Xiao Jinghong was good-looking, presumably.
Although Xiao Die still remained tight-lipped and could not explain it clearly, her exact words were: "Xiao Die thinks Second Miss is very, very pretty... Really, really pretty."
Yet Chen Yi had already seen her honesty from her stammering and darting eyes: Lady Xiao Jinghong was a rare peerless beauty in this world!
However, perhaps her beauty differed somewhat from the beauty recognized by ordinary people?
Chen Yi muttered to himself that as long as she was not a female version of Zhang Fei, he was willing to trade his power, fame, and fortune for a lifetime-anyway, a son-in-law of the Great Wei Dynasty could not take imperial examinations or become a high-ranking official, so wanting power and fame was utterly useless.
He might as well trade them for something practical.
Furthermore, Chen Yi did not wish to be an official or contend for fame and fortune.
Aside from disliking exhausting work and scheming, he mostly did not wish to add burdens to himself.
Toiling like an ox or horse in his past life, opening his eyes meant work and study; in this life, he only wanted to live more easily.
To adapt Old Tao's poem, it was: "Plucking chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence, leisurely seeing the Southern Mountain."
This tranquility and detachment were precisely what Chen Yi desired.
Unconsciously, a month passed in the blink of an eye.
From early spring it turned to mid-spring.
The flowers in Chunhe Garden grew increasingly vibrant and the grass tender green.
Especially that pool covering a full ten mu in area, bordered by lush willow shade and small pavilions, looked quite pleasing.
"Sitting there fishing and drinking tea, with a breeze blowing, must feel wonderful."
Yet Chen Yi could only press against the window, staring eagerly at that small pavilion, with a somewhat iron-bars-of-sorrow sense of déjà vu.
If only he could go out.
Unfortunately, Lady Xiao Jinghong insisted on having people "protect" him for a hundred days.
Chen Yi tilted his head toward the door of the room, meeting the gazes of four armored guards standing eight feet tall with sturdy physiques, and instantly a benevolent smile appeared on his face.
"Today the sunshine is bright, suitable for an outing, haha."
Seeing that they still looked over with expressionless faces, Chen Yi saved himself the trouble and stood up to take down the support wood of the lattice window, closing it.
He wondered what these armored guards were raised on; every single one of them stood around two meters tall and was built so solidly.
Although Chen Yi was not short-standing at seven chi, about one meter eight-compared to them, he completely fit his image of a "weak scholar."
"Son-in-law, they've been counted."
At this moment, Xiao Die walked over carrying a stack of Yunsong Paper.
Chen Yi asked casually, "How many?"
"A total of eight hundred," Xiao Die said in admiration, "Son-in-law, you've written a full six hundred pieces this past month, averaging twenty pieces and two thousand characters a day."
Two hundred pieces short.
Chen Yi thought to himself that if he could switch to a fountain pen or a pencil, writing a hundred pieces a day would be no problem at all.
Alas, using a writing brush while also balancing calligraphic attainment meant his speed truly could not become fast.
Yet this still did not prevent him from feeling pleased: "Am I, your son-in-law, impressive?"
This time Xiao Die did not refute, praising from the bottom of her heart: "Impressive."
"Knowing I'm impressive, why aren't you hurrying to take these to Eldest Miss?" Chen Yi rubbed his belly and said, "I'm hungry, remember to bring back lunch."
That so-called Wei Qing script emphasized thick strokes and broad frameworks, somewhat resembling the copybook-brushing of the past life's calligrapher Mi Fu, and consumed an extreme amount of physical strength.
"Mm-mm, I'm going right now. Sister Xiao Qin said the chef made roast duck at noon, if it gets cold it won't taste good."
Xiao Die rushed out the door carrying the Yunsong Paper in a flurry, still not forgetting to instruct the armored guards to watch Chen Yi well.
This lass.
Chen Yi smiled and shook his head, then leaned back in the reclining chair, his eyes flickering.
An illusory screen emerged:
Name: Chen Yi
Way of Calligraphy: Minor Accomplishment (35/100)
Font: Wei Qing (Proficient Full)
Fortune: 1
[Daily Intelligence · Yellow Grade High Rank: It will rain in Wushan during the Chou hour. Fang Lichun, the daughter of the Fang family, and her lover Wang Boyuan will elope there and be overtaken by family members who will forcefully tear apart their marriage. Can acquire a very small amount of fortune.]
[Review: Person not yet arrived, voice not yet heard, scene not yet seen; fortune descends from the heavens yet is not taken, making one an indolent individual by nature.]
