I just wrote a love poem, how did that make me so powerful?

But in Lin Yizhi's painting, there was a young woman leading a horse and holding a flower in her hand.

His flower motifs are not as intricate as Chen Shijin's, but his horses are painted with greater detail, each mane clearly defined, and their forms balanced and fluid. Moreover, their hooves are raised high…

The woman held a flower to her nose and gently smelled it, her posture elegant.

Zou Linchuan examined it for a moment: "The brushstrokes are exquisite, and you can even see the fragrance. But what about 'treading on flowers'? You think just raising the horse's legs means treading on flowers? The horse hasn't even touched the ground yet, so where are the flowers being trampled?"

Lin Yizhi stood up to argue, but Zou Linchuan waved his hand, "You are slightly better than Chen Shijin, but you didn't hit the mark either."

Zou Linchuan took a few more steps and walked to the last painting. He stood there, motionless.

Time seemed to stretch out instantly.

The room was quiet except for the sound of the wind rustling through the locust tree leaves.

Zou Linchuan bent down and looked closer.

A fine horse gallops homeward. Distant mountains are rendered in light ink, the setting sun casts its light on the grass and trees. Amidst the dust kicked up by the horse, three or five butterflies flutter and chase each other, while only a single, withered petal remains in the scene.

Zou Linchuan picked up the painting and stared at it for a long time.

The room quieted down as the students, curious, all wanted to see what was going on.

After glancing at it a few times, they all started commenting.

"What kind of flower is this?"

"It looks like it's not finished; it's only half done."

"Yes, yes, just a few butterflies and a petal, that's why it's not finished."

Zou Linchuan looked up and asked, "Whose work is this?"

Xu Qing stood up and cupped his hands in greeting, "Sir, this is mine."

Zou Linchuan looked at it carefully again, staring at the butterfly chasing the horse's hooves. After a long silence, he smiled.

"Good! Good! Good!"

He said "good" three times.

This praise left everyone speechless.

"What's so good about him?"

"It's not that I don't understand, it's just that the world is changing too fast."

"Forgive my ignorance, I really don't understand, I just can't understand it..."

The others started talking amongst themselves.

Zou Linchuan gave a soft hum.

"You guys are so young. It's one thing if you can't draw it yourself, but I've already explained how good it is, and you still don't understand? Listen up!"

Zou Linchuan held up the painting.

"Come, come, all of you, come and take a look."

The crowd gathered around.

"See that? That's incense." Zou Linchuan pointed to the butterflies.

"Look what he drew! A butterfly is chasing a horse's hooves. Why is the butterfly chasing the horse? The horse's hooves have stepped over flowers, picking up pollen and fragrance. The horse has gone far away, but the fragrance remains on its hooves, and the butterfly comes to follow the scent."

He looked around and said seriously:

"Some of you paint flower petals, some paint fallen petals, and no matter how you paint, the flowers are still on the canvas. But when the viewer sees the painting, they immediately think, 'What do you call this fragrance?'"

He paused, then continued.

"Look at this painting, are there many flowers in it?"

Everyone shook their heads. "No, just one petal."

Several people spoke in unison.

"Yes, just one petal."

Zou Linchuan nodded heavily.

"Although it's just one petal, far fewer than yours, when you see it, can you immediately imagine the fragrance of flowers on a horse's hooves?"

The room fell silent again.

Someone whispered, "I know... if a butterfly flies after a horse's hooves, there must be a fragrance of flowers on the hooves."

Zou Linchuan continued, "That's right, that's what you call the fragrance of flowers. Look, some of you even draw incense burners... I think you look like an incense burner."

Amidst the uproarious laughter, Zou Linchuan jokingly patted the table.

"With minimal strokes, the fragrance lingers most profoundly. It allows people to imagine that the fragrance exists beyond the painting, within their hearts—this associative ability is truly remarkable. Moreover, this association is directional, allowing you to fully imagine without needing to guess."

When the onlookers looked back at the painting, their gazes had completely changed.

The horse, its mane and tail swishing, galloped into the distance, its hooves treading on the fallen leaves and grass along the path.

Its path led to the sunset and distant mountains, past the unseen sea of ​​flowers it had just galloped through. The sea of ​​flowers must have been a riot of color, otherwise how could such a strong fragrance have lingered on the horse's hooves, attracting butterflies to follow it all the way?

