A quarter of an hour later, Zhao An rolled and crawled out of Cuilan Garden.
His face and neck were all covered with lip marks from a woman's kiss, which attracted people in the neighborhood to look at him and point their fingers.
No matter how thick-skinned Zhao An is, he can't stand it any longer.
He randomly took out a handkerchief and wiped his face, then returned to the Imperial College.
There are secrets in Cuilan Garden, and there are also secrets in the cellar.
Maybe Que'er is locked in there, but it's hard to come out openly...
Maybe they would move the person away. As for the deal with the mysterious master, they wanted to test whether the old monk could tell her true identity from her path if the two parties faced each other.
Imperial College.
The cultural exchanges between the North and the South have reached a fever pitch, with both sides winning or losing.
The competition was more intense than expected. If the poems and songs could be drawn, the Northland Holy Sect would win.
Zhao An quietly returned to the table.
Xu Ruqing asked suspiciously: "Sir, where have you gone?"
"Hey, I had a few chats with someone."
Zhao An wanted to stay away from Xu Ruqing, but she had a good nose and frowned after taking a breath.
Zhao An looked away with some guilt, and happened to make eye contact with the empress. She glared angrily, with a threatening tone.
There is no doubt that if she dares to leave at halftime again, she will definitely go crazy.
The third literary meeting has begun. Now one versus one, two out of three games. The last question is very crucial.
Huang Zhong shook the bamboo basket and took out a ball of paper with music written on it.
Zhao An secretly frowned. He was very unlucky. He didn't have many subjects, but he just didn't get poetry.
The Six Arts of a Gentleman: Ritual, Music, and the Imperial Book.
Both the North and South Holy Sects are well versed in this.
Gentlemen admire poetry, literature, and music, and this is especially true for Confucians in the feudal dynasty. The officials of the dynasty all knew some music more or less, and even if they were not very proficient, they could still tell the quality of the music.
Zhao An asked in a low voice: "Who is better at playing the piano, Miss Xu or Miss Zhou?"
"Zhou Ying's piano skills are very good. She once spent a lot of money to have people search for lost piano scores across the country."
"So strong?"
Zhao An was slightly startled and felt a little uneasy.
Poems and songs are easy to teach, but music is not so easy to teach. It all depends on one's personal understanding of elegant music.
Sure enough, Zhou Ying was the first to take the stage.
Her movements were calm and generous, her pretty face held a spring-like smile, and her slender fingers played the strings.
The beautiful sound is mesmerizing.
The Cui family members looked ugly.
Zhou Ying played "The Resentment of Guanshan", which was written by the famous Xuanyuan Sheng. It tells the story of Guanshan's war against foreigners during the reign of the late Emperor.
The song is quiet and distant at first, and peaceful, and then becomes impassioned and inspiring, just like a battle on a battlefield with smoke rising everywhere.
This piece of music is loved by everyone in contemporary music and is very popular.
As the familiar tune entered their minds, many officials shook their heads and became intoxicated.
Literati and Confucian scholars have their own thoughts of serving the country. Even if they enter the court covered in dirt, they still have to do superficial things.
Therefore, there is a popular saying among the people: I don’t know how hard it is in the first year of Guizhou, but I am lying in a high hall and watching the moon in the mountains.
It is said that the officials of the imperial court did not pay attention to the suffering of the people, and would only listen to the actors playing "Guanshan Resentment" in the Huatang to express their patriotic feelings.
He works hard to save face, but he doesn't care about people.
The empress' face fell, and Xu Ruqing and the Cui family frowned.
Zhou Ying is a complete scheming bitch.
If you really want to choose this song, how can you compare?
Even if the Cui family plays well, the officials will express their opinions in the evaluation process, favoring her to win. Then the final result of this literary meeting will be one to two, and the Zhou family will win!
Zhao An listened to the exciting melody and looked at Cui Shixiang.
The latter seemed to be aware of it and nodded secretly. Zhao An breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was confident.
The two of them hung out together a lot in the past and played some songs in private.
Cui Shixiang's attainments in music and rhythm are pretty good. As long as he can remember the repertoire played by "Zhou Huang", he doesn't need to be too brilliant. As long as he doesn't make big mistakes, he can be on par with Guan Shanyin.
After a long time, the song ended.
Zhou Ying bowed and saluted, and the audience immediately burst into thunderous applause.
"Okay, okay!"
"As expected of Miss Zhou, this song alone is enough to rank her among the world's famous artists."
All the civil and military officials praised loudly without concealing their appreciation. Although it was a bit exaggerated, Zhou Ying's performance just now was indeed perfect.
Xu Ruqing said bitterly: "Sorry, what song should I use to fight against it?"
Ordinary songs are not very popular and cannot suppress people's resentment, but the status of well-known songs in the minds of hundreds of officials is not as good as the latter, so this competition was lost from the moment Zhou Ying sat down.
Chen Yuan clapped his hands and said: "Miss Zhou is worthy of the name of a talented woman in the world. This song is a model."
"Master Chen is so complimentary."
Zhou Ying smiled even brighter, walked through the hall under the admiring eyes of everyone, and sat down while shaking her cloud dress.
The disciples of the Zhou family all straightened their backs, showing unspeakable arrogance.
On the other hand, the Cui family's children across from them all lowered their heads and sighed.
Chu Liuyun even smiled bitterly at Zhao An.
He regrets it!
If I had known this, I would have asked my husband for some famous songs, but why would I have ended up like this?
"Sir, how do you like this song, Miss Zhou?"
Chen Guogong asked deliberately, with a teasing smile written all over his old face.
When Zhou Ying heard this, her eyes swept over her, and she seemed to be looking forward to it.
Zhao An clapped his hands in front of her and praised seriously: "Mr. Chen and I agree. Miss Zhou is unparalleled in talent. This song can be called a classic."
"The young lady has thanked the gentleman, but the young lady's level is still much worse than that of the gentleman. The sir's singing of water with one hand is an unparalleled masterpiece, which is intoxicating."
Both parties pretended to be in love and business, and those who didn't know thought the relationship was very good.
The empress leaned against the dragon chair a little decadently, her heroic eyebrows furrowed tightly, and she didn't want to watch anymore.
If the Cui family is defeated, the Imperial College will not be saved.
She was unwilling to give in.
Duke Chen Guo sneered at her appearance and said to the Cui family: "Go on, I believe the Cui family's children will also perform well."
Cui Wengong secretly shook his head after hearing this.
He knows better than anyone how much his disciple weighs. Unless Zhao An comes on stage personally, there is no way he can suppress Zhou Ying.
In countless strange looks.
Chu Liuyun took a deep breath and was about to stand up. Suddenly Cui Shixiang held down his shoulders and joked: "Brother, I'll do it."
"you sure?"
Chu Liuyun was shocked.
Everyone present here also looked surprised.
Everyone knows that Cui Shixiang is a dandy. If he hadn't been the direct descendant of the Cui family, his legs would have been broken and thrown into an unknown ravine.
"Hehe, look at it."
Cui Shixiang smiled freely and swaggered onto the high platform, holding down the strings with both hands. His movements seemed a bit clumsy, but he didn't have Zhou Ying's elegance.
Zhou Ying had a sarcastic look on her pretty face.
