Cui Qingwu chuckled, covering her mouth. "I would have thought Brother Yunfan would be happy for Chen Yi."
"Happy? Oh, I’m thrilled."
Beside them, Li Huai’gu could understand Chen Yunfan’s feelings. He shook his head and said,
"Now that Brother Qingzhou has produced a poem like this, I’m afraid none of us will ever be able to compare."
The sentiment resonated deeply with Chen Yunfan.
By now, most of the people, both on the high platform and below it, had heard what had transpired. All of them had complex feelings about it.
Mr. Yue Ming, however, had lost his earlier composure. He stroked the beard on his chin, exclaiming in admiration,
"A masterpiece, an absolute masterpiece..."
"So powerful and majestic, with such a magnificent Mental Realm... Truly, I have never seen its like in all my life."
Lord Liu smiled and nodded. "It’s a pity Qingzhou isn’t here. Otherwise, we could have witnessed his ’Immortal Realm’ for ourselves."
Yang Ye, who had been sitting ramrod straight, offered a rare agreement. "Qingzhou’s poem is exceptionally well-written. If we could but see the original manuscript, this trip would not have been in vain."
Seeing these three major figures speak, Mr. Zhuo Ying and the others had to hold back their own praise for Chen Yi’s poem for the time being.
Lord Liu looked at Lord Yang and asked with a gentle smile, "Lord Yang, you’ve met Qingzhou before. What kind of young man is he?"
"Him? He’s just like his older brother, Yunfan. Both of them are a handful."
"Oh?"
"To be comparable to the current Imperial Top Scholar... He must be quite remarkable."
Lord Yang glanced at him. "Lord Liu, since when have you taken such an interest in Qingzhou?"
The words may have been casual, but they struck a chord with the listeners.
Even Mr. Yue Ming, Mr. Zhuo Ying, and the others turned to look at Lord Liu, their expressions unreadable.
Everyone present knew Lord Liu’s identity. They also knew that the Jing State Liu Family and the Xiao Family had been at odds recently.
Furthermore, they knew that just this afternoon, Lord Liu had been reprimanded by the Holy Emperor over the burning of the summer grain supply in Iron Wall Town.
So, when they heard Lord Yang’s question, their interest was naturally piqued.
Lord Liu calmly swept his gaze across the crowd before it landed on Lord Yang. He replied with a smile,
"Mr. Qingzhou is so young and so talented. Remaining with the Xiao Family is not a sustainable long-term plan for him."
That single sentence was enough for Lord Yang to understand. ’He wants Chen Yi to enter officialdom?’
He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "To each their own path. Qingzhou is currently at Guiyun Academy with Mr. Yue Ming. His talent will have its chance to shine there."
Mr. Yue Ming nodded. "Unfortunately, he is incorrigibly lazy. Even I cannot persuade him otherwise."
Hearing this, Mr. Zhuo Ying said with a smile, "There’s no need to persuade him, Headmaster. Qingzhou has his own plans. It’s better for him to stay with our academy."
"Haha, Zhuo Ying is right."
Han Zhangping, Si Feng, and the others could clearly see the pride in the two men’s expressions, and they couldn’t help but feel a little envious.
After all, who wouldn’t want an instructor at the Perfection Realm of Calligraphy Dao in their own academy?
What’s more, he was capable of writing a timeless masterpiece like "When will the bright moon appear?"
Just then, Lord Liu said with a smile, "The result is already clear. Brother Ming, why don’t you go ahead and announce it?"
"With a gem like Qingzhou’s poem presented first, I imagine all the students present will accept the outcome without complaint."
Mr. Yue Ming glanced at him, then at the others present, and nodded with a smile.
"In that case, it would be rude of me to refuse."
That’s what he said, anyway. He had already made up his mind to give Chen Yi a piece of his mind later.
’Why couldn’t he have written it earlier? He just had to wait until the last possible moment to produce such a stunning masterpiece.’
’Making me worry for nothing for so long.’
A short while later, Mr. Zhuo Ying rose to announce the results. "Today’s Poetry Champion is—from Guiyun Academy, Chen Yi, also known as Chen Qingzhou!"
"Let us all appreciate the poem he has written!"
"*Song of the Water Melody*. When will the bright moon appear..."
Most people could accept this result. When faced with such superior talent, further argument was pointless.
Even the resentful Pei Zhaoye could only grit his teeth and swallow his pride.
Meanwhile, Liu Zhaoxue, sitting among the attendees, couldn’t stop frowning to herself.
She had known all along that Yan Fusha was going to make a move and test Chen Yi.
’But I can’t fathom under what circumstances Yan Fusha would be stupid enough to have Chen Yi compose a poem.’
’Isn’t he afraid of being discovered?’
But thoughts were just thoughts. There was nothing Liu Zhaoxue could do now but hope that Yan Fusha and the members of the Five Poison Sect wouldn’t be found out.
’At the very least, they can’t implicate me.’