Chapter 10: Foolishly Overestimating Oneself

Xu Chengyue reached the entrance of the bookstore, but seeing the tightly packed crowd, she stopped short, unsure how to approach.

Just then, Lu Hongzhuo spotted her through the throng and hurriedly waved.

“Lady Xu, this way.”

As he spoke, he made his way toward her, holding back the crowd and clearing a path.

Xu Chengyue was too embarrassed to stand in the middle of the passage speaking with him while everyone watched, so she followed him into the rear room of the bookstore.

Once they were seated, a servant brought them two cups of tangy yogurt.

It was a common drink in the Tang dynasty, and Xu Chengyue was already accustomed to it.

“Lady Xu, I just sent a servant to your residence with an invitation, but no one answered the door. I never expected to find you here instead,” Lu Hongzhuo said in delight.

“An invitation? What invitation?” Xu Chengyue asked, puzzled.

“My parents would like to invite you to our home as a guest,” Lu Hongzhuo replied.

“Why would they invite me?” Xu Chengyue wondered. As far as she could recall, she had no particular relationship with Lu Hongzhuo’s parents.

“My father believes you are exceptionally talented, and that you have brought considerable benefit to the Mountain-Sea Bookstore. He has arranged a banquet especially to thank you.”

A banquet? Was that not making too much of the matter?

“I only managed to sell my book because of the Mountain-Sea Bookstore. Young Master Lu, you need not be so courteous.” Xu Chengyue had written nothing more than an ordinary novel. She had never expected Lu Hongzhuo’s father to take it so seriously.

“Actually, both my parents are very fond of your book. They would like to know what sort of young lady could write such a work, so they specifically wished to meet you.” Lu Hongzhuo himself did not know why his father had invited Lady Xu, but he had been given strict orders and could only do his utmost to persuade her to come.

After Lu Hongzhuo urged her several times, Xu Chengyue found it impossible to refuse such sincere hospitality and agreed.

Then she remembered something and said, “I have an idea. Would it be possible to print a line at the very bottom of the last page of the book inviting readers to write to me?”

For an author of online fiction, writing was something that required feedback from readers. She had spent quite a long time writing in complete solitude.

Only after hearing those customers discussing her book at the restaurant that day did she suddenly understand why, lately, whenever she sat down to write—not type, but actually write—she had felt that something was missing.

Lu Hongzhuo had never heard of readers writing to authors, but the idea was easy enough to understand. After thinking for a moment, he grasped her meaning.

“Of course. You are forever coming up with such ingenious ideas. No wonder you can write books so captivating,” Lu Hongzhuo flattered her.

.

It was June, and the weather was gradually growing hotter.

The shade of the trees outside cast a coolness into the room.

At Luoyang Academy, Master Qu’s aged voice dragged out a slow, unhurried cadence as he recited a passage both obscure and difficult to understand.

Below him, quite a few students were absent-minded, merely putting on the appearance of listening attentively.

“If you have no desire to study, leave now. Do not defile this place,” Master Qu shouted after surveying the room and seeing that no one had raised his head.

He had endured them for a long time, yet these youngsters still showed no sign of repentance.

The morals of the age were declining. Even when given the chance to study, they refused to cherish it properly. In his own youth—

“Whenever I borrowed books from families that possessed collections… my fingers grew too stiff to bend or straighten, yet I never neglected my task.”

Alas, all that was long past.

Everyone instantly came to his senses and hurriedly sat up straight, showing that they were now wholly focused on their studies.

Master Qu was satisfied to see them finally become attentive, but then he noticed that one person had remained exactly as he was.

His brows drew together in displeasure.

“Liu Shen, explain the meaning of what I just said.” Master Qu gave a cold laugh. He intended to make an example of him. If the boy could not answer, he should not blame the ruler in the master’s hand.

Jian Hang was seated directly behind Liu Shen. She watched as he suddenly jolted awake upon hearing Master Qu’s words and fumbled for his book.

Liu Shen stood up, but he could not for the life of him remember what Master Qu had just said. His heart pounded wildly, and sweat immediately broke out across his forehead.

Then inspiration struck.

“Master, I was pondering a question just now, so I failed to hear what you said clearly.”

“Oh? What question?” Master Qu replied without expression.

Let us see what excuse you can come up with.

“When students study a text, they must first learn how to divide its sentences. But I saw in a book that symbols had been added where the sentences were divided. If sentence divisions were replaced with symbols, it would make the text easier to study and understand.”

At those words, everyone’s attention turned toward him.

Jian Xing raised an eyebrow. He thought of a certain book he had read. Could it be…?

Master Qu slowly knitted his brows.

Seeing that Master Qu remained silent, Liu Shen assumed that he had persuaded him and continued confidently.

“For example, a full stop could be represented by a complete circle to indicate the end of a sentence, while a comma could be represented by a dot with a little tail to show that the thought was unfinished—”

“Absurd!”

Liu Shen had not even finished speaking when Master Qu cut him off.

“Sentence division is the wisdom of our forebears and an essential path to studying the classics. If you do not understand sentence division, how can you claim to understand a text? To replace sentence divisions with symbols is practically an act of defiance against Heaven and reason. Do you really think yourself cleverer than the sages of old?”

Master Qu’s face flushed crimson as he flew into a rage.

Liu Shen had thought he was making an excellent suggestion. He had never imagined that Master Qu would condemn him so harshly. He hurriedly admitted his mistake.

