Medical Princess

Chapter 373 General’s Calligraphy

“Let’s catch up with them. They are still kids and I am afraid they would hit something while pushing their way through the crowd. You know, there are many noble men in the city!” answered Qi Tianyu gently, seeming that he didn’t hear Qin Yuru’s sweet voice. He sped up and quickly kept up with Qin Wanru and Qi Baiyu. Walking beside Qin Wanru, he warned Qi Baiyu, “Slow down! We need to wait for them!”

Qin Wanru looked back and found Qin Yuru who looked weepy. An imperceptible trace of doubt appeared in her eyes. She thought it was too strange!

Qi Baiyu who walked ahead slowed down as Qin Yuru hurried to catch up with them. Finally, they walked side by side.

Seeing Qin Yuru walking beside Qi Tianyu again, Qin Wanru smiled and quickly stopped watching them. A mysterious smile appeared on her face.

They finished dinner quite early today so it was just getting dark. Now along the street hung various shapes of lanterns. There were many activities held in front of some shops by sending gifts to pedestrians. The street was crowded full of laughter and cheering.

Taking this opportunity, some peddlers even laid good things out and kept yelling among the crowd, which added liveliness and excitement to the night.

Obviously, carriages couldn’t go through the street for it was crawling with people, seeming that everyone walked out their houses and played on the street.

The hustle and bustle of the street also allowed men and women to forget those conservative rules and play together. On the street, there were many young couples walking and playing around.

Qin Wanru had never seen this scene before. When she was in Jiangzhou, the streets were busy and alive at this time of every year but they were hardly comparable to those in the capital city. She had even though Qin Huaiyong would not allow her to walk out the mansion when such an incident had happened.

She didn’t expect that this tour had been planned so soon.

Well, there was no need to think why Qin Yuru could also walk out. Moreover, it was quite inconvenient for Qi’s Brothers to accompany Qin Wanru only.

It should be Qin Huaiyong’s solution when taking Qin Wanru’s feeling into consideration.

Qi Baiyu quite enjoyed joining in the fun. “What is that? Let’s go there, shall we?” Pointing at a place which was the most crowded, Qi Baiyu shouted. A stage was even set up. From their view, they could see people on the stage but couldn’t hear what they were talking for the voice was covered by the noise giving off by the crowd.

Hearing Qi Baiyu’s suggestion, Qin Wanru nodded in agreement. Then Qi Baiyu and his servant pushed their way for them to walk through. Soon they reached the stage.

They finally stopped. When Qin Wanru tried to say something, she suddenly heard somebody humming beside them. Turning around in surprise, she found Di Yan was just standing there. It was so coincidental running into Di Yan!

Among those who followed Di Yan, Di Fenglan was there. Seeing Qin Yuru and other people, Di Fenglan smiled and reached them. Holding Qin Yuru quickly, she said, “Sister Yuru, I heard that you are sick and unable to get up! But why are you here today?”

“I am with my Second Sister.” Not expecting to come across Di Yan and his sister, Qin Yuru shifted the responsibility onto Qin Wanru in an uneasy way.

Di Yan’s indifferent and hostile gaze fell on Qi Tianyu. He asked coldly, “Who is he?”

As Qi Baiyu was little and he still looked like a kid, Di Yan just ignored him.

“They are two Masters of Qi’s Mansion which has built a deep relationship with our mansion. As they don’t know others in the capital city, father especially invited them to have dinner together. Now they are accompanying us and enjoying the bustling night in the capital city!” Qin Yuru quickly moved away from Qi Tianyu and answered politely.

Her explanation sounded reasonable and polite but Di Yan still stared at Qi Tianyu doubtfully because he just saw Qin Yuru look at this man in an affectionate way even though he could recognize them vaguely because of the distance. Qin Yuru’s look was quite similar with what she was when she just arrived in the capital city.

Qi’s Mansion?

“Magistrate Qi’s Mansion in Jiangzhou?” asked Di Yan indifferently.

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Master Di!” Qi Tianyu looked at him and raised his hands. Compared to Di Yan, his status was lower. An ordinary master was not comparable to an heir of a duke from a noble aristocratic family.

“Since we meet here, then let’s play together!” Even though Di Fenglan disliked Qin Wanru, she couldn’t just ignore Qin Wanru and leave her there. Therefore, she said cynically, “But be careful! Don’t behave like an immature guy who always joined in the fun casually. If something happened, things would get complicated!”

Pretending not to notice Di Fenglan’s provoking gaze, Qin Wanru smiled and stared at the stage which just set up.

The stage was arranged into a flower platform around which there were many pots of flowers. Although it was not spring now in which flowers would be in full bloom, several flowers blossomed.

Then these flowers added brightness and vitality to the winter night. Many ladies came here with their followers who protected them.

“There is a sheet of calligraphy! If anyone could copy that in the shortest time while his copy is the closest one to the original work, I would reward the winner with a big surprise!” A man who looked like the shopkeeper appeared and made a bow with hands folded in front to his audience with a big smile on his face.

“What? What calligraphy?” someone immediately asked loudly.

“Show it! Many people here are learned!” Another man shouted, making others laugh.

