Chapter 162

I remember watching a show before, *Forbidden City Cop*? There was a so-called beauty from Persia named Miss Qin Cao in it?

In reality, it was a man practicing the Minor Formless Art in disguise!

If it really were a man, that would be quite chilling!

It seems that the *Forbidden City Cop* series is indeed set in the Ming Dynasty?

"Persia? No, Miss Qin Cao was once from an official's family, proficient in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Later, her family fell, the men were sentenced to exile, and the women entered the Ministry of Rites' music bureau, so Miss Qin Cao drifted to this Baihua House!"

Hearing what Li Lianhua said, Lu Xiaofeng looked at him with some surprise, then shook his head and spoke!

*Hoo... *

Hearing this answer, Li Lianhua felt a slight sense of relief in his heart!

If it's passing the Three Trials to see a beauty, there's no problem!

But if he spent so much effort just to see a man in disguise, he wouldn't be able to stand it!

"By the way, Brother Lu, you often investigate cases and know a bit about court matters. Do you know of the 'Dragon Guard' clan? Do you know of a secret agent named Ling Ling Fa?" Li Lianhua followed up by asking, as if to confirm.

"Dragon Guard clan? Never heard of it!"

"As far as I know, our Great Ming court has the Eastern Depot, the Six Fan Sect, and the Dragon Protection Villa, but I've never heard of any Dragon Guard clan, nor do I know anyone named Ling Ling Fa!" Lu Xiaofeng continued to shake his head!

Alright, not knowing Ling Ling Fa is fine, and not having heard of the Dragon Guard clan is also fine.

It seems this Great Ming Jiang Hu has not integrated the show *Forbidden City Cop*.

Then, the name Miss Qin Cao is just a pure coincidence.

This made Li Lianhua feel completely at ease!

Afterwards, Li Lianhua focused his mind on the Three Trials!

The first trial is to compose a lyric; as long as one composes a high-standard lyric, one can pass!

This second trial is to compose a poem, and it's a poem on a set theme!

As for the final trial? It is a topic chosen and examined by Miss Qin Cao herself!

It looks simple, but it's actually not!

The first trial is manageable; if one has literary talent, one can always come up with a good poem or lyric when inspiration strikes during leisure time!

The second trial is a bit difficult!

Since it's a set theme, unless one's luck is heaven-defying, one can only compose it on the spot!

Not to mention there's a third trial!

"Young Master Li, do you have a good lyric to present?" After confirming the content of the first examination, Yu Ruyi looked at Li Lianhua with curiosity!

Even Lu Xiaofeng looked quite curious!

He had never heard of what kind of literary talent the Divine Doctor Li possessed!

A lyric? Li Lianhua pondered silently in his heart; the good lyrics he remembered in his mind were truly not many!

For example, Su Shi's "Nian Nu Jiao: Reminiscence of the Red Cliff," or the Ming Dynasty's Yang Shen's "Lin Jiang Xian: The Rolling Yangtze River Flows East"—these are all good lyrics!

However, writing such historically heavy lyrics in this brothel doesn't seem very appropriate!

"Wait, hold on, that Liu Yong is the true god of brothel freeloading; when he died, countless brothel singers wept bitterly. Didn't he also have a pretty good lyric?" After a brief thought, Li Lianhua's heart stirred!

Since Liu Yong was a top-tier big shot in the brothel scene, his lyrics must be very suitable for this brothel, right?

"Got it!" After a brief thought, in just a few dozen breaths, Li Lianhua spoke up!

"I invite the young master to recite it loudly, and I shall transcribe it for you!"

A gentle and elegant woman nearby, holding a wolf-hair brush, said softly to Li Lianhua!

The people upstairs and downstairs in the brothel all quieted down at this moment, and their eyes fell upon Li Lianhua!

In this brothel, those who spend money to play are low-class guests!

Those who can recite poetry and discuss it with women are middle-class guests!

Those who dare to challenge the Three Trials and succeed are high-class guests!

People who dare to challenge the Three Trials are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, so seeing Li Lianhua so young yet daring to challenge the Three Trials, everyone upstairs and downstairs was naturally full of curiosity!

"I wonder if this young man can come up with a good lyric!"

"Since he dared to go up, he must have some skills, right? Otherwise, wouldn't it just be adding to the laughter?"

"The lyric for this first trial, even if it's a masterpiece that can be presented at ordinary times, the standard for passing is relatively high!"

"Although scholars tend to belittle each other, since this young master dares to challenge the Three Trials, at least his courage makes me sigh in admiration!"

