Chapter 71: Hiding the Merit and Fame
"This...this...this poem is too powerful."
Finally, a scholar could not help but admit that Shen Yichen's poem made all the previous poems pale in comparison. It was no exaggeration to say that it crushed the entire field.
"How is it possible that Shen Yichen really has such talent?"
Another young man from an official family also had an expression of shock on his face. If he had not seen Shen Yichen write it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that this was written by a seventeen-year-old student.
"It seems that the rumor about cheating in the imperial examination at the Chengguo Mansion private school is really just a rumor?"
The facts are already before our eyes. Even Shen Yichen used poetry to respond to the so-called rumors from the outside world . If this is not considered talent, then any explanation will be useless.
Xu Donghai's face turned extremely pale. He really didn't expect that Shen Yichen could write such a masterpiece on the spot.
In the past, he could still find the excuse of competing with his father, but now the gap is right in front of him and he is not as knowledgeable as the other person. Xu Donghai feels that he cannot accept it for a moment.
Only Zeng Mengjian breathed a sigh of relief, and even felt a little secretly happy for some reason.
You know, he has suffered a lot from Shen Yichen. Every time he was in a highlight moment, he was always suppressed by Shen Yichen. So this time Shen Yichen did not make a move. He firmly did not think that he could have the last laugh.
As expected, the other young men of letters present were still young, and Shen Yichen had changed his usual low-key image and uttered such imposing words, but no one was alert at all.
Now that Shen Yichen has used his trump card, everyone is stunned, right?
Or was it because of Jian’s wit that I managed to keep my composure and endure till the end!
"Master Li, you really have a keen eye for talent. No wonder you said before that Shen Yichen's work would be the best. Now it seems that this boy is indeed in a class of his own."
After seeing Shen Yichen's poems, Duke of Wei Xu Xianzong recalled his previous inquiry to Li Min. Before seeing the poems, the other party had dared to bluntly conclude that Shen Yichen was the strongest, which was indeed not unreasonable.
He even admired Li Min's courage for being able to withstand the rumors and invite Shen Yichen to participate in the flower viewing party. If he had not been fully confident that this boy's talent and knowledge surpassed others, he would never have dared to do so.
Hearing the Duke of Wei's praise, Li Min hurriedly nodded in agreement, but secretly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Because just before, when Shen Yichen had provoked all the young masters and scholars to attack him, Li Min was almost scared to the point of peeing his pants. Unexpectedly, in a blink of an eye, he turned the tables and was even given the reputation of being a man with a keen eye for talent.
This life of ups and downs was even more exciting than when Li Min took the imperial examination.
After all, if you fail the imperial examination, you can choose to try again next year. If something goes wrong this time, there will really be no next year...
"In addition to being a marquis and a general, Qilian is indeed a descendant of a noble family. This kind of spirit is really inherited from the Duke of Cheng who returned triumphantly this year!"
Guo Sheng, Marquis of Cheng'an, was full of praise at this moment. Today's noble sons have basically degenerated into dandies. Apart from relying on the glory of their ancestors to eat, drink and have fun, they have no ambition to make progress. They have forgotten that there are foreign cavalrymen on the northern grasslands!
Shen Yichen was a scholar, but he still had the ambition to become a noble and a general, and to fight for his country, which was particularly valuable. It was hard to imagine that among the children of nobles, there could be such ambitions as Shen Yichen.
"It is indeed amazing, especially the line 'Beauty is like jade and sword is like rainbow', which can be regarded as a masterpiece of all time. Even if we don't care about the poetry, just the handwriting is so good that I am sure that the contemporary calligraphers will praise it after seeing it."
Xu Qi, the Minister of War, was also inspired by Shen Yichen's poem. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had seen such a beautiful sentence. If the outside world had some prejudice against Shen Yichen before, there would be no doubt after this poem was written today!
At the same time, the young ladies in the fan pavilion also applauded and cheered. They participated in the flower-viewing party with the intention of choosing a son-in-law. Now Shen Yichen is both talented and beautiful, and he is the best in the whole place. I don't know how many young ladies from noble families admire him.
"Mr. Shen is indeed as talented as the rumors say. His poems also reveal his lofty ambitions. He is truly admirable."
"Mr. Shen is not only talented, but also handsome. He is really a delight to see."
"The ancients said that a gentleman would marry a beautiful lady. Now it seems that a modest gentleman would also marry a beautiful lady."
"Sister, what you said makes me feel amorous."
"whee……"
There was a lot of fun in the fan pavilion. If it weren't for the restrictions on men and women, Shen Yichen would probably have received many confessions of love from young ladies from wealthy families.
In the garden, Shen Yichen looked at the people who were so aggressive before, but now they were speechless and standing around in front of his poem, with a bored smile on his face.
He shook his head gently, then placed the ink pen in his hand on the shelf, and pulled Zhang Qi, who was still waiting in a daze, and the two of them walked through the crowd and left Zhanyuan.
He only left a crowd of surprised looks behind him, while hiding his achievements and fame!
"What happened? This kid just left?"
