When Dou and other female relatives arrived, the second ring match had already begun.
Li Shimin and Li Xuanba hypocritically asked Zheng's Dalang, Erlang, Sanlang and Silang whether they wanted to switch between offense and defense.
The faces of these four young men who had already learned from famous teachers turned red with anger.
How can you change the attack and defense when you haven't even conquered the challenge yet? Isn't this what the storyteller said, "I'll give you three moves first"?
The four sons of the Zheng family are more than ten years older than Li Shimin and Li Xuanba. The eldest son of the Zheng family is even an adult, but he was defeated by two six-year-old children in three moves. How can they still live as human beings if this gets out?
Zheng Dalang said sullenly that it was not necessary, and then took out the "Book of Changes" and wanted to fight with the two naughty boys.
The famous families continued the custom of the Eastern Han Dynasty and would major in one subject when studying the classics, which was called "teacher-inherited" or "family-inherited." The four brothers of the Zheng family all majored in the "Book of Changes."
After hearing the rules of attacking and defending the ring, Zheng Dalang knew that the two six-year-old children were just bullying others based on the rules.
His younger brother had no problem reciting articles and poems, but these two did not explain the rules clearly at the beginning. After the competition started, they told them that they were not supposed to recite from a certain chapter or article, but had to memorize the order of the articles and poems in the entire book.
These two naughty boys must have come prepared, having memorized a whole book just waiting to trick people!
Apparently, when the top four cousins of the Zheng family came to the rescue, the person who asked for the reinforcements did not explain it clearly.
The I Ching has a high degree of continuity. Unlike their younger brothers, the four Zheng brothers did not rely on rote memorization, so they could easily remember the context.
The first person to appear was naturally Zheng Silang.
At Zheng Silang's age, he was already a bit of a bully. If Zheng Dalang, who had reached adulthood, was forced to leave, the Zheng family would lose face even if they won.
Although they are already in a very bad state of face now.
After a few exchanges, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba looked at each other, and Li Xuanba smiled and changed a book.
Zheng Silang was alert: "You don't want to ask about the Book of Changes?"
Li Shimin smiled evilly and said, "We didn't ask about the Book of Changes at first. We have already changed several books. Brother must have memorized the Book of Changes by heart, so there is no point in asking him more. Ah Xuan, let's force him to change books!"
Li Xuanba suppressed his laughter and said, "Okay. Brother, 'Nineth day of the first month, Hidden Dragon, Do not use it', recite it all in one breath."
Li Shimin put his hands behind his back, shook his head, and started reciting.
The entire text of the "Book of Changes" has 6,700 words, and it takes nearly half an hour to memorize it in one breath.
The crowd of onlookers actually waited for Li Shimin for half an hour!
During this time, even Old Madam Cui didn't even think of asking the servants to bring seats for them to sit down and rest!
Li Xuanba turned the pages slowly, only giving his second brother a hint at the beginning of each article.
Li Shimin's memory was already amazing. Although he had not yet achieved photographic memory, he could remember most of it after reading it a few times.
Before the two came to the Zheng family, they had already learned in advance that the Zheng family's major was the "Book of Changes".
In addition to reading the Four Books and Five Classics to make cheating easier, they also memorized the Book of Changes.
Li Shimin and Li Xuanba did not come here to slap the Zheng family in the face.
If the Zheng family were friendly and discussed the "Book of Changes" or other Confucian classics directly with Li Shimin and Li Xuanba, they would also be polite.
But whether it was the detour at the beginning or the cold looks of the Zheng family members when Dou gave them the Buddha amulets later, they all made them angry.
They could still bear it like this, but when they got to this pavilion, they couldn't bear it anymore.
The group of Zheng family members didn't even introduce themselves. They just started playing on the side. Only Zheng Wulang and Zheng Shierlang joined in testing them.
No matter which noble family in the capital Li Shimin and Li Xuanba visited, they had never been treated so contemptuously.
Even if it is an ordinary family, the host should introduce himself to the guests first and then receive them seriously, right?
Look at what the Zheng family boys did. The guests in the pavilion hadn't started eating the fruits yet, but they picked them up and ate them.
