The Greatest Poem of All Time

The entire hall fell silent. Then the people from Jixia Academy came to their senses and burst into exaggerated laughter.

The people of Great Qi who couldn't hear Shen Anxin's inner voice looked at one another and whispered among themselves, asking just how capable Shen Anlan was. How did he dare make such a claim?

Although his performance just now had been impressive, even Great Qi's most gifted scholars wouldn't have dared rashly challenge all four. Was this some kind of joke?

The inner-voice members were already too worked up to sit still. Nervous, scared...

The inner-voice members: Such enormous stakes? This really can work, right? It has to! Otherwise we'll lose face on a colossal scale!

Emperor Hongyao said nothing, watching Shen Anxin intently. He trusted that the girl wouldn't act recklessly. But were the poetry and literature of her world really superior?

Xiao Yanchen's eyes flickered. He walked over to Emperor Hongyao and whispered a few words.

A cold light flashed in Emperor Hongyao's eyes, and he nodded.

Mr. Xun waited until his people stopped laughing before speaking. "Lord Shen, are you so idle that you've decided to make sport of us?"

Shen Anxin said, "How could that be? I'm quite serious. How about this? Not only will I challenge all four of them in turn, but we can also make a wager. I bet they won't dare critique anything I write. If they do, I lose!"

This was more than ordinary arrogance. She clearly had no idea how high the heavens were or how vast the earth was. She had gone mad.

Was she saying that, never mind matching their works against hers, the four great talents weren't even qualified to critique them?

She had to be mad!

Now, never mind the people of Southern Xia, even the people of Great Qi wanted to curse. There had to be a limit to this kind of bullshit!

The inner-voice members trembled: Fortune star, you've already said it, so whatever you do, don't mess this up!

"Good, good, good! What nerve! If you lack the ability, then you're making fools of us and insulting Jixia Academy. I demand that His Majesty the emperor of Great Qi give us an explanation!" Mr. Xun said furiously.

Shen Anxin drew her head back into her shoulders and looked carefully toward Emperor Hongyao.

Emperor Hongyao said nothing.

Instead, Xiao Yanchen stood, walked straight over to Shen Anxin, and said with a smile, "There will naturally be an explanation, but Lord Shen hadn't finished speaking just now. Since this is a wager, there must be stakes.

"If Lord Shen wins all four contests, Jixia Academy must establish a branch in Great Qi and send a vice dean, ten hall heads, and twenty instructors. They must sign ten-year contracts.

"On top of that, Jixia Academy must provide three thousand duplicate volumes from its library-three thousand volumes Great Qi doesn't already possess, naturally! Mr. Xun, do you dare take the bet?"

The moment he finished, the whole hall erupted.

Mr. Xun sucked in a sharp breath and stared at Xiao Yanchen in astonishment.

As soon as Southern Xia's minister of rites heard this, he rushed forward. "No, you mustn't! The stakes are too high! This..."

Xiao Yanchen said, "So Jixia Academy is afraid of losing?"

The people of Jixia Academy instantly erupted. How could they possibly be afraid? No scholar under heaven could match Jixia Academy! What was one measly third-place scholar from Great Qi?

Xiao Yanchen calmly swept his gaze over them. "Or is Mr. Xun unable to make the decision?"

Mr. Xun gritted his teeth and looked at Xiao Yanchen, thinking the whole matter absurd. How could this young Lord Shen possibly defeat the four great talents? If he had that kind of ability, his name would have spread throughout the world long ago.

And to win in such a manner? It was sheer fantasy.

Yet the crown prince had actually proposed these stakes, which made it feel... as though it might be true.

Mr. Xun felt as though his head would explode from thinking, but he still couldn't make sense of it.

But...

Mr. Xun lowered his eyes. "That doesn't seem right. The stakes are so high, yet only my side stands to lose. It's as if you're certain we'll be defeated. What if we win? What can Great Qi give us? Surely you won't merely punish one person."

Mr. Xun gave Shen Anxin a cold look, and Xiao Yanchen stepped sideways to block his hostile gaze.

"Mr. Xun, you may name your terms. Win or lose, Great Qi will bear the consequences."

The implication was that Shen Anxin wouldn't be held personally responsible. They trusted her unconditionally.

Shen Anxin listened, dumbstruck. Damn, he really dared ask for all that? Has he gone mad? Does he trust me that much? Could Shen Anlan have some great talent I don't know about?

The inner-voice members: Shh, shh, shh! How can you say His Highness the crown prince has gone mad? He surely... hasn't, right? The crown prince is so clever he's practically a demon. We have to trust His Highness!

Of course, His Highness must also trust Shen Anxin and believe she was certain to win.

Don't employ those you doubt, and don't doubt those you employ. Yes, exactly.

