At that moment, Chen Yi was still unaware of Xiao Wan’er’s complex feelings.

In fact, after watching Cui’er and Juan’er give Xiao Wan’er her medicinal soup, he had completely relaxed.

He had even been planning to go back to the Spring Lotus Garden and continue fishing.

Who would have thought that Mr. Yue Ming from Guiyun Academy would arrange for someone to deliver something so unexpected.

—Nearly fifty calligraphy practice workbooks.

The official reason was to let him get a feel for the students’ calligraphy skills before classes started the next day.

Chen Yi looked at the two stacks of calligraphy workbooks piled on the stone table. Each stack was about two feet high, and he asked with a growing headache:

"Mr. Yue Ming... he doesn’t actually expect me to grade all of these today, does he?"

The visitor’s name was Ma Guan, with the style name Heming. He was a slender young man with regular, honest features.

His dark blue long robe was slightly faded, and fine black threads could be faintly seen at the corners and cuffs, revealing patches sewn on the inside.

Clearly, he wasn’t wealthy.

But Ma Guan didn’t seem to mind, and his bearing was poised and proper.

In response to Chen Yi’s question, he offered a respectful bow, then met his gaze directly, not flinching away.

"To answer your question, sir, the Dean said that whether you grade them or not is entirely up to you."

Chen Yi grunted in acknowledgment and looked him up and down. "Is there a separate register?"

"Yes, I’ll find it for you, sir."

As he spoke, Ma Guan rummaged through the two stacks of workbooks for a moment before pulling out a palm-sized booklet, which he presented with both hands in a bow.

Chen Yi took the booklet, flipped it open, and his gaze froze.

After checking it several times, he pointed at the first few names on the register and laughed in disbelief.

"Mr. Yue Ming, Mr. Zhuo Ying... their names are on here. Don’t tell me they plan to practice calligraphy with me too?"

Ma Guan met his gaze, his relatively calm expression twisting slightly as he tried to suppress a smile. He replied:

"The Dean says, ’In learning, there is no seniority; mastery is what matters.’"

"With your level of skill in calligraphy, sir, you are more than qualified to instruct him and Mr. Zhuo Ying."

Chen Yi shook his head. "That may be so, but I’m afraid they haven’t considered the implications of this."

With that, he had Xiaodie fetch him a brush and ink from the study, then picked up the brush and struck out their names.

’If not for the status of Mr. Yue Ming and Mr. Zhuo Ying, I would have just called this utter nonsense.’

Ma Guan was stunned by his action. "Sir, this... this... I’m afraid it will be difficult for this student to explain when I return..."

Before he came, Mr. Yue Ming had specifically instructed him in person, emphasizing that he must get Chen Yi to agree to the "students" on this register.

How could he have known that Chen Yi wouldn’t even give him a chance, striking out the instructors’ names with a single stroke of the brush.

Chen Yi wrote a few words on it before handing the booklet back to him with a smile. "Take this back to Mr. Yue Ming. He won’t give you any trouble."

Ma Guan took the booklet and bowed hesitantly. "Yes, sir."

Chen Yi glanced at the workbooks on the table. "And as for the rest of these... forget it, I’ll finish looking through them all today."

"But when you go back, remember to inform Mr. Yue Ming that my comments might be a bit harsh, so he should be prepared."

Ma Guan paused, a blank look on his face. "Prepared for what?"

"To comfort these students, of course. Lest they burst into tears after seeing my comments."

"Er..."

Seeing that he had taken it seriously, Chen Yi chuckled. "It was just a joke. Just report back to Mr. Yue Ming exactly what happened."

’This Ma Guan seems like someone who’s been ’poisoned by his studies’ of Confucianism.’

’Balanced, proper, neither servile nor overbearing, but also a bit rigid.’

’If he’s like this as a student, he’ll likely face some hardships if he becomes an official at court.’

’He’ll either have to quickly change his ways and go with the flow, or stick to his rigid principles and get beaten down by reality until he’s black and blue.’

’Compared to him, Li Huai’gu, the Third Place Scholar who also studies at Guiyun Academy, is clearly much more flexible in his thinking.’

After Ma Guan left, Chen Yi sighed, picked up the topmost workbook, and began to flip through it.

On the first page were two large words: "Yue Ming."

Chen Yi paused. He instinctively straightened his posture, sitting upright at the stone table and looking seriously at the calligraphy workbook in his hands.

Setting aside whether it was appropriate for Mr. Yue Ming to bend the rules and pull strings for himself, his earnestness was clear just from the two words, "Yue Ming."

