Free Web NovelChapter 54: Chapter 54: How Is This Possible?
"Little Nu, what were you just reciting?"
Liu Chuanzhi put on a gentle expression and reached out to pat the girl’s head.
However, she quickly hid in Widow Yu’s embrace.
Liu Chuanzhi’s outstretched hand froze awkwardly in mid-air, and his expression immediately soured.
But in front of Widow Yu, a woman whose beauty was rare in Da Liushu Village, or even the whole of Xiahe County Town...
How could Liu Chuanzhi lose face?
’A scholar is magnanimous,’ he thought. ’Besides, I’m about to become a Scholar Master. I won’t bicker with a child.’
"I was... I was reciting the poem Yue taught me for my mother." Although the smiling man in front of her didn’t seem like a good person, and Nu was a little afraid of him deep down...
...when she heard his question, Nu still lifted her head slightly and spoke with pride.
"Heh, Little Nu, you must mean Fang Yue. What poetry could he possibly know? He’s not just tricking you, is he?" Liu Chuanzhi said dismissively. To him, the other man was just a Martial Scholar who had gotten his title by a fluke.
What were Martial Scholars? They were crude brutes. His own thighs were probably thinner than Fang Yue’s arms.
But when it came to essays and poetry, he, Liu Chuanzhi, was a genius whose fame had spread throughout Xiahe County Town. He was certain he could crush Fang Yue, leaving him ten blocks behind.
"Nonsense! You’re lying! Yue would never trick me."
The little girl couldn’t stand hearing someone speak about Fang Yue like that. She clenched her small fists and glared at Liu Chuanzhi, her cheeks puffed out in anger.
"Hmph, you ignorant little girl! My young master’s poetic fame is unmatched in Xiahe County. That Fang punk... uh, Yue just has a bit of brute strength. How could his poetry possibly compare to my young master’s!"
Liu Chuanzhi hadn’t even spoken, but the Scholar’s Attendant beside him was already quick to defend his master.
However, as he was about to say Fang Yue’s full name, the attendant’s eyes subtly darted around. Only after confirming there was no one else nearby did he let out a small sigh of relief.
"Now you listen here! My young master just composed a poem not too long ago. ’On the fifteenth of the eighth month, the moon is full and round, a time for thousands of families to reunite’..."
After reciting it, the Scholar’s Attendant continued, "So? My young master’s poem is great, isn’t it? It’s really, really great!"
But alas, though the Scholar’s Attendant studied alongside Liu Chuanzhi, he didn’t have much ink in his own belly. After racking his brain for a long time, he could only come up with two "greats."
At this, Liu Chuanzhi also tilted his chin up, clasped his hands behind his back, and adopted the lonely posture of an unrivaled master.
’This should be enough to impress Widow Yu,’ he thought.
’This will surely make the little widow see me in a new light!’
Nu was naturally unconvinced, insisting that this poem wasn’t as good as the one Fang Yue had taught her.
Liu Chuanzhi’s Scholar’s Attendant, of course, was not about to back down. After a few taunts from him, Nu recited the poem she had only half-finished earlier. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"Bright moonlight before my window, I mistake it for frost on the ground. I lift my head to gaze at the bright moon, then lower it, thinking of home."
Her childish voice was soft, clear, and bright.
And she was clearly mimicking Fang Yue’s tone, her cadence rising and falling with a serious expression that made it hard not to chuckle.
However, Liu Chuanzhi, whose face had been full of smiles...
...in just a moment, his expression stiffened. His gaze turned to shock, then to a dull stupor.
"Ah, how is this possible? How can this be? This poem... who wrote this poem? How could Fang Zhizi have written it!"
"How could he possibly know how to compose poetry!"
Liu Chuanzhi’s expression changed constantly, like an overturned dye vat.
A storm of thoughts raced through his mind, but they soon coalesced into one accusation: plagiarism.
’Fang Yue never had a formal education, so how could he compose poetry? He must have copied these lines from somewhere.’
’That must be it. That has to be it!’
Meanwhile, although the Scholar’s Attendant also felt that the poem Nu recited was smoother and better, he had to be loyal to his master.
"Haha, how can this poem compare to my young master’s? Each line of my master’s poem has seven characters, but the one you recited only has five. That makes it short by a total of eight characters! The difference is vast."
The Scholar’s Attendant shook his head, doing his best to imitate the way he had seen Scholars critique poetry, even tacking on a scholarly-sounding phrase he had learned at the end.
However, the moment the words left his mouth...
Widow Yu couldn’t help but start laughing. She covered her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles, her chest rising and falling with the movement. Her graceful charm was enough to melt a heart of stone.
She was clearly amused by the idea of judging a poem’s quality by its character count.
But at this moment, although Liu Chuanzhi believed Fang Yue had plagiarized the poem, he was certain it must be the work of some famous, brilliant master, and his own poetry certainly couldn’t compare.
Thinking of this, he finally couldn’t take it anymore and smacked his attendant hard on the side of the head.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Who told you to speak? What do you mean, ’character count’? Who taught you to compare them like that, you idiot? Shut your mouth right now!"
Liu Chuanzhi’s slap stunned his Scholar’s Attendant. ’Why is the young master hitting me?’
Then, without a backward glance, he stalked away.
"Young Master, wait for me! Wait for me!"
Seeing this, the Scholar’s Attendant quickly chased after him, despite the throbbing pain in his head.
After this small interlude, the area quickly became deserted again.
~~~~~~
「Another ten days or so passed.」
The Fang Family’s new house was mostly complete. The courtyard had been expanded to more than twice its original size.
It had a total of two courtyards, eight rooms, blue brick walls, and a gray-tiled roof.
Although its scale was not as grand as Scholar Liu’s home, its layout was much more orderly, because Fang Yue had designed it based on a traditional courtyard house.
Of course, Fang Yue also had a small martial arts training ground built for himself in the back courtyard.
In practice, however, Fang Yue usually went to Fang Hu’s home to train.
Fang Hu had gone to the Prefecture City, leaving his courtyard in Fang Yue’s care.
One day, the first winter snow began to fall, the flakes drifting down in a flurry.
After finishing his training, Fang Yue waited for the sweat on his body to dry before changing into a fresh set of clothes.
He was suddenly in the mood for fishing, so he grabbed his fishing rod and went out.
Although winter was the dry season for the Xiahe River, if one walked a bit farther downstream, there was still a sizable body of water.
This had once been a large lake a kilometer in circumference, but now it was less than half that size.
The river’s surface was covered with only a thin layer of ice. Fang Yue glanced around; the water near the bank was too shallow for fishing. Just as he was feeling a bit disappointed, he spotted a wooden boat on the shore.
He immediately grabbed the boat and placed it in the water.
Then he rowed out to the center of the lake.
First, he baited the spot. After getting everything ready, he took a sip of wine.
He swung his fishing rod, casting the line into the water.
Before long, a fish took the hook.
Fang Yue hadn’t expected to have such good luck today and get a catch so quickly. He immediately reeled in his fishing line.
A long, shimmering silver fish fell into the boat.
Watching the Silver Fish struggling in the boat as the snowflakes drifted down, Fang Yue suddenly felt inspired for some reason.
"Heh, this is truly ’An old man in a lonely boat, in a straw coat and bamboo hat, fishing alone in the cold river snow.’"
His voice was neither loud nor soft, but it carried with great power.
It traveled a great distance.
