Li Yao couldn't be bothered with these matters either. She looked at Wang Er and asked softly, "Why aren't you presenting the usual couplets?"
"Mother, those weren't made up by me, so of course I can't present them."
The boy was honest - he resolutely refused to use things that weren't his own.
"So you can't come up with any of these couplets?"
"These first lines are all very ingenious, I really can't match them."
"Not even the last one?"
"This..."
Facing Li Yao's gaze, Wang Er felt a little nervous inside and stammered, not knowing what to do.
"Is it that you can't match it, or you dare not match it?" Li Yao asked.
"It's...I dare not."
Hearing that it wasn't that he couldn't match it but rather didn't dare to, Song County Magistrate suddenly became spirited.
Having lost so badly today, it would be good if he could regain some ground.
"Wang Er," Song County Magistrate said, "If you can match it, go ahead and do so. Prefect Li and I will not blame you for it."
"That's right, young people should be more daring." Li Prefect also said.
"Alright, then I'll match it!"
Wang Er stepped forward, his expression solemn.
Insulting him was fine.
Insulting the scholars of Baichuan County was fine.
But insulting his mother Li Yao was absolutely unacceptable!
"Your first line is: Western birds fly east, phoenixes find it hard to stand anywhere on the ground."
"Correct," said Xu Youcai. "What's your matching line?"
Wang Er stepped forward two paces and said in a deep voice, "My matching line is: Southern unicorns go north, all the beasts on the mountains bow their heads low."
Putting aside whether it matched neatly or not, just his momentum already completely overwhelmed the first line.
If you compare me to a common bird, then I'll compare you to a beast!
At this point even Li Prefect's expression became extremely ugly.
Because he was sitting directly north - wasn't he being called a beast as well?
"Wang Er, you're so audacious!" Xu Youcai yelled loudly. "How dare you insult Prefect Li like this? Kneel down and apologize immediately!"
"Who are you to speak here?" Li Yao let out a cold snort.
Indeed, having an official rank of 7th pin here was still quite useful in front of these scholars.
Although displeased, Xu Youcai didn't dare offend her, and could only stand silently at the side swallowing his anger.
But keeping Xu Youcai down was one thing, there was still Li Prefect to deal with.
Now it depended on Song County Magistrate.
"Hahaha, well matched! Such youthful vigor, you're as fiery as I was back in the day." Song County Magistrate said, "As for insulting others, as long as you don't explicitly refer to anyone, it doesn't count. Isn't that right, Prefect Li?"
With his own words used against him, Li Prefect also found it hard to vent his anger.
He waved his hand and said, "The matching is decent, though it's easy to offend people."
"Prefect Li," said Wang Er, "If not for others' provocation first, I would certainly never have responded this way. Also, this couplet can be altered."
"How so?"
"Change it to: Southern unicorns go north, all the beasts on the mountains also bow their heads."
Li Prefect pondered - with this change, there really was no more insulting language.
The momentum was still strong, continuing to overwhelm the first line.
If Li Prefect insisted on defending Xu Youcai, his bias would be too obvious.
He hadn't expected this Wang Er to actually have some literary talent, not just empty fame.
"Now it's time for the Baichuan scholars to present the final first line."
Having barely managed to match the previous line, although the Baichuan scholars were greatly encouraged, not one of them dared continue presenting first lines. They all looked towards Wang Er.
Seeing Wang Er's face covered in ink, Li Yao felt amused, and also thought he lacked some flexibility. She called him to the side.
"Do you know that the first lines they presented weren't actually thought up by them?"
"Huh?" Wang Er was completely bewildered. "But...the first lines are based on objects here, how could they have prepared them in advance?"
"Zhang County Captain," Li Yao asked, "Who arranged the decorations here?"
"We did," replied Zhang County Captain, "Though Li Prefect also sent people who made some requests. Like those paintings hanging around, they were the Prefect's preferences."
"How many places in total were arranged?"
"Nine."
Wang Er understood.
So the first nine lines were arranged beforehand. Then the final insult was to completely wipe out the face of the Baichuan scholars!
How could this be considered a proper poetry gathering!
It was simply insulting to literature!
"Mother, what should I do then?"
"The simplest method is to repay them in kind with their own methods," said Li Yao. "As for the couplets and poems I taught you, as long as you've integrated and comprehended them, they become your own knowledge. Use them when appropriate, don't let them rot in your brain."
"Mother, I understand!"
Wang Er clenched his fists tightly. Today Xu Youcai had insulted his mother, so he would use what his mother taught him to pay it back double!
Returning to the pavilion, Wang Er no longer hesitated and directly wrote out a first line:
Strolling West Lake, carrying a tin pot, the tin pot falls into West Lake, what a pity for the tin pot.
As soon as this couplet appeared, Xu Youcai and the others were all stunned.
It was an extremely clever homonym couplet.
And it didn't break any rules - the tin container in front of Li Prefect for holding tea leaves was precisely a tin pot.
They racked their brains for a long time, almost digging their brains out, yet not one could come up with even a barely passable second line.
"Brother Xu," said Wang Er solemnly in a deep voice, "admire the ink."
Xu Youcai gritted his teeth tightly, but since he couldn't match it, he could only take the lead in painting a stroke of ink on his face.
Seeing Wang Er finally counterattacking, Song Zhe laughed heartily at the side, "Should have done this long ago!"
