Chapter 52: The White Robe

The newly released book created a tremendous sensation in Chang'an and Luoyang as soon as it hit the market.

The vivid characters that seemed to leap right off the page, coupled with the wave-like, turbulent plot twists, utterly captured everyone's minds, leaving readers completely unable to guess what would happen in the next moment.

Furthermore, the character traits displayed throughout the development of the plot sparked intense controversy, particularly the conduct and style of the female protagonist, which drew sharp criticism and public censure from all sides.

This was because the prevailing virtues admired in women at the time were not fierce assertiveness, but rather gentleness, virtue, and wifely propriety. Even those who were slightly more uninhibited would not act in a self-righteous, bold, and overbearing manner to force others into difficult situations—or at least, they would do so covertly.

Otherwise, they would invite universal condemnation, much like Princess Anle. However, she possessed immense power and authority, and with both her mother and her younger brother being the reigning sovereign, the gossip and idle talk of others could do nothing to harm her.

"Listening to you all chat with such lively enthusiasm, I thought it must be some marvelous book. Who would have guessed it's just this kind of vile, worthless trash."

"Exactly! If he had written about a heroine like Hua Mulan who took her father's place in the army, I could still hold some respect for him. But look at what he's writing now—how could someone like this ever become a female general?"

"Utterly absurd, completely ridiculous!"

All of this was somewhat expected, after all, what Xu Chengyue wrote inherently contained controversial themes for the current era. Moreover, the dynamic of a forced entanglement and a painful, agonizing emotional redemption is extremely difficult to master, making it all too easy to invite scolding.

Yet, what distressed Xu Chengyue the most was that many female readers also sent her such letters, complaining about her portrayal of the female protagonist's persona.

"Grand Master Yueming, I do not understand why you would write a character like Su Qishan. In my eyes, aside from her status as a general, she is entirely worthless. She cannot compare to Luo Muqing, who draws a sharp, unmistakable line between love and hate and repays every grievance, and she falls even further short of Wang Lanhui, who is self-reliant, strong-willed, and possesses great depth of mind."

"Su Qishan bullies others by abusing her power, and even employs underhanded schemes to deprive others of their means of survival, driving them deliberately toward desperate dead ends. Why on earth is she allowed to be the protagonist?"

"Su Qishan is simply detestable! How could she treat Young Master Jiang like that? She can manage a few pleasant smiles even when facing unarmed commoners, so why on earth is she utterly merciless toward Young Master Jiang?"

The above letters were still relatively normal, consisting merely of opinions regarding a character who was not a flawlessly righteous paragon.

The harsher criticisms came later, directly denouncing her for slandering and smearing the image of women.

"Grand Master Yueming, I have read your previous works, and every female character appearing from your pen has been fleshed out with blood and soul. Yet this single book alone has filled me with too much disappointment."

"The emergence of Su Qishan is entirely throwing dirty water on women, making everyone see that women who practice martial arts can be so utterly unreasonable, committing all sorts of outrages while relying on power and authority. In the past, some people said that women playing polo was somewhat unseemly, which led many women afterward to stop stepping onto the field and instead sit and watch from the sidelines."

"Now that you have written a work like this once again, what will those people think? They will conclude that practicing martial arts corrupts young ladies, and therefore they must never be allowed to brandish swords or wield spears again."

Such nitpicking and accusatory remarks were entirely commonplace. Has it not always been this way throughout the ages? Society holds high moral demands for women, and consequently, women have elevated the sense of morality within their own hearts.

As a protagonist, a woman cannot possess even the tiniest flaw or any behavior that violates public order and good customs; otherwise, it is labeled as misogyny and a smear against women.

A woman cannot be weak; if she is too weak, she is unworthy of being called an independent woman, as it conflicts with the values of the era.

A woman cannot be too resolute or unyielding, lest she lose her inherently feminine traits.

Yet Xu Chengyue simply wanted to write female characters with both virtues and flaws—characters who make readers grit their teeth in exasperation yet leave them utterly unable to extricate themselves—making them feel truly alive rather than remaining rigid, lifeless cardboard cutouts confined to the pages of a book.

