My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 232 - 191: Husband, Won’t You Give it a Try?

Chapter 232: Chapter 191: Husband, Won’t You Give it a Try?

Liu Kongyi stood in front of the desk, gently caressing the Dragon Carp as if touching a dawn cloud, her Jade Hand dyed blood-red by a hazy, dreamlike halo.

With a mischievous smile, she observed the men around her, especially the scholars from the Academy, who were gathered at the main table, focusing on the "Heavenly Immortal."

Some frowned deeply, others looked up at the sky, and yet others seemingly penned thoughts unknowingly...

Continuously, men dripped clear water on the ink wash paper to alter characters, but so far no one had succeeded.

After watching for a while, Liu Kongyi shifted her gaze, feeling somewhat disinterested. She had actually tried many characters herself already, to no avail, and so far none of the men’s alterations had surprised or intrigued her.

Liu Kongyi glanced over, looking at the Academy scholars she had kept an eye on.

Du Yifu was pinching his chin, staring at the ink wash paper, lost in contemplation.

Li Jinsu was standing with Ye Ruoxi, examining the words on the table while quietly discussing something with the beauty beside him.

And there were a few other notable Academy scholars...

These men, Liu Kongyi felt, might be the ones able to succeed.

Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she looked around, then fixated her gaze upon spotting Zhao Lingfei and Zhao Rong, snuggled together behind a crowd at the corner of the main table.

Currently, almost everyone’s attention was focused on the "Heavenly Immortal" and her, with few noticing Zhao Lingfei and Zhao Rong.

Liu Kongyi glanced over, saw the flirtatious exchange between Zhao Rong and Zhao Lingfei, lightly smiled, and then paid them no more attention.

Liu Kongyi waved her sleeve and a set of exquisitely painted porcelain tea ware appeared on the table. She gently pinched a thin-walled flower and bird tea cup, flicked the porcelain with her fingertip, and a melodious echo resonated as if echoing in a secluded valley.

Liu Kongyi waved off the warm stream water offered by a nearby Dragon Carp girl, instead taking out a small bottle containing fresh morning dew harvested from a specially cultivated Spiritual Flower, the first drop gathered every dawn, a small bottle collected over half a year.

Liu Kongyi elegantly began making tea.

This activity attracted the attention of many.

Du Yifu diverted his gaze, his fiery look gradually calming down, and returned to the paper. His eyes continued to scrutinize the line, "Clouds disperse, the moon arises, and flowers follow the shadow." In his view, though the other lines in the poem had minor flaws, none were as problematic as this.

Having read through the entire poem multiple times, he felt a disruption in the flow of words at this point. Based on his experience with poetry, this was indeed where the real issue lay.

Du Yifu’s eyes gleamed.

"Birds settle on the sand, and night descends by the pond; clouds spread across a clear sky, no moon in sight." Just as Liu Fairy found solace during her solitary walk in the small garden, moon-gazing to dispel her sorrows. As dusk enveloped the earth and waterfowl already nestled at the sandy shore of the pond, she intended to return, but at that moment, an unexpected change in scenery occurred before her. The wind arose and suddenly swept the clouds apart, allowing moonlight to seep through while flowers, stirred by the wind, also began to sway their shadows under the moonlight...

This provided a momentary relief to Liu Fairy’s lonely emotions.

These two lines marked the emotional turning point of the entire verse, a climax, requiring a sparkle, yet they read rather flat and ordinary.

Du Yifu inhaled deeply, his eyes brightening...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the main table, Li Jinsu suddenly spoke, "What about this change?"

As the surrounding gazes, including that of Liu Fairy, turned toward him,

he hesitated slightly, encouraged by the supportive looks from Ye Ruoxi and his younger peers, then moved forward to dip a drop of clear water, erasing the "late" character from "Late Mirror,"

Li Jinsu, filled with anticipation, penned the character for "dawn."

However, the text on the paper remained unchanged.

He sighed softly and shook his head.

But Liu Kongyi spoke up:

"Although it hasn’t reached perfection, Young Master Li has made an excellent change. Late Mirror, Late Mirror, a single ’late’ alludes not only to time but also carries a sense of the twilight years; indeed, somewhat mismatched. If it were ’Dawn Mirror,’ it would be more fitting for a lady. Thank you, Young Master Li..."

