Xu Shuhan looked at Ning Chen out of the corner of his eye, then bowed to Song Tiancheng and said:

“Forgive me, Prince Regent. This humble commoner has been steeped in the sea of books for decades. To debate letters and learning with a boy of fifteen or sixteen would look like the big bullying the small.”

Before the Prince Regent could get a word out, it was Li Hongzhuo, of all people, who leaped in first. “Old Master Xu should not think so little of others. Marquis Ning’s talent is overflowing, and the words come out of him already made into literature. He may not be your inferior at all.”

Ning Chen looked coldly at Li Hongzhuo.

The wretch was not speaking up for him. He was fanning the flames, hoping to see him make a fool of himself.

The Prince Regent laughed aloud. “Did you hear that, old Master Xu? The man isn’t the least bit daunted.”

Xu Shuhan bowed. “Then this humble commoner had better obey than stand on ceremony!”

“Good, good, good… Today the two immortals of poetry of Wu and Great Xuan will debate letters and learning, and in days to come it will certainly become a tale worth telling.” The Prince Regent looked at Ning Chen with a smile. “My lord marquis, let this prince and the whole court, civil and military, have a taste of the marquis’s quality.”

Li Hongzhuo wore a sinister smile. “The marquis’s talent is overflowing. I am sure he will not shrink from the contest and weaken the name of our Great Xuan.”

Ning Chen looked at him. “Why don’t you do it instead?”

Li Hongzhuo’s expression stiffened. “The marquis is joking. This old man has no name as an immortal of poetry. How would I dare make a show of myself?”

“Since you don’t dare, shut your mouth and get out of the way… Don’t throw me off!”

Li Hongzhuo’s face darkened at once.

Ning Chen did not spare him so much as a glance. His eyes settled on Xu Shuhan. “A man of your years, with the earth nearly up to your eyebrows, still hungry for empty fame. You don’t see that every day!”

Xu Shuhan’s old face went dark. “The marquis has a resounding name, yet filth comes out of his mouth. Is he not afraid of being laughed at?”

Ning Chen laughed coldly. “Ning here has never once claimed to be any sort of damned man of letters, still less any sort of immortal of poetry. The truth is I’m a coarse, common soldier. Before I get around to asking after your mother, suppose you tell me how we’re playing this?”

Xu Shuhan shook with rage.

He had read Ning Chen’s poems with respect. Every line of them was a song for the ages.

But Ning Chen’s coarseness made him wonder whether those poems had really been written by Ning Chen at all.

Some days earlier the Prince Regent had summoned him and told him to slap Ning Chen’s face with poetry at court, to leave his reputation in the dirt and make a laughingstock of him.

He had been dumbfounded at the time.

He had written poetry all his life, and all of it together could not match a single poem of Ning Chen’s.

He was afraid that instead of slapping Ning Chen’s face he would only bring humiliation on himself.

But the Prince Regent had a plan ready. He had gathered nearly every venerable scholar and great classicist in Wu — every one of them a giant of the world of letters.

Working together, they had spent more than ten days polishing a single work for the ages.

Xu Shuhan let out a cold snort. “So young, and so coarse and ill-mannered. This old man truly doubts those poems came from your hand. Perhaps they were plagiarized.”

Ning Chen smiled. “You really are the worm in my belly — you’ve even guessed that… That’s right. Those poems were indeed lifted from other people for free.”

The officials of Wu, civil and military, broke into an uproar!

This???

Was it true or not?

They could not tell at all whether Ning Chen was in earnest or saying it on purpose.

Xu Shuhan’s eyes turned crafty. “To admit it takes courage, I’ll grant you that… This old man said long ago — how could songs for the ages like those come from the hand of a boy?”

Ning Chen could not help laughing.

“And do you know who I lifted all those poems from?”

Xu Shuhan’s eyes lit up. “Who?”

Ning Chen said with a perfectly straight face, “Li Bai. Du Fu. Bai Juyi. Wang Anshi. Tao Yuanming (TL Note: another poet of the same era, famous for walking away from office to farm, drink, and write about it. The other four were introduced earlier.)… There are far too many. I won’t go through them one by one.”

The officials of Wu, civil and military, looked at one another.

Who were these people? Nobody had ever heard of them.

But Ning Chen said it with such a serious face that it did not sound like a lie.

