Gentlemen, Hear Me Out

"Not one of you here is worthy of taking up the brush for me!"

The moment Gu Chenfeng said those words, the gathering erupted.

"Arrogant!"

"Gu Chenfeng, you've gone too far!"

Imperial Uncle Xiao's eyes flashed. At last, he found an opening to speak.

"Third Young Master, that was rather excessive. Elder Zhong once taught the princes.

If even he is unqualified to take up the brush for you, what does that say about the princes?"

Zhang You also seized the chance to fan the flames.

"It seems the Third Young Master holds the scholars of the Imperial Capital-indeed, of our entire Great Li-in contempt."

Spurred on by their provocations, the scholars present grew angrier still.

Their denunciations came in an endless stream; some even wanted to storm into the pavilion.

Ouyang Cai hurriedly ordered his guards to block the surrounding approaches, his expression tense.

"Third Young Master, haven't you... taken this act a little too far?"

Shangguan Bingxin spoke up as well.

"Young Master Gu, pretend the drink has made you unwell. I'll hold them off while you leave."

Seeing Gu Chenfeng provoke the crowd's fury with a single sentence,

Zhong Yanqi did not gloat. His expression merely turned stern and cold.

"Since the Third Young Master is so confident, surely you possess world-shaking talent. Please enlighten this old man and everyone present.

Otherwise, this deception to steal undeserved fame may utterly ruin the Gu Lineage's good name.

When that happens, even if this old man can tolerate you, the scholars of the realm and the common people of Great Li will not!"

With those words, he tied the question of Gu Chenfeng's talent to the Gu Lineage's reputation and the people of the realm.

It was a killing blow!

Yet, faced with a gathering teetering on the brink of chaos,

the Third Young Master Gu who had lambasted a great scholar of the nation and scorned all the realm's men of letters that day

suddenly picked up a white jade wine flask from the table, tipped back his head, and took a long draught.

Just as everyone thought he intended to use drunkenness as an excuse to escape,

"Hahaha..."

Gu Chenfeng suddenly laughed aloud, sweeping his hazy, drunken eyes contemptuously over the indignant scholars around him.

"Gentlemen, hear me out!"

His shout carried an invisible force that abruptly silenced the uproar.

Everyone's gaze involuntarily converged on the pavilion.

On the handsome young man holding a wine flask, dressed in splendid brocade, his expression wild and scornful.

At that moment, Gu Chenfeng drew a deep breath.

After pondering for several breaths,

he let out a long sigh.

"His iron armor rent, his arrow wounds run deep; still, scholars in their caps debate the past and present."

Two brief lines, fourteen characters.

Recited by Gu Chenfeng, they seemed to weigh as heavily as Mount Tai.

The gathering had already fallen quiet.

After those two lines, not even a crow or sparrow could be heard!

Even Zhong Yanqi, so composed, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's,

was briefly stunned, astonishment appearing on his face.

The two lines were not especially dazzling.

But today's gathering had been the Great Li scholarly community's denunciation of the Gu Lineage, particularly Gu Lingxiao, the General Who Guards the North.

These lines clearly took that very subject and struck back at Great Li's scholars.

Everything had happened so suddenly that he could not possibly have prepared them beforehand.

It truly was an impromptu composition.

Gu Chenfeng did indeed possess some talent!

That was the first thought that arose in Zhong Yanqi and many of the scholars present.

Yet Gu Chenfeng paid them no heed, wholly immersed in his own world.

He tipped back his head and drained the flask.

He let the wine splash down and soak the front of his robes.

Then he slammed the flask into the ground.

"Crack!"

The jade flask shattered, fine wine spraying everywhere!

"If a brush's edge could rout the foe, why must brave men stain their robes with blood?"

Gu Chenfeng all but roared those two lines.

As though he meant to unleash all the burning in his throat and all the fury in his heart.

In that instant,

everyone present felt their hearts tremble and their breath catch.

Before their eyes seemed to unfold a scene of beacon fires filling the skies and two armies locked in ferocious combat.

On the border battlefields, mountains of corpses and seas of blood froze into ice.

They stood in stark contrast to the flourishing streets within the Imperial Capital.

Here were fine wines and delicacies, pleasing strings and flutes, scholars and learned masters holding lofty discussions.

At the border were bodies wrapped in horsehide and battlefields stained with blood, the heroic spirits of soldiers delivering their indictment through countless tears of blood!

At that moment, the silence was deafening!

Everyone's expression changed, both those in the pavilion and the scholars outside it.

Even Zhong Yanqi, that great scholar of the age,

became utterly grave in an instant!

Gu Chenfeng's poem contained only four short lines.

Yet its satire was scathing, its contrasts stark.

Especially that final question.

Like a bolt of lightning, it posed a heaven-shaking challenge above the Imperial Capital.

The moment this poem appeared,

Zhong Yanqi no longer doubted that Gu Chenfeng was the author of Drunken West Chamber.

He also sensed that, despite staking everything today,

the all-out strike he had launched against father and son of the Gu Lineage on behalf of Great Li's scholars would end in defeat.

Though this poem could not quell the discussions and rumors about the General Who Guards the North within the Imperial Capital,

it was unquestionably a devastating blow to Great Li's scholarly community.

At the very least, scholars could no longer recklessly hold forth on affairs of state, especially military matters.

Otherwise, a recitation of this poem would suffice to leave every scholar in the realm ashamed beyond endurance.

At that thought, Zhong Yanqi's heart trembled.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have done something foolish that would bring disaster upon all the realm's scholars!

