Chapter 493

Zhou Zifu's turbid eyes widened suddenly.

Chu Ningyu's beautiful eyes widened suddenly.

The officials of the Chu Kingdom envoy group were also in a mess in the wind.

They had seen shameless people, but they had never seen anyone so thick-skinned.

Zhou Zifu was so angry that his chest heaved.

He had lived a long time; he, Zhou Zifu, had dominated the literary circles of the seven kingdoms, and this was the first time someone had slandered him for plagiarism!

He looked at Gao Yang in disbelief and confirmed again, "Lord Gao, you say my 'Climbing the River, Autumn Moon' was plagiarized from you?"

"Do you dare say it again?"

For scholars, especially in an era where a clean reputation is more important than life, the word 'plagiarism' was a heavy blow to Zhou Zifu!

It could not be tolerated!

Furthermore, with his status, throughout Great Chu and even Great Qian, he had countless students; who didn't know him? Did he need to plagiarize?

And plagiarize Gao Yang?

And these words were clearly the words he intended to use to scold Gao Yang!

Gao Yang looked at Zhou Zifu and sneered.

"Master Zhou, if I didn't know the truth, I would have really been fooled by your acting!"

"But today, I cannot tolerate it!"

"A man born between heaven and earth should act upright and sit straight. You are old, yet you plagiarize from me; this is truly an immoral act, despised by scholars everywhere!"

"I advise you not to make mistake after mistake!"

Gao Yang looked righteous, his voice like a bell, echoing through the entire court.

Zhou Zifu looked at Gao Yang, who was attacking him with righteousness, and trembled violently.

He widened his eyes, his body couldn't help but stagger back a few steps, and he tremblingly pointed at Gao Yang.

"Slander!"

"He is slandering me!"

"How could this old man do such a filthy thing!"

Master Zhou looked at everyone, anxious.

These words were truly heart-piercing!

Seeing this, Chu Ningyu hurriedly stepped forward and supported Zhou Zifu.

"This Living Yama is resourceful; he is clearly doing this on purpose. If Master gets angry, he will lose his composure, and that will be falling into his trap."

"He clearly knew what we were going to do, so he struck first!"

Chu Ningyu whispered, her tone urgent.

Although she had known Gao Yang's name for a long time, these were just rumors, and they hadn't truly clashed.

Chu Ningyu even felt that the rumors were too exaggerated.

As a human, how could one have no morality?

But seeing him today, Chu Ningyu knew that the rumors were not only not exaggerated, but on the contrary, too conservative!

This guy is truly shameless.

Master Zhou is already sixty or seventy, with gray hair and an old age.

But this person slandered Master Zhou, speaking lies without even blushing.

Master Zhou took a deep breath, his reason gradually returning.

He gritted his teeth and looked at Gao Yang, saying decisively: "This is simply nonsense; this old man has never plagiarized!"

Chu Ningyu also said, "Master Zhou is our Great Chu's number one poetry saint, famous everywhere; how could he do such a filthy thing!"

"Lord Gao, your words are too ridiculous."

Gao Yang looked at Chu Ningyu and said indifferently, "In this world, the more ridiculous things are, the more real they often are!"

"Whether it is or isn't is not for one person to say; we must speak of evidence. Since Master Zhou says he didn't plagiarize from me, then please prove it yourself!"

Prove it himself?

Following Gao Yang's words, Master Zhou's face became even uglier.

How could he prove this?

He fell into thought.

Seeing this, Gao Yang spread his hands and said: "Everyone, please look. Master Zhou cannot speak; this must be plagiarism without a doubt."

"Otherwise, if it were his own thing, why would it be hard to prove?"

With Gao Yang's words, the gazes of the crowd couldn't help but change.

They looked at Master Zhou with scrutiny.

Under the pressure of so many eyes, cold sweat seeped from Master Zhou's forehead.

He suddenly flicked his sleeves and said, "This was originally this old man's thing; how can I prove it?"

"This 'Climbing the River, Autumn Moon' was written by this old man seven years ago. Once this poem came out, it spread from Great Chu to the seven kingdoms, and I became famous with one poem!"

"Seven years ago, how old was Lord Gao?"

"Even with stunning talent, could a twelve-year-old write this 'Climbing the River, Autumn Moon' with perfect parallelism and excellent imagery?"

"Lord Gao, are you treating the civil and military officials, and even the scholars of the world, as fools?"

Master Zhou came back to his senses and said, his voice echoing through the hall.

Chu Ningyu also seemed to have caught a loophole in Gao Yang's words, and she said mockingly, "To write this 'Climbing the River, Autumn Moon' at twelve, Lord Gao would have to be a one-in-a-million genius!"

"If Lord Gao is truly a genius, why would he write the masterpiece 'Looking from afar, the stone is big; looking up close, the stone is big' in public?"

"How do you explain this?"

When these words fell, all the officials looked at Gao Yang.

Even Lu Wen couldn't help but shake his head; this poem was born seven years ago.

How could Gao Yang explain this?

But in this situation, even the stupidest official wouldn't speak up for Zhou Zifu and mock Gao Yang.

This involved a stance.

But this didn't affect them watching the show.

Cui Xinghe looked at Gao Yang; he was suddenly curious about Gao Yang's response.

He was calm; after all, at the critical moment, he, Cui Xinghe, would naturally take action.

Gao Yang responded directly.

"Is this hard to understand?"

"Just like before I accepted the Emperor's edict to seek talent, who in Changancheng didn't know my name as a playboy?"

"As a strategist, isn't it normal to hide one's light?"

"If I were truly that kind of playboy, how do you explain the grain prices in Linjiang City, and how do you explain the Defense of Changancheng?"

When these words were spoken.

The whole hall was moved.

But no one could refute half a word of Gao Yang's words.

After these few months, who in Changancheng dared to say Gao Yang was an unlearned playboy?

Gao Yang further said.

"Others can't, but that doesn't mean I can't. And the Eldest Princess was right; because I am that one-in-a-million genius!"

"Back then, I was too young, and I recited this 'Climbing the River, Autumn Moon' in the streets of Changancheng."

"My father and the entire Duke Prefecture can testify to this!"

Seeing this, Gao Feng's mouth twitched.

But he immediately stood out, looking at his nose and heart, and said.

"This old man guarantees it with the lives of my two sons!"

"Everyone in the Duke Prefecture can testify; I ask Your Majesty to judge!"

Gao Feng said without even changing his face.

Lu Zhen also said, "Correct, I was there at the time. Hearing this poem, I was instantly amazed."

"So I beat my rebellious son in the prefecture, but later, this poem became Master Zhou's thing. I was confused for a while."

"I didn't expect this guy to be so shameless!"