"Crazy man, you only say yes, only say absolutely, you also let us watch and worship, we are in a hurry" Because of the mad man's true temperament, it doesn't matter if he usually says something innocuous or trivial, so there are already students at the bottom who can't wait for them to quickly announce Cao Yi's next link, and then everyone in the audience laughed, and the atmosphere relaxed for a while.

"After the unanimous evaluation of the three of us, Cao Yi is also the first candidate for the leader, is there anyone else to challenge next?"

The mad man looked around and found that no one came out to participate in the competition, so he said: "In that case, the preliminary test of our round of couplets is over, and now I will announce the next couplet of the two candidates, you can take a look." Then let the little guy remove the cover from the first panel.

"I believe that as long as you have participated in it, you all know this uplink 'ink', but what I want to say is that among so many people here, only Yan Shu and Cao Yi's downlink is the most neat, and their downlink is exactly the same." After speaking, Cao Yi and Shen Yan's lower couplet is pasted, and it is all the word "spring".

"Everyone looks at the upper couplet, the word 'ink', the top is black and the bottom is the soil, which corresponds to the color and the five elements, and the word 'spring', the top is white and the bottom is water, which also corresponds to the color and the five elements, so black to white, soil to water, and the square is the most neat couplet, so most of the people here are not neat couplets."

"The one-word couplet has such a deep meaning, we are waiting to be taught, Brother Cao, Brother Yan" A student who is older than Cao Yi and Yan Shu saluted the two, and the two hurriedly returned the salute.

Also let the little guy remove the cover of the second couplet, revealing the upper couplet "Bamboo Rain Pine Organ Rhyme" inside, Mad Gong continued: "This is not only the upper couplet, but also the scene of a painting, depicting the Xiaoxiao bamboo rain, gusts of pine wind, a few cases, Fu Yaoqin, Yashi retreating to the mountains and forests, and then look at the two alternate couplets, Yan Shu is 'the sound of smoke and clouds, willows and moon waves', and Cao Yi is' Tea smoke and Wuyue book sound', both are very good, but relatively speaking, Cao Yi's words in the painting environment are more worthy of the couplet, surrounded by pine waves, bamboo forests, in such an environment to tune the piano and cook tea, reading and admiring the moon, it is indeed a beautiful and beautiful thing! ”

Everyone here is a well-educated person in Jiangning City, but after listening to the mad man talk about this, he has already realized that it is indeed Cao Yi's lower couplet, which can combine the artistic conception of the overall couplet to form a harmonious and natural landscape painting of mountains and rivers cooking tea, the sound of piano and the sound of books. Even Yan Shu nodded approvingly, although the two sentences are very good, but in comparison, Cao Yi's is indeed better.

Everyone also looked at Cao Yi with admiration, in such a short period of time, at the same time, they were looking at the five upper links together to produce the lower ones, this kind of quick thinking, this kind of brilliant literary brilliance, they categorically could not achieve it. Only Shen Yan's face was gloomy and terrifying, gloomy as if it was about to drip water.

Everyone's eyes returned to the third couplet, and some people's expressions were a little strange, just because the upper link of the third couplet was a rare overlapping couplet.

Mad Gong continued to explain: "The upper link of the third couplet is 'green, green, red, red and red everywhere warbler Yanyan', which is a stacked couplet. The whole text does not contain a single flower, not a cursive word, but through a few overlapping words, the beautiful scenery of red flowers and green willows everywhere, and the song of swallows dancing and warblers are depicted. Let's take a look at a few of the links here that are very good, and we'll come back after reading them all. ”

Immediately, the little guy posted all the three downlinking. "Now let's take a look at the first Sikong Ye, 'green, green, red and red everywhere warblers and swallows, cold and miserable'. The second is Yan Shu's, 'green, green, red and red everywhere warblers and swallows, black and white and white are right and wrong'. The last one is Cao Yi's, 'green, green, red and red everywhere warblers and swallows, flowers and plants every year in the twilight of the dynasty', the third couplet, these three people are all very good, we don't distinguish between good and bad, you can read it together, and experience it carefully. ”

Although the madman said that the third joint is not the best, but in the minds of most people, they still feel that Cao Yi's "flowers and plants every year twilight dynasty" is the most appropriate and neat for the scene, the scene is the upper link to depict the beautiful spring, and the lower link hopes that such a beautiful scenery can last for a long time, every year, day and night, and the upper and lower couplets can be more scene-blended. As for neatness, it is red flowers and green grass, and the morning warbler and twilight swallow.

The madman also paused, leaving enough time for the talents present to observe and appreciate, and after a while, he let the little guy unveil the fourth couplet, which is just to describe today's Mid-Autumn Festival. "Let's look at the fourth couplet of the 'Mid-Autumn Festival in August', this is very appropriate, and what is even more commendable is that the Mid-Autumn Festival is in August, and the beginning and end words are the same, all of them are 'in', and similarly, there are three people according to these conditions."

