Chapter 9: The Courage of Wu Che

  Xiao Jiading walked slowly forward, paying attention to the signs on both sides. Not far away, he saw the "Cui Yu Fang" mentioned by the shopkeeper. The three-story building was majestic and tall, higher than others. At the entrance, there were elegant scholars coming in and out, dressed in luxurious clothes.

  Xiao Jiading picked a few thumb-thick branches from a willow tree by the roadside, made a banner with the white cloth that had words written on it, and stood at the entrance of "Cui Yu Lou" with a smile on his face, not saying a word.

  Soon some scholars came over to take a look and saw that on the banner was a couplet, with the top and bottom lines reading:

  Five carts of poetry courage

  Eight bushels of talent!

  "Poetry brings friends together"

  Below were four more characters, written in bold relief: "Seven Steps to Poetry"!

  On the middle branch still hung that string of copper coins, some had been used up, and there were probably over eight hundred wen left.

  A chubby scholar was leading several servants to the Emerald Jade Building when he saw a crowd of people gathered around, so he curiously came over, parted the crowd and stood in front of Xiao Jia Ding, looked him up and down, smiled and asked: "Seven Steps to Poetry, interesting, but I don't know your esteemed name, how do you plan to make friends with poetry?"

  "In the lower Xiaojia Ding, I heard that Yizhou poetry is the best in the world. As a younger brother who loves poetry and literature, I am troubled by not having a good teacher or friend. I heard that literary figures often gather here, so I took the liberty of issuing this challenge to make friends through poetry. If there are any brothers willing to accept the challenge, each side will come up with three topics and ask the other to choose one to compose a poem. Whoever fails to do so loses! If both succeed, please let the onlookers judge who wins or loses. The winner gets 1000 coins! However, the poem must be completed within seven steps!"

  The scholars watching in a daze, staring at him with their eyes wide open, seven steps to make a poem, this is also quite impressive.

  The fat scholar was taken aback, just about to speak, when a young scholar with an elegant demeanor burst out laughing beside him: "Haha, seven-step poem? Do you think you're Cao Zhi?"

  "If you don't believe it, just try it out yourself!"

  "That scholar said: 'If you lose, the string of copper coins on your umbrella will be mine?'"

  "Exactly! If you lose, I'd like a copper coin from you as well."

  Xiao Jia Ding was so confident and composed that the bookish man couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, looking at him with suspicion.

  Xiao Jia Ding said he could compose a poem in seven steps, betting one yuan. Many young scholars came to watch the excitement and discussed it enthusiastically.

  That elegant scholar coldly smiled and said: "Seven steps to create a poem, you're being too arrogant. Zhong certain is already very arrogant, I didn't expect there's someone even more arrogant than Zhong certain. Alright, let me get to know you, spend one string of cash to see if you really have the skill to create a poem in seven steps." After speaking, he stepped forward, waved his hand and said to the following book boy: "Bring one string of cash!"

  That young man took out a string of copper coins, held them in his hand, and looked at Xiao Jia Ding with a mocking expression: "Our young master is indeed the number one talent in Yizhou! You've finally met a real Buddha!"

  Is Yizhou's number one talent? Previously, wasn't that Huang Shi Yun from the Peach Forest also known as Yizhou's number one talented woman? This "number one" is really not worth much, I've met two in just one day.

  Xiao Jiading smiled and said: "May I ask your esteemed surname and given name?"

  "In the next article, I will make a thorough refutation!" said the proud and elegant scholar.

  As soon as this remark was made, all the scholars around him exclaimed in surprise, gazing at him with eyes of admiration.

  Na Zhong Wenbo seemed to have some confidence in his own name, but unexpectedly, the scholar in front of him had an expression that didn't care at all, which made him even angrier.

  Xiao Jiading said: "Zhong Gongzi, please give me a topic to compose a poem, and then I'll give you a topic to compose a poem. Each of us will come up with three topics, and the other person will choose one of them. The poem must be completed within seven steps. However, let's make it clear beforehand that the topics we come up with must be suitable for poetry, don't try to stump each other with something that can't be used."

  Xiao Jia Ding had been forced to memorize Tang poems by his parents since childhood. It wasn't just the 300 Tang poems that children typically learn, but also many other good poems from the entire Tang dynasty were deeply ingrained in his mind. Now it's only the early Tang period, and many famous Tang poets haven't appeared yet, so he was confident that his knowledge of Tang poetry would be sufficient to handle this situation without much trouble. If he wanted to make some quick money by cheating on exams in a short amount of time, he could only rely on this method of plagiarism.

  To be on the safe side, he especially emphasized a few more sentences afterwards, requiring that the poem must be able to go up to the stage and enter the poem, so if the other party has no Tang poetry related to the three topics, it can be said that the topic is not good enough to go up to the stage, let the other party reissue the topic, this is a back door, also to prevent the other party from issuing some strange and biased topics, there is no way to cheat.

  Zhong Wenbo let out a cold laugh and said, "Seven steps to make a poem, it's not easy, I naturally won't make things too difficult for you. However, I'll say something ugly beforehand, seven steps to make a poem, that has to be poetry, don't try to fool people with a few lines of smooth-talking doggerel, everyone here is someone who doesn't have sand in their eyes!"

  "That's natural!" Xiao Jiading smiled faintly, "If that's the case, would I still have the face to ask for money? If Your Excellency and all the gentlemen present think this is just a nonsense poem, then I'll just find a crack in the ground to crawl into."

