Chapter 25: Yue Er Loses

  There is a beauty in the north.

  It was in the very early days of Chu Hao's previous life, during the Han Dynasty, that a musician named Li Yannian created this short poem. When Li Yannian first sang and danced to it in the imperial court, Emperor Wu, a man of great talent and ambition, was immediately moved by it and felt an overwhelming desire to meet the woman who inspired it. It has to be said that such a thing was unprecedented in that world of the previous life!

  Li Yannian even relied on this poem to make his sister receive Emperor Wu's favor, and he himself became more favored by Emperor Wu.

  This poem initially appears to be plain and straightforward in its praise of the "beauty", without any embellishment or build-up. However, its underlying meaning is not ordinary. The southern region is beautiful, with many beauties having almond-shaped eyes and willow waists, elegant and charming; the northern region is vast and majestic, with many ladies having snowy skin and icy demeanor, subtle and deep in emotion. This poem starts with the two words "North", immediately giving the beauty being sung about a crystal clear and pure spirit that is vastly different from the south.

  There may be thousands of beauties in the north, but what this poem focuses on is only one "absolutely unique" person among the countless beauties. "Absolutely unique" boasts her beauty and elegance, which is unparalleled in the world; "Independent" describes her elegant and refined temperament, which is even more extraordinary and outstanding. Moreover, "absolutely unique and independent" also subtly reveals that this beauty disdains to be with other women, and has a faint sadness of being unknown and standing alone at the railing.

  It's not only transcendent and otherworldly, but also pitifully charming. This is the epitome of elegance, with just two opening sentences that will likely make all who hear them yearn with admiration for the beauty described.

  Even Emperor Wu of Han was no exception!

  The Cloud Empire moved its capital from the Southern Dragon City to the Northern Dragon City, which has been four generations and over two hundred years. It coincides with this poem and scene, and Chu Hao's creation of this poem is not unreasonable.

  And this poem's beauty is even more uniquely written. Before Li Yannian, there were already classic phrases like "hands as soft as jade, skin as smooth as ice, neck as slender as a cicada, teeth as white as conch shells, and eyebrows as delicate as willow leaves. With clever smiles and beautiful eyes." But if Li Yannian wanted to become the ultimate singer and catch Emperor Wu's attention, he had to come up with something extraordinary!

  And these two strange sentences, "One glance can overthrow a city, and another can overthrow a country", are undoubtedly the key to the whole poem - this extraordinary beauty, just by glancing at the soldiers guarding the city wall, can make them drop their weapons and lose control of the wall; if she were to cast another glance at the ruler who has come to conquer the world, disaster would befall him!

  The beauty of a noble person has unexpectedly become the terrifying "overturning the city" and "overturning the state" words, it's really unbelievable!

  The ending is even more thought-provoking. The previous text had exaggerated the beauty of the beauty to an extreme degree, but the ending suddenly turned into a deeply regretful tone: "Do you not know about the city-toppling and country-toppling? A beautiful woman is hard to come by again!" Beautiful women often bring "city-toppling" and "country-toppling" disasters to rulers. Are there few examples of this in history? This seems to be warning the ruler to remember the lessons of history, not to be misled by a "beautiful woman". But the next sentence then tightens another layer?

  Even if it's a city-toppling or nation-moving romance, don't miss the opportunity to win over a wonderful person - after all, such a wonderful person is hard to come by and can't be found again!

  It's a perfect ending, with one song and three sighs, leaving a lingering sound!

  When using exaggeration and contrast, it also tightly grasped the subtle psychology that people often have, which is "fear" but can be "cherished", "difficulty" but more "sought after", finally producing an unusual effect.

  Otherwise, Li Yannian's poem would not have moved Emperor Wu of Han's heartstrings at the beginning!

  That's where its artistic charm lies!

  At this moment, after being created by Chu Hao, although the scene and the moment cannot match his identity, a good sentence is still a good sentence, enough to make Lin Yue'er's spirit linger and forget to return.

  As expected, Lin Yue'er repeated the words several times, and the look of astonishment in her beautiful eyes grew even stronger, with a hint of longing mixed in. She opened her vermilion lips and murmured: "'One glance can overthrow a city, another glance can overthrow a nation', is there really such a woman in this world?"

  That little maid Xiaodie, although seemingly understanding and not understanding, saw the young lady's appearance and naturally knew that this poem was extraordinary. She raised her head, and her gaze towards Chu Hao suddenly filled with strangeness.

