The sun was already high when Wang Gang dressed and washed with a bevy of maids waiting on him. He sighed inwardly. As long as you had money, life was just as comfortable now as in the future!
"Young master, there's a letter for you."
Wang Gang had barely stepped outside when a maid in blue hurried over, holding a piece of paper folded into a square.
"Where did it come from?" Wang Gang took it.
"I found it outside the back courtyard gate!"
Wang Gang nodded. Paper was still precious these days, unlike in the future, when a scrap dropped on the ground would simply be treated as rubbish.
He unfolded it and saw:
"Young master-in-law (crossed out), sir, be careful! Sister has written to Father to complain about you! -A kindhearted person"
Wang Gang stared blankly for a good while before it dawned on him. A traitor had appeared in Li Qingluo's camp. No, someone had abandoned darkness for the light!
"All right, I know. Go about your work!" Wang Gang folded the paper and teased, "Qingniao, you're growing prettier by the day!"
For some reason, since coming back this time, Wang Gang had grown increasingly fond of teasing these young girls. A girl's blush truly was worth more than a lengthy exchange of words.
Watching the blue-clad maid leave with a flushed face, Wang Gang's smile slowly faded, and his gaze grew solemn.
The sovereign of their imperial Song loved his people like his own children, so naturally, he did not permit his subjects to become slaves or servants. Thus, wealthy households could not live in extravagant debauchery with hordes of slaves as they had in previous dynasties.
But the imperial Song did not forbid taking godsons and adopted daughters! Thus, the wealthy had children in droves. Godsons and adopted daughters honoring their parents and looking after their siblings-that accorded with propriety and law.
Just as the Wang family's longtime servants called Wang Gang "young master," Li Qingluo's maids called her "Sister." That made the identity of the man they called "Father" all but obvious.
Wuyazi?
No! Ding Chunqiu and Li Qiushui had done him in!
Later, she had even acknowledged a villain as her father, treating Ding Chunqiu as her own father!
So the person Li Qingluo had written to was Ding Chunqiu!
This was a ruthless man, moody and cunning, who killed at the slightest disagreement. Moreover, his poison arts could kill without a trace. One misstep, and corpses could litter the Wang estate.
Wang Gang pondered for a moment. If Ding Chunqiu came at him openly, he was not afraid. He could simply invite his brother-in-law over. Even Murong Fu more than a decade later could fight Ding Chunqiu to a standstill, let alone the present Murong Bo.
But a thief could steal for a thousand days; who could guard against thieves for a thousand days? Murong Bo could not stand watch over the Wang family every day. Unless they killed Ding Chunqiu in a single strike, they might never have peace afterward.
I still need to practice martial arts! Only by becoming strong myself can I protect my home and face powerful enemies without fear.
He had read Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and knew all the fortuitous encounters in the book. But he had no need to visit places like Mount Wuliang or Mount Leigu. There was one right before his eyes: the Lesser Formless Skill in Langhuan Jade Cave.
This supposedly Daoist art was powerful, without outward form and impossible to trace. It ranked among the very finest arts in the entire world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.
"Where is my wife's dowry stored?" Wang Gang asked the young maid beside him.
The young maid's eyes lit up, and she said in wonder, "Young master, I heard there are so many books in Madam's dowry that they fill the entire Emerald Bamboo Pavilion. Are they all unique copies?"
"I haven't seen them either. How would I know? Can't you go look for yourself?"
Wang Gang spoke casually. It seemed that Li Qingluo, having only just arrived, had not yet begun setting up Langhuan Jade Cave and had temporarily found somewhere to store these martial arts manuals.
"They won't let us, and they have such awful tempers! They even scratched Sister Yingge's hand red!" The young maid felt deeply wronged.
"How dare they! I'll go take a look!"
Wang Gang rose and headed out. Behind him, the young maid called sweetly, "Please calm down, young master! You mustn't upset Madam over us!"
Wang Gang shook his head with a laugh. The girl was acting like such a green tea bitch. Who had taught her that?
He passed through a long corridor and entered a side courtyard. The buildings nestled amid bamboo groves and a stream were the Emerald Bamboo Pavilion.
As Wang Gang approached, he saw a young girl with a full bosom standing outside the door. He vaguely remembered her.
"Young mas-sir, what brings you here?" Ping'er hurriedly paid her respects.
"What are you doing here?" Wang Gang remembered now. This girl was very skilled at whisking tea; he had drunk her tea just last night.
