Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 49 Writing Poetry and Cockfighting

Li Xian felt that his worries were completely unnecessary.

Liu Jianjun can quickly become friends with anyone.

At this moment, Liu Jianjun greeted Li Xian while introducing the dishes: "This is beef tripe. I don't know if you guys are used to it, but this is a must-have for hot pot! Come on, Xianzi, you should try it!"

Then, she thoughtfully boiled a pig's trotter and put it in the bowl, saying, "Girls should eat more of this; it's good for beauty and health!"

Then, Li Xian saw Taiping obediently pick up a pig's trotter, put it in his mouth, and then praise with shining eyes: "Delicious!"

This girl clearly hates it when people touch the things in her bowl!

"My dear son, eat some beef tongue. You are what you eat!" Liu Jianjun picked up another strange piece and put it into his bowl.

Li Xian ate it in a daze.

Mmm, delicious.

……

Li Xian suddenly realized that hot pot was really good.

The four of them sat around a table, eating heartily and chatting idly while the food was being cooked. The wide-ranging conversation completely dispelled any awkwardness between Li Xian, Li Xian, and Taiping that had arisen from not seeing each other for so long.

Taiping reverted to her usual lively self, resting her elbows on the table, her chin on her hands, and looking at Liu Jianjun with sparkling eyes, she asked, "Second brother said you wrote a poem back then, what was it called?"

That's so cute!

Just make sure she doesn't hold the chopsticks with the hand that's supporting her chin.

The bright red soup was almost dripping onto her face.

"What do you mean 'oh dear'! That's called 'the road to Shu is difficult'!" Liu Jianjun scoffed, then reminded him, "Hey, your pig's trotters are cooked!"

Taiping hurriedly reached out with his chopsticks to pick up the pig's trotter, but he couldn't manage to pick it up because it was too slippery.

Liu Jianjun handed him a strainer from the side and said, "Use this. Reciting 'The Road to Shu is Hard' won't make much sense. I'll recite a new one for you!"

As he spoke, Liu Jianjun cleared his throat and recited in a solemn tone: "The city walls guard the three Qin regions, and the smoke and mist overlook the Five Jin rivers. Parting from you, we are both officials traveling far from home. Though we are separated by oceans, true friends are never far apart..."

Before Liu Jianjun could finish reading, Taiping burst into laughter, saying, "You're such a smooth talker! This is clearly written by Prince An, who used to work for my second brother!"

"Huh? Is this poem by Wang Bo? Haha!" Liu Jianjun laughed awkwardly.

Li Xian suddenly felt a little worried.

If things continue like this, my sister might really get a divorce from that scoundrel Xue Shao when she goes back!
Taiping was the youngest among her siblings and the most favored by her mother. In the past, her mother thought that Xue Shao's sister-in-law, Xiao Shi and Cheng Shi, were not of noble birth and even wanted to force the Xue family to divorce her. If it weren't for someone saying that Xiao Shi came from the Lanling Xiao family and was not from a poor family, her younger sister would not have married into the family!
Later, their wedding banquet was even more extravagant, with the torches used for lighting so intense that they scorched the trees along the way. In order to allow the large wedding car to pass, the walls of the county hall had to be demolished.

Given how favored she is, if she were to go back and divorce that brat Xue Shao, her mother would definitely be the first to support her!
"Alright, no more fuss, I'll give you a proper song." Liu Jianjun cleared his throat, looked towards the distant Zhongnan Mountains, and began to recite:
"The shady slopes of Zhongnan Mountain are beautiful, with snow piled up at the edge of the clouds. The forest reveals a clear sky after the rain, while the city grows colder at dusk!"

Li Xian was taken aback, and his gaze unconsciously turned towards the distant Zhongnan Mountain.

Although much of the snow in Chang'an has melted in the past few days, the summit of Zhongnan Mountain is still covered with snow. After the rain and snow cleared, the sunlight shone on the treetops, but a chill permeated the city.

A good poem.

This poem is excellent in terms of both rhyme and form. The only shortcoming is that Liu Jianjun forcibly changed "morning" to "evening" in order to make the rhyme.

Although this poem is not as good as "The Road to Shu is Hard," it's still remarkable that it was written in such a short time...

Liu Jianjun is indeed a talented poet!

Taiping's eyes seemed to be shining as he looked at Liu Jianjun, murmuring, "The forest reveals a clear sky after the rain, and the city grows colder at dusk... Second brother was right after all, what is the name of your poem?"

