Quick Transmigration: Saving That Cannon Fodder

She felt even more disgusted with Wang Zhou.

After the person finished reading, Zhao Chen stood up and looked at Wang Zhou, asking:

"My friend, did you write this poem?"

Wang Zhou was pleased to hear someone ask a question; it was good that someone asked a question, so that these people could see his literary talent.

He was taken aback when he saw Zhao Chen. He hadn't expected Zhao Chen to ask the question, and Zhao Chen usually called him "brother," but today he called him "classmate."

Perhaps this person is ashamed of his humble origins and feels that calling someone "Brother Wang" in public would be a loss of face.

Hmph, these sons of officials are just hypocrites.

Although he thought this to himself, Wang Zhou did not show it. He nodded politely and said, "Yes, this poem about climbing to a high place is the one I just wrote."

Zhao Chen sneered inwardly. What a hypocrite! If he hadn't copied Du Fu's poem yesterday, he would have believed him.

Dozens of students from the academy shared the same idea as him.

They were all people who had gone to Yizhen Pavilion to read books in the past two days. They had heard from Zhao Chen and the others that there were cheap books to read there, so they went along.

Having the opportunity to see such wonderful poems, even if I don't remember them perfectly, I will still have an impression of them.

Zhao Chen chuckled and asked, "Oh? Is that so? Then where is the 'Yangtze River' that Wang mentioned in 'The endless Yangtze River rolls on'?"

Upon hearing this question, Wang Zhou frowned subconsciously, then realized what he meant and said, "Exactly, it's just a very long river."

"So, does 'a traveler often grieves for autumn' refer to being far from home? Wang doesn't seem to be from out of town, so how come he's been wandering in a foreign land for so long?"

As soon as Zhao Chen said this, the others also began to ponder. Some students, disregarding etiquette, stood up and shouted:

"And what is the meaning of the line 'Hardships and sorrows have turned my temples white'? Could it be that my classmate Wang now has a full head of white hair?"

"That's right, what exactly did Wang go through to write such a poem?"

The students around them started talking amongst themselves, and the judges on the stage frowned.

They understood the meaning behind it; this poem was very likely not Wang Zhou's original work.

Plagiarism is shameful at any time; it steals the work of others and is unfair to everyone present.

Wang Zhou clenched his fists as he was asked the question; he hadn't expected anyone to ask such a question.

Shouldn't we praise him for his good writing and artistic conception?

He didn't know what to say, so he could only say, "These are just my imagination, but I did do them."

Then he gave a wry smile, as if he was extremely helpless: "If this one doesn't work, I'll just write another one."

After saying that, he picked up his pen and started writing again.

The referee on the platform then read aloud: "Looking at Mount Tai. How majestic is Mount Tai! Its verdant peaks stretch endlessly across Qi and Lu..."

It was another poem that deeply moved everyone present.

However, Zhao Chen still asked, "Classmate Wang, where is Mount Tai? And what does 'Yue' refer to?"

The others then realized that the scene described in the poem did indeed resemble that magnificent and imposing landscape, but it was clearly a place they had never heard of before.

If such a tall and majestic mountain truly exists, why have they never heard of it?

Chi Xing couldn't help but laugh as he listened to Zhao Chen's aggressive tone and Wang Zhou's foolishness.

Liu Yu looked at him suspiciously: "You know?"

After listening for a while, he also felt that Wang Zhou's poems were quite good, probably only comparable to the collection of Li Bai's poems that his husband had shown him.

But if Wang Zhou has this ability, why hasn't he passed the exam in all these years?

Seeing that Chi Xing remained silent, Liu Yu grew anxious: "Please tell me quickly, okay? Did he really plagiarize?"

Akahoshi shook his head: "He definitely didn't plagiarize."

Liu Yu frowned, and Chi Xing continued, "That was plagiarism; he directly appropriated someone else's poem."

As he spoke, he took out the collection of Du Fu's poems that he had asked Zhao Chen and the others to copy yesterday.

Liu Yu took it and flipped through a few pages. There were two poems on it: "Ascending the Heights" and "Looking at the Mountain".

He frowned and couldn't help but curse, "He's so shameless! This is clearly not his."

Chixing reached out and pinched his cheek: "Don't be angry. With so many people watching, Wang Zhou can't escape."

Under the students' questioning, Wang Zhou could only say that those mountains were imagined by himself, and those scenes were things he had dreamed about.

Zhao Chen took out several poetry collections directly from his pocket; he had someone make an extra copy of them yesterday.

"Then why did the poem you just wrote appear in the ancient book I found? Could it be that someone who died a thousand years ago plagiarized your work?"

"what!"

Those around him were astonished upon hearing this.

Zhao Chen had already consulted Chi Xing beforehand and decided to show these poems to the students.

The students gathered around and loudly read aloud the two poems they had just recited.

Some people immediately recognized poems such as "Bring in the Wine" from Li Bai's poetry collection.

"These...aren't these the poems Wang Zhou wrote a while ago? Could it be that those were also plagiarized?"

"Calling it plagiarism is giving him too much credit; it's just a direct copy, only the other person's name was removed."

"My God, I knew his poems were so stylistically chaotic, it turns out he plagiarized so many people's work."

Wang Zhou looked at the book in Zhao Chen's hand and was greatly alarmed.

"This, how is this possible?"

Looking at the expression on his face, Zhao Chen was completely certain that he had read Chi Xing's poetry collections beforehand, and since Chi Xing didn't understand them, he simply used them.

"You didn't expect that, did you? We've even come across a collection of poems from a thousand years ago." Zhao Chen's eyes were full of mockery as he looked at him.

Others began to criticize Wang Zhou, and the headmaster of the academy felt utterly humiliated by the gazes cast upon him by the King of Chu and his companions.

The King of Chu chuckled lightly: "Headmaster Qi, you'd better keep your eyes open when recruiting students."

This was his fiefdom, and the emergence of such a student was like a slap in the face to him.

She felt a little resentful towards her son for being so insensible, actually revealing the matter in public.

But thinking that it was reasonable for him to study like an ordinary student, he took his anger out on Headmaster Qi.

Qi Shanzhang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I was mistaken. I will definitely fire this person when we get back."

The King of Chu smiled and said, "I've heard this man is a scholar. With such character, who knows how he even passed the imperial examination?"

The prefect and magistrate standing nearby understood and immediately said, "Such a person could not possibly be a scholar."

The King of Chu nodded in satisfaction and continued watching the farce unfold below.

Zhao Chen wouldn't let Wang Zhou off the hook. He had him captured and forced to compose a poem, determined to see his true abilities.

As a result, Wang Zhou started reciting classical Chinese poems as soon as he opened his mouth. After only two lines, the people below were able to identify the corresponding authors.

The scene was so chaotic that even the referee didn't know what to say. This wasn't some talented person; he was practically a thief.