"They are Yan Bojian's 'One Qin and Seven in One', Yan Shu's 'Three Kingdoms One Divide Three', and Cao Yi's 'Two and a Half Shifts in the Middle of the Night', well...... In the fourth joint, we don't decide the best. ”

Maybe it's clear that the upper and lower couplets of this fourth couplet are clear at a glance, so the mad man didn't comment much, and directly began to talk about the fifth couplet.

"The upper link of the fifth couplet, I believe everyone knows it very well, from the Tang Dynasty Li He's "Golden and Bronze Immortal Ci Han Song" in the 'declining Lan sent guests to Xianyang Road, if the sky is loved, the sky is also old', since the Tang Dynasty, it has been famous for a long time, many literati and scholars have taken this as the upper link in order to seek the lower link, and there is no suitable one today. Originally, Lu Gong listed this poem as the upper part of the fifth couplet, and we were still a little worried, afraid that no one would match it, but in this competition, Yan Shu and Cao Yi both played the lower couplet, which made us very pleased, and this was also a great blessing for the Jinling Poetry Club. ”

After the little guy pasted the two lower couplets, the mad man continued: "Yan Shu's lower couplet is 'flowers are difficult to wither if they have no heart', and Cao Yi's lower couplet is 'the moon is full like a hateless moon', both of which are just opposite to the upper couplet's parts of speech, but Cao Yi Cao Zhaozheng's lower couplet artistic conception is more far-reaching, and the two are connected with the previous sentence, which is naturally integrated, and it is more suitable for today's Mid-Autumn Festival full moon, so the fifth couplet is also Cao Yi's slightly better. ”

Yan Shu looked at Cao Yi's various lower couplets, the brilliance of his eyes became brighter and brighter, and he turned his head very naturally and frankly waved his hand at Cao Yi, and said with a kind of emotion: "Couplet, Brother Zhaozheng is far better than me, the younger brother is willing to bow to the wind, and I wish Brother Zhaozheng more guidance in the future, if Brother Zhaozheng goes to Kaifeng Bianjing in the future, the younger brother will take the wind and wash the dust for Brother Zhaozheng, and talk about wine." ”

Cao Yi naturally agreed, before I was afraid that it was just the same name and word and had a little doubt, but now after some competition, I already know Yan Shu's talent, and it must be the famous Taiping Prime Minister and Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty Yan Shu is undoubtedly the first famous prodigy in the Song Dynasty, known as being able to write a good article at the age of seven. His words inherit the afterglow of the five dynasties of the late Tang Dynasty, and the new voice of the Song Dynasty is revealed, which is the precedent for the prosperity of Song poetry. But what puzzled Cao Yi was that if it was really according to the history of later generations, Yan Shu should not have been born at this time, why did he appear so many years in advance?

However, in view of the historical fact that Zhang Ruoxu and Yang Guifei disappeared inexplicably, Cao Yi did not investigate too much about what was going on, not to mention that the identity of the eighth son of his Cao family still does not exist in history, since he appeared out of thin air, it is not surprising that Yan Shu was born decades in advance.

"Okay, I've seen the lower links of the second round of the couplet competition, everyone should have no objection to their talent and strength to advance to the top candidate, right?"

Everyone shook their heads or shook their hands one after another, saying that they had no objections. The mad man continued: "The two leaders and alternate duels, one side will go out first, one side will go down, and the second round will be the opposite. If Yan Shu comes out of the upper link first in the first round, Cao Yi will play the lower link. In the second round, Cao Yi is out of the upper link, Yan Shu is out of the lower link, if Cao Yi is out of the lower link and Yan Shu is not out, then Cao Yi is the leader of the couplet, and vice versa. Everyone, do you understand the rules? ”

The mad man looked around, and everyone hurriedly expressed their understanding. In the end, Cao Yi and Yan Shu discussed privately, and Yan Shu went out first.

Cao Yi and everyone were quietly waiting for Yan Shu to come out, at this time the latter was pacing in the garden and meditating for about half a tea time, when suddenly there were bursts of bells from the Taiping Xingguo Temple on the Purple Mountain in the distance, Yan Shu shouted "Yes", and then stopped and thought carefully for a while.

Then he turned his head and said to Cao Yi: "Brother Cao, just now I suddenly heard the bell of the Buddhist temple, and the younger brother occasionally got a couplet, you listen to it first, and then I will transcribe it, 'The sound of the wind, the sound of the water, the sound of insects, the sound of birds, the sound of Fanbei, the total of three hundred and sixty days to strike the bell, silent and silent'." ”

Just as Yan Shu began to write and everyone was still thinking about it, a brilliant fireworks bloomed in the night sky, reflecting the smoke scattered in the night sky like a glow.

