"Good! The wager is sealed!"
As though afraid someone might back out, the Prince of Badong immediately slapped the table and settled the details.
"Each of you will write a poem entitled 'Mo Chou’s New Song.' I, the three senior officials of the Provincial Government, and Master Kong will judge their merits together."
The Chief Clerk, Military Commissioner, Provincial Deputy, and Administrative Commissioner Secretary were collectively known as the "Four Senior Officials." With Chief Clerk Liu Yin absent, the remaining three were the highest-ranking officials in Jingzhou after the Prince of Badong.
There was nothing objectionable about choosing them as judges.
But in terms of rank, Kong Changyu was merely a lowly retainer at the Prince's Residence. A figure akin to a steward, he did not even belong to the scholarly elite. To place him alongside those three senior administrative officials was decidedly incongruous.
Still, the Prince of Badong had always been outrageous, so no one found this surprising.
The Prince of Badong called out, "Attend me! Bring writing tables! Paper and brushes!"
The paper was white as goose-down snow, the ink dark as a raven.
Two long ebony tables stood in the great hall. Wang Yang and Liu Cheng took their places on either side, their brushes sweeping across the paper.
Both wielded their brushes with vigor, writing swiftly and spiritedly without the slightest hesitation or pause.
Silence reigned on all sides. Everyone held their breath, their gazes fixed intently on the two men.
Even without seeing what was on the paper, the speed of their writing made it clear that both had already composed their poems in their minds. Otherwise, how could they pour them out so readily? Judging by their brushwork, however, Liu Cheng was writing far faster than Wang Yang!
Whatever the quality of the