The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 253 Escorting the Wilderness (3k)

The crowd quickly made way so that Du Yuan could write another calligraphy scroll for them to avoid disaster.

Once Du Yuan was seated, he did as before, taking off his friend's mountain seal and placing it on a new piece of silk cloth.

As he picked up his pen, his friend, far away in the mountains of Qingzhou, also looked up at the scene.

After a brief, slight smile, she raised her finger like a kitten, following Du Yuan's strokes.

A moment later, amidst everyone's anticipation, Du Yuan wrote four new, powerful characters on the silk cloth: "Protect the Mountains and Wilderness".

Moreover, this time, not only those surrounding Du Yuan, but also those standing further away, caught a whiff of a delicate fragrance the moment he put pen to paper.

The fragrance was indescribable, but it felt refreshingly elegant and refined.

A few with keen noses sniffed carefully for a while and finally found the source of the fragrance. They quickly whispered to their companions:

"Hey, can you smell it?"

"I can't smell it! This scent is so elegant! Have you figured out what's emitting it?"

"That's right! It's those few words that the young teacher wrote!"

Reminded of this, the bystanders quickly moved forward, sniffed carefully, and exclaimed in surprise, "It really is!"

Seeing that the other person had also admitted it, the person who had discovered it first immediately beamed with joy and said smugly:
"I heard someone say yesterday that the young master is the reincarnation of the God of Literature! And seeing him today, it's definitely true!"

"Yes, yes, yes! The writing can evoke fragrance. Let alone us common folk, even those top scholars probably don't have this kind of experience!"

No sooner had he said that than someone jokingly asked, "You've even seen the calligraphy of the top scholar?"

The man immediately scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, "No, not at all! But we've seen the God of Literature descend to earth, isn't that much better than seeing some top scholar?"

Then, he added jokingly, "Who knows, we might even get a lot of good fortune!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone agreed that they were right and even held their breath, afraid of disturbing this hard-won good fortune.

After carefully examining the calligraphy copybook for a moment to make sure there were no problems, Du Yuan picked it up and addressed the crowd:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I will hang this calligraphy copybook here as well, and you may make rubbings of it as you please!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the people burst into cheers. Some couldn't help but rub their hands together with expectant eyes, while others whispered their gratitude for Du Yuan's benevolence.

The restaurant owner, standing nearby, was so amused that he almost fainted from laughing.

Ever since he heard yesterday that the young master was going to hang the first calligraphy scroll for avoiding disaster in his restaurant, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night. He sat by the empty counter until dawn, only to realize that he had been laughing at the air all night.

Hearing that Du Yuan wanted to hang another one, he was so happy he didn't know what to say.

After pondering for a long time, he hurriedly retrieved the one hundred taels of gold that had just been exchanged from the counter. He carefully placed it in a brocade box, weighed it in his hand, and, after confirming its authenticity, quickly walked to Du Yuan and said:
"Young sir, this is a small token of our shop's appreciation. Please accept it!"

Du Yuan instinctively wanted to refuse:
"Oh, shopkeeper, you're mistaken. I wrote these two calligraphy scrolls so that people could travel safely, not for any gold or silver!"

"Young sir, please don't be hasty!" The shopkeeper hurriedly raised his hand, his tone becoming even more respectful. "How could I not know your noble character of caring for the people and not coveting money? I would never dare to tarnish your heart with such a small profit, nor am I qualified to repay your kindness on behalf of all the people of the city."

"But this gold is a token of our gratitude for your kindness in displaying such a precious calligraphy copybook in our shop. Just think, with your copybook here, countless customers will surely come! Our business will naturally flourish, and I cannot fail to repay this favor!"

As he spoke, the shopkeeper pointed to Heaven and swore an oath:

"Rest assured, as long as our shop remains open, we will never stop anyone from making rubbings of the calligraphy. We will ensure that these calligraphy samples are used by the people forever and will never disappoint your kindness!"

Du Yuan was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter, pointing at the shopkeeper with her fingertip and saying:
"Hmm, that makes sense. I'll gladly accept it then!"

"Hey, hey, that's exactly what I've been waiting for!"

The shopkeeper quickly handed over the bag of gold he was carrying with both hands.

He then looked at the two calligraphy works with great satisfaction, thinking to himself that, putting aside everything else, the number of customers coming specifically for these two calligraphy works would probably wear down the doorstep!

After taking the brocade box, Du Yuan placed it into the watermark that the kitten had given her without even looking at it.

Then he addressed the crowd:

"Please make rubbings only as needed, and do not interfere with the shopkeepers' business!"

"Don't worry, young master!"

The crowd cheered in unison.
-
Inside the restaurant on the other side, the display cases also watched with envy as more and more people ran towards that direction.

In the past, both families had their own strengths. Although they didn't have any special wines to finish, they had several excellent chefs who made a living by cooking delicious food.

