After transmigrating, I became a stepmother.

This result actually surprised many people!

Wen Tingzhu's previous performances were so outstanding that it was easy to assume he would be the most brilliant one in this competition.

It's not that his poem is bad; under normal circumstances, this poem would be widely recited. It's just that people's expectations for it were not met, and instead, they felt it was too bland!

Wen Tingzhu had nothing to say about this. Although he was the top scholar in the imperial examination this year, who among those present was not a man of great learning?

Besides, composing poetry is indeed not his forte!

Oh, what I just said might not have been precise enough. As far as he knows, His Highness Prince Su might not meet the above requirements. I need to correct that here.

In any case, the results of these two games are already set and there is no possibility of changing them, so this last game becomes especially important.

This time, it was Su Zizhi's turn to draw a topic, and the topic he drew was: the common people.

This topic is even more baffling than the previous one about cats. The common people—what a grand concept that is!

Officials often talk about people's livelihood and the country, but these are mostly high-sounding words. How could they dare to compose poems and essays so easily!

Moreover, at such an important moment in the diplomatic relations between the two countries, if this poem is not written well, it will at least be ridiculed, and at worst it will affect the political situation. I really don't know who came up with this idea!

If there were people secretly observing the question setter before, now everyone is keeping their eyes down and being extremely honest, afraid of being misunderstood as having set the questions themselves. They dare not take the blame for that!

Regardless of what others thought, the two people who saw the question could only continue.

This time, both of them, without prior agreement, did not choose to immediately splash ink, but instead pondered the matter carefully.

Li Xuan was the first to start. When he saw the topic, he thought: Although it is about ordinary people, it is impossible to write about ordinary people entirely. In this kind of occasion, it is undoubtedly necessary to highlight the stability of the country and sing praises through the description of ordinary people in order to cater to their preferences!

Having made up his mind, he only polished it slightly before writing: Mountain fruits ripen, water flowers are fragrant, every house has a pond as its scenery. On the magnolia boat, the beaded curtain is rolled up, the song is heard in the distance, and coconut wine is poured into the parrot cup.

After finishing writing, he didn't make any more changes and simply signaled the palace servants to hand it in.

Seeing him pick up his pen, Su Zizhi stopped thinking about it and wrote down his own. The two of them wrote down theirs only a moment apart, and there seemed to be no significant difference between them.

But only Su Zizhi knew in his heart that he hadn't really thought it through yet. Singing praises was undoubtedly necessary, but endless boasting would only seem empty and meaningless.

The poem he had just written resembled a chessboard of hundreds of houses, and twelve streets like vegetable plots. He could vaguely discern the approaching morning lights, and a single star constellation marked the western gates. Although the poem was excellent, he always felt something was missing!

Sure enough, as soon as Li Xuan's poem was read aloud, he knew that he had lost this round! Not because of his literary talent, but because of his theme. His poem lacked that touch of truth!

Li Xuan's poems, seemingly just simple depictions of the daily lives of people in Jiangnan, fully illustrate how prosperous and peaceful their lives were. Of course, the people's ability to enjoy such a comfortable life is due to the country's skillful governance.

In this way, compared to direct boasting, it appears more genuine and is more likely to win the favor of the saint!