Because the Eighth Prince had proposed a poetry competition centered on wine and had tricked the Ninth Prince into participating, the ensuing uproar and lively commotion had long since alerted Emperor Yuan.
Emperor Yuan hastily asked his personal eunuch, Yan Song, what was happening and told him to go have a look.
Yan Song had stayed by Emperor Yuan's side since his ascension to the throne and enjoyed his utmost trust. Now nearing fifty, he served as the chief eunuch of the palace.
Hearing this, Yan Song immediately went to investigate. Before long, he returned to inform Emperor Yuan that the Eighth Prince had initiated a wine-themed poetry gathering, to which many young people had responded, including the Ninth Prince and Li Lihua, the Capital's foremost talented woman.
Emperor Yuan had never cared for poetry or prose. As a sovereign, his interests lay in exotic flowers, rare herbs, unusual birds, and strange insects. Sometimes he would become so engrossed in observing them that he neglected state affairs—a typical ruler who lost his ambition through frivolous pursuits.
With such a monarch, how could the country flourish? How could the people grow rich?
Yet upon hearing that the Ninth Prince was also participating, Emperor Yuan perked up and laughed, "That good-for-nothing dares to participate?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince has indeed signed up and is participating!" Yan Song replied.
"Oh! Keep a close eye on this poetry gathering. I want to see how this good-for-nothing makes a fool of himself! He must have water in his brain, having no idea of his own limitations!" Emperor Yuan felt displeased inside; whenever he thought of this number nine, anger flared up.
"This slave obeys! But Your Majesty need not be upset. Judging by the Ninth Prince's performance in the Golden Throne Hall a month ago, His Highness might just turn out to be a dark horse!" Yan Song felt some sympathy for the Ninth Prince.
"Is that so? Let's hope so! Hmph!" Emperor Yuan did not believe the Ninth Prince could pull off another miracle; what happened a month ago must have been sheer coincidence.
Still, Emperor Yuan had harbored doubts. This son who made him so uneasy had merely knelt in the snow for a single night, yet he was now completely different from before. If this good-for-nothing excelled this time around, it would mean he had deliberately concealed his true capabilities, making it impossible to let him live.
His appointment of Zhao Lie as the Prince of Yelang was genuinely intended to ensure Zhao Lie died on his way to his post. Bestowing a beautiful wife upon him was only the first step; there were further steps to come...
Meanwhile, the poetry and wine game tournament initiated by the Eighth Prince began. There were eighty-one contestants in total—a number symbolizing ultimate perfection and considered thoroughly auspicious.
The poetry convention now officially commenced, with Lu You, an Imperial Academy Grand Academician, volunteering to serve as judge.
Zhao Jian, the Eighth Prince, announced the start of the poetry and wine game tournament.
Next, Lu You tossed eighty-one slips of paper with numbers written on them onto the table for the eighty-one contestants to pick up.
After the other eighty-one contestants, including Zhao Lie, had chosen their numbers, Zhao Lie went to the table last to pick up his slip.
Lu You began registering them one by one from number one to eighty-one.
When he called out number forty-five, no one answered.
At that moment, someone suggested it must be the Ninth Prince, who had just picked up his paper slip and was unfolding it to look—this number forty-five must belong to him.
Seeing the Ninth Prince go last to pick up his paper lot, everyone thought to themselves: The Ninth Prince has stage fright! He's deliberately dawdling.
"Your Highness, are you number forty-five?" Lu You asked.
"Oh! I am number forty-five!" Zhao Lie replied.
Lu You wrote down Zhao Lie's name and continued with the registration.
Everyone envied the Ninth Prince's drawn number, because forty-five implicitly contained the supreme dignity of the Nine and the Five (forty-five), making it an extremely auspicious number.
After finishing the registration, Lu You said, "My lords and ladies! This humble official volunteered to serve as a judge, and thanks to the recognition of the Eighth Prince and all the young masters and ladies present, I feel deeply honored. Now, I invite the Eighth Prince to announce the official start of the poetry and wine game tournament!"
