"Who’s asking for his special treatment?"
"Brother Pei is right. In my opinion, that Mr. Qingzhou is indeed talented, but not enough to compose poetry on the spot."
"I heard the few poems he composed before were all written at home."
"Indeed..."
A scholar looked at the others and shook his head. "Based on that ’Post-rain Reflections’ alone, I am not his equal."
"It’s a shame he hasn’t put brush to paper today. We’ve missed the chance to witness the elegance of his Calligraphy Dao, and his poetry is a rare sight as well."
Pei Zhaoye snorted, his face showing displeasure. "Even if he were here, his calligraphy is just good. You expect him to compose a poem?"
"I wouldn’t be so sure..."
At a table not far from the high platform.
Chen Yunfan’s face also held a hint of displeasure.
It was just that his thoughts were completely different from Pei Zhaoye’s.
He couldn’t help it.
After listening for so long, Chen Yunfan had only heard two sentences discussing him.
The first was, "What masterpiece did the Imperial Top Scholar produce today?" and the second was, "His writing is poor."
Chen Yunfan couldn’t have been more annoyed. He grumbled under his breath about people having no taste and not understanding true literary talent.
Cui Qingwu, beside him, heard him clearly but pretended she hadn’t.
After all, she couldn’t offer words of comfort at a time like this. That would only embarrass a talented scholar even more.
So, she spent most of her time chatting with Xiao Wan’er.
Perhaps because they were of similar age and family background, they had grown quite familiar with each other after spending the better part of an hour together.
In Cui Qingwu’s eyes, this eldest daughter of the Xiao Family had a gentle personality, but she lacked the arrogance common to those from great Noble Families.
In comparison, she herself felt full of the typical faults of a spoiled young lady.
Thus, in their conversation, Cui Qingwu felt a degree of admiration for Xiao Wan’er—she was truly gentle, dignified, and graceful.
As pure and holy as a lotus flower.
In turn, Xiao Wan’er also had a good impression of Cui Qingwu.
At least, she felt more relaxed with her than with Liu Zhaoxue of the Jing State Liu Family.
Just then, Xiao Wuge looked left and right, but still seeing no sign of Chen Yi and Pei Guanli, he couldn’t help but tug on Xiao Wan’er’s sleeve.
"Sister, isn’t brother-in-law back yet?"
Xiao Wan’er hummed in response. She was even more attentive to the situation in the courtyard than Xiao Wuge, glancing over from time to time.
It had even affected her focus while she was chatting with Cui Qingwu.
"He might have been held up by something. I’ll take you to find him later."
Xiao Wuge said, "Oh," and then watched the surrounding scholars engage in their lofty discussions, bored. He thought to himself:
’A so-called "scholar" should be a person of both talent and virtue.’
’The people here don’t seem to match what my brother-in-law said at all...’
Overhearing their conversation, Chen Yunfan gestured to Cui Qingwu, signaling her to keep a close eye on Xiao Wan’er.
Chen Yi had gone to the trouble of asking him for one favor, and he didn’t want anything to go wrong on his watch.
Cui Qingwu nodded, but a question couldn’t help but surface in her mind again.
"Brother Yunfan, did Chen Yi not say where he was going earlier?"
"No, but he probably didn’t go far. After all, with that girl from the Mountain Race’s Cultivation..."
Before Chen Yunfan could finish, he suddenly turned his head to look at the courtyard gate.
Cui Qingwu did the same.
Faintly, they both heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from outside the courtyard.
Just as they were wondering, they heard someone shout from outside the gate, "Sirs, Mr. Qingzhou has written a new poem!"
"As the poem was completed, over at Quchi, an Immortal Realm appeared!"
"An Immortal Realm?"
Chen Yunfan and Cui Qingwu exchanged a look, both of them thinking of Chen Yi’s Perfection Realm of Calligraphy Dao.
Realizing what had happened, Chen Yunfan shrank back, wishing he could become invisible.
’I knew Brother Yi couldn’t possibly keep a low profile today.’
’So instead of showing off at the poetry gathering, he ran off to Quchi and whipped up some "Immortal Realm."’
’Sigh... "With Yi already born, why was Fan ever created?" Being his elder brother is just too hard.’
Cui Qingwu knew he didn’t really mean it and said with a smile, "Aren’t you curious what poetry Chen Yi wrote?"