In battle, to guard against mishaps, Grand Academicians rarely held paper aloft with Literary Qi while writing. They still used writing boards. Only Great Scholars dispensed with boards, supporting white paper in midair with their powerful Literary Qi to unleash War on Paper.
At a thought from Fang Yun, the four treasures of the study floated into the air, as though an invisible desk stood before him.
Holding Nunu in his left arm, Fang Yun dipped his brush in ink with his right hand. After a moment's thought, he began to write.
A letter from a thousand miles away, all for a wall;
Why not let him have three feet after all?
The Great Wall still stands to this day,
Yet Qin Shi Huang of old has passed away.
The poem was simple and easy to understand. Fang Daniu understood it after a single reading: a family letter had traveled thousands of miles merely to dispute such a tiny patch of land. What harm could there be in yielding three feet? It was a wall, just like the magnificent Great Wall, which still stood while its master, Qin Shi Huang, had become dry bones. What could the insignificant Fang and Lu households gain in the end?
Shame appeared on Fang Daniu's face. He felt that his parents had no need to quarrel with their neighbors over such a small patch of land.
Fang Daniu said, "I'll write to my father right away and ask him to turn spears into jade and silk with the Lu Household. He mustn't damage the harmony between our families over a little patch of land."
Fang Yun handed the finished poem to Fang Daniu and smiled. "Include this poem in your envelope."
"Ah?" Fang Daniu was both surprised and delighted, and his hands began to