bookbashuk Page 91
Page 91
At this point, only two empty seats remained inside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.
One is the throne of Emperor Qing of Southern Qing, and the other is empty, right next to the eldest princess.
Everyone knows that it was prepared for Zhuang Mohan, a great literary figure of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
A short while later, a person walked in from outside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.
The newcomer had an old face, but his eyes were clear and bright.
The wrinkles on his forehead seemed to hold countless wisdom. He wore a white scholar's robe as white as clouds and held a scroll in his hand.
It was none other than Zhuang Mohan, a renowned literary figure of the Northern Qi Dynasty!
Upon seeing Zhuang Mohan arrive, everyone present stood up to greet him.
Chen Qingfeng and Fan Xian sat motionless in their seats, while Fan Ruoruo immediately stood up, clearly showing great respect for Zhuang Mohan, a literary master.
As Zhuang Mohan passed in front of Chen Qingfeng, he suddenly stopped and glanced at Chen Qingfeng, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally.
Chen Qingfeng remained calm, but he knew in his heart that the old man and the princess had been plotting this for a long time.
All for the sake of ruining his reputation at this banquet.
After Zhuang Mohan took his seat, a eunuch shouted loudly:
"Your Majesty has arrived."
Then, Emperor Qing slowly walked out from the side of the hall.
Upon seeing this, the assembled officials in the hall all knelt down respectfully to pay their respects.
"Long live my emperor."
The guests from the delegation also bowed in greeting.
Chen Qingfeng and Fan Xian, however, remained unmoved by the 15, and continued to sit in their seats and drink.
Then, the banquet began.
Midway through the banquet, Zhuang Mohan, who had been silent all along, suddenly looked at Emperor Qing:
"Your Majesty, is that young gentleman the poet Chen Gongzi?"
As he spoke, Zhuang Mohan turned his gaze to Chen Qingfeng.
"Chen Qingfeng!"
Emperor Qing shouted.
Upon hearing Emperor Qing's shout, the noise in the hall instantly vanished, becoming completely silent.
Chen Qingfeng remained calm upon hearing this.
He knew in his heart that the eldest princess's scheme against him had begun!
He slowly rose, walked to the front of the hall, and bowed respectfully.
"His Majesty!"
Emperor Qing smiled slightly and turned to look at Zhuang Mohan:
"Mr. Zhuang, this is Chen Qingfeng. Do you know him?"
Zhuang Mohan nodded and hummed in agreement:
"I have read some of his poems."
"Especially that poem, 'A Thousand Miles of Autumnal Sorrow, I Often Become a Guest,' which even I, an old man, often recite!"
"only……"
At this point, Zhuang Mohan sighed helplessly and didn't continue.
Seeing this, Emperor Qing frowned slightly and said with a smile:
"Mr. Zhuang, please feel free to speak your mind!"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Mohan coughed twice, stood up, bowed to Emperor Qing, and then said:
"Although I am a man of the Great Qi, my heart is in the world of written words."
"I didn't want to hurt the friendship between our two countries, but there are some things I have to say."
At this point, Zhuang Mohan paused slightly, then recited the poem "Ascending to a High Place" into the hall.
After reciting the poem, he looked directly at Chen Qingfeng and said again:
"The first four lines of this poem are excellent."
"Of course, I don't mean the last four lines are bad."
"But... these last four lines were not written by Young Master Chen!"
These words caused an uproar in the hall, but quickly quieted down.
They all looked at Chen Qingfeng in disbelief.
At the previous poetry gathering of the Crown Prince, Fan Ruoruo's poem "Ascending to a High Place," written by Chen Qingfeng, amazed everyone present.
Subsequently, the poem "Ascending to a High Place" became widely known and especially popular in Kyoto.
Now that Zhuang Mohan has said this, everyone can see that something is amiss, but no one dares to be disrespectful in front of the emperor.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Qing's brows furrowed even more deeply.
At this moment, the eldest princess spoke:
"Mr. Zhuang."
"You mean, Chen Qingfeng plagiarized the last four lines of the poem?"
"Mr. Zhuang was a great scholar of his generation, and his annotations on the classics were studied by students all over the world."
"But mere words are not enough, and the matter involves plagiarism. Could it be that you have been deceived by a villain?"
Zhuang Mohan raised his head, his eyes filled with emotion, and replied:
"The last four lines of this poem were written by my teacher when he traveled to Tingzhou."
"Because it is my master's posthumous work, I have treasured it in my heart for decades."
"But I wonder how Young Master Chen came to this position by such a fortuitous chance?"
"I was originally happy that the pearl buried in dust could see the light of day again."
"But it is rather unacceptable that Young Master Chen would use this poem to seek fame."
“For scholars, cultivating their mind and virtue is of paramount importance; writing and poetry are secondary matters.”
"I cherish talent as much as my own life, and I was originally reluctant to point this out so rashly, but I think that it is a great virtue to admit one's mistakes and correct them!"
Without further ado, Zhuang Mohan presented the handwritten letter he had brought to everyone.
Four lines of poetry were written on it, clearly the last four lines of the poem about climbing to a high place.
"This was written by my master himself!"
"If you have any doubts, you can have someone come and authenticate it. I know it's quite old."
"Furthermore, the last four lines of the poem about climbing to a high place have too much of a tiger-drawing connotation."
Poetry is the voice of the heart!
"A thousand miles of autumn sorrow, how desolate it is!"
"After a century of illness, it was during my late teacher's twilight years that he climbed the mountain alone, where the surging river flowed and all he saw was desolation..."
"Given Young Master Chen's experience and age, how could he possibly write verses reflecting such a state of mind?"
According to Zhuang Mohan's statement.
The people present were even more convinced, and their eyes were full of doubt when they looked at Chen Qingfeng.
After all, what kind of status does Zhuang Mohan have?
It is impossible for a literary master in the world to use the reputation of their own teacher to frame Chen Qingfeng.
In addition, he brought evidence, a handwritten note from his teacher.
Furthermore, the last four lines of the poem about climbing to a high place do not reflect the mindset of a young man in his prime.
At this moment, Guo Baokun suddenly stood up:
"Mr. Zhuang, you are wise!"
"This Chen Qingfeng is truly shameless, actually deceiving the world and stealing a reputation like this!"
"I knew it! How could he possibly write such evocative verses? It turns out he plagiarized!"
Guo Baokun harbored resentment towards Chen Qingfeng.
At the poetry gathering at Prince Jing's mansion that day, Chen Qingfeng and Fan Xian exchanged poems, causing Chen Qingfeng to lose face.
Later, Fan Xian and Teng Zijing beat him up in Niulan Street.
Seeing Chen Qingfeng chatting happily with Fan Xian, Guo Baokun naturally began to hate Chen Qingfeng!
I think Chen Qingfeng and Fan Xian are birds of a feather!
Now that Chen Qingfeng is suspected of plagiarizing poetry, how could he possibly miss such a good opportunity to kick him while he's down?
At this moment, the hall erupted in commotion once again.
His eyes were filled with disbelief as he looked at Chen Qingfeng.
I increasingly feel that those four lines of poetry were very likely plagiarized by Chen Qingfeng.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Qing's brows furrowed, and he said coldly:
"I also think, where did he get such great poetic talent at such a young age?"
Upon seeing this, the eldest princess feigned surprise and looked directly at Chen Qingfeng:
"Chen Qingfeng, could it be that those four lines of poetry were really plagiarized by you?"
Fan Xian sat in his seat, feeling a strange sensation in his heart. He felt that something was not quite right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He wasn't stupid; he naturally knew that Zhuang Mohan was framing Chen Qingfeng.