Chapter 175: Linked Verses (Part I)

Birds chirping in the misty woods, delicate flowers and elegant bamboo.

Beneath the colorful trees and amidst the lush, thick grass, a stream meandered by, twisting and turning.

The stream water was clear, flowing at a leisurely pace. Beneath the surface, smooth pebbles lay scattered like pearls, as if resting at the bottom of a mirror. Under the sunlight, they shimmered with brilliant, multicolored light.

Although it was the height of summer, this place was filled with a refreshing coolness, as if not of the human world.

Five people sat separately along the bank of the small stream. Before them were tables with wine but no food; behind them were maidservants, holding flowers but no fans.

At the head of the group sat a long red-lacquered table, upon which rested a small bronze bowl. A maidservant stood to the side, holding a small wooden mallet.

A servant presented a weathered bamboo tube. Le Zhan drew a bamboo slip from it, looked at the characters inscribed upon it, and recited leisurely: "Drinking horses at the Great Wall's crevice, the water is cold, wounding the horses' bones."

He then held the bamboo slip in his right hand, supported his right wrist with his left, showed it to the four seated around him, and handed the slip to the maidservant holding the mallet.

He said, "This is a line by Chen Kongzhang. According to Duan Hong's *Rhyme Collection*, the character 'bone' belongs to the 'six-mei' rhyme group. That means... the first person on the lower end, Madam, you have the first move."

Madam Le's face clouded with distress: "This line is a bit difficult! The sky is clear, the air is crisp, the mountains are bright, and the waters are beautiful, yet you insist on 'the water is cold, wounding the horses' bones'... Besides, I am the worst at taking the first move!"

She looked at her husband, blinked her eyes, and said with eager anticipation: "How about we swap seats?"

Madam Le revealed a hint of a young girl's playfulness, but the moment Le Zhan heard his wife attempting to break the rules of the game, he immediately became like an old pedant: "How can that be!"

"Why can't it? It wasn't said that swapping seats is forbidden."

"No, no, Madam, do not cause trouble!"

"Who is causing trouble?!"

Xie Xinghan and Seeing Liu Cheng could not help but smile at this.

Madam Le asked with a laugh: "Young Master Liu, Xie Xie Niangzi Xie, Young Master Wei, do you agree?"

Seeing Liu Cheng bowed slightly, appearing refined and courteous: "Madam Le, please do as you wish."

Xie Xinghan smiled: "I have no objections."

The scholar in white nodded slightly, his expression reserved: "It is acceptable."

Madam Le performed a bow toward her husband in the manner of a man, and said in a deep voice: "I ask the Assistant Governor Le to follow the path of least resistance."

The Le family maidservants carrying flower baskets could not hide their smiles at this.

Le Zhan had no choice but to reluctantly swap seats with his wife, while emphasizing: "Once we begin, no more swapping!"

Madam Le said: "We shall see."

"Madam, you!"

Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere was joyous.

Le Zhan gestured to the maidservant with the small wooden mallet, and she struck the bronze bowl.

"Zheng—"

A crisp, ethereal hum was heard, drifting away slowly like a wisp of light smoke.

Amidst the lingering echoes, all five composed themselves. They heard the maidservant recite: "Drinking horses at the Great Wall's crevice, the water is cold, wounding the horses' bones." Then, she struck the bronze bowl again.

This was a popular game of linked verses at the time, requiring one to complete the poem before the echoes of the bowl faded. Success earned a flower; failure incurred a penalty of wine. The servant was already prepared with paper and ink, holding a brush to record.

Le Zhan concentrated and continued: "At three years old, I learned to fence." The maidservant placed a yellow flower from the basket onto Le Zhan's table.

Madam Le frowned: "Whose child learns to fence at three?"

Everyone laughed.

Le Zhan said: "If one can recite poetry at three, naturally one can learn to fence."

He then urged the maidservant: "Strike the bowl quickly."

Zheng—

The bowl sounded, and Xie Xinghan, sitting at the lower end, smiled and continued: "At ten years old, I shot a swan."

Xie Xinghan also earned a flower on her table.

Madam Le nodded: "This child is impressive."

The scholar in white did not wait for the bowl to be struck, and spoke directly: "In the courtyard, playing with toy carriages."

"Playing with toy carriages" was a common game for children at the time, also called "the game of dove carriages," using small carriage models as toys. The models were generally made of pottery or wood, though some were made of more expensive materials like gold, silver, or ivory.

Madam Le sighed: "After all, still just a child."

