Please, Stay!

At that moment, the entire garden fell silent.

Everyone stood frozen, staring at Jiang Xiaobai in disbelief.

Naturally, the Personal Guard Commander beside Jiang Xiaobai was also looking at his heir with a stunned expression.

He was a military man and knew nothing of poetry.

Yet those lines, "Fallen into mud and ground to dust, only its fragrance remained unchanged," had captured an unyielding spirit to perfection!

"Wonderful verse!"

Amid the silence filling the garden, an exceptionally lovely voice was the first to ring out.

The speaker was none other than Li Zhiwei.

Her limpid eyes remained fixed on Jiang Xiaobai without blinking, and undisguised amazement filled her expression.

Clearly.

Even she had been astonished by this verse.

And it had stirred her in ways she could not describe.

After all, poetry emphasized meter, while lyric verse emphasized rhyme!

Jiang Xiaobai's lyric maintained a single rhyme throughout, making it remarkably distinctive.

For a moment, the way she looked at Jiang Xiaobai was noticeably different from before.

Indeed, her faint curiosity had now become something far more intense and unusual.

There was even... an indescribable seriousness in her eyes as she kept studying Jiang Xiaobai.

It was as though she wanted to see straight through this supposedly Profligate Heir before her.

And as Li Zhiwei spoke.

Everyone present finally began to recover from the shock that the verse had brought them.

But recovering was one thing.

The expressions on their faces still carried an indescribable astonishment.

Especially the White-Clad Man.

A composed, faint smile had originally lingered on his face.

Now, however, that smile had frozen completely.

He stood there, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

This...

Could a damn wastrel really write verse like that?

Looking at the stunned crowd, Jiang Xiaobai smiled.

Indeed, he had anticipated this reaction all along.

After all, in his previous life, this had been a celebrated work known in every household, printed in textbooks and passed from mouth to mouth. It had portrayed the proud spirit of plum blossoms to its utmost heights!

Meanwhile, Zeng Qingchi, standing beside the White-Clad Man, also wore a shifting expression.

But he soon recovered, glanced at the White-Clad Man beside him, then cleared his throat softly. "The verse is indeed excellent!"

"However..."

At this point, Zeng Qingchi paused slightly, his gaze settling on Jiang Xiaobai with a meaningful look.

"But I have some doubts. Was this verse... truly composed here on the spot by Heir Jiang?"

"Could he have copied it from somewhere?"

As Zeng Qingchi's words fell.

Many of those still reeling from shock suddenly seemed to have found an outlet and began chiming in.

"Exactly!"

"Who doesn't know the Jiang Family's heir is a worthless wastrel? How could he possibly write such astonishing verse!"

"Hmph, I'd say he almost certainly copied it from somewhere!"

"Shameless!"

"Yes, he would even stoop to this just to draw attention!"

For a moment, voices of suspicion rose one after another.

And they grew increasingly fierce.

Clearly, they were more willing to believe that Jiang Xiaobai had plagiarized the verse from somewhere.

After all, this was simply too outrageous.

So outrageous that they could not accept it at all just then.

Yet faced with those questioning voices, Jiang Xiaobai was in no hurry to explain.

Instead, under everyone's gaze, he gently raised his hand.

"Shh!"

With that gesture and sound.

The noisy surroundings actually began to quiet down.

Everyone stared at Jiang Xiaobai, waiting to see how he would talk his way out of it.

But the next moment, Jiang Xiaobai raised his head and spoke slowly, his expression calm.

"Beside my home's Ink-Washing Pool a tree stands, each blossom bearing pale ink's trace. It seeks no praise for lovely colors, only to fill Heaven and Earth with pure air."

As the poem ended.

Everyone present froze once more.

Their eyes widened, their expressions filled with astonishment.

Damn it!

Weren't they asking this fellow to explain himself?

Never mind refusing to explain-he had actually started composing another poem?

Wasn't he... clearly making fools of them?!

And...

It was yet another masterpiece!

Especially that final line, "Only to fill Heaven and Earth with pure air." Its lofty purity, its proud refusal to flatter the world, almost swept straight into their faces.

However unwilling they were to admit it, they had to acknowledge that this poem was equally exquisite.

For a moment, quite a few faces became a spectacle of shifting emotions.

