Chapter 13: Literary and Military Prowess (Part 2) - Plucking Flowers or Appreciating Them?

  This voice sounds familiar!

  Yun Cong's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes darted to Lin Xi and the 13th Princess, seeing that their faces had already changed greatly. He immediately knew he wasn't mistaken, and hastily bowed in the direction of the voice, saying: "Your humble subject Yun Cong, paying respects to Your Majesty, may you live for ten thousand years!"

  He loudly sang "Bai" with his mouth, and in his heart he cursed: "Bai is dead, Bai is dead, I'm not angry, I'm not angry..."

  The rest of them were also people who had seen the emperor, and naturally they all knelt down with their heads bowed, shouting "Long live" without end.

  That voice paused, ignoring the crowd, and asked Yun Ting alone: "Little Ting, it's been three or four years since you last saw me, right? You still remember my voice?" The others who had also seen the emperor before naturally followed suit, kowtowing and chanting "Long live Your Majesty".

  Yun Cong thought, the opportunity to flatter had arrived. He saw him with a solemn expression, sincerely saying: "Your Majesty, your subject. The Emperor is the object of loyalty for all ministers and subjects under heaven, how could I, a humble minister, dare not remember the Emperor's voice, how could I not remember?"

  A middle-aged man in a bright yellow brocade robe walked out of the outer garden, with a refined face and a faint smile, saying: "Little Qing'er hasn't been seen for several years, really grown up! Look at this stature, it's indeed the Cloud family's breed! Your father was shorter than you by that much back then—— everyone get up!" Cloud Qing's heart continued to mutter, but his body stood up with everyone else.

  "I am terrified. As a humble subject and a son, how dare I be mentioned in the same breath as my father?"

  Emperor Wan Chang smiled and said, "It seems that Little Ting has really grown up. I remember when I saw you a few years ago, you were still helping Xiao Liu climb the big tree in the Imperial Garden to dig out bird nests. In the blink of an eye, you're now speaking like an adult."

  Yun Cong's face turned awkward, and he thought to himself, "That wasn't something I did, but it seems I've been saddled with the blame." He could only force a bitter smile and say, "At that time, I was still young and didn't know the rules..."

  "Enough, enough, let's not talk about this anymore. I was just outside listening for a while, and I didn't expect that when you were young, you didn't like reading books, but in recent years, you've actually put in some effort... Alright, I won't nag you either, I'm excited to have heard it earlier, now let's exchange a few couplets for fun... Previously, your level was something I had seen before, don't pretend that you can't respond when you clearly can - among the Cloud family's Dan Shu Tie Juan, only your father is able to use it now, if you get beaten because of hiding your abilities, that would be a great injustice."

  Come on, you're the boss, whatever you say goes, can't I just try my best?

  "Your humble servant obeys your orders, I will definitely do my best and dare not deceive Your Majesty."

  "Hmm, that's good." Emperor Wan Chang snapped open the jade bone fan in his hand and laughed: "The fan writes Jiangshan, with a unified dry universe in hand."

  I'm afraid you're really the kind of person who'd be an emperor, always talking about unifying the universe at will. If I were to follow your tone, I'm afraid even the crime of treason could be justified. Hmph, are you trying to test me? This young master is not a rookie, although lacking in actual experience, but having read through dozens of palace intrigue stories, theoretical experience is rich enough. Not falling for your evil trap.

  "He buried himself in books, and was on intimate terms with many sages. Yun Zhong's actions were simple and honest, but his words had a sharp edge. Because he knew that at present he was a fifteen-year-old youth, the ancients may not have known what puberty was, but at least they knew that young people of this age were most likely to be impetuous, so he naturally had to pretend to be a bit like that."

  "Not bad, not bad! Little Zhēn is quite ambitious!" Emperor Wàn Chāng chuckled and glanced at Yún Zhēn, then said: "The Jade Emperor's army marches, with wind blades and rain swords, cloud flags and thunder drums forming a heavenly array."

