Inside Chunhe Garden.
The bright moon hung high, a cool breeze blew, and the courtyard was spotless, with a faint air of warmth.
Xiao Fengchun and Fu Wanqing gazed at the nearby wooden tower. In a room on the second floor, the light was dim, and Xiao Wuge was sleeping soundly.
They watched for a moment.
A smile appeared on Xiao Fengchun's face. "Jinghong, has Wuge started practicing martial arts?"
Xiao Jinghong nodded. "He's been practicing for three months. His cultivation base is now at ninth rank · lower tier, close to a breakthrough."
"Second Uncle said his talent is quite good. He has a chance of glimpsing the eighth rank realm around the New Year."
Xiao Fengchun looked gratified. "A true scion of our Xiao Family. The little fellow is working quite hard."
Fu Wanqing's eyes, however, grew moist. "He's suffered."
Xiao Fengchun put an arm around her shoulders and murmured a few words of comfort, then had Xiao Jinghong lead them into the wooden tower.
The sitting room was simply furnished and spotless.
A painting hung behind the dining table in the hall-the Spring Lotus in Shu Rain that Chen Yi had painted especially for her. Even at night, threads of faint light shone from it.
The buildings looked freshly renewed, the courtyard secluded and deep. Fine rain drifted down, a pool rippled, verdant plants flourished, willows accompanied flowers, and fish leaped from the water.
A man in blue robes sat lazily fishing in the pavilion. His features were indistinct, but his carefree, easygoing bearing was plain to see.
The scenery set off the man, and the man complemented the scenery all the more.
A poem was inscribed in the upper right corner of the painting. It was precisely the "Thoughts on a Summer Night" he had once