Clan Prosperity Starting With My Servant Girls-Chapter 355: Wen Tian Xiang
The young masters gasped silently when they realized that they had misspoken about Qian Shi and they gave an awkward smile.
Luckily, Lin Xuan Qi came to their rescue.
"Master Qian Shi, I have a gift box with a few bars of soap and a bottle of the Lin Clan Taste Transcendent Essence for you." He said and he picked up the gift box he had reserved for Qian Shi.
One of the servants standing behind came over and got it from him.
She bowed and passed it over to the two men that were standing behind Qian Shi.
"Then... I must thank you for your gift." Qian Shi didn’t bother with the young masters and he gave a toast to Lin Xuan Qi.
He thought that he could show what he got from Lin Xuan Qi to his uncle and let his uncle be more confident in the future of Da Qian.
Things weren’t going too well in the northern borders and it was troubling his uncle very much.
Mei saw what happened earlier with the young masters and she quickly took the opportunity to get the atmosphere going again.
"If you don’t mind, it would be an honor to dance and sing for you, master Qian Shi."
Her ability to read the room was the reason that young master Heng liked her and he nodded at her approvingly.
Qian Shi stretched his hand at the middle of the room, gesturing to her to go ahead.
Music sounded in the room while Mei danced and showed all the moves that she had for Qian Shi.
Her every movement hooked the eyes of the young masters and they followed it with their mouths open.
Then, when she was done with the dance, she sat down and began to sing.
This time she sang a tune about a village girl longing for the future.
Qian Shi lowered his head and twirled the wine cup in his hand, immersing himself in the poetic mood of it.
"Marvelous." He picked up his wine and gave Mei a toast when she was done.
Mei quickly bowed to him and returned the toast to Qian Shi.
"My uncle is right about it.
"Songs, poetries can indeed stir the heart and mind in times of trouble." Qian Shi gave out a sigh and lamented on what he had experienced.
Young master Heng sat up straight and said, "We have someone who can do that, maybe he can help with something that can boost the troops’ morale in the north?"
"Yeah. It will be great!"
"It would be so honoring for me to be able to witness a great poem born."
"I can’t wait."
"Young master Lin, please do us the honor."
They goaded Lin Xuan Qi on, when they heard the suggestion from young master Heng.
Everyone turned around and glanced at Lin Xuan Qi including Qian Shi.
It was an opportunity to see how much Lin Xuan Qi was hiding from him. Qian Shi thought.
Fortunately for Lin Xuan Qi, he had come prepared and had a selection of poems he could go with, from what he knew from the Tang and Song Dynasty.
And in this case he knew he had to go with something that was written by Wen Tian Xiang.
Wen Tian Xiang was a statesman, poet and philosopher of the late Song Dynasty who was renowned for his resistance towards the Yuan invasion, refusing to surrender.
The Guo Ling Ding Yang would be appropriate to rally the troops in the northern borders.
Lin Xuan Qi cupped his hands at Qian Shi and said, "I shall try my best."
Huo Fei Li nodded at him with pride, being very sure that Lin Xuan Qi would be able to come up with something that would be astonishing.
Sima Long who was sitting beside him, was also equally confident in Lin Xuan Qi’s ability.
Having seen what he could do when they were in Hong Feng City, he was sure that the young masters and Qian Shi would be as shocked as he was.
"Ahem." Lin Xuan Qi cleared his throat and he stood up.
He began to pace around, pretending to try and think of something.
Everyone in the room kept quiet and watched while Lin Xuan Qi paced from left to right.
No one dared to make a move in case the noises would distract Lin Xuan Qi.
There was only silence except for the sounds of their breathing.
Some of the young masters began to frown when they saw that Lin Xuan Qi was thinking hard.
But they kept quiet and thought that maybe it was too much of an ask from him.
Coming up with a poem in such a short time wasn’t easy and even some of the great masters they knew wouldn’t be able to do so.
However, their doubts were cleared very soon.
It didn’t take too long for Lin Xuan Qi to stop pacing around.
He took a deep breath and put his hands behind his back.
Glancing out in the distance through the windows, Lin Xuan Qi lifted his hands and began reciting the poem.
"Through bitter trials my path in learning rose, while war’s cold stars around the empire froze.
"The realm lies torn like thistledown in flight, my life adrift like duckweed in the night.
"At Fearful Shoal I spoke my heart’s dismay, on Lonely Sea I mourned my fate’s dark way.
"Since ancient days, what man escapes the grave? Let loyal souls shine bright for ages brave."
There was only complete silence when he was done.
Qian Shi lowered his head and mumbled to himself, reciting the poem sentence by sentence.
He stopped and kept repeating the last sentence.
"Since ancient days, what man escapes the grave? Let loyal souls shine bright for ages brave."
It was such a moral and emotional climax to the poem.
The reminder that death is unavoidable and that your honor and moral courage would outlive your body was something that was sorely needed.
Everyone longed for immortality with cultivation instead.
Not many saw it that fighting for something that was bigger than themselves granted them immortality in another way.
The other young masters were silent and they were trying hard to memorize what they had just heard.