Not to mention Li Shimin, even Li Xuanba, who had seen countless records of the arrogance of children from aristocratic families in history books, had a little flame in his heart that kept rising.
In fact, after Zheng Jia Xiaolang lost to a few people, the competition could have been stopped in time and the two of them could have shaken hands and made peace.
But the young man from the Zheng family was obviously very impatient. He insisted on using a rotation system and even made temporary patches.
Their patch was that the books chosen by each of the dozen or so people they fought against would not be repeated, so when Li Shimin and Li Xuanba fought against them, the books they chose could not be repeated either.
There were more than a dozen people against two people. After beating the smaller one, the bigger one came. Li Shimin's voice became hoarse.
When Li Shimin uttered the last word, Li Xuanba handed the cup to Li Shimin's mouth. Li Shimin gulped down the cup and said in a hoarse voice: "Continue!"
"What are you doing?" Dou asked with red eyes, "A dozen people are bullying my Erlang and Sanlang, two children under seven years old?!"
Everyone in the Zheng family was stunned.
The dozen or so young boys from the Zheng family seemed to realize that there were only two of them, and both of them were less than seven years old. They felt a little embarrassed.
But besides being embarrassed, they were more angry and humiliated.
Because they are the losers! They are the ones who are embarrassed! Why do they still seem to be bullying others?
"Madam, you are really joking. It can be seen that the brothers are playing. How can a literary duel between scholars be called bullying?" Zheng Dalang said, unable to hold back his anger.
What's wrong with these two brothers? What do you mean by forcing us to change books? Just because you can recite the Book of Changes, you can win?
Now Li Erlang and Li Sanlang are trampling on the faces of all the Zheng family peers. If he can't win, won't the entire Zheng family peers become stepping stones for Li Erlang and Li Sanlang to become famous? !
"Why don't you take the Duke's wife to enjoy the flowers and cruise the lake?" Zheng Dalang said firmly, "I'll entertain you here. A woman should not stay with a man outside for a long time."
Dou was stunned to see Zheng Dalang being so rude.
What she didn't expect was that after hearing what Zheng Dalang said, Old Lady Cui actually came to hold her hand and persuaded her, "Dalang is right. They are having fun with scholars and literary disputes. Let's go somewhere else to play."
Dou looked back and forth in confusion at Zheng Jia Dalang and the other female relatives who were so submissive in front of him.
These women are all elders, but they are so weak towards a younger generation who has just come of age.
Is Zheng Dalang outstanding?
That shouldn't be the case.
At this time, Dou vaguely realized that Zheng's family style might not be as good as she imagined.
Dou took a deep breath and said, "Erlang, Sanlang, mother is tired, let's go home."
Even if she was scolded by her husband, she couldn't let her child continue to be bullied. Erlang's voice was hoarse!
Li Shimin shook his head stubbornly: "Mom, we are having fun, keep playing, cough cough..."
He touched his throat and it hurt a little.
Zheng Dalang keenly noticed the incongruity of the situation.
Li Erlang's voice was hoarse, so why did Li Sanlang still let Li Erlang recite the book while he stood by and watched?
Was it that Li Erlang was the only one with extraordinary memory? Or did Li Erlang and Li Sanlang have some way to cheat, but only let Li Sanlang recite the book?
Zheng Dalang thought of the magicians he saw in the market. Some magicians could perform "double-act" and "ventriloquism", and could even guess the appearance of the pictures in their companions' hands.
Those magicians definitely don't have any real skills, they just trained some secret codes in advance.
Zheng Dalang asked, "Li Erlang, since your throat is uncomfortable, why don't you switch with Li Sanlang?"
Li Shimin frowned: "What do you mean? Are you going to cause trouble for my brother just because you can't beat me?"
His Ah Xuan actually has a photographic memory, but if he memorizes too much, it will be extremely exhausting. If Ah Xuan wasn't in poor health, why would he have to be the one to answer?
Seeing Li Shimin's intense emotional reaction, Zheng Dalang thought he had succeeded.
