Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

Murong Gu's words were like a slap in the face to the rulers and ministers of Da Ning.

None of the civil and military officials in the hall spoke.

The Yan state came prepared this time. The absolute answer that Da Ning had racked his brains to come up with was instantly countered by the other side.

A deep sense of powerlessness rose from the bottom of everyone's heart.

Han Boyuan steadied himself and continued according to the rules, "Please let the Yan Kingdom set the questions, and Da Ning will respond."

Murong Gu smiled slightly, took out a roll of brocade from his sleeve, unfolded it, and said loudly: "The first couplet of Yan Kingdom, please listen carefully—lonely and cold window, widowed in solitude."

The moment those seven words were uttered, the entire hall erupted in uproar.

Several Grand Secretaries simultaneously raised their heads, staring intently at the seven characters, their expressions ten times more unpleasant than before.

The first line of the couplet sounds simple, with only seven characters, but every character has the radical "宀" (roof). The whole line describes a lonely woman guarding an empty room, creating a desolate and serene atmosphere that feels perfectly natural.

The person who responds to the second line must also use seven characters with the same radical, and they must be able to form a coherent sentence.

This is a couplet based on the radicals of a character.

The radical couplet is extremely rare among all couplet variations and is rarely circulated.

There are tens of thousands of characters in the world, but very few characters with the same radical can form a coherent sentence. A seven-character sentence is already an extremely demanding requirement, and to make the meaning echo and come up with a suitable second line is even more difficult.

The Yan Kingdom's first alliance unleashed such a trump card, clearly indicating that it did not intend to give Da Ning any chance to breathe.

The scholars immediately began whispering among themselves, but soon shook their heads. They could find characters, but the meaning was wrong; if the meaning matched, the radicals were not right.

The officials of Da Ning and the ten talented scholars were also racking their brains.

According to the competition rules, whoever comes up with a matching couplet will be considered the winner.

At that moment, a figure suddenly stepped forward.

It was Chen Changxuan.

When he entered the hall, he had been looking for an opportunity to show his face.

Unexpectedly, no one could come up with a matching couplet, which was the perfect opportunity for him to show off his skills in front of His Majesty and the Princess.

Chen Changxuan took a deep breath, suppressing his nervousness, and quickly walked into the hall. He bowed to the Emperor of Da Ning and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to give it a try."

Upon seeing this, a smile appeared on Chen Wenyuan's face.

The Emperor of Da Ning glanced at him, his eyes flickered slightly, and then he nodded: "Granted."

Chen Changxuan walked to the long table, picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, thought for a moment, and then began to write on the paper.

He wrote very quickly, almost in one go, and then held the paper up with both hands after he finished.

A eunuch took it and read aloud: "In my destitution, I drink alone, grieving for autumn."

Chen Changxuan's lips curled up slightly.

The first line of the couplet, "Lonely woman by the cold window, guarding her widowed home," describes a lonely woman living alone in an empty room.

The second line, "In my destitution, I drink alone, grieving for autumn," refers to a down-on-his-luck scholar who drowns his sorrows in alcohol.

The imagery is desolate and lonely, echoing each other seamlessly.

He even deliberately chose the word "destitute" to match "lonely," feeling that the antithesis was extremely perfect.

However, the next moment, the laughter of several Yan envoys could be heard from inside the hall.

"You don't even understand the rules of the radical association, yet you dare to stand up?"

"How desperate is Da Ning to send a mere child to fill in?"

"You've spent three days selecting someone, and this is the kind of person you've chosen? It seems your Great Ning really has no one else to rely on..."

……

The Emperor of Da Ning clenched his fists beneath his dragon robe, glanced at Chen Changxuan indifferently, and slowly exhaled, forcing himself not to get angry.

I thought this kid was a talented person who stepped forward so quickly, but it turns out he's just a good-for-nothing!

He has completely disgraced Da Ning!

Chen Changxuan was stunned for a moment, then looked at the first line of the couplet again, and his face turned pale.

He was too anxious just now, focused on making a good impression on His Majesty and Princess Zhaoyue, and didn't even notice the trick in the first line of the couplet!

Not only did he fail to provide a matching couplet, but he also humiliated Da Ning in front of everyone. Grand Secretary Zhou abruptly stood up, his face ashen. He turned to Chen Changxuan and roared, "Who recommended this boy? I've never seen him before!"