Novels are often regarded as the expression of an author's spiritual world, leading people to constantly scrutinize their underlying themes, subjects, and value orientations.

But must only upright and positive character portrayals be capable of expressing such things?

Furthermore, casting aside external layers, a novel can essentially be nothing more than an interesting story.

It takes readers on a journey to experience another world filled with boundless whimsical imagination and the entanglements of love and hate—a world they could never witness in real reality.

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Because she was unsure how to handle the next stage of emotional grappling and story progression between the male and female protagonists, Xu Chengyue's manuscript took a long time to grind out. Finally, rushing frantically, she submitted it before the deadline, almost failing to make the printing schedule and missing the release date promised to her readers.

Her poor readers had no idea they had narrowly escaped being stood up, and cheerfully ran off to the bookstores to purchase the book.

Only a small minority fiercely rejected the plot; most ordinary readers had no major objections, nor did they understand the intricacies of creative writing.

After obtaining the book, Wu Jiong began reading with unblinking focus.

She wanted to know what would happen after Jiang Hexuan arrived at Su Qishan's estate.

——When Jiang Hexuan met Su Qishan, she wore an expression that seemed to say, "As expected, you came after all." Meeting his gaze, she disdainfully remarked, "Didn't you say you would never set foot in my estate again?"

Treating his father's illness was of the utmost urgency. Jiang Hexuan suppressed the fury in his heart and replied, "What the general has done, she knows well in her heart. Why bother asking when you already know?"

Since the matter was already set in stone, he had no choice but to compromise for the sake of the situation.

Su Qishan ordered the steward to arrange a courtyard for him, assigning a few servants to wait upon him and place themselves at his beck and call.

After all, outwardly and nominally, he was introduced as a political strategist and private advisor, so he had to be granted a certain degree of decency.

"No way? He actually agreed just like that?" Wu Jiong thought in disbelief. She had imagined that Jiang Hexuan would rely on his genuine talent and learning, quoting classical texts to eloquently state his case and reason with Su Qishan, leaving her speechless and unable to coerce him any further.

——After coming to the Su residence, life did not turn out to be the endurance of humiliation and forced compromise that Jiang Hexuan had imagined.

Although Su Qishan frequently visited his courtyard, she did not actually do anything.

She would usually sit for an entire afternoon, drinking only a single cup of tea with a distant, faraway gaze as if deep in thought, often exuding a melancholy and desolate temperament.

She also ordered zithers and chess sets to be placed in his courtyard. Sometimes, upon arriving, her gaze would remain fixed intently on those two items, making her glaringly obvious intentions clear by hinting that he should play the zither or the game of chess.

At first, Jiang Hexuan pretended not to notice, but Su Qishan's gaze would shift onto him, staring at him unblinkingly.

Finding it truly unbearable, he had no choice but to be pushed onto the duck-board and play. Yet he did not know how to play the zither at all, and the sounds he produced were utterly devoid of tune, causing anyone who heard them to knit their brows in distress.

Unable to contain her temper, Su Qishan rebuked him for being unlearned and unskilled, unable even to play the zither.

Jiang Hexuan was someone with a rebellious streak in his bones; naturally, he would not obediently submit to her scolding, so he decisively stopped playing and washed his hands of it.

The game of chess was much the same. Su Qishan frequently berated Jiang Hexuan for being a hopelessly clumsy chess player.

Jiang Hexuan was left utterly speechless—why on earth did she insist on playing chess with a clumsy player?

"It seems Su Qishan isn't entirely odious after all. But why would she make Jiang Hexuan, who doesn't know how to play the zither or chess, do such things? What is her purpose? Could it be that she genuinely enjoys listening to people play the zither and playing chess with others?" Wu Jiong scratched her head in puzzlement and continued flipping through the pages.

——Through their chaotic and bickering interactions, the two of them gradually grew familiar with one another.

Jiang Hexuan discovered that Su Qishan was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

Initially, he had assumed she was utterly arrogant, tyrannical, and fond of putting on airs.

Yet she was exceptionally friendly toward the servants in the estate and the commoners in the city.

The townspeople were also happy to interact with her, frequently bringing her melons, fruits, eggs, and other edible treats, though she usually refused to accept them.

