Ultimate Scheming System

Although young master Zhao was clearly astounded by Xu Que’s performance, he didn’t reveal the slightest hint of it on his face. He stood at his original place, his expression was unmoving. He picked up a cup of tea and took a sip before placing it down on the table.

"Pa da!"

The base of the teacup on the table broke the silence within the hall.

Young master Zhao then spoke, "Ten poems in ten steps, that’s too ridiculous and incredulous. Something as absurd as that cannot be real. This person must’ve already composed these works earlier before he came. When the occasion arose, he then took out the pre-composed poems to recite! Or else, these poems weren’t written by him. He probably copied it from somewhere unbeknownst to me. Don’t be fooled by him!" As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was awakened from their delusions!

Mo Yun Shang who was feeling extremely down and dissatisfied, along with the other students who had been made a fool of by Xu Que finally reacted as soon as they heard this.

That’s right. Ten poems in ten steps, that’s way too absurd.

How was it ever possible that a person was able to compose ten poem and each one of them were extraordinary? That was impossible to achieve!

"Young master Zhao is right. As for that Li Bai, this humble subject finds it extremely hard to believe that he’s capable of writing something as exquisite!"

"Indeed, that’s the case. Also, if everyone was to think about it carefully, all the ten poems shared different sentiments. How was a person able to feel so much and gain so many insights in just ten steps?"

"This Li Bai is incorrigible and arrogant. This humble subject also refuses to believe that those were his own original words. It must be that he had obtained it from elsewhere and used it here today!"

"Outrageous! This man’s actions are too despicable!"

Many students stood out and lashed out in anger.

The group of students who had voiced their support for Xu Que earlier frowned and objected, "Everyone, such words of accusations shouldn’t ever be spoken. If these works were truly written by someone else, based on how extraordinary they are, why haven’t we heard about it before then?"

"That’s right. You know Li Bai as well, he has a strange temperament and personality. He could be honorable at one moment, and a rascal the next. Just based on the fact that he’s very talented, it wouldn’t be impossible that he has the ability to compose ten poems in ten steps. In fact, it would be rather normal for someone as exquisite as him!"

"We have no proof that he plagiarized from someone else. Hence it would be improper for us to assume that just based on subjective ideas and thus negate the effort and works of brother Li!"

"Eh, this humble subject agrees with you!"

With the varied discussions and opinions, the hall started becoming noisy once again.

Madam Ya sat by the corner and gradually regained her senses. When she came to, she saw an entire group of students quarreling, unable to get along with each other. She couldn’t help but frown as she interrupted them, "Everyone, there’s no need to quarrel further. This is just a simple banquet for all of us to become friends through poems. We don’t have to remain friends based on personalities or characters after!"

As soon as she had finished speaking, everyone paused in shock. Even Madam Ya’s expression looked rather displeased. At once, everyone shut their mouths and didn’t dare to speak further.

Afterall, it was known that scholars often disparaged each other. These students had witnessed Xu Que reciting ten poems in ten steps without the need for much preparation. In fact, every single poem which he had recited were of excellent qualities. This caused the rest of the students to feel jealous and envious of his achievements, and thus suggested that these poems weren’t written by Xu Que himself.

However, they had absolutely no proof to substantiate their claims. All they could do was to be sour about it and vocalize their suspicions. This thus caused Madam Ya to tell them off in a rather fierce and displeased tones. The rest of the students scurried to retrieve their orderly expressions filled with regret and respect.

Madam Ya’s warmth only returned after she saw that the rest of the students had ceased bickering. With a grand gesture, she stood up and spoke, "Regardless of whether the poems were composed by young mister Li or not, there’s no need for us to probe further. After all, this meeting was supposed to be about artistic talents and poem recitals. We’re all here to enjoy the poems. What does everyone think about this?"

The students present all nodded their heads in agreement, "Madam Ya is right. We were being rude!"

"Since that’s the case, shall we proceed with the banquet? Is there anyone here with another poem to share with us?" Madam Ya asked.

Indeed, nobody present dared to open their mouths as they looked down.

There were several students who had prepared poems to recite and yet didn’t dare to recite any at this point.

In all honesty, this couldn’t be helped. After Xu Que had recited his ten poems, who would dare to recite anymore poems and make a fool out of themselves? If Xu Que hadn’t recited this brilliant poems, they could still read it out and might be viewed as passable. What about now?

If none of them would compete in poetry, their self esteem wouldn’t be harmed!

Even the Poem King, Mo Yun Shan looked down in embarrassment as well as he muttered under his breath but didn’t speak. If it had been a normal incident where a poem was needed to rival the previous poem, he would definitely have stood up and competed. He would’ve racked his brains for an inspiration to achieve victory over the previous poem.

At this point however, under the crushing pressure of Xu Que’s amazing ten poems, Mo Yun Shan looked down without an answer for the first time ever. In fact, not only was a poetic reply lost on him, his courage was lost as well.

However, he was thankful that Xu Que had departed right after reciting his poems. If not, the students who had mocked Xu Que earlier would be subjected to repeated humiliation.

Seeing that everyone around was silent, Madam Ya’s eyes revealed an expression of disappointment. She looked outside the hall as her heart sank.

After Xu Que had left, the only person who felt upset and regretful was Madam Ya!

She sighed deeply as her beautiful eyes looked towards young mister Zhao, who was silent and unspeaking. At last, a hint of a smile revealed across her face.

Even though young mister Li had left, she still had four of her great students, who might surprise her later on.

Thinking up to this point, she opened her mouth to speak, "Since everyone doesn’t wish to discuss poetry any longer, let’s proceed with antithetical couplets! The aim of this banquet is for everyone to share ideas and brainstorm together, so that we can all profit from this discussion!"

Couplets?

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up as they broke out in discussion once more.

When it came to poetry, most of them knew that they didn’t stand a chance. However, when it came to couplets, the field was more even. There was even a chance that they might impress.

The eyes of everyone landed on the leader of the four great students, young master Zhao.

They all knew that couplets were young master Zhao’s strongest suit. He even had the title of Couplets King. However, the students all knew that young master Zhao had a mild and mellow temperament. He never liked to be the first person to kick start the discussion. Instead, he prefered to sit back and vocalize the second half of the couplet.

Hence as soon as Madam Ya mentioned the word ‘couplet’, everyone started to get excited once more.

They knew that even if they were to be bested by young master Zhao, there was nothing to be embarrassed about. After all, this person was the Couplets King, and was also the leader of the four great students.

On the other hand, if they could somehow baffle young master ZHao, they would almost certainly gain a reputation for themselves. This was such a great opportunity, and nobody in their right frame of minds would miss it.

Hence the students around all started becoming lively once again. Regardless of the circumstances, everyone was willing to try a couple of phrases and show their faces in a bid to increase their own reputations.

As everyone was rubbing their palms in excitement, ready to voice out a clever phrase which they’ve been thinking about for several months, Xu Que’s shadow had appeared right at the entrance. Nobody had noticed this, but he stood there, his face was filled with a sly grin.

"Eh? Are you about to discuss couplets now? Truth be told, this humble subject’s forte isn’t in poems. It’s actually in couplets!"

When the audience turned their heads to see who was speaking, they almost fainted.

Fuck, big brother, haven’t you already left? Why have you returned!

And.... Poems aren’t your forte? Your damned forte is in couplets now?

Are you here to discuss couplets, or here to incite a riot?

Can you give us all a chance to perform and excel?