[Lightscreen]
[Four hundred and fifty-one years before Lu You's death.
That year, Li Bai was exiled to Yelang after being implicated in the Prince Yong rebellion.
At the time, his famous friend, admirer, and fellow poet Du Fu wrote Thinking of Li Bai at the End of the Sky.
From that poem came the line:
"Brilliant writing invites a troubled fate; demons delight in human flaws."
For scholars of the Two Song dynasties, that line might as well have been written as their epitaph.
Lu You was demoted again and again in his lifetime. He never abandoned the cause of resisting Jin, yet he was never given a true chance to serve the nation.
In his younger years, during the Longxing Northern Expedition, Lu You admired the pro-war stance of Zhang Jun and submitted several proposals.
But when Zhang Jun's campaign failed, Lu You was swept into the political purge and dismissed from office.
In his forties, he heard that Wang Yan had been appointed to lead operations in Sichuan and Shaanxi with plans to recover the Central Plains.
Overjoyed, Lu You went alone to join his staff.
Eight months later, the campaign was cancelled.
The command dissolved.
The grand plan for northern recovery vanished like mist.
Only Lu You remained, staring at the ruins of hope.
In 1190, after finally being recalled to service, Lu You was impeached again for "speaking too eagerly of restoration."
The peace faction attacked from all sides.
In the end he was dismissed once more, this time under the absurd charge of "mocking wind and moon with poetry."
Lu You's career never settled.
One year he was in Longxing, another in Kuizhou, then Nanzheng, Chengdu, Fuzhou…
The Southern Song was small, yet he seemed to spend half his life wandering across it
It could be said he traveled nearly every corner of the Southern Song.
Because of that, it was not until shortly before the Kaixi Northern Expedition that Xin Qiji and Lu You, the twin luminaries of Southern Song literature, finally met.
They talked long into the night about the fate of the state.
Then they parted in haste.
That single meeting became one of the most memorable encounters in Southern Song literary history.
Around the time of the Jiading peace settlement, Xin Qiji and Lu You passed away one after another.
One year before Xin Qiji's death, the poet Yang Wanli, also a supporter of resistance, died at home.
The defeat of the Kaixi campaign followed.
The literary world withered.
A chief minister's severed head was sent to the enemy court.
For the Southern Song, it felt as if the Mandate itself had nearly been lost.]
[Server Chat Log]
[NoMercyIRL: "The literary world withered at Kaixi, but the martial world was already dead. Bi Zaiyu was 54 when he gained fame, one man can't prop up a falling house."
DeadPing: "There was still a chance after Kaixi though. Wu Xi's rebellion was crushed quickly, and the Jin commander Pusan Kui died of illness. If they really fought, it wasn't unwinnable."
TiltSlayer: "Maybe for Han or Tang, sure. For Song? Yeah… let's not kid ourselves. Especially Southern Song."
WarHex: "Xin Qiji is legend. Teachers always pair him with someone. Xin and Lu of the Southern Song. The Two Ans of Jinan. Xin and Su of the Two Song. He's always the one being paired."
AshPvP: "No choice. The Dragon of Ci poetry. Ancient poets usually avoided stuffing too many allusions into a piece, but Xin Qiji could fill an entire poem with them and still make it a masterpiece."
RuinCore: "Sun 'Shiwan'Quan should kneel to Brother Xin. Dude single-handedly salvaged his reputation."
GrimTag: "Main issue is the Southern Song emperors were useless. Even Emperor Gaozong of Song nearly broke Emperor Xiaozong of Song, and Xiaozong still ended up called the best emperor after the southward migration. That tells you everything."
Voidframe: "Who are the Two Ans of Jinan again?"
Corefury: "Easy. Li Qingzhao, the greatest female poet ever. Jinan native, leader of the graceful-style school. Pairing her with Xin Qiji makes perfect sense."
"She's called a graceful poet, but honestly I like her simplest poem best."
