Chapter 790: First Volume_Chapter 790 The True Winner

First Volume_Chapter 790 The True Winner

The crowd gathered outside Huijuan Lou noticed that the once-bustling building had suddenly fallen silent, leaving everyone baffled.

Those who couldn't stand the suspense stretched their necks, peering inside the Lou, but saw nothing at all.

In an instant, all sorts of speculation arose outside the Lou.

"What's going on? Why did it suddenly go quiet inside the Lou?"

"Jing Ci Princess went in just now—maybe everyone is paying respects to Her Highness? Or perhaps they're afraid of disturbing Her Highness, so they went silent?"

"I wonder who won this final round in the end—Qin Feng or Li Yuhang?"

"Do you even need to ask? It has to be Li Yuhang. He's known as the Yucheng Bai He—if even he lost to Qin Feng, wouldn't that mean the entire Great Di literary scene was trampled underfoot by Qin Feng?"

Though the Common People don't discuss politics and don't understand them, as citizens of Yucheng, they know perfectly well how important literature is to a nation.

The stronger the culture, the greater the influence of soft power, which can be used to influence the surrounding Fan Bang Zhu Guo.

This is also why Liang Kingdom, long known as a Rong Yi Zhi Bang, has suffered military suppression from the Northern Di at every turn, yet remains enduring and has never faced the dire predicament of being attacked on both sides. It is precisely because literary circles in every nation hold Liang Kingdom in reverence, which in turn influences domestic politics.

Perhaps culture cannot directly sway politics, but literati can!

This is also why today's Fen Xiang Wen Tan is so crucial—as long as one can defeat Qin Feng, it will weaken his influence among literary circles in the surrounding nations.

One must remember that not only in the surrounding nations, but even within Northern Di territory, there are many literati who admire Qin Feng.

Just as the crowd outside Huijuan Lou was buzzing with speculation, a scholar in blue robes stepped out.

Finally someone came out. The watching Common People naturally wouldn't let this chance slip, swarming forward in a frenzy and surrounding the blue-robed scholar layer upon layer.

Before they could even open their mouths to ask, the crowd noticed with surprise that something was off about the scholar's expression.

He seemed utterly enraptured, savoring the moment?!

This only further piqued everyone's curiosity, and for a moment, questions came one after another in rapid succession.

"Hey, Liu Sheng, what's actually going on in there? Hurry up and tell us."

"Exactly! You're killing us here—who won this final round, Qin Feng or Li Yuhang?"

"Huijuan Lou was so noisy just now, how did it suddenly go quiet? Did something happen?"

"Her Highness is still inside—don't you dare scare us."

"Speak up! What's going on! Don't beat around the bush."

Facing the barrage of questions raining down on him, Liu Sheng closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and kept savoring something.

Though the crowd was cursing him furiously in their hearts, they had no choice but to patiently wait for Liu Sheng to finish savoring.

After a long while, Liu Sheng finally let out a long breath. The instant he opened his eyes, they seemed to contain boundless radiance.

"The winner of this fifth round is Li Yuhang."

The moment these words were spoken, deafening cheers erupted on the scene.

The watching Common People exhaled in relief, their expressions immensely excited, feeling as though they had finally vented a great Hatred.

"Hahaha, wonderful! Truly worthy of being our Yucheng Bai He!"

"Qin Feng won four rounds in a row—I was starting to think no literati in our Yucheng could stop him. But looking at it now, Qin Feng isn't exactly blessed by the God of Literature either."

"Hmph! This time Qin Feng should learn what it means that there's always someone better!"

"Exactly! Qin Feng lost to Li Yuhang on the surface, but in truth he lost to our Great Di. From now on, all nations under Heaven will know that on the literary front, our Great Di is in no way inferior to Liang Kingdom."

"Most importantly, Li Yuhang is a son of our Yucheng. From now on, Yucheng's standing in the literary world will rise another step."

The crowd was fired up, their faces full of pride, as if defeating Qin Feng on the literary front made them happier than winning a battle.

And just as everyone was caught up in excitement, Liu Sheng's voice rang out again.

"Qin Feng lost the Fen Xiang Wen Tan, but won the reverence of literati across Heaven."

These words, like a basin of cold water, instantly doused the crowd back to their senses.

The once-bustling scene fell silent in an instant. The crowd stared at Liu Sheng in disbelief, thinking their ears had malfunctioned.

A hot-headed youth grabbed Liu Sheng by the collar and demanded furiously, "What do you mean he lost the literary contest but won their reverence?"

"Lost is lost, won is won! You spineless wretch—don't boost the enemy's morale while crushing our own!"

Led by the hot-headed youth, the Common People on the scene grew furious, feeling that this Liu Sheng was nothing but a traitor to the nation!

Facing everyone's accusations, Liu Sheng wasn't the least bit nervous. His heart was even surging with excitement, feeling that being able to personally witness Qin Feng's calligraphy was a blessing across three lifetimes—even dying now would be worth it.

Liu Sheng pushed the hot-headed youth away, his voice ringing firm and strong.

"Qin Feng's Literary Talent is on a completely different level from us ordinary folk."

"Qin Feng lost the Fen Xiang Wen Tan—anyone with eyes knows it was only because, as a guest, he didn't want the host to lose too disgracefully, so he deliberately held back."

The incendiary effect of these words was truly unprecedented.

As the saying goes, literati tend to be hot-headed, and the cultural level of Yucheng's Common People is second to none even across all of Northern Di.

They would never allow anyone to insult Great Di.

"Held back? Held back my ass! You bastard clearly took bribes from Qin Feng and are deliberately promoting him for him!" The hot-headed youth clenched his fists, gnashing his teeth, looking as though he might charge at Liu Sheng at any moment and beat him senseless.

Liu Sheng, however, didn't hesitate for a moment and admitted it outright: "That's right, I did take Qin Feng's favor."

The moment these words were spoken, everyone present drew a sharp breath.

Just as they were about to erupt in anger, Liu Sheng added: "Not just me—every literatus in Huijuan Lou took Qin Feng's favor."

"After all, being able to personally witness a great literary master in the act of writing—what an honor is that?"

"We understand your anger in defending the dignity of Great Di, but you must also face the gap between us and Qin Feng."

At this point, Liu Sheng's eyes suddenly filled with immense reverence, and he declared in a ringing voice: "Outside the Fen Xiang Wen Tan, Qin Feng composed a poem as a gift!"

"This poem rivals the already world-famous 'Out of the Frontier'!"

The Common People on the scene had already been full of doubt toward Liu Sheng's words. Hearing now that Qin Feng had composed on the spot a poem no less than 'Out of the Frontier', their gazes grew even more contemptuous.

"Bullshit! 'Out of the Frontier' has already been affirmed by literati across Heaven. Even if Qin Feng were a once-in-a-millennium genius, he couldn't possibly compose such a masterpiece on the spot."

"Even if it is to be composed, it must surely be through repeated deliberation, accumulated day by day, until one day it bursts forth!"