Chapter 187: Long Rain at the Window (Part 1)

The Prince of Badong looked at Wang Yang with great interest: "You really have a lot of nerve. I did use you to get things done, but I didn't use you for free! You, kid, have made quite a profit! Coming to ask for my help again based on what we agreed upon before—that doesn't carry enough weight..."

Just as Wang Yang was about to speak, the Prince of Badong changed his tone: "However, for the sake of our friendship, I'll pose a question. If you can answer it, I'll help you this once; if you can't, you'll have to find your own way. But let's be clear beforehand: if you can't answer it, even if you get detained by Liu Zhao, the silk business cannot be delayed! You must arrange it yourself, otherwise, I won't stand for it!"

"Your Highness! The donkey is already gone, and you still want the millstone to turn itself—that's a bit dark, isn't it!"

The Prince of Badong pointed at Wang Yang with a laugh: "Don't try that on me, kid! As long as you don't want to ruin the business, aren't there plenty of ways? Don't try to bluff me with this. If you annoy me, I'll join Liu Zhao in dealing with you!"

This was the drawback of Wang Yang using "making a scene" to threaten the Prince of Badong into helping.

Namely, if you can play around and make a scene, the Prince of Badong can naturally do the same back. In any case, it was just trivial, playful talk; once the mood of the "Face-Changing Prince" shifted, if he said he wouldn't care, he could really just wash his hands of it.

However, since the Face-Changing Prince could say these words, it seemed he was completely at ease. This "mine" could be considered cleared.

But as soon as one mine was cleared, another arose. Wang Yang was prepared to arrange a chain-reaction for Liu Zhao, but if the Prince of Badong was unwilling to help, the first shot wouldn't even fire—so how could he continue digging the pit?

Wang Yang said: "Then the question Your Highness poses must be reasonable. At the very least, it must have a definite answer. If it's another one of those 'How fast can you finish reading the *Classic of History*' questions, then I won't answer."

"No, no! This time there will be a definite answer!"

The Prince of Badong was in high spirits, rubbing his hands together!

Reading the *Classic of History* once, the banquet deception once, the 'old death' once—you kid have fooled me three times! As the saying goes, 'things shouldn't happen more than three times'; this time, it's my turn to get even!

The Prince of Badong looked around, then suddenly smiled with extreme cunning:

"Zhiyan, since you are so devilishly clever, come and guess what I am thinking in my heart!"

Wang Yang's expression changed: "We agreed beforehand! It has to be a question with a definite answer!"

"This question has a definite answer! What I am thinking is naturally definite! Stop talking nonsense, this is it!"

Definite my foot!

If I guess one thing, you'll just say you were thinking of another. In any case, it's your own thought, so whatever you say is right!

Wang Yang's mind raced, and he said: "Then Your Highness, please call a few people to act as witnesses; otherwise, if I answer correctly, I'm afraid Your Highness will go back on your word."

"What's there to go back on? Besides, the answer is in my heart; calling others to witness is useless!"

"Of course it's useful. As the saying goes, 'justice resides in the hearts of the people.' If I speak correctly, everyone will naturally have a judgment."

The Prince of Badong chuckled inwardly. My thoughts are naturally whatever I say they are; who could judge that? Besides, if I say Wang Yang guessed wrong, who would dare say he guessed right?

However, since Wang Yang insisted, the Prince of Badong called over a group of people: four guards, four maids, and four attendants. The twelve people stood blankly in a row, not knowing what kind of trick the Prince was playing.

"Speak, the people are here." The Prince of Badong felt victory was in his grasp, his smile very smug.

Wang Yang said in a clear voice:

"What Your Highness is thinking in your heart is—loyalty to the sovereign and filial piety to the father! No rebellion and no treason! If Your Highness is not thinking this, then just say the word, and Wang Yang will admit defeat right here!"

Damn!

The Prince of Badong was stunned.

(Pseudo-note: The Prince of Badong felt Wang Yang was as cunning as Cao Cao, so he shouted "Damn" in his heart. Thoughts of antiquity make one sigh.)

The shade of the locust trees turned toward noon, and the light rain drizzled.

Inside the Wang family hall, there were two desks, one high and one low.

Wang Yang and Xiao Wu, one big and one small, faced each other across the space, wielding brushes over paper.

Chen Qingshan stood beside Wang Yang, watching him write with rapt attention.

Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan stood beside little Xiao Wu, carefully guiding her brushwork:

"... Your suspended-wrist technique is practiced well, but your center-tip is still not straight. Cai Yong said, 'The heart of the brush must always travel within the dots and strokes,' meaning the tip of the brush must be perpendicular downward, and the center of the brush hair must never leave the center of the stroke. Only then can the brushwork be uniform and powerful, and the character structure firm and thick. Since you are starting from Regular Script, you must practice the center-tip well. If you master the center-tip, you can write the side-tip well, and then when you transition to Clerical Script, it will be effortless. Look at this 'Yan' (Speech) character of yours; it only has thick ink, but it isn't rounded or connected. This means it lacks sinew and bone. Look at how I write this character..."

Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan demonstrated with the brush herself. Xiao Wu was stunned, thinking Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi was so beautiful, smelled so good, and her skin was as white and fine as the white jade wine cup in the Young Master's study. Even her voice was pleasant to hear. Was this a fairy descending to earth? Plus Chen Azi, then I, Xiao Wu, know two fairies! How amazing!

"Look at the five characters I wrote; what is different about them?" Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan asked.

Xiao Wu immediately pulled her mind back. Although she hadn't heard what Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan said, she immediately pretended to be thinking seriously, nodding and pondering, as if she had already immersed herself in the five characters Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan wrote.

If it were an ordinary person, they might have been fooled, but was Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan someone so easily deceived? Her face sank, and she patted Xiao Wu on the head. Her star-like eyes were like torches, and her voice was stern: "Practicing calligraphy is practicing the heart. If the heart is not focused, how can the calligraphy be good? Copy these five characters I just wrote fifty times!"

Xiao Wu was so scared her little heart thumped; she immediately executed the order and started writing!

It's over!

Xiao Wu made the fairy angry! What to do? Urgent!!!!

Wang Yang, while writing, said leisurely: "Xiao Wu, you must be serious when learning calligraphy! With a great master guiding you, if you can learn even one-tenth, it will be a lifetime of benefit!"

Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan smiled with pursed lips: "Stop your glib talk!"

Xiao Wu thought: The Young Master is the truly amazing one; one sentence can make the fairy laugh!

Taking advantage of Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan's smile, Xiao Wu hurriedly asked: "Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi, what is the first character read as?"

"This is read as *He*. It is a combined-sound character for the two words 'He' (Why) and 'Bu' (Not). A so-called combined-sound character is one whose pronunciation is equivalent to the continuous reading of two words, and its meaning is also equivalent to the combination of those two words."

"Oh! So the five characters together make a sentence, 'He ge yan er zhi' (Why don't you each speak your ambitions?), which means why don't you each talk about your own ambitions?"

Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan smiled: "How clever! What is Xiao Wu's ambition?"

"I want to earn lots and lots of money to buy a manor for the Young Master!"

Pfft!

Wang Yang was drinking the cold tea Chen Qingshan had just brought over and nearly spat it out.

After Wang Yang returned from the Le family villa, the temperature difference was like heaven and earth, and he felt like he had returned to a furnace, so he sighed that when he had money in the future, he would also buy a manor.

Chen Qingshan had asked seriously at the time how much money it would take to buy a manor. Wang Yang asked with a laugh: "Why, do you want to pay for it?" He didn't expect Chen Qingshan to report her entire net worth directly, saying that including the 300,000 coins given by Jiao Zheng, she had a total of 412,345 coins, plus an ancestral home in Danyang County, and then she took out the deed and gave it to Wang Yang. It scared Wang Yang into telling her to put it away quickly! And he warned this silly girl to keep it safe and not be deceived by others. Chen Qingshan had said "Oh" at the time, thinking: "I won't be deceived by others."

It was originally a casual joke, but who knew that not only did Chen Qingshan take it seriously, but Xiao Wu did too!

"Does Young Master Wang really want a manor?" Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan asked, seemingly also "taking it seriously."

Wang Yang hurriedly explained: "No, no! It was just too hot at home at the time, so I said it casually. But it's raining today, so it's fine."

"Then what is Young Master Wang's ambition?"

"Me..." Wang Yang paused, not continuing, but instead continued writing, then laughed: "My ambition is to eat that melon. Is the melon chilled? If it is, let's cut it to beat the heat!"

When Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan came, she brought a few melons and instructed that they should be soaked in the well to be chilled through before they would taste good. Now hearing Wang Yang ask for them, she let Xiao Ning go see how the chilling was going. Then she said: "There is a Zhiqi Temple in the western mountains on the outskirts of the city, which is very suitable for avoiding the heat. I heard there is a 'Shadow-Playing Spring' in the temple that can reflect a person's past life. How about we go for a stroll after the martial law is lifted?"

Reflect a past life?

Wang Yang didn't quite believe it.

It was probably a rumor, nothing worth seeing. But if it were true... then he definitely couldn't go! If it really reflected a high-rise building for him, wouldn't he be treated as a demon reincarnated? If that led to some high monk coming to subdue the demon, it would be a real mess...

Seeing that Wang Yang didn't respond, Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan walked over, saw the characters on the paper, and said with pleasant surprise: "You are progressing so fast!"

Wang Yang looked at Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan, his smile bright: "Is it okay?"

Xie Xie Niangzi Xie Xie Niangzi Xinghan looked carefully, pointed to two places with her finger, and clicked her tongue: "These lines of yours are written with continuous ink, and the bone structure is clear and handsome; the improvement is truly not small! Is this learning Zhong Yuanchang's *Jian Jizhi Biao*?"

"Not bad, thanks to your good teaching! And the good copybooks you found for me!"

"What did I teach? It was just talking about some popular brush styles of the time; it's still you who are willing to work hard. Eh? What is this you are writing?"

——————

Note: *Biographies of Eminent Monks · Miracles (Lower)*: "Shi Seng Hui, surname Liu, origin unknown. Lived in Jingzhou for several decades. Liu Qiu of Nanyang established Zhiqi Temple and invited him to reside there." ===== CHAPTER 188 =====