ragginovel Chapter 22 Poetry is but a minor skill!
Chapter 22 Poetry is but a minor skill!
Zhao Li, dressed in a long robe, slowly walked to the center of the stage.
At this moment, everyone's eyes turned to Zhao Li.
"Hey, isn't this Young Master Zhao from the Zhao family?"
"Eastern Lu and Western Zhao. Could they be like Lu Yuan...?"
"How is that possible? The Zhao family is a powerful clan; how could they be like Lu Yuan, that adopted orphan?"
Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, Zhao Li spoke.
"The night is still, the sky is high, and the moon is bright."
"The pale moonlight gently illuminates the courtyard."
The crowd's chatter ceased.
Everyone began to listen carefully, eager to know what kind of poetry this young master Zhao, known as a martial arts genius, could produce.
How many loves and longings exist in this world?
"Everyone stared intently at the window."
The talented men present began to discuss Zhao Li's poem.
The sentences are fluent.
The poem is clear and vivid.
It's a very simple poem about gazing at the moon and longing for home.
It wasn't particularly amazing.
But at this moment, with no one daring to go on stage...
Zhao Li was clearly much more impressive in everyone's eyes.
Moreover, being able to compose poetry makes him significantly better than some of those who only know how to practice martial arts and constantly misinterpret the words of sages.
"Zhao Li is quite a good kid!" Qin Lie praised sincerely.
"Well, it's alright, it's alright." Tie Heng casually replied.
His gaze drifted, intentionally or unintentionally, towards the figure he was eagerly anticipating in the audience.
Qin Lie followed Tie Heng's gaze.
It was Lu Yuan, who was sitting in the audience eating pastries and drinking tea.
Lu Yuan's behavior at this moment seemed to completely disregard Zhao Li's poem.
He was chatting with his daughter.
"Sigh." Qin Lie didn't say anything, but just sighed to himself.
Since Zhao Li finished writing the poem,
The talented men present offered their comments one after another, and no one was willing to go on stage for a long time.
"Are there any other talented individuals who have produced excellent works?"
The old man urged him again.
Still, no one answered.
Just then, someone in the crowd mentioned something.
"Why don't you compose another poem, Mr. Gu?"
The idea was immediately echoed by those present.
"Yes, yes. When it comes to composing poems about the moon, who can compare to our talented Gu?"
Gu Tingzhi went on stage surrounded by the crowd.
"Since you all think so highly of me, then I shall make a fool of myself."
Seeing this, the old man wisely had his maid bring a huge sheet of Xuan paper and place it in the center of the table.
Gu Tingzhi had his left hand behind his back and his right hand waving lightly.
On a table not far away, there was a calligraphy brush covered in ink.
It seemed to be gently lifted by a force and floated to the front of the Xuan paper.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
Each time Gu Tingzhi read a sentence, the brush would write a sentence on the paper.
"The moon is full in the sky."
The shadow falls on the pale Milky Way.
A gentle breeze stirs the moonlight on my pillow.
Its sound resonates throughout the world.
As soon as the first part of the poem appeared, everyone below fell into a deep silence.
They watched Gu Tingzhi with rapt attention.
Even Lu Yuan started watching Gu Tingzhi's performance.
However, he was more concerned about the wealth that Qin Zhao had mentioned earlier.
"So this is what talent is!"
After finishing the first stanza, Gu Tingzhi paused only briefly before beginning to compose the second stanza.
"Looking out from a high place, the clouds and mist seem to disappear."
Our hearts are united under the same moon.
Don't say the ends of the earth are far away,
Our longing shines together before the window.
As soon as the entire poem was finished, it immediately caused a sensation in the room.
"As expected of a great talent like Gu, he truly is a great talent."
"This poem, 'Qing Ping Yue,' is even better than the one about the moon from two years ago."
"A master of both poetry and prose, this man truly deserves the title of the most talented scholar in Qingzhou City!"
On the field, all they said were compliments.
Gu Tingzhi remained calm, merely smiling slightly at the compliments.
At this moment, the talented men that the Blood Wolf Gang had found saw that the time was ripe.
