There is a city within a city in the center of the central island, which is the imperial city of the Seven Islands Sea Kingdom.
Outside the imperial city, the imperial court of the Seven Islands Sea Kingdom had already received Zhang Zewen's "Hongyan Pass" and sent officials from the Ministry of Rites to greet him.
Originally, after the Seven Islands Sea Country closed the country, the position of the Ministry of Rites was abolished.
The Ministry of Rites was not reactivated until diplomatic relations were reestablished with the Holy Forest Continent.
"I heard that the Holy Forest Continent sent a Wenjun named Du Ning to visit our country. As soon as he arrived at Central Island, he posted a couplet in front of the city gate outside the pass with the sentence 'Smoke Locks Pond Willow' for a whole afternoon.
No one answered, and even Mr. Lin Hengyu frowned because of this, what a bad person!"
"Hmph! This was Zhang Zewen's idea. He asked Lei Hua to use Mr. Lin's absolute words to embarrass the scholars of the Holy Forest Continent. Not only did the other party interpret the second line, but he also left five words to absolutely humiliate us. It is really unreasonable!" "This time the scholars sent by the Holy Academy came well prepared. Although we don't like the scholars from the Holy Forest Continent, they really opened our eyes today. The phrase 'smoke locks the willow in the pond' is indeed absolute!" "Hmph! I don't believe that the civilization of our seven-island sea country can't break the first couplet written by a mere Hanlin. I believe that in the near future, someone will solve the second couplet."
Officials from the Ministry of Rites of the Seven Islands Sea Kingdom were discussing it.
"Look, that's the official car of our court. It's Zhang Zewen and the others who are here."
"Everyone, get ready. Don't lose our etiquette in front of the mainland humans. We have to be happy..."
The officials from the Ministry of Etiquette immediately showed a professional smile.
A group of vehicles drove down the street and stopped at the roadside.
After a while, a group of scholars got off the carriage.
It was the scholars headed by Du Ning who were sent as envoys to the Seven Islands Sea Country. After entering the customs, Zhang Zewen arranged for them to get on the carriage and arrive at the imperial city smoothly.
After seeing Du Ning and others, officials from the Ministry of Rites immediately greeted them warmly.
Zhang Zewen introduced to the officials of the Ministry of Rites: "My lords, this young literary friend is the literary gentleman Du Ning who came all the way from the mainland, titled Yun Qijun, and these others are all talented people from the aristocratic families in the Holy Forest Continent. They
They are all distinguished guests who came to our country as envoys on behalf of the Holy Court."
The officials of the Ministry of Rites immediately bowed to each other.
"We are the officials of the Ministry of Etiquette of the Seven Islands Sea Kingdom, and welcome all the guests who have come from afar from the Holy Forest Continent."
"Mr. Yunqi, the literary monarch of mainland China, is here to visit our country. We will wait for a long time in accordance with the emperor's decree."
"I have met you gentlemen."
The officials of the Ministry of Rites were extremely respectful and called everyone present "Sir", which is also the highest level of honorific in the literary world.
After all, Du Ning and others came here on behalf of the Holy Court, so the officials of the Ministry of Rites naturally had to be more polite.
"I have met all of you, my lords."
"My lords, I cannot thank you enough for this long absence."
"I'll be polite."
Except for Du Ning, who returned the salute with his hands raised, everyone else bowed in the same manner as officials from the Ministry of Rites.
This made the people of the Seven Islands Sea Country a little dissatisfied, but considering that Du Ning was Wenjun, it was naturally impossible for him to perform all the rituals like them, otherwise it would appear that the Holy Court was inferior.
"The Holy Court actually sent a Hanlin Wenjun here, which is simply contempt for our Seven Islands Sea Country!"
"Hmph! A Hanlin at such a young age can actually be a Wenjun."
"The mainland human race is nothing more than that."
Some nearby officials whispered, but after learning about Du Ning's "smoke locking willows in the pond", they did not dare to speak out loud without restraint.
"Just shut up!"
Zhang Zewen shouted coldly at those people, his eyes extremely serious.
Those people hurriedly bowed their heads to Du Ning, not daring to say a word.
The leading official of the Ministry of Rites was a Confucian and Taoist scholar in his thirties. He raised his hand to Du Ning and said, "I, Liu Cheng'en, am the Minister of Rites of the Qidaohai Kingdom. We have already prepared at the 'Yingfeng Hall'.
At the banquet, gentlemen, please come with me into the imperial city."
"Thank you, Mr. Liu."
Du Ning thanked the other party, and then led everyone into the imperial city and came to the Yingfeng Hall of the Ministry of Rites.
Everyone sat down on the left and right sides. Du Ning and others sat on the left as guests, while Zhang Zewen, Lei Hua and officials from the Ministry of Rites took their seats on the right.
Liu Chengen, the Minister of Rites, sat in the middle seat on behalf of the imperial court.
Liu Chengen first addressed Du Ning and others in the name of the imperial court of the Seven Islands Sea Kingdom, and extended a warm welcome to many scholars on behalf of the civil and military officials.
After finishing an opening speech that sounded better than he sang, Liu Chengen announced that the banquet was officially open.
The two parties drank wine and chatted happily at the banquet, talking about many things.
After three drinks, Liu Chengen toasted to many scholars on behalf of the court.
After the meal was full, Liu Chengen suddenly said: "After our country opened its borders, the Sacred Forest Continent often sent scholars to visit our country. According to the practice of our Ministry of Etiquette, whenever guests from the Sacred Forest Continent come, we have to use the dinner to hold a banquet."