But you just can't see that flower; it's completely hidden by the path home outside the frame. Only the butterflies know where it is.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

Zou Linchuan looked at the painting over and over, unable to put it down.

Chen Shijin didn't move. Although he didn't look at them, he already knew the outcome from the paintings.

Unexpectedly, I thought Xu Qing's painting skills were average and that he would definitely beat me, or that Tingzhu Academy would be able to gain the upper hand.

Who knew that Xu Qing would turn the tables like that?

He thought about his paintings: peonies, peonies, roses, with layered petals and delicate stamens, every detail carefully considered and every color repeatedly pondered.

In terms of painting skills, it is already the pinnacle in Hengyang County.

But Xu Qing didn't focus on technique; instead, he tried to overtake others by taking shortcuts.

After all, realistic painting and freehand painting have always been two schools of ink and wash painting.

There is no such thing as one person being guaranteed to win.

However, Xu Qing's ability to stay on topic left others speechless.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it works like this. How can I possibly beat him?"

Chen Shijin punched his leg hard; his meticulously crafted test questions had still failed him...

Chen Chengbo sat to the side, his folding fan remaining unopened.

He waited for this result, his expression unchanged, and simply placed the fan on the table.

……

Xiao Mingyuan and Li Yan silently gave Xu Qing a thumbs up.

Their mouths were forming the shape of one word: "cow".

Xu Qing sat down again, her face showing little surprise.

He didn't look at Chen Chengbo, but he knew very well that although he had won the first round, Chen Chengbo would definitely not let the exam end like this.

The next round will definitely be off-topic again...

……

After the painting competition ended, the atmosphere in the room clearly split into two groups.

At Songlin Academy, several students wore undisguised smiles.

While those at Tingzhu Academy weren't exactly dejected, the initial enthusiasm they had when they first arrived had largely dissipated.

Chen Chengbo remained seated to the side. He glanced coldly at Xue Wenyuan, then at Zou Linchuan.

"Two more rounds, let's continue. Now it's Mr. Xue's turn to ask the questions."

The second game was a strategy discussion.

Xue Wenyuan stood up, cleared his throat, and announced the topic.

"The topics for policy essays have always focused on national welfare and the people's livelihood. Today, I won't choose a particularly difficult topic. It will simply be something like floods, droughts, food shortages, border affairs, and so on. So today's topic is: What should be done if Hengyang County experiences a food shortage?"

The room fell silent immediately after he said that.

As he said, policy essays were the standard questions for the imperial examinations, and placing them in a competition between academies was not considered off-topic.

However, the topic of food shortage is not a popular one in Hengyang County.

It happens to be stuck in the online world, which most people have some knowledge of but are not proficient in.

It's neither the kind of grand, people-oriented philosophy that everyone can recite, nor is it a tricky problem that requires practical experience to solve.

Xiao Mingyuan sat next to Xu Qing. After hearing the question, he touched his double chin and leaned over to ask a question in a low voice.

"How do you write 'food shortage'?"

Xu Qing didn't answer immediately, but wrote a few words on the paper and then whispered them.

"If you want to participate in this question, listen to how others answer it first, and don't rush to write. When it comes to policy essays, the thought process is more important than the writing style."

Xiao Mingyuan nodded and put down his pen, then listened attentively.

However, his participation in the policy discussion question caused some people to murmur among themselves.

"Am I seeing things? Xiao Mingyuan is going to volunteer to write the policy proposal?"

"I admit that his previous poems were of high quality, but he had never answered the policy essay questions before. Why did he insist on taking them this time?"

"What else can we do? He's not good at drawing, and if he doesn't participate in this, based on his usual grades, he definitely won't get a spot in the county exam."

"If you ask me, this is like forcing a duck onto a shelf. It would be better not to do it at all, otherwise we'll be the ones who lose face for Songlin Academy."

"Exactly, I can't afford to lose face like that."

Xu Qing glanced at it from the side.

These people who were muttering were all those who had previously sided with Chen Shijin.

When Chen Shijin wasn't around for a while, they all kept a low profile.

Now that Chen Shijin and Chen Chengbo are around, they're starting to cause trouble again.

Since they've put their faces up there, we should give them a good beating.