Chapter 58 Chapter 58 Shangguan Xu suddenly pushed the person in front of him...

The teachings Xu Qing'an gave to the young emperor were different from those given by the lecturers selected from the Hongwen Academy. The lecturers focused more on the interpretation of the classics, that is, the content was based on books, while Xu Qing'an focused on the actual events of the previous dynasty. Moreover, he did not limit his teachings to the affairs of the court to the little emperor. He also taught the little emperor anything he was interested in, such as calligraphy, painting, and essays. As long as Xu Qing'an had some knowledge of them, he would answer any questions the little emperor asked.

The little emperor responded well to the first two trial lectures, and Xu Qing'an's teaching assignment was completely confirmed.

"After the death of the fifth son of the Su family, the Su family has been quiet in the court in recent days. This is really out of character. Your Majesty, please be careful." After the class, Xu Qing'an packed up his things and whispered to Shangguan Xu before leaving.

The little emperor has been taken back to his bedroom to review his lessons.

There were only a few palace maids left in the palace besides Shangguan Xu and Xu Qing'an.

Shangguan Xu gave him a half-smile after hearing his words: "Xu Qing is now also working in the Secretariat, have you noticed their movements inside?"

Xu Qing'an smiled faintly and said with shame, "My lords usually like to discuss matters behind closed doors. I really can't find out anything."

"Is Mr. Zhang also like this?"

“The teacher is better, but nothing abnormal has been found.”

Xu Qing'an added, "Thinking about Prime Minister Su's methods, even if he really wanted to do something, it wouldn't be too obvious so as not to reveal his intentions in advance."

Shangguan Xu kindly said, "Since Xu Qing's promotion, he's attracted a lot of attention. He should be careful."

Xu Qingan understood: "Thank you for the reminder, Your Majesty. I will be careful."

He then added, "By the way, Ah Zheng has recovered well recently, Your Majesty, don't worry. I promise that as long as Ah Zheng is by my side, she won't be harmed in the slightest."

Shangguan Xu sensed a hidden meaning in his words and couldn't help but ask, "A Zheng had a perforated abdominal wound before, and she fled for a while to lure the people from Jingzhao Prefecture out of the city. During that time, the wound was bleeding continuously. How did you stabilize her?"

Xu Qing'an said meaningfully: "Of course he took the medicine in advance."

"Zi Yang has studied medicine in Wuyan Mountain since he was young, so of course he's read all kinds of medical books on it. The situation A Zheng is facing is nothing more than a small matter to him. As long as he takes the right medicine in advance, he can control her blood flow and prevent her from suffering mental damage and facing a crisis."

Shangguan Xu frowned: "Are there any other implications?"

"Hmm..." Xu Qing'an pondered, "Zi Yang's medicine is good, but he also said that there is no non-toxic medicine in the world, so there is a price to pay."

"What's the price?"

"Of course, you have to take another drug for a long time to suppress the effects of the previous drug."

However, he smiled and said, "But don't worry, Your Majesty. I had already informed Ah Zheng of the pros and cons of this matter long before it happened, and she gladly accepted it."

Shangguan Xu immediately understood what he meant.

It turned out that he suddenly mentioned A Zheng just to tell her that although A Zheng's injuries were gradually recovering, she would not live long without his continued care.

He saw that she wanted to use his promotion as a target to attack him.

Even though both of them knew the truth, Shangguan Xu would never show any fear in front of him. "No matter what, life is the most important thing." She smiled. "If it weren't for Doctor Xun's previous dose of medicine, A Zheng probably wouldn't even have the chance to take the subsequent suppressant medicine now."

Xu Qing'an curled his lips and said, "Your Majesty is indeed very understanding. I was worried that Your Majesty would blame me for my actions, but now I feel reassured."

Shangguan Xu smiled back, "But Xu Qing and I are just trying to reassure each other."

"Really?" Xu Qing'an asked, "Then I wonder what your Majesty's next plan is? Perhaps you could inform me in advance so I can prepare."

Speaking of this, Shangguan Xu raised his eyes to look at Qinghe beside him, and Qinghe led everyone in the hall away with understanding.

Shangguan Xu then spoke, "Su Xingzheng's death is a huge blow to the Su family. The public sentiment in Jiangnan, which had previously wavered in its support for Su Wang due to the Jiangnan water transport situation, has now collapsed again due to Su Ran's incident. Su Wang has always been known as a virtuous minister, and now that his most cherished reputation has been severely damaged, he will certainly find a way to protect it. This is our opportunity."

