Now I really have to marry the princess.

Yang Zhengdao was slightly taken aback when he heard Li Tai's suggestion, but then he realized that Li Tai wanted to use the competition to demonstrate the strength of his troops in order to win the poetry.

What's so difficult about that?

They've simply abandoned all sense of shame and just copied it.

As for Shi Tu, he was originally a government slave of the royal family after he became a prisoner. Now that Li Tai has decided to release him and make him a retainer of Yang Zhengdao, he is naturally willing to do so.

In the early Tang Dynasty, the laws of the Northern Wei and the former Sui Dynasty were continued, and people were divided into three classes: slaves, lowly people, and free people.

Slaves and servants were treated as property.

The servants were considered lowly people, dependent on their masters and without independent household registration, but compared to slaves, they had the opportunity to be released and returned to free men.

For example, Li Er's Qin Prince's Mansion originally had many fierce people who came from slavery and servants, who made meritorious contributions and were awarded titles, becoming meritorious nobles in one fell swoop.

It's likely that Shi Tu's failure to leave a mark in history books was simply due to bad luck.

Yang Zhengdao glanced at Shi Tu again, feeling quite pleased. Since Li Tai was being so generous, he naturally had to accept.

He picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and with a flick of his wrist, wrote the slender gold script.

The brushstrokes are fine and strong like lines, the turns are sharp like knives, the strokes are clear and upright, and the vertical hooks are like cones. Each character is slender, firm, and upright, yet it has a dignified and awe-inspiring style.

Li Tai and Li Jingren both gasped in surprise; the calligraphy was completely different from the thick and dignified style popular in the early Tang Dynasty.

Li Ke frowned as well, and couldn't help but ask, "Cousin, your handwriting..."

During their journey together, he had seen Yang Zhengdao's calligraphy, which was always neat and unremarkable regular script.

The style of the characters has changed drastically, which is truly unbelievable.

Yang Zhengdao had just written the character "pear" when he saw everyone's curiosity and was secretly pleased.

He stopped writing and gave a serious explanation.

"After reading the inscription on the tombstone of Grand Tutor Zhong the day before yesterday, I gained some insights. I practiced calligraphy on horseback during the journey and suddenly had a breakthrough. That's when I came up with this new style of calligraphy to try it out."

Li Tai and Li Jingren were both shocked by Yang Zhengdao's suggestion to practice calligraphy immediately. After hearing Li Ke's explanation of Yang Zhengdao's "three steps," they were filled with admiration.

Li Jingren couldn't help but exclaim, "Even three times going to a turbid place can be considered elegant. Brother Zhengdao, you could say that even three times going to a turbid place can be considered elegant."

Can we meet up? Or is it a daytime date? Mikami Yuya?

Explain yourself clearly! Is it even allowed to use this abbreviation?

Yang Zhengdao gave Li Jingren a deep look. He had such thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he never expected Li Jingren to speak so pleasantly.

Then he continued writing.

After finishing writing the title, Li Tai's eyes narrowed into slits with laughter.

On the still-wet paper was written the words "Ode to Pear Blossoms, Presented to King Tai of Yue".

With this question alone, you've already won half the battle.

Li Tai began to fantasize about what kind of poem would follow, and how his fame would spread throughout Chang'an with it.

Yang Zhengdao immediately composed a seven-character quatrain.

The peach path is filled with sorrow, and the red blossoms fall one after another.

A thousand trees in Qingshan Palace are covered in snow; how about I get drunk with you before you leave?

A gentle breeze brushed past the ink marks, and a tense silence fell over the surrounding area; you could hear a pin drop in the pavilion.

"What a wonderful poem!" Li Tai was the first to react. "Xu Wang Shucheng was right; my cousin's quatrain is truly unparalleled!"

He read it aloud again silently and continued to praise it, saying, "This poem is timely and appropriate to the occasion, with a profound artistic conception and smooth rhythm. It can be described as a masterpiece of our time."

Yang Zhengdao felt a little guilty upon hearing this. In order to fit the occasion, he changed the four characters "闻道郭西" to "庆善宫中", which unexpectedly turned out to be a lucky coincidence.

After all, college students who only know how to play Super Smash Bros. wouldn't know anything about "仄仄平平平仄仄，平平仄仄仄平平".

However, during the Zhenguan era, the quatrain had not yet developed a strict format. Yang Zhengdao's anxiety was entirely unnecessary.

