Chapter 253: Exquisite Couplets After Another
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT , Rock
A cold light flashed through Ling Tian’s eyes, as he spoke, "Chen’er, go and put out his fire!"
Ling Chen nodded in agreement as she stood up. Facing XiMen Qing, a look of disdain could be seen within her eyes as she thought, How could this sort of person receive the title of gifted scholar?
Her cherry red lips lightly moved as she recited without even glancing at XiMen Qing, "Rosy sky, rosy clouds, rosy skies amidst rosy clouds, sky is eternal, clouds are eternal!"
The moment this lower phrase was spoken, the entire area went silent. Not only was the lower phrase well executed, there was even a hint of an artistic expression! The surprising thing about this was the fact that this lower phrase was an absolute phrase; while XiMen Qing’s phrase was a result of his careful pondering, he might not even be able to match it to this absolute lower phrase. In this arena, all of them knew of this theory, so how could they not be shocked!
After a long while, sounds of applause rang out from the audience, continuing long without stopping!
XiMen Qing unfolded the fan he carried, lightly waving it twice as though emphasizing his elegance, the corner of his mouth curling up in a friendly smile as he praised, "A perfectly matched, fine work! This lady’s talent really leaves XiMen Qing breathless! This XiMen Qing will gladly retreat in face of your prowess, but before that, could I have the name of this Miss here? I believe that with your talent you should already be famous worldwide!
Ling Chen retorted icily, "This little girl’s name is not worth mentioning, and as for talent, that’s even more not worth bringing up. To be able to speak something of this caliber, what’s there to be proud of? Young noble XiMen is clearly exaggerating my achievements."
While Ling Chen’s words sounded like she was being humble, it was actually a means to put XiMen Qing down! Her words were indirectly saying that he had no standard, and came out with such a simple couplet to showcase his lack of literary talent simply to fish for compliments! Ling Chen had long reached her limit on how XiMen Qing was so openly against Ling Tian, and thus did not hold back on her words!
The moment she spoke, an uproar sounded through the entire arena!
Ling Chen only intended to insult XiMen Qing, but her words just now had the unintended effect of offending all those present!
All those present felt that this peerless beauty had over-exaggerated the facts a little. In the upper section of the couplet which XiMen Qing had recited previously, even after exhausting all of their efforts and ingenuity, they were unable to think of anything suitable. That already went to show how high the difficulty was. Even if this phrase were to be termed as unsolvable, it would be accepted by the masses.
This lady might have the necessary talent and happened to be able to answer it, but to actually say that it was too easy a couplet, wasn't this as good as saying that all the people gathered here were incomparable to one woman?
Based on Ling Chen’s intellect, it was impossible for her to have such a slip of the tongue. However, the continuous criticism that XiMen Qing had directed towards Ling Tian was beyond the pale for Ling Chen. Just like how Ling Tian’s reverse scale was Ling Chen herself, how could Ling Chen not have Ling Tian as hers?
But coming back to the topic, even if she said this, with her intellect, it wasn’t too far off!
XiMen Qing’s face hardened as he snapped his fan shut and coldly spoke, "To speak as such, it seems like this lady is quite the exaggerating one! Even if you have the talent, how could you look down on the various heroes of the world like that? Is this the attitude of the world famous Ling Family?"
Ling Tian interjected at this time, "Look at who’s spitting bullsh*t, dragging the various heroes into the picture just because of a lass! Young noble XiMen is really good at telling jokes! Furthermore, with such a superficial upper verse, you even dare to brag it as exquisite. The moment someone manages to answer it you fly into a rage because of the humiliation! Is this the attitude and bearing a noble is supposed to have? Is this what the XiMen family teaches? This is the famed first-rate education of the XiMen Family? This is the elegant bearing of the number one scholar? I spit on that! This is what I call having no sense of shame!"
His words were sharp and piercing, not leaving even a shred of face for the entire XiMen aristocratic family as well as XiMen Qing! The disdain in his words was obvious for all to hear!
XiMen Qing was totally unable to restrain his anger any longer, and with a swift turn of his head, he viciously faced Ling Tian and spat out, "Since young noble Ling has spoken thus, you must be an exemplary version of a young noble, unrivaled under heavens! This XiMen Qing would like to beg for your teachings!"
Ling Tian only snorted once, replying with a tone of disdain, "I don’t see myself as unrivaled, but against a kid like you, this young noble won’t have any problems."
XiMen Qing stared daggers at him with bloodshot eyes, his previous refined bearing nowhere to be seen. He spit out word by word, "I’m waiting for your enlightening remarks!"
That upper verse was something XiMen Qing had coincidentally came across, and even after racking his brains he still wasn't able to think of a matching couplet. He thought that since he was unable to think of the matching verse that it had to be a dead end and that all the scholars would definitely also find it hard to find a matching verse. However, little did he expect that when he wanted to show off, there came a lass from nowhere who easily paired it up, even causing him to be ridiculed by Ling Tian! This caused the rage to build up in XiMen Qing, almost driving him nuts, so why would he still care about any scholarly bearing?!
To match the verse was already an exceedingly difficult matter, to make it a rhyming couplet would be beyond the level of mortals! In order to keep whatever remaining face he had, XiMen Qing couldn't care any further!
Ling Tian only let out a loud laugh as he replied, "What’s the difficulty in making another?! Listen carefully, my lower verse is ‘Hear the rain pavilions, Hear the rain falling, I hear the rain falling in the rain pavilion, midnight in the rain pavilions, the raindrops fall at midnight.’ How is it?" XiMen Qing’s expression turned pale at this, swaying on the spot.
