Chapter 167 1/3

Li Qingzhi wrote two pieces for the head of the Shen family. One was an ancient poem titled “Observing the Vast Sea.”

“As the sun and moon travel, they seem to emerge from it; the stars shine brightly, as if from within…” A poem like this is always a safe choice as a gift.

In addition, he wrote a large calligraphy piece: “Heaven rewards diligence, humanity rewards kindness, and commerce rewards trustworthiness.”

The head of the Shen family particularly liked this large calligraphy piece. It was fearless and suitable for hanging in the study or receiving guests.

Li Qingzhi wrote these two pieces quickly, not taking much time. For him, earning these one hundred taels of silver was quite easy.

For the head of the Shen family, it shouldn’t be a loss, right? After all, he only asked for one piece of calligraphy, but Li Qingzhi provided two.

Li Qingzhi wrote these two pieces with great care and even admired them after finishing.

His calligraphy with his left hand was perfect for writing grand poems. If he had used his right hand for “Observing the Vast Sea,” the effect wouldn’t have been as good.

After letting the calligraphy pieces dry, Li Qingzhi folded and sealed them, then sent them to Juwei Restaurant.

It was late October, and the weather was already cold in the lunar calendar.

Chang Zhan didn’t have to worry about the dishes he sent to Governor Zhang getting spoiled in the heat. He started making some fresh dishes and sent fewer preserved meats to Juwei Restaurant.

On this day, he followed Li Qingzhi’s example and made dumplings specifically for Governor Zhang.

So, when Governor Zhang opened the food box, he saw thirty neatly arranged raw dumplings.

Today’s food needed to be cooked before eating.

Governor Zhang instructed the steward, Li, to cook the dumplings. He found pickled vegetables and chili sauce on the second layer, and as usual, Li Qingzhi’s items were at the bottom.

Inside was a letter from Li Qingzhi, discussing his plans to start a school, along with two pieces of calligraphy to be delivered to the head of the Shen family.

After reading the calligraphy pieces by Li Qingzhi, Governor Zhang felt the urge to immediately write a letter to Li Qingzhi, asking him to write two pieces for him as well.

After completing “Records of Fleeing” and “Strategies for Water Management,” Li Qingzhi’s calligraphy had improved.

After reading the letter, Governor Zhang burned it directly.

He kept Li Qingzhi’s manuscripts but burned his letters to avoid revealing Li Qingzhi’s identity.

Meanwhile, Steward Li took the dumplings to the kitchen.

As soon as he entered, a servant who had recently been hired started asking him about Governor Zhang’s affairs.

Learning that Steward Li went to see Governor Zhang because Juwei Restaurant had sent today’s dishes, the servant looked disappointed.

He had been at Zhang’s mansion for some time now, but he hadn’t heard any news.

Well, not entirely—Governor Zhang seemed to be getting close to the Shen family lately…

That afternoon, he saw Governor Zhang summoning his trusted aide again to send something to the Shen family.

That Shen family was a lackey of Lu Qingxi’s. He wondered what Governor Zhang and they were plotting!

This man started secretly spreading the news.

Steward Li saw everything and sighed.

Nowadays, there were all kinds of people in this mansion!

Fortunately, there were a few trusted aides by Governor Zhang’s side.

The Shen family had been quite lively recently.

In the past, when the Shen family’s fleet went to the capital, it was usually led by a steward of the Shen family. Sometimes, the young master of the Shen family would accompany them, but he often quietly followed the Shen family steward to learn.

But this time… it was different. The old master of the Shen family, who hadn’t been out for a long time, planned to go to the capital himself!

He even planned to take Mrs. Shen with him!

The entire Shen family became busy, preparing an extra ship and moving box after box of things onto it.

On the docks of the provincial capital, people watched in amazement.

“The head of the Shen family is going out, and he’s bringing so much stuff!”

“Well, the Shen family is wealthy. How could the head of the household not bring a lot of things when he goes out?”

“You’re mistaken. When the head of the Shen family goes out alone, he never brings so many things. This time, he prepared an extra ship and loaded so many boxes onto it because Mrs. Shen will also go with him.”

“Oh, I see. I heard the head of the Shen family treats Mrs. Shen very well.”

“How could he not? Mrs. Shen is from the Du family! Her family has high-ranking officials in the capital.”

…

As they discussed, they didn’t realize that each of those boxes didn’t contain Mrs. Shen’s belongings but newly bound copies of “Records of Fleeing” from the Shen family’s bookstore.

Mrs. Shen got up early in the morning and took out Li Qingzhi’s “Records of Fleeing” to admire.

She had read this book before, but when she read it last time, she only sighed at the hardships of the common people. This time, as she read… she could see some of Li Qingzhi’s emotions in the details.

Although the hermit seemed very calm, his emotions fluctuated when he wrote.

But his emotional fluctuations weren’t easy to detect. His writing was flawless and flowed seamlessly…

She wondered what kind of person he was…

Standing beside her for a long time without attracting a single glance from Mrs. Shen, the head of the Shen family murmured to himself:

“…”

Even someone as big as him couldn’t attract his wife’s attention!

They say the hermit isn’t interested in fame or wealth… let’s hope he never shows up in public!

Otherwise… even if he’s a bit ugly!

As the head of the Shen family thought to himself, someone came in from outside: “Master, Governor Zhang’s men have brought something for you.”

“Governor Zhang sent something to me?” The head of the Shen family was somewhat surprised but quickly realized.

Governor Zhang had said there was nothing to send along with him before, right? Now that he saw his fleet was about to depart, Governor Zhang immediately sent something over.

However… why wasn’t the letter sealed?

The head of the Shen family was about to reach out and take the letter when Mrs. Shen beside him suddenly stood up, snatched the envelope before him, and pulled out two folded papers: “Quick, let me see!”

Mrs. Shen unfolded the two papers and saw two pieces of calligraphy.

These two pieces of calligraphy were obviously carefully written by the hermit, and the characters were even better than those on the manuscript of “Records of Fleeing” she had.

Although Mrs. Shen had paid one hundred taels of silver for the hermit to help with calligraphy, she didn’t have high hopes.

She even worried that the hermit would look down on the Shen family as merchants and refuse to write for her.

After she married into the Shen family, she had encountered snide remarks from the Du family due to her former status.

And her maternal family,

 the Du family, on one hand, took money from the Shen family but looked down on them.

She didn’t expect the hermit to actually write for her, and he even wrote two pieces!

“One hundred taels of silver for two pieces of calligraphy from the hermit! This time, we’ve struck it rich!” Mrs. Shen was very excited.

She felt that these two pieces of calligraphy by the hermit were worth far more than one hundred taels.

“What’s going on?” The head of the Shen family asked.

Mrs. Shen didn’t conceal anything and explained what she had done under her husband’s name.

Learning that the hermit had specifically written two pieces for him, the head of the Shen family was also pleasantly surprised.

This hermit was praised by the emperor himself!