfectly struck.

When he finished reciting the last line, the scholars below exploded, and cheers rose one after another.

"Compared to that fellow from just now, Young Master Zhang's poem is clearly several grades higher in both Concept and wording."

"He is truly worthy of being the First Scholar of the Capital! Such a masterpiece is simply earth-shattering!"

"I think this poem has already reached the Rank of green Literary Qi, hasn't it?"

"Is there anyone who can understand the meaning within and resonate with the Literary Qi?"

Ouyang Wanqing also nodded slightly in approval, looked at Zhang Yun, and gave her evaluation in a soft voice:

"Young Master Zhang's poem uses archaic and elegant phrasing, and the Concept is sorrowful but not distressing; it is truly the best one so far."

The First Prince stood to the side, his hands tightly clenched inside his sleeves, his face beneath his mask already so gloomy that it seemed about to drip water.

This Zhang fellow, a powerless and penniless pedantic scholar, actually dared to express admiration for his fiancée in a poem?

A flash of dangerous malice flickered in his eyes, and in his heart, he had already marked this reckless scholar for death.

This person had already invited his own death.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yun was immersed in the flattery of those around him, his face glowing, feeling as if he were floating on air.

He bowed repeatedly to those around him, smiling humbly:

"Thank you for your indulgence, everyone."

"Recently, I have been studying that poem, 'little pond', from the capital day and night, and have gained some insights."

"That is why my brushwork has gained a touch of Spiritual Qi; today was merely luck, just luck."

After speaking, his somewhat provocative gaze fell with extreme contempt upon Chen Shanzhi, who had been standing in the corner the entire time wearing a white jade mask.

In his view, he had already completely won this round.

As for this white jade-masked man who couldn't even write a decent doggerel poem and only knew how to chug wine.

Once he writes a few lines in a moment, I fear he will face his ultimate public humiliation here in the Prime Ministers Mansion's back garden.

"This friend, you are the last one left."

Zhang Yun snapped his folding fan shut with a 'clack' and smiled with ill intent:

"I wonder what stunning masterpiece you can bring us today?"

The surrounding scholars also let out a burst of laughter, waiting to see the joke of Chen Shanzhi admitting defeat and punishing himself.

The First Prince looked over coldly, and Ouyang Wanqing's beautiful eyes were filled with deep amusement and anticipation.

For a moment, everyone's gaze focused once again on Chen Shanzhi.

Chen Shanzhi touched his mask and sighed helplessly.

He took a step forward, tossed the half-eaten apple in his hand to a nearby servant, and then clapped his hands lazily.

He cleared his throat, and his entire Aura changed abruptly in that instant.

"Since Young Master Zhang and everyone are in such high spirits, I shall make a fool of myself."

Chen Shanzhi's voice slowly rang out in the quiet stone pavilion:

"The name of this poem of mine is actually quite simple, it is called..."

Chen Shanzhi grinned behind his mask and said calmly: "The ode to the wild goose."

"The ode to the wild goose?"

Hearing the three words spoken by Chen Shanzhi, Zhang Yun was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl into a sneer of contempt.

"The name sounds decent enough, but it's a pity that the Dao of poetry cannot be bluffed through just by coming up with a nice name."

Zhang Yun waved his folding fan and glanced at Chen Shanzhi condescendingly, his eyes full of the arrogance of someone holding a sure win.

Not only him, but the surrounding scholars from the capital who were waiting to watch the show all wore expressions of watching a spectacle.

After all, could a person who had spent the whole morning eating and drinking, and only knew how to write doggerel, actually change his fate against Heaven at the last minute?

"Friend, please, I am all ears."

Zhang Yun made a "please" gesture with a somewhat pretentious flair, while his gaze drifted vaguely toward Ouyang Wanqing to the side.

Chen Shanzhi stood on the steps of the stone pavilion.

A light breeze blew by, ruffling his white robe.

He ignored Zhang Yun's provocative gaze and slowly turned his head.

Through the cold white jade mask, he fixed his gaze on Ouyang Wanqing's exquisite and pretty face.

Their gazes collided briefly in mid-air.

Ouyang Wanqing pursed her red lips; although her face still maintained the appearance of a cold and dignified Daughter of the Prime Minister.

But the pair of small hands hidden in her water-blue sleeves quietly clenched her handkerchief the moment Chen Shanzhi looked over.

"Ahem."

Chen Shanzhi cleared his throat, and his entire figure seemed to grow several inches taller in that instant.

An indescribable, steady Aura quietly spread from him as the center throughout the stone pavilion.

Chen Shanzhi looked at Ouyang Wanqing, and every word rang out clearly in every corner of the back garden:

"Ask the world, what is love, that it teaches life and death to be pledged?"

Boom!

As the words fell, it was like a thunderclap on flat ground!

The moment this first line was spoken by Chen Shanzhi, the entire back garden of the Prime Ministers Mansion seemed to be instantly frozen by an invisible yet terrifying force!

The scholars who were originally fanning themselves, serving tea, or whispering privately.

At this moment, their bodies stiffened in place, and even their breathing halted for a split second!

This first line was too wonderful.

Before the crowd could recover from this incomparable shock, Chen Shanzhi stood with his hands behind his back, his voice calm and deep.

Following the gentle breeze, he recited the rest of the content, unhurriedly:

"A pair of travelers from north to south, how many winters and summers have those old wings endured..."

Every time Chen Shanzhi recited a line, everyone's eyes widened as they looked at him, wanting to know what the next line would be.

When Chen Shanzhi finished reciting, the entire Poetry Gathering was deathly silent.

Everyone was like a duck with its neck being strangled, mouths wide open, staring blankly at the man standing on the stone steps with his hands behind his back.

Their brains were completely baffled in this instant.

This poem...

Was it really created by this guy who only knew how to slack off and write doggerel?

Everyone present was well-read in poetry and books, and naturally, they were the best at recognizing quality.

This poem, from any dimension, was far better than the others.

Especially that first line:

"Ask the world, what is love, that it teaches life and death to be pledged?"

This was an absolute masterpiece capable of being passed down for hundreds of generations, and even leaving a heavy, colorful stroke in the history of the Literary Dao!

This was no longer a simple work of Literary Qi.

This was, damn it, a towering monument erected for all the love poems and lyrics in the world, one that could never be surpassed and could only be looked up to!