Chapter 174: Fight!
Whether it was just his imagination or not, when Chen Yi arrived at the front yard early in the morning to see Sun Fu off, he felt that the old man's gaze was strange.
The look in his eyes was as if he had seen a rare treasure, but it was something he couldn't have.
This made him wonder to himself – had the old man discovered that he had mastered calligraphy?
Even if the old man knew, he shouldn't have looked at him like that.
He's practically a member of the Xiao family, after all.
Little did the old man know that in his heart at that moment, his grandson-in-law was the one who truly belonged to the Xiao family.
Before this, the old man simply had a good impression of Chen Yi and thought he was a good match for his granddaughter Xiao Jinghong.
He didn't expect Chen Yi to make any contribution to the Xiao family.
Even now, after learning that Chen Yi has achieved mastery of calligraphy and going through a complicated emotional journey, the old man still cannot instruct Chen Yi to do anything for the Xiao family.
It's probably because I feel guilty.
Given the current state of the Xiao family, involving anyone would put them in grave danger.
If it weren't for the blood ties between Xiao Wan'er, Xiao Jinghong, and Xiao Wuge, the old master would have hoped they could stay out of it.
Unfortunately, it's impossible now.
Looking at the grandfather and grandson, Sun Fu could more or less guess what they were thinking. So, after placing the brocade box into the carriage, he smiled and said:
"Qingzhou, if you have some free time in the future, you might as well visit Qingjing House more often, so that this old fellow doesn't have no one to talk to and his condition doesn't worsen."
Chen Yi's heart stirred slightly, and he was about to nod in agreement when he heard the old man laugh and scold:
"Do I need your concern?"
"You should worry about yourself. What if you can't find a job to support your family after you go to Nanjing?"
Sun Fu was not annoyed by what he heard. He simply nodded slightly to Chen Yi and gave him a look before retorting to the old man with something like, "I wouldn't even beg for you if I were a beggar."
Chen Yi simply smiled as he listened to his two elders bickering.
He understood Sun Fu's expression and guessed that Sun Fu must have said something to the old man to cause such a change in him.
But...
Chen Yi could only silently refuse in his heart.
It's fine to have him keep the old man company while he drinks tea and plays chess, but he should also find something to do for himself...
impossible.
On the one hand, he had no interest in becoming an official or joining the army.
On the other hand, while his actions may seem harmless in the short term, they are bound to arouse suspicion in the long run.
With the hidden guards adding fuel to the fire, who knows what his situation would be like if he really got an official position and joined the army by relying on the Xiao family.
It's hard to guarantee that Ge Laosan won't arrange some achievements for him in order to get him promoted.
These were not his wishes.
Not long after.
Sun Fu bid farewell to everyone who came to see him off, exchanged a few jokes, and then gracefully boarded the carriage, saying, "Let's set off."
The carriage started moving as soon as it was ordered.
Amidst the rumbling of the tracks and the clatter of hooves, the carriage gradually became blurred in the rain.
A faint, yet powerful voice drifted over:
"Don't worry about having no friends on the road ahead, for who in the world doesn't know you, hahaha..."
Upon hearing Sun Fu's laughter, Old Master Xiao's face also broke into a smile, and he muttered under his breath:
"This old bastard got a great deal and is now showing off."
Chen Yi smiled but didn't say anything.
Xiao Wan'er and Xiao Wuge, who were standing next to him, seemed to have thought of something, and their eyes fell on him.
"Brother-in-law, did you write these words for Grandpa Sun?"
Chen Yi met their gazes, and without hiding anything, nodded and said:
"Old Sun came looking for us yesterday, so we couldn't let him leave empty-handed."
Before Xiao Wan'er and Xiao Wuge could respond, the old man said with a stern face:
"Qingzhou, if shameless old men like this come knocking on your door again, just refuse them, and I'll cover for you."
“Especially Sun Fu and Zhang Xuan, these two have been in the army for a long time, and they are the most shameless and scoundrels.”
Upon hearing this, not only Chen Yi, but also Xiao Wan'er and the others couldn't help but laugh.
Amidst laughter and conversation, the group returned to their respective homes.
After passing through the central courtyard, Xiao Wan'er reminded him, "Brother-in-law, come back early today."
"Mr. Chen Yu, the owner of Baicaotang, will be visiting this afternoon. I would like to invite him to stay for dinner at my residence."
Chen Yi smiled and nodded, readily agreeing.
