Targeted

Qiao Da's insults were so foul that he was tied up.

When word reached Old Madam Lu, she turned a deaf ear.

Nanny Yan was somewhat worried.

Old Madam Lu said without a qualm, "Yun Wan can handle it."

She wound a newly acquired strand of Buddhist prayer beads around her hand and went to worship in the Small Buddhist Shrine.

When Qing arrived, he did not see her, finding only Ge Bao'er.

Only after Ge Bao'er had sent the maid Wu'er away did she dare give Qing a quick, secret embrace. In the Green Gauze Cabinet, she asked him softly, "Did you eat the breakfast the servants brought you this morning?"

"I did, Mother. I could tell you made it."

Ge Bao'er pinched his cheek and asked how he was getting on in the front courtyard.

Of course Qing was doing well.

Apart from his own father, no other males lived in the front courtyard. He was practically its little tyrant, and no one dared disobey him.

"How are your lessons going? Is she as good as your old teacher?"

This was what concerned Ge Bao'er most.

Qing's brows immediately drooped, and he looked as though he wanted to speak but did not know where to begin.

What was going on? Had Lin Yunwan not been teaching Qing properly?

Ge Bao'er gripped her son's shoulders and hurriedly pressed him. "Madam hasn't been teaching you?"

Qing shook his head and said, puzzled, "Madam teaches very strangely."

"What's strange about it?"

Qing muttered, "She makes us write horizontal strokes every day. It's so annoying. I don't like it."

Horizontal strokes every day?

Ge Bao'er did not understand, but she had wrongly accused Lin Yunwan only a few days ago, so she could hardly think the worst of her without knowing what was going on.

This time, she had to get to the bottom of it first.

"Qing, bring Mother some of the things you write every day."

"Okay."

Outside, Nanny Yan heard the two of them whispering in the room and suddenly appeared.

Ge Bao'er jumped in fright and hurriedly called out, "Nanny Yan."

Nanny Yan stared at her for a long while, then asked with a smile, "What are you and Second Young Master talking about, Cousin Miss?"

Her smile was insincere and deeply unsettling.

Ge Bao'er said, "I was asking whether the young master liked the food I made this morning."

"Cousin Miss, you're a fine cook. How could the young master not like it?" Nanny Yan walked in and took Qing by the hand. "Old Madam has lost track of time worshipping in the Buddhist shrine. Young Master, hurry and call her out."

"Old Madam dotes on you most. In the whole residence, you're the only one who can get her to come out."

Old Madam Lu really was good to Qing.

Qing went off in high spirits.

Ge Bao'er's heart was a jumble of emotions. He was her son, yet she could not even ask after him?

Never mind. She should look on the bright side.

It was not a bad thing that Old Madam doted on Qing so much.

She could not give her son a better future, but Old Madam could.

Qing remembered Ge Bao'er's words, and when he went to the Hall of Longevity the next day, he secretly brought a few sheets of paper.

"Mother, this is what Madam teaches us every day, the work she assigns."

Ge Bao'er stared in disbelief. Every sheet was covered in horizontal lines.

"Wh-what is this she's teaching? Is this all you learn from Madam every day?"

Qing nodded.

"Does Eldest Young Master learn only this too?"

Qing nodded again.

Ge Bao'er could make no sense of it and asked Qing, "Did your old teacher teach you this way?"

"Of course not," Qing said. "He taught me brushstrokes in my very first lesson. I've studied with Madam for so many days that I've almost forgotten the characters he taught me to write."

What kind of sense did that make?

It was one thing not to teach a student anything, but quite another to make him forget what he had learned before.

Ge Bao'er tucked the sheets of xuan paper into her sleeve.

After practicing horizontal strokes for some time, Qing was thoroughly sick of it and began to doze off during lessons.

"Second Young Master, get up and wake yourself up."

Qing opened his eyes in a panic. Lin Yunwan was standing before him, and Ping Ye had spoken on her behalf.

"Mother, I—I was wrong."

