"Although Cao Min is old, he still yearns for such a feast, so he begs His Highness the Crown Prince to allow Cao Min to attend this banquet!"
"Your Highness the Crown Prince is benevolent and asks the common people to follow you here."
"Your Majesty, literary competition is nothing more than poetry. Common people are dim-sighted and can only produce a poem that cannot be put on the stage."
"Your Majesty, please correct me!" Wang Ji said slowly.
Li Shimin was not given a chance to speak at all.
After finishing speaking, Wang Ji did not go to the writing platform, but picked up his pen and ink and began to use it on the spot.
"The flowers are blooming in Beichang, and the millet harvesting is back in Donggao. When the autumn moon is full, the fireflies are flying at night."
After finishing the poem, Wang Ji took back his pen and ink, raised his head and said to Li Shimin: "The common people are not good at learning and art, please correct me!"
Li Shimin frowned, a trace of annoyance flashing in his eyes.
Wang Ji's poem is naturally very good.
Authentic and natural, not fake or decorated.
"Donggao" implicitly uses Tao Yuanming's poem "Going to Donggao to soothe the whistle" in Tao Yuanming's "Returning Lai Ci" to clarify the identity of returning to seclusion and farming.
But since I want to go into seclusion, why do I come here to disturb the situation today?
"The elder's work is really excellent, but there is one thing. Although this poem is also written about the moon, it is different from the Mid-Autumn Festival moon."
"It's slightly flawed!" Li Shimin said slowly.
Although he was annoyed, Li Shimin had to tell the truth.
There are so many people present!
Even if he didn't want Wang Ji to win, he couldn't tell lies.
"Your Majesty is right. This poem is very well written. The only flaw is the autumn moon."
"But even if this is the case, it is estimated that so many people present will not be able to write poems that can be compared with it." Changsun Wuji nodded and said slowly.
"Uncle Master's knowledge far exceeds that of mine, let alone anyone else's. Today's final winner must be Uncle Master." Fang Xuanling also nodded.
Even he couldn't think of such a poem for a while.
"The Wang Ji of Taiyuan Wang family is really amazing. He wrote such a poem in less than a cup of tea."
"There was not even a pause in the whole process. Sure enough, this is everyone's style."
"His Royal Highness has Wang Ji in his writings and Du He in his military affairs. Such wise ministers can all be used by His Highness. Your Highness is truly wise."
"His Royal Highness is indeed the crown prince, and he has such an ability to recognize people!"
The people in the square also heard Wang Ji's poems and thought they were well written.
Even His Majesty the Emperor and the important ministers around His Majesty the Emperor all said that Wang Ji's poems were well done.
That must be great.
At present, many people believe that Li Chengqian must be a wise master in the future, so that he can have such talented people to help him.
Li Chengqian was sitting not far from Li Shimin, his eyes full of excitement.
He secretly thought that he had indeed done nothing wrong today.
He won both of today's two games. Now the people of Chang'an City are on his side!
Glancing at Li Tai next to him, Li Chengqian felt even more proud when he saw his face was gloomy and his fists were clenched.
"Qingque, in this year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet civil and military competition, the emperor is lucky and won both games. How many drinks will the emperor have with you later?" Li Chengqian and Li Tai said with a smile.
Li Tai glanced at Li Chengqian coldly and said nothing!
Li Shimin looked at Wang Ji and listened to the discussions of the people and officials of Chang'an City in the square, and he felt inexplicably irritable.
Looking at the unopened poem placed on the table in front of him, he felt a little undecided for a moment.
"Guanyin, what should I do?" Li Shimin held the poem Zhao Chen gave him in his hand and looked at Empress Changsun.
"Your Majesty, it's just a poem. Even if you lose, what does it matter?" Empress Changsun said softly.
Li Shimin's expression condensed, and then he felt relieved.
"Elder, I also have a poem here, and I would like to ask the elder to correct it." Li Shimin said to Wang Ji.
…
"Brother, how are you? This lantern riddle guessing place is lively, isn't it?" Cheng Chumo said to Zhao Chen.
The three of them walked along the road for a short time, turned a few streets, and arrived at Chongxianfang.
What caught the eyes of the three people was a huge lantern pavilion.
The lanterns extend from the street outside to the innermost part.
Standing on the street, you can see an exquisite red lantern hanging inside.
"Zhao Chen, that lantern was made by the late top craftsman of the Ministry of Industry and is worth a hundred gold. Whoever can guess all ten lantern riddles can take away the innermost lantern."
"It's a pity that the lantern has been placed for seven or eight years, and no one can take it away." Qin Huaiyu and Zhao Chen explained.
"Seven or eight years? That's not the case, right? What about the great scholars in the court? They can't guess these lantern riddles either?" Zhao Chen was a little surprised.
It’s just ten lantern riddles. Chang’an City has a population of nearly one million. How could it be that you can’t guess even one of them?
"If the great Confucians have the leisure to guess this lantern riddle, even if they guess it right, their faces will be dull." Qin Huaiyu said with a smile.
Lantern riddles are meant for the entertainment of the people of Chang'an City. Wouldn't it be a joke for those in the court to guess them?
"Zhao Chen, why don't you try the first one first, and if it works, we can try it?" Cheng Chumo said to Zhao Chen.
In Cheng Chumo's opinion, Zhao Chen's cooking skills are indeed unrivaled.
But guessing lantern riddles is not about cooking. One involves using your hands and the other using your brain.
Cheng Chumo was worried that Zhao Chen would be shocked by the lantern riddle.
"Then let's give it a try." Zhao Chen smiled and walked towards the lantern in front.
From the street to inside, there are a total of five rows of lanterns, all leading to the last red lantern.
The riddles on the first nine lanterns are all different.
Zhao Chen then found a row of lanterns with few people and went there.
"This row of lantern riddles seems to be more difficult than the others. I can't even guess the first one. It's really disgusting."
As soon as the three of them came over, they heard a young man dressed as a scribe complaining angrily.
"Guessing lantern riddles every year makes things difficult for us. Look, how many of us have answered more than seven lantern riddles correctly in the past seven or eight years?"
"I see, the lanterns worth hundreds of gold in there are just a gimmick. They don't want others to win over them!" Someone nearby agreed with the young man.
His expression was also extremely ugly.
Obviously, he has not even solved this first question.
"Zhao Chen, let me tell you, this lantern riddle is very difficult!" Qin Huaiyu said to Zhao Chen with a smile.
To be honest, Qin Huaiyu thought that Zhao Chen could solve the lantern riddle, but he had no character at all.
It's not that he looks down on Zhao Chen, but Zhao Chen is a tavern shopkeeper. As an ordinary person, he probably has never even entered a school.
Even someone like him, Qin Huaiyu, who has been studying since he was a child, can't guess it.
Zhao Chen?
Can you guess it?
"This is also called a lantern riddle, is that it?" Zhao Chen said with his hands behind his back.
"Huh?" Qin Huaiyu and Cheng Chumo both looked over.
"What's wrong?" Cheng Chumo asked strangely.
He secretly thought that Zhao Chen must have found it too difficult, so he said such self-defeating words.
Qin Huaiyu also looked at Zhao Chen carefully, fearing that Zhao Chen would become angry and smash other people's lanterns.
"Is this the lantern riddle that you haven't figured out for seven or eight years?" Zhao Chen turned around and looked at the two of them with strange eyes.
"Does this young master know that these words have humiliated all the scholars in the Tang Dynasty?" The young scholar from before came over with a displeased face and glared at Zhao Chen.