Tang Youyou sat quietly in a corner of the main hall, watching the idle chitchat among the literati. She found it all so fake.
She waited expressionlessly for the start of the grand gathering. Before long, the restaurant was filled to capacity.
Everyone was full of ambition, dreaming of making a name for themselves in this poetry competition.
Soon, Madam Xiao rang the gong again.
Her voice was firm and powerful.
"Today is the poetry competition held once every four years. We are about to start the following contest."
Immediately, red silk ribbons cascaded down from the attic. Criss - crossing in mid - air, they added a festive touch to the entire restaurant.
Madam Xiao announced the rules of the competition again.
"The poetry competition is, of course, about testing one's ability in poetry. I, Madam Xiao, am truly grateful to all the literati who have traveled from afar. There is no set theme for today. You can express your feelings and let your creativity flow within the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn!"
Duang～
The gong rang again, marking the official start of the competition.
On the second floor of the restaurant, there were mostly private rooms covered with white silk. Each room had its occupants, and they were the wealthy and noble.
Through the white silk, one could see people inside writing furiously.
Tang Youyou watched as the people around her kept moving their brushes. The sound of the brushes gliding across the rice paper seemed especially loud in the quiet restaurant.
The rustling sound excited the on - looking commoners.
After a while, the first incense stick had burned out, but Tang Youyou still did nothing.
This made the girls around her even more anxious. Everyone adored Tang Youyou, and everyone had high hopes for her.
It was a pity that her inaction disappointed them completely.
In this era, appearance mattered to everyone, but more importantly, it was one's literary talent. People always believed in the saying that a mind full of poetry and books gives one elegance.
They wouldn't even spare a second glance at those without any literary talent. Tang Youyou's peerless beauty had already amazed everyone, but if she was as illiterate as a commoner, she would surely turn from the most adored person into the most ridiculed one.
So, if she couldn't compose a poem today, she would become the laughingstock of the whole city within half a day.
Poor and innocent as she was.
Under the worried and pitying gazes of the crowd, Tang Youyou still leaned on the table pretending to sleep. It wasn't until half of the second incense stick had burned that she finally started to act.
When she touched the fine wolf - hair brush on the table, her mind was filled with the poems she had learned in school. Naturally, the first one that came to mind was that of the Poetic Immortal.
Li Taibai was like a celestial being in the world of poetry, so she would use his name.
With a mind full of knowledge, her pen flowed like a divine being. It only took Tang Youyou the time for a quarter of an incense stick to finish an entire poem.
Looking at the delicate handwriting on the paper, she was very satisfied. She owed this to her grandfather.
Since childhood, her family had been cultivating her, aiming to turn her into a talented southern girl proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
As they wished, she had succeeded.
The characters on the paper were strong, every word was like a precious pearl, and it was very imposing. Among all the literati's poems, hers was the most unique.
At the same time, a long white rice paper fell straight down from the second floor. The paper full of poems was hung on the railing of the second floor.
For a moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on this person's poem.
In the Peach Blossom Dock there's a Peach Blossom Hut,
In the Peach Blossom Hut lives a Peach Blossom Immortal.
The Peach Blossom Immortal plants peach trees,
And sells the blossoms to buy wine.
As the crowd recited it, this poem immediately shocked the whole audience. But even so, Tang Youyou remained calm.
She knew this poem well, while others didn't. It was a poem by Tang Yin, the leader of the Four Talented Scholars of the South. This was not creation at all; it was blatant plagiarism.
Tang Youyou sneered coldly, and her laughter shattered everyone's admiration.
Madam Xiao was completely immersed in the artistic conception of the poem and couldn't extricate herself.
But the next moment, Tang Youyou finally spoke up, "This poem is from Tang Bohu, the leader of the Four Talented Scholars of the South. What a so - called 'reference'!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a handsome young man in a red long gown strode downstairs. Seeing Tang Youyou in front of him, this elegant young man gave a calm smile.
"In what Madam Xiao said just now, there was no mention that plagiarism and reference were not allowed, right?"
After his words, the noisy main hall fell silent again. He was telling the truth, and this was indeed a good poem.
Madam Xiao just took one look and nodded, saying contentedly, "I really didn't say that plagiarism and reference were not allowed. It was my own oversight. So, the winner of this competition is this young Master Lin Xiao."
"Wait!"
Following the sound, they saw Tang Youyou walking gracefully towards Madam Xiao with a long paper in her hand.
"Madam, your taste is excellent. Tang Yin's poem is indeed a classic, but could you please read the poems of others here before making a final decision?"
Madam Xiao naturally nodded in agreement. There was no trace of doubt or contempt in her eyes. Instead, she looked at the scroll in Tang Youyou's hand with respect.
Tang Youyou gave the scroll a slight flick, and the poem on it was clearly displayed in front of everyone.
As someone unrolled the scroll, they read out the poem line by line.
"Invitation to Wine:
Do you not see the Yellow River's waters come from heaven,
Rushing to the sea, never to return again.
Do you not see in the high hall's mirror white hair a sorrow,
From morning's black silk to evening's snow in a day's tomorrow.
...
Tell the boy to bring out money to buy good wine,
And let us drown our endless grief together for all time!"
After this person finished reading, his eyes were full of amazement. He had never seen such a good poem, especially not since the troubled times.
His hands trembled with excitement, and there were tears of excitement in his eyes.
"This poem, this poem can be considered a masterpiece!"
At this moment, everyone was completely convinced by Tang Youyou's talent.
It had to be said that she had won this time without a doubt!
However, she owed this to the arrogance of the old man Li Taibai. If it weren't for his line "How could I be a common man?", he might not have missed this chance to become famous.
In the troubled times, the Tang Dynasty was in decline. Some poets could barely make ends meet, let alone make their poems famous for centuries.
She was just taking advantage of the free education she had received. In front of everyone, she had shown off her literary talent in the name of the Poetic Immortal.
At the same time, Madam Xiao nodded silently. The winner was clear, and this competition was coming to an end.
Tang Youyou watched as the beautiful Madam Xiao walked towards her, holding a jar of wine in her hand. This was the Drunken Immortal Brew that everyone yearned for.
This small jar of wine was the highest honor in the eyes of all the literati. In fact, what these literati really wanted was not the wine, but the recognition of the world.