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Chapter 452: Putting pen to paper
Liu Wan Ting was the first one that could not hold back, letting out a laugh.
“Ha, ha, is the Princess Consort’s poem describing butterflies, or are you just counting them one by one?”
Xia Yu Yan revealed a faint smile, letting out a secret sigh of relief. She had thought that the princess was a very sly character, but she never thought that she was just bluffing. She really was nothing more than an idiot!
She covered her lips and also began to laugh.
While Su Jin was walking and counting, she heard the laughs of ridicule coming from around her. She couldn’t help looking down, feeling embarrassed for Chen Ning.
Empress Dowager Zhou’s eyes filled with pride, looking over at Mo Chuan. Although she did not say anything, the ridicule and disdain could be clearly seen from her eyes.
When Mo Chuan heard the two sentences from Chen Ning, he couldn’t help curling his lips. He did not even look at Empress Dowager Zhou looking at him, his eyes were just staring at Chen Ning’s face. His two handsome eyes slightly knit together.
This girl, he shouldn’t have agreed to letting her do this! If she wasn’t good at calligraphy, how could she be good at poetry!
What should he do? He had to think of a way to make this competition not count!
“Emperor, you should calm down for now and not interrupt Ning’er’s thought process.” Empress Dowager Zhou already guessed Mo Chuan’s thoughts. She thought that as long as she was here, this son of her’s would not be able to play any tricks.
Chen Ning completely ignored the ridiculing laughter all around her, with the smile on her face not changing at all. She took another step and read a third line.
“Nine, ten, floating away.”
At this time, Su Jin had reached the number “six”.
This actually sounded quite interesting, but it was a pity it was too late.
Empress Dowager lifted the cup to her lips, not being able to hide the pride in her eyes.
“Flying until the yellow flowers disappear.”
At this moment, when Chen Ning said her final line, Su Jin had just counted to “seven”.
She really composed a prose in just seven steps!
Empress Dowager Zhou coughed while the tea was in her mouth and she couldn’t help breaking out in a fit of coughs.
Su Jin quickly patted Empress Dowager Zhou’s back.
Mo Chuan’s eyes suddenly lit up. He looked at Chen Ning with eyes filled with excitement and admiration, as well as a bit of emotions that could not be described.
Those fiery burning eyes could not help make Chen Ning blush slightly.
“Good poem, good poem!” Mo Chuan was the first one to clap his hands and praise her.
This was his first time hearing this kind of poem. The first three sentences were considered very flat, but the last sentence was the turning point. It was like a carp turning into a dragon, filling the flat first three sentences full of life.
With these four sentences together, it vividly portrayed a butterfly passing through the flowers. It was very easy to understand and easy to recite.
“Mother, what do you think about the poem composed by the Ding Yuan Princess?” He deliberately asked Empress Dowager Zhou.
Empress Dowager Zhou worked hard to stop coughing as her old face turned completely red. She angrily glared at Mo Chuan, but her mind was filled with shock.
She closed her eyes and recited Chen Ning’s poem in her mind.
“One, two, three, four. Five, six, seven, eight. Nine, ten, floating away. Flying until the yellow flowers disappear.”
The poem did not use the word butterfly, but it made people praise it, especially the last sentence. The flying until the yellow flowers disappeared breathed life into the poem!
She slowly opened her eyes and slightly nodded at Chen Ning, “Good work, very good!”
Even if she didn’t like Chen Ning, she was not willing to lie.
CN wins, now your turn XYY…. Thanks for this chapter.
Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️
A sneaky ninja update yaaay 🙌 thanks for the chapter!! 😂
Ok, can someone who is familiar with Chinese poetry explain this poem? I feel like there’s something being completely lost in translation.
Yea… i don’t get it at all. Does it sound good in chinese or something? explanation please~
It reminds me that in my language, perhaps the best known poetry line is “W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie”, one can easily find the rest on the web. The meaning is quite arbitrary, but to native speakers it sounds funny, although not a tongue twister, while foreigners (even those with a similar mother tongue) simply cannot say it.