However, in case Li Shimin and Li Xuanba were really prodigies with photographic memories, he said, "It has taken so long to memorize the book, but memorizing it by rote is not considered as learning. It is better to write a poem or two, which is the elegance of literary competition."
After Zheng Dalang said this, because Li Shimin rushed to recite the entire "Book of Changes", Zheng Silang, who was angry at the time, immediately responded: "Just memorizing some words, what kind of ability is that?"
Some of the Zheng family's young men were suppressed and couldn't bear to lose face. Seeing that someone was backing them up, they all agreed: "That's right."
But there were also a few young men from the Zheng family who felt that this was not the case.
Maybe memorizing some words by rote is not a big deal, but they even lost in memorizing words by rote. There were more than a dozen people taking turns to memorize them, and their voices were hoarse.
But there is order of seniority, and Zheng Dalang stood up for them. They could only look at each other and silently shrink their necks.
Only Zheng Xuanyi quietly left the crowd, crouched down, and took advantage of the shelter of the crabapple trees to go to his father for help.
He still remembered that the Zheng family wanted to marry into the Tang Duke's Mansion, not become enemies!
"Reciting some words is not a big deal, but your brothers all lost to my Erlang and Sanlang, which means they are even less capable." Dou walked up to Li Erlang and Li Sanlang, touched Li Erlang's face with heartache, and said sarcastically, "You are an adult, and you are competing with two children who are less than seven years old in poetry. No matter you win or lose, isn't it embarrassing?"
Zheng Dalang frowned and looked at Dou with displeasure.
It was the first time that he was interrupted by a woman while he was speaking. If it was a family member, he would have ridiculed her. But his family was going to marry into the Tang Guogong Mansion, and he didn't want to offend the other party's women.
But he decided to go back and talk to his elders. The rules of the Tang Guogong Mansion were really bad. A female relative actually appeared in front of a foreign man without covering her face. He had already reminded her to leave, but she still refused to leave.
It's really pitiful for a young lady to marry into such a family.
"I don't argue with women." Zheng Dalang said coldly, "Li Sanlang, if you are a brother, you should fight for your brother. Or is it that among the two of you, only your brother has some ability?"
Li Xuanba sighed and was about to agree when he was stopped by Li Shimin.
Li Shimin mocked, "More than a dozen of you are fighting against Ah Xuan and me. Ah Xuan and I asked you to stop several times, but you refused. I am so strong that I can't hold on. Ah Xuan is weak, so he must have fainted from your fighting. You are an adult, forcing a child who has just started elementary school, and you think you are justified?"
Zheng Dalang was not shaken by Li Shimin's "perverse logic" and said calmly: "My brothers' jade pendants are still in your hands. It was you who insulted my Zheng family first, and now you are using the excuse that you are children?"
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Li Shimin said, "We were the first to be insulted? Who brought me and Ah Xuan here to test us? Who asked for a competition without even introducing himself? Who had more than a dozen people come to fight with us, and even Ah Xuan had to boil the water for me? Who brought the older people here when the younger one lost, and even brought the adults here?"
"How about this, let's spread what happened today and let people see whether it's us, the Duke of Tang's Mansion, who are unreasonable, or you, the Zheng family of Xingyang, who are unreasonable?" Li Xuanba listened to his second brother's voice, and his voice became more angry. "You can't win in the recitation competition, and you want to change to writing poems. Aren't you ashamed? Okay, I'll compete."
Li Shimin turned around.
Li Xuan said: [Second brother, believe me. Have you forgotten that I can see things in the future? I can't write poems, but I can recite other people's poems. ]
The anger on Li Shimin's face calmed down. He first gave Li Xuanba a thumbs up, and then patted Li Xuanba on the shoulder.
Li Xuanba took a step forward and Li Shimin took a step back.
The two bodies were intertwined.
Li Xuanba glanced at Zheng Dalang and said, "You point to something at random, and I can compose a poem within ten steps. I point to something at random, and you can compose a poem within ten steps. After this competition, both sides will stop fighting. What do you think, Brother Zheng?"
Zheng Dalang frowned: "Are you really confident?"
Li Xuanba sneered: "You were the one who proposed it. Why, you don't have confidence anymore?"
