At that moment.
In Wenxuan Tower.
Everyone's gaze fell on Xu Qingxiao.
No one spoke. Even their breathing grew much quieter.
They were all waiting for Xu Qingxiao to compose a poem.
What could cure lovesickness?
This prompt was indeed rather difficult.
If they merely had to write about lovesickness, it would have been easy enough.
But what could cure it?
That left them puzzled. It was not that they could not compose a poem, but that whatever they composed failed to capture the intended meaning.
Just then.
Xu Qingxiao's voice rang out.
"Two taels of nine-leaved paris, one mace of cicada pupae at the winter solstice, brewed in snow from the year before, can cure the world's suffering from lovesickness."
Xu Qingxiao spoke. What he composed was not a poem, but a lyric.
It was short, just a single line.
When Xu Qingxiao finished, everyone looked surprised.
"Just one line of verse?"
"Two taels of nine-leaved paris? One mace of cicada pupae at the winter solstice?"
"What medicines are these? What allusion is he drawing on?"
Puzzled voices rose from the crowd.
Surely Xu the Unrivaled Through the Ages had a well-laid plan if he dared speak, but his words were rather strange.
Xu Qingxiao stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the woman by the window with perfect composure.
Just then, someone grasped his meaning and spoke up.
"I understand! Paris and cicada pupae are both medicinal ingredients. Brother Xu is answering the prompt with the names of medicines. How ingenious!"
"Medicines? I know about cicada pupae, but I've never heard of paris. Something with such a lovely name is actually a medicinal herb?"
"Answering with medicines is ingenious, but it seems to lack a little poetic resonance."
"Yes, exactly. It feels as though something is