As he spoke, Wang Gang kept walking, heading straight for the door.
"Sir, you can't go in here!"
Ping'er hurried to stop him, leaping into his path. At once, a dizzying rise and fall left Wang Gang's eyes dazzled.
Noticing where Wang Gang was looking, Ping'er blushed and hastily retreated a few steps. "You need Sister's permission," she said softly.
Wang Gang came back to his senses. Finding the girl amusing, he deliberately teased her, advancing a few steps and pinning her against the wall in a "kabedon." Staring straight into her eyes, he asked in a low voice, "And what if I insist on going in?"
Ping'er felt her face burning fiercely, her heart pounding so hard that her legs went weak and she could barely stand. Hastily taking a deep breath, she ducked under Wang Gang's arm and slipped away. She put on a stern face and said seriously, "Sir, don't try to force your way in. I've learned martial arts!"
She glanced at Wang Gang's rather thin figure, then added earnestly, "You can't beat me, sir."
The corner of Wang Gang's mouth twitched. Without martial arts, even a little girl looked down on him.
"What's a young girl doing fighting and killing? How unladylike!"
Wang Gang waved his hand to indicate that fighting was bad, then switched to reasoning with her. "Look, this is my home. There's no reason I shouldn't be allowed inside, right? Why don't you ask your sister and see what she says?"
Ping'er thought it over and found that very reasonable. Though Sister had cried terribly last night, been very angry, and said many nasty things, they were husband and wife, after all. Perhaps the fact that he needed something from her this time would let them make up!
The girl nodded, but still hesitated. "But if I go ask Sister, there won't be anyone guarding this place!"
"I'll guard it for you!" Wang Gang patted his chest.
"All right! Sorry for the trouble, sir!" The girl figured that this was the Wang estate, after all. If he refused to let anyone in, no one would dare enter!
Watching the girl walk away "quivering," Wang Gang could not help calling, "Run along, kindhearted person!"
"Ah!" The girl gave a guilty cry. Seeing Li Qingluo writing a letter last night, she had known Wang Gang was in serious trouble. After tossing and turning all night, she had finally written to warn him. To avoid discovery, she had even left out her name, replacing it with "a kindhearted person."
But how was I found out so quickly? Could he recognize my handwriting?
Could it really be just as Rui'er said? Has he taken a fancy to me and wants to take me into his chambers?
Recalling how he had pinned her against the wall just now, Ping'er's cheeks flushed rosy again. Overcome with embarrassment, she broke into a run, setting off a surge of rolling waves.
Wang Gang shook his head. The girl really was rather muddleheaded. The moment she called him "sir," he had known she was the one who wrote the letter. There was no other reason: in the entire household, she alone addressed him that way.
Only after Ping'er had gone far away did Wang Gang reluctantly withdraw his gaze. Smacking his lips, he stepped into the pavilion.
As soon as he entered, he saw several rows of tall bookshelves standing before him, filled with a dazzling array of martial arts manuals.
Wang Gang did not even glance at them, heading straight for the book cabinets along the wall.
Each cabinet had "Langhuan Jade Cave" written on it in blue paint. Finding the cabinet with "Laozi journeyed west; purple Qi came from the east" written on its doors, Wang Gang opened it and took out a stack of account books.
He counted eight in total, labeled in sequence with the Heavenly Stems, starting with Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding.
He picked out the Jia volume and opened it. It was indeed just as described in the novel. Delight filled him. He had obtained a peerless martial art just like that! Though the contents were written obscurely, he knew how to decipher them.
Then, after reading a few lines, he frowned. He understood inhaling and exhaling, but where were the liver meridian, lung meridian, and the like? And how was he supposed to guide his breath there?
Over the years, he had devoted all his efforts to the meanings of the classics and canonical texts, with no time at all for miscellaneous books. Otherwise, how could he have fought his way through the encirclement of Jiangnan's hellishly difficult imperial examinations at his age?
After reading a few more lines, he hurriedly closed it. The more he read, the more ignorant he felt. There were so many terms he did not understand!
Even after he had read through it once, the panel did not appear. Presumably, this thing would only appear once he understood a martial art!
Why couldn't it have been a picture!
It seemed that learning martial arts was much like studying! To study, one first had to recognize character forms, understand phonology, and grasp textual exegesis before studying the Twelve Classics and then their meanings.
There was no reason some random fool should be able to master martial arts simply by copying a few movements from a book.
But there was a solution. "Ask my brother-in-law!"