Since that was the case, Chen Yi couldn’t be too casual about it either.

’It’s as they say, "If a gentleman treats me with sincerity, I must treat him with sincerity in return."’

He turned the pages one by one, seeing it was a copy of the *Pine Wave Record*, a widely circulated piece in the Wei Dynasty. The full text was exactly five hundred characters long.

It took him about a quarter of an hour to finish reading it.

Chen Yi thought for a moment, then picked up his brush and, beneath the two words "Yue Ming," wrote two lines of small text in Wei Qing’s Style:

"Your form is proper, but it lacks grandeur. It is misaligned with your intent."

Calligraphy Dao, the Dao of Calligraphy... only when it aligns with one’s own Dao can it truly be expressed.

A great Confucian scholar like Mr. Yue Ming, so well-read and yet willing to take on "educating others" as his life’s mission, ought to possess an ambition that encompasses the world.

Yet every character in this calligraphy workbook strictly adhered to Wei Qing’s Style, with perfectly horizontal and vertical strokes, which inevitably conflicted with his own inner spirit.

Deviating from the "Calligraphy Dao" is like walking down the "wrong" path; naturally, one will never find the proper entrance.

Next, Chen Yi looked at the calligraphy workbooks of the other few instructors. Most had problems similar to Mr. Yue Ming’s.

It was just that each person had a different state of mind and level of calligraphic skill, so the Calligraphy Dao that suited them was naturally different as well.

He graded them one by one, treating it as a gift to Mr. Yue Ming and the others.

Whether they acknowledged it, whether they listened, was all up to them to decide.

As for the other workbooks, Chen Yi’s examination was not nearly as detailed.

With a quick glance, he could tell the state of the students’ calligraphy and whether they had been serious or not. His comments were mostly fair and to the point.

Some read, "Poor. Needs more diligent practice," while others said, "Terrible. Poor attitude. Advise starting over from basic strokes."

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Chen Yi finished looking through all the workbooks, put down his Wolf Hair Brush, and remarked:

"As expected. In an imperial examination system centered on ’testing,’ these people focus their minds mostly on the classics and histories. Their only standard for calligraphy is ’neatness’."

"Not a single one is even passable. The best among them might get a ’Below Average’ grade."

Xiaodie, who had been watching him write his comments the whole time, couldn’t help but laugh. "Young Master, aren’t you afraid they’ll go complain to the Dean tomorrow after seeing your grading?"

Chen Yi pursed his lips. "I wish them the best of luck."

If he didn’t have his own plans, he never would have agreed to be an Instructor at the academy.

But he knew, of course. In the current environment where Confucianism reigned supreme, respecting one’s teachers was paramount. Even if you gave those students a healthy dose of courage, they wouldn’t dare to gossip or complain.

And they certainly wouldn’t dare to formally accuse him of grading too harshly.

If the students actually did go complain, he’d actually think more highly of them. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Once Xiaodie had tidied up, Chen Yi glanced at the sky. Remembering he had one more thing to do today, he decided to leave the mansion for a bit.

"Young Master, it’s about to get dark. Are you still planning to go out?"

"Yes, I’m going to Hundred Herbs Hall to postpone what the Eldest Miss asked me to do for a few days. She just fell ill and needs to rest for a while."

Hearing this, Xiao Wuge, who was playing chess nearby, turned and asked, "Brother-in-law, is my sister feeling better?"

Chen Yi paused and glanced toward Jiaxing Garden. "She should be fine now. Why don’t you go over and see for yourself?"

"Okay."

But before Xiao Wuge could put away the chessboard, Cui’er came over from Jiaxing Garden, smiling and bowing.

"Young Master, the Eldest Miss invites you over. She says the household has prepared some wild game, and she wants you to join her for dinner."

Xiao Wuge’s eyes lit up, and he was about to go with her.

Suddenly, he saw Chen Yi standing beside him and asked, "What about my brother-in-law? Didn’t my sister invite him too?"

Cui’er shook her head, her smile a little strange as she replied, "The Miss said the Young Master doesn’t like wild game."

"..."

How could Chen Yi not understand Xiao Wan’er’s intention? He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

’She must have found out about what I did when I was treating her this morning.’

’But that wasn’t my fault.’

’How was I supposed to treat her without lifting the blanket?’

Xiao Wuge, unaware of all this, just blinked in confusion and looked at him. "Brother-in-law?"

Chen Yi could only smile and nod. "Your sister is right, I really don’t care for it."