However, he was simply unable to be in two places at once; if Chen Yu was present, he himself would certainly not be able to attend.
Fortunately, whether he was Chen Yu or Chen Yi, he was able to eat a bite or two at that dinner party.
Xiao Wan'er, of course, was unaware of his thoughts. While instructing Cui'er and Juan'er to prepare, she said:
"Guanli just came to say she wanted to return to her clan, so I had someone prepare a generous gift for her and send it to the mountain tribe."
“I was thinking of writing another letter to my second sister. You should write one too and send it to her at the same time.”
"..."
Chen Yi wanted to say that Xiao Jinghong hadn't replied to his previous letter yet, so he had nothing to say.
But after thinking about it, he didn't say it aloud. Instead, he went straight back to his study and wrote a poem called "Thoughts on a Summer Day" in a few dozen words.
However, it's likely that once Xiao Jinghong sees the letter that says "the summer grain of the three towns has been burned," he won't be in the mood to appreciate this poem, "Thoughts on a Summer Day."
So, it's okay if he just gives a perfunctory answer, right?
After tidying up the study.
Chen Yi handed the letter to Xiao Wan'er and secretly gave Pei Guanli a few instructions to prevent her from making any mistakes.
Tiger Girl nodded vigorously at him with a smile in her eyes, then got into the carriage and drove away.
After she walked away, Chen Yi saw that it was getting late, so he said goodbye to Xiao Wan'er and headed to the academy.
In an instant, Chunhe Garden was completely deserted.
Even Xiao Die stayed with Xiao Wuge in Jiaxing Garden to study.
After arranging everything, Xiao Wan'er took out the letter written by Chen Yi.
After hesitating for a moment, she put it away again.
It's never good to read other people's letters without permission.
As she pondered, Xiao Wan'er looked out the window at the gloomy, rainy weather, her thoughts drifting away.
...
A morning calligraphy class passed quickly.
As usual, Chen Yi assigned homework to the hundred students in the study.
"I will write a piece of calligraphy, but this time I will write it in a way that best suits your tastes."
"It doesn't have to be perfectly neat, and it doesn't have to follow Wei Qing's style, but it must be done with care."
Based on his general impression of the students, Chen Yi pointed to the handsome young man sitting at the front as an example:
"Take soup for example."
"You are naturally unconventional and always have wildly imaginative ideas, which can also be applied to calligraphy."
As Chen Yi spoke, he wrote the character "永" (yong, meaning eternal) on a piece of pine paper.
The strokes are free to follow one's heart.
The horizontal lines are slightly slanted upwards, and the vertical lines are slightly slanted to the lower left. They look crooked, but they give people a very comfortable feeling.
Fourteen-year-old Tang Ye stared at the character "永" (yong), and then imitated it by writing one on the sand table.
Judging from its shape alone, it is 30-40% similar to the character "永" written by Chen Yi.
Tang Ye stared blankly at the sand table, asking with a hint of confusion, "Sir, is this... is this a new style of writing?"
Chen Yi smiled and nodded, "I've said it before, books are like paintings; you write down what the world looks like in your eyes."
"The so-called new style is nothing more than following one's heart and writing words that best suit one's own feelings."
"The reason why those predecessors failed was simply because they were not skilled enough, or their calligraphy was biased."
"After all, not everyone can break free from the constraints of established rules."
Chen Yi put down his wolf-hair brush and said, "get out of class dismissed."
After the students bowed, he returned the bow, turned around, and walked out of the study.
Mr. Yue Ming, Mr. Zhuo Ying, and others were already waiting at the door.
After exchanging greetings, Chen Yi followed Mr. Yue Ming to the back residence, not caring who was collecting the few sheets of Yunsong paper in the study.
After taking their seats in the study in the back courtyard.
Mr. Yue Ming served him the tea that had been prepared beforehand, and asked, "How did the students perform today?"
Chen Yi took a sip of tea, glanced at his embarrassed expression, and asked with a smile, "Did someone pull some strings, and you couldn't refuse?"
Mr. Yue knew he couldn't hide it from him, so he nodded with a wry smile.
"Five years ago, the barbarians attacked, and there was a food shortage in Shu Prefecture, which even affected my academy."
"At that time, a large family generously donated money, and I promised them that I would repay them handsomely in the future, so..."
Mr. Yue Ming stood up and bowed, saying, "I hope Qingzhou will grant my request."
Chen Yi quickly stepped aside and said irritably, "Dean, please don't bow so often, I can't accept it."
