The government was sending out wives, and I ended up with a princess from the previous dynasty!

"What you just said has truly enlightened me. I have learned a great deal today!" Xia Wanlian said slowly after a moment of contemplation.

She had been pondering Jia Daoshi's words for a while and found them to be very reasonable. A question that had troubled her for many years suddenly had an answer, which made her very happy. Her eyes were full of smiles as she looked at Jia Daoshi, and the corners of her mouth were turned up, which she couldn't suppress.

"Also, Madam, this tea has actually been steeped for a bit too long, which has caused some of the aroma to be lost. Since Madam enjoys drinking tea, the temperature and heat used for brewing it are equally important. When the aroma of the tea is just right, the mood while drinking it will be even better. The heat and temperature are both indispensable. This is a matter of respecting the tea, and also a matter of respecting oneself."

Jia Daoshi's statement is half true and half false; in any case, it mainly revolves around metaphysics.

"The timing and temperature... it seems you truly understand tea, sir! Your words have made me feel ashamed. I must learn from you more often in the future!"

No sooner had Xia Wanlian finished speaking than the old man beside her immediately became displeased: "Madam Xia, isn't this only the first test? To determine the candidate based on just this one test? Isn't that too hasty?"

Xia Wanlian then realized that she had indeed been a bit anxious. She took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and continued, "What the old gentleman said has reminded me. In that case, I will now pose the second question."

"The second question is actually quite simple."

"It's about writing poetry."

Upon hearing this, both the old man and Jia An breathed a sigh of relief.

There's really nothing special about writing poetry; it's their traditional skill, something anyone who's studied in school can do. But writing good poetry is not easy, as it shows both how solid one's basic skills are and how high a writer's talent truly is.

This thing, you could say, has no upper limit.

The old man and Jia An were both very confident.

However, Xia Wanlian then revealed a playful smile: "The three of you, today's poem is not so easy to write."

Jia An smiled faintly, thinking to himself, "What kind of insurmountable problem could a woman like you possibly pose? It's nothing more than tea, bamboo groves, plum blossoms, or light snow—what's so difficult about that?"

"Madam, please give me the question. I'm already looking forward to it!"

"Alright, now that it's the hottest time of summer, Rouya, bring up the poem title."

"Yes, ma'am."

Soon, the maidservant handed out several slips of paper to the three people.

“The three of you have the same words written on the slips of paper in your hands,” Xia Wanlian said.

When Jia Daoshi opened it, he saw several four-character idioms written on it.

Outstanding and extraordinary.

A resounding victory.

Crowds of people.

To take root and flourish.

A last-ditch fight.

It was all like a dream.

I was completely captivated.

Not only Jia Daoshi, but also the old man and Jia An were completely dumbfounded.

What does it mean?

Xia Wanlian smiled and said, "The three of you, each of these seven words, choose one character to combine into a line of poetry, and then use that line of poetry to write a poem."

This topic is interesting. For example, if you take the first character of each character, it is "Zhuoqiren luobei ruxin". Then the poem you write next must contain "Zhuoqiren luobei ruxin"!

However, this is clearly not grammatically correct!

Therefore, the difficulty of selecting suitable words to form a line of poetry and expanding that line into a whole poem is self-evident.

"The three of you, we won't set a time limit. We'll see who can finish first."

As she spoke, Xia Wanlian looked at Jia An, who had a confident expression on his face.

Jia An said with a bitter expression, "Madam Xia, you are really asking too much of us. This question is too...uncommon. I don't think anyone can complete it."

The old man beside him stroked his beard and shook his head: "Not bad! Not bad! Madam Xia, in all my years, I have never seen anyone set such a question. This is not selecting a teacher, this is kicking someone out!"

Xia Wanlian was also quite helpless: "To be honest, this problem was conceived by my little apprentice. She said that if I can't even solve this problem, then I can't be her teacher."

“Madam Xia, your disciple is being far too frivolous. This question is truly unsolvable.”

"Is the old man really telling the truth?"

"Of course I take it seriously."

Just then, Jia Daoshi slowly spoke: "Outstanding and extraordinary, take the character 'not'; victorious at the start, take the character 'victory'; a sea of ​​people, take the character 'people'; rooted in the land, take the character 'life'; fighting with one's back to the river, take the character 'one'; like a dream, take the character 'scene'; intoxicated and mesmerized, take the character 'intoxicated'."

"As for the whole poem, it is: Heroes rise and fall with the times, once you enter the world of martial arts, time flies by, imperial ambitions are discussed in laughter, nothing beats a life of drunkenness."

The scene suddenly fell silent.