Chapter 67: A Melody of Love - The Ancient Flow (Part 1)

  Cai Yong held a position of great importance in the minds of scholars during the Eastern Han period. As an expert in Confucian classics, along with Zheng Xuan and Sima Mi, Cai's calligraphy had reached a state of perfection at that time. He created the "Flying White" style of calligraphy, earning him the nickname "Cai Feibai".

  During the Eastern Han Dynasty, scholars attached great importance to their origins. At the end of the Han Dynasty, there were three absolute, eight juns, eight gus, eight jis, and eight chus, among which Cai Yong was one of the highest three absolutes, and he was a national scholar without shame, showing his status among scholars.

  At this moment, Cao Xin understood Liu Yue's feelings. Who doesn't have an idol? Even in ancient times, it was not unexpected. For a scholar like Liu Yue, being able to see Cai Yong was already a great honor.

  At this moment, those sitting in the hall are all famous scholars from various places who have come to pay homage, and some of them are even sons of aristocratic families in Yanzhou. Each one is influential and renowned, and Liu Yue naturally cannot compare with them.

  Fortunately, at this moment, a lucky omen descended from heaven. As soon as Cai Yong wanted to use his own daughter as the theme and let everyone write a poem, Cao Xin became Liu Yi's only lifesaving straw.

  "Ode to Love" is a prose essay written by Zhou Dunyi, a scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty. The so-called "Tang poetry and Song lyrics" that Cao Xue told Liu Yue about were actually not poems, but Song lyrics, which had an even more profound atmosphere than poetry. During the Han Dynasty, it was popular to write fu and ci, which also has some connection with Song lyrics.

  Just as Liu Mei was holding Cao Xin's letter and reading it to his beloved Ailian, admiring it, the time for burning incense had also arrived.

  "Gentlemen! The incense has arrived, please don't hesitate to share it with me." Cai Yong walked to the center of the hall at this moment, looking at the incense burner in the middle that had already burned out, and said with a smile on his face.

  Many of the young men from noble families furrowed their brows at this moment, and upon hearing his words, they became even more anxious, as if most people still hadn't figured it out.

  However, there were some people who looked calm and composed, such as that handsome young man from before.

  However, the handsome young man was sitting alone in his seat at this moment, proudly looking around at the crowd, but not in a hurry to speak first, only silently waiting for the first scholar to come out, as if he had a confident look.

  "Oh? Isn't this the renowned Gentleman Xian of Shanyang County? Hehe, please..."

  As expected, in a moment, a young man in purple clothes was the first to leave his seat and bowed deeply to Cai Yan and Cai Yue. He had an air of elegance and confidence on his face, but he looked at the handsome young man beside him with a hint of disdain.

  Slowly come a few sentences, simple and clear, four characters one sentence arrived.

  Cao Xin sat silently in the corner, listening to Chen Ying's poem. Although it was simple, there were no metaphors; the poem only mechanically praised Cai Yan's beauty, and the rest seemed like nothing had been said at all, almost as if it was unremarkable.

  Cai Yan and Cai Yong also furrowed their brows at this moment, but after all, it was not good to be cold during the banquet. After reciting the poem, Cai Yong still nodded slightly, showing a hint of forced approval.

  But Cai Yong didn't say anything. The people around him couldn't help but notice, some shook their heads and others smiled lightly, yet among these aristocratic young men, there was also a hidden sense of competition.

  In the following half an hour, dozens of people took turns reciting their own poems, including young and talented men in their prime, famous and wealthy young masters from noble families, and even high-ranking officials with mediocre poetry skills like Yan Xi.

  The topics at the banquet were clearly divided. With Cai Yan as the topic, the poems recited had some magnificent and powerful lines, using this to implicitly satirize the imperial court. By the end, even they themselves didn't know what they were saying. This type of person is mostly self-proclaimed "young and talented" individuals who took up more than half of the time in this half-hour period.

  Some people say that in the end, they are all about their own fate being so miserable and so on. They start by comparing Cai Yan to something, but in the end, they are all just sympathizing with her fate. Not only do they deviate from the topic, but also there is too much nonsense like "clouds" and "fog", it's hard to understand what these people are actually saying.

  Every time someone comes out to recite poetry, Cai Yan would lightly strum the zither on her seat, but she always stopped halfway through, with a disappointed look and slightly furrowed eyebrows.

  It's clear that in the end, everyone figured out that Cai Yan might be planning to improvise a song on the spot, letting others come up with lyrics, as long as her own lines were good enough. If the lines satisfied her, she could play a complete piece; if not, she would stop abruptly.

