After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Sixteen-year-old Hongping was taken aback. He turned his head to look at the three great Confucian scholars seated at the head of the table, as well as the twenty or so great Confucian scholars and students to his left, and called out:

"Hey, are Ning Jiexiao's five poems any good?"

Everyone was taken aback, and in an instant, they began to whisper and murmur among themselves.

The room erupted in uproar.

The scholar on the far left at the head of the table, wearing a melon-shaped hat, stroked his beard and commented:

"This poem, 'Nanxiangzi,' with the lines 'Where can I gaze upon the Central Plains? The scenery of Beigu Tower fills my eyes,' is unrestrained and bold, employing numerous and precise allusions, making it a truly magnificent work."

"Brother Ge is right. However, in my opinion..."

Another erudite scholar, skin and bones, dressed in black:

"This poem, 'Ugly Slave,' with the first line, 'Forcing myself to write new words, I feign sorrow,' surpasses eighty percent of all poems in the world. The second line, 'Yet I say, "How pleasant is the cool autumn day," surpasses ninety percent of the remaining twenty percent. It is truly the best. This poem is so sincere and genuine that it makes this old man quite ashamed."

"What Elder Zou said is absolutely right, but this poem, 'Dian Jiang Chun,' is exquisitely beautiful and novel..."

"This poem, 'Swinging inside the wall, walking outside the wall,' is truly the best. I have never seen anything so fresh and refined. In my opinion, it is no less than Ning Baixuan's 'Cold and Desolate.'"

"No, no, in terms of grandeur and exquisite diction, 'Nanxiangzi' is still the best..."

"Ugly Slave is truly the best..."

In an instant, twenty or thirty people started arguing. They were commenting on the poems and debating which one should be the best.

The dozen or so royal princes on the right were all dressed in the same python robe.

Except for the yellow sash tied around the waist of the twelve-year-old Eighth Prince Fu Hui at the very front.

The others, including Hongfeng sitting next to Fuhui, all wore red sashes around their waists.

This argument was made in front of everyone.

Fu Hui's face showed impatience.

The somewhat short and stout Hongping exclaimed, "Hey! Just tell me if it's good or bad? Can it crush Ning Baixuan? Why all this nonsense?"

The commotion in the room immediately came to a halt.

The crowd looked at each other, and soon their gazes all turned toward the three great scholars at the head of the table.

The renowned scholar Chen Zhaolun of Jintai Academy, stroking his beard, slowly said:

"Young master, in our opinion..."

He solemnly said:

"This Ning Jiexiao is indeed a peerless genius of our Great Qing! He is in no way inferior to Ning Baixuan of the Southern Dynasty!"

Fu Hui's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"By the Eighth Prince," Chen Zhaolun nodded, "Every word I have said comes from the bottom of my heart. If any wise man has any objections, he may raise them and write a poem to dampen Ning Jiexiao's arrogance."

His eyes swept over the rows of learned scholars and Confucian gentlemen sitting to his left.

Everyone naturally shook their heads repeatedly, saying, "No objection," "No objection," "Ning Jiexiao is indeed a great talent"...

These words were, of course, sincere.

It could even be said that they were quite shocked when they saw today's newspaper.

Ning Jiexiao previously only had a copy of the Wei stele calligraphy and some fragments of poems, but who would have thought?

Those fragments actually turned out to be the complete poem!

Moreover, the moment the other party made a move, they felt a sense of awe and wonder, and even began to doubt whether it was Ning Jiexiao who had done it.

Especially Chen Zhaolun, who had previously written the first part of the poem "Ugly Slave," but the original lyrics were naturally much better than his.

However… if they were to say that Ning Jiexiao was stronger than Ning Baixuan, they simply couldn't bring themselves to say it. They could only say that he was "no weaker than Ning Baixuan."

Upon hearing what these pedantic scholars said, Fu Hui and the others all showed joy on their faces.

The young man holding the snuff bottle asked, "Eighth Prince, what about the Fourth Prince...?"

Fu Hui waved her hand and said, "My fourth brother went to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager and will be here soon."

His eyes lit up, and he looked at everyone and said, "Hey, isn't Ning Baixuan here today to apologize to Brother Feng?"

"When he arrives, we'll make him compose a poem, like that 'Nanxiangzi,' something better than Ning Jiexiao's, to apologize to Brother Feng."

"If he can't write it, it means he looks down on Feng Ge'er, so let's beat him up! He can't even write five poems, so he looks down on our dynasty. His apology is insincere, he deserves to be beaten to death!"

In this way...

They not only utterly humiliated Ning Baixuan, but also had a legitimate reason to kill him. That's what you call having a just cause!

"Good!" The snuff bottle maker was the first to shout in approval.

The other dozen or so royal princes also had their eyes light up and cheered loudly.

