"This Xu Qingxiao is truly arrogant! We came to Great Wei to attend the Peaceful Age Poetry Gathering, yet he humiliated us like this!"
"He only composed a few Timeless Famous Poems, and already he's this arrogant? No wonder he dared disrespect the Grand Confucians. People like him will taste the bitter fruit of their own actions sooner or later."
"The Peaceful Age Poetry Gathering welcomes scholars from across the world. We are distinguished figures from the ten nations. We wouldn't claim to brim with talent, but we have at least spent years reading the sages' books. Who would have thought Xu Qingxiao would look down on us so? What arrogance!"
"A name may be wrong, but a nickname never is. Myriad-Era Mad Scholar! Detestable."
Voices rose throughout Great Wei's Capital. They belonged to the talents of the ten nations, with no shortage of Great Wei scholars among them.
Xu Qingxiao had personally stated at the Peach Blossom Nunnery that he would not attend the Peaceful Age Poetry Gathering.
It had been an ordinary remark, but after someone added oil to the fire, it was soon twisted into a claim that Xu Qingxiao looked down on the Ten Kingdoms’ Great Talents, sparking a wave of controversy.
In truth, just as Xu Qingxiao had guessed, the Ten Kingdoms’ Great Talents could not possibly be unaware that someone had distorted his meaning.
But that did not stop them from making trouble for Xu Qingxiao. People were more willing to believe what they wanted to believe.
Whether they called him a mad scholar or accused him of insulting them, Xu Qingxiao now paid almost no attention to anything beyond his window.
And so, the next day arrived.
The fifteenth day of the eighth month.
The Peaceful Age Poetry Gathering opened that day. Many