  Undoubtedly, at this moment, all the sons of the aristocratic families had a hint of disappointment on their faces. On the surface, it was just a small episode at the beginning of the Imperial Examination, but the sudden topic made everyone start competing, and these disappointed people undoubtedly failed.

  The handsome young man looked around with disdain, seeing everyone shaking their heads and sighing at this moment, and couldn't help but burst out laughing coldly, as if he had already won.

  "Gentlemen, do you have any more poems to share... Ah, don't be stingy, haha..." Cai Yong said with a smile, but seeing everyone shaking their heads and sighing, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He had wanted to compose a piece of music for his daughter and bring some elegance to the occasion, but these scholars were all so gloomy-faced.

  "Alas..." He shook his head slightly and let out a sigh.

  "In the lower village of Ying, a man from Ru'nan Pingfan met Cai Yong and Mr. Cai Bogui."

  Suddenly at this moment, the handsome young man in the seat suddenly stood up and bowed, but it was a timely move, and his face couldn't help but reveal a hint of confidence.

  "Are you Chen Ying from Ru'nan? Are you a descendant of Taifu Chen Fen?"

  The young man named Chen Ying smiled and nodded: "That's right, my family has been in Ru'nan for generations, and it turns out that I am a fellow townsman of Lord Xu Shao!"

  "Oh...... Indeed, indeed, the young master is a descendant of a noble family, it's an honor for Shao." At the same time, Xu Shao also bowed slightly, revealing a hint of a pleased smile.

  Cao Xin was taken aback in the corner, but he didn't know where this bird-like person came from, and continued to examine him carefully.

  "May I compose a poem for Miss Cai?"

  "Prince, please." Cai Yan curtsied elegantly in front of the guqin case, her beautiful eyes sparkling with a hint of melancholy, yet still captivating.

  Chen Ying's face showed a barely perceptible admiration, and she bowed deeply to Cai Yong, immediately revealing a dignified demeanor.

  At the same time, the piano melody gently turned, and the heavenly sound once again slowly rippled out.

  With the beautiful melody, Chen Ying paced back and forth, nodding her head confidently, and reciting slowly.

  As expected, this person's poem is not as wordy as the previous ones. The poem was written in one breath, and every advantage of Cai Yan was described just right, all centered around the former without deviating from the topic at all.

  Cai Yan stroked the zither with her fingers, and as she did so, her eyebrows relaxed, and before she knew it, she had been playing for quite a while.

  "Ding......" The sound of the guqin suddenly stopped, Cai Yan stroked the strings and sat down, not disappointed, but instead showed a hint of appreciation.

  However, Chen Ying at this moment had not yet reacted, the poem in her mouth had not been recited yet, and the sound of the guqin had already stopped, apparently no one around had expected.

  Chen Ying's poem is unknown how many times better than theirs, this eye watching Cai Yan is about to finish playing, and suddenly stops at the very end.

  For a moment, it was not just Chen Ying, but also Cao Xin in the corner who were somewhat perplexed.

  But at this moment, Cai Yan was lightly stroking the strings of the zither in front of her, revealing a faint smile.

  "Chen Ying's poem is beautiful and pleasant to hear, making the young lady feel delighted. To say... Sir, you are still the first person who can make me play for so long, don't get me wrong..."

  As soon as this was said, everyone suddenly realized and although they didn't know what was wrong with Chen Ying's poem, after hearing the other person say so, they also understood and looked at the former in surprise, revealing a hint of envy.

  "Thank you for your praise, Miss Cai..." Chen Ying's face flashed with a hint of delight as she cupped her hands in gratitude.

  "Haha, alright, Chen Yinggongzi is indeed a learned and talented young man, it's really made me reminisce about the past. Alright, now...". Cai Yong took over the conversation, saying to the crowd, just as he was about to conclude this first section...

  "Wait, I haven't written poetry yet..."

  At this moment, Cai Yong had just heard Chen Ying's poem and was about to praise it when he suddenly heard that someone else at the banquet also wanted to compose a poem, and he couldn't help but pause in surprise.

  Cai Yan also showed a hint of puzzlement at this moment...

  *

  PS: Thank you for ivanyu's reward again yesterday. It's been several days in a row, thank you.

  There is still a sunset. Haha, your reward is a generous one for me, to be honest it startled me, haha, thank you so much for the reward!!! A thousand thanks.

  ;