Chapter 617: Immortal Inscription



After a day of preparation, the bookstore jointly owned by Fan Xian and Fan Sizhe finally opened.

Dongchuan Road was crowded with people, and even the nearby Imperial College saw a rare trend of truancy. The buildings along the street were decorated with lights and colorful decorations. The square facades were all covered with fine wood, and the black color was bright, which was a decoration with a strong scholarly flavor.

I just don’t know why, even though the bookstore is about to open, the plaque at the door has not been hung yet.

In the backyard, Fan Sizhe was circling around Fan Xian with an anxious look on his face.

Seeing that Fan Xian still looked relaxed, Fan Sizhe finally couldn't help it.

"Brother, didn't we agree before that this bookstore would be called Danbo Bookstore? You also said something like "One cannot achieve his ambition without being indifferent..."

Fan Xian glanced at him and said, "Without being indifferent, one cannot clarify one's ambition; without being calm, one cannot achieve far-reaching goals."

Fan Sizhe nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's right, it's what you said, it's so good, Prince Jing was shocked when he heard it, why did you have to change your mind at the last minute when you have such a good name!"

Glancing at the confusion and bewilderment on Fan Sizhe's face, Fan Xian smiled slightly.

"Don't worry!" Fan Xian patted his brother's shoulder and chuckled, "You just want to become famous so that your book can sell well. The new name I thought of is better, and it also has an inscription by a master."

"...Master?"

Fan Sizhe was stunned for a moment, and then said unhappily: "What kind of master can compare to Prince Jing?"

"Also, I've been preparing for that publicity and that ad you mentioned for so long. You suddenly changed the name without even consulting me. Isn't that a bit unreasonable?"

Fan Xian thought for a moment, looked into Fan Sizhe's eyes and said seriously, "It is indeed my fault for not telling you, but don't worry, I promise that this new name will definitely make you sell well, just wait and see!"

After saying this, Fan Xian stopped paying attention to Fan Sizhe and instead started playing with an exquisite jade token.

Suddenly, the jade token vibrated slightly.

...coming!

Fan Xian's eyes lit up and he immediately stood up and walked towards the warehouse in front.

Fan Sizhe wanted to follow and take a look, but was turned away by Fan Xian, so he could only wait anxiously in the yard.

Soon, the door of the warehouse opened and Fan Xian walked out holding a plaque covered with red cloth.

Fan Sizhe widened his eyes, walked up and wanted to uncover it, but was slapped on the hand by Fan Xian.

"ah!"

Fan Sizhe cried out in pain, covered the back of his hand, and stared at Fan Xian aggrievedly.

"Don't make trouble!" Fan Xian said unhappily, "This red cloth is most effective when it is first removed. We can't waste it here."

After saying that, he turned and looked at Shopkeeper Ye who was waiting behind Fan Sizhe.

This Shopkeeper Ye is one of the seventeen shopkeepers of Qing Yu Tang, and is also a subordinate of the business left behind by his mother Ye Qingmei.

At that time, the properties of the Ye's Trading Company came under the control of the royal family, and the shopkeepers trained by Ye Qingmei were cleared out. After leaving the company, they should have found their own way to make a living, but the court was wary of their business talents and did not allow them to do business on their own.

Therefore, those shop owners who were cleared out formed Qing Yu Tang together, specifically to manage other people's business, and they were not allowed to invest in it themselves.

When Fan Xian wanted to open a bookstore, he naturally thought of Qing Yu Tang, so he specifically invited the shopkeeper Ye.

"Shopkeeper Ye, please find someone to put this plaque up there quickly!"

"Okay!"

Shopkeeper Ye responded with a smile, and then asked his waiter to take the plaque from Fan Xian.

Before long, the crowds on the street dispersed to the outer circle.

The guys carried the plaque and hung it up steadily under the curious gaze of the crowd.

As the red cloth was unveiled, four large characters written in a flamboyant style, full of the flavor of time, appeared before everyone:

"Rotten…Ke…Book…Office?"

When people saw these four words, whether they were well-read students from the Imperial College or illiterate common people on the street, they were all stunned by the artistic conception contained in those words.

For a moment, the whole street fell silent.

Everyone stared at the four words in a daze, as if they were baptized by the long river of time in an instant, and saw the changes in the world, the vicissitudes of life...

“…Good handwriting!”

The first student to come to his senses couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

This exclamation of praise seemed to have pressed a switch, and the entire street suddenly went from quiet to moving.

Everyone's face was filled with excitement and admiration, and they were discussing the wonderfulness of this word.

“What a beautiful handwriting!”

"I just don't know which great scholar of the time came up with this word."

"Could it be Zhuang Mohan from Northern Qi, Mr. Zhuang?"

"Impossible. I have had the honor of seeing the calligraphy of Master Zhuang. Although Master Zhuang is also proficient in calligraphy, the artistic conception of his calligraphy is far from the four words 'Lan Ke Bookstore'."

"The two characters 'Lan Ke' have a profound artistic conception and are full of historical traces of the passage of time. I guess this must be a new calligraphy school created by a reclusive scholar who does not seek fame or fortune... My dear brother, do you have paper and pen? I really like this character and would like to copy it."

"What a coincidence, I thought so too!"

The streets were bustling with people, students and common people talking about everything.

Fan Xian was well prepared and immediately ordered Shopkeeper Ye to go out and deal with the situation.

Shopkeeper Ye led his employees out with a smile and announced that his bookstore not only sold books, but also paper, ink, pens and inkstones.