  Many people who didn't know much about literature laughed, but those scholars who had read extensively didn't laugh because they knew that if the other person wasn't truly capable, he wouldn't dare say such things. It seems like a real showdown is brewing. Everyone's eyes widened with excitement as they watched them.

  "Ha!" Zhong Wenbo let out a cold laugh, glancing at his own book boy and the servant holding the money box behind him, before slanting his eyes at Xiao Jia Ding. "You guys help Brother Xiao find a hole in the ground, we're going to enjoy watching this seven-step poet dig his way into it!"

  The book boy and the servant burst out laughing. The book boy pointed to a ditch beside him and said, "This is just fine, when he loses later, he can crawl out from this ditch."

  Everyone burst out laughing again.

  Zhong Wenbo nodded: "This is a good idea!" He looked at Xiao Jia Ding and said, "What do you think, Brother Xiao?"

  Xiao Jiading shrugged and said, "Whoever loses will crawl into a ditch!"

  "Good!" Zhong Wenbo's mouth curled up with a sly smile, "Then I'll give you a question!" He raised his hand and pointed to the "Cui Yu Lou" behind him, "You can choose one of the beauties in this building, either Turtle Old Man or Song Girl, to compose a poem."

  Xiao Jiading smiled when he heard the question, as there were few poems about ** and Gui Gong in Tang poetry, but those related to ** Geji were numerous. Of course, some of the lewd and erotic verses involving these ** were not allowed by his parents for him to recite, but Xiao Jiading had secretly memorized them when he was studying Tang poetry on his own, as there were several versions of "The Complete Tang Poems" in his bedroom, which included such lines.

  He had already understood it clearly in his mind, but he pretended to be deep in thought, holding the flag and starting to walk slowly forward.

  He moved forward, and the people surrounding him also followed, one by one staring at him, waiting for his ridiculous appearance when he would burst with pride.

  Zhong Wenbo's book boy also smiled and said to Xiao Jiading: "I warn you, our young master is well-read in poetry, there is no poem in the world that he doesn't know. If you want to cheat by plagiarizing, that would be self-inflicted humiliation!"

  Plagiarism? I'm plagiarizing right in front of you, and even if I smash your head open, you still won't know!

  Zhong Wenbo watched him walk out step by step, but there was still no sign of poetry, and he looked around with a pleased expression, saying loudly: "Everyone, we are about to see the emergence of Xiao Shao from the dark alley, who is going to challenge the poetic works of Yi State. This is a rare opportunity, let's all come and take a look!"

  His shouting attracted many onlookers.

  Xiao Jiading seemed not to have heard, walked out seven steps, stopped and turned back to look at Zhong Wenbo, smiled gloomily and said: "Let's see who is digging a dark ditch!"

  In this scene, to make money, there is no need for the likes of Li Bai or Du Fu to come out. Just finding a slightly famous poet's work will do. Slowly reciting one word at a time, the late Tang Dynasty poet Shi Jianwu's "The Remains of a Courtesan's Makeup"

  The clouded coiffure has already received the golden phoenix.

  A delicate and subtle remaining makeup.

  Unaware of the new song echoing last night

  Still in someone's house, wrapped around the beam.

  This poem describes watching a songstress get up and dress in the morning, sighing with emotion, not knowing whose house she sang at last night, and that sound still lingers on. Especially the last sentence quotes the allusion of "the residual sound lingers, three days without stopping" from Liezi·Tangwen, describing the beauty of the songstress's singing voice, very vividly, while also mixing in some vinegar intention, reflecting the fondness for this songstress.

  The scholars watching him suddenly burst into a chorus of applause, seeing that he indeed composed a poem in seven steps, and this poem was no ordinary product, they were all amazed.

  Zhong Wenbo saw that he indeed composed a poem in seven steps, and involuntarily took a breath of cold air. He looked him up and down and said: "I don't believe this poem was really thought out by you within the seven-step limit. It can't be one of your old poems that you're now showing off?"

  Xiao Jia Ding shrugged: "If you don't believe it, we can change the topic and try again. However, before that, you have to compose a poem in seven steps. Let's settle this round first."

  Zhong Wenbo looked around at the scholars staring at him and could only force himself to say: "Alright! You set the question!"

  Xiao Jia Ding had already thought of what questions to ask, and of course, he couldn't ask biased or strange questions, lest others gossip. He was betting that the other party couldn't compose a poem in seven steps. Smiling, he said: "Let's just use our own emotions, mine, yours, and those of everyone present as the topic."

  Xiao Jia Ding's three topics were based on their current mood, so as to avoid the other party from taking out poems they had written before to perfunctorily respond.

  As expected, Zhong Wenbo's face changed color after hearing it, and his mind was blank for a moment.

  Xiao Jiading said: "Seven steps into a poem! Brother can start walking now."

  Zhong Wenbo walked mechanically forward, his mind racing with thoughts, his eyes fixed on the steps ahead, but his brain was still a complete blank. He managed to take seven steps before he became so flustered that he couldn't even come up with one sentence. The crowd burst out laughing, and Zhong Wenbo felt a surge of annoyance. He turned to Xiao Jia Ding and exclaimed, "Your topic is too weird! Even you yourself can't write anything about it!"

  "Haha, brother can spend more money to try and see if I can write it out. However, you have to give me the red envelope first."