Chapter 27: Red Sleeves Add Fragrance at Night, Copying Books

  After a brief stir, the port of Dantu quickly returned to calmness. The relationship between the old vegetable vendor who was burned to death and another corpse in his building was no longer noticed by anyone. As for the cause of the fire, the government did not give any explanation, and the ignorant common people also did not show any interest in this reason.

  The security of Tangzhou Port has always been good, under the strict control of the civilian defense system, those criminals and adventurers who wandered in the northern part of Qingguo could not gain any benefits here. In addition, because the emperor exempted the taxes of the seven neighboring counties near Tangzhou due to the shift of trade focus to the south, although it cannot make the people rich immediately, at least it can guarantee that every family has some surplus grain, and there will be no more refugees riot caused by famine like thirty years ago.

  Moreover, although the city of Tan is by the sea, it has not been contaminated with too much of the violent and unpredictable nature of the sea. The residents of the city are all very gentle, so when facing the most noble family in the city - the Marquis's estate, they always show due respect and caution. Even though everyone knows that Fan Xian is just a bastard son, he is still called Young Master Fan, and people try to suppress any slight contempt they may have had all along.

  This is where Fan Xian's pain lies.

  In this life, apart from showing off his talent as a spoiled young master in front of the ill-fated Zhou Guan Jia, he never had another chance to play this role. Walking on the streets of Danzhou Port, some people were affectionate towards him, some people respected him, but no one came to provoke him.

  The true energy in his body was slowly accumulating, making his meridians extremely solid, while the majority of the true energy that had flowed into the Snow Mountain at his lower back was calm and peaceful, unaware of what use it would be put to.

  This life Fan Xian has always been playing a steady, knowing body of a young man, but such days have been long, and he always feels a bit suffocated. Moreover, knowing that his level can kill an assassin, he is even more looking forward to having some heroic deeds, upholding justice, rescuing beauties and the like happen.

  But Danzhou Port is very peaceful, extremely peaceful.

  ……

  ……

  In the study, a soothing incense was lit, and the faint fragrance filled the heart and spleen, making one feel very comfortable. Fan Xian held a slender brush in his hand, writing seriously on a piece of xuan paper cut to about four palm sizes. Nowadays, in the literary world, there are two schools: modern script and ancient script. In terms of calligraphy tools, there are also two kinds: goose feather brushes and hair brushes. From the perspective of convenience, using a goose feather brush might be better, so most government offices in Kyoto use this type, including when Fei Jie taught school in Danzhou.

  But the craftsmanship of sharpening the nib of a goose quill pen requires truly skilled craftsmen, as the nib is prone to deformation after prolonged use, making it difficult to popularize.

  Fan Xian preferred brush pens, firstly because he thought that since the world coincidentally used square characters, then the characters written with a brush pen would be even more beautiful. He decided to practice calligraphy well, so as not to lose face in the future.

  On the other hand, he thinks that stories like this one he is currently "writing" must be written with a brush and elegant small script to express respect.

  Tiexin yā huán sīsī uses slender fingers to hold the ink block, slowly and evenly grinding it clockwise in the inkstone, her eyes falling on the paper in front of the young master, where she sees written:

  "...only to see Zhinai alone in the room washing tea bowls, Qinzhong rushed over and hugged her, kissing her. Zhinai was so anxious that she stomped her foot and said: What's this! If you do this again, I'll call out for help. Qinzhong begged: Good person, I'm already dying of anxiety, if you don't agree today, I'll die right here. Zhinai said: What do you want? Unless I get out of this prison and leave these people behind, I won't agree to your wishes. Qinzhong said: This is easy, but it's hard to quench a nearby thirst with distant water..."

  Si Si glanced at the content written above and couldn't help but blush, spitting out: "How can this smart thing be so shameless?"

  Fan Xian heard the voice of Yaoyao's resentment by his ear, and curiously raised his head to ask with a smile: "Sister, why do you say that intelligence is shameless?" He always called several big sisters in the house or in places where others didn't notice, this habit had been continuing since Dong'er, the maids couldn't argue with him, and the old lady didn't care, so they just let him be, after all these years, they were already used to it and didn't think it was strange.

  Si's face flushed, like the morning clouds, very beautiful. Nian explained: "That nun... speaks and acts too recklessly... But what is a nun? What is Mantou An?"

  Fan Xian chuckled and thought to himself, "Later on, when I write about Qin Zhong and the intelligent girl's affair, you'll probably think it's really ridiculous." But upon hearing Si Si ask what a nun was, he suddenly remembered that in this world there was no Buddhism, so naturally there were no monks, and therefore no nuns either.

  He scratched his head with an empty hand, not knowing how to explain it. After a long time, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Nuns are like ascetic monks, and Mantou An is similar to a temple."

  Si Si was startled by his explanation: "The young master dare not write nonsense, the temple is in a remote place in heaven, always sympathizing with the people of the world and not interfering with worldly affairs, how can it be that kind of dirty place."

  Fan Xian didn't explain anything to her either, smiling and saying: "Got it, I'll be more careful when I write."

  He wrote a few more sentences, thought of something, and let Sisi go out, lest Yuerong see the content that was not suitable for children behind her back and report it to the old lady. When he was young, he often told stories to scare Dong'er, and Dong'er still thought it was taught by Mr. Xi Shi. Later, she even went to the old lady's place to accuse him, causing Fan Xian to be silent for several days.

  Si Si carefully instructed a few words, put down the ink in her hand and pushed the door out. Before leaving, that one turn of her figure made Fan Xian's heart slightly warm.

  Fan Xian held his brush in contemplation, thinking that copying "Dream of the Red Chamber" was indeed much more complicated than plagiarizing the poems and songs of past sages. He had started writing a year ago, but so far he had only silently written up to chapter 15. Fortunately, with his clear mind now, the memories from his previous life were not different in the slightest, but rather even clearer. Thanks to this, he could remember Cao Xueqin's beautiful yet difficult-to-remember judgmental phrases and dreamy illusions.

  The characters' backgrounds in the book are always slightly different from this world, and I don't know if others will understand them when they see it in the future, so some crucial parts still need to be revised slowly. But Fan Xian is extremely confident in his version of "Dream of the Red Chamber". A cow led to Beijing is still a cow - "Dream of the Red Chamber"? Placed in this world, it's still "Dream of the Red Chamber", still a masterpiece.

  The cover will remain unchanged for now, and I'll save a few chapters for later use when the time is right, hehe.