Someone would have to be sent to investigate afterward and find these people… and leave Ning Chen’s reputation in the dirt, his name ruined for good.

Xu Shuhan’s old face was dark. He had been steeped in the sea of books for decades and had read the fine work of the great classicists of every kingdom with respect, but these names he was hearing for the first time.

Ning Chen must be toying with him. He had made the names up out of thin air.

Xu Shuhan let out a cold snort. “Whether those poems of yours were copied from others or written by you, this old man will know after one test.”

Ning Chen’s expression turned amused. “How are we playing this?”

Xu Shuhan pointed at the red pillar behind Ning Chen. “From here to that pillar is about ten paces… A poem in ten paces. Do you dare?”

Ning Chen almost laughed out loud.

A poem in ten paces?

This was Cao Pi’s castoff game from centuries ago (TL Note: an ancient emperor who, the story goes, ordered his own brother to produce a poem within seven paces or be put to death. The brother managed it. Every Chinese schoolchild knows the tale, which is why ten paces strikes Ning Chen as generous.).

But the ministers of Wu broke into an uproar. A poem in ten paces — how could that be possible?

Yet seeing how completely sure of himself Xu Shuhan looked, they could not help enjoying the prospect of another man’s misfortune.

Ning Chen represented Great Xuan. If Ning Chen lost face, Great Xuan lost face… and to see Great Xuan stripped of every shred of dignity was exactly what they wanted.

Shen Min and Feng Qizheng, on the other hand, were full of worry.

A poem in ten paces was simply too hard.

Only Li Hongzhuo wore a sinister smile. If Ning Chen lost, this immortal of poetry of Great Xuan’s would become a colossal joke, Great Xuan would lose face, and on his return His Majesty would certainly rebuke him.

Ning Chen shrugged and looked at Xu Shuhan. “If you’re willing to die, I’m willing to bury you… There has to be a subject for this poem, doesn’t there? On what theme?”

Xu Shuhan said, “The marquis has come a long road and must have taken in the fine scenery of our Wu… Let the theme be the splendid sights of our Wu in its golden age.”

Ning Chen thought about it. “A poem isn’t difficult. Let’s write a lyric instead.”

Writing a lyric is far harder than writing a poem. For a poem you need only master the meter.

But for a lyric you must attend to the rise and fall of the tune, and think about the fine points of open sounds and closed sounds… and you must also sort out the five notes, the five tones, the six pitch-pipes, the clear and the muddy, the light and the heavy, and so on. It is torture.

But none of that was hard for Ning Chen. Getting it free made him happy!

Xu Shuhan’s expression froze in an instant. He was dumbfounded.

A whole crowd of us venerable scholars and great classicists chewed on it for days before we got one poem we were satisfied with… and now you tell me you want to write a lyric? How is that supposed to work?

“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me… Old Master Xu is a venerable scholar and a great classicist, Wu’s own immortal of poetry. He couldn’t possibly be afraid, could he?”

Ning Chen had started in with that snide voice of his.

Xu Shuhan held it in until his old face flushed red.

With anyone else he would not have cared… but the man in front of him was Ning Chen, and however deep his learning, he did not dare match lyrics with him without any preparation.

But everyone was watching him. If he refused, where would he put his old face? He would certainly become everyone’s laughingstock afterward, and a lifetime’s good name would be destroyed in a single day.

The Prince Regent frowned. He had not expected Ning Chen to make this demand.

He thought about it and said, “Since you are both honored as immortals of poetry, you should meet as friends in poetry… Lyrics can be matched another time.”

Li Hongzhuo could not keep his mouth shut again, and chimed in, “Right, right, right… Since they are immortals of poetry, the contest should be in poetry.”

Ning Chen looked at him coldly. “Lord Li Hongzhuo, are you an official of our Great Xuan or an official of Wu? Why does your elbow keep turning outward?”

“Anyone who didn’t know would think you were in league with the Prince Regent of Wu, and planning to deal with the enemy and betray your country.”

Li Hongzhuo’s old face went white. Dealing with the enemy and betraying his country was a crime punishable to the ninth degree of kinship. Once that hat was on his head, he would die very badly.

“My lord marquis, that is putting it too strongly. I was only speaking a word of fairness.”

Ning Chen’s face darkened. “These talks are mine to lead. You keep your damned words of fairness in your belly. You have no part in the talking here. Do you hear me clearly?”

(End of Chapter 352)