Lin Yunwan put down the Bamboo Branch Calligraphy Model and said calmly, "It's all right. Have something sweet and rest a while."

The two maids, Ping Ye and Tao Ye, brought each boy a bowl of Steamed Sugar Milk Pudding.

The dessert was so sweet and fragrant that Qing's belly was crawling with greedy little worms. Lu Chang'gong caught the scent but merely pressed his lips together.

"Thank you, Sister Tao Ye."

Qing could hardly wait.

"Thank you, Sister Ping Ye."

Lu Chang'gong spoke softly, his movements slow and steady.

Once the two boys had eaten their fill and relaxed, Lin Yunwan began to explain at length. "On your first day of lessons, I explained this Bamboo Branch Calligraphy Model."

The two looked up at her in admiration.

"There are many calligraphy models. I chose this one because, besides containing the five common scripts, its creator also annotated it with many unique practice techniques."

"But at the root of it all lies a solid foundation, and a solid foundation requires diligent study and hard practice."

"I know you are impatient with writing the same thing over and over, but this is how one practices calligraphy, just as it is with years of study by a cold window. There is no room whatsoever for falsehood or shortcuts. If you grow complacent and impatient today and lazy tomorrow, then even if you seem to improve day by day and raise a great tower, it will be no more than flowers decking a scene and oil poured on a blazing fire. One day, the tower will fall and the flowers will wither."

Outside the window, green bamboo swayed and rustled.

The study remained quiet for a long while.

The two bewildered children finally came back to themselves. Lu Chang'gong rose and bowed with cupped hands. "Mother, I have taken your lesson to heart."

Qing got up as well. "I have taken your lesson to heart."

Lin Yunwan nodded.

"Mother, how much longer do we have to write like this?" Qing had only just taken the lesson to heart, yet he was already eager to know when it would end.

Ping Ye was tired of listening and turned to leave.

You can't carve rotten wood! Madam's efforts were wasted.

Lin Yunwan remained as unruffled as ever. "Another half month will be enough."

Another half month...

Qing's hand was already sore. He sat down, his little face falling, and the fighting spirit he had just summoned faded into drowsiness once more.

And so, he fell "ill."

He asked Lin Yunwan for three days' sick leave.

The people in the Hall of Longevity were frantic.

Old Madam Lu asked about it herself. "What happened?"

Nanny Yan sent someone over to find out, and he came back and said, "He's been lying in bed, crying out that his head and stomach hurt. He can't even open his eyes."

"Why haven't you sent for a physician?"

"Yes, I'll send someone for one at once."

"Send for several. The more, the better!"

"I understand."

How had her son fallen ill? He was still so young!

Ge Bao'er's heart ached, and tears streamed down her face. She wept as she said, "Old Madam, Qing was hardly ever sick when he was with me. Could I go..."

"No!"

Old Madam Lu frowned. "You're not a physician. What would you do there but make trouble?"

Ge Bao'er sobbed quietly.

Old Madam Lu wanted to have the child brought over, but worried that it might hurt him, she decided to wait until the physicians arrived. She also ordered a senior servant to summon the young attendant who served Qing. The attendant knelt at the foot of the steps outside, and she questioned him herself. "The boy was perfectly fine. How did he fall ill? Did he eat something bad? How have you been serving him?"

The attendant's legs went weak with fright. Kneeling there, he dared not raise his head. "Spare me, Old Madam. N-no, it wasn't because we failed to look after him properly. The young master... he..."

"What happened to him? Speak!"

The attendant said, "...The young master was worn out."

"What? He worked himself sick?"

Old Madam Lu did not believe it. Would Lin Yunwan really tire the child out so badly?

Ge Bao'er suddenly stopped crying. Through clenched teeth, she said in a low voice, "Old Madam, I have something to report."

"What is it now?"

Old Madam Lu glanced at her.

Ge Bao'er took the sheets of xuan paper from her sleeve.

Not only had Lin Yunwan kept making Qing write those useless things, she had even caused him to fall ill.

As his mother, she could bear it no longer.