Xu Qing'an nodded. "The turmoil in Jiangnan is particularly severe right now. If he wants to repair his reputation, he should start there. However, the Empress's forces have already established a presence there, so their plan will likely be difficult to achieve. While the Empress doesn't seem to be taking any other action right now, the evidence to deal with them is already on the way, right?"

Shangguan Xu smiled and said, "The money that those ship merchants transferred through Su Xingzheng's hands must have a destination, right?"

Xu Qing'an frowned: "Your Majesty, do you want to follow the clues and eliminate them all?"

Shangguan Xu shook his head. "Of course not. Those who took over behind the scenes are quite a few from powerful local families. If I deal with them directly, wouldn't that be like giving them a rope to tie them together? So I want to let them fight on their own."

Xu Qing'an understood that the most common problems among the clansmen in the aristocratic families were uneven distribution of money or people of lower status being afraid of the family property. She wanted to support the weaker party in those powerful families. In this way, she could not only allow them to consume each other internally, but also win the hearts of the new head of the family in the end.

It’s a good plan indeed.

"What about you? What are your plans?" Shangguan Xu asked when he saw that he had not spoken for a long time.

Besides, dealing with Su Wang is a matter of crucial importance, so we should do it in pairs.

Xu Qing'an said leisurely, "My thoughts are similar to yours. I've returned to the Censorate this time and sorted through all the memorials submitted by the local officials. I've discovered that quite a few of them are related to Prime Minister Su's subordinates. If I can sort out the contents of these memorials and find a way to let the weaker factions of those powerful families know about them, how can this not complement yours?"

Shangguan Xu raised his eyebrows slightly, looking at him with a smile in his eyes, as if he was quite pleased with his words: "Yes, I didn't realize that Xu Qing and I had the same idea again. It seems that we are really getting more and more in sync with each other."

After hearing this, Xu Qing'an lowered his eyes and smiled shyly, but when he raised his eyes again, his gaze towards her was not at all reserved, and fell directly into her eyes.

He said, "Of course I would be most grateful to win the favor of Your Majesty."

Shangguan Xu glanced away from him, his gaze falling on the desk. "By the way, His Majesty has read your article and said he really likes your calligraphy. If you have time, you can teach him."

Shangguan Xu admitted that if one ignored his dark side, his handwriting and his appearance were indeed very compatible, both exuding a sense of elegance and handsomeness.

The last person and words that gave her this feeling were the old friend hidden deep in her heart.

"Learning calligraphy?" Xu Qing'an tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Practicing calligraphy is a long process, not something that can be done overnight. I have limited time with Your Majesty each day, so it wouldn't be appropriate to spend all that time teaching him calligraphy."

"I have also seen your handwriting, it is clear, bright and elegant, and can be considered excellent. Why doesn't Your Majesty learn from you?"

Shangguan Xu smiled, "You said clear, bright, and elegant. He doesn't want elegance, he wants sternness. That's all. It's just a child's idea. We can discuss this later when the time is right. You're right. You're not his calligraphy teacher. For now, just stick to your original teaching plan. Or maybe you could write a piece of calligraphy sometime and make it into a copybook. That way, I'll have given him an explanation."

"Calligraphy copybook..." Xu Qing'an said, "Your Majesty, I actually have an idea."

He walked over to the desk, put down what he was holding, spread out a new sheet of rice paper, picked up his brush and dipped it in ink. As he wrote, he said, "In fact, calligraphy practice is nothing more than mastering the horizontal, vertical, left-falling, and right-falling strokes, as well as the strokes of the brush. Your Majesty is a beginner at your age. If you start practicing directly from the original character shape, I'm afraid the effect will not be as good as this stroke-by-stroke approach."

"I feel that my calligraphy and yours share some similarities in brushwork, so I thought that perhaps your Majesty would understand my brushwork better than your Majesty does. Since you and your Majesty are often together, why not take a look at my brushwork, note the details, and then provide guidance to your Majesty later."

After saying this, Xu Qing'an stopped writing and moved back.

Shangguan Xuguo followed his movements and walked forward to look at the strokes he wrote on the paper.

Seeing her intently reading, Xu Qing'an held out his brush and reached out to her: "Your Majesty, why don't you try and see if you can write with the same strokes and brush strokes as me."

