For now, though, it was only a thought.
By the time he finished outlining the roof and entrance, Lin Ke was utterly exhausted.
It was already late, so Lin Ke did not visit Chen An again to return Yu Chu's Miscellaneous Tales.
He could only wait until the next day to return it.
Time passed, and a piece of news spread through the streets and alleys.
In a certain restaurant, people chatted at table after table.
"Have you heard? Minister Qi's son and Minister Lin's son are going to compete!"
"What?! Ministers' sons fighting? Won't they destroy the Capital City?!"
"What nonsense! As long as His Majesty is here, even if twelve ministers fought and shattered heaven and earth, our Capital City would be fine."
"True, and these are only two ministers' sons."
"Still, we'll have to be careful when the time comes. If they start fighting nearby, we'll suffer for it."
The people at one table were talking over food and wine when someone nearby joined in. "Their competition isn't what you imagine. There are rules!"
At once, he drew a great many people's attention.
Many knew Qi Ye and Lin Ke were going to compete, but most had no idea what form the competition would take.
Now that someone was explaining, they naturally wanted to learn more.
"You don't know, do you? Their competition is divided into three categories: literary, martial, and miscellaneous! Each category has a discipline, and each discipline has a topic."
"For example, this time they're competing in poetry for the literary category, coordination for the martial category, and painting for the miscellaneous category!"
"Those disciplines have already been decided, but the topics haven't!"
The man said eagerly, "Young Master Lin Ke will decide the topics!"
"For the poetry, for instance, they could compete