The five people were suddenly speechless. They could criticize Fang Yun for other things, but they could not find any fault with his literary reputation and literary talent.
Shi Dehong then said angrily, "Is it him who dares to take away my mentor's title of Poet? Yukong, you must do your best to help Qing Kingdom! If we lose this Dragon Boat Festival, Jing Kingdom will definitely humiliate Qing Kingdom in the future, and you and I will become sinners of Qing Kingdom."
Yan Yukong said expressionlessly, "I came here with only one poem prepared, and I thought it would be enough, but I didn't expect to meet Fang Yun. My mentor taught me not to care about the gains and losses of a country or a city, but to consider issues from the perspective of the entire human race. It's just a dragon boat literary gathering. If Jingguo wins, it will be a sign that a weak country will become strong, which is a great blessing for the human race."
Shi Dehong immediately said: "What if from now on everyone says that he, Fang Yun, is more talented than you, Yan Yukong, and that you are not as good as Fang Yun, will you still not care?"
There was a subtle change in Yan Yukong's eyes. He clasped his hands together and placed them in front of his abdomen, and his body gradually straightened up.
"I like to climb to the top, not to be inferior to others, let alone a mere scholar. If he loses today, it's fine. If he wins, I will change the time of the imperial examination. When he goes to Jingguo for the imperial examination, I will participate in Qingguo's imperial examination. I want to compete with him for the top spot in the country and the sea of learning! The Dragon Boat Festival is just a form of the sea of learning. If we want to compare who is better, we have to compete on the sea of learning to make it count."
"You are right to think so! I have also prepared a poem. Although it is not as good as the previous one, the combined strength of the six of us will definitely surpass them! They are just trying hard. After one round, they are exhausted. Qing Kingdom will win!"
"Don't panic, everyone. The poem I just wrote is not my best. By the time we set sail, I will have at least eight inches of talent!"
"Me too, it's ridiculous that those clowns in Jingguo don't know what they are doing!"
"Qing will definitely win!" The other four people from Qing were inspired to fight, just like the five people from Jing who were inspired by Fang Yun before.
Fang Yun thought to himself that this was not good. Once those four people from Qing country came up with their best poems, the other dragon boats would not be able to compete.
Fang Yun took a closer look at the five people on his side and found that they obviously did not have much confidence as they had already tried their best just now.
"It was decided before that poems and lyrics cannot contain content such as poems about feelings or ancient people, nor can the words "weapons and ships" appear. In addition, the theme must be the Dragon Boat Festival. This means that there is no way to write poems and lyrics to protect the country. Without them, it is impossible to protect the country. If you want to win, you must write poems and lyrics related to sailing to speed up the dragon boat. As long as you don't write words such as "ships and ships", you can gain more vitality and eventually overwhelm the opponent!"
Fang Yun tried hard to think, but suddenly there was a roar in the sky, the surrounding vital energy swayed gently, and the five dragon boats automatically sailed forward.
Dragon Boat No. 2, where Fang Yun was, took the lead and rushed to the front. Dragon Boat No. 1 lagged behind by two meters, and the other three dragon boats were all more than ten meters away, making it impossible for them to catch up.
The crowds on both sides of the river burst into loud cheers again, continuously cheering for Dragon Boat No. 2.
"Oh! Oh!" Nunu raised his paws and shouted loudly to cheer for Fang Yun.
Yang Yuhuan nervously tugged at her handkerchief.
Zhao Zhuzhen also widened her eyes and waited for the situation to develop.
The green light enveloped the five dragon boats, allowing them to speed across the river at a speed several times faster than ordinary dragon boats, leaving long water lines behind them, scaring the river fish to jump wildly.
The drummers on the five dragon boats were beating their drums desperately, echoing the shouts of the crowds on both sides of the river.
The boat was traveling at a very high speed, but the people sitting on it were not affected at all. Everyone was quickly writing the second poem, competing for the last vitality of heaven and earth.
As Shi Dehong stopped writing, a foot and two inches of talent emerged on the paper in front of him. Although it was far less than the previous one foot and nine inches, it was enough to make many people admire him and secretly praise him as worthy of being a disciple of the poet.
The height of dragon boat number one immediately soared to six feet nine, a full foot taller than dragon boat number two.
Then, dragon boat number one suddenly accelerated with a huge sound of water splitting, and almost in the blink of an eye, it surpassed dragon boat number two!
The people in dragon boat number two quickened their writing, and Qian Juren finished quickly, but this time his poem was only three inches long. He sighed lightly, his eyes dim. If given more time, he had the confidence to write better poems, but now he couldn't write at all.
Then, Yan Yukong finished writing a poem about leaving the county, and the total height of Dragon Boat No. 1 suddenly increased by 1.8 feet to a height of 8.7 feet.
The two sides cheered for the number two dragon boat and the voices weakened. In this second round, only two people from Qing Kingdom had achieved such a high level of talent. If the other four people finished the poem, the consequences would be disastrous.
In all the dragon boat races in Jing State over the years, no dragon boat had ever been more than ten feet long.
The other four people in Dragon Boat No. 1 finished their poems shortly afterwards, and they all performed well.
On the dragon boat of the Qing people, there stands an eleven-foot-seven-inch pillar of talent and light!
Dragon Boat No. 1 headed straight for Longtou Bridge at an incredible speed, leaving Dragon Boat No. 2, where Fang Yun was, far behind.
There were clearly tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Yudai River, but no one was shouting at this moment.
The sound of the drums on the dragon boat seemed to be the only sound in the world, and the sound was so empty that it made people feel cold.
Many Jing people showed despair. The gap between the literati of the two countries was too big. Several young Mongolian children even had red eyes and looked like they might cry at any time.
“Boo! Boo!”