In truth, everyone was panicking, but all they could do now was hold firm.

Mr. Xun didn't think long before saying, "Very well. If we win, Jixia Academy won't make things difficult for Great Qi. We'll still be willing to establish a branch in Great Qi, but we'll set the rules.

"First, we want His Majesty the emperor of Great Qi to acknowledge our branch as Great Qi's foremost academy!

"Second, the branch's students may be directly recommended for official posts!"

Emperor Hongyao was listening from a distance. At this, his brows drew tightly together, and the coldness on his face deepened.

Xiao Yanchen also sneered inwardly. Before, they had merely wanted to use Shen Anxin's help to achieve their original objective in hosting Jixia Academy.

But now, Xiao Yanchen had finally understood something.

He had thought scholars didn't believe in prophecies, but it seemed the effect had been considerable.

A sign of a golden age?

Did Jixia Academy now want to place bets on both sides?

They had refused to discuss cooperation directly, shown such disdain for Great Qi, and suppressed its local scholars simply to inflate their own worth in advance. They vainly hoped that, just as in Southern Xia, they could arrive and eclipse Great Qi's imperial authority.

But by naming these stakes, they had exposed what they truly wanted.

They wanted the foremost position and control over Great Qi's future imperial court. What a lovely dream.

Xiao Yanchen said, "Agreed."

Mr. Xun could hardly believe it. "Truly?" He then looked at Emperor Hongyao.

Emperor Hongyao nodded.

Since they weren't truly devoted solely to the books of the sages, there was nothing to hold back for. They had really been given too much face.

If they dared scheme against Great Qi, they had better prepare to be swallowed whole. Did they really think Great Qi's record of destroying nine kingdoms was a joke?

If Shen Anxin won, they could count themselves lucky. If she lost, they couldn't blame Great Qi for using truly iron-blooded methods.

The wager was set.

The whole hall drew a sharp breath. Were they about to witness history?

Every eye turned to Shen Anxin.

Shen Anxin instantly felt the pressure of a mountain.

H-h-heavens! I only wanted to show off and slap some faces. Did we have to make the stakes this huge? It's even interfering with politics now. Chacha, I'm starting to panic! How did everyone get so fat and gutsy? Although I'm very confident in our ancestors' talent...

Chacha said, Don't worry, host. It's a sure thing. Just leave it to the ancestors.

Xiao Yanchen turned and gently patted Shen Anxin's shoulder. Taking the opportunity to lean close, he whispered, "Don't worry. It doesn't matter if you lose. Father Emperor and I already have a plan. After all... we have plenty of military strength, don't we?"

Xiao Yanchen's tone was even a little playful.

Shen Anxin met Xiao Yanchen's smiling, handsome face and was instantly reassured, though she was still somewhat shocked.

So this is what His Highness the crown prince is really like.

The inner-voice members: What happened? What's His Highness the crown prince really like?

A white glutinous rice ball with black sesame filling!

Xiao Yanchen blinked, looking innocent. He hoped he hadn't frightened Shen Anxin.

"Can we begin?" Mr. Xun could wait no longer. No matter how he looked at it, there was no way their four great talents wouldn't even dare offer a critique! Even if the work came from a great scholar, a renowned master, or the dean, they could still say a thing or two, let alone for a... little third-place scholar.

Xiao Yanchen nodded to Shen Anxin.

Shen Anxin stepped forward, going first to the poetry prodigy. She picked up a brush and paused.

The hall fell silent.

The poetry prodigy sneered. "What? Don't tell me you have no inspiration and can't write anything?"

"No," Shen Anxin said. "I have too much inspiration. Never mind, I'll just write a poem at random. So you write poetry? Today I'll show you what poetry really is!"

There are several contenders for the greatest poem of all time, and no consensus! Never mind. For an occasion this grand, the Immortal Poet has to go first!

She put brush to paper. Since she had exchanged for Shen Anlan's handwriting, it wasn't hard to write.

Her brush swept like a roaming dragon, her strokes danced like flying phoenixes!

The inner-voice members couldn't help standing up: What kind of poem would leave someone too afraid even to critique it?

Xiao Yanchen stood beside her and read it aloud.

"Do you not see the waters of the Yellow River falling from heaven, rushing to the sea, never to return? Do you not see, in the bright mirror of the lofty hall, the sorrow of white hair... black silk at dawn, snow by dusk!"

Xiao Yanchen was stunned. His brilliant mind ground to a halt, and as he read, his voice caught.

He had barely begun, yet he already needed time to absorb the imagery.

The people below seemed, in an instant, to see some magnificent scene.

Though they didn't know what river the Yellow River was, "falling from heaven" and "rushing to the sea" told them how magnificent it was. It seemed much like their own mother river!