  Chu Hao lifted his teacup, gazing at the two literary girls and young women whose talent had been poisoned by his own "genius". He took a sip of tea and sighed: "There are many beauties in this world, but to one who has feelings, that beauty is uniquely unparalleled. Among three thousand weak waters, I, Chu Hao, will only take that one scoop."

  After finishing speaking, Chu Hao's gaze was fixed on Lin Yue'er for a moment.

  Lin Yue'er walked out of the poem, but was again made somewhat flustered by Chu Hao's scorching gaze, and listening to his explicit words, Lin Yue'er felt a strange emotion for the first time.

  Shaking her head, Lin Yue'er threw off the annoying feeling and picked up the rice paper again to read it once more. She raised her beautiful eyes, glanced at Chu Hao, then looked back at the poem, reluctantly putting it down. At this moment, she really couldn't connect the author of this poem with the infamous young master in front of her.

  Chu Hao smiled faintly and said: "Right, Yue Er, have you read my poem? Then next, I can take a look at your poem?"

  "No!" Lin Yue'er immediately pressed her hands on the desk, covering up the poem she had written. Her cheeks flushed with two faint red clouds, looking somewhat startled and embarrassed.

  Chu Hao smiled and asked, "Is there anything wrong with this poem? It's a comparison of poetic talent, using a beautiful woman as the subject, without any metaphorical techniques, completed in the time it takes to burn an incense stick. Doesn't that count as passing? Can't I be compared to you, Yue Er?"

  Lin Yue'er did not refute Chu Hao's address to herself this time, and after opening her mouth, she forced a word: "It doesn't count, this poem wasn't written by you!"

  Chu Hao said, "Who wrote that? There are only three of us here, you, me, and Xiao Die. Did you see this poem before? And besides, isn't it what you brought up, shouldn't that be correct?"

  If it's about eloquence, Lin Yue'er is naturally no match for Chu Hao. Moreover, even if Chu Hao said it again, among the three of them, who else could have come up with this poem? If someone had indeed written this poem before, given Lin Yue'er's usual fondness for poetry, she would have definitely heard of it. And if it was the young master who found someone to ghostwrite it, that person wouldn't be some unknown nobody either. Such a talented person wouldn't be driven by someone like Chu Hao.

  Really? Is it really written by him?

  At this moment, Lin Yue'er's heart was in a mess. She was unwilling to lose to Chu Hao, but at the same time, she couldn't believe that it was actually written by Chu Hao, and her heart was moved by the poem. In fact, Lin Yue'er had already done her best to create such a strict poem within the given time limit, but what came out was one thing, and whether it could compare to this "Beauty of Northern China" in front of her was another matter!

  She asked herself if her poetic talent could compare with that of the author of this poem!

  Lin Yue'er's heart was thinking about what it still didn't know what it was, like a long sword hanging over her head, making her even more anxious...

  All sorts of emotions filled her heart, and she had never been so confused.

  "Little Moon, can I take a look at your poem?" Chu Hao smiled lightly and took a step forward, intending to remove the rice paper covering Lin Yue'er's poem.

  "Wait a minute..." Lin Yue'er opened her mouth for half a day before lifting her head, forcing herself to explain: "You... you in this poem, subtly compared yourself to the king, you... this is below offending above, your intention is not pure, it's disrespect towards the Son of Heaven!"

  Chu Hao sneered, he had long known that Lin Yue'er's personality would not compromise so easily. He was going to play the emotional card! All he said was: "So what if it is!" Then, he stared intensely at Lin Yue'er, his gaze burning with intensity. Lin Yue'er's small face, already tense and at a loss, looked even more pitiful: "For you, I wrote this poem, even if it means deceiving the king, I'll take the risk! As the saying goes: 'Rather than not knowing the beauty of the city or the country, it's hard to find another beauty like her!' To die without regret."

  A beauty is hard to come by!

  This sentence was like a heavy hammer blow, striking hard on Lin Yue's heart!

  She didn't dare to meet Chu Hao's gaze at this moment, and then she raised her hand to take the rice paper, tearing up the poem she had written. Raising her head, she looked at Chu Hao and said: "I, a humble woman, am not comparable to Young Master Wang's poetic talent. Young Master Wang is a genius, I admire him. Please, Your Highness, set your conditions!"

  As he spoke, he slowly closed his eyes, his whole body trembling incessantly, as if resigned to his fate.