Miraculous Performance

By then, everyone in the hall had finished their paintings.

Curious, the crowd pressed forward around the judges, eager to see the works with their own eyes.

Seeing this, Yu Shinan simply lifted the painting high himself, so that all could view it clearly.

After seeing it, the onlookers could not help but marvel, and then, almost involuntarily, they thought of their own efforts.

Soon after, some of them, ashamed, crumpled their paintings into balls.

They had never imagined that the paintings they had practiced so diligently for years could be so far inferior to those of a child.

At this point, the painting contest had reached its final result.

As expected, Li Zhi took first place in the event, while Li Tai, owing to his excellent performance, came in second.

Third place was won by a student from the Imperial Academy.

The other students from various regions gained nothing in this contest.

Once the results were announced, the common people who supported Li Zhi erupted into cheers of delight.

The students who had stirred up trouble, however, all fell into embarrassed silence.

Among them was naturally Li Tai as well.

He had also secretly fanned the flames throughout this affair.

Originally, he had thought victory was all but assured, yet to his surprise, he was already being crushed by Li Zhi in the very first round.

When the soldiers of the Dragon Cavalry Army saw that Li Zhi had taken first place, they immediately shouted below, “The Deputy Commander is mighty! The Deputy Commander cuts down all challengers!”

Most of these men were not learned, so the slogans they shouted were no more than crude cries of battle and slaughter.

Inside Purple Cloud Tower, Li Zhi could not help but blacken at the forehead when he heard them.

He thought to himself that in the future he must force them to read far more books.

The contestants were then divided into two groups once more.

One group continued with the music contest, while the other began their match in Go.

This time Li Zhi’s performance was even more astonishing; in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had sent his first opponent sprawling in defeat.

The scholar who faced him was by no means weak in skill.

Before the contest began, he had even secretly rejoiced that he had drawn Li Zhi, a mere child.

He had not expected reality to slap him hard across the face, making him the fastest loser on the field.

By then it was nearly noon, so everyone took a brief rest and began to enjoy the pastries provided by the court.

The people outside naturally had no such privilege, but they had long since prepared for it.

Some had brought their own dry provisions, and a few vendors were also selling food on the spot.

As one of the main participants, the soldiers of the Dragon Cavalry Army were naturally entitled to the same treatment as the scholars, though their meal had to be taken in the Imperial Banquet Hall.

As their commanding officer, Li Zhi naturally chose to sit with them, chatting and laughing without the slightest air of condescension.

Though these soldiers were now all highly skilled, they behaved with surprising propriety in Li Zhi’s presence.

There was no other reason for it: all their training routines had been designed with Li Zhi’s participation.

To put it bluntly, everything the Dragon Cavalry Army took pride in had been made possible by Li Zhi himself.

Even their instructors were his own two personal guards.

Shortly after the assassination attempt, Chai Long and Duan Shizi had both been sent by Li Zhi to teach in the Dragon Cavalry Army on a long-term basis.

Li Zhi believed that their experience would be of immense benefit to the corps.

For that reason, he had even specially recruited several experts to protect himself.

After a simple lunch, the next round of contests resumed.

Li Zhi again eliminated his second opponent in roughly the same amount of time.

After two rounds, the remaining competitors were of about equal strength, and the matches thereafter slowed down considerably.

Li Zhi waited a full quarter of an hour before meeting his third opponent.

Yet to his disappointment, this opponent also failed to last more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

After defeating the man, he glanced around at the state of the competition and realized that he might not have another opponent for the moment.

So, without hesitation, he ran off to take part in the music contest.

The first piece Li Zhi played was a well-known composition of the day, Divine Harmony.

The piece had originally been a sacrificial hymn, meant to invite the immortals of heaven to share joy among the people.

Li Zhi’s technique was deft, his transitions flawless, and his playing gave the impression of something wholly natural and unforced.

Others had played this piece before, but none had ever brought forth that same sense of devotion and yearning, as though speaking a prayer aloud.

When Zhao Yeli heard Li Zhi’s performance in Purple Cloud Tower, he immediately widened his eyes in astonishment.

After listening carefully for a while longer, he asked the others, “Has any great master of the qin instructed His Highness the Prince of Jin?”

Yu Shinan smiled. “Master Zhao, are you jesting with us? In this city of Chang’an, aside from you, who else could possibly be counted among the masters?”

Zhao Yeli shook his head. “I am not jesting. His Highness’s skill on the qin is remarkably refined. Without guidance from an eminent teacher, it would be nearly impossible to reach such a level.”

Yan Liben spoke up. “Master Zhao may have misunderstood. As far as I know, His Highness’s qin teacher resigned after teaching him for just a little over two months.”

Zhao Yeli asked in surprise, “Why was that?”

Yan Liben smiled wryly. “It is said there was nothing left to teach.”

Yan Liben’s words left the other three men stunned.

But very soon they fully understood what he meant.

Li Zhi’s performance had already reached a considerable level; a common music teacher could indeed only amount to that much.

Yet then they all thought of a frightening fact: Li Zhi had attained that level in only two months.

The first to be unable to accept it was Zhao Yeli.

He turned to Yan Liben and asked, “Are you certain that His Highness studied only for two months and did not take a famous master?”

Yan Liben countered, “His Highness studied painting for only a short time as well. To tell you the truth, I was the one who taught him. In your opinion, do I still have any qualification to continue instructing him?”

At that, all three men gaped so wide they could have swallowed a duck egg.

After a long while, Zhao Yeli could not help but exclaim, “This Prince of Jin is truly monstrous in his talent!”

Yan Liben quickly warned him, “Master Zhao, please mind your words.”

At the reminder, Zhao Yeli hurriedly coughed in embarrassment.

From nearby, Xiao Ji said at that moment, “I truly do not know how one is meant to judge His Highness the Prince of Jin.”

When he finished speaking, the others exchanged silent looks, and then each of them wore a bitter smile.

In this music contest as well, Li Zhi once again firmly outclassed his opponent.

Such a performance finally drew the attention of all the students.

If his painting had been considered Li Zhi’s special strength, might his music now be another?

Some even thought of the fact that Li Zhi had already won three straight matches in Go.

If one counted that as well, did that not mean he had shown no weakness at all so far?