Chapter 040 Young Master's Talent
The person sitting behind Shen Yichen was none other than Liu Wan'er, who had been sitting in the corner waiting after the accompaniment was finished.
Apart from the first two greetings, there was no other communication between the two.
After all, objectively speaking, the two people met by chance and were not familiar with each other. In addition, the topic of identity was sensitive, so it was not convenient to say more.
But Shen Yichen didn't expect that Liu Wan'er would suddenly ask him to write a poem for her.
"this……"
Shen Yichen was reluctant to agree for a moment. It was true that he couldn't write about the quarrel between him and Li Da. It was indeed not easy to write.
You have to know that this is not Feihualing, which can't be dealt with by just finding a line of poetry. Instead, a whole poem needs to be written , and then Dong Yujing will sing it.
And the basic elements of the writing must be appropriate and the quality must be guaranteed. With so many restrictions in place, it's not easy to write something outstanding.
Or to put it more bluntly, it's not easy to be a plagiarist.
Hearing that Shen Yichen was trying to shirk his responsibility, Liu Wan'er, who also came from a scholarly family, naturally would not persist.
So he nodded and lowered his eyebrows and said, "I am sorry for disturbing Master Shen."
But there was a lingering sadness in his tone. Perhaps in Liu Wan'er's opinion, Shen Yichen's refusal was more because he was unwilling to write to a prostitute like her.
"You are not being rude, it is my lack of knowledge. But if you don't mind, I am willing to give it a try."
Whenever Shen Yichen felt Liu Wan'er's sadness, he couldn't bear it. He didn't know whether it was out of sympathy for her situation or out of respect for Liu Qiu, a patriot.
"Why would I mind? Thank you, sir."
Compared with before, it was obvious that Liu Wan'er was more happy this time. Perhaps in addition to the poetry, it was more of a respect and recognition from Shen Yichen.
Since he had promised Liu Wan'er, Shen Yichen spread out the rice paper on the table and prepared to write a song for her.
But after completing all the preparations and waiting to put pen to paper, Shen Yichen didn't know what to write.
Seeing that Shen Yichen hadn't put pen to paper yet, Li Da couldn't help but ask quietly, "Can you really not write?"
"if not?"
Just like many previous misunderstandings, every time Shen Yichen told a true story in a serious manner, others would distort it and treat it as false, leaving them speechless in the end.
"Actually, I have a question for you."
"explain."
Shen Yichen was a little upset at the moment and wanted to get rid of the disturbance from Li Da as soon as possible.
"How did you make such progress in your studies? Can you teach me? This way I can give my father an explanation when I go back. Otherwise, he will really break my legs."
"It's very simple. Just remember what the Master said."
"What did the Master say?"
Li Da's face was full of confusion. He didn't remember anything important that Li Tingxiu had said at all.
"Learning comes from hard work, and a firefly can read thousands of books!"
"Tsk, if I could do it, would I need to ask you?"
"grass……"
This was the first time Shen Yichen couldn't help but use the swear words of later times since he came to this era. He was really pissed off by Li Da. He didn't know what sins he had committed in his previous life, why he came to the ancient times and got entangled with this kid.
Originally, Shen Yichen had no idea how to start writing, and now with Li Da interfering, he was even more confused.
While Shen Yichen was pondering, some scholars had already quickly finished writing the lyrics and handed them to several judges including Lin Zhen at the main table.
To say that they were written was actually to some extent to have been copied, because in order to win the first prize at the Winter Solstice Poetry Conference, these scholars had prepared their works early and were waiting for this opportunity.
Shen Yichen might be the only one who was totally unprepared and had no intention of writing at all.
"Mr. Zhuangyuan, what do you think of this "Ru Meng Ling"?"
Li Min, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, selected a piece of lyrics and music that he liked from those submitted by the scholars and gave it to Lin Zhen.
"The courtyard is full of fallen leaves and the west wind blows; the forest is covered with frost and there is no autumn scenery to be found anywhere..."
Lin Zhen took it and silently recited a few sentences, then shook his head and said: "This poem means to lament the passing of time, but the style of writing is not very brilliant, it is a mediocre work."
"Indeed."
Li Min also nodded in agreement. After all, in terms of knowledge, he was far inferior to the top scholar Lin Zhen.
Since the other party says no, there is no need to force it.
"Mr. Zhuangyuan, I think this poem "Remembering Jiangnan" is good, but the theme is a little sad."
As the chief judge, Lin Zhen also took over the lyrics from Sun Tixue and silently recited: "Sorrowful separation, to whom can I turn for forgiveness? Old hatred and new sorrows make me feel alone at night..."
"The lyrics are not suitable for the occasion, so let's put them aside for now and see if there are other good works."
"Um."
Sun Tixue naturally agreed that this kind of sad style of lyrics and music was indeed not suitable for the current occasion.
As more works were submitted, Lin Zhen and his colleagues reviewed them faster. The poor ones were eliminated directly, the medium-quality ones were put aside, and the excellent lyrics and music were posted on the bulletin board in the hall by their entourage for the scholars present to read and appreciate.
The advantage of this approach is that, on the one hand, it can allow excellent works to be circulated more widely, and on the other hand, it can also prevent the presiding judge from being partial.
