Gurgle, gurgle.
Drawn by four fine horses, the carriage with a black base, red patterns, and a flood-dragon head slowly made its way south along Kanning Street from the north gate of Shu Prefecture City.
Listening to the chaotic sounds all around, Xiao Jinghong slightly pulled aside the brocade curtain on the carriage's side window and looked at the scenery outside through the gap.
Ten days had passed since the Tanhua Li Huaigu rode his horse on parade through the streets, and the tavern patrons beside Kanning Street and the scholars within the academy were still keeping him on their lips.
Some described the scene of that day in flowery language, embellishing a line: "The scenery that day was infinitely fine, and the likes of us could not catch up even by whipping our horses," provoking roaring laughter.
Some said that Li Huaigu's sails were set fair with the wind, placing midway in the Tanhua examination, and then he was assigned to serve in the Shuzhou Provincial Administration, returning afterward to also win the hand of a beauty.
One could call it a full complement of money, fame, and beauty.
Enviable to all others.
And when speaking of Li Huaigu, these scholars naturally and inevitably would curse with phrases like "the son-in-law of the Marquis's mansion," or else "shameless and base," or "a disgrace to refinement," never uttering a single kind word in the end.
After sifting and picking through, the only two kind words hidden amid the tangled reproaches remained.
One was "that birthday ode-the likes of us are not his match either," whereupon a scholar would pop up from time to time to affect refinement, chanting several lines of it, and finally concluding with "Old Xiao is aged, can he still eat as much as before?"
The second half-kind word was: "The half-poem written by the Xiao Family son-in-law to the Tanhua has great lingering charm, pity it is only a half-poem, leaving us without the affinity to glimpse the full picture."
Although after this sentence followed closely disparaging remarks about Chen Yi, no one denied his poetic talent.
"If there are flowers that can be broken, you must break them directly, do not wait for there to be no flowers and vainly break branches."
Having listened for a moment, Xiao Jinghong understood that this line of poetry came from Chen Yi's mouth, and was even written in his own hand on the day he forcibly seized the Tanhua's wife.
In the words of those scholars just now: "A shameless degenerate, actually depicting the forcible seizure of a woman as so refined, yet I cannot write it, alas..."
Hearing this, Xiao Jinghong lowered the curtain and quietly leaned back on the soft couch padded with downy quilts.
She had to admit-in the short span of three months, her husband could provoke so many scholars and commoners in Shuzhou City to loathe him, which was also a sort of talent.
Xiao Wan'er perceived her strange expression. "Second Sister, are you tired?"
Xiao Jinghong gently shook her head, the sharpness in her eyes dissipating. "Eldest Sister, you wrote in your letter previously that Chen... Husband has changed for the better?"
Seeing her proactively mention Chen Yi, Xiao Wan'er chided reproachfully, "Now you mention it, running off without a word to inspect the Three Towns, and only now remembering to ask about him."
"Sister..."
"All right, all right, Eldest Sister knows you did nothing wrong, it is all the brother-in-law's fault."
Xiao Wan'er bantered for a couple of sentences, then turned to recount Chen Yi's performance before she left the Marquis's mansion.
"After you left, brother-in-law was locked in his room, copying family rules the whole day, occasionally reading books, and never complaining."
"Actually, brother-in-law is a good person, especially his handwriting..."
Thinking of Chen Yi's calligraphy, Xiao Wan'er could not help but think of the poem recited to her by Xiao Die.
Seeing her pause, Xiao Jinghong's eyes looked over. "His handwriting?"
Xiao Wan'er came back to her senses, took her hand, and smiled. "Second Sister, the handwriting reflects the person; brother-in-law's handwriting is unconstrained and free, showing that his character is frank and untrammeled."
Frank and untrammeled?
In Xiao Jinghong's mind surfaced the idle gossip she had just heard.
Her reputation seemed a mixture of praise and censure; that his handwriting was good and his poetry was good should be true, but whether he was frank and untrammeled or shameless and base remained to be debated.
Fortunately, at this moment she had already returned to Shuzhou City, and once she returned to the mansion she would know with a single question.
"Second Sister, a moment from now you and I will go to Grandfather's place first."
"All right..."
At that moment, the carriage paused slightly, interrupting the conversation between Xiao Wan'er and Xiao Jinghong.
Xiao Wan'er settled herself more firmly and asked doubtfully, "Hua Tang?"
Outside the carriage, Shen Huatang stopped the carriage by the roadside and replied inside, "Eldest Miss, Second Miss, there is a situation."
Hearing this, Xiao Jinghong directly pulled open the curtain to look outside.
Immediately she saw outside a mounting shop not far away, several armored guards in the guise of Xiao Family retainers surrounding the place, and in the middle was an old man dressed in a plain long robe, tugging and pulling with a Xiao Family maid.