Hearing those words, many people looked around and found there were many people who looked learned and decent standing in front of the stage. They all looked thoughtful and insightful.

Those who were literate had always been interested in calligraphy and painting. Moreover, since there were many young ladies waiting to be married, there were many male scholars in the city than often.

The shopkeeper reached out with his hands pressing the air. “No rush, no rush! Meet the calligraphy first!” When the crowd gradually calmed down, he smiled and said.

His employee brought a sheet of calligraphy from the backstage and then the shopkeeper took it over carefully. He then hung it on the rope at the center of the stage.

After he finished, the paper unfolded, presenting the calligraphy whose every stroke of the characters was boldly and forcefully laid. There were only four characters. However, it could tell that the artist wrote them down with obviously firm strokes, making the ink penetrating into paper. Not everyone could write like this.

The audiences were amazed and praised with clicking their tongues. Those who were proficient in calligraphy were profuse in praise. The calligraphy was not only good-looking but powerful. Those gentlemen could hardly make it.

“This sheet of calligraphy has always been treasured by my shop. It is said that it is a general who wrote it and that’s why it looks so powerful. If anyone would like to try, we would reward the champion, runner-up and the third winner with different unique copies after assessment.” Pointing at the sheet of calligraphy, the shopkeeper smiled and explained.

Qin Wanru now realized that behind the stage was a large shop which mainly dealt in writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones. However, since the stage was too large, the shop was blocked completely.

A general wrote it? No wonder the writing looked so powerful and firm. The audience kept praising but nobody wanted to try. For those literate men, writing was not quite difficult but writing steadily and firmly was hard. Watching the sheet of calligraphy on the stage, these literate men knew nobody could write like this without practicing for over twenty years.

Many scholars gathered under the stage but they all feared that they would embarrass themselves if they had a try first. As a result, nobody volunteered.

Staring at the sheet of calligraphy, Qin Wanru frowned and felt strangely familiar. However, she just could not think of where and when she saw this calligraphy before. Then she just frowned and stared at the work blankly.

Seeing Qin Wanru just staring at the calligraphy carefully, Qi Tianyu thought Qin Wanru was interested in this game so he quickly got close to her without being noticed by Qin Wanru. “Does Sister Wanru want to have a try?” Qi Tianyu smiled and asked.

He behaved too affectionate. How Qi Tianyu who looked very polite and gentle would say something like this in such an intimate way.

Glancing at Qi Tianyu in surprise, she shook her head. “It must be a literate general who wrote this work!”

“Yes.” Qi Tianyu nodded and admitted.

“Our shop’s owner always welcomes and prefers such style of calligraphy. If anyone possesses works like this, our shop’s owner would offer high prices for it! Since today is a good day, we would send the seller a big present if we could complete the sale!” Seeing nobody have a try, the shopkeeper continued to say with a bright smile.

Qin Yuru also came. Looking around, she talked to Qi Tianyu softly. “Why don’t you have a try, Master Qi?” Qi Tianyu was famous for his talent in Jiangzhou as he was also proficient in calligraphy and painting. Since he was quite talented at a very young age, he enjoyed a great reputation among scholars in Jiangzhou.

“I’ll see,” Qi Tianyu answered slowly as his eyes fixed on the stage, seeming that he was a little bit persuaded.

“Ha! Does he really think he is able to do that? Look! If the task were easy, then people would rush to try that. The sheet of calligraphy has always been hung here at this time of every year. Nobody can make it!” Di Yan quite disliked Qi Tianyu’s confident look so he snorted and said.

“Or is there any other point which we should be particular about?” Feeling interested, Qin Wanru asked out of curiosity.

Noticing Qin Wanru’s question, Di Yan lifted his head proudly and answered, “Of course. Last year, this work was also shown around. Many people had a try but they all failed. Their works were totally different from the original one. How embarrassing!”

“Why?” Qi Tianyu was also curious. Although it was difficult to copy this style of writing, they should possess good writing skills which would avoid themselves from being embarrassed in public.

“Can you recognize what type of paper the shopkeeper uses there?” Smiling sarcastically, Di Yan pointed at the work on the stage and asked.

The shopkeeper took out several pieces of paper and ink brushes and put them on the table. It seemed that he prepared these tools for those challengers.

“The type? Is that white-sand rice paper?” Qi Tianyu was talented. Glancing at the paper on the table, he then rolled his eyes and answered.

Finding Qi Tianyu was able to recognize the type of paper so quickly, Di Yan felt amazed but he gradually disliked Qi Tianyu more.

“Yes! You are right, Master Qi. It is white-sand rice paper!” Gradually fond of Qi Tianyu, Di Fenglan smiled and answered.

“White-sand rice paper? Then the ink brush must be made of white goat hair!”

Although white-sand ice paper was categorized into rice paper, it was harder to allow the ink penetrate it than other papers. People who used this type of paper must write slowly, steadily and strongly as the paper required high vigor of strokes and brawny wrist.

However, the white-goat hair ink brush was well-known for its feature that once the person who wrote firmly, the ink brush would slip easily which made the person hard to write. With this combination, those who didn’t get used to these two tools would certainly fail to write a good-looking character!