After reading, Chen Yi thought to himself, "The contents of this Daily Intelligence are growing increasingly bizarre."
Over this past month.
The content refreshed by the Daily Intelligence-ranging as small as people bickering within the Xiao Manor to as large as tyrants forcefully seizing fertile farmland in the Shuzhou region-made him feel that the fortune given by the "Daily Intelligence" was somewhat peculiar.
Just like today's elopement between a wealthy family's young miss and an impoverished scholar, the scene would probably be-
The Fang family members, paying no heed to their young miss's cries and wails, forcefully pulling her away.
While her lover Wang Boyuan struggled to grab his beloved's hand, only to be knocked unconscious by a club, falling amidst the wind and rain.
The visual sense carried a striking impact, heart-wrenching yet making one sigh with regret.
When that time truly came, Chen Yi even wondered whether he should crack melon seeds and watch the show, or take pity on their deep affection and step forward to help.
"Daily Intelligence? I think today's gossip is more appropriate."
If not for the fact that he was currently confined and forbidden to go out, with armored guards still guarding the door, he would have had to go and see what was up with this Daily Intelligence.
Thinking thus, Chen Yi added his fortune to the way of calligraphy, fixing his mind on the "calligraphic font" column.
"Eight hundred pieces of family rules, a full eighty thousand characters written, and it raised the Wei Qing script to proficient level perfection... Not bad."
Although minor accomplishment in the way of calligraphy could not directly grant him calligraphy experience or give him the brush-strength to write characters spanning decades,
while writing, it could enhance his comprehension of calligraphy, providing clear guidance from the simplest strokes and character frameworks to the structure, white space, and artistic conception of each piece, greatly increasing his growth speed in the way of calligraphy.
Calligraphic attainment that others required several years, a dozen years, or even decades to reach, he achieved in merely a month and a half.
"It's a pity minor accomplishment in the way of calligraphy can only elevate calligraphic attainment to proficient level perfection. If there is a further breakthrough, at the minimum it would make me a Wei Dynasty calligraphy master."
Chen Yi muttered a sentence to himself, then found a book and began to read.
Aside from copying family rules these days, he spent his leisure time reading books, mostly historical texts, with a small portion being storybooks or travelogues and miscellaneous essays.
According to records in books, two hundred and fifty years had passed since the Great Wei overthrew the Qianyang Dynasty, and the current Emperor Anhe was the thirteenth emperor of the Great Wei.
For the first fifty years, the Wei Dynasty fought consecutive wars and expanded its territory.
Afterwards, it enjoyed two hundred years of peace, successively experiencing the Rongping Golden Age and Huijing Reign, with ten thousand nations coming to pay homage, pushing the momentum of the Great Wei to its peak.
However, all worldly affairs followed the change of declining after reaching a peak; in recent years, several surrounding countries had risen, bringing friction and warfare with the Wei Dynasty.
Just like twenty-five years ago when the Southern Barbarians raised troops and marched north, it took Marquis Dingyuan's Xiao family leading a large army in slaughter for five years to beat them back.
The tragedy of that battle could be described as "inflicting a thousand casualties while suffering eight hundred of one's own"; nearly every household in every major town and village of Shuzhou wore mourning white.
Ever since that battle, the Xiao Manor began its downward slide.
Although there had been no similar major battles in the past twenty years, various barbarian tribes periodically came to plunder, and every once in a while a member of the Xiao family died a heroic death.
No wonder even a woman like his wife Xiao Jinghong would choose to don armor and take to the field.
"Barbarian lands and foreign neighboring countries-truly, being on the receiving end time and again is passive."
"If one does not slaughter and annihilate their clan, how can there be enduring peace?"
Chen Yi always believed in one phrase: non-kin of our race, their hearts must be different.
Toward the barbarian tribes or the Buddhist Kingdom of the Western Regions, the only way was to act like Huo Qubing toward the Northern Desert Xiongnu-slaughtering them until they trembled in terror before peace could be peacefully enjoyed.
"Heh, I've let my thoughts wander too far."
"I'm just an idle son-in-law; living out my days in peace is enough."
Thinking this, Chen Yi put down the book and stared eagerly out the door.
Xiao Die, oh Xiao Die, if you don't return soon, your son-in-law is truly going to starve to death.
Jiaxing Garden, meaning "when the household is harmonious, all matters prosper."
Twenty years ago, Old Marquis Xiao felt that members of his family were dying or being disabled, so he invited an enlightened master to write the inscription and change the name.