After all, the best works were publicly displayed, and the good and the bad were obvious at a glance . It was impossible to select the works with obvious differences. Moreover, no chief judge was willing to use his reputation as a literary master to do such a thing.
However, seeing that most of the works had been reviewed, Lin Zhen still hadn't seen Shen Yichen's lyrics and music, and he couldn't help feeling a little confused.
Even if Shen Yichen is not good at writing poetry, he shouldn't be unable to write it, right? Or does this guy not write at all?
With this question in mind, Lin Zhen raised his head and stretched his neck, trying to look as far as possible at the last seat in the corner.
I found that there was rice paper on Shen Yichen's desk, but I couldn't see clearly whether there were any poems on it.
But looking at the way Shen Yichen was twisting and fiddling with the brush, it didn't look like he was serious about writing lyrics!
This posture made Lin Zhen very angry. He had performed so well in Feihua Ling before, why did he become so inexplicably low-key at the critical moment?
It seems that after this poetry reading, Shen Yichen must be taught a lesson, and one should not be too low-key!
A circle of literati and scholars had gathered around the bulletin board, wanting to see whose work had been rated as a masterpiece by several literary giants.
"The poem written by Wu Yingqian, a candidate from Suzhou, is pretty good. I think he has a chance of winning the first prize."
"This poem is a good one, but if you want to win the first prize, you have to ask Qian Yongyou, a student from Changzhou!"
"Qian Yongyou is worthy? In the end, we still have to look at Shang Jieyuan's work. Didn't you notice that it was posted at the top of the notice board?"
“Shang Jieyuan’s Feihualing is really good, but I personally think Zeng Mengjian’s Shengshengman is better!”
As the saying goes, there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. This kind of poetry selection can easily fall into disputes. Everyone has his or her own favorite, just like the songs of later generations.
You like Jay Chou's "Sunny Day", I like Junjie's "Practicing Love", and he may also like Xu Shangao's "Appreciation by Both the Elegant and the Popular".
Be it highbrow or lowbrow, there is no fixed preference or absolute standard for judging literature.
After some debate, no one was decided, but someone soon discovered a blind spot. That is, there seemed to be no work of Shen Yichen on the bulletin board?
You have to know that in the previous Feihua Ling, Shen Yichen was the most popular, even Shang Jieyuan was slightly overshadowed by him. Now, reciting poems and writing fu is the focus of today's poetry meeting. Why is there no work by Shen Yichen? Wasn't it selected?
This shouldn't be the case. According to Feihualing's level, it shouldn't be that he doesn't even have the strength to be on the bulletin board, right?
"My dear, have you seen Shen Yichen's lyrics?"
"No, I'm looking for it too."
"Could it be that it was judged as a mid-level work?"
"Impossible. I also looked at the Zhongzuo stack and Shen Yichen's name was not on it."
"It won't be so bad that I'll be eliminated, that would be such a pity..."
The scholars were talking about it, and some of the literati could no longer contain their curiosity and turned to look at Shen Yichen's desk.
But I found that his desk was empty, without any writing materials or calligraphy, and even the cakes and fruit plates on it were gone. I don't know whether he had finished writing or not.
"When I was creating, I saw that Shen Yichen had rice paper and inkstone on his desk. It seems that he has indeed been eliminated."
"It's a flash in the pan, but it doesn't have enough staying power."
"Could this be the end of Jiang Lang's talent?"
Almost everyone didn't understand why Shen Yichen's poem didn't appear on the notice board. No one thought that Shen Yichen didn't write it or submit it.
After all, today's annual Winter Solstice Poetry Festival is all about the opportunity to become famous. If you are not willing to submit your lyrics, then why do you come to participate?
"Mr. Shen, are you really not going to submit this poem "Ode to the Cold Willows at Jinming Lake" to the judges?"
Liu Wan'er was holding a piece of rice paper in her hand, on which were written the lyrics and music composed by Shen Yichen. So it was not that he did not write or could not write, but that he did not choose to participate in the selection of this Winter Solstice Poetry Festival.
"No need, if you like it, just keep it."
Having already been in the spotlight once, Shen Yichen has no intention of letting himself stand at the center of the storm, otherwise he will be labeled as a talented poet and songwriter in the future. Where will he find so many works to publish?
For many things, excess is as bad as deficiency. The ancient doctrine of the golden mean is not without reason.
"I like it very much. I have never seen such a beautifully written song. You are truly talented. It seems to have captured my feelings."
As she spoke, Liu Wan'er gently stroked the poem in her arms, her eyes slightly red. In the past six months since the drastic changes in her family, she has been living like a walking corpse.
Shen Yichen's lyrics and music describe her experiences and moods in the past six months vividly. Liu Wan'er never thought that a scholar would empathize with the situation of a demoted official prostitute. Shen Yichen is not only kind-hearted, but also so talented.
Hearing this, Shen Yichen just smiled shyly. It was true that he could relate to some of these words. After all, he was also a son of a maid, and had suffered the cold eyes and ridicule of the people.
But it was more of the feelings of another legendary woman, which happened to be very suitable for Liu Wan'er's current situation.
