Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Moon Tower.

Wangyue Tower is located in the southeast of the capital, in an excellent location, surrounded by flowers, trees and clear water.

Because of its tranquil environment, many literati and scholars liked to hold poetry and literary gatherings here to make friends through literature, which made this place a famous elegant place in the capital.

Three days ago, news spread that Xiao Qingshuang, the daughter of General Zhenyuan, was going to hold a poetry competition with Lin Wenjing, the granddaughter of the Minister of Rites, in this place.

Before noon today, the area outside Wangyue Tower was already crowded with onlookers.

Where there are people, there is business. Some vendors selling pastries and tea squeezed in the crowd, occasionally shouting out their wares. The quiet and serene atmosphere of Wangyue Tower was completely destroyed.

Inside the Moon Gazing Tower, the atmosphere was equally lively.

The windows of the private rooms on the third floor of Wangyue Tower were all open, and talented men and women from various poetry and literary societies in the capital had already taken their seats.

The second-floor railing was also crowded with people, including scholars in long gowns holding folding fans and young ladies from wealthy families accompanied by maids, all leaning on the railing to peer out.

As for the seats on the first floor, they were all occupied very early on, with no seats available.

Everyone's eyes kept glancing towards the center of the restaurant.

There was a long table there, with writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones prepared on it. There was a seat on each side of the long table, but no one was sitting down at the moment.

In front of the long table, three separate seats were set up, where three elderly men sat.

These three are all leading figures in the literary world of Daning.

The white-haired old man in the very center is Li Yannian, the former Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy.

The man on the left is Gu Huaiyuan, the former Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

The last person was Shen Bo'an, a famous Confucian scholar in the capital.

These three individuals hold significant positions in the literary world of Daning and rarely appear in public. They only agreed to attend this time out of respect for the Minister of Rites.

Lin Wenjing had to ask her grandfather, who was the Minister of Rites, to intervene, and it was only with great difficulty that she managed to persuade these three people.

She wanted to defeat Xiao Qingshuang honorably, witnessed by these three literary giants.

By then, she would be the most talented woman in the capital, and no one would be able to say anything against her.

In a private room on the third floor, all the members of the Yaoguang Poetry Society had arrived.

Lin Wenjing sat by the window, holding a book of poems in her hands, gazing at the crowd below with a somewhat absent-minded look in her eyes.

Sun Wanying stood beside her, peering down at the crowd below, and said, "There are so many people here today, Sister Wenjing, you must show your true skills and teach that little brat a lesson..."

Yang Yuchan leaned forward and suddenly asked, "If Xiao Qingshuang knew there were so many people, wouldn't she be too scared to come?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

Outside the Moon Gazing Tower, the crowd automatically parted to form a passage.

A carriage drove up from a distance and slowly stopped in front of the Wangyue Tower.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a tall maid jumped down first.

The maid was dressed in a plain cloth dress. She had delicate features, but she was much taller than the average woman. Standing there, she was half a head taller than the shorter men around her.

The onlookers glanced at it and secretly sighed, "No wonder they come from a military family; even their maids are so tall and strong."

Immediately afterwards, another figure emerged from the carriage.

Qing Shuang glanced around and saw a sea of ​​heads, countless eyes staring at her.

She swallowed unconsciously, her heart pounding.

Normally, she would fight in the street and never be intimidated by onlookers, but today she was here to compete in poetry. With so many people watching, it would be bad enough for her to lose face, but she would also embarrass her grandfather and the family's reputation...

Qing Shuang paused for a moment, then involuntarily took a half step back.

Just then, the tall maid behind her leaned forward slightly and said in a voice only she could hear, "What are you afraid of? I'm here."

Qing Shuang turned her head.

Chen Chang'an stood half a step behind her. He was already handsome, so his female disguise was not strange at all. After he was made up, Qing Shuang was stunned for a while.

Meeting Chen Chang'an's gaze, and seeing his calm and composed eyes, Qing Shuang's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, suddenly settled down.

She took a deep breath, straightened her back, and strode towards Wangyue Tower.

Chen Chang'an followed closely behind her like a personal maid.

Inside the Moon Gazing Tower, there was a great deal of noise.

Qing Shuang strode into the restaurant, and the crowd automatically parted to make way for her.

Without looking to the side, she walked straight to the long table in the center and sat down in the seat on the right, while Chen Chang'an stood properly behind Qing Shuang.

As Qing Shuang took her seat, Lin Wenjing also came down from upstairs and sat in the seat opposite her.

The two exchanged a glance but neither spoke.

The three judges sat upright at the long table. After Qing Shuang and Lin Wenjing took their seats, the white-haired old man in the middle coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and stood up.

As he stood up, the surrounding chatter subsided somewhat.

The old man looked around and slowly said, "I am Li Yannian. I am honored to be invited by Wangyue Tower to serve as judges for today's competition with two old friends. Today, Miss Lin and Miss Xiao will compete in poetry, best of three rounds. To be fair, the topics will be drawn on the spot."

He beckoned, and a servant came up carrying a celadon divination tube with more than ten bamboo skewers stuck in it.

Li Yannian pushed the divination stick container to the center of the long table and looked at the two men: "Would you two like to inspect the container?"

Lin Wenjing smiled slightly, stood up and walked to the divination tube, took out a few bamboo sticks and looked at them.

The bamboo slips were covered with common topics like "moon," "autumn," "willow," and "snow." She nodded and said, "No problem, thank you for your help, Scholar Li."

Qing Shuang also stood up, imitated Lin Wenjing by moving the divination sticks around, and nodded, saying, "No problem."

Li Yannian nodded slightly, lit a long incense stick that had been prepared in advance in the incense burner on the table, and said, "Since neither of you ladies has any objections, then I hereby declare the competition open."

He drew a bamboo stick from the divination box, glanced at it, and announced, "For the first round, the two ladies are to compose a poem on the theme of 'sorrow' within the time limit of one incense stick's burning..."

Upon hearing the topic for the first round, Lin Wenjing's eyebrows twitched.

She excels at writing graceful and delicate lyrics. Spring flowers and autumn moon, sorrow of parting and longing are common images in graceful and delicate lyrics. For her, they are very simple things, and she can easily master them.

Without any hesitation, she walked straight to the long table, picked up her pen, and began to write.

Soon, Lin Wenjing put down her pen.

A servant from Wangyue Tower picked up her poem and presented it to the three judges.

Li Yannian took the note and then slowly began to speak.

"Alone in my secluded chamber, the night is deep, sorrow etched on my brow, I refuse to utter a word. The wind and rain, oblivious to my suffering, still utter heart-wrenching sounds through the window."

After reading it aloud, he nodded and commented, "Using wind and rain to highlight sorrow is subtle and delicate; among poems of lamentation from a woman's quarters, it is considered a superior work."

Then he handed the note to his side and said, "Take a look too."

The other two referees nodded in agreement after watching the video.

"The meter is perfect, the rhyme scheme is appropriate, and the technique alone is impeccable."

"As expected of Lord Lin's granddaughter, few can match her in the art of graceful poetry."

Hearing the judges' comments, Lin Wenjing smiled slightly.

Her gaze involuntarily drifted to Xiao Qingshuang across from her.

All eyes were on Qing Shuang...