Actually, Qin Lang had looked up quite a few timeless poetic masterpieces back in the day. But some were too long, others too tongue-twisting. There was no way he could remember that many now!
The two most widely circulated ones, however, he still recalled very clearly.
One was “Smoke locks the willow pond,” known as the “number one most difficult couplet.”
The other was a verse expressing a woman’s melancholy: “Lonely in a cold window, a widow’s vow.”
But this latter one didn’t quite fit Qin Lang’s current identity. A huge star, enjoying the adoration of millions, talking about being lonely in a cold window, keeping a widow’s vow? And besides, wasn’t he still an untouched young lady here?
So, Qin Lang could only choose the first one.
“Starting with a nuclear option like this… I almost feel sorry for these people!”
Looking at the crowd, Qin Lang suddenly felt a twinge of pity.
“Oh? I wonder what kind of upper couplet Miss Qin has in mind. Qu Bai would be delighted to explore it with you.”
Li Qu Bai, gazing at Qin Lang’s stunningly beautiful face up close, couldn’t help but soften his voice.
Qin Lang gave a light smile, his eyes holding a look that the other couldn’t quite decipher.
It held pity, regret, sorrow, and a faint glimmer of anticipation.
“My upper couplet is… Smoke locks the willow pond.”
Qin Lang exhaled, bringing out this timeless masterpiece that had baffled scholars in China for over a millennium.
Smoke locks the willow pond?
Just five words? That seemed far too simple, didn’t it?
That was the first thought that popped into everyone’s mind.
But quickly, after reading it again, everyone furrowed their brows.
Smoke locks the willow pond. Five simple words, seemingly easy, but upon deeper reflection, not so simple at all.
First, it incorporates the five elements as radicals, while simultaneously using compound words and metaphorical rhetoric.
More importantly, these five simple words painted a beautiful scene: a tranquil pond, surrounded by lush willows, shrouded in a hazy, misty smoke.
This was the most challenging aspect of this upper couplet!
Hiss!
The attendees of this poetry conference, after all, were people with some scholarly learning.
They all realized that Qin Yun Xuan’s upper couplet was no simple matter.
One by one, they sucked in sharp breaths of cold air.
The entire poetry conference was stumped by a couplet proposed by a singer. If news of this got out…
Would the Poetry Association still have any face left?
Would they, as scholars, have any dignity left?
The sound of sharp intakes of breath rippled through the crowd, and the atmosphere in the venue grew heavy.
Seeing everyone with their brows furrowed, Qin Lang couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, thank goodness there wasn’t some kind of prodigious genius among them!
This timeless masterpiece hadn’t let the Chinese down; it really had stumped everyone.
Li Qu Bai now found himself in a difficult position.
A trace of resentment welled up in his heart, too.
Of course, this resentment wasn’t directed at Qin Yun Xuan, but at his own mentor!
His mentor insisted on “giving Qin Yun Xuan a taste of her own medicine,” forcing him to come here.
But looking at the situation now, who was really giving whom a taste of their own medicine?
His own trump card upper couplet had been effortlessly matched by Qin Yun Xuan, but faced with hers, he was racking his brains and couldn’t come up with a suitable lower couplet.
Difficult! So difficult!
If this got out, where would he put his face? Li Qu Bai, champion of the poetry conference, losing to Qin Yun Xuan?
He’d rather lose to Zhao Qing Hui than to her!
This was someone crossing over from another field for fun!
He cast a pleading glance at his mentor, Lin Yue.
But to his surprise, upon meeting his gaze, his mentor actually picked up his teacup, turned his head, and started chatting softly with some big shots nearby.
This clearly meant even he couldn’t think of a matching couplet!
Others get their fathers or teachers in trouble. How come, in his case, it was the student getting thrown under the bus?
Lin Yue felt sorry for his beloved disciple’s resentful stare, but this was a burden he simply couldn’t shoulder.
What the hell was this “Smoke locks the willow pond”? How on earth was anyone supposed to match that!
If Li Qu Bai couldn’t match it, at worst he’d become the butt of jokes for a while.
People might even forget about it in a few months.
But if one of these big shots were to be stumped by Qin Yun Xuan, that would be a huge joke!
So, Lin Yue would rather sacrifice his own disciple’s face than step forward himself.
Li Qu Bai sighed inwardly. He was truly at his wit’s end.
He wasn’t stupid; on the contrary, he was very intelligent.
But the more intelligent a person, the more they could appreciate the exquisite subtlety within those five words.
“I cannot match it.” After only a moment’s hesitation, Li Qu Bai conceded defeat very frankly.
In the face of such an absolute masterpiece, any struggle was futile.
Unless inspiration struck suddenly, it was impossible to find the perfect match.
Seeing Li Qu Bai admit defeat, Qin Lang glanced around.
“I wonder if anyone else is interested in my upper couplet?”
Wherever his gaze fell, people hurriedly lowered their heads.
Even the big shots either picked up their teacups or turned away, pretending to chat with their neighbors, deliberately avoiding Qin Lang’s eyes.
How embarrassing. Truly embarrassing. A whole room full of poetry experts, stumped by a singer’s couplet.
Though frustrating, it was also a helpless reality.
When outmatched, any excuse was just that – an excuse.
Li Qu Bai, however, took it rather well. Losing to Qin Yun Xuan didn’t feel particularly shameful.
After all, no one else could match it either!
Besides, he’d always liked Qin Yun Xuan anyway. Losing to her… wasn’t so shameful.
“Miss Qin, may I ask what the matching lower couplet actually is?” Li Qu Bai asked, a little anxiously.
As a poetry enthusiast, encountering such a timeless masterpiece was like a lecher meeting a beautiful woman – he couldn’t wait.
Hearing his question, the people around pricked up their ears. They were all curious, too.
Could such an absolute couplet even have a perfect match?
Qin Lang smiled faintly: “Are you sure you really want to know?”
Li Qu Bai was about to answer affirmatively, but the words hesitated on his lips.
If he got the answer to such a masterpiece so easily, then what was the point of his lifelong study of poetry and couplets?
Was his pursuit merely about finding answers?
Wasn’t it about enjoying the agonizing process of being challenged and the elation of finally finding the solution?
Would he truly be happy just knowing the answer?
“I…” Li Qu Bai was torn, hesitating.
The people around him were practically itching to answer for him, desperate to know.
But in the end, Li Qu Bai sighed. “Never mind. I suddenly realize I don’t want to know anymore.”
Qin Lang chuckled. This Li Qu Bai… was quite interesting.
A sigh, tinged with both relief at Li Qu Bai’s answer and a hint of disappointment, rippled through the crowd.
The appearance of “Smoke locks the willow pond” plunged the entire poetry conference into an awkward predicament.
Although there were still poetry composition rounds based on set themes, it seemed everyone’s minds were still fixated on that couplet. No one had the heart for chanting verses and matching couplets anymore.
Besides… what poem could possibly shine, faced with such an unparalleled upper couplet?
Soon, the poetry conference, filled with regret and awkwardness, came to a hasty and anticlimactic end.
