A live-streamed Chinese language lesson under the sky—the ancients were taken aback.

Just as the curtain of heaven opened, Du Mu put down his pen, picked up the wine cup on his desk, and took a sip.

What is a weekly report? What is a top-tier publication?

He didn't understand most of the words, but he did understand the phrase "a masterpiece throughout the ages".

He looked at the "Ode to the Epang Palace" that he had just finished writing.

A masterpiece for all time! A strange light appeared in his eyes.

Surely His Majesty has taken this to heart?

With high hopes, he leaned back in his chair, a faint smile playing on his lips, ready to see how future generations would evaluate his writings.

The sky continued its narration.

The video included the first paragraph of "The Rhapsody on the Epang Palace".

"Next, let's take a look at just how magnificent the Epang Palace really is."

"Covering more than three hundred li, blocking out the sun and sky. Mount Li extends northward and then westward, running straight to Xianyang. Two rivers flow gently into the palace walls."

"These lines follow from 'The Epang Palace was built.' How big was this palace?"

It covers an area of ​​over 300 li, and the buildings are so tall that they block out the sun.

The construction started from the north side of Mount Li, turned west, and continued all the way to Xianyang.

Even two such large rivers flowed directly into the palace walls.

"A building every five steps, a pavilion every ten steps; winding corridors, soaring eaves; each embracing its own terrain, interlocking and vying for prominence, coiled and clustered, like honeycomb and whirlpools, countless buildings standing tall."

"There is a building every five steps and a pavilion every ten steps."

The corridor winds and twists like a ribbon, and the eaves are upturned high, like a bird's beak pecking at the sky.

Each building follows the contours of the mountain, one hooking onto another, one facing another, densely packed together.

The pavilions, tall and short, are countless; there are probably tens of millions of them.

"Du Mu used 'more than three hundred li' to describe the vastness of the territory, and 'isolated the sun and sky' to describe the height of the pavilions. The dense cluster of buildings, the complicated corridors and eaves all create a suffocating sense of oppression, suggesting that this is not only architecture, but also a symbol of the all-pervasive power of the Qin Empire."

"A long bridge lies across the water, like a dragon yet to emerge from the clouds; a covered walkway soars through the sky, like a rainbow before the rain has stopped."

A long bridge spans the water, and there isn't a single cloud in the sky. Where did this dragon come from, lying on the water? Oh, it's just a bridge.

The rain had stopped but the sky hadn't cleared, so where did the rainbow come from? Oh, it's still just a corridor.

Here, Du Mu uses a rather cheeky rhetorical device, feigning confusion.

Knowing full well it's a bridge, yet still asking why there's a dragon; knowing full well it's a corridor, yet still asking why there's a rainbow.

The comments section was filled with laughter.

[To build suspense, I'll first pretend I'm naive and inexperienced.]

If Du Mu were to write copy, earning 100,000 yuan a month wouldn't be a dream.

……

"Let's continue reading. Look at this sentence."

"Within a single day, within a single palace, the climate varies."

"Wow, I was really stunned when I saw this sentence when I was studying. Just how big must the palace be to have different temperatures and climates in a single day, experiencing all four seasons at the same time?"

[Fainted from fright at a rich person]

It's simple, just turn on the air conditioner. Places in Guangdong without air conditioning are hell!

[Catching a Cantonese person who's been driven crazy by the heat]

What's so great about not having WiFi? I don't like it, really.

[It's so big, what if it gets lost?]

……

"Of course, this statement does not mean that the Epang Palace truly had the divine power to change the climate, but rather it is an exaggerated indirect description."

The preceding text used the phrases "over three hundred li, a building every five steps, a pavilion every ten steps" to describe the density of the architecture and "a maze of heights and shadows, making it impossible to discern east from west" to depict the complexity of the layout. In this sentence, Du Mu no longer lists architectural figures but shifts to describing the grandeur through the lens of human sensory experience.

Some places are lively and bustling with people singing and dancing, while others are deserted and quiet.

This is actually using the perceived temperature difference to tell you that this palace is larger than you can imagine, creating spatial climate differences.

"But everyone should pay attention to a detail: Du Mu only used one paragraph to describe such a magnificent palace."

