"Are you Su Mu?"
Just as Su Mu was leafing through various books, hoping to find some that would be useful to him, a voice rang out beside him.
At the sound, Su Mu instinctively looked to his right.
He saw a scholar wearing a silk headscarf and holding a bamboo fan walking straight toward him from the right.
When the man reached Su Mu, he looked him up and down a few times.
"And you are?" Su Mu looked at the man before him in puzzlement. He truly did not know him.
"I am Li Sheng, of the Academy of Righteousness."
Someone from the Academy of Righteousness.
Actually, even without the introduction, Su Mu would have guessed that the man belonged to the Academy of Righteousness. His attire alone gave him some idea.
The question was, what did this man want with him?
"May I ask what brings you to me, brother?"
Since the man spoke in such a scholarly fashion, Su Mu could only follow suit.
"I heard that someone in the palace had produced two calligraphic treasures in succession. I could not help being curious, so I came to take a look."
Li Sheng looked at Su Mu and raised his chin slightly.
Just as Xiao Wu had said, the people of the Academy of Righteousness were, by and large, exceedingly proud.
"At first, I took your first calligraphic treasure to be a stroke of luck. Such things have happened before, after all. I never expected you to produce a second-a second calligraphic treasure of such a level-in the space of a single month. You do possess literary talent. What a pity, though."
At that, Li Sheng looked over Su Mu's body with some regret.
Then he looked somewhat vexed, probably feeling a little resentful that a Yin soul like Su Mu could produce such calligraphic treasures one after another while he himself could not measure up.
Having said that, Li Sheng waved a hand, turned, and left. It seemed he had simply come to take a look at Su Mu.
Su Mu was rather speechless. The man's behavior just now had been like someone coming to look at a monkey in a zoo.
"Don't worry. Quite a few scholars from the Academy of Righteousness probably refuse to acknowledge you, but they certainly won't attack you."
Xiao Wu spoke softly from beside him.
Su Mu nodded and went back to searching for the books he wanted.
What happened next, however, caught Su Mu somewhat off guard.
Word that Su Mu had come out had probably spread, for people began coming to seek him out one after another.
An old Daoist with a red nose, a disheveled man who looked like a beggar-people of all sorts began appearing in succession.
Every one of them had come for Su Mu. The moment they approached, they fussed over his well-being, looking eager to make his acquaintance.
At first, the arrival of all these people left Su Mu rather at a loss.
But once he figured out why they had come, he simply told them that every calligraphic treasure he produced would be sold through the eldest princess. Only then did he free himself from their pestering.
After being pestered like this, Su Mu no longer dared to linger. He hurriedly picked out a few books and left at once.
What Su Mu had not expected was that, when he reached the palace grounds' main gate, a man in court robes and another in armor would stop him.
"You must be Su Mu, Young Master Su, whose literary brilliance is so remarkable?"
The moment the two spotted Su Mu, they hurried forward, cupped their hands, and offered their compliments.
"And you are?"
Su Mu felt rather helpless. He could more or less guess that these two had also come for his calligraphic treasures.
"I am..."
At his question, the two smiled cheerfully and were about to introduce themselves.
Before either could do so, however, Xiao Wu spoke up. "You can stop setting your sights on his calligraphic treasures. The eldest princess has taken all of them, and it will probably be the same in the future. If you want calligraphic treasures, go ask the eldest princess."
With that, Xiao Wu led Su Mu around the two men and hurried away.
Only after they entered the palace grounds did Su Mu breathe a sigh of relief.
"How strange. When I wrote a six-inch calligraphic treasure before, they weren't nearly this attentive. Why does it feel as though they're swarming over this time?"
Everyone who had come just now had either been powerful or held an unusual status. Su Mu did not even know whether refusing them would offend them.
Fortunately, Xiao Wu had been beside him to lend a hand.
"How could six-inch calligraphic treasures be so easy to produce? Over the past hundred years, there have been no more than a hundred six-inch calligraphic treasures within Great Liang, and no one has ever produced them in succession before."
"So even after hearing that you had produced a six-inch calligraphic treasure, some people paid it little mind. After all, who knew when you would produce another? But now that you've written another one, what that represents is different."
Xiao Wu offered a casual explanation.
Su Mu understood at once. He had produced another within a month, making some people think that he might be able to produce a third calligraphic treasure. That was why they had become so attentive.
"Don't worry. The eldest princess has already kept most of them away. You don't need to fret."
Seeing that Su Mu seemed rather worried, Xiao Wu spoke plainly.
The number of people who had come today could be considered very small. The eldest princess had already issued word earlier, so many cultivators had not come to seek Su Mu out.
Otherwise, Su Mu would have encountered even more people today.
That was good news, at least, and Su Mu inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
But then his nerves tightened slightly again.
He had previously asked whether the calligraphic treasures he produced would make others covetous, and Xiao Wu's answer had been to tell him not to worry.
Yet what had happened today made Su Mu realize that he could not simply stop worrying.
If he produced more calligraphic treasures like these within a short period, someone would definitely set their sights on him.
Forget it. I'll stay in for the next few days.
Su Mu returned to the courtyard, took out the books he had bought one by one, and spread them out before him.
Altogether, these books had cost only eighty taels of silver. They were quite cheap.
Su Mu picked a book, then carried a chair into the courtyard, reclined in it, and began reading.
Seeing that Su Mu had returned, Xiao Lian put down the calligraphic treasure and seized the chance to slack off, floating over to him.
Su Mu did not mind. He beckoned Xiao Lian over to help hold the book in his hands.
"Hold it higher. Lower... Right there."
With both hands freed, Su Mu let Xiao Lian hold the book above him for him to read.
Watching this, Xiao Wu felt both annoyed and amused. She turned and left the courtyard to report the day's outing to the eldest princess.
Once Xiao Wu had left, Su Mu perked up. There were some characters in the book he did not recognize yet, so he could have Xiao Lian help him read them, and have her explain what some of the obscure, difficult passages meant while she was at it.