They began to attack Lu Yuan.
"Now, even the young master Zhao, one of the three masters of the Eastern Continent and the Western Zhao, has composed a poem."
"Shouldn't our renowned Young Master Lu also produce some masterpieces?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Isn't composing poetry a challenge for our young master Lu?"
"As for the poem that the talented Gu just composed, it's already quite good that our young master Lu can even appreciate it."
"You flatter him too much. The fact that he can even understand Young Master Zhao's poem is already a great blessing."
The group of people spoke in a sarcastic tone, their voices not loud.
However, it did attract the attention of most of the writers present.
Sun Zhongwen, who was just guessing riddles, also started mocking Lu Yuan.
"Tch, you, the dignified Young Master Lu, didn't you say you were good at solving riddles? A piece of cake?"
"This time it's time to write poetry."
"I think you're all talk and no action."
All eyes immediately fell on Lu Yuan.
Everyone was waiting for Lu Yuan to speak.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yuan's expression remained completely calm.
"Ha, poetry is nothing but a minor skill."
Is poetry just a minor skill?
That's outrageous!
That's incredibly arrogant!
It still hit the scholar hard in the face.
"Since Young Master Lu says that poetry is a minor skill, what are your thoughts on the poem I just composed?"
Gu Tingzhi spoke calmly to the sixteen-year-old boy in front of him.
"If Young Master Lu has any insightful suggestions, I am happy to accept them."
"Insightful? Not really. No matter how well you do this kind of trick, it's still just a trick."
"Besides, this can hardly be called good."
Upon hearing this, some people in the audience were watching the spectacle, while others were gloating.
The esteemed and talented Gu.
The greatest literary figure in Qingzhou.
Let a martial artist who interprets the Analects as slang from the underworld comment on the poem.
And the comments are completely meaningless.
That's absolutely outrageous.
"Deacon Iron, look at that kid Lu Yuan. His character is truly appalling..."
Zhao Tianxiong added from beside Tie Heng.
Before he could finish speaking, Tie Heng interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
"Hey, don't rush, let's take a look first."
Zhao Tianxiong swallowed his anger and sat back down in his chair.
At this moment, the room was filled with voices questioning Lu Yuan.
"You say these are all minor skills, then you try writing one yourself."
"Exactly, they probably can't write it themselves and are just pretending."
"That's it... You can't produce anything here, yet you spout such nonsense. You might as well go back to the Lu family."
Gu Tingzhi didn't outwardly show anger in response to Lu Yuan's words.
"Oh, since Young Master Lu considers poetry a minor skill, then what is a major skill?"
Lu Yuan neither looked at the people who were making a fuss nor at Gu Tingzhi.
His gaze swept over the artificial hill on one side of the platform.
Should I just copy poems like other time travelers?
That would have too little effect.
If you're going to install something, install something big.
Next to the artificial hill stood a landscape stone about half a person's height.
The stone surface was rough and covered with moss.
He walked up to the landscape stone and raised his right hand.
"Poetry is but a minor skill. We martial artists should write history with swords and pens."
[Innate Divine Strength] is activated.
The muscles bulged, and blood and energy flowed into the entire right arm.
The strength gained in the later stages of body tempering, combined with the bonus from the [Qilin Arm] attribute...
That force surged from his arm to his palm.
The palm of the hand slapped onto the landscape stone.
Rock-Smashing Palm!
He struck twice.
There was no flying debris, no booming sound.
The entire half-person-high bluestone was crushed into powder in an instant.
It only produced a dull "thump".
Driven by the palm wind,
Stone dust exploded like a cloud of dust, swirling in the air under the moonlight and lamplight before slowly settling down.
The iron-handled teacup hovered in mid-air.
Qin Lie narrowed his eyes.
Zhao Tianxiong's hand holding the teacup froze, and the bottom of the cup slammed heavily onto the table.
"This brute... he's gotten angry out of embarrassment!"
A tall, thin scholar squeezed through the crowd, pointed at Lu Yuan, and shouted to those around him.