As it turns out, Ling Tian’s matching couplet was a level higher than Ling Chen’s! While ‘Poetic Stage, Poetry Talent’ was one of reality, Ling Chen’s ‘Rosy Sky, Rosy Clouds’ gave off an ethereal feeling. The antithesis was sound in her couplet, but if one were to delve further, Ling Tian’s ‘Hear the rain pavilions, Hear the rain falling’ was above it by a notch!
Ling Tian smirked as he dropped another bomb, "If you aren’t satisfied, I can give another! ‘A book pavilion, a book rustling, a book rustling in a book pavilion, book pavilions are eternal, book rustlings are eternal’. How is that? ‘Admiring the snowcaps, admiring the snowfall, admiring the snowfall while admiring the snowcaps, snowcaps of ten millennia, snowfall of ten millennia’. Hahaha, or would you prefer this oriental style more?"
XiMen Qing’s face turned a deathly white, unable to even let out a sound.
The corners of Ling Tian’s mouth now turned upwards in a teasing smile as he spoke, "Young noble XiMen, this one here also has a couplet, would it be ok if I display my mediocre skill?"
XiMen Qing’s face changed, though swayed, he was still certain of his own knowledge, and confidently replied, "Please bestow it!"
Ling Tian gave a light smile as he recited, "This is actually quite simple, my upper verse is ‘Listening for the rain pavilion, listening for the rain speaking, listening for the rain pavilion while listening to the rain speaking’!"
XiMen Qing’s face changed at this sentence. Ling Tian had purposely chosen a phrase to cause him to stumble! Ling Tian had already spoken a total of three phrases, but XiMen Qing actually couldn't come out with a sentence to reply his upper verse!
The audience went into uproar once again. Based on the rules, XiMen Qing giving out his ‘Poetry Stage, Poetry Talent’ without a matching couplet was not at all excessive, but to think that he actually couldn't match someone else’s verse, this was something unacceptable!
XiMen Qing was also someone used to thinking fast, and his face regained his composure as he replied, "As the saying goes, coming up with one is easy, but a pair difficult. From this, we can already see how much of a genius brother Ling is! But we’ve already gone through this genre too many times, and it is no longer beneficial, so we shouldn’t harp on this sort of poetry any longer!"
While his words sounded nice, but there were no fools in this crowd. Everyone knew that XiMen Qing had resorted to such a tactic because he was unable to answer the couplet!
Ling Tian laughed coldly in response, "It seems like brother XiMen couldn’t be bothered to answer my couplet. Indeed a good move, no wonder you’re the number one scholar of the XiMen Family!"
At the side, there were a few elderly scholars who were displaying their flamboyant calligraphy skills, penning down the above phrases that Ling Tian had just recited. Those who were interested gathered around the calligraphy, mulling over his verses, but the more they looked at it, the more they felt that Ling Tian’s verses were ingenious beyond words. Every single one of his verses was completely in sync with the upper verse, seemingly flawless beyond words, as though the god of poetry had personally come down for a visit, and they couldn't help but sigh in praise. To think that this infamous silkpant could actually be such a scholarly talent!
Xiao YanXue looked at the elegant and suave Ling Tian on stage, bursting with vigor and spirit, and couldn't help but rub her eyes in confusion. This, was this still the number one silkpant of Sky Bearing?
On the north side, inside the Heavenly Moon Chamber, a youth with delicate features mouthed the words of one of the lower verses Ling Tian had recited, unknowingly sighing deeply to himself. He took the piece of paper in front of him with the lower verse, ‘Viewing azure seas, viewing azure pines, viewing the azure pines and the azure sea, the infinite azure sea, the infinite azure pines’, and wadded it up, a look of shame on his face.
Based on his standard, while this ‘viewing azure sea, viewing azure pines’ was stable in the antithesis, compared to Ling Tian’s there was still a distance to go!
Ling Tian now turned his head and shouted across while smiling, "Mister, this disciple didn’t sully your reputation, right?"
Mister Qin stroked his beard and nodded his head, his face full of smiles.
The moment Ling Tian raised his voice, everybody’s attention focused on Mister Qin. The eyes of the audience were filled with admiration as well as praise to Mister Qin for having yet another prodigious disciple. Mister Qin's words were, however, full of humility as he said, "My disciple is young and rash, and thus does not display proper manners on this stage. When I go back, I will definitely take care of him!"
These words caused the various scholars to feel miffed as they thought, Just look at how you are grinning from ear to ear, it would be a wonder if you didn't praise him, let alone lecture him! Such a talent and you describe him as ‘young and rash, not displaying proper manners’! Aren’t you exaggerating a little too much?
However, to have such a talent, it would explain why Mister Qin would be so gratified. This was especially so when Ling Tian called him teacher in front of all the scholars present. While this may have seemed unbridled, all the elderly scholars present also wished that their disciples would be able to do the same so arrogantly, allowing them an extra few points of bragging rights!
XiMen Qing’s heart had long been hoping for Ling Tian to drop dead on the spot, and he could only force his face into a stiff smile, "Young noble Ling is indeed a dragon among men, XiMen Qing is thoroughly impressed!" While his mouth spoke thus, his heart was unbearably bitter about it.
Ling Tian carelessly replied, "Not at all, I know that young noble XiMen lost on purpose and you simply disdained to answer. This one merely passed the competition by a fluke, and I am actually still pretty terrified in my heart!" Hearing this, XiMen Qing’s face warped once more!
In the Heavenly Dream Chamber, Yu ManTian hollered out, "Good poetry! Indeed a good piece of poetry!" Then he grabbed the big piece of meat in front of him and took a huge bite, with grease overflowing from his mouth.