“Master Qu, it was my fault. I was being reckless and unruly.”

Master Qu drew several heavy breaths, but his anger still had not subsided.

“What wicked book were you reading?”

Liu Shen stammered, “The Divine Physician and Poisonous Consort.”

The moment he spoke, the entire room fell silent. Everyone looked at the student with admiration.

What a courageous man.

The Divine Physician and Poisonous Waste? Was it a medical text? No wonder it followed such unorthodox paths.

Both men spoke with accents, and Master Qu had no idea that he had misunderstood the title.

Master Qu gathered his thoughts and continued the lesson.

But afterward, he resolved that he would write an essay condemning this corrupting influence.

.

The Lu residence was unlike its usual self that day. The family was preparing to receive a distinguished young guest.

When Madam Lu first heard the news, she was astonished. She assumed that her husband had somehow arranged a marriage for their son, Lu Hongzhuo.

She was just about to scold him for making such a decision without telling her when he explained that the guest was a young lady skilled at writing, whose books sold extremely well at their bookstore.

Madam Lu was astonished all over again. Young ladies with a talent for writing were exceedingly rare.

At noon, a carriage arrived before the central gate.

Two maidservants with their hair arranged in double-looped buns alighted first. Xu Chengyue emerged last.

The moment Madam Lu saw her, her eyes lit up.

What a beautiful young lady. It was not merely her appearance. Judging solely by her bearing, she possessed none of the arrogance common among young ladies from eminent families, nor the timid reserve of those from modest households. She was composed, serene, steady, and courteous.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Madam Lu stepped forward to Xu Chengyue’s side.

“I have long heard that there is a young lady of exceptional talent. At last, I have the pleasure of meeting you today,” Madam Lu said happily.

“Madam Lu praises me too highly. It is merely a crude little work, hardly fit for an elegant audience,” Xu Chengyue replied unhurriedly.

Outsiders assumed that she was composed. In truth, she had to turn every sentence over in her mind before speaking, which was why her words naturally came slowly.

Madam Lu was skilled at socializing—warm, generous, and gracious without ever becoming tiresome.

The meal ended with hosts and guest alike thoroughly pleased.

Xu Chengyue found kneeling uncomfortable, so she simply sat cross-legged.

Lu Hongzhuo’s lips twitched at the sight. Lady Xu was far too unconcerned with conventional etiquette.

But he had previously heard that some young ladies in Chang’an wore men’s clothing and rode horses, so he soon accepted it calmly.

When the sun began to sink, Xu Chengyue rose to take her leave.

Madam Lu urged her to stay several times, but Xu Chengyue knew it was merely a conventional courtesy. She did not take it seriously and continued to decline, saying that she did not wish to impose.

After seeing Xu Chengyue off, Lu Hongzhuo’s parents both let out a sigh.

Lu’s father had originally wondered whether such a talented young lady might marry into their family, and had quietly entertained the idea of bringing the two together. But after meeting her, he saw that it was clearly impossible. Lady Xu had no intention of such an arrangement, guarded her words carefully, and had revealed nothing—not even where she was originally from.

Madam Lu had never entertained such thoughts. She had regarded the occasion as an ordinary visit from a guest. Yet after meeting the young lady, she had been dazzled by her and developed a faint hope of her own. Still, both Lu Hongzhuo and Xu Chengyue were entirely at ease with each other, and there was plainly no possibility of such a match.

.

Master Qu was reading when a thought suddenly occurred to him. He summoned a servant and ordered, “Go to the bookstores in the Western Market. Find out where this book, The Divine Physician and Poisonous Waste, is sold, and buy me a copy.”

“Yes, master,” the servant replied.

Nearly half an hour passed before the servant returned.

“Master, I have bought it. As luck would have it, quite a few people seem to read this book. The moment I asked, someone knew exactly where to find it.”

Could a medical book really have so many readers? Perhaps it had cured many people and gained some renown.

Could he have wronged it? Perhaps this book was genuinely useful.

But did physicians not traditionally keep their medical knowledge from outsiders? Perhaps there was some selfless physician of extraordinary skill who had written it.

Well, then he had not wasted his money. He could study it himself and avoid spending his wealth on those quack doctors.

With these expectations, Master Qu accepted the book from the servant.

The moment he saw the title, he spat out the tea in his mouth.

“What is this?” he exclaimed in shock. “Did you buy the wrong book?”

“No, master. This is exactly the book you described,” the servant said with certainty.

A wicked book! It had to be a wicked book!

Yet the money had already been spent, and the book could not be returned. Master Qu decided to read it once through before giving it a proper scolding.

But the more he read, the more furious he became, until smoke seemed ready to pour from all seven openings of his head.

“Absurd! Utterly absurd. Even if a maidservant were deeply unloved, what servant from a wealthy household would shout at her master? This is complete nonsense!”

“And this is laughable beyond words. She pretends to deceive her own father and stepmother, shows no respect for her husband, and possesses none of the virtues expected of a worthy wife. Yet a shameless woman like this is actually deemed fit to be printed on paper and discussed at such length!”

Master Qu cursed continuously as he read.

At last, he struggled to the final page and saw a line of small print at the bottom:

Readers are welcome to write to the author.

Master Qu gave a cold laugh.

Just wait, he thought. I shall teach you a thing or two about knowing the limits of Heaven and earth.