Li Ke was more interested in the new handwriting of Yang Zhengdao. He stepped forward, his fingertips almost touching the paper.

"This calligraphy... is unlike Zhong Yao and Wang Xizhi, unlike Ouyang Xun and Yu Shinan. Every stroke is sharp and forceful, yet it is also elegant and refined, without a trace of vulgarity."

Just as the group was still appreciating the poem and the calligraphy, Yang Zhengdao let out a long sigh, revealing a look of dejection.

Seeing everyone looking at him, he laid out another sheet of rattan paper and picked up his pen again.

The performance segment has begun.

He let out a sigh and wrote a line of words, his sighs forming a poem, and finally he looked up to the sky and roared: "I cannot have what I desire, I toss and turn in bed."

Everyone looked over and saw that it was another quatrain.

Though the old mountains remain, they are of no concern to me; I will spend the late spring in Chang'an.

A pear tree in full bloom, a stream bathed in moonlight—to whom does this night belong?

Li Tai felt a tightness in his chest; the desolate and sorrowful feeling was vividly portrayed on the paper. He couldn't help but sigh, "What a foolish child!"

Li Jingren had heard from Li Tai that Yang Zhengdao was in love with Chang Le, but he never imagined that he would be so infatuated.

Li Ke sighed softly, lamenting the difficulty his cousin faced in this love affair. He thought that his father would certainly not betroth his legitimate daughter to a descendant of the previous dynasty.

He couldn't help but think of his own situation and his mother's cautiousness in the palace, and his heart was filled with sorrow.

Seeing that all three were silently moved, Yang Zhengdao wondered if he had overacted.

However, since the show has already started, it naturally has to continue.

He turned to Li Tai and bowed deeply: "Your Highness, the Prince of Yue, must know the person Zhengdao is thinking of. I hope Your Highness will grant my request and send this poem to the beauty."

"This..." Li Tai was speechless for a moment.

He also had a letter written by A-Zhi in his pocket, which he originally intended to use as leverage to extort another poem from Yang Zhengdao.

Now that he saw that Yang Zhengdao was truly infatuated with Azhi, he felt that he might have acted in a petty way.

Oh well, whatever.

So sincere and open, I, Qingque, will be a bluebird once more.

Li Tai helped Yang Zhengdao up and took out a letter from his pocket.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he offered a word of advice: "The success or failure of your matter depends on establishing a government hall."

Yang Zhengdao took the letter and was overjoyed.

Not bad, not bad, you've won over another person who stands by you.

When Yang Zhengdao opened the letter, it was in the familiar flying white style, and it was another line of poetry not found in the Complete Tang Poems.

"Looking around, reaching out, at the city gate."

What does this mean? College students don't know!

Last time, Li Lizhi wrote, "Wading across the river to pick lotus flowers, the orchid-filled marshland is full of fragrant grasses."

He could still understand the literal meaning of the words, but this time he couldn't even understand the literal meaning.

Could it be that, like last time, Ah-Zhi wanted to say the next line of this poem?

But what's the next sentence?

Li Hui isn't here, so it wouldn't be appropriate to ask these three people.

Yang Zhengdao could only feign embarrassment and carefully put the letter away.

The college student guessed correctly, but we can't blame them. After all, most people only know the first line of the poem "Zi Jin" from the Book of Songs: "Green are your collars, long is my longing."

The last two lines are: "I look for you, I gaze at you, at the city gate. A day without seeing you feels like three months!"

That's right, Li Lizhi in Taiji Palace misses that shameless villain.

At this moment, Li Lizhi was sitting upright in Linchun Pavilion, the window was wide open, and the spring breeze carried the fragrance of flowers.

Surrounding her were her sisters, all around her age and yet to be engaged.

Meanwhile, in the imperial garden outside the pavilion, the Crown Prince's elder brother was presiding over a literary gathering.

She knew that this was actually a matchmaking event organized by her mother for the princesses, especially for her.

But her mind was elsewhere. The peach blossoms had all fallen, and the pear blossoms were in full bloom. She wondered where that shameless man was now, and whether her brother Qingque had found him.

She suddenly regretted writing "I wander and reach for you, at the city gate" on the letter that day.

Am I being too blunt?

She began to suspect that she might have also picked up that shameless bad habit.

That's so embarrassing!

Before she knew it, her little face had turned blush.