Night had fallen.
Jiaxing Garden was silent.
The warm, faintly fragrant breeze swept up fallen flowers and leaves, sending them spinning round and round before scattering them across the empty courtyard.
Red lanterns specially arranged for the Mid-Autumn Festival hung beneath the eaves of the two wooden towers.
Their crimson glow painted the wooden towers in hazy outlines.
It was nearly the hour of the Boar.
The frogs croaked loudly, their calls echoing throughout the garden.
Yet Xiao Wan'er, in the upstairs side room, seemed not to hear them at all and remained bent over her desk, writing.
Two oil lamps on the nanmu wood desk cast their light.
Two stacks of account books sat to her left.
To her right lay a geomantic map of Shu Prefecture City.
As she wrote and paused, she would flip through an account book or locate a particular spot on the map, then make a note of it.
Line after line of delicate handwriting filled the page.
Some sentences were long, some short, yet none felt fragmented.
They read: "An academy requires quiet; North City is ideal," "Medical Dao values practical arts; teaching and examination must proceed hand in hand," "Silver coins must not be spent extravagantly, but the matter can be pursued gradually," and so on.
Some were Chen Yi's original instructions, while others stemmed from his guidance and had been written according to her own understanding.
Before long, Xiao Wan'er had filled three sheets of Yunsong Paper.
Yet she did not feel tired at all. There was even a trace of delight between her brows.
She was immersed in it, and delighted by it.
Cui'er and Juan'er exchanged a glance beside her, then tacitly slipped out of the side room on light feet.
One went to cook sweet tremella soup, while