Shangguan Xu glanced at him, thought for a moment, and then said "hmm" softly.

Xu Qingan moved aside to make room.

However, the strokes on the paper looked easy, but due to years of writing habits, it was not easy to replicate them completely after writing them, not to mention the complete word he left at the end.

Shangguan Xu sighed softly, "No, it's just a matter of horizontal, vertical, left, and right strokes, but the different places where you use your wrist strength will make the writing look very different."

However, she didn't want to give up so easily, so she dipped the brush in ink again and tried again in another row.

But something still wasn't right.

Shangguan Xu frowned.

But the next moment, a soft and bony hand covered the back of her hand.

Shangguan Xu looked at it in shock.

Xu Qing'an didn't look at her, only his gaze fixed on the paper. The hand covering the back of her hand held the pen together with hers. "Your Majesty is right. Writing also involves the issue of wrist strength. Your Majesty might as well feel the changes in wrist strength during the writing process."

…

"Oh - so this is how you hold a pen." Queen Shangguan Xu exclaimed in Lizheng Hall.

Zhou Jingzhi, with his head resting on her shoulder, smiled: "Do you really understand?"

Shangguan Xu slowly turned his head to look at him, his eyes crooked with a guilty smile. "You should understand, right? Isn't it just about when to lighten and when to heave, when to bend and when to lift? And each stroke has different pauses and setbacks, and the required degree of fullness of the character shape also varies. Only by mastering these tricks can you write with a nimble and beautiful brushstroke."

Zhou Jingzhi nodded. "Well, that's what it means in summary. But isn't this the fundamental basis of calligraphy? Everyone who wants to write well should do this."

Shangguan Xu agreed, "So I also followed these 'rules'."

"Alas," she said bluntly, "what I really want to say is that I'd better not learn your handwriting. I'll just keep the beauty of my handwriting and differentiate it from the ruggedness of yours."

Zhou Jingzhi laughed: "Why don't you want to learn again? But you said before that you wanted to learn my calligraphy."

"It was just a spur of the moment thing." Shangguan Xu pursed his lips. "Then I thought about it carefully and decided it'd be better if our characters weren't too similar."

"Why?"

"What if I imitate your handwriting to issue an imperial edict in the future?"

"An imperial edict without the imperial seal is not valid."

"Then I will take your jade seal again."

"The imperial edict always recognizes the seal but not the handwriting. Since you have used the imperial seal to affix it, it doesn't matter whether it is my handwriting or not."

Shangguan Xu: "...Then I will use your handwriting to review the memorials!"

Zhou Jingzhi: "Yes! Thank you Madam for sharing the burden for me!"

Shangguan Xu looked at him, pursed his lips, and took a deep breath.

Zhou Jingzhi slowly raised his eyebrows.

However, Shangguan Xu finally exhaled completely. She said seriously, "No more joking. I was just impulsive before. But now that I've come to my senses, I feel that we should have some differences in this regard. Otherwise, if someone with ulterior motives takes advantage of us in the future, we might get into trouble."

Zhou Jingzhi said softly, "You've considered it."

But she still added: "But... it's quite fun to be taught how to write like this."

Zhou Jingzhi suppressed his laughter: "I won't eat your sweet dates."

After all, he had tried hard to teach her for so long, but in the end she said she didn't want to learn anymore. He knew that what she said was just to comfort him.

Shangguan Xu said stubbornly: "Where are the sweet dates? I don't have any. Besides, I can learn other things if I don't want to learn calligraphy."

"Other?"

"Danqing, how is it?"

He didn't say anything.

"If you don't teach me, I'll leave."

He took her hand and said, "This is Lizheng Hall. Where are you going?"

He couldn't help laughing, and took her into his arms again, and changed a new piece of paper: "Okay, learn Danqing."

——

Shangguan Xu lowered his gaze to the table and watched the hands guiding her writing stroke by stroke on the rice paper.

Xu Qing'an was also distracted, and his eyes secretly looked at her.

He whispered, "Did your Majesty feel the change in strength?"

Shangguan Xu looked back in a daze.

However, before he could say anything, he suddenly dropped his pen, held her face and kissed her.

"Your Majesty, Lord Su requests an audience."

The two people in the hall suddenly opened their eyes.

Shangguan Xu suddenly pushed the person in front of him away.