It is a literary party to promote the friendship between our seven-island sea country and the mainland people through literary exchanges. Today’s dinner is very rare, so you won’t refuse it, right?”
Du Ning and others have been mentally prepared for a long time. Not to mention that every time the Holy Academy sends people to the Seven Islands Sea Country, the Seven Islands Sea Country will compete with mainland scholars in the name of literary society. Today, Du Ning wrote "Smoke"
This absolute statement made the scholars of the Seven Islands Sea Country extremely unwilling to be suppressed by Du Ning alone, and they were bound to regain their place in this literary conference.
"Since you all are so elegant, we can do as you please. It's better to be respectful than to obey." Du Ning said with a smile.
"It's not too late, we're ready to start now."
Liu Chengen immediately said to the officials around him: "Come here, please bring me pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and invite the scholars from the Seven Islands and Sea Kingdom to come in."
"Yes."
After receiving the order, the officials immediately presented the Four Treasures of the Study to the scholars at each seat.
At the same time, more than a dozen scholars from the Seven Islands Sea Kingdom entered the Yingfeng Hall. They first greeted Liu Chengen, and then greeted Du Ning and others.
Du Ning and others immediately returned the courtesy, and both parties had said hello.
A Confucian and Taoist scholar from the opposite side came out and said slowly: "Old man Lin Hengyu, may I ask who is Mr. Yunqi?"
"Lin Hengyu?"
The expressions of everyone on the mainland changed slightly. They had heard Lin Hengyu's name from Zhang Zewen. The first couplet "Switch early, close late, let the passerby pass" written by Lei Hua outside the customs was written by Lin Hengyu.<
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Everyone looked at Lin Hengyu. This man looked to be in his fifties, with piercing eyes, but his eyes were fierce, revealing a hint of hatred for Du Ning.
Since no one in the Seven Islands Sea Kingdom could break Lin Hengyu's first couplet, it was hailed as eternal and absolute, and became Lin Hengyu's most proud literary name.
Until today, Du Ning broke this "eternal absolute", which made Lin Hengyu's pride hit. Naturally, he had many opinions about Du Ning.
What made Lin Hengyu the most angry was that Du Ning shamelessly left the sentence "Smoke Locks the Pond Willow" on the gate of the city to humiliate the scholars of the Seven Islands Sea Country. This is what he said as a scholar of the Seven Islands Sea Country.
Intolerable.
However, Lin Hengyu claimed to be unparalleled in wisdom, but he couldn't match Du Ning's quatrains, which made Lin Hengyu feel very depressed.
However, Lin Hengyu also had his own dignity and pride, so he decided to stand up and meet Du Ning for a while.
Although Lin Hengyu can't match Du Ning's second line, he can choose to be better than Du Ning in other aspects, and he can also win back some face for the Seven Islands Sea Country.
This time, Lin Hengyu must defeat Du Ning from the front and let the scholars in the Holy Forest Continent know the true strength of the Seven Islands Sea Country's literary world.
Du Ning stood up, cupped his hands to Lin Hengyu, and said, "Du Ning is here and has met Mr. Lin."
Lin Hengyu's eyes immediately locked on Du Ning, and his eyes glowed with a different kind of brilliance like a lion seeing its prey.
"I met Du Jun."
Lin Hengyu did not bow, but also raised his hands, indicating that he was a bachelor. Not only was his Confucianism and Taoism higher than Du Ning's, but he was also older than Du Ning. Since they were both from the same human race, he could be regarded as Du Ning's elder. At the same time, it is also an invisible provocation to Du Ning.
So what if you are the Wenjun of the human race?
Sorry, this is not the Sacred Forest Continent, but the Seven Island Sea Country. Your literary status is at most equal to that of a bachelor.
The expressions of Fan Rulong and others changed slightly, and some looked embarrassed. In any case, Du Ning was a civil monarch consecrated by the Holy Academy, and his status was equal to that of a monarch under the semi-saint. If this happened in the Holy Forest Continent,
If anything, it is enough to be defined as a violation of etiquette.
It would be an extremely serious matter for a dignified bachelor to violate etiquette like this.
But there is a saying that goes well, strong dragons cannot overwhelm local snakes, and it is true that Du Ning is a civilized gentleman of the human race, but this is in the Seven Island Sea Country after all. Even if Lin Hengyu deliberately disrespects him as a civilized gentleman, Du Ning can't take advantage of him. Zhang Zewen, Lei Hua and others had smiles on their faces. With Lin Hengyu taking action tonight, they will have a great chance to get back into the game.
The atmosphere in the entire Yingfeng Hall suddenly became a little stagnant.
After a while, a smile gradually appeared on Lin Hengyu's face, "I heard that Du Jun recited the quatrains I once wrote at the gate of the city today. I admire you very much. I can't help but sigh that young people are terrible. Tonight, we have to have a good discussion."
Okay, I hope Du Jun will not show mercy to me because of my old age, otherwise you won’t be happy even if I win.”
Du Ning also smiled and said: "I just happened to have an idea, it's not really a skill. Tonight we will meet friends through literature. No matter the outcome, we can all have fun."
Lin Hengyu said: "Since ancient times, cultural gatherings should have good luck to add to the fun. I have a cultural treasure here. If Du Jun can beat me, I will give this to Du Jun."
After finishing speaking, he waved his hand and took out a palm-sized inkstone from Qiankun in his sleeve.
Everyone's eyes instantly fell on the cultural treasure Lin Hengyu took out, and some even let out bursts of exclamations.