The next day, rain poured and winds howled.
The rain fell without cease, drumming against the pond's surface with an endless splashing roar.
Chen Yi woke early. After breakfast, he did not even go to the Pavilion, instead remaining in the study room.
Listening to the wind and rain batter the windows, he practiced the Way of Calligraphy.
It carried a unique charm of its own.
Xiao Die ground ink beside him. Looking at the characters he wrote, she merely read them silently in her heart.
"Last night, an east wind rose again over the little tower... If the east wind had not favored Lord Zhou... It would be vermilion lips and an unadorned face... Face?"
There were no poems beginning with the word "face."
He then wrote another entirely unrelated line: "Half the three mountains fall beyond the blue sky," followed by, "Stealing half a day of leisure from this fleeting life."
The verses were scattered and disconnected, yet he wrote each character with great care.
Though Xiao Die was not particularly versed in calligraphy and lacked an eye for appreciation, her eyesight was sharp enough to detect the faint bloom of elegance within those characters.
With such Artistic Conception, his attainments in the Way of Calligraphy could hardly be poor.
"Son-in-law, the rain is heavy and the wind fierce today. Aren't you... worried about Second Miss?"
With Xiao Jinghong absent, Chunhe Garden had returned to its usual relaxed rules.
Xiao Die readily changed back to her former form of address.
Chen Yi answered casually, "My wife does not need me to worry over her. She will handle everything well."
Over this period, he had gained some understanding of Xiao Jinghong's temperament.
She was rather traditional, for instance observing etiquette and the laws of Great Wei, respecting teachers and