Liu Cheng turned it over in his mind several times and decided that Yan Youcheng's words made excellent sense!
Most importantly, they had finally restored that long-lost sense of superiority!
That was the greatest success of Yan Youcheng's little "speech of consolation."
What was the knot deepest in Liu Cheng's heart?
It was neither a woman nor an ox cart, but the loss of his sense of superiority.
For a darling of heaven like Liu Cheng, who had always enjoyed success and smooth sailing and prided himself on his talent and intelligence, meeting Wang Yang had meant defeat in pure conversation, defeat in military debate, and crushing defeat in poetry. Time and again, he had returned with his feathers broken. He could not accept the feeling of being overwhelmed on every front.
People were strange creatures. He could accept Wang Rong surpassing him in every respect, because Wang Rong surpassed most gifted young men. He could also accept the talented scholars in the capital outdoing him in their respective specialties. Yet, for some reason, he simply could not accept all these "victories" won over him by Wang Yang, who had appeared from who knew where.
Perhaps he had rated Wang Yang too low at the outset? Or perhaps it was because Wang Yang had previously been unknown? Or because Wang Yang had repeatedly made him and his elder brother lose face before everyone?
Whatever the reason, Wang Yang had shattered his pride and self-respect.
He would not even admit it to himself, but he had already begun to fear Wang Yang. Facing him, he could no longer recover his former composure and confidence.
Yet after hearing Yan Youcheng's words, he suddenly realized, to his astonishment, that he still stood above Wang Yang! No matter how talented Wang Yang was, that