Only Nunu cheered for Fang Yun with full confidence.
Zhao Zhuzhen sighed softly. It was not that Fang Yun was incompetent, but that the others were too bad. After all, the Dragon Boat Festival was not a competition between two people, but a competition between two teams.
"Good!" Tong Li, who was standing on the south bank under Longtou Bridge, couldn't help but shout. He was so happy. This way, he wouldn't have to pay with the holy page and kneel down again. As long as Fang Yun left Yuhai City, he would definitely become a talented person.
Suddenly, a huge fist swung.
"I'll beat you to death, you Qing people!" the big man said as he started to hit him. The people around him were already angry and immediately started to punch and kick Tong Li.
"I was wrong! I looked at the wrong boat. I am not from Qing! I am a student! My grandfather is Minister Tong!" Tong Li shouted loudly. The other students did not dare to hit him. They could only help him block the attack and explain.
When those people heard that Tong Li and his group spoke with the Yuhai City accent, they knew it was true and immediately dispersed.
Tong Li stood up with a bruised face and nose, blood flowing continuously. His friend beside him immediately tore off his clothes to stop the blood from flowing.
Tong Li carefully glanced around and cursed in a low voice: "Fang Yun, you are dead! As long as you leave Yuhai City, you will die! The account of my beating will be counted on you!"
After saying that, Tong Li looked at the lagging dragon boat number two.
The other five people in Dragon Boat No. 2 had tried their best, but in the end they could only increase their talent to seven feet three, which was four feet four less than Dragon Boat No. 1.
The officials of the Jing State upstairs sighed softly. This was the Dragon Boat Literary Festival. The power of one person could never turn the tide of the battle. Add to that the various restrictions, and even if the four great talents came here, they might lose.
Mr. Qian looked at the dragon boat No. 1 speeding like a gale in front of him, and his eyes became moist. He did not expect that after trying so hard for so long, they still lost. Jingguo would still bear the stigma of 18 consecutive defeats.
"No, we still have Fang Yun! We still have Fang Shuangjia!" Mr. Qian suddenly turned his head to look at Fang Yun and shouted loudly amid the drumbeats, "Fang Yun, we're counting on you! We're counting on you!"
Fang Yun glanced at Mr. Qian, nodded heavily, and was very excited.
Just because words like weapons and ships are not allowed in poetry doesn’t mean you can’t write about ships!
Fang Yun took a deep breath and wrote each character in Liu style regular script, stroke by stroke.
Reduced-character Mulan flower, dragon boat race.
The Minister of the Court, Feng Zimo, had already given up hope and recited Fang Yun's new words in a low voice.
"The red flag is hoisted high, flying out of the deep willow bank. Eh? The word "fly" is well used, but it is just well used. He is writing about dragon boat racing, so wouldn't the words "boat" or "ship" appear?"
Feng Zimo couldn't help but comment.
Just as Feng Zimo was about to read Fang Yun's second line, he heard a loud and rapid thunder coming from Fang Yun's paper.
The six people on Dragon Boat No. 1 were chatting and laughing. When the thunder sounded, they were all stunned for a moment, except Yan Yukong, who turned around suddenly and stared at Fang Yun.
The thunder even drowned out the drumbeats of the five dragon boats, and everyone on both sides could hear it clearly. Many people looked at Fang Yun blankly, not understanding what was happening, but some people reacted immediately.
"Does the pen make a sound when it falls?"
"No, it's not complete yet. It can only be considered as 'the first step of calligraphy'. I have barely entered the first realm of calligraphy."
"This is actually a war word?" someone shouted excitedly.
"Jingguo will win!"
I don't know who shouted, but the originally silent two sides immediately burst into cheers like a tsunami.
"Jingguo will win!"
Feng Zimo's face suddenly turned red, and he used his talent as a guide to send his voice into the vital energy of heaven and earth, ensuring that everyone within a dozen miles could hear his voice.
"The red flag is hoisted high, flying over the deep willow bank. The drum beats like spring thunder, breaking through the mist and echoing far away."
As soon as this line was uttered, countless literati praised it. It vividly displayed the fierceness and speed of the dragon boat breaking through everything on the water, and echoed the word "fly" in the previous line, which already had the meaning of a war poem.
"The cheers shook the earth, frightening away the fighting spirit of thousands of people. To the west of the Jinbi Tower, the first place in the trophy was returned! Great! It is clearly about the dragon boat race, but there is not a single word "boat" or "ship" in the whole article, but the meaning of the dragon boat race is written perfectly! It is bound to turn defeat into victory!"
As Feng Zimo finished speaking, the paper in front of Fang Yun burned, forming a force far more powerful than ordinary poetry, and transformed into a light that enveloped Fang Yun's dragon boat.
The vitality of the entire dragon boat racing section of the river suddenly shook violently, and the river water was pressed down by an invisible force to a depth of one foot. The speed of the other four dragon boats all slowed down, and the green light on the surface of the four dragon boats was decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye, while the green light on the surface of dragon boat No. 2 was increasing rapidly.
"It is indeed a war poem. Only war poems can plunder the vitality of other dragon boats at the Dragon Boat Festival."
"It's a hurricane-speed song, or more precisely, a wind-inducing song, which helps the warships to speed up. It's a pity that it's not handed down from generation to generation."
"How could he possibly create a poem that will be passed down through the ages? You're overthinking it."
Tong Li, who was so cheerful just now, now looked pale.
"It's over, it's over." Tong Li said and was about to run away.
A burly man in plain clothes stopped him, drew the sword from his waist with his right hand, and said, "My master asked me to keep an eye on you."
Tong Li knew that the other party was the imperial guard, so he stayed where he was and didn't dare to move, muttering to himself: "It's really over..."