Some were shocked; others were embarrassed and angry.

Naturally, some still refused to accept it.

Two!

That bastard had actually copied two poems?

But before they could speak.

Jiang Xiaobai raised his head again and continued, his tone as calm as ever.

"A thousand hammer blows and ten thousand chisels bring it from the deep mountains,"

"It treats the blazing fire as nothing out of the ordinary."

"It fears neither bones ground to powder nor body shattered,"

"So long as it leaves its spotless purity in the world!"

With this poem, the entire garden fell silent once more.

No.

This time, it was no longer silence, but deathly stillness!

Everyone stood there blankly, as though even their breathing had grown sluggish.

Three?

That made three whole poems!

And every one had captured the theme of "unyielding spirit" to perfection.

The first, though a lyric, had portrayed defiance to its fullest.

The second was a poem about lofty purity.

The third was a poem about an unstained character and unyielding spirit.

Each had a different artistic conception, yet every one could unquestionably be called a masterpiece.

Claiming that one had been copied was still plausible.

Two... they could still force themselves to doubt.

But three?

And the topic had been chosen on the spot!

Jiang Xiaobai could not possibly have prepared in advance.

Unless... unless he really had composed all three here and now!

At that thought, the expressions on the surrounding faces grew increasingly complicated.

Who could have imagined it?

This Profligate Heir, whom they had always considered an ignorant good-for-nothing interested only in eating, drinking, and pleasure, actually possessed such talent?

Was this... still that wastrel Jiang Xiaobai?

And just as everyone stared in disbelief.

Jiang Xiaobai sighed softly, then spoke again.

"I bloom not among the hundred flowers,"

"Alone beside a sparse fence, my charm knows no end."

"I would rather die upon the branch, holding fast to my fragrance,"

"Than ever be blown down by the north wind."

As the final line fell, many felt as though their hearts had taken a heavy blow.

Especially those lines, "I would rather die upon the branch, holding fast to my fragrance, than ever be blown down by the north wind."

That spirit of breaking rather than bending, proud and unyielding, almost made their scalps tingle.

Four!

Four whole poems!

And each was more astonishing than the last!

At that moment.

No one voiced any further doubts.

Because questioning him had already lost all meaning.

Under these circumstances, anyone who was not a fool understood one thing.

Jiang Xiaobai... was nothing like the simpleton they had imagined!

Li Zhiwei stood there, staring blankly at Jiang Xiaobai, her chest rising and falling slightly despite herself.

She had read since childhood and had encountered many fine works of poetry.

She had also met plenty of so-called gifted scholars.

But someone like Jiang Xiaobai, who could compose four works in such a short span, each perfectly suited to the theme of "unyielding spirit," and every one outstanding...

This was her first time seeing such a person.

For a moment.

The light deep within her eyes grew brighter.

Meanwhile.

The White-Clad Man's expression had become utterly ugly.

Zeng Qingchi stood there, his lips moving as he tried to say something, but ultimately not a single word emerged.

Because he realized he no longer had the face to speak.

And amid that deathly silence.

Jiang Xiaobai merely swept his gaze slowly across the gathering before settling it on the White-Clad Man. "Where's your poem?"

At his words, the White-Clad Man opened his mouth, but could not force out a single sentence.

He had indeed come up with one, but reciting it now would undoubtedly be slapping his own face!

Seeing that the White-Clad Man remained silent, Jiang Xiaobai gently shook his head. "Ah, how dull! How very dull!"

With that, Jiang Xiaobai turned and walked straight toward the exit.

His bearing was supremely carefree.

As though he were not the one who had just casually stunned the entire garden.

Only after Jiang Xiaobai had taken several steps did the Personal Guard Commander abruptly come back to his senses.

Then he hurried after him.

"Heir!"

"Heir, please wait!"

Without turning his head, Jiang Xiaobai continued walking.

After catching up, the Personal Guard Commander lowered his voice and said urgently, "Heir, you haven't chosen anyone yet!"

"The Marquis sent you here to choose someone!"

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaobai kept walking and merely waved his hand briskly. "Shh, don't talk. I'm waiting for my dear Wei... to call me!"

Huh?

At those words, the Personal Guard Commander froze.

The next moment, an exceptionally lovely voice drifted slowly over from behind.

"Heir Jiang, please, stay..."