The official from the Ministry of Rites in charge of the selection was pale-faced, with cold sweat dripping down his forehead, and his eyes involuntarily glanced at the ranks of ministers.

That direction was precisely where Chen Wenyuan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was standing.

All the eyes of the civil and military officials in the hall fell on Chen Wenyuan.

Chen Wenyuan stood in the queue, the smile on his face frozen, his lips moved but no sound came out.

He never expected that his son, on whom he had placed so much hope, would be so careless...

Following the gaze of the Ministry of Rites official, Grand Secretary Zhou coldly remarked, "So you are the son of Vice Minister Chen..."

Under the scrutiny of everyone, Chen Wenyuan's face turned pale and then red, and the veins on his forehead throbbed. He wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Grand Secretary Zhou snorted coldly and said nothing more.

Chen Wenyuan was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, a high-ranking and powerful official. His father-in-law was the Grand Tutor of the court, and he had many cronies. In public, he could not say anything more.

Chen Wenyuan turned to look at Chen Changxuan, who was standing there dumbfounded, his gaze extremely gloomy.

Chen Changxuan trembled all over, his legs went weak, and he staggered back into the crowd...

Murong Gu glanced at the burning incense in the incense burner, crossed his arms, and said with a smile to the people of Da Ning, "If you all can't even come up with the first couplet, you might as well admit defeat now. Don't worry, my Great Yan will definitely treat Princess Zhaoyue well..."

Faced with Murong Gu's blatant humiliation, the Emperor of Da Ning's expression darkened further.

His gaze swept over the court officials and the ten talented scholars, finally settling on several Grand Secretaries.

Everyone, including Grand Secretary Zhou, lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

In the first couplet, Da Ning posed the question, and Yan Guo easily provided the answer.

The State of Yan set a question, and no one in Da Ning could answer it.

If this couplet doesn't match, Da Ning will lose the first round. Moreover, this is after he set the first question, only to be cleanly and decisively defeated by his opponent in a one-on-one match.

The main hall was eerily quiet, with only the slow burning of incense.

Behind the curtain, Princess Zhaoyue closed her eyes.

Standing behind her, Qing Shuang looked at the princess's pale face, then at the red-faced scholars in the hall, and suddenly stamped her foot, turned around and ran out through the side door.

She ran out of the main hall and quickly reached the palace gate.

She must find that young master!

Even if she had to turn the entire capital upside down, she would find him; only he could save the princess!

The palace gates were already packed with waiting people. Qing Shuang stamped her foot, then leaped into the air, flying over the heads of the crowd and quickly disappearing into the empty streets...

At this moment, in a small courtyard in the south of the city.

Chen Chang'an yawned, sat up on the bed, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and touched his rumbling stomach.

He has been tidying up his new home for the past three days.

Weeding, wiping windows, filling wall cracks, repairing door hinges, patching the roof...

He worked for three whole days, without even leaving his house. When he was hungry, he ate steamed buns, and when he was thirsty, he drank well water. He worked until last night before he finally got everything arranged.

The last steamed bun was eaten last night.

He pushed open the courtyard gate, preparing to go to the alley entrance to buy some food.

A few days ago, Miss Qing Shuang lost ten taels of silver to him. He spent eight taels on rent, and now he only has a little over one tael left. He still needs to buy some pots, pans, and other things, and one tael of silver might not be enough. He needs to get some money as soon as possible...

As Chen Chang'an walked from the alley onto the street, he froze.

The once bustling streets and alleys are now deserted.

Old Zhang, who sells steamed buns, is not here, nor is Aunt Liu, who sells vegetables. Even the idle men who usually squat at the alley entrance chatting are nowhere to be seen.

The whole street was eerily quiet.

Where are they?

Chen Chang'an stood there, stunned, a thought flashing through his mind.

Has the Yan state invaded the capital?

Have all the people of the capital fled?

No way! He just rented the place and has only lived there for three days!

As Chen Chang'an stood at the empty alley entrance, lost in thought, a figure suddenly appeared on the street ahead.

She had run so fast that her bangs were stuck to her face with sweat, her eyes were red, and her chest was heaving. She grabbed Chen Chang'an's sleeve, her expression a mixture of surprise and joy: "Young Master, I've finally found you!"