Only Hongfeng, sitting next to Fuhui, had his hands on the armrests of the chair, his eyes downcast, and remained silent.

Fu Hui glanced at him and, seeing that Hong Feng remained silent, felt displeased.

Fu Hui felt that you had lost face by going south, and now that we were standing up for you, you were acting so unwilling. It was infuriating. Fu Hui couldn't help but feel annoyed and looked down on you.

However, the other party's father was Prince Yi. Although he was young, he knew that his father, the Emperor, valued his thirteenth uncle highly, so he couldn't just say that the other party's son was "bad".

He was a little unsure what to say.

At this moment, the waiter came in with a piece of paper, kowtowed, and said, "Your Excellencies, someone has sent over a piece of paper, asking me to deliver it to the Prince of Yi's residence."

Hongfeng was puzzled. "Looking for me?" He waved his hand.

The waiter got up and handed the note to Hongfeng.

In the brightly lit room, Hongfeng opened it and took a look.

It contained only seven small characters in the official script style:

"The cave, the old friend, the Four Seas Pavilion."

…………

Sihailou.

Inside the private room.

Ning Nan folded the newspaper, somewhat speechless.

"Heh," Master Ning shook his head and chuckled twice.

The moment he saw the newspaper, he understood what Emperor Hongli was planning when he invited Ning Jiexiao to the Du Lou Poetry Gathering last night.

This left him speechless for a long time.

In the newspaper, the other party made no mention of the original authors of the poems, Su Dongpo and Jiaxuan Gong, but instead attributed them all to Ning Jiexiao, which is understandable.

Only by placing all the blame on Ning Jiexiao can Ning Jiexiao overpower Ning Baixuan.

If the task is divided among three people, it will inevitably be suspected of "using more people to fight fewer people," and it will not achieve the effect of suppressing "Ning Baixuan."

Ning Nan slammed the folded newspaper on the table and ignored it.

Ning Baixuan would naturally not attend such a boring poetry gathering, so let Ning Jiexiao win.

Qian Sijin stood guard outside the door, while Su Su Fox and Master Xu were sent to another private room by him.

Ning Nan took a sip of tea.

He has only one goal today.

They reached an agreement with Hongfeng, and the two of them submitted a petition at the same time, saying that the matter was a misunderstanding, and that it was just a quarrel between the two of them, and not a big deal.

The top scholar from Ning wrote a calligraphy piece with the words "harmony between generals and ministers" and presented it to him, and the two reconciled.

thus.

Whether it's the audience with Emperor Yongzheng tomorrow or the subsequent negotiations between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Northern Dynasty will have no way to use this matter against them.

As for what happened next... Master Ning took the cup off his lips and wiped the water off the rim with his thumb... Hong Feng must have been trying to kill him by any means necessary.

But that's a story for another time.

First, deal with the "open attacks" to ensure the smooth progress of the peace talks, and then deal with the "hidden attacks."

With a bang, the door to the private room was pushed open.

Prince Hongfeng, wearing a melon-shaped hat with a white cloth visible under the brim, a blue python robe, and a red sash around his waist, pushed open the door and entered with a gloomy expression.

Ning Nan picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for the other person, then smiled and said, "Oh, Seventh Young Master."

…………

When Hongli finished paying his respects to the Empress Dowager and arrived at Qipan Street, it was noon.

He sat in an ordinary elmwood carriage, followed by about ten riders dressed in black riding jackets.

As they approached Du Lou, the carriage curtain was lifted.

Unexpectedly, they saw a group of men in python robes rushing out of Du Lou in a menacing manner, followed by a long line of scholars and Confucian scholars wearing scholar robes and square scarves.

When the large group of bondservants outside Du Lou saw their masters come out, they hurriedly went to greet them.

"Eighth brother?" Hongli looked at his younger brother leading the way, and found it strange.

I don't know where they're going.

Just then, he saw everyone rushing into the Sihai Tower next to Du Tower, shouting, "Feng Ge'er! Ning Baixuan!"

"Ning Baixuan?" Hongli's eyes lit up. "Ning Baixuan really came?! At Sihai Tower?"

The carriage stopped in front of Du Lou.

Hongli urged the groom to hurry forward.

Upon arriving at Sihai Tower, Hongli jumped off the carriage.

Footsteps and a series of knocks echoed inside the Sihai Building.

Hongli chuckled, feeling that his arrival was perfectly timed, and stepped into Sihailou.

The second floor and the stairs were already packed with people.

He looked up, his expression suddenly changed to one of surprise, and then his eyes lit up with unexpected joy.

On the second floor, right in front of a private room, stood Hong Feng, and... Ning Jiexiao!

"Hey! He read the newspaper? Came to see what's going on?"

The thought flashed through my mind quickly.

Hongli waved his hand happily and shouted at the top of his lungs towards the second floor.