Be a hero in life,Be a hero in life,
A ghost-champion in death.A ghost-champion in death.
Even now we remember Xiang Yu,Even now we remember Xiang Yu,
Who refused to cross the river east.
"Her husband Zhao Mingcheng and Emperor Gaozong really did her dirty. They deserve the hate."]
"Is it only writing that brings misfortune?"
Li Shimin shook his head lightly.
"When success breeds arrogance, later generations invite disaster.
Nation or family, civil or military, none escape this pattern."
"Born in hardship, dying in comfort… truly a statement that wakes the deaf."
He paused, thinking.
Xin Qiji and Lu You being unable to serve their country was understandable.
If even the retired emperor insisted on seeking peace, what ending could stubborn patriots expect except being labeled "out of step with the times"?
But Li Bai's situation was more complicated.
The Prince Yong rebellion alone was not something easily explained.
Still… that line about "sun and moon shining together upon the realm" had been dangerously bold.
Maybe the later saying was right.
Perhaps Li Bai really traded political judgment for poetic genius.
Then another thought struck him.
Du Fu, a century later, had praised the prosperity of Chengdu.
Lu You of the Southern Song had also visited Chengdu to pay respects at Zhuge Liang's shrine.
So then…
Li Shimin thought for a moment, then stepped forward and wrote:
〖Li Shimin: Marquis Wu, is the scenery of Chengdu truly that remarkable?〗
Seeing their emperor once again trying to chat idly with the ancient strategist, the ministers could only sigh.
Yet thinking of Zhuge Liang's legendary brilliance across centuries, they could not really blame him.
Some even felt regret that they could only converse with him in writing, never meet him in person to show him the Tang Empire's conquests across desert, western regions, and southern seas.
While Du Ruhui was still lost in imagination, Wei Zheng could not hold back anymore.
"Even if Han Tuozhou was incompetent, he was still a chief minister of a dynasty. How could assassination be used against him?"
"And even then, sending his severed head to the enemy court to beg for peace? That disgraces the state!"
Beside him, Chu Suiliang calmly continued copying documents, free hand patting Wei Zheng's back to calm him.
"Secretary Wei, why be so agitated? The future already said it. What national dignity did the Southern Song ever have?"
"With chaos this deep, a northern campaign was impossible. For those heroes to die without seeing even worse humiliations… that alone might count as mercy."
Wei Zheng knew the logic, yet his anger did not fade.
He muttered several curses about "absurdities unseen in all history."
That made Yuchi Jingde burst into laughter.
"Minister Chu speaks well! Anyway, when the Mongols arrive later, they'll tear that state apart like paper. Makes no difference."
The hall fell silent.
Fang Xuanling glanced around and murmured,
"For a moment I truly cannot tell whether Song falling to Jin or to Mongolia is the better ending."
Li Shimin also returned from his thoughts.
"With enemies on both sides, either they do not fight or they cannot win. Jingde is right. It makes no difference."
"Besides… wasn't there that Zhu fellow who eventually overthrew the Yuan and restored Han rule?"
Because he already knew the future, Li Shimin viewed the matter with surprising calm.
The light screen had peeled everything apart layer by layer.
The Southern Song had more than one chance to recover.
They refused them all.
What more was there to say?
Just like the later comment had put it:
Without the heart of a true overlord, they were merely another regional regime.
Then again…
Mongols destroyed Song and Jin.
That Zhu man destroyed the Mongols.
And later generations said no commander surpassed Li Shimin himself, not even that Zhu fellow.
Which meant…
"I truly am invincible under Heaven."
Li Shimin planted his hands on his hips in self-satisfied pride, drawing a laugh from the empress Empress Zhangsun.
"Second Phoenix, the light screen has replied."
Ignoring the nickname dispute, Li Shimin focused on the screen.
Only a few stiff words appeared:
〖Liu Bei: Not bad.〗