The next lines were even more remarkable. That sense of time flowing like water, that ineffable sorrow and regret-impossible to explain or put into words. How terrifyingly powerful the imagery was.

Even the people of Jixia Academy, who had been somewhat noisy moments before, fell silent, their eyes wide with disbelief.

Mr. Xun froze where he stood. The poetry prodigy sprang to his feet and stared fixedly at Shen Anxin, who was still writing.

The dean of the White Horse Academy was the first to rush forward, his eyes crimson as he couldn't help shouting aloud:

"When life is at its height, drink deep of joy; let not the golden cup stand empty beneath the moon! Heaven gave me talent, and it must have use; a thousand pieces of gold once spent will all return!!!!"

These lines were even more formidable. In that instant, what unrestrained spirit they displayed! Every word and phrase struck deep into everyone's hearts like a brand on the soul.

Countless teacups and winecups fell to the ground. Brushes and ink came out all at once as people frantically began copying the poem, and discussion erupted as though they had gone mad.

But it wasn't over yet.

Line after line was read aloud, verses that made scholars' hearts tremble and their courage turn cold, verses they could never have imagined existing in this world.

They weren't on the same level at all!

The final line.

His face full of shock, Xiao Yanchen read, "...Call the boy to trade them for fine wine, and with you I'll drown the sorrow of ten thousand ages."

When he finished, the hall was silent, as though everyone were lost in a dream from which they had no wish to wake.

Everyone watched Shen Anxin set down her brush, as though light were falling upon her.

Xiao Yanchen asked, "The poem... its title?"

"Bring in the Wine," Shen Anxin said, silently adding, Tang Dynasty, Li Bai. The Immortal Poet!

The inner-voice members: Li Bai? The Immortal Poet! Yes! He must be an immortal, an immortal of poetry! How else could he write such a poem?

To produce a single poem like this would leave no regrets for a thousand ages!

Chacha said, Hahaha, host, they've all been stunned!

Shen Anxin nodded. Transmigration novels really didn't lie to me!

"No! Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!" The poetry prodigy was the first to go wild. "It's fake! You copied it from somewhere else. You couldn't possibly have written a poem like this! It must be an ancient poem left behind by the once-glorious Great Xia! It belongs to our forebears..."

That claim didn't hold up. If such a poem existed, it would surely have become famous throughout the world when it first appeared.

But it hadn't. This was its first appearance.

Shen Anxin jumped in fright. She had thought they would question the Yellow River, the names, or the allusions, but this was all? They had been so thoroughly crushed that they had gone silly and couldn't even spot loopholes.

Mr. Xun couldn't help stepping forward as well. His face was pale; clearly, the poem had dealt him a heavy blow. "I don't know where you copied that poem from, but it isn't something a person with your life experience could have written."

"What? Trying to go back on the bet?" Shen Anxin felt guilty, but she was also confident. After all, they certainly couldn't find the original author to confront her.

"If you wrote it, you can certainly write more of the same caliber! If you have the ability..."

"That's right! If you really have the ability, write another!" The poetry prodigy was practically roaring.

Shen Anxin's eyes widened. This is the first time I've seen someone rush to their own death. Perfect. I was just torn between several poems.

"All right!" Shen Anxin readily agreed.

She raised her brush.

The first: the foremost seven-character regulated verse, "Ascending the Heights."

The wind was fierce, the sky was high, the apes cried in sorrow; the islet was clear, the sand was white, the birds wheeled in flight.

The second: the foremost five-character quatrain, "Ascending the Stork Tower."

The sun sank beyond the mountains; the Yellow River flowed into the sea.

The third: the foremost seven-character quatrain, "Early Departure from White Emperor City."

At dawn I left White Emperor City amid colorful clouds; a thousand li to Jiangling, returned in a single day.

Shen Anxin laid down the final stroke.

Then she heard a cry from beside her.

"Enough! Stop writing, stop writing! Aaaaaah!"

The poetry prodigy, who had been so suave and dashing an incense stick's time ago, the so-called future foremost poet, had completely broken down. Clutching his hair, his eyes bloodshot, he shoved aside the desk before him and tore to pieces all the poems he had brought out to crush Great Qi.

"Those aren't poems of the mortal world! They aren't! Impossible, impossible! Aaaaaah!"

Then they saw the poetry prodigy run out like a madman.

Shen Anxin thought, Does that count as his Dao heart shattering?

Chacha said, It does.

Shen Anxin thought, Excellent. Next!

Without waiting for everyone to react, Shen Anxin had already come before the ci poetry prodigy.

Before he could react, he saw Shen Anxin give a faint smile. "Your turn!"

The ci poetry prodigy: !!!!!!