Everyone in the capital knew that the eldest daughter of the Li family was an idiot, utterly devoid of talent. Even if she had read a few medical books, she only knew a handful of characters and some prescriptions. Write poetry? Her? Forget it!
The second daughter of the Qian family knew this too, which was why she had been deliberately tormenting Li Man'er. As long as Li Man'er produced some nonsensical verse, her reputation would surely spread even further.
"What, is Miss Li backing out, or are you admitting defeat directly?" This was another attempt to provoke her.
Li Man'er slowly stood up, smoothed her skirt, and then said, "If Miss Qian loses, don't go crying."
Many people giggled foolishly. Miss Qian would lose?
Of course, she could lose, but she could never lose to Li Man'er! That would be a daydream.
"Don't be ridiculous, it's a poetry competition, fair and square."
Thank you, you are truly so fair.
Li Man'er walked to the writing desk, rolled up her sleeves, revealing a section of her fair, lily-white arm.
"May I trouble you, sister, to grind the ink for me."
A maidservant beside her curtsied slightly, used a small duck-blue spoon to fetch water and drip it into the inkstone, and picked up a piece of inkstick to grind it.
The maidservant's movements were elegant and pleasing to the eye, in sharp contrast to Li Man'er's seemingly crude and unbearable gesture of rolling up her sleeves.
The ink was ready. Li Man'er picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and quickly began to write on the prepared Xuan paper.
Ziyan and Muyun's hearts were in their throats. Setting aside whether their young lady could write poetry, her calligraphy was not even as good as the fourth young lady's.
At this moment, the surrounding young ladies who had come to watch also gathered around. They all wanted to see what tricks Li Man'er would pull. Especially Miss Qian, who absolutely did not believe Li Man'er could write poetry, so she didn't bother writing herself and only wanted to see Li Man'er make a fool of herself in public.
Yang Wanli's "Leaving Lin Zifang at Dawn from Jingci Temple" was a highly skilled and widely acclaimed landscape poem, a poem from primary school textbooks that even children could recite.
However, since Yang Wanli was not present, Li Man'er felt no psychological burden in copying the poem. She only needed to change the title.
Let's just call it "Ode to Lotuses at Xiaocheng Lake," since she was copying a primary school textbook poem anyway. Besides, her persona was that of an uncultured person, and her persona must not be broken.
"Ode to Lotuses at Xiaocheng Lake?"
"This handwriting..."
Li Man'er paid no mind to others' comments; she wrote her own piece. A few gossipy girls could not affect her.
Xiaocheng Lake scenery in mid-June,
Its beauty unlike any other season.
Lotus leaves stretching to the sky, an endless green,
Reflected in the sun, lotuses bloom in a special red.
Li Man'er changed the four characters "West Lake" to "Xiaocheng Lake scenery." Although this writing was not as masterful as Yang Wanli's original, it was more fitting and more convincing.
Miss Qian's eyes widened like copper bells. "How is this possible? Lotus leaves stretching to the sky, an endless green, reflected in the sun, lotuses bloom in a special red. Li Man'er, how could you possibly write such excellent lines? You cheated."
Li Man'er handed the brush to the maidservant and sneered, "You haven't even started writing, and you're already scared? Or do you know you are inferior and resort to slanderous words? Miss Qian, you accuse me of cheating, where is your evidence? Have you heard this poem read by someone else? Or have you seen this poem in a book, or a travelogue?"
Miss Qian tilted her chin up slightly. "It's also possible you had someone write it for you."
"This topic was given by the Princess. How could there be a ghostwriter?"
"That's not necessarily true..." Miss Qian was about to say something when someone interrupted her.
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Miss Qian turned around and saw her own mother, Madam Xu Qian.
"Mother."
Madam Xu glared at her and quickly apologized to the Princess, "Your Highness, please forgive my daughter, she is young and foolish." Fortunately, she had arrived in time to stop her from saying the rest, for words could bring disaster. This was the Princess's mansion, not a place for her to run wild.
"It's alright." Princess Wuyou rose and walked to the writing desk.
Everyone quickly made way.
Princess Wuyou picked up the Xuan paper and examined it carefully. A look of surprise appeared on her face. "Man'er, your calligraphy..."
Muyun thought to herself, it's over. Even if the poem is good, her young lady's calligraphy is not presentable.
She had been pushed outside earlier and couldn't see clearly what Li Man'er had written. Ziyan, however, had stayed by Li Man'er's side and saw it all clearly.
She was no longer worried about her young lady. How foolish she was to still treat her young lady as the former Miss Li!
Princess Wuyou's words stunned the surrounding young ladies. However, they naturally assumed that Li Man'er's calligraphy was terrible and that Princess Wuyou was surprised because she didn't know.
But Miss Qian did not think so. She had already realized that Li Man'er's handwriting was a style never seen before, meaning it was likely her own creation.
"This calligraphy is slender and strong, yet not devoid of flesh, possessing a backbone. It is slender, firm, and crisp. Truly..." Princess Wuyou couldn't find a suitable adjective for a moment. She only felt that the calligraphy was perfect in every way, the more she looked, the more she became engrossed, the more she found it perfect, making one intoxicated.
"Man'er, is this calligraphy of your own creation?"
My own creation, my foot! This is Zhao Ji's Slender Gold style. She had momentarily forgotten it didn't exist in this world and habitually wrote it. Now things were even more complicated.
After copying a poem, she also copied a calligraphy style. Was she destined to be a plagiarist?
"Your Highness, this is the Slender Gold style. I fiddled with it in my spare time. I hope it doesn't offend your eyes."
Ziyan thought: It must have been taught to her by her immortal master.
Muyun thought: Oh my dear heavens, when did you fiddle with it? In your dreams?
The other young ladies were utterly stunned. No one had expected Li Man'er to not only write poetry but also such beautiful and unique calligraphy. And the key point was that this calligraphy style was something she had figured out herself. Wouldn't that make people angry?
Wasn't Miss Li supposed to be an idiot? How could this situation be explained?
"I noticed her calligraphy before, it is indeed unique."
"I am starting to believe that the poem was written by herself. I have never seen this calligraphy style before, it couldn't possibly be copied from someone else, right?" Calligraphy skill is not something that can be achieved in a few days.
Another young lady whispered, "Don't you think that if you had such a good poem and such exquisite calligraphy, would you really let someone else steal your thunder?"
"Of course not. With these, who's afraid of not becoming famous?"
"Exactly."
These words were like slaps to Miss Qian's face.
"Excellent calligraphy." Princess Wuyou placed the Xuan paper on the desk and looked at everyone. "To be fair, are there any other young ladies who wish to come forward and write a poem? As long as the poem surpasses this one by Man'er, you will be the winner."
What a joke! They were noble ladies, not poets or scholars. Who could write such a good poem?
Princess Wuyou's gaze fell on Miss Qian. Miss Qian said resentfully, "I lost."