He used two whole paragraphs to describe the palace maids and treasures. Why?

Because no matter how grand a palace is, it's just a backdrop.

Talent is the core.

What he wanted to write about was human desire, and how that desire dragged the empire into the abyss.

"Let's look at the second and third paragraphs, and see the people in the palace and their lives."

"Who lived in that palace? It was the concubines, palace maids, princesses and noble ladies of the six states. They were all dragged out of their own country's palaces, transported to Qin by carriage, and from then on sang during the day and played the zither at night, becoming palace maids of Qin."

"The stars gleam, as if opening a dressing mirror; the green clouds swirl, as if combing one's morning hair; the Wei River flows thick and greasy, as if discarding cosmetics; the smoke slants and the mist hangs low, as if burning pepper and orchids."

"Does the translation mean the stars are shining? No, it means the palace maids are looking in the mirror. Green clouds are floating? No, it means the palace maids are combing their hair. The Wei River is swollen with oil? No, it means the rouge water has been poured out. Smoke is swirling? No, it means the pepper and orchid spices are burning."

These four sets of sentences have the same structure: first, they give you an illusion, then they tell you the truth. In today's terms, this is like a rapid cut in a movie. If Du Mu were alive today, he would definitely be a top-notch editor.

"Du Mu used a killer move here. This kind of writing that treats illusion as reality not only describes the large number of palace women and their luxurious lives, but also creates a sense of illusion, like a dream bubble."

The most intriguing thing is that some palace maids never saw the emperor in his thirty-six-year reign. What is this?

This uses extreme extravagance to depict extreme absurdity.

"Moreover, what was taken from the six states was not only beauties, but also the gold and silver treasures that the six states had accumulated over generations, piled up as high as mountains. There was just too much of it. Precious tripods were used as cooking pots, jade was treated as ordinary stones, gold was treated like dirt, and pearls were no different from sand. They were scattered everywhere, covering the ground. The people of Qin looked at it and did not feel any heartache at all."

The video included the fourth segment.

"Alright, after describing so many magnificent scenes of the Epang Palace, here comes the turning point. Let's look at the fourth paragraph."

"The first sentence of the fourth paragraph is, 'Alas! The heart of one man is the heart of millions.'"

The literal meaning of this sentence is: What one person thinks and pursues is also what millions of people think and pursue.

"This sentence may not seem profound at first glance, but it appears after more than three hundred words of describing the magnificence and luxury of the Epang Palace, like a precise wake-up call."

The previous flowery language described the boundless expansion of one person's ambition.

The moment these ten words were uttered, the scene abruptly shifted to the hearts of millions, immediately revealing to the reader that, beneath the shadows of those magnificent palaces stood countless commoners who, like the emperor, yearned for survival but had been stripped of everything.

"You, the emperor, want to enjoy life, want to be rich, want to live in a big house, but what about us ordinary people? Don't we ordinary people want that too?"

The seemingly endless explanations, coupled with the video showing ancient people in tattered clothes and with blank expressions, were truly captivating.

They toiled day after day, year after year, through changing dynasties, day after day, year after year, through changing dynasties, day after day, year after year…

The impact of this scene caused the comments section to erupt in shock.

Did any ancient emperors truly care about their people?

For ordinary people in ancient times, there was never a golden age.

I'm going to cry.

When a dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when a dynasty falls, the people suffer.

……

The celestial canopy traverses through countless dynasties.

One, two, and more and more farmers, upon hearing this, stopped what they were doing and looked up at the sky.

Old people, young people, men, women.

Their dark, rough faces bore the same look of exhaustion and confusion.

A shirtless man asked someone nearby, "What did the canopy just say?"

Who has time to look at the sky?

With so much work to do in the fields, I could only hear about this novel glorified canopy, and often I didn't even understand it.

An old man next to him was rubbing his eyes because sweat had gotten into them from looking up.

He mumbled in response, "It seems to be saying that the emperor wants to enjoy life, and so do the common people."

"What kind of talk is that? Do you think the emperor is the same as us?"

The old man finally looked up, revealing a very faint smile. "It seems the immortal doesn't think so."