At that moment, Du Yifu suddenly spoke, "Brother Li’s fussing over these trivial matters is useless, merely focusing on the mundane without catching the crux of the issue. Let me handle this; watch closely."

Having said that, he walked up to the desk and directly reached out to take the brush from Li Jinsu’s hand.

Zhao Rong saw this scene, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

The eldest apprentice brother was somewhat embarrassed, but given his nature, he wasn’t upset, instead, his eyes showed curiosity. He stepped back a few steps, giving his place to Du Yifu.

Du Yifu was spirited, flashing a radiant smile at Liu Kongyi, who looked expectant. Then, he fetched some clean water and washed away the character "scattered" in the phrase "the clouds scatter and the moon follows with the flowers as shadows."

Du Yifu slightly teased the crowd, looking around at everyone who watched in eager anticipation. He grinned confidently and began to write slowly, adding the character... "broken."

A moment passed.

Another moment.

A third moment.

By then, the air at the scholarly gathering seemed somewhat frozen.

All eyes were focused on the paper.

But... still, nothing unusual occurred.

There was no entrance into grade.

The smile on Du Yifu’s face instantly stiffened, and he stared intensely at the washed ink on the paper for a while, but the paper remained unmoved, without a familiar breeze coming through—indicative of the gathering of rich spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

This phrase "the clouds break and the moon follows with the flowers as shadows" still didn’t work.

It was somewhat quiet all around.

Du Yifu felt many peculiar gazes; his smile gradually faded, and he licked his lips, staring blankly at the altered verse, muttering something to himself over and over.

"Here, it should clearly be here, my intuition isn’t wrong, but why isn’t it working! This verse has been modified beyond recognition, why..."

Liu Kongyi softly coughed, speaking out to ease the situation.

"Master Du’s addition of the character ’broken’ is truly brilliant, ’the clouds break and then the moon comes’... originally there was no moon, which would have been due to thick and dark clouds. As the wind starts, it cannot immediately clear the haze; it could only break a part of the cloud layer, revealing a bit of the night sky, and it’s not necessarily right where the moon is, but after a while the moon moved to the place where the clouds had parted... such a wonderful ’the clouds break and then the moon comes.’

Liu Kongyi looked at Du Yifu’s embarrassed face, then glanced around at the crowd, "As for... not entering grade, it must be that something else needs changing, or perhaps...my knowledge is insufficient, and this verse simply cannot achieve entry into grade..."

Subsequently, the main table gradually became lively again, with many people going up to change characters.

But apart from "sending spring away—when will it return" where the character "spring" spurred some discussion, no one else’s changes had any brilliance anymore.

Liu Kongyi, seeing so many fine men from the Academy and Taiching Prefecture at the gathering yet none could produce a qualifying poem to become her one-character master, sighed internally. Still, she smiled and said, "It seems, this verse must be inherently insufficient, unable to turn the decrepit into the miraculous. I apologize, everyone, for my mistaken enthusiasm."

Du Yifu’s expression was still somewhat stiff, and upon hearing this, he quickly nodded.

The crowd similarly agreed, saying only a Confucian poetic immortal could turn the tide.

Thus, the search for a one-character master also came to an end.

In a corner of the gathering, Zhao Rong looked over to Liu Kongyi, who was frowning while packing up the tea set.

The cup of tea that was meant to be personally handed to a one-character master had turned cold, yet no man had managed to drink it.

Suddenly, Lingfei softly said, "Husband, won’t you give it a try?"

Upon hearing this title, Zhao Rong’s eyelid twitched, and he hastily shifted his gaze away from Liu Kongyi, firmly shaking his head, "No, not going."

Lingfei glanced at him, her tone casual and nonchalant, "Trying it wouldn’t hurt, the paper and brush are still on the table, and no one else is paying attention now. Why be shy, what if you succeed..."

Zhao Rong interrupted firmly, speaking the words, "It’s precisely because I’m afraid of succeeding that I’m not going. Once it enters grade, what if that Fairy Liu keeps bothering me? I only have my wife in my heart; why would I invite troubles by courting her! "

This was clearly a lethal problem; to go or not? Definitely not!

Lingfei squinted, gauging Zhao Rong’s serious expression, then settled into silence for a while before giving a slight nod.