Nightfall

Purchasing the Lake

Ning Que was the most inconspicuous person in the back of the mountain, but he was the most famous one as Mr. Thirteen among the folk.

His legend was spreading in the frontier fortress and the story about the fight at the side door of the Academy had pleased the people in Chang’an for a long time. People in the attic of the Stone House might not know about who was Mr. First or Mr. Second, but they definitely knew Mr. Thirteen was the owner of Old Brush Pen Shop, honored as Sir Ning.

After Chu Youxian’s words, people in the building kept quiet for a while, and then they began to cheer and shout excitedly.

The royal buyer from the South Jin Kingdom held the handrail tightly and his face turned pale with rage. He stared at Chu Youxian ferociously and shouted at him. “Who the hell are you?”

Holding a fan with one hand and putting the other one behind his body, Chu Youxian bowed and answered, “I’m Chu Youxian from the Eastern City, the representative of Mr. Ning.”

Then he looked toward the western wing-room on the third floor and saw the ugly royal buyer. He smiled and said, “Anyone can buy the Chicken Soup Calligraphy but you. Any objections?”

The royal buyer was so angry that his whole body started trembling. He said indignantly, “You’re unreasonable.”

The Stone House’s boss explained to him, “We’ve sent the supplementary rules before the auction, since the seven copybooks would be sold by special rules. As we know, Sir Ning has the right to choose the buyer.”

The royal buyer from the South Jin Kingdom thought of the paper he saw on the desk minutes ago. Then he suppressed his anger and said, “Even if Sir Ning has the right to choose the buyer, he should do this personally. Why is this nobody doing it for him?”

“How could Sir Ning in Old Brush Pen Shop have heard what happened just now? Has Sir Ning been here before? You guys should stop playing dirty tricks.”

The boss thought for a moment and answered, “You’re right. Sir Ning has previously visited us, but he’s absent at present. Before he left, he authorized Mr. Chu to make the decision.”

The royal buyer from the South Jin Kingdom was stunned.

As it was mentioned earlier, Ning Que was very famous in Chang’an. Especially after he chopped Liu Yiqing, Ning Que became more respectful in the Tangs’ minds. Everybody would like to meet him.

All the aristocrats and rich merchants gathered here for his calligraphy. As they knew he just left a few minutes ago, people regretted so badly because they had missed the chance to see him.

Someone among the people yelled. All of a sudden, a lot of footsteps sounded in the building. Dozens of people opened the bamboo curtain and rushed down the stairs toward the yard.

The Chicken Soup Calligraphy now belonged to Grand Secretary Wang. The people here had no chance to taste the “chicken soup”, of course; they wanted to meet the person who cooked the “old hen”. Therefore, in the twinkling of an eye, people left and the Stone House became nearly empty. The royal buyer stood beside the handrail and looked dreadful, however, he could say nothing more.

“Please wait a minute, Sir Ning,” one of them said.

“Mr. Thirteen, please, our headmaster wants to invite you to visit.”

People walked out of the courtyard, passed through the woods and came to the lakeside. Seeing the small boat drifting further, they waved to the boat and cried out to call him back.