The Eighth Prince stood up. Dressed in a white robe, he was quite a handsome figure, though he looked somewhat like a beast in human clothing.
He cupped his hands in a salute all around, letting his gaze linger briefly on Zhao Lie's face before saying, "All contestants, I now formally declare: the poetry and wine game tournament has officially begun!"
The crowd burst into thunderous applause.
With his hands unclasped, Zhao Lie simply watched the scene quietly, thinking that this Eighth Prince had certainly gone to great lengths to grandstand and humiliate him, all to avenge the grudge from a month ago.
Lu You pressed his hands downward toward the crowd: "Everyone, quiet down! Now, contestant number one, Miss Li Lihua, will step forward to compose a poem!"
Hearing that Li Lihua was going first, everyone was surprised, especially the contestants coming after her, who felt there was no need to continue with the competition—who among those present could possibly be her match?
Li Lihua stepped forward wearing a red mink-fur coat, her face veiled in white gauze. With light and graceful steps, she walked to the center of the arena. She then cupped her hands in a salute all around: "Everyone! This humble woman, Li Lihua, dares to make a fool of herself and hopes to serve as a mere brick to attract jade!"
The onlookers all applauded to cheer Li Lihua on, with many shouting desperately, "Go Miss Li! Go Miss Li..."
Li Lihua repeatedly expressed her thanks. Such a scene and atmosphere were truly enough to evoke jealousy and envy.
This was precisely the effect Li Lihua wanted, and her vanity was immensely satisfied!
She secretly observed Zhao Lie's reaction, but Zhao Lie sat there with an air of utter calm, drinking wine and eating dishes while his eyes darted back and forth across the table full of delicacies to choose his next bite. He did not even deign to give Li Lihua in the center a direct glance.
Seeing that Zhao Lie maintained such an attitude and acted as if she didn't exist, blindly gorging himself on food and drink as though he hadn't eaten anything for five hundred years, Li Lihua felt deeply disappointed. The effect she had anticipated failed completely because Zhao Lie simply did not take her seriously at all.
Recovering her composure, she heard Lu You announce, "Contestants, please prepare your poems. You have one quarter of an hour!"
Li Lihua acknowledged the command, paced back and forth a dozen steps in the arena, and then chanted:
The essence of grains and the king of waters,
Rich and poor alike may taste it all!
Excessive drinking ruins great affairs,
Coming and going through this world, an empty dream after all!
Having finished her recitation, Li Lihua looked toward Zhao Lie, only to see him still eating and drinking heartily, seemingly unconcerned with such a poetry game.
Amidst her disappointment, Li Lihua sighed inwardly: A rough brute no different from an illiterate wouldn't understand poetry and prose anyway, so that was only to be expected!
In truth, Zhao Lie deliberately put on such an unsightly display of eating to lull everyone into complacency. Because three days from now—on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month—he would set off for Yelang.
During this period, he had to maintain a low profile so people would think nothing of him, and that his grand scene in the Golden Throne Hall had merely been a flash in the pan.
Originally, he had no desire to participate in today's poetry and wine game tournament, but the Eighth Prince's arrogant demeanor and disdainful gaze forced him to join, because he intended to slap the Eighth Prince in the face once more.
At this moment, Zhao Lie sighed inwardly: Miss Li Lihua's poem truly possessed a certain depth and artistic conception. It explained that while wine is good, one should not drink to excess, and at the same time, the poem cleverly contained the word "wine," adhering to the game's rules. It was indeed a fine piece of work.
If he, Zhao Lie, had not participated tonight, this young lady would undoubtedly have taken first place. It was simply unfortunate for her that this Prince was participating, destined as he was to trample this arrogant woman underfoot. Judging by today's events, this Prince couldn't avoid making a name for himself even if he tried.
A short moment after Li Lihua recited this seven-character quatrain, Imperial Academy Grand Academician Lu You smiled and said, "'Excessive drinking ruins great affairs, coming and going through this world, an empty dream after all!' What a marvelous poem! Truly a rare masterpiece! Hahaha, Miss Li is indeed most worthy of being the Capital's foremost talented woman!"