Wang Lixing and Xiao Die?
Xiao Jinghong recognized the people from the manor, and then she carefully observed the old man, her eyes stunned.
Xiao Wan'er could not see the situation outside and could not help asking, "Second Miss, what has happened?"
"Eldest Sister, it should be Mr. Yue Ming of Guiyun Academy having a dispute with the manor's retainers and maid."
With many people and varied chatter, Xiao Jinghong only heard something about a calligraphy copybook, and then said, "Sister, sit in the carriage for a brief moment, I will go and return."
Xiao Wan'er shook her head. "Mr. Yue Ming most dislikes military folk, I will go with you."
Knowing she could not be swayed, Xiao Jinghong said no more, supporting her as they got out of the carriage together and walked outside the mounting shop.
She heard that very Mr. Yue Ming sighing inside: "Girl, little girl, this old man is extremely fond of this calligraphy copybook, you, will you part with it out of affection?"
Clutching the calligraphy copybook tight, Xiao Die refused to let go. "Old Sir, this is a birthday gift given by the son-in-law to the master, how can it be given to you?"
If not for Wang Lixing having warned her earlier aside, saying that this old man was Mr. Yue Ming of Guiyun Academy, the most renowned great scholar in Shuzhou.
She would have suspected that the scroll of calligraphy previously lost by the son-in-law was the work of the old man before her.
Yet clearly she had already said this piece of calligraphy could not be given away, and the old man still would not let up, even reaching out to grab the calligraphy that had just been mounted, making her very angry.
"Son-in-law? That son-in-law of the Xiao Family? Then tell this old man, where did he buy this calligraphy copybook, and this old man is willing to buy it at a high price."
"Buy what? This is calligraphy written by the son-in-law himself. Old Sir, if you wish to buy it, you can go to the Marquis's mansion yourself to find the son-in-law."
Hearing this, Mr. Yue Ming was startled. "You say this calligraphy came from the hands of Chen Yi, Chen Qingzhou?"
Xiao Die looked at him vigilantly. "Of course it is calligraphy written by the son-in-law, could it be that you wrote it? Your calligraphy was already given to you by the boss just now."
Mr. Yue Ming looked at her suspiciously, refusing to believe it of his own accord. "Girl, this old man only wants this calligraphy copybook or its origin; if you are unwilling, let it be, why must you speak falsehoods to deceive this old man?"
"I didn't..."
Before Xiao Die could continue explaining, Xiao Wan'er spoke up from outside the crowd: "Mr. Yue Ming, please listen to Wan'er's words."
Until then, the Xiao Family retainers and Xiao Die finally noticed Xiao Wan'er, Xiao Jinghong, and the others outside, and hastily saluted:
"This subordinate greets Eldest Miss, Second Miss."
"Xiao Die greets Eldest Miss, Second Miss."
The surrounding passing travelers and the crowd that had long been watching were stunned, only then knowing that the few people before them were that pair of sisters from the main household of the Marquis's mansion.
Immediately, most of them knelt on the ground, while only a few scholars with scholarly rank still stood tall and straight.
Xiao Wan'er swept her gaze across them and responded mildly, "Rise, all of you."
Waiting for everyone to stand, she supported Xiao Jinghong's hand to come before the old man, and bowed slightly:
"Mr. Yue Ming, what Xiao Die said just now is all true, and this calligraphy was indeed written by Wan'er's brother-in-law Chen Yi, Chen Qingzhou."
Though she had not seen the calligraphy copybook in Xiao Die's hand, judging by the calligraphy of Chen Yi's she had seen previously, it truly might well be able to draw Mr. Yue Ming's favor.
Mr. Yue Ming looked at them, directly ignoring Xiao Jinghong, and asked, "Wan'er Girl, do you know the meaning of the characters upon it?"
Xiao Wan'er was slightly startled, and after a brief thought, she reached out toward Xiao Die.
Xiao Die carefully placed the birthday ode into her hands, glanced at Xiao Jinghong and dared not say more, then retreated back.
Xiao Wan'er opened the box to take out the calligraphy copybook, and with Xiao Jinghong's help slowly unfolded it.
Scarcely had a bit of the brushwork of the characters been revealed when a wisp of fluorescent light emerged, glossy and smooth like warm jade.
Xiao Wan'er's hand abruptly halted, her eyes widening as she dared not continue unfolding it.
She hastily looked toward Xiao Jinghong beside her, and seeing her slightly nod, her heart could not help but be filled with shock and joy.
The shock was that the characters on the calligraphy copybook were truly "Calligraphy Artistic Conception".
The joy naturally was that this calligraphy copybook perhaps truly was written by her brother-in-law Chen Yi.
Before you continue