Chapter 331: Lively Bullet Comments, I Don

【Bullet comment·Second Qin Emperor Hu Hai】

Again ten years?!

Last time Lu You got ten years, and this time Li Shangyin got ten years again!

I, the emperor, speak fairly: the reward on this poet list is far too cheap, isn't it?

Just being a poet can earn ten years?

Ying Zheng saw this bullet comment and his expression darkened.

【Bullet comment·First Qin Emperor Ying Zheng】: Treacherous son, you still dare to appear?

【Bullet comment·Second Qin Emperor Hu Hai】: Father… I am merely expressing an opinion…

【Bullet comment·First Qin Emperor Ying Zheng】

You, a second emperor whose state perished, have what right to voice an opinion?

Hu Hai's bullet comment vanished again.

But this time, more people stepped forward.

【Bullet comment·Song Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji】

I, the emperor, agree with His Majesty Hu Hai's opinion.

He is just a poet; on what grounds can he receive the Longevity Reward?

My artistic achievements far surpass his!

【Bullet comment·Song Emperor Qinzong Zhao Huan】: Seconded.

【Bullet comment·Song Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou】: Seconded +1.

【Bullet comment·Ming Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen】: Seconded +2. I also find it unfair.

【Bullet comment·Ming Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao】: Seconded +3! I also want the Longevity Reward!

【Bullet comment·Ming Emperor Shizong Zhu Houcong (Jiajing)】

I have cultivated for so many years, yet have not received the Longevity Reward.

On what basis do these poets claim it?

Seeing the bullet comments about to turn into a "Grievance Emperor Assembly", this time the one who strikes first is not Ying Zheng, but another person.

【Bullet comment·Tang Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen】

I, the emperor, will say something.

Li Shangyin is the poet of my great Tang.

He writes poetry well, the heavens reward him; what's the problem?

You fallen‑emperors, you incompetent rulers, what right do you have to criticize?

When Tang Emperor Xuanzong appeared, the bullet comment area fell silent for a moment.

【Bullet comment·Tang Emperor Taizong Li Shimin】: Xuanzong? What descendant of mine are you?

【Bullet comment·Tang Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen】: Your Majesty Taizong!

I am the seventeenth emperor of the great Tang, known as the "Young Taizong".

During my reign, I strived to revive the great Tang, but alas… in the end I could not halt its decline.

【Bullet comment·Tang Emperor Taizong Li Shimin】

Seventeenth… after me, the Tang has changed so many emperors?

【Bullet comment·Tang Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen】

Your Majesty… the specific details I cannot elaborate, I can only say… later generations have betrayed your legacy.

Li Shimin's silence is more powerful than any words.

【Bullet comment·Ming Founder Zhu Yuanzhang】

This Tang Emperor Xuanzong is rather interesting.

"Young Taizong" shows he did fairly well.

Much stronger than my own unfilial descendants.

【Bullet comment·Ming Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di】: Indeed.

Looking at Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houcong, one by one, I am embarrassed to call them members of the Zhu family.

【Bullet comment·Ming Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen】: Emperor Chengzu, your words are…

【Bullet comment·Ming Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di】: Shut up! As for the Tumu Fortress incident, I haven't settled the score with you yet!

Zhu Qizhen's bullet comment also vanished.

The bullet comment area became lively again, but this time the protagonist is Qianlong.

【Bullet comment·Qing Emperor Gaozong Qianlong (self‑proclaimed 'Perfect Old Man')】

I have read Li Shangyin's poems; they are decent, but not enough to be crowned the "Eternal Love Saint".

Among my forty thousand poems, love poems are not few.

I think I should also make the list.

This time, before any other emperor speaks, the Three Kingdoms realm erupts first.

【Bullet comment·Three Kingdoms Cao Cao】

I have tolerated this Qianlong for a long time.

Forty thousand poems?

Is what you write poetry?

What you write is a running account, right?

【Bullet comment·Three Kingdoms Cao Zhi】

Brother, don't get agitated.

I, the younger brother, have read a few of Emperor Qianlong's poems; how should I put it… they're indeed not very good.

【Bullet screen·Three Kingdoms·Cao Pi】

Brother Zhi is rarely humble.

What does "not very good" mean?

That would be "not even worthy of being called a poem".

【Bullet screen·Three Kingdoms·Liu Bei】

Three sovereigns of the Cao family, don't get agitated.

I think, when it comes to writing poems, it's about quality, not quantity.

Ten thousand pieces of trash are still not as good as a single "Jin Se".

【Bullet screen·Three Kingdoms·Sun Quan】

Liu Bei is right.

I, Gu Shanhe, may not understand poetry well, but I know what good stuff is.

Li Shangyin's poems are good; Emperor Qianlong's poems… I haven't read them, but hearing you say so, I don't want to read them.

【Bullet screen·Three Kingdoms·Zhuge Liang】

I suggest, Emperor Qianlong, that instead of writing forty thousand poems, you should govern the country properly.

Great Qing may appear prosperous in your hands, but inside it has already begun to decay.

【Bullet screen·Three Kingdoms·Sima Yi】

Brother Liang, rarely so direct in speech.

