Master Three Hundred Tang Poems, and Even If You Cannot Write Poetry, You Can Still Recite It

The beautiful zither music came to an end. Miss Red Jade had barely said a word; after rising and giving everyone a lady's salute, she turned and left with her instrument.

As they watched Miss Red Jade's retreating figure, the guests by the artificial lake grew lively, yet none of them left. They were waiting for something.

Sure enough... the two maidservants who had stood beside Miss Red Jade earlier came before the gathered crowd by the lake.

"A few days ago, Miss acquired an old zither from a household. This ancient zither actually had fifty strings, but unfortunately... seven of them were broken."

"Today's topic from Miss is to compose a poem on the subject of 'zither.' As time is limited, you have one shichen. If any poem satisfies Miss, its author may enter her room and speak with her in private."

With gentle voices, Miss Red Jade's maidservants held out a sheet of xuan paper to the crowd. Written on it was the character for "zither."

The calligraphy was distinctive, yet anyone could tell at a glance... it had been written by a master calligrapher.

"What? A poem on the subject of a zither? How could anyone possibly compose poetry about a zither in such a short time?"

Looking at the character in the maid's hand, he recognized it as Miss Red Jade's handwriting. But... the topic of the zither left him miserable. Though he had come prepared, he had never expected this. If the topic had been the qin, he might still have had some hope.

"It seems I'll return empty-handed again. Miss Red Jade's topics are getting harder and harder. Still, a fifty-string zither... that is rare indeed!"

A young man dressed in a dark blue robe could not help shaking his head. Zithers generally had