Chapter 23: The Astonishing Talk in the Hall (5)

  Yuwen Caiyi's eyes widened as soon as he saw Bailian, his gaze fixed on her without wavering, and he didn't even notice when his fan fell. He was about to start drooling, looking like a fool, until Bailian spoke to Xiao Shouren and invited him to eat together. Only then did Yuwen Caiyi come back to himself, realizing that this little beauty hadn't even noticed him, but instead seemed to appreciate Xiao Shouren. If he had known earlier that Xiao Shouren would receive such appreciation from her, he wouldn't have gone over to provoke him in the first place. Wasn't this just helping Xiao Shouren win her favor?

  Although Yuwen Cai was not in a good mood at this time, when he heard Bai Lian's couplet, he couldn't help but smile again. Although he himself didn't have much knowledge, the people around him were also quite talented. However, when he took a closer look, these people who usually seemed so confident now had furrowed brows, and Yuwen Cai knew that this couplet was extremely difficult. This time, Xiao Shouren would be impressed.

  Yuwen saw that Xiao Shouren was also closing his eyes and not speaking at this moment, as if thinking about something, which further confirmed that Xiao Shouren would not be able to handle the situation. So, the arrogant atmosphere from earlier rose again, and wanting to show off in front of Bai Lian, he pushed away the people in front of him, squeezed into the middle, and started mocking Xiao Shouren.

  "Kid, you won't get it this time, don't force it if you can't. Don't think that just because you lucked out with a good draw earlier, you'll still have such great luck now."

  Yuwen just opened his mouth and triggered a reaction from the followers behind him. Since the boss has spoken, as a younger brother, he cannot weaken the boss's momentum. This is the ideological awareness of being a younger brother.

  "That's right, Yuwen brother is right, if you can't then don't lose face here."

  "If it's like this, can anyone come out and still have a sense of justice?"

  "Don't stay in this world anymore, hurry up and leave, it's humiliating!"

  Bai Lian was delighted at this moment. Earlier, when she came down, everyone on the second floor was looking at her, and they were all captivated by her. However, only Xiao Shouren glanced at her once and then didn't look at her again. She wasn't happy about it, so she decided to take him down a peg. It just so happened that she remembered the bet she made with her friend, which was a couplet she had thought about for a long time, even asking her brother who was well-read in poetry and books, but he couldn't come up with an answer either. She didn't believe it, could Xiao Shouren be more capable than her own brother?

  But she forgot one thing, the couplet of her family's Tianranju was also created by Xiao Shouren, and her brother didn't come up with such a couplet.

  "What's difficult about that, White Gentleman? Listen well, my next line is: 'Pillowing on classics and sharing the same fame as many sages.' I wonder if this next line meets with your approval, White Gentleman?" asked Xiao Shouren with a smile.

  Bai Lian was both angry and furious at this time. Xiao Shouren actually came out, and the last sentence: I don't know if it meets your requirements, Mr. Bai? This sounds like a polite remark to outsiders, but when Bai Lian heard it, he felt very uncomfortable, as if saying, sorry, let you down.

  But there's no way, after all, Xiao Shouren really helped himself out with the couplet, so he couldn't bear to tear his face off now. He could only smile awkwardly and thank him politely before heading to the third floor, where he came from and where he would return.

  Xiao Shouren didn't mind this matter, he was just very curious how this white lotus knew his name. After returning to his seat, he secretly asked Chen Chuan if he knew the identity of this white lotus, but unfortunately, Chen Chuan also said that he didn't know.

  After dinner, they parted ways. However, for the next few days, Xiao Shouren was indeed shouting at the sky in frustration. During the day, he had to go to Honglu Temple to learn some basic etiquette for receiving foreign envoys and other things. But whenever he returned to his own courtyard, he would encounter Chen Chuan's ubiquitous servants. Chen Chuan didn't come for anything else, just to ask for poems. He kept pestering Xiao Shouren for poem after poem, and once he got one, he would leave. Xiao Shouren was really annoyed.

  So, in just a few days, Xiao Shouren couldn't take it anymore and hastily moved all the bedding to the guest room of the Honglu Temple's reception hall, where he took up residence. Although it was called the Honglu Temple, it was actually just a side hall of the City Master's Mansion, and he used this method to evade Chen Chuan's persistent entanglements.

  Sui Dynasty's eighth year of Daye, August 14th, Shang City, in front of the Peace Negotiation Hall.

  Soldiers stood like a forest, banners and flags fluttering, the negotiation hall was surrounded by armored warriors, each with a long sword at their waist and a long spear in hand, all of them were full of energy, standing straight as pens.

  The Hall of Peaceful Discussion was originally not called the Hall of Peaceful Discussion, it was just a small side hall without a name. However, because of the upcoming talks with Goguryeo, Yang Guang decreed that it be named the Hall of Peaceful Discussion.

  These past few days, Xiao Shouren has been working in this office. To be honest, there's nothing much to do, just discussing with experienced doctoral students under him about the etiquette and matters that need attention during negotiations.

  Xiao Shouren still had some useful talents under his command, the most famous of whom was Yu Shinnan. As for Yu Shinnan, Xiao Shouren actually knew him a long time ago, and he had known about this person since the previous world, but only now did he see the real person alive.

  In the previous world, Xiao Shouren was like a rising sun at 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning, shining brightly as a beautiful flower under the radiant light of the party on fertile land. As a student, he couldn't avoid exams, and exams couldn't avoid Chinese language tests. In his second year of high school, he took a poetry appreciation test and encountered a poem by Yu Shinnan: "Dew drops fall, clear and bright, / Sounds echo from sparse paulownia trees. / The sound carries far, not because it's autumn wind, / But because the cicada lives high up." This poem, along with those of Lu Bingwang and Li Shangyin, is one of the three masterpieces of Chinese poetry about cicadas. The cicada's long, ribbon-like antennae sipped the clear, sweet dew, and its continuous sounds came from the sparse branches of the paulownia tree. The reason why the cicada's sound carries far is that it lives high up in the trees, not because it relies on the autumn wind.

  Cicadas drink clear dew, perched high on the wutong tree, their voices carry far because of their height, not relying on autumn winds. This implies that a gentleman should be like cicadas, residing in lofty places and having a voice that carries far, without needing to rely on or be restricted by external things. Su Shi's skillful use of metaphors and allegories can be seen here.

  The person who can write such a poem must have good character, Xiao Shouren still has great respect for him. After gradually getting to know him, Xiao Shouren found out that Yu Shinan's background is also quite deep.

  His father was Yu Li, his elder brother was Yu Shiji, and his uncle was Yu Ji, all of whom were famous in their time. As Yu Ji had no son, Shi Nan was adopted by him, hence the courtesy name Boshi. Yang Guang appointed him as Secretariat Monitor, granted him the title of Viscount of Yongxing County, and appointed him as Qingguanglu Daifu. Everyone called him "Yu Yongxing" or "Yu Mishi". Because he had been in this position for nine years without being transferred.

  Quiet and simple, meticulous in reading books, good at writing articles, and excellent calligraphy. Also has a certain understanding of Buddhist studies, can be considered a versatile talent.

  Calligraphy was also learned from the seventh grandson of Wang Xizhi, Zhiyong and Shang, who were in contact with famous scholars such as Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang and Xue Ji.

  His brother Yu Shiji was very favored by Yang Guang, but there was a great gap between Yu Shenan and Yu Shiji, and they disdained each other's way of dealing with people. They didn't interact much, and although they were biological brothers, they were no different from strangers. Therefore, even though he had an older brother who was favored by the emperor, Yu Shenan remained a secretarial officer for nine years without being promoted.