Seconded +1.

【Bullet screen·Emperor Qianlong】

You… you Three Kingdoms figures, on what grounds do you criticize me?!

【Bullet screen·Three Kingdoms·Cao Cao】: Just because my poems are better than yours.

【Bullet screen·Three Kingdoms·Cao Zhi】: Just because you can't write my "Ode to the River God".

【Bullet screen·Three Kingdoms·Cao Pi】: Just because you can't understand my "Diàn Lùn·Lùn Wén".

【Bullet screen·Emperor Qianlong】: …

Emperor Qianlong's bullet screen disappears again.

Gu Shanhe watches this bullet‑screen battle and finally can't help but laugh out loud.

"Immortal Gu, what are you laughing at?" Li Shimin asks curiously.

Gu Shanhe wipes away the tears that came with his laugh,

"Your Majesty, I was thinking that if these emperors could gather together for a meeting, the scene… would certainly be spectacular."

Li Shimin imagines that scene and also laughs.

"I would like to meet Cao Cao."

"I heard this person has great talent and strategy, can both govern a state and write poetry—a true polymath."

Ying Zheng suddenly says, "I also want to meet him."

Liu Bang is stunned, "First Emperor, you want to meet Cao Cao?"

Ying Zheng, expressionless, says, "He once wrote 'Eastward facing Jieshi, to behold the vast sea.'"

"Jieshi, I also went there during my eastern tour years ago."

Liu Bang suddenly realizes, "Oh— you want to discuss with him the same place you both visited?"

Ying Zheng: "I am merely stating facts."

Again, "stating facts".

Everyone in the hall has become completely accustomed to it.

…

The golden light on the heavens begins to contract, and Li Shangyin's image gradually fades.

What remains on the heavens is his silhouette standing under the setting sun.

The waning sun of Late Tang, blood‑red, shines on his slender body, stretching his shadow far and long.

【Conclusion: Li Shangyin's life is a microcosm of Late Tang.

He had ideals, but they were shattered by reality;

He had talent, but it was buried by the times;

He had love, but love was toyed with by fate.

His life was full of regrets and unwillingness, yet he turned those regrets and unwillingness into the most beautiful verses.

Perhaps this is the poet's destiny—to use one's whole life to leave eternal words for posterity.

The Late Tang sunset has already sunk below the horizon, but Li Shangyin's poems still sparkle even a thousand years later.】

No one in the hall speaks for a long while.

Finally, Li Shimin speaks, "Today I have met a person."

"His name is Li Shangyin; he is a poet of the Great Tang."

"When he was alive, perhaps no one cared about him; but a thousand years later, everyone remembers him."

Wei Zheng nods, "This is the power of culture."

"Martial prowess can conquer land, but civil governance truly conquers hearts."

Ying Zheng suddenly says, "If my Great Qin had such a poet, perhaps…"

He did not continue speaking.

But everyone knew what he wanted to say.

If there had been such a poet, Great Qin's culture might not have vanished so quickly in the long river of history.

Liu Bang sighed: "First Emperor, let bygones be bygones."

"Aren't we watching the sky curtain now? Isn't that also a form of cultural inheritance?"

Liu Che nodded: "His Majesty Gaozu is right."

"Culture can be broken, but it can also continue."

"As long as there is something good, later generations will discover it, inherit it, and glorify it."

Liu Xiu concluded: "Therefore, today we are watching the sky curtain here, not only seeing a poet's life, but also witnessing the transmission of a spirit."

Li Shimin smiled: "All of Your Majesties have spoken reasonably."

"Then I propose—next time we inventory the sky curtain, we continue to watch together."

Liu Bang raised the apple in his hand: "I agree!"

Liu Che: "Agree."

Liu Xiu: "Seconded."

Ying Zheng was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

Gu Shanhe looked at the five emperors, feeling a myriad of emotions.

The sky curtain inventory lists the poet, but what it connects is the whole Chinese history.

These people would never have appeared in the same time and space.

But the sky curtain brought them together.

Together they read poetry, savor poetry, discuss what constitutes good culture and what spirit is worth inheriting.

This is the greatest meaning of the sky curtain.

Song Dynasty plane.

In Li Shangyin's residence, a middle‑aged scholar sat by the window, gazing at his name and poems on the sky curtain, speechless for a long time.

He is Li Shangyin.

He lived over forty years, wrote poetry all his life, never knowing his poems would be so revered by later generations.

"Eternal Love Saint…"

He whispered the title, gave a wry smile.

"How could I be any love saint? I merely… wrote what's in my heart."

Outside the window, the setting sun sank, the evening glow like blood.

Identical to the scene on the sky curtain.

Li Shangyin suddenly laughed.

"Add ten years of longevity…"

He murmured, "Then I'll use these ten years to write a few more poems."

"Perhaps a thousand years later, someone will still read them."

(ノ°ο°)ノ High‑energy warning ahead

(Mainly to make later scholars memorize the poems)

What the heck ⚆_⚆

Tearful (´；ω；`)

Kneel (○|￣|_)