Chapter 12: The Skilled Hand

  Sheng Siyan's face grew angrier as she thought, and with a sudden movement, she slammed the book down on the desk, stood up from her small body, raised her small palm, and slapped the book hard.

  Bang!

  All the girls in the house curiously looked at Sheng Siyan.

  "Siyan, what's wrong?" The cow Xiaoye beside her hastily pulled her sleeve.

  Sheng Siyan snapped back to reality and suddenly felt dry mouth and tongue.

  What can she say?

  How could you tell these people that the great writer Zheng Xiang Rong, a talented and beautiful woman of the Da Xia Dynasty, is actually a plagiarist?!

  Do you think you're the only one who crossed over to another world? Do you think that just because you crossed over, you can take other people's things as your own? —— Sheng Siyan's past life loved watching the most thrilling and dramatic turnarounds in the Tianya gossip drama!

  The problem is, even if she said it, no one would believe her!

  Because she can't produce evidence!

  She doesn't have that kind of "big thumb" to travel through time and space, go back to her previous time and space to grab a few publications to prove the deceitful reputation of Miss Zheng Er!

  So even if she knew it was all copied, what could she say?

  Alright, Miss Zheng, you win!

  Sheng Siyan sat down with a full face of cow, "...this poem is really written too well, I've cried while reading it..." Wuuu~~~~ (>_<)

  Everyone smiled and came over to comfort her.

  Niu Xiaoye was also busy handing her a handkerchief to wipe away her tears, and said with a smile: "Ah, yes, it's really well-written. My elder brother once read it and cried too, saying that he would never be able to write such good poetry in his life. Later on, he gave up studying and went into business, and now he has earned a lot of money. My mother always says that we should thank Zheng Erniang for helping my brother find the right path."

  Sheng Siyan: "......" Okay, she underestimated the wisdom of the working people...

  Sheng Siyan wiped away the tears on her face and went to think about the topic of the article, asking curiously: "Hey, look at this 'Tengwang Pavilion Preface' and 'Drunken Old Man's Pavilion Record', the style is completely different. How old is Zheng Erniang, she can write such profound content?"

  "Hmph, don't you understand? That's why she's a great writer, a genius. I remember my brother used to admire Zheng Erniang's writing style and said that an old scholar from the Imperial Academy didn't believe those poems were written by Zheng Erniang herself, suspecting it was her father, Zheng Dalao, who ghostwrote them. You know, the Zheng family is called 'Divine Brush Zheng', and over the years, how many literary talents have emerged? Before Zheng Erniang became famous, her father was the most renowned in the Zheng family for his writing." Niu Xiaoye seemed to be quite gossipy, recounting these rumors vividly.

  Sheng Siyan silently made up her mind: Niu Xiaoye, this little partner of hers, was settled!

  In this era of closed information, gossip means being well-informed. Whoever gets the gossip will win the world!

  "Yes, I've also heard about that." Another girl chimed in to join the conversation, and with a pleased tone said: "But Miss Zheng only needed one sentence to shut down that old man, after which the mountain's scholar-in-residence never wrote again."

  It was actually Shan Chang, the head of Taixue, who questioned the credibility of Miss Zheng's poetry.

  Sheng Siyan silently gave the old mountain master a big thumbs up in her heart, and then silently lit a wax stick...

  "I also know. Miss Zheng said that the article was naturally born, and it was obtained by chance. It's not that she wrote well, but these articles were originally existing, and they happened to be obtained by her." Niu Xiaoye didn't allow others to take away her title of "Gossip Queen", so she hurriedly spoke up.

  "The article was completed today, and it was unexpectedly obtained by a clever move...... It can still be used like this...... Hehehe, I've learned another trick......" Sheng Siyan smiled with curved eyebrows.

  "It's not entirely like that, though. Siyan, you're too young and don't know yet?" Niu Xiaoye moved closer to Sheng Siyan, flipping over the "Teng Wang Ge Ji" that Sheng Siyan had previously turned upside down on her desk, pointing it out to her, "This Teng Wang Pavilion is a tall building in the Second Prince's estate. The Second Prince was granted the title of King Teng, and this newly built high-rise was named 'Teng Wang Pavilion' by Miss Zheng II, who also wrote this 'Preface to Teng Wang Pavilion' to congratulate the Second Prince on being granted the title of King Teng."

  "Oh......" Sheng Siyan closed her mouth, and there was still such a play? It's really perfect for the scene, seamless......

  Niú Xiǎo Yè didn't disappoint her reputation as the "Gossip Queen", continuing to chatter away: "And then there's her 'Drunken Old Man Pavilion Record'. The Drunken Old Man Pavilion was originally a small pavilion of the Zheng family, with a history of several hundred years. Her father, Zheng Da Lao Ye, had been depressed and frustrated for a long time. It was because of this that Zheng Er Xiao Jie wrote 'Drunken Old Man Pavilion Record' to comfort her father, advising him not to be happy about material things or sad about personal matters... 'Worry before the world worries, enjoy after the world enjoys', 'When living in a distant place, worry about your lord; when residing in a high position, worry about your people'... Every word is a pearl. This 'Drunken Old Man Pavilion Record' has become a required textbook for the Imperial Academy and one of the designated reference materials for the imperial examinations..."

  "What?! Sheng Siyan's mouth was agape, this...this...isn't it Fan Zhongyan's 'Record of the Yueyang Tower'? How did it become Ouyang Xiu's 'Drunkard's Pavilion Record'?! Hurriedly flipping through that collection of writings to take a closer look, in the end almost bursting with rage."

  Miss Zheng II, you're really something! You took the good "Record of Yueyang Tower" and gave it a title like "Record of Drunken Old Man Pavilion", I was almost killed by you...

  Curiosity killed the cat, Sheng Siyan immediately decided not to meddle in this matter.

  Besides, Zheng Wantong is already dead. Even if she had "cheated the world and stolen fame", since she's already gone, why bother with her anymore?

  It can be seen that she randomly took other people's things and put her own name on them. Even the heavens couldn't bear to look at her, so they took her away ahead of time...

  "Niu Xiaoye, didn't you say you couldn't understand the articles here?" a little girl asked suspiciously.

  Niu Xiaoye swung her braids and said with a smile, "My elder brother used to recite at home every day, I can recite it all. Don't mention this time, the examiner asked me to recite a few sentences from Zheng Er Miss's collection, I just recited them."

  Sheng Siyan burst out laughing, repeatedly saying "Hmm", "Indeed, it's impressive. To be a woman and do it to the extent of Zheng Erniang, it's really impressive."

  "Yes." A girl who came over to chat next to them was older than Sheng Siyan and Niu Xiaoye. She supported her chin with both hands, looked dreamy and said: "Actually, I don't understand those poems and lyrics written by Miss Zheng, nor do I like them. What I love most are the novels she wrote, really... Ah, they're just too good!"

  What's wrong?!

  Are there any more?!!!

  Sheng Siyan was deeply impressed with Miss Zheng at this moment.

  Wow, this requires a huge amount of data and an incredibly good memory!

  Is Miss Zheng carrying a library with her or is she wearing a Baidu-brained time-traveler?

  Sheng Siyan couldn't help but think: I've been blind for five years, why is Zheng Erniang so lucky!

  Hmph!

  The girls in the house were boiling when it came to talking about the novel.

  "Miss Zheng's four great works, how many of them have you read?"

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  Starting from today, stable updates will be made. One update per day for each new book period. Everyone bear with it O(∩_∩)O haha! Wait until August when it goes on shelves and you can read to your heart's content...

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