Duke Wei had originally wanted to call Shen Yichen into Jingmiao Hall to praise him, but this guy just left without looking back. He really has a strong personality.
"Most talented people behave eccentrically. Maybe Shen Yichen is the same."
Xu Qi helped Shen Yichen explain that he had seen too many crazy people in the officialdom, so he was not surprised.
"Master Li, is Shen Yichen like this on weekdays?"
Cheng'an Hou Guo Sheng felt that Shen Yichen's behavior of leaving directly was a bit too frivolous, so he asked Li Min a question.
"Well...I am usually quite humble when I interact with Shen Yichen."
Among this group of people, the most confused person may be Li Min, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.
He had met Shen Yichen many times, and he had a certain understanding of this boy's personality. He never overstepped the boundaries in his words and deeds, and was respectful, modest, and cautious. He was mature beyond his years.
But today, I don't know what happened, he seemed to be a different person, extremely arrogant. Could it be that this kid really carried out his plan resolutely, and wanted to break the criticism, so he used his absolute strength to make others undisputed?
If that's the case, then Shen Yichen is too obedient. He really does what you tell him to do.
But no matter what the reason is, at least Li Min's biggest crisis has now passed. With the knowledge demonstrated by Shen Yichen today, no one will dare to say that they are taking advantage of the situation and bending the law for personal gain!
"Sir, I really like Mr. Shen's "Sword Like a Rainbow". I hope you will be so kind as to give this poem to me."
Guo Yongxin didn't care about Shen Yichen's "arrogance" at all. On the contrary, her attention was completely focused on the work that Shen Yichen left on the public notice board.
Duke Wei is the host today, so if you want anything, you naturally have to ask him for permission.
After hearing what Guo Yongxin said, although Duke Xu Xianzong of Wei also liked Shen Yichen's calligraphy very much, it was really beneath his dignity for a duke like him to compete with his juniors.
So Xu Xianzong nodded and said, "Since Yongxin likes it, take it down and take it."
"Thank you, Duke."
Upon hearing that Xu Xianzong gave Shen Yichen's poems to Guo Yongxin, Chen Qingtong was furious and regretful. Why didn't she think of this and let others get there first?
But the Duke had already spoken, and it was impossible to change his mind. So Chen Qingtong could only say, "Master, let me go with Sister Yongxin to take it off."
Xu Xianzong was a little puzzled. Did it take two people to pick up a piece of calligraphy?
However, he couldn't ask too many questions about such a trivial matter, so he nodded and agreed.
Just like that, Guo Yongxin and Chen Qingtong walked out of Jingmiao Hall. When the young masters and scholars in the garden saw the two young ladies from noble families coming out, the expressions on their faces changed from the defeated look after being hit by Shen Yichen to a stupid look in an instant.
Both of them are the only daughters of marquises. Even if they become son-in-law, they can be guaranteed a life of wealth and glory, and they can also get strong support from their wife's family.
Why did the two of them appear in public? Did they take a fancy to one of us?
If Shen Yichen was still here, I guess these people wouldn't dare to think too much, after all, they weren't the ones who stole the show. But now that Shen Yichen was gone, these two young ladies must have taken a fancy to one of the remaining people, maybe it was me!
But a scene that disappointed everyone appeared. Guo Yongxin and Chen Qingtong faced the young talents, bowed slightly and politely, then walked to the notice board and carefully took down Shen Yichen's poem.
Seeing this situation, many people were devastated. Shen Yichen left and only left behind a poem, but it still received so much attention from two young ladies from noble families.
Is the gap between people so big?
Especially Zhu Ji, the whites of his eyes were bloodshot. If he had said that he had met Chen Qingtong and Shen Yichen on Nanshi Street that day, he could have found some other excuses to explain it.
Now Chen Qingtong's actions have confirmed for the second time that she has special feelings for Shen Yichen.
He was the son of a maid, and they had only had some contact when they were young. Why was it that even though I grew up with Chen Qingtong and had been classmates for several years, I was still not as good as him?
Where did I lose?
"Sister Yongxin, do you really like this poem?"
After taking down Shen Yichen's work, Chen Qingtong was reluctant to let go.
Looking at Chen Qingtong's appearance, Guo Yongxin replied with a faint smile on her face: "Sister Qingtong, if you really like it, I can give it to you."
"Really?"
This sentence made Chen Qingtong overjoyed. She had never expected it to be so simple.
"real."
After saying that, Guo Yongxin let go of his hand.
If Chen Qingtong had a woman's intuition about Guo Yongxin's previous words and actions.
Now that she had done all this, Chen Qingtong had no idea what the other person was thinking.
"Sister Yongxin, you seem to be very special to Shen Yichen."
After all, she is still a girl, and Chen Qingtong couldn't hide the truth in her heart, so she finally asked a question.
"Yes."
Unexpectedly, Guo Yongxin didn't even try to cover it up and admitted it frankly.
"Why?"
"Because Shen Yichen is the benefactor of a good friend of mine, helping him is helping my good friend."
After saying this, Guo Yongxin turned and walked towards the fan pavilion, but the reason was completely different from what Chen Qingtong had originally imagined.