She did not stand on ceremony or hold herself above others, discussing farming with the elderly peasants in the fields with practiced familiarity; she was far from the sheltered aristocrat who could not distinguish the five grains, as he had previously imagined.

Her attitude toward everyone else was basically the same, and only toward him was she different. Aside from the occasional lapses into a trance-like daze, most of the time she treated him with fault-finding and criticism.

She even ordered him not to smile and insisted that he wear only white robes.

Jiang Hexuan completely ignored her, privately thinking that she had a mental illness.

He had heard of some soldiers who developed psychological issues after returning from the battlefield, and perhaps Su Qishan was the same.

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, and he became even more convinced of his own guess. Believing that Su Qishan was ill, why should he bother bickering with a sick person?

Thus, he was able to endure almost anything.

"Why isn't she letting anyone smile? Someone who doesn't smile is practically a wooden dummy. And she only allows the young master to wear white? What a strange eccentricity! Though, come to think of it, very few people can pull off white robes well, and such a white-clad demeanor usually tends to look ethereal and transcendent." Wu Jiong mentally recalled several renowned and handsome young gentlemen of Chang'an, imagining what they would look like in white robes, though she felt something was still lacking.

——One day, a stray little wild kitten wandered into Jiang Hexuan's courtyard from parts unknown—it was merely a tiny kitten. Seeing how pitiful it looked, Jiang Hexuan adopted it, patiently feeding it, bathing it, and even giving it a name: "Black Cloud," because it was a small black-and-white calico cat.

Every action of his was observed by Su Qishan, who could not resist stepping forward to join him. She also loved cats, but in the past, because someone near her would break out in rashes upon touching cat fur, she had rarely been able to get close to or interact with cats since.

With the addition of the little kitten, the relationship between the two grew much milder, and they no longer resorted to tit-for-tat verbal sparring at every turn.

"Who is the person who breaks out in rashes upon touching cat fur? It must be what allows Su Qishan to restrain herself and keep her distance from the adorable little calico cat." Wu Jiong also adored felines. She privately guessed whether it might be Su Qishan's father.

——After their relationship improved, Su Qishan felt a sense of self-reproach and guilt over previously threatening Jiang Hexuan by withholding money for his father's medical treatment. She personally paid out of her own pocket to cover the expenses for Jiang Hexuan's father, using only top-tier medicinal herbs, which gradually nursed his father back to health.

Upon learning of this, Jiang Hexuan was over-the-moon with joy and cast aside his previous grievances. To repay her, he even meticulously applied himself to learning a melody, practicing it in secret.

When he could play it exceptionally well, he chose a time when Su Qishan routinely walked past his courtyard, dressed himself in white robes with a jade crown on his head, and waited by the table where the zither was placed.

Seeing that Su Qishan had arrived, he immediately struck the strings, playing the piece with smooth, flowing grace.

"Su Qishan will finally get her wish; she must be so happy. Wonderful, now the two of them can clear up their misunderstandings," Wu Jiong thought optimistically.

——True to expectation, Su Qishan was stunned into a daze as she listened, looking dazedly at the person in white robes with wide sleeves playing the zither, thinking she must be dreaming to be able to witness this...

As the song came to an end, Jiang Hexuan raised his head and smiled smugly, saying, "How is it? Did I play it wonderfully? See if you dare laugh at me anymore—this is what they mean by saying that after parting for three days, one must look at someone with entirely new eyes."

His expression and words instantly brought Su Qishan back to reality. Not a single trace of joy appeared on her face; instead, she flew into a towering rage. "You look hideous in white robes, and the zither playing sounds utterly wretched!"

His painstaking efforts, undertaken specifically to learn the zither and please her, had been met with such treatment.

Jiang Hexuan, whose heartfelt intentions had been betrayed, felt as though he had plunged into a freezing abyss.

"This is too much! Even if she thought it didn't sound good, there was no need to treat him like that. Besides, she's so strange—she wasn't angry when she first saw him! Furthermore, didn't she like watching him play the zither in white before? Why has she changed her mind again?" Wu Jiong's little brain was nearly melting from the strain, entirely unable to puzzle out the reason behind it.