Meanwhile, those in the pavilion who had feared Gu Chenfeng might not make it out that day

now looked at him as though he were a celestial marvel!

Su Wanyue inwardly sighed with relief, while a touch of pride rose in her heart.

How could the man admitted to my private chambers be ordinary?

Shangguan Bingxin's eyes held astonishment and admiration.

He truly isn't the worthless wastrel everyone calls him.

At least in poetic talent, perhaps no one in the Imperial Capital can stand beside him.

Even Princess Yaoyin stared in a daze at that free-spirited, proudly defiant figure.

Is he... really Gu Chenfeng? Why is he so different from before?

Only Ouyang Cai's eyes were filled with wounded regret.

We agreed to be useless together. Third Young Master, you've stabbed me in the back!

As for Imperial Uncle Xiao and Zhang You, who had been waiting for Gu Chenfeng to be disgraced and the Gu Lineage's reputation dragged through the dirt,

they were already dumbstruck, questioning everything they knew.

What the fuck? He turned even this around?

Gu Chenfeng's single poem changed the entire complexion of the Golden Kylin Gathering.

A long while passed.

Outside the pavilion, Zhong Yanqi stood stunned and distracted, his pale, aged face twitching several times.

Then this great scholar of contemporary Great Li actually clasped his hands toward Gu Chenfeng and bowed.

His lips quivered as he said, "Third Young Master, your talent is immense. This old man is ashamed to admit he cannot compare.

I retract my earlier remarks. Drunken West Chamber was indeed your work. I accused you unjustly. I was wrong!"

Zhong Yanqi's actions shocked everyone present.

This great scholar of the empire, tutor to the princes, had actually apologized to Gu Chenfeng in public with such humility.

The sight also stirred deep sympathy among many of the scholars present.

Yet the recipient of that apology,

Gu Chenfeng, standing in the pavilion, wore a mocking smile.

"Elder Zhong, you make admitting your mistake sound so easy."

"Hmm...?"

His words provoked outrage among many scholars.

"Gu Chenfeng, Elder Zhong has already apologized to you. What more do you want?"

"Exactly! Elder Zhong is the Junior Tutor. For a man of his standing to apologize publicly has already shown you tremendous respect."

After a brief start, Zhong Yanqi also looked at Gu Chenfeng.

"What else does the Third Young Master require?"

Gu Chenfeng scoffed.

"Our Great Li Dynasty enjoys its present glory

because its sovereign presides over the court, laboring day and night to govern the realm and secure its peace, while its generals guard the frontiers, braving death to defend our lands.

Yet you, a pack of literary gentlemen who style yourselves pure and upright, never think to offer your loyalty to sovereign and country or contribute your strength.

Instead, you fear nothing more than a peaceful realm, slandering a great general on the frontier and attacking his descendants.

Had I not proven myself through poetry today, by tomorrow,

I would likely have become a rat crossing the streets of the Imperial Capital, with everyone crying for my blood, and the Gu Lineage's reputation would have been destroyed in an instant."

Gu Chenfeng's gaze suddenly sharpened. Staring at Zhong Yanqi, he enunciated every word.

"Elder Zhong nearly destroyed me and the Gu Lineage's reputation.

Now, with a mere 'I was wrong,' you can lightly brush away every offense.

What bearing from a great scholar of the nation, a master of his generation. I am truly impressed."

Those words made Zhong Yanqi's face grow paler still, sweat seeping onto his forehead.

"Third Young Master... what will it take for you to forgive this old man?"

Gu Chenfeng merely waved a hand.

"Forget it. Where mercy is possible, show mercy. That is what my father often teaches me.

He always says a gentleman must possess both virtue and talent, with virtue first and ability second.

Thus, although he often instructs me to read and study literature, to delve into poetry and prose,

he tells me not to flaunt my learning before others, but to learn first how to conduct myself."

Hearing this, Zhong Yanqi was greatly astonished.

"Your talent for poetry and prose was taught by your father?"

Everyone present was equally surprised.

Rumor had it that Gu Lingxiao had also been a notorious wastrel in the Imperial Capital in his youth.

His vile behavior had surpassed even Gu Chenfeng's.

How could he possibly have taught Gu Chenfeng poetry, prose, and proper conduct?

Seeing their reactions, Gu Chenfeng sighed.

"Alas... people with ulterior motives often deliberately blacken my father's name, yet he refuses to defend himself.

He often says that personal reputation is insignificant beside the nation's safety.

A military officer's sacred duty is to serve his country with unwavering loyalty.

Years ago, when my father was ordered to join the army in the Northern Territory, he left behind a poem before his departure.

I have recited it since childhood, and it remains fresh in my memory."

Then Gu Chenfeng paced within the pavilion, a look of reminiscence in his eyes.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, he slowly recited that poem.

"My wrath lifts my hair against my cap; by the railing, the driving rain has ceased."

I lifted my gaze and roared to the heavens, fierce passion surging in my breast.

Thirty years of honors were dust and earth; eight thousand miles of roads lay beneath clouds and moon.

Do not idle away the years until youthful hair turns white, leaving only empty grief.

The shame inflicted by the Barbarian Tribe remained unavenged. When would a subject's hatred finally die?

I would drive a mighty chariot and trample the imperial court of the northern plains.

With lofty resolve, I would feast on the invaders' flesh when hungry, and laughing, drink the barbarians' blood when thirsty.

Let me begin anew, reclaim our old mountains and rivers, and pay homage at the imperial palace!"