After hearing this, Wu Jingshan's head instantly drooped. So this fellow really did have talent! Thank goodness he had not challenged him to exchange matching couplets, or he would have humiliated himself again. Stroking his goatee, he sighed. "Eunuch Hu truly is a great talent. Every verse you pluck at will is a masterpiece for the ages." He was not wrong: Hu Xiaotian really was plucking them at will. Drawing on his old love of classical poetry, he could casually produce a poem that left Wu Jingshan, the leader of the Plum Mountain School, dumbstruck. This was by no means because Hu Xiaotian's own learning surpassed Wu Jingshan's. He could be so impressive because he stood on the shoulders of countless literary masters.
Hu Xiaotian said with a beaming smile, "I've thought of another poem, but only the first two lines came to me. As for the last two, I've scraped my guts and racked my brains without finding anything suitable. Why don't I recite it, and you help me think of something, Lord Wu?"
Wu Jingshan said, abashed, "You flatter me. You flatter me."
Hu Xiaotian said, "Seen broadside, a ridge; seen sideways, a peak; from far or near, high or low, each view is unique... I still can't find anything suitable for the next two lines. Please enlighten me, Lord Wu."
Sweat had begun to bead on Wu Jingshan's forehead. Seen broadside, a ridge; seen sideways, a peak; from far or near, high or low, each view is unique. The words sounded plain and unadorned, yet the description was precise to the utmost degree. Hu Xiaotian, oh, Hu Xiaotian, this man's learning truly is unfathomable. Wu Jingshan thought and thought, but could find no suitable lines. How could he know that "Written on the Wall at West Forest