Dou dug her nails into her palms, resisting the urge to turn around and leave with the child.
Since Sanlang dared to compete, she believed in him!
Zheng Dalang snorted coldly and pointed casually at the white goose in the lake.
Li Xuanba smiled. Isn't this a coincidence?
He pretended to think as he walked forward.
One step, two steps, three steps… five steps!
"Geese, geese, geese, they sing with their necks raised to the sky. Their white feathers float on the green water, and their red feet stir the clear waves."
[Brother, this is a child prodigy named Luo Binwang, who wrote poetry at the age of seven. I remember he was about 20 to 30 years younger than us.]
Li Shimin's eyes lit up.
This poem is interesting! Twenty or thirty years younger? Then I'll go with Xuan to see what the child prodigy looks like!
After Li Xuanba finished reciting the poem, everyone fell silent.
The nervous expression on Dou's face melted away, turning into a gentle smile like a pool of spring water.
Li Xuanba turned around and tilted his head and said, "The topic I chose for Brother Zheng is also 'Ode to the Goose'. Brother Zheng, please come in."
The young men of the Zheng family looked at their eldest brother.
Even if they are not good at writing poetry, they can still tell whether a poem is good or bad.
Brother...can you do it?
Zheng Dalang's face flushed red. Of course he could write an ode to the goose, but without thinking it over, he really couldn't come up with a better verse.
Although he could deal with it and then forcefully declare victory, he would be humiliated if the people in the Tang Guogong Mansion spread the "Ode to the Goose" written by the two.
When Zheng Dalang was thinking about how to find the stairs to go down, Li Xuanba smiled and said, "It seems that Brother Zheng thinks that I can recite a good poem so quickly. Maybe it was written by an elder, and I just happened to remember it. Second brother, you can point to something at random and I will start again."
Li Shimin quickly stood beside Li Xuanba: "Come!"
Li Xuanba: [Refers to the crabapple flower.]
Li Shimin pointed at the crabapple tree and said, "Ah Xuan, chant the red crabapple flowers!"
Li Xuanba took a step with his short legs in full view of everyone.
One step, two steps, three steps...this time it's five steps.
"The flowers bloomed all over the tree, but the branches became empty after falling. Only one flower remains, and it will surely go with the wind tomorrow."
Zheng Dalang's face changed drastically and he clenched his hands.
Dou covered her mouth with a handkerchief and tried hard to suppress the urge to laugh out loud.
Li Xuanba: [Written by the late Tang poet Chen Zhixuan when he was five years old. Ah, at that time, your descendants were about to lose their country. ]
Li Shimin was very excited at first, but then his face was full of resentment.
What do you mean my descendants are about to lose their country? What is the late Tang Dynasty? Ah Xuan, don't talk nonsense, brother is scared!
Don't dare to think about it, forget it quickly!
Li Xuanba tilted his head to Zheng Dalang again and said, "Why, you still don't believe it? Come again!"
Li Shimin straightened his chest and prepared to obey orders.
Li Xuanba: [Take out a copper coin, preferably a broken one.]
Li Shimin was a little worried. Where can I find scrap copper for you? Hey? There really is some!
By coincidence, Li Shimin saw half a copper coin sticking out of the mud next to a huge stone with inscriptions on it next to the pavilion.
He climbed out of the pavilion, picked up the broken crabapple branch that had fallen from the tree, and threw out half a copper coin.
"Ah Xuan! Here is a worn-out Kaihuang copper coin. Can you write a poem with this copper coin?" Li Shimin was very proud. Look at my luck!
Zheng Dalang gritted his teeth and said, "No need, I..."
"I also want to hear if my nephew can compose another good piece of work." A middle-aged male voice sounded from behind the crowd.
Li Xuanba didn't look at the person coming, but sneered and said, "The half-moon of the setting sun is covering the dust, and it seems that there is a tour of the emperor. I want to see that before the clear light breaks, it will buy out all the injustices in the world!"
"Now, are you satisfied?!"
Everything is quiet, only the wind blowing the crabapple trees and the red flowers rustling.