But now, it's not that we're closing down, it's just that we're probably never going to be able to compete with them again.

Just then, he suddenly saw the man holding the ebony dagger quickly enter, which made him curious:

"Young master, why don't you go with them to see that Wenquxing (a high-ranking official in the imperial examination system)?"

These words were originally spoken out of curiosity and a little goodwill, intended to remind him that he could go along and share in the good fortune.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the other party's face darkened, and he said, "What kind of bullshit Wenquxing is this! He's just a Confucian scholar who's read a little bit!"

These words prompted the shopkeeper to hastily bow and say:
"Oh dear, young master, please calm down! I'm just a businessman, I really meant no harm!"

The man was initially furious, but suddenly he heard a gentle voice of comfort behind him:

“Young Master Zhang, please calm down. As the saying goes, ‘A wise man remains silent about what he does not know.’ It is only natural to make mistakes occasionally. Now that his ability has been demonstrated, why waste your energy on momentary frustration? Why not use this opportunity to see how to proceed? What do you think?”

Upon hearing this, the man's anger subsided considerably, and he turned back to look at the newcomer with a very complicated expression.

Needless to say, it was Gao Cheng who spoke, and behind him followed closely the woman with the sword.

This made the already complicated man even more complicated.

He couldn't understand why the other party was so concerned about an outsider.

But he still cupped his hands and said:
"What you say is absolutely right, sir. I did indeed lose my composure."

Moreover, the middle-aged scholar, with even greater insight, remarked:
“Young Master Zhang would never have been angered by this in the past, so, has something gone wrong on this trip?”

This made the other party smile wryly.

"It's nothing, I just got a lot of scolding from a senior colleague."

It seems it wasn't as simple as being criticized; rather, he saw a certain flaw in himself because of it? And a flaw that he knew was difficult to remedy?

Gao Cheng is not a cultivator and does not have the remarkable abilities of these two young men, but having been immersed in officialdom for many years, his eyesight is truly formidable!
Furthermore, are they really considered young people?

Gao Cheng also had some doubts.

Therefore, after some thought, he said:
“Young Master Zhang, Gao Cheng is not someone like you. I don’t know how far you will go, but I know that your future is long and full of uncertainties. Don’t let a moment of clarity cloud your judgment.”

The other party paused for a moment, then hesitated briefly before bowing to Gao Cheng again and saying:
"Zhang will remember this!"

He vaguely understood why the patriarch had specifically chosen Gao Cheng, the most troublesome person, from among several candidates.

This person is indeed no ordinary person.

Just then, Gao Cheng suddenly caught sight of several riders on horseback outside, raised an eyebrow, and turned his back. He just happened to pass a young gentleman on one of those horses.

The other party did not notice anything amiss, but only glanced at the woman with the sword in amazement.

He secretly praised her to himself—even in Kyoto, it's rare to see such a beautiful girl.

He then rode away at full speed, leaving Hexi County.

The young master didn't notice this unusual occurrence, but the woman standing behind Gao Cheng naturally did.

She immediately asked:
"Sir, why should we avoid that boy?"

Gao Cheng turned around and said:
"That person is a son of the Langya Wang clan, not the direct descendant of the sect leader, but not far off. He also saw me when he was young. Although he should not remember me at his age, it is still best to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"The Langya Wang clan, one of the five noble families and seven prominent clans?"

"Hmm, you probably don't care much, huh?"

Gao Cheng, sensing a hint of seriousness in the woman's words, asked with some surprise:

"Does the young lady also care about them?"

The woman nodded seriously and said:
"Please come up here and we'll talk."

With a hint of curiosity, Gao Cheng first bowed to the shopkeeper who was thanking him for helping him out, and then followed the woman back to his room.

The man followed them in.

After the door was closed, the woman with the sword spoke earnestly:

“As I told you, in the past, everyone was trying to avoid calamity. Most of them, like us, have been enduring hardship until now by relying on some kind of restriction.”

"But some extremely capable ones made two plans: one was to learn from us, and the other was to ensure that their bloodline could survive safely."

Gao Cheng exclaimed in surprise:
"Could this be an example of the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families?"

The woman nodded and said:
"The identities of the other families are still uncertain, but the Cui and Wang families are most likely descendants of the two prominent families we know, rather than simply sharing the same surname. Therefore, I am quite concerned about the presence of Wang family members at this time."

Actually, there were some other important things that the woman did not explain to Gao Cheng.

That means that those who can arrange things in this way are masters that even their sect can hardly match.

This is not only to ensure that one's bloodline can survive to this day, but also to ensure that even after so many years, one can still be a "family" so as to share in the overwhelming fortune that will come with the great era!
Given so many variables, only a major power second only to the three religions could accomplish this.

Some of these top-tier forces were leaders of one of the Hundred Schools of Thought, while others were simply one of the Hundred Schools of Thought themselves.

(End of this chapter)