"Shh, don't talk, this young master is about to begin!"

Many literati and poets whispered, and as Li Lianhua began to speak, they all quieted down one after another!

At the same time, Li Lianhua spoke, his clear and bright voice resounding throughout Baihua House!

"This lyric of mine is titled 'Rainy Bells: The Cold Cicadas Chirp Sorrowfully'."

"The cold cicadas chirp sorrowfully, facing the long pavilion at dusk, the sudden rain has just ceased. We have no heart for drinking at the city gate, in the place of lingering, the orchid boat is urged to depart."

"Holding hands and looking at each other with tearful eyes, we are speechless and choked with sobs. Thinking of the journey ahead, a thousand miles of misty waves, the evening mist is heavy and the Chu sky is vast."

"Sentimental people have always been saddened by parting, how can one bear the cold and desolate autumn season! Where will I wake up from my wine tonight? On the willow bank, with the morning breeze and the waning moon."

"After this departure, the years will pass, and the beautiful scenery will be in vain. Even if I have a thousand kinds of romantic feelings, who can I share them with?"

Silence!

As Li Lianhua recited this 'Rainy Bells', the sorrow contained in the lyric instantly permeated the entire Baihua House, making it deathly silent for a moment!

"'Holding hands and looking at each other with tearful eyes, we are speechless and choked with sobs'? This, these short ten or so characters give people the feeling of a scene appearing right before their eyes!"

"'Sentimental people have always been saddened by parting', this line is like a knife, stabbing straight into the heart!"

"And the last line, 'Even if I have a thousand kinds of romantic feelings, who can I share them with?' This feeling of desolation and loneliness makes my heart feel heavy!"

"Every line here is a peerless masterpiece!"

"A masterpiece, this 'Rainy Bells' should be considered a peerless masterpiece passed down through the ages!"

"Who exactly is this young master? I didn't expect to hear such a masterpiece that will be passed down through the ages right here in Baihua House!"

After a long silence, the atmosphere in the entire Baihua House suddenly exploded, and many literati and poets were evaluating it word by word!

However, a good lyric that can be passed down for a hundred generations is truly like the face of a peerless beauty; no matter from what angle you view it, it is a flawless, magnificent beauty!

"Good lyric, good lyric, Brother Li said his poetry and lyrics are the best in the world; he really wasn't just bragging!"

Even Lu Xiaofeng couldn't help but give Li Lianhua a thumbs up at this moment, praising him sincerely!

Although Lu Xiaofeng is a man of the Jiang Hu, at least he has the most basic ability to appreciate poetry and lyrics!

Just this 'Rainy Bells', in Lu Xiaofeng's view, absolutely does not lose to any famous master in the world!

With one 'Rainy Bells', Li Lianhua had completely conquered everyone in Baihua House!

This first trial was naturally passed without any suspense!

0 ·Seeking flowers· ········

Following this, Li Lianhua began the second trial!

The crowd, who were originally arguing fiercely, all stopped their discussions and looked at Li Lianhua with burning eyes!

This first lyric could still be said to have been prepared long ago, or even that someone else had composed such a unique masterpiece and given it to him!

But this second trial is a poem composed on the spot based on a theme; this cannot be prepared in advance!

For the second trial, a tray was brought out and placed in front of Li Lianhua, containing more than twenty small wooden plaques.

Yu Ruyi explained roughly that after flipping over a small wooden plaque, the theme for this poem composition would be written on it!

These themes were all wild and imaginative!

Some were about love, some about flowers and birds, some about the weather, some about the Jiang Hu; in short, looking at the twenty-plus small wooden plaques, what one drew depended on luck!

Moreover, after drawing the small wooden plaque, one must compose the poem within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea!

Li Lianhua understood that the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, converted into the accurate term from later generations, is 15 minutes!

So? The difficulty of composing a poem on the spot with this theme was still there!

"I didn't expect that I would also have a time when I'd be 'flipping the plaque'!" Looking at the tray in front of him, Li Lianhua chuckled inwardly, then casually picked up a wooden plaque and flipped it over.

The theme written on the wooden plaque was two characters: Loneliness.

"Everyone, Young Master Li has drawn the two characters 'Loneliness' as the theme for this poem composition!" Yu Ruyi picked up the wooden plaque in Li Lianhua's hand and displayed it to all directions!

Following that, she flipped over all the wooden plaques in the tray to prove that the characters on each plaque were indeed different!