With that, he told Xiaodie to go along with them.

Xiaodie nodded in agreement, not forgetting to add, "Young Master, please remember to come back early."

"I know."

Chen Yi watched them walk away, tidied himself up, and strapped on his folding spear in case of trouble, before leisurely leaving Spring Lotus Garden.

The sun was setting in the west, and the late afternoon light was no longer so harsh.

The once-white clouds were now tinged with a layer of gold, and the temperature was pleasant, not so hot anymore.

With the flowers, trees, pavilions, and towers of the Marquis’s Mansion all around, and the occasional cool breeze on his face, Chen Yi was in a reasonably good mood.

But as he walked from the rear courtyard to the front, the expressions of the Armored Warriors and servants along the way were not nearly as relaxed.

And compared to two days ago, their stern looks now held an extra trace of gravity.

Faintly, he could hear whispers from all around.

"I heard the Second Master was furious at noon. Someone from the government office sent a message saying Liu Jing’s killer might be from the Xiao Mansion."

"The Imprisonment Department almost caught the killer last night, but someone took advantage of the chaos and killed them."

"The killer’s dead?"

"Seems so. That’s what the people from the government office said."

"Since the person is dead and there’s no evidence, aren’t the government office people afraid the Old Master will go knocking on their door?"

"Sigh, that’s true..."

After listening, Chen Yi couldn’t help but reflect.

’Although the Hidden Guard’s plan to frame them last night failed, they still managed to draw the attention of the Imprisonment Department and the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office to the Xiao Family.’

’But I’m not as nervous as I was before.’

’Originally, because I was the one who killed Liu Jing, I felt somewhat guilty and wanted to secretly help the Xiao Family deal with the Liu Family.’

’But after I saw that man in black wielding a great spear last night and guessed he might be one of the Xiao Family’s people, I realized the Old Lord has his own plans.’

’Since that’s the case, I’m not in a hurry to make a move.’

’Or rather, I want to see how the Xiao Family responds, deduce the Old Lord’s plans from that, and then decide what to do.’

’Thinking about it carefully, a place as vast as the Dingyuan Marquis’s Mansion couldn’t possibly be so simple.’

Just as he was pondering these matters, he saw Liu Si’er, wrapped in bandages, walking toward him.

"Greetings, Young Master."

Chen Yi snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, Brother Si, how are your injuries?"

Liu Si’er raised his hand. "Still a bit inconvenient, but it’s no longer a serious issue."

Chen Yi nodded. Noticing that he was returning from outside the mansion, he asked with a smile, "An injured man like you is still out and about?"

Liu Si’er gave a wry smile. "To be honest, Young Master, I was in South City, helping Ge the Third out of a jam."

"Oh?"

"Didn’t Ge the Third go to South City yesterday with Miss Tingyun, Miss Guanli, and the others? Who knew that dog would somehow get himself hooked up with some girl."

"Last night, the girl was threatening to kill herself. We barely managed to save her. When we asked what was wrong, we found out Ge the Third had promised to go over last night and buy her freedom."

Chen Yi’s heart stirred. "Buy her freedom? And he didn’t go?"

Liu Si’er sighed. "He’s a spendthrift. Where would he get that kind of money? Of course he didn’t go."

"The dog didn’t expect the girl to take his casual joke seriously."

"But when he gets back, he’s definitely in for a beating."

After listening, Chen Yi smiled along, exchanged a few more pleasantries with Liu Si’er, and then left the Marquis’s Mansion directly.

He was a good distance away before the meaning finally dawned on him.

’So that’s what they meant last night when they said a girl from Yanhua Lane tried to jump into the river.’

’No wonder.’

’No wonder Tiger Girl said yesterday that Ge the Third was acting strange, staring at her the whole time.’

’There must be Hidden Guard agents in South City. He was secretly passing intelligence to them.’

Chen Yi understood. ’The Three Towns granaries...’

’Ge the Third caused such a commotion not for any other reason, but for the matter he and Xiao Dongchen were planning.’

’It seems Xiao Dongchen put a lot of pressure on him the day before yesterday.’

With these thoughts, Chen Yi glanced back at the towering green-brick outer walls of the Marquis’s Mansion, then walked calmly toward the West Market.

Xiao Dongchen, Ge the Third, Cui Qingwu.

’Three Silver Banner Officers. Different identities, different strengths, and their missions should be different as well.’

’But for them to work together to cause trouble for the Xiao Family... it’s a bit unsportsmanlike, to say the least.’