That is not just murder, but psychological annihilation.

Above the colorful canopy, the Empress Dowager’s well-maintained face had completely lost all color.

She stared blankly at the young man standing in the center with his hands behind his back and a calm expression, feeling her heart twitching in agonizing spasms.

She had lost.

She had lost utterly and completely.

The trap she had meticulously planned, which she thought was flawless, was meant to plunge Xie Ning and Li Qingning into an abyss of eternal damnation.

Yet the result had turned into Xie Ning’s personal stage.

Not only had she failed to suppress Li Qingning, but she had also personally pushed a monster wielding celestial means right to Li Qingning’s side.

This was easily the most foolish decision she had ever made in her entire life.

"Mother Empress..."

The young emperor, Li Qingzhi, looked at his dejected mother beside him and spoke in a soft voice.

"This son feels that brother-in-law... is truly formidable. Shouldn't we stop making things difficult for him and the imperial sister?"

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager trembled violently.

She turned her head to look at her son’s naive yet earnest face, and a wave of powerless sorrow surged within her heart.

Even the emperor had been completely conquered by this Xie Ning; what reason did she have to continue?

Xie Ning ignored the people who had already fallen into self-doubt and mental collapse.

He simply felt that the heat was still a bit lacking.

To kill a man, you must first pierce his heart.

To humiliate someone, you must do it so thoroughly that they could never lift their heads again for the rest of their lives.

He looked at the crowd and spoke leisurely.

"What? Can't even solve such a simple palindromic couplet? Alas, you truly disappoint me."

He shook his head, looking like a lonely martial arts master who could find no worthy opponent.

"Very well, I shall announce the answer myself. My matching line is..."

Everyone pricked up their ears, desperate to know what kind of matching line could possibly complement such a heavenly opening line.

"Books browse Han texts, Han forests book."

The voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

Books browse Han texts, Han forests book!

Read backward...

Han forests book, books browse Han texts!

It was yet another perfect palindrome!

Moreover, books corresponded to forests, Han texts to Han texts, and browsing to booking.

Whether in poetic conception or part of speech, the antithesis was seamless and reached the absolute pinnacle of perfection!

"Puff!"

Yuwen Yue spat out another mouthful of blood, rolled his eyes, and fainted completely.

"Young Master Yuwen!"

"Quickly, Young Master Yuwen has fainted too!"

The scene erupted into another flurry of chaos and commotion.

Xie Ning glanced at the carried-away Yuwen Yue and curled his lips in disdain.

Could they not even handle this much?

Their mental fortitude was simply too weak.

He cleared his throat, determined to deliver the final blow to this pitiful group of literati.

"Since everyone is in such high spirits, let's do one last one. This one is dedicated to all of you."

His gaze swept across the entire arena, carrying a trace of pity.

"Listen closely."

"Orioles and swallows, emeralds and reds, everywhere harmony and warmth."

When this opening line left Xie Ning's lips, the entire Imperial Garden once again plunged into an unprecedented, dead silence.

Everyone stood frozen in place as if struck by a binding spell, not daring to move an inch.

These fourteen characters echoed repeatedly in their minds.

Orioles and swallows, emeralds and reds...

Everywhere harmony and warmth...

What... what kind of sentence was this?

"It's reduplicated characters! Using reduplicated characters to vividly portray the exquisite scene of spring—flowers blooming in full splendor, birds competing in song, and a landscape of absolute harmony and warmth—bringing it to life right on the page!"

An old man suddenly stood up, hitting the nail right on the head.

Seeming simple, it possessed an incomparable musicality and vivid imagery.

That vitality, that beauty, that tranquility...

Anyone who heard it felt as though they had been instantly transported to a paradise on earth filled with the fragrance of flowers and the chirping of birds.

Exquisite.

Too exquisite.

This was no longer a mere couplet.

It was a poem, a painting, the sound of nature itself!

The literati present had completely given up thinking.

There was no more anger or shame on their faces, only the purest shock and awe originating from the depths of their souls.

They even felt that being able to hear such an eternal masterpiece with their own ears was the greatest honor of their lives.

To lose?

They no longer cared about winning or losing.

In the presence of such a divine work, speaking of victory and defeat was in itself a form of desecration.

The white-bearded old man who had previously cursed Xie Ning at the top of his lungs had now been revived by others.

He stared blankly at Xie Ning, tears streaming down his aged face as he muttered incessantly to himself.

"The Poetry Immortal... An authentic Poetry Immortal of our age... This old man has read the sages' books in vain all my life, and only today do I know what the pinnacle of literature is, what the saint of literary talent looks like! I can die without regrets now, without regrets!"

With that, he actually stood up tremblingly, turned toward Xie Ning’s direction, and bowed respectfully in the most solemn kowtow ritual of three bows and nine knockings.

His kneeling acted like a signal.

Swish...

All the veteran scholars and civil officials present, regardless of official rank or age, stood up in unison. Then, facing Xie Ning, they bowed deeply together, performing the ritual of disciples greeting their master.

"We pay our respects to the Poetry Immortal!"

The voices were uniform and resounded through the entire Imperial Garden.

Their faces were filled with profound piety and reverence.

At this moment, they were convinced from the bottom of their hearts, thoroughly subjugated by Xie Ning's talent.

In the face of absolute strength, all grudges and prejudices vanished like smoke.

What remained was only the purest admiration for the strong.

Above the colorful canopy.

The Empress Dowager looked at this almost magical scene below, completely dumbfounded.

She felt as though her entire world had collapsed.

What was she witnessing?

All the top scholars and most venerable scholars in the imperial court of Qi were actually performing a disciple's bow to someone she had regarded as trash, a notorious scoundrel?

And they were calling him the Poetry Immortal?

This was even more absurd than a fantasy tale.

She felt as if her heart was being tightly clenched by an invisible giant hand, paining her to the verge of suffocation.

She knew she had completely lost.

Not just losing this competition, but losing all her prestige and the hearts of the literati faction.

From this day forward, this Xie Ning would become the undisputed leader of the entire literary circle of Qi.

Li Qingning gazed at the scene before her, her beautiful eyes also filled with shock.

She knew Xie Ning was formidable, but she never imagined he could be formidable to this extent.

With the strength of a single person, he had forced the entire literary circle of Qi to bow in submission.

What kind of demeanor and spirit was this!

An unprecedented wave of pride and elation swelled within her heart.

This man belonged to her.

Xie Ning looked at the sea of bowing literati beneath him, feeling a deep, secret thrill of satisfaction inside.

Ah, this act of showing off was truly perfection itself.

He cleared his throat, put on the demeanor of an aloof master, and spoke indifferently.

"Rise, all of you."

"Those who know nothing are not guilty."

His magnanimous attitude made those scholars even more deeply grateful, wishing they could erect a shrine to worship him on the spot.

"Thank you for your boundless benevolence, Poetry Immortal!"

Xie Ning waved his hand, signaling them to quiet down.

Only then did he leisurely announce the matching line to this eternal masterpiece.

"Rains and winds, flowers and leaves, year after year, dusk and dawn."