  Yun Cong lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, "The Dragon King's banquet has lanterns and candles, with mountains as dishes and seas as wine."

  "Good!" Zhang Yanyu praised and said to Emperor Wanchang: "Your Majesty, this couplet is wonderful."

  Emperor Wan Chang smiled and said, "Yes, Xiao Ting's martial arts are like his father's, and his literature is like his uncle's. Not bad, not bad." He walked a few more steps, then suddenly pointed at the sky and said, "The heavens are the chessboard, the stars are the pieces, who can make a move?"

  Yun Cong's eyes blinked, his fingers quickly tapping on his thigh, and in an instant, he laughed: "The ground is the pipa, the road is the string, who can play it!"

  "Haha, great!" Emperor Wanchang burst out laughing: "This pipa is indeed unplayable, haha!" He was overjoyed in his heart, throwing back his head to laugh loudly, and just happened to see the twinkling starlight above. Suddenly a brilliant idea flashed through his mind, and he opened his mouth to recite another couplet: "East Dongting, West Changgeng, South Dipper North Dou, I am the one who plucks the stars from the Milky Way!"

  Yun Cong was puzzled in his heart, why did the emperor like stars so much? However, there's no way around it, since he is the emperor and I am a subject, I can only follow the emperor's wishes.

  He glanced at the flower beds around him, and naturally, only plum blossoms were in bloom during winter. The other flowers didn't show any signs of life, but he still got inspired: "Spring peonies, summer paeonias, autumn chrysanthemums, winter plums, I am the Flower-Seeking Gentleman."

  "Am I the Flower Explorer?" Emperor Wan Chang was taken aback, then exchanged a glance with Zhang Yan Yu, and they both burst out laughing, until their faces were so thick that they couldn't hold back anymore. Only then did they stop laughing and said: "You little brat, what year's Flower Explorer are you? How come I don't know? Haha!"

  Yun Cong cursed in his heart, "Damn it! You said you're a Star Picker, and you even used the word 'I' to refer to yourself. What else can I do but call you my lord? You're talking about stars, so you're a star picker, but I'm talking about flowers. I didn't say I was a Flower Explorer, could I have said 'I'm a flower thief'? Screw you!"

  Yun Cong's face was filled with grievance: "I... am next year's Flower Explorer."

  "What?" Changtian was taken aback: "Next year?" He suddenly laughed and said, "How about you? Are you going to follow your uncle Yundai's example and take the imperial examination yourself? What's the point of taking the exam? You won't be able to use it!"

  Yun Cong smiled bitterly: "Then this couplet can only be changed to: 'Spring peony, summer paeonia, autumn chrysanthemum winter plum, I am a flower thief'."

  "Pfft!......"

  "Plop!......"

  "Bang!......"

  "Bang!......"

  Yun Cong's words had just come out, and the scene around him suddenly became chaotic. Some people laughed so hard they were almost crying, while others were shocked to the point of falling to the ground. Even Zhang Yan Yu, an old man, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Emperor Wan Chang was initially stunned, then burst into laughter, holding his stomach in pain. He pointed at Yun Cong, shaking with laughter, and it took him a long time to compose himself. "You little scoundrel, you've made me laugh so hard my belly hurts!" he exclaimed.

  Just as Yun Cong was about to kneel down and apologize, Emperor Wan Chang quickly pulled him up, laughing and saying, "If your father knew you'd become a 'flower thief', he'd be so angry he'd skin you alive! Haha!"

  The emperor patted Yun Cong on the shoulder, still chuckling, and said, "Alright, alright. Today, I'm in a good mood, so let's break the rules for once. Zhang Yan Yu, take note of my decree: 'A virtuous official is rewarded with virtue, a meritorious one with merit.' I have heard that Yun Cong, the eldest son of the Duke of Yun Guo, has a noble character, outstanding talent, and excellent moral integrity. He is comparable to the great Zeng Zi. By special imperial decree, I hereby grant him the third place in this year's imperial examination, and confer upon him the title of Jinshi!"

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