I only heard Cao Yi speak slowly: "The mountains, the moonlight, the clouds, the fog, the haze, and the 48,000 zhang peaks and peaks, all colors are empty!" ”

In an instant, Cao Yi's soft voice was like a thunderclap in a silent place, which deeply shook everyone, including Yan Shu, who was writing, and the three literary elders sitting at the top.

You can be quick, you can be quick, but you can't be so fast, right? They sat on the head, just in time to see that Yan Shu had just written the four words "wind and water", but he just dictated it once, and even the upper couplet had not been written, you had already given the lower couplet, and with the literary skills of the three elders, it was natural to know that Cao Yi's lower couplet was extremely fair, from the rhythm to the part of speech, and then to the artistic conception, all of them could fight one by one, and they were extremely neat.

This is a bit too shocking for Yan Shu, and even the hand holding the brush at this time is a little trembling, but he is also a determined person, and he quickly took a deep breath, calmed down his mentality, and under the signal of Lu Lao, he still wrote the upper couplet completely. Then stepped aside, gave up the position to Cao Yi, and asked him to write the next couplet. After writing everything, paste the upper and lower links on the display board for everyone to see.

Shanglian: The sound of the wind, the sound of the water, the sound of insects, the sound of birds, the sound of Fanbei, a total of 360 days of striking the bell, silent and silent!

Downlink: The mountains are moonlight, the clouds are foggy, and the smoke is hazy, and the 48,000 zhang peaks and peaks are colorful, and the colors are empty!

Everyone looked at the couplet, and then looked at Cao Yi, until now their hearts are still full of shock, how can a person be so demonic, this is completely beyond their cognition, with Cao Yi's performance tonight, it is enough to be comparable to Cao Zhi's seven-step poem and Wen Tingyun's eight-pronged rhyme, and even surpassed.

Yan Shu occasionally listened to the bell of the Zen temple and came out of the upper link, extremely exquisite, Cao Yi suddenly saw the fireworks and should be linked, and the words, words, rhyme, meaning are neat to the battle, the upper and lower couplets are full of Zen, more rare, such elegant legends, is bound to be famous all over the world, and today's Jinling poetry will also spread throughout the Great Yan Dynasty, it is really a grand event.

The madman also came forward to comment, of course, he praised Yan Shu and Cao Yi, and then asked Cao Yi to go up, and Yan Shu to go down.

Everyone was extremely interested in what kind of Shanglian Cao Yi would make, and everyone present commented on him. Cao Yi looked at everyone's gaze, but he didn't feel nervous, in fact, he didn't plan to use which eternal absolute to make a couplet, but thinking of the Great Yan Dynasty as a fire attribute, and today's Mid-Autumn Festival has many fireworks and fireworks, or come to this sentence Shanglian, he made a decision in his heart, Cao Yi walked quickly to the case, picked up the pen and dipped it in ink, the pen walked the dragon snake, and wrote down the five words "smoke lock pond willow".

Everyone was eagerly waiting to watch......

"Cao Gongzi's uplink is a timely situation, but it doesn't seem to be very difficult?"

"I don't seem to see anything out of the ordinary, do any of you know?"

The people in the audience talked a lot, but Yan Shu's brows were getting tighter and tighter, it shouldn't be so simple, by the way, it's the five elements!

"I know, the sides of these five words correspond to the five elements, fire, gold, water, earth and engineering!" The mystery was also discovered among the crowd.

"Our Great Yan Dynasty belongs to fire, so it is at the forefront, and the overall meaning of Shanglian should be that fire suppresses Jinmu, water and soil?"

"That's right! Right! Think about it, the west is gold, there used to be Houshu, and now it is Xixia. ”

"If you divide it in this way, the southeast, the south, the south, the Tang and the Li clan are wood," and some people followed closely to analyze......

"Due north is water, the former Northern Han, the current Liao Khitan"

"There is also Dali, Dali is the southwest, and the southwest is just the soil"

"This Shanglian not only has the beautiful scenery of the Mid-Autumn Festival, but also replaces the surrounding five borders with the five elements, which is a metaphor for the strong national strength of the Great Yan Dynasty, and the immortal merits of this pilgrimage are really absolute through the ages!" As a feudal official, Yang Zhifu naturally has a very high political consciousness, and he immediately thought of the meaning behind it, and felt that if he reported it to the emperor with this sentence, he would definitely be happy.

Lu Lao is also while stroking his beard, while nodding in admiration, indeed this upper couplet text is gentle and delicate, the scenery is beautiful and boundless, the idea is majestic, the rhyme contains the royal road, it is an extremely rare couplet, the lower couplet not only corresponds to the five elements, but also respects the fire, so it is not easy to match the five elements and the artistic conception of the poem.

Yan Shu stared at the couplet for a long time, after all, he had no clue, lowered his head and sighed, and finally gave up admitting defeat: "Brother Cao can be called a genius, Uncle Tong is ashamed of the name of a prodigy, today Uncle Tong is convinced, Brother Cao's talent is comparable to Li Taibai, and he deserves the name of 'Immortal'." ”