It was separated from Chen Yi's Chunhe Garden by merely a wall, and currently served as the courtyard where Eldest Miss Xiao Wan'er and Young Marquis Xiao Wuge resided.
Compared to Chunhe Garden, Jiaxing Garden was somewhat smaller.
There were three-story wooden towers on the east and west sides respectively, with trees in front of the houses and gardens behind them, surrounded by lush shade; looking across at it, one could call it tranquil and serene.
At this moment, inside the slightly more distant West Wing.
Xiao Die lightfootedly placed the Yunsong Paper on the table and said submissively, "Miss, the family rules copied by the son-in-law today are all right here."
"Mm." From within the study separated by a beaded curtain came an inquiry: "Xiao Die, has he shown any signs of wanting to escape these past few days?"
The voice was soothing and clear, resembling the lingering fine rain of Jiangnan Water Town, yet carried somewhat of the frailty of insufficient breath.
Xiao Die shook her head and said, "Not anymore. Over these past few days, the son-in-law either copies family rules or reads books, and hasn't written poems like before."
Pondering for a moment, she added: "However... however, Xiao Die can tell he must have been cooped up for too long, as he frequently looks toward that pool."
Laughter came from inside the study.
"Human nature. If it were me, staying constantly in a room without going out, I would also breed some vexation."
The voice gradually drew closer.
Then the curtain was lifted, and a gracefully proportioned woman walked out.
She was exceedingly beautiful, with an oval face, eyebrows like distant mountains, and eyes like starlight, resembling an immortal fairy fallen into the mortal realm.
Only, in this early summer season, she still draped a thick heavy cloak over her body.
Yet, it was not hard to discern a trace of sickly complexion from that icy-skinned and jade-like skin, slightly fatigued, and also slightly pale.
It was none other than the Eldest Miss Xiao, Xiao Wan'er.
"Later on, you go and pass a word to him, just say that after copying these one thousand Family Rules, he may move about within Chunhe Garden."
Xiao Die hesitated somewhat, "This..."
"Rest assured, I will write a letter to inform Jinghong; she will not blame you," Xiao Wan'er said, picking up the Yunsong Paper on the desk to look through it one by one, her tone reproachful:
"From the time she married until now, a month and a half has already passed; always hiding like this is no solution."
Xiao Die shrank her neck a little; concerning matters of the Second Miss, she dared not casually open her mouth.
"Do as I say and go tell Brother-in-law. As long as he stays peaceably in the household, the Xiao Family will not treat him poorly."
"Ah, this maid will go right away."
After Xiao Die left.
Xiao Wan'er's eyes fell upon one of the Family Rules, and a trace of astonishment appeared on her delicate and frail face.
"His attainments in calligraphy are truly extraordinary."
With Xiao Wan'er's discernment, it was not difficult to perceive Chen Yi's brush force.
The so-called "calligraphy" is the same as "painting"; viewing calligraphy is like viewing an ink-wash painting, one must appreciate it from the brushwork, brush force, structure, and even blank space between the lines.
It could be said that from the first family rule Chen Qingzhou copied up to the eight-hundredth one now, a wisp of spirit already faintly emerged upon his characters-just as Master Juyi of the Jinling Academy had evaluated it back then:
"Chen Qingzhou's characters possess quite a bit of spiritual energy, being the high-spirited vigor of youthful talent."
Although Xiao Wan'er did not perceive "high-spirited vigor", she did see a contented detachment and an unflappable calmness in handling matters, altogether displaying the demeanor of a great family.
"If not seen with my own eyes, it is truly hard to imagine they came from the hand of Chen Yi."
With such calligraphy, his literary talent could also be glimpsed from that poem "Shuzhou Chant: Entering the Xiao Gate as a Matrilocal Groom", so it was not hard to understand why he chose to flee the marriage back then...
Only, she wondered if Jinghong, upon learning of this, would change her views regarding him.
After all, on the day of the wedding the husband fled the marriage; for any woman, it would be difficult to forgive.
What is more, he was a matrilocal son-in-law who married into the Xiao Family, what is more... still someone as proud as Jinghong.
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Wan'er seated herself before the desk, lifted her brush to dip it in ink, and wrote a few lines of neat, delicate small script upon the paper:
"Personally opened by Jinghong, may seeing these words be like meeting in person:
You have been inspecting the Three Towns of Shuzhou for over a month now, and everything at home is well.
Grandfather's condition has improved, and the visits of several old friends recently have made him, the old gentleman, much more cheerful...
Additionally, Brother-in-law already harbors remorse, hoping this is known to you-Xiao Wan'er."
Before you continue