Seeing Liu Cheng said: "Even in children's games, one can see extraordinary qualities."

The scholar in white said indifferently: "That is well said."

Le Zhan was somewhat expectant: "This depends on how Young Master Liu concludes this line."

Seeing Liu Cheng pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "Pointing at generals, often standing on the roof."

"Well connected!" Le Zhan praised.

The scholar in white nodded, seemingly acknowledging the line Seeing Liu Cheng had added.

Several of them began to applaud.

With Seeing Liu Cheng's line, the image of a child standing on a roof playing at pointing out generals with friends leaped off the page. The previous game of dove carriages in the courtyard was no longer a simple child's game, but carried a hint of the spirit of war.

The maidservant struck the bronze bowl again; this time it was Madam Le's turn.

Le Zhan said excitedly: "This child has already shown extraordinary ability, Madam, be careful!"

"That makes sense!" Madam Le pondered for a moment and continued: "Not fond of reading the classics."

Le Zhan's expression stiffened.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Xie Xinghan smiled: "That's true, learning to fence and learning to shoot, where would one find so many who are talented in both literature and martial arts?"

The scholar in white smiled mysteriously: "There are still some."

Xie Xinghan thought for a moment and nodded: "Indeed, there are."

Seeing Liu Cheng knew the former was referring to Wang Rong, and the latter to Wang Yang. He admired Wang Rong, but as for Wang Yang... he snorted coldly: "There are some, but some are real, and some are fake."

Xie Xinghan raised an eyebrow, then smiled: "There are also those whose truth or falsehood is unknown, but who love to speak sour words."

Seeing Liu Cheng's face darkened, and Madam Le laughed: "Here is someone who couldn't connect the poem, penalty wine, penalty wine!"

Le Zhan hurriedly said: "I have it, I have it! Forced by mother!"

Madam Le feigned anger: "Why not say father?"

Everyone laughed again.

Le Zhan was embarrassed and whispered: "The rhyme for father doesn't fit."

Seeing Liu Cheng looked at Xie Xinghan and said with a teasing tone: "Let us hear what mother will say."

Xie Xinghan looked at Seeing Liu Cheng, her words carrying a double meaning, as if a mother scolding her son: "You are a child of a great family."

The scholar in white still did not wait for the bowl to be struck and chanted directly: "For generations, all have been famous scholars."

Madam Le sighed: "A family of famous scholars for generations, yet not fond of reading the classics, how is this a bit like my son..."

Everyone collapsed in laughter.

Seeing Liu Cheng had been slightly displeased after his exchange with Xie Xinghan, but now he was amused by Madam Le and smiled as he continued: "Mastering the classics is the basic profession."

Mastering the classics means mastering the classics and commentaries; the basic profession is the family heritage, following directly from the previous line "For generations, all have been famous scholars." It means the mother is teaching her son to study hard and inherit the ancestral profession.

"It's my turn again so soon!" Madam Le sighed, racking her brain: "Uh... mastering the profession... hmm..."

The bowl's echo had faded, and Le Zhan said: "Madam, penalty wine!"

Madam Le argued forcefully: "No penalty, no penalty! Although I couldn't connect it, my husband can!"

Le Zhan frowned: "How can that be? Linked verses are like military movements, penalty wine is like a military order, how can one substitute?"

"Why can't one substitute? Military movements and military orders, it wasn't said that one couldn't seek reinforcements!"

Everyone was amused.

Madam Le directly ordered the maidservant: "A-Shuang, strike the bowl, let us see General Le come to the rescue!"

As it turned out, Le Zhan couldn't connect it either, so the couple had no choice but to miserably drink a cup together.

Le Zhan sighed: "Young Master Liu's line is hard to connect. It must be a mother's words to her son, and it must rhyme. It's up to Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Si."

The scholar in white said: "It is most appropriate for Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Si to connect this line."

Seeing Liu Cheng thought for a moment and nodded: "Indeed."

Madam Le smiled at her husband: "Husband, when you are promoted in the future, you will be able to connect this line."

"Oh? How so?" Le Zhan was very curious.

Xie Xinghan smiled faintly and said softly: "A smooth flow to the Secretariat."

"So that's it!" Le Zhan suddenly realized. Xie Xinghan's father was the Chief of the Secretariat, so of course it was most appropriate for her to say it! The poem was about finished here; continuing would not only be hard to write but would easily lose its style. It could be concluded now.

The scholar in white still did not hesitate and chanted: "The Donggong selects its staff." The maidservant stepped forward and presented another flower.

As soon as he said this line, everyone looked at him.