Mr. Yue Ming straightened up and looked at him: "I really can't refuse, so I have no choice but to do this."
Chen Yi thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "If that's the reason, I have no objection."
"However, since it is you who wants to add people, then let's also remove one student."
"This...can't be compromised?"
"Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. Please forgive me, Dean."
Mr. Yue Ming looked slightly bitter and did not press him further: "In that case, I will discuss it with He Ming."
Chen Yi raised an eyebrow. "You really know how to pick people."
However, upon closer examination, Ma Guan is indeed the most suitable candidate.
After all, he was accomplished in calligraphy.
Even if he doesn't follow Chen Yi's path, as long as he continues on this path, his achievements in calligraphy will not be low in the future.
"A stopgap measure..."
Having experienced this, Mr. Yue Ming understood the difficulty of the matter and secretly decided that he would not be lenient in the future.
A moment later.
After finishing his tea, Chen Yi got up to say goodbye.
At this moment, Mr. Yue Ming called him to a stop, took an envelope from the table, and handed it to him, saying:
"This is a letter from Fang Gui, saying he wants to ask you for advice."
"Oh? A letter from Brother Huaigu?"
Chen Yi took it and glanced at it, and couldn't help but frown secretly.
The contents of this letter were none other than the grain tax for the summer grain harvest in the three towns.
After the Provincial Judicial Commissioner caught the "murderer" who killed Liu Jing, the Provincial Administration Commission sent a message to Li Huaigu, instructing him to collect grain tax at one-twentieth of the original amount.
Just the day before yesterday, Li Huaigu received another letter from the Provincial Administration Commission.
Or, in other words, seals or commands.
"Strictly investigate the amount of summer grain stored in the three towns, and collect grain tax at a rate of one-tenth of the total tax."
"The Provincial Administration Commission is quite adept at changing its orders day and night."
It's not hard to deduce that this was Liu Hong's "attitude" towards the Liu family from Jingzhou after learning that they had come.
In short, they've made their stance clear to the Xiao family—they're going to have to fight!
Upon hearing his words, Mr. Yue Ming shook his head: "The conflict between the Xiao and Liu families has brought hardship to Fang Gui."
Chen Yi hummed in agreement, pondered for a moment, and said, "In my opinion, this matter will likely recur."
"Oh? Qingzhou thinks that Governor Liu will change his mind again?"
"Probably."
Chen Yi did not elaborate, but only asked Mr. Yue Ming to reply as previously stated, and instructed Li Huaigu to continue to slow down his journey.
There are still more than twenty days left until the one-month deadline.
Before that, the matter between the Xiao and Liu families should be settled.
He refused to believe that the Liu family would still dare to be so shameless after being implicated in the "burning of summer grain in three towns" incident.
If that's the case, there's no need to think twice; the old man won't let them off the hook.
Let's chat for a bit.
Chen Yi then took his leave and rushed to the West Market.
He even hired a horse-drawn carriage and hurriedly arrived at Baicaotang.
Then they transferred to Wang Ji's carriage and headed to Xichuan Street, west of Kangning Street in the north of the city.
To be fair, Wang Ji was very efficient.
Wang Ji completed the arrangements for two houses, one in the north and one in the east of the city, in just two hours, based on what he had instructed Zhang Dabao to do last night.
One of them is located in the alley behind Xichuan Street.
It was about two miles from Liu Jing's previous residence, not far.
"My lord, time was short and we were not prepared for anything. Please forgive us."
Chen Yi waved his hand, seeing that time was running out, and directly asked Zhang Dabao to disguise him.
Taking advantage of this brief moment, he instructed, "When you meet Miss Xiao, you should take the lead and explain the plan to expand Baicaotang to her."
Wang Ji hesitated and said, "Sir, this is not appropriate."
He was just the manager of Baicaotang. If he made too much of a show in that kind of setting, it would not only make people think he was unruly, but also that Chen Yi was not strict in managing his subordinates.
Chen Yi waved his hand and said, "It's alright that I'm not talkative. Just do as I say."
He was determined to say and do less, and ideally remain invisible.
Seeing this, Wang Ji had no choice but to nod.
Then Chen Yi gave a few more instructions. After the disguise was completed and he checked that everything was correct, he took a carriage to the Xiao family.
His plan was perfect, but he never expected Miss Xiao to act so unpredictably.
"Manager Wang, Miss has instructed that Mr. Chen can go in alone, and you and the others should wait outside."
"this……"
(End of this chapter)
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