“Hmm… let’s call it ‘Looking at the Remaining Snow on Zhongnan Mountain’!” Liu Jianjun said after thinking for a while. “Good! Looking at the Remaining Snow on Zhongnan Mountain! Let’s drink a big cup!” Taiping suddenly picked up a piece of tripe with his chopsticks, raised it above his head and shouted, “Second brother! Tell your servants to bring some wine!”

Li Xian's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Absolutely! Absolutely! Fine wine goes perfectly with hot pot!"

It seems that Taiping has been won over.

Helpless, Li Xian could only send his servants to prepare some more wine. He remembered that Liu Jianjun liked to drink Sanlejiang, so he specifically instructed them to "bring Sanlejiang".

But before the rooster dunk arrived, the servants who brought the fighting cocks arrived first.

A dozen or so servants each carried two chicken coops, bringing with them all of Li Xian's wealth.

Li Xian was completely captivated by cockfighting, forgetting even his hotpot. He ordered the servants from Li Xian's household to set up a makeshift "fighting arena," then shouted at Liu Jianjun, "Poetry talent, you're something else!" Li Xian gave a thumbs-up and added, "But when it comes to cockfighting, I'm not convinced!"

Liu Jianjun exclaimed "Yo!" and walked over to Li Xian, asking, "How do we fight?"

Li Xian directly picked up his Grand Marshal of the Expeditionary Army and said, "You can choose any fighting cock here! Whoever can beat my Grand Marshal of the Expeditionary Army is the strongest!"

"You said it yourself!" Liu Jianjun walked to the side, picked up a fighting rooster without even looking at it.

Li Xian was somewhat worried.

Although the fighting cocks raised by Li Xian were all pretty much the same, it was obvious that the fighting cock in Liu Jianjun's hands was inferior to Li Xian's Grand Marshal of the Expeditionary Army in terms of appearance alone.

Li Xian could see it, and Li Xian could naturally see it too, and immediately sneered: "You don't even know how to judge a rooster?"

Liu Jianjun said nonchalantly, "You'll see after you compete!"

Seeing Liu Jianjun say this, Li Xian didn't stand on ceremony. He picked up the Grand Marshal of the Expedition and took the wine with him. At this moment, the servant who was supposed to bring the wine arrived. He took a swig of wine and spat it all over the Grand Marshal of the Expedition's head.

Li Xian knew that this was because the cockfighting cock's body would heat up during the fight, and the purpose of spraying alcohol was to make it more comfortable so that it could continue fighting.

But Liu Jianjun didn't seem to understand. He just held the fighting rooster in his hand and muttered to its head, "From now on, you are the second Mighty General. If you can't beat that Marshal on the other side, I'll put you in the pot tomorrow!"

Li Xian found it amusing. This chicken couldn't understand human speech, so what was the point of Liu Jianjun threatening it?

At this moment, Li Xian had already placed the Grand Marshal of the Expedition into the arena, and then looked at Liu Jianjun provocatively.

Liu Jianjun patted his majestic General No. 2 dog's rear end a few times and continued, "Remember this! You choose whether to defeat the enemy or be cooked!"

Then, they threw the Mighty General No. 2 into the cockfighting arena as well.

as predicted.

As soon as the two fighting cocks met, Liu Jianjun's Mighty General No. 2 showed a cowardly attitude, while the Grand Marshal of the Expeditionary Army had a strong desire to attack, almost jumping up and down to attack Mighty General No. 2.

In just a few exchanges, the Mighty General No. 2 was already showing signs of defeat.

Li Xianzheng thought Liu Jianjun was doomed, but then, something astonishing happened.

The Grand Marshal's desire to attack seemed to be weakening, and instead he began to keep circling around the Mighty General No. 2.

But General No. 2 behaved even more strangely. At first, it seemed impatient and pecked at the Grand Marshal of the Conquerors with its beak. When it saw that it could not drive away the Grand Marshal of the Conquerors, it finally seemed to get angry and kept attacking the Grand Marshal of the Conquerors. It even flapped its wings and jumped up to grab the Grand Marshal of the Conquerors with its sharp claws.

At this point, the Grand Marshal of the Expeditionary Army behaved even more strangely.

No matter how the Mighty General No. 2 attacked, it neither dodged nor avoided, but instead kept sticking close to the Mighty General No. 2, not only letting it peck and claw at it, but even actively bringing its head closer.

Hell?
……

　Well, it seems you guys don't like things that are too cutesy.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)