The students outside the door, who were eager to learn, immediately swarmed in, clamoring to buy paper and pen to copy the four words.

Fan Sizhe squeezed out of the crowd and ran to the backyard with excitement on his face.

"Brother, this is absolutely amazing. Who did you ask to write these four words? Why do they look like they flew out? Could it be that these words were written by a god with a golden pen and jade script?"

“…”

Fan Xian glanced at him and thought to himself, you guessed it right.

He asked for these four words from Zhou Tianyi, a senior who traveled through time and space from the world of immortal cultivation.

There are three thousand great ways in the world of cultivating immortals, including Confucianism, Taoism, calligraphy and painting, all of which have complete cultivation systems.

As a family of immortal cultivators, the Zhou family naturally also took into account these unconventional ways.

Coincidentally, there is a young man in the Zhoutian Yi clan who is in the foundation-building stage and is a genius in Confucianism and Taoism. He has also mastered calligraphy.

Fan Xian asked Zhou Tianyi for help, and he agreed without thinking and asked the junior to help write the four words.

Although that young man was only in the foundation-building stage, his handwriting was permeated with magic power, and to mortals, it was already the handwriting of a god.

Seeing that Fan Xian just glanced at him without replying, Fan Sizhe didn't care. He just said with some worry: "But brother, isn't this a bit of a distraction?"

"Although we are opening today, selling paper and pens can be considered as an additional income, but if we want to run the business in the long run, we still have to rely on selling books as our main business!"

Fan Xian smiled and said, "You are quite sober... But it doesn't matter, just watch!"

This time, Fan Sizhe did not retort to Fan Xian, but went to the back door, waiting for what would happen next with anticipation.

At this time, sedan chairs kept coming and going on Dongchuan Road, and the sound of singing and celebrating could be heard everywhere. It turned out that officials from various departments in the court had heard the news and sent their subordinates with gift boxes to congratulate the bookstore on its opening.

After all, this is a rare opportunity to get closer to Si Nanbo.

Moreover, many people knew that the Emperor had appointed Fan Xian as Assistant Law Officer of the Taichang Temple, and that he would soon marry a princess in the palace.

Because of this, officials from various departments who received the news took action.

But they didn't expect that today a group of students would copy calligraphy.

The people who came to watch the fun were naturally amazed, thinking that this Mr. Fan, who was both civil and military, was indeed no ordinary person. Just because he opened a bookstore, so many officials sent people to congratulate him.

But it was different for the students at the Imperial Academy.

They just felt that the noise on the street disturbed their quiet copying.

In this way, the servants in the mansions of officials from various departments received unfriendly glares from the students.

Although it was a bit confusing, they still went through the entire process and presented the prepared gift box to Fan Xian.

Fan Xian stood in the yard with a smile on his face, allowing Shopkeeper Ye to receive the guests on his behalf.

At this time, Prince Jing's son Li Hongcheng also arrived. People on the street who knew his identity saluted him one after another. He responded with a gentle face, without a trace of arrogance as a royal relative. His face was as gentle as a spring breeze, and he looked very elegant.

Arriving at the door of the bookstore, Li Hongcheng was naturally shocked by the immortal's inscription.

But unlike those students who were copying handwriting, after Li Hongcheng came to his senses, he immediately strode into the bookstore, came to the backyard, and grabbed Fan Xian's arm with excitement on his face.

"Brother Fan, I was wondering why you declined my father's offer to write an inscription for me. It turns out you had already prepared for this!"

"Tell me quickly, who is the master who wrote the words? This immortal aura is really admirable!"

When these words were spoken, not only Prince Jing Li Hongcheng, but also the students who were copying in the bookstore pricked up their ears.

Fan Xian smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Your Highness, it's not that I don't want to give you this face, it's that the master doesn't want to show himself in front of others. To get these four words is already a shameless request from me."

"Really? That's a pity..."

Li Hongcheng's face was full of regret, but he was very polite and did not ask any further questions.

The students who were eavesdropping also sighed and were obviously very disappointed.

Shopkeeper Ye looked at the expressions on their faces, then glanced at the half-true imitations in their hands, and knew that the time had come, so he smiled and approached the group of students.

"My fellow lords, do you think this calligraphy is extremely mysterious and very difficult to copy? Why can't you grasp the essence of it?"

“…Indeed.”

"Haha, that's right!"

Hearing Shopkeeper Ye's laughter, the students who were copying couldn't help but show dissatisfaction on their faces.

"What does this mean, shopkeeper?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Shopkeeper Ye said with a smile, "It's just that I took a look around and found that the calligraphy of all the gentlemen is very amazing, but the meaning of these two words "Lan Ke" seems a little vague to me."

As soon as these words were spoken, not only the students, but even Prince Jing's son Li Hongcheng became interested.

"Yes, sir, what does the word 'Lan Ke' mean?"

Many students gathered around, curiously waiting for Manager Ye to give them an answer.

Shopkeeper Ye picked up a book from the side with a smile and showed the cover to the people in front of him.

"So that you can know, my lord, that in addition to exclusively selling the stories after Chapter 68 of The Story of the Stone, we also sell some other books that are not worthy of being published."

"The reason behind the two words 'Lan Ke' is a story recorded in the book 'Records of Strange Things'."

"If you are interested, you can take this book back and savor the artistic conception contained in this story. Maybe you can gain some insights and truly grasp the essence of Lan Ke calligraphy!"


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