Writing poetry is like writing an essay, emphasizing the structure of introduction, development, transition, and conclusion. The mother educating her son already belonged to the "transition." After the transition,

either the son turns to study, or there is something else to say, and this poem could be concluded. Yet this person suddenly brought up the matter of the Donggong selecting officials!

What is this for? Still want to write about going to the Donggong to be an official? It's like Wang Yang lecturing students on the *Chu Ci*, and just as class is about to end, Wang Yang suddenly says: "Speaking of the tribes in New Guinea..." Students:??? Where did this come from?

Isn't this creating complications?

Either this person has extraordinary talent and is confident in controlling the extra complications without deviating from the theme; or he is only concerned with connecting lines and has not thought through the layout of the whole poem, resulting in the lines becoming complex and redundant.

The latter is unlikely; since all four could see it, how could he be an exception? Besides, with such a reputation for talent, how could he not understand how to plan a piece?

As for the former, it's also not quite right, because this is not a solo work, but linked verses. No matter how confident you are, you can only control the part you write. Even if you have subsequent arrangements, others might not connect lines as you wish. Once the snowball rolls, it might not be what you envisioned. Could it be that he is truly confident to the extreme, believing that no matter what others write, he can connect it back?

Or perhaps he doesn't care at all whether the whole poem is a success or a failure, only concerned with earning flowers and showing off his talent, in which case his character is a bit... isolated?

No matter what he was thinking, Seeing Liu Cheng still wanted to combine everyone's efforts to make this linked poem beautiful. So he thought and thought, and only at the very last moment before the bowl's sound stopped did he connect: "With your family background, you can be selected."

With Seeing Liu Cheng's line, he immediately won the praise of Le Zhan and his wife. Even Xie Xinghan secretly thought this line was well connected. Because of this, the tricky "Donggong selects its staff" immediately became the mother's words, meaning the mother was telling her son: The Donggong is selecting officials, and according to your family background and status, you can be selected. This was equivalent to pulling back the horse that had already broken its reins.

Seeing Liu Cheng felt the admiring gazes around the table, looked at the red, white, and blue fresh flowers on the table, and felt that life had finally returned to the right track!

He sniffed the fragrance of the flowers, closed his eyes slightly, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: With someone absent, how joyous it is!

——————

Note: The rhyming in the Northern and Southern Dynasties was neither the Ping-shui rhyme nor the Han rhyme. If one must find a similar one, the *Qieyun* is undoubtedly closer, but not exactly the same. Although many rhyme books from the Six Dynasties have been lost, one can still reconstruct a general idea through remaining documents and the poetry and prose of the time. Students interested in the rhyming of this era can refer to Mr. Yu Anlan's *Rhyme Book of the Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties*, the *Research on the Evolution of Rhyme Groups in the Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties* by Luo Changpei and Zhou Zumo, and Mr. Wang Li's *Examination of Rhyming by Poets of the Northern and Southern Dynasties*.

The rhyming at that time had both similarities and differences with the present. Similar ones, for example, *wei*, *shei*, *mei*; these three characters still feel like they rhyme when read today. Different ones, for example, *zi*, *bei*, *gui*; these three characters do not rhyme when read today, and only rhyme when read with the ancient pronunciation of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Furthermore, using the ancient pronunciation of the time, these three characters also rhyme with *wei*, *shei*, *mei*. In addition, there was a distinction between "narrow rhymes" and "wide rhymes" when writing poetry at that time; these six characters are in the same rhyme group even from the perspective of narrow rhymes.

To let everyone feel the flavor of the rhyming, I have tried to use rhyme words that overlap between ancient and modern times as much as possible when writing poetry for the characters in the book. This is not only in line with historical facts but also allows everyone to feel the beauty of the rhythm while reading. However, sometimes, when it does not affect the elegance, there are also examples of using ancient and modern rhymes separately. For example, in the poem "Cooking with clouds and pine fire" that Wang Yang wrote about egg fried rice, the rhyme words "yuan" and "xian" rhyme according to ancient rhymes; they do not rhyme when read with modern rhymes. But it was written casually at the time, and Wang Yang was just playing around on the boat, so it was not changed.

Ps: Is it really impossible to establish even the slightest connection between the tribes of New Guinea and the *Chu Ci*? There is no fixed answer to this question; it is mainly to exercise thinking and stimulate broad learning, and to experience the charm of deduction. Interested friends can take this as a problem for leisure entertainment, and it is also fine to treat it as chocolate. ===== CHAPTER 176 =====